Guyana Chronicle E-Paper 25-10-2022

E-Networks to launch Guyana’s first 5G VoLTE Mobile Cellular Network

- US $35 million invested in new expansion

E-Networks has once again raised the bar for unsurpassed service, speed and technology by building Guyana’s first 5G VoLTE (‘Voice over LTE’) cellular network, firmly establishing itself as the leader in Guyana’s telecommunications in dustry.

According to a release, with an investment of

US$35 million, the new network built by USheadquartered compa ny, Mavenir, will deliver VoLTE, the latest innova tion in mobile telecommu nications. VoLTE allows users to make high-defi nition, secure voice calls.

E-Networks, the re lease noted, will shortly be releasing competitive ly-priced packages, with

increased data alloca tions and modern account management features.

Network commercial launch is planned for later this year, the company said.

The deployment of E-Networks 5G VoLTE network is a major mile stone for Guyana, made possible by the recent liberalisation of the tele

communications industry, which brought a 30-year monopoly to an end.

E-Networks is poised to deliver a world-class product on 4G and 5Genabled phones, including local and international voice calls, SMS, 4G and 5G data, and internation al roaming services.

leadership crisis could lead to no-show in

E-Networks CEO, Vishok Persaud

Scenes from the lighting of diyas in Georgetown on Monday night (Carl Croker photos)

BBC photo

Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton

SEE

Festival of Lights!

AS Hindus celebrated Diwali over the long weekend, scores of ex cited persons, on foot and in vehicles, came out to view the “light-up”, and were particularly pleased with the creativity that went into the decoration of houses.

On Monday night, the Guyana Chronicle visited several areas in George town and on the East Coast of Demerara, and what they found was that not only were buildings deco

rated with bright lights and diyas, but some residents had also decorated their pathways and walkways.

Shiv (only name giv en), of D. Singh Trad ing on Campbell Avenue, Campbellville, told this publication that they would usually “go big” for Diwali. Their building was a sight to behold, as it was beautifully decorated and well-lit.

Priya Mootoo, an East Coast Demerara (ECD) resident, said that it is tra

dition for them to light up diyas for Diwali, and bring persons together.

Guyanese are happy that they are once again able to celebrate Diwali in the same spectacular and large-scale manner as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Diwali means “a row of lights”, and is celebrated on the 15th day of the Hin du month of Kartik, known to be the darkest night of the year. It honours and adores Goddess Lakshmi,

who is considered to be the giver of health, wealth, and prosperity.

Diwali is a five-day celebration, with the first day being referred to as Dhanteras, or the “day of fortune”, while the second day is known as Naraka Chaturdasi, the “day of knowledge”. This is followed by the day of light, Annakut, which ushers in the New Year, and Bhai Dui, which brings a renewed love between brothers and

sisters.

The story of Diwali also speaks to the return of Lord Rama after 14 years of exile. Upon his return, he was welcomed with lit diyas that decorated his pathway home.

As thousands of Hindu brothers and sisters illu minated their homes and places of worship this year, they were not only remind ed of the aforementioned significance, but also that there is always light at the end of every dark tunnel.

As they continue to face their battles, they are reminded that positivity trumps negativity; that knowledge overpowers ignorance; and that in eve rything they do, their home must outshine the feeling of despair.

Although a Hindu re ligious holiday, Diwali remains a treasured part of Guyana’s religious and cultural heritage, and is celebrated heartily by Guyanese of all walks of life.

Scenes from Monday night’s Diwali ‘light-up’

E-Networks to launch Guyana’s first

VoLTE Mobile Cellular Network

million invested in new expansion

E-NETWORKS has, once again, raised the bar for unsurpassed service, speed, and technology by building Guyana’s first 5G VoLTE (“Voice over LTE”) cellular network, firmly establish ing itself as the leader in Guyana’s telecommunica tions industry.

According to a release, with an investment of US$35 million, the new network built by US-headquartered company, Mavenir, will de liver VoLTE, the latest inno vation in mobile telecommu nications. VoLTE allows us ers to make high-definition,

secure voice calls.

E-Networks, the release noted will shortly be releas ing competitively priced packages, with increased data allocations and modern ac count management features. E-Network’s commercial launch is planned for later this year, the company said.

The deployment of ENetworks 5G VoLTE net work is a major milestone for Guyana, made possible by the recent liberalisation of the telecommunications industry, which brought a 30-year mo nopoly to an end.

E-Networks is poised to

deliver a world class prod uct on 4G and 5G enabled phones, including local and international voice calls, SMS, 4G and 5G data, and international roaming ser vices.

Mobile service will be available across a large cov erage area built on E-Net works’ fiber backbone – the largest fiber backbone in Guyana.

To achieve its ambitious network vision, E-Networks partnered with Mavenir, the world’s only end-to-end cloud-native network soft ware provider, to offer a

Cloud-Native IMS and Busi ness Support Systems (BSS) platform, the release said.

“Mavenir’s microservic es-based approach enables E-Networks to quickly and easily design, create, and de liver modern digital experi ences at scale,” said Antonio Correa, Senior Regional VP at Mavenir.

“No traditional voice or billing solution provides such comprehensive and ready-to-deploy services. Through this partnership with Mavenir, E-Networks has built an unrivalled net work in Guyana.”

“We set out to build a well-tested, modern network that takes cellular services in Guyana to a new level - and we are happy to have accom plished this,” said Vishok Persaud, Chief Executive Of ficer (CEO) of E-Networks.

He added: “This network builds on our successes in the fixed wireless and fiberoptic markets, such as our best-in-class services, which are currently the fastest In ternet services available in Guyana.”

With this new network, Guyana is now on par with first-world countries in terms of mobile services, and Guy

anese from all walks of life can access affordable, highquality mobile services.

Persons will have access to faster speeds, allowing them to use modern apps and services that require high bandwidths for a quality user experience, the E-Networks release said, adding that the company is actively recruit ing new employees, agents, and top-up vendors for its mobile services.

In addition, the compa ny will soon publish special offers for new customers on new VoLTE compat ible phones, the release disclosed.

Essequibians celebrate Diwali, traditional style

THOUSANDS of Es sequibians, on Mon day evening, joined the rest of the country in celebrating the Hindu festival of Diwali, the Festival of Lights.

Families began light ing of their diyas as early as 18:00 hrs after conducting their Lak shmi puja. Rangolis and diyas adorn the entrance of the homes of most families.

According to Pandit Avinash Sharma, the es sence of the festival lies in its spirit, ‘Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya’, which

means “Lead me from darkness to light”— awareness of the ‘inner light’.

“It is this light that has the power to outshine darkness and clear all obstacles in life. It is this light that leads us from an inner state of inertia towards exuberance and awareness to lead a truly fulfilling life,” Sharma said.

A drive through vil lages revealed that per sons made extra efforts in lighting more diyas this year after the COVID-19 lock down. Housewives

were busy in the kitch en preparing sumptuous delicacies to be shared with friends and families. They also cleaned their homes days ahead of the festival as it is believed that the goddess enters a devotee’s home that is clean and has welcoming energies.

Prior to the cele bration of the festival, a series of activities were held by the Guy ana Hindu Dharmic Sabha in Essequibo, starting with Deep Jale and the motor cades.

E-Networks CEO, Vishok Persaud (left) and Senior Regional VP at Mavenir, Antonio Correa

Diyas brighten the environment of this house at Golden Fleece

‘We need stability and unity,’ says next UK PM

Rishi Sunak has issued a plea for unity in the face of a “profound economic chal lenge” after winning the race to be the next Prime Minister.

He won the Tory leader ship contest after rival Penny Mordaunt failed to secure enough backing from MPs.

In his first speech, Sunak said bringing his party and the UK together would be his “utmost priority”.

Sunak will become the UK’s first British Asian Prime Minister and the youngest for more than 200 years.

Sunak – a 42-year-old practising Hindu – is expect ed to take office on Tuesday after being formally appoint ed by the King.

He replaces Liz Truss, following her resignation just 45 days into her tumultuous

premiership last week.

After chairing her final Cabinet meeting at 09:00 BST, the outgoing Prime Minister will make a state ment outside No 10 before travelling to Buckingham Palace for her final audience with the King.

This will be followed by Sunak’s first audience with the monarch, during which he will be invited to form a government.

He will then travel to Downing Street to make a statement at about 11:35, before entering No 10.

President, Joe Biden has said he plans to call Sunak to “offer his congratulations” after his meeting with the King, the White House Press Secretary said.

Sunak takes office as the third Conservative Prime Minister since the party won

the last general election in 2019 – prompting Labour to lead calls for an early general election as a result.

In the speech – which took place behind closed doors – Sunak told them this was going to be a tough period and ruled out an ear ly general election, Simon Hoare said.

The former chancellor said the Conservative Party, trailing Labour in the polls by huge margins, was facing an “existential threat”, but could win the next election by uniting.

Later, in a TV address that lasted less than two min utes, Sunak promised to serve with “integrity” and thanked outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss for leading the country during “exceptionally dif ficult circumstances”.

“The United Kingdom is

a great country but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge,” he said. “We now need stability and unity and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together.”

