Guyana_Chronicle_Epaper_22_05_2021

SATURDAY 22nd May, 2021

No. 106368 SEE PAGE

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ter nis Mi h alt He es urg ted ina cc va t ge ; up gro le rab lne vu Persons aged 18-39 most

Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo

NO LOCKDOWN

―take the vaccine now or risk having to pay for it later, says VP Jagdeo

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September reopening of schools being explored

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Plane at Orealla had over 1000lbs of cocaine

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Settlement reached with ‘unsuspecting’ businessmen in illegal land sale 2

Not too late to register! Persons from St. Cuthbert’s Mission signing up for the Government of Guyana’s free Online scholarship programme (DPI photo)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

Settlement reached with ‘unsuspecting’ businessmen in illegal land sale

By Rehana Ahamad

THE Government of Guyana will no longer be prosecuting the businessmen who benefitted from controversial land deals under the former A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) administration.

This is according to Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo, who told a press conference on Friday that settlements have been reached with the proprietors of Car Care and Cevon’s Waste Management Inc, Wilfred Brandford and Morse Archer, respectively. “We don’t want to penalise unsuspecting businessmen,” Jagdeo said.

In light of the fact that the agreements are currently being finalised, Jagdeo declined to give specifics of what the new arrangements will entail, but did indicate that the

Government “will make the details public when the time comes”.

He also confirmed that a main element of the settlement will see the government backing down from its previous efforts to have the afore-

He said that similar agreements were reached with Courtney Benn Construction Services Limited.

The Vice-President related that the government is of the firm belief that it was public officers such as Trevor

Former GL&SC Commissioner, Trevor Benn

mentioned businessmen face legal action as a means of repossessing the lands. “… many of them were unsuspecting; and these are businessmen that we want to see succeed,” Jagdeo reasoned.

Benn, the former Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC), who are responsible, and should be held accountable for the illegalities committed within the last

five years. “We want to go after the people who acted illegally, and we believe they took benefits for these transactions,” Jagdeo said.

It was only last week that Benn was slapped with his third charge of misconduct

highlighted in his letter that Benn did not possess lawful authority to promise to sell the lands to Cevons Waste Management Inc., as that authority is vested in the President. This point was reiterated by Jagdeo on Fri-

Vice- President Bharrat Jagdeo

while in public office. He is being accused of enabling the sale of lands valued at $100 million to Cevon’s Waste Management Inc., despite not having the authority to do so. The lands, owned by the National Sports Commission, were being leased for a period of 50 years.

In February, Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, S.C. wrote to the company’s owner, Morse Archer, instructing him to vacate the said land or face legal proceedings.

Nandlall had further

day. “President Granger did not give him the authority to sell; he sold land that he didn’t even have in his jurisdiction,” Jagdeo said.

Archer had previously said in his defence that his company followed all guidelines and legal procedures in the purchase of the land, and expressed hope of a resolution void of any legal showdown.

Archer had explained that the lands were purchased in 2018, and that $80 million has already been paid. He related that as per the written agreement with GL&SC, he

was told that the transport for the land would take three years to be transferred to him, after which the outstanding payment of $20 million would be made.

Strangely enough, Archer highlighted that even though he received a government evaluation, putting the value of the land at $47 million, he was approached by the Commission, and they were asking for $100M for it.

Earlier in April, Benn had also appeared in court to answer to chargers relating to the sale of two additional parcels of land to Car Care’s Wilfred Brandford, who was, at the time, a former member of the Board of Directors of the GL&SC. The charge had stated that the parcels of land were sold to Brandford for $13.5 million, despite their being initially valued at $60 million.

Further, in March, Benn was accused of leasing six acres of land at Plantation Ogle, East Coast Demerara, to JANICO Industrial Engineering Limited at a cost of $27 million.

According to Jagdeo, Benn was not the only government official involved in questionable land deals. “I can go down the long list of illegal sale of lands,” the Vice-President maintained.

NO LOCKDOWN

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

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―take the vaccine now or risk having to pay later, says VP Jagdeo

By Rehana Ahamad WITH over one billion persons already vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, Vice- President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo is insisting that the injections are no longer experimental, but have already demonstrated efficacy on a global scale.

In urging Guyanese to get immunised, Jagdeo pointed to the fact that some countries are already moving to have their citizens stand the cost of

efforts have been better than those of many other countries, with 178,000 persons receiving their first jabs, and close to 50,000 persons being fully vaccinated.

NO LOCKDOWN Responding to concerns relating to the implementation of stricter curfews and lockdown measures, the Vice-President said that there is no “empirical evidence” to suggest that shifting curfew hours would result in

Guyana is gearing up to purchase another 250,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines

Flashback to when Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo received his first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine

becoming vaccinated. “At some stage, and in some countries, they are already saying that after a particular date, people would have to start paying for the vaccines; its free up to [a] certain date,” Jagdeo told a press conference on Friday.

The Vice-President reminded citizens that already, the Government of Guyana is spending a significant amount of money to ensure that each of the 500,000 Guyanese adults has access to the life-saving vaccines; that too, free of cost. “Now it costs us nearly 10,000 to administer the two doses… [right now] it is for free, and people should make use for it,” Jagdeo noted.

He said that so far, Guyana’s vaccination

a decrease in the number of positive cases being recorded.

“We had to have a nuanced approach, unlike other countries, which have totally shut down… take for example Trinidad, which has been in a perpetual state of lockdown for the last year, and it did not help really,” Jagdeo reasoned.

He also emphasised the need for Guyanese to follow the requisite precautionary measures to safeguard themselves and their families against the deadly virus. “People, often during the course of the day, engage in economic activities and other activities without wearing a mask or observing any protocol,” Jagdeo posited.

Asked specifically whether the government

has been examining the possibility of a nationwide lockdown, Jagdeo responded in the negative.

“I am not aware there is any such consideration,” he said, adding, “But we will keep a close eye on the situation.”

MORE VACCINES The Vice-President said that even though lockdowns are not likely at this time, the government will continue to invest in expanding its vaccination programme, recognising it to be the only way out of the pandemic.

“If we are all vaccinated, then we can open up the country and we don’t have to wear masks; we can go about our business,” Jagdeo noted.

To this end, the government, he said, is mov-

ing to purchase an addition 250,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccines.

Questioned further about the purchase, Jagdeo said that there has been a slight increase in the cost to ship the vaccines from a company in the United Arab Emirates to Guyana, owing to the strict transportation protocols. However, Guyana is exploring opportunities to purchase from a source in Europe. “That may be slightly cheaper,” the Vice-President hoped.

Asked whether Guy-

ana will be looking to purchase the single-dose vaccines, Jagdeo said that many of those are being heavily accumulated by developed countries, leaving very limited opportunities for poor and developing countries to have access to such vaccines.

The Member of Parliament indicated, however, that Guyana will be on the lookout to buy vaccines that are being developed for children.

In addition to preventative measures, Jagdeo said that government

has intensified efforts to strengthen capacity and improve the infrastructure needed to fight the more than one-year-old pandemic.

Jagdeo told reporters that in addition to providing personnel training and securing vaccines, the government has also ensured an adequate supply of oxygen that has become critical for the growing number of patients being admitted to the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit.

Jagdeo also utilised the forum to warn Guyanese against believing the myriad of misinformation being peddled about the vaccine. The Vice-President expressed disgust over the fact that the vaccination efforts are being tainted by political play, as against being promoted by all leaders as a national effort to save lives and put an end to a deadly virus that has taken more than 300 lives already.

As it is, Guyana is one of the very few countries that has been able to successfully acquire enough vaccines to immunise its entire adult population.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

Aid arrives in conflict-torn Gaza as truce holds The first convoys of humanitarian aid have arrived in Gaza, hours after a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants came into effect.

Thousands of Palestinians returned home to scenes of devastation with officials saying reconstruction might take years.

The World Health Organization (WHO) called for the creation of corridors for injured people to be evacuated.

More than 250 people were killed in the 11-day conflict, most of them in Gaza. Both Israel and Hamas claimed victory.

In southern Israel, residents celebrated the truce but many expressed concern that another conflict in the region was just a matter of time.

Trucks from various aid agencies, including those affiliated with the United Nations, started bringing much-needed medicine, food and fuel into Gaza, after Israel reopened the Kerem

Many Palestinians found their homes in ruins after the ceasefire (BBC photo)

Shalom crossing.

More than 100,000 people had to flee their homes in the territory, which is controlled by the militant group Hamas, and nearly 800,000 people did not have access

to piped water, the UN children's agency UNICEF said.

Palestinian officials say tens of millions of dollars will be needed to rebuild the already impoverished enclave that is also suffering with COVID-19.

Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the WHO, called for immediate access for health supplies and personnel, saying the territory's health facilities risked being overwhelmed by thousands of injuries.

For years, Gaza has been subjected to Israeli and Egyptian restrictions on the passage of people and goods,

with both countries citing concerns about weapons reaching Hamas.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unwra) said its priority was to identify and help tens of thousands of displaced people, and that it was urgently seeking $38m (£26m) in aid.

On Thursday, Gaza's housing ministry said 1,800 housing units were unfit for living and 1,000 had been destroyed.

"The damage inflicted in less than two weeks will take years, if not decades, to rebuild," said Fabrizio Carboni, the Middle East

director for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Samira Abdallah Nasser, said her two-storey house near Beit Hanoun was hit by a blast during the fighting, reducing it to ruins.

"We're back to our homes and we don't have a place to sit, we don't have water, we don't have electricity, we don't have beds, we don't have anything," she told Reuters news agency. "We're back to our fully destroyed homes."

Another resident, Azhar Nsair, told the Associated Press news agency: "We see such huge destruction here, it's the first time in history we've seen this."

The fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza began on 10 May after weeks of rising Israeli-Palestinian tension that culminated in clashes at al-Aqsa, a holy site revered by both Muslims and Jews, in occupied East Jerusalem.

Hamas began firing rockets after warning Israel to withdraw from the site, triggering retaliatory air strikes.

At least 248 people, including more than 100 women and children, were killed in Gaza, according to its health ministry. Israel has said it killed at least 225 militants during the fighting.

Hamas has not given casualty figures for fighters.

In Israel 13 people, including two children and an Israeli soldier, were killed, its medical service says.

Many Jewish families emerged from bomb shelters.

Emergency restrictions have been lifted while all schools are due to reopen on Sunday.

The Israeli army said militants fired more than 4,300 rockets during the conflict, of which 90% were intercepted by its air defences.

But rockets still got through, slamming into homes, synagogues and other buildings.

Many of those rockets were fired at cities in southern Israel, such as Ashkelon, where Tammy Zamir told Reuters she was happy the conflict was over but was "certain there will be another escalation".

In the nearby city of Ashdod, 25-year-old Dan Kiri said Israel should continue attacking Hamas until it collapsed, adding: "It's only a matter of time until the next operation in Gaza". he ceasefire was tested by clashes at the al-Aqsa compound after Friday prayers.

Israeli police fired stun grenades at Palestinian demonstrators, who threw rocks and petrol bombs at officers.

At least 20 Palestinians were injured, medics said.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said a twostate solution was the only way to resolve the conflict, adding that there could be no peace unless the region unequivocally recognised the right of Israel to exist.

He also said the US would organise international help to rebuild the damage in Gaza. (BBC)

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

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Jamaica: No more free water Months after it ended its COVID-19 Assistance Programme (CAP), the National Water Commission (NWC) is warning Jamaicans that there will be no more concessions for those who fail to pay their water bills.

Under the CAP, residential and condominium customers who were behind in bill payments as at May 31, 2020, were eligible for a 30 per cent discount, while commercial customers could benefit from a 25 per cent discount on outstanding balances as of May 31, 2020.

But addressing a media briefing yesterday, NWC head Mark Barnett said the concessions are over and done.

“We started at the end of 2020 where we would have come out of a CAP where we were offering 25, up to 30 per cent concessions to

customers on outstanding bills. Some customers took the offer, some customers didn't because, like many previous situations, customers were expecting that the initiative would last for a lifetime. However, that is not the case,” said Barnett.

He argued that Jamaicans are demanding that the NWC meets all their needs without considering the costs facing the company.

“Oftentimes because NWC is Government there is always the tendency that everything should be given up, but nobody seems to think that NWC carries its own responsibilities, and so when do we stop these giving, giving?… Over the years it has always been what can I get from this government entity, but not necessarily how do I take responsibility.

“We can't continue to be giving on the basis that

we have our commitment to satisfy you the customers,” argued Barnett.

He underscored that the NWC is the largest customer of the Jamaica Public Service Company with huge energy bills to pay each month, even when it fails to collect from its customers.

“So we have to assess as a company what can we give, what can't we give, and

understand what our obligations are. So there is no initiative coming, neither now nor very soon, that is going to give any concessions at all to customers in any wide scale way,” added Barnett, He said that since January this year the NWC has targeted 21,771 accounts, which owed a total of $2.26 billion, for disconnection.

Of that number 17,862 have

been disconnected, valued at $1.94 billion. Just over 9,300 of those accounts have been reconnected, with the NWC collecting approximately $500 million.

