No.106835 4th September, 2022 Free Inside PAGE 03 PAGE 03 Mid-Year Report … Economy defies shock to grow by 36.4 per cent –– non-oil economy experienced 8.3 per cent growth in first half of 2022 Be vigilant by‘shoddyagainstwork’contractors –– Vice-President tells citizens President Ali: Laluni to become food-production hub Single-flat and elevated Young Professional houses constructed at Providence, East Bank Demerara (President Dr Irfaan Ali’s facebook page) PAGE 20 Free Inside
2 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022
BALANCE OF PAYMENTS
Consistent with the expansion in the non- oil productive sector, credit to the private sector rose by 7.5 per cent to $308.3 billion. This primarily reflects expanding credit to the services sector, manufacturing sector, for real estate mortgage loans, and to households. These increased by 8.2 per cent, 26.7 per cent, 3.2 per cent, and 5.1 per cent, to $110.3 billion, $34.2 billion, $98.6 billion, and $38.5 billion, respectively, the release noted.
–– non-oil economy experienced 8.3 per cent growth in first half of the year
MONETARY DEVELOPMENTS
The construction sector is estimated to have grown by a strong 20.4 per cent in the first half of 2022, reflecting intensified ac tivity in both the public and private sectors.
Also, on the upside, the bauxite indus try is estimated to have grown by 31.9 per cent, and the other mining and quarrying (sand, stone, diamonds, manganese) in dustries by 36.3 per cent in the first half of 2022.
SECTORAL PERFORMANCE AC CORDING TO THE REPORT AGRI CULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHING
The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector is estimated to have expanded by 10.9 per cent in the first six months of 2022, driven by higher output from the other crops, forestry and livestock, notwithstand ing weaker performances in the sugar, rice and fishing industries.
GUYANA recorded an overall real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 36.4 per cent in the first half of the year, with the non-oil economy growing by 8.3 per cent, reflecting the government’s support ive policy stance. This is according to the Ministry of Fi nance’s Mid Year Report 2022 The outlook for the second half of the year continues to be favourable, the report said, pointing out that for the full year, real GDP growth in 2022 is now projected at 56 per cent overall, and non oil GDP growth at 9.6 per cent, maintaining Guyana’s position of global leader in economic growth “Led by President Ali, and fueled by the rapid economic growth, we have embarked on a period of rapid transformation, and our Gov ernment has laid out a masterplan for the rapid development and transformation of Guyana More importantly, we have demonstrated the capacity and commitment to working assid uously to make this vision a reality, so that benefits can redound to citizens in the shortest possible time,” Senior Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh is quoted as saying in the report. Dr Singh had noted that upon the assump tion of office by the President Irfaan Ali led Government, the administration recognised the importance of a strong, diversified eco nomic base, and, as such, even in the early days of oil production, placed the highest level of importance on a resilient non oil economyTheaim, therefore, was to modernise the economy’s traditional pillars, and catalyse ‘a rapidly growing and highly competitive non oil economy,’ a release from the Ministry of Finance said, pointing out that this is evident in the nation’s non oil economic growth at the end of the first half.
The petroleum sector expanded by an esti mated 73.5 per cent, with 34.6 million barrels of oil produced in the first half of the year This was as a result of the commencement of oil production at the Liza Unity FPSO in February.
MANUFACTURING, SERVICES AND CONSTRUCTION
The service industries are estimated to have expanded by 7.6 per cent, driven largely by increases in wholesale and retail trade, and transport and storage.
The overall 2022 growth rate for the ser vices sector is now forecasted to be 6.3 per cent And while the manufacturing sector is estimated to have contracted by 11.4 per cent in the first half of the year, it is now projected to grow by 7.5 per cent for 2022.
The overall balance of payments re corded a US$100 million deficit at the end of the first half of 2022, reflecting primarily higher cost of fuel and capital imports. With respect to trade, export receipts ex panded by US$2,330.2 million, outweighing the US$506.6 million increase in imports. Notably, these receipts grew largely as a result of higher export earnings from oil, while at the same time, non-oil export earn ings increased marginally by two per cent.
PRICES
Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance Dr. Ashni Singh
The sector is now expected to grow by 11.9 perEXTRACTIVEcent.
SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 3
INDUSTRIES
During the first six months of the year, Government had five lifts of profit oil from the two producing FPSOs. Further, Government received US$307 million in revenue from their share of prof it oil , along with royalties to the tune of US$37.1 million in the first half The cu mulative balance on the NRF, inclusive of interest income, was US$753.3 million after withdrawing US$200 million in May Government anticipates 13 lifts of profit oil for 2022, and subject to the evolution of world market oil prices, now projects US$1.1 billion from the sale of the country’s share of profit oil, and US$147.7 million in royalties, the release said “In just over 24 months of this Govern ment’s current term in office, implemented policies and programmes have already laid a solid foundation for realising the commit ments made in the 2020 Manifesto, on the basis of which this Government was elected to office.
Government remains steadfast in its ef forts to continue to grow the economy, and improve the well-being of all Guyanese, thereby building a modern and prosperous One Guyana,” the release from the Minis try of Finance noted.
VICE-President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo is calling on citizens to be watchful and to continue to expose and report badly-done roads and other infrastructur al projects being implemented in their communities as it assists the government in the monitoring of contractors and works being done. Dr Jagdeo made these re marks on Friday during a so cial media programme while responding to questions about the government’s oversight, and accountability on the massive infrastructural works ongoing across the Notingcountry.thatthe supervision is not always very strong and this enables contractors to cut corners and do rip-off work, the Vice-President encouraged citizens to use social media to bring these matters to light. “It will be a potent way of helping. I don’t see it as a nega tive.... When people post shod dy work being done on a road on their Facebook page, or send it to a government ministry, I’m happy. Many people think ‘oh they’re criticising the govern ment’ [but] it means that our people are vigilant. They’re act ing as our eyes on the ground,” Dr Jagdeo explained. In reporting issues of con cern, Dr Jagdeo pointed out that the citizens are playing their role in ensuring that they are not stuck with infrastructure that does not benefit them and defeating the reason money was spent on improvements in the first place. “People should do this be cause ultimately if the contrac tor does shoddy work in your area and the road deteriorates quickly, you are going to suf fer. So that’s how I see it,” Dr JagdeoAccordingsaid. to the Vice-Pres ident, with the government not able to monitor projects as thoroughly as possible, citi zen-reporting plays a vital role in flagging substandard work. He also noted that there are many cases where he is able to put relevant ministries on notice to look into work being done by contractors, thanks to social media posts by citizens. “So many cases I’ve sent to [the Ministries of] Public Works or Local Government to follow up on based on Facebook post based on shoddy work. We can’ t be everywhere because there’s so much work being done now. And sometimes they [citizens] see it first [and] they draw your attention to it,” he saidThe Vice-President called on other citizens to also be just as vigilant.“Ibelieve that people should utilise that more. Send the information to the minis tries, post it on their webpages, take a picture of the shoddy work being done on a contract, post it on public works page, send it to [Minister of Public Works Juan] Edghill, [Deodat] Indar and [ Minister of Local Government and Regional De velopment] Nigel Dharamlall or the Regional Chairman. Say I just sent this post on your page. So that if they don’t follow up public pres sure will ensure that they follow up,” he said.
The continued growth projected for 2022 builds on the 4.6 per cent growth recorded last year.
RESOURCE FUND
Be vigilant against ‘shoddy work’ by contractors –– VICE-PRESIDENT encourages citizens DrVice-PresidentBharratJagdeo Economy defies shock to grow by 36.4 per cent
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated supply disruptions to com modity markets, resulting in surging com modity prices, the effects of which are being felt globally. Guyana has not been spared. Consumer prices were 4.9 per cent higher than levels recorded at the end of 2021, and this was due largely to higher food and energy prices“Recognising the consequences of these inflationary pressures, Government imple mented a suite of measures to ease the burden on the population The excise tax on petro leum was reduced from 20 per cent to 10 per cent at the time of Budget 2022 presentation, and reduced even further from 10 per cent to zero in March. Additionally, Government also utilised $1 billion for the purchase and distribution of fertiliser to farmers across the coun try, $800 million to provide cash grants to households in hinterland and riverine communities, among a number of other interventions. Given the existing geopo litical tensions globally, inflation is now projected to be 5.8 per cent for 2022,” the releaseNATURALsaid.
The mining and quarrying sector is estimated to have grown by 64.6 per cent in the first half of the year, with a revised 2022 forecast of 99.9 per cent driven by growth in the petroleum and other mining industries.
Mid-Year Report …
President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali at the Century 21 Guyana finals of the Quran Recitation Competition
Dr Ali said the event clearly shows a new genera tion that is ready to ensure the legacy of Islam contin ues. (DPI)
4 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 02/09/22 - 03, 11, 14, 18, 26 02/09/22- 2, 3, 6, 11, 15, 16, 1702/09/22 - 7 5 2 02/09/22 - 3 0 4August 31, 2022 August 27, 2022 08 14 15 16 19 26 27 02 07 08 11 19 25 28CH
President Ali believes that recital of the Quran allows believers to have a closer communication with Allah (God) and invites the intersession of the Creator into their lives. Moreover, he said reading the holy book allows one to lay all their cares and troubles on the Creator, and make them free from distraction and intrusions of thoughts and actions.“It’s not only about recitation, it’s about bringing us in proximity with God through the message. And if we don’t feel after recitation that we are close in proximity then maybe we need to revisit the intention. Recitation reinforces the need for us to comply with the directives of God,” he added.
Meanwhile, Friday’s session of the Quran Recitation Competition saw a number of representatives from several masjids across the country. Following the semi-finals, 20 finalists were selected from the four categories, under 10, under 13, 14-20 years and age category 21-25.
better communities, world
FOR the world to achieve better countries and com munities there must first be an ultimate determination in the hearts of people to block out all evil behaviour. This was the message shared by President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali Friday evening, as he addressed the Century 21 Guyana finals of the Quran Recitation Competition, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).President Ali said reciting the Quran serves as a guide to one’s life, pointing persons to what is right and whole some. Recital of the Quran, the Head of State emphasised, is integral to the practice of Islam. The President, who is also a Muslim, noted that the holy book is the secret text of Islam. He said Muslims believe it holds mighty words that are instructive and powerful. “It teaches us how to live, it allows us to pass on our faith to future generations. As Muslims we are promised that Allah will find favour with and will reward the practice of reciting the Quran.”
President Ali: Blocking out evil fosters
The issue here is clear ly one of differing priori ties between the PPP/C and the APNU-AFC regarding macro-economic policies, combined with a good deal of routine ignorance of the latter.Whereas the previous APNU-AFC administration adopted a short-term, tax and spend approach, the PPP/C has been laser-focused on a long-term strategy of putting into place the requisite phys ical infrastructure and insti tutional frameworks to fa cilitate the expansion of eco nomic activity. APNU-AFC raised taxes on both capital and consumer goods during their tenure and combined that with heavy borrowing and deficit spending to drive short-term consumption. Upon taking office, Pres ident Ali and his economic architects set about removal of the APNU-AFC tax bur den. Reversal of numerous taxes, such as the tributor tax in the mining sector, was met with massive approval. But more than that, the adminis tration has set about what the President has aptly labelled structural transformation, with emphasis on infrastruc turalInfrastructuredevelopment. is some thing widely misunderstood, and this not least by the APNU-AFC, and by those whom columnist Freddie Kissoon calls the ‘usual sus pects’.Infrastructure, involves, but goes beyond building (or improving) roads, bridges, canals, airports, ports, and other physical facilities. It also involves investments for innovation in education and job training to meet the needs of the oil and gas industry, as well as the burgeoning service sector. Considerable soft infrastructure develop ment must also be carried out in areas such as banking and insurance. To boot, govern ment services must also be transformed so that a ‘whole of government’ infrastructure is up and Infrastructurerunning. develop ment is politically challeng ing because while large fi nancial outlays are incurred upfront, the results they yield are not realised until much later. This lag-time between investments and end prod ucts is often exploited by those bent of disinformation, instead of structural transfor mation. Lines like ‘people can’t eat roads’ can get ap plauses, but while hand-clap ping dies out quickly, hard ships such as black outs, bad roads or no roads, linger on to the detriment of all.
ARTICLE 15:
Infrastructure and You
Cyril Singh Agricul tural Enterprise Inc was awarded $96,600,000 for the supply and delivery of fertiliser to the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NA REI).Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha im plored contractors to exe cute their jobs within the specified timeline.
One would think that the development of modern in frastructure would meet with universal approval. Sadly, this is not so. Instead of em bracing the rapid moderni sation of the country, the opposition parties, along with a few private interest groups self-described as “civil soci ety” organisations, seem to think it is better we remain in a state of inertia. Even worse, the APNU-AFC, and some of the so-called civic groups like Article 13, are making claims about discriminatory economic development.
“The agriculture sector is moving and moving rap idly. You are the stakehold ers, you are the people who are helping us, so to speak to execute the work.
“This is our work pro gramme that we’ve been executing over the last few months, and I want con tractors to ensure that they do the work according to the specifications and to execute it on a timely basis.
SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 5 IN politics, as in life in general, there is a profound difference between what is happening and what is said to be happening. In Guy ana, the case of infrastruc ture comes to mind.
