29th August, 2022 MONDAY No.106829 $100PRICEVATINCLUSIVE ' Improving lives –– President announces better accommodation facilities for teachers, health workers in Region Nine PAGE 03 President, Dr Irfaan Ali addressing residents of Sand Creek, Region Nine (Office of the President photo) Over $460M in road works for Region Two Ramping up rice commissioned$24Mproduction:graderLakeTapakuma teen crowned Region Two Heritage Queen PAGE 03 PAGE 14 PAGE 02 –– contract signed for major upgrade of CV Nunes Primary School
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Over $460M in road works for Region Two
On May 25 last, President Ali conducted an outreach to the region where he met with several communities and listened to the concerns of residents. During those visits a number of requests were made by the various communities.According to a release, during his visit to the various communities on Sunday, the Fi nance Minister reiterated government’s com mitment to ensuring that everything is done to create the conditions in every community, whether in the city or in far-flung areas, for infrastructure and other development as he noted that it is President Irfaan Ali’s vision that the country is developed as ‘One Guyana’ with each area benefitting and developing at rapidHepace.also emphasised the administration’s commitment to ensuring that every child has access to a good quality education.
Meanwhile, during another stop at Capo ey Village, the Finance Minister witnessed the signing of a contract to the tune of $219M between Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works, Vladim Persaud and con tractor Tecnocon Investments for upgrading of the Capoey Lake main access road. This project, the release noted includes 3,000 metres of road being upgraded to asphaltic concrete, road edge markings Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh addressing Region Two residents on Sunday
Minister Singh’s first stop was at the Mainstay/ Whyaka Indigenous community where a Back Blade was handed over to the Mainstay/Whyaka Village Council to maintain the trail from Red Lock Bridge to Mainstay Village Lake. The release also noted that a quantity of furniture was also handed over to the com munity for the Mainstay Health Post. Addi tionally, the minister witnessed the signing of a contract totalling $246M for the upgrade of the road between the Essequibo Technical Institute (ETI) and Chinese Lock. It is expected that this road, which will be upgraded to asphaltic concrete, will benefit students and residents of Mainstay, Lima Sands Housing Scheme, Tapakuma Mission and Feather Beach. Signing the road contract on behalf of government was Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works, Vladim Persaud while the contractor for this project is Mo hammed Ramzanali Khan.
SENIOR Minister in the Office of the Pres ident with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh on Sunday visited several areas in Region Two where a number of promises made to the Region in May 2022 by President Irfaan Ali were delivered.
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh at the simple ceremony to open the new Dredge Creek Landing
–– contract signed for major upgrade of CV Nunes Primary School
–– ‘Agri’ Minister says some $84 million to be expended for dam maintenance for 2022
Ramping up rice production…
Better accommodation facilities for teachers, health workers in Region Nine
$24M grader commissioned
RESIDENTS of various villages in Region Nine will soon benefit from mil lions of dollars in infra structural upgrades of their communities.
“We are working with many communities in Re gion Nine to enhance your food production system, to build your capacity to bring the food production system in a more structured way, to do it in a more market-ori ented way,” he said. The goal, he said, is to expand agricultural ex pansion.
President, Dr Irfaan Ali made these announcements while in St Ignatius on Sun day. The President noted that in the past six months, his ministers have visited all the communities in the region to assess their needs and to provide solutions While in St Ignatius, the residents say that they would like to again have a benab in their community and the Head of State imme diately committed that be fore the end of the week, the first transfer of $5 million will be made to commence its rebuilding.Healsosaid that two contracts have already been awarded to cater for revet ment and to complete two bridges within the commu nity. The first contract to complete the revetment is valued at $130M while the contract for the completion of the two bridges is valued at $80M.“That is $210M of an investment to make your lives better, to make your lives easier,” the head of stateStillsaid.on road works, the President said that he is aware of the condition of the road in Moco Moco and the difficulties experienced in the trail when entering from Georgetown. To remedy this challenge, which is usually due to excessive rainfall, he mentioned the first part of that contract for the Linden to Mabura Hill road has been awarded.
“The Moco Moco road and the condition of that road requires urgent atten tion. We have already set aside 80M that will be in vested for the Moco Moco road,” he reminded the res idents.He also said that addi tional equipment will be dispatched to the region to do work in the various communities to aid in the maintenance of the road while the major construction work is Thatongoingaside,he said the government wants to ensure that all teachers and health workers work in improved good condition. From Sep tember, the government will commence work on a comprehensive programme across the region to rehabil itate accommodation facili ties in poor conditions and build new facilities where needed.And the communities must be involved in the building and rehabilitation of these facilities, he said, while adding that local ma terials and local labour must be used.The government is also working to enhance food security in Region Nine.
President, Dr Irfaan Ali addressing residents of St Ignatius and neighbouring communities
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RICE farmers in Re gion Six will soon ben efit from a more effi cient access dam main tenance programme with the addition of a brand-new motor grad er to the region’s fleet of machinery. Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha com missioned the grader on Sunday at the ministry’s sub-office at Tarlogie, on the Corentyne Coast. The machine was procured for $24M under the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA)’s 2022 capital expenditure programme. Minister Mustapha said the Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, is working to double rice production within the next three years. He also said that in order to achieve this, the ministry has expend ed large sums of money to execute infrastructurecultivationaccessrehabilitationmuch-neededworktodamsinthericeareas.“Wehavetousethemorere sponsibly; $34 million was allocated initially for this region for dam maintenance works un der the ministry. By the end of the year, roughly $84 million will be spent to rehabilitate access dams in the region, be cause more work was needed. These are tem porary works, because we have to do them ev ery crop. This is why the government is looking to construct all-weather roads, but those are large projects that require a lot of funds, but will be done over time,” Minis ter Mustapha said. While there, Minister Mustapha also met with farmers to listen to some of their concerns. Many farmers present told the minister that a number of access dams in the cultivation areas needed urgentSeveralrehabilitation.farmersfrom Manchester Village also told the minister that several trenches needed to be cleaned for some time now. While responding to the farmers’ concerns, Minister Mustapha
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Moving further on in the region, Minister Singh stopped at the CV Nunes Primary School where he witnessed the signing of another contract for the extension of the CV Nunes Primary School. The extension will comprise a two-storey building to house 12 additional classrooms, a sanitary facility and a trestle. Maintenance work was recently carried out on the roof ceiling, lights and windows of the current building while drain age works was carried out by the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh receives a warm welcome to Region Two and speed humps. It is expected to reduce travel time and transportation cost for students and resi dents residing in Capoey. It will also serve as a tourism booster as well as aid in other economic activities which the road is used for, such as rice and cash crop farming.
Concluding his visit to the region, Minister Singh inspected the upgraded solar panel system at Dredge Creek Pri mary School. The upgrade to the system was done based on a request made by the school’s headteacher on behalf of students and the PTA of Dredge Creek.
Over $460M in road works for Region ...
Dr. Singh also made another stop at Dredge Creek Village where a simple cer emony was held to open the new Dredge Creek Landing which had been a request made by the headmistress, Parent Teacher’s Association (PTA) and Villagers of Dredge Creek during President Ali’s visit in May. The new landing would benefit students, teachers and villagers who previously had to embark and disembark close to the side of a koker from their boats. The new landing was a project between the Ministry of Fi nance and the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) with the Finance Ministry providing $1. 5M and the RDC executing the works required.
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$24M grader... rehabilitate all of those dams. In other parts of the country, we have farmers who have con tracts to maintain these access dams; we can look at that for Region Six. If there are farmers with the capacity, we can have that system set up so that the dams can be made to your satisfaction. Instead of bringing persons from out of the region to do these works, the benefi ciaries would do them.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and other representatives from the ministry at the commissioning on Sunday (Ministry of Agriculture photo)
Minister Mustapha engaging farmers at the ministry’s sub-office at Tarlogie, on the Corentyne Coast (Ministry of Agriculture photo) indicated that the re gional engineers had submitted a list of ac cess dams that needed to be upgraded.
Naya Zamana returns: The Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha on Saturday evening hosted its theatrical dance production Naya Zamana, at the National Cultural Centre (NCC). The Guyana Chronicle’s Carl Croker captured the beautiful performances at the 24th production titled, ‘Agni Sutra.’
