Guyana Chronicle E-Paper 27-11-2022

Immediate relief

- President Ali mobilises teams to address concerns of Herstelling residents

- emphasises need for collective responsibility to tackle existing issues

RESIDENTS of Her stelling, East Bank Demerara (EBD), were assured of im mediate interventions to remedy some of the issues they face. This assurance was given by President, Dr. Irfaan Ali’s, dur ing a walkabout in the community on Saturday.

Among the concerns raised by residents were those related to crime, the indiscrimi nate dumping of gar bage and dilapidated infrastructure in some sections of the commu

nity. The Head of State keenly listened to these concerns and offered practical solutions that would be implemented immediately.

“As much as we can do, we are doing. In the last two years, all these roads we did back and we committed to do ing all the remaining roads. All these roads were redone, but these are some of the social issues that require the community’s support,” President Ali told the residents.

A piece titled “Fraud and Criminality” appeared in the Guy ana Chronicle’s Sunday, January 24, 2021 edition. The article contained comments which were injurious to the reputation and character of A Partnership for National Unity-Alliance for Change (APNU-AFC) Parliamentarian, Jermaine Figueira. The Guyana National Newspapers Limited hereby retracts the publication and expresses its sincere regret to Mr. Figueira for any grief, embarrassment, mockery, and torment the aforemen tioned article may have caused.

Trade booming between Guyana, Brazil

ECONOMIC challenges

in Lethem, Region Nine (Upper Takutu- Upper Essequibo) were rife over

the past two years, owing to the restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

This situation has, however, changed as busi ness in the town is boom ing again, according to President of the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), Dan iel Gajie.

Gajie, in an invited comment, said trade be tween Lethem and neigh bouring Brazil has been improving all the time.

In fact, the RCCI Presi dent said: “It is probably at its best ever in our his tory.”

There are numerous factors that could be con tributing to this but the reopening of the Takutu Bridge, which is the land crossing between the two countries, has allowed people on both sides of the border to trade once more.

This border was closed

in the earlier months of the COVID-19 pandemic, largely to protect the Guy anese population from the surge in COVID-19 cases and the emergence of new variants in Brazil.

And now that trade has resumed, Gajie believes that the upcoming Christ mas season will augur well for businesses in Lethem since more Brazilians and locals will be out shop ping.

Beyond the Christmas season, the RCCI Presi dent anticipates positive developments for Region Nine overall. He is keen ly awaiting a substantial budgetary allocation from the government when the 2023 National Budget is presented next year.

“We anticipate a good budget, a budget that will support the private sec

tor development; so once we get that together with private sector initiatives, we are looking forward to 2023 being a year we can have an all-round positive development,” Gajie said.

Given that the private sector of Lethem has al ways partnered with the Government of Guyana, the RCCI President said that they look forward to continuing and improving on that partnership in 2023 and they look forward to being more inclusive and consulted in a meaningful way.

Aside from the Gajie’s position on business de velopment in the region, it is important to note that there are major develop ments planned for Region Nine that could see busi ness expand even further.

The government, through its revised energy mix, is also looking to triple the power supply in Lethem.

Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo had an nounced plans for hydro power at Kumu and the rehabilitation of the Moco Moco Hydropower sta tion, which would supply .7 megawatts of power.

So, together with the Kumu project, that is 2.2 megawatts of electricity for Region Nine.

The aggregate supply

of 2.2 megawatts plus the one megawatt produced by the solar farm would give Lethem three times its cur rent capacity. The town’s peak demand is about 1.1 megawatts of power.

“We would have al most triple the capacity and this is all coming from renewable energy, which would allow a massive growth in industrial estates and industrial plants for that area, and also resi dential purposes,” VicePresident Jagdeo had said.

Sitting at the southern end of Guyana, Lethem borders Brazil, which is a known economic power house in South America.

The availability of reli able and cheap electricity would, therefore, inevita bly draw consumers and developers to Lethem.

“If the entire Lethem is running on renewable energy, money is saved; there would be a budget ary balance of payments impact, welfare impact and a business impact,” Jagdeo reasoned.

Guyana is also hop ing to develop an energy corridor in collaboration with Brazil, Suriname and possibly French Guiana that could see the countries’ energy re sources (including natu ral gas) satisfying domes tic and regional needs.

President of the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), Daniel Gajie

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Rupununi Chamber of Commerce President says

Immediate relief

them. If they do not re move them, he warned residents that they will be removed without their permission.

Yet another issue raised was that a main pipe in the commu nity became broken about three weeks ago and the Guyana Wa ter Inc. (GWI) had not responded. The Presi dent contacted some one from GWI and informed them about the issue, and subse quently affirmed that it would be immediately resolved.

issue was too small for his consideration.

In fact, during his walk through the com munity, President Ali came across an old wooden house with an elderly woman seated in front of the house, who said she lives with her grandson. The Head of State said help will be given to fix the house and to make a walkway to the house.

RESIDENTS of Her stelling, East Bank Demerara (EBD), were assured of im mediate interventions to remedy some of the issues they face. This assurance was given by President, Dr. Irfaan Ali’s, during a walkabout in the com munity on Saturday. Among the concerns raised by residents were those related to crime, the indiscrimi nate dumping of gar bage and dilapidated

infrastructure in some sections of the commu nity. The Head of State keenly listened to these concerns and offered practical solutions that would be implemented immediately.

“As much as we can do, we are doing. In the last two years, all these roads we did back and we committed to do ing all the remaining roads. All these roads were redone, but these are some of the social issues that require the

community’s support,” President Ali told the residents.

Directly addressing complaints of litter ing and poor garbage disposals, and petty crimes such as robber ies in the area, Dr. Ali emphasised that there has to be a collective responsibility to re solve these issues.

He urged them to report all instances of crime and follow up with the Guyana Police Force to ensure that appropriate actions are taken. And the Presi dent told the residents that they ought to snap photos of those vehi cles that dump the gar bage in the community so that the necessary punitive actions can be pursued.

Even so, he does not believe that the residents should be left unaided.

“This time, we are not only going to involve the [Neigh bourhood Democratic Council] and the [Com munity Development Council], I want all the community leaders and everybody to get involved,” he said.

Another concern from the residents was that there are several old vehicles parked and abandoned in the com munity.

In response, the Head of State called on the Minister of Pub lic Works, Juan Edghill and community lead ers to identify these vehicles and give them the warning to remove

Meanwhile, Presi dent Ali highlighted that 114 kilometres of the community’s roads have been constructed and rehabilitated. By year end, the Head of State said another 11 kilometres will be com pleted.

Importantly, the President signaled to the residents that no

He noted that these are things he would like the newly launched ‘Men on Mission’ to do; provide assistance to communities.

A Venezuelan im migrant was among those who thanked the President and Guyana for opening the door to Venezue lan immigrants. The President told the man that they will work with them to improve their living conditions.

- President Ali mobilises teams to address concerns of Herstelling residents

- emphasises need for collective responsibility to tackle existing issues

President, Dr. Irfaan Ali engages residents of Herstelling on Saturday (Office of the President photo)

Director of Projects of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Omar Narine, engages an elderly resident of Herstelling, on Saturday (Office of the President photo)

compensation for damages to Demerara Harbour Bridge

THE oil tanker that crashed into the Dem erara Harbour Bridge on October 8, 2022, causing severe dis ruptions to thousands of people’s economic and social affairs, de parted Guyana with out compensating the government for the damage.

A statement from the Ministry of Pub lic Works, issued on Saturday, noted that a notice of detention was served on the vessel by the Maritime Admin istration Department

(MARAD) in keeping with Guyana’s Ship ping Act.

Subsequently, through its legal coun sel, the Demerara Har bour Bridge filed for $1 billion in damages, but noted that the expenses were not finalised at the time. As such, the initial sum of damages was likely to be much higher.

When those were filed, a requisition was also made for the ar rest of the vessel, and was granted that very day. The statement,

however, reminded the public that the legal team for the vessel, the Tradewind Passion, launched proceedings against the Demerara Harbour Bridge. Sever al Court hearings were held throughout Octo ber and November.

Though some infor mation cannot be dis closed due to the ongo ing litigation, Justice Corbin Lincoln was, re portedly, satisfied with the Letter of Under taking to the value of G$247,403,671 lodged by the owners, and

granted orders for the release of the vessel.

It was, however, em phasised that there was no actual payment of monies into the Court.

The government said it would uphold the Rule of Law; that is, it would allow the vessel to be released. Without notification to the General Man ager and management of the Harbour Bridge, the Tradewind Passion sailed on Monday, No vember 21, 2022.

“Throughout the period of the vessel’s

detention, matters con cerning the anchorage, repairs to the vessel, supply of provisions for the crew and other matters relating to the welfare of crew mem bers were, at all times, known.

“In the event that one is not too au fait with maritime affairs, it should be noted that any ocean-going vessel set to depart Guyana’s waters cannot just sail into the sunset at will. There are processes that have to be initiated, and which are facilitated by a shipping agency.

Therefore, it would be absurd for one to as sume that a vessel like the Tradewind Passion, which is currently the subject of court action, would not be moni tored,” the statement noted.

Given the forego ing circumstances, the Ministry assured Guy anese that the gov ernment would “vig orously pursue” the claims in the matter to ensure that the Demerara Harbour Bridge is justly compensated for the damage caused by the tanker.

Improved seed paddy production underway in MMA Scheme

DURING a meeting with farmers from the Burma Housing Scheme and other surrounding areas on Saturday, Agricul ture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha announced that systems are being implemented to sat isfy farmers’ demand for seed paddy in the region.

Minister Mustapha disclosed this while en gaging farmers during the commissioning of the new office building for the Mahaica/Abary Rice Development Scheme (MARDS) in Burma, Mahaicony.

Some $14M was ex pended by MARDS to execute rehabilitation works to its existing office and procure a new Nissan truck that will be used to improve services offered by the agency.

During the meeting, one farmer present told the minister that there was a need for an up graded seed facility to service the rice farm ers in the region as the current facility is not always able to satisfy the farmers’ demands.

Farmers also raised concerns about the on going housing devel opment programme in the area, noting that, once developed, per sons residing in the new housing area may have issues with some of the systems used

by farmers during rice cultivation.

While responding to the issues raised, Min ister Mustapha told the farmer that a mecha nism would soon be in place to address those issues.

“Region Five has the capacity to produce approximately 105,000 acres of rice. I am opti mistic that most, if not all, of the fields in the region will be culti vated in the next crop. I want to assure you we are in the process of setting up a system in Region Five to bring the seed paddy-produc tion capacity to about 65,000 bags per crop,” the Minister said.

He continued: “As it stands now, we are getting about 30,000 bags. For the next crop, I want to assure you that this region will produce all the seed paddy for the farmers. With the system that we are putting in place, MMA alone will be able to produce 50,000 bags of seed paddy next crop. As it relates to the issues raised about housing, a lot of planning and evalua tion was done for this. As a government, we have a plan and are committed to deliver ing affordable housing to all Guyanese. This is part of our overall developmental agenda,

so we have to work to gether to achieve this”.

He also said farm ers who were promised seed paddy would re ceive it. While stating that there was a re ported instance where a farmer who benefit ted from seed paddy but did not use it for its intended purpose, the minister said that systems will now be in place to ensure farmers do not take advantage of the system.

“We’ll put systems in place to ensure farmers that need seed paddy receive it. All

the commitments that were made for seed paddy, those farmers will receive it. Our officers will also en sure those farmers who receive the seed paddy use it for its in tended purpose. Only yesterday we received reports that someone collected seed pad dy and was selling it to other farmers. We have to put a system in place to deal with this. So, the same committee managing the fertilizer distribu tion will manage this programme because while some farmers

might have a genuine need, other persons are requesting assistance with the intent to smart the system,” he noted.

Minister Mustapha also told the farmers that the government is working aggres sively to address the

high fertiliser cost. He explained that the gas-to-shore project will allow for fertilis er production locally and that the govern ment is still engaging its bilateral partners to source fertilizer at a cheaper cost.

