Guyana Chronicle E-paper 8-27-2018

MONDAY 27th August, 2018

No.105379

Institute fresh charges against Westford, Cummings PAGE

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–– junior finance minister urges as he lambastes ‘legal experts’ over wrong charges

Chronicle shines at GPA awards

–– Vanessa Braithwaite is 6&7 Young Journalist of the Year PAGES

The winning Chronicle journalists at the Guyana Press Association (GPA) Awards ceremony and Dinner at the Georgetown Club, Camp Street, Georgetown Sunday night (Samuel Maughn photo)

Unemployment being reduced PAGE

–– through community projects, technical programmes, says President Granger 12

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

Youths taking opportunities in agri sector

By Navendra Seoraj

A GROUP of young people from various fields of business have formed a cooperative (co-op) with the aim of accessing opportunities in the agriculture sector.

Op-co, the name of the co-op that was formed, came into being about five months ago. It is co-owned

by Director of Sport, Christopher Jones; Ronson Gray, the co-owner of local tech company Intellect Storm and other young people who have a vested interest in agriculture.

They visited several farms on the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara on Saturday and were able to scout for opportunities and learn about certain techniques in farming, particularly during their visit to a processing plant, the

Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) and the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI).

“We want to merge the new technologies with agriculture, so we invited several young entrepreneurs to visit the farm; Op-co is a channel to help young people who are interested in agriculture… we are interested and we have a passion for agriculture,” said Jones in an invited comment.

In order to expose the participants to the sector, Op-co solicited the assistance of GLDA specialist Michael Welch, who facilitated part of the visit.

“During the tour of the farm and the factory, we recognised that there are ways to interlink businesses,” said the director of sport, adding that some

The team of entrepreneurs, members of Op-co and other young people who toured the farms on Sunday (Christopher Jones photo) members of the co-op already do farming, but could be more innovative in their approach through assistance or partnerships.

Gray was also optimistic that the linkages would help young people add value to certain areas of the agriculture sector.

He believes that there needs to be a shift from the traditional form of agriculture to a modern approach, which would result in val-

ue-added production.

“We have a lot of resources in the area that needs to be exploited and working together as a co-op with government intervention, there is a lot we will be able to do,” said Gray.

The group intends to use their skills and expertise as a collective in order to make use of opportunities in the sector.

Creating a bond between agriculture and tech-

nology has already started.

According to Jones, a local drone company will be doing geo-mapping of the co-op’s farm in Kuru-Kururu on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.

As a result of their ability to geo-map, the company has started consultations with the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC).

President David Granger had urged young people

to get involved in agriculture. The group has so far responded to the call and even intend sharing their experience with the President.

Jones said the group will update President Granger on some of the challenges they faced and even recommend solutions to those and other challenges which people face in the agriculture sector.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

Institute fresh charges against Westford, Cummings

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–– junior finance minister urges as he lambastes ‘legal experts’ over wrong charges

By Svetlana Marshall FRESH charges should be instituted against former Public Service Minister Dr. Jennifer Westford and her Personnel Manager Margaret Cummings for allegedly stealing state funds, Junior Finance Minister Jaipaul Sharma said, as he lambasted police investigators and legal experts for instituting the wrong charges against the public officials.

Dr. Westford and Cummings were charged for stealing $639,420,000 from the Government of Guyana between October 19, 2011 and April 28, 2015, while being employed at the then Public Service Ministry, but Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman, in dismissing the case on Friday, said the charges were “bad in law”.

In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Sunday, the Junior Finance Minister said Dr. Westford and Cummings, who worked under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government, should not have been charged with larceny by public officer but rather under the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act, Sections 48 and 49.

It is alleged that between 2011 and 2015, Westford signed 24 memoranda amounting to $639,420,000 and sent them to the permanent secretary at the Office of the President to be signed

and approved. The money, which was reportedly given to Cummings and subsequently handed over to the then minister, was said to have been requested for activities to be conducted in the 10 administrative regions.

Section 48 and 49 of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act state: “A Minister or official shall not in any manner misuse, misapply, or improperly dispose of public moneys.

“49. (1) If a loss of public moneys should occur and, at the time of that loss, a Minister or official has caused or LAWS OF GUYANA 50 Cap. 73:02 Fiscal Management and Accountability contributed to that loss through misconduct or through deliberate or serious disregard of reasonable standards of care, that Minister or official shall be personally liable to the Government for the amount of the loss.

(2) Where the misconduct or disregard of the person is not the sole cause of the loss referred to in subsection (1), the person shall be liable to pay only so much of the loss as is just and equitable having regard to the person’s share of the responsibility for the loss.”

BAFFLING Sharma said it is baffling as to how a very simple and straightforward case put together by the

ed purpose, noting that although there was evidence in the form of 24 memoranda, which were signed by Dr. Westford, which proved that she requested the sum during the period of 2011-2015, there was no evidence that the money was unlawfully taken by the two women.

It was also noted that there was no evidence to

Junior Finance Minister Jaipaul Sharma Criminal Investigation Department (CID) following advice from the Police Legal Adviser and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) could still have resulted in the wrong charges being instituted.

“They wasted time, they wasted money, they wasted energy, and all of this could have been prevented if they had put the right charge,” Minister Sharma said.

He bemoaned the fact that although a total of 48 witnesses were called during the trial, the State Prosecutor Natasha Backer could not prove her case. “You bring a set of witness that couldn’t support your case,” he questioned.

The magistrate, in handing down her decision, said there was no evidence to prove that the funds were not used for their intend-

Minister Sharma said Dr. Westford and Cummings should not be allowed to walk free after allegedly stealing more than $600M, at a time when teachers are protesting for higher salaries. He posited that once the alleged stolen monies are retrieved in keeping with the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act, that money can be used to increase the salaries of teachers or address social issues within the country.

Reiterating that new charges should be instituted against the former minister and her personnel manager, the junior finance minister posited that something is being done wrong at the in-

Former Public Service Minister Jennifer Westford prove that Cummings collected the money, since there was no affixed signature It was on this basis that the Junior Finance Minister argued that separate charges be instituted against the accounting staff that worked at the Office of the President at the time the money was released. According to him, they are all accessories to the crime.

Margaret Cummings vestigative and prosecutorial end of things.

“We have carried a number of cases before the court

already and failed, Jennifer Westford case is only one, that failed, we are not getting convictions,” he said.

The minister reminded that in October 2017, the conspiracy to procure money charge against former General Manager of the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (NGMC), Nizam Hassan and Felecia De Souza-Madramootoo was dismissed.

In November 2016, former Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Carvil Duncan was found not guilty of theft, after it was ruled that a prima facie case had not been established against him.

Duncan and the company’s then CEO Aerswar Deonarine found themselves in trouble, over the unapproved transfer of approximately $29M to their personal bank accounts from the PetroCaribe fund.

It was alleged that Duncan stole $984,900 from GPL on March 31, 2015 at Georgetown after conspiring with the company’s then DCEO Aerswar Deonarine to commit the act of simple larceny. The former DCEO was also alleged to have conspired with Deonarine to commit a felony – that is to say between May 7 and 8 at Georgetown he conspired to steal GYD$27,757,500, property of GPL.

Aspirin disappoints for preventing first heart attack, stroke TAKING a low-dose aspirin every day has long been known to cut the chances of another heart attack, stroke or other heart problem in people who already have had one, but the risks don’t outweigh the benefits for most other folks, major new research finds.

Although it’s been used for more than a century, aspirin’s value in many situations is still unclear. The latest studies are some of the largest and longest to test this pennies-a-day blood thinner in people who don’t yet have heart disease or a blood vessel-related problem.

One found that aspirin did not help prevent first strokes or heart attacks in people at moderate risk for one because they had several health threats such as smoking, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

Another tested aspirin in people with diabetes, who are more likely to develop or die from heart problems, and found that the modest benefit it gave was offset by a greater risk of serious bleeding.

Aspirin did not help prevent cancer as had been hoped.

And fish oil supplements, also tested in the study of people with diabetes, failed to help.

“There’s been a lot of uncertainty among doctors around the world about prescribing aspirin” beyond those for whom it’s now rec-

ommended, said one study leader, Dr. Jane Armitage of the University of Oxford in England.

“If you’re healthy, it’s probably not worth taking it.”

The research was discussed on Sunday at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Munich.

The aspirin studies used 100 milligrams a day, more than the 81-milligram pills commonly sold in the United States but still considered low dose. Adult strength is 325 milligrams.

WHO’S REALLY AT RISK? A Boston-led study gave aspirin or dummy pills to 12,546 people who were thought to have a moderate risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke within a decade because of other health issues.

After five years, four percent of each group had suffered a heart problem — far fewer than expected, suggesting these people were actually at low risk, not moderate. Other medicines they were taking to lower blood pressure and cholesterol may have cut their heart risk so much that aspirin had little chance of helping more, said the study leader, Dr. J Michael Gaziano of Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

One percent of aspirin takers had stomach

or intestinal bleeding, mostly mild— twice as many as those on dummy pills. Aspirin users also had more nosebleeds, indigestion, reflux or belly pain.

Bayer sponsored the study, and many researchers consult for the aspirin maker.

Results were published by the journal Lancet.

ASPIRIN FOR PEOPLE WITH DIABETES? People with diabetes have a higher risk of heart problems and strokes from a blood clot, but also a higher risk of bleeding. Guidelines vary on which of them should consider aspirin.

Oxford researchers randomly assigned 15,480 adults with Type 1 or 2 diabetes but otherwise in good health and with no history of heart problems to take either aspirin, 1 gram of fish oil, both substances, or dummy pills every day.

After seven and a half years, there were fewer heart problems among aspirin users but more cases of serious bleeding, so they largely traded one risk for another.

FISH OIL RESULTS The same study also tested omega-3 fatty

acids, the good oils found in salmon, tuna and other fish. Supplement takers fared no better than those given dummy capsules — nine per cent of each group suffered a heart problem.

“We feel very confident that there doesn’t seem to be a role for fish oil supplements for preventing heart disease,” said study leader Dr. Louise Bowman of the University of Oxford.

The British Heart Foundation was the study’s main sponsor. Bayer and Mylan provided aspirin and fish oil, respectively. Results were published by the New England Journal of Medicine.

Other studies are testing different amounts and prescription versions of fish oil, “but I can’t tell people go spend your money on it; we think it’s probably better to eat fish,” said Dr. Holly Andersen, a heart disease prevention specialist at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell who was not involved in the study.

The new research doesn’t alter guidelines on aspirin or fish oil, said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center and an American Heart Association spokeswoman.

They recommend fish oil only for certain heart failure patients and say it’s reasonable to consider for people who have already suffered a heart attack. (AP)

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Gunman kills four at video Myanmar court to game tournament in Florida deliver verdicts on jailed Reuters reporters

Pope begs forgiveness for ‘state of shame’ inflicted on Ireland

DUBLIN/KNOCK, Ireland (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday begged forgiveness for the multitude of abuses suffered by victims in Ireland at the hand of the church over decades, as he concluded a tour of the once deeply Catholic country watched by parishioners and protesters.

After meeting privately with abuse victims on Saturday on the first papal visit to Ireland in almost four decades, Francis apologised to mothers estranged from their children in church-run homes, children abused by priests and those exploited in religious schools, calling it a “state of shame.”

“To survivors of abuse of power, conscience and sexual abuse, recognising what they have told me, I would like to put these crimes before the mercy of the Lord and ask

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

forgiveness for them,” Francis told a mass attended by more than 100,000 people at Dublin’s Phoenix Park.

“We apologise for some members of the hierarchy who did not take care of these painful situations and kept silent.”

Years of sexual abuse scandals have shattered the credibility of the Church which four decades ago dominated Irish society. In the past three years, Irish voters have approved abortion and gay marriage in referendums, defying the Vatican.

Pressure on the Pope over church abuse increased elsewhere on Sunday, when a former top Vatican official accused Francis of having known of allegations of sex abuse by a prominent U.S. cardinal for five years before accepting his resignation last month.

YANGON (Reuters) - A court in Myanmar is set to hand down verdicts on Monday in the case of two Reuters journalists accused of obtaining secret state documents.

Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, are charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

The court in Yangon has been holding hearings since January. The reporters and one police witness for the prosecution have testified that they were set up by police to block or punish them for their reporting of a mass killing of Rohingya Muslims.

