Guyana_Chronicle_Epaper_5_29_2019

WEDNESDAY 29th May, 2019

Green State Strategy completed No.105652

… President warns against ‘grim reality’ of climate change 03 PAGE

Beware of bias PAGE … Finance Secretary warns Auditor General 10 against political influence

Gov’t on warpath against TIP … eyes stronger PAGE legislation, to 03 repeal current Act

House-to-house registration to 15 start next month PAGE

President David Granger receives the ‘Green State Development Strategy: Vision 2040’ from UN Environment Programme’s Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mr. Leo Heileman, at the Ministry of the Presidency

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Former Jamaica PM, Edward Seaga dies

FORMER Jamaican Prime Minister, Edward Phillips George Seaga died on Tuesday while undergoing medical treatment in the United States.

His Excellency David Granger, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, in extending heartfelt sympathy to the family of Mr. Seaga, Jamaica’s fifth Prime Minister, noted that he served as Jamaica’s Prime Minister from 1980 to 1989, and was the last surviving framer of the Jamaican constitution.

President Granger recalled that at the age of 29, the former prime minister became the youngest person to be nominated to the Legislative Council (later the Senate) where he served for two years before becoming a Member of Parliament until his retirement in January 2005. “His Excellency sympathises with the people of Jamaica during their time of grief,” the statement read.

Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness Tuesday said that the necessary arrangements were already in place for the body of Seaga to be flown back to Jamaica “at the earliest possible time” following his death in the United States. “I consider

Mr Seaga my political father. He has been a great mentor, friend and guide in imparting the skills on strategic leadership and in building a nation. I owe him and indeed Jamaica owes him a debt of gratitude. He will forever remain in our hearts and minds,’ Prime Minister Holness said.

“Mr Seaga will live on through his stellar contribution to national development that defined our nation and provided service and value; indeed a legacy for generations now and generations to come. “The nation has lost a leader with true human values. I offer my sincere and deepest condolences to his widow Carla and the rest of his family,” Holness said.

Seaga, who served as the island’s fifth prime minister and also the longest serving Member of Parliament, died in a Miami Hospital where he had been receiving treatment for cancer and related complications. He died on the same day he celebrated his 89th birthday.

“It is with great sadness that I inform the nation of the passing of the Most Honourable Edward Phillip George Seaga, the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica,” Holness said in a

statement, adding that he “transitioned today at approximately 1:00 pm Jamaica time.

“Mr Seaga was receiving treatment in the United States and had his family with him. The family of Mr Seaga has asked me to express gratitude on their behalf for the many prayers and messages of comfort and support offered by the people of Jamaica,” Holness said.

Seaga, who at the age of 29, became the youngest person to be nominated to the Legislative Council (later the Senate), was the last surviving framer of the Jamaican Constitution.

Guyana’s Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo expressed sympathy on the passing of the former PM. “Prime Minister Nagamootoo conveys sympathy to the Seaga family and the Jamaican people who have lost a great statesman.”

Jamaica Opposition Leader, Dr Peter Phillips, described Seaga, as a giant in the cultural, social, economic life of independent Jamaica. Phillips, the leader of the main opposition People’s National Party (PNP) said Seaga’s death represents the end of an era in our political and social development.

“For close to sixty years, Mr Seaga was a gigantic

and powerful presence, having started out as an anthropologist, he made his commitment to representational politics and became the first Member of Parliament to serve more than one term in Western Kingston, a seat he represented for a record 43 years, from 1962 until his retirement in 2005.”

Governor- General Sir Patrick Allen expressed his deep sorrow at the passing of Seaga, saying his long list of achievements in national and political leadership, enlightened policy development, and efficient implementation marked him as a strategic thinker and man of action.

The Head of State said that the former prime minister evoked a brand of loyalty which was a combination of deep respect and unquestioned love. “Mr. Seaga leaves us a legacy of visionary leadership, sustainable institutional development, and a wealth of ideas and information. His formidable record of service will ensure the perpetuation of his contribution to the ongoing political maturing of our nation. “We extend our deepest sympathy to his beloved wife, Carla, to his children, grandchildren, other close relatives

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

and friends, and to all who grieve his passing here in

also played a major role in the development of the

Former Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga

Jamaica and across the world,” said the Governor General.

Jamaica’s fifth prime minister, from 1980 to 1989, also served as the leader of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) from 1974 to 2005 when he retired from active politics. Since his retirement from politics he has been an honorary distinguished fellow at the professorial level at The University of the West Indies (UWI), and also serves as chancellor of the University of Technology, Jamaica.

A lifelong sports enthusiast, Seaga was chairman of the Premier League Clubs Association, one of Jamaica’s governing football bodies, from its inception until 2010. He also served as president of the football club of his former West Kingston enclave, Tivoli Gardens. Seaga is credited with building the financial and planning infrastructure of the country after independence, as well as developing its arts and crafts, and awareness of national heritage. As a record producer and record company owner, Seaga

Jamaican music industry.

The University of the West Indies (The UWI) in a statement said it mourns the passing of Seaga. Vice Chancellor of The UWI, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles in immediate response to the news said “It is a sad moment in the movement that is the heroic rise of Jamaica as one of the most confident, courageous, and creative nation states on planet earth. As one of the principal architects of the dignified nation and wider region, Mr Seaga’s passing is already profoundly felt in many ways. In his later years he constituted a bridge between community and campus in his role as distinguished fellow of the University.

We shall surely miss his presence and fellowship. On behalf of The UWI family, I extend condolences to Mr Seaga’s family, his valued friends and associates.

To Prime Minister Holness, who carries our collective sorrow on behalf of the nation, I send blessings and empowerment at this time of personal loss. May his soul rest in peace.”

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Green State Development Strategy completed … President warns against grim reality of climate change

PRESIDENT David Granger, on Tuesday, received a copy of the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS) Vision 2040 from United Nations Environment Programme’s Director, Latin America and the Caribbean, Mr. Leo Heileman, at the Ministry of the Presidency.

The strategy was presented to President Granger in the presence of his Cabinet.

In receiving the document, the Head of State said the strategy is very important not only to Guyana, but to those countries within the Guiana Shield and even our CARICOM sister territories. “The world is realising almost by the day that climate change is a grim, relentless reality.

There is no avoidance. Hard-

ly a day passes that we do not see the adverse impact of climate change. It is great for us to be ahead of the game.

We have challenges with our coastal zone management; we have cycles of El Nino, drought and flood in our hinterland; we have industries which are now starting to have an impact on air quality and water quality,” the President said.