Sunak’s coronation, in effect, as Tory leader caps a rapid political comeback by the former chancellor after he lost out to Truss in the last leadership contest during the summer.

Truss - whose tax-cutting agenda Sunak dismissed as “fairytale economics” tweeted to congratulate him and offer her “full support”.

Her successor will take office at a time of economic crisis and pressure on pub lic finances, exacerbated by Truss’s mini-budget, most of which has been scrapped.

Conservative Party

Chairman Jake Berry said it was time for the party to “unite four-square behind Rishi” after a period of in tense political turmoil under Truss’s premiership.

Sunak’s leadership rival Penny Mordaunt withdrew from the latest contest min utes before the result was announced, admitting it was “clear that colleagues feel we need certainty today”.

“This decision is an his toric one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party,” Mordaunt said. “Rishi has my full support.”

Mordaunt took the lead ership race to the wire, but came under pressure to unite behind Sunak after former Prime Minister Boris John son withdrew from the con test on Sunday.

Johnson – who resigned as Prime Minister only seven weeks ago – claimed he had enough support to stand but acknowledged now was “not the right time”.

Sources told the BBC that Sunak and Johnson met on Saturday as Tory MPs decided who to back in the second Tory leadership con test in four months.

Sunak was chancellor in Johnson’s government and within weeks of tak ing the role had to steer the UK economy through the COVID-19 pandemic.

But he quit as chancellor in July after the government was dogged by scandals, giv ing momentum to a Cabinet mutiny that forced Johnson from office.

First elected as an MP for the constituency of Rich mond in North Yorkshire in 2015, Sunak has experienced a meteoric rise to the apex of British politics.

Before becoming an MP, Sunak worked in finance and is thought to be one of the richest MPs.

But his family’s finances came under intense scrutiny earlier this year, when the tax affairs of his wife, Akshata Murty, were placed in the spotlight.

Opposition parties have been clamouring for a gen eral election, arguing that Sunak does not have a demo cratic mandate to become Prime Minister.

Sunak will be the fourth consecutive Prime Minister – after Theresa May, Johnson and Truss – to take the role of leader without a general election, although May and Johnson both won general elections as PMs in 2017 and 2019.

The next general election is not due to take place until January 2025 at the latest, after the Conservatives won a landslide majority in 2019.

Sunak is under no obliga tion to call an early election under the UK’s parliamentary political system.

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said Sunak had been crowned Prime Minister “without him say ing a single word about how he would run the country and without anyone having the chance to vote”.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said Tory MPs had “installed another outof-touch prime minister with no plan to repair the damage and without giving the Brit ish people a say”.

Scotland’s First Min ister Nicola Sturgeon said Sunak should call an early general election and must not “unleash another round of austerity”. (BBC)

UK next Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak with supporters

Minister Ramson engages residents of Victory Valley, Watooka

CULTURE, Youth and Sport Minister, Charles Ramson, on Monday, engaged residents of Vic tory Valley and Watooka, Linden, Region 10 dur ing a community out reach.

Speaking to residents at Victory Valley, the minister reiterated the need to build the country through leader ship at the governmental and grassroot levels.

“We believe it is impor tant for us to build this beau tiful country of ours. And we all want the same thing. We all want development. We all want progress, prosperity. And it is important too, that for all of you to appreciate

that for that development, progress and prosperity to happen, that leadership is important. Leadership com ing from the government side, and leadership com ing from the community side,” he said.

He praised the leader ship of the community for leading ‘in the right direc tion’, stating that they have aligned themselves with the objectives outlined by the PPP/C Government in furthering the ‘One Guyana’ agenda.

“There are many people who told me that I shouldn’t have come to Victory Valley. They said that I wouldn’t be welcomed here. But this

reception here today has proven all the people who want to sow seeds of discord and disunity in this country, it has proven them wrong.”

The minister also en gaged members of the Re gion 10 Tourism Committee to lend support to the pro jects they have proposed for the town, in observance of Tourism Awareness Month 2022.

The PPP/C administra tion continues to engage residents across the length and breadth of Guyana, in order to ensure that each Guyanese benefits from the government’s trans formative developmental agenda. (DPI)

Mechanism for appointment of Chancellor, Chief Justice to be examined during national consultation -

ATTORNEY-General and Minister of Legal Affairs

Anil Nandlall, SC, has said that Guyana could examine the mechanism used to appoint a Chan cellor of the Judiciary and Chief Justice in the upcoming countrywide consultation process for constitutional reform.

Government will soon embark on a widespread constitutional reform pro cess as it seeks to upgrade archaic pieces of legisla tion embedded in Guyana’s Constitution, a commit ment made in the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C)’s 2020 Manifesto.

One of the issues the government is hoping to remedy is the longstanding deadlock between any one sitting government and the Opposition over the ap pointments of a Chancellor and a Chief Justice.

Addressing a virtual panel on ‘Constitutional Reform and the Republic: The Judicial Selection Pro cess in the Context of Ad ministration of Justice and Democratic Strengthening’ on Sunday, the Attorney-

General said Guyana has the extreme position where the appointments of the Chancellor and Chief jus tice must be made by the head of the Executive and the Leader of the Opposi tion. However, the system has not been working.

He is hopeful that the ‘political directorate’ would find a consensus mecha nism, going forward.

“Hopefully, one of the provisions which will be microscopically examined in this process is the very Article that speaks to the appointment of a Chancel lor and a Chief Justice,

[and], hopefully, we will get recommendations emanat ing out of the process which will find political consen sus, because, you know, you require two-thirds majority

to change these provisions in the Constitution,” the AG said.

Guyana has been with out a substantive Chief Jus tice and Chancellor for over two decades.

Before her ascension to the Caribbean Court of Jus tice (CCJ) in 2005, Justice Desiree Bernard was the last confirmed Chancellor of the Judiciary, and Justice Carl Singh the last Chief Justice.

“Unfortunately, the re ality has been that we have never been able to appoint a Chancellor or a Chief Jus tice substantively to those offices, because we have never been able to secure an agreement between the President and the Leader of

Attorney-General

the Opposition,” the Attor ney-General relayed.

Justices Yonette Cum mings-Edwards and Roxane George were appointed in 2017 to act in the capacity of Chancellor and Chief Justice, respectively, by former President, David Granger.

Guyana is moving headon with constitutional re form.

In August, the govern

ment presented the Con stitutional Reform Com mission Bill 2022 to the National Assembly, an Act seeking to establish a Con stitutional Reform Com mission.

The Commission will be responsible for the re vision of the Constitution to provide for the current and future rights, duties, liabilities, and obligations of Guyanese. (DPI)

Culture, Youth and Sport Minister, Charles Ramson, engaging members of the Region 10 Tourism Committee on Monday (DPI photo)

Attorney-General

Anil Nandlall, SC

Haiti

WHEN any member state of CARICOM experienc es internal events which threaten social order and sully good governance, the community responds collectively and methodi cally. The situation with Haiti has been no differ ent.

Regrettably, there has been a number of positions made across social media which criticise CARICOM for what is felt is the inter governmental organisation’s perceived lax approach to the ongoing crisis in one of its member states. Much of the attention has now been placed on the request for armed support from the gov ernment of Prime Minister Ariel Henry to arrest the

worsening security situation, and clamp down on the rising control gangs have exerted over critical infrastructure.

The crux of the matter regarding CARICOM’s re sponse, however, is that the bloc takes non-intervention and non-interference ap proaches. It can be a tough pill to swallow for those outside of the decision room that the sovereignty of every member state is essential. As a matter of principle, sup port, in this case for Haiti, must be requested by a mem ber state in need before that support can be given.

But how did we get to this point? It’s safe to say that no person alive now has a lived memory of Haiti in peace. From the turn of the

20th Century, Haiti has seen its fair share of internal con flicts. CARICOM, whether through intergovernmental or regional citizens’ actions, has always been at the forefront of advocating for the stability of that country, recognising some of the unspoken forces which maintain the status quo, and working to strike a balance among many com peting interests, seen and unseen.

In the country itself, Haitians had hoped that the leadership of Jean BertrandAristide in the 1990s would bring much-needed stability to the country following the ‘Papa Doc’ and ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier regimes.

When global powers threatened to have Haiti dis

missed from the Organi sation of American States (OAS) in 2000 following concerns about its democ racy, CARICOM responded by working with Haitian authorities to preserve the integrity of its election. The Haiti government, however, chose another course of ac tion against the advice of a special delegation from the regional bloc.

CARICOM’s Chairman reported at the time that “there were no changes in Haiti’s position, and the Gov ernment of Haiti proceeded with the second round of elections as planned.

“The Caribbean Commu nity is fully cognisant of the historical challenges which confront Haiti in its efforts to encourage and build a demo cratic culture. CARICOM is not, however, convinced that sufficient efforts are be ing made to surmount these challenges.

“CARICOM is, neverthe less, determined to remain engaged with the fraternal people of Haiti, and to con tinue to offer its support to

that country in the effort to build democracy and demo cratic institutions.”

