Guyana_Chronicle_Epaper_07_11_2019

THURSDAY 11th July, 2019

'

No.105695

'We have a right to protect taxpayers’ money'

–AG flays ‘PSC’s hypocritical’ stance on Dipcon matter …PM says judge's action smacks of vendetta

SEE STORY ON PAGE 02 ►

Modern drug bond commissioned 17

The new $539 million Central Supplies Unit (CSU), which is more commonly known as the Kingston Bond (Adrian Narine photo)

PAGE

Jagdeo and his reps differ on President’s submission of names --express conflicting views on earlier agreements

PAGE

03

Media under close watch for ethnic discrimination 03 PAGE

Harvey Gulf Marine International opens local branch -aims to have 100% local employment, profit sharing plan in place 09 PAGE

2

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday July 11, 2019

'We have a right to protect taxpayers’ money' –AG flays ‘PSC’s hypocritical’ stance on Dipcon matter …PM says judge's action smacks of vendetta

By Gabriella Chapman ATTORNEY General, Basil Williams, has flayed the Private Sector Commission (PSC) for what he deemed as their biased stance regarding the Dipcon court matter, saying that the umbrella business body has now become an adjunct political entity and must first appraise itself of the facts before making statements.

On Tuesday, the PSC, in a statement, said that it has observed, with great concern, what it described as “the deliberate and repeated refusal on the part of the government, to honour the judgment of the court with regard to a payment owed to Dipcon Engineering Services Ltd., since 2009. “ The body said the rule of law must prevail if business is to be conducted “in our country with confidence in the government’s respect for the judiciary and a separation of powers between the Executive and courts. The private sector must, at all times, be confident that the principles of sanctity of contracts reinforced by the independence of the courts will be honoured by the State.

However, in response, Minister Williams said that he is surprised that PSC is attacking the government for defending taxpayers’ money. “We have a right to protect taxpayers’ money, especially when judgment is obtained under suspicious circumstances. It’s hypocritical and it’s self-serving of PSC.” Williams queried whether the PSC approves that Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, should be sued in his personal capacity to pay a debt of the State? Even as he asserted that all the government was doing was pursuing the law. He said it was an abuse of the process of the court to entertain a claim against a minister in his personal capacity.

“How could they (PSC) be

unconcerned that the judiciary is actually going against the law of the land to move against the minister?

We could then sue the Chancellor for debts of the Judiciary, and sue Gerry Gouveia for the debts of the Private Sector Commission,” AG exclaimed.

He further noted that the particular case under question is a case which started under the last government, and when they lost the elections and coalition took over, the case was never brought to the attention of the new leaders until months after the judgment was passed. And by then, the time for appealing the judgment had long passed.

“We had a good case because the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works said that the man who was claiming the money, had already been paid, and had been paid more than what they were claiming. We have also seen

out the blue and settles the matter without any arguments. This was even confirmed at a meeting by the registrar of the Supreme Court,” the AG disclosed.

He further contended that the reason why the past government never paid those judgments is “because you can’t levy against the State and it is listed under the State Liabilities and Proceedings Act, neither can the court grant a coercive order on an officer of the State.” Government has already taken the stance where they will ex-

his private capacity. Cabinet calls on the courts to protect the Executive from vexatious and partisan action,” the Ministry of the Presidency said in a statement.

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo weighed in on the matter on Wednesday saying the action

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo

Attorney General Basil Williams

of the judge was “frivolous, vexatious and lacked merit”. Prime Minister Nagamootoo, himself an attorney-at-law, noted, “you do not go after a person when a matter is against the State. You cannot enforce that decision by going after a minister; it is going to open our processes to abuse.”

Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry

PSC Chairman, Gerry Gouveia

signs of the judiciary being used for money laundering purposes, where claims are made for large sums of money, and they rest for a while in there and then somebody comes

haust all their remedies in this matter to have their case fairly heard.

Government on Tuesday in a statement said it endorsed the action taken by President David Granger to issue a Grant of Respite exempting Jordan from punishment in his private capacity, for judgments incurred prior to his appointment as minister. “Cabinet condemns the unprecedented and scurrilous attack on a serving Minister of Government by seeking to imprison him in

SMACKS OF VENDETTA He explained that the law presumes that persons who perform certain acts in their official function are not liable in person. The prime minister opined that the judge’s action, “smacks of vendetta. For me, it is a kind of judicial wrath for us to talk about imprisoning a minister of the government, who was exercising his function officially.”

He equated the judge’s decision to that of judicial wrath. “We [government] believe this attack

on the minister’s integrity was unwarranted. It was unwelcomed, and we want to say very openly that all members of the Cabinet, all his ministerial colleagues, believe that he has done nothing wrong. He is completely exonerated from any shadow or doubt. He is honourable and has received our full support.”

“I personally hope I can get my day at the Appeal Court to find out whether indeed this is a situation that can happen, where a minister can be sued, in his personal capacity, to pay a judgement that has been made against the State. If that were to be upheld by the Appeal Court, then many of us will begin to rethink our public service, if you can be held for something that you never did.”

3

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday July 11, 2019

Jagdeo and his reps differ on President’s submission of names --express conflicting views on earlier agreements WHILE representatives of the Leader of the Opposition, engaged in the selection of nominees for the new chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission, expressed surprise with President David Granger’s submission of eight names, Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, has assured that this was according to agreements made.

On July 9, 2019, in a video message to the public, Jagdeo provided clarity on the process agreed upon by him and President Granger for the “hammering out” of a list of six names eligible for the post of GECOM Chair.

His remarks came on the heels of a message to the nation by President David Granger who, on the same day, following dissenting remarks from Opposition representatives in the media, was forced to assure that his actions thus far have been in keeping with agreements made.

He stated that following the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling and in keeping with the Constitution, it is clear that a list of six names must be submitted by the Leader of the Opposition to the President for the selection of a new chairman.

He also pointed out the CCJ’s instruction that the two sides must agree on a list “not unacceptable” to the President prior to his ultimate selection of one individual.

The CCJ, having understood that a consensus on

both sides would be required to achieve this, urged the two leaders and their representatives to meet to decide on how this can be achieved.

Opposition Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira, acting on behalf of Jagdeo, wrote Director-General at the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, on June 28, 2019, indicating that “The Leader of the Opposition is not averse to the President informally suggesting names in their proposed engagement for his consideration.”

As engagements progressed, the Leader of the Opposition, on July 6, 2019, submitted 11 names-- out of 18 previously submitted-- to the Ministry of the Presidency for deliberation.

On July 8, 2019, the President submitted his list of eight names for suggestion to add to the deliberation as previously deemed acceptable by the Opposition Leader.

However, after representatives of the Opposition Leader met on July 8, contention arose as they told the media, in a subsequent press conference, that they were surprised by the submission of names by the President.

“It was our clear understanding that we were going there to consider those 11 names and for the government to indicate or rather the President’s…delegates in that engagement, to tell us which of the 11 names the President finds acceptable and which he does not find acceptable. Lo and behold,

President David Granger

when we get there we are confronted with a list from the government side,” one Opposition representative in the talks, Attorney Anil Nandlall complained.

He and others accused the President of not acting in “good faith” towards fruitful discussions. In his message to the nation the next day, the President assured citizens: “The Government side is adhering to the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice and to the agreement with the Leader of the Opposition. The Government side remains committed to continuing the dialogue and concluding the selection process within days to enable the Elections Commission to function. Once done, Guyanese can expect credible elections in the shortest possible time.”

Later in the evening of July 9, 2019, the Opposition

Leader agreed that the above mentioned agreement was made between him and the President. He agreed that the “informal” discussions are also in adherence to the CCJ’s urge for a “consultative process” for the hammering out of a list of six names.

“We said, however, in the informal discussions, we will not be averse to the President submitting or suggesting names for my consideration because they may be names that the President would suggest that, in my determination of the final six, they could be included. So, we were not averse to that,” he acknowledged.

He added: “At [our initial July 4, 2019] meeting, we sought to clarify the process moving forward. We agreed that there would be the informal discussions and that we will name representatives -- which we have done -- but

the responsibilities still remain those of the President and the Leader of the Opposition. [We also agreed] that our representatives will meet almost continuously to consider the names submitted.”

Jagdeo also stated that he was “heartened” when the President, shortly after their July 4 meeting, stated in a press conference that the CCJ’s ruling had not changed the Constitution of Guyana and that its provisions ought to be fully applied. Jagdeo was directly referring to the Constitutional provision which states that the Leader of the Opposition is the one who must ultimately submit the list of six names to the President for the selection of one person.

However, in the video address on July 9, Jagdeo claimed that these sentiments were not represented in the President’s recent address to the nation earlier. Yet, in his address, the President was quoted as stating “The Court found that, once the President and Leader of the Opposition have ‘hammered out’ a list of names ‘not unacceptable’ to the President, the list of six persons must then be formally submitted to the President by the Leader of the Opposition and the President must then select the Chairman from among those names… both sides agreed to establish a joint working group which would short-list the names to six and present the list to the Leader of the Opposition before it is presented to me.”

Furthermore, while Jagdeo through Teixeira, had expressed that he was not “averse” to the President’s submission of names, he found fault by stating that he does not believe that the President’s list of names warranted a meeting. Nonetheless, he has agreed and clarified that the list of names submitted by the President will be considered and that the ongoing process is an informal one preceding a formal submission of six names.

“I’m prepared to consider the names to see whether they will be included in my final six that I submit to him,” he said. “The process that is ongoing now is an informal process, the formal process will be when I submit the six names to him and this informal process is to see if we can find some commonality amongst names.”

Meanwhile, the President has since shortlisted four of the 11 names submitted by the Leader of the Opposition; rejected five names while two of the names are under “active consideration”.

The involved parties are expected to meet again today [July 11] at 16:00hrs at Castellani House to continue deliberations ahead of the July 12, 2019 court date with the CCJ when it will make Consequential Orders on written submissions presented on these matters and the no-confidence vote case.

Media under close watch for ethnic discrimination IN the tense political climate, the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) has intensified its media monitoring mechanisms for ethnic discriminatory practices and reminds media outlets that the promotion of such is against the law.

Furthermore, the ERC is in the process of engaging media and political parties, both Parliamentary and non-Parliamentary, to encourage them to discourage the same as it goes against the country’s goal of national harmony. In a release on Wednesday, the ERC stated that this is in keeping with its Constitutional mandate enshrined in Article 212(D) of the Constitution.

Outputs under greater watch include television, radio, newspaper, online news entities as well as comments posted on social media outlets.

The aim is “to discourage persons and institutions from heightening tensions through incitement and from indulging in, advocating

or promoting discrimination or discriminatory practices on the ground of ethnicity.”

The commission has indicated that related Public Service Announcements (PSAs) will be placed in the media as pertinent reminders.

“Monitoring mechanisms, which have been intensified over the past few months in keeping with demands resulting from the ongoing political developments, have captured various instances, through publishing, facilitated and self-perpetuated, that are deemed counterproductive to the process of promoting harmony and good relations across Guyana,” the ERC stated.

“The commission is in the process of engaging those responsible as it works assiduously to educate on and to discourage such practices. At the same time, it wishes to commend those entities that demonstrate a profound sense of responsibility in its reporting and the many Guyanese who, through social media outlets, bring attention and call

upon their fellow countrymen and women to desist from posting inciting and disparaging comments.

According to the Constitution, any person who makes or publishes or causes to be made or published any statement; or takes any action, which results or can result in racial or ethnic violence or hatred among the people, shall be liable on conviction on indictment

to a fine of $100,000 together with imprisonment for two years.

Meanwhile, any person convicted of such, in addition to the above, punishment, shall be incapable for five years from the date of the conviction of being a member of the National Assembly; a member of any local democratic organ or the holder of any Constitutional or statutory office.

4

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, July 11, 2019

Sir Kim Darroch: UK ambassador to US resigns in Trump leaks row (BBC) Sir Kim Darroch has resigned as UK ambassador to the US, as a row over leaked emails critical of President Trump's administration escalates.

Theresa May said Sir Kim's departure was "a matter of deep regret" af-

ter the ambassador said it was "impossible" for him to continue.

Tory leadership candidate Boris Johnson has faced strong criticism for failing to fully support him.

President Trump said on Monday that the US would

not deal with Sir Kim. The US president had branded him "a very stupid guy" after confidential emails emerged where the ambassador had called his administration "clumsy and inept".

In a letter to the Foreign Office, Sir Kim said he wanted to end speculation about his position: "The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like."

His resignation has prompted widespread support for Sir Kim as well as criticism of Tory frontrunner Boris Johnson.

According to some Whitehall sources, Sir Kim decided to resign after Mr

Johnson refused to support him during the Tory leadership debate on Tuesday night, said BBC diplomatic correspondent James Landale.

Mr Johnson was asked repeatedly by fellow leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt whether he would keep Sir Kim in post if he became prime minister, but refused to answer.

It is understood Mr Johnson spoke to Sir Kim on the phone on Wednesday afternoon.

Sources close to Mr Johnson said that he praised Sir Kim's dedication and hard work and claimed the conversation was warm and

Thursday, July 11, 2019 12:30hrs ~ 14:00hrs

cordial.

Following Sir Kim's resignation, Mr Johnson said he was "a superb diplomat" and whoever was responsible for the leak "has done a grave disservice to our civil servants".

Asked why he was not more supportive of Sir Kim, he said it was "wrong to drag civil servants into the political arena".

Europe Minister Sir Alan Duncan - who backs Mr Hunt in the leadership contest - said it was "contemptible negligence" of Mr Johnson not to support Sir Kim. "He's basically thrown this fantastic diplomat under a bus to serve his own personal interests," he said.

However, Sir Michael Fallon - a supporter of Mr Johnson - told BBC Newsnight Sir Kim's position became untenable "long before the debate on Tuesday night" and he understands the ambassador did not watch it.

The backlash against Mr Johnson was "a shabby attempt to politicise" the affair and the leadership contender

had "made it clear he supports all our diplomats", he said.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mr Johnson wanted a "sweetheart trade deal" with the US and his lack of support for Sir Kim "shows he won't stand up to Donald Trump".

Tory MP and chairman of the Commons' foreign affairs committee Tom Tugendhat said in a tweet: "Leaders stand up for their men. They encourage them to try and defend them when they fail."

Fellow Tory leadership candidate and Foreign Secretary Mr Hunt told the BBC Sir Kim was "doing his job" and his resignation was "a black day for British diplomacy".

Mrs May said Sir Kim had had the full backing of the cabinet and he was owed an "enormous debt of gratitude" for his "lifetime of service" to the UK. Public servants should be able to give "full and frank advice", she added.

Wednesday July 10, 2019

12 26 03 09 20 01 5

C

July 5, 2019

09, 26, 21, 19, 12

0, 4, 8

7, 4, 4

04, 06, 08, 10, 16

03 04 17 19 20

5

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, July 11, 2019

Brazil's Vale ordered to pay compensation for dam disaster

(BBC) A judge in Brazil has ordered mining giant Vale to pay compensation for all damages caused by the collapse of the Brumadinho dam in January.

The collapse was Brazil's worst industrial accident.

The judge did not set a figure for the compensation but said that the company was responsible for fixing all the damages including the economic effects.

At least 248 people were killed as a sea of mud engulfed a staff canteen, offices and nearby farms.

Twenty-two people are still missing following the collapse of the Feijão dam on

India's Virat Kohli reacts after losing his wicket at Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain. (Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith)

25 January.

(£2.3bn) of Vale's assets fro-

Judge Elton Pupo Noguei-

zen by courts should remain

ra also said that $2.9bn

blocked. He said the funds

should be used to make compensation payments to affected families and businesses.

Explaining why he had not specify an amount for Vale to pay out, he argued that technical and scientific criteria were not enough to quantify the effects of the collapse.

"The value [of the compensation] is not limited to the deaths resulting from the event, it also affects the environment on a local and regional level as well as the economic activity in the affected region."

The judge said Vale had so far co-operated with the justice system and taken all the actions required from it fol-

lowing conciliation hearings.

He also pointed out that Vale's defence team had not denied responsibility for the damage caused by the collapse of the dam.

Mounting pressure In a statement, Vale said it had a "total commitment to fair and quick reparations for the damages caused to families, community infrastructure and the environment".

While Judge Nogueira's ruling on Tuesday is the first conviction for Vale over dam collapse, it is unlikely to be the end of its legal troubles.

Last week, the Brazilian Senate urged prosecutors to bring charges ranging from

environmental damage to involuntary manslaughter against top managers at Vale at the time of the dam collapse.

Vale said that it disagreed with the Senate's recommendation and insisted that senior company officials had not been aware of any "imminent risks" at the dam prior to its collapse.