“Every time we disconnect a customer it simply means my active customer base is reducing, so it is not something that we are happy to do, and we don't consider it as punitive, it is really an incentive for customers to recognise that they have an obligation, a responsibility… to pay their bills,” Barnett declared, in keeping with the company's mantra that it “would rather collect than disconnect”.

The NWC boss said his agency is losing billions of dollars each year in providing potable water for which it does not collect.

“My last estimate is that we are losing about $18 million per day and we can

extrapolate that per year… and that is why investment in NRW (non-revenue water)... investment in formalised infrastructure [has to be done],” said Barnett as he pointed out that the company cannot just provide water to informal communities without all arrangements in place.

Barnett declared that a big part of the NWC's energy bill is pushed up by people who are stealing water that the company pays to deliver to them.

“When people don't pay for water, when people are stealing water, they give not a hoot, because they don't turn off the pipes at all. If they were stealing and being conservative my cost would be much less. But that is not the attitude that we see,” declared Barnett. (Jamaica Observer)

TT: 16 held overnight for breaking curfew Sixteen people have been arrested for breaking the curfew on the fifth night of the State of Emergency (SoE), a police media release reported on Friday.

The release confirmed they were held between Thursday night and Friday morning.

The arrests were the second smallest number of people held for violating the curfew since the SoE was declared.

On the fourth night of the curfew 18 people were held, and 50 were held on the third night.

Newsday spoke to ACP Wendell Williams, who said as enforcement of the curfew regulations continued, he felt the public was becoming aware how effectively the police managed their patrols, and believed potential cur-

few-breakers would second-guess their activities.

“After it was made public that people have been charged for breaking the curfew, the drop in figures is indicative of that, I believe. It is acting as a deterrent as the enforcement continues.”

A total of 90 people have been arrested under the SoE regulations.

The release also reported that over

the last 24 hours 117 people were ticketed for not wearing face masks. No one was held for breaching the public health regulations within the same period.

(Trinidad and Tobago Newsday)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

Agriculture on the upswing G U YA N A w a s o n c e referred to as the “bread basket of the Caribbean” because of the country’s vast agricultural potential.

Its main economic, traditional crops are rice and sugar, which continue to be produced and exported on a large scale to Europe, North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

Despite the challenges the country is facing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, works are still being done to ensure that food security remains a priority in the country. As the government seeks to diversify the economy by introducing new, non-traditional crops such as soya bean and corn to produce its own feed for the poultry industry, it is also expected to reap its largest rice harvest to date, along with expanding its sugar production.

The sugar industry has seen tremendous works in the last eight months when three sugar estates were reopened for operations, contributing to a boost in employment and hope

for those communities that have suffered due to the closure. The industry has alone undergone a marketing evaluation, where more focus is on value-added products such as ethanol and molasses and has completely transformed its packaging strategies to meet market demands and capture and recapture new and old markets, locally, regionally, and internationally. The industry hopes to achieve 100,000 tonnes of sugar, surpassing its actual production in 2020 of 88,000 tonnes.

As for the rice industry, markets are also expected to be increased on a global stage and quotas are being negotiated to be increased in Brazil to 34,000 tonnes from 10,000 tonnes of rice for this year. Guyana and Brazil are also in discussion to build a deep-water port and develop a railway connection where goods can be easily transported between the two countries, thereby benefitting both countries immensely.

The livestock industry is also on the verge of

tapping into Middle Eastern markets as the country is already selfsufficient in its production.

Modern abattoirs are being constructed throughout the country for processing pork and beef to improve marketable value.

Many families in Guyana are agri-dependent and as such, the government is committed to ensuring that small-scale farmers are also able to benefit from development of the sector through improved market access and technological advancement (use of drones to monitor their crops and communicating with the ministry through extension services in distant areas of the country).

The entire country has agricultural potential, and the government seeks to ensure that all have access to the resources needed to exceed and become profitable. As such, the government has allocated $50 million to Region Nine to enhance agricultural activities in this region.

Region Nine’s biggest advantage is the availability

of rich farmlands to support large-scale agricultural activities. The government believes this region can contribute greatly to the country’s economy and as such, is committed to providing incentives, technical advice and other resources farmers may need to improve their production.

Since farming is a traditional mechanism in Guyana, the government is working to ensure that the next step for the sector is implementation of agroprocessing facilities around the country to provide farmers the opportunity to add value to their products through packaging which will help to meet more market needs. The biggest obstacle in this initiative is the cost of electricity to maintain the facility.

To combat this drawback, the government is working on providing alternative energy sources that will be cheaper to farmers.

Despite the current agriculture educational courses provided in the c o u n t r y, t h e r e i s s t i l l need for higher levels of

education in the field of research and development, which is beyond the country’s potential to provide. However, India has provided an opportunity to have individuals pursue their masters and PhD in agriculture through fully funded scholarships. The National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) has also been given the opportunity to collaborate with the Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) to enhance agricultural processes within the country in developing planting techniques and pest and disease management, among other areas of concern. The Indian Government has in the last year showed interest in assisting the country in whatever way it can, but much emphasis has been placed on the agricultural sector in the sugar, rice and aquaculture industries.

The sector still needs investors to provide the funding needed to transform

the agricultural sector.

These investments will help to create thousands of jobs for the country, which would have spinoff effects on other sectors, especially the tourism sector as hotels and restaurants also need fruits and vegetables to prepare their menus and foreigners will also want to support the local markets. There will also be lower unemployment rates, increased Gross Domestic Product (GDP); increased domestic incomes; lower rates of poverty, along with increased economic activities for Guyana. As the government seeks to find more regional and international markets for its produce, the foreign income of the country will increase.

In the coming years, Guyana will not only be able to provide food security for the country, but will also be able to comfortably supply Caribbean markets.

GOAL is probably Guyana’s biggest post-Independence happening Dear Editor,

I DO not want to be too anecdotal, but I feel constrained to rehash a little incident that still has me ruminating. It has to do with a call from an erstwhile headmaster, who dared me to find an event that can match the GOAL initiative. Guess what? I think I cannot.

First, let me say that I am one of the average Guyanese who really value education.

To this end, I completed a fine undergraduate stint at the University of Guyana, and I am now engaged, concurrently, in two post grad-

uate programmes, one at the University of the West Indies and the other from the York University in Canada. Both programmes are via the online mode and both are quite expensive. Now I am saying this because I want as many as possible to cash in on the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) initiative, compliments of our government.

This GOAL initiative, introduced by the government, aims to grant 20,000 online scholarships to Guyanese in the next five years. We are talking here, at least US$100 million, to the education sec-

tor, over the period of the scholarship granting. The Ministry of Public Service and the Ministry of Education have been tasked with the implementation of this unprecedented venture. I think this will ensure more efficiency in the rollout.

The next good thing to note is that the Nigerian-born professor, Jacob Opadeyi, is now in charge of GOAL. He is no stranger to things academic in Guyana, as he is a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana (UG).

Although Nigerian by birth, he is a naturalised citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, and so he is

of regional flair. His academic history is a strong one too, being at one time a Professor of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management with UWI. Jacob Opadeyi, in fact, did obtain his Executive MBA qualifications at the UWI, one of the universities involved in GOAL. This of course brings a feeling of optimism in terms of the credibility of the institutions and what are being offered, namely UWI (University of Southern Caribbean (USC) -Trinidad), Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) India, JAIN University India and University of Applied Scienc-

es (IUBH) Germany.

Another big plus about this initiative is that many Guyanese, who are for from far-flung hinterland areas, will now get the opportunity to earn high-level qualifications without having to worry about travel and finance, and when all is said and done, there is no contract to honour.

Opadeyi himself explained that the scholarship awardees would not be bonded. “They would (only) be required to do community service stints of varying lengths, based on the respective programmes, before they graduate.”

Time is just about up and

I hope that Guyanese will ‘cash in’ on this life changing initiative.

A footnote is in order here. Lots of people have been asking why the universities of themselves did not select the potential students. The answer is most obvious. These universities would have only looked at the academic side of things, whereas, from a local perspective, the awardees will not be selected via academic merit alone, but in terms of needs and geography.

Yours truly, Kamdeo Mohamed

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

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Internal audit: The right hand of management Dear Editor, THE month of May each year is designated Internal Audit Awareness Month.

It is a time when institutes, chapters and audit departments highlight the presence of the profession by staging and participating in webinars, training sessions, panel discussions and interviews to enhance awareness of a function that has become more critical than ever before, within organisations. The pandemic has pushed the Internal Audit activity to become more resilient and agile rather than placed within the perception of dormancy in a

back office.

If management across all organisations and of all types really wants to be serious about elevating its standard, protecting its reputation and maintaining its credibility and position in its given industry, internal audit, if not done already, must be equipped with the necessary tools and resources to manage the ever-present scourge of risks. Risk is everybody’s business and since the internal audit function is designed to improve an organisation’s operations, management must get serious about this activity to achieve its goals.

We cannot sweep risks under the carpet like many do with missteps, errors, bad

management and poor decision-making, to identify a few.

Risks will flare up from ‘under the carpet’ like the fury of a stifled fire. Risks change your plans, and considering their severity, everything must be halted to deal with them before corporate life returns to some form of normalcy. The impact of certain risks can be catastrophic, like COVID-19 for so many, but if managed properly and on time, the likelihood of such risks should not reach the point of impact. This is where the internal audit activity, objectively and independently, adds value.

Internal audit, merged with the board of directors, executive management and exter-

nal audit, comprises the four pillars of effective corporate governance. This cannot be achieved effectively without all four, underlining the fact that the internal audit activity is heavily relied upon for effective decision-making. It is high time that internal audit is embraced for its assurance and consultancy functions, rather than be stifled in the background. The latter is the practice of many organisations in Third World countries.

In some organisations, internal audit is considered a hindrance rather than a ‘trusted advisor’. Management in such organisations needs to reconsider its approach and treat this activity which was set up to be

its right hand, with confidence.

On the other hand, internal auditors must remember their ethical code and instill professionalism in every aspect of delivery. Internal auditors must ‘win’ management’s appreciation for the partnership to be effective, and where expected reliance can be attained.

During this month and continuing, the awareness of internal audit must be felt, not as ‘police’ but as partners. This corporate governance cornerstone is present to assist with a broad range of engagement services designed to help each organisation meet its objectives. One of its roles is to monitor risks and ensure that the controls in place are ade-

quate to mitigate those risks.

The internal audit activity is designed to conduct an objective assessment of your operations, and share ideas for best practices. Internal auditors also provide counsel for improving controls, processes and procedures, performance, and risk management, while suggesting ways for reducing costs, enhancing revenues, and improving profits.

If it was not already done, use this month to realise the true potential of management’s right hand, the internal audit activity.

parents, reminding her that a dutiful daughter-in-law had great blessings coming her way. Seetaa acknowledged those potential blessings, but said to Shri Raam that a wife without her husband was like a body without soul, a river without water, and so, without Shri Raam’s presence, heaven for her would be no different from hell. Seetaa, instead of returning to her parents’ home, chose to follow her husband to live through immense hardship coming from bushes, thorns, hunger, fatigue, rain, heat, etc.

Many people heap abuse on Shri Raam for giving credence to rumours spread by illiterate people about Seetaa’s character and consequently sending her, in a pregnant state, into the forest for a second time. Even this part of the epic saga contains long lasting inspirations for us in these modern times. It shows

the deep sense of discipline, restraint and responsiveness of a virtuous king. In banishing Seetaa, King Raam showed that the concerns of his subjects far superseded those of his immediate family, no matter how ruinous the consequences were. A lesson in sacrifice, indeed, for modern political rulers practicing nepotism! Shri Raam’s virtue remained intact because he never married anyone else, but still saw her as his wife. We may remember that when he had performed a huge sacrifice in Seetaa’s absence, he had a golden statue of her meaningfully placed next to his side. Also, she also never succumbed to any vindictiveness, anger and temptation to get married to someone else. She remained loyal to him to the last breath. In fact, she bore him handsome, virtuous, and

skillful twin-sons [Lav and Kush] who were a lesson to the world.

There isn’t much space here, but I end this tribute by quoting Maataa Anasuyyaa who, in counselling Seetaa about ideal wifehood, says: Ekai dharma eka vrat nemaa, Kaaya bachan man pati pad premaa – a married woman has one ethic, one vow and one rule to observe:

she must remain loyal to a virtuous husband in thought, word and deed. Shri Raam deserved such conjugal loyalty because he remained conjugally loyal to her too. It is for these foregoing reasons that eighteen million years after they lived, we in these modern times still sing their glory on occasions of Raam Navami and Seetaa Jayanti!!

This world, especially Hindus, need living examples of Raam and Seetaa again, for that’s the only way each home, Hindu or otherwise, will become Ayodhyaa again. Happy Seetaa Jayanti. Namaste!

And, do pardon this unusually long post!

Yours sincerely, Chateram Ramdihal, FCCA, CIA

Seetaa Jayanti: The birthday of Maataa Seetaa Dear Editor,

ARYA-HINDUS, in Guyana and elsewhere, all over the world paused, some on May 20 and others 21, to celebrate the birthday of Mother Seetaa. This festival brings into focus an illustrious female character, Mother Seetaa, whom we must study and seek to emulate.

