Guyana Chronicle E-Paper 14-11-2022

Writing on the wall for AFC

Party drops out of upcoming Local Government Elections

FACED with mount ing internal challenges, a weakened Alliance For Change (AFC) has formally dropped out of the 2023 Local Government Elec tions (LGEs), a move that further erodes their position in the upcoming renegotia tion with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) on

their coalition agreement that expires in December. The AFC in a statement on Sunday said that its National Executive Committee (NEC) has arrived at a consensus that the party will not contest the upcoming LGEs without changes to the list of electors. The decision by the AFC’s Executive Committee came

as no surprise as the party has been declining due to the migration of members as former leaders including Raphael Trotman and former Prime Minister Moses Naga mootoo, relegated to the fringes of Guyana’s political landscape

[Delano Williams photos]

Writing on the wall for AFC

FACED with mount ing internal challenges, a weakened Alliance For Change (AFC) has for mally dropped out of the 2023 Local Government Elections (LGEs), a move that further erodes their position in the upcoming renegotiation with A Part nership for National Unity (APNU) on their coalition

agreement that expires in December.

The AFC in a statement on Sunday said that its Na tional Executive Committee (NEC) has arrived at a con sensus that the party will not contest the upcoming LGEs without changes to the list of electors.

The decision by the AFC’s Executive Commit

tee came as no surprise as the party has been declining due to the migration of members as former leaders including Raphael Trotman and for mer Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, relegated to the fringes of Guyana’s political landscape.

According to the AFC, no election should be held with the existing list of electors because it is bloated and il legitimate.

VOTERS’ LIST AN EXCUSE

Residents have already started to see the AFC’s blaming the list as an excuse to avoid another trouncing at the polls.

Former Georgetown mayor and senior PNC mem ber, Patricia Chase-Green issued harsh criticism of the AFC following the an nouncement.

“That won’t change a thing,” Chase-Green said about the AFC’s decision.

She added: “The last election they contested on their own how many seats

did they get [?] Look take a seat at the back of the class. Won’t be missed.”

It is well documented that the list of electors scheduled to be used in 2023 is the same one used in 2015 that saw the APNU+ AFC win the government. It is also the same list of electors used in 2016 and 2018 LGEs in which there were forced by the People’s National Con gress (PNC) to contest those elections alone.

On both occasions, the AFC suffered immense de feat, particularly in 2018 when the party could at tract only four percent of the votes.

Additionally, the losses have been compounded fur ther, as the AFC has been reduced to begging the PNC to honour agreements at the local government level to have AFC candidates in top positions.

The latest such exam ple is in Linden, where the PNC has rejected the AFC’s candidate to fill the post of Vice-Chairman of Region 10.

The AFC’s position on the 2023 LGEs was made a day after the United King dom High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller, told Demerara Waves Online News that the voters’ list is good enough and that she is confident in the safeguards that are in place for the elec tions process.

AFC PREDICTABLE

Commenting on the AFC’s position regarding LGEs, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo appeared to have predicted the AFC’s position back in October.

“I would not put it past them not to contest the elec tions not because of any fear that the [Official] List [of Electors] is bloated, but to save face because they know they will practically be further wiped out if there is anything like that that… you could be practically limited from having any say at the national level,” Dr. Jadgeo stated.

Chief among the opposi tion’s demands is the con tinuous call for changes to the voters’ list, in contraven tion of a ruling by the High Court that outlines how said changes can be made.

Articles 59 and 159 of the Constitution clearly es tablish the qualifications and disqualifications of electors.

Articles 59 and 159 of the Constitution prescribe that a person who is 18 years

or older, who is a citizen of Guyana or a Commonwealth citizen, who is not a citizen of Guyana, resident in Guy ana and has been so resident for a period of one year, immediately preceding the qualifying date, qualifies to be registered; and once reg istered has an unconditional right to vote.

The Claims and Objec tions exercise provides eligi ble electors who did not reg ister, the opportunity to gain entry to the list of electors or to update their particulars (transfers and changes), and it also provides the opportu nity for objections to particu lars in the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE).

Dr Jagdeo addressing the matter of calls for the removal of names from the list of elec tors through house-to-house registration, had affirmed that the government is not going to make decisions that would disenfranchise people, rather, they would implement sys tems that would enfranchise all eligible voters.

- Party drops out of upcoming Local Government Elections

‘Let’s rededicate ourselves to the search for peace’ -

REMEMBRANCE Day ac tivities were observed on Sunday morning, honouring those who fought in the two world wars.

In his brief address during a ceremony held at the Ceno taph, President, Dr Irfaan Ali

said that Guyanese remain in debted to the gallant men and women who gave their lives in two world wars for the cause of peace and freedom.

He added, “Their exam ple strengthens our resolve to maintain our efforts for a

world at peace with justice and prosperity for all peo ples.”

President Ali added that on such an occasion, Guya nese citizens must rededicate themselves to the search for peace everywhere and renew

President says at Remembrance Day ceremony

(Ret’d)

their commitment to the de velopment and well-being of the country.

The commemorative wreath-laying ceremony com menced with a military parade followed by the presidential salute, the last post, two min utes of silence, the sounding of the reveille, prayers and the laying of wreaths at the War Memorial.

Dr Ali laid the first wreath, followed by Prime Minis ter, Brigadier Mark Phillips; Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Brigadier Godfrey Bess; President of the Guyana Veterans Legion, Lt-Colonel ( Ret’d) George Gomes; Commissioner of the Guyana Police Force (ag), Clifton Hicken along with the United States Ambassador to

Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch, and other members of the diplomatic corps.

Remembrance Day in Guyana is held on the sec ond Sunday of November, while Remembrance Day is observed on November 11 annually by Common wealth countries to honour those who died in the World Wars.

President, Dr Irfaan Ali laid the first wreath at the Cenotaph as part of the Remembrance Day observance (Delano Williams photo)

United States Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch as she approached the Cenotaph to lay a wreath

Prime Minister, Brigadier

Mark Phillips as he approached the Cenotaph to lay a wreath on Sunday (Delano Williams photo)

The Georgetown Cenotaph following the wreath-laying ceremony (Delano Williams photo)

Guyana’s large diaspora an asset to country’s transformation

WITH United Statesbased business maga zine, Forbes, reporting that Guyana has the largest diaspora popu lation in the world, For eign Secretary Robert Persaud has said that this is a “resource” that can accelerate and sup port the One-Guyana initiative.

According to Forbes, Guyana’s diaspora popu

lation stands at 36.4 per cent.

“Out of all sovereign countries with at least 750,000 inhabitants, Car ibbean nation, Guyana, had the biggest share of its native-born popula tion, 36.4 per cent living abroad,” the publication related.

Persaud, in an invited comment on Sunday, re called the mass migrations

of 1970s and 80s due to economic degradation and political oppression.

“It’s an established fact that the global Guya nese diaspora is large, and immigration started in 1980s/1970s, where we had economic stagnation and political degradation and a lot of persons fled the country or was forced to leave the country to all parts of North America,

the Caribbean, neighbor ing countries, Africa, Eu rope, all around, and that is the reason why we have such a dense diaspora population.”

However, in recent times many Guyanese in the diaspora have signaled their interest in returning to Guyana, Persaud said.

“We have seen in re cent times, especially in the immediate period

where there is now a re verse or which I call in ward migration, where a lot of persons in the dias pora, they want to return to Guyana to be a part of the economic transforma tion,” he said.

At the Ministry of For eign Affairs and Inter national Co-operation, Persaud is among those leading the government’s diaspora engagement ef forts.

“We see that there is a lot of interest by nonnationals, too, to par ticipate and be in Guyana which is a different issue that has to be managed differently,” he said be fore asking,” How do we utilise and tap into this large diaspora?”

According to Persaud, the government has made it a priority to engage the Guyanese diaspora on capital, human resources, network, and expertise in the evolving sectors in

Guyana.

“So, for us, its tapping this and converting this huge diaspora into a re source to accelerate and support the One-Guyana initiative of the president and also to hold trust, to transform and make our country stable and pros perous,” he added.

In August of this year, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, engaged Guyanese living in Trinidad and Tobago (TT) and urged them to return home.

The president, during that engagement, em phasised that Guyana has one of the fastestgrowing economies in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Some areas of inter est that the Guyanese diaspora can work and invest in are agricul ture, tourism, oil and gas, and construction, the Head-of-State had said

Guyana’s Foreign Secretary, Robert Persaud

Good planning, cost-cutting were crucial to surviving pandemic

-

Pegasus boss says

By Cassandra Khan

COMPANIES suffered im mense losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, but local business magnate and owner of the Pegasus Hotel, Robert Badal said that good planning and cost-cutting ef forts were crucial to survival of businesses.

Badal, during an episode of the Caribbean Connections Thought Leadership Facebook series made by the Caribbean Airlines, described the COV

ID-19 pandemic as the most difficult period of his journey as a businessman.