While not legally binding, the Senate recommendation has further increased pressure on the mining giant.

There are also concerns that other dams may be at risk of collapse.

Barbados getting oil supply from Petrojam (JAMAICA OBSERVER) BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — The Barbados National Terminal Company Limited (BNTCL) says it is now getting its supply of oil from Petrojam in Jamaica, following the closure last November of the Stateowned Petrotrin oil refinery in Trinidad and Tobago.

BNTCL Chairman Alex McDonald said the new agreement with Petrojam has resulted in Barbadians paying much less for fuel after the company had received several quotations and had been able to negotiate a

better deal.

“It was much more competitive than the Petrotrin deal. The Petrojam, I can't remember the actual number and I would not want to tell you the number that we negotiated for, but what the closure of the Petrotrin refinery did was allow us to actually get into a position where we could be very competitive,” McDonald said.

“The quantities of oil and the quantities of fuels that we bring in, in the scheme of the global make-up, are very, very small, so typically what we buy it for is the

global price plus a premium.

So depending on your consumption, the premium is lowered. Countries that use a lot of fuel pay at the global price, but the countries that don't use a lot pay the global price plus a high premium,” McDonald said.

“One of our mandates was to lower that premium.

Unfortunately, the price of oil has been going up and down in the recent past and the mechanism has been very quick to adjust, so the average person would not have seen the benefit of the deal that we have struck. But

I can tell you, had we not gone to this point the price of fuel would be much higher,” he added.

The Trinidad and Tobago Government shut down the refinery, after complaining of billions of dollars in losses annually. It has since established Heritage Petroleum Company and Paria Fuel Trading Company that are undertaking exploration, as well as handling fuel logistics and the energy trading aspect of the business respectively.

Port of Spain said that

“Heritage Petroleum Company stands on the platform of expertise from the 100 years of oil and gas experience, while Paria

Fuel Trading Company has access to strategic linkages and high-level market intelligence”.

6

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, July 11, 2019

THE GRANT OF RESPITE UNDER our constitutional doctrine of separation of powers, the judiciary has its power to convict, and impose sentence or punishment for criminal offences.

The executive branch, of which the President is the Supreme Authority, has its power to grant a RESPITE (article 188 (1) (b)), or a pardon (article 188 (1) (a)), or a substitution (article 188 (1) (c)), or a remission (article 188 (1) (d)). Of any such sentence or punishment as the President, in his own deliberate judgement considers appropriate, in the national or public interest after consultation with his designated minister.

On 8th July, 2019, the President exercised that constitutional power when he granted his senior Minister

of Finance, Winston Jordan, a respite in respect of a sentence of imprisonment of 21 days imposed by a High Court Judge on Jordan in his personal capacity for non-payment of a contractual debt adjudged by a Court to be owed to Dipcon by the Government of Guyana.

This, the layman might rightly think, is mind-boggling.

Since when, and by what system of law, the layman would rightly exclaim can a servant (which at its highest is what Winston Jordan is in relation to, and with the G.O.G.) be liable or responsible to pay the contractual debts of his master or principal. A graver injustice can hardly be imagined. The law, it has been said by high authority, can sometimes be an ass, but can it be so asinine!

Yet, the Full Court of the High Court to which Winston Jordan must have with confident expectation applied for a stay of execution of the 21 days sentence for contempt of court for not having paid the G.O.G’s adjudged debt, and in so doing, restore to him justice in the interim, shockingly refused his just and well-founded application for a stay. To say the least, were Winston Jordan (who in reality is the Minister of Finance in the David Granger-lead APNU+AFC Coalition Government) to be imprisoned, it is hardly conceivable that the President could have retained him as his minister, without attracting both national and international opprobrium; and the consequences are likely to be most disruptive in our financial and economic

affairs at this most critical juncture.

We contend that the Court’s refusal of an interim stay of execution, in the special circumstances of this matter, constitutes an abdication of responsibility conferred upon it by law. What then was His Excellency President David A. Granger to do? Wash his hands like Pontius Pilate? Could we, the Guyanese people, have expected the President, also, to act in abdication of his jurisdiction and responsibility conferred upon him by not just any law, but the supreme law of this Republic? Plainly not.

We contend that it was not only the right of Winston Jordan to be granted a respite of the execution of sentence or punishment of 21 days in

jail, but it was the obvious duty of the President to do so. There is no dearth of case law authority on this matter in the context of the Constitution such as ours. We refer to the analogical situation of pardon (article 188 (1) (a)) in the Trinidad and Tobago case of Phillips and Others v. Director of Public Prosecutions and Another (1988) 40 WIR 4/0 P.C. That case involved a Pre-trial pardon following an attempt to overthrow a government.

The court matters regarding Winston Jordan’s guilt or innocence are under appeal and, so, are still subjudice. And so, Winston Jordan is entitled to enjoy his constitutional presumption of innocence. So, let us be pellucidly clear: the President’s grant of respite

involves not the slightest degree of usurpation of, or intrusion into the Judiciary’s power or jurisdiction. The two branches’ respective powers are separate and mutually exclusive. The Judiciary finds theirs in case law judges have historically made for themselves to protect and maintain their dignity and the authority of the Courts. The judiciary exercised theirs. The President exercised his-- as given to him not by case law, but by the supreme law itself.

The framers of our Constitution must have materially anticipated injustices of the type meted out to Winston Jordan, when they drafted article 188.

Constitution must uphold rights of citizens …not bent to serve political treachery and dishonesty Dear Editor AT least it was clear to all that their Lordships of the Caribbean Court of Justice(CCJ), at the end of their May sitting on the matters from Guyana that had been appealed, did ask that counsel from both sides-- the coalition and the PPP/C-- should effect meeting for a consensual approach, which would assist the court in its final determinations, as far as the consequential orders were concerned.

From all appearances, if one were to be guided by senior Counsel Stanley Marcus, representing GECOM, it can be concluded that the other side to the dispute seems not to have found it proper to engage for what the CCJ had suggested. From counsel Marcus’s account, he even wrote, but did not even receive the courtesy of a response.

Editor, watching the demeanour of senior counsel Mendes, very cocky in his summations to their Lordships, one could perhaps extrapolate as to reasons for what had all the appearances of a non-cooperative position

– a foregone conclusion that the court was ready to give the orders, without due regard to other extenuating factors, that would definitely lure the Court into the dangerous and explosive realm of a political minefield, on which it certainly does not want to tread.

It was obvious that the opposition believed that it would have gotten all it had been clamouring for and expected in the circumstances on a CCJ platter – to Jagdeo’s PPP/C with love. Of course, given the PPP/C’s insatiable lust for power, for the very same reasons that they would have plundered and shamelessly pillaged the country’s resources, it has once again exposed the PPP/C’s bullying mentality of always expecting to get what they want, even if it means exacerbating social tensions, leading to the destruction of our country.

There is no question as to the fact that the CCJ has apparently woken up to the realization that it is between a rock and a hard place, meaning that it is caught between the dictates of

the constitution and a practical and delicate political situation in Guyana, for which its rules did not envisage, or cater. The point is, it’s not the wish of the CCJ to be making decisions of a political nature for Guyana, which is a dictate that is clearly the sovereign right of the duly elected government of the jurisdiction.

In fact, recognizing this unintended trap, its decision to request that the two sides meet for a consensual position removes it from what would have been the now familiar description of judicial overreach.

No doubt, too, that the Court has been very much concerned about its obligation to uphold the Rule of Law, in light of what the Constitution dictates with the holding of general elections within a stipulated time frame.

The President of the Court, Justice Saunders, was careful to emphasise the fact that elections ought to have been held already, again, given the constitutional diktat. He even further reiterated that an election body should always be in a state of readiness

for such a constitutional exercise. I disagree, especially when one considers that Justice Saunders may have been concluding such against the background of the ideal Westminster system.

As everyone is aware, Guyana’s situation is quite different, given our historical experiences of disputed elections, inclusive of the ethnic factor and the mechanisms since laid down to ensure credible elections which is pivoted around a credible voters’ list which undergoes renewal cycle at a stipulated time period, of house-to-house registration, resulting in not only a sanitized list for the purpose of ensuring voter confidence, but also for such to translate into national elections which results must be undisputed.

The reality is that a treacherously contrived No-Confidence Motion(NCM) was never envisaged, much less one that would have resulted in being properly carried against the duly elected government, thanks to the biggest political Judas in the history of Guyana’s politics. From any political direction viewed, the

situation of an NCM collided with the absolute necessity of a prelude to free and fair elections, which is the sine qua non of every democratic state – a clean voters’ list.

Though it is agreed that a country’s constitution is the guiding light as to how a nation must conduct its affairs, which should be in conformity with its commands, it is concomitant that we also understand that it cannot be made to accommodate untoward and unintended situations, for which it does not cater or uphold. This, without any apologies, is asking the nation’s most sacred document to accommodate circumstances which, of course, brings it into dispute with the ideal of its intention to be honest and just, in serving the needs of the nation and people. How can it still be adherence to the Rule of Law, for a constitution’s particular diktat to ignore a quantum necessity that is pivotal to electoral transparency being upheld?

Furthermore, how is it still possible to insist that the constitutional determination must hold sway in its rule, which, if carried out, creates a grave injustice which renders it to be challenged in a court of law. Editor,

I stand corrected by saying that it was the very question, I am sure, counsel for GECOM had raised before their Lordships on the question of house-to-house registration.

Simply put, no constitution should be expected to accommodate a situation which will bring it into disrepute with the purpose that it is intended to serve – fairness and justice.

Neither, should its laws bend to suit circumstance, bred in the pit of dishonesty and political crookery, for which it was also not intended to serve or uphold. Though it is agreed that the constitution must be respected, it must not, under any situation, deprive citizens of its democratic right to prepare for the most important exercise of a credible and transparent national elections, which must be assured via house-to-house registration – a compulsory which has always been the Holy Grail of the PPP/C electoral politics, but which it is now prepared to ignore, deny, and discard on the altar of political dishonesty.

Regards Earl Hamilton

7

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, July 11, 2019

Probes must extend to those corrupting influences outside of the Police Force Dear Editor,

I WRITE to congratulate and give my support to the police officers in ‘B’ division (Berbice) for publicly accusing their fellow officers of criminal complicity with the known bandit, Kelvin Shivgobin, who was killed in a shoot-out with the police in the Black Bush Polder area. I also take this opportunity to recognize the excellent manner in which both Stabroek News and Kaieteur News have dealt with this matter, including honouring their obligations to bring information to the public while protecting the identities of their informants.

The revelations that the phone numbers of police officers were found in the call and contact logs of Shivgobin’s cell phone triggered the present whistleblowing exercise in “B” Division. It is unusual to find members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) coming forward and providing information that exposes the corrupt behaviour of their fellow officers and more particularly,

their superiors. Those officers who have spoken out have done a great service to the Force, its crime-fighting efforts and the nation.

Their actions may be a precursor of things to come which could result in the GPF once again being recognized as a respectable institution.

While the revelations in this instance are not groundbreaking, since the practices that were revealed have been known to exist in the force for ages, the government, the opposition and the rest of the society, including the private sector and professional organization, cannot deny knowledge of these matters.

Allegations of “big and not so big ones” in the GPF colluding with criminals, engaging in corrupt practices such as taking bribes, not arresting wanted persons for a price or, aiding a bandit to evade capture and when caught, facilitate their escape from detention, are not new. Many senior officers, including some in the top echelons of the force, have long been accused of influencing the course of investigations that

involve the wealthy and their children, the politically influential in the society and of being “Godfathers” to rogue elements who are firmly rooted in this so-called “noble and professional institution”.

The importance and significance of the recent whistleblowing acts in the GPF have to be seen in the context of the force having a new command structure, which is headed by Commissioner Mr. Leslie James, who has expressed an intention to deal condignly with all members of the force, wherever they are located, against whom allegations of corruption can be proved. The suspicion of and investigations into the allegations against the Deputy Commissioner, who heads the crime-fighting section of the force must, therefore, be seen in the context of the Commissioner’s expressed no-nonsense approach to these acts and to eradicate them when they are exposed.

The organization, now led by him, is in the process of implementing a program of reforms which are intended to help it to better execute its mandate profes-

sionally, in keeping with the law and with respect for citizens’ human rights.

Cognisant of these developments, the nation desires to see a meaningful outcome in this whistleblowing saga.

Unlike previous occasions when information on police corruption surfaces, the “investigations” are normally concluded without the results ever being disclosed and with the criminal syndicates unaffected and seemingly more firmly entrenched in the society.

In the present circumstances, a return to the old order that existed prior to Mr James’ elevation to the position of Commissioner, will be counterproductive and would result in further demoralization and, this cannot be ruled out, endangerment of the lives of those officers who came forward. It will also deter others from doing the same. It is appropriate to quote the words of one of the whistleblowers to demonstrate the motivation at work: “Is everybody who you ent really expect involved in certain things and it got to stop man. Is the whole Force

looking bad when it got some bad characters tainting the image. The big ones dem doing it and they linking some junior ones to keep it going”.

(KN June 13, 2019).

Stabroek New, in its June 18, 2019 edition, carried an article which reported that elements in ‘B’ Divison were trying to determine where the leaks on corruption activities in the Force were coming from. This was expected since, in these situations, both the authorities and the wrongdoers would try to obtain information on who the whistleblowers are. While the article was not clear whether a “witch hunt” had started or an official investigation was on the way, the information that officers in the division were transferred was an indication that maybe, just maybe, some kind of remedial action was underway.

The public has since learnt that an official investigation is taking place to get to the bottom of the allegations.

More recently, the newspapers carried articles that the rogue elements involved in the corruption rackets had plotted to kill a fellow officer,

advancing a hit man G$ 1.4 million as part payment for the job. Corruption is like cancer. It is therefore not surprising to me that the identity of the hitman places him in the ranks of the police force.

The members of the public wait with bated breath for the results of the investigation which, we are told, is underway.

If properly carried out, it will go a long way to lift the negative profile of the force. The investigations must also be extended to those corrupting influences outside of the force whose offers of filthy lucre influence, to a considerable extent, the investigative and implementing aspects of the GPF’s mandate. I submit here that unless and until the Force is rid of the criminal elements within its ranks, it will continue to be an organization that the public will have little or no confidence in.

Regards Tacuma Ogunseye

It is important that we get a candidate that both parties can agree on Dear Editor, I SEE we are once again in the dispute on this important appointment of a chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission--- it should not be so.

It is important that we get a candidate that both parties can agree on; however, if that appointee has agreed-di-

rections and formats that are mandatory for the appointment, then there are some very important factors that can guide the process and make the selection easier to both parties. These are the methodologies which the new commission will employ: their ability to manage such a large logistical undertak-

ing strategically , and the administrative experience necessary, plus their willingness to use high-tech ICT and communications to deliver initial results swiftly.

For too long these necessary skillsets have been ignored in favour of political considerations. As Guyanese we are fed up; we want cred-

ible, untainted and fair elections that are transparent and can withstand any scrutiny.

With the use of technology, there is no reason this cannot be done within a 24- hour period, subject to final verification, claims and objections.

There are persons inside and outside these names supplied that have these

necessary skillsets. What you don’t want is someone who does not possess these skills to ensure a transparent election, as every fumble is regarded with the deepest suspicion and can lead to distrust , riots and political instability; someone with a plan and the experience is what this

country needs. Most in the list for both parties do not have the necessary capacity; eliminate those, then work with [those]who are left in the list that can.

Regards Roy Beepat, Chairman, Giftland Group

Ms Thomas should have availed herself of the facts --before going public on such a sensitive matter

Dear Editor, PLEASE allow me space in your newspaper to address a letter written by Ms Audreyanna Thomas in the Stabroek News, dated July 08, 2019, and captioned, “What NICILSPU is doing to GuySuCo has reached the highest level of provocation.”

Editor, to say that I was surprised to see Ms. Thomas’s missive would be an understatement; in fact, I was appalled, given the circumstance that there were several threats to my life, coupled with a series of bomb threats to the NICIL- SPU head office and a few of our other lo-

cations. These matters are currently under active police investigations; hence, I further say not.

However, I would like to remind Ms Thomas, who is the current Public Relations Officer of GuySuCo, and is tasked with the responsibility of handling all aspects of

planned publicity cam paigns and PR activities for the company, that she should have availed herself of the facts of this very sensitive security matter.

In fact, it was only Friday last that I had a discussion with GuySuCo’s CEO Mr Harold Davis Jr., who is au fait with this matter.

Ms. Thomas should

also be cognisant that her seminal role in GuySuCo’s PR entails relationship management.

