Guyana Chronicle E-Paper 21-12-2021

TUESDAY 21st DECEMBER, 2021

No. 106582

‘Reservoir for job creation’ established - as President Ali commissions Mocha to Diamond interlink road

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READY FOR USE! President Dr Irfaan Ali; Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal; Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues; Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn and others look on as this lad cuts the ceremonial ribbon, declaring the road officially opened. At right is an aerial view of the road that has been commissioned (Office of the President photo)

Almost $28B to be Seven per cent Keith Murray now spent on EBD housing wage cancer-free development project increase after groundbreaking for sugar surgery workers SEE PAGE

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Showdown, parliamentary shake-up loom for PNC/R

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Almost $28B to be spent on EBD housing development project - as gov’t remains on track to deliver 50,000 house lots

Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal

By Rehana Ahamad COME 2022, the Government of Guyana will be looking to expend close to $28 billion on additional infrastructural works needed to further develop a number of housing schemes along the East Bank of Demerara.

This is according to Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, who indicated that already, tenders have been issued for works to be done in Plantation

Golden Grove and Little Diamond and Great Diamond, respectively. “[This] will form part of the 2022 budgetary programme,” Croal said during the commissioning ceremony of the Diamond to Mocha interlink road on the East Bank of Demerara.

According to the minister, the intended expenditure will also cover construction of the new Eccles to Great Diamond four-lane highway.

Additionally, Croal said

An aerial view of land preparation and infrastructural works being done at Little Diamond, East Bank Demerara, back in May that works are already being done to ensure that the new housing areas are outfitted with the requisite utilities, including especially, potable water. “Drilling of a new well has started in Providence and another in Diamond, and the water

networks in several other areas are being upgraded,” Croal said.

He noted too that once completed, those wells will result in some communities on the East Bank of the Demerara River receiving potable water for the very first time, while others will benefit from improved service delivery.

“We are upgrading water-treatment plants in Eccles, Covent Garden and Grove to increase the treated-water coverage, and improving levels of services in and around the surrounding areas, because we want you to be comfortable in your homes when you build them,” the minister posited.

Croal informed those gathered at the commissioning ceremony of the new interlink road that since assuming office in August, 2020, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has allocated some 10,000 house lots to the people of Guyana.

As it is, Croal said that the work of his ministry is well on track to ensure that the government is able to fulfil its manifesto promise of distributing at least 50,000 new house lots by 2025. “This project is only one of the many interventions that our government has embarked on to make the lives of citizens in this area more comfortable,”

Croal said.

ALREADY COMPLETED Moreover, the minister went even further to provide an update on current housing projects: he indicated that in the locality of Prospect, at least 50 of the 100 lowincome houses being built have already been completed, while construction works are in progress for the remaining 50. “… and in Little and Great Diamonds, 522 similar houses are in various stages of preparation,” Croal said, adding that works on these homes will begin during the first quarter of 2022.

Croal noted too that mobilisation of 140 houses for young professionals has also commenced in Prospect, while works have started on 100 of the 200 homes projected for Providence.

Minister Croal told the Guyana Chronicle previously that for 2021, more than $14 billion was being spent to develop some 22 housing schemes across the country. The initial infrastructural works include the construction, and in some cases, the rehabilitation of roads, bridges and drainage infrastructure, as well as the installation of facilities to accommodate utility services such as water and electricity. This is to ensure that all new and upcoming housing schemes are accessible and outfitted with the

requisite amenities for new land owners to commence construction of their homes.

It was noted that over the past couple of years, although house lots were distributed, lack of preparatory works prevented new land owners from moving forward with construction of their homes, largely owing to the inaccessibility of many of the schemes.

The ongoing developments within the housing sector are components of what has been described as one of the largest investments in the housing sector in just one year.

Access to adequate housing has long been viewed as a basic human right, and is considered an integral factor for the enjoyment of other economic, social and cultural rights. And, with Guyana’s economy poised to quadruple in the coming years, the government has started establishing the conditions for Guyanese, especially from the low and middle-income brackets, to have access to adequate housing.

Also a critical component of government’s housing drive is the establishment of adequate interconnecting road networks such as the Diamond to Mocha interlink, which was commissioned

by President Dr. Irfaan Ali early on Monday morning.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday, December 21, 2021

‘Reservoir for job creation’ established - as President Ali commissions Mocha to Diamond interlink road

President Dr Irfaan Ali during his address to the commissioning ceremony on Monday morning (Office of the President photo)

By Rehana Ahamad IN addition to thousands of houselots, the opening of the Mocha to Diamond interlinked road has created a “reservoir for job creation” along the East Bank of Demerara corridor, said President Dr Irfaan Ali, as he commissioned the new route at the crack of dawn on Monday.

“We will have more than three or 400 acres of land developed specifically for industrial development and then we have commercial development,” Dr Ali said.

The new road, which joins Mocha to Sixth Avenue, Diamond, represents a total investment of $5 billion. It was initiated by President Ali during his tenure as Minister of Housing and

Water, prior to the change of government in 2015.

“When we left office, the foundation for this road was completed and for five years, nothing happened, so we came back and we completed this project,” President Ali said, as he stood on the podium facing the new thoroughfare, which now forms part of a massive $16 billion road network that will ultimately connect the East Coast and the East Bank of the Demerara River.

“So, there is the new expansion from Ogle [East Coast] that will also start next year, that will connect onto Diamond and all the way to Timehri [East Bank],” the Head of State posited.

The interconnected roads were designed in a manner

President Dr. Irfaan Ali and Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal unveil a plaque at the commissioning of the Mocha to Diamond Road, in the presence of Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues; Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibility for Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy; Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn and others that will alleviate the debilitating rush-hour traffic that customarily plagues the East and West Banks of the Demerara River, which are linked by an overburdened harbour bridge. The plan to bring relief also encompasses the construction of a spanking new river crossing, which is slated to commence soon.

Meanwhile, the Eccles to Diamond component of the road link has already been cleared for work to commence in early January 2022. “We are now in the process of awarding a contract to widen and reinforce the Eccles link that would be connected to the Mandela link in the meantime,” President Ali said.

He explained that the

The new road stretches from Mocha to Sixth Avenue, Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara (Office of the President photo)

newly commissioned road represents the beginning of an experimental interagency approach with the Guyana Police Force to modernise the country’s roadways, whilst maintaining safe road usage. More specifically, the new highway is to be manned by three police outposts, two of which have already been positioned.

“The next phase, which will be very soon, is to connect cameras to those outposts and you know, we are testing right now with the cameras, speeding, and I am very happy to inform you that the cameras can even pick up if you have your seatbelts on,” Dr. Ali informed.

He said that currently, the government is examining the requisite legislative amendments to allow for strong enforcement of an electronic ticketing system.

In the meantime, the Mocha to Diamond road was conceptualised and constructed in a manner that prevents various forms of reckless driving, especially speeding. “These roads are not race tracks,” Dr. Ali warned.

CONSEQUENCES Additionally, the President said that this new road was designed to accommodate only a specific category of vehicles such as cars, buses and Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs), not heavily laden trucks and machinery.

“The big trucks, you will see barriers, if you think it

is your responsibility to take down the barriers because you want to break the law, there will be consequences and you will face the consequences,” Dr Ali said.

Additionally, the Head of State assured residents that some adjustments will be made to ensure that a jogging path is constructed alongside the road, in keeping with government’s agenda of building and maintaining strong and sustainable communities.

“One of the things I have come to realise on this road is the new consciousness of people in our country with their health, and the road is used very heavily for health and exercise purposes,” Dr Ali said.

To this end, the President said that he has already asked the director of projects in the Housing Ministry to examine the government reserves alongside the road and to “see how we can extend a jogging path that is safely established for the people of the community.”

Dr Ali said that even though a lot work has been done, there is still much more to do. “We are working throughout the rest of the year; the contractors are already aware that their Christmas parties will be on site. There is too much to get done in too little time,” Dr Ali said.

The many infrastructural works currently ongoing across the country seek to address the debilitating issue of traffic congestion

which is only expected to worsen as more and more vehicles are brought into the country.

Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, assured residents that government is aware of the constant struggles faced by commuters, and is making every effort to remedy the frustrating situation. “Those worries are considerably lessened this morning, and I am sure many of you watching this broadcast are overjoyed as you will now be using this road to get to work quicker; you can sleep in a little bit more or spend more time with your families instead of in traffic,” Croal quipped.

The new road link is expected to play an integral role in alleviating the oncoming Christmas holiday traffic. Its opening also serves as a delivery on a campaign promise made by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), even before the March 2020 General and Regional Elections. “We intend to deliver on every single commitment we made.… We have a contract with the people of the country, so we have to deliver on it,” Dr Ali assured.

Also attending the early morning commissioning was Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues; Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy and other officials of the Grove-Diamond Neighbourhood Democratic Council.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Seven per cent wage increase for sugar workers

- after five years of no direct benefits, says Vice-President Jagdeo

By Navendra Seoraj AFTER five years of labouring in the fields and factories within Guyana’s sugar industry without an increase in remuneration, or other incentives to acknowledge their hard work, sugar workers are set to benefit from a seven per cent increase in wages and salaries before the end of the year.

The approval of this increase by the Government of Guyana comes as a welcome reward for sugar workers, whose relentless efforts to acquire such a

provision under the previous A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) administration proved futile.

Contrary to the government’s move, which is to the benefit of workers, VicePresident Bharrat Jagdeo, in announcing the increase on Monday, said that the former coalition administration had shuttered several estates, and left workers on the breadline.

In 2017, the APNU+AFC Government had announced the closure of several sugar estates across the country, leaving thousands of persons

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was denied them under the Coalition, “ the Union said, adding: “The GAWU, at this time, is appreciative of the government’s genuine efforts to bring about betterment to the sugar workers and the workers of Guyana.

We are sure that the workers are greatly appreciative of the government’s decision.

Indeed, it is yet another promise fulfilled by the government.”

STRENGTHENING MANAGEMENT Another area which the government has committed to addressing was the management of GuySuCo, which is in need of strengthening.

“I informed the Union that early next year, we would be engaging the company to strengthen the management of GuySuCo… We have several proposals, and because of other pressing issues, we have not been able to review these proposals,” Vice-President Jagdeo said.

Enhanced management of the estate would be accompanied by the further implementation of a strategic plan, which is expected to return the sugar industry to viability.

Cognisant that a diversion from the traditional bulk production of sugar is needed if the ailing industry is to recover and regain its vitality and position as a contributor to economic growth, the government has initiated plans to ensure that by 2025, 61 per cent of industry sales will come from value-added products.

Instead of being a liability to the national treasury, the industry will soon be able to “stand on its own”, through the implementation of innovative mechanisms, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha was quoted as saying in a past report.