While in the region, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha conducted a walkthrough of Champagne and interacted with residents

PNC’S efforts will fail

THE PNC keeps using the same claims of racial dis crimination in an effort to shore up its declining base of support. However, the PNC’s goal of splitting Guyanese at a time when racial peace has never been as amply proven as it is right now under yet an other PPP/C administra tion will not be achieved by such ongoing agitation by perpetual losers.

This is especially true at a time when President Irfaan Ali’s administration is pro viding more commodities to Guyanese citizens on a daily basis than at any other point in the country’s history.

Throughout its existence, the PNC has consistently been a bitter loser. When the majority of Guyanese vot

ers reject it, it never accepts defeat, and always finds a way to complain that it was “cheated”.

In 1992, when the PNC claimed it had lost, this be haviour by the only party in Guyana with a lengthy his tory of suspicions of election stealing was shamelessly replicated once more.

The party claimed that it lost after 28 years of uninter rupted rule, not because the majority of voters thought enough elections had been stolen, but rather due to some fictitious global plot in Dr. Cheddi Jagan and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP)’s favour.

After President Jagan’s death in 1997, the PPP/Civic fielded its next-best candi date, Mrs. Janet Jagan. But

after Mrs. Jagan won, fair and square, the defeated PNC re fused to accept her ascent to the presidency, because she was “not born in Guyana…”

Never mind, Mrs. Jagan was the longest-serving reelected member of the Na tional Assembly. After her life-long political partner died, the PNC’s lawyers in vented the most ridiculous legal challenges to try to reverse the expressed will of the majority. And when that failed, the party embarked on a scorched-earth policy of daily and violent street protests.

The PPP and PNC agreed to allow CARICOM lead ers to mediate, leading to the Herdmanston Accord that proposed a ‘Term Lim it’ scheme, whereby future

elected presidents could serve only two consecutive terms.

The PPP/C then replaced the aged President, Mrs. Jag an with the youngest presi dential candidate in Guyana’s history, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, who brought home the elec tions bacon twice in succes sion.

Resulting from the ‘term limit’ provision, Mr. Donald Ramotar was selected by the PPP to lead the party into the 2011 general and regional elections. Mr. Ramotar won the presidency in 2011, and succeeded Mr. Jagdeo as President. The PNC-led A Partnership for National Uni ty (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) held an unprecedented one-seat par liamentary majority from the opposition side of the House.

President Ramotar sur vived his five-year term. The PNC-dominated APNU+AFC would win the general and regional elections in 2015 without complaints from the PPP/C.

The PNC-led APNU+AFC’s internal combustions and the David Granger administration’s failure to offer Guyanese any positive hope for the future, despite oil being discovered under their watch, made vic tory for the coalition in 2020 unlikely.

But when the expected happened, the sore losers refused to accept the elector ate’s rejection, claiming the PPP/C (in opposition) had conspired with the Elections Commission to ‘steal’ its victory.

During the five long months they attempted to cling to the offices they lost, PNC spokespersons claimed they had copies of official Statements of Poll (SOPs), indicating where and how they had been cheated. But, to this day (all of two years later), the SOPs have re mained concealed from the public’s eye - likely elements of the PNC leadership’s wild imagination.

Unable to provide one scintilla of evidence to sup port its latest laughable claims of being cheated out of office, the PNC again re sorted to the usual griping, while latching on to any and every availed or created op portunity to repeat and re play its never-ending 2020 electoral last post.

FDI drives economic growth

Based on articles in the letter section of our news papers, too many people are suspect of foreign in vestments. Some are even hostile, and see everything through the lens of old co lonial relationships, or new forms of what is labelled neoliberal (foreign) domi nation. The attacks on the foreign oil companies in Guyana provide adequate evidence of this attitude.

Only recently, 45 Guya nese citizens (many of whom live overseas) sent an illconceived letter to President Ali for a moratorium on oil and gas.

I can state upfront that I share the view that colonial economic exploitation was real, and that foreign capital today can be a conduit for regressive trickle-down poli cies to be embedded. Yet, we need a more nuanced

approach for no other reason than Guyana simply does not have either the magnitude or the rate of capital formation to foster sustained growth.

In fact, since 1964, Peter Newman had noted “unless one has financial support such as revenues from oil…, then…large projects must be financed from outside… by giant private concerns…” (Newman, 1964:12). Foreign investments in the oil sector are indispensable.

We need not go any fur ther than our own post-inde pendence economic record to prove the point. I draw on World Bank data to show that the contribution of FDI to GDP leaves no doubt on the matter. Simply put, higher levels of FDI generate higher levels of growth, and impacts associated variables such as GDP per capita.

Let us begin with the period 1970-1990. During

these two decades the aver age contribution of FDI to GDP was a meager 0.69 per cent. An argument could be made that 1983, 9184, and 1985 dragged down the aver age, but the reverse could be argued, namely that 1974 and 1975 were ‘outliers’ on the positive side of the equation.

For 14 years during the two decades, FDI contribu tion to GDP was less than one per cent FDI to GDP reach three per cent in only one year - 1970. GDP ex panded a mere 48 per cent over these two decades.

2001-2020 the average contribution of FDI to GDP was 8.74 per cent. The aver age is no doubt driven up by the dramatic increase in 2020 (43.48 per cent). During this period GDP expanded by a staggering 670 per cent, compared to the 48 per cent in the 1970-1990 period. There should be no com

plaints against 2020 as a dis tortion because the key point of this is that FDI drives growth.

In the 1970-1990 pe riod, per capita crawled from $380 to $534, a mere 40 per cent increase over two dec ades. By contrast per capita GDP for the second period moved from $954 in $2,000 to $6,956, a huge increase of 629 per cent.

A particularly revealing period is 1980-1990. In this decade of PNC governance, not a single year recorded a two per cent or higher FDI contribution to GDP, with nine years below 1 per cent. The economy shrunk by 33 per cent, and per capita GDP dived a horrific 32 per cent. Not surprisingly, Guyana’s foreign debt jumped by US$1 billion during the 1980s. In the longer period of capital inflow deprivation, 19701990, Guyana’s foreign debt

skyrocketed from US$82 million to nearly US$2 bil lion. Foreign exchange could not even cover the interest payments.

Editor, note that the posi tive effect of FDI is not lim ited to GDP growth, but step level improvements in other aspect of our quality of life. Stabroek News reported the UNDP 2021 HDR findings thus.

“The report…states that between 1990 and 2021, Guyana’s HDI value changed from 0.509 to 0.714, a change of 40.3 per cent. For the same period, Guyana’s life expectancy at birth rose by 3.3 years, mean years of schooling climbed by 3.3 years and expected years of schooling increased by 2.8 years. Guyana’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita escalated by about 996.3 per cent between 1990 and 2021, a reflection of the

oil revenues being received” (9/11/22). Note that the posi tive developments absolutely coincide with the decades of rising FDI.

It is important that those who use anecdotal evidence to generalize, think carefully about the damage they are doing by railing against foreign investments in the oil and gas sector as well as in ag riculture, manufacturing, and tourism. One hearten ing finding here is that FDI generally drives economic growth regardless of which party is in power. Yet, to get a fuller picture of the impact of FDI, we must also assess the quality of governance. Overall, FDI works best when there is democratic governance.

Yours sincerely, Dr. Randolph Persaud

Dear Editor

PNC’s divisive lies about social realities in Guyana will never succeed

Dear Editor,

The orchestrated racism machin ery of the PNC is now churning out make-shift organisations and associations to propagate their divisive lies about the social realities across Guyanese com munities and among our citizens.

Their newest propaganda puppet is the so-called ‘Institute for Action Against Discrimina tion’, headed by the disgruntled former army Colonel Lelon Saul, who has purportedly writ ten to the Democratic Black Caucus in the United States Congress with a hysteric claim that Guyana is on the brink of civil unrest, because of fictitious issues of discrimination swirling around in Saul’s head.

Almost a decade ago, Saul was sent into early retirement from the Guyana Defence Force, a situation which he never fully recovered from. His radical views about the PPP/C have never been a secret in and out

of active duty and have in fact been intensifying since losing the CEO title his squaddies in the David Granger administra tion bestowed upon him at the Central Housing and Planning Authority, following the 2015 elections.

Saul’s mindset was on full display most recently during President Ali’s visit to Bel ladrum. The retired Colonel took to the microphone to rhetorically ask the Head of State if he was fearful for his safety in that com munity while visiting, forcing the President to issue a strong rebuke. “I will visit any com munity in this country, at any time and be safe. So, no need to be concerned for my safety” President Ali responded.

Ahead of the 2015 elections in Guyana, retired GDF Briga dier and Burnham strongman, David Granger, was selected as the army boys’ Manchurian Candidate who would become

President. The deal saw re tired Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Harmon become Minister of State in the new Ministry of the Presidency, with portfolio pow ers never before seen in govern ment since independence. So much so were Harmon’s powers that the coalition partner, AFC, demanded reductions to achieve better balance of power in the partnership.

Dozens of other retired Brig adiers, Colonels and Captains were handed senior appoint ments across the government spectrum, at the Georgetown Public Hospital, at the National Parks Commission and other strategic agencies and depart ments of the state, effectively ring-fencing the governance apparatus with military manage ment tactics, and preparing the machinery for the many strongarm policies and programmes that would set the stage for a dictatorship.

These ranged from forcing citizens to pay more than one hundred new taxes, taking away cash grants from Guyanese children, rendering thousands of sugar workers and Amerindian residents jobless, and repossess ing farmlands in the MMA/ADA and other parts of the country, while at the same time oiling the elections rigging machinery at GECOM with the appointment of Keith Lowingfield as CEO.

Lelon Saul landed at the CHPA as part of the militariza tion strategy. While there, he singlehandedly issued multi million-dollar contracts without due process to the husband of his subject minister, effectively discriminating against legitimate contractors and depriving them of fair opportunities in the pro cess. He prioritised the building of turn-key housing units for the military comrades, while stymie ing the housing build out for communities that were perceived

as supporters of the PPP/C.

Since the failed seditious attempts to steal the elections in 2020 by the Granger soldiers, Saul and several of his military squaddies have been frequent ing extremist talk shows. These are the shows that have been calling for the destabilisation of the government and country, with the vilest racist messages designed to agitate the PNC support base to make the country ungovernable.

Not surprisingly, those treacherous efforts have been falling flat in President Ali’s ‘One Guyana’

Now Saul is boldly writing to the US Congress with veiled threats of civil unrest in Guyana, a situation he appears to have first-hand knowledge of and one for which he appears unaverse.

Saul and his fearmongering squaddies would be well advised to take careful lessons from the resolve demonstrated by the

PPP/C and other national and international stakeholders, in the face of the undemocratic dispo sition of parties to the attempted election heist of 2020, and the citizens continued overwhelm ing rejection of their racist, divisive politics of yesteryear.

The orchestrated racism bogeyman tactics being waged at home and abroad by Saul, et al, at the direction of the PNC leader, Aubrey Norton, to frac ture the Guyanese society, will not work.

Its intellectual authors will continue to be isolated and fiercely rebuffed by every truly patriotic citizen of our country, even among their political strongholds; and their plans and schemes will eventu ally fall into the long arms of the law.

Yours respectfully, Kwame McCoy Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister

No Guyanese will ever forget the infamous PNC’s band of outlaws

Dear Editor, The Men on Mission spread its wings last week in the other regions, as President, Dr. Irfaan Ali took part in the Regional Kilo Walk to commemorate CARICOM Energy Week 2022. Hinter land connectivity was also boosted with a new company, Green Gibraltar, establishing internet services at Rock stone Village in Region 10.

The new week began with public servants still reeling around their heads the news of the eight per cent acrossthe-board salary increase, retroactive to January 1. In addition, the joint services will enjoy a further five per cent – 21 per cent salary increases.

Demerara Bank mustered $2.9 billion after-tax profit, while the AFC wallowed (wailed) it will be divorced from the PNC by year end with Nagamootoo and Trot man in the rear view. FIFA World Cup 2022 kicked off in Qatar with Ecuador draw ing first blood against host, Qatar. Major surprisingly wins continued to be scored from many upsets. Nicholas Pooran has quitted as West Indies white-ball cricket cap tain.

Over 200 people died and hundreds are injured after a 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck the main Indonesian island of Java. The PNC was a “no show” at a GECOMsummoned meeting.