This involves the role of public relations in identifying key publics and establishing strategies for building and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with those publics. In order for

her to carry out those functions effectively, she should arm herself with the facts of this matter before firing off shots in the dark.

Regards, Colvin Heath-London Executive Head NICIL-SPU CEO (ag.) NICIL

8

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday July 11, 2019

Ansa McAl presents NGSA top performers with bursaries

BEVERAGE giant, Ansa McAl, continued its support towards the education sector in Guyana by, once again, partnering with the Ministry of Education (MoE) to reward the top performers at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) with bursaries.

At a ceremony held at the National Centre for Education Resource Development (NCERD) on Wednesday, the first 17 of a total 118 bursaries were handed over to pupils, who smilingly accepted their rewards. In addition to bursaries of $10,000, each pupil received a haversack.

The top 10 pupils of

each education district will be among those receiving bursaries. This is the third consecutive year that Ansa McAl has come on board to tangibly reward the pupils.

Minister of Education, Dr. Nicolette Henry, extended gratitude to the company for rewarding the deserving pupils.

“Hard work and success deserve recognition, and so we will continue with this partnership with Ansa McAl, we will go around the country and we will recognise our pupils who have performed very well in all the regions in the country.

I say to Ansa McAl your commitment is certainly in alignment with the MoE

and I want to express our thank you to the company for partnering with us,” Dr. Henry expressed.

She cautioned the pupils, even as they enjoy their accomplishment, to be cognisant that it [NGSA] marks only the beginning, with there still being a long way to go, and a lot more work to be done to continue excelling in their education.

“I’ve never seen them advertise in the newspaper or on any forum asking for your common entrance results for a job, so you have a long way to go. You will go on to complete your secondary school and I ask that you pay attention, do not be distracted by this success,

Some of the pupils who received bursaries from Ansa McAl on Wednesday (Adrian Narine photo)

At the head table at the handing over ceremony was (from left) Ansa McAl Brand Manager, Errol Nelson; Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Hutson; and Minister of Education, Dr. Nicollette Henry (Adrian Narine photo)

this is the beginning of a very, very long journey,” the minister urged.

She further stated, “Do not become comfortable and relaxed but reflect on your path and endeavor to continue along the way and even carve new pathways that may result in greater achievements. The MoE applauds your outstanding achievements and the performances of all of your colleagues.”

Speaking at the ceremony on behalf of Ansa McAl was Brand Manager, Errol Nelson, who noted the company’s pleasure in giving back to society.

“Ansa McAl remains

committed to the development of education. As leaders we must think beyond our own interests, so we will continue challenging ourselves to do better, never underestimating the opportunity to give back to humanity,” Nelson said as he encouraged the pupils to dream big.

Also making remarks at the ceremony was Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Hutson, who encouraged the pupils and thanked Ansa McAl for their continued support of the NGSA pupils.

Additionally, the minister thanked the parents, teachers, and education offi-

cials for their hard work towards ensuring that the pupils did well at the NGSA. A total of 14,300 pupils wrote the assessment in April. The examination tested the pupils in the areas Mathematics, English, Science and Social Studies.

With a highest possible score of 536, Dave Chowtie of Graham’s Hall Primary School and Venisha Lall of C V Nunes Primary School shared the top place with both attaining the highest score of 532.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday July 11, 2019

Wicked and deeply troubling

9

-- prime minister denounces Jagdeo’s land-grabbing claims

By Alva Solomon PRIME Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, has said the political opposition has a “dirty” history regarding allocation of State lands and assets, asserting that the recent land-grabbing claims by its leader are racially-inspired, troubling and wicked.

A former top executive of the PPP, Prime Nagamootoo said the APNU+AFC Coalition Government has honoured the laws of Guyana regarding making lands available to the populace.

While the prime minister noted that that there is land for every Guyanese, he lambasted Jagdeo’s claims of corruption in the policies of the current administration’s allocation of lands.

Prime Minister Nagamootoo noted on Wednesday, during a ‘one-on-one’ interview, that those who are now criticising the land policy of the current government should examine their own tenure in office.

He said that the former government of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) has a “dirty” track record in its dealings with State lands and assets “and now wants to

cast aspersions” on the David Granger Government.

Going back in time, he pointed to the contentious Pradoville Housing Schemes on the East Coast of Demerara and the process which surrounded the construction of Pradoville Two, where Jagdeo now resides.

“We know about the sleaze associated with Pradoville One and Pradoville Two,” Prime Minister Nagamootoo said as he recalled the removal of the mast of the former Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) to make way for “prime state land” to be handed out to members of the PPP and its affiliates at Pradoville Two. The allocation process at the two schemes has been ventilated in the media over the years and came up for discussion at the Land Commission of Inquiry in 2017.

During those hearings, the commission was told that there is no evidence within the records of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) of house lot allocation process for homes at Pradoville One and Pradoville Two. The two communities are located in the villages of Goedverwagting and Spar-

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo

endaam.

During those hearings, CH&PA Director of Operations, Denise Tudor, told the CoI that she was not aware if former President Jagdeo was given two plots of land at the schemes, but based on information in the records that she saw, he was allocated land in the Goedverwagting area known as Pradoville One. Tudor said at the time, in terms of the allocation, this did not follow the regular process or procedures. Since the allocations at the two

schemes were not done in the prescribed manner, she said the relevant documentation was not within her department.

REAL ESTATE AGENCY On Wednesday, the prime minister stated that the former government utilised the State as a real estate agency in the allocation of lands at the two housing areas.

“Some of them used the government as a real estate agency,” he said of the actions of the former admin-

istration in which he noted that houses were built and the owners resold them.

He described the PPP’s actions at the time as unconscionable as he knocked down Jagdeo’s recent land-grabbing claims. He said that in taking a “racist” approach to the issue, the opposition leader and the PPP plucked out the names of Afro-Guyanese persons while levelling the land-grabbing accusations against the government. The prime minister also reminded that the applications for the lands by those persons were made when the PPP was in the seat of government.

“I believe that the PPP, the Jagdeo PPP should hang its head in shame,” Prime Minister Nagamootoo said.

He said the utterances of the opposition on the issue affected him personally as he noted that there is enough land for all Guyanese. He pointed out that land has been demarcated for the country’s Indigenous Peoples and such allocations are protected by law, the latter which has been obeyed by the administration.

The prime minister said too that other sections of the population, including the Afro and Indo-Guyanese

populations have benefitted from land allocation from the rulers of the day since time immemorial, as he tied this process to what entailed post-Emancipation.

The prime minister said the PPP cannot be selective in its attacks, as he noted that he has not sought to own a parcel of State lands but rather private land to build his home, long before he became a minister of government.

Since making the land-grabbing claims at a press conference at his office recently, Jagdeo has been heavily criticised by various persons, including renowned engineer, Charles Ceres, who took the opposition leader to task on the issue.

Ceres was expected to take the opposition leader to court on the issue. At the same time, the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) launched an investigation into the circumstances in which maps, which Jagdeo displayed at the press conference, ended up in his hands.

Harvey Gulf Marine International opens local branch -aims to have 100% local employment, profit sharing plan in place HARVEY Gulf International Marine, one of the world’s largest marine transportation companies, opened a local office in Guyana with the aim of having 100 per cent local content.

Harvey’s Gulf local office, named Guyana Offshore Vessel Services Inc (GOVS), is located at Barrack and Fort Streets in Kingston. The office, which was opened on Wednesday, aims to build quality links and promote Harvey Gulf’s presence in Guyana’s oil and gas sector.

“The company being here is a show of confidence in Guyana’s emerging oil and gas industry,” said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Harvey Gulf, Shane Guidry.

The investment in its office and operations in Guyana is a significant signal of confidence in the future stability and development of the nation’s oil and gas industry.

The commissioning of the local office, he said, would not have been possible without an early partnership with Western Logistics. “Four months ago when we started exploring we came down here and met them…the people were energetic and thirsty to learn,” said Guidry, adding that the company operates in Mexico, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago but, has never seen that level of excitement and enthusiasm.

The company entered Guyana with the thought

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Harvey Gulf, Shane Guidry (Adrian Narine photo)

process of opening an office and hiring 100 per cent Guyanese. “We have set up a profit sharing plan for employees so we will not take everything out of the country, some of the money will be put back into the employees’ pockets,” he said, noting that their

intent is to also buy things locally.

He said the company is firmly committed to giving Guyanese the best opportunities and training to participate fully in the company’s local operations.

The CEO said the com-

pany’s goal is to hire Guyanese and then expose them to rigorous training at the company’s operations facility in the US, which he described as one of the “topnotch” facilities on the Gulf Coast.

This, he said, would help Guyanese recruits to understand Harvey Gulf’s operations and safety culture, as well as its corporation culture. “This also applies to the safety and maintenance person we hire here in Guyana,” said Guidry.

Referring to the possibility of joint ventures in Guyana, Guidry said the company views these as a critical factor to catapult the company’s local operations.

“We absolutely need

those… so that we can use all the local products and services that are available to us.

They might have a company here that is used to repairing trucks and not boats…well let’s get them to the US and train them to repair boats,” said Guidry.

Harvey Gulf International Marine, was established in 1955. It is a marine transportation company that specialises in providing Offshore Supply and Multi-Purpose Support Vessels for deep water operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Harvey Gulf is founded on the premise that superior performance and safer operations provide its customers TURN TO PAGE

14

►

10

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, July 11, 2019

Sod turned for $96M Disaster Management Centre in Region Nine

Minister of State, Mrs. Dawn Hastings-Williams alongside Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Mr. Joseph Harmon and Director General of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig, on Wednesday turned the sod for the construction of a $96M Regional Disaster Management Centre in Lethem, Upper Takutu- Upper Essequibo (Region Nine).

Minister Hastings-Williams, who has responsibility for disaster risk management in Guyana and within whose purview the CDC falls, in her remarks said the Centre will be the first of its kind in Guyana but other such centres will be opened in Barima-Waini (Region One); Cuyuni-Mazaruni (Region Seven) and Potaro-Siparuni (Region Eight). This multipurpose building would provide shelter for both men and women, include a warehouse, training facility, conference room and office space.

She noted that the sod turning ceremony marks the first day of construction of a building to house staff whose

mandate is to strengthen regional capacities for disaster preparedness and response; to reduce disasters and their impact through enhanced regional capacity and cooperation, and to boost disaster management capability for sustainable regional development. “The Government is

committed to building similar facilities to ensure these remote regions can effectively respond to emergencies and disasters on their own. The Regional Centre will house a warehouse to pre-position and stockpile relief supplies, a shelter to accommodate displaced persons, a training facility and offices

From left: Director General of the Civil Defence Commission, Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig, Town Clerk of Lethem, Ms. Keisha VIncent, Minister of State, Mrs. Dawn Hastings- Williams, RDC Councillor, Mrs. Sandra Rafino and Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Mr. Joseph Harmon turning the sod for the construction of the facility

for emergency personnel. The facility is expected to increase the efficiency of emergency response operations in the region by reducing the cost and time for shuttling relief supplies from Georgetown into the region. The facility will allow for items to be sourced within the region for stocking the

of the things [that] should have [been in place]. Under his guidance, we were able to move the CDC from a small operation to what it is now. The decision to build this facility was not a hard one to make because every time there is rainy season and there is flooding it becomes difficult to move materials and

A section of the attendees at Wednesday’s sod turning ceremony, which was held in Lethem, Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo (Region Nine)

warehouse, which is anticipated to have a positive spill-over effect on the local economy.

Additionally, the shelter facility will boost the region’s capacity to provide housing for residents displaced during flooding. The offices and training facilities will improve preparedness measures such as capacity building,” she said.

The Minister of State noted that the Government is cognisant of the several hazards the region has faced in the past, ranging from flooding to droughts and bush fires and has therefore, taken a proactive approach to the management of risks through the CDC. “This initiative is a part of a plan of continuous strengthening of the Region Nine Regional Disaster Risk Management System (RDRMS). Future plans include the establishment of a trained and equipped Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis (DANA) team, enhancement of Early Warning Systems (EWS) within Lethem and the development of municipal, neighbourhood and community-based Disaster Risk Management systems throughout the region,” Minister HastingsWilliams said.

Meanwhile, Director General Harmon, under whose stewardship the project originated and was included in the 2019 National Budget, said Guyana should be proud of the steps it is taking in disaster risk management. “Since we came into office in 2015, President [David Granger] has made disaster preparedness a priority and his instructions to me were that we should take disaster preparedness to the correct level… When we got into office, [there was no] 24-hour monitoring capability or many

machinery from the capital to here,” he said. The Director General noted that the facility was meant to be funded by an international agency but after months of back and forth, the Government took a decision to budget for it to lessen the adverse impacts upon persons affected by emergencies.

“The development of all of Guyana is something that is crucial to us as a Government.

It is a thrust of ours to ensure that development does not take place only in one region.

Every region in our country is important and we will continue to do what we have to do to improve the lives of our people,” he said.

In addition, the Director General of the CDC said that the $96M represents the largest direct disaster response capacity investment by the Government in the history of Guyana. He noted that the CDC continues to work assiduously to enhance the National Disaster Risk Management system in Guyana through decentralisation and building institutional capacities and mechanisms at all levels.

“Over the last few years the Commission and its volunteers worked with several communities across the country implementing Community-Based Disaster Risk Management systems and training community members in damage assessment, search and rescue and first aid, just to mention a few. The Commission has also commenced works at the municipality and Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) levels and has thus far completed risk assessments and plans in several municipalities and NDCs that will soon be implemented. Notwithstanding

the works done at those levels, the bulk of the advancement in disaster risk management has been implemented at the Regional level as nine of the Ten Administrative Regions now have completed Disaster Risk Management Mechanisms,” Lieutenant Colonel Craig said.

These systems include hazard, vulnerability assessments, risk profiles and maps, Regional Disaster Risk Management Committees, Regional Emergency Operations Centers Standard Operation Procedures and Disaster Preparedness and Response Plans. Further, all of the Regions have persons trained in shelter management, damage assessment, Emergency Operations Centre Management and Disaster Risk Management. “A fully functional regional disaster management system would save lives and reduce losses and damages to properties, businesses, and infrastructure.

In 2016, the then Minister of State with responsibility for Disaster Risk Management, Mr. Joseph Harmon outlined his vision to the CDC to further strength Disaster Risk Management in Guyana. This included but [was] not limited to some already achieved tangible outputs such as the now 24 hours National Emergency Monitoring System that monitors all hazards across the entire country, the expansion of the CDC headquarters, hiring and training of additional personnel, increased budgetary allocation and the procurement of much needed assets to improve response,” he said.

Lieutenant Colonel Craig assured that the Commission has a very stringent monitoring, control and evaluation system, which would see daily site monitoring and weekly status meeting with the contractor to ensure the residents receive the best value and benefits of that investment. Councillor of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC), Mrs. Sandra Rafino welcomed the initiative, noting that the lives of the residents will truly be improved with the construction of the facility.

“This exemplifies the Administration’s commitment and it is truly people-oriented. It is not only putting in place a building that will benefit the people but it will also enhance the multi-agencies in a collaborative manner, in this region. If you fail to plan, you will plan to fail. With the availability of this facility and the resources that would be available, this would be able to strategically plan and diffuse eventualities. We have long suffered a lack of vital items during the rainy season so surely this initiative is not only planning but actualising plans,” she said.

(Ministry of the Presidency)

11

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday July 11, 2019

ABR O&G clears air on application for oil blocks …urges equitable distribution of economic opportunities to local businesses

At the time that the African Business Roundtable Oil and Gas Exploration company (ABR O&G) applied for oil blocks in 2016, it had no influence over the government’s decision on contract awards and still has no influence over such.

This is according to Selwin Asafa George, one of the principals of ABR O&G, which has a 25 per cent stake in the company. In a letter to the media on Wednesday, he stated that in case one of its members should become a “conflicted shareholder” it is quite easy to remove the said individual.

George’s letter comes amid query against State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) Executive, Eric Phillips, for being part of the company when it applied for oil blocks in 2016. Phillips is part of SARA’s team probing the awarding of oil blocks offshore Guyana to “junior” companies by the former PPP administration just before it demitted office.

When news broke that documents from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) show that Phillips is one of the beneficial owners of the company, questions were raised about his involvement in the investigation. However, Phillips

has since stated that he was not a member of SARA when the application was made as part of the group in October 2016. He informed the public that he joined SARA in May 2017 following the passage of the SARA Bill in Parliament.

On Wednesday, George further clarified that the company was not awarded the proposal and, at the time, he was unaware of Philips or any other member being in a position to have influence over the government’s awarding of contracts. “At the time of the formation of ABR O&G and proposal to the government, I do not believe that anyone in the group had influence over the government’s decision on contract awards. If any of the principals has subsequently taken up a role and would have influence over the government contract awards, it is quite easy for the other shareholders to remove the conflicted shareholder. To date, ABR O&G has not been awarded anything by the government and has no economic value,” George stated.