What is there in Seetaa’s persona that pulls us to her? Why is it that we feel motivated to turn the pages of her history to understand who she was?

The first character trait of Maataa Seetaa that comes to mind almost immediately is the impeccably ideal life that she lived. Her marriage to Shri Raam brought together two souls, two families and two cities. She ‘came over’ from her father’s kingdom in Mithilaa to live permanently in her husband’s family in Ayodhyaa, and there is no evidence in the Ramayana that shows her as having ever returned.

When Raam and Seetaa had just arrived in the forest to live in exile, Janak and Sunainaa, her parents, came to see her. Seetaa went to the hut where her parents were staying to pay them respects. The Ramayana records her as saying nothing – no crying, no complaining, no showing of regret and hurt feelings. And very soon after she arrived in their hut, Sunainaa indicated to Janak that she shouldn’t be kept long – she had to return to Raam, for parents’ residence was no longer the residence of their married daughter. Also, when Kaikeyi had given the order for him to go into exile, Shri Raam asked Seetaa to stay on in Ayodhyaa for the 14 years to help look after his

Yours truly, Dr. Satish Prakash Gurukula - Guyana and New York

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

Toshao of Manawarin commits to leading COVID-19 vaccination drive TOSHAO of Manawarin, Samuel Miguel, has committed to advocate for COVID-19 vaccination in his village, following an outreach by the Ministry of Health.

Director General of the Ministry, Dr. Vishwa Mahadeo, and a team is hosting a specialist outreach in the village, which is located in the Moruca sub-region, Barima-Waini (Region One).

During the outreach, the team sought to debunk myths, and address residents’ concerns about the COVID-19 vaccines, in an effort to foster more immunisations.

Dr. Mahadeo cautioned the council members against believing misinformation about the vaccines being

peddled on the Internet, assuring them that all the vaccines have been properly tested, evaluated and approved for use.

“I took the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Minister of Health took Sputnik, the President and Vice-President took AstraZeneca and Dr. Ramsammy, Former Health Minister, took Sputnik. This COVID is serious business,” he said.

The Director General noted that the only way to fight the disease is by educating oneself and sharing the knowledge with others.

He also urged the villagers to continue to practice the basic safety measures: masking, handwashing and/or sanitising and practising social distancing to safeguard their

health.

“So, it is our duty to fight this disease, our duty to fight the work of the devil, our duty to ensure that we are safe and our duty to ensure that our families are safe.

As leaders of the village, it is your duty to ensure that your village, those who look up to you, those who elected you, that they are safe. And the safest thing that is there, is the vaccine,” he said.

Dr. Mahadeo also assured residents that the government has purchased enough vaccines for the entire adult population.

Meanwhile, Toshao Miguel relayed that at first, he was fearful to take the vaccine, but he prayed about the matter and then he took the jab. “Prayers and the

Dario Williams takes his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine

vaccines work hand in hand, together,” he said.

He added that after the first dose of the vaccine, he experienced a bit of drowsiness for two days, but felt much better by the third day. The Toshao issued a challenge to the adults of the strong Christian community to do what he did: pray about the matter and then make the important decision to protect themselves and families

from COVID-19.

“They are my people, we work together and we talk about it, but there is nothing to fear about this vaccine. I believe in God and I believe He is here and He is going to do things for you, the people in this village. I was afraid of the vaccine, very afraid, but I prayed and I took the vaccine and now I feel strong and well,” Toshao Miguel said.

Additionally, resident and Council Member, Bertie Benjamin, was happy to report that he has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. “I took the first vaccine, both shots of the first one, Sinopharm. I completed both doses, as an indigenous leader and up to this point and time I still feel fine and healthy.”

Nineteen-year-old, Mr. Dario Williams, who took his second dose of the Sputnik V vaccine on Wednesday during the vaccination drive, said he decided to take the vaccine to protect himself and his elderly parents.

Mr. Williams said his parents are due for their second doses soon. Once they have taken their vaccines, he said, his family will be among the first to be completely immunised against the disease. He is urging other villagers to get inoculated against COVID-19. (DPI)

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

9

First Lady, Minister Edghill advance seawall beautification project

First Lady, Arya Ali

THE Kingston seawall is set to undergo significant changes as First Lady, Mrs. Arya Ali, and Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, on Friday, announced more plans to upgrade the leisure hotspot.

Speaking at a consultation at the Ministry of Public Works, Mrs. Ali said the project will be ideal for locals and tourists.

“In the initial phases,

we were hoping to zone that area into a family zone, so that we can have our children in a safe and clean environment. There are activities that can happen there for the family in general,” the First Lady said.

The Public Works Minister said the project is in keeping with the Administration’s development agenda.

“In conjunction with private sector stakeholders, we

Get equipped for Guyana’s transformation - Attorney-General Nandlall urges Mon Repos, Good Hope residents

Attorney-General, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC

RESIDENTS of Mon Repos and Good Hope, East Coast Demerara, on Thursday, were urged to get themselves equipped for the transformation Guyana is poised to experience.

The call was made by Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC, during the launch of the government’s 20,000 online scholarships programme in the communities.

“It is our duty to ensure that our people, our young people in particular, continue to be equipped so that they can compete with the world.”

“There is no space anymore at the top on the stage of success for uneducated people. That is the cold hard reality and the quicker we accept that, the better equipped we will become to meet the competition and it is against that backdrop that this programme was conceived,” the Attorney-General said.

He noted that with the oil and gas economy, Guyana is set for a take-off beyond its wildest imagination. He said

while government is taking steps to have local content legislation in place to secure jobs for Guyanese, the onus is on citizens to ensure they are qualified.

“Education is empowerment, knowledge is the tool for advancement, for change and that is what this programme is about,” the AG said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Tourism Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond, also noted that the programme is one that should not be taken lightly.

“The Attorney-General and I probably have the same experience where our parents sent us to school at a tremendous financial sacrifice and our government under the leadership of Dr. Ali is saying to you, that you do not have to make the similar sacrifice for your children, we are making it for you as a government. We are handing to you an amazing opportunity to get yourselves educated and this is no age limit,” Minister Walrond said.

T h e g o v e r n m e n t ’s online scholarships programme is the brainchild of President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, and is being executed by the Ministries of Education and Public Service. The scholarships are being offered by six recognised universities offering some 104 programmes.

(DPI)

plan to develop this area into a world class riverfront, seafront development with facilities that meet international standards,” he said.

The ministry is providing the expertise, mobilisation capacity and other resources to bring the First Lady’s initiative to fruition.

Minister Edghill also delved into some of the key elements of the initiative that will transform the way patrons use the seawalls.

He said there will be, “handwashing facilities, booths for the sale of food

and other items. It’s going to be an area where you can sit and relax with proper seating accommodation.

It’s going to have a balcony at the top of the construction, so that you can sit on the balcony and listen to the bands play in the bandstand or the poems that would be recited.”

A sidewalk will be constructed from the ‘I Love Guyana’ sign at the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry Limited, along with a permanent sanitary block facility, which will ease rental costs

on portable facilities.

One of the soft elements of the project includes free Wi-Fi for patrons. E-Networks has already signalled its interest in providing this service.

The procurement process will begin shortly to upgrade the drains linked to the project through restricted tendering at the Regional Tender Board. That process will utilise the list of contractors that submitted their information to the ministry during a recent invitation for prequalification.

Minister Edghill anticipates that works on other aspects of the project would be completed by the end of September.

So far, Banks DIH Limited, the Junior Sammy Group of companies, the Guyana Chess Federation and other stakeholders are onboard.

In April, the First Lady unveiled a $25 million, 20foot “Welcome to Guyana” sign at the roundabout near the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, as part of her National Beautification Project. (DPI)

10

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

Health Minister urges 18 to 39-year-olds to get vaccinated ―says this group is ‘more vulnerable’

WHILE some 177,659 Guyanese have received the first dose of either the Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm or Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, the data has revealed that the rate of vaccination in the younger population is very low.

Health Minister, Dr. F r a n k A n t h o n y, i n h i s COVID-19 update with the Department of Public Information (DPI) on Friday, said the 177,659 represents 36.5 per cent of the adult population. Additionally, some 47,504 individuals are now fully immunised against the virus having received their second dose and account for 9.8 per cent of the adult population.

The data also recorded lower vaccination rates among the younger popula-

tion, which comprises persons between the ages of 18 and 39. Only 27.2 per cent of the persons who fall within this age range have received their first dose of the vaccine.

The health minister described this age group as the most “vulnerable” to contracting the deadly virus, and has highlighted that the virus has been most predominant in persons of this age range. He has signalled that more efforts will be made to encourage the younger population to get vaccinated, to protect themselves and those around them from the novel coronavirus.

“This group is more vulnerable to the infection because they are more active; they are moving around, they are coming in contact with persons who are positive and because of that they can

spread the infection to others.

So, it is important that we immunise this age group,” he said.

The minister said the bulk of vaccines are being administered to the senior population. He said 66.2 per cent of persons over the age

of 60 have received their first dose of the vaccine, and 33.7 per cent of persons between the ages of 40 to 59 have received theirs.

While it might appear that the younger population has been hesitant to take the jab, the low vaccination rates may

Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony

be due to the ministry’s initial message during its rollout campaign, having made it first available to senior citizens and then gradually to other age groups.

Dr. Anthony also disclosed additional data which displayed the vaccination rates of the country’s 10 administrative regions. It was revealed that Region Six (East Berbice – Corentyne) has taken the lead in administering the most vaccines with 43.6 per cent of the region’s population having already taken the first jab of the vaccine.

Region One (Barima – Waini) follows with 39.2 per cent and then Region Five (Mahaica – Berbice) with 38.5 per cent. Region Three (Essequibo Islands – West Demerara) recorded 37.5; Region Seven (Cuyuni –

Mazaruni) 37.1 per cent; Region Four (Demerara – Mahaica), 36.9 per cent; Region Two Pomeroon – Supenaam) 36.4 per cent; Region Nine (Upper Takutu – Upper Essequibo) 34.9 per cent and Region Eight (Potaro – Sipuruni) 23.9 per cent.

The Ministry of Health, in a bid to facilitate convenient access to the COVID-19 vaccine, will be hosting its first ‘Drive Thru’ vaccination event today at the National Stadium, Providence, East Bank of Demerara from 9:00 hours to 21:00 hours.

This activity will allow persons to be vaccinated without having to leave their vehicles and will afford them the opportunity to receive either their first or second dose of any of the three vaccines that are being administered locally.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

11

GRA employees, two others charged over forged GRA cheques

TWO employees of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) were among four persons arraigned before Magistrate Leron Daly in connection with the alleged forgery of two cheques from the tax agency totally $19.4 million.

Those charged are Randi Gladstone, 38; Leroy Green, a 26-year-old accountant of Williams Street, Kitty and GRA employees, Ivor Dowridge, 26, of Second Street, Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara, and Tooqwan Clarke, 25 of West Ruimveldt, Georgetown.

The men appeared before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and were not required to plead to two counts of conspiracy to

commit a felony.

According to the particulars of the charges, it is alleged that Gladstone, between October 28, 2020 and May 11, 2021 conspired with Green, Dowridge, Clarke, Romeschand Singh, Komalram Persaud, Devindra Moteeram, Anush Khan, Shareesa Tappin and others to forge two Bank of Guyana cheques, purporting that these were issued by the GRA’s Internal Revenue Department. The first cheque was dated April 9, 2021 and was made out to the value of $9,550,000, while the other cheque dated April 20, 2021 was valued $9,875,000.

Magistrate Daly released Green, Dowridge

Leroy Green

and Clarke, on $600,000 bail each. Prosecutor Richard Harris strongly opposed bail for Gladstone arguing that he is before the same court for an alleged fraud committed on the Ministry of Business. The magistrate upheld the prosecutor’s objection and remanded Gladstone to prison.

September reopening of schools being explored

By Rehana Ahamad AFTER being closed for more than a year, the Government of Guyana is looking to have schools reopened to physical learning, in September.

This announcement was made on Friday by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, who said that the decision was taken based on advice from the Ministry of Health.

“For all classes across the country, we are going to remain closed for the remaining days in May, and the months of June, July and August,” minister Manickchand said in her broadcast message.

She noted, however, that this latest schedule does not apply to Grades 10, 11 and 12 [fourth, fifth and sixth forms] which returned to the classrooms in November 2020.

The minister reminded that schools were closed in March last year, following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the decision was taken based on the fact that there was no cure for the deadly disease.

Even though a cure is still out of reach, the vaccines have proven to be effective enough to guard against serious symptoms and, more importantly, death.

“The world has developed a cure to the point where we know if people are vaccinated, they will not die from COVID-19. We have also moved pass the place where vaccines were not easily accessible,” Manickchand related.

She said that with the availability of enough vaccines, the administration will be working assiduously to ensure the reopening of schools.

“We expect that people are going to be responsible, although we are not making vaccination mandatory,” the minister noted.

As it relates to the upcoming National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), Minister Manickchand said that August 4 and 5 remain tentative dates; however, this could change, depending on what decision is taken by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), pertaining to the hosting of the regional examinations.