Over 400 athletes will be participating in the Inter

Guiana games hosted here. As you enjoy the Dharmic Sabha’s Kala Utsav, do pause for a moment also to digest the week’s reviews with the views:

1) President Ali stated, “We have to train our human resources to function in this new economy we’re talking about where technology and science will play a key role.” The entire service sector will need to be revamped and reoriented by taking strides and jumping hurdles.

2) First Lady Arya Ali declared, “I made the an nouncement about the Men strual Hygiene Initiative and we waited patiently and hoped for support from our partners.” P & P Insurance Brokers and the UNFPA are the latest stakeholders to partner with the first Lady with their contribution.

3) US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch cautioned: “There are many challenges and two key ones are inclusion and the poten tial corruption.” She added that Guyana has made many efforts towards inclusion and they will have to continue at an increased pace.

4) Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony advised: “Make it a habit and do your regular check-ups. Check your ears and ensure that everything is going well.”

The PPP/C government is providing this service free of cost and also distribute free hearing aids.

5) Public Service Min

ister Sonia Parag cautioned: “Therefore, when people argue that there should be this amount of increase and a 50 per cent increase, as the GPSU called for last year, I don’t believe it’s economical because you have to sustain it.” The PPP/C Government is taking a precautionary measure in the event that any of the revenue-generating sectors may not be economi cally viable as they currently are.

6) Education Minister Priya Manickchand warned young CPCE trainees: “You can’t abuse people’s children and believe, somehow or the other, that is the order of the day.” The PPP/C Govern ment is encouraging teachers to find new and civilized dis ciplinary methods to institute in the classroom.

7) Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha told farm ers from Region Nine, “The President came to Region Nine to ensure we develop this important sector. He met with farmers and listened to their needs. He made several commitments and today we are here to deliver on those commitments because when this government makes a commitment, we always de liver on it.” Some 16 villages have been given aid to the tune of $22 million.

8) Mr. Rohee in his oped concluded, “If Norton believes that by huffing and puffing he’ll blow the PPP/C house down, he better start thinking again.” The days

of the big, bad wolf are over but the world will still reflect on the electoral heist that was attempted in 2020. No Guyanese will ever forget the infamous PNC’s band of outlaws.

9) Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy, implored Guyanese to, “Look around for yourself, reason logical, or better yet, talk de ting straight up….” Aubrey Nor ton would prefer the gov ernment abandon its sound transformational agenda, halt the country’s developmen tal projects and encourage

unemployment, fall prey to the Dutch Disease and blow away all the oil money and then everything else ‘wudda suck salt.’

10) DDL’s Chairman, Komal Samaroo beamed, “This is an extraordinary achievement for the bank and is historically unheard of in the local banking sector.”

Demerara Bank Ltd. had a 25 per cent growth in its credit portfolio and raked in some $2.95 billion dollars in aftertax profit.

Over 200 employees from the magistracy are smiling with their free com

puter training provided by Zara Computer Center. Res idents of Swan Village, Soes dyke-Linden Highway are smiling with their new $28.7 million Primary School. Residents of Isseneru are smiling with their newly commissioned $59 million water-supply system. Over 200 Burma residents in Re gion Five are smiling with their allocated house lots. As one week ends and another week begins, do remember, “Everywhere you go, take a smile with you.”

Yours respectfully, Jai Lall

Cost recovery audit nears completion

EARLIER this year, the Ministry of Natural Re sources signed a contract valued at US$751,000 with a consortium of lo cal firms led by Ramdihal and Haynes Chartered Ac counting and Professional Services Firm, Vitality Ac counting and Consultancy and Eclisar Financial & Professional Services.

The local consortium partnered with the Okla homa-based Martindale Consultants and the Swiss technical company, SGS, to execute a cost recovery audit of ExxonMobil Guyana’s 2018 to 2020 expenses.

The audit process be gan in earnest this summer and will soon provide a de tailed look at the expenses that ExxonMobil Guyana has claimed and recovered against revenues generated in the oil and gas sector. Re cently, it was announced by

Guyana’s Auditor General, Deodat Sharma, that the au dit is nearing completion and a preliminary report could be submitted to the government as soon as next month.

Audits like these are a routine and necessary part of production contracts glob ally, and help to verify costs and ensure that governments and companies are aligned in the best way to categorise expenses.

Floyd Haynes, head of the consortium undertaking the review, noted in August that the process will be car ried out with professional ism and transparency and cautioned against jumping to conclusions.

“The purpose of this au dit is to verify the valid ity and the allowability of claimed costs. We look at what Exxon [sic] submitted and ask the questions: ‘Is it valid and is it allowable

under the production sharing agreement?” Haynes told Stabroek News.

Identifying many small areas of disagreement or differing accounting prac tices is common with large and complex audits and is not a sign of malfeasance. Accountants observe many different ways of classifying various costs and so this kind of routine audit will form a starting point for negotia tions between companies and government officials that will eventually decide on a solu tion acceptable to both.

The audit process is a good-faith arrangement be tween the government and companies and an important pillar of transparency and governmental oversight of the oil and gas industry. It is just one of many activities taking place under the Min istry of Natural Resources Guyana Oil and Gas Capaci

ty-Building Project.

An important component of the audit process has also been knowledge transfer where local accounting firms can learn auditing best prac tices from international part ners about the complex cost recovery audit process. The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is also steadily im proving its own capacity to conduct cost audits internally for the oil sector.

The American-Guyanese consortium of auditors is examining approximately US$7.2 billion in expenses related to petroleum opera tions in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Under the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), up to 75 per cent of annual oil revenues can be assigned to production costs while the remainder comprises profit oil to be split evenly between Guyana and the Stabroek Block co-venturers.

The up-front costs of exploration and development are the largest capital out lays for oil production while day-to-day production, once wells are in place, is rela tively inexpensive. As more projects become operational and production increases, the rate that these initial invest ments are paid off rapidly increases. That means that a higher and higher share of oil will be profit that the gov ernment is entitled to. These costs are audited to ensure that only eligible expenses are recovered and to deter frivolous spending.

The 2022 Article IV Con sultation report on Guyana from the International Mone tary Fund (IMF) explored the legal and regulatory ground work in the country. Between the initial 2019 report and now, it found that the govern ment has made progress in strengthening its framework

and transparency of the gov ernance of oil receipts.

Publishing audit reports is another way in which the government is working to improve its anti-corruption framework and fiscal trans parency. As the audit nears completion, a preliminary report will be presented to the government followed by a final audit report.

These developments un derscore the importance of fiscal transparency and strong regulation as it re lates to the oil and gas sec tor. Co-operation between the auditors and Exxon Mobil Guyana is crucial to fulfilling the duty of the government to be a pru dent steward of Guyana’s resources. The greater transparency in the audit ing process emphasises the steps being taken to protect the long-term interests of Guyanese.

Guyana gets first coastal, marine-focused research centre

By Cindy Parkinson

IN keeping with Tourism Awareness Month, REEL Guyana, together with the Guyana Marine Conser vation Society, launched the country’s first coastal and marine-focused re search center and web site at Moray House, on Thursday.

REEL Guyana and GMCS premiered a short documentary on the Im botero Research Centre. The film, titled “Imbotero Research Centre: Merging Coastal Communities and Science,” depicts the War raus Tribe and their way of life in Imbotero and their contribution to the growth of research tourism in the area.

The Imbotero Research Centre is located in the Warrau Community in the North Western Region on the Venezuela border.

Annette Arjoon-Martins, head of the GMCS, said that

the increasing developmen tal pressure on Guyana has revealed the urgent need to safeguard and protect Indig

enous communities. With this in mind, the

GMCS has been conducting extensive work in Region

One, which contains Guy ana’s largest mangrove eco system -- the Barima Mora Passage -- and is home to the Indigenous Warraus.

In addition to providing access to local, national and worldwide studies on the coastal and marine ecosys tems and their inhabitants, the research centre will help promote research tourism.

As seen in a documen tary by two university stu dents conducting studies on canoes and crabs, the research centre has already demonstrated its value in producing significant re search.

Arjoon-Martins was asked by the Guyana Chron icle to share her personal views on what the launch and the initiative meant to her personally.

“The biggest pleasure I’ve had in my life is being able to do these projects in these communities... giving

Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority, Kamrul Baksh (left); Head of the GMCS, Annette ArjuneMartins (second from left), Project Administration and Communication Officer for GMCS, Sarah Singh (third from left); Project Co-ordinator of the Guyana Marine Conservation Society, Olivia Rodrigues (third from right); Marine Biologist and GMCS Board Member, Hanan Lachmansingh (second from right), and IDB Private Sector Consultant, Kaimlall Chattergoon (right) (Delano Williams photo)

Guyanese migration stories

LAST WEEK, in this space, I commented on the report, “The World’s Biggest Diasporas” by Forbes magazine, and I feel obliged to follow up with some “unshared aspects of Guyanese mi gration” in the media and elsewhere.

We often read about the push-pull factors of migra tion based on political tur bulences, social tensions, economic deprivation, inadequate healthcare at home, and marginalisation and discrimination abroad amid some success stories.

While it is difficult to downplay or deny the above realities, I do not buy into the “total” victimhood aspects of Guyanese migra tion. I am convinced that Guyanese have used their wits and wonderful humor to cope with the challenges of overseas migration.

Allow me to take you on a journey of Guyanese migration stories through conversations I have had by starting with a story from India to Guyana, a long time ago. When Indians arrived in Guyana after a three-month sea voy age to work on the plan tations; they had to sign their names in front of an immigration officer in the Port of Georgetown.

So, the first Indian went and signed his name, the second one did the same thing, the third one was aloof, and so when the im migration officer shouted next, he did not respond, and the Indian behind him poked him in the back and told him to go and sign his name. The Indian went and signed, but he put down Gosign. Today, that name has been modified to read as Gosein.

In Suriname in 1980, I remember sitting with a group of Guyanese after a long day of work in the rice fields porting paddy bags, and a Guyanese who seemed to have been half way in the bag, murmured “look man me go tek the iron bird next month.” I never heard that term be fore, but I figured out that the iron bird meant the BWIA plane from Guyana to North America, and most likely “boring the border” from Canada to New York. This is the sort of discus sion and courage Guyanese took with them overseas.

I remember a fella -- a cow herder from Berbice -- who left Guyana and entered New York in the middle of winter, barefoot. One person at the JFK air port informed him that his heel was bleeding, leaving a trail of blood. The fella responded by saying that was not his. When he got to the home of his host, the family noticed a Guyanesestyle tack nail in his heel.

I have always wondered how Guyanese navigate the complex contours of large cities like Toronto and New York when considering that they come from an environ ment such as Berbice with no stop lights, and even no clear signs. If there are signs, they do not pay at tention to them.

One Guyanese in Queens, New York, went out on his own and got lost in the subway, and returned home after riding the train for five hours when the trip was only 20 minutes. So, the family had a solu tion for him, and that is, whenever he went out of the house, he had to fasten a thread to his foot so that they could trace him wher

ever he went.

Funny, too, is that one Guyanese landed in To ronto on a visitor’s visa, and when the immigra tion officer questioned him about the details of where he was going to stay, he said to the officer that “you the immigration officer has been living in Toronto all your life, you should know those details, not me. I am

visiting.” I understand he was allowed in Canada.

One story that still reso nates in my mind is this: In the mid-1980s, the news went around the Guyanese community in Toronto that the immigration authorities were raiding and deport ing Guyanese. So, many Guyanese kept a low pro file. One fella, however, seemed unfazed by the

news. He was illegal but confident because he was employed, laying down carpet, and yes, in the Ca nadian immigration build ing, the same one where Guyanese were processed and sent home

The Canadian immigra tion officers had no clue about his immigration sta tus. They assumed, I guess, that if he worked in their

office, he had to be legal.

I am convinced that every one of you has a sto ry to tell, and if told, they would certainly add to the rich tapestry of Guyanese migratory experiences. Unfortunately, we are still waiting for that to happen while “others” are telling our stories for us (lomarsh.roopnarine@ jsums.edu).