He added that while he is unable to speak on behalf of the principals of ABR O&G, he has taken the opportunity to address the issue and its larger context for himself.

He explained in the letter that ABR O&G is a startup company established by a few of its members with “significant experience in oil and gas”. George said that this experience includes having previously drilled for oil in Guyana, an extensive local business track record of investing in the economic and social development of Guyana and experience in international economic development.

Furthermore, he indicated that the company’s proposal to the government was guided by its interest in ensuring inclusivity and diversity in the awarding of oil blocks.

The ABR principal said that representatives of all races were approached by ABR to assist in the company’s management in the case that its proposal was granted.

“The principals reached out to prominent Guyanese businesses of all races and ethnicity to join the effort.

We were careful in ensuring that there was representation from each of the six racial groups if we were awarded a block. I will respect their right to confidentiality but hope that some of those who were approached or agreed to participate will come forward to confirm that there was an arrangement to unite on this

Nine complete ‘Vocal Identity’ training

By Vishani Ragobeer

NINE young persons have completed a six-month training programme as part of the Vocal Identity Series (VIS) which aims to develop the creative talent of youths while helping them to find their purpose in life.

As part of the programme, the young people were exposed to training in singing, poetry, spoken word, public-speaking, rapping, ventriloquism and worship.

The final set of nine youths was placed into three groups: the public speaking unit, the singing unit and the poetry and spoken word unit.

“Our participants were exposed to a series of workshops and sessions that focused on developing their individual talents and for the awakening of their purpose and identity,” VIS Founder

Founder and Executive Director of the VIS, Cardel Hunte singing with one of the VIS participants (Vishani Ragobeer photo)

and Executive Director, Cardel Hunte said.

During the programme, the participants met regularly and engaged in vocal training, team-building activities and focused on developing their own individual creative expressions.

VIS Assistant Director, Lushawnae Naughton, said

the organisation was formed two years ago as a space where singers could learn about themselves and their purpose. In early 2018, however, she related that the group became a not-for-profit organisation aimed at cultivating certain skills TURN TO PAGE

12

►

Principal of the African Business Roundtable Oil and Gas Exploration company(ABR O&G), Selwin Asafa George

important initiative. This is an important fact that I hope can spark the discussion on how we dismantle discrimination and inequality in Guyanese society,” he stated.

George also said in his

statement that the proposal was aimed at empowering the average Guyanese who would otherwise have no access to participate in the contract award opportunity.

He highlighted: “…a significant portion of the company’s shares were intended to be distributed to ordinary Guyanese who would be able to own these empowerment shares and directly benefit from the economic opportunities. Right now, ordinary Guyanese have never been offered this type of opportunity.”

The ABR principal stated that he is not perturbed with the public naming of companies like his which are pending an award of a government contract. He also said that he is comfortable with the public naming of the principals of companies

which have been awarded a government contract as this will bring about discussions on accountability and equitable distributions of the entire contract award process. “Transparency will strengthen Guyana and our key institutions and will help to eliminate corruption or even the perception of corruption,” he stated.

George also used the platform to point out that of the names listed among the principals of ABR is “Osafa” George which is a misspelling of his correct name “Asafa”. He stated that it is his will to see economic opportunities being well distributed amongst local Guyanese businesses of all races and for the equal strengthening and development of Guyana.

12

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday July 11, 2019

Local companies urged to get involved in oil exploration

THE Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) is encouraging local companies to get involved in oil and gas exploration and drilling in feasible areas such as onshore and shallow waters.

This call was made by GCCI President, Nicholas Boyer, on Wednesday as he signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for two years of collaborative ventures with the Guyana-Ghana Chamber.

While recent headlines have come against “junior companies” for being awarded oil blocks in “ultra-deep waters” by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) in 2015, Boyer suggests that local companies can participate in oil exploration but must do so where they are capable of achieving results.

Executive Secretary (ag) of the Guyana-Ghana Chamber, Nuertey Adzeman (Adrian Narine photo)

“I think where locals can really participate in is onshore to near-shore, because onshore to near-shore, the complexity, the understanding of the engineering behind it…it doesn’t come with the risk of that deep and

ultra-deep [waters],” Boyer reasoned.

Since May month-end, news broke of an ongoing investigation by the local State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) into the awarding of oil blocks offshore Guyana to

Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) President, Nicholas Boyer (Adrian Narine photo)

“junior” companies.

The awarding of the Canje and Kaieteur Blocks, now raising many eyebrows, are in ultra-deep water, deep or deeper than where Exxon has found oil. Thus far, major companies-- ExxonMobil

and Tullow-- are the only ones making notable advancements to drill for oil in their blocks awarded.

Members of the Guyanese public, though being non-specialists in the oil and gas sector, are now questioning whether they have been shortchanged by the former administration with the award to “inexperienced” companies.

Giving an example of how local companies --- not as experienced as the likes of ExxonMobil--- can participate, Boyer explained the difference between the engineering used for cementing wells in shallow waters or onshore versus that which is used in deep or ultra-deep waters.

“If you think about the well going thousands of feet, for the first thousand feet

you can use regular cement [but] as you go deeper, the pressure and temperature increase, so you have to use very specialized mixtures to keep the well from collapsing,” he explained.

However, he also believes that these companies must first be “fostered by government policies” as while onshore land or blocks may be acquired, the minerals below are owned by the government. “You can’t just go and drop a derrick or a rig in somebody’s backyard and you haven’t had an agreement with the person who owns the surface,” he said.

Meanwhile, Executive Secretary (ag) of the Guyana-Ghana Chamber, Nuertey Adzeman, with whom Boyer signed the MoU, also agreed that Guyana must move towards the production of oil for itself.

“You cannot rely on the foreign companies throughout your life time; you need to build capacity and put three, four, five…Guyanese [companies] together [and] give them all the support that you can to let them start something. They may burn some monies here and there but that is the model Nigeria adopted and, today, Nigeria’s indigenous oil [and gas companies] are producing oil in marginal and shallow fields. You need to start thinking of that,” he urged.

FROM PAGE 11

Nine complete ... in Guyanese youths.

In 2018, Hunte noted that the VIS worked with seven participants as part of its first full six-month training programme. All of these persons, he said, continued nurturing their creative talents and some even returned to help newcomers.

At the completion of the training for the second batch on Saturday, Cardel said, VIS will continue to serve the nation’s artistes.

Naughton also mentioned that in the not-toodistant future, the VIS will add a number of other units in an attempt to promote the growth of the VIS family.

Director-General, Joseph Harmon and Astell Collins attended the closing exercise on Saturday. According to Collins, this programme is one which the Director-General would definitely be interested in supporting, moreso since he lives in Region Three.

Importantly, however,

Astell Collins addressing the youths at the closing exercise (Vishani Ragobeer photo)

he noted that at only 19 years, Cardel was doing a great job at motivating and training other young people. With this in mind, Collins, who is an avid youth worker, said persons like these make him believe that Guyana’s future is in good hands.

13

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday July 11, 2019

Ghana, Guyana sign pact to deepen trade …air link, information sharing on oil and gas covered A TWO-YEAR Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for trading relations and information sharing has been signed between the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and the Guyana-Ghana Chamber of Commerce.

The event took place at the GCCI’s office on Wednesday and the MoU was signed

by GCCI President, Nicholas Boyer, and Executive Secretary (ag) of the Guyana-Ghana Chamber, Nuertey Adzeman. The MoU will see the two chambers collaborating in areas such as responsible business conduct, due diligence and responsible oil and gas supply value chain.

The two parties will host a series of meetings before operationalisation in the coming weeks. Furthermore, the GGGI is working towards fielding a mission of industry stakeholders from Ghana to Guyana before the end of this year. The visiting stakeholders and GCCI will participate in joint research, workshops and training events and will collaborate with major stakeholders from civil society organisations involved in oil and gas supply value chain.

“We see Ghana as a potential trading partner, a partner who has significant experience in industries that we are developing. Oil is one but oil is not all. There is also mining in Ghana as well as several other industries that we should collaborate on,” Boyer stated. “This MoU will form the basis from which the Guyana-Ghana Chamber of Commerce and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry can share information and allow our members to make connections and start to do market research so that businesses can develop and trade can increase between our two countries.”

Exploration for oil and gas in Ghana began in 1896 in the onshore Tano basin; however, the discovery of significant hydrocarbon accumulations in 2007 and the commencement of production of the Jubilee field in November 2010 are marked as the most significant in the sector in the last 2000s.

Adzeman told the media that, over the years Ghana has been learning from countries like Nigeria, Norway and others.

He stated that the signing of the MoU for the Guyana-Ghana Chamber represents an opportunity for

the country to assist Guyana, given its ties with Africa, to benefit thoroughly from the coming of oil and gas.

“Guyana has found oil in commercial quantities and we thought we could play a role in assisting in developing the oil and gas industry because we know we have a relationship with you ancestrally [and] you don’t have the numbers and need to build capacity as quickly as you can. We thought there’s a lot we can share in that aspect,” he said.

Adzeman is also the Executive Director of the Ghana Oil and Gas Service Providers Association and member of the Local Content Committee of Petroleum Commission in Ghana. He has racked up over 25 years of experience in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria and additional years in Ghana. The two chambers began talks back in May 2019 at the hosting of the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, where they shared adjacent boots. Furthermore, the MoU comes on the heels of the recent State visit of Ghanaian President, Nana Addo Akufo-Addo, to Guyana for arrangements for future collaboration in the areas of trade and investment, agriculture, culture and more.

WORDS OF ADVICE Asked his opinion on the areas Guyana should focus on ahead of ‘first oil’, he expressed the importance of the development of a local content policy through local participation. Expounding on his idea of ‘local participation’, he stated that this can be achieved by encouraging every foreign business coming in to Guyana to have a local partner with a “stake of equity” in the business.

Adzeman also pushed for the transfer of knowledge from experienced international companies to local companies for a future transition which would see local companies managing the country’s oil and gas affairs for themselves. Both representatives of the chambers also lobbied for a regulatory body to be put in place such as a Petroleum Commission take on a watchdog role in the industry. Boyer stressed the need for the same to have a minimal political influence as possible. The government is currently working to advance its Petroleum Commission

Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) President, Nicholas Boyer and Executive Secretary (ag) of the Guyana-Ghana Chamber, Nuertey Adzeman, display the two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on Wednesday (Adrian Narine photo)

Bill with the help of local and international partners.

Meanwhile, the two heads also spoke to the importance of developing a shorter and more reliable air link between the two countries which would propel investment and trade. In November 2018, the Governments of Guyana and Ghana signed an Air Services

Agreement here at the Third African Diaspora Meeting held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

Under the Agreement, airlines operating from Guyana or Ghana will be able to fly to any destination within both countries as well as provide any number of services between both countries and

beyond to any third country, with no restrictions on capacity, frequency, aircraft type and routing.

In December 2018, Guyana also signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement with Ghana for the exchange of knowledge and technical expertise in the area of civil aviation. Then, in June 2019,

the two countries signed an agreement to abolish the visa requirement for citizens desirous of travelling between the two countries. “If we have a more direct air link or an air link with less than three stops at this point, it makes it easier to do business,” Boyer said.

Adzeman assured that the need for a direct air link between West Africa and South America through Guyana is a matter on the “front burner” for Guyana-Ghana Chambers.

“Fortunately for us, both governments are talking already so we, as private sector, will help to push them and come with modalities as to how to implement those things they have signed,” he said. “It is very critical in this partnership we are trying to forge [because] people cannot move freely, goods and services cannot move freely.” Should the first two years of collaboration between the two Chambers prove successful, the MoU is likely to be renewed.

14

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday July 11, 2019

Harvey Gulf Marine International opens ...

value and satisfaction.

Harvey Gulf achieves superior performance through designing and equipping its vessels to meet their customers' current and anticipated needs for their deep-water operations. This results in providing customers with the largest cargo capacities for offshore supply services and greatest capability and flexibility for offshore construction services.

Harvey Gulf also designs and equips some of its offshore supply vessels for dual operation as dive/construction and mooring line support vessels, affording greater

flexibility to its customers.

President of the American Chamber of Commerce of Guyana (AMCHAM Guyana), Zulfikar Ally, said when companies with such a reputation enter Guyana, it sends positive signals on the growth of business in Guyana, growth in the private sector and more so, growth in a sector that is expected to usher Guyana in the league of developed nations.

“Given the company’s reputation and experience globally, we have the distinct pleasure of welcoming you with open arms to this beautiful country,” said Ally.

FROM PAGE

9

He assured the company that they will only find warm welcomes and supportive hands as they prepare to conduct business in Guyana.

One of the core functions of AMCHAM Guyana is to ensure that all the US-based companies, which have set up local offices in Guyana, play their role in imparting their knowledge and skills, and developing and training the local workforce in sectors that are new to the country.

“Your presence will do more than just create jobs, it will lift industry standards in the oil and marine sectors, improve safety standards and

CEO of Harvey Gulf, Shane Guidry, cuts the ceremonial ribbon to declare the office open (Adrian Narine photo)

safety culture, and can serve to streamline important aspects of health and safety at a national policy level through collaboration with the private sector and national authorities,” Ally asserted.

He added that part of an industry where tremendous scrutiny is given to health, safety, security and environment (HSSE), the company’s reputation, which is supported by safety, quality and environmental certifications, speaks for itself.

If all foreign companies

transfer their best practices to operations in Guyana, particularly with respect to HSSE, they will effectively contribute to the responsible development of this country and its people. “It would be remiss of me if I do not encourage you to ensure that as much as possible you look to build joint ventures and collaborations with the local private sector businesses and organisations,” said Ally, adding that Guyana is at a critical juncture where it is

important for local industries to be provided with the opportunities to build upon what they already have.

It is incumbent upon all foreign companies working in Guyana to ensure that local expertise, products and services are utilised in a safe, respectful and lawful way. Marissa Foster, a Petroleum Geologist who works with the Department of Energy, also said that the department hopes to see foreign companies partnering with the locals.

Moruca man remanded for sister’s murder RANDY Cozier, a 24-yearold Moruca, North West District resident, who went on a chopping spree, was Wednesday arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan for murdering his sister Cynthia Cozier.

Cozier, a weeder, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and was not required to plead to the

at Yabakabra, Mariahaba Island, Moruca, the defendant murdered 28-year-old Cynthia Cozier.

Cozier stood in the prisoners’ dock looking lost and seemingly unaware of his surroundings, as he had the magistrate repeating herself several times while trying to gather his particulars.

Police Prosecutor GorDead: Cynthia Cozier

Randy Cozier

indictable charge.

Particulars of the charge stated that, on July 4, 2019,

don Mansfield told the court that, on the day in question, Cozier went to Cynthia’s

home at Yabakabra, Mariahaba Island, Moruca, and was mingling with the family. It is alleged that the defendant picked up a stone and hurled it at children in the yard; Cynthia called on him to desist and he became annoyed.

The defendant then armed himself with two cutlasses and dealt Cynthia several chops to her neck and back.

Cynthia’s eight-month-old baby and her sister Beverly France, age 40, were also injured during the attack. The injured were rushed to TURN TO PAGE 15 ►

15

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday July 11, 2019

U.S. Southern Command conducting Exercise New Horizon in Guyana MEMBERS of the Guyana Defence Force are in the mining town of Linden together with a team from the United States Military as part of an exercise called “Exercise New Horizon.”

Exercise New Horizon is a U.S. Southern Command annual training exercise, whereby members of the local army, along with medical personnel, work in unison with the visiting troops in a joint humanitarian assistance exercise.

The teams have been working in various locations in and around Linden, Port Mourant, New Amsterdam and Georgetown and have constructed three community centres and one women’s shelter.

In previous exercises, schools and clinics were also built.

U.S. military doctors have also provided medical care to Guyanese citizens during the exercise, including ophthalmologic care and surgery.

Vlissengen Road fatal accident…

Motorist charged with DUI, driving without tint permit DAYS after the accident along Vlissengen Road, Georgetown, which claimed the life of motorcyclist Stephon Beckles and left his pillion rider hospitalised, 29-year-old Joel Thomas was charged with having tint on his motorcar and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Thomas was arraigned before Principal Magistrate Clive Nurse at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and was represented by attorney-at-law Siand Dhurjon.

Particulars of the first charge allege that on July 8, 2019 at Vlissengen Road, Thomas drove motor vehicle PTT 2510 with glass tinted beyond the legally prescribed Visible Light Transmission percentage (VLT%).