At the same time, you are earning but we want to form that partnership where we can have this work done on a timely basis,” he stated. (DPI)
The Usual Suspects of ten complain that foreign companies are exploiting Guyanese. The little an ti-government group, Article 13, for instance, has been politicising the oil & gas sector. Its draws on a bank of key words like inclusion, discrimination, and inequal ity. Article 13 of the Con stitution of Guyana is often invoked. But what about Article 15, which clearly empowers the state to ensure “dynamically stable devel opment”, and to intervene to correct structural problems in theNumerouseconomy?speeches by President Ali, Vice-Presi dent Jagdeo, Prime Minister Phillips, as well ministers of the government, have point ed to an integrated strategy where the oil and gas sector is being used as a resource to widen the base of the econ omy. Substantial emphasis, for instance, is placed on food security. Further, the government’ s aggressive 50,000 housing plan, and other measures such as the part-time employment pro gramme, cash grants to small businesses, GOAL scholar ships, and $30,000 grant to students, among others, speak to a balanced approach to economic development. And further still, the Low Carbon Development Strategy – To ward 2030 is a systematically articulated framework for climate-sensitive economic development.Highly developed physical and institutional infrastructure are integral elements of human develop ment, that is, about you and your community. Instead of the instant gratification approach to development desired by the opposition (such as Clive Thomas’ US$5,000 for ev ery Guyanese), President Ali’s administration is pa tiently building out a com prehensive infrastructure for sustainable develop ment in a plural society.
President, Dr Mohammed Irfaan Ali and his adminis tration has embarked on an aggressive programme of infrastructural development. The President is keen on transforming the physical and institutional capacities of the country. Considerable resources are also dedicated to multiple platforms of cul tural renewal, with a focus on re-imagining the country as One Guyana. For President Ali, oil & gas, in and of itself, will not deliver the promised land unless a new sense of nationhood based on demo cratic principles and mutual respect is fashioned.
SEVERAL agencies un der the Ministry of Ag riculture on Thursday signed contracts valued at $161,722,032 to further their development works. A contract valued $25,508,582 was signed between the ministry and Supreme Contracting and Supplies for the construc tion of a processing facil ity at White Water Creek, Region One, for the Guy ana Marketing Corporation (GMC).Details of the contract state that the facility will ensure products secure larger market access. E&A Consultant was also awarded a $ 21,064,000 contract for consultancy service super vision of the Charity Pump station, under the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA). The project is expected to reduce flooding for ap proximately 400 families and farmers through the draining of 200 acres of farmlands for cultivation of cash crops, and the replace ment of two mobile pumps in theMeanwhile,area. contracting company CEMO Inc, also signed a contract valued $18, 549,450 for consul tancy service supervision for the construction of an A- Line Sluice. This will enhance monitoring of projects and implemen tation timeline. Approx imately 3,000 acres of residential and farmlands for cash crops and rice in Versailles and Canal No. 1 Polder will benefit.
“The goal of economic development includes the objective of laying the material for the greatest possible satisfaction of the people’s growing material, cultural and intellectual requirements, as well as the dynamically stable development of their personality, creativity, entrepreneurial skills, and co-operative relations in a plural society. The State shall intervene to mitigate any deleterious effects of competition on individuals or groups of individuals.”
Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha with the contractors
Over $160M in contracts signed to enhance 'agri' production
6 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022
Dear Editor, THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is currently running off the Claims and Objections exercise across the country, following a recent robust and well scrutinised Continuous Registration Cycle. The responses so far have been slow , but the process for both activities involved the purposeful keenness of party verifica tion scrutineers from various divides This approach supports an acceptable level of transparency and lends to the success of estab lishing a final representative Voters’ List for the holding of Local Government Elections as early as GECOMpossiblemust be complimented for facil itating the recent very successful process of Continuous Registration, which realised over 70,000 transactions, thereby producing a very good Register of Registrants Concerning the latter, the GECOM Public Relations Officer reported that 28,149 were new registrants between the ages of 14 and 17, while 21,130 were new registrants above the age of 18 Additionally, 4,629 persons applied for trans fers, 6,526 persons changed or corrected their information, 7,667 applied for replacement identification cards and 1,940 registrants retook their ID photos It is rational for one to accept the slow pace of transactions during this Claims and Objection Exercise is strongly linked to the thorough work that was done during the former cycle
In keeping with customary practice, the GECOM led Claims and Objections exercise which commenced on August 22, will allow qualifying parties further update opportuni ties to the final list It is aimed at providing all stakeholders the opportunity to object to the names of deceased persons that may remain on the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) from which the Official List of Elec tors (OLE) is gleaned According to reports, approximately 1,000 new registrations of persons 18 years and older along with 500 transfers and 100 retaken photographs were completed. All the political stakeholders are in this process, and it will be interesting if there are any unreasonable complaints at the end of the exercise It is public knowledge that PNCR and Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton lead cries about the list being bloated, based on the inclusion of dead persons and the current exercise presents the opportunity for them to ensure the appropriate screening at this time
YoursNeilsincerely,Kumar
The Claims and Objections are slow but signalling that Local Government Elections are surely on
A Significant Convergence
The PPP/C administration, to its credit, has always taken a holistic and multi-di mensional approach to development. The hosting of a Cricket Carnival to coincide with the CPL finals and semi-finals is a great boost to the tourism sector which, apart from the fun and frolic generated by the games, will also put Guyana on the international cricket stage. As ‘the biggest party in town’, the games this year will take on an additional layer of excitement as the country for the first time in the history of the CPL will host both the finals and the semi-finals. In the true spirit of the games, the flag of Guyana will fly high and with it the ex pectations and aspirations of the Guyanese people. Guyana, without doubt, is on the move to higher levels of achievement both from a cultural and economic standpoint. The ‘One Guyana’ vision envisioned by President Ali is already looming large on the Guyanese horizon.
The fact is that the economic and cul tural landscape in Guyana is undergoing fundamental structural changes due in part to the impact of oil and gas on the domestic economy, but also to the visionary leader ship of President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and the PPP/C administration. All sectors of the economy, including the social sectors are benefitting from increased budgetary allocations, thanks to revenues from oil. This is particularly so for education and health which are the foundational pillars of societal development. In all of this, our indigenous people are not being left behind. President Ali, during an address at the National Stadium in celebration of Amerindian Heritage, gave assurance that Amerindians will not be left out of the country’s development but rather play an integral role in taking the country forward.“Iassure every member of our indig enous community that we stand strongly with you in ensuring that creating a path way to prosperity will include you, every one of you, every single family, every single region in our indigenous community. Whether it’s the riverine area, whether it’s on the hill or in the valleys, we will find you, we will work with you and we will move you together as we build a country of prosperity for every single family,” Presi dent Ali said. This is one of the main distinguishing characteristic of the PPP/C administration, namely a pro-active and a people-oriented development philosophy, one which puts people at the centre of all policies and pro grammes implemented by the government. Indeed, there is no part of the country that has not been positively impacted by the policies and programmes of the PPP/C ad ministration. This is especially true of the Amerindian and hinterland communities where the quality of life has been positively impacted by the several policy interven tions aimed at the full empowerment of Amerindian people. The longevity rate of the Guyanese people in general and our hin terland people in particular have increased significantly and Amerindians are now the fastest growing segment of the population according to the latest population census.
Many of their questions will be answered at the end of this exercise which allows the ‘nay sayers’ to object to the names that are on the list that should be removed Based on the list put up by GECOM around the coun try, it has been observed that the names of many persons who died are already removed, presumably, due to the coordination between the General Registration Office and GECOM Further , it is interesting that the total transactions have not been raised by the Nor ton clan as matters of concern The beginning of the exercise was smooth, and it is now very slow with the closing date coming up there may be a little more response However, the nation is looking out to see if the PNC will come up with some other ‘ big blocking ,’ objections at the last moment Guyanese are weary of the usual ridiculous claims that the PNC is famous for doing It is of note that the Norton led cabal attempts to convey that the house to house approach will be a panacea for their claims regarding the current list It is also widely known that the approach hypocritically tar gets the removal of the names of thousands of overseas or otherwise engaged Guyanese who may not find it convenient to be at their last noted address, at the time of a possible house to house visit They do so contrary to the ruling of the High Court , for want of convenience and excuses, also knowing that their representa tives are in the polling station on Polling Day to identify any so called “Dead Voters.” Of significant interest, it is the representatives of the same PNC/R and APNU who run the diaspora before each election to request qual ifying Guyanese to return to vote and make donationsEditor, permit me to remind our qual ifying citizens that when making Claims and Objections, they must have the relevant source documents Original Birth Certificate or a valid Passport in the case of new registra tions Original naturalisation certificate issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and original birth certificate or a valid passport in the case of naturalisationTheoriginal marriage certificate and original birth certificate should be presented in the case of a request for a name change by marriage Further, it must be noted that citi zens must also present to the officials at the GECOM Registration Office, original deed poll, and original birth certificate in the case of a name change by deed poll It is important for anyone making an ob jection to any name on the OLE to be accred ited by the scrutineers or by an elector who is listed in the same division list as the person to which, he or she is objecting Citizens must also be aware that they can and must use this exercise to make sure that their ID cards are appropriate The GECOM official would also conduct updates concerning corrections of the wrong spelling of one’s name, wrong date of birth, and defaced pictures Further, lost ID cards could be replaced by citizens who make an application for this, using the statutory form from the GECOM office, after it is signed by a Commissioner of Oath. GECOM must be complimented for its genuine effort to produce the best possible List of Electors in preparation for the overdue LGEs.
THIS month, September, is significant in a number of important ways. Two major events of national signif icance are being celebrated this month: Amerindian Heritage Month and Education Month. And as if these two celebrations are not enough, there is also the Caribbean Premier League Cricket Carnival at the National Stadium, Providence, which will certainly add to the air of festivity in this beautiful land of ours. These activities, although seemingly discrete, are in fact dialectically intercon nected and interwoven in the socio-eco nomic and cultural fabric of the Guyanese people. There is, for instance, a close cor relation between education and Amerindian development as there is between education and national development. And who could fail to recognise the nexus between educa tion and sports -- cricket in particular -- and their impact on the cultural and intellectual development of the Guyanese people and for that matter, the society as a whole.
15) “ That will happen very shortly, in a matter of days,” an unsmiling AG warned. Guyanese have to be careful how, where, on what and for whom they sign any document! Election is no joke or push over. 16) “Don’t put it at my door-step, or my political party or government,” advised Mr. Anil Nandlall. Rigging an election was taken for granted. The PNC is finding out that, the wrong way is the hard way, finally!
20)“We’re going to sup port you by investing and training, research and de velopment,” President Ali assured Region Nine commu nities. Here is a government who supports and holds your hands from the cradle to the graveyard.21)“We’re going to hire all the graduates from the University of Guyana in Ag riculture and the School of Agriculture,” the President in formed the nation. The PPP/C Government is guaranteeing that those graduates will find employment and will be pro ductively utilised.
35)“Celebrate with con fidence that this overnment is with you, for you and by you,” President Ali told the people of Indigenous descent on the occasion of celebrating Amerindian Heritage Month 2022. They are equal part ners in the development of the country, deserving equal opportunities so that, they can better their lives with a PPP/C government supporting them all theSixteen-year-oldway. Anasie Fredericks is smiling af ter being crowned Region Two Heritage Queen. 600 Lethem residents in Re gion Nine are smiling with their $1M each to start con structing their homes. Also, some 2,000 part-time jobs will soon become available whereby, each person em ployed will earn $40,000 monthly. 12 Guyanese are smiling with scholarships to China. 64 Zeelugt residents are smiling with land titles. four football youth players are smiling with scholar ships to Jamaica. Leguan residents are smiling with their $58M road upgrading along with Region Two res idents with a $500M road upgrades.USArmy General Lau ra Richardson, Commander of SOUTHCOM, is smiling as she landed in Guyana. Region Seven flood victims are smiling with 100 food hampers and some $4M worth of agricultural tools. Sports Minister Charles Ramson is smiling with his GCC life membership. Some 350 families in Ber bice are smiling with their $100,000 cash grant for chil dren living with disabilities. Region One residents are smiling with $161M in ag ricultural programmes con tracts. Congratulations to the 7,500 recipients of the 2022 GOAL and GROW scholar ship programmes. As Guyana welcomes another week, remember to be generous as Maya Angelou, “If you have only one smile in you, remember to give it to the people you love.”
12)“I believe if everyone looks at road safety serious ly, we may wake up with no accidents if each one of us ob serves the rules of the road,” the Traffic Chief advised. Ex ercise the five Cs when using the roadways: care, caution, courtesy, common-sense and consideration.
17)“We will perfect the law, build capacity and amend the targets accordingly, as we go along,” the Vice-President posited. The VP is slowly but certainly ironing out the rough edges. 18)“ No, I don’t accept that Guyana is powerless,” former Finance Minister, Winston Jordan stressed. Per fectly said. Guyana would not take matters lying down but will investigate and persecute all election riggers.
19)The Chief Justice con cluded, if GECOM is to act outside of those legal provi sions, “it would be unconsti tutional and, therefore, ille gal.” GECOM Chair abides and presides by the law, Nor ton and company doesn’t.
14)‘We are going to work very hard to make sure that we create that brighter future, not only through ICT but (also) through every possible opportunity that exists in our society, that our young people must be able to grasp at and be able to utilize it to make themselves prosperous,” Min ister Kwame Mc Coy told the ICT Summer camp graduates. The hi-tech PPP/C Govern ment is ensuring that the young generation is not left behind in this e-age.
8)“I always believe if you borrow money, it must be well spent, the nation should see how every dollar is being spent,” business tycoon Glenn Lall reflected, knowing the following: it’s the PPP/C party governing and not the PNC; the IDB is preparing the loan approval (IDB did not deny or decline) - this says a lot, including confidence in the government and qualify ing the request; government agencies have active internal audit departments; there is a hawk-eyed Coalition PAC chairman; the nation has its watchdog – the Auditor Gen eral.
