Guyana_Chronicle_Epaper_01_11_2019

SATURDAY 11th January, 2020

' No.105876 Thousands accompanied Coalition leaders to present their lists

‘THE WINNING LISTS’ …President Granger confident of victory with coalition lists of candidates …says Guyana will never again fall into hands of PPP SEE PAGES 03&19

President David Granger and other members of the Coalition present their party’s lists of candidates

…Forde, McDonald, Janelle Christian among new faces Photos by Delano Williams And Adrtian Narine

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday, January 11, 2020

Only 13 parties make the cut

By Svetlana Marshall AMID much fanfare, only 13 of the 19 political parties that had indicated their interest in contesting the upcoming March 2, General and Regional Elections, submitted their Lists of Candidates to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Nomination Day held on Friday at the Umana Yana, and GECOM has hailed the process a major success, which it said was conducted smoothly.

The ruling coalition – the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) and its main opponent – the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) – submitted their Lists of Candidates for approval by the elections commission, in addition to The Citizenship Initiative (TCI), The New Movement, A New and United Guyana (ANUG), United Republican Party (URP), Change Guyana, Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), the Organisation for the Victory of the People (OVP), the People’s Republic Party (PRP), the National Independent Party (NIP), Guyana National Service Party (GNSP) and the FED-

…GECOM hails Nomination Day a major success tions commission.

In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle outside of the Umana Yana, GECOM’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Yolanda Ward, said the National Top-Up Lists, the Geographical Constituency Lists and the Regional Elections Lists submitted by the 13 political parties are currently being scrutinised by the elections secretariat.

“At this time, we will not be

January 12, 2020, will notify representatives and deputy representatives if their lists are found to be defective. All parties will have until January 13, 2020 to submit corrected lists if the need arises, through their representatives.

“But we can only determine whether those parties have been approved or not approved when we would have completed the IT subset of this exercise,”

Presidential Candidate of the APNU+AFC, David Granger, and his Prime Ministerial Candidate, Khemraj Ramjattan, submitting their List of Candidates to the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield (Photo by Adrian Narine)

UP Party. The lists of candidates were submitted to the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, in the presence of the Chairman of GECOM, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, and under the close watch of international observers, who indicated that the process was extremely smooth.

A total of 19 parties had submitted symbols ahead of Nomination Day but at least five were visibly absent on Friday at the Umana Yana. From

all indications, the Kingdom Liberal Movement (KLM), Destiny to Oneness, the National Congress of Progressive Peoples’ Alliance, and the Cooperative Republicans of Guyana, would have dropped out of the race along with other smaller parties. The 13 political parties that are now one step closer to contesting the General and Regional Elections will have up until January 13, 2020 to correct any mistake on their lists once notified by the elec-

Chairman of GECOM, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, speaking with the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, in the presence of the Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Roxanne Myers (Photo by Adrian Narine)

able to say definitively whether they have reached the requirements in terms of the Lists of Candidates. Our staff is already going through the exercise of inputting that information into the database and to determine whether they have met all of the requirements,” Ward told this newspaper. It was explained that the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, on

Ward was keen on noting.

The General Elections List is made up of the National Top-Up List, which must have at least 300 to 330 nominators countrywide, and at least 42 candidates, who are to be elected to sit in the National Assembly. It also comprises of a Geographical Constituency List, which must see at least 150 to 175 nominators from

each of the 10 Constituencies (Regions). The list should also include no more than 45 candidates, and must have a one third representation of women for the collective regions. Each political party must contest in at least six geographical constituencies.

Meanwhile, the Regional Elections List must have 150175 nominators, who must be residing in the region for which they placed their names. It must have 12 to 36 candidates who also reside in the region.

In a separate interview with journalists, the Chief Elections Officer, while noting that the Nomination Day was smoothly executed, said political parties would have a chance to challenge the decision of the elections commission, if their lists are not approved at the end of the process. Legal provisions have been made for appeals to be made to the High Court, if needs be, by January 16, 2020.

Approved lists will be gazetted on January 19, 2020, meaning that nothing can be changed at this time. Any changes, such as the death/withdrawal of a candidate or intent in a joiner of lists, these must be done on January 11 and 17 respectively.

“Once all of that is satisfied then we move towards the jurisdiction in which we are producing the ballots. The plan is that once those parties have TURN TO PAGE

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 11, 2020

The Winning List

APNU/AFC confident in list of candidates submitted on Nomination Day

By Lisa Hamilton PRESIDENT David Granger, on Friday, said that he is confident that the APNU+AFC has submitted “the winning lists” of candidates to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to contest the Regional and General elections on March 2, 2020.

The President, accompanied by APNU+AFC Prime Ministerial Candidate, Khemraj Ramjattan and Director General at the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon submitted the party’s lists at the Umana Yana to Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield.

As Lowenfield signed off on the lists, he passed it on to a string of GECOM officers tasked with double checking or looking for other specific details.

Watching on were the entire GECOM commission led by Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh; numerous members of the diplomatic corps; and several Ministers of government including Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo.

The process went smoothly and, when completed, the CEO stood to shake the hand of the President and other representatives signalling his acceptance of the lists.

Exiting the Umana Yana, the President spoke with media operatives over the cheers of thousands of supporters who had earlier marched from the Pa-

rade Ground to show their support for the coalition.

He said he was satisfied with the process, noting that the lists submitted contain a balance of youth and gender.

“I’m very satisfied that we went through the process and we’ve got the best list and it’s a winning list. We have a proven record and the lists of persons that we have submitted, I’m very sure, will be able to do proud in the National Assembly and in the Regional Democratic Councils and, of course, in the Cabinet,” the President stated.

In a statement later released by the Coalition, the President added that the coalition has nominated candidates who enjoy the confidence of members of the APNU+AFC and its supporters.

He said that Guyanese can prepare to re-elect a government on March 2, which has a plan for development that will revive local democracy, rebalance the national economy and expose every Guyanese to the good life promised.

“We are guaranteed of the overwhelming support of Guyanese, based on our record over the past five years,” the President said.

“General and Regional Elections will determine your children’s future. We shall ensure a secure future for present and future generations. We shall ensure that our country does not ever again fall into the wrong hands. We shall not

Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo (third left) takes a photo with Mayor of Georgetown, Ubraj Narine (fourth left); former Linden Mayor, Carwyn Holland and another supporter (Delano Williams photo)

gamble with your children’s future. The APNU+AFC is the right choice. The future is bright. Let us continue to move forward. We shall fulfill our promise to provide a ‘good life’ for everyone.”

A “massive” attendance Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle at the Umana Yana, Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo expressed his complete satisfaction with the number of APNU+AFC supporters who had turned out on their own to witness the process.

“This is unprecedented! This is my twelfth election and I’ve never seen anything like this before. Since 1964 I’ve been involved in elections and this is massive! This is an explosion of confidence in the APNU+AFC,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister was surrounded by supporters in green and gold who held flags high and chanted upbeat tunes for the coalition.

Around 11:30hrs, a large contingent of persons moved off from the Parade Ground beating drums, blowing horns and dancing to campaign songs crafted for the coming elections.

Speaking with media earlier on when she arrived at the venue, the GECOM Chair stated that it took a lot of hard work for the Commission to arrive at Nomination Day successfully.

“We’ve been working over Christmas

A massive number of supporters of the APNU+AFC gathered at the Umana Yana for Nomination Day (Delano Williams photo)

President David Granger hands over the APNU+AFC lists of candidates to Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, on Nomination Day at the Umana Yana on Friday. Flanking him at the table are APNU+AFC Prime Ministerial Candidate, Khemraj Ramjattan and Director-General at the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon (Adrian Narine photo)

and every night and up to yesterday we had an emergency meeting,” Singh said adding that she is confident that the Commission will be delivering free, fair and credible elections.

A successful Nomination Day Meanwhile, based on her observation of the process, US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch stated that everything went smoothly and she was happy to have her first experience of Nomination Day in Guyana.

“I was basically here the whole time and it was terrific to just see all of the parties present their information. It was a very fun afternoon in many ways,” she said.

Also commenting, British High Commissioner, Greg Quinn said: “I think it’s gone very well and I think GECOM and all the parties are to be congratulated for a very successful Nomination day.”

The APNU+AFC was the first party to hand in its list to the Commission.

They submitted a National Top-Up List which included at least 300 to 330 nominators countrywide and at least 42 candidates; a Geographical Constituency List which includes at least 150 to 175 nominators and no more than 45 candidates and a Regional Elections list which includes 150-175 nominators and 12 to 36 candidates.

Approved lists will be gazetted on January 19, 2020.

Several members of the Diplomatic Corps who observed the process (Adrian Narine photo)

President David Granger and APNU+AFC Prime Ministerial Candidate, Khemraj Ramjattan surrounded by Ministers of government and their supporters as they arrive at the Umana Yana (Delano Williams photo)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday, January 11, 2020

‘Too soon for conclusions’ on plane crash in Iran

It is too soon to draw any conclusions on what brought down a Ukrainian passenger plane in Iran on Wednesday, Ukraine’s foreign minister has said.

“We have so many different versions of what could [have] happened to the plane that we need some time to really understand,” Vadym Prystaiko said.

His comments come a day after Western powers said they had strong evidence that the plane was hit by an Iranian missile - a claim rejected by Tehran. All 176 people on board were killed.

The crash of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 near Tehran airport came just hours after Iran carried out missile strikes on two airbases housing US forces in Iraq.

US media have speculated that the Boeing 737-800

Iran says the data from the “black box” will be analysed at home, but Ukraine wants to do this in Kyiv (BBC photo)

may have been mistaken for a warplane as Iran prepared for possible American retaliation.

Footage has emerged purportedly showing a plane being hit by a projectile over the Iranian capital.

Victims of the crash included 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians as well as nationals from Sweden, the UK, Afghanistan and Germany.

Iran has promised a full investigation. However, TV images from the crash site on

Thursday showed a mechanical digger helping to clear debris away, raising concerns that important evidence could have been removed.

Meanwhile, the so-called “black box” recovered from the wreckage will be opened on Friday, Iran’s official Irna news agency reported. Black boxes contain the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, and could provide vital clues about what caused the crash.

At Friday’s news briefing in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, Mr Prystaiko reiterated that at this stage Ukrainian investigators were not ruling out any possible cause of the crash.

But he called for the “level of speculation” to be reduced, adding that Ukraine wanted to establish an “international coalition” to conduct a thorough investigation.

Mr Prystaiko said nearly 50 Ukrainian investigators were already working in Iran, and there was “full co-operation” from Tehran.

“We are analysing pieces of the body of the plane, we are analysing the bodies of the people who died in the crash.

“We are analysing the chemical residues on the body

of the plane. We will come to our conclusion, we don’t want to come to them right now.

“Our team has now got access to the black boxes,” he said, stressing that Ukraine wanted them to be analysed in Kyiv. Iran earlier said it would download the information itself, adding that the process could take up to two months.

Kyiv earlier said the US had passed on “important data” about the crash, without providing any further details.

Ukraine’s team in Iran includes experts who worked on the investigation into the 2014 downing by a missile of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine. Earlier on Friday, Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation (CAOI) chief Ali Abedzadeh repeated his view that a missile was not the cause of the crash.

“The thing that is clear to us and that we can say with certainty is that this plane was not hit by a missile,” he told reporters. On Thursday, government spokesman Ali Rabiei accused the US and its allies of “lying and engaging in psychological warfare” in their speculation over the cause of the accident.

An Iranian official told the

BBC on Friday that there was documentation to prove that the plane had a mechanical issue before take-off. It was not signed off for flying, but Ukrainian airline officials had overruled these objections, the official said, without giving further details. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had received intelligence from multiple sources indicating the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, adding that it was possible that this was unintentional.

“This reinforces the need for a thorough investigation,” he said. “Canadians have questions and they deserve answers.”

But he said it was too early to apportion blame or draw any conclusions, and refused to go into detail about the evidence.

The Ukrainian flight was headed to the Canadian city of Toronto via Kyiv.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson echoed Mr Trudeau’s words and said Britain was working closely with Canada and other international partners affected by the crash.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said British

nationals were advised not to travel to Iran, “given the body of information that UIA Flight 752 was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, and the heightened tensions”.

Newsweek quoted a Pentagon and senior US intelligence officials, as well as an Iraqi intelligence official, as saying they believed flight PS752 was hit by a Russian-made Tor missile. Video obtained by the New York Times appeared to show a missile streaking across the night sky over Tehran and then exploding on contact with a plane. About 10 seconds later, a loud explosion is heard on the ground. Iran initially said it would not hand over the recovered “black boxes” to Boeing, the plane’s manufacturer, or to the US. This followed the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone attack on 3 January and the subsequent strikes against US bases in Iraq on Wednesday.

However, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) later confirmed it had been invited to take part in the investigation and would send a representative.

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Caricom raises external tariffs on pasta, cement

(TRINIDAD NEWSDAY) CARICOM’s Council for the Trade and Economic Development (COTED) has increased the common external tariff (CET) on pasta and cement for one year. It came into effect on January 1.

The tariffs would, in theory, make imported products more expensive compared to domestic (Caricom-manufactured) products. The new tariff on pasta is 40 per cent, up from 20 per cent, while imported cement will have a tariff of 35 per cent, up from 15 per cent. The decision was made at the 49th annual COTED ministerial meeting last November in Georgetown Guyana.

Trade Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon represented TT and raised these two issues.

In a release Friday, the TT Manufacturers’ Association

UTT president Prof Sarim Al-Zubaidy

(TTMA) said these new tariffs “were of interest” to the local manufacturing sector.

“Such developments are expected to assist in safeguarding the local pasta and cement industries that are faced with high imports from extra-regional countries.

And so, such actions by the Government would serve to secure local jobs and pre-

serve foreign exchange that may have otherwise been expended on the importation of foreign substitutes,” the TTMA said. The tariffs, they claimed, would restore confidence in local operators to expand operations and investments in the local economy, and might also act as an impetus to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) into TT. The organisation also thanked the Gopee-Scoon for raising the issue at COTED. The TTMA said it would continue its advocacy to improve regulations and ease of doing business in the country and the region to allow for sustainable growth in the non-energy manufacturing sector. The association’s goal is to double exports in the next five years. *** Is UTT’s president quitting to return to Iraq?