The verdict will be delivered amid growing pressure on Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her government over an army crackdown that began last August. Around 700,000

Rohingya have since fled the western state of Rakhine to neighbouring Bangladesh, according to United Nations agencies.

Soldiers are accused of mass killings, rape, and arson in a campaign the U.N. has called a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

Myanmar denies most of the allegations, but has acknowledged the killing of 10 Rohingya men and boys by troops and Buddhist civilians in the village of Inn Din that the two Reuters reporters had been investigating when they were arrested.

During eight months of hearings, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have testified that two policemen they had not met before handed them papers rolled up inside a newspaper during a meeting at a Yangon restaurant on Dec. 12. Almost immediately afterwards, they said, they were bundled into a car by plainclothes officers.

In April, Police Captain Moe Yan Naing testified that a senior officer had ordered his subordinates to plant secret documents on Wa Lone to “trap” the reporter.

Other police witnesses have told the court that the reporters were searched at a routine traffic stop by officers who were unaware they were journalists and found to be holding secret documents from an unknown source.

The verdict is due on the same day that a U.N mandated fact-finding mission will release its report on the Rohingya crisis. On Tuesday, the United Nations Security Council will hold a briefing on Myanmar in New York.

REUTERS - A gunman killed four people and wounded several others on Sunday when he opened fire at a video game tournament that was being streamed online from a restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida, police and local media said.

Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said one white male suspect was dead at the scene.

He declined to comment on what led to the third major mass shooting to hit Florida in the last two years.

Dozens of ambulances and police cars flooded into The Jacksonville Landing, a waterfront dining, entertainment and shopping site in the city’s downtown, after several shots rang out on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

The shooting took place during a regional qualifier for the Madden 19 online game tournament at the GLHF Game Bar inside a Chicago Pizza restaurant, according to the venue’s website.

The bar was livestreaming the competition when the gun-

fire started, according to video of the stream shared on social media. In the video, players can be seen reacting to the shots and cries can be heard before the footage cuts off.

One Twitter user, Drini Gjoka, said he was taking part in the tournament and was shot in the thumb.

“Worst day of my life,” Gjoka wrote on Twitter. “I will never take anything for granted ever again. Life can be cut short in a second.”

The Los Angeles Times reported the shooter was a gamer who was competing in the tournament and lost. Citing messages from another player in the room, the Times said the gunman appeared to target several victims before killing himself. Reuters could not immediately confirm that account of events.

The Florida shooting occurs amid a debate about U.S. gun laws that was given fresh impetus by the massacre in February of 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida.

Zimbabwe’s president takes oath as U.S. censure hangs over vote HARARE (REUTERS) - Emmerson Mnangagwa urged Zimbabwe to unite behind his presidency on Sunday, as he took the oath of office following a divisive election that U.S. observers said had called the country’s democratic credentials into question.

The Constitutional Court confirmed Mnangagwa as president on Friday, dismissing a challenge by the man he beat in the July 30 ballot, Nelson Chamisa.

Thousands of Zimbabweans,

some bussed in, and foreign leaders including South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa and Paul Kagame of Rwanda gathered at Harare’s national stadium for Sunday’s swearing-in.

“I exhort us to commit ourselves collectively to develop our motherland... what unites us is greater than what could ever divide us,” Mnangagwa told election participants in his inauguration speech.

He also reaffirmed pre-election pledges to revive Zimbabwe’s crippled economy and settle outstanding debts with foreign lenders, and reiterated he would call an independent inquiry into a “regrettable and unacceptable” army crackdown following the vote in which six people died.

“Now is the time for us all to unite as a nation and grow our economy,” Mnangagwa said.

He took the oath before Chief Justice Luke Malaba who, together with eight other judges, had ruled on Friday against opposition leader Chamisa’s petition.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

US relaxes Cuba travel advisory

WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) — The United States Department of State has toned down its travel advisory for Cuba.

The State Department on Friday reduced its advisory to the Spanish-speaking Caribbean island from Level 3, “reconsider travel,” to Level 2, “exercise increased caution.”

According to the State Department ratings, Level 1 means “exercise normal pre-

cautions,” and Level 4 means “do not travel.”

Under the revised travel advisory, the State Department urged Americans to “exercise increased caution in Cuba due to attacks targeting US Embassy Havana employees resulting in the drawdown of embassy staff.

“Numerous US Embassy Havana employees appear to have been targeted in specific attacks,” it said, adding:

“We are unable to identify the source. Many of these employees have suffered injuries.”

The State Department said affected individuals have exhibited a range of physical symptoms, including ear complaints and hearing loss, dizziness, headaches, fatigue, cognitive issues, visual problems and difficulty sleeping.

It said attacks have occurred in US diplomatic residences, including a long-term

apartment at the Atlantic, and at Hotel Nacional and Hotel Capri in Havana, the Cuban capital.

The State Department said the US Embassy in Havana is operating with reduced staffing.

It also said family members cannot accompany US government employees who work in Cuba.

“If you decide to travel to Cuba, avoid Hotel Nacional

and Hotel Capri,” the advisory said. “If you experience any acute auditory or sensory phenomena, immediately move to another area.

“Know where to seek medical care in Cuba,” it added. “Consult with a medical professional prior to travelling if you have personal health concerns or upon return if you believe you have suffered symptoms similar to those listed above.”

OAS General Secretariat urges Caribbean to ignore extradition requests from Venezuela WASHINGTON – The General Secretariat of the Organisation of American States (OAS) is urging Caribbean and other countries in the hemisphere to ignore all acts by the Supreme Court of Justice in Venezuela, including extradition requests.

The OAS General Secretariat said that the only democratic institutions in Venezuela, “due to their constitutional origin, their

composition in accordance with constitutional procedures and their functions,” are the National Assembly; the legitimate Supreme Court of Justice and the Attorney General.

“Only the acts of these three institutions have the legitimacy and legality that demand compliance by all state entities in Venezuela, and their validation by the Inter-American and international community,” the

OAS said in a statement.

It said: “Venezuela is a dictatorship, the National Constituent Assembly was elected through fraud, and the Executive Power and the Electoral Power have illegitimate origins, and the procedures for the composition of their highest magistrates have been either unconstitutional or fraudulent.”

In addition to principles and values, the OAS said

“there is a need to translate the legal and political consequences of the breakdown of the institutional order in Venezuela into practice.

“In recent days, we have witnessed spurious extradition requests made by the illegitimate supreme court of justice of the dictatorship headed by its illegal president Maikel Moreno,” the OAS General Secretariat said.

It said “these ‘extradition requests,’ linked to the alleged attack against Nicolás Maduro, are flawed and should be ignored by the international community because the body that issues them is fraudulent, its members are impostors, and their positions illegal”.

Opposition parties have been staging street demonstrations to force the Maduro government out of office. (CMC)

PAHO urges increase in vaccinations against measles

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Member States of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) are being urged to rapidly increase their vaccination coverage.

According to PAHO’s Director, Carissa F. Etienne while the 34 PAHO states remain measles free, endemic transmission of the virus has now been re-established in Venezuela and vaccination is needed to stop further spread of measles throughout the region.

“It is vital that we continue vaccinating in order to reach more than 95 per cent of our children everywhere,” said Etienne.

“We must also strengthen national epidemiological surveillance and establish rapid response teams to expeditiously manage suspected cases, prevent new cases and halt outbreaks. These measures to sustain elimination were agreed to by Ministers of Health in 2017. These commitments must be renewed.”

The Dominican- born PAHO director says measles

circulation in other regions of the world has always represented an on-going threat to the Americas, as imported cases can reintroduce the virus among unvaccinated individuals.

In 2017, there were 149 142 cases of measles reported globally, with the Americas accounting for just 0.6 per cent of all cases.

In July 2017, Venezuela reported the first cases of this current measles outbreak and confirmed that this outbreak was due to a virus strain that was originally reported in Asia and later in Europe.

As of this week, Venezuela has reported 3 545 confirmed cases of measles, including 62 deaths.

A further ten countries in the region have reported a total of 1459 confirmed cases and six deaths.

In the Americas, coverage rates for the first dose of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine are currently less than 95 per cent.

In addition, lower immunisation coverage has been

observed in some municipalities and in specific settlements.

Vaccination coverage rates for children age five years and under must be 95 per cent or greater among all populations in order to maintain elimination.

PAHO says along with its partner agencies, it is working with Venezuela to increase vaccination coverage, strengthen epidemiological surveillance and interrupt transmission.

The organisation has also mobilised financial resources to support the purchase of vaccines, other supplies and technical cooperation activities to help Venezuela and other affected countries halt the spread of measles.

In 2016, the Region of the Americas became the first in the world to obtain the measles elimination certification, following years of concerted efforts to vaccinate children.

PAHO says most countries in the Americas Region

reported their last endemic cases more than 18 years ago.

“However, the fact that a disease has been eliminated does not mean that it no longer exists, it simply means that it does not circulate in a specific area” the Health organisation said in a statement on Friday.

A country is no longer considered to be measles free when the same type of virus has been circulating for more than 12 continuous months. (CMC)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

Pushing back against violent crimes

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E C E N T LY, there has been a perceived or actual increase in incidents of violent crimes, in which robbery was the primary motive.

Unfortunately, such an effect is an ironic and undesirable but hopefully temporary side effect of the government’s clampdown on organised criminal activity, in contrast to with the former regime’s enablement of criminal enterprises.

The fact that everyone has needs is understood.

People need food, shelter, clothing, companionship, and other necessities. Money can buy most if not all of those necessities. In order to obtain money, most people work. However, some turn to crime, and they may use violence in the commission of such crime.

Psychologists agree that “normal” persons do not wake up one day and sud-

denly decide to become violent criminals; there must, therefore, be some explanation of that behaviour.

Early thinkers such as Sigmund Freud, B.F. Skinner and Ronald Akers approached the problem from different angles, but, simply put, they all concluded that there must be pre-existing psychological factors.

That school of thought has since been corroborated by recent findings, one of which has to do with a psychological abnormality called anti-social personality disorder (APD).

It has been determined that, worldwide, about 2 to 3 per cent of persons may be characterised as having some level of APD. The incidence of the disorder is higher among prison populations, and astronomically elevated among violent criminal offenders. There is, therefore, a correlation between APD and violent behaviour.

APD has been shown to have a genetic basis; children who grow up to exhibit symptoms have a tendency to be cruel to animals and other children.

Adults with the disorder usually lack the ability to feel empathy or remorse.

They may often break social rules and violate social norms, and exhibit delusional or paranoid thinking.

They frequently engage in high-risk behaviour, and may abuse drugs. They usually crave instant gratification. And, importantly, they have a high tendency to become violent. Consequently, those factors make it difficult for them to keep jobs.

Combine those personality traits with the fact that everyone has needs, and what one has is an explosive situation. Sociologist Robert Merton has shown that a person with such a pre-existing biological personality disorder, who

is exposed to a social environment of abuse, neglect, extreme poverty, or other traumatic experience(s), may be more likely than others to commit violent crime. And committing crime for gain (robbery), becomes probable.

And now we come to the question of how an increase in violent crime correlates with government policy.

A person who commits crime for gain, or any crime for that matter, does not want to be caught.

Therefore, that person may engage in drug running, trafficking in persons or any other criminal activity that has the potential of producing a high yield, while having a relatively low risk of capture. There is overwhelming evidence that during the previous regime, under the leadership of Bharrat Jagdeo, there was a proliferation of such criminal syndicates.

It would, therefore, have been relatively easy for crime-prone persons to find a place within criminal organisations and enterprises.

Now, on the other hand, the current administration has put a stop to state-facilitated crime. There are no more State-protected drug lords; no more State-run death squads; no more State-enabled cellphone-tracking computers.

So, the criminals who once enjoyed a life of luxury with their ill-gotten gains are suddenly without income. And, given their psychological propensities, they certainly will not seek honest employment.

What alternative are they left, then?

Such individuals, having a psychological predisposition to violence and being used to a life of crime, will, naturally, continue their criminal conduct, though, necessarily, in a less organised way, by

attempting to fulfil their material needs through robbery. Although violent robbery has a higher probability of capture, they believe that they have no choice.