For months during the ini tial stages of the pandemic, he related, only two rooms were occupied at the Kingstown, Georgetown hotel; that meant that the hotel was simply not generating income.

Even so, management de cided against closing the hotel, as that would have affected many employees, who them selves were grappling with the pandemic. Instead, the hotel’s

‘Greens’ prices stable

vendors hoping sales will pick up

‘greens’ are usually sold at a stable price.

As part of efforts to re duce the high cost of living in Guyana, government had made many interventions.

Some $7.5 billion was expended on the COVID-19 cash grants. Under this pro gramme, each household in Guyana was given a one-off grant valued at $25,000.

to sugar workers, private cane farmers and fisher men.

Further, government distributed $1 billion in fertilisers to farmers across Guyana as a means of ab sorbing the rising global costs for the commodity and preventing the costs from being passed on to consumers.

energy bills were slashed, and they engaged in better energy management.

Additionally, the hotel sought to offer different ser vices to secure more income.

“We renegotiated our con tracts with services, so that our costs came down, and in that way, we navigated the pan demic securely, thanks to the fact that we have some reserves which we used to pay staff and keep them going towards the end of the pandemic,” Badal disclosed.

By the time the restrictions imposed during the pandemic were lifted, the hotel’s reserves were exhausted.

Somehow, the businessman was able to continue building the new Pegasus facility, lo cated just next door. That mas sive US$100 million facility was opened in June this year.

“So, quietly, we were building under COVID re strictions. Being in business, I mean you have to cater for the sunshine and the rain. There are bound to be difficult times; there are going to be difficult days, and you hope that tomor row will always bring a better situation,” he said.

The challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic were not unique to the Pegasus or even Guyana.

challenges affected economies globally, but the Guyanese businessman believed that regional economies would have been affected more, since the region is less resilient to external, economic and envi ronmental shocks.

“The tourism and travel industry were the most heavily affected of all the sectors of an economy in Guyana, in Trini dad, Jamaica; the travel and hospitality industry, tourism has been most affected. There was a shutdown of everything; all hotels closed,” Badal said.

Outside of this industry, which was vastly affected by the closure of airports and other travel restrictions, other sectors were badly hit. There were, however, instances of business gains.

For Badal, his agricultural companies sold more feed and more rice during the period, because people were stocking up on rice among other things to distribute. He noted, too, that distributors were having a greater demand than supply.

AS the Christmas sea son approaches, market prices for ‘greens’ appear to be returning to a more affordable cost.

The Guyana Chronicle on Sunday morning visited several municipal markets and spoke with vendors who confirmed the decrease in prices for some vegeta bles.

Vendors usually set their prices based on how much they paid for the goods. Other factors are sometimes taken into consideration.

The price for a bundle of bora was $200 at several

stalls, while the price for a piece of pumpkin varied from $340 to $460. Ochroes were priced at $200 per pound.

Speaking with this pub lication, one vendor who wished to remain anony mous, said, “Right now the prices are a little bit cheap, but you know the atmosphere at the market a little bit quiet. Christmas coming on, so things should pick up.”

Meanwhile, one vendor who gave her name as ‘Sha ron,’ explained that because she owns her own farm, her

President, Dr Irfaan Ali had indicated in January 2022 that under the Peo ple’s Progressive Party/Civ ic (PPP/C) administration, each of the 10 administra tive regions has benefitted from the programme.

He said that the pro gramme was “…injecting critical liquidity into the economy and providing a cash lifeline to households, so many of which were thrown into distress as a result of the pandemic.”

Additionally, cash grants have been distributed

“The cost of a fertiliser has affected the produc tion cost[s] for farmers which have translated into increased prices in the markets. In order to cushion the impact of the rising cost of fertiliser on farmers, and to limit the pass-through to food prices, my government will be purchasing $1 bil lion dollars’ worth of fer tiliser for free distribution to farmers for use in their planting activities,” Presi dent Ali had declared in May, 2022.

Badal acknowledged that other businesses as well faced the same difficulties during the pandemic. Supply and demand

Outside of his experience navigating the pandemic as a businessman, Badal candidly spoke about his growth as a businessman in Guyana. He has had many successes over the years, and reasoned that perhaps it was those experiences that contributed to his ability to navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘Greens’ being sold at the Stabroek Market

City businessman and owner of the Pegasus Hotel, Robert Badal

Reflecting On Their Sacrifices

GUYANA, like many countries, commemorates Remembrance Day annu ally to reflect on the sacri fices made in the pursuit of peace years ago. Even now, with the Ukraine/ Russia crisis, for example, it is important to reflect on the suffering and sacrifice to build a better world.

Remembrance Day, observed on the second Sunday in November, pays homage to the fallen in World War I (1914- 1918) and World War II (19391945), two events with grim global consequences.

Wars are the result of inequalities or injustices, whether real or perceived, between and among nations and between governments and citizens in pursuit of domination or resistance to

being dominated.

Because of their dev astating effects on life and livelihoods, measures are continuously explored to limit such events. In 1919, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) was es tablished to address the con flicts that led to WWI. This was done on the premise that government, employers and workers’ representatives meeting as equals to deter mine future relationships based on agreed conven tions was crucial to prevent ing another war.

Despite the establish ment of this, the world went to war again.

In 1948, in another at tempt to prevent another war, governments estab lished the United Nations (UN). This organisation’s

mission set out to achieve worldwide comity based on the equality of man, where each individual deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. From this principle has sprung its Declarations.

It took two wars, which resulted in millions of lives lost, the dislocation of mil lions more and the destruc tion and confiscation of properties and businesses, to reinforce the necessity of the benefits in mutual respect to man’s livelihoods, his possessions and the right to call a place home. The cost was too high.

Ordinary men and wom en were injured and died in these wars, along with our men and women in uniform, who were on the frontlines. As homage is paid to the uniformed fallen,

the institutions established as a consequence thereof, must not only be seen as reminders not to repeat the past, but must also serve as extensions of their lives and the beacons that ought to ground, court, and maintain human relations.

A troubling, though not unresolvable, fact is that the world continues to see vola tile and dangerous conflicts. Again, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this year illustrates just that.

Internally, citizens are in conflict with their govern ments due to the denial of fundamental rights and free doms which occur through domination by the elected class, and is supported by the well-connected.

The eruption and con tinuity of these conflicts,

when examined, invariably carry similar characteristics of WWI and WWII, this human failing, where, in the absence of established insti tutions that hold all to the same standards and require all to play by the same rules, war would be unending.

In its efforts to keep our frailty in check, appre ciation can be had for the principles of the ILO and the UN, their attendant arms and the laws in respective member countries.

Conflict is an element of human interaction. Though man is a homogeneous be ing, our thoughts, desires, goals and actions are het erogeneous, and from this spring competing interests, foci, and priorities that spark conflicts.

Conflicts, however, do

not have to be debilitating, leading to animosity, con frontations, struggles, wars, injuries and loss of lives. It means that paying homage to the fallen requires more than acts of symbolism; it requires nations, govern ments and citizens living up to the ideals that were birthed from their sacrifices.

Should man respect the rules he put in place to regulate his behav iours and pursue actions in resolving differences, it would significantly help in preventing wars from within, between, and among. It continues to be proven that man’s peaceful and harmoni ous existence remains in respecting the principles ensconced by the ILO and the UN.

Let’s End Femicide

THE theme for 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence (GBV) is, “Let’s End Femicide,” a continuation of last year’s focus.

This is an annual ob servance started in 1991 that emerged out of the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute held that same year.

According to the Centre for Women’s Global Leader ship, more than 6,000 organi sations in some 187 coun tries participated, advancing progress towards the urgent goal of ending gender-based violence.

The Caribbean Voice (TVC) is one of those or ganisations. This year, TCV

is urging everyone to please sign this petition to declare December 6 as the Interna tional Day To End Femi cide -https://www.change. org/p/united-nations-declaredec-6-as-international-dayagainst-femicide - and to help share and promote it.

Also, TCV on Decem ber 3, 13:00hrs-15:00hrs, is planning a workshop on youth-relationship violence. The workshop is presented by Proverbial Peace Revived Ministries with lead present er being Dr Brenetia AdamsRobinson, transformational life strategist and empower ment coach. Participants are invited to register for this workshop by contacting TCV

via email: (caribvoice@aol. com) or mobile/what’s app at 646-461-0574.

On December 9, 18:00hrs-20:00hrs, TCV will also hold a panel discussion on safety and resiliency for victims and survivors. Pan elists are invited to partici pate in this discussion. Please contact TCV via email (car ibvoice@aol.com) or mobile/ what’s app at 646-461-0574 to affirm participation.

Other ways in which “16 Days” could be observed include:

· Focusing on “speak outs” by survivors and loved ones of victims of femicide and gender-based violence. Videos can be shared on

social media, letters sent to the print media, interviews done with print media and broadcast media, both tra ditional and virtual. TCV is willing to help with sharing and promotion if videos, let ters/articles and interviews are provided

· The planting of trees -- especially fruit trees -- to memorialise victims of femicide and gender-based violence by friends, fami lies, neighbours and former colleagues of victims. Per haps short programmes can be produced around each tree-planting that may in clude sharing of memories of victims, music, poetry, skits, releasing of balloons and sharing of snacks and beverages.