CXC is currently re-examining the dates for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, as well as the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) which were initially set for June-July 2021.

“If CXC changes their date, it would impact significantly on the date of our NGSA,” Manickchand said.

The Ministry of Education has been working to ensure that the examination periods locally and regionally, do not clash.

Minister Manickchand is encouraging the NGSA pupils, their parents and teachers, “to prepare as though the exams are going to happen in August.”

The announcement of possible reopening of schools was also made by Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, who underscored the need for all Guyanese adults to become vaccinated in an effort to put an end to the coronavirus.

Education Minister, Priya Manickchand

Ivor Dowridge

Randi Gladstone

The case is adjourned until July 2.

On May 18, Singh, Persaud, Moteeram, Khan and Tappin appeared before Magistrate Daly and the same charges were read to them. Everyone was released on $600,000 bail except Tappin, since she is currently serving a four-year jail sentence for another matter.

Slowe to ‘vigorously defend’ fraud, sexual assault charges

12

CHAIRMAN of the Police Service Commission (PSC), former Assistant Commissioner of Police, Paul Slowe has signalled his intention to “vigorously defend” the allegations of conspiracy to defraud, and sexual assault that were levelled against him.

Slowe, along with eight other current and retired senior ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), were on Thursday jointly slapped with a fraud charge by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) for an alleged conspiracy to defraud the GPF of some $10M. The particulars of the charge allege that Slowe and others, between March 1, 2019 and July 7, 2020, at the GPF Headquarters, conspired to defraud the Force of $10,056,000 by paying him and four other retired officers the said sum, without complying with the proper procedures.

The charge comes after an investigation by SOCU revealed that former Commis-

sioner of Police Lesie James unilaterally hired Conway, Whittaker, Gilbert and Fraser, all former GPF officers, to conduct a complete revision of the Force’s Standing Orders in March 2019.

SOCU is alleging that James made no contractual agreements with specifications as to what was to be revised, and the terms of payments, and that neither did he prepare a budget for the service that was being rendered.

SOCU also posits that since the sum exceeds $10M, it should have been budgeted for, and sent to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) for approval, none of which was allegedly done, and further that while the enormous sum of money was paid to the former police officers, they are yet to provide the Force with a completed revised Standing Order.

Slowe’s attorney, Selwyn Pieters, in a press release issued on Friday, said the “false allegations” levelled against his client has “tarnished the

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

Chairman of the Police Service Commission and former Assistant Commissioner of Police, Paul Slowe

good name and reputation of a series of former and current senior police officers, including Mr. Slowe.”

In replying to the conspiracy to defraud charge, the attorney-at-law noted that work was done on the Standing Orders. However, no timeline was provided for the work to be completed. Further, he explained that the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections and the COVID-19

pandemic contributed to the delay which prevented the completion of the Standing Orders.

“In the lead up to the elections, the location in which meetings were held became unavailable due to use by the Guyana Police Force for elections purposes,” the press release said, adding that the five-month election fiasco and the pandemic “made meetings to deal with finalization of the

Standing Orders not feasible”.

Pieters also noted that Slowe, as the Chairman of the PSC, had other duties to perform in that capacity, as well as his paid employment capacity, which takes him overseas.

Further, the attorney said that the allegation of sexual assault is false.

“Mr. Slowe is presumed innocent and will be pleading not guilty to these charges.

His criminal lawyers will be vigorously defending this matter and look forward to the truth coming out in a court of law,” the press release said In addition to Slowe, retired Assistant Commissioner Clinton Conway; current Assistant Commissioner Royston Andries-Junor; retired Assistant Commissioner Claude Whittaker; retired Senior Superintendent George Fraser; retired Superintendent Mark Gilbert; Assistant Superintendent Marlon Kellman; Woman Senior Superintendent Marcelene Washington, and retired Senior Superintendent Michael

Sutton were also charged.

Former Police Finance Officers, Washington and Sutton were also charged separately with misconduct in public office. The charge against Sutton read that in his capacity as Finance Officer of the GPF, between July 1, 2019 and July 31, 2019, he wilfully misconducted himself while performing duties by falsely signing seven payment vouchers as the accounting officer, which he was not authorised to do.

cle was reliably informed that Lallaram’s wife, sister and mother were also tested positive for the novel coronavirus and have since recovered.

As the news of his death became known, many took to social media to express their shock and disbelief, while also offering words of condolences to his family.

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand in a Facebook post, stated: “Heartbroked[sic] today over the COVID-19 death of 36-year-old Pandit Rajin Lallaram of the Education Department, Region Five.

This was a committed, dedicated person with so much to offer. Our country is poorer with his passing. To his wife, mother, sisters and many, many friends and to our colleagues in education, my deepest condolences.”

Region Five Chairman Vickchand Ramphal also expressed similar senti-

ments in a Facebook post.

“My sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of the late Pandit, Rajin Lallaram. We have lost one of our great religious leaders. He was indeed a true friend; I remember the many valuable and enlightening discussions we had. Region Five has lost a great son,” said Ramphal.

Over in Region Six, religious leader Deodat Persaud was in shock at Lallaram’s death.

“This can’t be true.

COVID-19, you are a monster! A severe blow to the Hindu C o m m u n i t y. O m Sadgati. May your atma finds [sic] mukti Panditji Lallaram. May you be in peace with Raghunandan! My deepest sympathies to his wife, mom, sisters and other relatives and friends,” he said.

Attorney-at-law Selwyn Pieters

Prominent Region 5 pandit, educator succumbs to COVID-19

Dead: Rajin Lallaram

RAJIN Lallaram, 36, a well-known pandit of Region Five and Ministry of Education staffer, lost the battle to COVID-19 on Thursday.

Lallaram, who hailed from Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, succumbed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the COVID hospital at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

He was admitted to the facility on May 10 when he started to experience severe symptoms of the disease.

The Guyana Chroni-

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

13

Man found not guilty of rape, robbery A MIXED 12-member jury, on Friday, found 42-year-old Derrick Mohabir, not guilty of brutally raping and robbing a policewoman in 2019.

Mohabir, who is currently serving a five-year jail sentence for similar crimes, was on trial before Justice Brassington Reynolds at the Sexual Offences Court of the Demerara High Court.

He had denied that between November 9-10, 2019, in the county of Demerara, he engaged in sexual penetration with the victim. It further alleged that on the same date and

location, Mohabir, with the use of violence, robbed the victim of a silver and diamond ring.

The state was represented by prosecutors Sarah Martin and Nafeeza Baig, and Mohabir by Attorney-at-law Ravindra Mohabir. The jury, after deliberating for two hours, returned with a “not guilty” verdict on both counts.

Upon hearing the verdict, Mohabir broke down in tears. Justice Reynolds told Mohabir to consider it a second chance and that he must use the opportunity to avoid finding himself in similar situations and be-

Derrick Mohabir

‘Spleen’ freed of Emancipation Day murder

Howard Rambarose

HOWARD Rambarose called “Spleen”, was, on Friday, freed of the 2016 Emancipation Day execution-style killing of Orin David, after High Court Judge, Sandil Kissoon, upheld a no-case submission made by his attorney, George Thomas.

Rambarose was on trial with co-accused, Jermaine Jeffords, for the indictment which read that they killed David on August 1, 2016, at Laing Avenue, West Ruimveldt.

The state was represented by prosecutor Lisa Cave, while Attorneys-at-law Stanley Moore, S.C., and George Thomas are on record for the defendants.

After the state closed its case on Thursday, the attorneys made

Jermaine Jeffords

DEAD: Orin David

a no-case submission calling for the indictment to be dismissed on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

On Friday, the judge upheld the no-case submission in favour of Rambarose citing the prosecution’s failure to establish a case against the defendant. Justice Kissoon then told the jury that they have to return a not-guilty verdict against Rambarose.

However, the judge called upon Jeffords to lead his defence. During his defence, Jefford told the court that he is innocent and was wrongfully charged for the offence.

Justice Kissoon is expected to sum up the evidence against Jeffords on May 24, 2021,

after which, a jury will deliberate to arrive at a verdict.

David, a taxi driver, was gunned down in front of his Laing Avenue, Georgetown home, in the presence of his reputed wife and other relatives. The 33-year-old was pronounced dead at the Georgetown Public Hospital, shortly after one of five men came out of a car and pumped several bullets into him.

According to reports, minutes before his death, David was involved in an argument with a man over money. The man went away, but later returned with four other men in two vehicles and executed David.

GWI discovers close to $3M removed from its account

THE Guyana Water Inc (GWI), on Friday, has reported that close to $3million has been removed from its account at a commercial bank.

According to a release, the fraud was discovered by the Finance Department upon reconciling accounts for March 2021.

The amounts are $17,489,417 debited on March 16, 2021 and $12,327,515 debited on March 24, 2021.

“Upon querying, the bank informed GWI that the amounts represent payments made via wire transfer instructions, payable to persons resident in the USA. The names of the recipients are Troy Robertson of 1405 Brooklyn Avenue AF2F Brooklyn Avenue,

New York 11210 and Deyannera Mohamed of 1998 Pacific Street, Brooklyn NY 11216.

It has been established that both signatures on the wire transfer instruction letters were forged,” the release said.

GWI, the release said, has never conducted business with these persons or at no time initiated or instructed the bank to carry out these fictitious transactions.

“The Guyana Police Force was promptly called in and is currently conducting investigations. The police finger print experts have confirmed that the signatures were forgeries. The Bank of Guyana has also been notified of this fraud,” the release concluded.

fore the court.

According to reports, the victim was providing security at a building in Georgetown when she saw Mohabir standing outside of the gate masturbating.

The woman quickly went into her security hut and locked herself inside.

However, Mohabir climbed over the fence and bolted toward the hut. He reportedly managed to gain entry by prying the doors open with his hands. While inside, Mohabir demanded that the victim perform oral sex on him, but she refused.

This caused him to be-

come annoyed and he later beat the woman until she almost lost consciousness.

He reportedly pulled off the victim’s uniform and raped her. After committing the heinous act, Mohabir snatched the woman’s ring from her finger and made good his escape.

The matter was reported to the police and Mohabir was arrested.

While arrested, Mohabir was accused of another sex crime committed on a woman in the same area.

In February 2020, Mohabir was sentenced to five years imprisonment for that crime.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

‘Uncle Vic’ was a humble man, and an exceptional professional

―who has made a lasting impact on the public service, President Ali says PRESIDENT Dr. Irfaan Ali has described the late Eshwar Vevakanand Persaud, CCH, also known as “Uncle

Vic”, as “a humble man” and “an exceptional professional with great integrity”.

The Head of State made

these remarks Friday morning during the home-going service for Persaud, which was held at the Cathedral of

President Dr. Irfaan Ali signs the book of condolence for the late Eshwar Vevakanand Persaud, CCH

the Immaculate Conception, on Brickdam, here in the city.

“He was an exceptional professional with great integrity.

So today, as a people, as a country, we have lost a great soul,” President Ali said, adding. “But I’m comforted by the fact that he did not just leave; he took time to share of his knowledge; he took time to share of his experience; he took time to mold others who would function as he did.”

The President said that “Uncle Vic” leaves great examples of how to be a good public servant and a consummate professional.

Persaud was also a good husband, a good father, a good brother, and a good friend in his personal life.

These characteristics, he noted, will not die, but will forever live on.

PASSIONATE ABOUT HIS JOB President Ali said he was humbled and honoured to have known Persaud for over two decades.

“Twenty-five years ago, I first met ‘Uncle Vic’ when he welcomed me then, as a work-study student at Office of the President. A few months ago, he welcomed me, at the same location at the Office of the President, as President of Guyana.”

The President said that ‘Uncle Vic’ has always been passionate about his job, and in his most recent welcome, he made it clear that it was his honour to serve the presidents of this country.

Persaud has had the distinction of providing protocol duties to nine Executive Presidents, including President Ali and former Presidents Forbes Burnham, Desmond Hoyte, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, Samuel Hinds, Janet Jagan, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, Donald Ramotar, and David Granger.

The Head of State added that the longstanding public servant served his country

The late Mr. Eshwar Vevakanand Persaud

with dedication, honesty and professionalism, and, most importantly, with a sense of duty to the Office and the people of Guyana.

“To his family, his wife, his children, his sister, who I know played a very great role, and all of his family; we thank you sincerely for sharing this great soul with us. We thank you for allowing him to give up so much of his time in service to the people of our country, and, indeed, for his service to humanity. For his selflessness, I am sure he will be going to the Beautiful Garden. And may his soul rest in peace,” President Ali said in closing.

Tributes poured in from friends and family members, and former colleagues, including Ambassador Ivan Evelyn, who all recalled Uncle Vic’s humour and

good nature over the years.

They all shared similar sentiments, saying what a privilege it was to have known and worked with him.

Persaud, who passed away on May 13 at the age of 82, has provided more than 60 unbroken years of exemplary public service as an Accountant, Foreign Service Officer, and Chief of Protocol and Adviser on Protocol Affairs.

The funeral service was attended by various current and former Government officials and other prominent members of society, including former President Donald Ramotar and Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn.