Much of that instabil ity continued throughout the following years. CARI COM kept abreast of every event, and responded in kind, however it could. There is not enough room now to document, step-by-step, how the regional bloc dealt with each event in Haiti. It is easy, however, as has been the case for decades, to fall into the trap of perceiving CARICOM as being uncon cerned, without considering the broader context in which these smaller, yet significant, events exist.

Regional leaders find themselves, again, in that position, following the as sassination of Prime Minister Jovenel Moise last year, of placing Haiti’s stability high on the agenda for their annu al meetings. Following that incident, the Heads of Gov ernment recalled that, “In accordance with its values, as expressed in its Charter of Civil Society, the Caribbean Community does not settle

its differences by violence, which undermines democ racy and the rule of law, but peacefully, through dialogue and recourse to democratic institutions.

“In light of Haiti’s Mem bership of CARICOM, and the family ties that bind the people of Haiti and CARI COM together, CARICOM expresses its willingness to play a lead role in facilitat ing a process of national dialogue and negotiation to help the Haitian people and their institutions to craft an indigenous solution to the crisis.”

CARICOM’s olive branch to Haiti continued, as noted in multiple state ments, throughout 2022. President, Dr. Irfaan Ali has also done his part to in form the nation when these meetings are being held, a necessary step, considering the tsunami of unfounded sentiments which paint an inaccurate image that Haiti has been abandoned by her regional sisters. Haiti has not been left behind by her sisters.

APNU deceitfully crying foul

Dear Editor, SUDDENLY, the PNC is ‘re jecting’ the PPP’s Electoral Reform process, and, true to its nature, is crying foul. In a press statement released on 17th May, 2022, the party stated that the ‘nation’ has rejected the amendment to the Representation of the People’s Act and the public consultations on electoral reform. It claimed that ‘it fails to address key systemic and structural flaws and weaknesses in our electoral

system’. The APNU con tends that ‘it totally avoids any consideration of major constitutional, statutory, administrative, operational and technological reforms’.

The ruling PPP has aptly described the claims made by the APNU as ‘wild, unsubstan tiated and duplicitous’.

What if the ‘Coalition’ had successfully rigged the 2020 Elections, would they have addressed the ‘flaws’ in the Electoral system?

The APNU is now calling

Correction and apology

IN our October 24, 2022 edition of the paper, a sto ry with an erroneous and insensitive headline was published on Page 21. The error was unfortunate, but inadvertent. The headline should have read, “Diwali:

The celebration of Light over Darkness”. The Guy ana Chronicle thanks its readership for bringing this matter to its attention, and sincerely apologises for any inconvenience or un ease it might have caused.

for ‘a clean voters list’. Let me transport Mr. Norton back in time. In March 2015, the then Opposition leader David Granger claimed that the vot ers list was ‘dirty and bloated’, and urged his supporters to be vigilant on Polling Day. The then PPP’s General Secretary Mr. Clement Rohee had asked Mr Granger ‘to come clean on true intentions, and desist from making statements that could do harm to the integrity of the elections processes’.

Mr. Rohee further challenged that, ‘rather than hiding under the fig leaf of broad statements and hasty generalisations, Granger ought to come clean and be specific as to exactly what his concerns are regard ing the authenticity of the list’.

But Granger was cunningly laying the foundation to create doubt, mischief, conflicts and controversies in the minds of his supporters, should they lose the 2015 Elections. He had vowed then that if the

‘Coalition’ was voted into Office on May 11th 2015, it will overhaul the voters list. Unfortunately, by peddling lies and making fake promises, they won. The ‘Coalition’ went to office, but was this promise kept? The PPP is keeping its promise to embark on mean ingful electoral reforms.

The APNU, in its Press Statement on 17th May, stated that, ‘Results must accurately reflect the will of those who voted, and every step of the election process must win the trust and confidence of the public, participating parties, and other relevant’. Having tried for five long months to rig the 2020 Elections and thwart the will of the People of Guyana, the PNC suddenly realised that election results must reflect the will of the voters.

What did the Returning Officer for Region Four do? He pulled numbers from a bag, and gave the ‘Coalition’ victory

by 15,000 votes. How come the PNC’s General-Secretary’s sig nature appeared on the SoPs?

Thankfully, they are before the Court, facing charges of elec toral fraud. Such barefacedness!

Imagine the ballot boxes had to be guarded against tampering and disappearing, which the PNC is competent enough to make happen.

The PNC wants the election process to ‘win the trust and confidence’ of all stakeholders, but what did they contribute towards achieving this goal?

They illegally appointed the Chairman of GECOM, blatantly flouted the Constitution, en sured that GECOM was filled with their supporters to rig the process, made a mockery of the judicial system and our laws by making spurious claims, and embarked on a spending spree of taxpayers’ dollars, in an ef fort to remain illegally in office.

One could recall the numerous months of litigation to prove whether or not 33 is the major

ity of 65. Fortunately, the legal system worked.

The electoral reforms seek to correct all the ambiguities and deficiencies which the ‘Coalition’ sought to under mine the results of an election which was free and fair, and consultations are underway. The Attorney-General’s state ment reflects what the elec toral reforms will address. He stated that, ‘Whatever weak nesses were in the law, they were exploited to their hilt. Wherever there was discretion, it was abused. Wherever there was latitude; interpretative lat itude, it was vulgarised. Wher ever there was an opportunity to bend the law to the repulsive end, it was exploited’.

Come on, Mr. Norton, are you afraid to face the polls? Let the public hear about the APNU’s ‘achieve ments’ when they were in office!

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

Poor quality on and off the field

By Orin Gordon

I FEAR that the dispiriting experience of captaining a side that consistently loses matches will break Nicholas Pooran, the young captain of the West Indies short-form cricket teams.

Let’s leave aside WI’s ODI record, which is a special kind of awful. Pooran has won four and lost 10 T20 matches since becoming captain.

His side hit the bottom in their panic-stricken ca pitulation to Scotland, and got hammered off the park by Ireland – two noted pow erhouses of global cricket.

From T20 world cup winners in 2016 to not even qualify ing for the tournament in 2022. That’s a big fall. And it stings.

The joy and shotmaking spontaneity seem to have left Pooran’s cricket. His highest score in his last 12 T20 Inter national innings was 18. He averaged a shade above 10 runs per innings in that time. It feels at the moment as if the job is consuming him.

I can accurately pre-script what the young skipper will

say after every post-match interview. The bowlers came to the party but the batters didn’t. It’s the regular of fering.

Let’s be clear about what Pooran is; a fabulous 20-overs talent. You need to see him batting live rather than on TV. His six-hitting timing is special. Sunrisers Hyderabad of the Indian Premier League paid him more than US$ 1.2 million last year for a reason.

West Indies white ball sides need to break the cy cle of losing, for his sake and ours. If you’re reading this hoping to see suggested fixes, you’ve come to the wrong place. I’ll leave it to the cricket experts to weigh in on that. What I will say is that if accountability is work ing as it should, coach Phil Simmons and his staff should offer their resignations today.

I’ve taken part in so cial media discussions with cricket-savvy people who pointed out – correctly – that the problems with West In dies cricket are deeper-seated and longer running than any individual coach can fix. He can’t go out there and bat

for the batters, the argument goes. He can’t do anything about a batter swiping across the line of a straight ball on the stumps, and missing.

That’s a weak argument, whether one is talking about a struggling manager/head coach in English Premier League Football, or the head coach in West Indies cricket. That’s not how account ability works. Someone has to take responsibility for success, failure, under-prep aration or incompetence.

And in competitive team sport, the buck stops with the team management, of which the head coach is at

the apex. Simmons ought not to survive two world cup disasters in two years. He should take a page out of Liz Truss’ book.

And let’s not minimise preparation disruptions such as Shimron Hetmyer’s lastminute drama in not being able to get to the airport for a flight out of Guyana that he had asked to be rescheduled. Hetmyer was a key piece in the T20 team. He had made the highest individual score – 81 not out against Sri Lanka – in the World Cup in the Middle East the previous year.

His continued self-ab sorption was too much for Cricket West Indies on this occasion, and he was cor rectly removed from the team. Hetty, 26, on Decem ber 26, acts like 25 going on 17. He needs to grow up, and get his head in the game. His average scores do not suggest it (yet?), but he is a prodigious talent… six-hit ting allied with the ability to see the ball early, and work it around. And despite his excessive poundage, he’s a pretty smart runner between the wickets and mover in the

outfield. His road back looks a long one, but he’s got time on his side.

No so, players like Evin Lewis, who looked a shadow of the dominating batter we know he could be. Kyle Mayers and Pooran picked a bad time to lose form.

Shemarh Brooks – the re placement for the sacked Hetmyer – barely had time to unpack his suitcase before being thrust into serious competition.

Our cricket is suffused with poor quality. In ex ecution, and in preparation. And increasingly, that poor quality is being vocalised in the commentary box. One of the West Indians calling the play at the world cup does not know the difference between “incredible” and “incredulous”, and confuses effort with “desperation”. He says “phenomenal” a lot. Try this… have a shot of your favourite tipple every time he says “phenomenal”. You’ll be flat on your back in two hours.