(TRINIDAD NEWSDAY) An e-mail sent to the media on Thursday has left more questions than answers as to whether or not Prof Sarim Al-Zubaidy had quit his post as president of the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT).

An unattributed e-mailed statement from one “Ms Hosein” claimed he left the post, but the university’s corporate communications unit told Newsday they knew of no such thing. The e-mail claimed, “Iraqi Sarim AlZubaidy has resigned as President of UTT. Professor Prakash Persad is now in charge. Al Zubaidy is reported to be rushing to his homeland in Iraq to rescue his relatives from US rocket attacks in Al Asad.”

The claim referred to Iranian missiles hitting Iraqi military bases without caus-

ing casualties, in retaliation for last Friday’s US drone strike in Iraq that killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, even as both sides have since de-escalated tensions.

The e-mail claimed other shake-ups at UTT. “Dr Zameer Mohammed has been appointed as Vice President of Corporate Operations.” It said Sandra Ganness has also been named Head of Student Support Services and alleged she had only a first degree in zoology.

Al-Zubaidy, when contacted by Newsday, neither confirmed nor denied the claims in the e-mail, saying he was unaware of that document.

He said, “Even if I want to leave, I would not tell you first. I would tell the chairman of the (UTT) board first.” Pressed by Newsday, he added, “Events in the

Middle East have nothing to do with any decision I may take or not take.”

Asked if Al-Zubaidy had resigned, Ganness said, “I have not received any official word. I have not heard it.

That has not come out at all from corporate communications officially.”

Asked if she had been promoted and had only a first degree, Ganness said she was in a meeting and opted not to comment until she had first seen the statement.

Education Minister Anthony Garcia told Newsday, “I have no information he has resigned. He has a contract and at the end of it an appraisal will be done and either he will be renewed or not.”

UK committed to helping small island developing states (BARBADOS ADVOCATE) The Caribbean is again being assured that even though the United Kingdom (UK) is breaking ties with the Europe Union (EU), it remains committed to creating a stable business environment and trading relations which will help to address the challenges faced by small island developing states.

So says Stephen Kossoff, Head, Department for International Development (DFID) Caribbean and UK Executive Director for the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). He made the comments while delivering remarks during the opening ceremony of the CARICOM Workshop on World Trade Organisation (WTO) Issues, which is taking place at the Savannah Beach Hotel until

Friday.

“We are really pleased that in line with the withdrawal agreement reached between the EU and the UK, the terms of current trading arrangements will remain unchanged during the implementation period, which as I am sure you know will run between the end of January and December 2020. And we particularly look forward to bringing the new CARIFORUM/UK EPA, which many countries in the region have now signed up to and ratified into effect once the EU’s arrangement ceases to apply to the UK,” he said.

Meanwhile, turning his attention to the World Trade Organisation, Kossoff said it must be all hands on deck as they seek to strengthen and improve the WTO, in an effort to make it fit for

purpose for the 21st century.

He added that WTO reform cannot and should not be left up to “a small handful of large countries with resources to dominate discussions both inside and outside the WTO”. To that end, he said it is for that reason that the UK has been so committed to levelling the playing field through their work with the Trade Advocacy Fund (TAF), of which he noted this week’s workshop is a part. “...The UK is providing up to 16 million pounds for TAF2 [Trade and Investment Advocacy Fund] over six years to provide advice and support to build negotiation

capacity across developing countries. But this is only a part of what we are doing to improve trade in the Caribbean, through our wider DFID Caribbean portfolio we are providing other trade related benefits to countries in the region,” he said.

The DFID representative said this includes support for Compete Caribbean, a programme implemented by the Inter-American Development Bank. According to him, to date that initiative has created over 6 000 jobs, unlocked access to new domestic and export markets and supports the development of small businesses to become more

competitive.

“We are also in the process right now of developing options to provide support for the region to help effectively implement the EPA, both as an existing EU member state and when we have left the EU. We want to ensure that businesses in both within the Caribbean and the EU are maximising the benefit of these agreements,” he said. (JRT)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday, January 11, 2020

Don’t give up your right to vote

THE political parties contesting the March 2, 2020 elections have all submitted their various lists on Friday during Nomination Day. Each of the two main parties has expressed confidence in their lists and even the smaller parties – some with no real support base – have also spoke of winning.

As we have said earlier this week, elections have consequences for democratic standing of a country and for democratic governance. As a functioning democracy, holding periodic elections is one of the standards by which the country’s standing would be measured by the international community and by local human rights groups.

Indeed, one of the central aspects of democracy is the holding of regular competitive elections. In fact, one could argue that there is no democracy without elections.

There is, of course, the view

that democracy confined to elections is at best a flawed notion. But even this school of thought recognises the centrality of elections to a flourishing democracy.

But now that the parties have filed their nomination papers, they will utilise the remaining days of the campaign season to take their message across the country.

It is during this period, that each party would make their cases to the voters who must not give up their opportunity to decide who governs this great nation. The right to vote was fought for through blood, sweat and tears. It is a right that ought not to be taken for granted or ignored.

It is a right that allows every eligible citizen the opportunity to vest privilege into a person and group he/ she thinks can best represent and articulate his/her interest. It is a right that carries

tremendous power, through which the voter can hire a representative, fire that representative and exercise the responsibility in ensuring that representative accounts for the management of citizens’ affairs and the nation’s resources. Voting therefore is a sacred duty and must be cherished. To cherish the vote is to turn out and vote and thereafter remain vigilant in the political processes to ensure that promises made are kept, involvement in the management and decision-making on matters that impact the well-being of self and community is guaranteed and respected. To not vote is to deny oneself the opportunity to influence the course of direction impacting one’s life and community.

Man lives in a political association. By this it means decisions affecting one’s life have political implications

from the womb to the tomb.

It was a political decision that informs laws and policies with regard to the right to life and where death occurs, the right for one’s earthly remains to be disposed of consistent with specific standards. Where death has occurred under questionable circumstances, the deceased is entitled through the Coroner’s Act to an inquest.

During one’s lifetime, political decisions will inform the making of laws, conceptualisation and execution of policies and programmes, which will impact on quality of life, inclusive of whether there is respect for fundamental rights and freedoms.

These include the right to freedom of association, freedom of speech and sharing of ideas and information, healthcare, education, ownership of property, the right to a safe and secure environ-

ment, work (jobs/economic opportunities), and protection from discrimination. Political decisions inform quality and equitable infrastructural development and resource management, inclusive of the environment.

Where government in our country is representational when a citizen exercises the right to vote by casting a ballot, it becomes a corresponding right to question and propose ideas to elected officials since they are acting on your behalf. This is one of the basic elements in the thrust towards realising good governance. Good governance requires that citizens stay engaged throughout the process and elected officials responding to the desires of the community within the confines of the law.

When a voter gives up the right to vote, it is tantamount to relinquishing

an important act in determining who ought to be the leaders in the community.

More so, the refusal to discharge this sacred duty bears the consequences of having to live under conditions and in circumstances not befitting of your desire.

A vote also places persons of choice in leadership positions to make and administer laws that can bring about economic opportunities, bring about equality, improve infrastructure, security and the environment, and manage your towns and neighbourhoods free of corruption. To vote is to have a voice and the right to demand thereafter that the voice be heard and elected leaders act in accordance with the laws of the community and the desires of the people. Voting is a sacred duty and all eligible voters are called on to exercise it.

Only more chastisement Dear Editor, THE man of the cloth, or of “prayerful considerations”, his apparent new guide to his recent announcement of withdrawing his bid for his party’s prime ministerial nomination, announced at the launching of his party’s 2020 campaign rally that the event had been done on a “small budget”. On a word for word interpretation this is intended to convey the understanding that – the PPP/C does not have money.

This is a claim that is deceptive, and again announced by the grand bishop, who has just finally suffered the

chastisement long overdue, for continuously subverting his spiritual truth, in the most deceptive of ways, for earthly ends – the pursuit and acquisition of earthly trappings of political power, through means that do not fit with the known traditional functions of spiritual office. At least, not those of saving the souls of men.

Can someone explain to Juan Edghill that he continues to do himself, no Heavenly or earthly good, by his continuous predilection for such deliberate tricks and undisguised attempts to hoodwink, on behalf of his party,

not only the public, but also to impress upon the international community, deflecting such claims that his party is very rich from the multi billions, pillaged from the State. Of course, this would include generous donations from those whom its policies, enabled their self-enrichment.

Editor, given the stupendous scale of national theft that took place during the PPP/C regime, it is evident that the party’s war chest is bursting at its seams from the abundance of filthy lucre. So much so, that there are constant reports of money being paid to persons of a certain

ethnic group, to remove the party flags of its main political rival, and to influence their votes, on March 02.

Of course, election campaign launchings are usually big to dos, costing money, which political parties, especially in lesser developed countries, plan and prepare for such events. Of course, the coalition has done its homework very well, in executing a high energy filled event, which has built very powerful momentum, which continues to roll with telling effect. Its supporters are on board to a man, with others joining on the journey to-

wards D-DAY. It would seem that the PPP/C, whether by design or otherwise dictated, by circumstances, were not able to attract the kind of cultural personalities for a presentation of cultural renditions.

And neither did its opening rally result in that energy surge for inspiring those who gathered in the sweltering Sunday afternoon heat. In fact, Ali’s presentation was a horrible collection of repeated and worn out lies, that have become a mass refrain for PPP/C fraudulence of an election campaign. This is the corrupt hall in which Edghill

plans his sinful exhortations.

But just a further reminder to the ‘Bishop’, who noticeably has re-commenced using his rank of spiritual office – there can be no Heavenly dividends from such continuous acts of association with evil and vileness, irrespective for and on behalf of whatever cause(s) it may be. The result can only be inevitably further chastisement.

Regards, Carla Mendonca

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday, January 11, 2020

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Hike in NIS pension Dear Editor,

A letter written by me in the Letter Columns of both the Staborek News and Kaieteur News of Wednesday, May 15, 2019 under the caption ‘This increase should have been applicable to all National Insurance Scheme (NIS) Pensioners.’ The following day,

the Publicity and Public Relations Officer of the N.I.S., the long standing and very knowledgeable officer, Diane Lewis Baxter, responded by indicating that the issue of an increase for pensioners who are above the minimum rate is currently being discussed by the N.I.S. Board and Management, and that was

surely welcome news.

Then on Thursday, January 09, 2020 on page 12 of Stabroek News under the caption “NIS announces pension increase”. More good news, paragraph two states clearly, minimum rates for old-age and invalidity pensions have been increased from $32,100 to $35,000 per month.

Nothing more was men-

tioned so as to indicate if this increase is across the board so that all old-age pensioners would benefit, including those pensioners who are receiving the maximum payable.

This article is somewhat ambiguous and more information is clearly needed.

It is public knowledge that when the annual increase

for workers is announced, it does indicate the percentage of increase to be added to the existing salary or wages, so all the employees have to do is the maths.

I see no reason or reasons why, in this case, the same cannot be done. However, I am extremely happy that there are increases.

It is impossible for it

escape ones attention as regarding the amount of increase percentage wise that this APNU/AFC Coalition Government has given or made payable and this is irrespective if you are a pensioner of not.

Regards, Archie W. Cordis Pensioner

The classic PPP/C political con game which must not succeed Dear Editor, PPP/C presidential candidate, Irfaan Ali’s statement that a PPP/C government will not condone corrupt or incompetent ministers, has to be the greatest piece of political absurdity yet to emanate from this criminally unconscionable political party.

This is unbridled arrogance to the max, especially coming from a would-be national leader, who has the darkest of clouds hanging over his head with regards nineteen pending criminal charges for spearheading, as

a former Minister of Housing, the selling of acreages below market prices, to friends and cronies of the party. There are other related charges as well, which a High Court judge had ruled, that he must face the court, despite efforts to have those matters discontinued. And if the latter had not been enough, he has the big scandal surrounding the authenticity of his academic certificates, regarding their institutions of issue and where they are really geographically located.

Any decent, self-respecting citizen in such circumstance, who respected the

meaning of probity, and constitutional norms, would never, on his own accord, be part of such an important process, much less to accept being the nominee. They would have recused themselves from such a constitutional process.

But not the PPP/C and their dishonest candidate that has been foisted on the nation by party leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, and his captive, party senior executive. It is a reflection of the gross dishonesty that the Robb Street cabal has displayed for the constitution.

It is very difficult to fathom such an unbelievable episode of vile presumptu-

ousness, coming from such a leader who is wholly tainted, and whose continued presence as an electoral candidate, insults what should be impeccable standards that are known to traditionally govern such a selection process. More vexatious is the fact that he originates from a political party, – the PPP/C – that is the standard measurement for institutionalised corruption within CARICOM. Editor, this should not be the manner of summing up the personal integrity of one who aspires to leadership at the national helm,

since such a citizen, irrespective of political party affiliation, should be shown great respect. However, here is a citizen of disreputable national standing, trying his party’s old threecard political trick, of attempting to deflect from its dismal and insalubrious record of governance, by speaking as the moral calibre of his would-be cabinet members, if his party wins the imminent national elections. How can he dare seek the moral high ground on such an all-important issue of personal integrity for high office, when still in

the condition of an accused before the court, on allegations that shed light in the dark corridors of PPP/C corruption? How can he even speak about competency, given the national wreckage that he and his former colleagues would have left behind, when his party was defeated at the last elections? This is the classic political con game, being tried by Ali and his party, and it must not succeed.

Regards, Earl Hamilton

I am very optimistic of Guyana’s ability to significantly reduce our crime situation

Dear Editor, Many of the blue collar criminals in Guyana are willing to forgo their criminal behaviours and work. I know this because I speak with them and – when I can afford it – I employ them. A few of them are currently working on our Behaviour Modification Facility on the

Linden Highway.

I am very optimistic for the future of Guyana in this regard. All the politicians need to do is put policies in place to get the monies, consistently, down to the ‘average’ persons. Ways of doing this are in massive infrastructural projects, beautification initiatives, agricul-

tural drives, etc. Many of the blue collar criminals are both vocationally and academically challenged.

What is needed for them, are consistent ways of gainfully employment, so they can meet their financial obligations. The prison system needs to be upgraded to be more focused on rehabili-

Prayers for Guyana Dear Editor, I might sound unorthodox as regards to political affairs but allow me to articulate my observation from

a spiritual perspective as regards to the forthcoming general elections. It is important that we keep all our contesting leaders in our prayers. There is so

much talk about unity of all Guyanese. This is good yet we see division in the air.