The overarching plan, however, is to ensure that a minimum of 61 per cent of the sales from the industry is generated from the value-added, packaged sugar line in four years. As a result of those strategic actions, the sugar industry will be less dependent on the national treasury.

without jobs or sources of income. The move saw four sugar estates being closed, and 7,000 sugar workers losing their jobs.

“Under APNU [+AFC], 7,000 sugar workers lost their jobs, and in the five years, there was no salary increase for sugar workers…

Apart from that, the Annual Production Incentive (API) had also been terminated.

So, while the rest of the country got salary increases, they got zero. And, in fact, many of them lost their jobs, so the $250,000 grant was a way to alleviate some of the issues they faced; it is almost reparative justice, and we had to give a salary increase this year. We had said that whatever the public servants get, they would

also get… We decided that seven per cent would also be awarded to sugar worker,” Vice-President Jagdeo said.

FULFILMENT OF COMMITMENT In a statement following the announcement of the increase in wages and salaries for sugar workers, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) said that the government’s move represents the fulfillment of a commitment made earlier this year.

“For the GAWU, the decision by the government to provide workers with a seven per cent rise in pay equivalent to their counterparts in other sectors of the State marks a reversal of the policy of discrimination that was meted out to them

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Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo during the coalition government.

“It is well known that during the life of the David Granger-led Administration, sugar workers were treated like unwanted stepchildren.

Their wages were frozen at 2014 levels, while their colleagues in other sections of the State’s employ benefitted from annual pay adjustments. During that period, they suffered immensely, as the cost-of-living rose appreciably, while their real wages tumbled,” the Union said.

After computing the impact of the occurrences between 2015 and 2019, GAWU determined that sugar workers’ real wages had declined by some 42 per cent.

The Union related that apart from the wage freeze, other longstanding benefits were simply suspended without “rhyme or reason,” and sugar workers and their families suffered “disdainfully” at the hands of the former administration.

With benefits being restored, and requests for an increase being granted, GAWU and the sugar workers will now turn their attention to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), which will dispense the benefits.

“Certainly, with the holiday period fast approaching, workers, with great anxiety, seek to receive their payments. Undoubtedly, it will make their holidays somewhat brighter, and enable workers and their families, in their own way, to be able to afford some of what

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Showdown, parliamentary shake-up loom for PNC/R - Harmon and Granger excluded from Central Execuitive Committee

IT would appear as though the majority of the membership of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) is in favour of recalling some of their parliamentary representatives now that they have a new leader in party stalwart, Aubrey Norton.

Norton was quoted by Demerara Online News, on Monday, as saying that his PNC/R party comrades who would have elected him “seem to have suggested by the mandate that there is need for change at the parliamentary level”.

Norton was officially declared the new leader of the PNC/R, following the party’s 21st Biennial Congress hosted on Saturday last. When the votes were tallied, the results indicated a landslide victory for Norton who received 967 votes, while his opponents Dr. Richard Van-West Charles and Leader of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon secured 64 and 245 votes respectively.

Norton, who joined the youth arm of the then PNC at the age of 15 in 1972, has served the PNC/R for 49 years. In that time, he has faced expulsion and years of being sidelined, largely, and in recent times, by his predecessor and former President, David Granger, who still leads the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition.

Despite his years of service to the PNC/R, Norton was overlooked not just once, but on several occasions, in recent years, for a seat in the National Assembly; first, after the General and Regional Elections in 2011, then in 2013 when Richard Allen resigned from the House, and again in

2014, when a replacement was being sought to fill the chair of the late Deborah Backer.

It should be noted that Norton is not the only PNC/R veteran who was overlooked for positions in the National Assembly. On the contrary, when the party lost the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, Granger stepped aside, allowing Harmon to be positioned as Leader of the Opposition.

Now that Norton has clearly received the majority of support from his comrades in the PNC/R, questions are being asked as to whether, as part of the parliamentary shake-up, he should also replace Harmon as Leader of the Opposition, given that the PNC/R forms the majority component of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition.

But even now that Norton is finally at the helm of the PNC/R, he does not have any legitimate say as who sits in the National Assembly or who doesn’t; he remains dependent on decisions made by Granger.

In the meantime, however, Norton has indicated to Demerara Waves that once the PNC/R’s new 15-member central committee is in place, the party will examine the possibility of having him be named a parliamentarian, which could essentially pave the way for Harmon to be booted from the seat of the Opposition Leader.

The Guyana Chronicle had previously reported that, in accordance with Article 184 of Guyana’s Constitution, there are a number of ways in which a member can be removed from the National Assembly, includ-

ing a no-confidence provision for removing the Leader of the Opposition.

The provision, as reported previously, reads: “Where one-third of the non-governmental members of the Assembly represent to the Speaker that the Leader of the Opposition no longer enjoys their confidence, the Speaker shall call a meeting of all the non-governmental members at which it shall be decided whether the Leader of the Opposition shall be removed from office.”

The provision continues: “The removal shall be effected by the votes of a majority of all the nongovernmental members.”

This means that if there is a PNC/R parliamentary shake-up, then persons in favour of Norton’s leadership could be positioned to account for that majority, which could eventually pave the way for him to ascend to the Opposition Leader’s chair. Asked specifically whether this is a course of action he intends to pursue, Norton responded, “As leader of the PNC, whatever functions has to be performed generally, I will perform them.”

The PNC/R parliamentarians, who have since signalled their unwavering support for Harmon, include Ganesh Mahipaul, Annette Ferguson, Roysdale Forde, Natasha SinghLewis and Darren Wade, among others.

Even if Norton could be successful in making his way to the National Assembly, it does not appear as though Harmon is willing

Joseph Harmon, Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition to relinquish his leadership title. As a matter of fact, Harmon, during a brief radio interview, had said that even if he loses the race for leadership of the PNC/R, he cannot be removed as Leader of the Opposition.

“I am the current Leader of the Opposition in Guyana. And that there is some rumour going around that if somebody else wins, they could remove me. But I just want to make clear that the Constitution is very clear about that. That the Leader of the Opposition could only be removed at the next elections of the country….

He can’t be removed any other way,” Harmon said.

Meanwhile, both Granger and Harmon have been excluded from the PNC/R Central Executive Committee. Those elected to the committee are Gary Best, Christopher Jones, Jermaine Fi-

Aubrey Norton, newly elected leader of the PNC/R

guiera, Edward Collins, Dawn Hastings-Williams, Geeta Chandan-Edmond, Hazel Pyle-Lewis, Kirk Fraser, Samuel Sandy,

Amanza Walton-Desir, Ganesh Mahipaul, Coretta McDonald, Troy Garraway, Riaz Roopnaraine, and Annette Ferguson.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Organ and tissue transplant

A BILL was recently tabled in the National Assembly which, when enacted, could potentially result in several persons currently on dialysis due to kidney failure benefitting from organ transplant. The Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Bill is yet an important piece of legislation which will provide the regulatory framework to enable the country to perform cadaveric transplantation, which is the transplant of organ or tissue from “braindead’ individuals to living persons.

This legislation will allow for persons who are willing to donate kidney after they die to do so in a safe and legal environment to other patients in order to allow them to live a normal life. According to Dr Kishore Persaud, Department Head

of the Multi-organ Transplant and vascular Access Surgery of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), there are hundreds of patients who are on dialysis, which is one of the most expensive treatments and the mortality and morbidity as a consequence of being on dialysis are severe. Many of these patients simply cannot afford the cost of treatment and are left to the mercy of family members and other donors.

Passage of the new legislation will mean that persons in need of organ donations would no longer depend only on relatives and friends who may or may not be compatible, but could enjoy a better quality of life by way of organ transplants. The bill caters for the establishment of the Human Organ and

Tissue Transplant Agency as the national regulatory body for donation and transplantation. A National Donor and Transplant Registry will also be established which will deal with all matters relating to consent.

The registry will be responsible for the establishment of a register of patients in need of transplants, as well as the establishment of efficient storage facilities for organs, cells and biofluids.

It also makes provisions to guard against human-organ trafficking and prohibits the sale and\or trade of human organs, tissues, cells or biofluids for the purpose of making money. A jail term of five years as well as a fine of $5 million will be imposed on those found to be in violation of the Act. The bill also stipulates that removal of or-

gans will not be done unless the donor is pronounced dead by two medical practitioners.

This is indeed forwardlooking legislation which will go a far way in realisation of the government’s objective to provide a highclass health care system, second to none in the Caribbean. Guyana has come a far way in terms of several new medical interventions, including organ transplants and other advanced forms of surgical operations. Regrettably, plans to establish a stateof-the art medical facility in Georgetown was aborted by the previous APNU+AFC administration, but the new PPP/C administration has committed itself to modernise the health care system with emphasis on primary health care. Many of the illnesses that developed later in

life could have been avoided had there been a greater awareness of the benefits of practising healthier lifestyles such as eating habits, regular exercise and avoiding the use of excessive alcohol consumption and smoking.

Diabetes in particular, even though in many cases hereditary, is manageable and need not result in kidney failure if properly managed.

President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has called for a new culture of healthcare administration and has indicated that his administration is committed to providing first-world health care services throughout the country.

The government, he said, will continue to support primary healthcare, but there will also be room for private healthcare to flourish, since it will help to enhance economic

development. According to the President, the country has already received a number of proposals from across the world for the development of private healthcare facilities.

Guyana has made significant strides in terms of primary health care and despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health indicators have shown some positive improvements, as indicated by better longevity rates and a reduction in communicable and non-communicable diseases. The records will show that people in Guyana are living longer and healthier lives. The new bill to allow for organ and tissue transplants is yet another step in the direction of a better quality of life for which the government must be commended.

The Natural Resource Fund Bill 2021: Governance, transparency and accountability background THE Natural Resource Fund Act 2019 is an important piece of legislation, albeit for reasons of constitutional legitimacy, transparency, accountability, and governance of the fund, the 2019 Act is set to be amended, inter alia, the Natural Resource Fund Bill 2021. This position was made clear by the current administration when in opposition. Hence, the premise of this bill is a commitment being honoured by the government of the day.

Criticisms of the Bill Prior to the tabling of the bill in the National Assembly, a certain media house took completely out of context a comment made by the Vice-President on the bill at a private sector function.

The Vice- President in his

remarks said that the current bill seeks to simplify the withdrawal formula and to bring the Act in line with international best practices on the transparency and accountability front. The VicePresident had also mentioned that in the current Act, the Public Accountability and Oversight Committee comprised stakeholder members from 22 different organisations–which he argued is impossible to get anything done with such a large stakeholder group on an oversight committee. The Vice-President is on record as saying, that “this has to change” and at no time did he say that it (the oversight committee) will be removed. This can simply be confirmed by re-examining the recording which is on

the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page.