· Organising marches, rallies, and candlelight vig ils – this can be done by

communities, faith-based or ganisations, and communitybased organisations, leaders and influencers. Interfaith events would be fabulous, as will events planned through a collaboration of organisa tions, with the government – local or central – support.

· Making a donation to an organisation support ing survivors of GBV. If you don’t know of any in your country, TCV can provide some names.

· Educating yourself about GBV – lots of info, podcasts, seminars, work shops and panel discussion are available online. TCV can provide links if needed.

· Reaching out to sur vivors and giving them a day to remember – gift baskets, consumer supplies, a cook out/games session with them, beauty treatment (nails, hair,

full body and whatever else), among other things.

Many do not have the time and oftentimes the wherewithal to become ac tivists and advocates, but many, if not all can find one or more activity from the above list to observe 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence.

It does not matter how small the start is, for once there is a start it will grow. And the above range of ac tivities provide scope for all communities to be involved in activities against genderbased violence.

The Caribbean Voice stands ready to help out where desired. Just reach out to TCV and share your plan.

Boodram

Yours respectfully, Annan

How much to expect from ASEAN, China-US and G-20 Summits?

THERE’LL certainly be a lot to chew on when the presidents of the two most powerful nations on earth meet face-to-face for the first time at the G-20 Sum mit in Bali, starting today.

As what’s been called “A Week of Global Diplo macy in Asia” continues following the end of the Association of South East Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Cambodia, the Xi-Biden tête-à-tête has been built up as one with implications and consequences for bilat eral US-China ties, and their common problems, espe cially in trade and technol ogy, security and ideology, Taiwan and the growing military escalation in the Korean Peninsula.

The US mid-term elec tions campaign featured none of the blistering bluster that accompanied the Com mander-in-Chief of the US Armed Forces’ earlier state ments on his willingness to deploy US troops to fight China over Taiwan, result ing in top State Department and Pentagon officials, each time, distancing themselves from his publicly-stated positions, and insisting that US policy (against inde pendence for Taiwan) hadn’t changed.

President Xi, aware that Washington’s active em bracing of Taiwan under his watch is at clear vari ance with President Biden’s words, has repeatedly re iterated that while Beijing prefers peaceful reunifica tion (of Taiwan with the Mainland), it would not rule out the use of force.

With last month’s Com munist Party of China (CPC) Congress not yielding any of the predicted expectations of the international main stream media, attention has returned to Washington’s semi-conductor war on Chi na, also launched last month when they imposed export controls to prohibit the sale of cutting-edge microchips, and the equipment used to make them, to Beijing.

Taiwan is the main pro vider of those essential chips to the US, and with sup plies choked by the COV ID-19 supply chain, and further blocked by the ten sions sparked by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s August visit to the island, Washington has been mov

ing to build a local private sector-led production base, while attempting to torpedo China’s rise as the next big gest player on the global semi-conductor market.

The never-ending US trade war with China is still very much alive in the ASE AN region, where memberstates have over $900 mil lion in trade with neighbour ing Beijing, and President Biden, on Friday, announced a new Comprehensive Stra tegic Partnership project to pour $800 million into the region in 2023.

But, skeptical ASEAN nations remember the muchvaunted “Pivot to East Asia” announced by President Barack Obama (2009-2017) that wasn’t followed-up with the expected cash in jections. Still, US-China ties have not been a bed of roses of late.

Following the Pelosi visit, China’s Foreign Min istry said dialogue between US and Chinese regional commanders and defence department heads would be cancelled, along with talks on military maritime safety, as well as suspension of cooperation on returning illegal immigrants, criminal investigations, transnational crime, illegal drugs and cli mate change.

China, last month, se cured a stake in Germany’s port of Hamburg, but a US State Department of ficial was reported in the international press as saying China’s share was reduced, from 35 per cent to 25 per cent, due to pressure from the American Embassy in Berlin.

“The Embassy was very clear that we strongly sug gested that there’d be no controlling interest by Chi na, and, as you see when they adjusted the deal, there isn’t,” the official said.

American officials were also, last week, reported as heading to the Netherlands to talk about blocking the sale of Dutch microchip components to China.

Japan was also expected to fall in line with new US export controls targeting China’s chip-making indus try, but Tokyo, last week, struck a blow to the push to get G7 countries to sup port a proposed cap on the global price of Russian gas, after Japan announced it

was sticking with its stake in Russia’s ‘Sakhalin-1’ oil-and-gas project, if only because its economy needs Russian fuel imports.

Canada also, last week, cited “national security” to dump Chinese stakes in three lithium mines, with Industry Minister FrancoisPhilippe Champagne saying the country welcomes for eign direct investment, but not when it threatens “criti cal minerals supply chains”.

African countries also complained earlier this year of being threatened with sanctions by Washington for trading with Russia and China.

But traditional West ern concern continues about China’s unrelent ing advances on all global fronts (economic, political, geopolitical, diplomatic, military, technological and industrial fields), and its advances in space explora tion and deeper and wider cooperation with developing countries, particularly in Af rica and Asia, but also in the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) continues to grow and widen, and even while continuing to criticise it as a ‘”Debt Trap”, the G-7 nations on June 26 announced, through Presi dent Biden, the collective mobilisation of $600 bil lion by 2027, admittedly to counter the BRI by “deliv ering game-changing” and “transparent” infrastructure projects to developing na tions.

China also has a crucial role as an important cog in the wheel of progress to wards Climate Change.

As the leading indus trialised nation in the rich world, and one that’s of fered to do more than most of the world’s other major polluters responsible for worsening Climate Change, China continues to argue for developing nations, while the G-7, and other rich na tions within the G-20 , have to start accounting for their Climate Debt, which they agreed to start trying to quantify only in 2022.

China also outpaces its competitive critics in Green Development, while they show more interest in con cepts like “Monetisation of Climate Change.”

The Xi-Biden parley has also been colourfully described as “the first super power summit of the second Cold War”, but while the two leaders will naturally discuss hot-button nuclear issues, neither side should

be expected to recoil or re verse on the issues that have so steadily deepened the di visions between Beijing and Washington since President Obama’s departure in 2016.

Against this back ground, earth-shattering

or groundbreaking an nouncements may not be forthcoming from Bali, but the very fact that the two most powerful nations in the world are talking, and not fighting, is pro gress.

PM Phillips reaffirms support for veterans

- donates $1M to Guyana Veterans Legion on behalf of President Ali

PRIME Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d), Mark Phillips on Sunday reaffirmed his sup port for the care of military

veterans and their families.

On behalf of President Dr Irfaan Ali, he presented a cheque valued at $1M to

the Guyana Veterans Legion (GVL), at the Remembrance Sunday Ceremony and re ception, hosted at GVL’s

headquarters, Coghlan House, Carifesta Avenue.

In his feature address at the reception, Prime Minister Phillips emphasised that the government remains com mitted to ensuring that the needs of Guyana’s veterans are better served.

“The Government of Guyana is committed to en suring that all our service members, all our veterans benefit from an improved

economy in our country. We ha ve oil and gas now and that has contributed tremendously to improving our economic position. In the world, today, we are the fastest-growing economy... and it is our resolve to utilise the revenues from oil and gas to improve the lives and livelihoods of all the people of Guyana.”

The Prime Minister re minded attendees that the

occasion was being held to pay homage to the millions of men, women and children who lost their lives during the two World Wars of 19141918 and 1939-1945. Guya nese soldiers were among those killed.

Members of the dip lomatic community and the Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Brigadier Godfrey Bess, were also at the event.

Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d), Mark Phillips interacts with veterans at GVL’s headquarters, Coghlan House, Carifesta Avenue (OPM Photo)

‘Robotics genius’ on mission to create innovative solutions for everyday use

By Naomi Parris

WITH the hope of replicat ing his robotic creations on a larger scale, 13-yearold Tushaant Sanichara, a Grade Eight student at The Bishops’ High School, has been headlining several expos as one of the many brilliant minds birthed from STEM-Guyana.

In a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, the young lad said he enrolled at STEM-Guyana four years ago at the age of nine.

“When I joined StemGuyana I had no experience in robotics, but I was taught how to build robots, how to connect wires into the mother board of the robot and how to programme,” he said.

The Roomba, a robot vacuum cleaner, was his first project. It was built for an exhibition at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre which was a success.

Sanichara, like many children across the world, had to quickly adjust to the online world of learning with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though his preferred method of learning is the face-to-face interaction, San ichara was able to quickly adapt.

“STEM introduced on line classes which was the introduction to Scratch and Advance Scratch. I par ticipated and learned how to create games and to ani mate,” he recalled.

Soon after, Sanichara entered a local competition and showed off his newfound skills in video games and animation.