While listing some of the ar eas submitted, Minis ter Mustapha assured the farmers that all the access dams in the cultivation areas would be fixed. He also told the farmers that a machine will be sent to the area to clear the trenches. “I want to assure you a list of dams was submitted, and we will
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“The farmers, es pecially from Man chester, have raised the issue of trenches needing to be cleaned, and dams needing to be fixed. I’ve asked the NDIA to designate a machine for the area until all those works in the arecaster/LiverpoolManchester/Lanareadone. The machine should be available in the new week; we will work with you so that we can develop a prioritised work pro gramme,” he noted. (Ministry of Agricul ture)
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There is a clear plan to overhaul Guyana’s healthcare system
Dear Editor, THE government, as far as I understand it, dedicated significant time during the 24-month period in office to keeping the nation safe in the peak of COVID-19, which is the worst pandemic the world has seen in over 100 years. An effective healthcare system is critical for any country because people do get ill, accidents and emergencies do arise and the facilities are needed to diagnose, treat and manage different types of ailments and diseases.Guyana has had its struggles in health care. Nonetheless, for the first time in years, healthcare is finally receiving the attention it deserves.Myown assessment is that we are on a platform that would deliver a modern, func tioning healthcare system in the coming years. The preceeding information supports my Iview.recall
last month, His Excellency Dr Irfaan Ali announced a national healthcare initiative in collaboration with the Mount Sinai Health System, an internationally rec ognised healthcare provider, and Hess Cor poration to improve the quality of and access to healthcare for the people of Guyana. This is great for citizens, visitors and also healthcare providers such as nurses andGovernmentdoctors. has embarked on con structing a Paediatric and Maternal Hos pital that will be fully equipped to provide specialised services to deal with a wide scope of medical interventions for children and pregnant women and for complicated gynaecological conditions. This hospital is expected to care for children with cardiology, neurology, ne phrology, oncology and other major com plicated medical conditions. With this hospital, there ought to be little to no need for children with compli cated medical conditions and women with complicated ob/gyn conditions seeking overseas medical care. Guyanese are also looking forward to the completion of the six new regional hos pitals that are to be staffed and equipped to provide all Level Four package of services. These hospitals, from what I have read, will add 450 high-quality beds to Regions Two, Three, Four, Five and Six with operating theatres, ER, ICU, HDU and NICU services. These are tremendous upgrades and much needed for our health sector. I am also pleased that the government is pursu ing major upgrades at the GPHC, Linden and New Amsterdam hospitals, bringing these in line with the highest standards in CARICOM.Iamalso aware that major rehabilitation work has occurred at Leonora, Mabaruma, Port Kaituma and Lethem hospitals. Bartica, West Demerara and Suddie hospitals are to be replaced by new hos pitals. Again, this is welcoming news. One only hopes that the government can complete the much-needed new National Psychiatric Hospital during its current term in office.Some months ago, Adviser to the Min istry of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, gave the assurance that international standards are being enforced for the construction of all new hospitals in Guyana. I am pleased about this. Dr Ramsammy has also given assurance that hospitals will be equipped with eleva tors, HVAC, hot water, steam etc. There is consensus that the old hospitals in Guyana do not meet these standards. Against this backdrop, Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony and his team at the ministry must be commended for the achievements made thus far towards improving healthcare delivery in Guyana. I look forward to the completion of government’s plans. When that day arrives Guyanese would be more confident to undertake surgeries at home, rather than spending untold sums to travel overseas for care and treatment. Yours truly, Cindy Bowen
Empowering the grassroots
GECOM, for its part, is pressing ahead with the holding of Local Government Elections before the end of 2022. According to the GECOM Chair, the Commission has completed the continuous registration pro cess and are now moving to the next phase, namely the Claims and Objections exercise, which is an important aspect of the sanitisa tion of the voters’ list. This would facilitate the removal of dead persons’ names from the list and the inclusion of names that were otherwise excluded or incorrectly listed.
And according to Vice-President and General-Secretary of the PPP, Bharat Jag deo, the government is expected to table the amendments to the Representation of the People Act (RoPA) in the National Assem bly when it resumes in October. This will allow for much greater transparency and a strengthening of the democratic process in Guyana, especially in the context of what transpired in the March 2, 2020 elections. Among the new amendments proposed are the removal of discretional powers by the Chief Elections Officer on important aspects of the elections process such as the determination of the number and sites of polling places. Moreover, hefty penalties including imprisonment are provided for in the proposed amended legislation for those found guilty of knowingly perverting the course of electoral democracy.
And while there are indeed persons who reside overseas and their names still remain on the List of Electors due to the require ments of the Constitution and a High Court ruling, that is not in any way indicative of a ‘flawed’ List of Electors as claimed by the political opposition. This observation was made by the Carter Center in its final report when it wrote that ‘the number of registered voters seems disproportionate to Guyana’s estimated population, in part because Guy ana allows Guyanese living overseas to remain on the Voters List’.
A similar observation was made by the European Union which, in its report, said that Guyana’s high emigration rate may be the most significant factor accounting for an ‘inflated’ list. The salient observation made by the mission in their final report was that overall existing safeguards were in place, notably the use of voters’ lists with ID pictures by polling staff and party agents to prevent the risk of voter impersonation on Election Day. It would appear that no list would be acceptable to the PNC unless it is skewed in its favour as in the past when there were thousands of phantom voters. Guyanese are all too familiar with the days when the list were compiled with non-existent Guyanese, especially as it related to then overseas list. Apart from the fictitious voters list, there were numerous instances of tampered bal lots and the hijacking of ballot boxes to un known destinations all intended to engineer a PNC ‘victory’ at the polls. The PNC seemingly has not abandoned its past history of electoral fraud and is tak ing issue with anyone who stands in the way of fraudulent elections. Only recently, Lead er of the Opposition, Mr. Aubrey Norton, said that he did not see elections being held with the current Chairperson, retired Justice Claudette Singh, at the helm. Her ‘offence’ was that she refused to support and facilitate attempts by the APNU+AFC to thwart the will of the electorate, in August 2020.
LOCAL democracy is an integral part of the overall governance system. It allows for citizens at the grassroot level to participate in the decision-making processes. It is, therefore, important that local democratic elections are held within the constitutionally prescribed timeframe. The PPP/C administration has already made budgetary provisions for the holding of lo cal government elections in anticipation of elections later this year. The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has indicated that it will com mence countrywide Claims and Objections exercise, starting August 22, in accordance with Order No. 35 made under the National Registration Act Chapter 19:08. The inten tion behind the exercise is to compile an Of ficial List of Electors (OLE) that is credible and acceptable to all the parties involved in the elections processes. This is indeed a timely and welcome development, especially in view of the pending Local Government Election which was postponed due to factors outside of the control of the current PPP/C administra tion. In fact, the governing party had long indicated its readiness and preparedness to face the electorate in the local government elections. This is quite unlike the opposition PNC which continues to raise all manner of unfounded allegations designed to frus trate and further delay the holding of local government elections. Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, has continued the false and misleading narrative that the Voters’ List is ‘bloated’ and by some bizarre twist in logic has concluded that the PPP/C is the benefi ciary of the ‘bloated’ OLE. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Dear Editor, I DO not know Mr Nazar Mohammed of Mohamed’s Enterprise personally and what I know of him publicly is that he is a very decent, generous, caring and kind person who has helped thou sands of people, especially the poor and children of all races throughout the country. Mr Nazar Mohamed has also donated financial resourc es to many non-profit groups that cater to the needs of chil dren, senior citizens and the disabled and he has sponsored many sporting events in the country under the name “Team Mohamed.” As an astute busi nessman, Nazar Mohamed is one of Guyana’s most known philanthropists with hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. Well known in government circles and in the private sector, “Shell Mohamed” as he is called is a devoted Muslim and a staunch believer in Allah (the Almighty), who has always supported equality and justice for all Guyanese. I was stunned and so were many Guyanese at Sergeant Dion Bascom’s Facebook comments which allegedly implicated Mohamed’s Enter prise in the murder of Ricardo Fagundes aka ‘Paper Shorts.’ It appears to many that the sergeant was set up by enemies of Mohammed’s Enterprise to make such allegations, some of which are baseless and questionable. For example, if a senior police officer re ceived a bribe from someone to cover up the case, how did the sergeant know that the amount of the bribe was $30 million? That information is pertinent and should have been disclosed to the public by him. He also gave conflicting comments about the suspects of two persons, one of whom is Rondell Bacchus, for whom the police had issued a “want ed” bulletin for his arrest. The police have released a video which showed that Bacchus went to the police accompa nied by his lawyer but was not charged with the crime. To date, and contrary to the sergeant’s story, no “wanted” bulletin was issued by the police for the other suspect whom the sergeant named as Mark Richardson. This was supported by Mr Rondell Bac chus in a recent video which painted a negative picture of the sergeant.Ashumans, we are not per fect, and we all have our flaws and good times and bad times, but Mr. Nazar Mohamed is a true believer in the principle put forth by the ancient Chi nese philosopher Confucius: “Do unto others as you would like them do unto you.” But it seems as though some one is trying to destroy the good character of this respectable, wonderful, and polite man and damage the reputation of his flourishing and successful business enterprise. It is believed that the sergeant is being used as a pawn. Some claimed that his comments are untruthful and are not substantiated by facts.