The second charge alleges that on the same date and location, Thomas drove motor car PTT 2510, when his breath alcohol level was above the legal limit.

Thomas pleaded guilty to driving his motorcar without a tint permit and was fined $7,500. However, Thomas pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and was granted $10,000 bail. The case was adjourned until August 16, 2019.

Thomas is out on station bail as the police await advice from the director of public prosecutions on whether to charge him with causing death by dangerous driving.

On July 8, 2019, Thomas was involved in vehicular accident which claimed the life of 28-year-old Beckles and left his pillion rider Kevin Andy of Perry Street, Tucville, hospitalised.

According to reports, on the day in question the duo were on a motorcycle bearing registration CH 9859 and heading south

DEAD: Stephon Beckles

along the roadway while a motorcar, bearing registration PTT 2510 driven by Thomas was proceeding in a northerly direction.

It was alleged by the driver of the car that as he was in the vicinity of the Ministry of Agriculture, the motorcycle ended up in his lane and collided head on with his vehicle.

The men fell off the motorcycle and both men were rushed to the hospital. Beckles was pronounced dead on arrival.

The police said a breathalyser test was conducted on the driver of the car and he was found to be above the prescribed legal alcohol limit.

FROM PAGE 14

Moruca man remanded ... the Suddie Hospital where Cynthia succumbed; France and the baby remain hospitalised and are said to be in stable condition. After his chopping spree, the defendant made good his escape and was arrested by the

police at Waramuri Mission the following day.

It is alleged that Cozier attacked police officers with a cutlass and one of the officers sustained chop wounds to his hand. Consequently, the officer was forced to seek

medical attention.

The chief magistrate remanded Cozier to prison and placed him under the supervision of a probation officer for counselling. The matter has been adjourned until August 5, 2019.

Exercise New Horizon

16

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, July 11, 2019

Mayor promises ‘Vendors Day’

By Telesha Ramnarine

GEORGETOWN Mayor, Ubraj Narine, promised vendors on Wednesday to implement a “Vendors Day”, which would be held one day in every month and will be dedicated to him meeting with them and listening to their concerns.

may now need to set aside one more day in the month to meet with the vendors only. His undertaking came right after one vendor complained that each time she turns up at City Hall to meet him, she is told that he is not there or cannot see him at that moment.

One of the issues raised was that of the wholesalers

goods in front of the stores, which makes it difficult for him and other vendors to carry out their trade.

Eslin (only name given) vends outside of Demico House on the car/bus park and she complained that of everyone vending out there, she is the only person who has a garbage receptacle.

Vendors who lined up to speak with the mayor and city officers

Scores of vendors turned out at the meeting with the mayor on Wednesday

Dozens of vendors from all across Georgetown on Wednesday turned up to a meeting at City Hall that was organised for them to meet with the mayor, councillors, and senior officers of the City Council.

The mayor meets with members of the public weekly, on every Thursday, but said he

and retailers selling together at the same time. The laws governing such vending dictate that the wholesalers must leave at a certain time to allow for the retailers to conduct business.

Neil Rankin, a vendor who operates on Longden Street, complained about the practice of store owners to place their

ALWAYS VEX She also took umbrage at the manner in which the revenue collector approaches her and other vendors to collect payments. “She comes with revenue please! Not even a ‘Morning’; like she vex. She gotta come better than that,” Eslin complained.

Another vendor from the

“Farmers’ Market”, asked the officers to verify if it is within the law for the Constabulary officers to charge them higher fees on holidays. He explained that two weeks into the New Year, he was still being charged higher vending rates. It is for this very reason that his scale was taken away, and to date, it has not been returned to him.

Council is prepared to honour its obligations to the vendors, and he asked the vendors to do likewise. “We’re working to get things in order for you.

We’re working,” he said.

WARNING He reminded them that they too will be charged if they are caught giving bribes to

office (to offer bribes)….and I chased them. Don’t come to the mayor for any bribery or corruption. I will have you arrested immediately,” he cautioned.

He urged that the vendors who operate on the Stabroek Market Wharf should cease such operations in view of the dangers existing there. “It

Mayor Ubraj Narine addressing vendors

Georgetown Mayor, Ubraj Narine, with Councillors, Trichria Richards and Shonelle Smith-Daniels

Another vendor complained about the attitude of store owners, saying: “They’re not even Guyanese. They coming and take away all we money and take it away to China.”

Responding to this complaint, Mayor Narine urged the vendor to take this issue up with the Consumers Affairs Bureau.

The mayor said the City

officers. “If we find you giving bribes, we will charge you and suspend you from selling. You will be part of the corruption.”

Mayor Narine pointed out that since he took office six months ago, he is proud of the fact that he has never taken a bribe. “I’ve never taken even a bottle of water from people on the road. People came to this

is very dangerous. You can be in serious problems. You don’t know when the roof or something can fall.”

Deputy Mayor, Alfred Mentore, offered that the City Council will have to look into calling a meeting with store owners as well, since they are also responsible for the mayhem in the City.

Chairman of the Markets and Public Health Committee, Councillor Trichria Richards, told the vendors that the City Council’s vision includes ensuring that each vendor has a roof over his/her head in line with President David Granger’s recommendation back in 2016.

She urged them to get registered with the City Council so that they can be recognised as vendors in the City.

Other officers who were present at the meeting included Town Clerk (Ag), Sharon Harry; Deputy Town Clerk (Ag), Sherry Jerrick and Councillors Denroy Tudor, Shonelle Smith-Daniels, Yvonne Ferguson and Heston Bostwick.

17

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday July 11, 2019

Gov’t commissions $539M drug bond GOVERNMENT’s capacity to store pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical items has been boosted by the commissioning of the $539 million Central Supplies Unit (CSU), which is more commonly known as the Kingston Bond.

The facility, which adds 1,520 square feet of storage and administrative space to the Ministry of Public Health’s capacity, was commissioned on Wednesday.

Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence said the facility was constructed as part of a promise, which was made by the APNU+AFC Government in 2015. “We are here and so the promise is kept…with the new warehouse and the extension of the Diamond bond, we are well on our way…I feel a sense of awe, pride and accomplishment as I look at this building and compound,” said Minister Lawrence during her remarks at the commissioning ceremony.

When they were elected to office in 2015, the APNU+AFC Government met a CSU facility which was dilapidated. The CSU was founded in 1982 and has since appeared to be a “moving bond” because initially it was housed at the Chief Pharmacist’s office in Quamina Street and later moved in 1984 to the ground floor of the annex at Liliendaal.

In 1992, the bond was relocated to the GBC bond until 2018 when it was moved to Kingston. The unit supplied janitorial, dietary, office and print material.

“It was with dismay that I watched that building… what I saw was workers, who were asked to work in no-so-fit conditions…in

Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo (centre) in the company of Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence and other officials, cuts the ceremonial ribbon to declare the facility open (Adrian Narine photo)

my estimation I could not continue as the minister and ask the workers to continue to work in that condition,” Lawrence lamented, adding that employers must recognise that in order for people to work, they must provide a convenient environment. The minister stressed that workers at the bond were operating in unhealthy and unsafe conditions so their performance could not be enhanced in that environment.

Due to the state of the facility, it was almost impossible for there to be proper accountability of millions of dollars in items.

In addition, the ministry

was experiencing damage and loss of costly items because the then wooden facility was leaking. Supplies were exposed to deterioration, caused by leakage and other storage issues. The conditions made stock unusable and the facility was delivering less value for money and inflated budgetary expenditure.

According to Minister Lawrence, those conditions led to discussions which resulted in the provision for the construction of the new facility.

The facility, which is now almost twice the previous size, has a staff room, kitchenette, accounts department,

conference room, records room and much more. It also stands to address the shortcomings of the inadequate space and poorly stored stocks.

CSU’s new facility will now operate with a staff complement of 20 persons and has the ability to store more than 200 commodities.

Minister Lawrence said the additional storage will reduce the number of offsite locations which the ministry utilised.

Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo said the construction of the new facility was absolutely necessary because Government had to

find storage.

He said prior to making a decision to construct the bond, government was utilising a bond owned by the New GPC Inc. until they were asked to vacate the facility.

“I myself approached Bobby Ramroop and asked if he could give us even a space in the bond but, he said he needed his facility to store his pharmaceuticals. “We were confronted with a situation to find a bond and we went with the Sussex Street bond which caused controversy… we had gotten a bond which wasn’t fit but, we accepted it because it was what we could settle for at short notice,” said

Prime Minister Nagamootoo.

A decision was later made to find an alternative site because government was being held “prisoner” by the pharmaceutical lobbies. “Many times we found ourselves in an impromptu situation to satisfy the demand because we didn’t have enough storage space… we had to deal with allegations of shortages and epidemic, which led to us going for pharmaceutical supplies without competitive bidding,” PM Nagamootoo lamented, adding that in some respect the government has been held prisoner because of the necessity to provide medical supplies and equipment to all hospitals.

He said the story of the Kingston Bond sounds like a miracle because government wanted to move from restricted areas. The new facility, he said, is proof that with determination the government can overcome challenges and deliver better service to Guyanese.

The facility will indeed provide a more efficient and better service to Guyanese, said Auditor General, Deodat Sharma, in his remarks.

Sharma said in his previous report, he had urged the Public Health Ministry to ensure that there is proper accountability. “Sometimes recommendations are repeated without appropriate action… I am happy that they took corrective steps to ensure proper accountability,” said Sharma. He stressed the importance of storing and record keeping, and also urged the ministry to maintain good practices by having well trained staff, record keeping and well defined store keeping.

Opposition seeking clarity on matters surrounding selection of GECOM chair nominees ONE day after a meeting with representatives of President David Granger in the discussion of the selection of a new Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman, representatives of the Leader of the Opposition are formally seeking clarification on matters discussed.

On July 9, 2019, the President, through his representatives, had shortlisted four of the 11 names submitted by the Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, for consideration for the nomination and appointment of the Chairman

of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

Five names were rejected while two are under “active consideration”.

This was disclosed by Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, after exiting the meeting held at Castellani House and the same was repeated in a release to the media from the Office of the Opposition Leader.

Then, on July 10, Opposition Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira wrote Director- General at the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, in request of

several clarifications required by today, June 11, 2019, at 12 noon.

They requested interpretations of meaning of the terms “no objection”, “tending towards acceptability” and “short listed” which they say were used to categorise the list of 11 names submitted by the Opposition Leader.

They also requested clarification on whether the names placed in the above categories are “not unacceptable” to the President as required by the Constitution for arriving at a list of six eligible persons for the post of GECOM Chair.

Teixeira stated that Opposition representatives were also informed that another two on the list were singled out as being “pending/under active consideration” and they require clarifications for this too.

“In the circumstances, we now enquire of the meaning and purport of these terminologies; before whom are these names pending, under whose consideration are they active -- the President or his representatives --- and are these names ‘not unacceptable’ to the President?” she wrote.

The Opposition representatives also wish to know

whether the decision to reject the five names and the reasons given for these came from the President or his representatives.

Teixeira stated: “We must emphasise that if the views expressed at the meetings are those of the President’s representatives and not of the President, and therefore, names ‘hammered out’ at these engagements are still required to obtain the acceptability of the President, then these engagements would have been, largely, futile, if not perfunctory.”

She indicated that the re-

sponse given will be conveyed to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) before July 12, 2019, when the Court is expected to make Consequential Orders on written submissions in relation to the GECOM Chair and the no-confidence vote matters.

The Chief Whip also stated that the responses received may also determine whether engagements between the representatives will continue or whether they will recommend reverting to engagements between the President and Opposition Leader.

18

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday July 11, 2019

Digital Learning project begins September in targeted schools -initiative to bridge technological gap between coastland & hinterland

A section of the audience at the launch of ProFuturo Project Guyana (Adrian Narine photo) The programme will be implemented in 28 primary schools in Regions One, Six and Ten; which will see implementation among four schools in Region One, 14 schools in Region Six and 10 schools in Region Ten.

At the head table at the launch of ProFuturo Project Guyana were (from left) ProFuturo Representative, Maria Lobo; Minister of Education, Dr. Nicolette Henry; and Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Hutson (Adrian Narine photos)

PROFUTURO Project Guyana, the global programme that is set to improve education for over 5000 primary school pupils in remote and hinterland regions across Guyana, was officially launched on Wednesday at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD). Guyana is the first country in the Caribbean to implement the global programme which is expected to be implemented at selected schools from September 2019.

Delivering remarks at the launch, Minister of Education, Dr. Nicolette Henry noted “We are present here today as part of a process to advance the delivery of education in Guyana. This is the type of activity that is fundamental to ensuring our citizens receive a sound education, which is fundamental to the good life we so often speak.”

“As we all know, Education is embarking on major changes to students' learning and knowledge acquisition.

For 21st century existence, young people need more than traditional skills, skills such as literacy and numeracy must be complemented with skills such as collaboration, problem solving, and creativity. Technology has influenced and changed the way students solve problems, research information and learn.”

Also at the launch was Chief Education Officer (CEO), Dr. Marcel Hutson, while representing the Pro-

Futuro Foundation was Maria Lobo.

Over the next week, more than 400 teachers are expected to be trained by seven local instructors of Profuturo for deployment to the various regions to prepare the teachers, at the targeted schools to utilize the method beginning in the next school term. The necessary electronic teaching equipment is being provided

by ProFuturo.

MoE Head of the Management Information Systems (MIS) Unit, Yoganand Indarsingh confirmed that, “The equipment should come here sometime in August so we’re going to start training sometime prior to school opening,” At some of the schools the programme will be implemented at all grade levels, while at other schools only a few grade levels will be targeted.

“We still have to identify the specific grades because for the large schools we will not be able to run it out to all grade levels. For the large schools we may focus on a few grades but for the smaller schools, that have let’s say 50 students, we will roll it out to the entire school,” Indarsingh related.

Indarsingh highlighted that one of the greatest features of the programme is that it does not require infrastructural changes to the classrooms in order to be used.

“You don’t need a specialized classroom you could take it into any classroom even if it doesn’t have power

because the tablets could be charged and are portable.

A teacher could take the laptop, the tablets and the router into a classroom and there’s a wireless network so the students can access the content that is coming from the laptop on their tablets, and they can do their lessons, their quizzes and so, on their tablets,” he explained.

“On the laptop you have the full learning platform, a web-based platform that has the content for the different grade levels in Mathematics, English Language, Science, and so on. The tablets already have predefined content and lessons that the students can access and take.”

If the programme yields good results, it is hoped that it could be extended to other schools.

“In discussions with the persons from ProFuturo, if we have a successful oneyear implementation, if we could demonstrate success, they would be willing to advocate for expanding the project into more schools. It would have to be for the next school year, and in between we will be doing assessments,” Indarsingh shared.

The project will see each of the schools receiving electronic teaching equipment including a laptop for the teacher, a wireless router, and 48 electronic tablets for the students, which will be utilized by teachers during administering lessons to the pupils. The electronic devices will come preloaded TURN TO PAGE 19 ►

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, July 11, 2019

19

Motion in Dipcon case withdrawn, not appeal ―Attorney-General responds to Stabroek News article

ATTORNEY-General Basil Williams has refuted claims in a Stabroek News article dated July 10, 2019, which stated that he withdrew an appeal from the Appellate Court in the case involving Dipcon Engineering and Finance Minister, Winston Jordan.

The attorney-general, on Wednesday, said Stabroek News was crucially misguided by the comments of attorney of the Trinidadian firm, Timothy Jonas.

What was filed was a notice of motion, requesting leave to appeal the matter at the Court of Appeal, he clarified.

It was noted that the motion which was being sought, is an appeal on the interlocutory matter, which is the Full Court’s refusal of the stay of Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry’s order

Driver in Cullen fatal crash slapped with three charges, granted bail LUCK was on the side of 32-year-old Chateram Gooray of Lot 4 Henrietta, when he appeared before Magistrate Esther Sam on Tuesday at the Anna Regina Magistrate’s Court to answer to charges stemming from a fatal accident on Sunday.

The deceased Premarine Rampersaud

He was slapped with causing death by dangerous driving charge, failing to render assistance to an injured person and driving under the influence of alcohol. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was granted $300,000 for

causing death by dangerous driving. He was placed on $5000 bail for the DUI charge and $20,000 for failing to render assistance to the injured person.

The charges alleged that on July 7, around 07:00 hours, he drove motor hire car HB 6973 in a dangerous manner causing the death of Premnarine Rampersaud. The matter will call again on August 15 at the Suddie Magistrate’s Court.

Meanwhile the post mortem examination conducted on 32-year-old Rampersaud revealed that he died as a result of multiple injuries. The autopsy was performed Tuesday morning by Government Pathologist, Dr. Nehaul Singh.