After the home-going service, Persaud’s body was taken to his East Berbice hometown, Rose Hall, Corentyne, for burial.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

15

Agri. Minister talks up community development, kitchen gardens in East Ruimveldt ―announces 55th Independence seed distribution drive

AGRICULTURE Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, and Cabinet colleagues, on Thursday, met with residents of East Ruimveldt to discuss government’s proposed community development initiatives that will benefit them and surrounding communities.

see how best we can work to have the main canals in the city desilted so that we can avoid instances of flooding,” Minister Mustapha said.

Prior to the meeting, residents were engaged and tasked with identifying residents who were willing to be part of the project. They

essary assistance. We have to return to the days where every home had a kitchen garden. As agriculture minister, I’ve been promoting this across the country,” Minister Mustapha said.

Ministers of Public Works and Local Government and Regional Development, Juan

Residents of East Ruimveldt at the meeting on Friday

The visit came as a follow up visit by Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, who had met with residents to discuss their involvement in the proposed works to enhance the community’s appearance ahead of Guyana’s 55th Independence Anniversary next Wednesday.

During the meeting, Minister Mustapha told residents that efforts would be made to ensure they benefitted from proper drainage.

“From the Ministry of Agriculture’s level, we will try our best to ensure you have proper drainage in this community. These works will be carried out with machines and manually. We will engage the residents in the community. Those persons who are involved in the project will be paid and they will also be involved in something to beautify their community. We will do whatever it takes to assist you. If we have to bring in the small machines to clean the interlocking drains, we will do it. Climate change continues to affect us all and areas like this are prone to flooding. This is why government thought it necessary to improve the city’s drainage capacity. Twelve additional pumps were purchased, three of which were installed in Georgetown at strategic points. We are also developing a programme to

were also advised to form themselves into Community Development Councils (CDC) so that the intended works could be executed in an organised manner.

Minister Mustapha also took the opportunity to encourage residents to develop kitchen gardens and small garden plots. He informed residents that his ministry was willing to make available the necessary planting materials along with other basic gardening tools to assist with those activities.

Edghill and Nigel Dharamlall, along with other government officials were also part of the visiting team.

Minister Mustapha, on Friday, in a video posted on the ministry’s Facebook page, announced that as part of Guyana 55th Independence observances, the Ministry of Agriculture will be hosting an Independence seed and seedlings distribution exercise.

The subject minister, while extending Independence greetings to all Guya-

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha addressing residents during the meeting

“Those of you who are interested in farming, we will work with you. If you have a small plot or a kitchen garden or you need help in terms of materials or advice on what to plant, we will work with you and provide the nec-

nese, said that due to the pandemic, persons had to celebrate Independence remotely.

He also said that this activity was intended to help restore the culture among Guyanese where every household had a thriving kitchen garden.

“I want to take this opportunity to invite you to come into the ministry on Tuesday. We’ll be having a small seed distribution exercise to promote some of the crops that we want to push… I am promoting the

establishment of kitchen gardens so that each and every household can go back to the culture of having a kitchen garden,” Minister Mustapha said.

The exercise is scheduled for Tuesday, May 25

at the Ministry of Agriculture’s main office on Regent Street from 10:00 hours to 13:00 hours. Seeds and seedlings will be distributed to the general public free of cost while supplies last.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

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Suddie Hospital to get building for tuberculosis treatment ―contractor urged to provide quality work

By Indrawattie Natram REGION Two tuberculosis patients will soon enjoy a better and more comfortable environment when accessing treatment as the regional administration has facilitated the signing of a multimillion-dollar contract for the construction of a tuberculosis and family Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) building at the Suddie Public Hospital.

The contract was awarded to Manboadhram Sukhai of M Sukhai Contracting Service for $27,941,850 and construction is expected to commence in seven days.

Speaking to key stakeholders at a simple signing ceremony held on Friday, Regional Executive Officer (REO), Devanand Ramdatt, said the project was awarded through the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) and will be overlooked by the regional administration.

He called on the contractor to ensure that he delivers quality work. Approval for the project was granted by Cabinet.

“We want to do this open-

ly, we want to have value for public funds and we want to ensure the public is aware of activities and projects that are implemented. The bill of quantities will be shared with beneficiaries,” Ramdatt said.

He also said the project will be monitored closely by

wide by 60 feet long. It will consist of a waiting area, an observation room, a radiology department, pathology department, an eye clinic and washroom facilities. The upper flat, he said, will have consultation rooms to accommodate staff members and

Regional Executive Officer Devanand Ramdatt and Manboadhram signing the contract for the construction of a tuberculosis and family Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) building at the Suddie Public Hospital

the Regional Health Officer and also the staff who will be utilising the building.

According to the region’s engineer, Kawan Suchit, the building will be a two-storey reinforced concrete building with a dimension of 25 feet

patients.

The regional engineer said that the project has a duration period of four months.

Meanwhile, Regional Health Officer, Dr. Ranjeev Singh, said the building, when completed, will replace

the cramped location that exists at the Suddie Public Hospital. He said that the building will provide a more conducive environment for tuberculosis patients and staff members will have more space and ventilated rooms to treat TB patients.

The building, when completed, will also facilitate a TB clinic. According to Dr. Singh, patients have to join the outpatient at Suddie Public Hospital and that can be risky for other patients around them.

He, therefore, commend-

Region Two Chairperson, Vilma De Silva, called on the contractor to deliver quality work and she said that the project will be monitored to ensure that it is built according to contract specifications.

The contract was signed in the presence of De Silva,

Regional Executive Officer (REO), Devanand Ramdatt, handing over the contract to the contractor, Manboadhram Sukhai. Also pictured are Regional Health Officer (RHO), Dr. Ranjeev Singh; Regional Chairperson, Vilma De Silva, and staff of the family health clinic

He said the current building is too cramped for staff members to operate in. He pledged his support in working along with the contractor to ensure that the building is built according to the specifications.

ed the efforts of the Government of Guyana for awarding such a beneficial project for the region, as it will minimise the spread of tuberculosis by ensuring that there is adequate space for treating patients.

Dr. Singh, Suchit, Deputy Regional Executive Officer (DREO), Suanna Saywack; Prime Minister Representative, Arnold Adams, and Yagesh Sasenaryan, who is a staff member of the TB clinic.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

Sustainable Land Management, a vital tool for development

IN a rapidly changing world pressured by climate change and increasing populations, Sustainable Land Management (SLM) is vital for development. It can help to improve livelihoods, achieve food security and protect ecosystems while ensuring that land, as an important resource, is also sustained for the benefit of future generations.

SLM includes technologies, policies and activities that allow the use of land resources – including soils, water, animals and plants – to produce goods that meet changing human needs, while ensuring the resources maintain productivity and environmental functions. For example, it may involve countries developing coherent policies and institutional framework that govern use and development of land. SLM is also supported through knowledge sharing and lessons learnt to scale-up good land management practices including among land users. SLM recognises that interaction between land resources, climate and human activities influence productivity and sustainability of land-use systems.

Globally and nationally, SLM remains a priority with partners like the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) actively involved in assisting member countries to create enabling environment for sustainable development of land resources to meet the everincreasing needs and demands of the world’s rapidly growing population and as a means for achieving Food Security for

All (SDG Two).

With regards to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), SLM is also linked to SDG 15: “Protect, restore and promote sustainable use

whose socio-economic development has traditionally relied on land-based activities, mainly agriculture, mining and forestry, are recognised for their commitment and

GLSC’s Land Information and Mapping Division is responsible for creating and updating maps

of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.”

More so, SLM is important to achieving SDG Target 15.3: “By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world.” While it is recognised that all forms of land degradation cannot be stopped, it can be offset by improved management of land for agriculture, pastoral systems, forestry, and mining.

GLSC AND SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT Countries like Guyana,

strategic actions to integrate SLM. Guyana is currently implementing a project to mainstream Sustainable Land Development and Management (SLDM), aimed at creating an enabling environment to promote sustainable, and climate-resilient land development, management and reclamation. The Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) is the national implementing counterpart and a main beneficiary of the SLDM Project.

FAO is the implementing agency with overall responsibility for executing the project, in collaboration with GLSC. Mandated by the GLSC Act of 1999, “to have charge of and act as guardian over (all) public lands, rivers and

creeks of Guyana,” the Commission has legal support in its functions of land administration and management in Guyana. Affirmed in GLSC’s functions, is responsibility for

capacity building through training, formal and otherwise, for GLSC staff and other partner agencies.

SLM and combating land degradation

Neutrality (LDN).

GLSC is Guyana’s National Focal Point agency to UNCCD with oversight for implementing measures to achieve LDN. The fun-

GLSC participating in mangrove replanting exercise in Region Two

A mined out area in Region 10

land use planning and land administration which contributes to sustainable land management. Land use planning involves the allocation of land for uses that provides the greatest sustainable benefits.

Land administration refers to the process of determining, recording and disseminating information about the rights, regulations, value and uses of land when implementing land management for agriculture, forestry, mineral extraction, conservation, tourism and urban development. The GLSC enables land users the rights to access lands for different purposes/land uses such as agriculture, residential, commercial, industrial, grazing, recreational, ecclesiastical (religious) and tourism.

The SLDM project, which started in 2018, is carrying out several activities to improve GLSC’s capacity and workflows for improved land administration and land use planning, building on land monitoring, surveying, valuation, mapping, etc. These entail application and use of updated equipment, technology, tools and systems and

Overall, project outcomes seek to mainstream SLDM in policy and institutional and governance mechanisms to prevent degradation and restore degraded lands; and to boost Guyana’s institutional and human capacity for participatory and cohesive SLDM activities. The project also targets improvement of local governance in three regions to implement and scale up SLM interventions The SLDM project is supporting Guyana to achieve its goals and objectives for land use planning and development, reclamation, combating land degradation and SLM. These are activities linked to national strategies including the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and framework for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+). The project is also assisting Guyana to meet its commitments to international obligations on land management matters.

Included in these are Guyana’s commitment to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and achieving Land Degradation

damental aim of LDN is to preserve the land resource base, by ensuring no net loss of healthy and productive land, at national level. This goal is to be achieved through a combination of measures that avoid, reduce and reverse land degradation. Achieving LDN requires estimating the likely cumulative impacts of land use and land management decisions, and counterbalancing anticipated losses through strategically-planned rehabilitation or restoration of degraded land, within the same land type.

Natural resource utilisation and increasing settlement expansion are some factors contributing to land degradation in Guyana. UNCCD global data has shown Guyana’s area of degraded land to be 0.003 per cent.

GLSC is engaged in transformative projects at the national and regional levels to reduce land degradation. As a part of a multi-country initiative with eight other Caribbean states, Guyana would soon implement a SOILCARE Project.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

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Plane at Orealla had over 1000lbs of cocaine ―Toshao says incident raises safety concerns THE Guyana Police Force (GPF), in a statement, on Friday morning confirmed that the substance found in the aircraft that crashed-landed in Orealla one day earlier, was cocaine.

Following the incident, ranks of the Force’s SWAT team, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) were mobilised and dispatched to the scene from Camp Ayanganna aboard the GDF’s BEL-412 helicopter.

The police stated that a thorough search of the aircraft was conducted, and a total of 453 packages containing 453 kilograms of suspected cocaine were found, along with two global positioning systems, one radio set, three mobile smartphones, two identification cards and the aircraft’s registration documents.

Just after 14:00 hrs on Thursday, a foreign registered four-seater Bonanza Beechcraft aircraft made an emergency landing at an area identified as Loam Pit along the road that is being constructed to link Orealla and Kwakwani.

The Guyana Chronicle was told that residents who went to the scene after the crash advised the two male occupants to remain at the site. However, the pilot and the occupant, who were both identified as Brazilian nationals, made their way into the village under the guise of seeking accommodation and fuel.

Toshao of Orealla, Lewis Devair, on Friday stated that the situation has raised a security concern for the riverine community.

“When they touch down, residents raised the alarm. It wasn’t far; about a mile away from the village. After the crash, a lot of people went there. These guys were afraid they would do something, so they walked through the village and said they needed fuel; that they came from fishing and some other adventure trips up the river,” Devair said.

Police in Orealla were alerted about situation, and made their way to the site, where the suspected cocaine was discov-

The cocaine which was confiscated from the plane

Man charged with attempting to steal cement and tools

A MAN, who was accused of attempting to steal cement and construction tools from a locked vehicle, was, on Friday, released on $50,000 bail by Magistrate Leron Daly, when he made an appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

James David denied that he, on May 18, 2021, at Howes Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, attempted to steal one power saw valued at $70,000, one STIHL chainsaw valued at $45,000 and 10 sacks of cement valued at $35,000 from Randolph Corbin.

According to the prosecution, David and Corbin are not known to each other. It is alleged that on the day in question, about 20:30 hours, Corbin parked and secured his bus which contained the items mentioned in the charge, on his bridge. At about 23:16 hours, he looked through the window of his house and saw David trying to gain access to the vehicle. He immediately contacted the police and David was arrested and charged.

The matter was adjourned until June 25, 2021.

ered, wrapped and stacked at the back of the plane.

Devair said that given the large quantity of narcotics that was found, it has raised an alarm, security-wise for the

village. As such, the Toshao said he will be asking the GDF to remain in the area, so that residents can feel safer.