Analysing coalition politics, plots

of APNU and PNC/R, it wants to seek alleged po litical independence.

coalition ministers Jaipaul Sharma and Tabitha Sara bo-Halley, respectively.

LAST week, the Alliance for Change (AFC) con firmed that it will not renew the Cummingsburg Accord it signed with the A Partnership for Nation al Unity (APNU) party.

The party cited major disagreements and un resolved issues within the coalition which led to its departure. Also, there was a need, according to the party, for the AFC to adopt its own positions on certain issues that it feels strongly about in the future.

It stressed that it would still work along with the APNU at the parliamen tary level, once it retains the nine seats it was allot ted in the aftermath of the 2020 Polls.

Leader of the Opposi tion Aubrey Norton, when asked about this develop ment, said he is not “beg ging’” anybody to stay in the coalition, but indicated that he has not been “of ficially” informed of the

AFC’s decision, to date.

Meanwhile, he asserts that the coalition is made up of other smaller parties, namely, the National Front Alliance (NFA), the Equal Rights and Justice Party (ERJP) and the Guyana Nation Builders Move ment (GNBM).

And, the People’s Pro gressive Party (PPP) is moving ahead with its Civ ic alliance. It has issues, too; issues which started in 1992, but it is effectively managing and weathering the storm throughout.

For us to get an indepth appreciation, it is necessary for a political analysis to take place.

Firstly, it is clear as day that Norton knew the AFC was leaving the coalition which he inherited from for mer President David Grang er and former Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon.

He knew the signs were there, but skillfully and sheepishly did nothing, as he could be seen as more

concerned about getting the PNC/R and its politics together in the event that the coalition falls apart.

After all, Norton has never been too excited about coalitions and na tional unity. But the circum stances in 2011 and 2015 warranted his compliance.

Maybe, Norton’s PNC does not see any useful ness in the AFC, now that they are out of Executive Government. He believes that the PNC/R is possibly stronger, now that the AFC is dead meat and spent, because it can never again win any election as a unit on its own.

Secondly, the AFC wants to be wrong-andstrong, as well as deceit ful; it wants to retain the parliamentary seats it was allocated, and not be a part of the coalition group that won them in the first place.

Now, maybe, because of the 2020 elections fiasco and the issues it has with the leadership

But the real reason the AFC party is leaving and will not participate in the local government elections is none of these issues. The AFC is plagued by the politics of in-fighting and factionalism. The party needs to temper the ambi tions of Khemraj Ramjat tan, who, allegedly, only wants the party to stay in the good graces because he reportedly wants the Prime Ministerial post in the coalition alliance.

In any case, the AFC is making sure its seats are not in jeopardy this week, so it is meeting with Granger to get clarity and his approval before Norton strikes back.

Thirdly, Norton is be ing less than truthful when he speaks about what is left of the coalition when the AFC leaves. He knows that the only vibrant player that is worth any political usefulness is his PNC/R.

Additionally, the Na tional Front Alliance headed by Keith Scott has always been a paper party and never contested any elections on its own, because it has no one that will vote for it.

Consequently, the ERJP and GNBM are led by former APNU+AFC

Halley’s party is another paper party, and has never been tested, not even at lo cal government polls, while Sharma’s party is the same.

Norton was in a differ ent world if he thought that the public would drink that potion about him having discussions with the Work ing People Alliance (WPA) when it made its position pellucid following its ex perience in government.

Finally, the truth is, Norton is cornered, and the coalition is shattered and almost dead; it has no political worth now that the AFC has ditched it to focus on saving itself.

Norton is failing to unite the coalition, and it is becoming evident in the policy positions and people whom he has opted to lean on; people like Ganesh Mahipaul, Geeta Chandan-Edmond, Roysdale Forde, and Volda Lawrence.

The Opposition Lead er is faced with a likely challenge, as persons in the diaspora and from Georgetown are plotting and scheming to have him replaced by the next Con gress of the party. Carl Greenidge, Stanley Ming, Lawrence or even Granger are being contemplated.

The Opposition is spent, and there are no leaders to pass the baton to.

Also, they have made it clear, by their postur ing and refusal to give young people a chance, that APNU+AFC is not a party or collective for youths or young leaders.

This exposes the fact that coalitions only work, in the context of Guyana, if they are for the purpose of coming together for elections; they fall apart because there is not a guid ing or leading consen sus candidate or political figure who has enough appeal, qualifications as well as political maturity to take on the big political giants.

Likely, the AFC and smaller parties saw this, and do not feel that Norton is such a candidate that can live up to the precedent set by Bharrat Jagdeo, Irfaan Ali or even Granger.

Coalitions here will only work seamlessly if you have a third-force par ty that comprises a mixture of all six races, political experience, and appropri ate policy initiatives, and will not join either the PNC/R or PPP.

The future of coali tions looks dark and wor risome, given the current political climate.

Soesdyke-Linden Highway residents to benefit from improved water supply

GUYANA Water In corporated (GWI)

Chief Executive Of ficer Shaik Baksh and a team of technical officials on Friday visited several com munities along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.

According to GWI, the visit was intend ed to enlighten resi dents about the utility’s plans to improve, and in some cases provide first-time potable water

access to them.

One such com munity was Kairuni, where the team met and held discussions with the Vice-Chair of the Community Devel opment Council (CDC) and residents to inform them of plans to drill a new well.

The GWI team also visited Moblissa and Long Creek, where they promised to drill new wells.

According to the

CEO, the realisation of these wells signals first-time access to po table water for these villages.

He noted that works are expected to commence this year.

Meanwhile, Waiak abra will benefit soon er, as a new well has already been drilled there, and is being de veloped.

These projects are all to provide relief to these communities.

GWI CEO Shaik Baksh and the technical team with the children and other residents of Kairuni Village, on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway

100 Lethem families move closer to homeownership

- after signing agreement under Lethem Housing Support Programme

The first 100 beneficiar ies of the Lethem Hous ing Support Programme signed their agreement on Saturday with the Ministry of Housing and Water Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) to move for ward with the construc tion of their homes.

Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal is leading the exercise along with the Chief Execu tive Officer of the Cen

tral Housing and Plan ning Authority, Sherwyn Greaves. Regional Chair man Brian Allicock and Mayor of Lethem, John Macedo, are also at the activity, which was held at the CH&PA Regional Office in Lethem, Region Nine.

The Lethem Housing Support Programme is the brainchild of President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali.

The agency will con struct $3M low-income

homes and provide mil lions of dollars in support to each beneficiary for the building cost.

Moreover, the Minis try will partner with the New Building Society, Republic Bank Guyana Ltd. and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry, as they will be offering loans to the tune of $2M, at a rate of 3.5 per cent to the prospective homeowners.

Minister Croal stated that the programme pro

motes occupancy in hous ing schemes. He noted that assessments would show close to 300 empty allocated lots in nearby schemes such as Tabat inga and Culvert City.

“So, what we also do, in addition to allocations, is to recognize and have support programmes that have home construction and homeownership at the fore,” Minister Croal said.

CEO Greaves stat ed that the project also

aims at job creation and improving the regional economy.

“We are pleased to say that all the contractors are from Region Nine, all the timber and bricks are from Region Nine [and] all the workers that will be working on these hous es will be from Region Nine,” the CEO stated.

During the activ ity, agreements were also signed between CH&PA and the first two villages -- Surama and Kwata mang -- for supplying clay blocks.

Moreover, Expressions of Interest have been pub lished for lumber and oth er hardware materials to construct the homes. In another two weeks, these contracts are expected to

be awarded.

Lethem’s six hundred land allottees are expect ed to benefit from the Lethem Housing Sup port Programme. With support provided by the government, the allot tees will not be required to provide collateral to the banks. They will also benefit from the gov ernment’s steel and ce ment housing subsidy for constructing their foundation. The first set of homes are slated for completion during the first quarter of 2023.

Approximately forty house lots were also dis tributed at the event. This will add to nearly 19,000 house lots allo cated by the Ministry since 2020.

Guyana gets first coastal, marine-focused research...

FROM PAGE 8 people, particularly girls in those areas, the means to earn a living and their own income is one of the most fulfilling things I can do. It’s not me alone, but a team; without the support of the government and the governmental agencies, we could not have done this,” she said.

She particularly thanked Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Su san Rodrigues, for encour aging her 22 years ago to not give up on her passion when it got challenging.

“I remembered, she said,

do what you are doing and don’t expect gratitude and, if it comes, consider it a bonus and that was very pivotal for me to continue and face all the odds,” Ar joon-Martins said, adding: “I just happen to be the face of what we are doing, but I could not have done it with out your support and I thank you all.”

According to Kam rul Baksh, Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), initiatives such as these are “very important” for the tourism sector.

Baksh related that the establishment of a website

is a key step in marketing and promoting the destina tion.

He also expressed his appreciation to Arjoon-Mar tins, who secured the fund ing to complete the project.

“We want to ensure that more Indigenous communi ties supported by the Guy ana Tourism Authority are brought up to this level of business enterprise and given the exposure they require, so that sustainable conscious travellers can come to the destination and have a wonderful experi ence,” Baksh said.

He added: “We are very

happy that Annette from GMCS is leading a lot of the effort and I am incredibly proud of the work that she has done. We’ve supported her from the inception and we have started several training and capacity-build ing programmes, which is one of the major pillars that we need to establish a community enterprise and we support it in all facets, whether it be tour guid ing, culinary training, first aid training, hygiene and sanitation training, or cus tomer service training, just to name a few.”

In an interview with the

Guyana Chronicle, Sarah Singh, one of the students from the University of Guy ana who did the study on crabs in Imbotero village, said: “This entire research centre and the entire project that we are working on is mind-blowingly beautiful.”

Sarah added that resi dents of Imbotero, specifi cally girls, are using aerial drones to capture different scenes in and around the community, after which they will be trained to use underwater drones.

Project Coordinator of the Guyana Marine Con servation Society, Olivia

Rodrigues, mentioned in part of her presentation, how excited they were to be at GMCS knowing that the possibilities are endless.

She said that the themat ic areas of research included climate change, mangroves, blue carbon, and Warrau culture.

Preparation is also un derway for the launch of the Barima-Mora Passage Booklet in January 2023. The GMCS will also con tinue to target children in primary and secondary schools as part of an Edu cational Awareness Pro gramme in Region One.

Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal and Regional Chairman, Brian Allicock (standing) shares a light moment as a resident signs up his agreement with CEO of CHPA, Sherwyn Greaves, in the presence of housing officials

Trishaw Cheong receives her signed agreement from Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal during the Lethem Housing Support Programme held on Saturday

Dr. Walter Rodney’s rich legacy lives on

ground-breaking How Europe Underdeveloped Africa hits 50 years, remains a key source for research

By Samuel Sukhnandan in Beijing

This year marks 50 years since Dr. Wal ter Rodney’s groundbreaking book, How Europe Underdevel oped Africa (HEUA), hit bookshelves and received wide acclaim. Today, this research analysis of the abiding repercussions of Eu ropean colonialism on the continent of Africa continues to be stud ied.

But the book has gained even greater at tention globally over

the past few years, es pecially among schol ars and universities of fering African Studies courses. In fact, HEUA is now available in six languages, including English, French, Span ish, Japanese, and Arme nian, with the last being Mandarin. The book was republished by Verso Press in 2018, with plans to produce the text in other languages.

Vice Director of the Global and Regional Issue Publishing Center of the Beijing-based So cial Science Academic Press (SSAP), Ms. Goa Mingxiu, stated that the book was recom mended by Professor Li Anshan, a renowned Chinese professor of international studies and President of the China Association for African History Studies, as early as January 2013.

BIBLE OF AFRICANS

Professor Li told the SSAP that HEUA, to gether with “Capitalism and Slavery,” written by Trinidadian politi cian Eric Williams, was called the “Bible of Af ricans.”

Mingxiu said that was the initial impetus that moved the publish ing company to intro duce and publish the book, which was writ ten by Dr. Rodney, a late Guyanese scholar, political activist, and historian.

“Subsequently, the publishing house de cided to introduce the book to Chinese read ers after a discussion, mainly for two reasons: one is Dr. Rodney’s in fluence, and the other is the significance of how Europe underdeveloped Africa,” she said.