Interestingly and unfortunately, the following day a certain media house and its publisher completely misrepresented the Vice-President’s statement by saying that the government under the stewardship of the Vice-President is seeking to remove the oversight committee. Other commentators, media operatives and even a so-called retired professor picked up on this and subscribed to this view – without even waiting for the opportunity to examine the bill in its entirety and to confirm the facts. This is even more disappointing because by training, academicians ought to be much more thorough and careful in their commentaries–ensuring that

whatever arguments put forward are from an informed, evidenced, and fact-based standpoint, and are scholarly.

More disturbingly, following the tabling of the bill in the National Assembly (when the bill becomes a public document), another media house in its frontpage commentary (reflecting, obviously the position of the media house), described the bill as a “wholly unacceptable bill” and called for its withdrawal and recomposition. The media house further went on to describe the bill as: “…a coruscating example of the mountain having laboured to produce a dud; its toxicity is insidious. In part seeks to replace oversight of the Fund by a “Board of

Directors which clearly will be handpicked by the PPP/C from among its followers and handmaidens in the private sector and elsewhere. The configuration proposed will ensconce the country’s earnings from oil and gas in the laps of a select few of the PPP/C’s adherents…”

Discussion and Analysis In the commentary cited above, given that the bill is now a public document, the foregoing position propagated by a certain section of the media is arguably indicative of the vast incomprehension and lack of appreciation of the contents of the bill by these proponents; and /or an egregious, disingenuous modus operandi to deliberately mislead the entire nation, ignoring altogether the rules

of ethical conduct, integrity, honesty, and good journalism to report on facts. And more so, an indication of the lack of in-depth research in the editorial department. This reality leaves much to be desired.

These are the only logical inferences that one can derive, having read and observed the highly misinformed positions being fiercely and profusely propagated and foisted upon the people of Guyana by commentators alike, so-called experts and academicians, and a certain section of the media.

Comparison of the Natural Resource Fund Act 2019 and the Proposed Amendments in the 2021 Bill: Key TURN TO PAGE 7

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday, December 21, 2021

The Natural Resource Fund Bill 2021: Governance...

FROM PAGE 6 Components Natural Resource Fund Act 2019Natural Resource Fund Bill 2021 Public Oversight of the Fund * Public Accountability and Oversight Committee Management of the Fund I. Minister Responsible for the Overall Management of the Fund II. Bank responsible for Operational Management of the Fund III. Investment Committee IV. Senior Investment Adviser and Analyst V. Private Managers VI. Custodians VII. Macroeconomic Committee Governance and Management of the Fund I. Board of Directors II. Public Accountability and Oversight Committee III. Bank Responsible for Operational Management of the Fund IV. Investment Committee V. Senior Investment Adviser & Analyst VI. Investment Advisory Services Company VII. Private Managers VIII. Custodians The notion that the Public Accountability and Oversight Committee is being removed in the proposed amendments is grossly inaccurate. The amended bill in fact seeks to recalibrate the committee in such a manner that the committee can function effectively and efficiently for all practical reasons. In so doing, the 22-member committee has been reduced to nine as follows: a) One nominee of the National Assembly; b) Three representatives of the religious community; c) Two representatives of the private sector; d) Two representatives of the organised labour; and e) One representative of the professions Comparing this amended provision with that of the 2019 Act, this Committee is to comprise representatives from the following organisations: a) One representative nominated by a consortium of civil-society organisations and community-based organisations.

b) One nominee to represent women, nominated by a consortium of civilsociety organisations and community-based organisations which represent women; c) One nominee to represent youth nominated by a consortium of civil-society organisations and community-based organisations which represent youth; d) One nominee from the Bar Association of Guyana; e) One nominee of the Guyana Consumers Association; f) One nominee of the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative; g) One nominee of the Transparency Institute of Guyana; h) One nominee of the Guyana Press Association; i) One nominee of the most representative associations of trade unions; j) One nominee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana; k) One nominee of the Private Sector Commission; l) One Nominee from each of the 10 Regional Democratic Councils; and m) One nominee from academia nominated by the University of Guyana Comparing the recalibrated form of the Public Accountability and Oversight Committee, while the committee has been reduced from 22 members to nine (with good rationale and reason), it has in no way diminished the wide cross-section of representation which the Act currently embodies.

Effectively, the government has shifted the envisaged problem with the current structure comprising a 22-member committee from a wide cross-section of civil society groups, to the civil society groups themselves at the very outset (which is clever).

Firstly, that is to say, the envisaged problematic scenario with this current 22-member structure is such, that how easy or difficult would it be for the harmonisation of the interests of 22 different organisations, and to effectively carry out the function, unhindered, and objectively of the committee. If, for

example, this 22-member group cannot agree on a matter for the simple reason that each member has the predicament of advancing the cause of their individual organisation’s agenda, then the work of the committee would naturally be stymied.

Such a situation would no doubt be unavoidable, and therefore, must be mitigated at all cost to allow for the uninhibited work of the Oversight Committee to be executed.

Secondly, it is noteworthy to point out that in the recalibrated structure of the said committee, the approach employed seeks to do just that – that is, mitigation of the above perceived risk in the functioning of the committee. This deduction is inherent in the manner in which the now nine-member committee is designed where for example: (1) instead of having the one nominee each from the 10 administrative regions, the 10 administrative regions can be represented by one nominee from the National Assembly and that nominee, perhaps may require at least a two-thirds majority support in the National Assembly; (2) instead of having one member each from the various professional associations such as the accounting profession, the legal profession, the journalistic profession, etc., in the new structure all the professional associations would have to come together through a consultative approach to nominate one representative to represent all of the professional associations; (3) where in the current Act there is one nominee from a number of different civil-society groups – these groups need to now come together through a consultative approach and nominate three representatives to represent all of those organisations.

In a similar manner, the two representatives from the private sector will have to be nominated to represent all of the private-sector associations across the country and the same goes for the labour representative.

Thus, the burden for all these named stakeholder groups, organisations and associations now rests on their shoulders to agree on a single nominee, in one case

two and in another three, to represent all of their interests on the committee. Thus effectively, the government will not be faced with this dilemma in the functioning of this committee.

Notably, the above illustration has demonstrated that the Public Accountability and Oversight Committee has not been removed as has been falsely propagated by some sections of the media, and the wide crosssection of representation from the private sector, civil society groups, labour unions and the professional associations has not been diminished in the recalibrated structure of the committee.

Third, the 2019 Act confers full management responsibility upon the Minister of Finance, which by all standards, is a deviation from the Santiago Principles and constitute a great degree of political domination which can effectively compromise transparency, accountability, and good governance of the fund.

This element has been replaced by a Board of Directors comprising a minimum of three members and maximum of five members appointed by the President.

The Bill speaks to the qualifications and experience of the directors and that one of whom shall be nominated by the National Assembly, and one from the private sector.

Though the bill did not elaborate on the procedure on how all of the directors are to be nominated and appointed, the bill did empower the Minister of Finance to make regulations wherein “…generally for the better carrying out of the purposes of this Act, taking into account the generally accepted principles and practices on sovereign wealth funds as contained in the Santiago Principles.”

Fourth, the bill replaced the Macroeconomic Committee which in the 2019 Act is the Committee that is appointed by the Minister of Finance that advises the minister on the management of the fund (this also could be problematic in its current form as previously illustrated), with an Investment Advisory Services Company. An Investment Advisory Services Com-

pany would be much more prudent and bring greater value in terms of the management of the fund, rather than a committee made up of members that may have different personal agendas.

In other words, the 2021 bill has brought the bill in line with a more prudent structure from a transparency and accountability perspective, as well as a governance standpoint from a heavily politicised architecture (the powers vested in the minister) to a more highly professionalised architecture (removal of the ministerial powers, to the Board of Directors, and an Investment Advisory Company).

The Santiago Principles Finally, the Santiago Principles is a voluntary set of 24 guidelines designed to promote good governance, accountability, transparency, and prudent investment practices, as well as maintain a stable and open investment climate. The Santiago Principles are now observed by more than 20 countries’ Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs).

The implementation of these principles can be grouped into three key areas: A) Legal framework, objectives, and coordination with macroeconomic policies: in the case of Guyana, the legal framework is the legislation, namely, the Natural Resource Fund Act. The objectives of the fund are set out in the Act and those objectives are aligned with the economic policy and development agenda of the government of the day.

B) Institutional framework and governance structure: the institutional framework in the case of Guyana is the operationalisation of the fund, which is being held in the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States.

The Bank of Guyana, which has responsibility for operational management of the fund, the Board of Directors, the Public Accountability and Oversight Committee, the Ministry of Finance, and then ultimately, the National Assembly.

C) Investment and riskmanagement framework: in the case of Guyana, this is the investment committee, the investment adviser (s), the private manager (s),

and the investment advisory company.

Conclusion/Summary Altogether, the Natural Resource Fund Bill 2021 has not removed any component from the 2019 Act per se; rather, the bill seeks to replace certain components in the current act with those that align with international best practices – following the Santiago Principles. Ultimately, the aim is to ensure greater accountability, transparency, and prudent governance of the fund in the interest of the people of Guyana.

It is disturbingly unfortunate that a certain group of commentators and media operatives are either deliberately or mischievously disseminating the most egregious form of misinformation to the general public with respect to the Natural Resource Fund Bill 2021.

The ultimate oversight body of the fund is the National Assembly, the Public Accounts Committee, the Bank, presumably the Central Bank/Bank of Guyana, the Board of Directors, the Public Accountability and Oversight Committee, which by design will exercise non-governmental oversight, and the Ministry of Finance.

With respect to transparency and accountability, the bill mandates monthly, quarterly, and annual reporting. The annual report has to be tabled in the National Assembly, and the fund is subject to both internal and external audit.

Further, management of the fund is not to be determined by the board per se, rather, the board has management responsibility for the fund, and the board has to be guided by the legislation on how the fund ought to be managed. The board, therefore, cannot (legally) deviate from the investment mandate of the fund, as stipulated by the Act. With regard to the appointment of the board, it is normal practice in other countries that the board be appointed by the President.

While the legislation did not speak to the procedure on how the board will be appointed, the bill did empower the minister to make regulations to aid the implementation of that which will be enshrined in the Act.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, December 21, 2021

The ‘hustle and bustle’ of a Guyanese Christmas

By Naomi Parris

WITH just three more days to Christmas, the capital city Georgetown was abuzz as many scurried through crowds to complete their last-minute shopping. The Guyana Chronicle on Monday caught up with a few Christmas enthusiasts as they purchased their goodies for the festive season.