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Yours truly, Vishnu BisramPol(PhDSci)
Yours sincerely, Nickel Ross-Albert
Dear Editor, A VIBRANT and resilient multi-party democracy like our country necessitates the presence of a credible and effective opposition party (parties or coalition) and opposition leader, and I don’ t equate mass dis turbances and the power to create mayhem with the meaning of ‘effective.’ Interactions with Guy anese, including supporters of the PNC, reveal a crucial element of democracy (a strong opposition and leader) has been missing in Guyana since August 2020. It is felt that the PPP will remain the dominant political force for years to come unless the opposition stops crying and demanding removal of the GECOM chair, among oth ers, and unless it changes its behaviour. It is felt that the opposition should focus on ‘governance’ issues rather than be bogged down with a permanent campaign mode. Since losing political power in August 2020, the PNC and AFC have been besieged by leadership co nundrums, organisational Norton and other elements are successfully undermining the Opposition weakness, and grassroots activism. They have also experienced resignations of key officers and members – a feature that also has characterised other parties. All three above factors have impacted on the Coalition’s national support. Attention is drawn mostly to the PNC and its leader Aubrey Norton since the AFC has seen al most all of its support evap orate. The PNC has to accept that it can’t win or make electoral gains if it continues with the kind of political acts of the last two years. In order to confront the three above-mentioned challeng es head on, the PNC must attempt to take urgent stock of its present situation which is hurting its electoral pros pects. It must challenge the government on policies and programmes and enunciate its own alternative policies and seek to win support out side of its strongholds. The party is not like ly to make electoral gains come 2025 largely because of the three factors listed above. These three factors can be collapsed into one -leadership – if the leader is respected, people would be willing to become activists and engage in organisational activities to maximise voter turnout.Apart from leadership, the erosion of the party’s organisational apparatus has led to a gradual shrinking of its electoral base. The party witnessed major losses in its support base in almost all regions in 2020. The latter was due largely to declining grassroots activism. Because they were neglected between 2015 and 2020, many activ ists walked away from the party and did not bring out the party’s supporters. Many supporters had lost interest in the Coalition because they lost their jobs and because of unkeptSincepromises.2020, the PNC has been unable to devise an appealing narrative that can offer an alternative to the present political dis course. Crying discrimi nation without evidence or yelling ‘apartheid’ will not consolidate the base or bring in new supporters. In short, the party has not been elec torally appealing and inspir ing. And President Irfaan Ali is very appealing and popular in contrast to Aubrey Norton, as I found in recent surveys in May and in July. VP Jag deo, President Irfaan, and PM Mark Phillips have been reaching out to the PNC base with appropriate policies and programmes that direct ly affect their lives. In my opinion, the PNC base gets a lot more resources than the PPPElectionsbase. in 2006, 2011, and 2015 showed that the Opposition has the capacity to make electoral gains. The Opposition party (Coalition) needs to develop and project itself as a competent political alternative to the govern ment. Hard street politics is not the way to make gains. A soft image can create won ders. In November of 2021, I penned that Norton was on the cusp of winning the PNC leadership. In December, af ter victory and when he was blocked from sitting in Parliament and assuming the Opposition Leader position, I penned he would become Opposition Leader. And he has. Being in government is far away because of his (ir responsible) statements and modusTheoperandi.Opposition must come across as a real shad ow government in waiting hoping to defeat the ruling party in the next election. As it is, so far, the PNC has not demonstrated that it is serious about winning an election and its support is shrinking. No doubt, being out of power and unable to disburse patronage as it did during its stint of 28 consecutive years in office and again between 2015 and 2020, it is a major challenge for the party’s leadership to keep the flock together. The PNC (its leader ship and MPs) have to stop behaving as if it is in a per manent campaign mode and be a responsible Op position. They must stop threatening office holders, especially GECOM’s. What gains would be made by threatening the GECOM Chair?The opposition MPs must act responsibly and respectably. They can’t seek to steal the mace and be disruptive or act disorderly in Parliament and expect voters to respect them or have new voters gravitate towardsTheythem.have to strengthen their standing in and out of Parliament. An alert and efficient political opposition will highlight the shortcom ings in governmental poli cies and also ensure demo cratic accountability. This will make the Op position an attractive al ternative.
Allegations against Mohamed Enterprise and its owners are highly questionable
Leana Kirton Over 100 youths graduated from the ICT Summer Camp
“Ninety per cent of the jobs right now require you to know something about IT or using a computer, so I’m sure it will help me in the future,” she said.
as the government focuses on meeting many of its goals by 2030.
One such participant was Leana Kirton, who divulged that the knowledge gained from the programme would assist her in getting a job.
“… honing in on ICT was one compo nent of that plan, and it was deliberately so because ICT is an area that each and everyone should be involved in because it is part of the future. Our consciousness as a government from the inception was to make ICT an important area for focus and development because we want ICT to be part of building our economy and supporting our national development,” the minister noted. Minister McCoy said the government is dedicated to incorporating ICT in the various sectors. The ICT summer camp was held from August 22-26 at Dolphin Secondary School. It instructed participants in infor mation technology basics, coding, cyber security, robotics and python. The camp was held under the theme: “Creating a brighter future through ICT.”
Many participants lauded the pro gramme, saying that it has helped to enhance their knowledge in ICT.
Camp by the Office of the Prime Minister, which saw over 101 youths receiving the ICT certification and many other prizes on Saturday.Duringhis feature address at the graduation ceremony, Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy, highlighted the importance of ICT training in moving Guyana forward,
“We are going to work very hard to make sure that we create that brighter future, not only through ICT but [also] through every possible opportunity that exists in our society, that our young peo ple must be able to grasp at and be able to utilise it to make themselves prosper ous,” he said. He told the graduates that the training programme formed part of the govern ment’s plan for prosperity.
Chairperson of the Positive Foun dation, Stayce Cuffy and Director of the Industry and Innovations Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister, Shahrukh Hussain, were also at the graduation. (DPI) Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy
THE government is committed to improving the Information and Com munication Technology (ICT) sector through the facilitation of various educational, developmental and youth training programmes countrywide. This was emphasised at a graduation ceremony held for the ICT Summer
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Minister McCoy: ICT is part of the future
and Le gal Affairs Minister, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC, speaking on his weekly Television/ Facebook programme has de cided to investigate the issue as it continues to be peddled as a narrative in the public domain by the discredited Opposition.“Perhaps we should have done it before, but it is not too late. These concocted and fabricated allegations contin ue to be made by that rigging cabal who tried relentlessly to pervert those elections. They manufactured records from the Immigration Department and the GRO office,” the Attorney-General told the public last Tuesday.
It is not clear, if several persons who have knowledge of what took place during the time-frame are being questioned at the former De partment of Citizenship, sev eral government agencies and immigrationChairmanunit.of the Guy ana Elections Commission (GECOM) Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh had con firmed that the immigration authorities had confirmed that 172 of the persons she enquired about were not in the country on elections day, March 02, 2020. However, some of the persons had come forward who were on the list, to state that they were alive and did vote at the March 2, 2020 elections. Persons were even upset that they were being used in the APNU+AFC alleged plot to delay the results when they were not winning anymore.49BALLOT BOXES, MISSINGAdditionally,DOCUMENTStheLegal Affairs Minister maintained his position on the statutory documents that were re portedly missing from the 49 ballot boxes that came from the Better-Hope-LBI locality. He was adamant that GECOM must investigate and find the missing docu ments.“Now, as I have estab lished the matter is now with in GECOM. Call [GECOM] if [there are any] doubts… is to call Mingo and call Lowenfield… and ask them to come out publicly and contradict me… raise it as a matter for the commission to interrogate because it’s a GECOM issue,”, the Legal Affairs Minister said sternly. He was not willing to see his party or government take the blame for any perceived irregularity.“Butevery one of the irregularities that they are concocting and manufactur ing, they want to throw at the PPP’s doorstep and the gov ernment’s front door,” Nand lall Heinsisted.added: “ They must find the documents that they were supposed to put in the box, that they had custody over in relation to the elec toral process. Don’t put it at my door
–– into supply of erroneous data to GECOM during recount of 2020 ballots step or my political party or government.”ELECTIONS
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The APNU+AFC back in 2020 wrote to the Chairper son of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and produced names of persons whom they claimed were either dead or outside of Guyana.The Attorney-General said that his party, the Peo ple’s Progressive Party/ Civic and others “went around and found many of those persons whom they claim those per sons were in North America, but voted… Many of these persons whom they claimed were dead were also found. Many of these persons also, on their own, came forward. Many of these persons were interviewed by the press and many of them also spoke on social media platforms, such as Facebook. This information is in the public domain and can easily be retrieved and veri fied. These are the very per sons whom they claim were dead and outside Guyana, but who were in fact alive and in MATTERGuyana.”OF DAYS
toInvestigationbelaunched
COI Meanwhile, the Elec tions Commission of In quiry (CoI) is expected to commence its investigation before the end of the year. Nandlall confirmed that the terms of reference is still being worked on while every other necessary document that may be needed is being organised.President, Dr Irfaan Ali announced back in June this year that government is still moving ahead with the CoI into the 2020 elections fiasco that saw Guyana’s elections almost rigged by the AP NU+AFC Coalition. He then quickly an nounced that the CoI will be chaired by retired Justice of Appeal, Stan ley John, and will include former Attorney-General, High Court Judge and act ing Justice of Appeal in the Eastern Caribbean, God frey P. Smith, S.C.; former Chair and Chief Elections Commissioner of India, Dr S.Y. Quraishi; and former Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag), Carl Singh OR CCH. (DPI) MohabirAttorney-GeneralAnilNandlall
The data was used by the governing party, the A Part nership for National Unity and Alliance For Change Coalition (APNU+AFC) to make several fictitious, false, misleading, and untrue claims as part of its political campaign about dead people and migrants voting, as well as claims of multiple votes being cast at Attorney-Generalpolls.