5)The government is seal ing the leaks. “There will be continuous analysis to deal with loopholes and to deal with areas in which people think they can manipulate,” President Ali warned.
SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 7 Dear GUYANAEditor,showered
13)Tacuma Ogunseye does not see any apartheid state and he has no evidence, nor did he intend to present any evidence of such a state in Guyana. What a slap in the face for the Cuffy 250 Com mittee. Too few to construe what is true?
11) Dr King’s ‘I have a dream,’ is inclusive of Dr Ali’s ‘One Guyana,’ but certainly not of Norton’s ‘Emerging apartheid.’
Yours respectfully,JaiLall
Norton getting licks from every end
22) “And we’re going to assign them to communi ties and Regions so they could help you in the food produc tion system and developing in a scientific way,” Dr. Irfaan Ali guaranteed the farmers. The Government is taking all precautions to satisfy the residents in the hinterland areas and to ensure that, they are not left out but included in the progress and development of the country. 23)The Head of State said that his Government, “is ready to make all the invest ment to make your life easier and better.” The PPP/C gov ernment is an administrator who cares and wants the best for each Guyanese. 24) Dr Ramsammy in forms us about Dr Cheddie Jagan’s words, “If a Presi dent of a country is not safe among his people, he does not deserve to be their President. A President who sees, works, plays, prays and eats with the people, deserves to be their leader. No wonder President Irfaan Ali is the People’s President! 25)“He [Gorbachev] gave us all freedom – but we don’t know what to do with it,” liberal economist, Russian Grinberg told Russian sol diers. Gorbachev died sym bolically when his life’s work for freedom, was effectively destroyed by Putin. 26) The Leader of the PNC, “rode into the stable of the opposition leadership on the horseback of the prom ise to be the doyen of the people’s struggles and lib eration,” wrote a member. Instead, like a dead fish, “he is rotting from the head!” 27)“President Ali and his government are more grass roots than the Leader of the PNC,” confessed the PNC stronghold advocate. The PPP/C party is energized and relentless in its work in all of the PNC’s constituencies. 28) The political analyst continues, “The miserable, failing LoO, lost in La La Land, continues to confabu late deceptively and is sink ing his party in disunity and division, surrendering to the people centered PPP/C par ty.” More key PNC party members are on the verge of resigning due to frustration and 29)“Noexasperation.country can af ford to allow corruption to take root in society, not in the public or private sector,” pointed out the Chairman of the Private Sector Commis sion, Paul Cheong. Corruption was sourced as one of the per nicious reasons why the PNC Party destroyed Guyana over their 33 years of dictatorship, bankrupting the economy, destroying the livelihoods of Guyanese and impoverishing the nation akin to 30)“Eventually,Haiti.it [cor ruption] will bring down any society or organisation or per sons involved,” Mr. Cheong summed up. The PNC be came demented, the AFC lost public support, the WPA is distraught with shame, many executives and officials have distanced themselves from the APNU and AFC parties, and, Coalition members and their families were issued with US visa sanctions.
9)The ‘Oppressor of Af ricans’ writer, the car mogul, now has a dealership with ‘ambiguity.’ His advertise ment certainly does not pro mote ‘Afro Guyanese,’ per haps exposing residents from another continent! 10)“ They would rather pursue a narrative and an agenda that suits [sic] their selfish, narrow, backward and illogical claim…,” President Ali told the Waterfalls. Poor LoO, its “licks like peas.”
34)NY Assembly woman Jenifer Rajkumar said, “No one can ever take away our pride and joy in Little Guy ana.” The “Little Guyana” street sign in Richmond Hill was stolen for “monumental memory!”
4)The lion-hearted Attor ney General has challenged the Coalition. “Call Mingo and call Lowenfield…and ask them to come out publicly and contradict me…” Mr Anil Nandlall roared.
3) The AFC party parts company with PNC (again) by applauding the PPP/C par ty for releasing all data on oil production, stating that, “it’s a step in the right direction.”
2)“We hope we don’t have to close it and Claudette Singh will do the decent thing and resign….pressure her to resign or face unspecified action.” Mr Norton, (LoO), threatened. Minister Gail Teixeira will not tolerate any bullies, saying, “The only way that “bully boy” Norton and his supporters will un derstand that Guyanese are decent, respectful people who will not accept such threats, is if they feel their rejection of this cowardly behaviour.”
6)“It’s now or never.” No, not Elvis Presley’s song but the exclamation of Grace Cowell, a junior barrister in Britain, threating to go on a barristers’ strike over inade quate7)Apay.brow-beatened Nor ton confessed to the media, “All I would say to you, there will be at some stage short ly…a clear document setting out our position on oil and gas.” The AG said it correct ly. The man is in La La Land.
in last week with the man of many cultural outfits, HE Presi dent Irfaan Ali, continuing his “meet the people tour” by spending last weekend with the residents of Region Nine, placing a $10M order with Shulinab Village to supply clay bricks to boost the housing development programme in the hinter land, and, announcing the construction of a new nurs ery school. A National Science Fair Finals and Expo opened at the ACCC, where a UG team, Ultimatus Electicus won the $1M first prize. A second monkeypox case was identi fied. The NRF, Oversight and Investment Committees to oversee the oil revenues were sworn in. Nineteen-ninety Nobel Peace Prize winner, 91-year-old Mikhail Gor bachev, the last Soviet presi dent, passed away. Guyanese legendary historian, Sister Menezes bade Guyana her fi nal farewell at age 92. Guyana is mourning the death of for mer Foreign Affairs Minister, 93-year-old Rashleigh Jack son. NBS announced lower interest rates and higher loan ceilings. Amerindian Heri tage Month began in all its fervour. Pooran Brothers Inc. is investing $300M in a sand and loam project in Region Three. As our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the deceased ones, Guyana continues the month of celebration with the Indigenous people. Cricket will occupy the minds of many this weekend, but, do stop to take a breath of fresh air and reflect on this week’s quotes:1)“We told you that you will benefit from the revenues of this country when some said that you must not be part of it. You will benefit, you will get the delivery of the government,” President Ali told residents in Region Nine. The PPP/C government continues to provide inclusive services equitably and fairly.
31)“Information is power and people make decisions based on information and if they’re given accurate infor mation, they are more able to make decisions with regards to their lives, and what hap pens,” Minister of Parliamen tary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira implied. Un der the PPP/C government, Guyana now enjoys freedom of association, movement, speech and the press. There is no fear from any of the law-enforcement agen cies for the practice of any legal and legitimate sacro sanct activities. During the days of the dictatorship,Burnham/Grangertheserightswere controlled, constrained and curtailed. Guyanese privileges were suppressed and became unassailable.32)“APNU+AFC is pre pared to discuss and support constitutional and statutory amendments,” a battered Nor ton admitted. A beaten and cornered Leader of the Oppo sition, after meekly consulting with Cheddie Jagan’ s prin ciple, consoled his pleading members by leaning on the shoulder of “critical support.” 33) A meek Norton cow ered fearfully as he painted a brave face to mutter, “There is nothing to be investigated as it relates to my call for the Chairman of GECOM to go.” This does not remove the threat and the police are still saddled with their job.
2.Minister Walrond instructed Mr. John Edghill, Director of Business and Entre preneur Development, to reach out to Mr. Kirton.3.Mr. Edghill duly wrote to Mr. Kirton on August 26 indicating that the Minis try could not sponsor the event [for the agro-processors] and offered to meet with Mr. Kirton at a mutually convenient time to explore options for support in the future To date, Mr. Kirton has not responded to Mr.FromEdghillthe above sequence of events, it cannot be said that there was no response to Mr. Kirton. It is well known that a funda mental principle of integrity in journalism, requires balance which is usually reflected in making genuine efforts to contact any person for their side of a matter, prior to publishing adverse comments. Had Stabroek News fol lowed this basic principle and practice, the unfortunate misrepresentations in the above article might have been avoided. On a final note, Minister Walrond and Minister Mustapha accompanied Vice-Pres ident Jagdeo to meeting with more than one hundred agro-processors on August 30, 2022 at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre. It is instructive that at that encounter, which lasted for more than four hours, not a single one of those processors raised the issue of support for attendance at FITCE. Therefore, as well meaning as Mr. Kirton’s initiative appears to be, the real ity may very well be that the priorities are different for the agro-processors.CordellMcClure
A wholly untrue and inaccurate assertion
Dear Editor, THE Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce notes yet another article in the Stabroek Business of September 2, 2022 purporting to speak on behalf of agro-processors. This latest article makes the wholly un true and inaccurate assertion that there has been no response to what has been termed a “formal inquiry [sic] as to whether Gov ernment of Guyana might be disposed to contributing to defraying costs associated with local agro-processors and craftsmen and women’s participation” in the Florida International Trade and Cultural Expo and Conference. The facts are as follows:
1.On August 9, one Mr. Wesley Kirton, communicating from a Gmail address, sent an email to Minister Walrond’s official address. In the email, Mr. Kirton enquired “whether there is any assistance the Govern ment of Guyana could provide some of the small entrepreneurs who wish to participate in this event”. This is the only correspon dence that the Ministry and the Minister have received on the matter.
Communication Officer Ministry of Tourism, IndustryCommerceand
8 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022
THE recently conclud ed conference on an emerging apartheid state in Guyana by a group of ambitious African Guyanese deserves some analy ses, despite how frag mentary or fractured, mainly because of its controversial labelling, intended perhaps to capture and captive a large audience. I joined the virtual conference via a feed that came to my Face book from a source I have not seen before. Nonetheless, I listened to most of the present ers and even up to the concluding remarks, and so, therefore, I was not peeking through the window into this con ference. I have seen and heard enough to write a column on it based on three themes: structure, content, and message. The structure of the conference was not up to par primarily because of the word apartheid in the title, which directly or indirectly, excluded mostly Indian Guya nese. For this reason, some Africans declined to participate , and I suspect the conference organisers were unsuc cessful in convincing some token Indians to present papers. The ex clusionary nature of the title of the conference led to a poor attendance, roughly about 400 to 500 out of an African Guyanese population of 500,000 in and out of Guyana. This was a major disappointment to the organisers which was addressed in the letter columns of the dailies where some core supporters of the con ference were calling for inclusivity, an af terthought. Moreover , none of the dailies cov ered the conference sug gesting that the peddled apartheid thing was not newsworthy, a major blow to the intent and purpose of the confer ence.The moderators too were not up to the task. They allowed anything to go in the chat section of the virtual confer ence. Loose languag es were not addressed, not a word from the moderators . Only fa vourable questions were asked. For example, I asked this : “why is it that only when the PPP is in power that discus sion like this surface.” I know I was on a dif ferent turf. However, the remarks I and oth ers like myself received from the chatters are not worth repeating here, although some of these behaviours have been noticed at other confer ences. I am reminded that people like me are unwelcome in these fo rums.Further, the theme of the conference , an emerging apartheid state in Guyana, had no con nection from one panel to the another, revealing a lack of synthesis. The insular discussions might have been more useful in a marketplace rather than in conference.Thecontent of the conference, as I under stand it, was intended to show that Guyana is becoming an apartheid state that is deliberately sponsored and spooned by the mostly Indian-led PPP government. The presenters failed miserly to achieve the above and provided no convincing evidence of the practice of apartheid in South Africa and Guyana, mu tatis mutandis. Glaring ly, they did not seem to understand that Indians were also victims of the South African apartheid loving government. In the minds of the pre senters Indians are the drivers of apartheid in Guyana because the In dian-led PPP Govern ment was brought to power by Indians, re gardless of their status, which has allowed the government to adminis ter structural apartheid. So, in this reasoning, although poor and mar ginalised Indians are not directly involved in
The apartheid imaginary in Guyana the emerging apartheid state in Guyana, they are supporters of it be cause they continue to vote for the PPP. This means then that poor In dian conditions cannot be equated with poor African conditions, a sordid stab to the soli darity and symbolism of theThepoor.content was also supported with misin formation, which is not unusual in presentations at conferences. One pre senter stated that land was taken away from Af ricans at No. 45 and 47 Villages on the Coren tyne. It is news to me that Africans had owned land at the above locations. Bhai Khemraj Ramjattan the stated village is your birthplace, and it is on you to call these fellas and provide them with the facts. Sometimes, Sir, I wonder what you tell people, as a leader, about your village.
SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 9
I must admit that one presenter was leading onto something in Wal ter Rodney’s analytic style when he said, and I paraphrase, that one does not need data to know that Africans are a majority in the civil and security forces and Indi ans are a majority in the economic retail sector. But he did not develop this point, leading me to think that he and other presenters punctuated what I call the apartheid imaginary in Guyana. I will go further and say that after lis tening to the present ers I got the impres sion that they missed the title of the confer ence. Instead of show ing how the emerging apartheid state is de veloping in Guyana, they desperately want to show that apart heid is already in Guy ana, confusing and conflating the entire conference as well as sounding like a ven triloquist’s dummy. The message of this conference was mini mal, aligned more with the old book in a bro ken train feeding back to the rumor and pro paganda mill rather than showing the emer gence of apartheid in Guyana pnarine@jsums.edu).(lomarsh.roo
* VIOXX was recalled in 2004 after being marketed and utilised for five years and used by over 20 million persons for arthritis pain. It was later found to have caused heart attack and strokes. Similarly, Pfizer’s Bextra had the same fate one year later due to the similar class of drug. After one year on the market, they incurred a financial loss to the tune of US$2B due to legal action taken against the company.
* A leukemia injection idarubicin manufactured by Teva was removed from circulation since it was found to contain particulate matter, which could potentially cause stroke and in worst case scenario, death.*Banana Boat sunscreen products were recalled over carcinogenic concerns due to presence of benzene.