He noted too that Guyana will work towards building stronger relationships with other states so that efforts can be combined in the fight against climate change. The President believes that with the strategy, there must be education. He said the implementation of the strategy would be “frustrated” if the populace, from the smallest

child, is not educated or environmentally conscious.

“We know the need to ensure our environment is protected. So, our strategy is to combine what God has given us, the special asset of our environment, with what is happening in the economy,” said President Granger. He reminded that not many countries have had the benefit of a strategy before becoming a petroleum state.

“Today, we are very grateful,” the President said, while noting that the GSDS is not a private development strategy for one country as he pointed to the effect of climate change. “We intend to be a ‘green’ state [and] I hope that other Caribbean countries will take the lead from Guyana in pursuit

of this strategy,” President Granger said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Heileman explained that the presentation of the GSDS: Vision 2040 represents a follow-up on the vision delivered last October. The said document was revised and submitted to Cabinet in April. He explained that the 20-year national development policy reflects the guiding vision and principles of the ‘green agenda’ which is an inclusive and prosperous Guyana that provides a good quality life for all its citizens based on sound education, social protection, low-carbon and resilient development, providing new economic opportunities, justice and political empowerment.

The strategy, the United

Nations Environment Programme Director for Latin America and the Caribbean said, promotes three key messages: manage natural resource wealth; support economic resilience and build human capital and institutional capacity. He said the transparent establishment of the Natural Resource Fund Act will ensure that revenues from oil and gas are invested wisely, thereby avoiding the curse of the Dutch disease. Mr. Heileman noted too that the sound management of Guyana’s natural resources wealth – particularly forests, is essential to the country’s global leadership in relation to climate mitigation and sustainable development.

He alluded to the need to re-

orient investment in the education sector while adding that building human resource capacity must start from the nursery school level all the way to tertiary.

Director of the Department of Environment (DoE), Ministry of the Presidency, Ms. Ndibi Schwiers, assured President Granger that the GSDS not only includes his vision of an inclusive and prosperous country, but one that provides a good quality of life for all citizens.

She said implementation will begin in 2020 even as she explained the need for the establishment of a team that is focused on implementing the recommendations found within the document. (Ministry of the Presidency)

Gov’t on warpath against TIP … eyes stronger legislation, to repeal current Act

… SOPs being developed to respond to scourge in Guyana THE government will be repealing the Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act 2005 to pave way for a new legislation that would help the country better fight Trafficking in Persons (TIP).

Coordinator of the Counter Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) Unit, Ministry of Social Protection, Tanisha Williams-Corbin, in making the announcement on Tuesday, said the draft Combatting of Trafficking in Persons Bill has been completed, and would be submitted to the National Assembly shortly for consideration.

Noting that the current legislation is deficient, Williams-Corbin said the proposed legisla-tion was drafted following extensive consultation.

“The initiative falls under a TIP project funded by the United States, Department of States, and is implemented

by International Organisation for Migra Wtion (IOM).

In collaboration with the IOM and the Ministerial Task Force for TIP, consultations were held with stakeholders and the new Act was drafted by consultant

Rosemary Benjamin-Noble,” Williams-Corbin said in a statement.

The Counter Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) Unit has been collaborating with the IOM for almost three years.

They are currently working on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for responding to TIP in Guyana. The unit’s coordinator said the SOPs will help with more effective ways of responding to investigations and prosecutions of TIP cases, as well as protection and reintegration of TIP victims.

“The Ministry of Social Protection has received the final draft of the investigation and prosecution SOPs and we have since submitted our final comments to the consultant Ms. Diana Shaw. Once the document is returned to the ministry, we will sign on to the SOPs along with our partners,” Williams- Corbin explained.

It is expected that Shaw will review the protection and reintegration SOP soon, which deals with the provision of psychosocial support to victims of TIP. Subsequent to the review, bilateral meetings and validation

workshops will be held. The final document is expected by the end of this year.

According to the C-TIP coordinator, her unit has participated in the recently-concluded Regional Thematic Meeting on Trafficking in Human Beings and Smuggling of Migrants. This meeting, which was funded by the United States Embassy along with other partners, and organised by IOM, was held among CARICOM countries at the Ramada Princess Hotel.

Williams-Corbin said that some salient initiatives which her Unit can implement to better respond and prosecute cases of TIP were noted from the meeting. These include strengthening of regional collaboration in combatting TIP, joint surprise inspection frameworks across the Region and improving data sharing across the Region.

Also, coming out of the meeting, a smaller working group which will be looking specifically at responding to the Venezuelan migrant situation, with specific focus on exploitation of workers, is expected to be formed.

“The ministry has already

upped its game for responding to TIP cases involving the influx of Venezuelans.

However, through the regional collaboration, we will be able to see what the other countries are doing and adapt similar measures. We will also be able to identify any gaps in our system that we can strengthen and we can also share our best practices with the other countries,” the C-TIP Coordinator expounded. The C-TIP Unit has been and continues to provide support for TIP victims and is also providing assistance for them to return home and be reintegrated into their respective communities.

In its 2018 report on human trafficking, the United States said Guyana has fully met the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons.

According to the report, “the government has continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period; therefore Guyana remained on Tier 1”. “The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by increasing funding for victim assistance, identifying and assisting more

victims for the third consecutive year, and opening and operating a trafficking shelter outside of the capital area,” the report stated.

It recommended that Guyana trains more law enforcement, judiciary officials, and front-line responders – especially those working outside the capital – on victim identification and referral procedures; develop standard procedures for protecting foreign victims; provide additional protection for victims to testify against traffickers in a way that minimises re-traumatisation; monitor the number of cases Tanisha Williams-Corbin, reported to the trafficking hoCoordinator of the tline or by labour inspectors Counter Trafficking in to promote a rapid investigaPersons (C-TIP) Unit, tive and victim assistance reMinistry of Social sponse; and provide training Protection, for diplomatic personnel on trafficking. prisonment.

In the area of prosecu“These penalties, with tion, the report noted that the respect to sex trafficking, government has maintained were commensurate with law enforcement efforts and those prescribed for other pointed to the Combating serious crimes, such as Trafficking of Persons Act rape,” the report stated, of 2005, which criminalised while noting that the law sex and labour trafficking defined trafficking broadly and prescribed sufficiently to include the illegal sale of stringent penalties ranging organs without the use of from three years to life im- force, fraud, or coercion.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Supreme Court rulings offer mixed message on abortion The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday sent a mixed message on abortion, refusing to consider reinstating Indiana’s ban on abortions performed because of fetal disability or the sex or race of the fetus while upholding the state’s requirement that fetal remains be buried or cremated after the procedure is done.