THE Government of Guy ana will launch a probe into the erroneous immigration and registration data of citi zens ending up in the hands of a political party, back in 2020, which was supplied to GECOM during the nation al recount of ballots during the 2020 General and Re gional Elections.
“Well, the police or the relevant agency will have to investigate and tell the public where that document came from and who was responsible for compiling it and upon whose directions they were compiled. That will happen very shortly, in a matter of days,” the Attorney-General said.He did not give any spe cifics to the Department of Public Information (DPI) when he was contacted on Friday for a comment on how the Legal Affairs Ministry and police department will work to get to the bottom of the issue about how the personal travel information and voter information made its way into the hands of a political party.
Sharing: – when children learn to share, it builds empa thy within them for their fel low man. They also become aware that other children’s emotions need consideration Along with acquiring social skills, youngsters get a ‘feelgood emotion ‘ from sharing withItothers.sounds simplistic, but some adults do not know how to handle situations with infants. For an easy life, they would wrench a toy away from a quiet child (who is just going about his business) and put it in the hands of a crying one who wants the toy - missing the chance to teach a crucial lesson and build a foundation for their future behaviour.Carers should adopt the approach ‘There is enough for everyone’ and ‘everyone can have a turn; you can play with this now, and he can play with it later ’ or vice versa. Talking calmly while sorting out their con cerns shows children they can quickly solve problems.
THE many attributes, man nerisms and behaviours children learn from their parents or carers are in credible. Although it sounds cliché, parents are a child’s first teachers. Did you know that a ba by’s brain acquires the ability for early learning during the third trimester (last stage of pregnancy)? Babies are pre-programmed to learn before they are born. They may look tiny and helpless, but from the moment of birth, babies are constantly picking up information.Opportunities to impart positive attributes will arise when they start crawling around and taking their first steps. People who care for children should be very par ticular about what they teach them. Sharing, caring, inde pendence and resilience can be introduced to children early and developed as they grow.Most little ones are eager and ready to learn, but some adults miss the opportuni ty; they distract toddlers by sitting them in front of the television or giving them an iPad, denying one-to-one attention. The input and in terest parents have in their children today will shape our society in the future.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll work something out’ adults must assure.Help little ones under stand the cause of negative emotions. ‘So you were angry because he tore your book?’, ‘You walked away because you felt afraid?’ When they can talk, let them express how they feel. Once they know how to put their emo tions into context, they can move on and enjoy life, building resilience and re solve -rather than exaggerate or become ‘stressed out’ over incidents.Parents should estab lish positive traits early, so these valuable features de velop with children as they grow. Adults who recognise their personality flaws can work earnestly to rectify the same (if they want to) it is never too late. There is always room for improvement. If you are concerned about the welfare of a child, call the CPA hotline on 227 0979 or write to us at child caregy@gmail.com SAGE FROM THE CHILD CARE AND PROTECTION AGENCY, MINISTRY OF HUMAN SERVICES AND SOCIAL SECURITY
10 GUYANA CHRONICLE M onday, August 29, 2022
Independence: Although babies and children rely on their parents/carers to guide and protect them, they still need to learn independence. Parents have to decide where the ‘happy medium’ lies between; being overprotec tive and allowing children enough room to explore, discover and be their unique selves. Children should not become over-reliant on adults or peers for answers or solu tions.Adults can encourage in dependence by not solving every problem a child has, but by helping the child use his/ her own strategy and mindset to work things out. When parents do everything for their child, he is unable to use and hone his capabilities and skills; they stifle his growth. Parents who are afraid of leaving their comfort zone or taking risks usually relay the same fears to their chil dren. However, children are individuals who should be allowed to take safe risks and partake in age-appropriate ac tivities if they choose. Adults should not limit a child’s adventure to their fears
A MES
There is no need for drama or tantrums.Children learn correct behaviour when someone takes the time to teach them. Positive lessons should begin as early as possible. It is good to point it out when they are sharing and playing well, so they realise it is natural to share and get along with others. ‘I like the way you two are sharing’. Children need positive reinforcement; in time, they will realise that sharing is a good thing and repeat the be haviour. Most young children repeat good behaviour, even more so when they receive praise and encouragement from an adult or carer. Caring: How parents care for their child will make the child feel cherished, safe, respected and loved—or ne glected, insecure, unloved and worthless. Sadly, chil dren learn how to care for others from the way their parents treat them. All babies need to con nect and learn from someone who cares. Initially, they don’t mind who it is once the carer meets their needs. As they grow, so does their need to attach to reliable, consistent adults who will keep them safe , love them and fulfil their requirements. Knowing that caring adults are there when needed is a secure base for children. They will interact with peers using the same consideration, at tention and care they receive and learn from adults - show ing empathy , concern and consideration. Adults who received minimal care when they were small may find it hard to maintain friendships; be genuinely concerned about others, or show affection.
Behaviour skills and babies
Resilience: Learning re silience allows children to move on from life’s adver sities without getting over whelmed or depressed. Mod elling resilience is the first way to teach it, be optimistic and show self-control when things are not going to plan or when obstacles occur. Ex plain in a child-friendly way that there are solutions to problems and lessons to be learnt from all experiences.
In the case of produced water salinity, it is doubtful that the current volume of water produced (2019-2022) is sufficient to change seawater salinity within a 100-mile radius of the currently operating floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels. A simple back-of- the-envelope calculation assuming up to 3x salinity produced water and 1:1 extraction of produced water with oil can easily demonstrate this suspicion. Further, control measures as stated in the EIA for the Liza Phase 1 limits oil and grease content to 29 parts per million (ppm) monthly average and 42 ppm daily maxi mum. Further dilution of these constituents would be expected at multiple orders of magnitude (>1,000-10,000) when released to seawater. Spatial overlapping between offshore oil production and fisheries can re sult in displacement of artisanal fisheries by oil and gas infrastructure and operation, but this is not the case in Guyana. Offshore pro duction is located some 190 miles from the shore, while most artisanal fishing remains within 15 miles offshore. Finally, while this may not be relevant to Guyana, some stud ies show offshore infrastructure serving to increase fish density around the installations. There’s an important story here, however. The fisheries industry is vital, not just as a source of income for a sizable section of the Guyanese population, but also because fish is the number one source of protein in Guyana.The average Guyanese resident con sumes about 16 pounds of fish each year, which is almost three times what the rest of the world averages at six pounds per year. It is not hard to imagine all the things we Guy anese do with fish, including fish and chips, fried fish (with pepper), fish cakes, fish curry, fish stew, baked fish, fish broth, steam fish, saltfish, and so much more. The fact is that the fisheries industry needs to remain and grow along with the burgeoning oil economy because a vibrant fisheries industry is a key aspect of national and regional food security. There is no reason for Guyana to cede its position as the number one producer of Atlantic seabob shrimp for example, with annual harvests worth US$50M. According to the New York Post, 75 per cent of oil production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico are located off the Louisiana coast and it is still able to supply almost a third of North America’s fisheries. Further, oil is good for fish, and I’m not talking about frying oil, but energy security and sustainability is crucial to support fisheries. High cost of fuel has had a major impact on the fisheries industry in the past prompting the Government to of fer subsidies and creative means for artisanal fisherfolk to obtain fuel. Oil production is slated to impact energy, both with increased hydrocar
Fish versus Oil: Integrated Coastal Zone Management can make them work together bon-based fuels, but also with invest ments in renewable WhileCONCLUDINGenergy.REMARKSweexpect fishing to become a smaller part of the Guyanese economy and GDP over time, that is only because the economy is growing in other areas. To maintain productivity, I expect that the Government will move to regulate the industry more to ensure sustainability and not return to a past riddled with unregulated fishing practices, poor resource management and overfishing. Further, with aquaculture development on the horizon, it is likely that the industry will grow to meet new demands.I’malways reminded that a small per cent of a bigger number is still a larger share in the end. This brings me back to the beginning of this article. The co-existence of fish and oil can only be achieved through effective ICZM; prevention and or minimisation of coastal and marine environmental impacts, pol lution control, and sustainable economic growth based on sustainable natural resource use.