“After learning Scratch, I entered a competition --

the COVID-19 warz virtual challenge competition -- and came in fourth place,” he said.

Following his success in that competition, San ichara was given a chance to compete on the international stage.

“I was given my first opportunity to enter interna tional competition in 2020, which was IYRC [Interna tional Youth Robot Com petition]. This was done virtually. I was working with a team, and we decided to build a sanitation bot and we won a silver medal.”

He added: “I was happy about this and was even more motivated to continue with STEM.”

Continuing with online classes, Sanichara, along with his team members, en tered the competition once again in 2021; this time they brought home the gold prize.

“Due to COVID, we were hardly meeting for any training; however, myself and team members entered IYRC for the second year, this time around we built a helper bot and won a gold medal. I also assisted in a TV-show named ‘Robin the Robot’ by building a robot and doing math problems. This robot that I built was about never giving up,” he said.

Sanichara, along with his teammates, entered the IYRC for the third year. As a senior team this time around, he and his teammates de signed a COVID-19 bot and won a bronze medal.

“After the IYRC, I rep resented STEM Guyana at the Arthur Chung Centre for Youth week with a bulldozer bot.”

Most recently, at an Ag

riculture Expo held at his school, Sanichara built and showcased a multi-tool farm bot that can cut weeds, plant seeds and plough, one of his many creations which he hopes can one day be repli cated and used in everyday life.

The young lad explained to this publication that he wanted to create an innova tive solution for farmers.

“My experience with STEM-Guyana so far is educational, exciting and fun. I would encourage parents to let their children join as it makes learning fun,” the lad said.

Sanichara (centre) and his teammates make a robot

Sanichara making a robot

Why childhood memories are important

CHILDHOOD is a time for fun and exploration, discovery and joy. It is a time when children ought to be free of life’s stresses and all types of harm and bask in their families’ protection and attention.

Parents can help chil dren feel confident, loved and cherished by creat ing memorable childhood moments. When young sters look back on their childhood, they will realise their loved ones were there

for them with positive en couragement and support, helping them to reach their goals.

Adults always look back on their childhood. They remember the good times and the bad. It is, therefore, essential to put less emphasis on nega tive childhood behaviour.

Grown-ups don’t want to remember a childhood where adults were con stantly ranting and rav ing at them, calling them

names, getting vexed at the drop of a hat, maybe beat ing them and fretting over things they have done.

Sometimes grown-ups forget that they were once children and children are a work in progress; they will make mistakes and do things that annoy adults and belie their trust. Moni toring and reprimanding must be in place to correct improper behaviour, but making a song and dance over every incident demor

alises the child and affects his/her self-esteem.

When parents notice, highlight and praise the strides that children make, regardless of how small, they boost their child’s confidence. Children love getting things right and receiving approval from adults they trust and re spect.

The feeling of accept ance and admiration from adults encourages the child to learn more and do better. These childhood memo ries help build resourceful, resilient, and reliable indi viduals. They grow con fident in their ability and understand how to stretch themselves to attain goals as the need arises.

Of course, children are unaware that they are liv ing their childhood memo ries, they are too involved with day-to-day activities, and the next thing to do that brings pleasure, joy or excitement. Parents must keep them centred -- teach ing humility, forgiveness, kindness, grace, compas sion, patience and fairness. The family lifestyle should include quality time spent eating together, talking, re laxing and interacting.

As simple as these rela tions may seem, they will secure an all-important con nection between adults and children – while enhancing and creating relevant child hood memories.

Discussions between parents and children should be age-appropriate and tai lored with words to suit the occasion. Depending on the gravity and content, some conversations can stick in a child’s memory even through adulthood. When relaying painful or shock ing information, grownups should choose words wisely. Adults should not subject children to unpleas ant, vulgar words spoken out of frustration or painful emotions.

Choose the right time and place to talk to children and allow them to contrib ute to conversations. Listen to what children say, show

them that their thoughts and opinions are meaningful. If parents react to children’s comments or questions with shock or disgust, children will refrain from being honest and speaking their minds. They might become withdrawn and only say what they know their par ents want to hear -- unable to be themselves or interact openly with the people who matter most. Many adults recognise that they sup pressed their thoughts and opinions as children, either through unspoken rules or fear.

Witnessing violence be tween adults is very dis turbing for children. When exposed to continual fam ily conflict, children may not recall their childhood memories clearly or ac curately. The trauma of conflict (adversely) affects how they process child hood information. Acts of conflict can remain with children into adulthood, shaping their thoughts and grown-up relationships.

Children are aware that people occasionally argue and disagree, but healthy relationships can withstand a quarrel. The adult mindset should be to shake off the problem or dispute, staying close, loving and dedicated to the family core. Disa greements should not affect the foundation of family love.

Whether they realise it or not, children follow their parent’s examples. How parents deal with and manage contention, anger, or disappointment is sig nificant to child develop ment. To build resilience and endurance in children, adults should model the same – passing on valuable traits and wholesome habits during childhood.

Adults should be happy to share their childhood memories with their off spring – once their stories are suitable; and especially if they teach a moral les son. Children love hearing stories about ‘scrapes’ their parents got into as children and how ‘young mummy or

daddy’ gained experience through an unfavourable or unfortunate incident, or got their comeuppance. Know ing their parents were once inquisitive, foolhardy chil dren, navigating their own childhood paths can put life’s cycle in perspective.

Adults can create a most valuable childhood memory by giving their children undivided attention. A child will never forget being the focus of devoted, sincere adult attention. Reading to a child each night when they are young or listening to them read when they are older builds a strong, com forting bond between child and adult.

Making or building things together in the kitch en or yard - and spending quality time in each other’s company, laughing, talking, or playing games are simple ways to sustain good rela tionships with children and create happy childhoods.

Children’s physical and mental experiences during childhood remain lodged in their memories and organs. Some memories can trigger fear, anxiety, uncertainty or despair as they grow and develop. On the con trary, others can bring joy, hopefulness, courage, or empowerment.

The best memories are the most unexpected. Pleasant surprises bring excitement and delight, such as receiving an unaf fordable item of clothing or a longed-for pet.

Raising children in an organised, encouraging environment where they enjoy guidance, a sense of responsibility, and freedom (within reason) contributes to a memorable childhood.

If you are concerned about the welfare of a child, call the CPA hotline on 227 0979 or write to us at childcaregy@gmail.

‘Use your knowledge to impact lives, make a difference’

- alumnus Dr Dukhi tells Skeldon Line Path Secondary graduates - announces full scholarship for top CSEC performer, Leezo Prasad

By Nafeeza Yahya-Sakur

WHILE delivering the charge to the Skeldon Line Path Secondary School (SLPSS) graduates, Dr Amarnauth Dukhi urged them to rise above their circumstances and use their knowledge to impact lives and make a differ

forward is to dedicate our lives to making a difference in the lives of others; we must always remember that when we gain knowledge, we must share it. We must use that knowledge to cre ate an improvement in the lives of the people next to you. Whatever profession you choose, use it to help people,” he said.

excellence lies in each one of you…many of our social heroes, political leaders and even myself, as a young lad stemming from this very in stitution, started our lives as just average people. Despite the failures and mistakes made and although we may have been just average, we [found] that the average can

University of Guyana. She is expected to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in 2023.

For 2022, the scholarship was awarded to Leezo Pras ad, an aspiring neurosurgeon and the school’s valedicto rian, who attained 16 Grade Ones and one Grade Two.

Prasad was among the country’s most outstanding

performers. She was also the top performer for Region Six.

Unfortunately, she was unable to attend the gradu ation ceremony as her sis ter, 26-year-old Dharmini Prashad, a teacher of the

school, had died earlier in the day.

Aside from producing top performers, the overall pass rates in the different subject areas have been continuously improving over the years.

ence not only for them selves, but for their com munity and the country at large.

Dr Dukhi, a renowned neurosurgeon and a for mer student reflected on his path to success during the graduation ceremony which was held on Friday in the school’s auditorium at Line Path, Corriverton, Berbice.

Over 90 graduates col lected certificates. Some received special awards for their outstanding academic performance at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Edu cation Certificate (CSEC) exams.

Arguably one of the most famous sons of the school who is known throughout the country and region as being a Guyanese pioneer in the field of neuro surgery, Dr Dukhi credited his parents and more so the foundation he received from his alma mater.

He urged the graduating class to carry on the rich legacy of selflessness for which the school is known.

“Our dedication moving

He added that life is more than acquiring assets or material things. He said it is about leaving a footprint that others can follow.

“We cannot take all the knowledge we have with us. We cannot take material things we have with us, but what we could do is when we have it, use it to make a difference in the lives of those people who are power less and who are voiceless. When you do those things, then, you would have cre ated a legacy for yourself and a legacy for your fam ily, society, and a legacy for your country.”

Dr Dukhi charged the graduates, who were paying keen attention as he spoke, to “dream” as it is the first step in realising what they can achieve. He said that regardless of their circum stances, they should “dream big.”