One shopper, Shelly Thomas, who was accompanied by her young granddaughter, shared that she was just ‘passing through’ the city to pick a few last-minute items.

The woman noted that her Christmas plans are already set in stone and she will be spending the day with friends and family at church.

Thomas also disclosed that she will be preparing a grand lunch on Christmas Day and will be dining with her close relatives.

Meanwhile, the Guyana Chronicle also caught up with an excited Sonia Lewis, who at that time was searching through a bouquet of floral arrangements at a local shop.

Lewis gushed, “All my Christmas cleaning done and I done fix up my tree. You know the usual thing.”

When asked about her plans for Christmas Day, Lewis said she will be preparing her infamous vegetarian pepperpot with lots of spices and chunks as a substitute for the traditional beef and ‘cow face’ that are usually in the delicacy.

Local cassareep vendor Augustus Trotman

Among all the hustle and bustle of persons bumping into each other or stepping on someone else’s shoes, a vendor, Donna Thomas, could be seen calling out to passersby and shoppers to take a quick look at the items

Keith Murray now cancer-free after groundbreaking surgery

By Naomi Parris DIAGNOSED with gastric cancer in June 2020, 58-year-old Mr. Keith Murray of Linden was unsure whether he’d live to see another Christmas and spend time with his family.

Now cancer-free following yet another groundbreaking and lifesaving surgery at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) in March of this year, Mr. Murray, a construction worker, is excited about reclaiming the time he lost due to his illness.

According to the USbased National Cancer Institute, gastric cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancerous) cells are formed in the lining of the stomach.

Symptoms include indigestion and stomach discomfort or severe pain, and sometimes bleeding, which, in this case, Mr. Murray was experiencing.

“I was losing blood,” he said, “and that’s when I decided to go to the doctor and had a lot of tests. And they found that it was a mass that was the cause of me losing the blood.”

He said that it was whilst receiving treatment at the cancer clinic in Georgetown that he learnt of a surgery that can change his life and take away his pains. With an optimistic

Mr. Keith Murray mindset, the man noted that he decided to follow up with his doctors and gather more information.

In March, a team of surgeons led by General and Advanced Laparoscopic Surgeon, Dr. Heimraj Ramcharran performed what in medical parlance is called a distal gastrectomy, using the laparoscopic technique.

Speaking further about the procedure, Mr. Murray related that the days leading up to his surgery was no hassle. “I never felt nowhere really, so I left everything to God,” he said, adding: “So I think God was the one carrying me through everything; I never had a bad day or a bad night coming up to the surgery. I feel good; I feel blessed! I would say it was a miracle!”

Mr. Murray said he’ll be taking some time off from work, but is hoping to return within a years’ time. He also

noted that he will be spending the Christmas season in good health and faith, and is looking forward to playing with his only grandchild.

The man further thanked the doctors who worked assiduously to save his life.

“I thank them, and I would like to tell everybody; not just them,” he said, adding: “I call them a team; they may not be able to give life, but they were surely able to save one.”

During a press conference held at the GPHC on Monday, Dr. Ramcharran explained the procedure.

“We removed the lower half of the stomach, and we joined the small intestines to the remainder of the stomach so as to allow continuity. And then we were able to remove the lower part of the stomach with the tumor successfully,” he said, adding: “We did all of that through small incisions, instead of making a long incision. The surgery was successful, and we were able to do everything.”

Dr. Ramcharran was trained in laparoscopic surgery while doing a fellowship in Canada, and now looks forward to training other Guyanese doctors in this area.

He noted that 16 local public doctors have already been undergoing the training to make this modernised technique more widespread across Guyana’s public healthcare system.

A shopper checks through a few carpets at a local vending stand on Regent Street (Carl Croker photo) she was selling.

However, Thomas indicated that while it may appear that the city is busy and many persons are shopping, several store owners and vendors are expecting sales to “pick up” later in the week as the festivities draw closer. Currently, shoppers are mainly scouting the prices of items they may wish to purchase at a later time.

WHAT IS A GUYANESE CHRISTMAS WITHOUT ‘PEPPERPOT AND BLACK CAKE’?

Shopping for household and gift items was not the only fulfilling things shoppers were looking for, since a main aspect of the festive season is a table filled with all types and kinds of tantalising Guyanese delicacies.

As such, local cassareep vendor Augustus Trotman could be heard sounding, “Come and get your cassareep here, cassareep here” along the pavements of Regent Street.

Trotman disclosed that he sources his cassareep all

Vendor Donna Thomas the way from the Pomeroon region and posited that has the best to add the right kick and flare to the traditional pepperpot that is served on Christmas morning in almost every Guyanese household.

Trotman noted that a Guyanese home would not be “Christmassy” without the smell of pepperpot or black cake emanating from the kitchen. As such, he too will be cooking up a storm in his kitchen and celebrating.

“I done start my Christmas celebration already, you know I does come out here and sell and catch a little dollar,” he said.

Pensioner robbed, beaten by bandits POLICE in West Berbice, Region Five, are investigating an armed robbery which has left an elderly woman traumatised and in pain.

According to information received, the victim, Savitri Umrao, 74, of Lot 97, Number 3 Settlement, Blairmont, West Bank Berbice was in her living room in the lower flat of her home relaxing when two men armed with knives pounced upon her.

The traumatised woman recalled that around 06:45 hrs on Sunday while sitting after watching the news, the two men entered her house via a door and grabbed her by the neck.

One of them reportedly shoved his hand down her throat and warned: “If yuh only scream, ah gon kill yuh,” as he demanded her wallet with money.

According to Mrs. Umrao, “I don’t have money ‘cause I does get old age pension, and meh buy t’ings with it, and it done, but the boy just take his hand and push it down my throat again and say, ‘Ah gon’ kill yuh; guh bring de wallet.’ I tell dem I ain’t get no wallet.”

Savitri Umrao points to the injury she suffered when one of the bandits yanked the earrings off her ears She related that since she and station, my body in pain could not meet their demands, till now.” one of the men yanked the earTwo other persons, includrings off her ears, tearing off ing a disabled woman, who a piece flesh on her left ear in were in the house at the time the process. They also pulled of the incident, were also not off her finger rings and further spared. assaulted her.

One was choked, while the “The bhai come pon meh other was beaten and had hot stomach and siddown, and tea poured all over his body. if you see how dis bhai do When they’d had their fill of me,” Mrs. Umrao said. “He tormenting their hapless hostek his hand and push it my tages, the bandits made good mouth, till down my throat. My their escape with four gold mouth inside bust up; I can’t rings, one pair of gold earrings eat nothing. While going to and one pair of gold bangles, the hospital, my stomach start all valued at $237,000. An pain; I couldn’t sit down. When investigation into the robbery meh come home from hospital is currently underway.

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Court of Appeal to rule today on jurisdiction to hear election petition

THE Court of Appeal will today hand down its ruling on whether or not it has the jurisdiction to hear and determine the appeal of APNU+AFC’s Election Petition 99 of 2020.

The ruling will be given during a virtual hearing by Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings-Edwards, and Justices of Appeal, Dawn Gregory and Rishi Persaud, at 14:00 hrs.

On January 18, 2021, Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George had struck out the case, which had been filed by Monica Thomas and Brennan Nurse. They were asking the court to nullify the outcome of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, and declare that President Dr. Irfaan Ali is illegally occupying office.

Later that month, lawyer for the appellants, Roysdale Forde,SC, moved to the Court of Appeal to have the CJ’s decision set aside. The appeal, among other things, is contending that the Chief Justice erred in law, and misdirected herself when she misapplied the doctrine of strict compliance, by holding that such compliance is related to the contents of the Affidavit of Service instead of the filing of the Affidavit of Service in a timely manner.

Another ground claims that the Chief Justice erred and misdirected herself when she failed to consider the objective of the petition in making her

decision on the content of the Affidavit of Service.

Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) of GECOM, Keith Lowenfield, representatives of several political parties and former President David Granger, are listed as respondents.

During a hearing of the appeal in July, Justice Persaud had inquired as to wether the appeal should have been filed in the Full Court of the High Court instead of the Court of Appeal.

APNU’s attorneys-atlaw, Roysdale Forde, S.C., and Trinidadian attorney, John Jeremie, S.C., had argued that the Appellate Court has jurisdiction to hear the case. Jeremie had even asked the court to reinstate the petition, which was thrown out by the CJ on procedural grounds.

However, Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall, in response, had rejected the lawyers’ contentions, saying that the Court of Appeal does not have jurisdiction to hear the case since the matter was thrown out by the High Court, and no evidence was heard.

Nandlall submitted that based on the uniqueness of the case, like the Appeal Court, the Full Court also has no jurisdiction to hear the case.

Nandlall had urged the judges to bring an end to the matter by ruling on the issue of jurisdiction since the case might be a “clog” in the judicial system.

“Respectfully, I believe we are going around

in circles,” the AG said as he addressed the issue of whether the court has any jurisdiction in appeal proceedings regarding election petition litigations.

“Our respectful answer to that question is a resounding no!” the AG said before explaining that, “One would arrive at such a conclusion if one understands carefully the historical evolution of the jurisdiction, something that we have said over and over again, and the nature, extent and special limited aspect of that jurisdiction are being described repeatedly as ‘sui generis’.”

The AG had said too that according to Section 79 of the High Court Act, which reads “An appeal shall lie to the Full Court from any judgement given or order made by a single judge of the court in the exercise of its civil jurisdiction in respect of which there is no appeal to the Court of Appeal.”

He submitted that one would interpret this section to mean that in the appeal of election petition matters, the Full Court cannot exercise its civil jurisdiction.

“We have put forward court cases after cases explaining the nature and type of jurisdiction that was received by the High Court …but this is a jurisdiction that the court never had,” the AG had said.

He explained that the Parliament of Guyana had given such power to resolve elections disputes to the High Court and when

Man arrested for allegedly raping woman with a disability

A 21-year-old man is currently in police custody in relation to the alleged rape committed on a 21-yearold female who has a disability.

According to the police, the incident occurred in Region Nine, on December 19, 2021.

Reports are that the vic-

tim was home alone when the suspect went into the premises. He allegedly held her down and raped her.

When her relatives returned home, the victim was found crying and she confided in them.

The relatives reported the matter to the police, and the suspect was arrested

by public-spirited citizens.

He was handed over to the police, and under caution he reportedly said, “Officer I went over to charge me phone and I just hold on pon she for one minute and she tell me to stop and I stop.”

He was placed into custody as the investigation is ongoing.

a decision is made in this “narrow” jurisdiction, it can only be appealed at the Court of Appeal.