Another important reason for the publica tion, according to Min gxiu, is that Professor Li agreed to translate the book. Given Mr. Li’s ex pertise in Sino-African relations, African stud ies, and the history of Chinese overseas in Af rica, she was confident in publishing HEUA with his support.

She added: “His pro

found knowledge and rigorous style of study ensure the quality of the book and ensure that Dr. Rodney’s views are accurately transmitted to Chinese researchers.”

More importantly, it reflects the concern of the Chinese-African academic circles rep resented by Professor Li Anshan for Africa’s development.

“How Africa can bet ter embark on its own development path is also a concern for Chinese intellectuals in develop ing countries,” Mingxiu related.

The book seeks to an swer the historical roots of poverty in Africa. It is dubbed an economic analysis of how Europe engaged in an unequal relationship with Af rica and subsequently exploited the continent, specifically how this form of colonialism dif fered from other parts of the world.

GROWING INTEREST

Since its publication in 2017, Mingxiu said the 1,914 copies of the book have been sold in China, which is not the number of best-sellers. However, as a serious academic publication, she said plans are being made to ensure that eve ry comprehensive uni versity and library in the country has two to three of these books, which can basically meet the needs of researchers.

Further, on China’s “douban.com,” this academic circle pays the most attention to the niche website, and from the book’s point of view, there are many discussions. In addition, the publisher has also launched an electron ic version of the book, which has received tens of thousands of hits, indicating that more and more researchers in Chi na are beginning to pay attention to Dr. Rodney and the book.

For the last 40 years, the African continent is where HEUA has been most widely read, ac cording to Dr. Patricia Rodney, the wife of the

late Guyanese scholar, and chair of the Wal ter Rodney Foundation. However, she said it is also widely used in many United States (US) universities with programmes in African and African American studies.

At present, the foun dation also collaborates with a number of US universities and holds an annual Walter Rod ney symposium and a Walter Rodney Speaker Series, a semester course that focuses on Dr. Rod ney’s scholarship. The Foundation, she said, is always open to fur ther collaborations with other colleges and uni versities beyond the US.

Dr. Rodney was an internationally ac claimed author of six scholarly books and nu merous academic arti cles that documented the devastating effects of slavery and imperialism in Africa and the Carib bean, but HEUA is his most critical work.

His foundation was Marxist ideology cen tred on the working classes. By combining political economic anal ysis with archival re search, he demonstrated how colonialism result ed in economic inequal ity and racial and ethnic divisions, and how neo colonialism continued those damaging effects.

From 1966 to 1967, he taught at the Univer sity of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In 1968, he taught at the Univer sity of the West Indies at Mona. He then returned to Tanzania to teach at the same university from 1969 to 1974 before accepting the offer of a professorship at the University of Guyana.

On June 13, Dr. Rodney was killed by a bomb blast in Guyana. More than four decades after his murder, the Na tional Assembly in 2021 accepted the findings of a major commission of inquiry launched by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government into his assassination.

Dr. Walter Rodney was Guyanese a historian and a socialist critic of western imperialism (Photo saved as Montraykreyol.com)

Dr. Walter...

FROM PAGE 12

It was concluded that the then Prime Minister Forbes Burnham admin istration had organised the murder, which was perpetrated by an ac tive-duty sergeant in the Guyana Defense Force, Gregory Smith.

RICH LEGACY

Today, Dr. Rodney’s work and teachings con tinue to live on in all corners of the world, par ticularly in Africa and the Anglophone Caribbean. The Irfaan Ali-led gov ernment has also taken steps to preserve Dr. Rodney’s rich legacy.

The Rodney Gravesite and Memorial are cur

to have it declared a na tional monument.

The books he wrote will be placed on the national syllabus by the Ministry of Educa tion and in the hands of primary and secondary school students across Guyana.

Additionally, his other major works, including A History of the Guyanese Working People, Guya nese Sugar Plantations in the Late Nineteenth Century, and HEUA, will be made available to the library of the University of Guyana.

The Walter Rodney Chair at the University of Guyana will also be

rently being managed collaboratively between the Rodney family and the National Trust, but the government intends

re-established, while the National Archives of Guyana has already been renamed the Wal ter Rodney Archives.

Social Science Academic Press (SSAP) Editor, Ms. Goa Mingxiu holding a copy of the Chinese version of HEUA book

826 residents of Regions Five, Six equipped with crucial technical skills

- after successfully completing BIT programmes

Board of Industrial Training engaged 90 beneficiaries, comprising 85 males and four females, young and old, who completed the welding and fabrication course.

Many of these individu als were without experience or worked in the field for years without certification and received the opportunity, freely, to fill the skills gap in Guyana.

A total of 826 persons received certificates this year, after completing the Board of Industrial Train ing (BIT) courses. There were 120 persons from region five and 706 from region six.

The courses were com pleted through BIT’s exten sive list of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

Between 2020-2022, the

lation-Level One, Welding and Fabrication, Motor Ve hicle Servicing and Repairs, Refrigeration, Supervisory Management, Heavy-Duty Equipment Operation, AC Repairs and Refrigeration, Cosmetology, Information Technology, Auto Electri cian, Computer Repairs and Maintenance, Commercial Food Preparation, General Building Construction, Arts and Fabric Designs and Gar

lucrative oil and gas industry.

The Labour Ministry noted that welding and fab rication have contributed significantly to skilled per sons employed within the petroleum sector.

The programme, which is

The Board of Industrial Training beneficiaries would always tell their story for the world to hear through testimonials capturing the built-up momentum, after their dedication, sacrifice, prioritisation and, finally, certification of their pursued programme.

Shameez Noheed intends to make a career out of the welding and fabrication skills training he received at the Upper Corentyne In

dustrial Training Centre in Region Six.

The young man told BIT’s representatives of his

game plan, on his graduation day. The plan was to see him become a lecturer at the very

Board of Industrial Training climbed the ladder with its delivery of skills training, not just in region four but in every other region coun trywide.

One of its recent gradua tions was held from Novem ber 21 to 23, 2022, certifying residents of regions five and six.

The certified courses included: Care for the El derly, Agro-Processing and Marketing, Pre/Play School Management and Customer Care Service, Hospitality and Tour Guide, Electrical Instal

ment Construction.

Across the two regions, the programmes were made accessible for residents at several training centres and government institutions, in cluding the GuySuco Train ing Centre and St. Francis Community Developers.

According to the Min istry of Labour, with every prospective beneficiary en gaged by technical officers of BIT, each programme’s benefits would be highlight ed to either prepare graduates for entrepreneurship or se cure jobs in the industrial or

intensive, has three phases: life skill training and theo retical and practical sessions.

The welding programme even had become a pressing topic for President Dr. Mo hamed Irfaan Ali, who saw the programme as a critical skill in oil and gas opera tions both for the construc tion of new projects and for the maintenance of highly complex infrastructure, such as rigs, pipelines, platforms, plants, and facilities.

Thus far, in 2022, for regions five and six, the

New tutor and graduate, Shameez Noheed

Diana Joseph, a graduate with cerebral palsy, poses for a portrait, at her recent graduation held at Hurricane Harbour in Region Five

Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton

A recent graduation held at Outback Adventure, Upper Corentyne

826 residents of Regions Five, Six...

training institution that gave him the knowledge in weld ing and fabrication.

The plan/dream became reality since the young man secured a spot as a tutor teaching young apprentices the art and skill of welding and fabrication along with air conditioning repairs and refrigeration.

Another graduate, Diana Joseph, a recent graduate living with cerebral palsy,

pushed through all odds and received her certificate in Commercial Food Prepara tion.

This was possible through a meaningful one-on-one ses sion and a conducive training area for her to excel. Ms Joseph explained to BIT’s officials that she lived by the mantra “not to give up, no matter the circumstances.”

The testimonies were the meaning behind the efforts

made by the, Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, who pushes all services of the ministry, especially the Board of Industrial Training to en sure all Guyanese benefit.

Minister Hamilton not ed that, whether young or old, living with disabilities, a single parent or earning but need to learn a skill to add to the country’s eco nomic growth, benefits will be derived.

BIT’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Richard Maughn, presents a certificate to one of the graduates at Outback Adventure, Upper Corentyne

Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton flanked by graduates of Information Technology

North Sophia residents welcome $13.6M community centre

MOMENTS after the Ministry of Local Gov ernment and Regional Development signed a $13.6 million contract with the North Sophia Community Development Council to de velop a community cen tre, residents expressed their elation for the new development.

The project will see hundreds of youths from North Sophia being gain fully employed to con struct the centre.

Several residents shared their thoughts with the Department of Public Information (DPI) on Friday, following the contract signing.

Anastacia Lewis said that youths will be ben efitting tremendously, “especially the ones that does be loitering on the corner and what’s not. It’s gonna help them, especially the ones not going to school, the drop outs.”

Donna Newsum ex pressed: “For me it’s a good initiative and I am very very happy for this because sometimes you have the children play ing in the street and all sort of thing […] so, this initiative is very well executed. And work, the idling boys would have something to do.”

Damuka Ngqondo said this concern was ex pressed months ago and now it is really coming to reality.

“My thoughts are that this is a great thing that has happened for North Sophia. North Sophia has been partially my home for a long time. I have a lot of family here and I am one of the persons that met with the minister initially and took some of North Sophia’s concern and some of the things we needed […] Now, that’s a couple of months ago to now, seem very fast and things look like it’s looking up,” Ngqon do said.

Sharon Jones, another resident, added: “I am so grateful for this move. I don’t have words to say, I am so anxious and so glad. Most of all I thank God has spared my life to live to see this mo

ment because first of all, I am one that was in here from nothing, now it’s to become something and I am so proud and happy for this moment.”

David Goocharan told DPI: “I am very happy, finally getting a com munity centre because we had a lot of promises back then, but now in the future we getting one so I am very happy.”

Travis Perreira, a youngster said he is glad he will be employed.

“I feel good, I feel okay, I feel proud about it, I glad it happen be cause I glad fuh the work and so on. I am proud of what he is doing (Presi dent Dr Irfaan Ali) get ting the country bigger and bigger, every day,” Perreira said.

Resident, Eon Moore said too: “It will be nice because the centre is very good, the centre will be really good for the children and the chil dren them need it. All who does deh running around by gutters and streets and these things, they gone be in the cen tre and we’re very thank ful.”

Gillian Samuels said that a community centre was needed and ii was good to see that one will be constructed.

“I feel very good about it because a long long time we have been waiting concerning the community centre and the development in this community, road, light, water, drainage,” Samu els said.

Chairman of the North Sophia CDC, Uri ah France, told DPI, resi dents within the commu nity will be given prefer ence to gain employment from this project.

“It’s something really good for the community, youths as well as per sons who are seeking employment in the area. It’s a really good move and I have to commend the government on an other promise that they delivered on. If you look around, they did some street lights for us re cently as well as they had this clean up enhance ment programme where

they hired six persons,” France said.

The construction of a community centre was

a commitment made by the government fol lowing an outreach led by Local Government

Minister, Nigel Dhar amlall; Tourism Min ister Oneidge Walrond and Minister within

the Office of the Prime Minister with responsi bility for Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy. (DPI)

Anastacia Lewis

Donna Newsum

Damuka Ngqondo

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David Murray, West Indies’

unforgiven wicketkeeper, dies aged 72

… Brilliant gloveman never recovered from fateful decision to tour Apartheid South Africa in 1980s

By Andrew Miller

DAVID Murray, the former West Indies wicketkeeper whose life along with his career was ruined by his fateful decision to join the rebel tours of South Africa in the 1980s, has died in his native Barbados at the age of 72.

Murray, son of the leg endary Sir Everton Weekes, played a total of 19 Tests and 10 ODIs for West Indies between 1973 and 1982, and was hailed by the great fast bowlers of his era - Malcolm Marshall and Michael Hold ing among them - as the finest gloveman with whom they had played.

It was Murray's misfor tune that his career ended up being bookended by two of the most legendary Caribbean wicketkeepers of them allhis namesake (but no relation) Deryck Murray, who kept him out of the Test team for much of his pomp, and then at the start of the 1980s, his younger rival Jeff Dujon, who once admitted that Murray's silky skills made his own glovework look like ‘Dolly Parton’, but whose superior batting brooked no argument with the selectors.