“It’s not where you come from, not what your cir cumstances are, not what you are currently doing, but what you will do and what you can do, because

achieve greatness. Whether recognised by the world or just by a few, we all can make huge differences in small ways,” he said.

FORTUNATE POSITION

Noting that they are the future, he told them that they are in a fortunate position. He explained that Guyana is in a “special place” world wide, given that the migra tion curve has changed, and many are looking to return home and build on the Guya nese dream.

“It’s now the Guyanese dream. You are fortunate to be part of that, you will be the pillar of strength in creating and improving the lives of many Guyanese, not only your generation, but for generations to come.”

As a way of giving back to his alma mater, he started the Dr Amarnauth Dukhi Foundation. The aim was to provide funding to students in special circumstances to further their studies.

In 2018, the first recipi ent was Yugeeta Kumar, who is currently pursuing stud ies in biochemistry at the

Headteacher of Skeldon Line Path Secondary School (SLPSS), Sonia Griffith, receives a plaque from Dr Amarnauth Dukhi on behalf of the top performer, Leezo Prasad. As a result of her sister’s death, Prasad was unable to attend the graduation ceremony

The Skeldon Line Path Secondary School’s graduating class. Also pictured are the headteacher, Sonia Griffith (seated at left) and senior teacher Lalita Maniram (seated at right)

Guyana’s Indigenous Peoples key to sustainable development - NTC Chair tells UN

forts on the Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) since 2008.

This strategy, which was game-changing when it was first crafted, outlines how Guyana’s lush forest resources would be sustainably leveraged to advance the country’s developmental efforts. With the return of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) to government, an updated LCDS has been formu lated.

of continued involve ment by Toshaos, now that the LCDS 2030 has been finalised, highlight ing their role in produc ing the Village Plans.

“These plans will un derpin locally-led efforts for investment in priori ties identified by villages themselves, to progress the overall objectives of LCDS 2030,” the release detailed.

programmes.

Outside of his en gagement in the nature zone, John also joined Guyana’s Minister of Natural Resources Vick ram Bharrat and world leaders at the opening ceremony of COP 27.

the Guyana-European Union Forestry Partner ship to support trade in sustainable timber prod ucts from Guyana’s for est communities.

CHAIRMAN of the Na tional Toshaos Council (NTC) Derrick John, in his address at the United Nation (UN)’s 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) on cli mate change, has af firmed that Guyana’s Indigenous Peoples are a crucial part of the country’s sustainable development.

The 27th Conference

of Parties to the Unit ed Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is ongoing in Sharm elSheikh, Egypt.

John, who is also the Toshao of Moraikobai in Region Five (MahaicaBerbice), updated partic ipants on how Guyana’s Indigenous Peoples and local communities had engaged with national ef

A release from the Department of Public Information (DPI) not ed that the NTC Chair man informed a special COP27 “nature zone” event that the updated strategy was crafted af ter consultations with Guyana’s Indigenous Peoples, who tradition ally occupy many of the forested areas.

“At Friday’s nature zone event, Toshao John spoke of the importance

In August 2022, under John’s chairmanship, the NTC passed a resolution in support of the LCDS 2030 and its proposals for sharing the benefits of potential revenues from the sale of carbon credits in the voluntary carbon markets.

These proposals are set out in the LCDS 2030. As per that strat egy, 15 per cent of Guy ana’s carbon market earnings will be distrib uted directly to indig enous communities for village-led plans and

John also participat ed in meetings where pledges in support of Indigenous Peoples were advanced, includ ing the United King dom’s pledge, which was announced by British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.

Minister Bharrat sup ported these efforts, and met with UK Minister Lord Zac Goldsmith to discuss how the UK and Guyana could advance their ongoing partner ships, as well as new potential actions coming out of COP27.

The DPI release also noted that Toshao John witnessed the signing of

That partnership was signed by Minister Bhar rat and European Com mission President, Ursu la von der Leyen, while Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali addressed the event. The Head of State provided insights on how the partnership between the European Union and Guyana advanced the LCDS 2030, and he thanked the bloc for its lasting support for Guy ana’s efforts on sustain able forest management.

Toshao John was elected NTC Chair man in July 2022. As the chair of the NTC, he represents the 20-strong Executive Committee, as well as the more than 200 elected Toshaos from villages across Guyana.

Massive mental health conference to start tomorrow

over 20 international specialists scheduled to speak

GUYANESE will bene fit from the expertise of some 20 specialists from the Caribbean, Australia, South Africa, Europe, the United States, and Asia this week, when a massive four-day mental health and well-being conference gets underway at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre from November 15.

Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony, said the con ference which runs until November 18, will be a great opportunity for people to interact with the prestigious professors in mental health.

Persons interested in learning about mental health, suicide prevention, and other related issues should attend the conference.

“Of course, we would like to have all of our pro fessional persons who are interested in this area join us and to make sure that they get as much out of the conference as possible,” Dr

Anthony said.

This will be the second edition of the conference.

Child Psychiatric Epidemi ologist, Professor Christina Hoven of Columbia Uni versity and some of her col leagues will lead the effort for the academic conference in Guyana.

“In addition to her, they have been working with us very closely, and we have at least three studies; longi tudinal studies that they are doing in Guyana. One is the Guyana suicide study and the others have to do with trauma at the Accident and Emergency. Recently, we’ve had another study looking at factors relating to suicide for persons between the ages of 12 to 20,” Dr Anthony said.

The Health Minister lauded the relationship be tween Guyana and Columbia University, since these stud ies are being conducted in Guyana. He said one of the spinoffs from the relation

ship is ensuring that the con ference is hosted annually.

Professor Judit Balazs of the Eötvös Loránd Univer sity, Hungary; Psychiatrist, Professor Prabha Chandra; German-Croatian Psychia trist and University Profes sor Norman Sartorius, and Swedish Professor Danuta Wasserman, are among the experts who will attend the conference.

Presentations will in clude epidemiology, child psychiatry, suicidology, perinatal psychiatry, and is sues relating to psychiatry and sexual and reproductive health.

The PPP/C Adminis tration has started several initiatives to address mental health issues since assuming office.

The event is a collabo rative effort between the Ministry of Health, the University of Guyana, Co lumbia University, and other local partners. (DPI)

NTC Chairman Toshao Derrick John

New silos, drying tower to increase corn, soya bean production

WORK is progress ing rapidly on three, 3000-tonne silos and one 80-tonne-per-hour drying tower at Tacama Landing, along the Ber bice River.

Those facilities, when completed, will serve to support large-scale cultivation of corn and soya, President Dr Irfaan Ali said in a recent post on his official Facebook page.

In a recent interview with the Guyana Chroni cle, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha had said that works were in progress to extend the farm in the Tacama Sa vannahs to some 4,000 acres.

“Last year, we would have started the trial of 125 acres and it was very successful and we harvested three tonnes per hectare, and that is aligned in getting the kind of production we want; because of that, we said we will expand to 3,0004,000 acres this year and we will continuously in crease, so the next three years we can expand to 25, 000,” Mustapha said.

The country will not only become a supplier to the regional market, but will also be self-sufficient in producing its own feed for livestock.

“Now if we can move to 25,000 acres, this means we will be selfsufficient two times per year and we will also be a net exporter,” Minister Mustapha said.

Meanwhile, soya bean at the Dubulay Ranch at Ebini along the Berbice River will be ready to harvest in the coming weeks.

In 2021, six local companies and a regional firm joined together to undertake the massive project that could see Guyana becoming selfsufficient in corn and soya bean over the next few years.

The owners of Guy ana Stockfeeds Incorpo rated., Royal Chicken, Edun Farms, SBM wood, Dubulay Ranch, and Bounty farm ltd., along with the Brazilian-owned, N F agriculture, have partnered to produce soya bean and corn for both the local and regional markets.

With Guyana ex pending close to US$25 million annually on pro teins for the poultry sector, the government since being elected to office in 2020, has taken steps to promote domes tic cultivation of grains such as corn and soya bean.

An artist’s impression of the completed three, 3000-tonne Silos and one 80-tonne-per-hour drying tower (Photo courtesy of President, Dr Irfaan Ali’s Facebook page)

Construction works underway at Tacama Landing (Photo courtesy of President, Dr Irfaan Ali’s Facebook page)

Long-standing land issues to be addressed at Ituni

land titles to be processed by first quarter of 2023, Housing Minister says

HOUSING and Water Min ister Collin Croal on Friday assured residents of Ituni, Region 10, that the minis try is working to resolve the outstanding land issues within the community.

Notwithstanding this, Minister Croal has commit ted to addressing these issues promptly as steps will be taken to regularise the area by the first quarter of 2023.

The minister related that the first attempt to regularise the area was in 2004, when some 70 land titles were pro cessed.

Minister Croal said: “[The process was put on hold] be cause what is on the plan does not match the reality on the ground…we have to fix this. We could not further process for you to get ownership be cause we ran into problems. We will have to rectify this by starting from scratch.”

A follow-up visit was done in December 2021, dur

area.