And he doesn’t seem to understand the value of silences on television, prat tling on and on. One time a

batter got hit, and was being attended to on the field by the medical staff. “He’s gri macing”, our commentator helpfully announced. We can see that, Sherlock Holmes.

It’s all frustrating to watch and to listen to, for more reasons than one. Live action broadcasting is hard, and one hesitates to biff a fellow pro. But if a batter should have the self-aware ness to go in the nets or seek the advice of an old pro, an ex-player – even an accom plished one – should seek out an old broadcast pro to help to sharpen his game.

Broadcasting is a totally different ballgame. On the field or in the booth, you don’t simply turn up and ex pect to perform at a high lev el. You practise, you prepare, and you respect the craft and the conditions. Caribbean fans need to see and hear an all-round injection of quality.

The author is a media consultant, at oringordon.com

This column was sub mitted before Phil Sim mons announced late yesterday that he’s step ping down as West Indies coach

Diwali among diaspora in NY, Trinidad and Guyana

By Vishnu Bisram

DIWALI was celebrated by members of the Guya nese diaspora as well as by Hindus at home. Public celebrations were organ ised and or patronised by Guyanese in Queens, Man hattan, Trinidad, and other parts of the USA as well as in Canada and other loca tions.

In October 2022, this writer participated in Di wali celebrations in New York City, Trinidad, and Guyana. There are Diwali and other forms of accul turation across vast areas of America, especially in New York, New Jersey, Florida, and elsewhere, thanks to the culture brought to the USA by Guyanese and others. Hindus, including Guyanese, are one of the fastest grow ing minority populations in the United States, num bering over three million. Guyanese have planted their culture in the USA as they have also done in Canada and UK. Hindus, including Guyanese, have the highest income group in the USA, with family incomes exceed ing US$100,000 annually and they also have highest

educational achievements of all ethnic groups. Politicians court them for campaign donations and votes. Thus, politicians host Diwali cel ebrations all over the country to court and woo them and Guyanese are in the thick of the celebrations in various parts of the USA.

Diwali celebrations in NY were held at South Street Seaport by nationals from In dia and included participants from the diaspora. Hundreds of Guyanese patronised the annual South Street celebra tions that included various activities, food festival, dig nified cultural variety Bolly wood style concert, arts and crafts, a dinner for special invitees and officials, and fireworks. This annual down town Manhattan celebration has been ongoing for some 30 years.

Diwali celebration was also held in Times Square, organised by nationals from India, attracting tens of thou sands of patrons including hundreds of Guyanese. There was a Diwali celebration held at the same time in Rich mond Hill, Queens, attracting thousands. The celebrations brought diverse people to gether, similar to those in

Guyana. But unlike celebra tions in Manhattan, there were no traditional lights as celebrations in Queens an in Guyana, Trinidad, and Suriname. There was more spiritual attachment to the celebrations by Guyanese in Queens and at the Diwali Nagar and at home.

The Trinidad Diwali Na gar started on October 15 and concluded on October 23. Prior to that, there was a

nine nights Ramayana Yagya which this writer attended for a night. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Guyanese pat ronised the nightly lit Diwali Nagar in Central Trinidad at the NCIC headquarters.

Traditional deyas were lit up all over the compound along side brilliantly illuminated multi-coloured electronic lightings. Lit deyas were also positioned on flexible designs of bamboos. It was a

spectacular display of lights, not seen anywhere else. In Trinidad, government of fices, the President and the Prime Minister, as well as MPs and Ministers of gov ernment hosted Diwali cel ebrations in their offices or in their constituencies. The Op position Leader hosted cel ebration in her office and also patronised the Nagar which was also visited by several Ministers of Government.

Also, workplaces across Trinidad were the scenes of celebrations with lit deyas and electronic lights. Staff of different ethnicities were dressed in traditional In dian or Hindu attire. The airport (at Piarco) was well festooned with appropriate Diwali festival decorations. In Trinidad, government and private buildings had their lobbies decorated with bright lights and hanging orna ments. There were Diwali skits at the airports and at state offices similar to that at Timehri.

In Guyana, the Diwa li motorcade on the West Coast and East Coast and in Georgetown brought out thousands on onlookers who cheered the floats. They were impressive sites to behold, far more beautiful and crea tive with magnificent light ing – far more attractive than the motorcades in New York and the concert celebrations in Manhattan or the Nagar in Trinidad. Commendations go out to the Dharmic Sab ha and all others who or ganised the motorcades in Guyana and who planned celebrations to lighten up the country during this period.

A float at the Diwali motorcade in Guyana on Sunday (Carl Croker photo)

Orin Gordon

Providing leadership to young boys and men

— activists hail President’s announcement of ‘1,000 Men’ initiative as ‘much-needed’

By Tamica Garnett

BOYS and young men have unique psy chosocial needs that very often get pushed to the back burner in the multitude of existing and developing socio economic matters, and, for this reason, many activists are describing President, Dr. Irfaan Ali’s recent announce ment of his “1,000 Men” initiative as timely and critical.

President Ali had re cently announced that his government is working on a programme that will be headed by himself that is aimed at bringing together some 1,000 men from across Guyana to address the problems fac ing boys and young men.

Under the programme, some 1,000 men, includ ing senior officers of the Joint Services, religious and business leaders, entertainers, sportsmen and community workers, among others, will be deployed all across this country, targetting the eradication of violence across society, through making men and boys

good and responsible cit izens within society.

“The timing is good for something like this; we need something that targets men. It’s some thing important that needs to happen in Guyana right now,” stated Dimitri Nicholson, Executive Di rector of Youth Challenge Guyana (YCG).

“Young men and boys

face many different kinds of challenges that are not necessarily addressed because of culture, that’s why targetting men and boys is very important. If we help young men and boys to manage them selves better, we will end up with less crime, less difficulties in the homes, less broken families and so on. Often these issues are neglected by men be cause they’ve never been taught how to deal with them. They don’t have that many role models to see good families and good family values, so they behave in ways that are unacceptable to so ciety.”

Gender-based vio lence is an issue in Guy ana, particularly in the case of domestic abuse against women. Over crowding in many of the country’s penitentiaries due to the rate at which men are being arrested for crimes is also an issue.

This is believed to have some link to the upbringing of young boys in Guyana, particularly in the case where they are brought up in single-par ent homes with little or no supervision.

YCG is a NGO that works to enhance the lives of youth through health, education, life skills and livelihood. The organisation does much

work with trying to build good behavioural skills in young men and boys.

“Through our work, we know that there’s a greater degree of support needed for young men and boys in our commu nities. Young men are af fected by violence in two ways: they’re perpetrators of violence and they can be victims of violence. So something like this is really, really good for the development of young men and boys in Guy ana,” Nicholson shared.

MUCH-NEEDED

Disability activist and Programme Coordinator at Guyana Council of Organisations for Per sons with Disabilities (GCOPD), Ganesh Singh, described the programme as “much-needed”, noting that too often young men and boys are left without proper mentors to steer them onto the right path in life.

“It’s a programme that will provide much-need ed mentorship. We are in a society where a lot of our young men and boys idolise the wrong per sons, so having leaders within the community that are of good stature, who are of some level of importance and success, it will be an inspiration and motivation to young men who sometimes go astray without the nec essary guidance,” said Singh.

He added: “It will have a big impact because too often young men are not being meaningfully engaged with their ca pabilities. Many of them would revert to drugs and anti-social behaviour, and something like this would definitely put them on the right track so it will have

long-term positive effect on our society.”

In this regard, he is hopeful that when the specifics of the initia tive are ironed out, there will be involvement of persons from the disabil ity community, as he be lieved the inspirational stories from PWDs fit with the kind of motiva tion that young men and boys need.

Singh said the Presi dent must be commended for seeing the need to implement such an ini tiative and leading from the front by heading the programme.

Headteacher of the West Demerara Second ary School, Harry Narine, is also looking forward to seeing the realisation of the President’s initiative. He hopes that it will in clude a component that specifically targets the young boys in schools.

“I think gradually the President should see a need to broaden the hori zon to have programmes in the school system, es pecially programmes in volving technical work so that we can develop the skills of the young men. I hope that this whole idea will stretch itself to schools and other insti tutions where there are young men— the Guyana Defence Force, Guyana Police Force, and all other major government organ isations in Guyana,” the headteacher expressed.

Narine is hoping that the programme will bring about a level of awareness of the issues facing young men and boys and give them a level of empowerment that they need in order to make better choices and better face the var ious issues in society.

GCOPD Programme Coordinator, Ganesh Singh

West Demerara Secondary School Headteacher, Harry Narine

YCG Executive Director, Dimitri Nicholson

APNU+AFC leadership crisis could lead to no-show in LGEs

-PPP/C signals readiness to compete at all communities

CLINGING to what has been deemed as frivo lous claims regarding the Official List of Electors (OLE), the A Partner ship for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) might be leaving their respective support bases unrepre sented in local govern ment as both groups have yet to decide if they will contest the March 2023 Local Government Elec tions.