“One cannot wander outside of that narrow corridor…We cannot eke out a jurisdiction where one does not exist…Mr. Forde cannot confer jurisdiction where one does not exist,” the AG said.

A second election petition case was dismissed

on April 26 by the CJ, on the grounds of serious non-compliance with the Constitution of Guyana, and electoral laws as it relates to GECOM’s conduct of those elections.

The Chief Justice held that the petitioners failed to present evidence to support claims that the conduct of those elections contravened the Constitution and the

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Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall country’s electoral laws.

The applicants, Claudette Thorne and Heston Bostwick, subsequently filed an appeal.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Tropical Shipping makes timely donation to Sophia, Redeemer primary schools

COUNTRY Manager of Tropical Shipping, Glenis Hodge, recently donated vouchers to Sophia and Redeemer primary schools to purchase classroom supplies. The COVID-19 pandemic has created an additional need for school supplies for the learners.

“We are happy to, once again, provide assistance to the schools as we are aware of the domino effects of the pandemic and the challenges that the schools and students are facing. The donation will go a long way in ensuring a comfortable and rewarding learning experience for the children, and, in the big

Tropical Staff Member, Ayanna Cameron, presenting the voucher to Audrey Sue, headmistress, Sophia Primary School

Country Manager, Tropical Shipping, Glenis Hodge making the presentation to graduate DHM, Kizzy Howell of Redeemer Primary School

picture, we hope that it will make a positive impact in the community,” Hodge said.

Hodge further added that Tropical Shipping’s community donation programme is geared towards youth and educational initiatives that are impactful, unique and sustainable.

She noted that Tropical Shipping is committed to

the success and wellbeing of individuals and businesses throughout the Caribbean and The Bahamas. The company has chosen and implemented community relations programmes to support the people and way of life in the communities they serve.

Tropical Shipping is a logistics and shipping company that has over 50 years’ expe-

rience in transporting cargo from the US and Canada to and from the Caribbean regions, Guyana, and Suriname.

The company has served Guyana for more than 25 years with transit time from Florida to Guyana within seven days and from Florida to Suriname eight days.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday, December 21, 2021

MoE to launch literacy programmes in 2022

THE Ministry of Education plans to launch adult and community-based literacy programmes across the country in 2022, while simultaneously tackling illiteracy among public school students.

Speaking at a media luncheon at Cara Lodge on Monday, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand emphasised the ministry’s desire to continue focusing on improving the country’s human resources.

She noted that while Guyanese students continue to do well in English at the national examinations, there still remains an issue with illiteracy among the population. In this regard, the ministry will be leading the way in addressing this issue.

“We are going to be reestablishing the adult literacy programme in communities.

We are going to be implementing workplace literacy programmes in at least 10 organisations for 2022. We will be expanding the communitybased literacy programmes in various communities in all

education districts for out-ofschool youths and dropouts, who have low literacy rates.

We expect to target at least 3,500 children,” the minister explained to the media.

The community programme will be complemented by a similarly rigorous strategy in the schools.

“We’ve been doing well in English at all the exit exams, primary as well as secondary, but we are seeing gaps that if not plugged now will continue to leave too many children behind. So our literacy programme and our literacy target is that every single child must be able to read and understand what they are reading by Grade Four and that’s a mandate across the ministry that begins immediately,” Manickchand noted.

This announcement comes following the establishment of a new Literacy Unit at the MoE which is being headed by the Assistant Chief Education Officer (Primary), Samantha Williams.

It was earlier this year that Minister Manickchand had first noted the MoE’s

GDF successfully medevacs Port Kaituma resident to City for surgery

The patient being transported in the GDF Bell 412 THE Guyana Defence Force (GDF), on Monday morning, successfully medevaced, to the city for emergency surgery, a resident of Port Kaituma, Region One, who suffered a massive laceration to the stomach.

The Bell 412 crew consisted of Lieutenant Colonels, Michael Charles and Anson Weekes; aircraft engineers, Lieutenant Shaquille Dalton and Corporal Dwayne Jackson and Medics, Corporal Sheena Waithe and Lance Corporal, Akime Martin.

The crew arrived at Port

Kaituma at approximately 23:15 hours Sunday night to transport the patient, Glenroy Williams, 24.

According to the GDF, the pilots endured marginal weather conditions but were able to mitigate same and successfully complete the mission.

They arrived at Base Camp Ayanganna at 01:10 hours on Monday and the injured man was taken by the GDF ambulance to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where he underwent emergency surgery. The patient is currently being monitored.

intention to put increased emphasis on literacy following the results of the 2021 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), as a number of students got zero scores due to their inability to read their examination papers.

Illiteracy and the high primary school dropout rate are national issues in Guyana.

Over 50 percent of the country’s working-age population have a primary school education or less.

As the literacy programmes are rolled out, specific emphasis will be placed on hinterland communities.

“We have established a new literacy unit headed by one of our premier experts. We will train 150 community workers and volunteers as literacy coaches. We are going to target literacy training for teachers in Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine, as well as conduct several literacy competitions,” Manickchand said.

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, December 21, 2021

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Minibus tout remanded for allegedly murdering man over $120 MINIBUS tout, Paul Junior Lynch, was, on Monday, charged for fatally stabbing minibus conductor, Morven Nurse, during an argument over $120 and was later remanded to prison by Magistrate Ann McLennan.

Lynch, 27, of Lot 1276

Bachelor ’s Adventure, East Coast Demerara (ECD) appeared before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court for the capital offence of murder and was not required to enter a plea.

It is alleged that, on December 15, 2021, at the Route 44 bus park

at Commerce Street, Georgetown, he murdered Nurse, 30, called “TuPac”, of Haslington, ECD. He will make his next appearance in court on February 21, 2022.

According to reports, on the day in question, Nurse and Lynch were at the bus park when they

became involved in an argument. According to the police, Lynch, who was first assaulted by Nurse, was armed with a brownhandled knife.

The duo began pelting empty beer bottles and bricks at each before Lynch allegedly stabbed Nurse with a knife to his

Paul Junior Lynch left side chest.

Nurse ran a short distance before falling to the ground, while Lynch fled the scene in a minibus.

The injured man was picked up and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where he was pronounced dead while undergoing surgery.

Persons at the bus park related that the men had an argument over

DEAD : Morven Nurse called ‘TuPac’ $120 which led to a confrontation.

Shortly after, police released a wanted bulletin for Lynch; he later surrendered at the Brickdam Police Station in the company of his lawyer.

Jealous man gets five years for wounding ex-wife’s boyfriend

A 35-year-old labourer was on Friday sentenced to five years imprisonment for wounding Thakur Lokram, who is currently dating his ex-wife.

Franklin Griffith, of Sans Souci, Wakenaam, appeared at the Suddie High Court where he was indicted for attempted murder. However, he opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of felonious wounding.

Griffith admitted that on February 23, 2020, at Sans Souci, he unlawfully and maliciously wounded Lokram with the intent to maim, disfigure or disable him.

He was represented by attorney-at-law Latchmi Dindayal, while the state was represented by prosecutor Tiffini Lyken.

Justice Sewnarine-Beharry before imposing sentence, considered the nature and gravity of the offence as well as the use of a dangerous weapon to commit the crime.

She also said that Griffith

is an adult and should have known better.

Nevertheless, she gave him credit for not wasting the court’s time and confessing to the crime.

The judge in handing down her decision, ordered that Griffith serve five years in prison and that the prison authorities deduct from the sentence the time he spent on remand.

The probation officer in her probation report, said that the incident stemmed from an old grievance he had with Lokram, who was his employer.

According to the report, Lokram had an affair with his reputed wife of 10 years, which caused the couple to separate.

On the date in question, Griffith, while being armed with a cutlass, attacked Lokram at his Sans Souci home. Lokram received severe injuries about his body including his head, face, shoulder and left hand.

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday, December 21, 2021

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, December 21, 2021

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Ramsammy crowned Mr Guyana winners, I believe I can take the sport to where it needs to be.”

To advance to the championship battle, Chesney (Upper Demerara Barbell) had claimed an overall victory in the Masters and Heavyweight (177 lbs and above) divisions.

In the Masters battle, he

won ahead of Bennett and former national sprinter Rawle Green respectively, while in the heavyweight battle he claimed a victory against Julio Sinclair and Green.

In the U-143 pounds division, Callender surged ahead of Faraad Mohamed, while Bennett won in the U-154

division against Andre Wagner and Henry Bassey in that order.

To qualify for championship honours, Ramsammy defeated his teammates, Nicholas Albert and Omisi Williams, at the Santo Domingo Open in October.

Meanwhile, Fung got the better of her Space Gym mate, Angela Barroncas, in

DEN Amstel Football Club (FC) and Bartica All-Stars are the latest teams to advance to the Quarter-finals of the Kashif and Shanghai/Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Super-16 Year-End tournament, following matches in Regions Seven and Three on Sunday evening.

While Bartica All-Stars made it look easy in their 5 – 0 drubbing of Essequibo All-Stars, Den Amstel had to fight hard against Santos

FC to come away with their 1 – 0 victory.

Playing at the Bartica Community Centre Ground, Andrew Simmons recorded a hat-trick for the home side, registering his strikes in the 24th, 32nd and 75th minutes, while Joshua Jones added a double (57’, 71’).

With the win, Bartica will now play one of the pre-tournament favourites, Western Tigers, on Christmas Day. Meanwhile, in what

some considered an ‘upset’, Den Amstel, through a single strike from Jamal Pereira in the 61st minute, sent Santos FC packing.

Many pundits had the young Santos team advancing, but Den Amstel showed superiority over their fellow GFF Elite League side.

Den Amstel will now face Fruta Conquerors on on Boxing Day in one of the quarter-finals. Fruta Conquerors are looking to make amends for their 2019

- Campbell and Fung retain Mr Physique and Ms Bikini titles FROM PAGE 24 He said that Chesney was his main rival, but he was confident of taking the spoils. He credits his all-year training for his peak showing and promised to take the sport to new heights.

“By adding my name to the list of Mr Guyana

the Ms Bikini battle, while Ashanti Conway placed third and Christina (Ramsammy’s wife) placed fourth.

Campbell defeated his long-time rival, Yannick Grimes in the Men’s Physique battle, while Jonathan Jeffrey, who continues to improve, placed third with Ronaldo Caldeira in fourth.

tournament finals defeat, when they went down 1 – 0 to the Guyana Defence Force.

The tournament will continue tomorrow in Linden at the McKenzie Sports Club Ground, where the GDF will do battle against the Upper Demerara All-Stars from 18:00hrs, while Milerock FC is set to face the East Bank All-Stars in the second match of the double-header.