“This is my commitment to you…the first exercise to be done is to do a reoccupational survey. When that is finished, the plan will be drawn up in accordance with what is occurring on the ground. So, they have to widen the current plan. We have to check mapping against what is on the plan,” Croal said, adding that the new plan will go through the legal system and be recorded.

He committed that once this phase is competed, titles will be processed.

“We will come here and sign up all of those who did not get their titles and process your titles,” Minister Croal assured residents.

He said that the team will revisit the area early next month to complete the oc cupational survey and plan.

To this end, Minister Croal said: “I am, therefore, committing to you with all of

is ongoing for some 400 house lots which were allo cated in Amelia’s Ward.

He related that when homes are built haphazardly, it is challenging to build a road network and other vital infrastructure.

“When it comes to regu larising an area, we must have an alignment where the road has to go,” Croal said.

The minister added that, shortly, a new area will be cleared to commence con struction, in keeping with a commitment of President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali. This forms part of the 1,000-home initiative in the region.

Croal reiterated the gov ernment’s commitment to improving the standard of living of all Guyanese.

Residents raised concerns related to the pumping hours for water, cement and steel programme, land titles, and affordable housing.

Minister Croal

ing which a survey of the area was conducted.

Minister Croal said that through the Central Hous ing and Planning Author ity (CH&PA), some persons were given allocations for particular areas in Ituni, but other persons started occupy ing the government reserve.

To this end, he informed the residents that a new plan will be done, since additional persons are occupying the

that timeline that they must fix those of you living in Ituni now, must fix this situation and this area by the end of the first quarter of next year.”

He implored the residents to cooperate with authorities in order for the process to be completed promptly.

For Region 10, Minister Croal highlighted that the ministry will be working on three clusters simultaneously.

The infrastructural work

said: “We’re trying to source a new engine that will allow you to have more pumping hours. That is in the immedi ate term.”

This is to provide addi tional service hours for water in the community.

Regional Executive Of ficer (REO) of Region 10, Dwight John and technical officers of the Housing and Water Ministry also at tended the event. (DPI)

Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal, on Friday assured residents of Ituni, Region 10, that the ministry is working to resolve the outstanding land issues within the community

Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal

21 GDF officers complete ‘capstone’ training course

THE ‘capstone’ course for soldiers of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) has been completed by another batch of Senior NonCommanding Officers (SNCOs)

The capstone cur riculum examines major issues affecting national security decision-mak ing, military strategy, joint/combined doc trine, interoperability, and key allied national issues.

The Senior Lead ers Course (SLC) is of 14 weeks duration, and prepares SNCOs to function as Unit and Sub-Unit Sergeant Ma jors across the full spec trum of military opera tions.

Twenty-one SNCOs, including one from the Guyana Police Force and two from the Bar bados Defence Force, graduated from SLC12 after successfully achieving the course’s pre-requisites, which included oral presenta tions and a series of written assessments, practical exercises and a Service Essay.

In his address to the students, Force Sergeant Major (FSM), Warrant Officer Class One Raul Rodney congratulated them on their success, and urged them to be proud of their achieve ment.

He also reminded them that there was work to be done, and that the organisation and the soldiers depend

on them.

“When soldiers and officers see you, they see an immediate ex pectation of what is right,”’ he urged, as he reminded the SNCOs to continuously make a positive impact when they return to their units.

The FSM urged the SNCOS to build and maintain trust with their juniors who will depend on them for their guid ance.

He implored, “Don’t forget you were once a private soldier; stay grounded, as this will make you more rele vant and realistic. Learn from your mistakes; work on being an ef fective communicator, as this is key to being a successful leader.’’

Staff Sergeant Ronic Carter was adjudged the Best Graduating Student, and copped the Best Service Essay prize. His essay exam ined professionalism and discipline within the Guyana Defence Force. The runner-up student award went to Sergeant Che Mapp of the Barba dos Defence Force.

The course was staffed by Officer Commanding, Captain Rono Joseph; Director, Warrant Officer Class One (retired) Adrian George; Warrant Of ficer Class Two Dwain Daniels as the School Sergeant Major; and Staff Sergeant Sher win James as the Syn dicate Instructor.

Seated in the foreground are Senior GDF ranks and course facilitators. Standing behind them are the SNCOs who completed the course (GDF photo)

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER

(Monday November 14, 2022)

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

Answers to yesterday’s quiz: (1) 2007/2009/2022 (2) 2010/2016/2022

Today’s Quiz: (1) When & where did the WI & AUST first contest a Test match against each other? (2) Who were the captains involved?

Answers in tomorrow’s issue

English Racing Tips Leicester 09:50 hrs Samatian 10:20 hrs Never No Trouble 10:50 hrs Lechro 11:20 hrs Lusaka 11:50 hrs Sacre Pierre

Exeter 09:00 hrs Raddon Top 09:30 hrs Comprond 10:00 hrs Western Gen eral

10:30 hrs Dan's Chosen 11:00 hrs Masters Leg acy 11:30 hrs Lutinebella Wolverhampton 13:00 hrs Harry's Hero 13:30 hrs Victoria Falls 14:00 hrs Street Kid 14:30 hrs Super Julius

15:00 hrs Ellie Piper

15:30 hrs Exquistively

16:00 hrs Night Life 16:30 hrs Siofra

American Racing Tips Finger Lakes Race 1 Draw Off Race 2 Noble Journey Race 3 Nobodyridesfor free

Race 4 Boy I Hope So Race 5 Hit By A Wave Race 6 Golani Brigade Race 7 Our Caravan Race 8 Take The Edge South Africa Racing Tips

Greyville

08:15 hrs Straight Up 08:50 hrs Just Virginia 09:25 hrs Oh So Squishy 10:05 hrs Premptive Strike

10:38 hrs Blush Of Dawn

Russell beats Lewis Hamilton to first full Formula 1 win

Perez said over his radio: "It shows who he really is."

An incredible race to mark Russell's first win

Mercedes went into the race with a front-row lockout - after Russell's win in the Sprint race on Saturday and a grid penalty for Sainz, who had finished second ahead of Hamilton - but concerned about the potential pace of Verstappen.

They held their positions at the start only for the safety car to mean they had to do it again a few laps later.

England win T20 World...

FROM BACK PAGE

Pakistan's hopes of defending their modest 8-137 appeared possible after their enchanting pace triumvirate snared three wickets inside the Power play, including star man and captain Jos Buttler for 26 off 17 balls.

bowling conditions.

Afridi's status as the first-over king was en hanced with Alex Hales the latest victim to his brutal brand of vicious in-swing, before Haris Rauf (2-23 from four) knocked over Phil Salt and Buttler.

Queensland-born former batter was also the success ful coach when the Aussies won the most recent wom en’s T20 title at the MCG in 2020.

GEORGE Russell took a maiden grand prix victory - and a first for Mercedes in 2022 - as Max Verstappen was penalised for a collision with Lewis Hamilton in Sao Paulo.

Russell was in control of the race throughout after Ver stappen and Hamilton crashed together disputing second place in the early stages at a safety car restart.

Hamilton dropped to eighth place after the colli sion with his 2021 title rival but came back to secure a Mercedes one-two and seal the team's recovery after a difficult season that the eighttime champions started with an uncompetitive car.

Russell's accomplished drive included him surviving a late safety car that bunched up the field and put Hamilton right behind him heading into the final 10 laps.

The Mercedes drivers were told that they were al lowed to race but Russell held the lead at the restart and kept Hamilton at bay until the end.

Behind them, the final 10 laps were a frantic fight as a number of drivers who had had difficult races revived

their afternoons.

Among them were Fer rari's Charles Leclerc - who had been barged off the track by McLaren's Lando Norris at Turn Five shortly after the Verstappen-Ham ilton incident and dropped to the back - and Verstappen himself.

Leclerc was sixth at the restart but moved up to fin ish fourth behind his Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, as both passed the fading Red Bull of Sergio Perez.

Alpine's Fernando Alonso also overtook the Mexican to take a strong fifth place after starting 18th.

The late caution period also helped Verstappen move up from the bottom of the top 10 to sixth place, just failing to pass Alonso on a race to the line.

Verstappen was ordered by Red Bull to let Perez back past, after being allowed past a few laps earlier, but did not comply.

Asked what happened, Verstappen said: "I told you already last time, you guys don't ask that again to me, OK? Are we clear about that? I gave my reasons and I stand by it."

Russell managed the restart perfectly but Verstappen got a run on Hamilton and dived for the outside into Turn One.

Hamilton fought it out and they collided as they tried to negotiate Turn Two side by side.

Verstappen complained that Hamilton had not left him space but the stewards saw the incident different ly and gave Verstappen a five-second penalty, declaring that he had been "predomi nantly at fault".

That left Perez as Rus sell's only realistic rival for the win, but after managing his pace for the first few laps the Briton obeyed a request from the team to up his pace and build a gap and Perez had no answer.