Considering the foregoing, law enforcement, and by extension the government, should consider the problem of violent robberies from a scientific perspective. If the preceding analysis has merit, then, if we do not have the expertise to address the problem, we must work to acquire it. We must work towards prevention, deterrence, and prevention of recurrence.

After all, too many persons are traumatised by violent robbers; too many tourists are dissuaded from visiting our beautiful country owing to the fear of violence; and too many young men are losing their freedom or their lives because they have taken the wrong path in life.

Chronicle shines at GPA awards -- Vanessa Braithwaite is Young Journalist of the Year

General Manager of the Guyana Chronicle, Sherod Duncan (right), and Administrative Manager Donna Todd with the Chronicle winners. From right: Lisa Hamilton, Navindra Seoraj, Samuel Maughn, Vanessa Braithwaite, Indrawattie Natram, Rabindra Rooplall and Delano Williams (Samuel Maughn photo)

By Svetlana Marshall

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OURNALISTS in Guyana were urged to utilise their unrivalled

power to shape the development of Guyana, when the Guyana Press Association (GPA) hosted its annual awards ceremony, which saw

the Guyana Chronicle securing most of the awards, including the Young Journalist of the Year Award presented to Vanessa Braithwaite.

Eminent Attorney and Director of the Guyana Oil and Gas Association (GOGA) Nigel Hughes, in his address at the Georgetown Club Sunday eve-

ning, challenged journalists to play a more leading role in educating the citizenry on areas of national development, such as the oil-and-gas industry.

“You possess the power to anticipate and head off political disputes, which in

See page 7

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

Chronicle shines ...

Guyana quite often means ethnic or racial contretemps. For example, start the discussion on the issues of what are the critical requirements for the loca-

underscored the critical role of the media in educating the populace.

“Our work is not mere reportage, but we are teachers and vessels

Young Journalist of the Year.

Braithwaite, who is the Guyana Chronicle’s Linden correspondent, also secured the top spot in the

awarded the Young Journalist of the Year Award, I still consider myself a baby in the media, being less than three years old. I would like to thank

Young Journalist of the Year Vanessa Braithwaite receiving her top prize from prominent attorney Nigel Hughes (Samuel Maughn photo)

tion of shore bases before some politician drags it into a sphere of ethnic discourse, about whether the chosen location is to satisfy some particular set of voters,” Hughes urged.

He reminded the journalists that they are the most critical elements in framing the discussion on development of the oiland-gas industry and the future of Guyana.

“You possess the unrivalled power to shape the development of your country. Use it for this purpose rather than lend support to talking heads which are sometimes focused on making political points, spreading gloom and doom without presenting alternative solutions and approaches,” Hughes stated.

President of the Guyana Press Association, Nazima Raghubir, said despite many challenges, media operatives across the country remain the eyes and ears of the people.

Like Hughes, Raghubir

of knowledge on various topics. In other cases, our work borders on becoming advocacy and our work becomes key to holding members of civil and political society accountable,” she said.

As a collective force, the media hold a great deal of power, but such should be used in a responsible manner, she said.

“What is important to this is that we recognise that we have responsibilities. We have a responsibility to be fair, balanced and ethical in what we do and say,” Raghubir emphasised.

Turning her attention to the media awards, the second of its kind in recent years, the GPA President disclosed that the 2018 awards attracted 31 media operatives, who submitted a total of 184 entries in 11 categories.

At the end of the awards, Va n e s s a Braithwaite of the Guyana Chronicle emerged at the top after copping a total of seven awards, including

Continued from page 6

people and we should always strive to be balanced and neutral,” Braithwaite said.

Meanwhile, Guyana Chronicle’s Online Editor Alva Solomon secured first place in the Agriculture Category, followed by Devina Samaroo from the Newsroom, and Indrawattie Natram.

In the Business and Finance category, Stabroek News’ Mariah Lall copped the top spot, while the Guyana Chronicle’s Navendra Seoraj came in third.

In the Best Videography category, News Room’s Leon Gonzales and Keon Blades came in first and second respectively.

News Room’s Avinash Ramzan was presented with the Sport Journalist of the Year Award, while Stabroek News’ Royston Alkins came in second, followed by Akreen Green of the News Room.

In the Photography cat-

Coverage, Mariah Lall dominated. Lisa Hamilton of the Guyana Chronicle received third place.

In the Best Feature Category, Braithwaite secured the top spot, while Solomon secured second place, followed by Sharda Bacchus of the Stabroek News. Ravin Singh, formerly of the Guyana Chronicle, received the Best Political Story Award, and Shemuel Fanfair secured the third position.

In the area of Environment and Science, Bacchus secured the top spot, while Lall was adjudged the third best reporter in this category. For Human Rights Issues, the Guyana Chronicle’s Deputy Chief Reporter Rabindra Rooplall secured the top spot, followed by Bibi Khatoon from the News Room and Lakhram Bhagirat of the Guyana Times.

In the category of Investigative Journalism, Seoraj secured second,

A section of the audience at the Guyana Press Association Media Awards ceremony and Dinner (Samuel Maughn photo)

Best Feature and Investigative Journalist categories. The Lindener came in second in the Business and Finance; Political Issues; Environmental and Science Issues; Arts and Culture categories.

“I feel very elated to be

God who always provides me with the wisdom to write my stories. To tell the stories of the voiceless has been my recent passion and I will continue to strive to be the voice of the voiceless. I believe that journalism is about the

egory, Keno George, formerly of Stabroek News, was crowned Photographer of the Year, while Samuel Maughn and Delano Williams, both of the Guyana Chronicle came in second and third respectively.

For Arts and Culture

while Bacchus came in third. Fanfair copped second place in the Young Journalist of the Year category, followed

by Bhagirat who was placed third. No entry was submitted in the Oil and Gas category.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

Bradford disappointed –– but remains optimistic for resumption of yachting rally

By Lisa Hamilton REGION Seven Chairman Gordon Bradford is disappointed that the view of Guyana as a “safe haven” yachting destination has this year changed.

The chairman expressed his view after the sixth annual International Nereid’s Rally scheduled for September was cancelled , due to fears of piracy attacks, attributed to sensational media reportage on the matter.

What began this year as some 15 yachts with international guests expected to visit the country ended up as the “sudden, short-notice withdrawal of 11 yachts” made public by release from the Hurakabra River Resort, which was scheduled to host the event’s welcoming ceremony.

“It’s a huge disappointment for us in terms of our vision of development that we have for the region, especially Bartica. At the last tourism

Region Seven Chairman Gordon Bradford workshop, we had chosen Bartica as a yachting destination as our flagship project and [the idea] was actually born out of the Nereid’s Rally,” the chairman told this newspaper.

He said that around 2003, four yachts visited the area where they were welcomed and since then, they have been returning each year from as far as New Zealand, Sweden and Great Britain, each

time with increasing numbers.

“We are in talks with the guy that initiated that sail up the Essequibo with the four yachts. He has a yacht marina in French Guiana, so when he came here and saw the pristine conditions of our Essequibo River and the Mazaruni River; the calmness of the water and the fact that we are not prone to hurricanes and so on, he had discussions with us about how the area was seen as a safe haven for yachts, as a destination they can come,” Bradford recalled.

The regional chairman added that an area had been temporarily identified for the construction of a yacht marina and jetty to better accommodate the boats, and it was being proposed that funding for such should come from the 2019 budget.

“I would have ensured in our 2019 budget that we would have budgeted for the construction of a jetty and that is for when

the yachts would come in and they use these smaller craft to leave the yachts and come ashore to get supplies or to go on tour.

“Because when they moor [smaller craft] on the beach, sometimes they get punctured from bottles or metals or wood. So, we saw it fit in the budget for this jetty,” Bradford explained.

STILL HOPEFUL Although the yachtsmen have since opted not to come to Guyana this year, Bradford says that he has not given up hope.

While providing a nature getaway for the visitors, he is positive that it can significantly boost the local tourism, hotel and transportation industries.

“We see [the possibility for] a vibrant industry.

If we can get hundreds of yachts to come down this way, it would mean a tremendous economic boost to Bartica and our region, because when these yachts come down they spend, sometimes, months and they would do repairs on sections of their boats… sometimes they would send for their families to come down to be with them so the hotel industry, transportation industry and restaurants, you name it, benefit,” he said.

The regional chairman added that compared to the non-renewable mining, quarrying and logging industries that the region depends on, “tourism takes away nothing from you.”

The region will move ahead with the proposal for the funds to create a marina/jetty for the yachtsmen, as Bradford remains positive that the

negative ‘cloud’ which drove the foreigners away will eventually disappear, clearing the way for a brighter future.

“I hope this year things will level out and next year we will see a renewal of that rally,” he said.

Bradford added: “We hope that we get [the funding], because we also at this end have to show our seriousness.

We just can’t fold up, we have to show seriousness that we want to have this tourism developed in our region… and when our partners in French Guiana, Grenada, Trinidad, St, Lucia, you name it, when that hits the news and they see that we’re preparing, then it might encourage others to come down and be a part,” he said.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

Nineteen Cuba-trained doctors graduate

By Vanessa Braithwaite

NINETEEN newly trained doctors, who recently returned from Cuba, graduated on Sunday at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre amid a gathering of families and friends. The young physicians were reminded to play an integral role in the development of Guyana’s health sector.

The Cuba-trained doctors spent seven years training in general medicine and will complement the hundreds already in the public health sector. Of the 19 graduates, 11 are Guyanese, four are from St Kitts and Nevis, one from Malaysia and three from St Lucia.

Giving the feature address, Public Service Department representative Vincent Alexander urged the graduates to shun individualism and cultivate a spirit of community service.

“The cost is historic, because we have had to overcome many hurdles and many obstacles to keep this relationship going; the people of Guyana and the people of Cuba had to insist to make this possible… we need to understand that this is about community, it is not just about you, individual doctors, it is about community, a community of Guyanese,

The Cuba-trained doctors taking the Hippocratic Oath on Saturday night a community of Cubans and community of progressive people, who have been able to forge the kind of relationship that made the way possible,” Alexander noted.

He further reminded them that as licensed medical doctors, it means that they are now beginning the process and it is therefore important for them to continue their professional education and should use every opportunity to learn from those who would have gone before

them. Issues of remuneration and facilities should not come foremost in their minds, but about providing health service second to none to the community, Alexander said.

He added: “You should always recognise that you are giving a service to humanity and a service to community-and this service impacts your whole lives.”

Alexander spoke of the psychology of medicine and how simple decorum and communication can affect a

Hundreds benefit from Digicel’s back-to-school drive OVER 300 Linden pupils were beneficiaries of Digicel’s back-to-school outreach held in Amelia’s Ward, Linden, on Saturday.

The children enjoyed a day filled with fun activities including games and face-painting.

They also benefited from grooming services such as barbering and dental services.

The children were treated with snacks and went away with backpacks filled with school supplies, including books and stationery.

While this is not the first back-to-school outreach Digicel has hosted, it was their first to be held in Linden.

“This event was geared at giving back mainly to the children; hosting a back-to-

school outreach like this in Linden has been on the cards for sometime now. This is the perfect time to do it with just a few weeks left for the summer holiday. Fostering youth and community development is one area that we at Digicel are pleased to support,” said Digicel (Guyana) CEO, Gregory Dean.

Parents praised the kind gesture by Digicel and said they would like to see more events of the kind in the mining town.

“I am a Digicel customer from day one and it is good to see them here in Linden today, in my home town,” said one parent.

In 2016, Digicel hosted their first backto-school outreach and over 500 children benefitted.

Linden students flock Digicel’s back- to-school event

patient’s confidence in their diagnosis and treatment given by a doctor.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Karen Boyle, urged the graduates to display humility since they can learn so much from subordinates such as veteran nurses, nurses’ aids and even cleaners.

BE READY AT ALL TIMES “We are all part of a team, everyone has a role to

play and we depend on each other, we are each other’s keeper,” she urged. Boyle encouraged them to not only show up for work, but to be present, to be engaged mentally, physically and emotionally.

With the ministry’s stride to push preventative medicinal measures, the doctors were told to not only focus on treatment, but to educate and to change patients’ ways of life so that they may not be patients again.

She further urged them to be compassionate and to see themselves as the patient on the other side of the desk, since it is a noble profession.

Guyana’s Ambassador to Cuba, Halim Majeed, in a short address also reminded the graduates that their graduation is the beginning of a journey that has to be resupplied constantly, so that they can continue to provide optimum service.