Last Friday, during a press conference of the Al liance For Change (AFC), that party’s leader Khem raj Ramjattan addressed a position made by one of the party’s leaders, Cathy Hughes, in a media report which suggested that the AFC would not contest the upcoming LGE.

Ramjattan countered Hughes’ statements to the media saying that his party’s national executive body has the final decision on whether the party will contest the local govern ment polls.

“I rather suspect that Cathy was speaking per sonally. Cathy feels strong ly that we must not go into the elections,” Ramjattan said in response to ques tions posed by a journalist on the flip-flopping of the AFC on its involvement in Local Government Elec tions.

STILL TO BE MADE

Questioned on whether it has the finances and the voter support to contest the election, Ramjattan said that determination is still to be made.

Questioned again about what are some of the fac tors that would influence his party’s contesting of local government polls, Ramjattan dodged the question, noting his party would “keep that confi dential”.

The A Partnership for National Unity has also been mum on its LGEs participation. Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, who is also Leader of the

People’s National Con gress/Reform (PNC/R) and Chairman of the A Partner ship for National Unity (APNU), dodged questions from the media on whether the APNU will contest the local government polls.

The APNU and the AFC have contested pre vious local government elections separately, al though contesting national and regional elections as a coalition. Even at the regional level, however, tensions brew between the two sides on the selection of Chairpersons and ViceChairpersons for regional bodies.The APNU over the past two years has been weakened by resignations of party members and infighting.

Opposition Leader Nor ton told the media at a recent press conference that “the question of elec tions have [sic] to do with strategy and tactics and we think strategically we don’t need to say it at this time.

“We know what we need to say to our mem bership. We know we have to do our preparation. We would do that but we will decide what we say at the right time in terms of par ticipation or non-partici pation”.

Meanwhile, President, Dr Irfaan Ali, following the announcement of LGEs, called “on all Guyanese to work in renewing efforts to building the local govern ance system, building and strengthening our com munities, especially our townships.”

MISMANAGEMENT

The President had rec ognised that “for long, we have seen what misman agement could do in town ships, in some areas.”

As in the case of the Georgetown City Council, citizens of Guyana are left now with a series of rust ing parking meters spread across the capital; remnants of terrible decision-making at the local level by the APNU-dominated council which still threatens to

leave Guyana with a large legal bill since the contract for the parking meters was abruptly brought to an end under the APNU+AFC Government, sparking a legal battle with the com pany contracted to deliver the parking meters.

As it relates to the de velopment of local govern ment, Central Government is considering the devolu tion of power to the local democratic organs, and also the possibility of pro viding those bodies with larger budgets, Vice-Presi dent, Bharrat Jagdeo, noted during a recent interview, and added that administra tive staff would have to be trained further on how to properly manage finances.

It remains unclear what the next steps of the APNU and AFC are, causing much speculation that the parties fear their support bases will not endorse them on the March 2023 ballot.

GECOM Commission er, Clement Rohee, has a different view on the elec tors’ list smokescreen from the opposition parties.

Through his social me dia recently, Rohee ques tioned the motives of the APNU+AFC since it had first shirked the opportu nity to attend a forum at the Arthur Chung Confer ence Centre (ACCC) which would discuss the draft amendments to Guyana’s electoral laws.

That forum will be held today. Following public pressure, the APNU+AFC quickly changed its posi tion and named AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan, and PNC member Roysdale Forde, S.C. as representa tives of the party at that consultation.

Commenting on the tactics of the APNU+AFC, Commis sioner Rohee had said: “The APNU+AFC is ei ther living in a bubble of their own making or in a surreal world. In both, they prance around in an effort to wipe away the shame and disgrace they

brought upon themselves and the nation when they attempted to perpetrate one of the most despic able and dastardly acts in modern electoral history and thwart the Guyanese people’s march towards democratic governance, economic and social pro gress and all-round hu man development.”

Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton AFC Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan

US: Three dead, seven injured after school shooting

At least three people, including the suspect, have died and seven others are injured af ter a shooting at a high school in St Louis, Missouri.

The gunman en tered Central Visual & Performing Arts High School shortly after 09:00 local time (13:00 GMT) on Monday.

The doors of the school building were locked and it was not immediately clear how the suspect entered.

Witnesses say lives were saved after the

gunman’s weapon jammed mid-attack.

St Louis Public Schools say police “quickly stopped” the gunman.

The suspect, iden tified by police as a 19-year-old former stu dent, exchanged gunfire with police and later succumbed to his inju ries.

Neither his motive nor his connection to the school of about 400 students has yet been identified.

A teenage girl was pronounced dead inside

the school, while one woman died in hospital, police told local media.

The seven injured – three girls and four boys – all had non-lifethreatening injuries, ac cording to local media.

Students were run ning out of the school when officers arrived and said the attacker had a “long gun”, ac cording to the city’s police commissioner Michael Sack.

He said seven secu rity workers on site had acted quickly to notify other staff and contact police.

The gunman was found to be carrying hundreds of bullets that were sorted into nearly a dozen high-capacity magazines, Sack lat er said, adding: “This could have been much worse.”

“This is a heartbreaking day for all of us,” he said. FBI agents are assisting in the in vestigation.

First-year student Raven Terry told the KMOV local news sta tion the attacker had walked up to a friend and asked her: “You ready to die?”

“They said it was a student who was do ing the shooting,” Terry said of the police re sponse.

“We just ran real, real fast... and we were just crying, all shaken up about it.”

Taniya Gholston, 16, told the St Louis PostDispatch newspaper

that the gunman entered a classroom she was in and tried to shoot her.

“I was trying to run and I couldn’t run,” she claimed. “Me and him made eye contact but I made it out because his gun got jammed.”

She said she over heard the attacker say ing: “I’m tired of this damn school.”

Police said the gun man graduated last year from the school and had no history of criminal behaviour.

One of the victims was identified by family as health teacher Jean Kuczka.

Kuczka, 61, had taught at the school since 2008, according to an online biography, and was a grandmother of seven.

“My mom loved kids,” her daughter Ab igail Kuczka told the Post-Dispatch, adding that she died protecting her students.

Those injured are said to be suffering from gunshot wounds, shrapnel injuries and cardiac arrest.

“Our children shouldn’t have to ex perience this,” St Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones said at a news confer ence after the shooting.

“They shouldn’t have to go through ac tive shooter drills in case something hap pens. And unfortunately, that happened today.”

Data from the Edu cation Week outlet show there have been at least 35 school shootings, in which at least one person was killed or injured, so far this year.

Earlier on Monday, a teenager in Michi gan pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including terrorism and firstdegree murder, after a rampage at his high school last November. (BBC)

Family members console each other following the shooting

Hindu Guyanese-Americans celebrate Diwali

By Vishnu Bisram

DIWALI was celebrat ed with religious fer vour on Monday even ing by Hindu Guyanese and their Americanborn children and oth er descendants across the United States. In New York, the weather was unusually warm for a Fall day in late October, perfect for a Diwali celebration.

Families lit tradi tional diyas in front of their homes, businesses and around their yards

protected with creative covering. These were supplemented by bril liant multicoloured elec tronic lights around the exterior of their homes and businesses.

Rangoli designs and other Diwali para phernalia hang in front of houses. Fireworks and sparkling lights were seen all over Lit tle Guyana, Richmond Hill. Families invited guests, including nonGuyanese, for a full veg etarian dinner. Dinner included the full works

Families lit traditional diyas in front of their homes, businesses and around their yards

as in Guyana, such as pumpkin, bhajjie, alou, dhal, katahar, seime, Channa, dhal puri, kheer, mitai, philourie, bhara, sahena, rasmilai, among other goodies.

Many mandirs also held special services on the occasion of Diwali. There was singing and speeches by executives and special guests on the meaning of Diwali. Delicacies and a full dinner were served.

A family participating in puja

Scenes from Diwali celebrations at the LBI Ground on Sunday night

(Office of the President Photos)

‘Pesticide Board’ to zero in on lead poisoning - will start testing paint next year

AS Guyana joins the rest of the world in celebrat ing Pesticides Awareness Week 2022, from October 23 to October 29, the Pesti cides and Toxic Chemicals Control Board (PTCCB) will soon be looking to regulate the use of lead paint and eliminate the use of highly hazardous pesti cides (HHP).

In keeping with this year’s theme, ‘Pesticides are harmful to our health and the environment! Re

duce the use of highly hazardous pesticides’, PTCCB’s registrar, Trecia David, on Monday, told the Guyana Chronicle that the board will be hosting a series of awareness cam paigns and trainings.

“Lead in paint is also an issue that is becoming of global concern. Guy ana has been engaging with the international or ganisations who support chemical management in countries like ours and it’s

something that we have been building capacity on,” David said.

She noted that the aim is to inform both the rel evant industries and the general public about the harms excessive lead can cause.

“… what we want to do is start raising awareness in this week so that finally the industries and the pub lic can take note that lead poisoning is something that is real and it can cause

harm.”

She further noted that the board has begun the registration of paints and will, in the new year, con duct further monitoring and begin testing.

“Currently we are reg istering these paints. We are monitoring based on the certificate of composi tion and in the new year we are going to go the phase of testing to ensure that they adhere to the limit that should be there,” she said.