GUYANA CHRONICLE M onday, August 29, 2022 11 Joel Bhagwandin Financial and economic analyst
INTEGRATEDBACKGROUNDCoastalZone Manage ment (ICZM) is one of the subjects cov ered in my environmental engineering and coastal engineering classes at the university level. I spend at least 1-2 lectures stressing to students the importance of the coastal zone and the need for effective management within this area. ICZM is a coordinated strategy for the development and manage ment of coastal resources and environments through sustainable development princi ples. In 2000, Guyana developed an ICZM programme, which had its challenges with implementation. However, more recently the Coastal and Marine Management Com mittee (CMMC) was established through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assist with coordinated management of coastal and marine environments through inter-agency collaboration. As anyone would appreciate, coastal zones are some of the most productive areas of the world, and according to Maul and Duedall (2021)1 , about 40 per cent of the world’s population are coastal dwellers living within 100 km of a coastline, and eight per cent reside within 10 km. In Guyana, that population is an astounding 90 per cent living along the coast! Therefore, it is no surprise that issues of resource conflicts and environ mental impacts from economic activity would raise concerns for our country.
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS This is certainly the case now that Guyana has introduced offshore oil pro duction to its economic portfolio. The media is dominated with articles about the impacts and risks of oil produc tion, including spinoff production activities such as the proposed gas-to-shore project. One area of resounding conflict has been fish versus oil. I’ve read in various parts of the media that offshore oil production was being cited as a cause for reduction in fish eries catch. This issue has been addressed by many different authors, environmentalists, government officials, and industry execu tives. A number of fisherfolk have made claims laying culpability for lower fish catch at the feet of the burgeoning oil industry. Some environmentalists have been quick to support these claims, while others have been calling for more studies and data to lay the claims to rest. More recently, how ever, Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo and Minister Zulfikar Mustapha (Minister of Agriculture) cited an upcoming report from the Food and Agriculture Organisa tion (FAO) of the United Nations, which found no correlation between lower fish catch and oil production. Instead, climate change is seen as the underlying driving force affecting fisheries. Personally, I find the joint research work coming out from the University of Northern British Columbia, University of Alberta, and the University of Guelph published in the Journal of Re search & Social Science in May of 2021 to be quite informative on the subject. Their peer-reviewed paper provides a thorough narrative assessment of the scholarship on the interaction among oil, fisheries, and coastal communities. The academic literature, numerous case studies, and the various environmental impact assessments (EIA) submitted to the Guyana EPA for well development within the Stabroek Block do indicate that various aspects of offshore oil activities can neg atively impact marine life. However, it is important to review the specific activities in the Stabroek Block and not draw generalised conclusions about the impact of oil drilling. Some of the important factors at play in Guyana’s case include the distance between oil drilling and fishing grounds, the quality of produced water (including salinity), and the type of commercial marine fish species.
PRESIDENT, Dr Irfaan Ali on Sunday concluded a threeday visit to Region Nine. During the visit, the President made a number of major announce ments geared at improving the lives of residents there. Among them include the provision of 2,000 part-time jobs and $1M to 600 allottees to begin construction of their homes which cost $3M each. Local banks, GBTI and NBS will provide the remaining $2M in financing at a 3.5 per cent interest rate. At South Central Ru pununi, the President told residents gathered in Shulin ab Village that his government would ensure that announcedment.economicavailableopportunitiesmorearefortheiradvanceTothisend,hea$10M project, which will see an order placed for the production of 300,000 blocks from the communities in South Central Ru pununi. This invest
Scenes from President Ali’s
12 GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 29, 2022
Ali’s visit to Region Nine
GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 29, 2022 13
Office of the President photos ment, he noted, will support the hinter land housing pro gramme. At Sand Creek, he received a warm welcome from the residents there and after chainsawStateconcernsandgovernment’sspeakinginteraction,abouthisplanslisteningtotheirtheHeadofhandedoveraandsport equipment to the community. While at St Ignatius, the resi dents say they would like to have a benab back in their com munity and the Head of State committed that before the end of the new week, the first transfer of $5 million will be made for its rebuilding.
The President, on his visit to Region Nine, was accom panied by Amerin dian Affairs Minis ter, Pauline Sukhai; Local Government and Regional Development Minister, Nigel Dharamlall and the Minister within the Minis try of Housing and Water, Susan Rod rigues
Fredericks’ answer to the final question, ‘What advice would you give to your fellow indigenous women?’ was enough to convince the judges that she de served the crown. In her answer she said that women should strive to be the best version of themselves and to also use their time to pro mote their traditional culture.Fredericks, who out shone five other del egates, has replaced fellow villager, Shana Federicks.Theaspiring law yer and student of the Anna Regina Multilat eral Secondary School said that she was very excited to represent her region. She said that she was happy for the experience gained thus far and will use it to her advantage in the national pageant. “I can’t wait to rep resent Region Two on September 17; I am confident I will make my region proud,” FredericksCoppingsaid.the first runner-up position was Jennel Henry of Capoey Village, while Adreana Smith of Kabakaburi got the third spot. In addition to the crown, Fredericks also won the best talent prize, while the best smile was given to Smith. Bibianna Hend ericks representing the village of Mashabo was awarded Miss Conge niality and Keira Cor nelius of Bethany won the Facebook challenge and the merit award. The delegates were sponsored by their vil lage councils and the business community.
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Lake teen crowned Region Two Heritage Queen
The newly crowned Miss Region Two Amerindian Heritage, Anasie Fredericks of Lake Tapakuma
Trinesha Thornhill of Akawini was the other delegate in the pageant which was held under the theme, “Celebrating our tra ditional culture while building One Guy ana”.
The delegates took part in the introduc tion, talent, evening and traditional wear segments.
pound.CouncilRegionalpageantSaturdayerindianMisskumaicksOLDSIXTEEN-YEAR-AnasieFrederofLakeTapawascrownedRegionTwoAmHeritage,onnight,ataheldintheDemocratic(RDC)com
Tapakuma
The delegates were involved in the baking of cassava bread and the making of kadakura sauce in the ‘lead up’ to the pageant. That aspect of the competition was judged by experienced chefs from several Am erindian villages.
Not every baker or cater er or home cook can prepare a sumptuous or delicious Black Bake. Mandy, a di asporan in New York, makes perhaps the best Black Cake, according to those who sampled it at various social events. It is mouthwatering just looking at its display at several social functions. It is true to its origins. Man dy’s Black Bake resonates among Guyanese and nonGuyanese New Yorkers, making her a Black Bake cu linary ambassador. Those who had it described Man dy’s Black Cake as palatial, splendid, grand, superb, great, and opulent, among other positive words. It is incomparable to others, they said. And Guyanese feel proud when foreigners give rave reviews. A Trini hus band and wife in New Delhi said it was fantastic, the best theyMandytasted. caters her Black Cake for various events with clients saying they love her Black Cake. Her list of clientele has been growing. “They found it excellent, tasty. They never made a negative comment,” she Indeedsaid. everyone who tasted the cake has praised it as very delicious and tradi tional. Mandy applies tradi tional Guyanese style icing with almond paste on her cake.Mandy (Amanda Khan) was born in Chateau Mar got, Guyana and raised in Suriname after her family migrated there during the tough period of the PNC au thoritarian rule and scarcity of food. She came to USA over 25 years ago. She came from a family of bakers – her grandmother and mother operated bakeries in Guy ana until Burnham banned imported ingredients (flour, fruits, butter, etc) necessary to make pastries, bread, black cake, and like items, forcing the family and hun dreds of thousands of other Guyanese to migrate. She learnt to bake by watching her mother. FAMILY TRADITION “My mom and nanny used to make cakes. It was a family tradition, and I carefully watched her and helped out in the family business. I intently watched my mother prepare dishes and I absorbed her recipes and baking methods through careful observation. God bless my mother and my nanny. I continue this family tradition from my home in New York,” she said. Her baking is mostly a hobby but it is profes sionally done with a lot of love and affection. “I love to make customers happy. Every customer is satisfied with my cakes and their presentations. They came back with ‘a wow’. I do a lot of catering for social functions. I operate at of my home. I hope one day to have my own bakery. At home, I can take care of my children and also use my free time to make items for charity.”Mandy said her specialty is Black Cake though during Christmas season she also makes fruit cake. She has been making Black Cake for 16 years for special events throughout the year. She supplies Black Cake for all occasions including birth days, weddings, anniversa ries, receptions and showers. Besides being a parttime baker of Black Cake, Mandy is a philanthropist. She helps children, teach ing them to be respectful and kind to others. “I feel blessed. God has been good to me, and I am motivated to giving back to the less fortu nate,” she Mandysaid.uses whatever in come is generated for chari table work to make teddy bears and other children items that she donates at various events for lesser for tunate children. She will be in Guyana with her 21- yearold son in mid-September to distribute toys to children. Amanda or Man dy Cakes can be reached at: mandykcreations on In stagram; amanda khan on Facebook, as well as on tik tok. She can also be reached by phone at 1-917-294-3500. Her cakes can be picked up (Crossbay area) or delivered.