DRUG
* FENPHEN, short for fenfluramine/ phentermine paid out almost US$14 B to healthy victims who to experienced heart and pulmonary problems after taking this magic weight loss pill.
* Able laboratories was found to be unable. In 2005 after hitting sales of US$103M the previous year, the company was out of business since their entire prod uct portfolio were recalled for irregular potency profile and had been fraudulently distributing substandard quality products.
HIGHLIGHTS
* In July 2019 the entire range of the brand “Herbal Doctor Remedies”, which were marketed without the FDA approval and sold mostly online, were all recalled voluntarily since the labels encouraged unproven self-diagnostic treatments and the quality assurance of the finished products were not sub stantiated.
A HARMFUL or defective drug is recalled or removed from the market because of violation of regulation(s) or infliction of injurious effects on the con sumer or the causation of death. These harmful effects experienced would have been reported by the consumer and officially documented by the regula tory authority prior to the activation of the recall protocol. Quality, efficacy and safety are the watchwords for combating malpractices such as mislabeling, contami nation and alteration of product potency of the batch of products in question. Almost 8000 products have been re called worldwide during the period 2013 to 2018 with a current upward momentum.
* In 2009 hydroxycut, a weight loss formula, caused one death and numerous liver impairment and hence was recalled. Most recently in Guyana, a consumer alert was issued on July 12TH by the FDD (Food and Drugs Department) for the recall of a batch of the Jergens Ultra Healing moisturiser, a voluntary recall by the manufacturer, in which Pluralibacter gergoviae bacteria was detected causing immunocompromised persons to be at highAlsorisk. in February 2022 there was another local voluntary batch recall by the distributors of Similac, a product of Abbott Laboratories of USA with a public health announcement warning the responsible guardian of infants to immediately discontinue the use of those products highlighted. The company vol untarily recalled their products due to four consumer complaints in the United States where those infants who consumed this batch had Cronobacter sakazaklii and salmonella Newport. Likewise in March 2020 Guyana re called the Purcill brand of hand sanitiser, where only 0.53 per cent alcohol was found in the product, whilst the label in dicated 62 per cent. This was at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic where sanitisation wasFDAmandatory.HASTHREE
10 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022
Drug Recalls
This has been attributed to a deviation from Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) along with the implementation of low cost strategies, where raw materials are being sourced from India, China and multiple other countries with lax regulatory inspec tion. Reports indicated that 2500 legally registered drug manufacturing facilities remain uninspected for five years and an additional 1600 sites, of which 400 were outside of USA, had not been inspected over 10 years. The protocol of the drug recall policy must ensure a prompt response that is han dled properly. This includes classification of the drug recall, activation of a public alert and a safe sweep of the defective product from the market. Drug recall can be voluntary by the manufacturer or FDA requested, which is usually urgent due to the associated potential harm. It could also be FDA mandatory where a public warning is issued and ordered within the statutes of Recallslimitation.arepublicly posted on the website of the regulatory authority with the relevant details such as lot or batch number, consumer alerts and justification for the action
All types of pharmaceutical formula tions can be recalled such as oral, topical, injectable and inhalers. Prescription only medicine (POM), over the counter (OTC), nutritional supplements and herbal products are some of the categories of pharmaceuti cal products which have been recalled
For further pharmacological guid ance, contact the pharmacist of Medi cine Express PHARMACY located at 223 Camp Street, between Lamaha and New Market Streets. If you have any queries, comments or further informa tion on the above topic kindly forward them to medicine.express@gmail.com or send them to 223 Camp Street, N/ burg. Tel #225-5142.
INTERNATIONALOFDRUGRECALLS:
The most impressionable drug recalls noted over time were: * DES or diethylstilbesterol, which was recalled after 37 years on the market. It was taken during pregnancy to prevent miscarriages and other pregnancy com plications. Years later it was found to be connected to a rare tumor in the daughters of those who consumed it.
Hence the financial ramifications for drug recalls for pharmaceutical companies are highly consequential since substantial claims can be made under the product liability law.
RECALL CLASSIFICATIONS: Class 1 – may cause serious injury or death Class 11 – may cause serious injury or temporary illness Class 111 – violate FDA regulation but unlikely to cause serious injury or illness
SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 11
Understanding Energy Considerations for Guyana’s upcoming oil block auction
GUYANA is planning to move ahead with its oil block auction, or “bid round,” with the inten tion of keeping with in ternational best practices around transparency and competitiveness. More importantly, the country is hoping to attract partners to explore addition al areas offshore. This bid round will be different than previous rounds because Guyana’s prolific Stabroek Block is already a world class asset. Nevertheless, there is signif icant competition for a lim ited amount of exploration capital. In addition, while other blocks have shown promise, there has been no production or final invest ment decisions outside the Stabroek Block, meaning that exploration activities remain a risky enterprise to undertake.Guyana is working to find a balance between max imising the “government take” and bringing in part ners with the capacity and risk appetite to generate new production. Open oil and gas bidding rounds are a process where the govern ment sends out an invitation to oil and gas companies regarding an opportunity to explore in the country’s regions. Companies bid for the rights to explore, and if there is a discovery, can obtain a production li cence. Open bidding rounds are most often used once some discoveries have been made and global interest is high—thankfully this is the position Guyana now finds itselfThein.government is seek ing to generate investment but doing so requires a care ful balance of the fiscal terms and non-fiscal factors. In oil and gas producing countries, fiscal terms are what govern the relationship between various operating parties such as private com panies and governments to determine how to divide up both the financial benefits and risks of exploratory projects. In the Stabroek Block contract for instance, the risks of finding nothing in Guyana fell entirely to the companies. If no dis coveries were made, they would have had to absorb those costs entirely without the government investing anything. Since discoveries were made, companies are able to recover explora tion and development costs, profits are split evenly, and Guyana receives a pre-cost royalty from Maximisingrevenues.valueto the country through fiscal vari ables in the fiscal scheme is key to getting the best outcomes from the auction. Contract terms that strong ly favour the government are politically popular, but they carry significant risks. In some cases, companies choose not to bid or invest in costly oil projects if the profits are too low (or absent altogether). A higher share of hypothetical revenues means nothing if companies refuse to actually produce oil under those terms. An example of the high stakes in this space is Su riname, which held a bid round for shallow water blocks back in 2021 that was met with little inter est and only three of eight blocks received bids. At least 60% of Suriname’s offshore acreage remains unlicensed. Despite several commercial discoveries, no companies have commit ted to develop any wells to production. As a result, Suriname has yet to see any revenues from its offshore oil finds and is unlikely to in the near future, despite promising geology.
There are trade- offs throughout this process that can attract or push away investments, speed or slow development, or increase or decrease revenues. For example, a blockwide ring fencing provision might lower a country’ s overall take by allowing companies to recoup costs from unsuc cessful projects. At the same time, it can serve to increase drilling activity by reducing overall risks. If the riskier wells are successful, the country will benefit through additional investments and revenues. These kinds of tradeoffs require difficult decisions when bid rounds are organised. While Guyana is aiming to receive the best prices for the blocks, non-fiscal terms need to be considered as well, including local content policies, regulations and policy issues like ringfenc ing. To maximise the poten tial for widespread benefits in the country from oil and gas, it’ s imperative that the combination of regula tions, including licensing, taxation, depletion, and pricing policies are in place to attract investors, devel op resources and generate revenues. Examples like Suri name stand in sharp con trast to the double-dig it growth Guyana has experienced and this next block auction likely will only increase that growth, as Guyana re mains a highly desirable destination for invest ment. But continuing to get this balance right will require a careful consid eration of all the factors necessary to strike the right balance between increasing investments, industry competitiveness, and transparent processes that benefit the country.
More importantly, did the alleged apart heid stop happening in 2015 and restarted after the PPP Government took office? Make that make sense to ordinary Guyanese because when APNU+AFC was in power, they did absolutely nothing aimed at ridding the system they inherited of this apartheid if indeed it existed.
One would think that David Granger’s administration was equally guilty of practis ing this alleged apartheid if any Government.
12 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022
RECENTLY, there has been a lot of noise about the alleged creeping development of an “Apartheid State” in Guyana. The proponents of this school of thought are the Cuffy 250 organisation and the A Partnership for National Unity. They are being ably supported by the International Decade for People of African Descent As sembly-Guyana (IDPADA- G) and other paperTheyorganisations.havespent time and resources try ing via all forums to get Guyanese to back their arguments that there is ethnic, racial, political, and economic apartheid taking form in Firstly,Guyana.every right-thinking Guyanese must be suspicious of those making these arguments. They are the same actors that had this country at the breaking point and on the verge of becoming an undemocratic state when they tried to derail Guyana’s fledgling democracy.Theyhave the same actors, speakers, politicians and instigators. They operate similar organisations under the cloak of being newly formed ‘indepen dent’, non-governmental and not-for-profit organisations like the IDPADA-G movement that is embroiled in a scandal over alleged financial mismanagement. For instance, Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton tried to deliver an address about the economic apartheid of the state and ended up confusing the politics of the PNC/APNU and what he alleged to be happening. Anybody or any objective mind would be more con fused and have more questions than answers after his presentation was finished.
Apartheid simply does not exist in Guyana because of the legal and other frameworks contained in the Constitution. It does not exist as a policy either codified or uncodified by the current PPP Government. It appears to be a figment of somebody’s active imagination because it has no factual evidence.Finally, the Cuffy 250 and other African organisations must be condemned by all. Instead of celebrating the diverse heri tage and contributions of people of African descent to the development of our societies through forms of empowerment, they are joining APNU, the real oppressors of Af ro-Guyanese, in making claims against the PPP/C Government with the hope that peo ple would buy into this new lie. Maybe, it is time for the PPP/C Gov ernment to take a firm stance against these organisations which secretly have a hidden agenda to cause Guyana more harm through these racist and divisive platforms. Guyanese are not fools. The APNU+AFC Coalition is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of Guyanese with the same discrimina tion propaganda ahead of Local Government polls. Replace everything Guyanese have heard about apartheid with the attain ment of ‘One Guyana’ and Guyana would be a better place.
Secondly, where are the statistics or ev idence of the alleged creeping apartheid in Guyana? Why have the paper organisations, Cuffy 250 and IDPADA- G not commis sioned a survey to get factual information on their claims of discrimination economically and socially under the PPP/C Governments?
Thirdly, there is truth in the popular saying that the APNU+AFC government and, by extension, the Cuffy 250 and its satellite organisations have never really been concerned with the empowerment of Black and the Afro-centric population in Guyana. They seemingly only pop up whenever the PPP is in power. Go to Facebook and social media and watch the dates of their activism.When APNU+AFC had state Power, they wasted it. African Guyanese were seemingly no better off than they had been in every year
NO Apartheid in Guyana since the PPP/C was in power. It appears that now the PPP/C has inten sified its campaign to dispel the opposition’s lie to keep the Afro-Guyanese in a form of neo-slavery and loyal to the PNC. The PPP Government is demonstrating boldly that Afro-Guyanese must take an equal share in Guyana’s patrimony and development process.They are going into communities to offer people jobs, health care, business loans and training for start-ups, and giving the Af ro-Guyanese a new chance at socio-econom ic independence through the titling and lease agreements of acres upon acres of traditional and ancestorial Afro-Guyanese,lands.from the look of things, is warming up and trusting the PPP/C. These claims of an apartheid State in Guyana are baseless, unfounded, and mischievous.
Who can forget the famous salary in crease the ministers who had just gone into office pocketed because they felt ‘entitled’ to it? Scandals broke out in almost every sector with Guyanese ethnic groups including the Africans complaining that they were being left out of development.
If anything, the APNU+AFC Govern ment was more about practising apartheid and dividing Guyana along racial lines using a series of projects and programmes, repaint ing national buildings in party colours and renaming everything.
Vishnu Bisram, the writer who keeps the diaspora connected his wife Parbatie during Phagwah Bisram has been involved in community affairs in the USA since in the 1970s Vishnu Bisram
He worked on count less political campaigns in the USA, including for Presidential, gubernato rial, congressional, state wide and citywide office.
SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 13
With
See page 19
Also a reporter and news paper columnist for four de cades, he has taught for that same period in New York City and serves as guest lec turer at several universities including in India, Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad and the USA. Bisram served as adviser to politicians and political parties in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua, Grana da, St. Lucia, Fiji, Mauritius, India, and other countries and has been involved in commu nity affairs in the USA since the 1970s.
PROLIFIC writer, Vishnu Bisram, known for his ac tivism in Guyana and the diaspora related to Guya nese and Caribbean affairs, continues to perform free public service, being one of the few persons to piece together Guyanese histo ry in the United States of America. Knowledgeable on dias pora and contemporary mat ters, he has written on var ious topics including those having to do with economics, politics, history, sociology, education, and anthropology. He’s also written short biog raphies, tributes to others and bookHereviews.aimsto keep Guya nese informed about local politics and has written ex tensively on election rig ging. With his multi-faceted contributions, Bisram has participated in the “struggle against Burnham’s undemo cratic rule as a young person, having the record of fighting very early for restoration of democracy from 1960s in Guyana”.Hehas documented the significant contributions of Guyanese in the American society; and believes that their contributions should be taught in American history similar to the history of other nationalities like the Irish, Italians, Jewish and Jamai cans, among others, all of whom have told their own stories on their migration to and experiences in America. Bisram said his achieve ments have nothing to do with the American dream but are due to his own efforts. “I fought the hell to get an education and fought my own battle as well as the battle for Guyana,” he said. He has kept the door open to India in his many trips to the sub-continent through his writings which he believes can help to keep Guyanese in contact with India. “Through these writings, people are able to gain knowledge of In dia, and the Indian nationals have knowledge of Guyana and Guyanese diaspora. As a consequence, Guyanese have a greater understanding of India as a global power and India’s achievements and international relations,” he pointedBisramout. attended the Corentyne High School, migrated to NYC in 1977, enrolled at university at age 17 pursuing a Bachelor’s of Science (BS) Degree in Bio chemistry and pre-medical studies as a full-time student. He also completed an under graduate major in Political science and did a Master of Arts (MA) in international relations and several MAs thereafter in Political Sci ence, History, Economics, Education Administration and other subjects. He completed his major for the Bachelor of Science Degree and delayed gradu ation by a year to complete another Major in Political Science. Bisram was elected to student government serv ing four years at the under graduate level, including as Vice-President and four more years at the graduate level including as President.