He urged them to reject mediocrity and cultivate a passion for excellence. To achieve excellence, the new doctors were told to inculcate virtues of humility, leadership and inclusiveness.

Majeed expressed gratitude to the Government of Cuba for continuing to facilitate the programme.

Valedictorian Sodavie Naraine described the sev-

en-year journey as hectic and thanked her parents and grandparents who were her main support, as well as her colleagues who stood together and her lecturers who coached her.

Coming to the end, she said that the days were long and the nights longer, but the sacrifice paid off and now her dream has come through. She expressed appreciation to the Government of Guyana and the Government of Cuba for hand-picking them out of hundreds of applications and making their careers possible. Naraine, along with her 18 other colleagues, took the Hippocratic Oath, signalling a start to their careers.

There are currently 62 students studying in Cuba, 22 of whom are pursuing specialised fields. On Monday, 13 more students will be commencing their sevenyear journey.

Also present at the graduation ceremony were permanent secretary of the Department of the Public Service, Reginald Brotherson; Head of the Medical Brigade, Dr. Tatianna Garcua, Embassy of Cuba (Guyana); Charge d’ affaires Llanio Gonzalez; and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud.

Taxi driver admits shuttling men who killed Bourda vendor A 34-year-old taxi driver of Eccles, East Bank Demerara, who was arrested by police on Saturday has admitted under interrogation to shuttling the three men who were responsible for the murder of well-known Bourda Market vendor Troy Ramalho.

Ramalho, of 11 North Road, Lacytown, Georgetown, was shot around 23:00hrs on August 15, 2018, after he resisted the three men who were robbing him.

The 45-year-old Troy Ramalho who was well known for selling cheese and eggs in front of “Rambarrans” on Robb Street, in close proximity to Bourda Street, was doing what he had been doing for over two decades, when the three bandits, one armed with a gun, ambushed him.

Reports indicate that police acting on intelligence arrested the taxi driver in Buxton, East Coast Demerara, on Saturday.

He reportedly told the police he picked up the men at Demico, Stabroek George-

Dead: Troy Ramalho town and they had asked him to drive to Robb Street, Georgetown where the men identified their victim.

The bandits, known by the alias “Digout”, “Roy”, and “Bucky,” are being sought by police.

The taxi driver allegedly told police that the men whom he met several months ago asked him to park on Alexander Street between Regent Street and North Road.

The bandits then exited and a short while after he heard loud explosions that sounded like gunshots and he saw the trio running towards the car.

In his getaway dash at the junction of Camp Street and North Road, a car slammed into his vehicle, causing it to spin and one of the men fell out. In the process, he saw the man run off and he then sped away, dropping off the other two at their Albouystown addresses.

The following day he collected $40,000 and decided to hide in Dairy,West Bank Demerara. The police have since seized the vehicle, which is in police custody as investigations continue.

Ramalho was wearing a large quantity of gold jewellery on the night he was killed.

One eyewitness claims that there was some pulling and tugging between Ramalho and the trio, before he (witness) realised what was going on. There was a gunshot and Ramalho fell to the ground, after which two of the bandits stood over him and relieved him of his valuables.

“I couldn’t believe that is what they do to Rastaman,” the witness reflected.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

Sixteen, but still a child

T

HE law in Guyana states that 16 is the legal age at which a child can have consensual sex. This law is somewhat connected to the marriage law, which states that a child can marry at 16 with parental consent.

However, at 16, children are not emotionally or physically mature enough to embark on a full-blown adult relationship. At this age, teenagers are still developing, in fact their brains are not fully developed until they are well into their 20s (around age 25). Intellectually, a 16- year- old may sound bright and sure of him/ herself, but there is still a lot of growing up to be done socially, emotional-

ly, and psychologically, which eventually will lead to maturity. Therefore any adult, male or female, who has sex with a 16- year- old, although they are not technically breaking the law, they are still taking advantage of a child and due to the disparity in age, they can be labelled a paedophile.

Once a child starts having sexual intercourse, it opens up a whole new world of sensuality that tends to overshadow the essence of adolescence.

Adolescence is a time when young people tend to reach the height of their social activities. They should be seeking to find ‘themselves’ and their place in life: They should be setting and aiming for goals, testing their

abilities and taking a good look at the world around them, while they begin to make plans for how they would like to live their future. The bottom line is, adolescence should be about getting to know one’s self and gaining the confidence to move forward and attain what one wants out of life, (not motherhood or fatherhood).

Parents who understand this, do their best to keep their children on the right path. They make sure their children get a sound education and continue to guide them towards their chosen goal(s). Even if the child is not academically inclined, once he/she has a basic education there are many practical careers and trades that young people could

choose from that are highly beneficial. This ‘grounding’ in a young person’s upbringing has far more long-term significance than any early sexual encounters can serve; not forgetting of course, the many potential dangers attached to early sex.

Children who have sex early are not prepared for the psychological effects that go along with the act, as a result they tend to lose focus, and sometimes even their direction in life. Some girls clearly get involved in various sexual relationships because they have missed out on some socio/emotional or psychological element of their development. They might feel unattractive, unwanted, or simply, having lacked a father figure in their development; subconsciously therefore, they just want someone to care for them, so by way of compensation they fill their void with sex. This is commonly known as ‘looking for ‘love’ in all the wrong

places’. Of course, because the child is immature, she will not see the error of or reasons for, her decision, until she is much older; and then, only if she is able to make the link at all.

At 16, children still need to be guided and nurtured by adults and even when a girl becomes a child bride (16 – 18), it doesn’t make her into a woman, she is still a child in need of guidance and support (preferably parental). So many young people have had unprotected sex before reaching the age of consent, and have ended up with babies. But what do these children know about being parents? How can they play a parental role to a child, when they are still in need of parenting, themselves?

If you are a parent of a pre-adolescent or adolescent child, help them to want more out of life than just settling for a sexual relationship with someone and/or making children early in life. In the case

of girlchildren, regardless of how much money or material wealth a mature man may have, do not sell your girlchild short, by marrying them off young and subsequently robbing them of their childhood and the opportunity of reaching their full potential. It is indeed a powerful person who is able to stand on his/ her own two feet and fend for themselves in an honest and upright way; let that be your child, sex can wait. Do your best for your child, so that he/she will grow into a self-sufficient, self- reliant and well-rounded, confident person who embarks on family life when they are mature enough and well prepared for what it entails.

If you are concerned about the welfare of a child call the Childcare and Protection Hotline on 227 0979 or write to us at childcaregy@gmail.com A message from the Childcare and Protection Agency, Ministry of Social Protection.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

Community mental health movement needed in Guyana –– Psychologist looks at mother who killed toddler

By Rabindra Rooplall

THERE is need for a community mental health movement in Guyana as the mental health stigma is pervasive in society and is internalised by individuals, often resulting and manifesting itself in several different forms.

This is the view of Psychologist Wil Campbell, in the aftermath of a mother of two who was arrested on Saturday after stabbing her three-year-old son to death at Foulis, East Coast Demerara.

The mother, 26-year-old Brenda Ferreira, a housewife, was seen running behind her son Ramdeo Mahadeo with a knife in her hand, and eyewitnesses claimed to have seen the woman thrusting the knife repeatedly into the child’s back.

The psychologist said in order to understand how stigma interferes in the lives of individuals with mental health and drug-use conditions, it is essential to examine current definitions, theories, and research in this area, especially in Guyana.

He said that when people become comfortable discussing mental health issues, persons can then notice various symptoms in others and even their neighbours and encourage them to seek the necessary specialists.

“As it is now, if we see our neighbour behaving in a strange manner, we mumble among ourselves and we leave them alone, because nobody is comfortable raising this issue and so after something happens, when it blows up, then people say you know there was always something wrong with that person, the person always seems to be a little off; nobody recognised the mental illness and nobody was willing to raise the issue, so we have to make people comfortable with dealing with these issues,” the psychologist said.

He explained that social stigma is structural in society and can create barriers for persons with a mental or behavioural disorder.

Structural means that stigma is a belief held by a large section of society in which persons with the stigmatised condition are less equal, or are part of an inferior group. In this context, stigma is embedded in the social framework to create inferiority.

This belief system, he noted, may result in unequal access to treatment services or the creation of policies that disproportionately and differentially affect the population. Social stigma can also cause disparities in access to basic services and needs.

In police custody: Brenda Ferreira Further, Campbell said mental health issues need to be promoted until they are commonplace to the point where different forms of mental illnesses become household names.

“As long as there is that taboo, that mystique, that superstition surrounding mental health issues, it will be hard to say to someone, ‘well, you know if you feel this is happening to you, you need to go to the psychiatric ward,’ then people are not going to pay attention and no one is going to be motivated or bold enough having other people see them visiting the psychiatric ward,” he explained.

The psychologist suggested that mental health conditions are pervasive and the burden of these condi-

DDL records $1.5B profit –– in first quarter this year

LOCAL beverage giant, the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), has recorded a 15 per cent increase in profit before tax and improvement in its turnover (sales) for the first half of 2018.

According to the company’s interim report, the profit

for the first half was $1.5 billion, an increase of $204 million from the preceding year.

It was evident in the report that the company’s increased turnover might have led to the boost in profit.

“During this period [first half], the group continued

to develop its international markets, while diversifying its operations on the domestic market,” said the company.

Turnover for the first half of 2018 was $10.2 billion, compared to $9.055 billion the previous years, representing an increase of

Psychologist Wil Campbell

tions is expected to grow.

As such, individuals need to receive the specialised treatment they need, as individuals often do not seek services and frequently do not remain in care once they begin.

While stigma remains evident in society, within individuals themselves, and among health professionals, the ethical problem of health professional stigma places an additional barrier on clients who seek needed mental health services.

Further, Campbell who is also a professional counselor,

said mental health practitioners must be trained at a higher level than is currently done.

“We need people with PHDs and the least is Masters Level in psychology and psychiatry, so that treatment is widely available.

Even though health-seeking behaviours are not commonplace, those few practitioners that are available are swamped,” the psychologist said.

Noting that more focus should be placed on training, he said that the University

of Guyana is establishing a department of psychology which is a great move to churn out well trained specialists emerging from the institution.

Adding that misplacing persons in the field will not have any positive results, he said social workers are not psychologists and psychologists are not psychiatrists.

“We need people at various levels and various branches of professions to be trained, so that people can get help at the point of their need,” he said.

Campbell holds a Masters in psychology and even though he conducts general counselling, he focuses on marriage and family.

$1.1 billion or 13 per cent.

In the domestic market, sales increased by almost nine per cent, while on the international market, the group’s turnover increased by more than 20 per cent.

Although there were increased returns, the company continued to improve its capacity by expending over $652 million in the acquisition of capital assets.

According to DDL, the assets were specially acquired for expansion and modernisation of the com-

pany’s operations.

The major project in progress at the end of the period was the construction of a modern warehouse for Distribution Services Limited at Diamond, East Bank Demerara. It is expected that this project will be completed in the last quarter of this year.

There are several other projects aimed at further diversifying and modernising the group’s operations at various stages of the planning process, the report said,

noting that these investments are vital for the sustainability and expansion of future earnings of the company.

In addition to funding capital expenditure programmes, the group reduced its loan and overdraft balances by more than $1.4 billion during the first half of 2018, all from self-generated funds.

The company credited the results to the commitment and hard work of its employees who operate at all levels.

A shocked 50-year-old Shamlall Mahadeo, Ferreira’s husband, with his eldest son after the attack.

12

Unemployment being reduced

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

–– through community projects, technical programmes, says President Granger

PRESIDENT David Granger said unemployment is being reduced through the promotion of self-employment, pointing out that over 400 community projects are being financed to the tune of $3.7B under the Sustainable Livelihoods and Entrepreneurial Development (SLED) programme.

“Most young people, if

given the training and opportunity, want to work and we must help them with the training and with the resources and opportunities,” he said, noting that the emancipated spirit is not daunted since villages also benefited from these many opportunities.

He also noted that the government has been building capacity to get youths

prepared for the world of work or, to empower them in becoming entrepreneurs through various channels such as technical and vocational institutes, as well as micro-financing programmes such as the Hinterland Employment and Youth Service (HEYS) and the Linden Enterprise Network (LEN).