As Russell took control of the race, the question was how far could Hamilton climb back up the field in his re covery and it soon became apparent he had a chance of second.

Hamilton ran longer on his first set of tyres to give himself a pace off-set. He stopped six laps later than Perez and emerged in fourth place also behind Sainz. (BBC Sport).

Boston Celtics extend winning run to six games

JAYSON Tatum inspired a sixth consecutive win in the NBA for Boston Celtics as they defeated the Detroit Pistons 117-108.

Tatum, 24, scored 43 points and grabbed 10 re bounds in the game on Sat urday.

The Pistons were leading until the Celtics went ahead in the third quarter.

Grant Williams and Mar cus Smart also contributed to Celtics' score with Williams scoring 19 and Smart adding 18 points.

Elsewhere in the NBA, the Indiana Pacers edged the Toronto Raptors 118-104.

Miami Heat defeated the Charlotte Hornets 132-115

and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Atlanta Hawks 121109.

Meanwhile, the New Or leans Pelicans claimed a 119-

106 win over the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mav ericks clinched a 117-112 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.(BBC Sport).

Yet a knee injury suf fered by Shaheen Shah Afridi when he took a catch on the boundary off Harry Brook was a dagger to the side overwhelmingly favoured by the more than 80,000 fans who created a sea of green at one of crick et's most iconic venues.

While Stokes was the hero, the five-wicket win that sealed England's sec ond men's T20 title was built on the back of a suf focating bowling perfor mance led by crafty quick, Sam Curran (3-12 from four overs) and leg-spinner Adil Rashid (2-22 from four).

England are now the reigning world champi ons in both limited-overs formats, having won the most recent ODI World Cup in 2019 when Stokes of course was the chief protagonist.

It is a further endorse ment for the white-ball rev olution that commenced in the aftermath of England’s ODI World Cup failure on these shores back in 2015 when their conservative approach with the bat and reliance on longer-form players was exposed in an embarrassing group-stage exit

Eoin Morgan, the captain who oversaw the turnaround and remade England's sides in his im age before retiring earlier this year, would have been looking on with pride from his spot in the television commentary box.

Sunday’s contest came to life early in the runchase as Pakistan's clique of spirited quicks turned up the dial and aggressively went after England's vaunt ed top-order in favourable

Naseem Shah, the youngest member of the spellbinding trio, could not believe he too did not make an early breakthrough during an over of high-skill and speed in which he went past Buttler's outside edge five times.

That the other (legal) delivery was a daring Buttler ramp for six over fine-leg underlined the at tacking approach England were intent on pursuing, as they took 49 runs from the Powerplay despite losing their entire top three in that period.

Stokes suffered a nasty knock to the arm off Mo hammad Wasim Jr. and survived a number of near misses with skittish running between the wickets nearly seeing him caught short in mix-ups with both Brook (20 off 23) and Moeen Ali (19 off 12).

Yet the left-hander broke the game open when Shaheen unsuccessfully attempted to return to the bowling crease after his injury. He took 13 off the next five balls from Sha heen's replacement, Iftikhar Ahmed, before accelerat ing through the remaining overs

It was the kind of nous England fans have seen before, vindicating Austra lian coach Matthew Mott’s insistence he play a major role at this tournament de spite middling returns in T20Is leading into it.

Mott, who only took over as coach earlier this year when England split the white-ball and Test jobs, now has two World Cup wins in a single calendar year having led the Austra lian women to an ODI title in New Zealand in April.

The outback

Inserted by Buttler who wanted to chase due to the prospect of inclement weather, Pakistan floun dered against an attack neutered by the absence of enforcer, Mark Wood.

Discipline and econo my, as opposed to the kind of brute force relied on by their counterparts, were the watch words then for England's bowlers who cur tailed every fresh attempt at aggression with changes of pace and banging the ball into a pitch clearly affected by Melbourne's deluge of rain over recent weeks.

Rashid bowled slower than he has all tournament and confounded the Paki stan top order, striking on his first ball with the scalp of wonderkid, Mohammad Haris, before undoing skip per Babar Azam (32 off 28) with a googly.

Shan Masood (38 off 28) finally injected some energy into his side's in nings with a 16-run over off Liam Livingstone straight after the halfway drinks break but, short ly after a Chris Jordan bumper clattered into his helmet, joined the proces sion of Pakistanis caught on the long northern square boundary.

A half-hearted start from gun openers Babar and Mohammad Rizwan (15 off 14) in which they failed to take advantage of the Powerplay – includ ing wayward first-over offerings from Stokes, who bowled a no-ball and a wide to start the match –proved decisive.

Shadab Khan (20 off 14) did his best to lift the rate but late wickets from Curran and Jor dan ensured their total remained only modest, with Pakistan left to rue managing only 6-53 from their final nine overs.

Brazilian Grand Prix – Jose Carlos Pace Circuit, Sao Paulo, Brazil - Mercedes’ George Russell celebrates after winning the race REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

Jayson Tatum joined the Boston Celtics in 2017, scored 43 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

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Pooran misses out on century but Red Force into Super50 Cup semis

AROUBA, Trinidad, (CMC) – Captain Nich olas Pooran fell agonis ingly short of a maid en regional one-day hundred but Trinidad and Tobago Red Force cruised into the semi-fi nals of the Super50 Cup with an uncomplicated victory over Windward Islands Volcanoes.

With the reigning champions in pursuit of a revised 249 at Brian Lara Stadium after a near three-hour rain break end ed the Volcanoes innings after 40 overs at 201 for four, Pooran found him self stranded on 99 as his side won by seven wickets under Duckworth-Lew is-Stern with an over to spare late Saturday.

Pooran started the 39th

over on 97 and punched a single to deep cover off the first ball from Shadrack Descarte. His partner Darren Bravo, who finished unbeaten on 67, patted down the next two deliveries before pull ing the fourth delivery to the square leg boundary, much to his own frustra tion.

A sharp single of the fifth delivery left Red Force with a single run for victory but also left Pooran needing a bound ary to reach his hundred.

However, he could only sky the final ball of the over behind the wicketkeeper for a single, ending his quest for the cherished landmark.

All told, the West In dies white-ball captain

smote 11 fours and two sixes off 71 balls while fellow left-hander Bra vo gathered nine fours in a 63-ball innings, the pair putting on 165 in an unbroken fourth wicket stand.

Sunil Ambris had ear lier suffered frustration of his own when the weather intervened with him in sight of triple figures on 90 not out.

The right-hander struck eight fours and a couple of sixes off 100 balls, pulling Volcanoes out of trouble at 36 for four in the seventh over, in a 165-run, unbroken fifth wicket partnership with Andre Fletcher whose un beaten 68 came from 103 deliveries and three fours and a six.

Asked to bat in the day/night affair, Vol canoes had the worst possible start. Johann Jeremiah (5) missed an ungainly swipe and lost his off-stump to speedster Shannon Gabriel in the second over and Johnson Charles (8) was run out at the non-striker’s end in the third over after Alick Athanaze turned his back on a single.

Left-arm spinner Ake al Hosein (2-37) then struck twice in the seventh over, first having Alick Athanaze (13) brilliantly caught one-handed at leg slip by Pooran and then getting Kavem Hodge (2) to edge to Sunil Narine at first slip.

Ambris and Fletcher then dominated but once

rain changed the trajectory of the contest, Red Force took control.

Kjorn Ottley’s healthy run of form continued when he struck 43 from 53 deliveries with five fours and a six, in a 49run second-wicket stand with Jason Mohammed (25), which helped Red

Force around from 22 for one when they lost Amir Jangoo for two in the fifth over.

Both perished in the space of 13 balls with 13 runs added but Pooran and Bra vo averted the danger with their entertaining century stand.

Maxwell suffers fractured leg in freak accident

GLENN Maxwell could miss the rest of the summer after breaking his leg in a freak accident at a 50th birthday par ty in Melbourne this weekend.

Maxwell has been ruled out of the Dettol ODI series against En gland beginning this week and will then un dergo a lengthy rehabil itation after fracturing his left fibula on Sat urday.

The 34-year-old underwent surgery on Sunday after he and the person celebrating the milestone were running in a backyard on Satur day evening.

Both slipped and fell, with Maxwell's leg becoming trapped under the other per son's, understood to be a friend of Maxwell's.

Neither were intox icated and the other person is not believed to have sustained an injury.

“Glenn is in good spirits. It was an unfor tunate accident and we feel for Glenn in the circumstances given he was in great touch in his last few games," Australia's selection chief George Bailey said.

“Glenn is a critical part of our white ball structure and we will

continue to support him through his recovery and rehabilitation.”

Sean Abbott has re placed Maxwell in the

squad for the ODI se ries.

Maxwell appeared

in good spirits on Sun day, posting a video on Instagram of him watching the Mel bourne Stars WBBL team

But it is rough tim ing for the allrounder,

who could face up to three months on the sidelines. A more de tailed prognosis is ex pected later this week.