CLEAR Vision Guyana, a non-governmental organi sation (NGO) on Saturday launched the ‘Give the gift of sight to a child’ initiative which will see 300 students from underprivileged ar eas benefitting from free eye testing and treatments, along with prescription spectacles. The NGO, established about two or three years ago, was formed to help persons who are not able to access eye treatments and specta cles, due to their financial situation.“Welaunched Clear Vi sion, which is an organisation that is established to ensure that underprivileged commu nities and persons that live in those communities are able to receive eye- care treatment, and also to have a pair of glasses that can enhance their lives,” said Rawle Aaron, the founder of Clear Vision and General Manager at Diamond Optical.Heexplained that the programme is intended for persons from birth to the age of 99. The organisation has adequately, over the years of operation, managed to develop programmes that are geared for every class of citizen.“We have turned our at tention to the students be cause we believe that coming out of the pandemic, lots of students were utilising their tablets, computers and many of them [the parents] are now beginning to realise that they are having problems with their children’s vision,” he explained.Atthe launch, three children, one from Region Four ( Demerara-Mahaica) and two from Region placedenoughittotheyHumanitiesAarontheschooltosightimprovingularschool.withandceived(Pomeroon-Supenaam)Tworetheirpairofglassesbackpacksequippedthenecessarytoolsfor“Sothisyear,thisparticlaunchisgearedtowardsthevisionandofchildreninschool…ensurethatpersonsinandevenbabiesgetregulareyeexamination,”said.HenotedthatthroughFirstGuyana,wereabletogotoareastestaperson’seyesandwasdiscoveredthatnotattentionisbeingoneyecare.Hesaidapartfromdistributingglassestoimprove eyesight, they will also be educating persons on eye care.“That is more important because if you know how to take care of your eyes, it will be more beneficial to you and you will probably end up not wearing glasses or the type of glasses will not be as advanced as if you were not educated. So a very import ant part of our programme is to ensure that persons are educated,” he explained. The launch on Saturday was made possible through the support of Guyana Breweries Inc, Herdman ston Lodge, Health Hut, Argosy Book Store, Sur vival Supermarket, VHNS United, Muneshwer’s Travel Service and Dia mond Optical.
Clear Vision’s giving ‘gift of sight’ to 300 students
14 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022
Rawle Aaron, the founder of Clear Vision Guyana
MY first trip to China’s Xinjiang Uygur autono mous region was in 2004. I have visited Urumqi, Tur pan, and the Ili Kazakh autonomous prefecture in northern Xinjiang, and have been impressed by the development of Urumqi, the network of “Karez ca nals” or underground ir rigation canals in Turpan, and the natural beauty of Ili. On my dozens of trips to Xinjiang, I have visit ed many places, including Kashgar, Hotan, Aksu, Al tay, Shihezi and Karamay
By Adnan Akfirat
. On July 4-9, I led a tour delegation of foreign trade representatives in China to Xinjiang. The tour was or ganised by the Foreign Eco nomic Cooperation Center of the International Relations Department of the Commu nist Party of China Central Committee.Duringthis trip, we vis ited Urumqi, Turpan and Ili. In Ili, we stayed at the same hotel that hosted us in 2004. The hotel was the same, but the building was new. The former Soviet Union consul ate building was converted into a hotel after the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, though the old building was razed two years ago, and a new one built in its place. However, the large garden and centuries-old trees were left untouched, with only the bust of Lenin being moved from inside the hotel, and placed at the outer entrance. What came as a pleasant surprise is that the Ili local Party chief and government head both are women. Com petent, hardworking and ele gant, they have turned Ili into a tourist attraction, complete with lavender fields at the foot of Tianshan Mountains and the Accordion Museum where live concerts are per formed by people from five different ethnic groups. As for Turpan, its most famous product is grape, with Turpan resins being famous across the world. The oldest records of grape cultivation in the region date back 2,000 years, and today, Turpan accounts for about one-fifth of China’s total grape pro duction.
But tourism is so devel oped in the region that many vineyard owners earn more from tourism than by grow ing or processing grapes. In fact, the winery we visited in Turpan has a kilometer-long tunnel, and also serves as a hotel with barrel-shaped rooms.The most vital tourist attraction in Turpan is, of course, the Turpan Karez System Museum. The Karez network of hundreds of un derground canals is used to carry water from under ground rivers and lakes to the city, which is about 50 meters below sea level. Ac cording to records, the Karez system of channeling water dates back 1,200 years. On Sept 23-27, 2021, the Foreign Economic Coopera tion Center organised a tour for foreign trade representa tives in China to Hotan and Aksu. Visiting Hotan after 10 years, I could not believe my eyes. The dusty streets and single-story houses had been replaced by a clean, orderly city. But the stone buildings have been careful ly preserved as cultural and architectural heritage, and turned into tourist attractions. Indeed, poverty in southern Xinjiang was eradicated by developing tourism and re viving cooperative farming. Thanks to the people’s efforts and indomitable spirit, Aksu and Hotan have turned into huge oases on the edge of a vastSocialismdesert. with Chinese characteristics has played the key role in lifting people out of absolute poverty and bringing development and relative prosperity to the mountainous and arid region. I realised the level of de velopment in Xinjiang when I attended a Uygur wedding in Almaty, Kazakhstan. I was startled by the feudal norms still being practised by the Uygurs in Kazakhstan that grant little or no rights to women and children. But in China, thanks to socialism with Chinese char acteristics, the Uygurs, in cluding Uygur women, can study the subjects of their choice, as well as master and develop their language, enrich their culture, and mod ernise themselves by learning
No more tarnishing Xinjiang from the progressive aspects of Islam. One of the strengths of socialism with Chinese characteristcs is that it pro motes the cultural blending of 56 ethnic groups. China regards diversity, both natural and social, as wealth. Only China can right ly evaluate the true worth of 1.66 million square kilome ters of desert and mountains, and treat them as wealth. But for that, they have to be accessible. So China has built a vast network of express ways and railways which crosses deserts and tunnels through or circumnavigates mountains. It has also 22 air ports in Xinjiang to facilitate intra-region and inter-region travel and boost tourism. No wonder despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Xinji ang received more than 191 million tourists in 2021, up 20.5 per cent year-on-year. Due to the central and local governments’ arduous efforts, Xinjiang is no lon ger threatened by terrorism. Instead, visitors see a pros perous and stable region. Diverse geographical fea tures, rich ethnic cultures, and different and unique local cuisines have made tourism one of Xinjiang ’s core industries. Also, the improved transport network has made travelling in this vast region much easier. For example, you can have a traditional Kazakh breakfast on the Narat grasslands in Ili in the morning, and sip your afternoon tea at the centu ries-old tea house in Kashgar old town Visit Xinjiang to see the fascinating region with your own eyes, and realise what kind of magic social ism is for development. (The author is deputy head of the International Rela tions Bureau of Vatan Par ty (Turkiye), and a visiting researcher at the Silk Road Research Center, Shihezi University)
SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 15
China committed to wider opening-up in services trade, promoting global economic recovery
See page 18
* THE 2022 China Inter national Fair for Trade in Services opened Wednes day in Beijing, showing the country’s unwaver ing commitment to wider opening-up in the services trade sector. * Over the past decade, the added value of China’s service industry has in creased by 1.49 times and the country’s accumulated services imports have ex ceeded 4 trillion U.S. dol lars * Services trade has be come an important factor in promoting the sustained and healthy development of the Chinese economy and a booster for the pros perity of the world econ omy.BEIJING, Sept. 1 (Xin hua)
16 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022
-- As the 2022 Chi na International Fair for Trade in Services (CIF TIS) kicked off Wednesday in Beijing, the country has shown the world its unwavering commitment to wider opening-up in the services trade sector. Themed “Cooperate for Better Development, Inno vate for a Greener Future,” the 2022 CIFTIS includes a global services trade sum mit, exhibitions, forums, new product and technology releases, business promo tions and discussions, and supporting activities. While delivering a key note speech at the Summit of 2022 CIFTIS Wednesday, Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng called for efforts to promote the healthy and sus tainable development of ser vices trade to make a greater contribution to the recovery of the global economy. China will build a high-standard opening-up system for the services in dustry and establish a na tional demonstration zone for services trade innova tion, he said. Han also pledged to support regions, includ ing Beijing, in piloting the cross-border data flows and creating benchmark cities in the digital economy world wideThe six-day event this year features greater inter nationalization, with the participation of over 2,400 companies, including more than 400 Global Fortune 500 companies and indus try-leading enterprises. The exhibition area increased by 20 percent from last year to reach 152,000 square meters.“More than 100 com panies and institutions will release their achievements at this year’s CIFTIS, injecting new impetus and vitality into the development of the services trade sector,” said Wang Dongtang, an official with the Ministry of Com merce (MOC). “CIFTIS shows the world China’s determi nation to participate in in ternational services trade, its enthusiasm to embrace economic globalization and win-win cooperation, and the resilience and vi tality of China’s economy to overseas trading part ners,” said Zhu Dongfang, president of Asia Digital Group.WIDER As a vivid epitome of the country’s exploration of high-level opening-up, Beijing has been accelerat ing the development of the city’s “two zones” -- the pilot free trade zone and the national comprehen sive demonstration zone for expanding opening-up in the services sector. Over the past two years, the Chinese capital has in troduced more than 100 pioneering or breakthrough policies related to the “two zones” and landed over 100 landmark projects and func tionalWithplatforms.favorable and in novative policies, the busi ness environment of Beijing Daxing International Airport Economic Zone (Daxing), has continued to improve. The number of registered enterprises in the zone to taled 2,961 by the end of JulyIn the economic zone, different shelves in the bonded warehouse of Bo Yue Jin Cheng International Logistics (Beijing) Co., Ltd are stocked with engines, garments, and other prod ucts from overseas “We will show our bond ed business at the fair to provide service solutions for international customers such as cross-border e-com merce companies,” said Gao Shili, head of the logistics company.AsChina opens its door wider, many places across the country have taken con crete steps to promote the development of the services trade. China has added four pilot zones for deepening the opening-up of services trade in Tianjin, Shanghai, Hainan and“MoreChongqing.than 90 percent of the 122 specific measures put forward in a pilot plan for comprehensively deep ening innovative develop ment of services trade have been implemented ,” said Shu Jueting, spokesperson for the MOC. “The holding of CIF TIS fully demonstrates China’s commitment to firmly expanding open ing-up and internationalstrengtheningcooperation,”
OPENING-UP
SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 17
From page 16
18 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022
...
propelled China’s social and economic development, especially in the past de cade. The contribution of China’s economy to global economic growth has stood at around 30 percent in recent years, making it the largest growth engine for the global economy. Since 2012, the added value of China’s service in dustry has increased by 1.49 times and the accumulated services imports have ex ceeded 4 trillion U.S. dollars. Data from MOC showed the country’s total imports and exports of services grew 21.4 percent year on year in 2021, exceeding 800 billion U.S dollars for the first time. So far, the number of countries and regions that have services trade with Chi na has surpassed 200. “After years of develop ment, the services trade has become a significant com ponent and growth engine in China’s international eco nomic and trade cooperation. It has also made positive con tributions in promoting the recovery and development of the global trade in services,” said Vice Minister of Com merce Sheng Qiuping Sheng said the CIFTIS will lead the trend of China’s services consumption, pro vide all-around opportunities for foreign enterprises to ac tively integrate into China’s services market, and serve as a platform for Chinese enterprises to make full use of both domestic and interna tional markets and resources. “Services trade has be come an important factor in promoting the sustained and healthy development of the Chinese economy and a booster for the prosperity of the world economy,” said Li Jun, director with the Institute of International Trade in Services under the MOC.
China committed to wider opening-up in services said Michael Bi, managing partner of EY Greater Chi na Markets.BOOSTER ing-upTheRECOVERYECONOMICFORreformandopenhavetremendously
Congressman Greg Meeks saluted him and applauded his work, especially for helping him to get elected to congress some 25 years ago. Bisram has organised academic con ferences on Guyana, the Caribbean, and Indian diaspora including the 150th anni versary of Indian presence in Guyana and a separate conference for Indian presence in Trinidad. He did same for the 175th anni versary and for the hundredth anniversary of abolition of indentureship as well as end of indentureship.Accordingto him, Guyanese abroad and Indians outside of India were formerly called ‘Overseas Indians’ and ‘Overseas
SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 19 IN 1994 when Wilderness Explorers opened its doors, tourism was an unknown word as there were only a handful of tour operators in all of Guyana. The company’s founder, Tony Thorne, was also the first President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana. Now 28 years later, Wilderness Explorers remains a leader in the Tour ism industry and the only Destination Management Company (DMC) in Guyana.