The President was at the time speaking at the Cuffy

Hebrew Family Drummers entertaining the audience with African drumming

250 sixth annual ‘State of the African Guyanese’ forum on Sunday, held under the theme: “Positioning African Guyanese Villages and Communities for the Green State Economy”.

In an effort to sift out the problems stifling African village development, the programme was geared at equipping the villagers with the knowledge, skills and technical assistance needed in various enterprising and diversifying fields to empower themselves economically, but more so, in a way that will contribute significantly to Guyana’s Sustainable Development Strategy (GSDS).

Villages will then be self-empowered and self-emancipated through self-activity.

President Granger said villages are the cradles of culture and production of agriculture which contributed significantly to Guyana’s development.

He said strides need to be taken to prevent the villages from being wiped out by urbanisation and that can only be done through empowerment.

DENIALISM The President noted that one of the major factors dampening village development is denialism and encouraged villagers to admit problems, so as to prescribe solutions. Denialism, he said, is dangerous to progression.

“We should not allow the disease of denialism to undermine our self-esteem and self-respect, because that will obstruct us from searching and further implementing the right solutions. There are problems, we should not deny that they are problems because if we deny there are problems, we will never arrive at the correct solutions,” Granger noted.

One major problem is in the education sector since each year 2669 students drop out of school. Many were as a result of the unavailability

President David Granger addressing the audience at the Cuffy 250 Committee annual forum of affordable transportation.

The government has stepped in to help, providing assistance through the Five Bs programme. Not only are hundreds of children going to school now, but millions of dollars are re-circulated into the household to finance other aspects of the children’s well-being.

Giving an overview of the GSDS was Eustace Alexander who urged the villagers to position themselves in order to benefit from the many objectives that will be derived from its materialisation.

THREE PILLARS GSDS is a combination of three main pillars: social, economic and environmental and to achieve same, the country cannot continue to be dependent on the extractive industries, but to seek out diversified avenues without jeopardising the environment.

The villagers were told of the plethora of opportunities to utilise renewable energy in Guyana which will create green, resilient and sustainable towns.

The GSDS also focuses on creating a healthy, educated, social and cohesive society. There is need, he said, to strike a balance between social, economic and environmental development.

He urged the villagers to

pursue green jobs or low emission jobs or entrepreneurial opportunities and to even process non-traditional fruits such as coconut. Alexander related that the profits gained from oil production will finance the country’s transformation to a green state.

The highlight of the forum was the several workshop sessions which allowed the participants to have oneon-one discussions with experts, on how they can garner support in various fields of diversification.

These included food science/ agro-processing; cattle, small ruminants and swine; seafood and aqua culture and business organisational skills. In the field of cattle, small ruminants and swine, presenter Selwyn Anthony said that small ruminants are used around the world to develop villages, since the initial requirements for such an activity is very small . With Guyana importing over 10,000 lbs of small ruminants, there is therefore a demand and villages can flourish if they capitalise on the opportunity.

The participants also had an opportunity to mingle, share their concerns, challenges and visions faced within the African villages, and solutions were given to better position them in their return to develop those villages.

Villagers who participated in the Cuffy 250 Committee annual forum

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

DDL to expand packaging plant –– farmers to be mobilised to supply high-quality fruits, vegetables for manufacturing sector

DEMERARA Distillers Limited (DDL) will be expanding its packaging plant to facilitate the introduction of a variety of new products, relocating another and opening a new 45,000 square foot warehouse, as it climbs to new heights.

On Thursday, Finance Minister Winston Jordan and a team from his ministry were briefed on DDL’s expansion plans as they toured the company’s Diamond facilities, while engaging in wide-ranging discussions on initiatives to help spur local manufacturing.

In a joint statement on the visit, Minister Jordan reiterated government’s commitment to enhanced

collaboration with the private sector, to ensure an enabling environment that would facilitate the success not only of DDL’s development programme but of private sector manufacturing initiatives in general.

The finance minister pointed to the need for increased local manufacturing that utilises local produce and raw materials, so that small farmers and other suppliers who meet the required quality standards can be assured of guaranteed markets for their supplies.

Speaking directly to DDL, the finance minister urged the company to widen its range of fruit juices to include more lo-

Finance Minister Winston Jordan examines a bottle during his visit to the DDL bottling plant

cally grown fruits and even vegetables.

It was on this note that they agreed that one area of collaboration between the government and DDL should be the mobilisation of farmers by the Ministry of Agriculture, to grow and supply fruits and vegetables which would meet the required standards for processing, packaging and sale on the local and international markets.

DDL’s Executive Chairman Komal Samaroo said last week, that during discussions with Agriculture Minister Noel Holder, it was agreed that a programme of action would be developed to move the process forward.

Samaroo briefed Minister Jordan on the company’s current and planned projects which include the expansion of its packaging plant to facilitate the introduction of a variety of new products; the relocation of its Topco juice plant; the opening of its new 45,000 square foot warehouse in late October, that will serve as the new headquarters of Distribution Services Limited (DSL) and the introduction of a solar farm to meet the energy needs of the company.

Minister Jordan also had an on-the-spot look at the proposed new land-use programme for the area which was approved by Cabinet last week, follow-

ing discussions between the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and DDL. Also, during the working lunch at the company’s Heritage Centre, the teams discussed the current situation regarding the supply of molasses; the company’s ongoing efforts to increase exports of its premium branded rum on the international market; the intensification of its diversification programme; measures that would enhance the competitiveness of local products seeking export markets; and the training of required skills in science and technology to meet the future demands of the manufacturing sector.

DDL Chairman Komal Samaroo shows Minister of Finance Winston Jordan the first of a new El Dorado Gift Pack containing El Dorado premium rums aged 12, 15, and 21 years in new 375ml bottles

Finance Minister Winston Jordan and DDL Chairman Komal Samaroo, listen as DDL Projects Manager Kenneth Ragnauth explains the layout of the new facilities in the DDL expansion programme

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

Nurses too must do mental health check-ups –– expert tells nurses’ conference

By Lisa Hamilton

NURSES in Guyana must continuously work to improve their professional etiquette while monitoring their mental health, Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Dr Jacqueline Gulstone has said.

Dr Gulstone, who has racked up decades of experience in the profession since beginning studies in April 1976, now practises in Brooklyn, New York, even as she represents the Guya-

nese Nurses Association of America Inc. During the Guyana Nurses Association (GNA) 90th anniversary and Global Guyanese Nurses Reunion Conference last week, Dr Gulstone sat down with the Guyana Chronicle to leave a direct message for local nurses.

One of the practices she said that nurses should avoid is the showing of favouritism to patients, based on their outward appearances or social and financial

standing.

“There should not be a difference in the type of care that patients are given because of their status in life. If there is someone who is the executive of a specific company and someone who is a farmer, I should be able to give them the same standard of care,” Gulstone began.

She linked this counsel directly to the respect which must be shown to patients; an action which she observed is unequally spread

Family Nurse Practitioner Dr Jacqueline Gulstone

across health institutions in Guyana.

A typical example she put forward is the case in which nurses fail to take the necessary time and effort to explain medical information to patients, who may be illiterate or unfamiliar with the simplest of medical jargon.

“One of my biggest pet peeves as a nurse is how we respect other patients. We can’t just dismiss a patient when they say something to us; they may not understand and you have a professional responsibility of going over that information with that patient, so that they understand,” she urged.

This form of respect, she added, must be extended to co-workers as well.

Younger nurses, she advised, must be willing to teach older nurses how to navigate the Internet and how to use new technology, while older nurses in turn ought to be willing to teach the younger ones the art of the practice.

And one thing that all nurses should know and live by is confidentiality.

Dr Gulstone took time to explain that patients must be able to trust nurses even as the profession has grown to be known as the most trustworthy throughout the years.

CONFIDENTIAL “Patient information is confidential.

The only time that patient information does not remain confidential or is not kept with you the nurse, is when the patient is suicidal or homicidal. Then, you need to get people on board.

“But you cannot have the patient’s private information and you’re going home to discuss it with your family or you’re telling another person.

When that patient comes to you to talk, that patient comes to you in confidence knowing that you are going to protect them and protect their privacy,” she reminded.

Gulstone graduated as a registered nurse from the Georgetown School of Nursing and two years later, began working as a registered midwife prior to migrating to the U.S. She has since furthered her career and holds a PhD in Nursing; a Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN); Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) and Family Nurse Practitioner-Board Certified (FNP-BC).

Through the Guyanese Nurses Association of America Inc, local nursing

students receive scholarships biannually and Gulstone said that even the advice she now provides is meant to encourage, rather than to chastise.

“It’s not about condemning our education system, but it’s about how we can enhance it… we are not here trying the [sic] rip things apart. This is our country, no matter how many years we’ve been away from home, it’s still home and we always think about how can we [connect] a line to help our people,” she said.

During her visit to the country, she delivered presentations on nurses and their mental health, which she said still remains a taboo topic across the medical field.

CAN BE STRESSFUL “Nursing is a very stressful profession.

It’s a lot of pressure physically and emotionally.

At any one moment you don’t know what’s going to happen when you’re on duty. You may go in and a patient is fine and before you know it the patient is crashing, so you have to be the one to control your emotions,” Dr. Gulstone said She continued: “Added to that, nurses work long hours… all of these factors can cause depression in nursing.”

Some of the tell-tale signs of depression she pinpointed were sleeping a lot or insomnia; eating very little or overeating; irritability; suicidal thoughts; threats to harm others; and voluntary seclusion.

“If a nurse is depressed, it is going to affect the quality of care that a nurse is going to give to that patient… and, if you don’t know what are the signs to look for, then you won’t know that you’re depressed. A nurse who is depressed can make a lot of errors, because you cannot focus; you have all those distractions, so we have to start looking for the signs.

Nurses are always hesitant to let people know that they are having some problems in terms of mental healt, because they’re worried about their jobs… so instead they keep everything bottled up.

But you have to seek professional help because it’s not going to go away, it’s just going to get worse.

It’s not just about taking medication, but it has to be something holistic,” Gulstone said.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

Indian company offering oil-and-gas services to Guyana

AN Indian company specialising in oil-and-gas operations is offering its services to companies and organisations in Guyana ahead of first-oil anticipated on or before 2020, according to President of the Region Three Chamber of Commerce, Halim Khan.

This company, Golla

needs to be increased before it starts oil production.

He explained that Guyanese at all strata of society must become oil-smart by either positioning themselves to operate effectively within the oil-and-gas industry, or become educated on the developments in the upcoming sector.

President of the Region Three Chamber of Commerce, Halim Khan Engineering Private Limited, specialises in petroleum refineries, petrochemicals, oil-and-gas processing, pipeLines, power, chemicals and fertilisers, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, offshore structures and platforms, minerals and metallurgicals, cement and steel, amongst others.

The Region Three Chamber official said that the company handles many public and private projects in India that are billion-dollar industries providing services in project management, process design, procurement, fabrication, detailed engineering, construction management, health safety and environment, along with software development.

Further, Khan said Guyana’s current ability to manage the massive amount of oil revenues it will receive

Adding that only an educated population would be able to successfully guide the decision-making process, Khan said Guyana needs trained geologists, economists and oil experts.

In giving advice to the youths, the private sector official said Guyana will need major infrastructural investment to support offshore activity and government has proposed a $500-million investment for a processing facility and oil-services base on Crab Island, at the mouth of the Berbice River, and is evaluating development of a deep-water port there.

“New oil-and-gas development has the potential to create many well-paid jobs, but technical training programmes will have to be put in place to provide locals[with] the skills needed to develop and maintain

Lone gunman robs self-employed woman AN armed gunman robbed a self-employed woman on Saturday at her West Ruimveldt, Georgetown home.

The 25-year-old was robbed of almost $100,000.

Reports indicate that the woman operates a business in her yard and at the time of closure, she placed all her money inside a box and was heading inside when she was confronted by the gunman, who pointed the gun at her and demanded that she hand over the money.

The angry but fearful woman complied and later made a report to the East Ruimveldt Police Outpost.

“I don’t know why they don’t make new laws to hang these bandits, if you don’t want to plant the earth or work to make a living, then you should be imprisoned or hanged for making other people’s lives in society uncomfortable.

It’s only time until society and people begin to react,” one resident told this publication.

new oil-and-gas facilities,” Khan explained: “It is in these fields the young generation must invest in their education and skillset to be prosperous.”

