Guyana Chronicle E-Paper 11-11-2022 by Guyana Chronicle

Cheaper electricity imminent

- as Cabinet grants approval for construction of 300-megawatt power plant at Wales

By Shamar Meusa

PRESIDENT, Dr. Irfaan Ali, on Thursday, an nounced that Cabinet has given its no objection to CH/4Lindsayca for the construction of a 300-meg awatt gas-to-power plant at Wales, West Bank Dem erara.

The Head of State made this announcement via a live-streamed video message following a Cabinet meeting on Thursday afternoon.

He related that CH4/ Lindsayca was ranked num ber one to construct the 300 MW combined cycle power plant and natural gas liquids (NGL) plant at Wales.

Dr. Ali went on to say that Cabinet’s no objection paves the way for nego tiations to proceed to con clude an Engineering, Pro curement and Construction Contract (EPC) contract. Should the negotiations fail to conclude a contract by the end of November, he added that Power China might be

engaged.

Some nine firms were, earlier this year, prequalified to bid on the EPC contract and a Request for Propos als (RFP) was issued to the prequalified bidders. At the closing date of September 13, some five bids were received.

FULL STORY ON PAGE 3

11th NOVEMBER, 2022 FRIDAY No. 106903 $100

Exercise,

Guyana prioritising ‘green’ investments amid oil boom - US Ambassador acknowledges AG: Norton wants to disenfranchise overseas-based Guyanese SEE STORY ON PAGE 2 More evidence links Myers to electoral misconduct GECOM’s IT manager tells COI DCEO instructed him to breach ‘emergency protocols’ SEE PAGE 11 SEE PAGE 12 SEE PAGE 5

The Eugene F. Correia International Airport (EFCIA) on Thursday conducted a Live, Full-Scale Emergency Response as required by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) (Delano Williams photos)

Ogle conducts live full-scale emergency response exercise

THE Eugene F. Correia International Airport (EFCIA) on Thursday conducted a Live, FullScale Emergency Re sponse Exercise, which is required by the Interna tional Civil Aviation Or ganisation (ICAO) and the Guyana Civil Avia tion Authority (GCAA). The purpose of the ex ercise was to evaluate the preparedness and capabili ties of the airport, its ten ants, and local response agencies.

During the exercise, crucial operational meth ods such as rescue meth ods, security posture,

operational procedures, processing, and triage of injured victims were as sessed.

The exercise included a staged aircraft and fire demonstration.

More than 20 agencies and organisations from the public and private sectors were involved, including first responders and air port personnel.

Approximately 40 vol unteer actors participated as disaster victims and survivors.

Director-General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority Egbert Field said that this exercise is extremely important when it comes to aviation, and the safety and security of the flying public.

“Exercises like these really help the airport, the fire service, the med

ic, and all the parties in volved to learn what they may not be able to prac tise in the real situation,” Field said.

He added: “They learn from this, so that when

it actually happens, they are properly coordinated, and able to provide the kind of service which is required. This exercise helps the stakeholders with coordination, and to identify who does what and also helps the passen gers, the flying public to get assistance as quickly as possible.”

Jack McGovern, a Bat talion Chief in charge of emergency management, training, and health and safety for the city of Fred ericksburg in Virginia, USA, has been assisting

with the exercise since 2006.

“Today was another successful exercise; it has been about three years since I’ve been down here due to the ‘COVID’ pandemic. My last trip was March of 2019, and I am pleased to report that things have not gone backwards, but have re mained the same or even better … [have] moved forward in all or part of the agencies responsible for the response to mass casualties here at the air port,” McGovern said.

2 GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022

Scenes from the Live Full-Scale Emergency Response Exercise on Thursday (Delano Williams

Cheaper electricity imminent

were evaluated for tech nical compliance by two global engineering firms with expertise in oil and gas, Stantec and Worley, along with an evaluation team of persons includ ing a representative of ExxonMobil.

The team performed the evaluation in accord ance with the technical and economic criteria which were set out in the RFP.

be supervised by a glob al supervision firm, En gineers India Limited.

The Head of State said that the power and NGL plant will be owned by the Govern ment of Guyana and prior to the conclusion of construction, an in ternational firm will be selected to operate the project to international standards and best prac tices.

to achieve energy se curity and a reduction in energy costs for the expansion of the manu facturing and industrial sectors.

By Shamar Meusa

PRESIDENT, Dr. Ir faan Ali, on Thurs day, announced that Cabinet has given its no objection to CH/4Lindsayca for the construction of a 300-megawatt gas-topower plant at Wales, West Bank Demerara.

The Head of State made this announce ment via a live-streamed video message follow ing a Cabinet meeting on Thursday afternoon.

He related that CH4/ Lindsayca was ranked number one to construct the 300 MW combined cycle power plant and natural gas liquids (NGL) plant at Wales.

Dr. Ali went on to say that Cabinet’s no objec tion paves the way for negotiations to proceed to conclude an Engi neering, Procurement and Construction Con tract (EPC) contract. Should the negotiations fail to conclude a con tract by the end of No vember, he added that Power China might be engaged.

Some nine firms were, earlier this year, prequalified to bid on the EPC contract and a Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued to the prequalified bidders. At the closing date of September 13, some five bids were received.

The bids, Dr. Ali said,

President Ali re marked that it was on the basis of the bids sub mitted, along with the clarifications received, that the team unani mously ranked CH4/ Lindsayca as number one and Power China as number two.

“Contract negotia tions will now start with the expectation that a contract will be exe cuted before the end of November,” President Ali said.

Among the key con siderations in the evalu ation was the expected delivery date of the 300MW power plant by December 2024, which both of the top-ranked companies confirmed as the deadline.

While the deadline has been set, the EPC contract is expected to

ExxonMobil is ex pected to deliver the completed pipeline to the power plant by the fourth quarter of 2024, in order to have com missioning and testing of the 300 MW pow er plant by the end of 2024.

“The gas-to-energy project is expected to deliver power at less than half of the current costs. Project genera tion costs, taking ac count of payment for the pipeline, opera tions and maintenance (O&M), and capital cost recovery, shall total less than five US cents per kilowatt-hour,” Dr. Ali related.

He went on to say that it was a signifi cant step forward for the country, as it sets the stage for the nation

“The ordinary fami lies and the ordinary people can feel a sub stantial reduction in the cost of electricity in their pockets and in their households. Just for reference, a family at the end of this project that now pays $20,000 per month in light bill or electricity costs will see that cost coming down to $10,000,” the Head of State said.

In the initial project summary, which was submitted in 2021 to the Environmental Protec tion Agency, ExxonMo bil Guyana said that the project is expected to be executed in several phases.

The project will see the construction and operation of a pipeline

from the Liza Phase One and Liza Phase Two Floating, Produc tion, Storage and Of floading (FPSO) vessels to an onshore NGL and Natural Gas processing plant.

The document noted that this pipeline will transport approximately up to 50 million stand ard cubic feet per day of dry gas to the NGL plant.

According to Exx onMobil, the con struction of the plant is expected to create at least 600 jobs.

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022 3

The intended gas to shore project

President, Dr. Irfaan Ali

-

Cabinet grants approval for construction of 300-megawatt power plant at Wales

Indian company secures US$22M consultancy contract for Wales power plant

ENGINEERS

India

Limited (EIL) has se cured a US$22 million contract to provide con sultancy services for the construction of a 300-megawatt com bined-cycle power plant and natural gas liquids (NGL) plant at Wales, West Bank Demerara.

India’s Minister of Pe troleum and Natural Gas and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Har deep Singh tweeted on Thursday: “As part of this US$22 million assign ment, EIL will provide Consultancy Services for setting up the integrated

plant, and managing the engineering, procurement and construction of the project on behalf of the Guyanese government.”

He said, too, that the award of this contract means that India’s ability and prowess will script another global success story.

“The gas-to-energy project is expected to deliver power at less than half of the current costs.

Project generation costs, taking into account pay ment for the pipeline, op erations and maintenance (O&M), and capital cost recovery shall total less

than five US cents per kilowatt-hour,” Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali said in a virtual message on Thursday.

Contractor, CH4/Lind sayca, was ranked Num ber One to construct the 300-MW combined-cycle power plant and natural gas liquids (NGL) plant.

President Ali said that progress on this project is a significant step forward for Guyana, as it sets the stage for the nation to achieve energy security, and a reduction in energy costs for the expansion of the manufacturing and industrial sectors.

“The ordinary fam ilies, and the ordinary people can feel a sub stantial reduction in the cost of electricity in their pockets and in their households. Just for reference, a family at the end of this project that now pays $20,000 per month in light bill or electricity costs will see that cost coming down to $10,000,” the Head of State said.

In the initial project summary, which was sub mitted in 2021 to the En vironmental Protection Agency (EPA), Exxon Mobil Guyana said that

the project is expected to be executed in several phases.

The project will see the construction and op eration of a pipeline from the Liza Phase One and Liza Phase Two Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) ves

sels to an onshore NGL and Natural Gas process ing plant.

The document noted that this pipeline will transport approxi mately up to 50 million standard cubic feet per day of dry gas to the NGL plant.

4 GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022 L 6 9 15 22 24 26 18 9- 11, 2022 9/11/2022: 5 13 15 18 22 9/11/2022: 6 8 5 9/11/2022: 4 9 4 9/11/2022: 2 4 5 11 17 20 21

India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh

Abrasive and Evasive

FOLLOWING com plaints by the National Communications Net work (NCN) after two of its videographers were attacked and impeded from exercising their pro fessional duties on the job, the Guyana Press Association (GPA) has strongly condemned the actions by a sitting op position parliamentarian, APNU+AFC supporters, and police officers.

In a statement issued Monday, the GPA “con demns” what it called “this most reprehensible act of harassment and intimidation of media workers”.

The national media asso ciation also urged Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton “to first and foremost set the tone

of relations with the media by being forthcoming, with proper and detailed answers rather than being abrasive and evasive when asked for details and supporting evi dence.”

The GPA insisted that “media workers are to be re spected by all…,” and called on “politicians as well as other members of the public to respect the need for media workers to operate in an environment free of intimi dation.”

It warned, “As we ap proach another election cy cle, the GPA expects that the media would be allowed to operate without intimidation, resentment and free from abuse, especially from those who hold political offices.”

Recalling earlier instanc

es of similar actions, the GPA added: “Gone should be the era when a TV news cam era is snatched and taken to Congress Place, media work ers are labeled vultures or identified in an unflattering manner by political figures at public meetings.”

It’s significant that all of the cases of abuse over the decades have been as sociated with or attributed to one major political party before and since 1992, the People’s National Congress (PNC), which has established an unblemished record of violations, with a list of cases always too long for prosecu tion.

The allegations against the PNC over the decades have ranged from the pros ecution of a journalist from

the People’s Progressive Party (PPP)’s Mirror news paper for reporting that a poor farmer’s cow had been electrocuted after straying onto then President Burn ham’s fence, to being ac cused of knowing more than it would like to acknowledge about the murder of Catholic Standard Editor, Catholic priest, Father Bernard Darke.