David disclosed that the board is also working to establish a regulated policy for the sale of dif ferent categories of paint.

“There are different categories of paint in Guy ana. For example, we have industrial paints being reg istered for import and sale and we are working now to quickly identify those companies and to put a policy in place,” she said, adding:

“…if industrial paint is meant for professional users, a consumer must not be able to walk off the road and pick up industrial paint off the shelf to take in their homes because those things have strictive users.”

Meanwhile, as it relates to the elimination of HHP, the PTCCB will be host ing several stakeholders’ meetings.

“A group that we will be targetting is industries, because industries have a key role to play. One of the things that we must look at when phasing out HHP, is that we must be able to have the replacement; oth er pesticides that are less toxic that farmers can have access to,” David said.

She hopes that these meetings will see Guyana coming in line with the global efforts being made with chemical manage ment.

“During the week, we are going to have a dia logue with industries. We are looking forward to bringing chemical import ers together and we are go ing to start raising aware

ness with them as to how they can be a part of the solution,” she said.

As it relates to farm ers, the board will also focus on informing them about the importance of the use of agro-chemicals and the negative impact it can have on their business, their personal health and that of others, if not used correctly.

“Additionally, we are doing awareness to farm ers. We have … farmers’ trainings. One target group also is the extension offic ers from the Ministry of Agriculture because they also provide key infor mation and guidance to farmers on the use of pes ticides,” David said.

She added: “The idea during the week is to raise as much awareness as pos sible. We are going to be on the television having a discussion on its theme and what it means. We are also going to be on the market to promote the reduction of HHP. Some of these products may be used in homes, in gardens, so, the awareness is to various stakeholder groups.”

While awareness plays a key role in the elimina tion of HHPs in Guyana, policymakers will do their part.

“But the main thing that has to happen be yond this week is the decision-making that has to happen between the policymakers and that is something at our end that we have to consider very strongly as well,” David said.

PTCCB’s registrar, Trecia David

Former AmCham President admitted to the bar

— promises to fight for citizens’ ‘freedoms’

By Clestine Juan

ZULFIKAR Ally has dedicated his life to serv ing the Guyanese people. In addition to being the Deputy Chief of Mission to the United States of America and the for mer President of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Guyana, he is an attor ney-at-law.

Ally, who was recently admitted to the local bar, pledged to ensure that the freedoms of citizens of “a democratic community” are properly protected.

Ally, who is also the former head of the Mul tilateral Financial Insti tutions Department at the Ministry of Finance, had his petition present ed last Friday by Attor ney-at-Law Davindra Kis soon before Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown High Court.

It was a sentimental moment for Ally when he addressed the court for the first time as an attorney.

Ally has a history of working in the interna tional affairs industry. He is knowledgeable about the operations of non profit organisations and financial institutions, par ticularly as it relates to or ganisational management, investments, and finance.

He graduated from the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen campus with a Bachelor of Laws degree.

Ally later commenced the two-year course of studies, assignments, ex aminations, and practical training for his Legal Ed ucation Certificate (LEC) at the Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) in Trini dad. He recently received his legal certification.

“Throughout my life, I have had the privilege of meeting but most impor tantly learning from a lot of people. I do not think that we sometimes look at how those persons, their actions and mere presence in our lives contributed towards our success. And

there have been endless, from teachers who do ev erything humanly possible to prepare you for the world, our bosses and col leagues, whose exemplary leadership provided that input to continue striving to be better,” he said.

He explained that throughout his career he met people who had opened his eyes to see “different perspective on issues of national impor tance” and thus becoming a lawyer was in someway fulfilling his service.

“I entered into this profession to contribute towards supporting the court as an officer in en suring that social justice is dispensed with [the] basic principles of fair ness [and] equality and [that] human rights are maintained and not tram pled upon. That the poor and those that are dis vantaged are afforded the opportunity of a hearing, and more importantly that democratic principles that we have embraced as a country continues to be observed,” he added.

Ally explained that as an officer of the court, he will shoulder a “heavy responsibility” to uphold and support the rule of law, and he pledged his commitment to ensure that the freedoms of citi zens are properly protect ed, regardless of which legal field he chooses to practice.

He added that he is

cognizant of the fact that the jurisprudence in Guy ana is undergoing a rapid transformation and will require legal skills of a magnitude that Guyanese are not accustomed to, but of which the legal fra ternity in Guyana is more than capable of meeting.

“I know the honor able Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs and his team are up to that challenge, and I support his passionate efforts of ensuring that Guyana has its own law school, since I have seen many col leagues and friends who are brilliant prospective lawyers not qualifying for an already highly com petitive top 25 to attain a legal certificate,” the attorney said.

Looking back at the years it took to reach this point, he told the court that he is an attorney to day due to the arduous work, sacrifice and perse verance of not only him self, but his family.

“My father, who is a firm believer in education and who has through out my life believed even when I had doubts of my potential to succeed in whatever I set out to do. My late mother [was] also an educator whose up bringing has molded me into what I am today. My sister, who I believe is the first in the extended family to have entered this noble profession and to signal how rewarding

but also how possible it is to make it a reality,” he added.

Justice Sewnarine-Be harry welcomed Ally to the bar and urged him to commit to the hard work that success entails and to commit to conducting

thorough research to serve his clients and the citizens of this nation.

Among those who witnessed his admission to the bar were Minster of Finance, Ashni Singh; US Ambassador to Guy ana, Sarah-Ann Lynch

and former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran. Al ly’s family members, including his sister, Magistrate Zamilla Al ly-Seepaul, were also presented at his bar call.

Attorney-at-Law Zulfikar Ally addressing the court

Transforming agrifood systems through digital technologies

THE capacity and potential of digital technologies to help solve many complex problems in the agrifood systems came under the spotlight at a special event

of the World Food Forum’s Sci ence and Innovation Forum.

The Digitalisation of Agri food Systems event hosted last Friday by the Food and Agricul

ture Organisation of the Unit ed Nations (FAO) at its Rome headquarters, explored the digital capabilities and opportunities to usher transformational impact for

vulnerable populations in bridging the rural divide and empowering youth and women to access infor mation, technology, and markets.

Through an emphasis on sci ence, technology and innovation, the event offered a platform to spark discussions and showcase concrete examples of digital tech nologies that are accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the FAO Four Betters: better pro duction, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, while leaving no one behind.

Data-driven agriculture prom ises opportunities of more ef ficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, positively affecting food markets and agricultural productivity to enhance food security.

Addressing the event, the FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, highlighted “the cen trality of science, technology and innovation for agrifood systems transformation globally”.

He further noted that “Digi talisation makes the business fit to the purpose, to the benefit of all. It enables trust-building be tween consumers and producers, and it empowers governments to undertake quality control through digital governance systems.” Finally, Qu added that, through the new Digital FAO, “all 194 members can access all informa tion online; all meetings are held virtually and can be accessed by capitals across the world. This is full transparency.”

Also in attendance were some Permanent Representatives from FAO’s 194 Member States as the event focused on the existing hunger crisis facing eight per cent of the world’s population through the means of digital agriculture.

FAO’s technical expertise and credibility as a knowledge and ev idence-based organisation enable it to translate the vision of digital agriculture into concrete action for members and promote policy agendas to address the digital gap and “massify” digital benefits.

TRANSFORMATION IN ACTION

The Digitalisation of Agri food Systems event brought to gether representatives from the Ethiopia Agricultural Transfor mation Agency (ATA), Uganda

Development Bank, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Cornell University to share their practices and outcomes in further supporting each other’s common agenda for enhancing agrifood systems through digital technologies.

Temesgen Gebeyehu, the director of digital agriculture of ATA, shared a solution that was introduced in Ethiopia, a “call-in automated helpline for famers which can be accessed in six languages” to provide agricultural advice or COVID-19 information. The hotline system is also able to use farmers’ personal data and “send out warnings informing them about crop diseases and pest infestations”.

The Uganda Development Bank is in the process of digitising loan appraisals by using a “cred it scoring algorithm” obtained from “farm data, household data and transaction history” to help farmers in rural communities with crop and livestock insurance, said Francis Mwesigye, UDB Chief Economist.

”Linking nuclear and digital techniques for enhancing the use and conservation of soil and water resources is key to enhance agri cultural productivity, resilience to climate change and remedia tion of environmental pollution,” said Gerd Dercon, Head of the Soil and Water Management and Crop Nutrition Laboratory, at the FAO/International Atomic Energy Agency Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agri culture, presenting examples of agency’s work. This includes us ing cosmic ray neutron sensor for soil moisture monitoring, linking cosmic ray neutron sensors and satellite imagery data and agri cultural water management with the AquaCrop productivity model.

More collaboration is now expected between FAO and IAEA to make long-term real-time soil moisture and relevant observation data available on FAO’s Hand-inHand Geospatial Platform, as well as on the GEO-AI challenge or benchmarking on soil moisture re mote sensing inversion using the UN OpenGIS GEO-AI platform.