In addition to the company’s capability, the company has experience and expertise in the following

areas: gas-liquid separation, gas-sweetening and removal of sulphur compounds, gas dehydration and hydrates control, mercury removal, gas dew point control, NGL/LPG recovery and fractionation, mercaptans removal by caustic wash, gas compression, crude oil and

condensate stabilisation and stripping, crude oil desalting, crude oil pumping, sulphur recovery and removal and sour-water treatment.

A number of companies currently hold petroleum blocks in Guyana. With the world-class Liza discovery in 2015, interest from even

more companies, including at least two super-majors, have skyrocketed.

Guyana’s potential rests on the discoveries in the Stabroek Block, located approximately 120 miles off our shores in 5,500 feet of water. First-oil is anticipated in 2020.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

TKR regain top spot

TRINBAGO Knight Riders went top of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) table with a four-wicket victory over Barbados Tridents at the Kensington Oval last night.

(Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 130/6 (McCullum 66, Ramdin 20, Irfan 2/24) beat Barbados Tridents 128/8 (Hope 42, Pooran 34, Holder 30, Fawad Ahmed 2/13, DJ Bravo 2/23, Pierre 2/29) by four wickets with 21 balls remaining) The defending champions had to work hard to chase down a victory target of just 129, but got there thanks to Man- of-theMatch Brendon McCullum’s swashbuckling, counter-punching 66 from 42 balls in a decisive 66run partnership for the fifth wicket with Denesh Ramdin.

The Knight Riders join Jamaica Tallawahs on eight points, but have a game in hand on the Tallawahs and a healthy net runrate advantage.

The Tridents were immediately placed on the back foot when losing three wickets in the second over of the night after opting to bat first and never truly recovered as they scrambled to 128/8 from their 20 overs.

Left-arm spinner Khary Pierre bowled Dwayne Smith with his first ball before Shamar Springer was run out looking for a single to get off the mark. Best of the lot, though, came two balls later. A gorgeous, dipping delivery drew Australia star Steve Smith out of his crease before spinning sharply past his outside edge for Ramdin to complete the stumping.

Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran shared an enterprising 70-run partnership for the fourth wicket, but after Pooran was bowled for an eye-catching 34 from 21 balls by Dwayne Bravo the life was sucked out of the innings.

Fawad Ahmed removed Hope for 42 from 34 and Tion Webster

– a second stumping of the night for Ramdin – in the 13th over, leaving Jason Holder to ensure the Tridents batted out their allocation.

Raymon Reifer fell to Ali Khan for 10 as Dwayne Bravo collected his 200th catch in T20 cricket. Number 201 was not far from behind, coming off his own bowling as Holder chased a wide, slower delivery and sent it straight up in the air to depart for 30 in the penultimate over.

Batting proved just as tough for the Knight Riders early on as Mohammad Irfan backed up Saturday night’s record-breaking one-run spell with more new-ball heroics for the Tridents.

Once again he dismissed both openers, just as he had against St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, as Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine both perished to catches in the deep.

Narine, though, did manage to strike his 100th T20 six in his 13 from 10 balls.

Colin Munro, the Knight Riders’ main man with the bat this season, departed soon after for just 14 when bowled via the pad by Ashley Nurse. And when Darren Bravo miscued Raymon Reifer’s first delivery to deep midwicket the Knight Riders were 60/4 and the Tridents daring to dream.

The window of opportunity was brief, though, and soon slammed shut by McCullum.

Things might have been different had Dwayne Smith accepted a simple catch at mid-wicket offered

by Ramdin when his and McCullum’s ultimately match-winning partnership was in its infancy. A wicket then would have left the Knight Riders 63/5 in the 11th over.

Reprieved, Ramdin combined with McCullum to take 44 from the next three overs in a flurry of boundaries that ended the match as a contest.

Both men fell with the victory line in sight, Ramdin caught on the fence trying to hit Springer for the match-winning boundary before McCullum top-edged an attempted sweep to hand Steve Smith a wicket, but the job was well and truly done by that stage with just three runs required and almost four overs to get them. Dwayne Bravo completed the formalities with a four through the covers.

While the Knight Riders jump from third to first in the standings, back-to-back defeats have left the Tridents with work to do to reach the play-offs.

(CPL website)

Goliath is King!

By Stephan Sookram

TEAM Mohamed’s Enterprise Goliath GTR remained unbeaten in the third edition of the King of the Strip 3 on Sunday.

The GTR, which ran the unlimited class was unchallenged, but still recorded sub-10 seconds times.

On a day when rains threatened the fun, the GTR was forced to run exhibition classes.

The event saw a huge crowd support despite the no-show of the Trinidadians and Barbadians.

The list of winners is as follows Unlimited - Azrudeen Mohamed 9 sec - Randel Daby 10 sec - Damion Persaud 11 sec - Chet Singh 12 sec - Pierre Singh 13 sec - Narindradutt Mangar 14 sec - Balram Ramdeo 15 sec - Akram Subhan

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

Colombia run riot on Guyana 71-7 at Americas Challenge Series THE Green Machine, Guyana’s senior Men’s Rugby Team, received a baptism they will never forget when, for the first time, they played a team from the South American region and were soundly beaten by Colombia 71-7 in their opening game of the Americas Challenge Series.

It was not the start Captain Ryan Gonsalves and his troop were anticipating, despite making it known that Guyana will face an uphill task in Colombia, participating in the four-team tournament for the first time.

Joseph Rahaman scored Guyana’s lone try in the game, as the Green Machine now shift their attention to their clash against Paraguay on Wedneaday.

Paraguay opened their campaign with a 45-36 win over Mexico in the first game of the tournment.

Guyana is the highest ranked Caribbean side in World Rugby at 46, and along with Mexico at 53, are the teams representing the Rugby Americas North (RAN) region in Colombia.

Guyana to host senior Caribbean Boxing Championship GUYANA Boxing Association (GBA) president Steve Ninvalle revealed that Guyana will play host to the Senior Caribbean Boxing Championship, from December 6 – 9 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Ninvalle explained that his association stands more to benefit from hosting rather than sending a team to a sister CARICOM state to participate in the competition, adding that “we (Guyana) were the champions in 2015 and 2016 but in 2017 Guyana was forced to surrender that title because we lacked the necessary finance to send a full team to St Lucia.

In fact, we were only able to send four boxers.

In 2016, we sent 11 boxers and came back with 10 golds and one silver.”

“With us hosting, all of our fighters (both elite and youth) will have a chance of competing. In addition, our referee/judges are afforded another chance at international competition.

It is roughly US$1200 per person to attend an overseas Caribbean Championship.

If we should compete in all divisions at elite and youth and also participate in the female categories, then we

are looking at a minimum of 26 athletes. Add three coaches, two referee/judges and a manager and the math becomes clearer” Ninvalle said.

The GBA has also started negotiations to have an International Technical Official (ITO) course and one for doctors, run prior to the championships, since according to Ninvalle, “there are no certified ITOs in Guyana and very few in the Caribbean. Having one of our own being successful at any of the two courses would be a plus for us.”

Guyana has just completed the successful hosting of the third edition of the Caribbean School Boys and Juniors tournament and the GBA president noted that the Terrence Alli National Open has been brought forward by one week to facilitate early encampment of the national team.

“The National Open is now scheduled for November 16th, 17th and 18th.

A national team will be selected one day after and encampment will follow.

Our goal is to have the strongest team possible so that the Caribbean Title will once again return to Guyana.”

Players must withstand test of time at U.S. Open

By Frank Pingue (REUTERS)-_Rafael Nadal’s elaborate pre-serve routine will be put to the ultimate test at this week’s U.S. Open when a countdown clock makes its Grand Slam debut to help speed up play.

(is) two or three times over the net every time,” he added.

“I see the people go crazy and enjoy and feel the passion for the sport when you have rallies of 15, 20 balls. “...that’s my feeling. And when you have continuous rallies of that kind, you can’t be ready physi-

Rafael Nadal (ESP) returns a ball to Stefanos Tsitsipas (not pictured) during the championship in the Rogers Cup tennis tournament at Aviva Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Nadal is a creature of habit and as he prepares to serve the Spaniard bounces the ball a few times, tugs at his shorts, pulls at the shirt on his shoulders, touches his nose and tucks his hair behind his ears before having a few more bounces.

But at the Aug. 27-Sept.

9 U.S. Open in New York the world number one will not have time to add more moves to his lengthy repertoire as a 25-second clock will tick down immediately after the chair umpire announces the score.

Nadal showed he was not bothered by the shot clock during a U.S. Open tune-up in Toronto where he lost only one set en route to collecting a record-extending 33rd Masters title.

The 32-year-old is not a fan of the new measure, although not due to concerns about receiving a time violation but rather because he feels it will diminish the quality of play.

“My experience in the world of tennis at the matches that became part of the history of our sport are not matches where the duration... is one hour thirty, you know?” said Nadal.

“The matches that the people remember are matches that are epic, the matches that the people get involved (in).

“My experience is I don’t see people get crazy and involved in the match when the ball, all it goes

cally to play another point like this in 25 seconds.

That’s my point of view.”

MORE TIME Novak Djokovic has also taken tennis idiosyncrasy to another level with a preserve routine in which he bounces the ball with his racket before shifting it to his left hand and bouncing it sometimes over 30 times before finally tossing it into the air.

The Wimbledon champion, who won last week’s U.S. Open tune-up in Cincinnati, said he was comfortable with the shot clock and did not feel it affected him negatively.

“On the contrary, I actually feel like there is more time now than before because the shot clock starts counting down once the chair umpire calls the score,” said the Serb.

“Sometimes it takes several seconds before the chair umpire calls the score if it’s

a long exchange or a good point and the crowd gets in.”

If a player has not started the service motion at the completion of the 25-second countdown, the chair umpire will issue a time violation.

U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens said the shot clock will not change the way she plays but felt it could add another level of distraction when you are awaiting serves from an opponent.

“It’s a lot of... can I say human error? If the umpire doesn’t start it right away, you think, ‘If they started it five seconds earlier, the person you’re playing would have got a serve warning’,” said Stephens.

“It’s things like that you don’t really want to be thinking about. It just adds another element if something goes wrong, it can go terribly wrong.”

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

Vettel wins in Belgium after dramatic crash FERRARI’s Sebastian Vettel beat title rival Lewis Hamilton in the Belgian Grand Prix to cut his lead to 17 points.

Vettel passed Hamilton on the first lap just in time before a safety car was deployed following a multi-car crash at the first corner, and dominated thereafter.

Fernando Alonso, Nico Hulkenberg and Charles Leclerc were uninjured after the German rammed Alonso’s McLaren and launched it over Leclerc’s Sauber.

Hulkenberg received a 10-place grid penalty at the next race for the incident.

Alonso related it to the first-lap crash at this race in 2012, in which Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was given a race ban for causing a similar incident, which also took out the Spaniard.

“Again a very big-time missing braking point,” Alonso said. “That time Romain had a race ban.

“It tough

is

impos-

Fernando Alonso was catapulted over Sauber’s Charles Leclerc, just missing the Frenchman’s head

to understand how you can miss (the braking) so much.

It is not a couple of metres.

You arrive at a speed that it is

sible to negotiate the corner.

So, sad for that but happy that we are all fine.”

The big difference be-

Chelsea, Watford keep 100 per cent Premier League records

By Steve Tongue

LONDON (Reuters) - Chelsea and surprise package Watford joined Liverpool on nine points from three games at the top of the Premier League with narrow victories on Sunday.

Tottenham Hotspur will hope to become the fourth side with a 100 percent record when they play away to Manchester United on Monday.

Chelsea are second on goal difference behind Liver-

But with three minutes left Yedlin touched Alonso’s shot into his own net.

“We are Chelsea and we never give up,” said the outstanding Hazard.

Manager Maurizio Sarri, continuing his good start in English football, said he was surprised that Newcastle played with five defenders, which Rafael Benitez said was forced on them with so many players missing.

Wat-

been sent off as early as the fourth minute for the challenge on Wilfried Zaha, before setting up the opening goal for Roberto Pereyra.

“We’re not happy about the foul. I’ve only just seen it again on television. I’d have to say we were unlucky he was not sent off,” he said.