Black cake connects diasporans to their roots, delights foreigners
A cake for a just married couple
Amanda Khan better known as Mandy
GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 29, 2022 15
By Vishnu Bisram BLACK Cake is Caribbe an’s (very Guyanese) finest dessert cake made from a variety of minced fruits. It is Guyana’s signature des sert; everyone craves for it. Wherever Guyanese mi grate, they introduce it to their foreign born and nonGuyanese friends. Guya nese are known to be very hospitable hosts especially in North America sharing recipes and cuisine. Guyanese have intro duced Black Cake in the USA and rest of the dias pora. Every non-Guyanese who tastes Guyanese Black Bake speaks highly of what it does to the palate. It is irresistible. They want to consume more and more. Of course, Guyanese at home and in the diaspora also de sire Black Bake that is not easilyMakingaccessible.Black Cake is very costly (mixture of varied fruits and liquor in volved, almond paste, ic ing, and other expensive ingredients). But Guyanese consumers and reception or party hosts don’t mind spending the money for a nice delicious slice of the great stuff for guests.
A birthday cake from Mandy’s Cake Creations
“I also visited the Manari Ranch where I helped the owner around the ranch and US Army General, Laura Richardson, commander of US Southern countries.nershipbilateralleadersGovernmentvisit,Augusttodayvisit(SOUTHCOM)CommandisonatoGuyanabeginningandconcludingon31.Duringhershewillmeetwithanddefencefortalksonthesecuritypartbetweenthetwo
SRCS secretary awarded Amazon Women’s Fellowship enjoyed the good life, and my next visit was to Wichabai, where the SRCS headquarters are [sic] lo cated,” she had reflected in an interview with the Pep perpot Magazine in 2021. Kim had also partici pated in the first-ever turtle festival in South Rupununi held in Sand Creek, where 200 turtles were released into the wild. “The day was full of many activities and I especially enjoyed a calabash of some good, strongSheKari.”hadalso visited the Kumu Falls and had the most therapeutic of experi ences“Addedthere. to that, in showing my dedication to the Red Siskin, I have taken a tattoo of the logo of SRCS. I’m really in love with my tattoo as it not only depicts my favourite bird, but also represents something I have dedicated my life to the conservation of the South Rupununi wildlife,” she added. Spencer learned es sential skills and became trained and equipped with a variety of environmen tal knowledge, such as handling birds, navigating GPS, and using camera footage to collect and ana lyse data concerning the naturalKimmy,environment.whocomes from the Wapichan Indigenous tribe, also gets to work with Rupununi Trails, a tour op erator based at Dadanawa Ranch in the South Rupunu ni, which has been operating over the past 40 years and has been the choice of wild life photographers, scientists, birdwatchers, fishermen and nature lovers.
“I love the Rupununi because of its natural beau ty, the people, the environ ment and everything about it. It’s open; it’s friendly; there’s nothing to be afraid of. Being in nature is one of the greatest feelings. I can go to the creek without any cost and I don’t need to worry about electricity or bills or anything,” she had said in the 2021 interview.
Richardson is visiting Guyana 10 months after assuming duties as SOUTH COM’s commander and nearly five months after meeting with Caribbean defence and public-security leaders during the 2022 Caribbean Nations Secu rity Conference in April, in Bridgetown, Barbados, a re lease from the US Embassy in Georgetown said. During her two-day stay in Georgetown, Richardson will meet with US Ambas sador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch; President of Guyana, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, and Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Chief of Staff, Briga dier Godfrey Bess.
The release also noted that Richardson will also join Guyana’s First Lady Arya Ali and Ambassador Lynch in welcoming par ticipants of the Caribbean Women, Peace, and Se curity (WPS) Conference, which Guyana will host August 29-September 1, in partnership with the Florida National Guard. “The United States and Guyana have a longstand ing history of security cooperation. The defense partnership between the two countries includes collaboration against re gional threats and chal lenges, America,”tralinandco-operationresponsibilityunifiedgeographicallypartmentCOMengagements.professionalandsioneventsing,exercises,capacity-buildingbilateraltrainexpertiseexchanges,fosteringtheincluofwomenindefensesecuritymissions,anddevelopmentSOUTHisoneoftheDeofDefense’ssixfocusedcommandswithforsecuritywithdefensepublic-securityforcestheCaribbean,CenAmericaandSouththereleasesaid.
CONSERVATION Inter national Guyana, recent ly awarded the Amazon Women’s Fellowship to Kim Spencer, secretary of the South Rupununi Con servation Society (SRCS). The fellowship aims to inspire, empower and build the leadership capacity of young Indigenous females in the ARupununi.poston the SRCS’s Facebook page, said that although the Rupununi has countless incredible women, there is currently a dispro portionate representation of males and females in leader ship“Kimpositions.hopes that this can change by focusing on fe male youth and giving them the skills, knowledge and confidence to put themselves forward for leadership posi tions,” the post stated. This fellowship repre sents an amazing step in Spencer’s journey which started when she joined SRCS as a Cadet Ranger. Since then, she has gained leadership skills from SRCS and now wants to use her experience to inspire and empower those in the gen eration behind her by helping them to become the future leaders of the Rupununi, the SRCSSpencersaid. used the pan demic time to engage in activities that extend beyond her norm, and that improved her skills as far as her local heritage is concerned. An avid animal lover, she gets to live her dream by travelling to the Rupununi and conducting surveys on animals and the environ ment. Having grown up in a ranch and farming environ ment, “Kimmy”, as she is fondly called, has centred her life on enjoying nature and even teaching others about it. In 2021, with the limi tations brought on by the pandemic, she used her time to learn how to make parkari (kari), parch farine and bake cassava bread. She also vis ited surrounding villages. Spencer had also been able to pay a visit to Moco Moco, where she climbed the steps to Black Rock and looked at the Kanuku Moun tains and the savannah.
Kim Spencer US Army General, Laura Richardson Commander of US Southern Command visits Guyana
16 GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 29, 2022
By Naomi Parris FLOODED with inquir ing minds and aspiring scientists, the Arthur Chung Conference Cen tre (ACCC), at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, on Sunday came alive once again as the finalists in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport inaugural science fair and expo displayed their innovative and unique projects. The two-day event, which was officially opened on Saturday, August 28 , saw participants from several secondary schools and ter tiary institutions countrywide competing for a spot in the finals. Some 30 finalists are competing for the $1 million cash prize. The Guyana Chronicle visited the fair on Sunday and spoke to several attendees, who all said that the event was “a great learning expe rience”.
‘Fun-filled and innovative’ – attendees laud inaugural science fair
Onelly Holder, a student of Abram Zuil Secondary, in Region Two, said she felt “honoured” to represent her school and region -- Pomer oon-Supenaam.
EAGER TO SHARE
Layne and her classmates presented a creative and in novate style of furnishing one’s home while protecting the environment through upcycling.
“I feel very honoured to be representing Essequibo and my school. Coming here was very nerve-wrecking because we had to wake early and stuff like that but it was good experience to be a part of something like this,” she said. Holder and her peers cre ated a concrete block-mak ing machine which utilises plastic waste bottles and is powered by solar energy. “What we did is incorpo rate waste plastic bottles into concrete blocks. The plastic bottles have been collected from around the environment and then shredded into a shredder which is powered by solar energy. It is then carried with the conveyer belt system into a mixer Water is then added to the mixer, followed by sand and cement. It is transported to a block machine which then creates six-, four- and threeinch blocks,” the fifth-form student explained. Additionally, this publi cation spoke with 14-year old Colin Mentor of the Aishalton Secondary School located in Region Nine (Up per Takutu-Upper Essequ ibo). The lad said that as a sci ence enthusiast, he has par ticipated in several science fairs but never one this big. The experience, he add ed, has been a fulfilling one since he has been able to share his knowledge with others as well as learn new things.
The Aishalton Second ary School’s project was an eco-brick made with plastic material. The project aims to reduce the cost of building materials while using plastic waste to eradicate pollution and protect the environment.
“As a school, we would have introduced clubs into our curriculum and by doing that we have several clubs. We have tennis club, the dra ma club and the environment club. As the environment club, we decided to venture out into upcycling waste products. We started by up cycling bottles and then we
GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 29, 2022 17
High Commissioner of India to Guyana, Dr KJ Srinivasa, listens to students of the Westminster Secondary School as they explain their upcycling project Raul Boier and his family ventured out into upcycling tyres,” she said. Layne further said: “To upcycling you are adding value to something. It is different from recycling. By upcycling these tyres, we can decrease, if not stop the amount of tyres that are disposed of in landfills or by burning, because persons, if they can’t dispose of it, they burn it and its dangerous for the environment and us as humans.”
A visibly excited Gene sis Layne of the Westmin ster Secondary School, in Region Three , (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) said herself and classmates had a “fun” time educating people and learning new things.