He was set to captain the Melbourne Stars in the upcoming KFC BBL after the ODIs against England which was set to complete a long run of white-ball cricket for him, includ ing Australia's disap pointing recent T20 World Cup campaign.

Now his lingering red-ball aspirations are up in the air, too. A re turn to the Marsh Shef field Shield for the first time in three years had been on the cards over the coming weeks with

an eye to Australia's next Test tour, to India in February.

"It's something that I've made no secret about, that I really want to play Test cricket again and I'm just hop ing by the end of the summer hopefully I can be somewhere around that Test squad," Maxwell told cricket. com.au recently.

Men's Dettol ODI Series v England

Thursday Nov 17: Adelaide Oval, 1:50pm

Saturday Nov 19: SCG, 2:20pm

Tuesday Nov 22: MCG, 2:20pm

Red Force captain Nicholas Pooran fell short of a maiden regional one-day century

Allrounder Glenn Maxwell slipped and fell in the backyard during a birthday party, and will be unavailable for an extended period

4R Lioness claim inaugural PM Softball title

By Frederick Halley

A BRILLIANT open ing stand of 85 between Tamica Wilson (40 not out) and Amanda De Freitas (23), aided by some wayward bowl ing, spurred 4R Lion ess to a comprehensive nine-wicket victory over Trophy Stall An gels in the inaugural women’s final of the Prime Minister T20 Softball tournament which ended in a blaze of glory at the Guyana National Stadium, yes terday.

Playing before a

sprinkling of spectators on a sun-lit day, 4R Li oness raced to 101 for one in 9.4 overs, reply ing to the 100 made by their opponents in the allotted 12 overs.

Wilson, who struck five fours, lost her part ner DeFreitas who struck one four, ensured victory was achieved without any further loss with Joann VanSertima (10 not out) striking the win ning boundary, a vicious pull through mid-wick et. Wides contributed a healthy 30. Former Guyana and West Indies player Tremayne Smartt

took the only wicket to fall, while conceding 10 runs.

Earlier, opener Alicia Allen was left stranded on 46 (two fours) while former Guyana batter, June Ogle followed up her semi-final knock of 46 not out by another fine innings of 30 and with the addition of five penalty runs, Trophy Stall Lions reached what proved to be an inad equate total. Hassana Mohamed took one for 16 and Sangeete Sawh one for 20.

In Sunday’s semi-fi nals, played at the De

merara Cricket Club (DCC) ground, Queen stown, 4R Lioness de feated Upper Demerara All Stars by five wickets while Trophy Stall Lion ess won from East Coast Warriors by 10 wickets.

Batting first, Upper Demerara All Stars were restricted to 83 for five in the allotted 10 overs. 4R Lioness reached the required target in seven overs, losing three wick ets in the process.

In the other game, East Coast Warriors bat ted first and made 81 for seven in 10 overs with opener M. Benn

hitting a top-score of 22. Smartt took two for 13. Trophy Stall Angels got to 82 without loss in 9.2 overs, with Ogle not out on 46 and Alicia Allen undefeated on 26.

At the presentation ceremony, which fol lowed, Tamica Wilson was named the Player of the Match while Ogle carted off the Player of the Tournament award. Wilson received a tro phy while Ogle got a blender. The winner’s and runners-up trophy, Player of the Match and MVP trophies were sponsored by Trophy

Stall.

The winning team also took home the win ners’ purse of $200 000 while the runners-up collected $25 000.

The Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL)-organised tour nament, which is in its sixth year, has the bless ings of the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.

Three other finals – Legends Over-50, Masters Over-40 and All Stars Open were set to follow the women’s final.

Regal Legends defend Over-50 title in...

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to 146 for seven in 20 overs, Regal Legends achieved the target with four balls to spare.

After NYSCL captain Ronald Evelyn removed Wayne Jones (18), the big-hitting Eric Thomas (0) and Fazleen Mohamed (0), along with the run out of David Harper (15) in a dramatic 16th over, which saw Regal Legends slipping from 103 for five to 104 for eight, the New Yorkers were ecstatic.

However, that ecstasy soon turned to gloom in Evelyn’s next over as he was plundered for 27 runs, including four sixes, three off the bat of Baker and the other from Hardyal.

When victory was achieved, Baker was unbeat en on 33, laced with a four and four towering sixes off a mere 14 balls while Hardy al’s unbeaten 14, included a six and came off 11 balls.

The consistent Ramesh Narine had earlier held the innings together with a valu

able 47, batting at number three, before departing at 74 for three in the 11th over. His knock included three fours and a six. Evelyn fin ished with three for 41 from 3.2 overs while Nandlall Doodnauth took two for 21 from four.

Doodnauth had earlier given the NYSCL innings some impetus after a some what slow start. Batting at number six, the pugnacious right-hander slammed five fours and a six in a quickfire 32 off 22 balls. Ken

Sanichar supported with 22 while Ravi Sahadeo (19) and Tony Fernandez (18) also had useful knocks.

Bowling for Regal Leg ends, Wayne Jones took three for 35 while there was one wicket each for Harper, Narine, and Thomas.

Regal Legends’ win followed another similar nail-biter when the same two teams met in the NY SCL annual Independence Cup last July in New York. That game also was decided in the last over with the

Guyana-based side prevail ing.

Regal Legends also took championship honours in the South Florida tourna ment, held in the Sunshine State in March/April.

The winning team took away the winners’ trophy and a hefty $600,000 while NYSCL received the run ners-up trophy and $50,. Baker was awarded the man-of-the-match for his marvellous knock while Narine was voted the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of

the Legends category. He was the only batter to record a century in the division.

The Masters Over-40 and Open All Stars finals were also scheduled to be completed under lights bringing the curtains down on the sixth edition of the Prime Minister T20 Soft ball tournament, organ ised by the Georgetown Softball Cricket League, in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Min ister and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.

The victorious 4R Lioness celebrate their victory

Player of the Final, Tamica Daniels receives her trophy from Dina Singh, manager of Dina’s Embroidery & Screen Printers

One-Guyana President’s Cup football Queenstown trample Suddie 7-0 in Essequibo opener

By Calvin Chapman

THE curtains raised on the highly anticipated One-Guyana President’s Cup football tournament yesterday with one match in Essequibo (Region 2) at the Anna Regina Multilat eral ground.

The one-sided affair which was witnessed by a fair-sized gathering at

the Cottenfield venue, saw Queenstown fire seven un answered goals past the hap less Suddie goalkeeper, who didn’t get much help from his defence.

Avinash Ramanan led the way for the victors with a hat-trick and he will be looking to continue his rich goal-scoring form with the intention of making the 25man squad that will represent

Region 2 in the second phase of the competiton.

Speaking to Chronicle Sport, he expressed gratitude with the opportunity that this One-Guyana President’s Cup football tournament has given him.

He posited that, “For me to be able throw my hat in the ring (with my performances) and be seen not only in Esse quibo but on a national level

England win T20 World Cup after tense MCG final

is very important to me. Not a lot of football is played in Essquibo and that brings lim ited opportunity but this tour nament changes that. I want to thank the President, Irfaan Ali, for this tournament.”

The first two goals of the match was scored by striker, Mario Walcott, just on the brink of half-time (40th & 42nd minutes) be fore he eventually left the

field with a hamstring injury.

Rodney Carter (75th) and James Carter’s strikes, one minute before stoppage time, accounted for the other goals in the rout.

Head of the Essequibo Football Association; Mar vin Pearson, shared that, “I believe the One-Guyana President’s Cup is a compe tition that definitely improve the level of all the players in

Essequibo while giving us a platform to be seen. I must thank the Government of Guyana for this wonderful initiative which, I am confi dent, will be a huge success!”

Matches in the Pres ident’s Cup also kicked off in Linden (Region 10), Region 5 and Region 6 yes terday. The results of those games will be featured in a subsequent report.

PM T20 Softball tournament Regal Legends defend Over-50 title in thrilling final

By Louis Cameron at the MCG

ENGLAND are kings of the white-ball game as their men's side became the first to combine the T20 and ODI crowns after

overcoming Pakistan and some of the more mes merising fast-bowling the great MCG has witnessed.

Ben Stokes (52no off 49) once again put England on his shoulders to lead his team to an uplifting victory

with an over to spare on a lively surface in Melbourne where the promised surge of rain, for once in the city's miserable recent run with the weather gods, never arrived.

By Frederick Halley

SEEMINGLY dead and buried at 104 for 8 in the 16th over, Regal legends were rescued by a stun ning 45-run partnership

between Rudolph Baker and skipper Mahendra “Anil” Hardyal, rallying to defend the Legends Over50 title with a thrilling eighth-wicket victory over the previously unbeaten

New York Softball

at the Guyana

Stadium yesterday. Set 147 for victory, after restricting NYSCL Legends

Cricket League (NYSCL) Legends

National

Players line up before kick-off (Queenstown in yellow)

England’s Jos Buttler holds aloft the trophy as they celebrate winning the T20 World Cup Scott Harbour/AAP Image via REUTERS

The victorious Regal Legends team