Jose Holebas added a freak second from an intended cross before Zaha halved the gap and defender Joel Ward missed a glorious chance to equalise in the last seconds of added time.

At the other end of the table promoted Fulham

Watford’s Jose Holebas celebrates scoring their second goal with Abdoulaye Doucoure, Etienne Capoue and team mates REUTERS/David Klein

pool after winning 2-1 away to Newcastle United. They had more than 80 percent possession but could not break through until the match took off in the last 20 minutes.

Eden Hazard, making his first start of the season, converted a controversial penalty after Fabian Schar was ruled to have fouled Marcos Alonso.

Chelsea were equally aggrieved by the equalising goal, claiming that Olivier Giroud was elbowed before DeAndre Yedlin crossed for Joselu to head in.

tween the 2012 and 2018 crashes was that Grosjean was a repeat offender in terms of firstlap crash-

ford’s victory meant they have begun a season in the top tier with three successive wins for the first time, although their captain Troy Deeney felt his team had luck on their side.

“We were poor by our standards but the grit and determination and will to win has been clear to everyone,” he said. “We got lucky but it gives us confidence we can be poor and still get results.”

Palace manager Roy Hodgson was among those who felt Etienne Capoue could have

earned their first points in a 4-2 win over Burnley, whose Europa League exploits may be taking a toll against them.

There were five goals in the first half, two of them by Fulham’s powerful Serbian forward Aleksandar Mitrovic, who then hit a post before Andre Schurrle netted the rebound for his side’s late fourth.

Defeat sent Burnley, who finished seventh last season, into the bottom three above Huddersfield Town and West Ham United.

es that year, while Hulkenberg is one of the sport’s most consistent performers.

The crash also may have

been the first time a grand prix driver was saved from injury by the new halo head-protection device, introduced this year.

Television replays showed Alonso’s car bounced off the halo on Leclerc’s car and Alonso said: “I flew over his car and the halo was a good thing to have today. I think for him it helped, looking at the replay.

We don’t need to prove it is a good thing to have.”

That was not the only incident at the first corner.

Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull hit Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari, forcing both into eventual retirement despite initially rejoining.

VETTEL’S CONTROLLED RESPONSE Once into the lead, it was clear Vettel had a small but decisive pace advantage over Hamilton and he edged clear, building a 3.9-second lead by lap 14, before the Mercedes

began to close in slightly as the pit stops approached.

Hamilton got his deficit down to 3.2secs on lap 20 and pitted on the next lap, but Vettel followed him in the next time around and was able to rejoin in front.

Hamilton was not far behind but not close enough and his hopes were also marginally affected by catching Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, which was running second, just as he wanted to be attacking Vettel.

Hamilton passed Verstappen with ease up the Kemmel straight and was in any case too far back to have made an attempt on Vettel’s lead.

He ended the critical lap 1.5secs behind, after which the race settled into a familiar pattern, with Vettel building a comfortable lead of about five seconds or so and holding it there, and Verstappen equally safe in third nearly 30 seconds behind.

(BBC Sport)

Woods, Mickelson to face off in $9M Vegas duel in November GOLF greats, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, will go head-to-head in a winnertakes-all $9M (£7M) exhibition match in Las Vegas.

The Americans, who have 19 major championship titles between them, will face off in the 18-hole event at Shadow Creek Golf Course on November 23 or 24.

The contest, which coincides with Thanksgiving weekend in the US, will be screened on pay-per-view.

Woods confirmed ‘The Match’ on social media, saying: “It’s on”.

Mickelson, who has attracted almost 100 000 followers in less than 24 hours on Twitter, replied to Woods, saying: “I bet you think this is the easiest $9M you will ever make.”

At present the US Open delivers the largest winning pay cheque of the four major championships at about $2.16M (£1.68M), though the winner of the FedExCup awarded for an accumulation of points on the US PGA Tour - can expect to earn a bonus of $10M (£7.8M).

The possibility of a duel between the former Ryder Cup team-mates has been mooted repeatedly down the years.

Woods, a 14-time major winner, has won over £88M prize money on the PGA Tour in comparison to Mickelson’s £68M. “It’s an opportunity for us to bring golf to the masses in prime time during a period where we don’t have much going on in the world of golf,” Mickelson told ESPN.

“It’s a way to show a side you don’t normally see by having us mic’d up to hear some of the interaction between us.”

Despite the good-natured approach, there is no chance of the duo sharing the purse, with Mickelson saying that the event had to be winnertakes-all.

“If you (don’t) do that, it undermines it,”

bowl and the Rugby Union World Cup could all expect to earn more if they were victorious.

Real Madrid’s efforts in the Champions League last term for example, equated to in excess of €54M (£48.5M) of performance-related money and a market pool share of over €35M (£31.4M) in prize money.

The distinction of course is that t h o s e

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have 19 major championship titles between them.

Mickelson said. “The whole point is the winner-takes-all thing. That’s the exciting part about it.”

The money on offer for the four-hour long 18-hole round between Woods and Mickelson dwarfs the prize money available to an individual at any other golf tournament.

It is also larger than the £2.25M figure handed to the winners of the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Wimbledon singles titles in Tennis.

However, the winners of the UEFA Champions League in football, the World Series in baseball, American Football’s Super-

competitions are team events. Whereas the Pegasus World Cup Invitational in Florida, the World’s richest horse race, offers a total prize fund of $16M (£12.4M).

The Woods versus Mickelson showdown does not, though, compare to Floyd Mayweather’s defeat of Connor McGregor in 2017, which ranks as one of the richest bouts in boxing history.

Mayweather, 40, who came out of retirement for the fight is reported to have earned around $300M (£230M) for stopping the Irishman in the 10th round.

(BBC Sport)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

American men battle to end 15-year drought at U.S. Open

By Jahmal Corner (REUTERS) - American men have failed to emulate the glory of their female compatriots at the U.S. Open tennis in recent years and appear to have little hope of ending a 15-year drought at Flushing Meadows since Andy Roddick’s 2003 win.

With six titles, Serena Williams has dominated the final Grand Slam of the season but will have strong home rivals in the draw this week, including defending champion Sloane Stephens.

Stephens faced Madison Keys in last year’s final, an all-American showdown not seen in the men’s tournament since Pete Sampras defeated Andre Agassi for the 2002 crown.

Roddick’s runner-up finish in 2006 was the last run to the final by an American man, and there have been few highlights since in an era so thoroughly dominated by the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

At 33, John Isner and his huge serve will carry the brunt of local hopes in the men’s draw following his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon.

Beyond Isner, there is little cause for optimism.

Steve Johnson has achieved a pair of low-profile wins this season and reached the final of the Winston-Salem Open on Sunday when he lost to Daniil Medvedev 6-4 6-4.

loss in Winston Salem.

“Hopefully we’ll get up to New York and have a great couple of weeks. Maybe I’ll finish that trifecta up in New York.”

Much was expected of Jack Sock after he

through the early hardcourt season.

Frances Tiafoe, at 20, may be at long odds to end a generation of futility for U.S. men.

The youngster has been a player on the rise and last year enjoyed a banner triumph against world number four Alexander Zverev, while pushing Federer to five sets in the

FLASHBACK: Andy Roddick, US Open 2003 men’s singles champion.

Johnson was vying to become the first player in 2018 to win a title on three different surfaces.

“I really was hoping to be last man standing today but it wasn’t the deal,” Johnson told reporters following his final

broke into the top 10 during a strong 2017, but he has battled ankle problems and heads to Flushing Meadows without a win since May. Sam Querrey, a quarter-finalist last year, has also been well off peak form

opening round of the U.S. Open.

“I always dreamed of being on centre court, playing the best in the world,” Tiafoe told weeklystandard.com.

“It finally happened so I was ready for it.”

Bale inspires Real Madrid comeback win

GARETH Bale scored for the second successive La Liga game as Real Madrid came from behind to beat Girona.

The Catalan hosts took the lead when Borja Garcia rifled home from 12 yards before Sergio Ramos equalised with a penalty after Marco Asensio was fouled.

Real edged ahead through another penalty won by Asensio - this time taken by Karim Benzema - before Bale’s composed finished from Isco’s pass.

Bale turned provider to set up Benzema to make it 4-1 from close range.

LA LIGA INVESTIGATES VALLADOLID PITCH FOR BARCA GAME The 29-year-old Wales

forward also scored in Real’s first La Liga game under Julen Lopetegui last week - a 2-0 win over Getafe at the Bernabeu Stadium.

Girona, who finished 10th in their first season in La Liga, won the corre-

sponding fixture last season 2-1.

And there were signs of another surprise when Garcia finished well after Real’s defence had allowed him too much space.

T h e r e

were few complaints about either penalty - Marc Muniesa guilty of lunging into Asensio before Pere Pons’ badly timed challenge on Real’s number 20.

Bale provided the goal of the match after Isco’s lovely pass before Benzema sealed the points 10 minutes from time.

(BBC Sport)

Gareth Bale scored for the second successive La Liga game.

LABA executives meet tonight at MSC pavilion ALL executive members of the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) are invited to attend an important Executive Committee meeting tonight at the Mackenzie Sports Club pavilion.

High on the agenda are reviews of the recent March Madness Supreme Open tournament, won by Victory Valley Royals basketball club, and the Linden Under-19 Schools tournament which was captured by the Linden Technical Institute; and the planned competitions for the rest of the 2018 season.

President of the LABA, Lawrence Simon, will chair the meeting and all executives of the LABA are asked to make a special effort to attend this meeting.

Genoa fans stay silent for 43 minutes to honour victims of bridge collapse

MILAN (Reuters) - Fans of Italian club Genoa watched the first 43 minutes of their team’s Serie A match at home to Empoli in near silence on Sunday to honour the victims of the motorway bridge collapse in the city earlier this month.

An 80-metre-long section of the bridge, part of a motorway linking the port city of Genoa with southern France, gave way on Aug. 14 in busy lunchtime traffic, sending dozens of vehicles into free-fall and killing 43 people.

In the first match at the city’s Luigi Ferraris stadium since the disaster, there was an impeccably observed minute’s silence before kickoff followed by applause for relatives of the victims who were invited onto the pitch.

As requested by Genoa fans, the silence continued after kickoff, to the extent that it seemed the match was being played behind closed doors with only the shouts of the players echoing around the stadium.

In a statement before the games, the fans had asked for “a deafening silence of 43 minutes, one for each child, worker, student, father or mother who are no longer with us today.”

There were occasionally muffled cheers and applause when Genoa attacked but, even when they scored twice in the first 20 minutes, there was almost no celebration in the crowd.

In the 43rd minute, applause broke out as the names of the victims were displayed on the screen, then the crowd began singing and shouting as usual and continued for the rest of the game. Genoa went on to win 2-1.

Genoa’s opening game of the season had been called off last Sunday as had that of their city rivals Sampdoria, who played their first game away to Udinese on Sunday.

South Africa Racing Tips Flamingo Park 08:15 hrs Koncealed 08:45 hrs Il Palio 09:15 hrs Timeofthevikings 09:45 hrs Olivia s 10:20 hrs Secret Delight

Cartmel 09:05 hrs Mac Tottie 10:15 hrs Wells De Lune 10:50 hrs Shake It Up 11:25 hrs Raise A Spark 12:00 hrs Wynford 12:35 hrs Xpo Universel

American Racing Tips Saratoga Race 1 Just Right Race 2 Sargeant Drive Race 3 Supercommittee Race 4 Her Luv Lulu Race 5 Morbridge Race 6 Bam Bam Blu Race 7 Rif Raff Race 8 Strike Power

Ripon 09:15 hrs Five Amarones 09:50 hrs Returning Glory 10:25 hrs Daffy Jane 11:00 hrs Kessaar 11:35 hrs Gurkha Friend 12:10 hrs Jurran 12:45 hrs Graceful Act

English Racing Tips Epsom 09:30 hrs Hula Girl 10:05 hrs Boom The Groom 10:40 hrs Pretty Jewel 11:15 hrs Willie John 11:50 hrs Bathsheba Bay 12:25 hrs Corazon Espinado

Irish Racing Tips Downpatrick 09:45 hrs Silver Star 10:20 hrs Lleyton 10:55 hrs The Jam Man 11:30 hrs Wigs On The Green 12:05 hrs Caltex 12:40 hrs Cubomania

22

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

Hamilton faces trick Everest masters win again questions after Spa defeat

By Alan Baldwin

S PA - F R A N C O R CHAMPS, Belgium (Reuters) - Lewis Hamilton said Ferrari had ‘trick things going on’ with their car after Sebastian Vettel won Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix but emphasised he was not accusing his Formula One rivals of doing anything illegal.