It is God who ordained that there will be order in chaos. Let this chaos turn

tation rather than simply, incarceration.

Investments need to be made in half-way house facilities (for those returning from incarceration and seeking to be successfully reintegrated to the society). There also needs to be a judicial formalising of the alternative sentencing, restorative justice

and incarceration diversion programmes.

These are some of the major initiatives which can be put in place in short order. If done correctly, we will drastically reduce Guyana’s crime and recidivism rates. So, yes, I am very optimistic of Guyana’s ability to significantly reduce our

crime situation, except that

into celebration of life and not aggression. As we know, prayers move mountains, thus, I urge all of us to pray without ceasing that peace may prevail. Let this election be a positive experience for each Guyanese and may our children remember it as a

great election.

May God help our leaders to do an examination of conscience and hear the quiet voice of God in the depth of their being, for God speaks in the silence of the spirit. Let the spirit of humanity lead Guyana

forward. I will be praying for this grace and I appeal everyone to pray for God’s intervention during this crucial time.

the politicians have to want this to happen.

Regards, Wendell Jeffrey

Regards, Jerri Dias

8

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 11, 2020

Ali, Jagdeo play down 19 fraud charges …say PPP ready to take Guyana forward

PEOPLE’S Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Presidential Candidate, Irfan Ali, said the party has invested in competence, youth, experience, commitment, diversity and a list that represents the people who will take Guyana forward after the March 2020 elections.

Ali was, at the time, speaking to the media after his party completed their Nominations Day exercise on Friday at the Umana Yana, Kingston, Georgetown.

The party was the fourth to submit their list. Ali, Jagdeo and the PPP Prime Ministerial candidate, Brigadier (rtd) Mark Phillips, submitted the party’s list to Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, who accepted it.

Some 661,378 electors from across the 10 administrative regions will make their way to the 2,351 identified polling stations to elect their political leaders in General and Regional Election on March 2.

When asked of the 19 charges he is facing before the courts, Ali said “today we started a journey to victory and that is the only thing on my mind, the only thing as presidential candidate is Guyana, and moving Guyana forward.” Questioned on if Ali is convicted of the fraud charges, General Secretary of the PPP/C Bharrat Jagdeo brushed the issue aside.

Jagdeo said Ali will be a President for all of Guyana and he will implement a plan for rapid development in all sectors.

BRIGHT YOUNG PEOPLE He said on the ‘top-up’ list for the party on Nomination Day, there are 116 members, who will help to push Guyana forward. “Young bright people who can lead

Candidates and nominators can only appear on one party’s lists – both National Top-up and Geographical Constituency Lists – but only on one of that party’s geographical lists.

PPP/C General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, and Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali

and we believe in young people.”

The general secretary said the party is confident of a win at the next elections because of how much work was done on the ground.

“What is APNU going to tell people, listen to their rallies and public meetings; it says nothing about their track record, nothing about the future plans. If you drive around the city you can see what our future plans are, because we put them out in a manifesto and posts,” Jagdeo said.

When questioned about the APNU/AFC claim that Ali is his puppet candidate, Jagdeo said “Irfan Ali got 24 of 35 votes in the Central Committee of the PPP”.

He said the PPP track record speaks for itself and when elected to office the party plans to revitalise the

economy. The party leaders, on Friday, walked with supporters to the Umana Yana where the party submitted their list of candidates for the election of a President, members of the National Assembly and members of the Regional Democratic Councils, to Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield.

The Nomination Day process began when political parties submitted their party symbols to GECOM by December 13, 2019. This was to allow the commission to examine the symbols and give approval to avoid issues such as duplication.

14 NEW PARTIES GECOM had reported that 19 political parties have submitted symbols thus far and of these, 14 are new parties.

The law prescribed that the submissions of the lists of candidates will have to be done strictly on Nomination Day and within the timeframe set – no time earlier or later.

For the National Top-Up List, it should comprise of 300-330 nominators, 42 candidates (persons to be elected to sit in National Assembly) who all need a statutory declaration form in the presence of a Commissioner of Oaths or Justice of Peace, and include the name of the presidential candidate.

The Statutory Declaration form is what candidates sign to indicate that they are Guyanese and do not have dual citizenship.

According to GECOM, the onus is on the candidates to be honest when they sign the statutory forms since the laws do not provide for

Only 13 parties ... satisfied the criteria for being on the ballot, we forward those to the service provider in Canada to ensure that they are produced in Canada. The production time is about 15 to 19 days inclusive of return flight to Guyana,” Lowenfield explained.

Addressing GECOM’s state of readiness for the much-anticipated elections, the PRO said aside from Nomination Day, the Revised List of Electors has been posted for a period of 21 days (January 5-25) for scrutiny by the public. Electors whose information, such as address or change in

name, has not been updated are being given a chance to visit GECOM’s office to provide the corrected information, once they would have participated in the house-to-house registration exercise and or the claims and objections exercise.

“With the publication of the Revised List of Electors (RLE), it was recognised that a number of eligible electors whose addresses and other information were updated during the house-to-house exercise were not reflected on the RLE. In this regard, an administrative process is being conducted

FROM PAGE

false declarations made by candidates.

Meanwhile, the Geographical Constituency (Administrative Regions) List must include 150-175 nominators from each constituency and no more than 45 candidates. It must be noted that parties are not mandated to contest both General and Regional Elections. Likewise, they are not mandated to contest in all 10 geographical constituencies but they must contest in at least six of those regions. With regard to the Regional Elections, the Regional Democratic Council List must comprise of 150-175 nominators for each constituency – all residing in the said region, and 12 to 36 candidates also from within the region. They too are required to sign a statutory form.

GENDER QUOTA Parties were also required to have one-third female presence on their National Top-Up List and same on the combined Geographical Constituency Lists in accordance with gender balance laws.

These requirements, as well as others, were examined by Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, on Nomination Day and those parties whose lists, even one, do not meet all the requirements, will be deemed defective.

Parties will have 24 hours after Nomination Day to notify the CEO in writing, of death and/or withdrawals of candidates and/or nominators.

In addition, parties can also withdraw their lists but this will have to be done in writing by both the representative and deputy of the lists and before the lists are approved.

On January 12, the CEO will inform the representative and/or deputies of the defective lists of same and they will have until the following day to make and submit the corrections.

On January 15, the CEO will inform of the approval and/or non-approval of the lists by the elections commission.

Parties will also have up until January 16 to make any appeals to the High Court based on the decisions of the commission.

02

to ensure that electors are placed within their correct divisions for voting,” Ward had explained in a statement issued days ahead of Nomination Day. It was noted that failure to conduct the exercise may very well result in electors being displaced and unable to vote at a polling station in their area. Free, fair and transparent processes in the production of a credible list are the hallmark of credible elections, Ward said, while adding that GECOM will ensure that the name of every registered eligible elector is properly accounted for on the Official List

of Electors.

Chairperson of GECOM, Justice ret’d Claudette Singh, has once again put to rest any concerns regarding credible elections on March 2. Speaking to reporters, Justice Singh said, “I will not sell my integrity for all the oil in Guyana.” “Only one way I know and that is the correct way. I will deliver credible elections,” the GECOM Chair told the media.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 11, 2020

‘A peaceful celebration of democracy’ –Int’l community praises GECOM, political parties for smooth submissions of nomination papers

By Svetlana Marshall Democracy prevailed in Guyana as political parties regardless of size or philosophy were given an equal opportunity to present their Lists of Candidates to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections – much to the satisfaction of the Diplomat Community, whose representatives keenly observed the process as it unfolded at the Umana Yana on Friday.

U.S Ambassador, Sarah-Ann Lynch; British High Commissioner, Greg Quinn; India's High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr. K. J. Srinivasa; and Head of the European Union, Ambassador Fernando Ponz Cantó were among the diplomats that were present at the Umana Yana as a total of 13 political parties presented their Lists of Candidates to the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield.

“It was a peaceful celebration of democracy,” the Head of the European Union told Guyana Chronicle as he offered his assessment of Nomination Day here in Guyana. He said the Elections Commission as well as the political parties ought to be congratulated for executing the process smooth and incident free.

“I think it is also worthy to mention that all the parties participated in a very constructive way. It is a very important step for the elections in Guyana and of course crucial for Guyana and it is very encouraging to see the process smoothly executed,” Ambassador Cantó told this newspaper.

Like the EU Ambassador, the US Ambassador, who observed the entire process, said it was smoothly conducted. “I was here the whole time and it was terrific to see all of the parties present their information.

It was a very fun afternoon in many ways, and very

exciting to see everybody present their information to the GECOM officials,” Ambassador Lynch shared.

She added: “I really enjoyed the experience and I wish every party the best of luck in a rigorous peaceful campaign.”

The U.S Ambassador said, come March 2, she will be observing the elections along with the International and Local Observers. The U.S is providing GECOM with assistance in area of Voters’ Education ahead of the elections. “For the most part they are focused on Voters’ Education, and helping citizens understand rights and responsibilities of the poll workers as well as the voters. So we are very happy that we were asked to provide that assistance,” the U.S Ambassador said.

The British High Commissioner also deemed the nomination process a success. “I think it has gone very well. I think GECOM and all the parties should be congratulated for a very successful Nomination Day. I think now, the campaigning, the hard work, is going to begin and I look forward to a hard fought campaign but a peaceful campaign and a respectful campaign and a campaign where everybody regardless of their political view and political position is able to express their views and their position,” High Commissioner Quinn told the Guyana Chronicle. He too will be observing the General and Regional Elections.

Added to the support given by the U.S, former Canadian Chief Electoral Officer, Jean-Pierre Kingsley was retained by GECOM to provide technical support to the electoral body. According to the Elections Canada, Kingsley served as Chief Electoral Officer from 1990 to 2007.

It was noted that during his term, he adopted a proactive role for his Office, recommending and promoting key initiatives to make

the electoral process more accessible. Two technical officers from the Electoral Commission of Jamaica are also here in Guyana providing assistance.

Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield in discussion with British High Commissioner, Greg Quinn (centre), US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch and Indian High Commissioner, Dr. K. J. Srinivasa.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 11, 2020

Change Guyana looking to make history at March polls

By Jared Liddell “WE are targeting all Guyanese. We represent diversity; it underlines our modus operandi. We believe in inclusivity. We will not have the kind of system that Guyanese people have had to deal with in the past.

Change Guyana pushes multi-ethnicity, multiculturalism and multi-racial beliefs not just in politics but in all of our operation. We will not be strangulated by race or religion or economic status, geographic location, age or gender we are about inclusivity.” This was the statement made by Prime Ministerial candidate of ‘Change Guyana’, Nigel Hinds, minutes before handing over their List of candidates to GECOM on Nominations Day 2020 at the Umana Yana.

Change Guyana, one of the 16 new parties that was launched in Guyana during 2019 to contest the March 2020 elections, is headed by businessman Robert Badal, proprietor of the Pegasus Hotel and Guyana Stock Feeds Limited, who is contesting the elections as the party’s Presidential Candidate, with Chartered Accountant Nigel Hinds as his running mate.

According to Hinds, the party will be contesting both the regional and general elections in March, but will be only contesting in seven out of the ten administrative regions.

He explained that due to the fact that the party is relatively new, it was unable to meet the deadline for requirements to contend for Regions One, Eight and Nine.

He, however, said that although the party is not contesting in all ten regions, its policies and initiatives are aimed to reach across every region, so as to ensure that the entire country and its citizens have an opportunity to benefit positively.

When asked about some of the plans he sees as achievable, were the party to win the majority in the March 2020 election, Hinds stated that there were several strategies for developing Guyana’s education, infrastructure, health sector and the wellbeing and advancement of each citizen.

“We are very strong on inclusive economic development,” he said. “We are very strong on eradicating the high levels of poverty and we think what has caused the economic underdevelopment in this country in such an extreme manner is the fact that we have this racial divide where either the people have been captured by the parties in the two large demographics or the parties have been captive by the people. And we seek to bring the people together and work with those who see a future for Guyana, where we can live in unity, live in cohesion and with less divisiveness,” said Prime Ministerial hopeful Nigel Hinds.

The Guyana Chronicle spoke to several of the party’s supporters, who all spoke of their confidence in the party and how it will impact the country if it is elected to the majority come March. One of the supporters, Egerton Morris, stated that after listening to the manifesto of the party, he was compelled to lend his support. He stated that young people have

Change Guyana Presidential Candidate Robert Badal (centre), with the party’s Prime Ministerial Candidate Nigel Hinds and some of its supporters outside of the Umana Yana on Friday

to regain control over their country and he believes that the party would be the best one suited to such a solution.

“After looking at what Guyana had achieved in 53 years, I felt like it was a failure, like we should have been further ahead. I lived in the US for 43 years and I just returned and I noticed that just what I

left those 43 years ago is just what Guyana is today, it hasn’t changed that much, and the rest of the world has moved on. So I’m here to help the young people take back their country.”

Change Guyana is ready to move on to the March 2020 elections, and is confident in its ability to make change in Guyana’s history. The leaders of the party are resolute in their belief that the pillars that the party is built on will compel persons to cast their votes come March 02 2020 for Change Guyana, and create history.

Change Guyana supporter, Egerton Morris

‘Wi likkle but wi tallawah’

…TCI contesting only general elections

By Tamica Garnett

DECLARING her party as “small but mighty”, Presidential candidate for The Citizen’s Initiative (TCI), Rondha Ann Lam, was accompanied by a humble procession of party members as she submitted the party’s List of Candidates at the Umana Yana last Friday, on Nomination Day. Citing several challenges in attracting the minimum requirements for both the general and regional List of Candidates necessary to qualify the party to be on the ballot paper for both elections, the party decided to forego the regional elections this go around.

The party’s procession gathered in front of Tower Suites and walked the length of Main Street into High Street to the Umana Yana to submit the lists to the Guyana Elections Commission.

(GECOM) The party will be contesting in the minimum six geographical constituencies in the general elections, and successfully submitted the lists with some 12 other parties on Friday. Hence the party relegated itself to contesting elections in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and Ten. “We’re very confident of making ballot today, we’re very pleased with the hard work of the TCI members and now we’re off to present our list to GECOM. We are small but mighty.