More recent violations are also well recorded, but most are buried in national and newspaper archives, and the memories of those who lived through similar experi ences for decades.

As the GPA has stated, Opposition Leader Norton must set the stage by stop ping his “abrasive and eva sive” approach to being ques tioned by the media on mat

ters in the public domain, and therefore of public interest.

The PPP and the current PPP/C Administration have never been accused of such gross and blatant violations of press and media freedoms, instead ensuring events and activities for local media and journalists and press entities to annually observe World Press Freedom Day and other UN-observed days, and the themes they put on the global agenda.

Sunday’s actions were flagrant violations of en shrined and established rights of journalists, and it’s sig nificant that the November 6 attack took place only four days after Guyana and other member-states of the United Nations observed Interna tional Day to End Impunity

for Crimes Against Journal ists (November 2), and 13 days before the observance of International Journalists Remembrance Day (Novem ber 19).

It’s rather unfortunate that such fossilised ideas still exist in Guyana, en couraging hostility to inno cent media workers just for doing their jobs, as if they should now have to choose what media houses to work for, if to stay safe on the job anywhere.

All that tells reams of colourful stories, and offer endless bytes to convince Doubting Thomases that no matter how many prayers, leopards still don’t change their spots, including how they see others not looking like them.

APNU+AFC has never been serious about socio-economic development

Dear Editor,

THE APNU+AFC has never been serious about the socioeconomic development of our country, whether they are in government or in Op position.

When in government, the PNC, which is the main stake holder in the APNU+AFC, mismanaged billions of dollars through a multitude of corrupt practices and harebrained poli cies which consequently erod ed the economic gains made by past PPP governments.

This resulted in appalling deprivation and sufferings for Guyanese. This is well-docu mented during the 28 years of the PNC in Government, from 1964 to 1992. This repeated

itself again from 2015 to 2020, when the Coalition was in government, and reversed the progress of the PPP Govern ment.

When the PNC was in op position, they did everything, mostly illegal acts, to stymie the socio-economic progress of the country. For them, the end justifies the means, and they unleashed violent streets protests, daylight rob beries, damage to properties and physical violence on all Guyanese perceived as PPP supporters.

In Parliament, they ob structed all the developmental projects of the PPP Govern ment from 2011 to 2015. From 1992 to 2015, these nefarious

acts are well-documented, and from 2020, after losing the General Elections, the PNC again began to display its destabilising agenda.

The recent walkout from Parliament by the Opposition Leader and his gang is another misguided attempt to gain some publicity and attract the sympathy of its supporters, and this is aptly described by Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister Gail Teixeira as the Coalition fail ing its constituencies by not participating in law-making to build a better society.

She rightfully concluded that the APNU+AFC is be coming more irrelevant, and “it is at its lowest tide as Op

position, and has nothing to contribute.”

A truer statement is hard to find when this is juxtaposed with the actions and utterances of Opposition MP Vinceroy Jordan, who blocked Minister Sonia Parag from accessing the CDC building at Bel ladrum in Region Five. He frankly told the Minister: “We don’t want development.” And he cannot be blamed, since he is simply carrying out the mandate and directives of the Opposition, which has always been to stymie progress and development in our country.

Moreover, the Opposition can no longer mask its inten tion to destroy the country in its bid to gain power once

again, and the President and his government has laid bare this ominous intent.

He made it clear that the developmental thrust of his government will continue in all communities, despite political directives from the Opposition. They cannot con tinue to shout ‘marginalisation and discrimination’, since their own supporters are see ing the truth. No doubt, the APNU+AFC is the sinister architect of marginalising and impoverishing its own people.

The Guyanese people welcome the government’s developmental drive, which is actively transforming each and every community across the country, and this is what

the APNU+AFC is deathly afraid of.

The Coalition has nothing to contribute to Guyana’s de velopment, and will certainly die a natural death, as they continue to block the socioeconomic development of even their support base. We as Guyanese must heed the fervent plea of President Ali: “All of us together must reject them.”

He truly and firmly be lieves in his government’s ability to achieve “One Guy ana”, and this is being mani fested each day. We must not allow the PNC to play its destabilisation games again.

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

6 GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022

Mahipaul’s attempt to save APNU+AFC from revelations of corruption shameless

Dear Editor, THE Auditor General’s annual report for the fis cal year 2021 is out and, not unexpectedly, a sit ting member of the Pub lic Accounts Committee, Opposition Member of Parliament Ganesh Mahi paul is falling over himself to grab onto the floating straws of this report, in a shameless attempt to save his party from drowning under the tons of ugly acts of corruption highlighted in the reports of the Coali tion’s five-year tenure in government, which are currently in the crosshairs of the PAC.

Mahipaul’s pitiful, trig ger-happy deflection tac tic goes to the heart of the desperate struggle of the PNC to muster a modicum of credibility for its very survival as a viable political force. He and others of the PNC are now desperate, as the party begins to implode under the ineptitude of its new leader, Aubrey Norton, who is proving incapable of rising to half the caliber of some of his predecessors, resulting in the party los ing critical ground among its supporters who are now completely disenchanted

with the petty, infantile, little-league representation coming from their leaders.

It is also a puerile at tempt to stave off Norton’s decision to have him re moved from the Public Ac counts Committee, a con cern that he expressed to me personally. It would appear that he is now desperate to prove his residual worth to Norton that he is work ing for the cause and in his interest. His overcompensa tion is very obvious.

Surely, Mahipaul and Norton would relish nothing better than a full deflection of people’s attention from its sordid record of utter failure and rank corruption that almost bankrupted the country, and crashed the economy in just five years.

They don’t want Guya nese to remember the dis astrous ‘COVID’ hospital project which was commis sioned by then President Granger as an empty shell, which drained over a billion dollars of taxpayers’ money.

A shell that the PPP/C government had to then retrofit to make the facil ity fit-for-purpose; or the Albouystown bottom-house health bond rented at a rate of $12 million per month;

or the incompetence that saw them spending millions of dollars on an anesthetic machine for the New Am sterdam Hospital, which turned out to be a machine for sick animals.

They don’t want Guya nese to remember how they squandered over four billion dollars in surplus money, which the previous PPP/C administration left in the Guyana Forestry Commis sion’s account. By the time they demitted office, it was all gone; the Commission was saddled with hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, and had no money to pay staff.

Also, the $7.5 million of taxpayers’ money they gave to the woman whom they used to file the Elec tion Recount challenge; or the $12 million in legal fees they covered from taxpay ers’ money for the private citizen who filed the NoConfidence Motion chal lenge.

And what about the hir ing of party hack, Carol Smith-Joseph as Petroleum Adviser to then President Granger, along with several other high-level posts for which she had no qualifica tions, skills nor aptitude.

And how about the whop ping contract to their party hack Larry London to pro duce birth certificates that were intended to help them rig the elections; and the $25 million Prado bought by Trevor Benn for just $2.5 million from the very Com mission he was heading?

Mahipaul and the PNC expect Guyanese to forget the $16 million the par ty racked up at the Stateowned NCN but never paid.

They want you to forget the millions of dollars in barbershop equipment found in the house of their Parlia mentary Chief Whip Chris topher Jones, purchased un der their SLED programme that was intended to benefit single-parents and other vul nerable citizens, and the multiple tracts of State lands he was gifted.

They are hoping that

you forget the hundreds of millions of dollars in rackets that were being run among party elites through the Demerara Harbour Bridge asphalt plant, and through the Guyana Oil Company.

Pathetically, Mahipaul thinks that by rushing to offer quasi, misplaced in terpretations, exaggera tions and extrapolations of the contents of the Audi tor General’s report on the PPP/C’s first year in office, the eligible members of the Guyanese electorate who are poised to cancel his party’s relevance for Guyana’s new transformational agenda, would forget the $170 bil lion of capital expenditure under the Coalition govern ment yet unaccounted for, or the US$18 million oil contract signing bonus their finance minister treated as a gift. And, worst of all, the

disastrous blood-sucking two-per-cent oil contract their Natural Resources Minister saddled our future generations with.

No amount of race-bait ing, fearmongering, bully ism, obstructionism, dias pora-fueled terrorism, nor guilt-shame smokescreens will be able to save the PNC from the political annihila tion coming their way at the hands of the Guyanese electorate.

In fact, all in the quasileadership of the PNC should take notice, that it is their very petty, infan tile, little-league represen tation that is producing such a mediocre anti-Guy anese, anti-development agenda that will determine their own homemade po litical destruction.

Yours sincerely, Nigel Dharamlall

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022 7

Climate change response needs a rethink

By Orin Gordon

ONE thing we learn early in journalism is that stories of the rescue of cats stuck up trees have more punch in lo cal markets in big coun tries, than stories of 25 people killed in a storm in Bangladesh. We don’t have to like it for it to be true.

People connect more with issues that feel closer to them. Politicians do too, because they’re account able to their electorates and vulnerable to local conditions. This is why there needs to be a fun damental rethink of two of the central initiatives in the response to climate change – $100 billion a

year from rich countries to poor, and taking the tough steps to limit global warm ing to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Rich countries’ govern ments are not sufficiently politically incentivised to give hundreds of millions of dollars to countries that their people and legisla tures consider to be far away. Nor do some – like the Biden administration in the US – have the politi cal wherewithal to take the tough steps to 1.5.

That’s even if the ef fects of climate change don’t respect borders. Even if their representa tives looked ours in the eye and nodded in earnest agreement in Paris seven years ago, and in Glas gow – at COP26 – a year ago everyone is in the

same boat. And the boat isn’t Noah’s Ark, built to transport the chosen out of flood danger. That boat is planet earth.

Nevertheless, those two initiatives have been increasingly shown to be unrealistic. There are ac counting issues with that $100 billion, into which I’ll dive deeper in anoth er conversation. There’s financial pressure from shrunken economic activ ity because of the COV ID-19 pandemic, high gas prices and high grain prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a major global supplier of wheat.

The issue isn’t wheth er, collectively, the big, rich countries can afford it. They can. The figure

wasn’t arrived at arbitrar ily. It took years of care ful, deliberative talks and negotiations between gov ernments and institutions that support the climate change response. Unre alistic and unaffordable aren’t the same thing.

About the 1.5, The Economist didn’t pull punches in its leader that previewed COP27, this week’s climate summit at the Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt.

“Many activists are re luctant to admit that 1.5°C is a lost cause. But failing to do so prolongs the mis takes made in Paris, where the world’s governments adopted a Herculean goal without any plausible plan for reaching it. The del egates gathering in Egypt should be chastened by failure, not lulled by false hope. They need to be more pragmatic, and face up to some hard truths”.

The Republicans are broadly opposed to any proposal on combating climate change. The exec utive and legislative lead ership of the US haven’t sold most voters on the urgency of the proposals that would mitigate cli mate change. It’s not easy, but the simple fact is that they haven’t.

The well-intentioned and hardworking people leading on climate change

mitigation need to rethink their approach. Many of them should spend less time in seaside, air-condi tioned conference rooms and more time with people who have the power to move legislatures – voters.