Both provisions were part of a Republican-backed 2016 law signed by Vice President Mike Pence when he was Indiana’s governor. The ac-

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

tion by the justices comes at a time when numerous Republican-governed states including Alabama are approving restrictive abortion laws that the Supreme Court may be called upon to rule on in the future.

In an unsigned ruling, with two liberal justices dissenting, the Supreme Court decided that a lower court was wrong to conclude that Indiana’s fetal burial provision, which imposed new requirements on abortion clinics, had no legitimate

purpose. The court has a 5-4 conservative majority.

While that provision was not a direct challenge to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalised abortion nationwide, the ruling gave anti-abortion proponents a victory at the Supreme Court, which soon may have to decide whether various state laws violate the rights recognised in that landmark ruling.

But the court also indicated a reluctance to directly tackle the abortion issue at least for now, rejecting Indiana’s separate attempt to reinstate its ban on abortions performed because of fetal disability or the sex or race of the fetus. The court left in place the part of an appeals court ruling that struck down the provision.

Alyssa Farah, a Pence spokeswoman, said he “commends the Supreme Court for upholding a portion of Indiana law that safeguards the sanctity of human life by requiring that remains of aborted babies be treated with respect and dignity.”

“We remain hopeful that at a later date the Supreme Court will review one of numerous state laws across the U.S. that bar abortion based on sex, race or disability,” Farah added.

The court’s ruling on the fetal burial issue noted that in challenging the measure the American Civil Liberties Union and women’s healthcare and abortion provider Planned Parenthood did not allege that the provision implicated the right of women to obtain an abortion.

01:30hrs.-03:00hrs.

14:30hrs.-16:00hrs.

“This case, as litigated, therefore does not implicate our cases applying the undue burden test to abortion regulations,” the ruling said.

Planned Parenthood said in a statement the fetal burial provision was an abortion restriction “intended to shame and stigmatise women and families.”

“While this ruling is limited, the law is part of a larger trend of state laws designed to stigmatize and drive abortion care out of reach. Whether it’s a total ban or a law designed to shut down clinics, politicians are lining up to decimate access to abortion,” added Jennifer Dalven, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer.

A TEST FOR THE COURT The case was one of the court’s first major tests in the abortion context following last year’s retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was pivotal in defending abortion rights.

Anti-abortion activists hope the high court will greatly narrow or even overturn the Roe ruling following Kennedy’s departure. President Donald Trump replaced Kennedy with conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Liberal Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor said they disagreed with the Supreme Court’s decision to reinstate Indiana’s fetal remains provision.

Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a concurring opinion accompanying the ruling that the court will need to weigh in on whether states can ban abortions based on disability, race and gender. Indiana’s law promotes “a state’s compelling interest in preventing abortion from becoming a tool of modern-day eugen-

ics,” Thomas wrote.

Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Mississippi and other states have passed restrictive abortion laws in recent months.

The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2017 permanent injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt against both provisions of Indiana’s law. She found the measure violated the constitutional privacy rights recognized in the 1973 abortion ruling.

The law forbade women from obtaining an abortion if the decision to terminate the pregnancy was based on a diagnosis or “potential diagnosis” of fetal abnormality such as Down syndrome or “any other disability” or due to the race, color, national origin ancestry or sex of the fetus. Indiana said the state has an interest in barring discrimination against fetuses and in protecting the “dignity of fetal remains.”

“The highest court in the land has now affirmed that nothing in the Constitution prohibits states from requiring abortion clinics to provide an element of basic human dignity in disposing of the fetuses they abort. These tiny bodies are, after all, human remains,” Indiana’s Republican Attorney General, Curtis Hill, said.

A similar fetal burial law from Minnesota was upheld by a federal appeals court in 1990 but the Indiana law and another like it in Texas, enacted in 2016, have been struck down by the courts.

Several other abortion cases are heading toward the high court, including Indiana’s appeal seeking to revive another law that requires women to undergo an ultrasound at least 18 hours before they undergo an abortion. (Reuters)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

40 dead in Brazil prison clashes

FORTY inmates have been found dead at four separate prisons in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state in northern Brazil.

All the bodies, which were found during routine inspections, showed signs of asphyxiation, officials said.

Monday’s violence came a day after 15 prisoners were killed in jail clashes in Manaus.

The state governor said a task force had been sent to Amazonas to help control the disturbances.

Prison officials said that the victims belonged to the same drug trafficking group and that they had been killed due to an internal gang rift.

Robert Muggah, who is research director at the Igarape Institute think tank in Rio de Janeiro, told Agence France-Presse news agency that he thought a “settling of scores” was behind the killings.

Fifteen inmates died in clashes in Anísio Jobim jail when prisoners turned on each other. Some were stabbed with sharpened toothbrushes while others were strangled.

The violence broke out during visiting hours and the mother of one inmate described it as “total chaos”.

“Everyone started to run, and everyone was pounding on the cell gates, at the doors, and running down the corridors.”

“It was not a rebellion, it was a fight among inmates,” Col Marcus Vinicius, who is in charge of prisons in Amazonas state, said.

He said the fact that the killings had happened during visiting hours broke an unwritten prison rule of “never to kill during a family visit”.

Col Vinicius said murders inside jails were inevitable: “We have to have the maturity to understand that in any prison in the world, when someone wants to kill, they will kill.”

Brazil has the world’s third-largest prison population with more than 700,000 people in jail, not counting the more than 35,000 held in police facilities, according to data from the World Prison Brief.

Prisons suffer from serious overcrowding, with the number of prisoners almost double that of the official capacity.

Many prisons are run by the inmates and there are frequent clashes between

Riot police entered the Puraquequara jail in Manaus, where six bodies were found (BBC photo)

rival gangs. Riots to demand better conditions and prison escapes are also common.

Attempts to reform the prison system and to introduce tighter controls have met with resistance from powerful criminal gangs which operate both inside and outside of jails.

The crisis in the Amazonas jail system is not new. In January 2017, in the worst jail violence in Amazonas state, 56 inmates were killed in Anísio Jobim prison.

Following those killing, officials launched an investigation which concluded that there had been a number of failings at the jail.