Wilderness Explorers has a strong commitment to developing tourism in Guyana and consistently pro vides training programmes in collaboration with other agencies such as the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), the Ministry of Tourism (MoT), and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs to identify and support new community involvement in tourism.“Wilderness Explorers has been a leader in the de velopment of new products, in particular Community Owned and Led Eco-tourism, which they introduced to the international tourism market. The company prides itself on its partnership with indige nous communities that are interested in developing their tourism product. Togeth er they work closely from the beginning when these are just emerging products, supporting the community through the development process to create a position in the international market place.
“As Wilderness Explorers celebrates 28 years, we thank our partners for their support over the years, and we look forward to working together to showcase One Guyana! As a company, Wilderness Ex plorers is privileged to have such a close-knit professional family who have worked as a team over the years. Our achievement could not be possible without their hard work,” the re lease said.
Similarly, he said the description of Richmond Hill as ‘Little Guyana’ was started by his friend, Vassan Ramracha, when they formerly went to the area to distribute literature about human rights violations in Guyana and seek support to combat the dictatorship.
From page 13 Team
Explorers
Vishnu Bisram, the writer who keeps the diaspora ... Wilderness
Wilderness Explorers was the first company to work with Surama Village, as far back as 1999, now an internationally recognised model of Community Owned and Led Eco-tourism,” the releaseWildernesssaid. Explorers is a fervent supporter of part nerships as a vehicle to build business and drive sales. According to the release, its philosophy is to create a working environment that allows each partner to utilise their skills and experience, especially when they comple ment each other. In addition to successfully partnering with the Guyana Tourism Authority on various proj ects, Wilderness Explorers are active members of the Latin American Travel As sociation (UK), Adventure Travel Trade Association (USA), and a founding mem ber of ATLAS, a consortium of Latin American DMC’s. “As a market leader in in novative and creative mar keting strategies, Wilderness Explorers strongly emphasises co-operative marketing. The company has invested heavily in marketing through attending well over 100 trade and con sumer shows in North America, the Caribbean, Latin America, UK, Europe, and Australia. Wilderness Explorers also op erates familiarisation tours to Guyana for travel trade and the media to build global aware ness of destination Guyana,” the release noted. Much of the company’s strength is gained from hav ing a sole focus on the tour ism industry, which allows minimal distractions from building product and mar keting Guyana. While this is a Guyanese company with an international market, the focus has been broadened to be a regional DMC, with already strong product in Su riname, French Guiana, and the Caribbean. The company boasts strong local, regional and international networks in the industry. It has built network representatives in the UK, Australia, North America, the Nordic region, and the German-speaking market.“The tourism industry is developing globally at an incredible rate, and consumer buying patterns are changing just as rapidly. As a DMC Wilderness Explorers acts as a safety net for tour oper ators and customers, ensur ing smooth and safe travel and, importantly, an agent to solve problems and deal with emergencies. As regulatory requirements increase within the industry, Wilderness Ex plorers is uniquely positioned to deal with the complicated and stringent health and safe ty needs and provide an inter national level of insurance to safeguard customers.
“The term took on a life of its own and eventually some three decades later officially having a signage on a post -Little Guyana.”
Wilderness Explorers celebrates 28th anniversary
Guyanese.’“Inthe early 1980s, I co-coined the term Indian diaspora and Guyanese dias pora to refer to these groups. And they took on a life of their own and became popularised so much so that by 1990, they became standard usage,” Bisram shared.
President photo)See page 21
20 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022
PRESIDENT, Dr Irfaan Ali said that the govern ment, through the Ministry of Agriculture, will work with the farming commu nity of Laluni on the Soes dyke-Linden Highway to develop a resilient and sus tainable food production system. This, he said, is aimed at making the small community a major food production hub for the Presidentcountry.Ali made the statement while delivering remarks at the community’s annual Heritage Month fun day on “I’mSaturday.going to ask the Ministry of Agriculture to come and work with you on a programme through which you can develop a resilient and sustainable food production system. One in which you can expand your production with the help of the banking institutions and private investors to see how we can lead this community to become an important and major food production hub for our country.”
President Ali also an nounced that earlier this week, three contracts to the tune of $50M were awarded for completing the first Dr Irfaan Ali with residents of Laluni Saturday (Office of the
Laluni to become food production hub, says President Ali President,
on
The President noted that the idea is not only to make Guyana food secure but the entire CARICOM region as well.To this end, he called on every Guyanese, especially the youths, to bring their ideas forward to find the best formula to enhance food production.
XI, of the University of Guyana, Professor Paloma Mohamed Martin, in her remarks, took the opportunity to extend warm greetings and con gratulations to the graduates. The Vice-Chancellor also extended sincere thanks to the coordinators and all other resource persons of the pro gramme for all their efforts in ensuring that the programme was“Thesuccessful.skills that you would have learnt are what we consider to be real. Cur rent trends are not going to be reversed. We are commit ted to creating a workforce designed to figuring out what is required of people now and in the foreseeable future. It is very important to note that there is a real need for many persons with digital skills. So UG is happy to support that,” she Thesaid.Caribbean School of Data representative, Dr Mi chael McNaughton extended warm greetings and congrat ulations to the graduates. “The training and skills you have acquired from this programme are relevant as we seek to pursue the new norm of the emerging digital economy. Digital ecosystem and data are going to become quite important tools for you cohorts as you move for ward,” he said. The occasion was also addressed by University of Guyana, Department of Computer Sciences, Head of Department, Dr Max Baird.“Graduation today is not just an end goal for you; I trust that you will be lifelong learners and see this as a crucial stepping stone into a much larger part of life,” he said.Dr.Baird, the release not ed, encouraged the graduates to strive for excellence in all that they do. “There is always going to be a journey, and there is always going to be a fur ther point of achievement, but I hope this graduation serves as a good launching point that will propel you to wherever the near future is meant to take you,” he said.
51 youths graduate from digital literacy programme phase of the community’s access road. When phase one is completed, the President noted, the second phase will begin but will be done through collabo ration with the residents. He pointed out that officials from the Ministries of Public Works and Local Government and Regional Develop ment will hold discussions on the way forward.“Assoon as phase one is completed, we will move to phase two, but move to phase two in a different model, one in which the community is involved, one in which the jobs are created right here.”
President Ali also recommitted his government’s “hard work, support and collaboration” to building a more sus tainable and resilient community. “We are going to continue to invest in you, we are going to continue to invest in this community, and we will continue to expand our services. But more impor tantly, we must bring the people along with us,” he said. He added that he is committed to keeping his promise of spending time in every community regardless of its size and to listening to the concerns and suggestions of residents. “And I say to you today as you celebrate this heritage, that we are together. We are building a ‘One Guy ana’ stronger than ever together, here in Laluni and all across the country.” (Office of the President)
SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 21
SOME 51 students from six administrative regions of Guyana have graduat ed from a 16-week pro gramme in Digital Literacy and Data Skills Training Programme organised by the University of Guyana (UG), in collaboration with the Caribbean School of Data (CSOD). The programme is ongo ing and is being facilitated by UG staff in collabora tion with Mona School of Business and Management and the Caribbean School of Data, a release said. “I love the teachers and how they handled the class es. The students were really great, and they were very encouraging. I am very hap py I signed up and was able to complete the course,” said Level One graduate, Makida Noordwyk.Maheswarie Nandram, a Level Two graduate, was also high in praise: “The Dig ital Literacy and Data Skills Training Programme was an interactive and informative experience as the facilitators were knowledgeable and were always willing to help.” The top five performers for Level One were Makida Noordwyk, Sarika Prasad, Garvon Douglas, Omadele Layne and Taheer Budhu while the top five performers for Level Two were Ma heswarie Nandram, Shiv Sooklall, Dalia Araujo, Da vindra Bridgemohan and KristyVice-Chancellor,Perreira.
Laluni to become food production ...F pagerom 20
22 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022
SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 23
24 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022
SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 25
26 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022
career, put ting on one final memora ble
played
for
lucky enough to witness
best tennis in a
SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 27
storied career - for what she intends to be the last time.As she waved goodbye and gave a signature twirl, Tina Turner’s pop classic, ‘Simply the Best’, boomed out over the sound system. Asked if she would re consider retiring after her performances this week, Williams said: “I’m literally playing my way into this and getting better. I should have started sooner this year. I don’t think so, but you never Williamsknow.”was overcome with emotion when she was interviewed in the middle of the court, thanking her family, team, the crowd and her fans across the world for their support over the years. “I thank everyone that’s here, that’s been on my side so many years, decades. Oh my gosh! literally decades,” said Williams, who played her first professional tour nament as a 14-year-old in 1995.“But it all started with my parents. And they de serve everything. So I’m really grateful for them. “And I wouldn’t be Ser ena if there wasn’t (sister) Venus, so thank you, Ve nus. She’s the only reason that Serena Williams ever existed.” Tomljanovic, who moves into the fourth round and plays Russia’s Liudmi la Samsonova, stepped to the side and applauded her opponent, as she took the microphone.Theworld number 46 produced a phenomenal per formance to block out the noise and sense of occasion, illustrated by her clinical hitting in the final stages of a brutal contest which lasted three hours and five minutes.Williams produces one last thrilling performance for A-list Williamscrowdhas long been more than a tennis player and it was a sign of her status - as an American icon and one of the world’s most recognisable sport stars - that she announced her retirement in an essay for glossy fashion magazine Vogue.Although she did not use the word retirement itself, preferring to say she was “evolving away” from the sport, her plan is to end her glittering career this fortnight at her home major. Like every night she has appeared this week, Wil liams emerged on to court after being introduced as the ‘Queen of Queen’s’ - the borough of New York where the tournament is held - in a watching.RebelrectorBilliefamily.sidebiggestwhohusbandR&Bbox.ouslyperstarAnnaweek,outLatifah.Americanvideospecially-commissionedmontagenarratedbyrapstarQueenTheA-ListershavebeeninforceonAshethiswithVogueeditorWintourandgolfsuTigerWoodsprevisittinginWilliams’OnFridaynightitwassingerCiaraandherRussellWilson,isoneofthecountry’sNFLstars,alongmembersofWilliams’Elsewhere,tennisgreatJeanKing,filmdiSpikeLeeandactressWilsonwerealsoWilliamsworetheglittery,figureskating-inspireddressshehadspeciallycreatedforthetournament,alongwithdiamond-encrustedtrainers,toaddfurtherpomptotheoccasion.Righttotheend,Williamsputonashowforthealmostcapacity24000crowd. 40-year-old some of her long while as she her show those it. (BBC Sport)
fought to prolong
Serena Williams... FROM BACK PAGE South Africa Racing Tips 08:20ScottsvillehrsRed Magician 08:55 hrs Party Time 09:30 hrs Emerald Prin 10:05cess hrs Ancient Epic 10:40 hrs Frontline EnglishFighter Racing Tips 08:30Fontwellhrs Dynamic Kate 09:05 hrs Sofia’s Rock 09:40 hrs Midnight Jewel 10:15 hrs Gryffiti 10:50 hrs Call Me Tara 12:00 hrs Sister Sophie 08:45York hrs Squealer 09:20 hrs Crystal 09:55 hrs Gale Force 10:30Maya hrs Dare To Hope 11:05 hrs The Predictor 11:40 hrs Shaladar 12:15 hrs AmericanMatticeRacing Tips RaceSaratoga1Curly Larry And RaceMo 2 Happy Farm Race 3 State Crown Race 4 CanadianCousteauRacing Tips RaceWoodbine1Bet N Win Race 2 Courtingcourtney Race 3 Taranto Titan Race 4 Text Me Up
The
CHAMPIONS Manchester City missed a chance to go top of the Premier League as Leon Bailey’s equaliser earned Aston Villa an ex cellent draw at Villa Park. The league’s top goal-scorer Erling Haa land got his 10th goal in six games when he was in the right place at the back post to volley in Kevin de Bruyne’s superbAftercross.scoring in the 50th minute, Haaland had another two efforts saved by Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez and de Bruyne also hit the crossbar with a 22-yard freekick.Those missed chanc es proved costly as Bailey struck a sweet first-time shot into the top corner from Jacob Ramsey’s square pass to make it 1-1 in the 74th minute.Villa thought they had scored a winner when Philippe Coutinho put the ball in the net off the under side of the bar but the assis tant referee had already put his flag up for offside. City would have moved above Arsenal, who play at Manchester United today, with a win, but instead are second, one point behind the Gunners.Gerrard’s Villa show fighting spirit to earn draw Steven Gerrard’s Villa had only won one of their first five matches of the sea son and had been booed off after their last game at Villa Park, a 1-0 loss to West Ham. The pressure was mount ing on the former England midfielder after a 2-1 loss at Arsenal in midweek left Villa 19th in the table, but this point was enough to take them out of the relegation zone and to 17th. But Gerrard, who called for his side to “surprise the footballing world”, will be delighted with the spirit and fight his team showed to come back from a goal down as City, champions four times in the past five years, looked to claim their fifth win of the season. City had 73% posses sion but Bailey scored with Villa’s only shot on target in a result that Gerrard will hope will kick-start their campaign.Meanwhile Pep Guardio la will see this as two points dropped for City and will wonder how his team did not claim the win.