Meanwhile, the two foreign nationals, the cocaine and the

aircraft are in police custody as the investigations continue.

A team of senior officers within the division is conducting investigations, and have secured the site.

Joint Services ranks and the two suspects at the crash site on Thursday evening

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

Gender Affairs Bureau hosts capacity-building workshop in Region Two

By Indrawattie Natram

MEMBERS of the Region Two Gender Affairs Committee recently benefitted from a two-day women’s capacity-building workshop, which was organised by the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security’s Gender Affairs

Bureau.

The workshop was held from May 18 to 19 at the regional State House located at Anna Regina. Certificates which will enable participants to be better advocates were distributed at the end of the workshop.

The workshop focused on gender conceptualisa-

tion, stereotypes, identities, gender equality and justice.

During the opening ceremony, Region Two Chairperson, Vilma De Silva, called on the women to ensure they make maximum use of the training provided to them. De Silva also called on the committee to ensure that males are included in

their activities and are part of the regional committee.

The chairperson urged the participants to use their knowledge to educate others on gender affairs issues. She assured the committee that it has the full support of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).

“You must use your

training to impact those in your communities. Use the training to transform your lives, and be the trainer for others who are not aware of the topic…Spread the information,” De Silva said.

Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Regional Gender Affairs Committee, Verina Rasheed, said with the training received, the committee will be further strengthened.

She thanked the ministry for such an opportunity and later urged the participants to pay keen attention to what was being said during the various sessions.

port to the Gender Affairs Committees in the 10 administrative regions. She said that bureau works closely with the committees to help with the growth and development of all Guyanese citizens.

On the first day, participants learnt about gender and development and gender mainstreaming, while on the second day, the programme included gender and development issues, gender resource mapping and networking, which involved the Family Enhancement Unit, the Childcare and Protection

Chairperson of the Regional Gender Affairs Committee, Verina Rasheed, receiving her certificate from the Manager of the Gender Affairs Bureau, Adel Lilly

She told them that the training will enable them to better respond to gender-related issues.

The ministry’s Senior Gender Affairs Officer, Hymawattie Lagan, in her remarks, said this workshop follows one which was held in Region Four. Lagan said that during the Gender and Development training women will be empowered on the topic of gender equality and gender relations and development.

Lagan said the Gender Affairs Bureau operates alongside and provides sup-

Agency (CPA) and the Probation and Social Services Department.

The participants said the workshop was interesting.

They commended the bureau for choosing Region Two. One of the participants, Ashminine Ramnarine, said that the sessions were very informative. She said she was able to learn a lot on the first day. Ramnarine intends to share her new found knowledge with members of several youth groups.end of the workshop.

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Edghill’s Olympic dreams... with the help of my parents and I don’t feel any pressure to perform. Yes, they’re going to be a lot more eyes on me to get results and a good performance; I will just go out there and do my best.”

Meanwhile, the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) called Edghill’s Olympic journey a “great achievement for Guyana as a table tennis nation and fraternity we are truly elated of the ITTF and IOC recognition of our

player’s talent and country programmes in selecting Chelsea.”

T h e G T TA s a i d universality position is generally geared towards allowing the opportunity to National Olympic Committees, which have traditionally sent small delegations to the Olympic Games, and is used as a basis to enhance and reflect universality of the Olympic Games by selecting athletes from countries which have not been able to qualify, so that they may have an opportunity to be invited

to compete in sports and disciplines for which Invitation Places have been reserved.

In the realm of t a b l e t e n n i s , E d g h i l l ’s performance in international competition attempts at qualification tournament wins; Pan American games qualification ability and potential of the athlete among other areas, played a critical role in her selection of the Universality spots.

Edghill is a former ITTF With the Future in Mind Scholarship awardee and a former Junior Olympian

Continued from page 36 Collin Roach.

Meanwhile, according sources, Guyana Lawn Te n n i s A s s o c i a t i o n president Cristy Campbell,

Guyana Cricket Board president Bissoondyal Singh, Guyana Hockey Board president Phillip Fernandes, chartered accountant Chetram Ramdihal and Dellon

Davidson, will join Muhammad as members of the new National Sports Commission.

I t w a s re l a t e d t o Chronicle Sport, that the names will be announced

In fact, ahead of this year’s Super50 Cup, the Guyana board said Rutherford had been considered for selection but had instead “opted to play T10 and T20 cricket in Bangladesh and Pakistan”.

Patriots’ owner Mahesh Ramani said he was excited about the new additions to the squad and the season ahead, especially with St Kitts hosting the entire tournament.

“The St Kitts and Nevis franchise extends a warm welcome to the new players joining us this year as well

as to our retained core team for yet an another exciting season of the Hero CPL,” Ramani said.

“This year makes it extra special, playing at our home – Warner Park.

“I would like to thank all our team players, support staff and management as well as our global fan base for their continued love and support. I look forward to an amazing season in 2021.”

Left-hander Evin Lewis, the franchise’s leading batsman during the last campaign, is one of seven players retained along with all-rounder Rayad Emrit who was the side’s leading wicket-taker last year.

Continued from page 36

Kashif Muhammad set...

Rutherford quits ...

Continued from page 36 his six T20 Internationals nearly a year-and-a-half ago.

He has also not featured for his native Guyana Jaguars in nearly three years, despite campaigning on the global T20 franchise circuit.

Olympics will go ahead...

Continued from page 36 the earliest.

“We’ve successfully seen five sports hold their test events during the state of emergency,” Coates said.

“All of the plans that we have in place to protect the safety and security of athletes and the people of Japan are based around the worst possible circumstances; so the answer (to whether the Games could take place during a state of emergency) is absolutely yes.

“The advice we have got from the World Health Organization and all of the scientific advice, is that all the measures we have outlined in the playbook, all those measures are satisfactory to ensure a safe and secure Games in terms of health, and that’s wheth-

er there is a state of emergency or not.”

Recent polls in Japan have shown nearly 70% of the population do not want the Olympics, which starts on July 23, to go ahead.

Japan has long insisted there was no question the Games, which should have taken place last summer, would be held and will be safe.

Asked about the negative opinion polls, Coates added: “There may well be a correlation between some of these percentages and the low percentages so far of people in Japan who have been vaccinated.

“I’m expecting that as the number of vaccinations increase that there will be better polls and public opinion will improve, but if it doesn’t we just have to make

(Nanjing, China 2014).

The GTTA said, “This is a win for Guyana and regional table tennis and is a testimony to the talent, hard work, determination of Chelsea built on the sacrifices of our players officials and all our stakeholders of the past.”

The Godfrey Munroe-led Table Tennis Association expressed its gratitude to all who have contributed and to the members who continue to work hard and play despite the challenges.

officially by Minister of Culture Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr over the weekend, along with the country’s new Director of Sport.

West Indies stars Sheldon Cottrell, Fabian Allen and Joshua Da Silva along with Jon Russ Jaggesar and Dominic Drakes complete the list of retained players.

Allen, a powerful lower order batsman and left-arm spinner, missed out on last year’s tournament after failing to make his charter flight to Trinidad and Tobago, as the tournament was staged amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

There has been no room found for West Indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph or any overseas players.

The CPL will run from August 28 to September 19. sure that we get on with our job and our job is make sure these Games are safe for all participants and all of the people of Japan.”

The British Olympic Association (BOA) has confirmed that all British athletes and support staff will be fully vaccinated before they head to Tokyo.

The organisation said in a statement: “The UK Government has confirmed that, through an agreement between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Pfizer BioNtech, Team GB and Paralympics GB, athletes and support staff will be fully vaccinated ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, based on the unique position of having to travel to Japan to go about their work.

“The agreement means the vaccines will be obtained directly from Pfizer, and will not impact current supplies for the British public.” (BBC Sport)

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RHTYSC honours Terry Holder, Ananda Dharry posthumously youths, clubs benefit

THE Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTYSC) last Sunday acknowledged the contributions of the late Terry Holder and Ananda E. T Dharry by honouing them posthumously with the club’s highest award - The Dolphin Award of Excellence and launching two memorial programmes.

The two Berbicians were honorary members of the RHTYSC, MS and

played a major part in its development for over two decades.

Club Secretary Hilbert Foster stated that both Dharry and Holder were very supportive of the work of the club and shared numerous ideas towards the development of programmes to make a positive difference in the lives of youths in the Ancient County.

Dharry was a former

resident of Guyana’s smallest town and headed the popular engineering company, E and A Consultants of Peter Rose Street, Queenstown, Georgetown. He was very supportive of the club Say Yes to Education and Charity programmes.

Holder, a former resident of No 79 Village was the person responsible for the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) coming on board

Ms Dawn Cush hands over one of the cycles in memory of her father Terry Holder.

Widow of Mr Ananda E.T Dharry hands over cricket balls to Ameer Rahaman of the Rose Hall Canje CC. as an official sponsor of the Terry Holder Memorial club was delighted to honou the memory of both the club for close to two Programme.

The Ananda Dharry Me- men and committed that decades and was also very supportive of the Say No/ morial Trust Fund handed both programmes would over cricket balls to the continue in the future to Say Yes programme.

He served as a mentor Port Mourant and Rose Hall assist youths. He stated that to several club members Canje cricket teams while Holder and Dharry would including Shawn Grant and an Under-13 player from always hold a special place Renwick Batson, who went the RHTYSC benefitted in the history of the club.

Ms Anasha Ally, along on to play for Guyana at the from a $20 000 educational grant towards his educa- with her mother, shared junior level.

Three Under-17 players tion. The Dharry Fund also out the items in memory drawn from clubs across the donated a cycle to Balraj of her dad while Holder’s county received bicycles to Narine, a twelve- year-old daughter Dawn handed over the cycles to the three assist them to attend cricket student from Nigg Village.

Foster stated that the players. practice and school under

Most at Tokyo Olympic Village to be vaccinated by Games: IOC chief

MOST athletes and team members who are staying at Tokyo’s Olympic Village will be vaccinat-

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Japan.

With less than 10 weeks until the pandemic-postponed Games open on July 23, parts of Japan are under a virus state of emergency and a majority of Japanese want the event delayed further or cancelled.

IOC chief Bach was forced to scrap a visit to Tokyo this week given virus restrictions, but he sounded a confident note speaking with organisers and Japanese officials.

“The most important principle is very clear, the Olympic Village is a safe place and the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Tokyo 2020 will be organised in a safe way,” he said, appearing by video call.

“At this moment, already as many as 75 per cent of the residents of the Olympic village are already vaccinated or have secured vaccination in time before the Olympic Games,” Bach added.

And he said IOC officials “have good reasons to believe that this figure will be well above 80 per cent” by the time the Games begin.

Organisers have outlined extensive virus countermeasures to keep the Games safe, including barring overseas fans for the first time ever.

But with Japan battling a fourth wave of infections, two doctors’ associations have warned

IOC chief Thomas Bach in recent days that the health care system is already overstretched and the Games would add further stress.

In an apparent bid to address that, Bach said the IOC was willing to bring extra medical personnel.

“The IOC has offered to the organising committee to have additional medical personnel as part of the NOC (National Olympic Committee) delegations,” Bach said, without detailing how many people could come.

The additional personnel would “support the medical operations and the strict implementation of the COVID-19 countermeasures in the Olympic Village and the Olympic venues,” he added.

Tokyo 2020 chief Seiko

Hashimoto said organisers would accept the offer, adding that vaccination of participants “would be a great help towards delivering a safe and secure Games”.

Japan’s own vaccine roll-out has been criticised domestically for being comparatively slow, with only the Pfizer formula so far approved and no date set for jabs to expand beyond health workers and the elderly.

Games organisers say strict countermeasures will ensure the event is safe, with Bach noting sport competitions have been held around the world without incident.

He also referenced recent test events held in Japan, including with international athletes that did not cause any virus clusters.

“The athletes at the test events faced many restrictions - quarantine, daily testing, no public transportation, practically no contact with the Japanese people - to protect the Japanese people,” he said.

“The athletes are ready to make these sacrifices because they understand that safety is coming first.”

Bach said the agenda of the meeting, which wraps up today, would be “very much focussed on the delivery.”

“We must concentrate on the delivery of this safe and secure Olympic Games, because the opening ceremony is only 65 days away.” (AFP)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

ICC Board to discuss India and Ramirez, Taylor back-up plans for T20 World Cup all set for tonight’s

unification bout

… Meeting on June 1 also to debate on expansion of teams at World Cups

THE ICC Board will meet on June 1 to discuss India’s host status of the 2021 men’s T20 World Cup, now less than six months away.

It is unlikely that a final call will be taken then on whether the tournament goes ahead in India, but members are expected to get into the details of when and how contingency planning will need to be triggered if the tournament cannot go ahead there.

India is currently in the grip of an intense second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and has seen record numbers of infections and deaths since April, and which has forced the curtailment of this season’s IPL. The BCCI itself is scheduled to have a set of meetings leading into that ICC meetings. One of those, scheduled for May 29, is when the BCCI will address its members - the state associations - and provide an update on its planning for the remainder of the IPL and the T20 World Cup. The UAE is the ICC’s official back-up venue for the event, should it not go ahead in India.