They included a lack of communication between prison authorities and the

police, which meant that the latter had not been alerted when officials found out about plans to launch a riot.

In the following days there were also uprisings and riots in other jails in Manaus.

National security forces were deployed to Anísio Jobim jail and others in the wake of the 2017 killings and, according to local media, the forces were still there when the latest killings happened.

Amazonas State Governor Wilson Lima said that the justice ministry would send a “prison intervention team” to Manaus.

In the past, rival gangs have been separated within prisons by placing them

in different wings and using shipping containers to divide the prison yard.

(BBC)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Guyana at 53!

IF memory proves correct, Guyana’s first Independence observance was birthed on a midnight, preceding a day on which there was some amount of rainfall; which was not unusual at the time because of the traditional May-June pattern of rainfall.

On Independence Day itself, there was a mix of some rather overcast skies but reasonable amount of sunshine that heralded the beginning of a new chapter in Guyana’s political life.

Since then, this historic day of Guyana’s nationhood, as would be expected, has always been evidenced by mixed weather, because of the time of year when it occurs.

However, last Sunday, on our 53rd Anniversary, save and except for a very slight drizzle, which was perhaps not even felt in some sections of the Capital City, the sun shone in all its brilliance and glory, its golden rays particularly focused on the D’Urban Park Stadium where the event officially unfolded.

It was an unforgettable sight to behold, as thousands of citizens gathered in the stands and wherever there was space available to savour a cultural presentation with a specific difference; one that was particularly youth-oriented. Made up of mostly children of primary and secondary school ages, they came from all across Guyana, at times travelling long distances, from as far as Region One, way up in the Barima-Waini district; the ‘West- Side’, the East Coast; West Coast Berbice, and of course, the capital city, to take

centre stage on this historic day.

It was the largest gathering ever of young people, reportedly 5000-strong, taking part in a celebration of nationhood, under the theme: ‘A united Guyanese are we at 53’, and witnessed by not only members of government and the opposition and other dignitaries; visitors from the Diaspora, and, of course, the children’s proud parents and guardians, as well as their teachers and instructors, whose roles in their preparation for this grand occasion are deserving of both our commendation and our gratitude.

And they lived up to the expectation as they effortlessly performed and beautifully executed their choreographed pieces, whether it was the plaiting of the traditional Maypole; in the rhythmic movements of the karatekas; the white-clad segment, as, bat in hand a glorious game of cricket unfolded; the actions of the vaqueros at the Rupununi Rodeo; and what can only be described as a new twist to the ‘Mad-Cow’ dance, set to what sounded like a mix of classical-styled music typical of the American ‘Wild –West’.

‘Independence 53’ will long be remembered for what it illustrated of the accompanying cast that portrayed aspects of Guyana’s rich multi-cultural mosaic in a rich tapestry of national colours that swirled and flowed gracefully like swans in a lake.

It is no accident that this year’s Independence Anniversary coincides with National Youth Week activities. And what better way

The day our youths rose to the occasion

to highlight the importance of our youth and the important role they are expected to play in the future development of Guyana. For, out of that vibrant and exuberant collective that marched with precision, danced and swayed to the musical beat, depicting so many cultural aspects of national life, are going to be some of the nation’s future leaders; important persons of state; and professionals of all types.

What was willingly highlighted last Independence Day by those thousands of young people was a disciplined display and understanding of the pride which they brought to the pageantry; a pride that they felt at being Guyanese, and love for country. And this feeling was unmistakable in the designated roles they enacted before a packed-to-capacity D’Urban Park crowd. But more important was the undeniable fact that such socio-cultural growth and development of the nation’s youth for a better understanding of their role in a future Guyana has been supported and nurtured by the unstinted support of the David Granger-led coalition, A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance for Change(APNU+AFC) government that youth be advanced in the national pantheon of socio-economic development. And nowhere else is there a better example of this determined fact than in the adopted National Youth Policy, which is about the vision for the nation’s youth.

It is instructive that we are guided by this key instrument and policy for youth devel-

opment that it is transformational in nature, impacting Guyana in a manner that will ensure unity among our young people, education, training, being safe, “happy , healthy and integrally involved in the decision making processes, while enjoying equality of opportunity and equal access to the resources of our country and are politically economically and socially empowered”, according to President David Granger.

In fact, President Granger has made it quite clear that “the future belongs to young people,” and that the proceeds from economic expansion and diversification will be channeled into securing and safeguarding “our children’s and grandchildren’s future.”

The impressive military display, historical in every way because it has broken with the tradition of the institutional military being a part of this celebration. Led by the Guyana National Cadet Corps(GNCC), and supported by well-known and traditional youth-oriented organisations such as the Scouts, Girl Guides, schoolchildren, with the Seventh Day Adventist Band Corp and Pathfinders in attendance, was as remarkable as there could have been.

Moreover, the hoisting of the National Flag by two members of the GNCC, is an indication that our youth are indeed prepared to take their responsibilities seriously in preparing for their place in a future Guyana where the good life beckons all, not just a chosen few!

Guyanese creolese essential for everyday communication Dear Editor, WITH reference to the television programme which was done by final-year students from the Language and Society II, Berbice Campus, which was aired on April 23, 2019 in Georgetown and on May 14, 2019 on NCN, we are here to advocate for Guyanese creole to be implemented in schools curricula. Guyanese creolese is our mother tongue and is used to express

feelings and is essential for everyday communication. It is a valid language just like any other language.

Occasionally, teachers tend to shun students when they speak creolese in the classroom, especially in the English class.

They have a tendency of insisting that the students should speak “properly,” which is to speak the standard English. As such, we as teachers lower students’ self-confidence when we insist that they should speak “properly.”

These children may never make an attempt again to express how they feel or even to answer a question in class. This can be one of the contributing factors towards the high rate of school drop-outs, simply because the children cannot speak standard English.

There are numerous ideas discussed in the television programme to promote the legitimacy of local creolese as a language.

To begin, we need to get away from the notion that creolese is not a language. Al-

though it borrows words from English and other languages, it is still regarded as a bona fide language. All languages borrow lexical items and/or concepts from other languages without becoming any less of a language.

For example, from English, French borrowed “weekend” and Spanish borrowed the concept of “perros calientes,” literally dogs hot for “hot dogs.”

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Let us professionals speak up about our mental health to help remove the stigma

Dear Editor,

PLEASE permit me to comment on an article I read in the Guyana Chronicle, “Addressing mental health disorders.”