Den Amstel, Bartica All-Stars book quarter-final berth

The Ashes: Australia would ‘love’ 5-0 whitewash

- Steve Smith Australia would “love” to subject England to another 5-0 Ashes whitewash, says Steve Smith.

Australia comfortably won the second Test at Adelaide by 275 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

England have struggled on their last two tours of Australia, suffering a 4-0 series defeat in 2017-18 on the back of a 5-0 thrashing in 2013-14.

“We’d love to,” Smith said, when asked if his teammates were motivated by the prospect of another Ashes whitewash.

“But we’ll take it one game at time at moment.

That’s all we can do.”

Stand-in captain Smith said the hosts would “love to wrap the Ashes up” in the third Test at Melbourne, which starts on 26 December, but will “need to play some good cricket do so”.

“It’s great to be 2-0 up and hopefully we can continue this momentum into what should be an amazing Boxing Day

Test match,” he added.

“England are a good side but we haven’t really let them back into the contest yet. We have been in front in both games and not let them back in.

“From our point of view that’s what we want to do, keep driving forward and not let England take back any momentum at all.”

Smith led Australia at the Adelaide Oval after skipper Pat Cummins was ruled out of the match because he was deemed a close contact of someone who tested positive for Covid-19.

Batter Smith said despite Jos Buttler’s efforts on the last day, he was not concerned by England’s defiance.

Buttler survived 207 balls for 26, raising slim hopes of the most unlikely of England escapes, before he was out hit wicket after standing on his stumps.

“I wasn’t getting nervous just yet. We had them eight

down, Stuart Broad was at the other end,” said Smith.

“It was bizarre the way Jos stepped on his stumps.

He was trying to get off strike that ball, things turned out well. He played well - not the traditional Jos we have seen in the past.

“He played nicely and his defence was really good and he gave England a bit of a sniff.”

Smith also urged Australia’s bowlers to not let England captain Joe Root find his rhythm at the crease at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as the England skipper’s wait for an Ashes century down under goes on.

“Cameron Green is the only one with that extra bit of bounce who has been able to unsettle him,” he added.

“Joe has looked good each time he has come out to bat. We are going to have to continue to keep the pressure on him, because he’s a quality player.” (BBC SPORT

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19

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Australia ease to 2-0 Ashes

lead despite Buttler’s resistance

Jhye Richardson picked up his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket (AFP/Getty Images NEEDING to bat out 134 overs in their final innings to save the match, England managed to knock off 113.1 on the final day of the DayNight Test in Adelaide but couldn’t prevent Australia from taking a 2-0 lead.

Leading the resolute resistance was Jos Buttler, who blocked his way for 207 balls before being dismissed in a dramatic fashion. Keen on defending, Buttler went too far back to tread onto his stumps giving Australia a big boost in the final session. Jhye Richardson finished with a five-wicket haul eventually as he had last man James Anderson fending to gully and giving Australia

a 275-run win, after a lengthy rearguard action by England’s lower order.

Buttler was involved in a 190-ball association with Chris Woakes first before Ollie Robinson gave him support for 87 balls. Through both, Buttler had a single-minded devotion towards seeing the bowling off.

Woakes, however, took a few more scoring opportunities, getting to 44 in his 97-ball stay.

Australia bowled as many as eight bowlers over the course of the innings and rushed through overs with their part-timers before the second new ball became available. But Buttler and Woakes remained largely untroubled even then

SCOREBOARD

AUSTRALIA 1ST Innings 473 England 1st Innings 236 Australia 2nd innings David Warner Run Out Stuart Broad 13 Marcus Harris c Jos Buttler b Stuart Broad 23 Michael Neser b James Anderson 3 Marnus Labuschagne c Ben Stokes b Dawid Malan 51 Steven Smith c Jos Buttler b Ollie Robinson 6 Travis Head c Ben Stokes b Ollie Robinson 51 Cameron Green Not Out 33 Alex Carey b Joe Root 6 Mitchell Starc c Ollie Pope b Joe Root 19 Jhye Richardson c Jos Buttler b Dawid Malan 8 Extras 3b 8lb 5nb 0pen 1w 17 Total (61.0 overs) 230 decl Fall of Wickets : 1-41 Warner, 2-48 Neser, 3-48 Harris, 4-55 Smith, 5-144 Head, 6-173 Labuschagne, 7-180 Carey, 8-216 Starc, 9-230 Richardson Did Not Bat : Lyon Bowling : James Anderson 10 - 6 - 8 - 1, Stuart Broad 10 - 3 – 27- 1, Ollie Robinson 15 - 2 - 54 - 2 (2nb), Chris Woakes 12 - 3 - 46 - 0, Joe Root 6 - 1 - 27 - 2, Ben Stokes 2 - 0 - 24 - 0 (1w 3nb), Dawid Malan 6 - 0 - 33 - 2.

ENGLAND 2nd innings Rory Burns c Steven Smith b Jhye Richardson 34 Haseeb Hameed c Alex Carey b Jhye Richardson 0 Dawid Malan lbw Michael Neser 20 Joe Root c Alex Carey b Mitchell Starc 24 Ben Stokes lbw Nathan Lyon 12 Ollie Pope c Steven Smith b Mitchell Starc 4 Jos Buttler Hit Wicket b Jhye Richardson 26 Chris Woakes b Jhye Richardson 44 Ollie Robinson c Steven Smith b Nathan Lyon 8 Stuart Broad Not Out 9 James Anderson c Cameron Green b Jhye Richardson 2 Extras 2b 3lb 4nb 0pen 0w 9 Total (113.1 overs) 192 all out Fall of Wickets : 1-4 Hameed, 2-48 Malan, 3-70 Burns, 4-82 Root, 5-86 Pope, 6-105 Stokes, 7-166 Woakes, 8-178 Robinson, 9-182 Buttler, 10-192 Anderson Bowling : Mitchell Starc 27 - 10 - 43 - 2 (1nb), Jhye Richardson 19.1 - 9 42 - 5 ( 2nb), Nathan Lyon 39 - 16 - 55 - 2, Michael Neser 13 - 5- 28 - 1, Cameron Green 9 - 5 - 9 - 0 (1nb).

before the latter finally fell when Jhye Richardson managed to beat his defence with sharp movement in.

Buttler, in the company of Robinson, then began to farm the strike against the pacers.

Robinson managed to keep Nathan Lyon at bay for a large part of his 39-ball stay. However, Lyon broke through with a change of angle to round the wicket and having Robinson caught at slip.

Stuart Broad then survived with the help of the review twice against Lyon. First Australia went up with Broad

shouldering arms to an arm ball, but he was saved by the extra bounce according to the ball-tracker.

He was given out LBW in Lyon’s next over but replays showed a thick inside edge, and it allowed England to go into Tea with 26 overs still remaining. And Buttler unbeaten for 195 balls, fighting his way back after Australia had threatened to run through the game earlier in the day.

England began the day, 386 runs adrift, and with the intention of trying to save the game. Ollie Pope got going

with a flicked boundary but Mitchell Starc broke through early with a change of angle.

Having operated from round the wicket, he struck first ball after making the switch to over the wicket. Pope hung his bat out at a delivery angled across and got a thick edge to second slip. Starc could have had one more with the same angle when Buttler got an outside edge but ‘keeper Alex Carey stayed put misjudging that first slip would take it.

Australia operated with a spin and pace mixture right through and Lyon had a 54-

ball battle with Ben Stokes.

T h e l e f t - h a n d e r, w i t h a tweaked shuffle, got across outside his offstump, and predominantly on the crease to tackle Lyon. However, that came to an end when Lyon managed to beat him for the angle eventually and hit him on the front pad. A review that went in favour of Lyon ended Stokes’ 77-ball vigil.

Thereafter Woakes joined Buttler to kickstart the lower order’s resistance which stretched Australia but wasn’t enough.

(Cricbuzz)

20

GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Biennial World Cup:

FIFA plans would ‘generate extra £3.3bn’

The risk is to make football better - Arsene Wenger on biennial World Cup plans.

A biennial World Cup summit have been told. would generate in excess of FIFA has proposed the £3.3bn in additional reve- change as part of a revamped nue over a four-year cycle, calendar. delegates at FIFA’s global All 211 member associa-

tions were invited to the summit as the debate over Arsene Wenger’s plan to double the frequency of the World Cup intensifies.

UEFA, Europe’s major leagues and South American football’s governing body CONMEBOL have opposed the plans.

CAF, the African governing body, has given its backing.

Delegates were told the overall financial impact on gate receipts, media rights and sponsorship revenues from a World Cup every two years would result in a predicted increase from £5.3bn for the 48-team tournament due to be held across three

countries in 2030 to £8.6bn across a four-year cycle with two World Cups.

The meeting was told that FIFA estimate, on average, national associations would each be allocated around £12.1m in additional funds, although the precise method of distribution was not clarified.

Wenger is determined to reduce the gap in funding between the richest and poorest countries and, in turn, increase the chances of players from the poorest nations being developed to the full extent of their talent.

A report commissioned by the World Leagues Forum in November said FIFA’s

Cricket South Africa (CSA) will investigate findings of conduct that could be seen as racist

(SJN) project’s report, which was released on Wednesday. A statement on Monday said the

board took the decision to probe the high-powered pair at a meeting on Saturday.

The release said the report “made various ‘tentative findings’ regarding allegations of discrimination and racism. However, the ombudsman [Dumisa Ntsebeza] indicated that he was not in a position to make ‘definite findings’ and recommended that a further process be undertaken in this regard.

“In keeping with this approach, the board has decided to institute formal enquiries into CSA employees, suppliers or contractors who are implicated by the SJN report.

The board has done so mindful of its duty to treat allegations of racism or discrimination with the utmost seriousness and in a manner that ensures fairness and due process in terms of South Africa’s labour legislation and the constitution.”

Former captain Smith, now CSA’s director of cricket, stands accused, in the report, of having blocked Thami Tsolekile’s elevation to South Africa’s team after Boucher’s career was ended by an eye injury in July 2012: “It is hard to exclude Mr Tsolekile’s race as having been the main reason why he did not succeed in the Proteas. CSA, Mr Graeme Smith and some selectors at the time really failed Mr Tsolekile and many black players of his time

proposal could cost domestic leagues and Uefa about 8bn euros (£6.8bn) per season in lost TV rights and commercial agreements.

On Friday UEFA published a report carried out by consultancy firm Oliver & Ohlbau, which said changes to the international calendar would see revenues drop between 2.5 and 3bn euros (£2.1-2.6bn) for European national federations across a four-year cycle.

‘Majority of countries would vote for biennial World Cups’ FIFA president Gianni Infantino says he remains confident a consensus can be reached over plans for

a revised football calendar despite fierce opposition in Europe and South America.