Outside of them and specialist journalists, no one in my conversation circles in T&T is talking about the issues they’re discussing at Sharm. The World Bank is rolling out an initiative called SCALE, which it says is “the new partnership to catalyse transformative climate action”.

There’s more tortured language to explain it – I don’t have the space to relay it in full. But it’s strikingly badly commu nicated, and a failure to clearly engage the public.

What have we been talking about a lot recent ly? Rain and floods. Is

there a nexus with climate change? The climate sci entists say there is. Where is the aggressive public messaging that draws the line? Who is engag ing coal miners in West Virginia, working with Manchin on laying out a vision for a post-coal future? You shift legisla tures and governments by shifting voters. Too much of what is happening in Sharm looks like preach ing to the converted.

We have tremendous advocates such as Barba dos Prime Minister Mia Mottley, a global force who gets engagement and can twist arms like few others can, and who has the gift of clarity. Guy ana’s, Dr. Irfaan Ali is smart to use his coun try’s leverage, through its mostly unexploited rainforest. If you want the world to maintain its lungs, you have to pay the medical bill. In developing countries, we don’t have much leverage to compel funding.

Sharm needs Mot tley. Is everyone who is there serving the cause as effectively as they could? Preaching has utility, but everyone can’t have a pulpit. You need other people to do the ushering, to clean the hall and to take the collection.

8 GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022

Orin Gordon

Boost for manufacturers, relief for citizens anticipated

By Naomi Parris

THE manufacturing capacity of the coun try will soon be sig nificantly enhanced as Guyana moves ahead with plans to construct a 300-megawatt com bined cycle power plant and natural gas liquids (NGL) plant at Wales, West Bank Demerara.

This is the belief of Halim Khan, Head of the Region Three Pri vate Sector Inc. (R3P Si), who, on Thursday said that the project will be a ‘big boost’ to the region.

Cabinet gave its no objection to ranking CH4/Lindsayca as num ber one for the construc tion of the 300-MW combined-cycle power plant and natural gas liquids (NGL) plant.

“We have many manufacturing compa nies here in the region, and this would help to bring down the cost of electricity for residents, and not just for busi nesses,” Khan said.

With the plant lo cated in one of the cen tral areas in the region, Khan anticipates a big boom in the manufac turing sector.

He said that the re gion has been recently

tapping into the agroprocessing industry, but stakeholders have not been able to reach their full potential.

So, in Khan’s view, the much-anticipated power plant will see the region becoming much more attractive, thereby paving the way for large investment opportuni ties.

Head of the Ru pununi Chambers of Commerce and Indus try, Daniel Gajie said: “Guyana has waited many decades for a re lief in the supply of electricity in terms reliability and afford ability. The announce ment made today by the President is certainly refreshing and most welcoming.”

He noted that the cost of electricity in the hinterland regions like Region Nine (Upper Ta kutu –Upper Essequibo) is much higher com pared to the coastland.

“We in Region Nine are extremely happy that the cost for electric ity will be affordable; the cost to manufac ture our goods will be greatly reduced because electricity is a main in put item to production,” Gajie said.

During a live broad cast on Thursday, Presi

dent Ali announced that contract negotiations for the project will begin, in the hope of the project being delivered by De cember 2024.

In reaffirming the viability of the project recently, former Presi dent and current VicePresident, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo highlighted that the initiative could see Guyana saving approxi mately US$150 million on power generation annually.

“What this brings is long-term stability to the price, so we are immune from future market fluctuations, especially the upward movement of the cost of the Bunker C and other fossil fuels,” Dr. Jagdeo told a recent press con ference.

Once realised, he said, the project could also mean less black outs, and a more reliable supply of power across the country.

Corentyne labourer who allegedly murdered pregnant wife remanded

A 35-year-old Corentyne man appeared before the Whim Magistrate’s Court, on Thursday, charged with fatally chopping his wife, Oman Devi Virasammy.

Mahendra Paltoo called “Ajay”, of 171 Bloomfield New Housing Scheme, was not required to plead to the murder charge and was remanded to prison until December 12

As he made his way to the courtroom, Paltoo ap peared emotionless and was seen smiling.

According to reports, between 19:00 hours on No vember 6 and 04:40 hours on November 7, Paltoo in flicted several chops to his wife following an argument. She had accused him of be ing unfaithful.

Paltoo initially told in vestigators that Virasammy was making the bed for their toddler when she slipped and fell on a cutlass which was lodged between two mattresses on the bedroom floor. He reportedly claimed that this was how she re ceived an injury to her an

kle.

It was said that Paltoo assisted in dressing the wound, and Virasammy subsequently retired to bed.

When Paltoo checked on his wife several hours later, he found her motionless in a pool of blood. This prompt ed him to call his parents to take her to the hospital.

Upon seeing the wom an’s lifeless body, Paltoo’s parents took him to the po

lice station to make a report. However, ranks arrested him.

Meanwhile, a post mor tem examination indicated that the young woman died as a result of shock and hemorrhage due to a cut artery on her foot.

Virasammy was the mother of a one -year -old daughter and at the time of her death she was six months pregnant.

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022 9

Mahendra Paltoo arrives at the Whim Magistrate’s Court - private sector says, as plans progress further for 300-megawatt power plant Halim Khan, Head of the Region Three Private Sector Inc. (R3PSi) An artist’s impression of the Natural Gas Plant that will be constructed at Wales, West Bank Demerara (Source: EEPGL) Head of the Rupununi Chambers of Commerce and Industry Daniel Gajie

‘We will not be daunted, diverted from delivering development’

SENIOR Minister in the Office of the Presi dent with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, has joined Pres ident, Dr. Irfaan Ali, other ministers of gov ernment and the pub lic in condemning, in the strongest possible terms, the conduct of opposition Member of Parliament, Vinceroy Jordan towards Min ister of Public Service, Sonia Parag.

Minister Parag was barred from entering a Community Develop ment Council building by Jordan and a group of APNU+AFC activists, during a recent visit to Belladrum, Region Five, to deliver on prior com mitments by President Ali.

“Here is a sitting min

ister of government go ing into a community in an attempt to ascertain what the primary con cerns are of the com munity to address those concerns, and to help to bring development to the community; a community like so many others that had been neglected by the APNU+AFC for five years.

“Minister Parag goes into the community to engage with the people of that community and with the intention of pro viding whatever support could be provided in a short term, and then sub sequently medium and longer term to address the concerns of the com munity… to my utter as tonishment, I saw a report that says Mr. Vinceroy Jordan, APNU+AFC MP,

stated [that] they don’t want development in the community. He doesn’t want development in the community, and even if he wants development in the community govern ment must have nothing to do with it.

“Well, I have news for you. This people’s Progressive Party/Civic Government is a gov ernment for all of the Guyanese people in all 10 regions, and in every sin gle village. And we will continue to work hard to improve the lives of the Guyanese people in all 10 regions,” Minister Singh pointed out.

He questioned how Jordan, as a sitting MP, could obstruct and refuse to engage with a minister, who is visiting the com munity to engage with

citizens with the intent to improve their liveli hoods

“I want to say pub licly that this People’s Progressive Party/ Civic Government, led by His Excellency, President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, will not be daunted or divert ed from delivering devel opment and improvement of the lives of all of the Guyanese people. That is our commitment to you and we will honour that commitment,” Minister Singh said.

He called out Jordan for “pretending” to repre sent the Guyanese people yet hindering their devel opment.

“Whether it is skills training, whether it is so cial infrastructure, which ever. Here is a sitting APNU+AFC Member of Parliament saying they don’t want development in this community. That was the most shocking and shameful thing that I’ve seen in a very long

time. And furthermore, the bullyism, almost to behave like the govern ment minister had no business being there. Guyana belongs to all the Guyanese people, not to the APNU+AFC alone,” Dr. Singh said.

He pointed out that the APNU+AFC appears to be more intent on ob structing, rather than fa cilitating development for the people they claim to represent.

“It is the role of any responsible political party

to encourage, facilitate and support development, rather than to obstruct it. So, I want to condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the attempt made by Mr. Vinceroy Jordan to obstruct development in Belladrum,” Dr. Singh related.

He reiterated the PPP/C Government’s commitment to deliver ing on its commitment to improve the lives of all Guyanese, regardless of the actions of the op position. (DPI)

10 GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022

- Dr. Singh says, condemns MP Jordan’s ‘bullyism’

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh

Norton wants to disenfranchise overseas-based Guyanese

visitors’ visas. And, accord ing to Norton, the list is bloated by some 200,000 voters.

However, the AttorneyGeneral pointed out that nonresidency is not a basis for the removal of a Guyanese from the voters’ list.

LEGALLY LISTED

This, he said, also defeats Norton’s rhetoric that the vot ers’ list is bloated. Nandlall said the list cannot be bloated if the people that are on it are there legally.

“If they are qualified electors how can they be considered a bloat? He [Nor ton] says in his statement that the list is bloated by 200,000 persons. The people who got this visa permanent or tempo rary, in accordance with the Constitution or the law can vote if they are registered. The people that he’s speaking about are qualified to vote in Guyana or be registered. If they are lawfully on the list, how the list can be bloated?” Nandlall questioned.

As it is now, once a Guy anese is registered to vote at an election in Guyana, there is no requirement that he/she must be resident in Guyana or out of Guyana.

This law was reinforced in the 2019 ruling of the Chief Justice (ag), Roxanne George, in which she estab lished that the failure of reg istered persons to be present or resident during a “house to house” exercise by the Guyana Elections Commis sion (GECOM) would not be

a criterion to remove a person from the NRR or OLE, since to remove that person on the basis of residency would be unconstitutional.

A person’s name can only be deleted if he/she no longer meets the qualifying criteria on the Article 159 (2) of the Constitution.

In order for this consti tutional establishment to be changed, it would require the acquiescence of at least twothirds majority of the 65-mem ber National Assembly.

ATTORNEY-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C., on Tuesday, accused Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton, of wanting to uni laterally change the Con stitution to disenfranchise overseas- based Guyanese, even if they are only tem porarily out of the country.

Nandlall established that the People’s Progres sive Party Civic (PPP/C) would not be colluding with the APNU+AFC to change voting requirements in the Constitution without first going through a consultative process, which gives Guya nese people a chance for their voices to be heard.

The Attorney-General shared his position on Tues day, during his weekly online show, “Issues in the News,” where he addressed state ments made earlier that day by Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton.

“I want Guyanese in the diaspora to know, Guyanese in Brooklyn and areas which are supporting the Opposi tion, they want to disenfran chise you. The political party that you support, they want to disqualify you from ever be ing registered in Guyana and from voting in Guyana. And they’re prepared to partner with the PPP/C so much that they want to disenfranchise you and deny you of your right to vote in Guyana,” Nandlall said.

Norton, during his week ly press conference on Tues day morning, acknowledged that changes to the voters’ list could only be done through changes to the Constitution, and called for the PPP/C to join with the APNU+AFC

to make residency a require ment for Guyanese to be eligible to be on the Na tional Register of Regis trants (NRR) from which the Official List of Electors is extracted for elections.