Mr. Editor, it is only recently I opened up about my mental health diagnosis, a condition I had since I was a teenager, but was too scared and ashamed to seek help or ever speak about it. A condition by the name of bipolar affective disorder, which is essentially a mood disorder manifested by highs and lows.

I carried the burden of this secret for over 20 years, but opened up about it in 2018 to close friends. Sadly, they were not supportive, I was discriminated against and had to endure ad hominem attacks. I’ve always been plain spoken, forthright, direct and linguistically gifted, which is completely unrelated to my mental health. Because they were told of my diagnosis, every time I was me my mental health was attacked; every time I sneezed it was my mental health. I was no longer seen as a person with my unique personality; I was defined by my mental health. That was very sad.

Mr Editor, under the PPP there was never a focus on mental health, despite the fact that most of the victims were from their support base. I can see this government is trying to address this serious national issue by developing several programmes as highlighted in the aforementioned article. I’ve seen that they are several suicide helplines advertised in the Chronicle. That’s a step in the right direction,

but much more needs to be done.

Please permit me to quote the Regional Health Officer Dr Nicholson, verbatim, from the said article, “We want to make mental health something that is no longer seen as a stigma, so persons could walk into the health centre and speak to someone who is competent enough to handle their mental health problems, whether it be dementia, epilepsy, or schizophrenia, or drug abuse; whether they are issues of self-harm or suicide.” I do agree with the good doctor, but this is easier said than done. I completely agree that the necessary stakeholders, namely, health professionals, police etc., need to be educated, but I also believe that the public also needs to be educated. Many are uninformed and ignorant about mental health. I alluded to my painful experiences in a letter published last week after I opened up about my mental health diagnosis in 2018. Low and behold, someone who read that letter chose to have a snipe at my mental health last week. Of course, I linguistically insulted him and dealt with him.

Please permit me to educate the public about bipolar affective disorder, since many may not have heard of it. Bi simply means two. Polar can be looked at as a spectrum with two ends. Affective simply means mood. In essence, bipolar affective disorder is a mood disorder of two moods, namely, highs and lows that is depression and mania. Doctors do not know exactly what causes it, but what has been identified thus far as factors are childhood traumas and disorder in neurotrans-

mitters in the brain. In my case, it was likely the trauma of witnessing my mom die while I was eight-years-old, being abandoned by my father and years of physical and psychological abuse.

More often than not, patients with bipolar affective disorder are quite normal once they are on treatment. Many great scientists, actors, writers, scientists and musicians have it since it is associated with increased creativity and higher intelligence. Sir Winston Churchill, the greatest British Prime Minister, had it and he described it as his “black dog.”

Factors that can create a crisis includes lack of sleep, and stress. For example, when my brother died in 2017 I lost 40 pounds in two weeks because of severe depression, use of recreational drugs, which I had never used and alcohol, in which I don’t indulge, among other factors.

I will continue to write about my mental health issues because I know they are many out there who are scared to open up about it.

I was once there and I can say this, that it is not your fault. Just as it was not President Granger’s fault when he developed cancer.

With my diagnosis I’ve been functioning quite well. I’ve outlined my achievements on many occasions. I will highlight them again not to boast, but to reinforce the point that with the right support patients with mental health disorders can live a productive life.

I was the first from my batch to pass the MRCP(UK) examination in record time. I was the first from my batch to become a specialist

in the UK. I was the first from my batch to be appointed a substantive consultant in the UK. I was the first from my batch to earn the FRCP(Edin) accolade. I was recently nominated by the Royal College of Physicians for the FRCP(UK) accolade. I am probably the only Guyanese to become a MRCP PACES examiner. I am a consultant at one of the top teaching hospitals in the UK. I wrote the above to let those affected by mental health problems recognise that they too can be successfully treated and live productive lives. Government should recognise this and continue to invest in mental health.

Guyana has a small population and needs everyone healthy to take it forward.

Mental health issues should not only be associated with vagrants on the streets. I am sure that they are many professionals in Guyana with mental health disorders. Let’s come on. Let’s be open about it. Let’s remove the stigma. Let’s remove the stereotypes. Let’s be the face of it.

Sadly, in 1993 under the PPP, I did not get the support because it was not available. I think this government is going in the right direction and now that I’ve opened up about my diagnosis, I will play my small part in removing the stigma about mental health.

Regards Mental Health Patient Dr Mark Devonish MBBS MSc MRCP(UK) FRCP(Edin)

Guyanese creolese essential...

Similarly, English has borrowed a vast number of words from other languages, such as souvenir (French), dope (Dutch), piano (Italian), yogurt (Turkish) and so forth.

Additionally, the linguistic systems of English are quite distinct from those in Guyanese creole, again establishing that creolese is not a ‘broken’ or ‘substandard’ dialect of English – for example, English requires a bound inflectional morpheme [s] to express pluralisation, which can be realised as /s/ as in ‘cats’, /z/ as in ‘dogs’, /iz/ as in ‘boxes’, and many other irregular forms; however, to express plurality, Guyanese creole employs a free morpheme [dem] as in ‘di daag dem’ (the dogs), or in some instances, plurality is implied via context and not via an overt marker, as in ‘tuu daag’(two dogs).

In addition, Guyanese creolese can be considered a language, since it has a unique and colourful vocabulary. For example, the English word ‘frog’ is translated in creolese to be ‘krapo,’ especially by the older folk.

Likewise, the creolese word ‘pikni’ is used to refer to ‘child/children.’ These lexical variations should be appreciated and accepted. It should be noted also, as demonstrated in the spellings of the words in creolese above, that this language has its unique orthography, distinct from the English system.

Local creolese employs a phonemic writing

system, where one sound is represented by one symbol. To illustrate, where English has the symbol [c] in words such as “cent” or “crib,” the creolese writing system would use /s/ and /k/ respectively. Similarly, where the sound /i/ is represented with different symbols in English, as demonstrated in words such as igloo, eat, village, badly, and so forth, in local creolese, all similar sounds are written using the same symbol. Again, the vowel [a] in English, has different sounds in words such as ‘all’, ‘ape’, ‘apple’; which would be represented in the creole writing system as separate symbols.

Moreover, the several varieties of Guyanese creolese are mutually intelligible to almost all Guyanese, especially the ones residing in Guyana. Therefore, we can safely say that this language creates camaraderie among Guyanese and is a mark of culture and identity.

Further, despite English being Guyana’s official language, Guyanese creole is used daily to communicate in our homes, offices and even in schools and places of worship.