We’ve been on the ground collecting signatures, doing everything we need to do, and we’re ready for this,” Lam expressed.

The party was hopeful of coalescing with some other small political parties prior to Nomination Day, however that never materialised, with many of the smaller parties being confident that they are better off divided. Nonetheless division did not help those parties get numbers, and many

TCI Members submitting their party’s List of Candidates to GECOM CEO, Keith Lowenfield (left) inside the Umana Yana on Friday

of the small parties had to settle for contesting either the general or regional elections, incapable of meeting the requirements to contest both.

“We have been in conversations with almost everybody. We have not ruled out anything.

We have not reached the stage of arriving at any modalities,” party executive, Ruel Johnson, explained.

“It is unfortunate that we couldn’t come to an agreement with any party. At the same time, I believe a multiplicity of parties contesting is what we want to present. From the beginning we told all the smaller parties we are going to build our brand, but then time ran out.”

To contest the general elections, political parties had to submit a National Top-Up List of Candidates with at least 40 members, backed

Change Guyana Prime Ministerial Candidate Nigel Hinds

by no less than 300 nominators; in addition to at least six Geographical Constituency List of Candidates that collectively come up to at least 25 candidates. The six Geographical Lists requires at least 150 nominators per list. In the general elections, parties contest to win seats in Guyana’s 65-seat National Assembly, where laws are made and decided upon.

TCI is one of 11 small political parties contesting the upcoming elections, and like the other small parties, TCI was challenged to work with limited financial and human resources, and struggled to grasp candidates and nominators in many of the hinterland regions. The party had to decide to forego contesting these regions altogether.

Johnson explained that not many citizens are

quick to chance joining a new political party, and the challenges were many. “One is logistical. Even though we contested primarily on the coastal region, it’s a long coast. Second one is a socio cultural one in that people are afraid to engage in politics, which is part of the reason we formed, which is to encourage citizens to participate more. In the long term that is a socio-cultural burden that people have to overcome, and that’s one of our primary goals,” Johnson explained.

Nonetheless, he says the party remains optimistic.

“We provided the minimum, but we’re good.

We’re optimistic. We’ve gotten a sense of an undercurrent of change that people want. But we like numbers, we like precision so we are going to do polling and that is going to assess how we project going forward,” Johnson said.

Johnson, who is also the party’s communications officer, noted that since the party does not have funds to conduct rallies or reach too many communities, members will be doing mostly walkabouts and community meetings with citizens as it campaigns in the lead up to March 2.

The party is still to organise how they plan to go about that, or what communities they will target. The party has no prime ministerial candidate, or any plans to name one, and does not plan to release a manifesto, however, Johnson said the party will look to release a party plan on the country’s Republic Anniversary on February 23. TCI is one of several new political parties that were formed in 2019. TCI was launched in October 2019, pushing for greater citizen and youth involvement, the legalisation of marijuana, and constitutional reform, among other things.

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday, January 11, 2020

11

Charrandas’ escort and Anthony Vieira among new faces of PPP/C

AS is customary during the elections season, there were surprises, as persons crossed over from one political party to the next or other prominent individuals made their first step into the political arena, as was the cases with the “new faces” to appear on the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C)’s list of candidates.

The PPP/C’s list of candidates, which was submitted to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) at the Umana Yana, on Friday, included “new faces” such as former People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Parliamentarian, Anthony Vieira; Attorney-at-Law, Sanjeev Datadin and Executive Member of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Deodat Indar. Also on the list is former Head of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC)’s Vector Control Unit, Dr. Reyaud Rahaman.

list of candidates, ahead of the upcoming General and Regional Elections set for March 2.

Also throwing his sup-

Attorney-at-Law, Sanjeev Datadin

Rahaman was among the persons who accompanied former APNU+AFC Parliamentarian, Charrandass Persaud out of the National Assembly, after the former MP voted against his own party in a no-confidence motion on December 21, 2018.

Vieira, who had resigned from the National Assembly in 2010, had been critical of the PPP/C over the years, but has decided to join the party’s

Former PNCR Parliamentarian, Anthony Vieira

port behind the PPP/C was Indar, who, in a post on his Facebook page, said he believes the PPP/C’s manifesto is the “answer to Guyanese problems.” For months many Guyanese had questioned the independence of the GCCI, with many of its statements on national issues heavily favouring the opposition. Indar

was only recently replaced as president of the city-based business grouping.

The PPP/C also drew support from Datadin, who had represented the political party and its members in several cases which appeared before the local courts. Datadin has

Executive Member of the GCCI, Deodat Indar

long held association with the PPP/C. Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, expressed confidence in the new persons, who appeared on the PPP/C list, noting: “on our top up list we have 116 persons and a lot of those

members are new…there is a lot of new faces, including young, bright people who could lead.”

The PPP/C list also included Lecturer of the University of Guyana, Hugh Todd; Owner of National Television Network (NTN), Anand Persaud and Attorney-at-Law, Sonia Parag all known PPP sympathisers.

Jagdeo said his party’s list, despite including “new faces,” still comprised experienced campaigners such as PPP/C stalwart, Gail Teixeira. The PPP/C in a press statement on Friday, said, having launched its campaign on January 5, 2020 with Presidential candidate, Dr. Irfaan Ali, and, Prime Ministerial candidate, retired Brigadier and former Chief of Staff, Mark Phillips, it again demonstrated that it is truly a national party, with “competent candidates,” drawn from across Guyana.

“This diversity illustrates that the PPP/C, in this, its

70th anniversary, remains relevant and rooted amongst the Guyanese people and nation. It has fielded lists of competent candidates to carry out elected positions in the 10 Administrative Regions and in the Legislature,” said the political party.

The candidates, the party said, bring youth, energy, experience, technical and professional competence and a wealth of knowledge from all walks of life. The PPP/C further said: “these candidates and thousands of others across Guyana have committed to deliver the Party’s vision and plans for the development of our nation and of its people.” According to the PPP/C, many candidates have already proven their capabilities in their own professions, while others have demonstrated unquestionable proficiency during the party’s tenure in government.

Senior officer accused of sexually harassing journalist A female journalist attached to a newspaper in Guyana has made sexual harassment claims against a senior member of the Guyana Police Force.

The incident which reportedly took place in November 2019 is engaging the attention of the Police Force.

Guyana Chronicle has been informed that the officer

is attached to the Force’s headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown.

Reports indicate that the incident reportedly took place after the journalist ap-

proached the officer seeking information on an operation he oversaw.

Commissioner of Police Leslie James on Friday said the matter is being investi-

gated and the police public relations officer will issue a statement to the press.

“The Guyana Police Force is currently investigating a report of alleged sexual

assault, allegedly committed by a senior officer on a journalist,” a statement from the Police Force subsequently said.

World food prices continue to rise World food prices rose for the third consecutive month in December, as a strong rally in vegetable oil prices drove the FAO Food Price Index to its highest level in five years.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 181.7 points during the month, a 2.5 per cent increase from November and the highest level since December 2014.

For 2019 as a whole, the index - which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly-traded food commodities - averaged 171.5 points, some 1.8 per cent higher than in 2018 but still 25 per cent below its peak in 2011.

The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index rose 9.4 per cent from November, increasing for the sixth consecutive month.

The latest upturn was once

World food prices rose for the third consecutive month (FAO photo)

again driven by palm oil prices,

buoyed by both solid demand,

especially from the biodiesel

sector, and concerns about tightening supplies. Despite the December increase - which also concerned soy, sunflower and rapeseed oils - the vegetable oil sub-index had over the course of 2019 reached its lowest annual average since 2007.

The FAO Sugar Price Index rose 4.8 per cent from November. The rally was in part prompted by rising crude oil prices, which encouraged Brazil’s sugar mills to use more sugarcane supplies to produce ethanol, leading to reduced sugar availability in the global market.

The FAO Dairy Price Index increased by 3.3 per cent during the month, led by cheese prices, which rose by almost 8 per cent amid tighter export availabilities from the European Union and Oceania.

The FAO Cereal Price Index rose 1.4 per cent, driven mainly by wheat prices amid accelerating import demand from China and logistical problems in France due to continued protests in the country. However, maize and rice price quotations remained broadly stable.

The FAO Meat Price Index averaged 191.6 points in December, almost unchanged from its revised November value. The sub-index ended the year 18 per cent higher than in December 2018, driven by pig meat quotations both by solid import demand from Asia and pre-festivity internal demand in the European Union and Brazil.

(FAO)

12

TNM, a party of young professionals, submits list AS the country prepares for General and Regional elections slated for March 2, 2020, Nomination Day yesterday January 10, 2020 saw scores of supporters from both large and small parties gathered in front of the Umana Yana, to shower the parties of their choice with cheers, as they came out to submit their list of candidates to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

One of such parties is

all areas through change in leadership. Every promise that we make to you, we have solutions to tell you how we are going to solve them all,” Dr. Kissoon said.

With much enthusiasm, the leaders of the party made it known that they are aiming for the skies but even if they are offered only two seats in parliament, it is deemed a start towards them being a voice for the younger generation. Moving ahead from Nomination Day, the party plans to con-

TNM secretary and Prime Ministerial candidate, Dr. Gerald Forde

the New Movement Party (TNM). With support from Dr. Turhane Doerga, The New Movement party is a diverse youth-based political party with a promising vision to transform Guyana for all, through the utilisation of young leaders in key positions. With leadership from presidential candidate, Dr. Asha Kissoon, and prime ministerial candidate, Dr. Gerald Forde, they are expected to contest the General elections in six out of 10 regions.

In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Dr. Gerald Forde, related, “although difficulties were faced before Nomination Day, we were able to complete our list of candidates and successfully submit it to the commission, even though upon submission it was brought to our attention that a few pages of our documents were received by officials with missing signatures. We are however, working along with GECOM to correct this issue as soon as possible.”

The New Movement’s manifesto promises the reform of the education system, engage in the research and development of technology, constitutional and prison reform, along with the creation of jobs through the hemp industry and the construction of an oil refinery for Guyanese citizens.

“We want improvements in

TNM Member, Latchman Dindayal

tinue vigorous campaigning throughout various communities during the electoral season, up until the big day – March 2.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, a member of the aforementioned political party, Latchman Dinayal, expressed that he joined the TNM because he shares the same political ideologies as the leaders and other members of the group.

He too believes that in order to create a better Guyana, “youths are to be positioned among the policy makers of this country.”

“We are constantly told that we are the future… if this is so; give us the opportunity to lead in a clean and fair manner. Allow us to not only make promises, but to walk the walk”.

Comprised of young professionals hailing from various career paths – from doctors to engineers – The New Movement party first graced the political scene on the November 23, 2019 with their campaign launch at their head office in Georgetown.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 11, 2020

NA deputy mayor lauds support of stakeholders

New Amsterdam Deputy Mayor, Wainwright McIntosh, expressed gratitude to President David Granger, the government, the local business community and the citizenry for their continual support in transforming the century-old township.

He made his feeling known in his New Year’s Day message.

During the past 12 months, the municipality installed hundreds of street lights and rehabilitated roads along with the main thoroughfares.

As progress continues in the current year, the Municipal Development Plan, inclusive of the Municipal Economic Plan, will unfold, resulting in the installation of business incubators along the Republic Road, the putting in of Information and Communications Technology hubs around the township, the continual distribution of land titles by Central Housing and New Amsterdam Deputy Mayor, Wainwright McIntosh Planning Authority, the completion of the multimillion synthetic track, pensioners and the opening of a night the creation of a family leisure desmarket, which will cater primarily tination within the Esplanade Park, for persons working beyond regular the continual breakfast distribution to office hours.

“Development is not an overnight thing. It comes with time. We are putting together our municipal plan which will see economic development and stability in our town,” emphasised the deputy mayor.

He added: “We are living in the 21st century, and, we cannot uphold ancient practises... our order of operations is to modernise our beautiful town.”

With respect to youth development, a Youth Council will be formed with secondary school first formers, who will be empowered to understudy the roles of councillors in an effort to expand their leadership abilities.

Despite the plans, Mc Intosh has expressed concern over the wanton disposing of waste materials and the mixing of cement on the roadways.

“That aside, on behalf of Her Worship, the Mayor and Councillors of New Amsterdam, I want to wish you a prosperous and productive New Year. I trust that your hopes, dreams and aspirations become a success,” he said.

Region Two renews contract of 300 trench cleaners MORE drains and trenches will be cleaned and bushes will be removed in the New Year, as the Region Two Administration renewed the contracts of some 300 trench cleaner on Thursday.

Region Two, Regional Executive Officer, Denis Jaikarran, told the workers that the regional administration, under the Agriculture Programme, is pleased to renew the contracts of the workers and reminded them of their duties to maintain the waterway.

Jaikarran told the contractors that the administration is spending money to ensure that every corner in the region is clean and residents are provided with proper drainage and irrigation services.

After the trenches are cleaned, he said engineers and rangers within the various communities

Trench cleaners in the Region Two administration boardroom on Thursday

usually do field visits to ensure everything is in order.

He said once a trench is not cleaned satisfactorily, the contractor will not be paid.

At the end of the signing, trench cleaners left the

boardroom very satisfied.

Previously, their payments were delayed and many of them became edgy. The regional administration has since taken corrective measures and pay-

ments are done promptly.

Many of the contractors expressed gratitude to the administration for providing them with a job that helps them to maintain their livelihood.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 11, 2020

APNU+AFC dominated

the streets on Nomination Day

President David Granger and his Prime Ministerial Candidate, Khemraj Ramjattan, flocked by party members and supporters

By Gabriella Chapman THE streets of Georgetown, particularly Middle and Main streets, en route to Umana Yana, came alive on Friday as the political parties marched their way with their supporters to submit their list of candidates to the chief elections officer.

The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) + Alliance For Change (AFC) coalition were the first and largest contingent to flock the streets with their energetic band and lively revelers chanting the party’s campaign slogans: “Don’t stop the progress” and “Forward ever, backward never”.

It was a really elating feeling for the party members and ministers as they had a magnificent turnout of supporters from t h e

Minister of Business, Haimraj Rajkumar

young, old and in-between.

The party stalwarts were all in high spirits and deemed the occasion an “historic experience”. They are also confident that with the turnout of supporters, it’s a sure win for the coalition at the 2020 elections.

Communities Minister, Ronald Bulkan, said this day shows who “the real MVP” is.