According to police reports, the car was proceeding south along the eastern section of the roadway when the driver lost control and collided with a tree. Rampersaud sustained most of the injuries while Fazil Salim, another passenger, of Lot 26 Anna Regina, suffered a broken leg.

Digital Learning ...

From Page 18

with teaching content from ProFuturo, specific to each grade level.

The programme comes at a time when the Ministry of Education (MoE) has been focusing on creating improved student learning in schools all across the country through Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The Ministry of Education hopes that this new initiative will go a long way towards helping to bridge the technological gap between the coastal and the hinterland regions of Guyana.

It was in May that Minister Henry travelled to the US to sign the technical assistance cooperation agreement with the Organisation of American States (OAS) and ProFuturo Foundation to pave the way for project implementation.

Guyana now joins 28 countries across Latin America, Africa, and Asia where ProFuturo is already being implemented. In the Caribbean, an overall 23,000 students are expected to benefit from the programme, which will also eventually be rolled out in the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize and Jamaica.

ProFuturo was launched in 2016 with a mission of globally providing children from vulnerable environments with quality digital education, through a partnership between Telefónica Foundation and “La Caixa” Foundation, It also seeks to deliver the best education to 10 million children in vulnerable areas by 2020 and to 25 million by 2030, in keeping with the UN 2030 sustainable development agenda goal four which speaks to access to equitable and inclusive quality education for all.

in the case.

He explained, however, that the motion which he sought was not necessary anymore since President David Granger has granted a respite in the case, which allows the State and Minister Jordan to exhaust the legal processes.

Therefore, to challenge the Full Court’s refusal of the stay of judgment would have been a waste of time, Williams said.

“Jonas ought to have known that, because he was served with what was filed in the Court of Appeal and he ought to have known that there was no appeal before the Court of Appeal, because leave is being sought and what was being sought was an interlocutory matter and not the substantive appeal which is still at the Full Court,” the attorney-general said.

He added: “The respite enables us to withdraw so that the Full Court can hear the substantive appeal…. It forces the court to deal with the substantive appeal. So I don’t have to keep being back and forth with any request for leave and waste time there. The respite is our stay, so now they have to hear the substantive appeal…. What we need them to do is hear the substantive appeal that the court had no jurisdiction to entertain the application because the court cannot make a coercive order against a minister.

Now if you can’t do it as a minister, you can’t do it against him through the back door, personally and privately. So, us withdrawing our motion will force the court to look at the appeal on substantive matter,” Williams clarified.

20

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, July 11, 2019

Gov’t to fast track housing development in several areas …Min. Ferguson says race on to clear 25,000 applications backlog

CENTRAL Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) will commence house lot development in several new areas located in different regions, all in an effort to clear the backlog of more than 25,000 active applications in the system.

These locations include Cummings Lodge, Plantation Prospect, Vigilance (East Coast Demerara, Annandale, Plantation Experiment (West Coast Berbice) and Metenmeer-zorg on the West Coast Demerara. The first among these to be developed is Plantation Prospect and the development of the new area will include accessible roads, electrification and water lines

installation. This was related by newly appointed Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Annette Ferguson, on Tuesday evening during an interview on the programme ‘Straight Up’, which is aired every day on Benschop Radio.

While the minister is still transitioning into her new portfolio, she said that one of the main issues affecting Guyanese is allocation of house lots. She said many Guyanese have been waiting for over two decades to be allocated lands. The biggest hurdle presently is the availability of not only house lots, but developed house lots, since the government's

intention is to not just give out house lots, but to ensure all the necessary amenities are in place for livelihood.

Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Annette Ferguson

"My intent is not to just give out house lots, my intent is that those housing areas are properly developed so that people when they move in to start construction, they have electricity, they have water and they have accessibility, which is road," Ferguson said.

She explained that the roads that will be constructed at this time will not be high quality asphalted roads, but just roads that will accommodate the movement of trucks transporting building materials. This is to avoid damaging the asphalt roads due to the traffic of heavy-duty vehicles. "Once you have an area with about 80 to 100 per cent occupancy, rest assured roads will be done properly to the asphaltic level," Ferguson affirmed.

While there are hundreds of persons anxiously awaiting allocation, Ferguson said that priority will be given to persons who have had their applications in the system for years.

INTEGRATED SYSTEM Meanwhile, to better manage the inquiry and allocation system, Ferguson said that she is currently working on a hotline system, where officers will be dealing with specific years and locations of housing application. She believes that the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) needs to be more effective in serving the people, in this regard and all efforts will be exerted to ensure this is done. In addition, engagements about how the system can become more integrated to map all activities ongoing countrywide have commenced. While there are CH&PA regional offices in various administrative regions, the transactions ongoing in each region must be recorded on a system that can be accessible at any location. "I am working towards ensuring that the system is improved, so that one who is living in Region Nine must be able to stay in Region Nine and check his or her status and see what is happening," she said.

ROOTING OUT CORRUPTION This too will be used as a mechanism to root out corruption. She said that under her watch, the system of land allocation must be transparent and accessible to all Guyanese. "Under the watchful eyes of Annette Ferguson, there will be no corruption, there will be no favouritism. I believe in transparency..."she said.

Ferguson said that no one must be neglected in the process of owning a house lot and rubbished claims that only one group of people are benefitting from house lot allocations.

She related that she returned to Essequibo after the government outreach that was held there in May and allocated over 40 house lots to residents.

The housing minister noted that the government remains committed to bringing housing solutions to all Guyanese in an expedited manner.

21

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday July 11, 2019

Local businesses encouraged to work together

A FEW local businesses

improve competitiveness at

Alberttown, Georgetown on

were encouraged to work

a Networking Brunch held

Sunday.

together in an attempt to

at the Mirage Banquet Hall,

“The entire objective of

Managing Director of GloSee Marketing, Sophia Dolphin

Representatives of local businesses at the Networking Brunch (Vishani Ragobeer photo)

this brunch is so that we can bring business people together, so that we can connect and form partnerships moving forward,” said Managing Director of GloSee Marketing and Public Relations, Sophia Dolphin.

GloSee was opened about five months ago but even as a fairly young business, Dolphin related that it seemed pertinent to forge partnerships with other local businesses to facilitate a more conducive business environment.

As someone with years of marketing and public relations experience, Dolphin related that she has seen a lack of collaboration among local businesses due to the current omnipresent ‘competition mode’.

As such, she related that the brunch was initiated to address this issue.

“We wanted to have this event where we promote more collaboration and not competing against each other because the only competition we should have is within our-

selves,” she said.

Dolphin also opined that businesses should be able to sit down and discuss future plans and how they can forge sustainable partnerships in moving forward.

Representatives at the brunch were drawn from the food and beverage industries, the beauty enhancement community, the health and wellness fraternity and not-for-profit organisations, among others.

22

Anti-litter campaign to be launched at end of July

THE Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of Georgetown is calling on citizens to be more environmentally aware and help to reduce the incidence of littering in the city.

According to a press release from the M&CC , the council will be commencing an anti-littering campaign by the end of July. The public will be educated on the environmental consequences of littering and its implications for citizens’ health and the legal implications of this negative practice.

This initiative is a multi-stakeholder project involving other agencies such as various government departments, non-governmental organisations, the business community and civil society The council had embarked on several clean-up campaigns in the central business district over the past several months,

which saw the Solid Waste and Engineer’s Departments clearing several dump sites in the city.

However, it was observed that two days after these cleanup exercises, particularly in areas that were cleaned, drains and parapets were once again taken over with refuse. It is important to note that indiscriminate dumping and all acts of littering place a burden on the M&CC’s limited resources, both financial and human. It also has environmental and public health effects The Mayor of Georgetown, Pandit Ubraj Narine, is encouraging all citizens to participate in this programme.

His Worship noted that Georgetown must be returned to its clean, green, pristine state and the culture of littering must be changed in order to advance the green agenda.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, July 11, 2019

New ‘CK’ motorcycle series commences

THE Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has commenced registration of motorcycle in the ‘CK’ series from July 4, 2019.

According to GRA, the previous ‘CJ’ series ended after the total number of cycles registered by the Licence Revenue Office reached the 9999 target. The “CJ” series began on November, 1, 2016.

“Motorists are reminded that registration of a motor cycle requires a completed application form, valid form of identification, original invoice(s) and other accompanying documents. The registrant will also be required to pay a standard fee of $1,000. The cycle must also be presented to the GRA for inspection,” the GRA noted.

CCTV footage reveals details of Annandale fatal accident POLICE are reviewing CCTV footage to find the driver in a hit-and-run accident that caused the death of Leon Fung-a-Fat, 31, of Lot 162 Annandale South, East Coast Demerara (ECD) on Sunday last.

Leon Fung-a-Fat

Fung-a-Fat, a labourer, was reportedly struck down at about 21:30hrs while walking along the main access road of Annandale.

Reports indicate that

based on the CCTV footage, the driver was in a silver motorcar that suffered a tire blow out when he struck down Fung-a-Fat. The driver reportedly stopped some distance away and hopped out his vehicle to inquire what he had hit and after being told it was a person, he quickly jumped into his vehicle and sped away.

Fung-a-Fat was left on the roadway for approximately 30 minutes before he was picked up and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital for medical attention. There, he was pronounced dead on arrival.

His mother, Joylyn Funga-Fat, said she was at home when she received news that her son was involved in an accident and was in an unconscious state.

However, upon visiting the hospital, he was already dead. From all indications, she said Leon sustained severe head injuries.

An autopsy on his remains has revealed he died of multiple injuries.

‘Ammo’ found in plastic container

POLICE in ‘G’ Division (Essequibo Coast and Islands) acting on information received on Tuesday night, went to a location at Onderneeming, Essequibo Coast and found a plastic container with ammunition.

The contents of the container include 44 live cartridges, 38 live .32 rounds and one spent shell. No arrest was made as police continue their investigations.

The cartridges seized by police

guyana CHRONICLE Thursday July 11, 2019

23

24

guyana CHRONICLE Thursday July 11, 2019

guyana CHRONICLE Thursday July 11, 2019

25

26

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, July 11, 2019

All systems...

FROM PAGE 27 Fourth-place finishers will find themselves $100 000 richer while the contestants in the ‘Plate’ section will have an opportunity to win a similar prize.

The venues for this year’s tournament are National Cultural Centre tarmac, Burnham Court tarmac and a first-time venue, National Racquet Centre.

Baptiste urged the public to come out and support their respective teams, noting that security will be tight.

“I urge persons to enjoy the football and enjoy Guinness responsibly; prizes will be up for grabs in the form of caps, jerseys, buckets and umbrellas.”

He also thanked the coordinators and referees while revealing that the tournament has found an equally prominent sponsor in Colours Boutique, who is now on board with the championships for a third consecutive year.

Street ball veteran Rawle Welch, who is a part of the coordinating team Three-peat, pointed out that they are expecting a large crowd when the Championship kicks off tomorrow evening.

“We have a new venue this year, the racquet centre and we are hoping for great football at that venue. However, the venue for the final is yet to be decided.”

Speaking on behalf of the officials, head referee Wayne Griffith asked teams to “be present at least 15 minutes before game time”.

As is normal, a half per game will be 10 minutes each, with each team allowed two fouls with a third foul resulting in a penalty being awarded to the opposing team.

The event will last for seven days with the other playing dates being Saturday (July 13), July 19, 20, 26 and 27. The grand final is scheduled for August 3. The first two nights of the competition, which features 32 teams, will be used for elimination.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, July 11, 2019

Kiwis stun India to book World Cup Final spot

By Amlan Chakraborty

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - New Zealand survived Ravindra Jadeja’s late onslaught to stun India by 18 runs in a low-scoring thriller yesterday and reach the Cricket World Cup final for the second time in a row.

Twice champions India were reeling at 24-4 in their chase for a modest victory target of 240 in what had appeared to be a lop-sided semi-final.

Jadeja (77) partnered Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a century-plus stand but India were bowled out for 221 in the final over and New Zealand will play hosts England or defending champions Australia in Sunday’s final at Lord’s.

“Great semi-final over two days and very pleased to be on the right side of it,” New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson said.

“We just wanted to put the ball in the good areas and put pressure on India. We just wanted some early wickets and it was great start for the bowlers.”

“The way Jadeja and (MS) Dhoni were hitting the ball, they were likely to win, but our fielders were then outstanding.”

Opting to bat first in the rain-hit contest played over two days, New Zealand’s 239 for eight looked far from imposing against India’s formidable batting lineup.

But Matt Henry (3-37) and Trent Boult (2-42) ripped the heart out of India’s top order and spinner Mitchell Santner struck two crucial blows in the middle overs.

Henry dismissed Rohit Sharma, the World Cup’s leading scorer, and Boult trapped Virat Kohli lbw in the next over.

India captain reviewed the decision but could not get it overturned.

The horror continued for India as K. Rahul became the third Indian top order batsman to depart for one, Henry’s second caught-behind victim.

Jimmy Neesham took a magnificent left-handed catch to dismiss Dinesh Karthik as India slumped to 24-4 in 10 overs.

Rishabh Pant added 47 runs with Hardik Pandya to arrest the slide and Pant made 32 before his wild heave off Santner found Colin de Grandhomme near the mid-wicket boundary.

Pandya, struggling with a hip injury, also made 32 before throwing away his wicket.

Jadeja injected fresh excitement into the match with his brave counter-attack that left his team needing 90 runs off the last 10 overs with four wickets in hand.

He and Dhoni (50) kept India afloat in the chase which was eventually derailed when both fell in successive overs.

“We thought we had restricted them to a total that is chase-able on any surface,” Kohli said.

“But the way they bowled in that first half an hour was the difference in the game.

“We had a good day yesterday and I’m very proud of that effort. Then it was a professional effort with the ball this morning and we had the momentum.

“But credit to the New

All systems in place for 2019 Georgetown Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Championship … fans urged to come out in their numbers

By Michelangelo Jacobus AS the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ football tournament turns 10 years this year, the title sponsor Banks DIH is optimistic and well prepared ahead of the event in Georgetown - the zone where it all began.

Set to kick off tomorrow evening at the National Cultural Centre tarmac from 19:00hrs, organisers Threepeat Promotions and Banks DIH representatives held a joint press conference at the company’s Sports Club, Thirst Park.

Banks DIH Communications Manager Troy Peters revealed that the company is “very happy

American Racing Tips Saratoga Race 1 Tiz No Bluff Race 2 Sayyaaf Race 3 Walkoff Race 4 Local Hero Race 5 Love Me Tomorrow Race 6 Fled Race 7 Classic Lady Race 8 Integral Race 9 Call Paul South Africa Racing Tips Vaal 08:25 hrs On My Mind 09:00 hrs Ronnie’s Candy 09:35 hrs Riga D’Ora

to say it has made its mark in Guyana” after enduring for a decade which has seen much development and expansion throughout the country with the tournament now covering six zones inclusive of the Capital City.

Meanwhile, Guinness Brand Manager, Lee Baptiste, who was also present at the presser, noted that it was intentional to leave the Georgetown Zone as the final sub-meet this time around.

As is the norm, 32 teams are participating in the tournament with 16 gaining automatic qualification virtue of their sterling performances at last year’s championship, while the

remaining 16 spots were claimed by victorious teams at last Friday’s ‘qualifiers’.

Baptiste also disclosed that all other sub-meets (East Coast Demerara, Bartica, Linden, West Coast Demerara, Berbice) were well attended with a maximum number of teams vying for spots at the National Playoffs.

Meanwhile getting down to the business end of things, Baptiste revealed that winners of the Georgetown Championship will walk away with a trophy and $500 000 while runners-up will pocket $300 000 with the third place collecting $200 000.

TURN TO PAGE 26

10:10 hrs Count Tassilo 10:50 hrs Royal Future

11:40 hrs Urban Icon 12:10 hrs Wings Of Time

English Racing Tips Doncaster 08:40 hrs Perla Blanca 09:10 hrs St Ives 09:45 hrs Crantock Bay 10:20 hrs La Sioux 10:55 hrs Celsius 11:25 hrs Corncrake 12:00 hrs Warning Fire

Newbury 12:40 hrs Itizzit 13:10 hrs Hard Nut 13:40 hrs Special Secret 14:15 hrs My Dear Friend 14:45 hrs Hamish 15:20 hrs Tamachan 15:50 hrs Top Boy

Newmarket 08:50 hrs Eagles By Day 09:25 hrs Guildsman 10:00 hrs Rathbone 10:35 hrs Communique 11:05 hrs Dubai Paradise

Irish Racing Tips Leopardstown 12:50 hrs Love 13:50 hrs Raphael 14:25 hrs Insignia Of Rank 14:55 hrs South Sea Pearl 15:30 hrs Trossachs 16:00 hrs Chosen Mate

Zealand bowlers - the way they bowled with the new ball, moving it around, it was an outstanding skill level on display and they made life very difficult for our batsmen.”