ZIMBABWE have pulled off one of the biggest ODI upsets in recent memory, shocking Australia with a three-wicket win after Ryan Burl’s maid en five-wicket haul, on a history-making day that also saw Mitchell Starc set a new world record. After being outclassed in the opening two matches, losing by five wickets and by eight wickets, Zimbabwe’s re sponse in the third Dettol ODI was emphatic with the ball, bowling out the hosts for 141 It was Australia’s low est-ever score against Zimba bwe and the first time in 33 ODIs that the Chevrons had claimed all 10 Aussie wickets in theJoshformat.Hazlewood did all he could to bail Australia out with 3-30, and Starc became the fastest man to reach 200 ODI wickets and eclipse a 23-yearold benchmark, but Regis Chakabva (37 n.o off 72 balls) guided Zimbabwe to a famous victory in a nervy chase. The tourists’ captain Chak abva won the toss for the first time this series and gave his side first crack with the ball, much to the delight of the healthy crowd at Riverway Stadium.However, the spectators would have expected a moun tain of runs from the men in yellow and not regular wickets from pace bowlers Richard Ngavara, Victor Nyauchi and BradOnEvans.thesame pitch as was used for the first two matches, Zimbabwe found just enough seam movement to trouble Australia’s high-profile top order.But it was leg-spinner Burl who did most of the damage, claiming a career-best 5-10 from three overs He was the sixth bowler called upon by Chakabva and it proved to be a masterstroke from the visiting skipper. At 129-5, the partnership between David Warner and Glenn Maxwell had passed 50 (off only 40 balls) and threat ened to take the game away from Zimbabwe when Burl was brought into the attack. With his fourth ball, the leg-spinner floated an 82.3kph delivery onto leg-stump which Maxwell couldn’t resist, with the all-rounder skying a catch that Burl gratefully snapped up. Two balls later, Ashton Agar hit a full toss straight to mid-wicket to leave Australia 129-7.Warner had played bril liantly for his 94 off 96 balls and batted with an ease none of his teammates could find. He smoked 14 fours and two large sixes to keep Austra lia’s innings from falling apart all together.Buteven he fell victim to Burl when he attempted to bring up his century with a six, caught in the deep by a jugglingWarnerEvans.scored 66.7 per cent of his side’s runs, the second-highest percentage of a completed innings in men’s ODIThehistoryscorecard made for tough reading for the Austra lians, with only Warner and Maxwell (19) making double figures.Australia lost 5-12 as Burl ran through the lower order, bowling Starc (2) and getting Josh Hazlewood (0) caught behind after a review. Heading into the series, Burl had taken nine ODI wick ets from 31 matches, but to gether with his 3-60 from the first match, he nearly doubled his wickets tally with 10 overs in Townsville.Zimbabwe came out after the lunch break in an attacking mood with opener Takudzwa nashe Kaitano (brought in for Innocent Kaia) hitting a string of boundaries off the quicks. But Hazlewood had other ideas, taking three wickets in eight balls to give Australia hope.Kaitano (19 off 25), Wess ly Madhevere (2) and Sean Williams (first-ball duck) were all undone by the pace and guile of Hazlewood, who has bowled well without getting the rewards all series. The wickets continued for Australia with Sikandar Raza (8 off 19) falling victim to the pull shot for the third consec utive innings, caught off the bowling of an elated Marcus Stoinis.As Zimbabwe looked to stabilise following Tadiwana she Marumani’s wicket, Mun yonga was given a chance by Aaron Finch at slip on seven Munyonga only added another 10 runs but together with Chakabva, the pair rode their luck in a slow but vital partnership of 38 runs. With five runs required for the victory, Mitch Starc grabbed his 200th ODI wicket, becoming the fastest player ever to the milestone as Burl hit an easy catch to Cameron Green at mid-off. But a punch through the covers from Evans sealed the unforgettable win with 66 balls remaining.Earlier, Australia’s innings got off to a horror start, losing three wickets in the first nine overs.Finch was out to left-armer Ngavara for the third time this series, while caught by Burl at secondThatslipwas followed by re turning quick Nyauchi trap ping Steve Smith lbw, with the star batter letting the ball cannon into his pads and then review in a bizarre sequence of events. Carey took the aggressive approach but it backfired as he was caught behind off the bowling of Evans. (Cricket Com.au)
Villa’s equaliser came against the run of play but City still had chances to win it late on but Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden both missed opportunities as Villa held on for the draw.
Man City miss chance to go top as Villa earn draw
The visitors should have gone ahead in only the fourth minute but England defender Kyle Walker shot wastefully wide with only Martinez to beat.Haaland, a £51M sum mer signing from Borussia Dortmund, had scored backto-back hat-tricks in City’s wins over Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest and only touched the ball 10 times in the first However,half. he showed his class within five minutes of the restart by scoring from close range after de Bruyne’s cross had looped over Mar tinez.Haaland became a hand ful for the home defence and twice was denied by Marti nez and also won a free-kick, which de Bruyne hit the bar with.
Ryan Burl picked up five wickets for ten runs to skittle out Australia Getty Images)
Zimbabwe stun Australia in historic ODI upset
Erling Haaland has scored 10 goals in his first six Premier League appearances for Manchester City, the joint-fastest a player has reached 10 goals in the competition’s history alongside Mick Quinn back in December 1992. (BBC Sport)
28 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022
Defending US Open champion Daniil Medvedev
WEST Indies batting great, Brian Lara, has replaced Tom Moody as head coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for the 2023 IPL season. Lara was part of the SRH team management last season as a strategic adviser and batting coach, and this will be his first assignment as a head coach of a T20 team. It is learned that Moody and Sunrisers came to a mu tual agreement to part ways. Moody was recently appoint ed director of cricket at Desert Vipers, one of the six fran chises in the ILT20, which is scheduled to begin in the UAE in January 2023. Moody had returned to Sunrisers in 2021 as direc tor of cricket with fellow Australian Trevor Bayliss as head coach. Once Bayliss left after a dismal 2021 season, in which Sunrisers finished last with just three wins, the franchise appointed Moody as head coach, the second time he had held the post. In his highly successful first stint, between 2013 and 2019, Moody had helped Sunrisers reach the playoffs five times and win the IPL in 2016.Moody’s second stint as head coach, however, was not successful: in 2022, Sunrisers finished eighth in the 10-team tournament, with six wins and eight defeats. In the last two seasons, Sunrisers were the worst-performing team in the IPL in terms of wins. In 28 matches, they had nine vic tories, 18 defeats and one tie. Moody would have been disappointed considering Sunrisers had assembled a well-balanced squad at the auction, before which they had retained three players: their captain Kane Williamson and the Indian pair of Umran Malik and Abdul Samad. In the first half of the sea son, Williamson got lucky at the toss, which played a big role in Sunrisers winning five matches in a row. However, they slid down the points table just as fast with five consec utive defeats. Williamson’s poor batting form coupled with injuries to two key In dian players - T Natarajan and Washington Sundar - left Sunrisers frustrated. Those two injuries came immediately after a defeat against Gujarat Titans, which Moody said triggered “nega tive momentum” from which his team could never recover.
DEFENDING champion Daniil Medvedev set up a fourth-round meeting with Australia’s Nick Kyrgios with a straightforward 6-4 6-2 6-2 victory over Chi nese qualifier Wu Yibing. The Russian was far too strong for his 22-year-old opponent as he fired 12 aces and converted six out of 12 break points to comfortably progress.Wuwas the first Chinese man in US Open history to reach the third round. But he struggled to cope with the relentless pressure fromMedvedevMedvedev.is aiming to become the first player to win consecutive US Open titles since Roger Federer’s run of five between 2004-08. But a defeat by Wim bledon runner-up Kyrgios in the next round would see Medvedev lose his number one ranking. Both Australian Open and French Open win ner Rafa Nadal and rising star Carlos Alcaraz could top the men’s rankings after the tournament.Kyrgios continued his progress with victory over JJ Wolf.The Australian beat his American opponent 6-4 6-2 6-3.Fifth seed Casper Ruud outlasted Tommy Paul across five sets to secure his place in the US Open fourth round.Norway’s Ruud, who lost the French Open final to Rafael Nadal earlier this year, fought past the Amer ican 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 6-0 in four hours and 23 Ruudminutes.isoneof four play ers in contention to become world number one at the end of theHetournament.willplay French lucky loser Corentin Moutet next.Moutet came past Argen tina’s Pedro Cachin 6-3 4-6 6-2 7-5. Spain’s Pablo Carre no Busta beat Australian Alex de Minaur 6-1 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-5), while 13th seed Matteo Berrettini ended Andy Murray’s campaign in New York. (BBC Sport).
BARCELONA moved up to second in La Liga after maintaining their unbeaten start to the season with vic tory at Sevilla. Raphinha was in the right place to head home his first Barcelona goal following his £60M summer move from Leeds.The visitors doubled their lead before half-time when Robert Lewandowski took the ball on his chest and vol leyed in for his fifth goal of the campaign.FormerManchester City defender Erik Garcia nodded in the third, as Julen Lopete gui’s Sevilla remain winless. Sevilla’s wretched run against Barca continued, now winning just one of their last 31 league games against their opponents - a run which stretches back to the 2007-08 season.The home supporters ex pressed their dissatisfaction at full-time with loud jeers as their side have just one point from their opening four leagueFormergames.Leeds winger Raphinha set Barca on their way with an opportunistic header after Lewandowski’s dinked effort was cleared off the Theline. Brazil international almost scored a quick-fire second but his curling strike drifted narrowly over. Fellow summer signing Jules Kounde, playing against his old club after a £42M move, could have scored in the first half, but mistimed his header from six yards out. But the France interna tional did provide the assist for the next two goals - a superb, raking pass, finished off by Lewandowski while centre-back Garcia headed in from Kounde’s nod back. Barca are two points be hind champions Real Madrid, who kept up their 100% win ning start with a 2-1 victory over Real Xavi’sBetis.men will be back in action on Wednes day, when they begin their Champions League campaign against Viktoria Plzen. Sevilla, meanwhile, were made to pay for their missed chances as Ivan Rakitic’s effort was cleared off the line by Ronald Arau jo and Youssef En-Nesyri’s low shot was tipped wide by Marc-Andre ter Stegen. (BBC Sport)
SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 29
“We were small margins away from being in a differ ent position on the table and that could have easily been in the top 4,” Moody said on May 22, after Sunrisers end ed their season with another defeat, (Cricinfo)
Brian Lara was part of the SRH managementteamlast season
Robert Lewandowski scored his fifth goal of the season for Barcelona
Defending champion Medvedev into US Open fourth round
Barcelona maintain unbeaten start with win at Sevilla
Lara takes over from Tom Moody as Sunrisers head coach
COMPLIMENTS OF CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD- 83 Garnett street, Campbellville, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158) Answers to yesterday’s quiz: (1) Krishmar Santokie-16 wickets (GAW) (2) Shakib Al Hassan-6/6 (Tridents vs Red Steel) Today’s Quiz: (1) Who struck most sixes in CPL 2013? (2) Which wicketkeeper effected most dismissals in CPL Answers2013?in
Serena Williams - the woman who changed the game us, just to be quite frank,” she told “Thereme. are some things we are genetically pre-disposed to, that some people aren’t. So, knowing that going in, or some doctors not caring as much for us, isWilliamsheartbreaking.”hasspoken out with increasing confidence on sensitive issues as her career has progressed. She chose 2015 to return to Indian Wells, where 14 years previously she had experienced an “undercurrent of racism” before the singles final against Kim Clijsters. She cited former South Af rica president Nelson Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom as having a signifi cant bearing on her decision to return“I’m looking forward to stepping out and letting the whole world know that it doesn’t matter what you faced - you can just come out and be strong and say I’m still going to be the best person that I can be,” she said in California that March.
tomorrow’s issue Six teams record wins on night 4 of Lucozade Indoor Hockey tourney
Part of the action on night 4 of
competition
CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Sunday September 04, 2022)
30 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022
THE marked disappointment of the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, when Serena Williams hit her final forehand into the net, did not linger for long. A rousing acclamation soon rang around the stadium for a woman who extended Ajla Tomljanovic into a fourth hour in their US Open third-round match, and whose brilliance spanned more than a quarter of a century.Sheand her sister Venus changed the game, and the ap proach to life of many - whether they had been dreaming of a pro tennis career or simply a better, fairer future for themselves and theirBefamily.yourself was the mes sage. Women, especially those of colour, do not need to hide their emotions or a desperate will to succeed. Many noses were put out of joint in the pro cess, but corrective surgery had been long Muhammadoverdue.Ali and perhaps Billie Jean King aside, has any athlete made a greater impact on society than Serena Williams? And she may be only just be ginning.Her achievements are with out parallel. Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles was always a false target, as the phenomenally successful Australian won 13 of those titles when professionals were banned from taking part. The target was, though, in credibly motivating and helped a 30-plus Williams win more than half of the Slams she entered between Wimbledon 2012 and the Australian Open of 2017. No-one else has been able to keep collecting Grand Slam singles titles over an 18-year period. Twice, 12 years apart, Williams won all four in a row. The first ‘Serena Slam’ was completed at the Australian Open of 2003 and secured over four consecutive finals against Venus.The sister, who in Sere na’s words was “taller, prettier, quicker and more athletic”. The sister, who had inspired the glowing newspaper articles and was originally the main focus of their father Richard. The sister, whose bed she sometimes had to share as a child, but from whom she learnt so much and gained so much of her Williamsdrive.won a total of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, despite only winning two in a five year period in her mid-20s during what has often been the peak years of a player’s career, Williams was trying to come to terms with the death of her sister Yetunde in a drive-by shooting in Compton in September 2003. In her 2009 autobiography Queen of the Court, she talks about slipping into depression. “It was an aching sadness, an all-over weariness, a sudden dis interest in the world around me - in tennis, above all,” she wrote. She did not return to the top of the world rankings until five years after her sister’s death. The arrival of Serena and Venus accelerated the spread of power-hitting throughout the women’s game. Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport had started the ball rolling, but this type of aggressive hitting had not been seen before.