The championship leader ’s comments aroused immediate interest with the Mercedes driver, who finished second at Spa and saw his overall lead cut to 17 points, facing questions afterwards. “ We a l l h a v e t r i c k things going on our cars,” said the Briton, who had started on pole position but was swiftly overtaken by Vettel — who then raced untroubled and finished 11 seconds clear.

“Trick is just a word for something special, I guess,” added Hamilton.

Asked whether he felt

Ferrari were doing something illegal, Hamilton initially said he had no idea what was on the Italian team’s car so could not say either way.

“Trick is just something that helps you bring that extra bit of performance, that’s all I mean. So please don’t read into it and please don’t twist my words and say that I say they are doing any-

Lewis Hamilton

He said Ferrari had showed some serious pace in the race, particularly on the straights even if Mercedes were quicker in other areas.

“I’m not saying that there is anything illegal,” Hamilton added more forcefully as reporters returned to the subject.

thing illegal, because they’re not.

“They just out-performed us today and we’ve got to work harder. There’s things they might have on the car that we might not and vice-versa. We’ve got to try and find out what and improve on that.”

Vettel and Hamilton

now have five wins each and the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Ferrari’s home race and last of the regular European season, is next up.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said Ferrari were very innovative and he had faith in the governing body to police things.

Formula One race director Charlie Whiting told reporters he was “quite amused”.

“We know quite a lot about the Ferrari car and there is no way Lewis would know anything about the Ferrari car,” he added.

“They’re doing a good job at the moment and Mercedes have got to try and counter that, haven’t they?

“If he says they’ve got a few tricks going on that car, well clearly they have got things going on which are giving it performance which all of us in the FIA are aware of and obviously are happy with.”

Root and Buttler agree to Sydney Thunder stint ENGLAND Test captain Joe Root and vice-captain Jos Buttler will play for Sydney Thunder in this winter’s Twenty20 Big Bash League in Australia.

Root has not played in an overseas T20 competition before and the 27-year-old went unsold in the Indian Premier League auction in January.

Buttler, also 27, played six times for the Thunder in 2017-18 and previously played for Melbourne Renegades.

The 2018-19 Big Bash runs from 18 December to 17 February.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has cleared Root and Buttler to play in the first half of the tournament as it falls between winter tours to Sri Lanka and West Indies.

Root has played only 12 T20 matches since England’s defeat by West Indies in the World Twenty20 final

in April 2016, with eight for his country and four for Yorkshire.

He was rested for the T20 tri-series against Australia and New Zealand earlier this year and dropped for the deciding T20

against India in July.

The next men’s World T20 tournament will take place in Australia in 2020.

Buttler has had two stints in the Big Bash, first featuring for the Renegades in 2013-14, when he played five games with a top score of 61.

He opened and kept wicket

England’s Jos Buttler and Joe Root

for the Thunder last season, hitting 67 and 81 during a six-game run before leaving to join up with England’s one-day international squad.

There are no England fixtures in any format in December, with the third and final Test against Sri Lanka set to end on 27 November.

England will tour West Indies for three Tests, five ODIs and a T20 from January to March.

The schedule has yet to be announced but this gap in international commitments could allow Root and Buttler to play up to seven matches for the Thunder in the first half of the Big Bash.

The Thunder are captained by Shane Watson and coached by former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond, who worked as a bowling consultant for England during last winter’s Ashes. (BBC Sport)

THE consistency continues with the Everest Cricket Club masters team as they won yet another match in what can be described as a successful year on the field when they beat the visiting Zeelugt Masters by 48 runs on Wednesday at the Everest ground.

The hosts started to get it right from the beginning when they won the toss and batted. After their allotment of 25 overs the score was an imposing 184 for 4.

The in-form Saheed Mohamed muscled his way to 54 (3x4; 1x6) with Hemraj Garbarran 45 (4x4; 1x5; 1x6), Alex Cully 23 (2x4) and Rakesh Gangaram 21 (1x4; 1x6) offering excellent support.

The Zeelugt bowlers had a tough day at the office with S.Persaud, D. Maniram and S. Mangra picking up a wicket each.

In reply, the visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually folded for 136 in the 24th over with Ricky Persaud top scoring with 54(6x4) while Manishwar Balgobin hit 26 (2x4).

The victors’ bowling was spearheaded by Man-ofthe-Match, Rakesh Gangaram who snared 4/19 while Saheed Mohamed came back with the ball to reap success with 3/12.

So far for the year, Everest Masters have played 12 matches in and out of Guyana and were on the winning end in 10 of those encounters. Their next assignment is against Parika Defenders on September 16 at the Parika ground.

Trophies for the match were sponsored by Trophy Stall of Bourda Market.

Gayle lagging behind in early six-hitting race

WEST INDIES big-hitter Chris Gayle appears to be clearing the boundary rope with less regularity so far this Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season and lags behind in the six-hitting race.

The 39-year-old Gayle, the self-named ‘Six-machine’, has hit the most sixes in three of the competition’s five years. With the Patriots having played five matches so far this term, the big left-hander is tied for seventh place and is in somewhat unfamiliar territory outside of the top five.

St Lucia Stars captain Kieron Pollard leads the way with 22, followed by Glenn Phillips (20) Darren Bravo (19), Andre Russell (14), Shai Hope (13) Andre Fletcher (13) and Rovman Powell (12). Pollard and Russell have played the most innings so far with 8. Russell, Phillips and Powell have played 7 with Bravo and Hope having played 6 and 5 respectively.

Of course the big hitter’s fortunes could change in just a few innings but has so far managed 145 runs with a strike rate of 119.83. Gayle was the competition’s top six-hitter in 2014, 2015 and 2016 with fourth place finishes in 2013 and 2017.

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Monday August 27, 2018)

COMPLIMENTS OF THE TROPHY STALL-Bourda Market & The City Mall (Tel: 225-9230) & CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD-83 Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158) Answers to yesterday’s quiz: (1) Sandeep Lamachanie (Patriots) (2) Warriors vs Tridents (2016) Today’s Quiz: (1) Who struck the 200th six in Hero CPL 2018?

(2) Who delivered the ball?

ANSWERS IN TOMORROW’S ISSUE

23

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 27, 2018

Despite some challenges, Golden Jaguars head coach hails Brazil “Train and Play” Camp a success “IT’s been an excellent two weeks, we’ve had fun, we’ve had laughter, moments of pain, moments of frustration but all in all its been an absolute wonderful camp,” the words of head coach of the Golden Jaguars, Michael Johnson, at the conclusion of the historic Guyana Football Federation (GFF) “Train and Play” Camp held in Rio de Janeiro.

A number of matches were played, which afforded the young players the opportunity to showcase their skills with a view of catching the eyes of the technical staff ahead of the kick-off of the Concacaf Nations League on September 6 when Guyana take on Barbados at the Leonora Track and Field Facility.

The Brazil “Train and Play” Camp also afforded the new staff-- the largest that has ever been put together by the GFF-- the chance to bond ahead of what will be an exciting period of history, according to Johnson, with the com-

mencement of Project 100, which is cracking the under-100 FIFA Ranking.

The former Jamaican player underscored the fact that a stronger relationship has

We’re going to be in Guyana in a matter of five days, so it’s a great opportunity again to get to connect with the staff, connect with the players and continue

never qualified for a major tournament motivates this new team to work even harder, Johnson noted, with the first task being the CONCACAF Nations League match against

connected; that we’re in for some exciting times.”

According to Johnson, “having worked with the 23s and seen some of the players that can breach that group,

Guyana’s senior Men’s National Football team upon the conclusion of the “Train and Play” Camp in Brazil.

been established among both team and staff with a thorough appreciation of how they are going to work, stating that “where we go from here is to keep the connections open and keep moving things forward.

the process. Our job’s not just about the first men’s senior starting team; it’s also about the development of the younger players and the coaches.”

The fact that Guyana has

Barbados. He shares his views on what the approach would be “very positive. I know that we’ve never qualified for a major tournament but I really have a strong belief in the team, the staff, and everybody

as well as having seen some of the names on that first squad that we’re picking, it’s really exciting and I can’t wait to get to work. What we are promising is a team that would be representative of

Guyana, a team that’s going to play with vibrancy, fluidity and most importantly, give 100% towards the country.”

Johnson, the leading tactician on this technical team, is of the view that this new journey needs the support of all stakeholders to make it a reality. He posited that it’s not just about the players, the staff and the GFF, but all and sundry.

“It’s for everybody connected to Guyana to make history. I’m a serial winner, I’m fascinated with winning, I’ve been fortunate in my career to be a winner and it doesn’t stop, I want more success. I went to the Brazilian museum with the team on Friday and it really inspired and motivated me more to try and move things forward for a successful campaign for Guyana and I want everybody involved,” Johnson said.

The head coach made a promise that, as a team, they would repay in effort and determination.

Tallawahs return to winning ways with Stars defeat GROS ISLET, St Lucia, (CMC) – Jamaica Tallawahs ended a three-game losing slide when they disposed of St Lucia Stars by 21 runs here Saturday night, pushing the embattled hosts further into strife and closer to elimination from the Caribbean Premier League.

Rovman Powell’s Manof-the-Match 64 fired Tallawahs up to 204 for five off their 20 overs at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground and the target proved beyond the Stars’ capabilities, despite 46 from captain Kieron Pollard and strong support knocks from Trinidadian Lendl Simmons (45) and Australian David Warner (42).

While Tallawahs leapt

to the top of the standings on eight points, Stars remained bottom on four points, with just two matches remaining in what has been another wretched campaign comprising just two wins in eight fixtures.

Reeling from three straight defeats in Fort Lauderdale last week, Tallawahs rebounded in style, with Powell spearheading the batting enterprise that saw Johnson Charles getting 34, Kennar Lewis, 33, and David Miller an unbeaten 32.

Charles put on 34 off 22 deliveries with Glenn Phillips who made 17 before holing out to long on with seamer Kesrick Williams (3-34) in the fourth over.

And the visitors lost their

second in the seventh over when Charles picked out long off with 18-year-old Afghan leg-spinner Qais Ahmad after notching five fours and a six off 2 6

balls, as his side slipped to 56 for two.

Promoted to number four, Powell made the move count, hammering two fours and five sixes off 37 balls as he added exactly 100 w i t h

Rovman Powell … top-scored with a Man-of-the-Match 64.

Lewis, whose 34-ball knock including a four and two sixes.

When Lewis edged Williams behind in the 17th over, it triggered a slump where three wickets – including those of Powell and captain Andre Russell (5) – fell for eight runs in the space of seven balls.

However, South African Miller turned on the style, stroking two fours and three sixes in a 13-ball cameo, as Tallawahs gathered 40 from the last 16 balls of the innings.

Stars were reeling at eight for two in the second over before a series of partnerships threatened to bring them back into the contest.

Warner added 44 for the

second wicket with Andre Fletcher (21) before putting on another 45 for the third with Pollard.

The left-handed Warner struck five fours and a six off 26 balls before top-edging a catch into the deep off leg-spinner Adam Zampa and Pollard then carried the fight to the Tallawahs, adding 59 for the fifth wicket with Simmons before having his stumps rattled in the 17th over

by Russell.

Pollard faced 27 balls and crunched four fours and two sixes but his dismissal saw the innings lose intensity as Simmons was left without valuable support, as he clobbered four fours and three sixes in a 26-ball effort.

Colombia run riot on Guyana 71-7 at Americas Challenge Series See Page 19

Guyana’s Rondell ‘Bull’ McArthur executes a tackle with some assistance from Lancelot Adonis against Colombia.

Goliath is King!

See Page 18

- GTR remains unbeaten at KOTS 3

Guyana to host senior Caribbean Boxing Championships See Page 19

Team Mohamed’s GTR (right) takes on Raj Panday’s Toyota Alteeza.

(Calvin Champman photo)

See Page 18

Brendon McCullum

TKR regain top spot with four-wicket win over Tridents

GBA president Steve Ninvalle

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MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2018