Williamson had won the toss on Tuesday and opted to bat at a venue where teams batting first had won all five previous matches in the tournament.

India’s new ball pair of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3-43) and Jasprit Bumrah bowled with impeccable discipline while Jadeja was also very economical with the ball.

Resuming on the reserve day at 211-5, New Zealand added 28 runs from the remaining 23 deliveries as Ross Taylor top-scored with a gutsy 74 to go with Williamson’s 67.

Jadeja proved his value as a fielder with a pinpoint throw to run-out Taylor and in the next delivery, took a well-judged catch near the ropes to dismiss Tom Latham.

27

SCORECARD

NEW ZEALAND innings M. Guptill c Kohli b Bumrah 1 H. Nicholls b Jadeja 28 K. Williamson c Jadeja b Chahal 67 L. Taylor run-out (Jadeja) 74 J. Neesham c Karthik b Pandya 12 C. de Grandhomme c Dhoni b Kumar 16 T. Latham c Jadeja b Kumar 10 M. Santner not out 9 M. Henry c Kohli b Kumar 1 T. Boult not out 3 Extras: (lb-5, w-13) 18 Total: (8 wickets, 50 overs) 239 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-69, 3-134, 4-162, 5-200, 6-225, 7-225, 8-232.

Bowling: B. Kumar 10-1-43-3, J. Bumrah 10-1-39-1, H. Pandya 10-0-55-1, R. Jadeja 10-0-34-1, Y. Chahal 10-0-63-1.

INDIA innings K. Rahul c Latham b Henry 1 R. Sharma c Latham b Henry 1 V. Kohli lbw b Boult 1 R. Pant c de Grandhomme b Santner 32 K. Karthik c Neesham b Henry 6 H. Pandya c Williamson b Santner 32 MS Dhoni run-out (Guptill) 50 R. Jadeja c Williamson b Boult 77 B. Kumar b Ferguson 0 Y. Chahal c Latham b Neesham 5 J. Bumrah not out 0 Extras: (lb-3, w-13) 16 Total: (all out, 49.3 overs) 221 Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-5, 3-5, 4-24, 5-71, 6-92, 7-208, 8-216, 9-217.

Bowling: T. Boult 10-2-42-2, M. Henry 10-1-37-3, L. Ferguson 10-0-43-1, C. de Grandhomme 2-0-13-0, J. Neesham 7.3-0-49-1, M. Santner 10-2-34-2.

28

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, July 11, 2019

RHTY&SC Patron’s Fund donates $250 000 OVER $250 000 worth of trophies, medals, framed certificates, educational materials and special gifts were donated over the past week by the 10 cricket teams of the dynamic Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club (RHTY&SC), under its Patron’s Fund Programme.

The teams during the month of July will be donating over $2 million worth of items including bicycles, school bags, cricket balls, cricket bats, and educational materials in honour of their patron, President David Granger’s 74th birthday celebration on July 15.

The programmes also include the distribution of food hampers and how to make a positive difference in the lives of senior citizens.

The teams handed over a large quantity of trophies and medals to over 20 schools at their request, for use at graduation ceremonies, following the announcement of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) results.

Fifteen of those schools also received special prizes such as RHTY&SC school bags and educational materials.

Among those benefitting were the Rose Hall Town, Cropper, Port Mourant, Belvedere and Tain primary schools, and the Bohemia Nursery School as well as the Belvedere Children’s Play School.

The RHTY&SC also donated a large quantity of trophies, medals, 200 exercise books, and a financial prize to the parents of the late national schools cyclist,

RHTY&SC’s Simon Naidu hands over trophies and medals to Sydney Cort of the Port Mourant Primary School.

Beyoncé Ross, who died last year. The Ross family will be hosting a Day of Sports to add to the cycle race, in the late cyclist’s memory.

The 10 cricket teams of the RHTY&SC on July 2, 2019 also hosted a special edition of their monthly Old Age Pensioners Programme as part of the Patron’s Fund.

Over 200 pensioners were treated to breakfast and refreshments by the teams as they waited to uplift their monthly pensions at Rose Hall Town Post Office. The teams also arranged for the presence of a medical team from the Port Mourant Hospital to be present during the programme to offer free medical care to the pensioners.

Since 2016 the teams have been hosting the breakfast event as part of their personal development programme.

RHTY&SC Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster, who also serves as the current president of the BCB, hailed the hard work

of the cricket teams under the dynamic leadership of Simon Naidu, Keith Hicks, Ravindranauth Kissoonlall and Tyrone Pottaya.

The veteran Secretary/ CEO stated that the main objective of the Patron’s Fund was to make a positive difference in the lives of those less fortunate than the players, while observing the birthday anniversary of the Club’s Patron.

RHTY&SC is the only cricket club in Guyana to mandate its players to do self-development programmes.

The teams will be distributing close to $1M worth of bicycles and school bags under the Patron’s Fund on July 19.

Federer to play Nadal in Wimbledon semi-finals ROGER Federer and Rafael Nadal will meet at Wimbledon for the first time since the 2008 final after both advanced to the semi-finals.

Federer beat Kei Nishikori 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 for his 100th match win at the All England Club, while Nadal beat Sam Querrey 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.

In 2008, Nadal won 9-7 in the fifth set against Federer in a rain-affected final that

Roger Federer (left) and Rafael Nadal

spanned nearly seven hours.

Together, they have won 10 Wimbledon titles.

Four-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic will face Roberto Bautisa Agut in tomorrow’s other semi-final.

It is the first time for 12 years that Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have all made the last four.

"We have a lot of informa-

tion on Rafael, as does he on us," said eight-time champion Federer, who, in beating Japanese eighth seed Nishikori, became the first player in history to win 100 men's singles matches at a single Grand Slam event.

"So you can dive into the tactics like mad for two days, or you say 'it's grass court tennis so I'm going to come out and play my tennis'.

"People always hype it up.

It was a joy to play against Rafa on his court at the French Open and (I'm) very excited to play him here."

Spaniard Nadal said: "It's great. It's difficult to imagine again being in that situation.

"I'm excited to play against Roger again here at Wimbledon." (BBC Sport).

Sagan wins Tour de France stage five

… Julian Alaphilippe retains lead PETER Sagan secured his first win of this year's Tour de France as he sprinted to victory on stage five. Rui Costa made a late break on the hilly 175.5km route to Colmar but after he was hauled in, Sagan was dominant as he took his 12th Tour stage win.

The Bora-Hansgrohe rider, 29, was followed home by Wout van Aert and Matteo Trentin.

Defending champion Ger-

aint Thomas stays seventh overall, 45 seconds behind race leader Julian Alaphilippe.

Sagan flexed his muscles as he crossed the line in a repeat of his celebration from his first Tour win, in 2012.

The Slovakian also extended his lead in the points category and now leads Australia's Michel Matthews by 47 points as he bids to win the green jersey for a record seventh time.

His latest stage victory was delivered in typically

thrilling fashion at the end of a day that had seen the Tour's sprint specialists dropped by the peloton during four short but steep climbs in the Vosges Mountains.

A small breakaway group of four riders was caught on the final ascent, the Cote des Cinq Chateaux, and Costa tried and failed to escape on a short and flat run-in to the finish.

Sagan waited patiently for his chance, and was perfectly placed when the race bunched up with 2km to go.

"I just have to ride with

passion and the victory comes," Sagan said. "I have to say thanks to all my teammates. We controlled all day, on the flat part and towards the finish."

Alaphilippe finished in 10th place and will wear the yellow jersey for a third successive day today.

Britain's Thomas had an uneventful day, finishing safely in the pack with his co-leader at Ineos, Colombia's Egan Bernal, British compatriot Adam Yates and the other contenders for the general

classification.

Thomas told ITV4: "It was nice to get a bit of climbing in the legs and build up for (the first mountain stage on) Thursday."

Asked what he made of his rivals' performance so far, he replied: "It is hard to say really, we will know a lot more after stage six. You can't really tell a lot from the last few days obviously Alaphilippe is flying up those type of climbs.

"Today is a lot different but I think he has certainly shown the form to hang in

there and keep the jersey. We will see - it will be interesting.

There are a lot of climbs before the last one, so it will be a challenge."

Stage six sees the race stay in the Vosges and features the first summit finish of the 2019 Tour.

The 160.5km route starts at Mulhouse and ends at La Planche des Belles Filles, with a climb that has been extended by an extra kilometre. (BBC Sport)

Bermuda slump to another heavy defeat

TORONTO, Canada, (CMC) – Bermuda slumped to their second successive defeat at the five-nation ICC Americas Region qualifiers for next year’s Under-19 World Cup in South Africa after losing by nine wickets to the United States on Tuesday.

Bermuda, who lost to Canada by nine wickets in their opener on Monday, were bowled out for 71 off 30 overs after being put in to bat at the Maple Leaf

North-West Ground in King City.

Opener Sharye Paynter was the only Bermuda batsman to reach double figures, scoring a run-a-ball 21. Extras were the next highest score with 19.

Leg-break bowler Shashank Vittaladevaram was the pick of the US bowlers, claiming three for 13 off eight overs.

It took the US just 8.1 overs to overhaul Bermuda’s total, losing only the wicket of Vatsal Vaghela, who was bowled by seam

bowler Nirobi Smith-Mills for five.

Saiteja Mukkamalla top scored with 32 not out off 31 balls, while Majjid Subair hit 26 not out off 16 balls.

Canada, meanwhile, continued their perfect start by beating Argentina by seven wickets. Argentina were skittled out for 33 in 21 overs, with Raqib Shamsudeen taking five for three off five overs.

The hosts reached their target for the loss of three wickets in just four overs.

Bermuda next face the Cayman Islands, who lost to the US by 10 wickets on Monday, before taking on Argentina in their final qualifier the following day.

The top team in the group will advance to the Under-19 World Cup in next January and February.

Eleven years ago Bermuda, captained

by Rodney Trott, competed at the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, July 11, 2019

29

Archer believes he is well prepared for World Cup

Morgan and Finch's men ready for blockbuster semi-final TOURNAMENT hosts England face off against Ashes rivals Australia in a blockbuster Cricket World Cup semi-final at Edgbaston today.

Damaging losses to Sri Lanka and Australia left England fearing the worst for their lastfour hopes, but an impressive response with wins over India and New Zealand booked their ticket to the knockout stages.

Australia's passage was far more serene, apart from a loss to India and an unexpected defeat to South Africa in their final group game, as the defending champions chase a sixth World Cup title.

Just over two weeks ago, it was Australia celebrating at Lord's as Jason Behrendorff and Mitchell Starc tore through England's batting order to seal victory despite Ben Stokes' valiant 89.

But Edgbaston has not been

England’s Eoin Morgan (left) and Australia’s Aaron Finch

a happy hunting ground for Australia, with their last win at the venue in any format coming in a 2001 Test match. England have won three straight ODIs against their opponents in Birmingham, too.

History is not exactly on England's side, though, with their last Cricket World Cup win against Australia coming back in 1992 when Ian Botham stole the show, taking 4-31 with the ball and contributing 53 with the bat.New Zealand, who defeated India in a rain-delayed semi-final at Old Trafford that spanned across two days, await in the final.

TOURNAMENT SO FAR A shock loss to Sri Lanka preceded England again falling short against Australia but the triumphs over India and New Zealand showed their mettle as they lived up to their billing as pre-tournament favourites.

Australia missed out on top

spot after losing to South Africa in their final group game but largely impressed during the group stages, Starc leading the wicket-taking list with 26.

WHAT THEY SAID England captain Eoin Morgan on the team's return to form: "I think we're probably more confident than we were three games ago. I think we are probably a different team that played four games ago and three games ago. I think the loss against Sri Lanka hurt us.

It was an overhang into the Lord's game and then when we came here we managed to produce something similar to the cricket we have been playing over the last four years and that was really encouraging."

Australia skipper Aaron Finch on his country's World Cup record: "I think World Cups are very special, they bring out the best in the best players, so I think that's why Australia

have had a very rich history in World Cups. I mean, winning four of the last five, it's been a great achievement."

OPTA FACTS England have won 10 of the last 12 ODIs between the countries, though one of their two defeats in that run came at Lord's earlier in this tournament.

Starc needs one more wicket to set a record for the most taken at a single World Cup - he sits level with Glenn McGrath's tally of 26 from 2007.

Steve Smith has only managed to record one half-century in his last 10 ODI innings against England, though that solitary 50 did come at Edgbaston (2017). He has been dismissed five times by Adil Rashid in the 50-over format.

Australia have been involved in seven previous World Cup semi-finals and have progressed to the final every time.

Kohli unhappy with Cricket World Cup format after semi-final exit VIRAT Kohli has suggested the International Cricket Council (ICC) may want to consider changing the format of the World Cup after India’s dramatic semi-final exit.

India unleashed the fury of one billion fanatical cricket fans back home when they stumbled to an 18-run defeat by New Zealand at Old Trafford, despite topping the table during the tournament’s protracted round-robin group stage.

It was arguably India’s worst defeat since losing against

Bangladesh in Trinidad at the 2007 World Cup, a result that led to their crashing out in the first round. That tournament in the Caribbean 12 years ago started with four groups of four, meaning India, cricket’s most powerful economic draw, played only three matches.

The ICC, at the behest of the Indian board and broadcasters, ensured such an occurrence would never happen again by extending the first-round stage at World Cups; each team were guaranteed a minimum of nine matches at the tournament this

year.

Now Kohli has suggested the latter stages should be tweaked as well in the format for the World Cup in 2023, to be held in India.

Asked whether he would like to see the tournament follow the model of the Indian Premier League (IPL), in which teams who finish top in the regular season get another chance to reach the final if they lose their first playoff match, the India captain said: “Maybe. If topping the table means anything.

I think these things can come

Nigeria grab late winner against South Africa to reach semi-finals

Nigeria's William Troost-Ekong celebrates scoring their second goal. (REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

WILLIAM Troost-Ekong scored a dramatic late winner to send Nigeria into the Africa Cup of Nations semi-final at the expense of South Africa.

Samuel Chukwueze hit the opener as he controlled Alex Iwobi's cross, before scoring at the second attempt.

Bongani Zungu equalised with a header initially ruled out for offside, before VAR replays

showed a free-kick hit a Nigerian player on the way to him.

But Udinese's Troost-Ekong bundled home from close range late on to win it.

His finish was into an empty net after goalkeeper Ronwen Williams totally missed Moses Simon's corner.

Nigeria face Ivory Coast or Algeria in Sunday's second semi-final (20:00 BST).

The Super Eagles were deserved winners and led through Villarreal youngster Chukwueze's first goal for his country. They should have been ahead by more when Williams pushed Peter Etebo's free-kick onto the bar.

Zungu's goal was the first in the Africa Cup of Nations given by the VAR, which has just been introduced for the quarter-finals. It looked offside initially but Percy Tau's freekick hit Nigeria's Odion Ighalo on the way on to Amiens midfielder Zungu's head.

The game looked set for extra time before Williams flapped at a cross to leave Troost-Ekong with a simple finish.

Senegal, who beat Benin 1-0 earlier yesterday, will play either Madagascar or Tunisia in the other semi-final.

into consideration, looking at the magnitude of this tournament.

That is a really valid point. You never know when that is going to be implemented.

“You finish No.1 in the table and then a spell of bad cricket and you are out of the tournament completely. But you have to accept it.”

Kohli admitted he was heartbroken by the defeat after India had won eight of their nine group matches, losing only against England. “It doesn’t matter what you have done before that. It’s a fresh day, fresh start,

and if you are not good enough you go home. So you have to accept that.

“I’m very disappointed.

We played outstanding cricket throughout this tournament and to just go out on the basis of 45 minutes of bad cricket is saddening and it breaks your heart because you have worked so hard throughout the tournament to build momentum.”

In the mayhem at the start of their innings India crashed to 24 for four inside 10 overs before a century stand for the seventh-wicket between Ravindra

Jadeja and MS Dhoni brought them close to chasing down 240.

“I think we are sad but we are not devastated because of the kind of cricket that we played in this tournament,” Kohli said.

“We were not good enough and that is the nature of this tournament. A bad day in the knockout stage and you are out. We didn’t stand up to the challenge and we were not good enough under pressure. We have to accept the failure as it shows on the scoreboard.” (Yahoo Sport)

Regional Under-17 tourney

Jamaica inflict first defeat on hosts, Guyana slump continues PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Jamaica stunned Trinidad and Tobago to halt the hosts’ winning run while Guyana suffered their third straight defeat, in a rain-hit third round of the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Under-17 Championship here Tuesday.