Ultimately, however, Murray's predilection for marijuana - a habit that he had begun aged 13 - was the cat alyst for his downfall, first as an international cricketer and then, after his fateful decision to accept US$125 000 to tour Apartheid South Africa in the winter of 1983, as a member of society too.

His final decades were spent in poverty in his native Barbados, selling drugs to tourists in Bridgetown, and trading on his infamy.

In the early part of his career, while the quality of his glovework was earning plau dits, and with the fast-track ing that came from being the son of a West Indies great,

Murray had been adamant that his drug use was benefi cial to his cricket.

"It gives you good med itation ... concentration you know," he told ESPNcricin fo's Siddhartha Vaidyanathan back in 2006. "Not that you did it to enhance your perfor mance … never in the breaks - you can't do that."

Within the West Indies

the team management for his off-field antics, notably on the 1975-76 tour of Australia, when it took the intervention of Lance Gibbs to spare him an early flight home.

And matters came to a head on West Indies' return to Australia in 1981-82, where the emergence of Dujon gave the selectors a reason to dis pense of a talented but in

party of England cricketers, led by Graham Gooch, had flown into Johannesburg for a month-long tour that con travened the 1977 Glenea gles Agreement discouraging sporting relations with the Apartheid regime.

Compared to the mild censure (and swift forgive ness) that would come to the England players, however, the opprobrium heaped upon the West Indies tourists would be something else entirely. Murray's tour fee, which he would quickly squander on "jeeps, new cars and partying out", would be of no lasting benefit in the years to come.

His response was to turn to harder drugs, including co caine, which in turn deepened his estrangement from his father, who feared he would steal from him to subsidise his habit. For the final decades of his life, Murray was skel etal-thin with matted dread locks framing his increasingly gaunt features.

Nevertheless, in 1989, the West Indies Cricket Board re scinded its lifetime ban on the South Africa rebels, and to the extent that forgiveness was achieved in the Caribbean,

it was available in Barbados.

One of Murray's fellow rebels, Ezra Moseley, went on to play Test cricket - famously breaking Gooch's hand in the Trinidad Test in 1990, while Murray's own son, Ricky Hoyte, was Barbados wick etkeeper in the 1990s, and might have broken into the Test team too had he not shared some of his father's wayward (if less self-destruc tive) traits.

Murray himself, howev er, remained a self-imposed outcast to the end. (Cricinfo)

set-up, however, Murray could never shake the sus picion that his face did not fit, particularly while Deryck - Cambridge-educated and a key lieutenant to Clive Lloyd - was the favoured wicketkeeper. And when, after nearly a decade as the squad's understudy, he did finally make his Test debut, against Australia in March 1978, it was due in large part to Deryck's decision to join Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket.

It was a source of much frustration - and arguably a factor in his subsequent South Africa decision - that he lost his place again the following year, when the Packer players were reinstated.

In his brief time as the Test No.1, Murray still man aged to score three half-centu ries, with a best of 84 against India in Bombay in 1978-79, as well as a first-class dou ble-hundred in Jamshedpur on the same tour.

However, Murray had already been in trouble with

creasingly erratic player.

Bad luck played a major part in Murray's downfall, too. Early on the tour, he had broken his middle finger while attempting to catch a drive off Lloyd in the nets, but having played through the pain with supreme skilltaking a West Indies' record nine catches in the first Test at Melbourne - he was rested for the subsequent one-dayers, allowing Dujon to make his case for a permanent berth with a match-winning fifty at the MCG.

Murray reacted badly to Dujon's promotion

With his drug use now causing him to sleep through team meetings, he turned up for 12th-man duties at the subsequent Adelaide Test without his equipment, and was expelled from the tour by manager Steve Camacho after refusing to take the water cart onto the field.

The die was cast for Murray's recruitment on the South Africa rebel tour. The previous winter, a 12-man

"I f***ed up," Murray told Ashley Gray, author of the award-winning Unfor given, which recounted the tale of the West Indian rebels. His first on-field act in South Africa had been to take a catch off Sylvester Clarke in a tour match against Border, but that, as he told Gray, had been a crushing moment in itself. "Lawrence Rowe said to me as a joke, 'You can't play for West Indies any more.' Only one delivery. It felt bad."

Murray's personal life was upended by the South Africa decision, too. In the latter weeks of the Austra lian tour, he had married his fiancée Kerry McAteer in a private ceremony in Ade laide, but after initially being refused re-entry to the coun try due to a visa ban imple mented by the anti-Apartheid prime minister, Malcolm Fraser, an ill-judged affair cemented his estrangement from his wife and new-born child, and left him rootless and ostracised back in his native Barbados.

He returned home to a "vibe" of rejection, Murray related in Unforgiven. "'He sold his birthright'. They don't forget. They are nar row-minded. I still cop it. 'He is a traitor'. I have no regrets."

Strong start...

FROM BACK PAGE

11-6 but Bipat got the better of Ebo McNeil, winning 10-12, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10.

Another promising star, Samara Sukhai easily won 11-4, 11-4, 11-1 against Yasmien Jodiwongso and Aki ra Watson outclassed Kayleigh Idrisman 114, 11-7, 11-4.

The girls’ doubles

were pretty much the same again, as Shack ery Damon and Seo na Baker ousted Jodi wongso and Idrisman 11-2, 7-11, 11-9, 12-10.

The final match saw Rahmin whip Bipat 1311, 11-3, 12-10.

Table Tennis action continues today from 09:00hrs to 14:00hrs at the National Gym nasium.

Guyana dominate in Table Tennis; unlucky in Badminton

FROM BACK PAGE

of Maria Kanhai 3-0 in the girls’ singles. Saalih Rahim and Billingy then made light work of the Surinamese in the mixed doubles 3-0.

McNeil Ebo fell 3-2 to Shariq in Guyana’s only loss of the day.

Samara Sukhai con tinued the enterprising wins for Guyana with another 3-0 win in the girls’ singles before Seo na Barker and Shackecy

Damon brought the lo cal side within one win of victory with a 3-1 tri ump in the girls’ doubles.

Saalih Rahim fin ished up proceedings with a comfortbale 3-0 win against Bipat Shariq in the eighth game of the day.

However, in Badmin ton, the young Guyanese suffered a 10-1 loss to the Surinamese.

The competition closes tonight at CASH.

David Murray in action during the second Test against Pakistan in Faisalabad in 1980 (Adrian Murrell/Allsport)

Dottin, Brown star as Adelaide Strikers claim maiden WBBL title

ADELAIDE Strikers want ed redemption. And they got it. Deandra Dottin pro duced a starring all-round performance and Darcie Brown's pace claimed two key wickets as Sydney Sixers' record-breaking 11 wins in the regular season came up short when they suffered a dramatic top-or der collapse.

After finishing runners-up twice in the last three seasons, Strikers finally got their hands on the WBBL trophy for the first time in front of a Six ers-dominated crowd of 6 478 at the North Sydney Oval.

Strikers had made a pos itive start with the bat with a 51-run opening stand before struggling through the middle phase of the innings, including a power surge that brought just seven runs and two wickets. However, Dottin overcame her own struggles - including being caught off an Ellyse Perry no-ball on 8 - and was chiefly responsible for the 34 runs coming off the last three

overs.

Still, a target of 148 did not feel like enough to chal lenge a Sixers line-up that had consistently scored runs this season. But, after a 15-minute delay due to problems caused by the setting sun, that notion was soon blown out of the water: by the end of six overs they were 17 for 4.

Nicole Bolton, in her final

game before retirement, and Perry forged a recovery but after they were removed, both in quick succession, it always felt as though Strikers had just enough to play with.

DOTTIN'S CHARMED LIFE

Dottin may have sensed it was her day. Before she reached double figures there had been two lives. The first

Duke gives Australia crucial win over Tunisia

ry at a World Cup since 2010.

They survived a desperate onslaught from Tunisia in the second half, with Youssef Msakni forcing goalkeeper Mathew Ryan into a save at his near post, though that came moments after Mathew Leckie had come inches away from connecting with Goodwin's cross at the other end.

Stoke City defender Harry Souttar put in a superb perfor mance, making several key blocks and tackles as Australia dug in.

came on 1 when a drive evad ed Bolton at backward point as she went one-handed to her left. Two balls later, while not a chance as such, Kate Peterson sent down a no-ball full-toss which Dottin clubbed to deep square leg.

Then came the most obvi ous reprieve when she lofted to mid-off only to find out Perry had not had her foot behind the line. Despite all that, Dottin reached the final three overs with 26 off 25 balls before finding her range with sixes off Peterson and Ash Gardne

TWO OVERS OF MADNESS

Alyssa Healy could have been run-out in the first over of the chase. But then things really turned wild. The third over of the innings from Brown included a dropped catch apiece by Bridget Patter son and Madeline Penna - both

offered by Suzie Bates - before Penna redeemed herself off the final ball by clinging onto a rasping pull from Healy.

That, though, was just the start. Dottin took the ball for the fifth over and ended with a double-wicket maid en. Bates chipped to deep midwicket and Gardner, the player-of-the-tournament, sent a full-toss to mid-on.

BOLTON'S FINISH

When Erin Burns, who has been a key figure in Sixers' middle order, was stumped at the second attempt by Tegan McPharlin. the batting was being dismantled. Before the final, Bolton had confirmed this would mark the end of her career. For a short while it looked like she might sign off in stunning fashion as she and Perry rebuilt Sixers' from their early woes.

When Bolton re verse-swept Tahlia McGrath

then clubbed her through mid wicket there was a sense of a swing in momentum, but a ball later Bolton dragged onto her stumps. When Perry fell to Brown, next over, a full deliv ery fizzing through her drive, it was all but over. Brown finished with 16 dots balls in her four overs.

SIXERS FIGHT TO THE END

To their immense credit, Sixers did not back down from the challenge. Sophie Ecclestone and Maitlan Brown threatened - with 14 coming off the first over of the power surge - but a bril liant slower ball from Megan Schutt completely deceived Ecclestone.

Brown kept on swinging and it got close enough to make Sixers wonder what could have been. But there was no denying Strikers their first title. (Cricinfo)

LeBron James returns as LA Lakers beat struggling Spurs

to the narrow lead that keeps alive their hopes of qualifying for the last 16.

hold very dear for the rest of my life".

Duke took advantage of a positive start by Austra lia when he superbly flicked Craig Goodwin's cross into the far corner to put them 1-0 up after 23 minutes.

That sparked an outburst of jubilant celebration from the small contingent of Australia fans behind the goal, which momentarily silenced the hos tile and unwavering support for Tunisia.

Knowing defeat would mean an early exit from the World Cup, Australia held on

"I spoke to my son when I got selected for the World Cup," said Duke.

"You have to have that belief you can score (and) I told my son I would share that moment with him. (The cele bration) was a little 'J' for the first letter of his name.

"I haven't seen it yet but apparently he did it back to me in the stadium. It is a moment I will hold very dear for the rest of my life."

Hissed and jeered through out by striking clusters of fans draped in red at the Al Janoub Stadium, Australia held their nerve to claim their first victo

Australia, who suffered a humbling defeat by France in their opening match, will take on tough opponents Denmark next - but with qualification in their own hands.

"At the end of the day, it's just one game. Nothing will change for us," said Australia boss Graham Arnold.

"I told the players I am very proud but we have achieved nothing at this mo ment. We are here and want to go as far as we can go.

"I don't want emotion from the players - staying up all night looking at social media and all that stuff - I want them to recover and refocus." (BBC Sport)

LEBRON

James, sidelined by an adductor strain since No vember 9, scored 21 points as Lakers won their first away game of the season.

"I felt pretty good," said James, who played 33 min utes at the AT&T Center.

"I've been non-stop around the clock (getting treatment) for the last couple of weeks to get back on the floor."

He added: "My rhythm, my timing was a little off on a few of my passes. But I'll

be a lot better as the games go on."

James, 37, also made

eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.

"He was moving great," said Lakers coach Darvin Ham. "Obviously there's going to be some rust there, but I thought he looked great."