FAO AND DIGITAL AGRICULTURE

FAO is championing trans

formational changes and digital has now been fully incorporated into the organisation’s Strategic Framework 2022-31, and is reflected in its day-to-day work, with the new Digital for Impact stream supporting policy-mak ing, providing key information and connecting various stake holders, but also providing dig ital tools to farmers -- all in the context of?accelerating?progress towards?the?SDGs.

At Friday’s event, FAO’s Chief Economist, Máximo To rero, cited examples of FAO’s digital projects such as the 1000 Digital Village Initiative which is helping to bring digital ser vices to rural communities en abling economic livelihoods and social cohesion. In making digital technologies more in clusive, it can support rural development and transform agri food systems in low and middle income countries. In particular, FAO Representative in Ecuador, Agustin Zimmerman, showcased the successful impact of this initiative in Latin America and Caribbean where, since 2021, 52 agrotourism projects, from 14 countries involved, participate with the aim of supporting and promoting digitalisation in rural tourism experiences that are linked with agrifood systems.

The FAO, together with the International Telecommu nication Union (ITU), has cre ated the E-Agriculture Strat egy Guide to assist countries in developing their national e-agriculture strategy. These strategies are helping to ra tionalise resources, generate new revenue streams and im prove rural livelihoods. In addition, FAO has developed applications, platforms and databases to increase access to useful information, maps and statistics such as the Digital Services Portfolio, presented at the event by FAO Repre sentative in Rwanda, Coum ba Sow, who highlighted the importance of bringing those products closer to the farmers in the field, as well as citing several examples of successful digitalisation initiatives in Af rica to facilitate information sharing and acquiring loans. (FAO)

FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, speaks at the Science and Innovation Forum: Digitalisation of AgriFood Systems (FAO photo)

Ann’s Grove woman dies one month after being set on fire by ‘abusive’ husband

DEAD: Sharon Scott

ONE month after 53-year-old Sharon Scott was burnt and chopped several times about her body by her reputed husband, she succumbed to her injuries.

She was, at the time, receiving treatment in the Burnt Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

Scott of Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara, was injured during a domestic dispute with her com mon-law husband, Leon Bobb, 57, on September 21.

Their 21-year-old son Seon Bobb was fatally chopped by his father during the altercation.

According to the po lice, on September 21, noise was heard com

ing from the couple’s residence. Shortly after, Sharon was seen running up the road, drenched in blood, with Bobb, cutlass in hand, in hot pursuit and urging her to get back in the house.

As she ran, sources say, Scott could be heard shouting, “Leon chop Seon!”

As word spread, the woman’s daughter and son-in-law reportedly rushed to her aid and took her to the GPHC.

She sustained several chop wounds about her body and suffered first degree burns.

Bobb consumed a poisonous substance af ter the attack. He died while receiving treat ment.

Pollard describes West Indies early exit as sad day

(ESPNCRICINFO) – KI

ERON POLLARD has de scribed West Indies' failure to make the Super 12s of the 2022 T20 World Cup as a "sad day" for Caribbean cricket. The former cap tain, who retired in April, said he was both surprised and disappointed at West Indies' exit and agreed that head coach Phil Sim mons will now come under pressure to keep his job. Pollard, however, stressed that the blame had to be shared by all stakeholders and not any individual.

"A bit surprised, to be honest that [West Indies] weren't able to get over the line against the other teams," he told i95.5fm, a Trini dad-based radio station last weekend. "But again, that speaks volumes of where our cricket is at the moment.

I feel it. I feel it for the guys because they are the ones that are going to get the bashing. And it's not all their fault."

Having already failed to secure direct entry into the Super 12s (permitted to the top eight-ranked teams at a pre-determined cut-off date as well as the hosts Aus tralia), Nicholas Pooran's team struggled badly in the first round, notching a soli tary win, against Zimbabwe, while losing to Scotland and Ireland which forced them out of the tournament.

The shocking exit invited derision both at home and abroad. Cricket West Indies president, Ricky Skerritt, issued a scathing statement saying a "post-mortem" would be carried out imme diately, while former Aus tralia captain Ricky Ponting described the team's perfor

mance as a "disgrace."

Pollard, though, was not interested in hauling up Pooran and his men. In stead he highlighted a wider point, especially on selec tions, which he said played a part in their dismal showing at the 2021 T20 World Cup as well, where he was the captain. West Indies crashed out of that competition with a solitary win alongside four defeats.

"We have a young cap tain, we have young players, guys who would have played only a handful of [matches in] T20 cricket and now they are in the World Cup," Pollard said. "And when I look back at it, I sit back and I have a smile on my face. Because I remember some of the things that were said last year around this time, when some individuals weren't

selected.

"I just had to remind these people that there was a World Cup we were going to [in 2021] and another bilat eral series [in New Zealand]. And now some of the indi viduals get the opportunity to play in the World Cup. And, again, look what has hap pened. It's no fault of theirs. But when we tried to sort of protect them and let people understand [in 2021], they were not ready for that, we were lambasted. There were a lot of things that were said that were very derogatory at times. It's a sad day for West Indies cricket and all of us."

Just like last year's World Cup, West Indies' selections became a big talking point. The Desmond Haynes-led panel named a 15-member squad that did not feature the two best T20 players in the

Caribbean: Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. At the time, Haynes explained this decision by saying Russell was not performing the way they would like and Narine appeared disinterested in playing for West Indies.

The CWI then dropped Shimron Hetmyer for failing to get on a rescheduled flight to Australia. Only two play ers, Pooran and Evin Lewis, were part of the original 15-member squads in both 2021 and 2022. Along with Rovman Powell, they were the only three with at least 50 T20Is under their belt.

Jason Holder has 49, and is a former captain and a World Cup winner. After that, West Indies were struggling for ex perienced campaigners. This was in contrast to the 2021 squad which featured Pol lard, Chris Gayle, Dwayne

Bravo, Russell and Lendl Simmons.

"Experience means a lot. And we take that for granted in the Caribbean," Pollard said. "[There] has been a notion over the years [that] as soon as you reach a cer tain age, you should be done away with. And when you have guys in the team, they want you to get out of the team or when the guys are not there, they understand the importance of the guys. And this is another situa tion of not having couple of experienced guys around to help the youngsters, to help the youth."

Haynes had pointed out that form in the 2022 CPL would play a key role in the World Cup squad selection. Pollard said that while that was fine, other parameters needed to be considered.

Alonso questions FIA after United States GP penalty

Fernando Alonso says a penalty he received in the United States Grand Prix raises questions about the direction of the sport under governing body the FIA.

A protest by Alonso's Alpine team against the de cision to demote him out of the points after he finished seventh in a damaged car will be heard on Thursday.

Alonso wrote on Insta gram: "It is an important day for the sport as this decision will dictate if we are going in the right direction."

Alonso said his post was in response to messages of support since the penalty.

He thanked those who had contacted him on social media, adding: "It's one of those rare times in sport that I feel we are all on the same page and share the same opinion towards rules and regulations."

Alonso said after the race that he considered his drive one of the best of his career, after he crashed at 180mph,

his car did a wheelie, hit a wall, he pitted for a new front wing, resumed at the back and climbed to seventh de spite damaged aerodynamic parts.

The two-time champi on has questioned the deci sion-making of officials on a number of occasions this year, and his frustrations about the inconsistency of policing of action on track are shared by the majority of his fellow drivers.

At the Spanish Grand Prix, he accused the FIA of "incompetence" and lacking knowledge of racing.

Criticism of the FIA's running of F1 has been a theme this year, and the US Grand Prix was the race after the governing body angered drivers by allowing a recov ery vehicle on track in condi tions of poor visibility during heavy rain.

Alpine's appeal will be heard at 18:00 Mexico City time (12:00 BST) on 27 Oc tober before this weekend's

Mexican Grand Prix.

The team have questioned the US GP stewards' decision to allow a protest by the Haas team despite it being posted after the permitted time limit had expired.

The stewards said in their decision to hand Alonso a 30-second penalty on Sunday that the Spaniard's car was in an unsafe condition because he drove it for some time

with a damaged wing mirror, and then without one when it fell off.

Haas pointed out their cars have previously been given the black-and-orange warning flag - demanding a car is pitted for repairs - on three occasions in similar situations this season.

At no point during the race were Alpine asked by officials to pit the car and re

move the mirror, despite calls from Haas to race control.

The stewards' ruling sug gests that any car missing a rear-view mirror after an in cident will be forced to retire in future.

There are also questions about the consistency of de

cision-making, after stewards rejected a similar protest by Haas against Sergio Perez's Red Bull.

Perez drove some laps with a damaged front wing, part of which then fell off the car while he was run ning.

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Rain spoils South Africa, Zimbabwe thriller

(ICC) – SOUTH AFRICA and Zimbabwe had to set tle for a point each as their Super 12 encounter at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart didn't yield any result, with rain causing frequent inter ruptions and delays.

At first, the match was reduced to nine overs per side due to frequent interruptions caused by rain. Even though it kept drizzling lightly, the match went on fine until the first over of the South African innings. Zimbabwe scored 79/4 in their nine overs and the Proteas were set a DLS target of 85 to chase down in their quota of nine overs initially, but that was reduced to 64 from seven overs after the interruption. South Africa kept cruising towards the tar get but the match couldn't re sume again when rain caused another interruption after the third over. Despite all the doom and gloom caused by rain, there were a couple of good things to talk about. So, let's have a look at them.