By Russell Fuller BBC tennis correspondent
The former world number six Chanda Rubin recalls a match she played with Serena in Los Angeles in 2002. “She hit a shot and it was the hardest forehand I had seen go by me,” she says. “I didn’t even have a chance to react and move to it, and I had played Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer“ThisCapriati.wasjust pure power. And from zero to 60. That visual never left me, even though I won that Williamsmatch.” also possesses arguably the greatest serve of all-time. It offers power, place ment, rhythm and accuracy, and is harder to read than War and Peace.As both a woman and a woman of colour, Williams’ achievements and attitude have made a dizzying impact on so many“Beforeothers.Serena came along, there was not really an icon of the sport that looked like me,” Coco Gauff said in New York last “Soweek.growing up I never thought that I was different be cause the number one player in the world was somebody who looked like “Sometimesme. being a woman, a black woman in the world, you kind of settle for less. She never settled for less.” Do not forget the Grand Slam title won in Melbourne while eight weeks pregnant, and the four Grand Slam finals she subsequently reached as a mother in her late 30s. Do not forget the postnatal depression, and the two pulmonary embo lisms which endangered her life. Williams knows only too well that black women are much more likely to die in childbirth and addressed the matter in a BBC interview in 2018. “Doctors aren’t listening to AS the Lucozade Indoor Hockey tournament con tinued, at Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Friday night, GCC Sequel, GCC Spartans, YMCA Old Fort Igniters, Hikers Cadets, Pepsi Hikers and Saints HC Conquerors all recorded wins. In the U20 Girls ‘A’ group, Saints HC Aces and GBTI GCC Tornadoes played to a draw, while in the ‘B’ group, Saints HC Conquerors beat their opponents GCC Herri canesLike2-0.their teammates, the U20 Boys ‘A’ group GCC Pitbulls vs Saints HC S7N also played to a draw, with the game ending 1-1. YMCA Old Fort brushed aside Saints HC Superstars 4-0. GBTI GCC Spartans con tinued their dominance by beat ing GCC Tigers 6-2. Sharp shooters Sarah Klautky and Alysa Xavier netted two goals each, while Makeda Harding and Ashley DeGroot rounded off the score. In another women’s match up, YMCA Old Fort Igniters scored all three penalty cor ners, giving them the win over Saints HC 3-2. Clazya Bobb of Saints netted both goals for her team.Inthe men’s division, Bounty GCC Sequel outscored the vibrant and energetic YMCA Old Fort 2-1. The skil ful Old Fort team, made up of primarily national men, failed to convert many opportunities, stating clearly it wasn’t their night. Just before the buzzer, captain Dominic Alleyne of Old Fort managed to find the net, but his efforts were too late as time ran out.
Serena Williams’ 1999 US Open victory was the first of six in New York
Hikers Cadets and Pepsi Hikers got the better of their opponents as they competed in Groups ‘A’ and ‘B’, respec tively. Pepsi Hikers and Bounty GCC Pitbulls played the game as if it were the final, both teams possessing national men who showed skill, coordination and However,determination.the well-com posed Jamarj Assanah opened the scoring for Pepsi Hikers in the 8th minute and followed suit with two more goals. The flamboyant Aroydy Branford and energetic captain Robert France also netted 3 and 2 goals, respectively. Kevin Spencer of GCC Pitbulls found the net of their competitors twice, one on a penalty stroke and the other on a corner. The game ended in favour of Pepsi Hikers 9-3. In the Group ‘A’ category, Hikers Cadets made light work of Saints HC Splinters, beating them 8-1. The war horse Devin Munroe registered his name four times on the score sheet, giving victory to his side. Action continues today starting at 13:00hrs.
Serena Williams has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the second most in tennis history
Serena Williams is, of course, no modern-day saint. Ar thur Ashe Stadium has witnessed her six US Open titles, but also some venomous behaviour to wards officials, for which she showed little contrition. But I think she is the most remarkable athlete of the last 40 years. The pain she feels at hav ing to leave the stage will be shared by many in all corners of the world.
CWI pledges support for Anisa Mohammed after decision to stand down
SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 31
BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CMC) – Jamaica Talla wahs extended their perfect start to the Men’s Caribbe an Premier League (CPL) with a four-wicket win over a lack-lustre Guyana Amazon Warriors here yesterday. Chasing 143 at Warner Park, Tallawahs got home with four balls to spare, to seal their second win of the campaign, after beating St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by 47 runs in their opener. Rovman Powell led the run chase, top-scoring with an unbeaten 44 from 38 balls while opener Brandon King followed up his half-century in the first game with 32 from 25 Tallawahsdeliveries.were forced to overcome an outstanding spell from left-arm spin ner Gudakesh Motie who snatched two for ten from his fourEarlier,overs. seamer Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir claimed three for 22 and South African fast bowler Migael Pretorius, two for 35, as Amazon Warriors were restricted to 142 for six from their 20 Shimronovers.Hetmyer struck 39 but the knock was a slow one, requiring 45 balls while all-rounder Romario Shep herd blasted a rapid 17-ball 36. Amir gave Tallawahs a superb start when he knocked over openers Paul Stirling (1) and Chandrapaul Hemraj (2) to leave the in nings at five for two in the thirdHetmyer,over. who hit two fours and a six, repaired the innings in a 66-run, third-wicket stand with Shai Hope (25) and when both fell in the space of two balls in separate overs with the score on 71, Shepherd arrived to rescue his side. He belted three fours and as many sixes, posting 51 for the fifth wicket with South African Heinrich Klaasen who struck 22 from 15 de liveries.Inreply, Tallawahs found themselves in a spot of both er at 41 for three in the sev enth over despite King’s enterprise which was high lighted by four fours and a six. But Powell batted with maturity, punching one four and four sixes as he put on 29 for the fourth with Amir Jangoo (15), 23 with Imad Wasim (18) for the fifth wicket before anchoring an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 39 with captain Chris Green (17 not out) which put Tal lawahs over the line.
“This is not a perma nent goodbye but rather, a see you soon. I wish the team all the best in all their forthcoming series and I know Hayley (Mat thews) will fulfil her role as captain, as I’ve seen her mature and grow as a person and cricketer.”
Tallawahs remain unbeaten with win over Amazon Warriors
Gittens to sponsor junior national boxer Britton
Rovman Powell celebrates Tallawahs win over Amazon Warriors yesterday. (Photo courtesy Getty/CPL)
ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) – Cricket West Indies has pledged its sup port for Anisa Moham med, following the veter an West Indies Women off-spinner’s decision to take a six-month break from international crick et. The 33-year-old, a fix ture in the squad, requested a leave of absence from CWI and will now miss the upcoming white-ball series against New Zealand in Antigua from September 16 to October 6 and next year’s T20 World Cup in South“AnisaAfrica.has been a true stalwart of West Indies Women’s cricket for over a decade,” said CWI director of cricket, Jimmy Adams. “We at CWI wish her well and will provide any support she may require during this period away from international cricket and look forward to wel coming her back in March.” Mohammed, who made her international debut at 14, has taken a record 180 wickets from 141 One-Day Internationals and 125 T20 International scalps from 117Thematches.Trinidadian, who is currently featuring for Trin bago Knight Riders Women in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League, (CPL) re iterated her leave was not a “permanent goodbye”. “Cricket has given me all that I have and I still love it as much as the first day I started playing,” she said in a was“Thereforestatement.thisdecisionnotaneasyoneforme, especially with the T20 World Cup five months away. However, I must lis ten to my body and my mind that I need to take time away from the game at this time.
Veteran off-spinner Anisa Mohammed
USA-based Guyanese Samuel ‘Stanley’ Gittens (right) and his new fighter Keyon Britton
AFTER a strong showing at the recently concluded Win field Braithwaite Caribbean Schoolboys Juniors tourna ment, boxer Keyon Britton has found a new sponsor as he continues his training. Britton, of the Vergenoegen Boxing Gym lost to Ezekiel Bancroft, but the young fight er’s in-ring craft caught the eye of USA-based Guyanese Samuel ‘Stanley’ Gittens. So impressed was Gittens that he immediately provided a cash incentive for Britton and has pledged to continue spon soring the dapper young fighter during his journey to the top. Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) president Steve Ninvalle meanwhile said the gesture was a great move by the over seas-based Guyanese boxing enthusiast, citing that such trust and encouragement goes a long way as it relates to development of youths in the sport. Ninvalle also believed that with more opportunities such as this, being provided, more youngsters will step up and further give good accounts of themselves as they hone their craft as future ambassadors of the Caribbean. (Clifton Ross)
JAMAICA’S Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has called curtains on an outstanding 2022 season after suffer ing her first loss at the Diamond League series in Brussels, Belgium on Friday. Fraser-Pryce, who had won the event nine times heading into Brussels, nar rowly lost out to compatriot Shericka Jackson, who fin ished runner-up at the World Championships, in Eugene, Oregon in July. Following the event, Fraser-Pryce made the announcement via the social media platform Face book.“No better way for me to close an amazing outdoor season than to celebrate my country! Ah we still ah win, so give us over flowers,” the athleteFraser-Pryceposted. had ad mittedly considered ending her season last week, after pulling out of the Lausanne Diamond League meet with a minor hamstring issue. She later revealed that scans of the area had, however, shown no injury and insisted she felt well enough to com pete at Friday’s van Damme Memorial.
On Friday, Fraser-Pryce got a trademark fast start but was overhauled right at the finish line by a typically fast-finishing Jackson. Jack son took the event in 10.73, with Fraser-Pryce second in 10.74. In addition to winning nine straight races, Fras er-Pryce has also impressed with her times this season. The sprinter has dipped below 10.7s on a historic six occasions. Her best of 10.62 came at the Monaco Dia mond League last month. (Sportsmax)
BATTING heroics from Qi ana Joseph help Barbados Royals book a spot in the Massy Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) fi nal against Trinbago Knight Riders after beating the Guy ana Amazon Warriors by 4 wickets in a thrilling winnertakes-all game. The Royals won the toss and put the Warriors into bat and their decision was vindi cated when they kept them to 100 from their 20 overs thanks to economical wicket-taking bowling from Shakera Selman who finished with figures of 2/16.Despite Warriors’ openers Chamari Athapaththu and Ra shada Williams racing to 21 from four overs, an all-round performance with the ball in cluding some stunning catches meant the Royals went into the innings break on top and feeling it was score that they could chase. In response, Hayley Mat thews and Aaliyah Alleyne looked to make light work but a rush of wickets and some tight bowling meant it came down to some big hitting from Qiana Joseph to see them over the line and into the final. They will now take on the Trinbago Knight Riders, whom they recently defeated in the final of the SKYEXCH 6IXTY last Afterweek.being put into bat, the Guyana Amazon Warriors start ed quickly before the dangerous Athapaththu was dismissed by young Fatima Sana for 19 leav ing the Warriors 34/1. As if often the case, one wicket brings another and with just seven more added to the score Williams was bowled by Selman, meaning Stafanie Tay lor and Shermaine Campbelle were in need of putting together a rebuild.Thepair looked to be find ing their rhythm before a stun ning catch from Britney Cooper sent Campbelle back to the dugout and the Warriors floun dering on 83/3 after 17. Another stunning catch from Alleyne saw the back of Nation and then two run outs in the final over meant the War riors somewhat limped to 100/7 from their Beginning20. the chase, the Warriors’ openers Matthews and Alleyne looked keen to get the chase done quickly and were 22/0 after five overs before Gajnabi trapped Alleyne lbw with the first ball of her spell and made it two-in-two as Cooper edged behind off the nextChloeball. Tryon and Matthews had a grip on the rebuild and when Stafanie Taylor dropped Matthews on 20, it seemed the Royals were racing at 59/2 from nineMakingovers. up for her mistake Taylor then caught Matthews who had only added two and a flurry of wickets meant the finish would be tight. Runs be gan to dry up but batting power and bravery from Qiana Joseph, who scored 30 off 19 and sealed it with a six, meant the Royals took the two points for the win and qualify for the final. The Royals must now go and recover, refuel and pre pare to return to competition in the final of the inaugural Massy WCPL today.(CPLl).
(CPL
‘Ah we still ah win’ - Fraser-Pryce announces decision to end 2022 season
32 SUNDAY CHRONICLE September 4, 2022 Printed and Published by Guyana National Newspapers Limited, Lama Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown. Telephone 226-3243-9 (General); Editorial: 227-5204, 227-5216. Fax:227-5208 | SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2022
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce suffered her first loss at the Diamond League in Brussels on Friday SERENA Williams waved farewell to the US Openand her illustrious career - amid emotional scenes after she lost to Austra lia’s Ajla Tomljanovic on a thrilling night in New York. Williams, who turns 41 this month, expects it to be her final match. It will end a 27-year pro fessional career that brought 23 major singles wins and sees the American widely labelled as the greatest of all-time.Williams lost 7-5, 6-7 (47), 6-1 and had tears running down her face afterwards. The former long-time world number one saved five match points in what proved to be the final game but was powerless to stop a sixth. Almost all the spectators, who could, rose to their feet when she departed the court on Arthur Ashe Stadiumthe scene of her first major triumph in 1999 and five more of the finest wins in her storied career - for what she intends to be the last time. As she waved goodbye and gave a signature twirl, Tina Turner’s pop classic, ‘Simply the Best’, boomed out over the sound system.
Serena Williams waves farewell after US Open loss
USA’s Serena Williams waves to the audience after losing against Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic during their 2022 US Open Tennis tournament women’s singles third round match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, on Friday night (AFP) Joseph takes Barbados Royals into today’s WCPL final Barados Royals players celebrate their victory by four wickets. PHOTO)
TURN TO PAGE 27