However, according to Nandlall, though the PPP/C has promised constitutional reform and remains commit ted to that promise, this is premised on the commitment that it would be done through a process of public consulta tion and changes made would be guided by the suggestions and recommendations of the Guyanese people.

The Attorney-General affirmed that the PPP/C will not be entering into any se cret deal with the Opposition Leader or the APNU+AFC to change any part of the Constitution, without first going through a consultative process.

“We are committed to a constitutional reform pro cess. And we have passed a Bill outlining how that con stitutional process will take place. If during that process the people of the country want a different type of re quirement for registration and voting, then the process will determine that. We will not unilaterally impose that on the people of our country. That is our promise and that is the promise upon which we will deliver,” Nandlall affirmed.

Claiming to cite US Homeland Security Statis tics, Norton, during his press conference, said that there are approximately 200,000 Guyanese migrants with per manent visas living in the US, and another 50,000 that are in the US on temporary

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022 11

Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C. -

AG says, affirms PPP/C not willing to change Constitution without consultation with Guyanese people

Guyana prioritising ‘green’ investments amid oil boom

- US Ambassador acknowledges

By Naomi Parris

GUYANA has been making significant strides in sus taining a green economy by balancing development in its energy sector and non-oil re sources, US Ambassador to

Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch has said.

The ambassador, in a re cent appearance on the Plaza Central podcast, highlighted the efforts that have been and are being made to achieve sustainable development and

utilise renewable energy.

“Guyana is well aware that oil is a finite resource, and they know that they need to invest a good portion of their oil and gas resources into renewable energy, and they are doing so and planning to

do more of that,” Lynch said. The country, for instance, has a sovereign wealth fund that replicates the Norway model, which sees the country saving the oil profits to invest in key development initiatives and transition away from fos sil fuels.

“[Given the heavy de pendence on fossil fuels] these funds should give them [Guy ana] the ability to prioritise green investments. And they are looking at hydropower, [a] 165-megawatt facility in the central part of the country. They’re just starting to ex plore wind. And then they do have their flagship 300-mega watt gas to energy project, whereby they are viewing gas as a transition to the greener energy models,” the ambas sador related.

She reiterated that the government’s top priority is to lower the cost of electricity, which is among the highest in the region.

Meanwhile, on the leg islative side, she noted that Guyana has established a Low Carbon Development Strategy 2030, which addresses many issues.

“…It really lays out the

Government of Guyana’s vi sion to balance energy secu rity, food security and climate security. It’s more or less their economic development plan for the nation, and they had a good consultative process associated with it, which was very encouraging,” Ambas sador Lynch said.

FORESTRY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Further, she added that Guyana’s rich forestry sec tor could become one of its greatest assets in achieving its renewable energy goals.

“86 per cent of the na tion of Guyana is covered in forest and it stores 19.5 gigatonnes of carbon…so, if managed properly, the forest truly is their long-term asset, but they will need to continue to invest in forest and forest management,” the ambassador related.

She added: “Guyana does have one of the richest rain forests in the world and serves as one of the few carbon negative economies and so they are well aware that their forest must be protected. So there are a lot of encouraging signs on the green side of the equation here.”

Ambassador Lynch high lighted that Guyana has been eager to sign on to many cli mate initiatives like “REno vables in Latin America and the Caribbean” (RELAC), Agriculture Innovation Mis sion (AIM) for Climate and the recent U.S.-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis 2030 (PACC 2030).

These partnerships, ac cording to the US ambassa dor, addresses climate crisis, with new, fresh commitments to climate adaptation, resil ience and clean energy across the Caribbean.

“So, they’re very eager to sign up for these things. They well know the need to do so,” Lynch said, adding, however, that the country is faced with a challenge as it relates to capacity.

“What the issue is? The challenge is capacity,” she said, adding:” It’s a small country, small population of under a million people. They don’t currently have all the talent in all these areas to do everything that they want to do. So, they will need to import some talent to address these issues going forward. But the legislation is being put in place and the passion and commitment are there.”

There have been pro gressive steps locally to en hance the country’s human resource capacity, and those include the establishment of the Guyana Online Learn ing Academy (GOAL) schol arship initiative, plans for an oil and gas institute and other investments in areas of academia and technical and vocational education and training (TVET).

Mason gets 16 years for raping 12-year-old girl

A 22-year-old mason was, on Monday, sentenced to 16 years in prison for rap ing a 12-year-old girl in 2020.

The sentence was hand ed down by Justice Sandil Kissoon at the Demerara High Court.

During the sentencing hearing, the court heard that Orvin Smith had previously served a 24-month sentence for two counts of break and enter and larceny.

He was also previously charged for rape of a minor, but the case was dismissed.

In his probation report, Smith admitted committing the offence but said he was unaware of the victim’s age at that time.

Meanwhile, the victim, in her statement, related that, at the age of 12 years, herself

and Smith established a close relationship via telephone. She said that the relationship got serious when they began engaging in sexual activities.

According to her, they had sexual intercourse about four to five times at her home.

She said that she was unaware that a video of their sexual activities was created by Smith. She discovered its existence after it went viral.

After the release of the video, teen said “she felt embarrassed, sad and was depressed and on many oc casions, she locked herself in her room and attempted suicide since she believed that her family and commu nity members were aware of the video.”

Additionally, she refused to eat and would experience

sleepless nights and her mind would often “wander away” during school sessions.

Fortunately, her aca demic performance was not badly affected. She was able to gain an average score at her examinations after the incident.

She asked the court to impose the “rightful penalty” on Smith so as to prevent similar occurrences.

In handing down his decision, Justice Kissoon considered the prevalence of such offences here in Guyana, and the fact that Smith took advantage of the closeness he shared with the victim and her family.

In addition to jail time, Smith will have to under go counselling and enroll in courses offered by the prison service.

12 GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022

United States Ambassador, Sarah-Ann Lynch

Flood-affected Lower Pomeroon farmers to get timely support

- following visit by President Ali

FARMERS affected by floods resulting from ex cessive rainfall, could ex pect some level of relief, as President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, has announced that funds will be disbursed to repair two excavators to assist with drainage works in the Lower Pomeroon area, Region Two.

The President made this announcement, on Tuesday morning, during an engage ment with cash-crop farm ers at two locations along the Lower Pomeroon River.

Dr. Ali was accompa nied on his visit by Ag riculture Minister, Zulfi kar Mustapha, Regional Chairperson of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Two, Vilma De Silva and engineers from the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA).

Addressing farmers at Tennessee farm, the Head

of State said that funds will be disbursed to repair the excavators, so that drainage works could be increased, in order to rid the land of excess water.

He also told farmers that the Minister of Agriculture will revisit the area on Fri day to further assess the situation.

Farmers requested the building of dams, empol dering and cash incentives, among other things.

“We depend on this for our livelihood. Every time it rains we are flooded and we have to start all over again… we need the prob lem to fix and our farm lands to build” a farmer related.

At Hackney Canal, President Ali met with other cash-crop farmers and assured them that Minister Mustapha would conduct a follow-up visit on Friday.

Rupununi farmer gets 12 years for killing Brazilian man over ‘Labba’ meat

A 40-year-old Moco-Moco Village, Rupununi farmer, was, on Tuesday, sentenced to 12 years in prison for fatally stabbing his drinking buddy in 2018.

Darren Williams called “Fox” was sentenced by Justice Brassington Reynolds at the Demerara High Court.

Last month, the murder charge was read to Williams but he opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.

He admitted that, on December 29, 2018, at Moco-Moco Village, he unlawfully killed Elvis Aulicio, a 44-year-old farmer of Bon Fin, Brazil.

According to reports, Williams and Aulicio were known to each other and, on the day in question, they were at a birthday party consuming alcohol.

An argument ensued between the men after Williams ac cused Aulicio of stealing his labba meat from his haversack.

Reports are that after Aulicio left the party, Williams fol lowed him to the Moco-Moco Savannah and stabbed him to the neck with a knife.

Williams left Aulicio there to die and made good his escape. The body was later discovered by passersby.

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022 13

President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, on Tuesday, met with farmers along the Lower Pomeroon River Darren Williams called ‘Fox’

Food security approaches must be compatible with climate actions

stakeholders at IICA event

MINISTER of Natu ral Resources, Vickram Bharrat, has said that approaches to food secu rity need to be compat ible with actions to adapt to climate change as well as efforts to maintain for ests and other ecosystem services.

The minister shared his

views at an Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) event, which focused on opportunities for new ag ricultural practices to ad dress food security across the Americas.

During the event, which was part of the 27th conference of parties to

the United Nations Frame work Convention on Cli mate Change (UNFCCC), (COP27), the minister spoke of how Guyana is leading CARICOM’s Food and Nutrition Security ef forts.

Bharrat said: “Our mis sion focused on ensuring the protection of our citi

zens’ livelihoods and our goal is to action ’25 by 25’ meaning to cut food imports by 25 per cent by 2025, amounting to sav ings of over US$5 billion.”

He also cautioned that it is impossible to separate these issues from action on climate change, which is the main focus of COP27.

Minister Bharrat was joined at the event by for mer Norwegian Minister of Environment, Erik Sol heim – who had signed the ground-breaking Guy ana-Norway Agreement in 2009.

At that time, the Guy ana-Norway Agreement was the second largest of its kind in the world and supported the 2008 Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).

For the period 2009 to 2015, Norway paid Guy ana in excess of US$211 million in recognition of Guyana’s forest manage ment – this money is be ing invested in renewable energy, adaptation to cli mate change, Amerindian land titling, Information

and Communications Technology access in the hinterland, and develop ment projects across the country.

At the event in Egypt, Minister Bharrat high lighted the progress made since the original LCDS was launched – culminat ing in this year’s launch of the LCDS 2030, which was produced after a sev en-month national consul tation.

Afterwards, the min ister discussed the LCDS 2030 with Solheim and updated him on plans to evolve the original Guyana-Norway Agree ment’s system of pay ments for forest climate services to integrate vol untary carbon markets.

Man found guilty of raping sleeping woman

RUDOLPH Williams called ‘Stewart’ was, on Monday, found guilty of breaking into a 22-yearold woman’s house and raping her while she slept.

Williams, 34, was on trial before Justice Sandil Kissoon in the Sexual Of fences Court of the Dem erara High Court.

He had denied raping the victim between Sep tember 29-30, 2021.

The jury, after delib erating for more than two hours, found Williams

guilty of the crime. The convicted man will be sen tenced on December 5.

A probation report on Williams will be presented to the court prior to the sentencing.

The State was repre sented by State Counsel Cicelia Corbin, Caressa Henry and Marisa Ed wards.

Reports are that the victim woke during the rape and raised an alarm. Williams was arrested and later charged.

14 GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat and former Norwegian Minister of Environment, Erik Solheim - Minister Bharrat tells international

Meadow Bank fisherfolks welcome intervention by President Ali

good day.”