“If I was going to a [FIFA Congress] vote tomorrow probably the majority would vote in favour of World Cups every two years,” he said.

“But we are looking at the entire calendar. We are looking at how we can make football better and we’re looking at how many we can bring on board with a new way of organising football in the future.

“We continue the dialogue, we continue the analysis, we hope that we can make progress one way or the other, or some middle way.”(BBC Sport).

CSA to probe Smith, Boucher over SJN findings made against Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher in the Social Justice and Nation-Building

Graeme Smith (left) and Mark Boucher (Getty Images) in many ways.”

Paul Adams testified that he had been called “brown shit” in a dressing room song sung by his teammates, among them Boucher - now South Africa’s coach. Boucher has apologised in a submission to the SJN, but the report says he showed “a lack of sensitivity and understanding of the racist undertones” of that document itself, which “display[s] an alarming and concerning reality that [he does] not comprehend the South African apartheid/ discriminatory and racist history”.

Monday’s release said the inquiries would be conducted in the new year by independent lawyers, and that nothing would change immediately: “Smith and Boucher remain in their positions and will continue to carry out their duties during the India tour [which is set to run from December 26 to January 23].”

CSA board chair Lawson Naidoo was quoted as saying: “CSA respects the SJN process and we are engaging with the report in detail and holistically.

We have taken careful cognisance of the recommendation of the ombudsman that, in appropriate cases, a further process should be instituted to test the evidence and submissions made, and we have decided that this is indeed the appropriate route to follow. We hope this will give implicated parties a fair opportunity to be heard so that finality can be achieved, and any final findings can then be acted on.”

Like Boucher, Smith made a written submission to the SJN. Neither took the opportunity to appear at the hearings.

Smith’s contract expires at the end of March next year. Boucher has a fouryear contract. Both were appointed in December 2019. (Cricbuzz)

21

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday, December 21, 2021

‘Outplayed’: England greats rue second straight Ashes defeat in Australia

Former England captain Mike Atherton (REUTERS)-England’s had former players quesheavy 275-run loss to tioning not only the tourAustralia in the second ists’ team selection in Ashes test on Monday Adelaide but also their

batting abilities.

Australia went 2-0 up in the five-match series and Monday marked 4 000 days since England had won an Ashes test Down Under, their last victory coming in the 2010-11 series.

England rested spinner Jack Leach and, on a track where his Australian counterpart Nathan Lyon picked up five wickets, skipper Joe Root ended up bowling 26 overs himself while fast bowler Ollie Robinson also switched to off-spin.

“Robinson bowling off spin, Lyon ripping it square and England’s spinners sat on the bench. You couldn’t make it up, really,” former England captain Mike Ath-

erton wrote in The Times.

“The margin of defeat was a mighty one, and the fighting spirit on the last afternoon should not camouflage the fact that England, for the second time in as many tests, have been out-thought and outplayed.

“Once again the batting has been completely underwhelming and they face a returning and refreshed Pat Cummins next as Australia announced an unchanged squad for the Boxing Day test. Root’s Ashes dreams hang by a thread.”

Chris Woakes’s selection was also criticised after he picked up only one wicket for 149 runs in the match, with Geoffrey

Boycott saying the runs he added in the middle order did not offset his “lack of wicket-taking ability abroad”.

“England keep selecting Chris Woakes for his late-order runs to help out their fragile batting. Did his runs in Adelaide affect the winning or losing of the test? No,” Boycott wrote in The Telegraph.

“If he was trying to hit the middle of the Aussie bats then he succeeded...

We need to pick bowlers to take 20 wickets and our batsmen have to do better.”

Root set a record with his 23rd defeat as England captain in 58 tests.

But even as he sits 158

runs behind former Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf’s record for most runs in a calendar year (1 788), the verdict is his batting lineup let him down once again, especially openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed.

“The two openers are walking wickets and the Aussie bowlers are queuing up to get at them,” Boycott added.

“It’s not ideal but Joe Root at some stage may have to bat (at number) three... England have to do something different because they are not scoring enough runs to put Australia under any sort of scoreboard pressure.”

Premier League and EFL clubs have chosen to fulfil festive fixtures despite ongoing disruption caused

by COVID-19 cases.

The Premier League’s 20 clubs met on Monday to discuss the fixture list after six weekend games were postponed.

The postponement of a

28 December, would be postponed in order to ease the pressure on Premier League squads.

Instead, clubs have been advised if they have 13 fit players, plus a goalkeeper, they should fulfil their games.

“The health and wellbeing of all concerned

remains our priority and the league will continue to monitor and reflect public health guidance, always proceeding with caution,” the Premier League said.

FA C u p r e p l a y s i n rounds three and four have however been scrapped and talks are ongoing on whether to reduce EFL Cup

semi-final ties to one-leg matches.

On Monday, Premier League figures showed 77% players have had two vaccination jabs, a rise from 68% in October.

Some players and staff have received three vaccinations but 92% have had at least one.

The Premier League said Monday’s meeting saw “a range of issues discussed” including adapting the Covid-19 postponement process.

Saturday’s fixture between Aston Villa and Burnley was called off at two hours’ notice.(BBC Sport)

Premier League and EFL clubs to fulfil fixture list despite COVID-19 disruption round of games over Christmas was a possibility.

No vote took place and so two rounds of fixtures are in place across five days from 26 December, while the EFL will play games “where it is safe to do so”.

It had been expected that the Premier League’s gameweek 20, starting on

NBA postpones more games owing to rise in COVID-19 cases

Brooklyn coach Steve Nash has seen his side affected by the NBA COVID-19 protocols.

The NBA has postponed the next two Brooklyn Nets games and fixtures for three other teams because of high numbers of coronavirus cases.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and

Philadelphia 76ers will also have matches rescheduled because of the recent wave of new cases.

A total of seven games have now been postponed since last week.

The Nets, who currently

lead the Eastern Conference, have nine players unavailable under NBA protocols.

Among them are stars Kevin Durant and James Harden, plus Kyrie Irving, who has refused to be vaccinated but was cleared to come back to the fold on Friday.

Sunday’s games between Brooklyn and Denver, Atlanta against Cleveland and Philadelphia’s home meeting with New Orleans have all been postponed.

Orlando’s visit to Toronto on Monday is also off along with Brooklyn against Washington today.

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Answers in tomorrow’s issue

22

GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Risk management key to 2022 success: Grave BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (CMC) – Faced with a busy 2022 schedule amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Cricket West Indies (CWI) says managing risk will be a key factor for the organisation over the coming months in determining the success of its international commitments.

Both the senior men and women’s Caribbean side have been active throughout 2021, and will be confronted with an even busier schedule in 2022, with the Women’s 50over World Cup set for New Zealand and the men’s Twenty20 World Cup scheduled for Australia.

The Under-19 side, dubbed the Rising Stars, will also compete at the ICC Under-19 World Cup starting next month in the Caribbean, further adding to an already complex international itinerary

for CWI. However, chief executive Johnny Grave said the regional governing body was already braced for the challenges associated with staging multiple tours during a pandemic but believed it could do so while protecting the health and safety of players and officials.

“We’ve got a lot of cricket coming up in January,” Grave pointed out.

“We’ve got the Under-19 Cricket World Cup where we’ll be hosting 16 teams from all around the world coming to the Caribbean, as well as Ireland who are coming into Jamaica for some white ball cricket and also England in late January into Barbados for five T20s.

“So the start of the year is going to be very, very busy for us so again, we’ll be managing the risk of COVID the best we can, working closely with the

AUSTRALIA’s standin captain Steve Smith would “love to” inflict a 5-0 whitewash on England but for now, he is delighted

with the way his bowlers levelled up during the second Ashes Test in Adelaide, when the hosts had to do without Pat Cummins and

governments of the region, especially the Ministries of Health to ensure we keep our players and support staff and visiting teams as safe as possible, and also those communities who are kindly hosting our cricket.”

He continued: “Clearly COVID is still around and all the players and support staff are fully vaccinated which

clearly does manage and mitigate the risk in terms of anyone getting seriously ill.

“But we need to be highly vigilant at all times to protect ourselves and protect our colleagues, and our friends and families and communities.

“So it’s going to be another busy year for Cricket West Indies, particularly the start of the year, and we just hope that we can get through the cricket as safely and successfully as we possibly can.”

Only last week, CWI was forced to abort the One-Day International phase of the Pakistan tour, after nine members of the West Indies touring party tested positive for COVID-19 during the threematch Twenty20 series.

Among the positive cases were six players, leaving tour selectors struggling to string together a meaningful squad for the December 18-22

Josh Hazlewood - their two best bowlers for some time.

Smith said it was nice to “get the job done” and reserved special praise for Mitchell Starc, who really came through as the leader of the attack that, to be fair, was still wet behind the ears in Test cricket.

“Led by Mitchell Starc, I think that’s the best I’ve seen him bowl in a while,” Smith said. “He summed up the conditions really well, he realised it wasn’t swinging and was just able to hit a really nice line and length and did it all game. Thought he bowled exceptionally well and led the attack. Really pleased for him and the rest of the bowling group.”

For company, Starc had a debutant in Michael Neser, a player coming back into the side in Jhye Richardson, and a rookie in Cameron Green who’s still trying to find his feet as an all-rounder. With that in mind, Starc, who’s been under a bit of pressure lately for not contributing often enough, really stood up at crucial junctures with the pink ball.

His dismissal of Dawid Malan in the first innings paved the way for a familiar England collapse while his wicket of Joe Root late on the fourth evening allowed Australia to breathe easy on the last day, even with the pitch holding up like it did. Starc finished with six

wickets in the match.

“The guys who came in, Michael Neser and Jhye, did terrific jobs and bowled exceptionally well as a group,” Smith said.

“He (Starc) is a class bowler, he has been for a long time. His strike rate is up there with some of the best who have played Test cricket. I just really liked the way he went about his business this week. He took complete control, he was bowling such beautiful line and length, taking the ball across the right-hander and bowling really nicely to lefties. He did a terrific job and created chances throughout the whole match, just continuing his pink-ball form.”

Smith said he was confident in the fast-bowling core in the country, the case in point being Richardson who was wicketless in the first innings but looked in a much better rhythm in the second and finished with his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

“Think we have quite a few fast bowlers coming through,” Smith said. “Scott Boland who I think is a quality bowler and Mark Steketee has been around this group. We’ve got a really strong core of fast bowlers who can do the job whenever they are called upon.

“Think the way Jhye adapted throughout this match was really pleasing.

Cricket West Indies chief executive, Johnny Grave.

matches.

Only weeks earlier, West Indies Women found themselves with a difficult trip home after the ICC 50-over World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe were abruptly cancelled, following the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant in southern Africa.