A father helps his daughter to look into a microscope at the science fair (Carl Croker photo)
Raul Boier, who accom panied his wife and daughter, said not only was the event educational but it was fun. “It’s a great initiative for the youngsters coming up to see and to experience the world of science. I think this is a great initiative and I want to compliment the persons who put this together and en courage them to do this every year,” he added. The Guyana Chronicle also caught up with India’s High Commissioner to Guy ana, Dr KJ Srinivasa. “This is a great impor tance for science learning for the Guyanese school children and I think it will create that urge for innova tion…we have the hidden talents among our kids but at the same time I think they need that push by the seniors, by the government, by the schools and I am seeing that here,” he said.
Meanwhile, the young aspiring scientists ex pressed their delight in sharing their brilliant tal ents with those who visited their booths.
Michelle Reidwald, who accompanied her two chil dren, said: “It is always good for children to be exposed to not the writing alone but the practical part of creating robots as well as looking at ways in which we can reduce pollution, looking at ways in which we can preserve our food so there is so much to learn and it’s a fun environ ment.”
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Dindyal hits majestic 138 for Guyana U-19 FROM PAGE 23 session when they were back home. So I grasp my confidence from those guys and seeing them play at the top level has given me most of myThorneconfidence.competed at the recent Under-19 World Cup.
Guyana finished the Regional U-15 tournament in second place
West Indies Youth player Mavendra Dindyal scored a big hundred for Guyana (File Photo)
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Guyana’s Isiah Thorne hopes to...
A win over Trinidad and Tobago in their final match placed a cap on Guyana’s outing at this year’s Re gional Under-15 tourna ment which was severely affected by rain in Gre nada. Guyana finished the tour nament with two wins and oneIndefeat.their final match, Guy ana reached 96-5 from their allotment of 15 overs in the rain-affected contest. They were led by Navin Boodwah, who struck three fours in his 26 from 24 balls, while Dave Mohabir was unbeaten with 17 (2x4s) from 13 balls.
Guyana end U-15 tournament on a winning note
Dominic Redhead took 2-21 for the lads from the twin-is landTrinidadrepublic.was restricted to 72-5 compliments of a combined bowling effort led by Arun Gainda (1-14), Dhanesh Persaud (1-8), Arif Khan (1-10) and Mohabir (1-17).Darrius Batoosingh topscored for T&T with 19 while Yasir Deen was un beaten on Meanwhile,13. Barbados was crowned champions when they defeated the Lee ward Islands in the 15-over per-side match by 16 runs to top the table with 18.4 points.Barbados batted first and made 73-0 off 15 overs with solid knocks of 31 from Shem Sargeant and 29 from Kemar Dixon. In reply, the Leewards ended on 57-8 with the top score of 22 from Tanez Francis, which came off 26 balls. Jamaica batted well to defeat the Windward Is lands by four wickets. The Jamaicans scored 97-6 with 33 off 26 balls from Savio Jones who top scored. Ear lier, Windwards made 96-5 with Joden Charles (32) and Leon Alexander (24 not out) batting well.
MATCH SUMMARY: Ja maica U-19: 284 all out from 81.4 overs (Justin Beckford 83, Jordan Johnson 48; Isai Thorne 3-59, Jeremy Sandia 2-47, Jonathan Rampersaud 2-67) & 171-8 from 48.3 overs (Beckford 39, Adri an Weir 32; Sandia 4-52, Rampersaud 3-3. Guyana U-19: 300-8 declared from 89 overs (Mavendra Dindyal 138, Shamar Yearwood 69, Thorne 46; Reon Edwards 3-56, Sherwayne Thomas 2-49). Match drawn. Dindyal faced 261 balls and struck 15 fours and two maximums, and shared a vital 128-run stand with Shamar Yearwood which led Guyana to 300-8 declared. Yearwood made 69 (4x4s; 3x6s) from 107 balls; Isai Thorne with a rapid 46 and Alvin Mohabir (15) were the other batsmen to reach double-figure.ReonEdwards took 3-56, while Sherwayne Thomas had 2-49. In Jamaica’s first innings, Justin Beckford made 83 and Jordan Johnson got 48 as the pacey Thorne bagged 3-59, while spinners Jeremy Sandia and Jonathan Ramp ersaud took 2-47 and 2-67 respectively. The Berbican spinners then shared seven wickets to limit Jamaica to 171-8 in 48.3 overs in their second innings as Sandia had 4-52, while Rampersaud took 3-3 from 1.3 overs.
Q: You represented the West Indies during the ICC Men’s U-19 World Cup ear lier this year. So, for yourself and all of those players, did you look at this tournament as an opportunity to come andA:dominate?AsaWest Indies play er, I believe you need to come here and show why you are a West Indies play er. So for me, yes, I came here trying to dominate and show that I’m a step above and doing everything I can on the field to help my team win the competition.
GUYANA ended the Re gional Under-19 tourna ment with a draw but it was top-order batsman, Maven dra Dindyal, who took the limelight with a majestic 138 against Jamaica in their final round match which concluded on Saturday at Park Hill, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Guyana drew two match es and lost one at this year’s tournament.
Q: How has the experi ence of bowling in English conditions during the 2021 West Indies U19 tour helped your game as a young player so far? A: It was still a chal lenge because it was new conditions and all of that from the West Indies. But I think it really helped me as a fast bowler. The con ditions were helpful to fast bowling and it shows you how you need to be consis tent to get wickets.
GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 29, 2022 21
Q: In round two versus the Leeward Islands, you took a six-wicket haul. How have you found the bowl ing conditions compared to what you experienced grow ing up in Guyana or what you experienced bowling during the Under-19 World Cup?A: It’s not the easiest for fast bowling, but I think we could still work with it. But I think as senior youth players, we should be able to cope with the conditions and try to make the best out of it and I think I did that in the last game against Leewards. Q: Obviously, during the U-19 World Cup, it was white ball cricket where at maximum you only had to bowl 10 overs. How have you found the transition in this three-day tournament where you have had to bowl more than 10 overs over two innings?A:It has been a very difficult thing because, since last August, I haven’t played any ‘red’ cricket. So coming here after playing the first game was tough. I have been able to just kind of get into it. Bowling the overs is not a problem for me, because I think I’m fit enough to bowl the overs. It’s just that in the white-ball game you are trying to hit the stumps more than often we will do here in three-day cricket.
22 GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 29, 2022
Shakera Selman pro duced a magical spell to stun the Trinbago Knight Riders women and help her team be come the first to lift the women’s Universe Boss SKYEXCH 6IXTY tro phy. With the Knight Riders already on the ropes, Selman claimed three wickets in the pen ultimate over to clean up the Knight Riders’ batters and ensure a 15run Battingvictory.
The Universe Boss, Chris Gayle, lifted his own trophy as the Pa triots won the inaugu ral men’s SKYEXCH 6IXTY. In the poetry of cricket, Gayle was dropped twice in one over before he hit the winning runs to see his team over the line. You couldn’t have scripted it better. It was written in the stars.When put in to bat in the men’s final, the Trinbago Knight Riders had a tricky start to their innings losing two ear ly wickets and finding themselves 6/2 after just nine balls. Sunil Narine, who had batted so bril liantly in the semi-final, was dismissed without scoring before some in credible wicket-keeping from Da Silva saw the back of Tion Webster. Andre Russell looked to be the differ ence and was striking the ball well, but a stun ning piece of fielding put an end to his efforts before Terrance Hinds and Seekkuge Prasanna were both sent packing. Resistance in the form of an unbeaten 37 from Tim Seifert meant the Patriots needed 85 to win.The chase started with gusto from the Pa triots who unlocked the extra Powerplay for the first time in the tourna ment and they raced to 43/0 after just 20 balls. Russell made the initial breakthrough bowling Lewis for 21 and Narine made light work of De wald Brevis who went without scoring. But the excitement really start ed when the ‘Universe Boss’ strolled out to bat. With a trophy named after him and eternal bragging rights on the line, he came out with his usual intent and went aerial. This always has its dangers and with just 13 needed from 12, the ball found Jayden Seales, who dropped him before just two balls later he was also dropped by Anderson Phillip.With seven needed off the final over,Gay le and Fletcher rotated strike until with four required, it was the man, after whom the trophy was named, to face. In his usual style, he swung hard and found the boundary on the onside. As the ball raced away for four, the Pa triots were already cel ebrating, and Gayle’s wry smile was just an indication of what it meant to win the in augural title and lift a trophy named after him.