In case the tournament does move to the UAE, a key question for the ICC to sort out would be around the retention of BCCI’s hosting rights.

Those bring in a significant amount of revenue for a host, from anywhere between US$250 000 and US$300 000 per match in an ICC event. Dhiraj Malhotra, appointed by the BCCI as the tournament director, recently

said on a BBC podcast that in case the World Cup was moved to the UAE, which he called would be a “worst-case scenario”, the Indian board would want to retain the hosting rights.

There is precedent for this, when Pakistan lost its co-hosting rights to the 2011 World Cup (after the terror attack on the Sri Lanka team) but fought - and won - to retain hosting fees from the event.

The BCCI had recently shortlisted nine venues for the event which will bring together 16 teams and is currently scheduled to be played between mid-October and November 14. Travel restrictions between the UAE and India because of the worsening nature of the pandemic in India meant an ICC venue inspection team’s visit in April had to be called off.

The pandemic has caused considerable disruption, specifically to the T20 World Cup. The 2020 event, originally to be staged in Australia, was postponed and then allocated to India, to be played this year. In turn, Australia got the rights to stage the 2022 edition.

The ICC Board is also expecting an update from the BCCI on the longstanding issue of tax exemptions sought by the global body from the Indian government for staging events in India. Both the ICC and BCCI have not seen eye-to-eye on the matter since the global body withheld close to $20-$30 million from the BCCI’s share of the

Sourav Ganguly, Manu Sawnhey and Jay Shah pose with the T20 World Cup. (International Cricket Council photo) ICC’s central revenue for the 2016 World T20). The ICC said it had lost that amount because the BCCI failed to get government exemptions.

In 2020, the ICC even threatened to pull the World Cup out of India in case the BCCI failed to get the tax waiver. While both parties have since attempted to resolve the issue amicably, the BCCI is yet to provide any definitive solution.

The Board will also discuss global events during the 2023-31 commercial cycle including the ongoing discussion on the expansion of the ODI and T20 World Cups.

There is a degree of urgency around this because the ICC has to issue tender for media rights by the end of this year and bidders will need clarity on the number of events in the next cycle.

The matter has been simmering since October 2019 when the ICC, led then by chairman Shashank Manohar, approved an extra ICC event in the 2023-31 cycle. The motive behind that move, mainly driven by then ICC chief executive officer Manu Sawhney (who was sent on leave in March), was

to have a global event every year in the cycle.

In February 2020, Sawhney asked members - including associates and affiliates - to enter the bidding process to host any of the 20 global events (including men’s and women’s events and U-19 tournaments). None of the BCCI, ECB or CA showed interest, stalling the bidding process.

Over the past few months, though, the ICC’s chief executives’ committee (CEC) has been deliberating on the pros and cons of the number of ICC events in the next cycle, as well as which can be opened up to more teams.

The CEC remains open to an expansion to t h e m e n ’s O D I Wo r l d Cup - currently a 10-team event - as well as making the T20 World a 20-team event in the next cycle.

There remains one significant concern; namely that though expansion will drive the growth of the sport, it could mean less revenue and greater costs around events, which could then impact revenue distributions to members.

of the play-offs, beginning on Sunday.

Russell Westbrook combined with Beal to lead a 16-0 run by Washington in the second quarter, before finishing with 18 points and 15 assists.

The Wizards earned their first post-season berth since 2017-18 while the Pacers, for whom Malcolm Brogdon scored 24 points, saw their streak of five straight play-off appearances come to an end.

The play-in tournament has been introduced on a oneyear basis for the 2020-21 season, to determine who takes the seventh and eighth seeded positions in each conference for the play-offs.

The Golden State Warriors host the Memphis Grizzlies for the final seed in the Western Conference on Friday eve-

ning (02:00 BST on Saturday morning).

Also on Thursday, the NBA announced the three finalists for the Most Valuable Player award for the 2020-21 regular season.

The Warriors’ two-time MVP Stephen Curry is up against the 76ers’ Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.

Coach of the Year will be decided from Quin Snyder (Utah Jazz), Tom Thibodeau (New York Knicks) and Monty Williams (Phoenix Suns).

The three finalists for each of the NBA’s annual awards are based on voting from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, with the winners to be revealed during the play-offs.

(BBC Sport)

Washington Wizards beat Indiana Pacers to book play-off place

Bradley Beal had 25 points, five rebounds and four assists while playing 28 minutes for the Wizards THE Washington Wizards eased to a 142-115 win over the Indiana Pacers to book their place in the NBA play-offs.

The Wizards had lost 118100 to the Boston Celtics in their first Eastern Conference play-in contest on Tuesday.

But Bradley Beal scored 25 points on Thursday as Washington took their last chance to reach the post-season.

The Wizards secured the eighth seed in the conference and face the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the first round

WBC/WBO champion Jose Ramirez and WBA/ IBF champion Josh Taylor were all business Thursday at the final press conference for tonight’s undisputed junior welterweight world title showdown at The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.

Ramirez (26-0, 17 KOs) and Taylor (17-0, 13 KOs) are fighting, not only to maintain their unbeaten records, but to become the sixth man to attain undisputed status in the four-belt era. For the first time since the matchup was

tivated. It will be an honour and a blessing to make history as the first Mexican undisputed champion.”

“I believe a fighter like Taylor will bring out the best in me. He is a technical fighter, and when you face a fighter like that, you see everything clearly. You will see all the small things that I have worked on and that will show the experience I have as a fighter. You will see all my skills, and I will put on a show against a great fighter.”

“I’ve never been a fan of opinions of who is the best

Josh Taylor and Jose Ramirez officially announced nearly three months ago, the best two 140-pound fighters in the world were face to face.

A little good-natured trash talk followed. But that’s to be expected.

Two days before the fight, this is what Taylor, Ramirez and Top Rank chairman Bob Arum had to say. “I’m very excited. Now at the end of this pandemic, we have the best fight of the whole pandemic experience. We don’t have to sell anything about this fight. We just mention the fighters. They are both undefeated, both former Olympians, both world champions. This will be a great fight!”

“With Jose as a fighter, you have seen his accomplishments, but I’m more impressed with the man he is outside of the ring. I’m proud of Jose.”

“It’s an honour for me to face a great fighter like Taylor. This will be the best fight of the year.”

“He is very prideful of his country and I respect that.

That’s the way a champion should be.”

“This has been a great training camp. I’m very mo-

fighter out there. Sometimes people don’t understand that especially at this level, each fight is going to be tough.

I always train like I’m the underdog. I always train like each fight is the biggest fight of my career. I can’t afford to lose. That’s always been my mentality. I always find a way to win.”

“I loved every single minute of camp in Las Vegas. Felt great to be back to normal.”

“I respect every fighter that jumps in the ring. You don’t become a unified champion out of anywhere. You have to be a great fighter.

I highly respect him. He is a great fighter and a great person, but on Saturday night (tonight), as soon as that bell rings, all that goes out the window” “This fight means the world to me, puts my name in the history books as one of the (best) Scottish fighters in history. That’s why I have trained so hard for this fight.

I dedicated my whole life to the sport. I’m so confident.

This is a pure boxing fight.”

“I’m confident I’m getting the KO on Saturday.”

(Fightnews)

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

33

Pandemic creating logistical nightmares for CWI BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Cricket West Indies (CWI) says the COVID-19 pandemic has created a chaotic situation with airlift, which has forced the regional board to resort to cumbersome routes to get players from their respective territories.

Cricket operations manager, Roland Holder, said that with some borders in the Caribbean still closed and limited flights available, the task of transporting players and officials had become even more difficult and in some cases, more expensive.

“From where we sit, we’ve had to fly persons through the US to get them into various (Caribbean) countries, whether it’s Antigua, whether it’s St Lucia,” Holder said.

“We’ve had to fly people through the US. There are

Pandemic posing massive challenges for regional travel almost no flights coming not only in the Caribbean out of Trinidad so you can’t but globally, as respective put somebody on an aero- governments have used plane on a daily basis and the measure as part of their say ‘hey, you need to get to overall COVID-19 regulapoint A or B’ so yes, there tions to combat the spread are challenges. of the virus.

“It’s more expensive, As a result, CWI has it’s more time-consuming. faced a logistical nightmare, Your journey in some in- and have resorted mainly to stances will take even lon- the use of charters to move ger.” Border closures have players to tournaments and become more widespread, series.

The major fallout last year at the height of the pandemic was the scrapping of the entire international home schedule, resulting in massive financial losses for CWI. However, the regional governing body managed to stage the Super50 last February and also host Sri Lanka for a full series, with both events hosted in Antigua.

West Indies are now poised to welcome South Africa, Australia and Pakistan over the next three months and Holder said it was critical CWI execute the upcoming tours successfully amid the ongoing pandemic challenges.

“Last year we had no international cricket in the Caribbean so we have one (Sri Lanka) under our belt now,” the former West Indies batsman and Barbados

captain told Starcom Radio’s Mason and Guest.

“We’re hoping to get these three tours underway which of course would generate some income for us and unfortunately, you may just have to spend some of that income on charter flights and COVID testing etc, but it’s the organisation we are. We are a cricket organisation so we need to be putting on cricket.”

South Africa will arrive on June 1 for two Tests in St Lucia from June 10-24, before heading to Grenada for five Twenty20 Internationals from June 26 to July 3.

Australia then follow for a five-match T20I series in St Lucia from July 9 to 16 before heading to Barbados for three One-Day Internationals July 20-24.

And Pakistan round off the home schedule when they take on the hosts in

another five-match T20I series from July 27 to August 3 in Barbados and Guyana, before playing two Tests in Jamaica from August 12 to 24.

Holder said even the international teams coming into the Caribbean had faced difficult logistical challenges.

“South Africa can only get as far as St Martin so we have to move them from St Martin into St Lucia,” he explained.

“Australia don’t wish to go through the various airports and run the risk of being infected, so they are chartering a flight from Down Under.

“Pakistan are comi n g f ro m t h e U K s o they’re somewhat easier. There’s a flight from Manchester that will get them to their first port of entry.”

CWI to host Professional Cricketers Draft on Tuesday

ST JOHN’S, Antigua - Cricket West Indies (CWI) will host the West Indies Professional Cricketers Draft for the 20212022 cricket season on Tuesday, May 25 via video call.

The Territorial Board Franchises will be convening to draft their final two players for their squads to play in the forthcoming season, which will hopefully include the CG Insurance Super50 Cup and the West Indies Championship.

The draft will be conducted over two rounds, where each franchise must pick a player in each round. Each franchise will pick two players to add to their pre-selected squad of 13 protected players, to make a full squad of 15 players. The franchises will be selecting their two picks from a pool of nearly 100 players.

For the 2021-22 season each franchise will be allocated a pick number according to their final league position and performance of the franchise in the last West Indies Championship, held in 2019-20 and won by the Barbados Pride (see table below for sequence of draft picks).

Each franchise will have 90 seconds in each round to make a pick. Where a selection

Tuesday’s draft will be conducted over two rounds is not made within this time CWI remains committed to period, the franchise will miss our professional cricket structheir turn and will have to wait ture and system, even in these until all the other franchises times of uncertainty from the have made their selection in COVID-19 pandemic. The 90 that round, before making their regional players, who will be awarded regional franchise selection.

Once the franchises have contracts, will be able to train made their full picks to confirm and practise professionally as their 15 retained players, a total CWI hopes for a return to norof 90 cricketers across the six malcy in regional cricket later franchises will be retained on this year.

Each choice by each Franfull-time regional contracts for chise selection committee will the next twelve months.

CWI’s Cricket Operations be monitored and recorded by the draft overseer(s), as Manager, Roland Holder said, The draft, now in its eighth notified to the Franchises by (8th) year, demonstrates that CWI.

34

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

Home-based Lady Jags kick-start

training this weekend

The Lady Jags are preparing for international engagements later this year.

(GFF Facebook photo)

THE long road to Australia and New Zealand begins this weekend, as the local-based senior women’s national squad start their preparations for 2023 FIFA World Cup qualification.

The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) in a release said from today, following testing for COVID-19 this week, Lady Jags will begin sessions at the GFF National Training Centre at Providence, with training set to run until the final squad is announced ahead of the first round of CONCACAF qualifying fixtures in November.

“We are delighted to have the Lady Jags commence their important preparations

for these crucial games,” said Guyana Football Federation president Wayne Forde.

“We all know the record of success that Lady Jags have achieved in recent years.

The GFF is investing in this extended training regime and all other necessary measures, to ensure success continues this year.”

“We are confident that this generation of players can take us to the next level, especially as more young players come through the ranks via GFF’s youth development programmes,” Forde said.

As in the previous cycle, the CONCACAF Women’s Championship – set for July 2022 – will serve as the qual-

ification tournament for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand.

The top four teams from the CONCACAF Women’s Championship will qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, with a further two teams competing in an inter-confederation play-off tournament.

Qualification matches for the CONCACAF Women’s Championship are scheduled for November 2021 and April 2022, with details to be announced in the coming months.

“We have a very talented and passionate domestic squad that is raring to get back on the pitch,” said as-

sistant coach Akilah Castello, who will lead the training sessions in Guyana, under the guidance of Canada-based head coach Dr Ivan Joseph.