In most cases, English is used only when it is absolutely necessary. This solidifies the fact that creolese is indeed a language in its own right, and it is not inferior to English or any other language. However, many people remain ignorant of this linguistic fact. For

example: when a child is asked about his or her native language, the response is almost always English. Also, when filling in spoken language in the child’s cumulative card at school, most teachers use English as the learners’ spoken language. Most importantly, if Guyanese creolese is not accepted as a language, inclusive education cannot be realised completely. Many students do not understand instructions when given in English and have to be instructed using their mother tongue, Guyanese creole. Moreover, numerous studies, supported by several UNESCO conventions and declarations, have proved the values of mother-tongue education for general cognitive development.

Being educated in your mother tongue is a basic human right, which should be free from any discrimination or marginalisation; thereby allowing students to feel a sense of belonging, while creating a motivating, learning environment where students can participate and express themselves freely.

The Guyanese creole language should not be defined by the perception that people have of it, but it should be defined by the same factors that classify other languages as languages. As such, creolese should not be condemned by the negative perception that it has been assigned, but it should be recognised for its effective

FROM PAGE 6

use in communication among many other factors which makes it a language. Furthermore, we should have more awareness programmes, so that all Guyanese can become aware that creolese is a language and efforts should be made to teach its linguistic systems in schools from the nursery to the tertiary levels. We must educate the nation as a whole that creolese is unique, it is our heritage and tradition.

It is who we are as a nation and we should not be ashamed of it; rather, we should all embrace it and let it take its rightful place at the top along with English. After all, full bilingualism (being literate in both English and Guyanese creole) is always superior to monolingualism. We should therefore not ridicule, marginalise or discriminate against others who speak creolese. Let us feel free to express ourselves in speech and writing, using our mother tongue, no matter where we are. As teachers, with the mission to educate the nation, we challenge you to be proud to speak up, speak Guyanese creolese everywhere!

Regards Teacher/Students of ENG3204 (Language and Society II), 2018/19 University of Guyana, Berbice Campus

‘No need for disciplinary action’

8

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

… commissioners maintain ERC report cleared GECOM of racial bias in hiring

GUYANA Elections Commission (GECOM) government-nominated Commissioners on Tuesday said that the Ethnic Relation Commission’s (ERCs) report concluded that there is no racial bias influencing hiring practice at the commission and as such no further action is required.

That stance comes as opposition-nominated Commissioners have called for disciplinary action to be taken against GECOM’s Human Resources Manager who did not assist in the ERC’s investigations. However, on Tuesday, at the Commission’s statutory meeting, government-nominated Commissioner, Vincent Alexander, stated that “one could not arrive at disciplinary action unless one knew somebody was necessarily guilty of something”.

Explaining the history of what led to the ERC report, he stated that Opposition-nominated Commissioners made a request of the ERC that an investigation be conducted into GECOM’s employment practices from

GECOM Commissioner Charles Corbin an ethnic perspective in relation to the hiring of Vishnu Persaud.

Back in 2018, Persaud and the now Deputy Chief Election Officer (DCEO), Roxanne Myers were contending for the position and, although the former scored higher marks at the interview, Myers was ultimately granted the position.

According to the ERC’s report, “work-related per-

formances and questionable integrity” were critical factors that had informed the eventual decision of GECOM’s Chair, Justice (Ret’d) James Patterson.

Alexander told the media: “The report unequivocally concluded that there is no evidence that there was racial or ethnic bias in relation to Vishnu Persaud’s non-employment. There are other issues that they may have raised but those are peripheral issues. The fundamental issue, the ERC was conclusive and unequivocal about it.”

Further expounding on the issue, Commissioner Charles Corbin said that the request of the complainants to the ERC can be broken down into two elements.

These are whether, generally, race influences GECOM’s Human Resource Policy with regards to its hiring practice and whether Persaud’s non-employment was influenced by the bias of race.

“The report concluded that in both instances they found no evidence to support those allegations. That is the

Hospital (GPH) and later succumbed to his injuries.

With Senior Counsel Stanley Moore as his representative, Cromwell had pleaded not guilty to the charge.

However, during the trial, the eyewitness who is a policeman testified, confirming that indeed Cromwell was the shooter.

The policeman testified that he was standing in the compound of Parliament Building and saw when Cromwell approached Lorrimer, shot him, and escaped on a waiting CG motorcycle.

When the jury returned the guilty verdict, the prisoner had a bland expres-

GECOM Commissioner Vincent Alexander sub-committee so why not let’s discuss at the plenary which, at any instance, has to be the final place where it is discussed. So we wasted all the time discussing that and not discussing the report,” Alexander said.

Meanwhile, the matter of the reported misinformation of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) by GECOM’s Legal Officer, Attorney-at-Law, Excellence

Dazzell was also discussed.

GECOM Commissioners had told the media that, in April, during the pre-trial hearing of the consolidated appeals, Dazzell informed the CCJ that the Elections Commission will respect its decision, and, as such, no submissions would be made.

But according to Alexander, this was not the instruction given to Dazzell.

According to him, GECOM’s attorney in the matter, Senior Counsel Stanley Marcus, had advised Dazzell to inform the CCJ that a lawyer was appointed on the commission’s behalf and submissions would be made but Dazzell did the opposite.

Her reported actions, which were only recently brought to the fore, has led to calls for Dazzell to be investigated for providing a legal opinion on the state of Official List of Voters without sanctioning from the commission.

Alexander stated that at yesterday’s meeting, reservations were once again expressed but a review of the matter by the GECOM Chairman is still pending

Lawyer enters ‘no-case –– in Daby attempted murder trial, submission’ matter adjourned until June 3

Kerry Cromwell guilty of murder THE trial of murder accused Kerry Cromwell ended on Tuesday before Justice Navindra Singh and the 12-member jury returned a guilty verdict.

Cromwell was remanded to prison after he was charged with the murder of Linden bus driver Alvin Lorrimer on March 21, 2016.

According to the facts presented by State Prosecutors Tuanna Hardy and Abigail Gibbs, Lorrimer was shot while he was standing outside his bus at the Linden bus park seeking passengers; Cromwell was seen by an eyewitness as the shooter.

Lorrimer was rushed to the Georgetown Public

remit, as we understand it, of the ERC and that was the conclusion that they came to based on all the information that was available to them,” Corbin said.

Regarding the information requested but not received, he stated that the lack of this information could not be seen as having any negative impact on the final conclusion.