SOUTH AFRICA’S PACERS DESTROY ZIMBABWE TOP-ORDER

It was left-arm pacer Wayne Parnell who triggered

the collapse with Zimba bwe skipper Craig Ervine's wicket in the second over of the innings. But the real damage was done by Lungi Ngidi who got rid of Regis Chakabva and the in-form Sikandar Raza in the very

Bangladesh overcome Netherlands by nine wickets

(ICC) - BANGLADESH have got their ICC Men's T20 World Cup campaign underway in style by reg istering a hard-fought nine-run victory over the Netherlands in Hobart, on Monday.

You need to bowl very well when you are defend ing a score of just 144/8 and that is exactly what Ban gladesh produced as their quicks turned it on in style at Bellerive Oval.

Taskin Ahmed (4/25) set the tone when he removed Vikramjit Singh and Max O'Dowd with the first two balls of Netherlands' run chase on his way to career best figures and he was well supported by Hasan Mah mud (2/15).

Skipper Shakib Al Hasan (1/32) was relatively expensive during his four overs and a pair of run outs in the field made it a good

day for Bangladesh, as they got their tournament started with a victory.

Afif Hossain filled the void as star duo fail to fire Shakib and Litton Das are among Bangladesh's most experienced batters, but the pair combined for just 16 runs between them as the Netherlands produced a disciplined bowling effort.

It was left to Afif Hos sain to step up and the young left-hander produced the ‘goods’ with a quickfire 38 from just 27 deliveries to ensure his team was able to post a decent total.

It's a good sign for Ban gladesh that they can still prevail with smaller con tributions from Shakib and Das and they will be looking to build on this performance when they take on South Af rica in Sydney on Thursday.

Ackermann the shining light for the disappointing

Dutch Confidence was sky high for the Netherlands heading into the contest after a pair of good results during the First Round, but much of that good work was undone against Bangladesh.

Seamers Paul van Meekeren (2/21) and Bas de Leede (2/19) bowled well to pick up two wick ets apiece, while teenager Shariz Ahmad (1/27) got the big wicket of Shakib in his first appearance at the tournament.

The only batter who looked assured at the crease was Colin Ackermann, with the right-hander finding the middle of the bat on his way to a career best score of 62 from 48 balls.

It was an eye-catching knock and he will be keen to go big once again when the Netherlands face India at the SCG on Thursday.

next over, with just 12 runs on the board.

The situation became worse for Zimbabwe when David Miller sent Sean Wil liams back to the dug out with a superb run out.

WESLEY MADHE VERE LEADS ZIMBA BWE'S RECOVERY

Zimbabwe were staring down the barrel at 19/4 but Wesley Madhevere played a superb knock of an unbeaten 35 from just 18 deliveries to

help his team to a competitive total of 79/4. Madhevere add ed 60 runs for the fifth wicket with Milton Shumba, who supported him well with an individual contribution of 18 from 19 deliveries.

QUINTON DE KOCK GOES ON THE CHARGE

De Kock realised the necessity to press on the accelerator with rain-threat looming large and he started going on the charge from the very beginning as he smashed Tendai Chatara for 23 runs in the first over of the innings. He didn't stop there and continued playing his shots all around the ground. Even the interruptions caused by rain didn't break his rhythm as he looked in sub lime touch. Unfortunately, he had to stay stranded on an unbeaten 47 from 18 de liveries as the officials had to call off the match with South Africa needing just 13 runs in four overs.

Emery appointed Aston Villa boss

(BBC) - Aston Villa have appointed Unai Emery as manager following the sacking of Steven Gerrard.

Former Arsenal boss Em ery, who had been in charge of Spanish club Villarreal, will take over at Villa on 1 November.

Villa have paid a £5.2m buyout fee to Villarreal for the 50-year-old.

Caretaker Aaron Danks will again take charge at Newcastle this weekend, after Gerrard was dismissed last week following a 3-0 Premier League defeat by Fulham.

Emery, who would have been out of contract at Villar real next summer, will begin work next week "after his work permit formalities are completed," Villa said.

They added: "Aston Villa

is delighted to announce the appointment of Unai Emery as the club's new head coach.

"A highly experienced top level coach who has man aged over 900 games, Unai has also previously managed in the Premier League during a spell with Arsenal, leading the Gunners to a Europa League final.

"He has also enjoyed no table success at Sevilla and at Paris St-Germain. In Seville, he won three successive Eu ropa League titles between 2013 and 2016 before going on to lift a Ligue 1 champi onship in France as well as two French Cups, two French League Cups and two Tro phees des Champions."

Emery joined Villarre al in 2020 and led them to Europa League success in the 2020-21 season, beating

Manchester United in the final.

The Spanish club also reached last year's Cham pions League semi-finals under Emery, losing 5-2 to Liverpool on aggregate.

Emery's Villarreal ap pointment followed his sack ing after just 18 months as Arsenal manager in Novem ber 2019, after failing to win in seven games - the Gunners' worst run at the time since February 1992.

During his time in north London he took Arsenal to the Europa League final, los ing to Chelsea in 2019.

Villa beat Brentford 4-0 on Sunday under caretaker Danks - just their third win in 12 Premier League games this season - which left them 14th, three points above the relegation zone.

Rain spoils South Africa’s party

Slingerz FC topple Eagles 3-1 in NAMILCO/WDFA U17 League

Bell West moves up the ladder; Den Amstel, Uitvlugt play to draw

WANTING to emulate their senior team’s suc cess, Slingerz Football Club U17 side, facing Ea gles FC in the NAMIL CO National U17 League, West Demerara Football Association (WDFA) leg, earned a comfortable 3 –

1 win.

Playing at the National Track and Field Centre yes terday, Slingerz FC, backed by several players on the roster, with experience at the international level with the country’s National team, made the game easy

to chalk-up the first defeat for Eagles FC in the tour nament.

National Youth player, Matrim Martin had a double on the day, while Dominic Frank hit home the other for Slingerz FC.

Shaquille King scored

the lone goal for the league’s points leaders, who will remain at the top of the table after five games and four consecutive wins.

The win against Eagles was Slingerz FC’s second in the tournament and will however see them remain

ing in fourth place on six points (two wins, one de feat) from three matches, taking into account the re sults from the other two matches on the day.

Meanwhile, Bell West scored a comfortable 6-1 win over Pouderoyen FC and will move up the ladder though, having seven points from five matches; same as

the team they defeated.

Pouderoyen FC, reg istering two wins, a draw and two losses in their five matches, slipped to third place.

The other game on the day, Den Amstel versus Uitvlugt ended in a goal less draw and the two sides were awarded a point each.

Simmons to step down as West Indies head coach

CRICKET West Indies (CWI) announced, today, that Phil Simmons will be stepping down from his role as Head Coach of the West Indies Men’s team following the team’s exit from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup being played in Australia. His last assign ment will be the upcoming two-Test series against Australia from November 30 to December 12.

Simmons said: “I ac knowledge that it’s not just

the team that is hurting but the proud nations we repre sent as well. It’s disappoint ing and heart wrenching but we just didn’t turn up. We weren’t good enough and we now have to watch a tournament play-out without our involvement. It's unfath omable and for that I deeply apologise to our fans and followers.

“From a personal per spective this is not a knee jerk reaction, but a move I have been considering for

some time and now is the time to make public that I will step down as West In dies Head Coach at the end of the Test series against Australia. It is earlier than hoped for, but I will now fo cus my energies in Australia on continuing to build on the excellent progress the Test team has made. Of course, as the President has pointed out, we will also carry out the necessary review into our World Cup campaign.”

He added: “I must say

I have enjoyed aspects of the unique challenge that being West Indies Head Coach provides and the un wavering support of my Management Team. There remain some exceptional in dividuals within CWI who I firmly believe will continue to work in the best interests of West Indies cricket.”

CWI President Ricky Skerritt thanked Simmons for his service. Skerritt said: “On behalf of CWI I want to thank Phil for his hard

work and dedication to West Indies cricket, most recently in his role as Head Coach.

Phil is a proud West Indian, with high ideals and has never lacked motivation in guiding our younger players on and off the field of play.

He brought valuable experi ence and stability at a very important period of transfor mation, including the most challenging environment of the COVID-19 pandemic. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

Simmons was at the helm in 2016 when West Indies won their second ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title defeating En gland at the Eden Gar dens in Kolkata. Earlier this year he guided the team’s fortunes in their hard-fought 1-0 Test se ries win over England on home soil to capture the Richards-Botham Trophy and in June a Test series victory against Bangladesh in their last outing.

Slingerz FC goal scorers Matrim Martin and Dominic Frank

Slingerz FC U17 squad following their 3 – 1 win over Eagle FC

Simmons to step down as West Indies head coach

Pollard describes West Indies early exit as sad day

Indies bowed out

with

win in

round (AFP/Getty Images)

Phil Simmons will step down as West Indies head coach after the two-test tour to Australia