Anthony Davis scored 25 points for Lakers as Spurs suffered a seventh consecutive defeat.

Boston Celtics beat Sacramento Kings 122104, Golden State War riors overcame Utah Jazz 129-118 and Milwaukee Bucks triumphed 117-102 against Cleveland Cava liers. (BBC Sport)

AUSTRALIA forward, Mitchell Duke, dedicated his match-winning goal against Tunisia to his son and said it is "a moment I will

James helped Los Angeles Lakers beat San Antonio Spurs 105-94 on his return from a fivegame injury lay-off.

LeBron James (centre) has won four NBA championships

Mitchell Duke dedicated his matchwinning goal against Tunisia to his son

Deandra Dottin scored an unbeaten 52 off 37 balls and bowled a double-wicket maiden (Cricket Australia via Getty Images)

Adelaide Strikers were beaten finalists twice in the previous three seasons

Lewandowski scores first World Cup goal in Poland win

Lewandowski, who missed a penalty in Tuesday's goalless draw with Mexico, was visibly emotional after ending a run of four World Cup games without finding the net.

Piotr Zielinski had given Poland a first-half lead from Le wandowski's cutback, but Saudi Arabia were awarded a penalty five minutes later for Krystian Bielik's foul on Saleh Al Shehri.

Wojciech Szczesny kept out Salem Al Dawsari's effort before producing a sensational one-handed stop to prevent

Saud Abdulhamid was de nied by Szczesny and Al Brikan shot over the bar in the second half, while Arkadiusz Milik and Lewandowski were both denied by the woodwork as Poland sought to double their lead on the counter-attack.

Lewandowski's late strike ended Saudi Arabia's hopes of building on Tuesday's remark able victory over Argentina and boosted Poland's chances of reaching the last 16 for the first time since 1986, when they were beaten 4-0 by Brazil in the first knockout round.

Czeslaw Michniewicz's team need just one point against

Argentina on Wednesday to qualify from Group C, while Saudi Arabia face Mexico for a place in the last 16.

Wasteful Saudi Arabia rue missed opportunities

Lewandowski will steal the headlines after breaking his World Cup duck, but Saudi Arabia will be bitterly frustrat ed not to have preserved their unbeaten start to the tournament in Qatar after finding Szczesny in inspired form.

Backed by a fervent and partisan crowd inside Education City Stadium, Saudi Arabia ap plied heavy early pressure and were denied a superb opener when the former Arsenal goal

Poland looked increasingly rattled as the Green Falcons continued to swarm forward in waves, but Bielik's goal-bound header was cleared to safety by Al Shehri before Zielinski gave them the lead with their first shot on target.

Bielik's challenge on Al Shehri shortly before halftime initially went unpunished by referee Wilton Sampaio, but the Brazilian showed no hes itation in pointing to the spot after reviewing the incident on his pitch-side monitor. (BBC Sport)

Chanderpaul stars again; Thomas, Da Silva strike form in draw

CANBERRA, Australia

(CMC) – Tagenarine Chan derpaul grabbed the head lines again with an attrac tive half-century but West Indies’ final-day run chase fell short as their four-day match against the Austra lian Prime Minister’s XI finished in a tense draw here yesterday.

The 26-year-old son of Test legend Shiv Chanderpaul top-scored with 56, leading the touring side’s pursuit of a target of 309 at Manuka Oval, which also saw Devon Thom as punch a confident 55 and wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva, an impressivet unbeaten 52.

Chanderpaul’s knock came on the heels of his first-innings 119 and earned him Man-of-the-Match hon ours, most likely also sealing his Test debut in the opening Test at Perth starting next Wednesday.

West Indies appeared poised to win the day/night

contest at 177 for three but lost a cluster of wickets to see their challenge derailed, fin ishing on 277 for eight.

“I’m not happy with the result; we should have won it,” head coach Phil Simmons said.

“We had a few misplaced wickets in the middle, there where we were controlling the game so that’s the only little disappointment I had about today. But the way the guys fought at the end is very encouraging always.”

Captain Kraigg Brathwaite was an early casualty, adding only one to his overnight 19 before finding himself trapped on his crease and bowled by seamer Michael Neser (2-43).

The left-handed Chander paul then carried his side’s chase, stroking five fours and a six off 138 balls as he put on 46 for the second wicket with Nkrumah Bonner (12) and a further 34 for the third wicket

Left-hander Tagenarine Chanderpaul gathers runs during his halfcentury on the final day yesterday. (Photo courtesy CWI Media)

with Thomas whose 93-ball innings included four fours and a six.

Chanderpaul was eventu

ally third out, left-arm seamer Joel Paris earning an lbw decision against him, but Thomas picked up the man tle, adding 58 for the fourth wicket with left-hander Kyle Mayers (20).

West Indies were eyeing victory before Mayers fell to a catch at the wicket off Nes er, triggering a slide which saw the Caribbean side lose three wickets for 44 runs, the innings quickly declining to 221 for six.

The unflappable Da Silva then anchored perhaps the key stand of the innings when he posted 48 for the seventh wicket with Alzarri Joseph, whose 31 came from 73 de liveries and included four fours and a six.

Da Silva faced 124 deliv eries and counted half-dozen fours in the partnership which took crucial time out of the final session and frustrated the hosts.

By the time Joseph steered pacer Mark Ste ketee (3-56) to gully and Kemar Roach gloved the same bowler to first slip 11 balls later without scoring,

SCOREBOARD

the end was already in sight and Da Silva partnered with the injured Raymon Reifer (0 not out) to keep out the last 55 deliveries of the game.

PM XI 1st innings 322

WEST INDIES 1st innings 235

PM XI 2nd innings 221-4 decl.

WEST INDIES 2nd innings (target: 309 runs) (overnight 35 without loss)

K. Brathwaite b Neser 20

T. Chanderpaul lbw b Paris 56 N. Bonner c & b Agar 12

D. Thomas c Paris b Steketee 55

K. Mayers c wkp. Inglis b Neser 20 J. Da Silva not out 52

R. Chase c Paris b Agar 13

A. Joseph c Neser b Steketee 31 K. Roach c Handscomb b Steketee 0 R. Reifer not out 0

Extras: (b-5, lb-3, w-5, nb-5) 18

Total: (8 wkts, 106.5 overs) 277

Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-85, 3-119, 4-177, 5-187, 6-221, 7-269, 8-273.

Bowling: Neser 18-3-43-2 (nb-1), Paris 16-4-42-1 (w-1, nb-1), Steketee 15-0-56-3 (nb-3), Agar 25-9-41-2, Hardie 9-1-33-0, Murphy 23.5-1054-0.

Man-of-the-Match: Tagenarine Chanderpaul

CWI pays tribute to former West Indies keeper David Murray

CRICKET West Indies today yesterday paid trib ute to David Murray, the former Barbados and West Indies wicket-keeper who passed away on Friday night. He was 72. Murray was the son of West Indies batting great Sir Ever ton Weekes. Murray’s son Ricky Hoyte, represented Barbados and West Indies ‘A’ Team as a wicket-keep er/batsman.

Murray’s first tour with the West Indies was in 1973 to England. He made his in ternational debut in the sec ond One-Day International by a West Indies men’s team, which featured Lance Gibbs, Roy Fredericks Rohan Kan hai and Clive Lloyd. His Test

debut came in 1978 against Australia in Guyana. Overall, he played 19 Tests, 10 OneDay Internationals and 114 first-class matches.

Ricky Skerritt, President of CWI paid tribute to Mur

ray.

“On behalf of CWI I want to offer my sincere condolences to Ricky, and other members of David’s family and friends. David was a gifted wicket-keeper

and a stylish middle-order batsman. He loved the game of cricket, and played with a smile on his face.

He will be remembered as a member of the great

West Indies squad which dominated world cricket for over a decade. Devot ed West Indies Cricket fans still remember Da vid’s fantastic glove work

and footwork behind the stumps to Michael Holding and other members of the fearsome West Indies fast bowling attack of his time.” (Sportsmax).

Low ticket sales a concern ahead of Australia, West Indies Test series

WITH just a week left to go vor the Australia vs West Indies Test series concerns have been raised regarding excessively poor tickets sales ahead of the match.

The world number oneranked Australia will host the Windies in two-matches. The first of the games will be held at Optus Stadium in Perth, beginning on Wednesday 30th.

The public’s interest in the series, however, remains lacklustre to date. According to reports, just hundreds of tickets have been sold to mem bers of the public, so var, well below the stadium’s capacity of the 60,000. There now are concerns the series could set a record low vor Test mathes between the teams.

Australia batsman Austra

lian batsman Marnus Labus chagne does not believe the low turnout is an overall lack of interest but believes there may be some fatigue in the fanbase.

The country is fresh off a huge T20 World Cup on home soil and went straight into a three-game ODI series against England.(Sports max)

ROBERT Lewandowski scored his first World Cup goal as Poland earned a cru cial victory over Saudi Arabia

that leaves Group C wide open.

The Barcelona striker cap italised on an error by Saudi

Arabia midfielder Abdulelah Al Malki before sending a composed finish past onrush ing goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais.

Mohammed Al Burayk from burying the rebound.

keeper palmed Mohammed Kanno's ferocious drive over the crossbar.

Robert Lewandowski exults after scoring (Photo: Skysports)

Former Barabados and West Indies west Indies wicketkeeper batsman died on Friday night

Mbappe fires France into last 16 after 2-1 win over Denmark

By Philip O'Connor

DOHA - (Reuters) Ky lian Mbappe crowned an exhilarating individ ual performance with two second-half goals to make champions France the first side into the last 16 of the World Cup as they beat Denmark 2-1 in their Group D clash at the 974 Stadium yes terday.

France top the group on six points, three ahead of Australia, who beat Tunisia 1-0 earlier in the day, with the Danes and the Tunisians both on one point.

France take on Tunisia and Denmark meet Soc ceroos in the final round on Wednesday, with the Danes needing a win to advance.

“The first objec tive has been achieved,” French coach Didier Des champs said of their qual ification in a post-match

TV interview. “This group is strong, solid and wants to achieve great things.”

Having lost twice to

Denmark during the re cent Nations League cam paign, the French started cautiously. But it was not

long before they realised there were opportunities to be had by taking on the Danish wingbacks.

Ousmane Dembele tor mented Joakim Maehle and a wave of excitement swept around the stadi um, which is made out of 974 recycled shipping containers, every time Mbappe got one-on-one with Rasmus Kristensen on the other flank.

The first half saw France enjoy the better chances as Adrien Rabiot went close with a header and Denmark were forced into a number of last-ditch blocks, but the Danes did go close with an Andreas Cornelius shot that flew just wide.

Their defensive re silience did not last and Mbappe put the French ahead in the 61st min ute, crowning a superb high-speed French counter with a bouncing first-time finish from Theo Hernan dez’s clever pull-back.

Always a danger from set pieces, Andreas Chris tensen put the Danes lev

el seven minutes later, stealing in behind the de fence and stooping to head home.

Neither side seemed content with a draw and Rabiot fired a spectacular volley over in the 80th minute, and a minute lat er Denmark substitute Martin Braithwaite fired a first-time effort of his own just wide of the near post.

The game looked set to end in a stalemate un til Mbappe popped up in the 86th minute at the far post to cushion home an Antoine Griezmann cross from close range to restore the lead to send the travelling French fans into raptures.

Denmark threw ev erything forward look ing for a second equalis er, leaving acres of space at the back, but their late attacks lacked precision and the French held on for the win that put them through.

Messi scores in vital Argentina win over Mexico

LIONEL Messi produced a moment of trademark magic to help keep Argen tina's World Cup hopes alive with victory in a tense encounter against Mexico.

In a cauldron of noise at Lusail Stadium, Messi

The tension was mount ing as Mexico frustrated Messi in an attritional game, especially in a first half littered with fouls and stoppages that never al lowed Argentina to gain any momentum.

Messi changed all that

corner from 20 yards.

The masses of Argentina supporters in a crowd of 88,966 went wild in cele bration and relief as their World Cup campaign got back on track.

Enzo Fernandez added a superb second with a curl ing shot into the top corner three minutes from time but it was Messi who made the breakthrough and the difference.