“If it were so, at their level, they would have so indicated. What they did in the report was to indicate everything that transpired but they still were able to arrive at a conclusion,” he added.

Commissioner Alexander told the media that, at Tuesday’s meeting, much of the talk on the matter centered on whether the concern should be taken to the Sub-Committee or the plenary which resulted in the usual divide.

“There are those who felt that here is the Commission at large, why do we need to refer to the sub-committee when the same set of people who will be in the sub-committee are in the plenary?

The plenary is superior to the

Kerry Cromwell sion. His attorney requested a probation report to aid in mitigation of sentence, and Justice Singh granted two weeks for preparation of same.

Cromwell was previously convicted and sentenced to community service for a narcotics offence; he was also charged in connection with several armed robberies and wounding and finally, he was also charged for assaulting a police officer and escaping lawful custody in 2017.

A no-case submission was on Tuesday made by attorney-at-law Mark Waldron in favour of his client Maryann Daby, who is charged for attempting to murder a policeman, and the unlawful possession of a gun and ammunition.

Daby, 26, the Finance Manager of United Commodities, is on trial before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court where the matter is being prosecuted by Richard Harris.

It is alleged that on May 13, 2018 at Albert Street, Thomas Lands, Daby discharged a firearm at Police Constable Christopher Kissoon with intent to commit murder.

The two other charges with which she was slapped allege that on the same day,

she had in her posession a .32 pistol and six matching rounds of ammunition for which she was not licensed to carry.

Daby is currently out on $750,000 High Court bail.

When the matter was called on Tuesday, her attorney in presenting his nocase submission contended that the victim, Kissoon did not identify Daby as the shooter, and that the gun she is alleged to have used was not tendered in court.

The incident reportedly occurred in the compound of the Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club (GMR&SC) at Thomas Lands.

According to the police, on the day in question, Constable Kissoon had cause to approach Daby after she was seen firing shots in the air, and as he drew near,

Maryann Daby she placed the gun to his forehead and promptly pulled the trigger. Fortunately for him, the gun was empty.

The matter has been adjourned until June 3, 2019 to give the prosecutor an opportunity to respond.

9

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

M&CC investigating Economic growth remained steady ‘phantom’ workers on payroll in 2018 –– BoG

By Telesha Ramnarine

THE Bank of Guyana (BoG) is reporting that global economic growth remained steady at 3.7 percent in 2018 and is projected to decline to 3.5 percent in 2019.

According to the bank’s annual report for the year 2018, growth in advanced economies declined, reflecting weaker performance in the Euro area and the UK. The Euro area experienced reduced domestic demand and political uncertainty. The United Kingdom experienced declining growth as the effects of Brexit continue to take a toll on the economy. Growth in emerging and developing economies’ declined due to decreased internal demand and volatile commodity markets, respectively. Inflation increased on account of high food and energy prices, while unemployment rates were largely unchanged in most of the world’s economies.

The report shows that Guyana’s economic growth rate was stronger at 4.1 percent for 2018 when compared to the 2.1 percent growth in 2017. This outturn was on account of higher production of bauxite, livestock, forestry and other commodities, as well as increases in construction, manufacturing and service activities. Favourable commodity prices, greater investment expenditure and moderate domestic demand were major factors influencing growth. However, the output of sugar, rice, gold and fishing declined, reflecting poor weather and road conditions, as well as lower domestic demand from regulatory requirements. The urban inflation rate was contained at 1.6 percent, despite moderate increases in the prices of food and fuel. The overall balance of payments deficit widened due to a relatively larger current account deficit, reflecting foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the oil-and-gas sector for both merchandise and service imports.

The capital account surplus resulted from higher inflows to the private sector in the form of Financial Draft International Standard (FDIs) and to the Non-Financial Public Sector in the form of disbursements.

The overall deficit was financed from the gross foreign reserves of the Bank of Guyana and debt forgiveness. Gross international reserves were equivalent to approximately 2.3 months of import cover. The total volume of foreign exchange transactions increased by 19.6 percent to US$8,548.1 million. The market was impacted by increases in transactions in most segments – licensed bank and non-bank cambios, as well as hard currency and foreign currency accounts.

Money-transfer transactions were valued at US$276.1 million or 0.9 per cent below the 2017 level. There was a net purchase of US$146.0 million in the market, enabling the Guyana dollar to remain stable against the United States dollar at G$208.50. The public sector total financial operations recorded a reduced deficit in 2018, owing to expansions in central government’s current revenues that outweighed current expenditures. However, the Non-Financial Public Enterprises’ (NFPEs) balance further deteriorated from its 2017 position due to heightened current expenditures. Budget 2019 states that central government fiscal deficit is estimated to increase significantly from higher current and capital spending, while the NFPEs’ overall deficit is estimated to decline on account of larger increments in current receipts, relative to the increase in current expenses.

The total stock of government’s public debt increased by 1.5 per cent, representing 43.9 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The stock of government’s domestic bonded debt, which represented 10.0 percent of GDP, declined by 9.3 percent during the review period.

This outturn reflected a reduction in the issuance of treasury bills.

SENIOR officers of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) again could not provide a satisfactory explanation as to why the number of sanitation workers and street orderlies keep fluctuating each month.

But acting Town Clerk, Sharon Harry, has assured that there are no ‘phantoms’ on the council’s payroll and that the officers will be asked to provide supporting documentation when meeting with the relevant committee.

At Tuesday’s statutory meeting, a decision was made for the matter to be dealt with by the Human Resources Management Committee, and Mayor Ubraj Narine charged its Chairman, Councillor Oscar Clarke, with dealing with the matter seriously.

Currently, the City Council could be paying out sal-

aries to persons who do not work in the organisation.

“The Human Resources Committee should deal with this issue seriously. There’s a cook-up going on here, but it doesn’t have salt,” the mayor remarked.

It was Councillor Heston Bostwick who brought up the matter again on Tuesday and compared the April report of the Solid Waste Management Department, headed by Walter Narine, with the current reports.

The April report said the department had 10 street orderlies while the current report said three. While the April report shows 38 sanitation workers, the current report said 47.

Fluctuations in the number of workers were also found to exist in the Markets and Public Health Department, the Engineer’s Department and the Human Resources Department.

After the committee looks at the matter, an audit can possibly be arranged to determine if the council is indeed in possession of all of the workers mentioned in the reports, Councillor Patricia Chase-Green suggested.

Two weeks ago, the solid waste director came under fire when he could not explain why the number of workers kept fluctuating.