“[The catch] fluctuates. Some boats bring plenty and some boats bring ‘lil bit’ [and] it improving right now… the grant has helped me out a lot because it makes me able to buy more [for my fish] business…. I say thanks for the grant and I am looking forward to more [interventions],” Narine said.

Kunti Bisnauth, one of the vendors at the facility, spoke about her experience since security measures were implemented.

agement within the co-op society to make sure things are better,” Lewis said.

President Ali made an impromptu visit to the lo cation to experience firsthand the challenges faced by the stakeholders at the wharf.

Fishermen, vendors, and other stakeholders had voiced concerns about the conditions under which they ply their trade.

The President immedi

the hundreds of fisherfolks who utilise the wharf.

Further, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, during another visit, responded to the is sues raised and indicated that efforts would be made to restore the facility.

The minister said, at that time, that some funds would be made available to carry out some repairs, and, hope fully, next year, provi

STAKEHOLDERS at the Meadow Bank Wharf, East Bank Demerara, and the Georgetown Fish ermen Co-op Society, on Wednesday, shared their

views on the improve ments at the facility, fol lowing a recent visit by President, Dr. Irfaan Ali.

Fisherman, Ramlall Narine, told the Depart

ment of Public Information (DPI) that he has been in the fishing business for 35 years. He said catch has been fluctuating between a “good day and a not-so-

“Crime has eased down, so it helps you [and] I feel more comfortable, and a lil bit safer,” Bisnauth said.

Meanwhile, fisherman, Troy Lewis said: “We got two of the interventions, one of it is we get the light, which is very good because we need that and also, we are thankful for the security that he [Presi dent Ali] had put here at the outpost… so there is a great lot of improvement, but the main thing is that the wharf needs taking care of… we also need better leadership and man

ately instructed that a task force be established to ad vance a long-term master plan to ensure a conducive working environment for

sions could be made through the budgeting process, “to do massive work and to rehabilitate this area”. (DPI)

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022 15

A vendor at the Meadow Bank Wharf, Kunti Bisnauth Fisherman, Ramlall Narine Fisherman, Troy Lewis

16 GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022 17

Poonam Singh stuns, as usual, with new ‘Sick and Tired’ music video

By Telesha Ramnarine

THERE’S nothing anyone can say that would make Poonam Singh change her mind about singing and performing because she knows all too well that she has exactly what it takes to succeed and make it big in the entertainment arena.

Even with all of the hate speech and negativity that she constantly has to deal with, Poonam chooses not to dedicate any of her energy to such.

She cannot help but no tice all the love and positiv ity that she’s been getting from her New York fans, especially since the launch

of her new ‘Sick and Tired’ music video last Friday.

“I look at everything positively, but at the end of the day you have to be real istic and speak of the facts,” she said in an interview with The Buzz this week, adding, “I find that people here (New York) support you and love your story compared to some of my Guyanese people who hate on me a lot; they say mean things about me and they continue to do that.”

It doesn’t stop Poonam from spreading her wings though. At the moment, she’s busy carving out her place in the New York mar ket with the kind of support that makes her believe that

there’s indeed a space for her there.

“Right now, I am trying to promote myself interna tionally. I’m in New York and will be here for most of the time. I feel like I’ve con quered Guyana and did the best that I could’ve done, so now I am spreading my wings and trying to break into the US market,” she expressed.

In fact, Poonam is cur rently working out a deal with Wealth Nation, a re cord label that has Sony as its parent company.

With plans to work on a full album, Poonam has seen the wisdom in putting out singles for now as she works on building her name in the overseas industry.

Speaking a little about her most recent release, Poonam started by saying that the ‘Sick and Tired’ lyrics are based on someone else’s experience.

She usually gains inspi ration for her songs through

listening to other people’s stories.

“I love writing songs from what others share with me because my life is not that exciting,” she joked.

The music video, which is her first to be shot in New York City, tells the story of a woman who is tired doing her best for a guy who is full of himself, indecisive and is in multiple relation ships. She decides to stop being the woman he wishes her to be and, instead, use all of her energy to follow her dreams.

If you’re thinking that at the end of the video Poo nam poisoned the fellow before leaving him, you’re wrong!

“She did put something in his drink because he always comes home and bosses her around and tell her to cook and do stuff for him while he just sits there

and watches TV. A lot of people think that she poi soned him, but she didn’t; she just put something to knock him out so that he can fall asleep and she can leave. It was hard for her to leave because he was always around,” Poonam clarified.

“This is something that my producer/director and I came up with for fun; it was spontaneous. Nobody was harmed in making the video,” she again joked, adding, “Sometimes it’s good to be creative and to put a twist on things.”

Poonam is grateful to those Guyanese fans who support her unconditionally.

“I always have so much respect for them. I also wish the people who hate on me well, because I don’t believe in giving energy to any kind of neg ativity,” she said.

18 GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022

Poonam Singh’s new music video ‘Sick and Tired’ was released last Friday (Photo courtesy of Poonam Singh)

Who will be crowned Miss East Coast 2022?

THIS year’s Miss East Coast Pageant will be held tomorrow at Tipperary Hall in Buxton, and is expected to be a very competitive affair.

Naomi Parris recently spoke with nine of the delegates and this is what they had to say about themselves and their future plans.

Delegate #1- Miss Melanie, Izannah Roberts

“At 21 years old, I can say proudly that I have achieved a lot despite …a host of trials and tribulations. Through those lows, being the tough and resilient young woman that I am, I have been able to ‘rise like a phoenix.’ I do believe that these blessings and positives in my life have a lot to do with the village from which I came; the strong, positive, and die-hard vibes that emanate from each resident of Melanie. My platform is mental health. My platform can appeal to my villagers and others so that they can understand that it’s okay to take a break, to unwind and to rest so that you can take care of your mind, soul and body.”

Delegate #2- Miss Turkeyen,

Latonyia Williams

“I am 26-year-old Latonyia Nikketa Williams. A woman of beauty, integrity, equality and modesty, who continues to be led forth into ever widening pastures by her continued in tellectual growth. I am a proud Guyanese woman who stands tall to represent the most educated village - Turkeyen. As a peace ambassador and an entrepreneur who is making strides in the field of health, I am determined to contribute to the overall growth and development of my beloved country Guyana by using my talent to bring people and nature together. Strongly upholding my platform, forest conservation, our dreams will not only come alive but flourish. As an ardent advocate of forest conservation, I would use my platform to bring about positive changes to my community by ensuring its health, social, economic, and environ mental benefits are maintained. Also, I would implement a youth conserving and planting exercise (YCAPE) programme so that the youths of today can, not just learn how to conserve, but also learn to gain financial benefits.”

Delegate #3- Miss Buxton, Nutanda Blair

“I am Nutanda Blair, a dy namic and resilient 20-year-old graduate student of Josel Educa tional Institution, who is currently studying to become a pediatrician. The platform I was given is eth nic marginalisation. If given the opportunity to use my platform to bring about a positive change in my community, I would col laborate with the Ministry of Education and the Region Four Education Department to get per mission to go into schools to bring awareness on my topic so that we can educate the young minds on how to eradicate this phenomenon and line of thought.”

Delegate #4 – Miss Annadale, Qweiasha Sealey

“My name is Qweiasha Aka lya Sealey, a proud 17-year-old who was born and raised in the village that is known for its mar ket rush, Annandale. I attended the Bladen Hall Multilateral Sec

ondary School and will be pursu ing studies at the Guyana Nursing School because I love to help and care for persons. My platform is bullying in schools. Bullying is a repeated aggressive behaviour towards an individual. While bullying can be persistent, it can be so subtle that teachers are not aware of it. If I am to be crowned this year’s Miss East Coast, I will use my platform to connect with mostly students. I will set up small non-governmental work shops so that they won’t feel left out and will also feel equally loved…so that bullying would be eradicated from the school.”

Delegate #5 – Miss Friendship, Shakell Lewis

“Beautiful, bold, and opti mistic are just a few of the words I would use to narrate myself. I am Miss Shakell Tatiana Lewis representing the village of Friend ship that was well known for its sugar cane production. If I am to be crowned Miss East Coast 2022, to bring to life my platform - cultural art form - I would first like to refurbish our Friendship library where residents of Tur keyen all the way to Ann’s Grove can have access to it, enabling us to expound on our knowledge of our own history.”

Delegate #6 – Miss Vigilance, Alicia Baptiste

“I am Alicia Baptiste, an in dustrious and dedicated 19-yearold, who has just completed [her] secondary education at the Bladen Hall Multilateral School. My wish is to pursue studies at the University of Guyana, while attending the Cyril Potter College of Education. I have a passion for teaching and I want to share my knowledge with the future generation. The platform I was given to analyse is sea defence. If I’m given the opportunity to use my platform to bring about a pos itive change in my community, I will go house-to-house educating persons, both old and young, about the sea defence and the importance of it to all of us. I will encourage persons to come out and assist in cleaning the seawall [area] and planting mangroves. I believe they [mangroves] are as important to us as anything else in the world.”

Delegate #7 – Miss Enmore, Nikeesha Baksh

“Driven by the desire to achieve great things, I am dele gate number seven, Miss Nikee sha Baksh. Buoyant, avid, and charismatic are just some of my many traits. I strongly believe in preparing our children for the future without the need for class competition. Thus, my platform is grade retention in schools. Win ning the Miss East Coast title will

be more than a face to me…I in tend to make a substantial impact on my community to improve and educate as many young people as possible.”

Delegate #9 – Miss Paradise, Travina Durant

“Who am I? I am a showstop ping beauty with a mind like no other. After my time in college, I decided I wanted to further my education. At the time classes were being offered online. This was how I be gan my psychology journey. My platform is information and com munication technology (ICT) and it’s a platform which I hold dear to my heart as I was once a ‘tech’ student. If given the opportunity to become this year’s Miss East Coast queen, I am going to work diligently with the Ministry of Education and small organisations to have technology-based classes offered in my village and other villages along the East Coast for those persons who may be inter ested in expanding their intellect, but may not have the funds to do so on their own.”

Delegate #10 – Miss Ann’s Grove, Younette Stephney

“Introducing the spectacular Miss Ann’s Grove, a beautiful young lady who goes by the name Younette Stephney. Miss Ann’s Grove is a 23-year-old, a mother of one, a teacher at the Vryhied’s Lust Primary School and a stu dent at the Cyril Potter College of Education. I wish to one day hold a degree in early childhood development, a degree in educa tion, and a master’s in education.

Miss Ann’s Grove stands with the platform eco-tourism, which simply means, ‘responsible travel to natural areas that conserve the environment, sustain the wellbe ing of local people and involve interpretation and education.’

This platform also touches on the educational aspect in which I will be involved and which I have a passion for. If crowned queen, I hope to use my influence to assist with eco-tourism in Guyana and be a part of that great journey.”

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022 19

Izannah Roberts Alicia Baptiste Nikeesha Baksh Travina Durant Younette Stephney Latonyia Williams Nutanda Blair Qweiasha Sealey Shakell Lewis

Massive celebration planned for Victoria’s 183rd anniversary

WITH a long list of events slated for its 183rd anniversa ry, the village of Victoria will come alive from November 12 to November 27.