Victory in a tough final Group C game against Po land will send them into the knockout phase.

Messi delivers the mag ic once again

Messi cut a frustrated figure for the first 45 min utes here, pushed to the margins as this crucial game descended into a bitty affair spoiled by fouls, with little of quality on show.

far and wide on the vast expanse of Lusail Stadium before finally making the decisive contribution.

In an ear-splitting atmo sphere, Messi turned up the volume even more with that breakthrough goal that finally broke Mexico down and reig nited Argentina's World Cup.

Messi produced two perfect touches with that wand of a left foot, one to control and one to arrow a finish beyond Ochoa's out stretched right hand.

It was what all of Argen tina hoped for and demand ed from their great talis man and, as so often before for club and country, the 35-year-old produced when they needed him most.

He followed another su perstar in Kylian Mbappe, whose two goals against Denmark put France into the last 16, and he showed here he is determined not to be outshone by the other members of his elite group.

Mexico, backed by their own massed ranks of fans, were in no mood to step aside and it took that big moment to unlock them, bowing to Messi as so many others have done before.

There is still work to do for Argentina when they face Group C lead ers Poland, who boast a sporting icon of their own in striker Robert Lewand owski, but the celebrations at the final whistle gave the impression that a team hotly tipped to lift the World Cup at this same Lusail Stadium believe their show is now on the road thanks to their cap tain and resident genius.

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER

(Sunday November 27, 2022)

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and Argentina knew defeat would end their hopes of reaching the last 16 after only two games following the stunning loss to Saudi Arabia in their opener.

after 64 minutes when he took one touch to control a pass with his left foot before drilling an unerring finish past Mexico keeper Guill ermo Ochoa into the bottom

It was when the game settled down, the stoppag es reduced and a football match broke out that Messi was finally able to exert his influence, wandering

This highly-touted side had faced real jeopardy. Ar gentina knew defeat would finish them here in Qatar. Messi knew defeat would end his dream of lifting the World Cup, the major honour missing from his glittering and extensive honours list.

Garnett Street, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158)

Answers to yesterday’s quiz:

(1) George Headley-102* (Brisbane, 1930-31)

(2) Alan Kippax-146 (Adelaide. 1930-31)

Today’s Quiz:

(1) Which WI bowler has claimed most five-wicket hauls in Tests against AUST to date?

(2) Which AUST bowler has taken most five-wicket hauls in Tests against the WI to date?

Answers in tomorrow’s issue

Lionel Messi scores a superb goal as Argentina get a vital victory over Mexico to boost their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup last 16

France’s Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their second goal v Denmark, yesterday at Stadium 974, Doha, Qatar (REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji)

ALL SET FOR TAJE AND TIGER’S TURN

By Edwin Seeraj

WITH young Tajenarine Chanderpaul fashioning 119 and 56 for the touring West Indians against the Austra lian Prime Minister’s XI in the recently drawn encounter, he has further enhanced his chances of making his Test debut against the Aussies in the first match of the twogame series at Perth on Tues day evening (ECT).

Taje and his father Shiv ‘Tiger’ Chanderpaul are set to become the fourth father-andson combination to play Test cricket for the West Indies in its rich history involving 566 matches spanning a period of 94 years.

They will also join a select band of just over 50 such pair ings that have done so around the world since the inaugural Test in Melbourne in 1877.

The Scotts from Jamaica –Oscar Charles ‘Tommy’ Scott and his son Alfred Homer Pat rick Scott – are the first fatherand-son duo to have done so for the West Indies.

The elder Scott was pri marily a right-arm leg-spinner who made his first-class debut at 18 for Jamaica against the visiting English team in 1910 and promptly claimed a match haul of 11 for 138. He went on to play eight Test matches in cluding two in England in 1928 when the West Indies contested an international series for the first time.

He then played in the drawn ‘timeless’ Sabina Park Test against the visiting En glishmen in 1930 ending with match figures of nine for 374 and having the dubious dis tinction of being the bowler conceding most runs in a Test.

Tommy Scott played his last five Tests on West Indies

Shivnarine Chanderpaul and son

Tagenarine Chanderpaul

first tour to Australia in 193031 and closed off his career at the top-level with 22 wickets at 42.04 runs each.

Like his father, Alfred Scott was a right-arm leg-spinner who made his first-class de but at an early age. At 18 and in only his third first-class game for Jamaica against the touring Indians in 1953, he claimed seven wickets and outperformed the seasoned Alf Valentine.

He was subsequently se lected along with Valentine for the fifth Test in Kingston but on a batter’s paradise on which over 1 500 runs were scored (inclusive of seven cen turies) and 34 wickets fell, he ended wicketless with figures of nought for 144 off 44 overs and was relegated to the ‘One Match Wonder’ status.

The second father-andson pair to ‘don whites’ for the West Indies are the great George ‘Atlas’ Headley and his son, Ron.

George Headley was a right-handed top-order batter of the highest possible calibre who was the West Indies lynch

pin over his 22 Tests and whose distinguished career was uncer emoniously interrupted during the first World War.

Among father Headley’s numerous feats are a debut ton against England in Barbados in 1930, twin tons at Bourda ver sus England in 1930 to secure the West Indies first Test match win, separate hundreds in the Lord’s Test in 1939, an excep tional average of 60.83 runs per innings and a phenomenal average of 95.75 per innings in the five matches the Windies won when he played.

The son, Ron, was a left-handed opener who

moved to England as a boy and had a distinguished career for Worcestershire in English county cricket from 1958 to 1974 playing a pivotal role in his team winning consecutive championship titles in 1964 and 1965.

Ron got his opportunity to play two Tests and an ODI for the West Indies in England in 1973 when Stephen Camacho, who was set to open the bat ting with Roy Fredericks, was injured after being struck in the face by a young Andy Roberts in the West Indies/Hampshire duel on the eve of the first Test.

It should be noted that Ron was not a part of the initial squad and being summoned hurriedly to the fold to play at the highest level probably found him unprepared.

At age 34, he was part of the first two of the three Tests at the Oval and Birmingham but with scores of 8, 42, 1 and 11 that was his tenure at the top.

Let’s not forget that Ron’s son, Dean (George’s grandson), has also played 15 Tests and 13 ODIs for England between 1996 and 1999 becoming the first three-generation set of cricketers to grace the Test stage. Jahangir Khan (4 Tests for India in the 1930s), Majid Khan (63 Tests for Pakistan,

1964-1983) and Bazid Khan (1 Test for Pakistan against the WI, 2005) is the only other fa ther, son and grandson combi nation to contest Test matches.

Everton Weekes and his son David Murray (who died in Barbados yesterday) are the third father-son mates to repre sent the regional side in Tests.

Weekes was a member of the famous ‘3Ws Club’- Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott were the others who dominat ed the middle-order batting in the 1940s and 1950s. He was a right-handed, fleet-footed, technically correct batter who scored 4 455 runs at an average of 58.61 in 48 Tests.

He cracked 15 centuries including five in consecutive Test innings against England and India in 1948-49 and was homing in on a sixth at Madras (now Chennai) when from all reports he was controversially dismissed ‘run-out’ for 90. Some 74 years on his record is still intact.

Weekes’ son, David Mur ray, was a competent wicket keeper and more than useful batter who had a formidable first-class career primarily with Barbados raising the bar to play for the West indies in 19 Tests and 10 ODIs between 1973 and 1982.

Cricketing pundits suggest

that he would have played many more matches at the international level but for ‘per sonal issues’ and the presence of the Trinidad gloveman - his namesake - Deryck Murray whose time at the top paralleled his own.

Murray aggregated 601 Test runs at 21.46 runs per in nings with a highest score of 84 against India at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai and effected 62 dismissals – 57 catches and five stumpings – in a shortened sojourn that ended when he went on a ‘rebel tour’ to South Africa in 1982.

As the countdown begins for the start of the first Test let’s be reminded that Shiv has had an illustrious international ca reer which started as a teenager in 1994 and ended 21 years lat er after being capped 164 times in Tests, 268 times in ODIs and 22 times in T20 Internationals.

He has compiled a stag gering 11 867 runs in Tests at a remarkable average of 51.37 runs per innings while regis tering 30 centuries in a truly incredible effort.

The cricketing world is ready for this signal moment; the West Indian fans are over whelmingly excited; the Chan derpauls are no doubt ecstatic.

YES! IT’S ALL SET FOR TAJE AND TIGER’S TURN!

Inter-Guiana Games

Guyana secure overall title in Track and Field

GUYANA topped the Track and Field seg ment of the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) after they amassed 400 points to out score French Guiana (269 points) and Suriname (238 points) when the events concluded at the National Track and Field Facility, Leonora, yesterday.

More so, the Guyanese duo of Tianaa Springer and Javon Roberts won the Champion Athlete awards, Ezekiel Newton clocked 22.10 seconds to complete his sprint double, followed by teammate Malachi Aus tin (22.70s) and French Guiana’s Far Pierre-Louis (22.88s) in the 200m.

However, Guyana’s Ath aley Hinckson was unable to replicate the ‘double’ as she got third in the 200m.

Nalicia Glen, who got

second in the 100m, clocked 25.28 seconds to finish ahead of French Guiana’s Nandy Charles (25.53s) and Hinckson (25.57s).

Springer breezed to a time of 2:22.17 seconds to win the 800m in what was another 1-2 finish for Guyana. Nariss McPher son (2:22.19s) and Allanyx Brei of Suriname (2:42.94s) placed second and third re spectively.

Roberts stopped the clock at 2:00.77 seconds in his 800m triumph with Surinamese Jeffel Koorndi jk (2:00.96s) and Guyana’s Matrim Martin (2:06.63s) rounding off the podium.

French Guiana soared in the female Long Jump with Kayssia Hudon (5.54m) just edging team mate Ame’ly Pulcherie (5.53m) to gold, while

Guyana’s Amrist Hector got third with a best leap of 5.35m.

In the male category,

Guyana’s Staffon Roach had a big jump of 6.88m to easily win ahead of Su riname’s Ja-ie Van Hetten

Guyanese ladies victorious in football

(6.16m) and Mike Monde sir (6.03m) of French Gui ana.

Both the 4x100m

relay and the mixed 4x400m relay were emphatically won by Guyana.

Guyana dominate in Table Tennis;

unlucky

Games

The

Track

Strong start for Guyana in IGG Table Tennis

GUYANA had an extremely favourable showing on the open ing day of Table Ten nis at the Inter-Gui ana Games (IGG) being staged at the National Gymnasium.

With only Guyana and Suriname partic ipating in Table Ten nis, National Under-15 champion, Colin Wong

topped his Surinamese counterpart, Shariq Bi pat, 3-1 (11-9, 11-13, 11-4, 11-9) after which the young prodigy, Jas mine Billingy, cruised to an 11-1, 11-5, 11-3 triumph over Maria Kanhai.

Saalih Rahmin and Billingy defeated Bipat and Kanhai 11-8, 11-1,

TURN TO PAGE 23

in Badminton

Tennis 7-1 in the first to seven matchups that gave the spectators, which in cluded national player Chelsea Edghill, much to cheer about.

In the first game, Col in Wong defeated Bipat Shariq 3-1 in the boys’ singles while Jasmine Billingy got the better

the Table

At Mandela Avenue, Guyana

Mbappe fires France into last 16 after 2-1 win over Denmark

Team Guyana celebrate their success in Track and Field

TWO second-half strikes from Sandra Johnson in the 48th minute and Amanda McKenzie in

the 63rd minute saw Guyana better Surina me 2-0 in the final of the 2022 Inter-Guiana

football tourna ment.

match was played at the National

& Field Centre (NTFC), Leonora, yes terday afternoon.

THE 2022 Inter-Guiana Games continued yesterday at Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) and the National Gym nasium where the local athletes were victorious in Table Tennis but fell prey to the Dutch nation in Badminton.

won

2022 Inter-Guiana Games

Team Guyana win the IGG ladies football competition

Goalscorers Sandra Johnson (right) and Amanda McKenzie

Jasmine Billingy

2022 Inter-Guiana Games

Ebo McNeil of Guyana (right) and Shariq Bipat battling it out at the National Gymnasium