“Nomination Day 2020 is the day that will separate the men from the boys, the horses from the sheep, and the fakes from the real. So what we’re

seeing here is energy and enthusiasm and the people have decided that they want a real President, David Granger.

Minister of Public Service, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley

They don’t want no fake. Put an end to the fake. So today we’re moving forward together, APNU+AFC with the people, and the people with us.

Forward ever, backward never, don’t stop the progress!”

Bulkan said enthusiastically.

Minister of business, Haimraj Rajkumar, said Nomination Day is very historic and is part of Guyana’s culture.

“We have thousands upon thousands of persons supporting the APNU+AFC coalition and David Granger for the Presidency. The PPP will never get such turnout.

I’m sure about this. I’m sure when the results are settled; the AFC will win at least five more seats. Look at the majestic turnout. Look at the people we have supporting us. Throughout the country I have visited, they are behind us. I have no fear that we will be victorious come March 2. Don’t stop the progress!”

Rajkumar said.

STRONG SIGNAL Mayor of Georgetown, Ubraj Narine, said young people should take note of the support that the government is receiving, and know that it is due to the fact that the country

wants progress to continue.

“This is a very strong message for the opposition and other parties and I believe our young people should take an example here of what is happening. This is the only party in a coalition that can be able to move this country forward to a better place, under the leadership of His Excellency, David Arthur Granger.

The turnout is thousands, very impressive and powerful. I’m very happy,” Narine said.

“The country supports this President and they support what they would have seen over the past four and a half years, and they’re ready to give us a second term to continue the progress that has b e gun. I

Foreign Secretary, Carl Greenidge

think I am elated. Sometimes when you listen or you look at the media or the newspaper, they give you a mundane idea of what is actually happening. But the people came out here today and it shows that they’re really happy with the government and they’re happy with what they would have seen and they want to see it continue,” Public Service Minister, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley told this publication Meanwhile, GTUC President, Coretta McDonald, has endorsed and joined the APNU+AFC coalition. In a quick comment to the Guyana Chronicle, McDonald said she joined the coalition

because she wants to effect change that the government favourably accepted.

“As a citizen of this country, I have a democratic right to belong to any political party I decide to belong to or to have alliance with. Labour has always been saying that we want to see things happen; we want to see changes. And as a result of that, labour would have posited to this coalition, a proposal.

mixture of the members of the coalition. I’m exceedingly happy, I couldn’t ask for more. But this isn’t the victory yet, it is the prelude to the victory. It is the build up to it; we have to continue the leg work, right up to the time of the counting of the ballots and after.”

Basking in the ambiance too, was Director-General, Joseph Harmon, who was hyping the people with the “garbage bag” chant.

Harmon said that recently, Jagdeo would have said to the press that he (Harmon) was receiving bags (money) from rich people.

“You know what it was?

These were garbage bags the people were bringing to me from months before because they said, ‘look, you need a lot of garbage bags for the PPP’.

So we’re putting them in those same garbage bags that he said people bring to me. That is where he is going.

I’m not going to say more about him because I’m not going to give him anymore relevance. He

to send him a very strong message that Guyana is for the APNU+AFC government, and that the PPP, we gan dump them in a garbage bag,” Harmon told reporters.

Director-General Joseph Harmon

He noted too that he is very proud to have been the agent for the coalition and be Minister of Communities, the one that handed over the Ronald Bulkan list with the President, to the Chief Coming out of that proposal, it found favour with the coaElections lition and as a result of that, Officer. labour has decided that we T h e cannot continue to stay on the c r owd outside to effect the changes we want to have effected, and c o u l d I, Coretta McDonald, am h a v e here as a result of the hardly been proposal that was c o ntained submitted and was favourably with how GTUC President, accepted.”

Coretta McDonald spirited and Foreign passionate the people were.

Secretary Carl has become Greenidge, was irrelevant to The APNU+AFC supportbursting with exthe people of ers stayed on the streets citement but said Guyana and all until the other parties came Nomination Day is just his ranting and the beginning of Mayor of Georgetown, raving has ac- and continued chanting the process.

Ubraj Narine tually helped us in support of President to mobilise our Granger and waving high, EXTREMELY PLEASED people. Because they have their coalition flags. Al“I’m feeling extremely become so angry with this though this occurred, it was pleased to see how well the ranting and raving everyday APNU+AFC have mobilised. on the television, that they a peaceful scene as no one As you can see, it is a great have actually come out here was aggressive or violent.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 11, 2020

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 11, 2020

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday, January 11, 2020

AG report undermines GRA’s efforts to manage revenue loss via exemptions (Statement by the GRA on the 2018 Auditor General Report)

THE Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) wishes to respond to the contents of a Guyana Times article “134.2B in tax concessions, doubled under APNU/ AFC Government, significant amount of luxury vehicles – AG report”. This article contains such misleading and erroneous representations and statements aimed at discrediting the formidable

efforts of the GRA in curtailing revenue loss regarding tax exemptions, that it would be remiss of me not to appropriately respond.

Firstly, it must be pointed out that the GRA administers the concession regime, and does not grant concessions.

Matter of fact, I am repeatedly on record stating my preference for the removal of the concession regime, and to replace such

with the system of tax credits.

Such a system, as practised in the developed nations, allows for improved compliance with the tax laws and conditions of IDAs. Secondly, the article stated, “According to the Audit Report of 2018, some $134.2B in concessions were granted for 2018, compared to just $64.3B in 2017, a 91.97% increase.” The report went on to say that: “In

Commissioner-General of the GRA Godfrey Statia

fact, the $134B it (the GRA) waived represents a large chunk of all monies collected by the Guyana Revenue Authority in 2018.” Further, the article noted, according to the report, “a total 9,359 Companies benefitted from $104.7B in tax concessions.”

For the sake of brevity, I will not expound on all the statutory reasoning and parameters regarding the Exemption Regime. However, for the sake of the learned individuals who should understand how the regime operates, but who inexplicably demonstrates selective ignorance, and the Guyanese public who they are trying to convince in this “silly season”, I will again provide some explanations which I hope will bring more clarity and final closure to this matter.

Exemptions are categorically placed into Conditional and Unconditional schemes, with Conditional Schemes being granted to Companies/Investors/Manufacturers etc., which results in investment stimulation and raw materials for manufacturers. As the category name suggests, the concession is premised on the beneficiaries satisfying certain predefined conditions, both pre and post the exemption granted.

Public Officials and Remigrants are categorised in the Conditional category as a result of conditions which must be satisfied. Government Agencies, including Budget Agencies such as the Office of the Auditor- General, are also included in this category.

Unconditional Exemptions, however, are specific to international trade agreements that Guyana has with countries, both regionally and internationally. The conditions for these are etched in the trade agreements that were bilaterally agreed upon by countries involved, and are not contingent on conditionalities. These include importations from CARICOM countries, and imports of specific items e.g. tiles from neighbouring Brazil.

It is patently obvious that the GRA, therefore, can only exert influence in terms of formulating and implementing policies and controls. This will only, therefore, apply to

the Conditional category of Exemptions, and in limited circumstances to the Unconditional category. The controls for the Unconditional category, in many cases, only involve authenticating relevant trade documents such as country of origin certificate etc. Matter of fact, there is no need to apply for the exemption under this category. This is usually granted automatically, if all the relevant documentations are filed with the import documents, but the GRA, through Post- Clearance activities, would check on their authenticity.

There has been so much buzz and fanfare in our country about oil and gas exploration and our recent oil finds. These companies, by way of signed Production Sharing Agreement (PSAs), are entitled to significant exemptions upon importation of capital items as preparatory works for the upliftment of oil. In the years 2016 – 2018, such imports intensified as a result of the ramping up of preparation for development, production and downstream activities.

I say all of the above to now unequivocally, unambiguously and without reservation that Exemptions (excluding the oil and gas element) under my tenure as Commissioner- General, which began in the year 2016, are less in value when compared to the period 2013 – 2015. For the period 2013 – 2015, Conditional Exemptions (excluding the unavoidable oil and gas applicants) were as follows: 2013 - $45.78B, 2014 - $53.27B and 2015 – $72.72B; for the period 2016 – 2018, this same category was $30.73B, $35.80B and $43.65B respectively. Unconditional Exemptions for the period 2013 – 2015 totalled $34.09B, while the total for 2016 – 2018 was $49.64B. Under the category of Conditional Exemptions, the main benefactors were the sub-category Companies/Business. For the period 2013 – 2015, Companies and Business benefitted to the tune of $119.04B, while for the period 2016 – 2018, Companies and Business (excluding oil and gas), value was $76.68B, some $42.36B less when compared with the period 2013-2015.

Remigrants, a category of Conditional Exemptions that was previously abused as was alluded to by previous Auditor-General reports, was reduced by $2.56B in the period 2016 to 2018 ($5.37B during 2013 to 2014, and $2.81B during 2016 to 2018). Additional Public Officials reduced by $1.1B during the period 2016 to 2018 ($2.83B in 2013 to 2015 and $1.73 in 2016-2018).

Any sound analysis that should have guided an informed conclusion or audit opinion on this matter should have been based on empirical data, so that readers and users of the report could have deduced the relevant points, and then form an informed and well construed opinion. Regrettably, the Auditor- General nor the media house that published the article seems inclined to present the Guyanese public with well-informed positions.

As part of the audit process, all IDAs were made available to the staff of the AuditorGeneral for inspection. Further, the PSAs are public documents.

Any sound review would have provided an informed analysis as to the reasons for the increase in exemption in certain categories, and therefore one would have concluded differently, and certainly more rationally and logically that what is being purported by the media article to be in the AG’s report of 2018. Inexplicably, I am not in possession of such report. I am being guided by Guyana Times, which, it appears, has unrestricted and unprecedented access to the report.

While the exemptions administered by the GRA relative to tax collected seems like the perfect fit for a sensationalised headline, the article takes a myopic and chauvinistic view of exemptions, by comparing exemptions granted in 2018 with the previous year. A more detailed analysis from 2013 to 2018 would have shown the drastic decrease in both the numbers and the values of exemption granted over the years.

The GRA, from 2016 onwards under new strategic directions, has undertaken several interventions that saw a significant reduction in the number and value of exemptions granted. Requests for tax exemptions, in particular those in the Conditional category, are scrutinised to ensure that they meet specific criteria so as to curtail the significant loss of revenue that resulted from the arbitrary and capricious manner in which such concessions were granted previously.

Further efforts by the GRA have not been limited to administering the concessions granted, but also extend to its swift TURN TO PAGE

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday, January 11, 2020

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Shuman might still be a Canadian citizen …says submitted papers, ‘but up to Canadian Government to decide’

PRESIDENTIAL Candidate of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), Lenox Shuman, is ‘claiming’ that he has relinquished his Canadian Citizenship.

Shuman, a former toshao of St. Cuthbert’s Mission, made this statement to reporters on Nomination Day, Friday, January 10, 2020, which was held at the Umana Yana, Kingston, before submitting his lists of Candidates for the March 2020 elections.

“I have surrendered all of my documents to the Canadian Government…it is for them to deicide,” the LJP Presidential Candidate told

L-R Presidential Candidate of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), Lenox Shuman, and his party members (Elvin Croker photo)

Guyana poised for development under the Coalition Government

By Dillon Goring AS elections preparations heat up in Guyana, the coalition Government held a rally in the capital of Georgetown, urging citizens to cast their ballots for the Coalition.

Mayor of the City of Georgetown, Pandit Ubraj Narine, urged residents of Albouystown to go out and vote, while noting that there will be no IMCs (Interim Management Committees) to run NDCs and communities as was the trend in the previous administration.

Mayor Narine also noted that he believed that the Government had a vision for young people and will be ensuring that they will have an integral role in the Government.

Speaking also at Thursday’s rally was Rear Admiral Gary Best who was Chief of Staff of the Army from 20072013. He told those present that Guyana was much safer under the coalition Government than it was under the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic ( PPP/C)

Minister of Public Service Tabitha Sarabo Halley

during the crime spree era .

Best noted that Guyana’s literacy rate was much improved since the coalition Government came into power.

Best made reference to the President‘s vision of a decade of development for the nation.

He revealed that the decade of development plan spoken of

by President David Granger included a Cop on every street ensuring the safety of citizens and a Doctor on every corner ensuring the health of every citizen.

Meanwhile, Chairman of

The Georgetown District of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and Minster of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, who was not scheduled to speak, told those gathered that the Government wanted to build a state of the art Community Centre in the community for young people to develop their skills in the area of sports.

Minister of Public Service Tabitha Sarabo Halley made the point that the Government was a caring Government.

Minister Halley spoke to the point that the Government will continue to place emphasis on developing young people, while pointing to the fact that young people must not find themselves risking their lives for quick money which is acquired through the drug trade, an occurrence in the previous administration.

Halley alluded to the fact that things will not change overnight but will take a while.

AG report undermines GRA’s efforts to 16 manage revenue loss via...

FROM PAGE

and robust control measures to ensure that beneficiaries are in keeping with conditions committed to in their respective agreements. To this end, over the years 2016 - 2018, sterling efforts of the GRA has led to the recovery of in excess of $1 billion (yes, one billion dollars) from Post-Exemption exercises (including sale of seizures to recover taxes) conducted on beneficiaries, who would have otherwise been declared fit and proper for the exemption by external agencies. The very photograph that appear in the

Guyana Times article is one such vehicle that was repossessed by the Post-Exemption exercise resulting from a breach of an IDA that was given to this company during 2103 to 2015.

This is testimony to the fact that the GRA is not oblivious and unmindful to the potential revenue loss from the abuse of the tax exemption scheme, and has taken measures to curtail its abuse.

Our work is in continuous progression mode, which can only progressively and incrementally improve as we con-

tinue to assiduously pursue our mandate to ensure compliance with Guyana’s trade, tax and border laws. As the leader of the GRA, my detractors can be rest assured that I will remain undeterred by assertions and statements which, for the most part, are baseless and unsubstantiated.

One last note to consider.

Could the Auditor-General state, for the public record, when was his Agency last audited.

the media, as he explained that he is awaiting his application’s acceptance.

However, when questioned about him being a presidential candidate and having dual citizenship, Shuman replied “My citizenship has been renounced,” although he is yet to receive any correspondence from the Canadian Government and remains a citizen of the Canada until such.