Organised by Cool Crew Promotion and the A-Team, this year’s celebration is anticipated to be a grand one, with activities for the young, the old and the in-between.

Lynton Luke of Cool Crew Promotion told The Buzz that the celebration will feature a church service, gospel concert, primary school quiz competition on the history of the village, athletics, dominoes, cricket and football competitions, senior citizen celebration, basketball, J’ouvert, village day, and kara oke competitions.

Cool Crew Promotion prides itself in catalyzing social and

cultural events and functions in Victoria for the educational uplift and social development of youths, Luke said before adding that these activities are positive alternatives to unsocial and det rimental behaviour.

The A-Team has also been promoting and managing events along the East Coast corridor over the years.

According to Luke, this year’s theme and events aim to galvanise villagers to play new roles in the development of the community in harmony with the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), the Region Four administration, and central government.

Deemed the “mother of all villages”, Victoria is the first village in Guyana to be bought by freed slaves.

It is located on the Atlantic coast of the country, 18 miles east of the capital city George town and is bordered by Cove and John to the west and Bel field to the east.

In November 1839, a year and three months after being freed from slavery, approxi mately 83 ex-slaves from five nearby estates: Hope, Douch four, Ann’s Grove, Paradise and Enmore, pooled their savings which amounted to $6000.

They were able to use that money to make a down payment on the purchase price ($10,000) for Plantation Northbrook. The plantation was later renamed in honour of England’s Queen Victoria and the abolition of slavery which was deemed a ‘victory’ for the ex-slaves.

Sumfest organisers close to inking 30-year venue lease

(Jamaica Observer)ORGANISERS of Reg gae Sumfest say they are close to hammering out a 30-year lease for use of the festival’s long-time venue, Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex

in Montego Bay. With that deal in hand, they plan to pump millions of dollars into upgrading the venue and opening it up to other event or ganisers throughout the year.

“It’s soon, maybe this month, I’m pushing hard to get it done. It’s a lease arrangement and it’s a pretty big commit ment,” DownSound En tertainment Chairman Joe Bogdanovich said of the

timeline for wrapping up negotiations.

“We’re in the process of doing that; I’ve been told it’s any day now or any week now,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Discussions are un derway between legal teams from the Urban De velopment Corporation (UDC) and Downsound Entertainment, where Bogdanovich is chairman.

Deputy chairman for Summerfest Productions, Robert Russell, said ma jor improvements are planned for the venue.

“It’s a complete de velopment and it’s going to cost several hundred millions of dollars but we’re convinced that it is a good investment for Ja maica and for the music,” he divulged.

“We’ll be showcasing our culture, our food, our music. Literally ev ery day we plan to have

some form of attraction that will bring not only visitors but locals to the venue... to utilise [it],” he added.

The planned upgrades include a man-made beach, dock, restaurant, walking trail among oth er amenities which, ac cording to Russell, will transform the venue into a “world-class facility”.

“One of the features we are hoping to have there is a museum of Bob Marley’s collections from Roger Steffens. He has memorabilia that go back from the very first album to the last and he has everything you can think of related to Bob Marley. That will be quite an in teresting pull, especially for tourists visiting Ja maica,” he said, adding that Steffens is excited about the project.

Steffens is a reggae ar chivist who is believed to

have the world’s largest collection of Bob Marley material. He is expected to curate the space as part of a deal to bring the much-sought-after col lection to Jamaica.

The upgraded Cath erine Hall venue is ex pected to rival any en tertainment space in the Caribbean, according to Russell.

“We plan to stage more than just one event per year. We plan to stage several events which we have reason to believe will attract a lot of visi tors to the island. People will always come to a good music festival if you have a track record and you are able to pro vide good entertainers with all the facilities that we provide at Sumfest,” he said.

“It will be available for any promoter that wants to stage an event there. It will be a lot easier for them to use after we have devel oped it because then they don’t have to go through all of what we have to go through ev ery year to clean up the place and prepare it for the event. It will be event ready, a turnkey operation for any pro moter who would like to stage an event there,” Russell explained.

20 GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022

The calendar of events for Victoria’s 183rd anniversary celebration Joe Bogdanovich (Jamaica Observer photo)

Despite some complaints, ‘Black Panther’ sequel receives rave reviews

(Reuters) - THE highly an ticipated sequel to Disney’s “Black Panther,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forev er” has received glowing reviews from the majority of critics.

The film, which arrives in theatres today, scored a 94 per cent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with only five out of 81 critics rating the film as rotten.

The Marvel Studios film follows Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje as they work together to protect Wakanda in the wake of King T’Chal la’s death.

Director Ryan Coogler scrapped his original script for the Disney project after the film’s lead Chadwick Boseman passed away in 2020 due to colon cancer. Instead of T’Challa grieving

lost time after “the blip,” the driving force of the movie became centred on Wakanda mourning their leader.

Aaron Perine of Comic book.com wrote, “Through the collective efforts of a cast intent on doing right by the

man who started it all, the film percolates with purpose. There is a new Black Panther, and they will figure into the future of this universe. Af ter the credits, there’s a big surprise.”

Her 5/5 rating for the film

Drake, 21 Savage blocked from using ‘Vogue’ covers to promote album, judge rules

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge, on November 9, blocked rap pers Drake and 21 Savage from using fake copies of Vogue magazine to pro mote their new album.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan issued a temporary restraining order less than two days after the duo was sued by Conde Nast, the magazine’s publisher.

Conde Nast said Drake and 21 Savage had no permission to create the counter feit magazine, which features them on the cover, to promote their album “Her Loss,” or suggest Vogue’s longtime editor-in-chief Anna Wintour supported them.

Rakoff said Conde Nast had demon strated a “likelihood of success” on its trademark infringe

ment and false ad vertising claims. He also found sufficient proof that consumers were being confused and the publisher had been “irreparably harmed.”

The order requires Drake, a Toronto na tive, and 21 Savage, from Atlanta, to stop distributing the fake magazine and cover, including on social media. They also cannot use Wintour’s name or likeness.

Lawyers for the defendants did not immediately respond

to requests for com ment.

Rakoff scheduled a November 22 hear ing to consider a lon ger injunction.

Conde Nast said the defendants dis tributed the bogus Vogue issue in major metropolitan areas, with posters plas tered on streets and buildings.

The publisher, also known as Advance Magazine Publishers Inc, is seeking at least $4 million in damages.

is echoed by most other crit ics who believe the movie is a standout in Marvel’s Phase 4. “‘Black Panther: Wakan da Forever’ is by far the best film in phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Phase 5 has some big shoes to fill after this one, and hopefully, the storytelling can create the same kind of authenticity and greatness this movie has,” Jamie Broadnax of Black Girl Nerds explained.

With that said, not all critics were satisfied with the movie. Robbie Collin of the Daily Telegraph gave the movie a 1/5 and explained that the long film was a strug gle to watch.

He described the motion picture as “a near-three-hour endurance run of gloomy photography and turgidly staged, emotionally empty two-way conversations, all seemingly designed to sap

cast and viewers’ combined will to live.”

Stephanie Zacharek from Time magazine had a similar takeaway, writing, “Ticking boxes isn’t the same as pulling magic -- or even just insight -- from thin air. ... The sad reality is that the show must go on, and without [Chadwick Boseman], it’s just more of the same. Our job is to pretend it’s enough.”

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022 21

Cast member Letitia Wright attends the premiere of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” in London, Britain, on November 3, 2022 (REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo) Drake attends the Amsterdam world premiere at Alice Tully Hall in New York, U.S. on September 18, 2022. (REUTERS/ Eduardo Munoz/File Photo)

22 GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022 23

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER

(Friday November 11, 2022)

CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD -83 Garnett Street, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158)

Answers to yesterday’s quiz: (1) Pakistan & England (2) New Zealand & India

Today’s Quiz

(1) What was the result of the first semi-final in the current ICC Men’s T20 World Cup?

(2) Who was declared Man of the Match?

Answers in tomorrow’s issue

RACING TIPS

English Racing Tips

Cheltenham

09:10 hrs Enki Flacke

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Irish Racing Tips

Dundalk

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American Racing Tips

Aqueduct

Race 1 Provision Race 2 Matt Doyle Race 3 Catch The Party Race 4 Bert Bert Bert Race 5 Spooky Road Race 6 Talk Of The Nation Race 7 Ocean’s Reserve Race 8 Piece Of My Heart

Canadian Racing Tips Woodbine

Race 1 Fabuleux At Dawn Race 2 Tapiture Way Race 3 I’m Exceptional Race 4 Laraque Race 5 Striking Heir Race 6 Jim’s Hope Race 7 Mr Narcissistic Race 8 Coltons Dream

Arab Emirates Racing Tips

Meydan

10:00 hrs Af Alajaj

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South Africa Racing Tips

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09:50 hrs Wildest Dreams 10:25 hrs Light That Loose 11:00 hrs Notorix

24 GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022

Black Caps’ wait for maiden World Cup trophy continues

NEW ZEALAND'S wait for a maiden World Cup will go on for at least another year, their seven-wicket loss to Pakistan in Sydney last night marking the 12th time the Black Caps have reached the final four of a global tournament without a trophy.

With losses in the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cup finals and last year's T20 decider, New Zea land have been accustomed to limited-overs heartbreak on the biggest stage but had reason to believe things would have been different on Wednesday night.

The Black Caps boasted the best net run rate of any side at the tournament, lost only once in the Super 12 stage – against fellow semi-finalists England – and were playing their semi-final at the SCG, where they had obliterated Australia only two weeks prior.

But recent history counted for little against a Pakistan side that gave the Black Caps a taste of the medicine they served up to the host nation.

"They were too good today and we weren't quite at our best," New Zealand captain Kane Wil liamson said.

New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat but it took Shaheen Shah Afridi only three balls to do away with Finn Allen, the young opener who masterminded the Black Caps' own fast start against Australia.

Allen survived Shaheen's first chance of dismissing him with a successful review for lbw but the Pakistani swung his next delivery straight into the opener's pads and dispatched him while on four.

The cricket smarts that guided Devon Conway to an unbeaten 92 in New Zealand's tournament opener deserted him when he was sprung trying to sneak in a single.

Shadab Khan, one of Paki stan's best at the World Cup and

bound for the Hobart Hurricanes in this summer's Big Bash, ran him out with a direct hit from 20 metres away on the final ball of the Powerplay.

Tentative after the early loss of Allen and contained well by Pakistan's fielders, New Zealand managed only four boundaries in the Powerplay and needed 13 overs to hit a six.

A third T20I half-century to Daryl Mitchell (53 not out) and his 68-run partnership with Wil liamson were rare highlights for the Black Caps.

"It's always nice to contribute to the team and to do it on a big stage is cool but I play the game to try and win games of cricket," Mitchell said.

"At the moment, I'm pretty gutted to lose."