“Because of the absence of competition during COVID-19, we are going to focus first on building fitness and conditioning,” Castello said.

“Our aim over the coming months will be to develop a larger domestic cohort of players that is ready and able to contribute to the final squad to represent Guyana on the international stage and to make our nation proud.”

In addition to the senior women’s national team’s activities this year, the U-20 women’s team will participate in CONCACAF U-20 Women’s Championship qualifiers in September, while the U-17s compete in the CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship in August.

The GFF will also be sending the U-14 squad to the Caribbean Football Union Challenge Series and will host the U-15 squad in a camp to prepare for regional competition next year.

“The GFF is committed to investing heavily in women’s football as we look to make up for lost time during the COVID-19 pandemic and deliver on our strategic plan to develop football for all in Guyana,” Forde said.

First female Chesskid competition and Independence Chess Open billed for this weekend THE GUYANA Chess Federation (GCF) is set to run off two competitions this weekend, including the first female Chesskid competition and the three-day Independence Chess Open.

The events will attract beginners and senior participants both online and over the board.

The Independence Open will be a six-round Swiss System FIDE rated battle. It is scheduled to be held at the Guyana National Stadium in Providence over a period of three days. After today’s start, chess players will re-

Faraa Gaskin will be among some of the big names in the Chesskid competition. She played unbeaten in the six-round U-900 rating division in late March.

turn for games on Sunday and on Wednesday - Independence Day. Persons interested in registering for the over-theboard event, which should attract a number of big names, are asked to contact GCF Director of Tournaments, Rashad Hussain on telephone number 658-3004.

Former National junior champions Andre Jagnandan and Joshua Gopaul and several other top players, including a few female players, have already registered for the event.

Hussain said that some

$60 000 in cash and prizes will be up for grabs in the three-day competition.

Meanwhile, from 14:00hrs today, GCF will move the first pawn in its first Female ChessKid competition.

Players, from as young as seven to their mid-teens, will battle in the online event which will be held over seven rounds.

The youngsters will battle in a time control of 10 minutes. Players must be registered on chesskid.com to participate.

Darren Stevens smashes 190 to make Glamorgan suffer

AN astonishing onslaught from veteran Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens turned the match against Glamorgan on its head as he smashed a remarkable 190.

He hit 15 fours and 15 sixes to take Kent from 128-8 to 307 all out at wind-battered Canterbury.

Miguel Cummins contributed a single to their ninth-wicket stand of 166.

Glamorgan struggled to 55-2 as Stevens continued his dominance of the day by removing Marnus Labuschagne for 11 runs.

Stevens’ performance with the bat looked at first like a few defiant late blows after pacemen Michael Neser and Timm van der Gugten ripped through the Kent batting with four wickets apiece, with captain Sam Billings falling for 11 to a borderline lbw decision on his return from the Indian Premier League.

But once he got his eye in, Stevens cleared the ropes seemingly at will around the ground from fine-leg to extra-cover, to delight the shivering home supporters in bleak conditions.

It was a superb performance in any context, let alone one in which most of his team-mates struggled to contribute anything significant.

He was dropped at slip on 67 and twice on the boundary edge in the 130s as he toyed with the Glamorgan bowling, Cummins

Darren Stevens had only scored 15 runs in his previous six innings before his 190 against Glamorgan

left to play just a ball or two in each over.

Stevens established a new world record for domination of a first-class partnership of more than 100.

Labuschagne, with his eccentric leg-spin, eventually had Stevens caught at long-on and bowled Cummins for 7, but the momentum gained by the Stevens spectacular carried on when the visitors went in to bat.

After David Lloyd fell cheaply to Matt Quinn, Stevens quickly turned the tables on the Australian Test star to dismiss him lbw for 11 for the second time this season, Labuschagne looking as frustrated with the decision as Billings had before him.

Joe Cooke and Billy Root dug in to survive to the close with bad light finally coming to the visitors’ rescue.(BBC Sport)

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Saturday May 22, 2021)

COMPLIMENTS OF CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD 83 Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown Tel: 225-6158 Answers to yesterday’s quiz: (1) Brian Lara-2815 runs (30 Tests) (2) Steve Waugh-2192 runs (32 Tests)

Today’s Quiz:

(1) What is the highest individual Test score made by a WI player against AUST to date?

(2) What is the highest individual Test score made by an Australian player against the WI to date?

Answers in tomorrow’s issue

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, May 22, 2021

35

Gateshead Diamond League showdown to feature CCJ judge appointed to Court

three of six fastest women in history THE blockbuster women’s 100m clash, scheduled for this Sunday at the Müller Grand Prix Diamond League meet in Gateshead, will feature three of the six fastest women ever to run over the distance.

In what many predict could be a preview to the Olympic Games later this summer, Jamaican speed queens Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson-Herah will finally face red-hot American Sha’Carri Richardson, the early-season favourite, for the first time this year.

Historically, as far as the speed record book is concerned, the early season clash could be one of mammoth proportions. The trio are not only three of the six fastest women alive, but also the only ones still active on the all-time speed list.

Fraser-Pryce holds the fourth-fastest time ever recorded over the distance at 10.70, set in Kingston, Jamaica, in 2012. Her compatriot Thompson-Herah matched that identical time, at the same venue, in 2016 and is jointfourth on the list. Richardson joined the exclusive list last month with her clocking of

Justice Winston Anderson

From left: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Sha’Carri Richardson and Elaine Thompson–Herah

10.72, recorded in Florida, making her the sixth-fastest of all-time.

The times are only bettered by Marion Jones (10.65), Carmelita Jeter (10.64), and Florence Griffith-Joyner (10.49), a trio of American sprinters who are no longer active.

Richardson has of course set the season marker with her burst of speed last month, but Thompson-Herah is not far behind having registered 10.78 in Clermont.

The trio are however not

the only big names in the field with Great Britain’s fastest woman Dina Asher-Smith and Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare also set to face the starter.

Another Jamaican, who will also line up in the blocks - Natasha Morrison - is also in fine form this season having recorded the third-fastest time, 10.87, last month in Florida.

In addition to just the times, there will be plenty of pedigree on display, between them Fraser-Pryce and Thompson-Herah have claimed 7 of the last 9 major

games 100m Olympics and World Championship titles.

The only exceptions to that dominance being the 2011 World Championships, which was won by Jeter, and the 2017 World Championships which was won by another American Torrie Bowie.

Also scheduled to take part in the meet are world long-jump champion Tajay Gayle, world triple-jump silver medallist Shanieka Ricketts, and world shotput silver medallist Danniel Thomas-Dodd. (Sportsmax)

Pollard says Hetmyer should be playing all formats but needs to work harder

WEST INDIES white-ball captain Kieron Pollard says he wants to see Shimron Hetmyer compete in all three formats for the men in maroon, but believes the Guyanese batsman has to work harder if he wants to regain a Cricket West Indies (CWI) central contract.

Speaking openly on Hetmyer’s career and a number of other topics, Pollard reasoned that the 24-year-old player from Berbice will only excel if he is hungry enough for success.

“We love Hetty. He is a young, talented cricketer, a guy who we know, deep in our hearts, can take West Indies cricket forward from a generational point of view with his skill and what he can achieve on a cricket field,” Pollard said on the Line & Length TV Show on Sportsmax.

“He knows the truth and he knows what it is. We

of Arbitration for Sport

would love Hetty to be playing all three formats of our cricket, but as the saying goes, ‘you can only take the horse to the water, but you can’t force him to drink.’ So with that being said, I will leave it right there and for the individual himself to get things together.

“We love him and we want to have him. He has a fantastic record in ODI cricket; we saw what he can do in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and it’s just for him to take what’s in front of him. The world is at his feet. It’s if he wants it badly enough and what he wants to achieve as an individual,” said Pollard.

Hetmyer has not been a consistent member of the West Indies team over the past year owing to fitness and COVID-19 concerns.

Along with other senior players, he chose not to tour Bangladesh earlier this year out of personal fears and

Skipper Kieron Pollard and Shimron Hetmyer

concerns for his safety because of the COVID-19 infection rates in that country.

In 16 Tests he averages 27.93 and is yet to register a century, but in ODIs he has five hundreds and averages 36.66 from 42 innings while in T20s he has scored 379 runs with a strike rate of 116.97.

Over the last year, he has scored 100 runs from five

innings in T20 Internationals and 14 runs in two ODIs. His form for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and the Delhi Capitals in the IPL has been more encouraging, but he failed to maintain a CWI contract, prompting cries in some circles that he wasn’t given a fair break.

In terms of the upcoming white-ball series against South Africa where the Windies will play five T20s in Grenada, Pollard warned that the side who are rated at No,10 in the T20s must be on top of their game.

“We have to plan properly in order to conquer.

Not looking too much into the names (of the opposition) because as I said before these guys are talented in their own right as they would not have been selected for their national teams (otherwise),” said Pollard. (Sportsmax)

JUDGE of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and Chairman of the CCJ Academy for Law, the Honourable Justice Winston Anderson was recently appointed by the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) to be a Member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The CAS (French: Tribunal arbitral du sport; Spanish: Tribunal arbitral del deporte) is a global body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration.

It is headquartered in Lausanne (Switzerland) and has courts in New York City, Sydney, and Lausanne. Temporary courts are established in current Olympic host cities.

The CAS is composed of eminent jurists appointed by the ICAS for four-year terms. These terms are renewable. The members come from different geographic regions, legal systems and cultures and are chosen for their specialist knowledge of arbitration and sports law.

The CAS seeks to ensure that the highest standards of integrity and

fairness are maintained in global sport through the application of relevant legal principles.

T h e g l o b a l adjudicatory body has often been mentioned in regional litigation - most recently, the legal tussle over the management of Trinidad and Tobago football between the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA).

Justice Anderson comes to the membership of CAS from his position as Chairman of Cricket We s t I n d i e s ( C W I ) Ethics and Disciplinary Committees. He was recently reappointed to the International Cricket Council (ICC) Code of Conduct Commission which provides the membership of several ICC Tribunals.

As a Member of the ICC Anti-Corruption Tr i b u n a l , h e h a s heard cases involving allegations of matchfixing and other improper conduct by cricketers and other ICC participants from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe. (TT Express)

Edghill’s Olympic dreams

come true!

… to become first Guyanese table tennis player at Olympics

By Rawle Toney CHELSEA Edghill will get to live her childhood dreams of representing Guyana at the Olympics, after it was announced on Thursday evening that she will receive an International Table Tennis Federation ‘Wild Card’ spot for the games in Tokyo, Japan.

“The feeling is unreal,” Edghill told Chronicle Sport in an exclusive interview yesterday.

“I didn’t expect to get a wild card to go. I was elated and I was shocked to know that I was given the spot to play at the Olympics. It has been a dream ever since I started playing to make it to the very top. I think this goes to show that with hard work, you’ll get your reward in the very end,” Edghill said.

The 2018 Caribbean U-21 Champion who also holds a BSc in Chemistry, having graduated in 2019 from Lindenwood University in

the USA, plays professionally in Portugal with Lusitania de Lourosa; a table tennis club located in the city of Lourosa in Santa Maria da Feira.

When Edghill features at the 32nd Olympiad, she will become the first table tennis player, male or female, from Guyana and Lusitania de Lourosa to reach the Olympic Games.

“To know that you’ve created history by being the first of so many things!”

Edghill profoundly stated, adding, “My team in Portugal they’re new in terms of the first division aspect of things and to be the first to do so it’s a proud moment. It just goes to show how much the sacrifices paid off over the years.”

Asked about being under pressure to live up to the expectations as an Olympian, Edghill said, “Over the years, I’ve been playing and doing everything as I said before,

FLASHBACK! Chelsea Edghill in action at the recent Olympic Qualifiers in Argentina

See page 29

Kashif Muhammad set to Rutherford quits Amazon Warriors for Patriots be new NSC Chairman KASHIF Muhammad is tipped to be the new Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), re l i a b l e s o u rc e s t o l d Chronicle Sport.

He’s no stranger to the sports fraternity, having hosted, for over two decades, the country’s most popular and lucrative football tournament, along with his partner, Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major.

Muhammad, a Medal of Service awardee for his part of the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation, will replace former NSC Chairman, Dr Kashif Muhammad

See page 29

All-rounder Sherfane Rutherford

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CMC) – St Kitts and Nevis Patriots have acquired

the services of enigmatic all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford for the upcoming

Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season.

The 22-year-old Rutherford, who has featured for Guyana Amazon Warriors for the last three seasons, is one of two new faces at the franchise with veteran all-rounder Dwayne Bravo announcing his arrival last month.

Considered one of the brightest prospects for West Indies in the shortest format, Rutherford played the last of See page 29

Olympics will go ahead even under a state of emergency - IOC THIS summer’s Olympics will go ahead even if Tokyo remains in a state of emergency, says International Olympic Committee

vice-president John Coates.

Japan’s capital is one of nine prefectures in the country under a state of emergency because of

the coronavirus pandemic. It will remain in place until May 31 at

See page 29

Pollard says Hetmyer should be playing all formats but needs to work harder

See page 35

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| Saturday, May 22, 2021