After submitting his list and questioned again by reporters about his dual citizenship, Shuman said “That issue has been resolved as I said that I would not come

to submit a list, sign a declaration and perjure myself.

I intend on upholding the Constitution of Guyana.”

He then went onto say “All of those stuff were dissolved in December that is why I’m here today.”

The LJP Presidential Candidate then proceeded to ‘shut down’ further questions leaving much mystery about his dual citizenship. Shuman, a Guyanese by birth, has had dual citizenship for approximately 28 years.

Article 155 (1) (a) of the Constitution states that, “no person shall be qualified for election as a member of the

National Assembly who is, by virtue of his or her own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state.”

The LJP is contesting the general and regional elections. The party is contesting Regions One, Two, Four, Seven, Eight and Nine and is aiming to represent the Indigenous People. According to Shuman, his list of candidates “represents the dynamic makeup of Guyana” and “has the ability to make a difference in Guyana.”

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 11, 2020

‘We’re still here, we’re still standing’ ––says URP head

By Naomi Parris AFTER being dormant for some time, the United Republican Party has re-entered the electoral race with the theme ‘Onward, Upward May We Ever Go’ to

gain the votes of Guyanese in the March 2020 polls.

Being one of the first political parties to show up at the Umana Yana on Friday to submit their list of candidates to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for

Nomination Day, the URP is targeting both the youths and the elderly of Guyana since they believe that young people are the future and the older stalwarts are the teachers. According to Dr. Vishnu Bandhu, the presidential candidate of the URP, “The youths are the leaders of tomorrow and we would like

the youths to be involved and we recognise also that without the youths, the elderly can’t survive and without the elder-

Bandhu stated.

As elections is being held at a crucial time, a time when Guyana has started producing

believe in social cohesion and that is what I’ve been doing,” Mr. Halls stated.

Marcia Lewis, the deputy

Dr. Vishnu Bandhu, the presidential candidate of the United Republican Party (URP) along with several supporters of the Political Party

ly, the youths can’t survive, because what the youths have is technology which is today’s world but what elderly has is experience, so if we can combine those two together, then we will be a powerful set of people.”

The URP will be contesting in both the General and Regional elections in all 10 administrative regions. Dr. Bandhu, told the Guyana Chronicle that, what sets him aside from the other political leaders is his interest in all Guyanese since he is not a believer of division and racism. “We are free-enterprise political party, a party for the people not for us, we are here to serve, not to be served and that’s the difference between the URP and the APNU/AFC and PPP/C and other parties,” he stated.

Additionally, he stated that persons must not identify themselves as Afro-Guyanese or Indo-Guyanese but as just Guyanese since we are people of ‘One Nation and One Destiny’. “We are the only political party that talks about the people in Guyana, URP does not believe in racism … as long as you are a Guyanese, you don’t have to be a member of the URP, come and work with the URP to build this country, this country is our mother land and we have to work to build it,” Dr,

oil, Dr. Bhandu noted that, the URP will not only focus on oil production, but on all the other resources, such as agriculture which he believes plays a vital role in Guyana’s development. “The URP is not focusing on oil alone, we are focusing on [what] we had before, agriculture, which is very important…oil is an addition for us,” he stated.

Mr. Eon Halls, a former member of the PPP/C who is now standing with the URP, told the Guyana Chronicle that after the last elections in 2015, he saw that the party needed him. He added that there was no conflict between himself and PPP/C and he was always a welcomed member of the URP before joining the PPP/C. Mr. Halls, who is a Lindener, stated that, he would love to see several developmental projects in the region such as an oil refinery being built in Linden, better roads and different type of factories being built in the region so that Lindeners can benefit tremendously, hence he is standing with his close friend, Dr. Bandhu, who he believes has the best interest of the Guyanese people.

“I have pledged my entire life from 1976 to struggle for the people of Linden, even to the last drop of my blood being with other parties ….I

representative of the URP’s list of candidates, stated that like many others, she once supported another political but was disappointed and is now standing in support with the URP to see a change for the betterment in Guyana.

“I too like so many other Guyanese would have been disappointed because there were times when I would have been in support of another party but the failed promises and disappointments, I just decided to join URP and I’ve seen Dr. Bandhu work hard, many sleepless nights …and this is a man who is truly dedicated,” Ms. Lewis stated.

Judy Gordon, another supporter of the URP, stated that she joined the party to be apart of a revolutionary movement to see change in Guyana and that the URP’s aim now is to get a foot in the national assembly to make some necessary changes from within. The United Republican party was formed in 1997 in New York and once stood in solidarity with the Peoples Progressive Party to overthrow the Peoples National Congress Reform, however, the party returned in 2015 to contest against the PPP/C in the 2015 General and Regional Elections.

Essequibo newspaper vendor shot dead A POPULAR newspaper vendor of Queenstown, Essequibo was shot dead when bandits raided his home on Friday night.

Chunilall (only name given), a father of three, reportedly died on the spot.

According to Commander of ‘G’ Division Crystal Robinson, the incident occurred around 21:00 hours, and the two young men who committed the act are on the run. Chunilall is well known

Dead: Newspaper vendor, Chunilall, who was shot dead in his home on Friday night

to residents of Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), as he used to sell the daily newspapers in almost every community on the Essequibo Coast.

He was also known for his jovial spirit. Reports indicate that the bandits carted off cash and jewellery from the home of the vendor. Police have since launched an investigation into the incident.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 11, 2020

Forde, McDonald, Chandan-Edmond among new faces on Coalition’s list RECENTLY-APPOINTED Senior Counsel, Roysdale Forde and General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, Coretta McDonald are among a slew of new faces on the coalition’s list of candidates for the upcoming general and regional elections.

In addition to the duo, Head of the Office of Climate Change, Janelle Duncan; former Magistrate, Geeta Chandan-Edmond; General Secretary of the Guyana Postal and

Guyana Teachers’ Union; this is about Coretta McDonald. I am excited as a citizen to be here to share today at this Nomination Day what we want to see happen in Guyana. Coretta McDonald as a trade unionist, we share similar politics with the exception that this kind of politics or this political arena that I have gone into, it has to do with a wider scope.” She said as a trade unionist she had always been agitating

General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, Coretta McDonald

Trade Unionist, Eslyn Harris

as a result of her being on the APNU+AFC ticket. “As General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, we have been advocating for a better education system, which includes salaries, upgrades for teachers, and a whole host of things. Coming onboard on a national level I can only agitate for betterment or more for our citizens,” she said.

APNU+AFC

List of Candidates for National Top-Up List Representative of the List: David Arthur Granger Deputy Representative of the List: Khemraj Ramjattan

Attorney-at-law, Roysdale Forde

APNU+AFC candidate, Janelle Christian

Telecommunications Workers Union, Eslyn Harris and a number of other young professionals are also on the list.

President David Granger who is also head of the list said that the candidates presented will ensure quality governance, if the coalition is reelected to office.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle McDonald said “I am all excited and this has nothing to do with President of the TUC or General Secretary of the

for better conditions for workers, “but if I can talk better conditions, better living conditions, a better way of life, a better Guyana, then we have places to go.

So after being on the fence for quite some time not here not there but being a trade unionist, I decided to step over, or that I needed to step on board so I can effect the type of changes that I would want to see in our country.”

McDonald said she would want to see a better Guyana,

44. Raymond Kirton 45. Nalini Lal 46. Volda Lawrence 47. Michael Leonard 48. Sheik Mahmood 49. Mazarool Majeed 50. Thandi McAllister 51. Coretta McDonald 52. Alison Mohamed 53. Moses Nagamootoo 54. Aubrey Norton 55. George Norton 56. Mutope Ogunseye 57. Subaschand Orilall 58. Marcey Parker 59. David Patterson 60. Haimraj Rajkumar 61. Seenanan Ramcharand 62. Khemraj Ramjattan 63. Riaz Rupnarain 64. Audwin Rutherford 65. Tabitha Sarabo-Halley 66. Keith Scott 67. Christopher Seetram 68. Jaipaul Sharma 69. Savitree Singh Sharma 70. Natasha Singh-Lewis 71. Devindra Sookraj 72. Jevaughn Stephen 73. Cynthia Stewart 74. Noel Thomas 75. Nicola Trotman 76. Raphael Trotman 77. Kenny Valladares 78. Darren Wade 79. Amanza Walton-Desir 80. Reynard Ward 81. Basil Williams 82. Marlon Williams 83. Mervyn Williams 84. Trevor Williams 85. Lucy Wilson 86. Hubert Wong

APNU+AFC

Former, Magistrate, Geeta Chandan-Edmond

1. Valerie Adams-Yearwood 2. Beverly Alert 3. Sydney Allicock 4. Amna Ally 5. Kidackie Amsterdam 6. John Anderson 7. Ian Baird 8. Deonarine Basdeo 9. Ryan Belgrave 10. Gary Best 11. James Bond 12. Simona Broomes 13. Latchmin Budhan- Punalall 14. Ronald Bulkan 15. Queenela Cameron 16. Michael Carrington 17. Geeta Chandan-Edmond 18. Marcia Chattoor-Gordon 19. Janelle Christian 20. Astell Collins 21. Leonard Craig 22. Karen Cummings 23. Sherod Duncan 24. Winston Felix 25. Annette Fergusson 26. Juretha Fernandes 27. Roysdale Forde 28. Wendella Franklin 29. Valerie Garrido-Lowe 30. David Arthur Granger 31. Carl Greenidge 32. Leyland Harcourt 33. Joseph Harmon 34. Eslyn Harris 35. Dawn Hastings-Williams 36. Nicolette Henry 37. Vincent Henry 38. David Hinds 39. Catherine Hughes 40. Christopher Jones 41. Quincy Jones 42. Winston Jordan 43. Mohamed Imran Khan

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 11, 2020

Three more witnesses to give evidence against UG student accused of issuing bomb threats THREE more witnesses are still to give evidence against 25-year-old University of Guyana (UG) student, Sheneza Jafferally, called ‘Diane’, for allegedly issuing bomb threats to the university.

Jafferally of Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara, denied the charge, when it was read to her, when she made her first appearance in

court before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.

Particulars of the charge alleged that, on February 5, 2019, at Cummings Lodge, Jafferally sent – by means of a public telecommunication device system, for the purpose of causing needless anxiety to the staff and students of the UG – a message which she knew to be false Jafferally is currently on

trial before Magistrate Rushell Liverpool, at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court.

She was released on $10,000 High Court bail after she was remanded to prison

by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on the ground of public safety.

Jafferally is still being represented by attorney-at-law Latchmi Rahamat.

Sheneza Jafferally called ‘Diane’

According to information, based on the investigation, a telephone number belonging to Jafferally was linked to the number from which the bomb threats to the university were allegedly made.

Jafferally, on the day in question, it is alleged, made several calls to the tertiary institution, making bomb threats and causing classes to be called off.

Pensioner killed while cycling on Enmore Railway Embankment A 79-year-old cyclist was crushed to death by a truck on Friday on the Enmore Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara while he was crossing the roadway.

Dead is Francis Lopes of Seventh Street, North Enmore.

Reports indicate that the truck involved in the acci-

dent came from Berbice and was headed to Georgetown when its occupants stopped to purchase food.

Just after the truck pulled off, it collided with the cyclist who was crossing the road, crushing him to death.

According to police, the driver said he did not see anything on the road but

felt an impact to the truck’s rear wheel.

After stopping and investigating, he discovered the pensioner’s lifeless body lying on the roadway.

The truck was being driven by a 37-year-old man of Logwood, Enmore.

Multiple injuries killed Linden man in Reg. 8 – Autopsy

AN autopsy done Friday on the body of 32-year-old Rondell Jacobs of Linden revealed that he died of multiple injuries resulting from the motor vehicle accident in which he was involved.

Jacobs, a labourer of Blue Berry Hill Wismar, Linden, was part of a drunken quartet travelling on a tractor heading to 72 Miles Village, along the Kaburi Main Access Trail in Region Eight. The journey was cut short after Jacobs, who was sitting on the fuel tank at the back of the tractor, fell off and was crushed by the wheel.

The incident occurred Sunday last and the tractor was driven by a teenager of

Greenwich Park, East Bank Essequibo.

The driver and the two others are in Police custody, assisting with the investigation.

Reports indicate that around 14:30 hours on Sunday, the teenager and another tractor operator left 58 Miles Potaro with the tractor heading to 72 Miles Village.

Along the journey, they were drinking alcohol, and, on their arrival at 72 Miles at about 17:00 hours, they met Jacobs and another man.

Together, they went to a shop and began drinking.

The driver claimed that, at about 22:00 hours, when they were all drunk, he drove the tractor with the others to head to their destination.

He claimed that Jacobs was standing on the left side footboard of the tractor and the other two occupants were sitting on the fuel tank at the back of the tractor.

It is alleged that, upon arrival at a junction, the driver turned right and, due to the unevenness of the road, the vehicle tilted left and Jacobs fell off the tractor onto the roadway and the driver subsequently drove over Jacobs before stopping some distance away. When the police found Jacobs, he had lacerations to the left side of the head and bruises to the left rib area; a banks beer bottle was also found near to his body.

Woman douses lover with hot oil

A 30-year-old woman is in police custody after she reportedly doused her lover with a pot of hot oil at her home at Lot 160 Gangaram Village, East Canje.

The injured man, Danny Vannooten called “Donavan”, 50, of Leopold Street, Georgetown is self-employed and shared a relationship with the woman for the past six months.

On Wednesday, at around

20:00hrs, following his arrival at his lover’s home, an argument erupted and the woman cuffed him about his body.

Even though he received several cuffs, he stayed quiet and went to sleep.

The following day, just after midday, he was seated in the living room when the woman began to verbally abuse him. Again, he ignored her and went to sleep.

According to Vannooten, while in the room, the woman entered with a pot of hot oil and poured it on his face, causing him to cry out in agony. Vannooten was taken to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital where he has been admitted a patient.

The alleged abuser was arrested and is assisting police with their investigations.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 11, 2020

ANUG and FED-UP to contest elections separately

By Tamica Garnett NOTWITHSTANDING earlier declarations of coalescing, the A New and United Guyana (ANUG) and the Federal United Party (FED-UP) submitted separate Lists of Candidates on Nominations Day, yesterday, at the Umana Yana.

The two parties arrived at the location separately, with ANUG having camped out since Wednesday, and was the fourth party to submit its list to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

ANUG will be contesting only in the general elections,

elections, set for March 2.