New Zealand's total of 152-4 appeared slightly under par so the Black Caps could not afford to give Babar Azam an extra life,

wicketkeeper Conway dropping him before he had scored.

After a lukewarm run of form in the Super 12 stage, Babar's 53run haul was his best effort of the tournament and bigger than his other five scores combined.

"I was struggling but today I feel good so I'll continue that mo mentum in the final," Babar said

The captain and Moham mad Rizwan (57) each managed half-centuries to edge their side closer to victory and banish New Zealand back to the World Cup wasteland.

The side did win cricket's in augural World Test Championship last winter, beating India in the final of the five-day format. (AAP)

New Zealand at World Cups 1975: ODI World Cup - lost semi-final to West Indies by five wickets

1979: ODI World Cup - lost semi-final to England by nine runs 1992 ODI World Cup - lost

semi-final to Pakistan by four wickets

1999 ODI World Cup - lost semi-final to Pakistan by nine wickets

2007 ODI World Cup - lost semi-final to Sri Lanka by 81 runs

2007 T20 World Cup - lost semi-final to Pakistan by six wickets

2011 ODI World Cup - lost semi-final to Sri Lanka by five wickets

2015 ODI World Cup - lost final to Australia by seven wickets

2016 T20 World Cup - lost semi-final to England by seven wickets

2019 ODI World Cup - lost final to England on boundary countback

2021 T20 World Cup - lost final to Australia by eight wickets

2022 T20 World Cup - lost semi-final to Pakistan by seven wickets

England storm into final as Hales, Buttler punish..

In doing so, he raced to 50 off 29 deliveries courtesy of a Ben Stokes misfield on the deep cover boundary, noting it had taken the mas terful Kohli 39 balls to post the same milestone as En gland's spinners and seamers excelled in the first 15 overs Kohli had revealed prior to tonight's game how he had been looking forward to playing at Adelaide all tour nament, hardly surprising, given his average across all three international formats at the venue coming into the game was 75 with five centu ries and three fifties.

When he punch-drove Chris Woakes beyond extra cover for six in the fourth over, it seemed another tri ple-digit score might be in the offing.

But England's re-cast bowling line-up – with Chris Jordan called up to replace their fastest and most suc cessful bowler of the World Cup, Mark Wood, who suc cumbed to a hip injury – kept their usually free-scoring rivals in check in a six-over Powerplay that yielded 1-38.

By contrast, Buttler and Hales had bludgeoned En gland to 0-63 from their first six-over phase, by which stage the India fans were stunned into solemnity, if not quite silence.

Jordan's only T20I ap pearance since July had come at Canberra during the Det tol Series against Australia, having missed most of the preceding months due to a finger injury, but he removed India skipper Rohit Sharma in his first over However, it was the ef

forts of England's spin duo Adil Rashid (1-20) and Liam Livingstone (0-21) that proved pivotal, as the pair dropped their pace and found sufficient to regularly leave batters the quality of Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav scratching for their timing.

It was Rashid's removal of India's freakish new bat ting hero Yadav – who had entered the arena to an even more rousing reception than Kohli – that brought a hush over the hyped crowd.

Yadav had threatened to turn on another pyrotech nics show when he launched Stokes for six and four off consecutive deliveries an over prior, but in attempting to lift the leggie over cover even his sublime skill could not carry the ball beyond the boundary.

Kohli passed 4 000 T20I

runs on the way to his 50, but it was left to Pandya to apply the frenzied finish with 50 runs coming from the final 18 deliveries he faced.

The promoters' dream of an India-Pakistan final was seemingly being built on a re curring World Cup semi-final nightmare for Jordan, whose 23-run over late in last year's tournament was instrumental in New Zealand ultimately making the play-off against Australia.

But even though he and Curran went for 47 from the final three overs of In dia's innings in the face of Pandya's brazen batting, the total wasn't far from the 165 Buttler had identified as par prior to the gameand which seemed decided ly less than daunting once he and Hales got into their work. (Cricket .com.au)

PM T20 Softball tournament set to bowl off today

… Fierce competition expected in soggy conditions

By Frederick Halley

SOFTBALL fans are expected to turn out in their numbers over the next three days, as the sixth edition of the Prime Minister T20 Softball tournament swings into gear today at several venues across the city and on the East Coast, Demerara in soggy conditions.

Up to press time yesterday, the current inclement weather had, however, thrown a damper on what is expected to be a bumper softball weekend. Despite the somewhat gloomy conditions, the Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL) organisers were pushing ahead for a prompt start and were planning to make several changes to the venues previously announced.

GSCL president Ian John pointed out that despite the conditions being tricky, he was very confident that all the fixtures will bowl off at 09:00hrs and that there will be three fun-filled days of cricket.

The GSCL tournament has the blessings of the Office of the Prime Minister in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.

Like last year, the finals in all categories will be staged at the Guyana National Stadium on Sunday, following the completion of the semi-finals tomorrow afternoon.

Those who are unable to attend Sunday’s finals are guaranteed live radio commentary while there will also be live action via Facebook.

Fierce competition is expected as teams vie for the top prize of a whopping $600 000 in the Open All Stars, Masters Over-40 and Legends Over-50 categories, with the runners-up earning $50 000.

Each man-of-the-match gets a trophy. The MVP in the All Stars Open is guaranteed a 50-inch flat screen television, the same as the Over-40 Masters winner while the Legends Over-50 MVP will receive a threepiece sofa set.

Meanwhile, the women’s category, which has been introduced for the first time, will see the four teams contest two semi-finals tomorrow afternoon with the two winners advancing to Sunday’s final. East Coast Warriors will take on Trophy Stall Angels while Upper Demerara All Stars oppose 4 R Lioness. The women’s games will be of 12 overs’ duration.

Among the several sponsors are Banks DIH Ltd. (Rainforest Waters), Danny Persaud (YouTuber) It’s Our Life ARD, Trophy Stall, Pro Signs, I & S Trading, Tourism Guyana, Reliance Services, Parsram Discount Store, Ameer & Amrit Furniture Store, Khan’s Trading Enterprise, HL Latino America Furniture (Panama), P&P Insurance, Regal Statio nery & Computer Centre, Mohamed’s Enterprise, Chung’s Global Enterprise, Atlantic Marine Sup plies Inc., Crown Mining Supplies, Rudisa Motor Company (Guy) Inc., Freelancer Advertising Agen cy, Krsna & Amp; Balram Printery, Rajiv Gandhi University and Ofimak Office Supplies (Panama).

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022 25

New Zealand continued their remarkable consistency to reach the final four of a major global tournament for the 12th time but their wait for a trophy goes on

From page 27

Minister Ramson lauded by Wakenaam residents following installation of lights

RESIDENTS on the island of Wakenaam were elated as the Hon. Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr. made good on his promise to install lights at the Wake naam Community Centre (WCC) ground in Good Success.

Last Sunday, Minister Ramson, on an outreach pro gramme, visited the venue where the Wakenaam Cricket Committee was hosting a franchise T10 tournament.

Shortly after the Minister left the island for another visit, the equipment for the lights arrived at the facility, and work commenced, fol lowing the final of the T10 competition.

Residents of the island expressed gratitude to the Minister and the Govern ment. Boxer Elton Dharry, whose father is from Wak enaam, was present at the

venue and welcomed the initiative.

Dharry said this will en courage larger participation in the sports and the youths will benefit tremendously since they will be able to train after classes in the eve ning.

Former Wakenaam open ing batter, Claude Thomas,

stated that the Wakenaam Community is elated by the commitment from the Gov ernment.

He added that Minister Ramson, came, saw and im mediately delivered to the people of Wakenaam and expressed gratitude to him. Thomas is extremely pleased with the initiative and lauded

the Government.

Minister Ramson said the lights are of quality and within the last two years they would have installed lights on 20 grounds across Guyana.

The minister noted that this is a very important ven ture to President Ali and Vice-President Jagdeo.

"You should feel that level of development and the lights will be here this com ing week," he added.

"We have an additional $3.8M for this ground so we could get a really enhanced facility here. So within an other month or so the lights will be installed so you can have various events here, and we want this facility to be a lot more encouraging for females," Minister Ramson said.

The ground is the main facility for sports on the island.

Victoria slump to 95-year low in bowler-dominated day

MICHAEL Neser has helped reduce Victoria to a 95-year low before chipping in with the bat to leave Queensland well on top in their Sheffield Shield clash at Allan Border Field.

The visitors were skittled for just 63, their lowest Shield total since 1927, as Bulls pace duo Neser and Mark Steketee, wreaked havoc.

Queensland went to stumps 130-6 with a lead of 67, mainly thanks to top-scoring Neser's unbeaten 30 off 43 balls.

The fringe Test hopeful put on 42 with Jimmy Peirson after the Bulls had fallen to 79-5 and in danger of spoiling their barn storming start.

Neser and Steketee entered the clash as the leading wick et-takers this season and their reputations were further en hanced following a magical few hours in Brisbane yesterday.

Steketee finished with 5-18 off 11 overs while Neser returned figures of 4-22 off 12.4 overs.

Only three of Victoria's bat ters reached double figures in what was their fourth-lowest Shield total on record.

Neser started the carnage by bowling Travis Dean for a duck with the third ball of the day

The in-form Marcus Harris followed soon after, in strange circumstances, with the ball hitting the back of his bat and ballooning to Marnus Labuscha gne at cover.

Captain Peter Handscomb entered the match with 518 runs to his name this season at an average of 172.7. But he was out for five when trapped lbw by

Alarm bells rang even louder when Nic Maddinson and Sam Harper fell cheaply to leave the Vics at 13-5 after nine overs.

Wickets continued to tumble with only 20-year-old Ashley Chandrasinghe (16 off 85 balls) able to offer any semblance of re sistance in what became a painful

fight for survival.

Amazingly, the damage could have been even worse for Victoria.

Harper was lucky to survive a strong lbw shout when he shouldered arms to a Steketee delivery that reared back into the stumps.

The Bulls also dropped two catches during the morning ses sion – both off the bowling of Neser.

Neser would have had fig ures of 4-4 had Usman Khawaja held onto a sharp chance at third slip when Will Sutherland was yet to score.

The star paceman then watched on in agony as another chance went a-begging – this time when Khawaja and Joe Burns clattered at slip to drop a Mitchell Perry edge.

Queensland moved to 39-0 in their reply before losing Burns (22) and Matthew Renshaw (13) in consecutive overs shortly before tea.

Marnus Labuschagne's (nine) meagre start to the sum mer continued and when Kha waja (22) edged Cameron Mc Clure behind, the visitors were back in the contest. (AAP)

Charles, Ambris help Volcanoes break losing jinx

TAROUBA, Trinidad (CMC) – Johnson Charles and Sunil Ambris gathered half-centuries to help power Windward Islands Volcanoes to a decisive 97-run victory over winless Combined Campuses and Colleges in Zone A of the Super50 Cup here late Wednesday.

Sent in at Brian Lara Stadium, Volcanoes racked up 277 all out, in the final over, Charles top-scoring with 89 from 87 balls and Ambris belting 69 from 57 deliveries.