Chasing a revised target of 135 at Brian Lara Stadium, the Trinidadians were dismissed for 132 off 36 overs, to taste defeat for the first time in the tournament.

They appeared en route to victory when they reached 117 for four in the 33rd over but then spectacularly lost their last six wickets for 15 runs.

Rajeev Ramnath top-scored with 46 off 72 balls with four fours while opener Jeremiah Cruickshank struck 34 off 48 balls with a couple of fours and sixes.

Both batsmen played key roles in the T&T innings. Cruickshank posted 40 for the second wicket with Tariq Mohammed after the loss of Kyle Roopchand without scoring in the second over with a single run on the board.

And Ramnath anchored a 56-run, fifth-wicket stand with Darren Samlal (11) after T&T had slid to 61 for four in the 22nd over.

Brandon English (2-12), Stewart Thompson (2-23) and Nicholas Lewin (2-26) all claimed two wickets apiece to hurt the innings.

Jamaica had earlier rallied to 127 for four off their 36 overs with Oneil Roberts stroking a crucial unbeaten 65 and English chipping in with 23 not out.

Sent in, Jamaica were tottering on 31 for

three in the 12th over until Roberts posted 31 for the fourth wicket with Shemar Phillips (8) and a further 65 in an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership with English.

Roberts faced 116 deliveries and crunched five fours and three sixes while English produced a breezy 28-ball knock that included two fours.

At Gilbert Park, Windward Islands kept Guyana in the mire with an 84-run victory under Duckworth-Lewis-Stern.

Sent in, the Windwards got 38 from Akeem Auguste, 31 from Divonne Joseph and 20 from Ojay Matthews as they reached 126 for six off their allotted 25 overs.

Joseph proved the anchor, putting on 54 with the aggressive Auguste who smashed a four and three sixes in a 24-ball cameo, before adding 36 for the third wicket with Matthews.

Off-spinner Marvan Prashad was the best bowler with four for 20.

Set a revised target of 150, Guyana could only manage 65 for seven off their 25 overs with Chetram Balgobin stroking 27 not out while fast bowler Tyran Theodore claimed four for 13.

In the other game at the National Cricket Centre, unbeaten Barbados reached 54 for two off 14 overs after being sent in by Leeward Islands, before rain ended the contest prematurely.

Barbados top the standings with 11 points while T&T lie second on 9.2 and Jamaica third on 8.7.

30

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, July 11, 2019

RFA/GBTI Annual U-13 Finals

Paiwomak Warriors FC crowned champions LETHEM: Paiwomak Warriors FC prevailed over Tabatinga FC by a 3-2 margin following kicks from the penalty spot, to be crowned champions of the Rupununi Football Association (RFA)/ Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) U-13 Championship last Saturday at the St Ignatius ground, Lethem.

At the end of the allotted 20-minute match and 10-minute extra-time, the teams were tied one-all with goals from Matrim Martin for Tabatinga FC and Glensford Peterson for Paiwomak Warriors, after which penalty kicks had to be taken.

Final scorers for Paiwo-

mak Warriors were Peterson, Josh Glasgow and Guy Moses while Martin and Reyes Williams made their mark for Tabatinga FC. The finals followed the two semi-final action matches between Tabatinga FC and Basin FC, and Paiwomak Warriors FC and Gladiators FC with Tabatinga FC and Paiwomak Warriors FC each winning by a 2-0 margin.

Scorers in the first semi-final were Reyes Williams in the 15th minute and Matrim Martin in the 18th minute while the second semi-final saw Nathan Alcides scoring an own goal in the 12th minute giving Paiwomak the lead and Glendsford Peterson extending

that lead in the 16th minute for the eventual victors.

The results of the preliminary matches were as follows: 1st match: Tabatinga FC 3-0 Kanuku Warriors Scorers: Stephon Sprosta 16th, Matrim Martin 12th, and Reyes Williams 5th 2nd match: Basic FC 1-0 Titans FC Scorer: Deago Dookram 6th 3rd match: Paiwomak Warriors 3 – 0 Shiriri FC Scorers: Nicodemus Sandy 6th, Glensford Peterson 7th & 9th 4th match: Gladiators FC 1-0 Flash FC Scorer: Nathan Alcides 17th

Paimowak Warriors receives the championship trophy from GBTI’s Lethem Branch Manager Ms Sharon King.

Jadeja proves his worth despite India's exit

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round brilliance could not fire India to the final of the Cricket World Cup but the 30-year-old at least showed what he can still offer the team in the first semi-final against New Zealand yesterday.

Playing only his second match of the tournament, Jadeja returned figures of

1-34 in his tidy 10 overs and produced two moments of fielding excellence at Old Trafford.

He first dismissed Ross Taylor, New Zealand’s top scorer, with a pinpoint direct throw from midwicket and, in the next ball, took a tricky catch to send back Tom Latham.

The all-rounder then returned to top-score with a

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Thursday July 11, 2019) COMPLIMENTS OF THE TROPHY STALL-Bourda Market & The City Mall (Tel: 225-9230) & CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD-83 Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158) Answers to yesterday’s quiz: (1)

2 centuries

(2) Bernard Julien (WI vs SL, Old Trafford, Manchester, 1975) Today’s Quiz: (1) Who is the first Bangladeshi to score a century in a World Cup game?

(2) Which two of these teams have never contested a World Cup semi-final game against Pakistan to date?

West Indies, Australia, Sri Lanka, England, India Answers in tomorrow’s issue

India's Ravindra Jadeja in action yesterday against New Zealand, at Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain.

(Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smit)

belligerent 77, celebrating his fifty with a characteristic sword dance before raising his arms in an animated gesture toward the commentary box.

Jadeja has had a Twitter spat with former India player-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar who had described the all-rounder as a “bits and pieces” player.

India captain Virat Kohli said the Saurashtra player did not need any extra motivation from the management team.

“I don’t think any of us had to say anything to Jadeja after what happened over the last one week,” Kohli said after the loss at Old Trafford.

“He was quite ready to just get onto the path to be honest and you saw the passion with which he played.”

Jadeja could not force

a victory but Kohli felt this was the left-hander’s best innings he could remember.

“In my watching the data for 10 years, me playing with him as well, this is probably his best knock because the kind of pressure, the stage we were at, almost out of the game, and then he produces that,” said Kohli.

With Jadeja in the middle, the team had been optimistic of completing the tricky chase, the skipper added.

“He was very motivated. At that stage, we all felt in the change room that the game can be closed out, it can be done,” he said.

“He’s been a very understated cricketer, but a top quality cricketer in the field, with the ball, and with the bat - priceless.”

Disappointed Kohli rues 45-minute slump in Manchester MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - A spell of pedestrian cricket inside 45 minutes ruined India’s otherwise stellar campaign in the Cricket World Cup, captain Virat Kohli lamented after his team’s semi-final loss to New Zealand in a low-scoring thriller yesterday.

Kohli’s men topped the group stage and wrested the number one ranking from England before their last four clash with 2015 finalists New Zealand.

Defending 239-8, Matt Henry and Trent Boult blew away India’s star-studded top order that included Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the tournament’s leading scorer, to reduce them to five for three wickets inside four overs.

Ravindra Jadeja mounted an audacious rearguard action but India could not recover after slumping to 24-4 after the first powerplay.

“Of course, very disappointed,” a glum Kohli told a news conference.

“We’ve played outstanding cricket throughout this tournament. To just go out on the basis of 45 minutes of bad cricket is saddening.

“It breaks your heart also, because you worked so hard throughout the tournament to build momentum. You finish number one in the table, and then a spell of bad cricket and you’re out of the tournament. But you have to accept it.”

After the top order imploded, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya tried to arrest the free-fall before both played reckless shots to throw away their wickets.

Kohli conceded their shot selection could have been better though he refused to blame 21-year-old Pant, who was playing only his ninth one-day international.

“Look, he’s an instinctive player. And he did well to overcome that situation and string in a partnership with Hardik,” Kohli said.

“He’s still young. I made many, many errors when I was young in my career, and he will learn. He will look back and think yes, he could have chosen a different option in that situation, maybe and he realises that already.”

India suffered their only group stage defeat against hosts England, who meet Australia in the second semi-final in Birmingham today.

Kohli said the team would emerge stronger from the setback.

“It’s happened to us before and we have all come out better cricketers because of the setbacks, especially at a stage like World Cup,” he added.

“But having said that, we qualified for the semis and have played some really good cricket. So we should be also proud of the way we played.”

31

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, July 11, 2019

Is more domestic rugby needed? … Butts confident of a ‘bounce back’

CAPTAIN of Guyana’s Sevens Rugby team Jamal Angus, head coach Claudius Butts and Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) president Peter Green agreed that Guyana’s rugby, more so the shorter format, needs a complete overhaul, and more domestic tournaments.

Guyana finished sixth in the eight-team Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens Championship – a tournament they’ve won seven times, as recent as 2016, while playing in both the 2017 and 2018 finals, where they narrowly lost to Jamaica both times.

“We have to go back to our domestic rugby; we have to get more domestic games and to prepare for a high-level

tournament, we need high-level games,” said Butts, who is regarded as one of the best wingers to ever play the game in the Caribbean.

Guyana conceded 79 points and just scored 26 of their own on the opening day of the 2019 Ran Championship, going down to Trinidad and Tobago 7-19, Cayman Islands 12-14 and 7-42 to Jamaica.

By virtue of finishing at the bottom of the table in Pool B, Guyana went on to face the undefeated Canadians in the quarter-finals on the second day where they were beaten 47-5.

The result against Canada meant that Guyana will later on day two, play Trinidad and Tobago again in the Plate semi-finals.

Guyana picked up their lone win of the tournament with a 1712 victory over the Twin Island Republic. In the Plate Final, Guyana were once against beaten by the Cayman Islands, this time going down 10-21.

According to Butts, age played a major role in the team not doing well, with Richard Staglon, Peabo Hamilton, Dominic Lespierre, Vallon Adams, Ryan Gonsalves, Avery Corbin and Dwayne Schroeder being part of the programme for years.

“One thing I know about Guyana and Guyana Rugby is that over the years, we always find a way to bounce back. All of the players recognised what happened, what were our mistakes and what we need to do to get back at that level,” Butts

From left, GRFU president Peter Green, manager John Lewis, coach Claudius Butts and captain Jamal Angus addressing the media at the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) Conference Room.

reasoned.

Meanwhile, Angus told reporters that he understands that the team is going through a difficult phase, adding,

“When you sign up for Rugby, we know what we signed up for. Everybody on the team has the same goal. We may go about it differently but our goal is to represent Guyana

and do it proudly.”

Guyana will turn their attention to the Pan Am Games, where they qualified, along with Jamaica, as RAN’s representatives.

Billingy storms to four titles in three days …‘Focused’ Van Lange wins Cadet and Junior Challenge titles

JASMINE Billingy and Jonathan Van Lange are not just the future of table tennis - they are also the present.

The Titans Table Tennis Club players dominated the GTTA Cadet and Junior Challenge, which was played at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) on Monday.

The Challenge, which attracted 53 players in total, was held by the national association to keep the young players active.

Both Van Lange and Billingy had won titles over the weekend at the GTTA National Mini- and Pre-Cadet Table Tennis Championships, which was held at the same venue.

Nine-year-old Billingy won both Mini-Cadet (11-and-under) and Pre-Cadet (13-and-under) competitions, while Van Lange had defended his Pre-Cadet title.

Jonathan Van Lange won both the Cadet and Junior titles at the Challenge.

Jasmine Billingy has been unstoppable at the TT events.

The 12-year-old, who won the National Cadet and Junior Championships in March this year proved his dominance at the 18-and-under level, by stopping all challengers.

FOCUSSED According to the pre-teen, although he emerged victorious, he needed to stay focussed and had to implement new strategies when needed. “It was very challenging, especially as there were players who had a lot of experience in the discipline, so I had to be very vigilant and with

the help of God and the support of family and friends I pulled through.”

The youngster, who is also a quality cricketer, said he had solid training help for the event.

“I managed to put in the hours with coach Dwain Dick who is very determined and committed to this sport. I also

received some useful advice

and tactics from veteran Colin France. Hopefully, I could get some much more needed hours in training as I am not where I would like to be; as getting to the top is much easier than staying at the top.”

Van Lange defeated Jamal Nicholas in the 18-and-under final by a 3-1 (12-10, 11-4, 7-11 and 11-8) margin.

Van Lange had defeated Terrence Rausch 3-1 (12-10, 9-11, 11-9 and 12-10) in a close semi-finals, while Nicholas had gotten past Isaiah Layne 3-0 (11-8, 13-11, 11-4) in the other final-four clash.

Both Rausch and Layne finished joint third.

Layne battled against Van Lange in the 15-and-under final. Van Lange, who called the match his toughest for the day, said that he was exhausted. He won the opening game 11-8, before losing the next two 8-11, 9-11. The youngster got his second wins in the fourth game and drew the clash even with

an 11-2 win, before he claimed victory at 11-7.

Colin Wong and Krystian Sahadeo finished joint third in the 15-and-under division.

IMPROVEMENT Billingy, who continues to improve, got past Nkechi McRae in both the 15-and-under and the 18-and-under finals.

Both girls played some quality table tennis to reach the 15-and-under final unbeaten, but in the championship clash, Billingy surged ahead 3-1 (11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8).

Tatyana Mohamed claimed third place, Rose-Anna Saunders fourth and Racheal Saunders fifth. Meanwhile in the 18-and-under final, Billingy dispatched McRae by a 3-0 margin (11-6, 11-1, 11-9), while Mohamed and Rose-Anna Saunders finished joint third.

West Indies-A, India-A face-off in first 50-overs match today

Windies A-team coach Esaun Crandon

ST JOHN’S, Antigua – A crucial first stage of post-World Cup 2019 building ahead of the inaugural 2020 ICC Oneday international league and 2023 World Cup commences today, when West Indies-A and India-A face off in the first of five 50-over matches at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua.

Matches will be streamed live on www.Windiescricket.com and Sony LIV India.

This is the fourth A-team series, organised by Cricket West Indies (CWI) under the current post January 2017 tenures of Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams and CEO Johnny Grave.

It coincides with the 10-point Skerritt/Shallow administration ‘Cricket First Plan’ of greater exposure of U-23 and U-19 players and enhancement of franchise system, so that the best emerging Caribbean players and top domestic performers can be tested against high quality overseas opposition.

“This is a very important series against a very competitive opposition in India-A”, said West Indies-A coach Esaun Crandon.

“We know the brand of cricket they play, with many fringe players that have played for India’s senior team or are pushing to be part of India’s

senior team.

Overall we are very optimistic about our chances. I think we (Windies-A) have a very good blend of experienced and young players in this squad.”

The international experience of members of this West Indies-A 50 overs squad is vast with only quartet Rakheem Cornwall, Akeem Jordan, Romario Shepherd and Kjorn Ottley yet to feature in maroon colours.

“I’m expecting the experienced guys, especially those who were also involved in Ireland Tri-Series to lead from the front.

“Obviously we aren’t going to depend on them solely, since

the other selected players we believe in their abilities as well, but by default on and off the field those guys’ recent international experience will be key.”

On the pitches West Indies-A hope to encounter, Crandon said: “We want to have pitches that will play to our strengths and India’s weakness.

So hopefully the curators can produce wickets that give us grass, pace and bounce.

We also have to own the conditions as the home team and execute on the day.”

On another coaching opportunity, Crandon said: “I’m grateful for the opportunity to lead West Indies-A against a

very competitive opposition.

It’s all about trusting the process; keeping it simple and replicating the coaching philosophies that brought me success with Guyana, and what I learnt and observed on the England series coaching staff.

So it’s not solely about winning series for personal growth, but building relationships as a coach with players and helping them to be best prepared as possible for when they get a chance at international level.”

Page

27

Kiwis stun India to book World Cup Final spot Martin Guptill’s direct hit run out of MS Dhoni secures a spot in the World Cup final for New Zealand (AFP)

All systems in place for 2019 Georgetown Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Championship Page

27

From left, head referee Wayne Griffith, Guinness Brand manager Lee Baptiste, Colours Boutique representative Creana Damon, Three-peat Promotions director Rawle Welch and Banks DIH Communications manager Troy Peters (Adrian Narine photo)

… fans urged to come out in their numbers

Kohli unhappy with Cricket World Cup format after semi-final exit Printed and Published by Guyana National Newspapers Limi ted, Lama Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown. Telephone 2 2 6- 3243-9 (General); Editorial: 2 2 7- 5204, 2 2 7- 5216. Fax:2 2 7- 5208

Page

29

THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2019