With major nations like the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union bloc slapping travel restrictions on southern African nations, it meant West Indies Women were forced to fly to Oman, spending ten days in the Gulf state before being allowed to return to the Caribbean.

“It’s been a difficult few weeks for us with the women’s team having to come home from Zimbabwe after the ICC Qualifiers were abandoned due to travel disruption and uncertainty caused by this new

variant,” Grave said.

“Luckily, the women’s team are all now back in the Caribbean … and I want to thank them for their understanding in what has been a very difficult situation.

“They had to spend ten days in Oman going through a period of time outside of southern Africa before they could fly back through the UK or US, depending on what visas they had, and flight availability.”

He added: “But it’s a big relief to us and I’m sure to them, and their friends and family that they’re now safely back in the Caribbean and can get a bit of a break as we look ahead to next year.

“And now having qualified for the New Zealand World Cup in February/March, we can begin our plans to prepare the team for an exciting World Cup.”

Best I’ve seen Starc bowl in a while: Steve Smith Thompson-Herah switches agents

Elaine Thompson-Herah ELAINE Thompson-Herah is now being represented by Andisportsmanagement after parting ways with Adrian Laidlaw late last year.

The management agency revealed their new client on Instagram on Monday.

“Welcome the five-time Olympic champion and the fastest woman alive Elaine Thompson-Herah to our team.

It is our pleasure to represent @fastelaine on her continuously evolving journey.”

The triple gold medalist from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Japan this past summer has made a series of changes since her heroic

exploits in Tokyo in August when she set a new Olympic record of 10.61 in the 100m, a national record of 21.53 in the 200m, the second-fastest time in history and was a member of Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team that set a new national record of 41.02 to win gold.

Less than a fortnight later, she lowered her personal best of 10.61 to 10.54 in Eugene, Oregon and then reeled off times of 10.64 in Paris and 10.65 to win the Diamond League 100m title in Zurich on September 9.

On returning from the circuit, she parted ways with MVP Track Club and head coach Stephen Francis and her previous agent, Laidlaw as she prepared herself for a fresh start for the next fouryear cycle of her career.

Andisportsmanagement is run by Jamaican Olympian Marvin Anderson. The agency also represents Andre Ewers, Natasha Morrison, Jaheel Hyde and Christine Day among others.

(SportsMax)

Mitchell Starc finished with six wickets in the match.

First innings we made a concerted effort to pitch the ball a little fuller and we went for quite a few runs but I wasn’t disappointed with that, we were still a long way in front and tried to bowl a lot fuller than England perhaps did. In the second innings, he wanted to work his way up in terms of length ... he’s a thinker and he’s got good control of his skills. Nice to have not just Jhye but that whole group of fast bowlers.”

Smith also said he sympathises with his counterpart, Joe Root, who’s perhaps going to have some critique coming his way after 2-0 deficit in an Ashes series Down Under, for which plans have been on the table for at least two years.

“It’s tough captaining a team when you’re not winning games of crick-

et, simple as that,” Smith said. “There’s always going to be critics out there that are going to critique your performance as a captain.

So I think for him, I guess the best advice I could say is just trust yourself, back yourself and do everything you can to help your team grow and be as successful as you can be.

“Sometimes as a captain, you get outplayed by the opposition, and there’s not a great deal you can do. But yeah, just reflecting and seeing what you can do better or how you can improve is always important. And I think that’s part of being a player or a leader. I think we’ve always got to strive to be better and improve.

So yeah, I guess the best advice I could give, I suppose. (Cricbuzz)

23

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Foster re-elected unopposed as Berbice Cricket Board president

LONG-serving cricket executive, Hilbert Foster, was, on Sunday re-elected unopposed as president of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB), when the board held its elections at the Port Mourant Cricket Ground.

In what turned out to be 34-0 victory, Foster returned unchallenged despite delegates still having to cast their votes.

Colin Bynoe was the returning officer and he was assisted

by Winston Smith and Ryan Algu. Mr. Malcom Peters, the Cricket Ombudsman was present at the meeting to conduct the elections.

Foster worked beyond the call of duty to lift the standard of cricket to its highest level and most importantly has united all factions of Berbice cricket by reaching out to even those who had worked hard to oppose him. He committed himself to working even harder in the future and to make sure that the future is bright.

Others elected were Albert Smith, Qualis Winter and Dr. Cecil Beharry as Vice Presidents; Angela Haniff and Ameer Rahaman as Secretary and Assistant Secretary respectively. Rovin Beharry is

The newly elected executives of the Berbice Cricket Board with president, Hilbert Foster the new treasurer and would have as his assistant, Neil Rudder. Like the head of their slate, all the officials were elected 34 to 0 in a massive landslide.

The Mental Hospital was the only club not present at the meeting as twelve clubs and all three sub- association all turned up in a massive support

for the vibrant board. Foster immediately went to work by summoning an executive meeting, where he informed his executives there would be no place for laziness, dishonesty and victimizations.

He told the executives in no uncertain terms that they would be expected to fulfil their duties and must be more

WI Rising Stars Under-19s continue preparation for ICC World Cup

Four-match Youth ODI Series versus South Africa to commence on Boxing Day

ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Cricket West Indies (CWI) Monday announced the match schedule for the Youth One-Day International Series between West Indies Rising Stars U19s and South Africa U19s. The teams will play four 50over matches in St Vincent and the Grenadines from December 26 to January 3 at Arnos Vale Stadium and Cumberland Playing Field.

The West Indies and South African teams were scheduled to arrive in St Vincent on Monday. The teams are using the series as preparation for the ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup which CWI is hosting from January 14 to February 5 in Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, St Kitts and Nevis, and Guyana.

West Indies Head Coach Floyd Reifer said: “It’s great for us to have these matches as part of the

West Indies Rising Stars U-19 Head Coach, Floyd Reifer build-up to the World Cup. We are really looking forward to this series against South Africa, as we are at the stage where it is important for the squad to play together, to see players in various roles, see how they respond to situations and how well they execute the plans we put in place.”

He added: “It is for us to also make sure we get the team going well together and have synergy, so the players fully understand each other.

This is very crucial for us

as we look to build the team energy and the team culture. I can’t stress enough how vital these matches are, and we will be taking them very seriously.

We want to thank the Government and Cricket Association of St. Vincent and the Grenadines for working with our operations and medical teams over the past week to put things in place for us to get some much-needed playing time in the middle and preparations.”

The ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup will feature 16 teams in 48 matches.

They are defending champions Bangladesh, England, Canada and the United Arab Emirates form Group A, with debutants Uganda placed in Group B alongside India, South Africa and Ireland. Group C comprises Pakistan, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea and Group D sees host West Indies, Australia and Sri Lanka and Scotland.

visible across the county. The executives appointed Simon Naidu as the Public Relations Officer, Leslie Solomon as Competition Chairman, Balram Samaroo as Junior Selectors chairman and Albert Smith as Chairman of the Senior Team selectors.

The new executives met minutes after their election

under the leadership of Foster as he announced the following appointments for the year 2022.

Other executive members are: Narine Deonarine, Elgbert Lyken Edwards, Shabeer Baksh, Gregory Crandon, Omeshwar Srikission, Vemen Walters and Leslie Solomon.

Junior team selectors Balram Samaroo, Surendra Kissoonlall, Winston Smith, Leslie Solomon, Travis Hardcourt and Reaz Hakim-UCCA Senior team selectors- Albert Smith, Julian Moore, Heeralall Bridgelall, Balram Samaroo and Navin Lallbehari Competition Committee members: Leslie Solomon, Balram Samaroo, Narine Deonarine, E. Lyken. Edwards, Neil Rudder, Roshan Gafoor, Tremayne Smartt, Winston Smith, Rajiv Kishun and Ryan Algu.

Finance Committee members: Rovin Bahadur, Cecil Beharry, Neil Rudder, Suresh Dhanai and Qualis Winter.

CDC- Qualis Winter, Albert Smith, Winston Smith, Julian Moore, Balram Samaroo, Travis Hardcourt, Tremayne Smartt, Leslie Solomon, Ameer Rahaman and

Ryan Algu.

Under-15 team officials: Leslie Solomon Coach; Neil Rudder, Manager Under-17 team officials: Delbert Hicks, Coach; Ameer Rahaman, Manager Under-19 team official: Julian Moore, Coach; Neil Rudder, Manager Under -21 team officials: Balram Samaroo, Coach; Ryan Algu, Manager Under-23 team officials: Winston Smith, Coach; Philbert Wilburgh, Manager Under-19 female team officials: Tremayne Smartt, Coach; Erva Giddings, Manager Senior Female team officials: Winston Smith and Angela Haniff.

The BCB also started to plan ahead for the 2022 cricket season and the above named persons were appointed as cricket coaches and managers for the inter-county tournaments.

The BCB carefully considered every corner of the county and Foster stated that every effort was made to ensure that the appointments were in the best interest of Berbice Cricket.

Ramsammy crowned Mr Guyana

24

GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, December 21, 2021

- Campbell and Fung retain Mr Physique and Ms Bikini titles Darious Ramsammy is the new Mr Guyana. (Photo by Elvin Croker)

DARIOUS ‘Razor’ Ramsammy was confident of securing his first Mr Guyana title and he accomplished it with relative ease when the Guyana Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation held its Senior National Championship on Sunday evening at the Natural Cultural Centre.

Equally impressive was the dominance of Emmerson Campbell, who

won his fifth Mr Physique title and that of Rosanna Fung, who proved that she has no rivals in the Ms Bikini competition.

For winning the overall title, Ramsammy earned $300,000, while Campbell and Fung received $200,000 each.

In total, over $1.5M was up for grabs.

Ramsammy, who has revolutionised his body in the last few years,

faced competition from a sturdy looking, crowd-favourite, Colin Chesney; a chiselled Roger Callender and the effervescent 2019 champion Marlon Bennett--the four had emerged as champions of their respective divisions.

“They sure had very worthy opponents,” Ramsammy noted afterwards, “but they were not good enough to hold me off.”

CONT’D ON PAGE 18

Emmerson Campbell (centre) won his fifth Mr Physique title.

Yannick Grimes (left front) finished second and Jonathan Jeffrey (right front) placed third. (Photo by Elvin Croker)

Rosanna Fung (left) was a cut above the other participants in the Ms Bikini battle. (Akeem Green photo)

KS/GFF Super -16 football

Den Amstel, Bartica All-Stars book quarter-final berth Den Amstel FC following their 1 – 0 win over Santos FC

SEE PAGE 18

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Joshua Jones (L) and Andrew Simmons following their goal-scoring run for Bartica against Essequibo.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2021