Patriots’ Men & Royals’ Women lift Universe Trophies
Jeremiah Louis (L) takes evasive action as a direct hit from Evin Lewis of Saint Kitts & Nevis Patriots runs out Andre Russell (R ) of Trinbago Knight Riders during the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League - The 6IXTY Men’s Final match 12 between Saint Kitts & Nevis Patriots and Trinbago Knight Riders at Warner Park Sporting Complex on August 28, 2022 in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis. (Photo by Randy Brooks - CPL T20/CPL T20 via Getty Images)
first, Roy als’ openers, Captain Hayley Matthews and Aaliyah Alleyne set the foundations before Mat thews fell for 15. Their troubles continued when the in-form Chloe Tryon was stumped without adding to the score and Alleyne not long after, both dismissed thanks to the bowling brilliance from Anisa Mohammed in the middle overs. Chinelle Henry put up resistance with her 15 and the batting side reached 64 before Coo per was stumped for 6 and the Royals were all out 65 off 56 balls. It had been an all-round effort in the field by the Knight Riders and with Deandra Dottin opening the batting and in fine form, they looked confi dent as they came out to chase the runs in pursuit of theWhentitle.Lee-Ann Kir by fell in the first over it was clear the chase would not be easy. Then in a shock twist, Dottin chopped on to her own stumps in the same over and suddenly the Knight Riders were 13/2 at the end of the second over. The Royals continued to keep a lid on the run chase and remained dis ciplined in their bowl ing. The boundaries dried up and there was a spell of 37 balls before the ball found the rope. The game was in the balance with the batting side needing 19 from 12 and it looked like a nail-biter was brewing. However, it was here that Selman produced her incredible over claiming Jensen caught by Matthews for 7 be fore Luus was caught at mid-off and Kycia Knight was caught by Joseph to seal the vic tory.The Barbados Roy als has secured the title in the inaugural wom en’s SKYEXCH 6IXTY and the party could be gin. Earlier in the day, four men’s teams had taken to the field across the two semi-finals. The first of the day saw St Kitts & Nevis Patriots get the better of the Ja maica Tallawahs as they made history with the highest successful run chase of the tournament. The game also saw the ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle launch his first SKYEXCH maximum of the tournament to raucous cheers from the partying crowd. In semi-final two the Barbados Royals came flying out of the traps much due to the rockets being launched off the bat of Rakheem Cornwall. But when he was dismissed, the run-rate slowed and the Royals could only man age 101/5 from their 60 balls. TKR raced to 43/1 after Sunil Narine was dismissed for 31 but Tion Webster batted well for his 27 which helped put a dent in the chase. In the end, it was a huge six from the bat of Hinds that saw them into the final, winning by three wickets with eight balls remaining. It truly was a ground-breaking tournament full of all the thrills and spills and everything in between and what better way for it to finish than with the image of the ‘Universe Boss’ lifting the Universe Boss trophy.
Barbados Royals women and Saint Kitts & Nevis Patriots men were crowned cham pions in the Park.matchesafterSKYEXCHinaugural6IXTYtwothrillingatWarner
CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Monday, August 29, 2022) COMPLIMENTS OF CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD -- 83 Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158) Answers to yesterday’s quiz: (1) 68 ODI games (2) WI: 31 Today’s Quiz: (1) When and where did the West Indies and New Zealand contest an ODI game for the first time? (2) Who were the captains involved? Answers in tomorrow’s …………………………………………………………………issue
Vurlon Mills Academy, Siskin outreach programme influence 56 boys and girls
FORMER national footbal ler, Vurlon Mills, through Football Academy, collabo rated with the Siskin Group Inc to host an outreach camp for 56 young boys and girls at the Georgetown Football Club ground. During the three-day football camp, players par ticipated in drills that focused on learning fundamental foot ball skills, team building, and the importance of health and nutrition.According to a release from the group, the camp was a fun and engaging op portunity for the players to continue to develop as young athletes and learn important values, both on and off the field.Multiple sponsors partic ipated in the camp, including MVP Sports, Toucan Dis tributors, Sunshine Snacks, Lucozade,“DevelopmentTopco. is over passion and we are happy to give these young boys and girls this opportunity,” said Mills, who directed the camp.
The Siskin Group’s technical director and for mer Chief Medical Officer of Guyana, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, also spoke to the kids about the importance of health and nutrition. The release further indi cated that given the promo tion of youth sports camps in Guyana, “this is just the beginning for these young men and women to further develop character building, social skills, and their love for the game of football.”
The Vurlon Mills Foot ball Academy and The Siskin Group Inc. expressed a huge ‘thank you’ to the local staff and coaches for helping to make this year’s football camp a huge success. The two groups have expressed a commitment to continue growing youth sport programmes that are safe, fun, inclusive, and accessible to all Guyanese.
Guyana retain Senior Caribbean Squash title in Jamaica
Guyana still holds the Senior Caribbean Squash title
THE Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) Senior title will remain in the cabinet of Team Guyana after they successfully defended their crown in Kingston, Jamai ca, on Saturday. Guyana won the title in 2019, but COVID-19 meant this was the first tournament since, and the title success was sealed after some thrill ing men’s matches. With the females steam rolling Jamaica 5-0, the men had a tougher task given the Jamaican’s depth in quality but the Guyanese men pulled through to win 3-2 led by Alex Arjoon, Ja son-Ray Khalil and Samuel Ince-Carvalhal,Forthefemales, they were led by Caribbean champion Ashley Khalil while Taylor Fernandes, Akeila Wiltshire, Ashley DeGroot, and Abosaide Ca dogan also produced very convincing wins for domi nantAdditionally,Guyana.
Ramon Chan-A-Sue played un beaten to win the men’s 40+ while Tiana Edwards fin ished second in the female category.Brian Young was fifth in the 50+ while Michelle Low was third. Those accolades add to Ashley Khalil’s gold in the women’s singles along with two gold and a silver in the doubles.
Guyana’s Isiah Thorne hopes to reap more red-ball success
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Guyana’s Isiah Thorne is seen as a future West Indies prospect
A: We still have a good set of players that come back [from] Under-19, so it’s still good competition. So you still have to be doing the basic things well, going out there hitting length and trying to get wickets and impress as much as pos sible.Q: You hail from the famous Berbice cricket area of Guyana. Growing up, what were some of your role models as a young fast bowler?A:Well, I came up watching Niall Smith, and Romario Shepherd and watched their training
Vurlon Mills (centre) along with the participants and other officials at the camp
Q: You have already experienced playing youth cricket against some of the world’s best U-19 play ers. How have you found coming back and playing your first U-19 tournament against Caribbean players?
THE 2022 West Indies Rising Stars U-19 Cham pionship represents the first time young Caribbe an cricketers are playing long-format cricket at any level since 2018. This follows the Ca ribbean hosting of the ICC Men’s U-19 World Cup which was successfully hosted by Cricket West In dies in January and Feb ruarySeveral young players participated in the tourna ment, representing the West Indies.These include Ackeem Auguste (Windward Is lands), Johann Layne (Bar bados), Nathan Edward (Leeward Islands), Onaje Amory (Leeward Islands), Carlon ana,mousEngland.Westsummerlic’scamefromfastthethisdan(LeewardBowen-TuckettIslands),andJorJohnson(Jamaica).Oneofthoseplayersinyear’scompetitionistalentedyoung17-yearbowler,IsiahThorne,Guyana.TheyoungThornefirsttothecricketingpubattentionduringtheof2021duringtheIndiesyouthtourofHehailsfromthefaareaofBerbice,Guythathasproducedleg endary past West Indies players such as Rohan Kan hai, Basil Butcher and Alvin Kallicharan and, recently, Shimron Hetmyer, Romario Shepherd and Gudakesh Motie.Thorne spoke to CWI Media at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex during the just-concluded match be tween Guyana and Jamaica.
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Guyana retain Senior Caribbean Squash title in Jamaica
Barbados Royals with the trophy celebrate winning the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League - The 6IXTY Women’s Final match 7 between Trinbago Knight Riders and Barbados Royals at Warner Park Sporting Complex on August 28, 2022 in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis. (Photo by Randy Brooks - CPL T20/CPL T20 via Getty Images)
PresidentNicolettecongratulatesFernandesongoldmedal
Saint Kitts & Nevis Patriots players with the trophy after winning the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League -- The 6IXTY Men’s Final match 12 between Saint Kitts & Nevis Patriots and Trinbago Knight Riders at Warner Park Sporting Complex on August 28, 2022 in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis. (Photo by Randy BrooksCPL T20/CPL T20 via Getty Images)
24 GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, August 29, 2022 Printed and Published by Guyana National Newspapers Limited, Lama Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown. Telephone 226-3243-9 (General); Editorial: 227-5204, 227-5216. Fax:227-5208 | MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 2022
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H.E. Dr Irfaan Ali has congratulated Nicolette Fernandes on winning the Gold medal at the World Masters Over-35 Squash Champion ships. “All Guyana, join me in heralding this grand achievement,” the president said in a statement issued late Sunday evening. He continued, “Nicolette has turned out yet another stellar performance and, in so doing, has secured personal success and brought na tional glory to our country. She remains one of Guyana’s most inspirational sporting heroines. I wish her continued success and thank her for being such a fine and enduring example for our young people.”
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Guyana still holds the Senior Caribbean Squash
Patriots’ Men & Royals’ Women lift Universe Trophies