Ramkarran was however confident of the Lists of Candidates submitted by his party.

“Our list is in order, numbers are ok; everything is fine.

We have a very powerful list that comprises Guyanese of every walk of life, ethnic group, professional people, powerful people, and we expect that when the Guyanese people see this list they will come on board,” Ramkarran said.

According to Ramkarran, ANUG will be contesting general elections in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven and 10.

political parties.

“We are telling the electorate that the time has arrived for Guyana to have a national unity government, and we want to canvass and campaign for constitutional reform which will ensure that the two parties serve in the same government in equality, and we hope that that will appeal to the Guyanese,” Ramkarran said.

ANUG and FED-UP are two of a total 13 parties that successfully submitted List of Candidates to contest at Guyana’s March 2, General and Regional Elections.

FED-UP’s List of Candidates was submitted by

ANUG Presidential Candidate, Ralph Ramkarran displays a party sign during the submission of his party’s List of Candidates inside the Umana Yana (Adrian Narine photo)

in some geographical constituencies. However, going it alone in the general elections proved to be too challenging for FED-UP, which settled to contest only the Regional Elections, in two administrative regions, namely Regions Five and Six. “We haven’t been able to present a joint list, unfortunately,” explained ANUG Presidential Candidate, Ralph Ramkarran, moments after he submitted his party’s List of Candidates.

He was however optimistic that the two parties will cooperate going forward on the campaign trail.

“We still very friendly with FED-UP, we hope to campaign with them and we hope to have informal relations, but it was too difficult, the time was too short.

There’s no coalition, coalition only applies to government not really to political party, there’s no coming together,” he said.

ANUG and FED-UP are two among a number of new political parties that were formed in 2018 with the hope of contesting Guyana’s next

TOO DIFFICULT “The outlying regions were too difficult for us to get to, Regions One, Eight and Nine, so we did the regions we have access to. It was very, very difficult because we’re a new [party], a lot of people don’t know about us and it’s very difficult to persuade people to sign up,” Ramkarran noted.

To contest the general elections, political parties had to submit a National Top-Up List of Candidates with at least 40 members, backed by no less than 300 nominators; in addition to at least six Geographical Constituency List of Candidates who collectively come up to at least 25 candidates. The six Geographical Lists requires at least 150 nominators per list.

Ramkarran, a former executive member of the Opposition, People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) party, said should his party win a seat in Parliament; it will be focusing on constitutional reform. The PPP/C and the governing APNU+AFC party are the country’s two leading

attorney and party executive Chandra Sohan, who noted that he preferred not to comment on the reason the coalition was never made official.

FALL THROUGH “I would rather not address that at this stage. That is not the arrangement as of right now, that arrangement has fall through, so we are submitting our list on behalf of FED-UP only. We are going to be right now contesting the regional elections, we have lists for two Regions, five and six,” Sohan informed, as he stood at the gate of the Umana Yana awaiting his turn to submit his party’s List of Candidates.

He believed that the party would fare better in trying to obtain a seat in the Regional Democratic Councils of the respective regions. The Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) RDC has some 18 seats to be won while the Region Six (East Corentyne-Berbice) is made up of 30 seats.

“Our chances are excellent. Because that is where the party was founded initially and that is where our

Attorney and executive member of the Federal United Party (FED-UP), Chandra Sohan (right) as he submitted his party’s list to GECOM Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield (Adrian Narine photo)

stronghold is, so we believe that we will be able to do well in Regions Five and Six,” Sohan said.

However, even qualifying to contest Regional Elections had proved a challenge for the Berbice-based FED-UP party, which encountered

issues when it submitted its two lists of candidates.

After the party initially submitted the lists they left the venue noting that they had to correct some aspects of the list. They later returned and the lists were accepted by GECOM.

To contest the elections in the two regions, FED-UP needed to submit a minimum of 18 candidates for Region Five and 30 candidates for Region Six, with a minimum of 150 nominators per region.

NOMINATION DAY

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 11, 2020 President David Granger and Prime Ministerial candidate of the APNU+AFC coalition arrive at the Umana Yana in Kingston, while crowded by supporters

--kick-starts Guyana’s 2020 Regional and General Elections

By Vishani Ragobeer

ON Friday, January 10, was Nomination Day for the upcoming Regional and General Elections on March 2. Here, thousands of Guyanese came out in their numbers and colours to show support for the political parties they are in favour of.

It seemed as though the smaller political parties were really intent on giving the established parties a run for their money. Since Wednesday night, representatives dressed in their party colours (all colours of the rainbow save for the yellow, green and red), camped outside of Umana Yana to secure a spot to submit their list of candidates as early as possible – when the clock struck 13:00 hours on Friday.

By Friday morning, flags and banners of political parties were ubiquitous. The environs of Umana Yana were decorated, and almost ominously awaiting the arrival of those political parties. Some 19 parties submitted their symbols to compete in the elections, 14 of which were said to be new parties. At the end of the day, however, only some 11 parties had made an appearance at Kingston.

But it wasn’t at Umana Yana where the real action kicked off.

Rather, it was in greater Georgetown, at Parade Ground, where the supporters of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition gathered and made their way to Kingston.

Their March was a mix of feet stomping to the beat of the marching band, and to music blasting over the stereo. Whichever beat the supporters followed, one thing was certain: their chant of “Forward ever, backward never” and their endorsement of President David Granger was the message they wanted to send. The sea of yellow and green immersed the environs of Umana Yana, and when President Granger and few of his ministers – including Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, made their way into the building to present their list of candidates, the airwaves were filled with deafening screams of support.

The coalition was the first to submit their list, after being at the Umana Yama since Tuesday evening. This list, President Granger said, would be the “winning list” after the March 2 elections. After the coalition made its way back to Parade ground for an address

by President Granger, the smaller parties trickled in to submit their lists. The United Republican Party (URP) was the first, followed by A New and United Guyana (ANUG). The leaders of both parties, businessman Vishnu Bandu and Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran, respectively, were joined by a small entourage. Both leaders declared that their parties would be the next government of Guyana.

However, as these smaller parties made their rounds in the compound of Umana Yana to speak with the various media houses, particularly ‘Chronicle Live’, hundreds of supporters dressed in red arrived at the Kingston venue. It was the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) crowd that came with their leaders to submit their list as well. The PPP/C crowd made its way from Freedom house, and like the APNU+AFC coalition, they too made their way back to their starting point.

With minor skirmishes taking place on the road, the rest of the day’s proceedings passed by smoothly. The other smaller and new parties were able to submit their lists, as Change Guyana’s ‘big bus’– parked in front of the Presidential Candidate, Robert Badal’s Pegasus Hotel, – blasted Soca and belated Reggae Christmas tunes to keep the place lively. His intermittent political messages blasted there as well were not lost in the heat of the day.

Not too long after 17:00 hours, when the event was finished, the garbage that was left around the Umana Yana by the massive crowds was cleared away, full kudos to the Georgetown Mayor and City Council.

Members of the People’s Republic Party (PRP) at the Umana Yana on Friday

Members of Change Guyana stand in front of the party’s “Big Bus”

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, January 11, 2020 APNU+AFC supporters make use of the recently-constructed ‘I love Guyana’ sign

Chair for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Retired Justice Claudette Singh, Members of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), including Presidential Candidate, Lennox Shuman (extreme right)

The PPP/C marched from Freedom House on Robb Street to the Umana Yana in Kingston

Presidential Candidate of the United Republican Party (URP), Vishnu Bandu, and few party supporters make their way into the Umana Yana to submit the party’s list of candidates Members of the Citizenship Initiative after submitting the party’s list of candidates

Supporters of the APNU+AFC coalition eagerly await their party’s submission of its list of candidates inside the Umana Yana

This supporter was well ‘dressed’ to show her support for the APNU+AFC coalition

Photos by Adrian Narine, Delano Williams and Elvin Croker

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Lewis’ unbeaten 99, Joseph’s 4-32..

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday, January 11, 2020

India seal series 2-0

INDIA made a rapid 97run opening partnership, and a blistering finish from Manish Pandey and Shardul Thakur, accounted for a total of 201 for 6.

Their bowlers scythed through Sri Lanka’s top order, removing four batsmen inside the Powerplay,

ond time in as many matches that he has impressed. More than their individual performances, however, India ensured there were few weak performances in their XI. They won by a whopping 78, bowling Sri Lanka out in the 16th over.

Iyer all bat ahead of him.

THE FINISHING FIREWORKS When Sri Lanka claimed wickets in quick succession through the middle overs, it felt like perhaps they could restrict India to the vicinity of 180. At the end of the

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India huddle up after taking a wicket v Sri Lanka, 3rd T20I, Pune.

allowing Sri Lanka no more than 35 runs during the field restrictions, to derail their daunting chase.

There was a half-decent 31 from Angelo Mathews and an excellent 57 off 36 balls - the highest individual score in the game - from Dhananjaya de Silva.

Left-arm wrist-spinner Lakshan Sandakan also took 3 for 35 from his four overs.

India also had outstanding personal contributions with Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul making half-centuries, while Navdeep Saini finished with 3 for 28 - the sec-

INDIA’S SCORCHING START Thirty runs apiece for each of India’s batsmen in the Powerplay. Sixty-three overall for India. Rahul and Dhawan didn’t stop there though. They stuck together for several more overs - their partnership worth 97 off 65 balls. It set the tone for yet another match that India would dominate - the hosts’ total almost certain to breach 170 after that stand.

It was Rahul who looked menacing first, stroking Lasith Malinga through point in the first over, before hitting Mathews (playing his first T20 international since mid2018) for successive boundaries in the next over. Dhawan had a nervous start. He could have been caught on 1 off the bowling of Mathews, had Dasun Shanaka judged the chance better at deep square leg.

By the end of the Powerplay, though, both batsmen were striking serenely - Dhawan helping shortish fast deliveries past third man, while Rahul was languidly launching de Silva’s off-spin over long leg. Rahul made 54 off 36, and Dhawan 52 off 36. The pair had given India such a mighty platform, Virat Kohli even mixed up the batting order, and let Sanju Samson, Pandey and Shreyas

18th over, India were 167 for 6. Pandey had been batting nicely for several overs, but it was Thakur who really got the death-overs party started.

He bludgeoned Malinga for six off the second ball he faced, then next over smoked Lahiru Kumara over the straight boundary, and then cracked him serenely over extra cover. Pandey hit two fours of his own through this period. Together, they put on 37 off 15 balls, and turned an imposing total into a gigantic one.

INDIA BLAST SRI LANKA’S TOP ORDER It was pretty much over by the time the Powerplay ended. Danushka Gunathilaka tried to pull Jasprit Bumrah from a terrible position, and spooned a catch to midon. Avishka Fernando struck a gorgeous six over midwicket off Thakur, but then sliced one straight to point next ball. Oshada Fernando was run-out due to a mix-up, and Kusal Perera backed away and was bowled by Saini in the sixth over.

With no batsmen in form, it was almost impossible to see Sri Lanka coming back from 26 for 4.

Mathews and Dhananjaya staged a 72-run fifth-wicket partnership, but the stand

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Correa scores late as Athletico beat Barca

(BBC) - ANGEL Correa scored late on as Atletico Madrid beat Barcelona 3-2 in an incident-packed game to reach the Spanish Super Cup final.

Koke’s clinical strike put Atletico ahead early in the second half.

Lionel Messi equalised and then Antoine Griezmann headed Barcelona into the lead in Saudi Arabia.

Alvaro Morata converted a penalty to make it 2-2 before Correa ran through and grabbed the winner with a powerful strike that was too strong for Neto.

In the second half, Messi had a goal ruled out by the

Messi and Felix went head-to-head in the first-half

video assistant referee (VAR) for handball while Gerard Pique should have taken the game to extra time but sent his header over the bar.

Atletico’s 20-year-old Portuguese forward Joao Felix, who joined the club for £113M in the summer, was involved in an altercation with Messi in the first half, with the pair going head-tohead.

It was sparked by Barca full-back Jordi Alba appearing to poke his finger in Felix’s face.

A number of players from both sides got involved to separate Messi and Felix, with Luis Suarez having to

be pulled away from Stefan Savic.

Victory means Atletico Madrid will face city rivals Real, who beat Valencia 3-1 on Wednesday, in the final tomorrow (18:00hrs GMT).

The tournament has a new format this season, with the top two from La Liga and the Copa del Rey finalists playing in a four-team competition rather than the two winners playing each other.

Real, despite finishing third in La Liga, qualified because Barcelona won the league and finished runner-ups in the cup.

CAS ruling must be swift and airtight - IOC (REUTERS) - A DECISION by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over Russia’s four-year ban for doping must come as soon as possible and leave no room for interpretation ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Games, the International Olympic Committee said yesterday.

IOC president Thomas Bach said the ruling should be watertight so as to leave no room for other legal challenges that would further delay decisions about how Russian athletes will take part in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“Unfortunately the speed

of the procedure is not in our hands,” Bach told a news conference. “Of course we hope for a decision as soon as possible in order to be able to make all the necessary arrangements.”

“What is as important for the IOC and the international federations is that we get

a decision which does not leave room for any kind of interpretation. This must be a waterproof decision where everybody concerned knows what to do and what not to do.”

Russia, traditionally a powerhouse in many sports, has been embroiled in doping

scandals since a 2015 World Anti-Doping Agency report found evidence of mass doping in Russian athletics.

On Thursday, WADA formally asked CAS to rule on Russia’s four-year ban, after the agency last month handed down the punishment.

The move was expected after the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) sent a letter to WADA last month disputing the punishment, which bars Russia from competing in this year’s summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 2022 winter Games in Beijing.

Only Russian athletes who can prove they are clean competitors would be permitted to compete under the ban, and would have to do so as so-called ‘neutral’ athletes.

The IOC, however, is eager to avoid a repeat of the run-up to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics where Russian athletes were filing appeals over bans days before they were due to compete.

A limited number of Russian athletes were permitted to compete at the 2016 Rio Games while Russia competed as a neutral team at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.

“If there is room for

interpretation then this interpretation will trigger the next CAS case and then I am not even speaking about potential appeal to other courts,” Bach said.

“Those would lead to real, total confusion and potentially different interpretations by different federations.

“I hope that CAS manages this as soon as possible.