Justin Greaves weighed in with 46 from 53 balls at number six while Kavem Hodge struck a measured 34 from 55 deliveries higher up the order.

In reply, captain Denesh Ramdin propped up the run chase with an unbeaten 82 off 107 balls but he was only one of two batters to pass 20 – the other being No. 10 Romario Greaves with 32 – as CCC crawled to 180 for nine off their 50 overs.

Hodge was the trump card with his left-arm spin, claiming four for 15 from his 10 overs while seamer Danel Cyrus (2-25) and another left-arm spinner Larry Edward (2-29) chipped in with two wickets each.

While Volcanoes broke a two-game losing skid with the result, the loss was CCC’s fourth in five outings leaving them bottom of the zone on two points.

Alick Athanaze, with back-to-back hundreds al ready in the tournament, continued his mini slump when he failed to score, caught at the wicket by Ramdin off the fourth ball of the game from seamer Matthew Forde (3-33).

Two partnerships then got the innings firing. First, Charles put on 125 for the second wicket with Hodge, belting eight fours and five sixes to dominate the part nership.

When three wickets tumbled for 31 runs, Ambris took up the mantle, stroking three fours and three sixes in a 90-run, fifth-wicket stand with Greaves who counted two fours in his knock.

Hodge then ripped through the CCC top order, claiming four for the first eight wickets to fall, as CCC crashed to 62 for eight at the end of the 26th over.

Ramdin, who struck five fours and a six, added 68 for the ninth wicket with Greaves and a further 50 for the last wicket with Abhijai Mansingh (21 not out), but both partnerships proved in vain.

26 GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022

Neser, leaving Victoria rocking at 5-3. Johnson Charles top-scored with 89 from 87 balls

as WCC ground illuminated

…Sports Minister Ramson delivers

promise

Minister Charles Ramson with boxer Elton Dharry and councillor Sheik Ahmad

ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022

England storm into final as Hales, Buttler punish India’s bowlers

By Andrew Ramsey at Adelaide Oval

THE predicted promoters' dream of a Pakistan-India T20 World Cup final has instead become a re-run of the famous 50-over tourna ment of 30 years earlier as England conducted a batting clinic to surge into Sunday's play-off in Melbourne.

After a flurry of late-hitting by India's Hardik Pandya (63 off 33 balls) lifted his team to a barely par score of 168-6, England's opening pair of Alex Hales and Jos Buttler rewrote the tournament script and re cord books with an unbeaten opening stand that brought a 10-wicket win with four overs to spare.

So dominant were the pair, at times India were made to resemble an associate team as they bumbled in the field and botched their bowling plans as the England duo posted their country's highest first-wicket partnership.

The associates jibe might seem unfair given the stirring efforts of Netherlands and others in this competition, but records show the bench mark for unbeaten first-wicket stands – which Buttler and Hales could have conceivably broken had they been chasing more – is 213 by Gibraltar against Bulgaria.

Perhaps fittingly, England's place in Sunday's final – where they will be chasing their sec ond T20 World Cup crown having defeated Australia in 2010 – was sealed when But tler clubbed a six over long-on that cleared the outstretched fingers of Virat Kohli on the boundary rope.

He swung his bat in tri umph, finishing 80 not out (off 49 balls) and embraced Hales (86 n.o,. off 47) by which time many of the India fans among the crowd of 40 494 had head ed for the exits.

Buttler had been quizzed in the match-eve media con ference about how he planned to cope with India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who had the England skipper's measure in earlier meetings.

His emphatic answer came just over 24 hours later, as he took three boundaries from the first over of the innings sent down by his rival, then another for good measure from the first ball he faced from Arshdeep Singh as England's pursuit be gan as if shot from a gun.

That pace only quickened as Hales found his range, hammering a remarkable 50 from 28 balls that was strewn with five sixes and a solitary boundary.

The expansive opener clearly enjoys batting at Ad elaide Oval where his three

most recent knocks in the BBL had brought 183 runs at an average 91.5, and he and Buttler's familiarity with con ditions, courtesy of numerous stints in the Australia domestic competition, could only have been a benefit.

"This is one of the best grounds to bat at in the world, especially in the Powerplay," Hales said in receiving his player-of-the-match award at game's end.

"It's great value for good cricket shots with the smaller square boundaries.

"It's a ground I've got good memories at, and a ground I enjoy batting at.”

India's batting was stymied by England's spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone, who conceded just 41 runs from their combined seven overs, but when India intro duced left-arm spinner Axar Patel inside the Powerplay, he could exert no such influence.

Instead, he was beset upon by Hales as he and Buttler took to the biggest stage to fashion England's highest-ever opening partnership in T20 internation als against India

In what quickly became a re-run of Pakistan's comfort able win over New Zealand a night earlier, India's effort was best summed up by the comic fielding effort that gifted Buttler an all-run four in the ninth over.

Mohammed Shami scooted around the fine-leg boundary to easily intercept Buttler's deft ramp shot, but in attempting to flick the ball to fellow fielder Kumar he lobbed it metres above his colleague's head and into a vast space of outfield from where Kumar was forced to retrieve it.

India's army of fans, many of whom beat drums and

danced outside Adelaide Oval's southern gates before play be gan, had come in expectation of batting heroics from the tournament's leading scorer, Virat Kohli, and its biggest drawcard, Suryakumar Yadav.

But while Kohli provided the backbone of his team's in nings and Yadav blazed briefly like a strip of magnesium rib bon set ablaze, it was Pandya who left them baying for more with an audacious final-over assault.

India appeared bound for a total well below the 168-run par for this course when Kohli

fell for 50 (his fourth half-cen tury from six innings in the tournament) and the score stood at a decidedly skinny 136-4 after 18 overs.

But Pandya pushed so deep in his crease he ultimate ly stood on his stumps, and flicked yorker-length balls from England's 'death bowling' specialists Sam Curran and Chris Jordan with such power and impunity, he plundered 26 from the final eight balls he faced across two decisive overs.

Dravid supports BCCI decision to keep players out of world T20 leagues

We’ve seen what it has done to West Indies cricket - India coach

The 2019 champions managed to muster very little resistance in the semi-final, where England cruised to a 10-wicket win after the East Asian team made 168 for 6. The West Indies were themselves meekly dumped out of the tournament but after losing to two associate teams Scotland and Ireland in the first round.

Performances at the tournament were not, howev er, what the former batting star was referring to, but instead the issue of India players potentially facing a disadvantage from not being allowed to play in other T20 league’s around the world.

For his part, the coach conceded that it might be disadvantageous but believes it is a necessity to protect the quality of India’s cricket.

“There is no doubt that England players have come and played in this tournament (Big Bash T20). It’s tough, it’s very difficult for Indian cricket because a lot of these tournaments happen right at the peak of our season.

“I think it’s a huge challenge for us. A lot of our boys do miss out on the opportunity of playing in these leagues, but it’s up to the BCCI to make that decision,” Dravid said.

“And with the kind of demand there would be for Indian players… if you allowed them to play in these leagues, we won't have domestic cricket. Our domestic cricket, our Ranji Trophy would be finished, and that would mean Test cricket would be finished. We have to be very careful; we have to understand what Indian cricket faces or BCCI faces in a situation like this," he added.

“A lot of boys are asked to play leagues in the middle of our season, we have seen what it has done to West Indian cricket, and I definitely don't want Indian cricket to go that way. It would affect Ranji Trophy and Test cricket and Indian boys playing Test cricket is pretty important for the Test game as well, I would think,” Dravid said. (Sportsmax)

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022 27

Skipper Jos Buttler celebrates the match-clinching six for England (Getty) INDIA head coach Rahul Dravid has insisted the country does not want to end up in the same position as West Indies cricket following an unceremonious exit from the T20 World Cup, at the hands of En gland, yesterday. Windies players

Continued on page 25

Opener Alex Hales hammered seven sixes in a dominant innings (Getty)

PM T20 Softball tournament set to bowl off today

Story on page 25

GMR&SC International Race of Champions

Team Barbados looking to upset Boodoosingh,

By Calvin Chapman

ALL roads lead to the South Dakota Circuit this Sunday for the finale of the two-day Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club’s (GMR&SC) International Race of Champions circuit meet, which will also serve as the final leg of the Radi cals Caribbean Cup series.

Speaking to Chroni cle Sport, team manager of Barbados, Kurt Seabra, explained that the men from the ‘Land of the Flying Fish’ are very excited to be racing in Guyana after a two-year hiatus. The last time the popular November race meet was hosted in the ‘Land of Many Waters’ was in 2019 before COVID-19 devastated the world.

Now, thanks to partner ship between the Govern ment of Guyana, GMR&SC and other stakeholders, com petitors will have a rehabili

tated and extended circuit to compete on this weekend.

According to GMR&SC committee member, Mark Vieira, a group four car is estimated to complete a lap

in 1 minute 20 seconds as opposed to 38 seconds before the track was extended which alternately means that races will now last twice as long.

Seabra posited that “ev

erybody is looking forward to driving on the new layout, everyone is excited. We are getting the cars today (No vember 10) but we had an opportunity to go around the track and we noticed that there were different levels of difficulty and speed. Some areas are very tricky but we will be on the track from midday tomorrow (today) so we will be able to work out all the kinks.”

The competitors for Team Barbados include Mark Maloney (Group 4; RX-3 and Radical Series), Steve King (Group 4; Nis san Skyline), Suleman Esuf( Radical Series), Ahmed Esuf (Group 2, Radical Series), Stewart Maloney (Radical Series) and Sean Maloney (Radical Series).

Jeffrey

Unfortunately, driving sensation Zane Maloney, who was very keen on com ing to Guyana, will not be here on Sunday because he will be racing in the Abu Dhabi F2, according to Seabra.

The Radical Series will feature a full field of nine racers and although Trini dad’s Kristian Boodoosingh leads second-placed Kristian Jeffrey of Guyana by 15 points, Seabra is adamant that Barbados are here to upset both drivers.

Other drivers who are expected to compete in the radicals on Sunday include Senna Sommerbell, Mark Vieira and Kevin Jeffrey. Tickets for adults cost $2 500 while children pay $1 000.

England storm into final as Hales, Buttler punish India’s bowlers

28 GUYANA CHRONICLE, Friday, November 11, 2022 Printed and Published by Guyana National Newspapers Limited, Lama Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown. Telephone 226-3243-9 (General); Editorial: 227-5204, 227-5216. Fax:227-5208 | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2022

Fierce

expected

…

competition

in soggy conditions

FLASHBACK: Prime Minister Mark Phillips gets ready to deliver a ball during the opening ceremony for last year’s tournament at the MYO ground

See page 27

Team Barbados looking to make a big upset in the Radical Series Kurt Seabra, manager of Team Barbados

Guyana Chronicle E-Paper 11-11-2022

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England storm into final as Hales, Buttler punish India’s bowlers

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GMR&SC International Race of Champions

Team Barbados looking to upset Boodoosingh,

Jeffrey

England storm into final as Hales, Buttler punish India’s bowlers