The IOC makes this interest very clear - to have this decision which leaves no room for interpretation.”

Warne raises $1M for bushfire appeal (BBC) - Shane Warne has raised one million Australian dollars (£528,514) for the bushfire appeal after his “baggy green” Australia cap was sold at auction.

The legendary leg-spinner, 50, wore the cap throughout his 145-Test career, in which he took 708 wickets.

The bushfire crisis has been ongoing in Australia

since September and 27 people have died.

Australia’s Commonwealth Bank was responsible for the winning bid which came in the auction’s final minute.

Warne said he was “blown away” by the generosity and the final figure was “way beyond my expectations”.

All money raised - the final price was A$1,007,500 -

will go to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund.

The Commonwealth Bank revealed it bought the cap and will take it on a national tour to continue to raise money for communities affected by the bushfires, before it permanently resides in the Bradman Museum.

Warne is Test cricket’s second most successful bowler, with only fellow spinner

Muttiah Muralitharan (800) of Sri Lanka taking more wickets.

The final price is more than double the A$425,000 (£225,000) legendary Australia batsman Sir Donald Bradman’s baggy green fetched in 2003.

The baggy green is given to an Australia player when he makes his Test debut, and cricketers usually wear the same cap throughout their

career.

A host of tennis stars, including Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Serena Williams have also pledged their support to the bushfire appeal.

Brighton’s Australian goalkeeper Mat Ryan has said he will donate A$500 (£263) for every save made by a Premier League goalkeeper this weekend.

Shane Warne raised one million Australian dollars (£528,514) for the bushfire appeal after his “baggy green” Australia cap was sold at auction.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday, January 11, 2020

Father’s memory inspired Hayden Walsh to match-winning knock against Ireland (ESPNCricinfo) Hayden Walsh has said that he was inspired by the 10-year anniversary of his father’s death after helping to secure a tense, one-wicket win for West Indies in Barbados.

The match at Kensington Oval went down to the penultimate ball, with No.9 Walsh unbeaten on 46 when Sheldon Cottrell hit a six to seal victory. Walsh was batting for only the third time in his ODI career, but shared in partnerships of 52 and 32 for the eighth and ninth wickets as West Indies recovered

from 148 for 7 to hold off Ireland and take a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Walsh, 27, said that he had been confident of getting the job done, having played as batting all-rounder at Under-19 level. Still, there were a couple of nervy moments with victory in sight, as Cottrell was nearly run-out twice in consecutive deliveries during the final over - with the bowler, Mark Adair, fumbling on both occasions.

“It was nerve-wracking,” Walsh said. “I went down to Sheldon and he said he was not in but he thinks the

guy dropped the ball, so I was more confident on that one. The last one, I didn’t expect him to come back for (a second run), because the guy had the ball in his hands, so I didn’t want to take any unwanted risks and lose a wicket.

“I also backed Sheldon to do his part. I wasn’t looking to get the strike unless it was the last ball. I was hoping that he would get a single or we could scramble one and I could face the last ball.”

Asked if the crowd’s support had had an impact, Walsh, who plays for Bar-

bados Tridents in the CPL, said that he had been more focussed on the date, 10 years on from losing his father, also called Hayden Walsh, as a teenager.

“Today marks the 10th anniversary of my father’s death and I got that inspiration to take the team over the line,” he said.

“It was a bit overwhelming. I was talking myself through the whole innings and to get over the line was like a long journey. Felt like I had just run a whole marathon.”

Before ekeing out the

last few runs with Cottrell, Walsh put on vital stands with Khary Pierre and Alzarri Joseph. “I reassured them that we’re going to do this, all we need to do is watch the ball and look at the scoreboard,” he said.

West Indies and Ireland face off again in one more ODI, in Grenada tomorrow, before playing three T20Is. Despite the gap between the sides narrowing sharply, following West Indies’ five-wicket win on Tuesday, Walsh said there was no sense of the home side taking their opponents

lightly.

“We were expecting them to come back hard,” Walsh said. “The performance that they did in the first game, I wouldn’t say it would reflect what they’d like. So I was expecting them to come back harder and give a better shot of winning the game.

“They wanted it a little bit more, but it’s cricket; you can’t just come and ‘bang, bang, bang’ and win a game, you have to actually build an innings. I don’t think we did that very well and the Irish bowled pretty well.”

Stewart’s maiden first class ton keeps Pride at bay (CMC) – EMMANUEL Stewart’s maiden first-class half-century propped up Windward Islands Volcanoes and kept Barbados Pride at bay, on the second day of their Regional FourDay Championship match here yesterday.

Replying to Pride’s 233 all out, Volcanoes reached the close at Arnos Vale Stadium on 230 for seven, to trail by just three runs on first innings.

They were 129 for five at one stage but the 20-year-old Stewart struck exactly 50 not out to bolster the innings and ensure the margins in the

Veteran opener Devon Smith

contest remained close.

He was helped by Keron Cottoy who made 38 while

veteran opener Devon Smith (33), debutant Desron Maloney (30) and former captain

and Test batsman Kirk Edwards (27) all made healthy contributions.

Part-time seamer Jonathan Carter (2-16), Test leftarm spinner Jomel Warrican (2-26) and off-spinner Ashley Nurse (2-54) all led the visitors’ attack.

Volcanoes got an excellent start when Smith and Maloney put on 76 for the first wicket as Pride struggled to get the breakthrough.

Left-hander Smith, last season’s leading scorer, faced 101 balls and counted three fours while Maloney struck four fours in a 78-ball innings.

Maloney’s dismissal, however, triggered a slide and Volcanoes lost three wickets for 17 runs to find themselves on 93 for three.

Edwards was fluent in striking three fours in a 45ball knock, and posted 29 for the fourth wicket with Alick Athanaze (9), to revive the innings.

But Volcanoes stumbled again, however, as both batsmen perished in the space of 16 balls with seven runs added, to leave the innings on 129 for five.

Stewart then stepped up to anchor a critical 63-run, sixth-wicket stand with Cot-

toy, which hauled Volcanoes back into contention.

All told, Stewart has so far faced 164 balls and struck three fours and two sixes while Cottoy faced 92 balls and counted four fours.

When Pride hit back in the final session to claim Cottoy and Shane Shillingford, Stewart once again stood firm to see his side safely to the close in a 33run, eighth-wicket stand with Sherman Lewis (eight not out).

DaSilva, Cariah silence Scorpions (CMC) – JOSHUA DaSilva stroked a maiden first-class hundred and Yannic Cariah his fourth, as Trinidad and Tobago Red Force batsmen dominated Jamaica Scorpions on day two of their firstround match in the Regional Four-Day Championship here yesterday.

The 21-year-old DaSilva top-scored with an unbeaten 113 while Cariah, 27, struck exactly 100 not out - two innings that helped fire the hosts to a massive 460 for four declared in their first innings at the Brian Lara Stadium.

Off-spinner Bryan

Left-hander Yannic Cariah

Charles then snatched two wickets as Scorpions stumbled before recovering to reach the close on 94 for

three, with Paul Palmer unbeaten on 31 and West Indies limited overs star Rovman Powell on 25 not out.

Scorpions trail by 366 runs heading into torday’s day three.

The day, however, belonged to DaSilva and Cariah, especially after captain Darren Bravo added only 16 to his overnight 50, to dash hopes of a century for the elegant left-hander.

Overall, he faced 166 deliveries in a shade under four hours and counted five fours and two sixes, extending his fourth-wicket stand with DaSilva to 86, after Red Force resumed the day on 241 for three.

With the score on 300, however, he played across a full-length delivery on leg

stump from seamer Derval Green, who was Scorpions’ best bowler with two for 97, and was adjudged lbw.

There was no further success for Scorpions as Red Force were then carried by a superb unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 160 between DaSilva and Cariah.

In only his ninth firstclass outing, the right-handed DaSilva faced 211 deliveries in just over five hours and struck eight fours and six.

Meanwhile, Cariah carved out seven fours and two sixes in a knock requiring only 135 balls in just over 2½ hours.

Needing a strong reply,

Scorpions were handed a decent start of 32 from captain and Test opener John Campbell (16) and Assad Fudadin (9) before Charles intervened.

He first trapped Campbell lbw, five balls after Fudadin perished at the hands of fast bowler Terrance Hinds, and then returned to bowl Test batsman Jermaine Blackwood for six.

Tottering on 53 for three, Scorpions were stabilised by Palmer and Powell who have so far put on 41 in an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership.

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday, January 11, 2020

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WI Over-50s host trials in T&T WEST Indies Over-50 selectees will assemble in Trinidad and Tobago from January 13 for a series of trial matches to select the final touring party for the Over-50s Cricket World Cup scheduled for March in South Africa.

It is the second edition of the Over-50s Cricket World Cup and West Indies will be one of four teams to make their first appearance.

The players invited to form the historic first West Indies Over-50s team are eager to prove themselves after their previous trial matches were severely affected by bad weather in Fort Lauderdale last November.

After the disappointment in Florida, the organisers were forced to arrange fresh trial matches that should give the players enough time to prove their readiness and to impress the watchful selectors.

The 18 West Indies selectees will be joined by four Trinidad and Tobago Over-50 players for their first match on Monday January 13 at the National Cricket Centre (NCC) in Balmain Couva.

Some of the West Indies Over-50 selectees who will be on show in Trinidad and Tobago.

The second match will be played against a star-studded Clarke Road United Masters team featuring some former

Trinidad and Tobago senior and junior national players the following day at the same venue while on Wednesday

the World Cup-bound players will turn their attention to NAS Masters also at NCC. The final match which will

also test the fitness levels of the players will be played on Thursday at the historic Queen’s Park Oval against the home team the Queen’s Park Masters.

All matches will be 45 overs per side and will be played with Cricket West Indies (CWI)-approved coloured clothing without the official West Indies Cricket Teams’ logo since the World Cup is not an ICC’s event.

However, the Regional side received the blessings of Ricky Skerritt, president of CWI. He wished the team well and applauded the work of the Local Organising Committee.

Skerritt wrote in the pre-tournament magazine, “Although CWI’s resources are now more focussed on developing younger players, we commend any project that seeks to directly engage past regional players in cricket-related activity.”

West Indies are in Group B of the tournament which is set for March 11 to 24 in Cape Town, South Africa. Other debutants are India, Namibia and Zimbabwe taking the total

number of teams to 12, compared to eight in 2018 when Australia won the inaugural tournament at home in Sydney.

Group A comprises England, Namibia, Pakistan, India, South Africa and Wales while Group B will have Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and West Indies.

West Indies selectees are: Virgil Gossai, Hafiz Mohamed, Sudesh Dhaniram, Imtiaz Rick Ali, Julian Charles, Lawrence Pooran, Zamin Amin, Curtis Richards, Fareed Hosein, Howard Jodhan, Krish Harricharan, Rajendra Sahadeo, Roy Singh, Azad Mohammed, Kenny Girdharry, Richard Seechan, Mark Audain and Ishwar Maraj.

The management team includes Guyanese cricket administrator, Raj Singh as Manager, businessman Dave Narine as Assistant Manager, Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira as Public Relations Officer (PRO), John Ramsingh as the Media Officer, Rick Ali and Ian Allen.

GMR&SC AGM set for February 10 THE Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) has indicated that its Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on February 10. Occur The election of office-bearers and AGM, along with the presentation

of audited financial statements, will take place at the GMR&SC Thomas Lands Office.

The meeting will begin at 18:00hrs.

Before things head to the boardroom, however, the club has confirmed that the

2020 year will start with the Endurance Championship round one on January 26.

Following the AGM, the club will host its first circuit racing event of the year on February 16.

The first instalment of drag racing is set for March

15.

Circuit racing returns on July 5 with August 16 as the date set for the highly anticipated international drag racing meet.

Round two of the Endurance Championship is set for September 13 with

the last round of drag racing fixed for October 4.

The International Circuit-racing event is scheduled for November 8.

The karting calendar is being worked on and will be added in the coming days, a source from the club stated.

All dates, the club noted, are not set in stone and can be changed as seen necessary by the executive committee.

2020 PCL Regional 4-Day- Guyana Jaguars vs Leeward Hurricanes Day 2 Smith, batsmen give Champs 263 run lead CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Saturday January 11, 2020) 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) 1979-80 (2) 242* (vs IND, Mumbai, 1974-75) Today’s Quiz: (1) How many players have now represented the WI in Tests?

(2) How many players have now represented the WI in ODIs? Answers in tomorrow’s issue

PACER Niall Smith bagged 3 quick wickets to complement the series of half-centuries from his teammates as Guyana Jaguars kept a firm grip on things, heading into day 3 versus the Leeward Hurricanes at the Sir Viv Richards Ground, Antigua.

Hurricanes were wobbling at 123 for 5 following the close of play on day two, trailing the Jaguars by 299 runs. Jahmar Hamilton (23*) and Jaques Taylor (11*) will resume the chase when play resumes on the penultimate day.

The Debutant Smith, who earned his 4-Day cap a few

days ago, ripped through the top-order with his pace to finish with 3-29 from 12 overs.

Opener Kieran Powell hit 34 while Montcin Hodge and Devon Thomas each had 13.

Guyana Jaguars racked up and imposing 388 all out in their first innings thanks to a quartet of half-century contributions from their premier batsmen.

All-rounder Chris Barnwell missed a century but played well for his top-score of 82 with 9 fours and a six.

Opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul grafted 60 while partner Chandrapaul Hemraj weighed in with 52.

Jaguars skipper Leon

Johnson stroked 59 but not before a lower-order assault from all-rounder Raymon Reifer (47) and Devendra Bishoo (40) almost took them to 400.

Spinner Damion Jacobs was the most successful bowler for the Hurricanes with returns of 4-82. Kacey Carthy and Quinton Boatswain grabbed 2 wickets apiece.

Day is action continues at 13:00hrs.

Irfaan plays down 19 fraud charges PAGE

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…as PPP unveils list with Charrandas’ escort, Tony Vieira

Change Guyana looking to 10 create history at March polls PAGE

Shuman might still be a 17 Canadian citizen PAGE

…says submitted papers, “but up to Canadian Government to decide”

ANUG and FED-UP split

PAGE

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…parties to contest elections separately

We’re still here, we’re still standing’ 18 PAGE

–– says URP head

Only 13 parties make the cut …GECOM hails Nomination Day a major success

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