In an invited comment following Tuesday’s meeting, Narine told the Guyana Chronicle that all of the staff members in his department are accounted for.

“However, it may be a case of correct designations.”

Narine pointed out that sanitation workers and street orderlies perform the same duties and are paid on the same salary scale.

At the previous meeting, Bostwick had argued that since councillors are expected to be transparent and held

accountable, officers of the municipality must likewise exhibit the same qualities.

Councillor Oscar Clarke pointed out that the Human Resource Department needs to have knowledge of who is being fired. He said since the questions posed

by Bostwick are relevant, there must be proper responses to the observations made. “Don’t let us fool around. Somebody has to tell us.”

The mayor said on the last occasion that the situation is triangular, in that the Human Resources Department and the City Treasury’s Department also must have knowledge of who is being paid by the City Council.

The acting town clerk said that this is a very serious allegation.

“If the report is being padded, it means that the payroll is also being padded,” she observed.

Court of Appeal commutes death sentences to prison terms THE Appellate Court on Tuesday set aside the death sentences of Elmo Benedict and Dave Banwarie, and terms of 25 years were imposed.

The two were sentenced to death by presiding judge Justice James Bovell-Drakes for the March 2008 murder of Rakesh Rajaram. However, Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings and Justices of Appeal Dawn Gregory and Rishi Persaud agreed to substitute the murder conviction with manslaughter.

Counsel for the accused, Attorney Mark Conway, argued on the grounds that the learned trial judge failed to give proper guidance on the standard of proof, failed

to direct the jury on guidance for manslaughter in the absence of provocation; and failed to adequately address the jury on provocation. He also argued that the sentence was too severe, given the circumstances of the case.

Benedict and Banwarie went to the camp of Rajaram in search of Romena Benedict, who is the sister of Elmo and reputed wife of Banwarie.

In summary, Conway argued that based on the caution statements and facts of the matter, the men’s intention was not to kill Rajaram; as such, they should have been tried for manslaughter as opposed to murder.

Conway said his clients acted out of provocation as

Rajaram had taken Romena by force and it appeared to be a case of adultery. The two men went to her rescue armed with a cutlass and a hose to defend her.

Considering the evidence, counsel said that after his clients had beaten Ramjaram and realised that he was badly beaten to the point where he could not stand, they built a stretcher out of wood and fetched him out to the landing to get help.

“If their intention was to kill, they would not have carried him out from where they were. They would have left him to die,” Conway said.

He also noted that while Benedict was beating Rajaram, he said to him: “As

long as you live, don’t mess around my sister.” This, he said, indicated that he was not going to kill him and should be grounds for a manslaughter charge.

Representing the state, Attorney Diana Kaulesar-O’Brien stated that the learned trial judge had given directions on intention and aspects of it. Making reference to previous cases before the court, she presented further arguments to defend her premise.

After hearing both sides, the court agreed to make the substitution, and the 25-year sentences were imposed.

The court also ordered that the time spent incarcerated should be deducted from the 25 years.

Councillors re-open ‘Social Development’ bank account CONTRARY to a recommendation in the ‘Keith Burrowes Report’ which led to the closure of the Social Development bank account at City Hall, councillors on Tuesday voted to have that account re-opened.

Burrowes was tasked by the government in 2012 to probe the operations of the

Mayor and City Council (M&CC) and that investigation led to him releasing some 45 recommendations.

While many of such recommendations were not implemented, the M&CC had decided to close the said bank account because the report had found that the Council had too many accounts open.

Mayor Ubraj Narine

and Councillor Patricia Chase-Green called for the re-opening of the account when they met for the Council’s fortnightly statutory meeting at City Hall.

The mayor noted that through the account, all revenues earned from ‘Mash’ and carnival, among other activities, can be lodged here separately

so that it can go back to assist the various communities.

In addition, he observed that workers who apply for small loans can be granted such without any long process or hassle.

Eleven councillors voted to re-open the account, while five voted against it.

10

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Beware of bias … Finance Secretary warns Auditor General against political influence

FINANCE Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Michael Joseph, has cautioned Auditor General, Deodat Sharma, to beware of “bias, subjectivity and political influence” following his comments in the media on alleged breaches of the Procurement Act. On May 21, 2019, the online news site, Guyana Standard, published Sharma’s shared opinion leading to the headline ‘Breaches of Procurement Act more frequent under APNU+AFC Govt. – Auditor General’.

In the article, the Auditor General was quoted as saying: “I believe it is more frequent now. There are a lot of solesourced contracts and every other day you have some issue with breaches of contractual or tender board procedures.

Even the recommendations for corrective action, most of them are not being implemented.”

In response on Tuesday, the Finance Secretary stated, in a release, that since Sharma had not disassociated himself from the article, he is led to conclude that the comment was indeed made by him (Sharma).

“I hasten to add that this statement is most astonishing.

The goodly Auditor General provides no evidence for his contention nor offers any comparative data to support his claim. What period is he comparing? Four years of the APNU+AFC government with 23 years of the former administration?

“Let me offer this fact for consideration: for the period January to May 2015, 13 contracts were single sourced to New GPC [Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation] to the value of $4.45 billion; comparatively, under this government in 2015, single sourced procurement for all agencies

was $22.24 billion. In light of just this one example, can any right-thinking citizen accept the Auditor General’s position?” the Finance Secretary questioned.

He also provided figures stating that the coalition Government has since spent close to $150M on 45 forensic audits which unearthed gross financial improprieties involving the Guyana World Cup Inc.; Carifesta; National Industrial and Commercial Investment Ltd. (NICIL)/Privatization Unit; Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC)-Drug Procurement Operation; Petro Caribe; Atlantic Hotel Inc. (Marriot) and others.

Joseph concluded: “…all of which occurred under the very watchful eye of this same Auditor General, yet he has made no comment on these improprieties by the former Government? It therefore appears that the AG is cherry-picking

Dep. Mayor headed to Denmark, Sweden -to represent G’town, M&CC

DEPUTY Mayor of Georgetown, Alfred Mentore, is representing Georgetown and the Mayor and City Council at an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) sponsored Urban Workshop in Denmark and Sweden from May 27-29, 2019.

The workshop is being sponsored and hosted by the Housing and Urban Development Division of the IDB, the

Nordic Development Fund, the Confederation of Danish Industry, the City of Copenhagen and the City of Malmo.

The workshop forms part of the IDB’s City Networks programme of activities, which supports the exchange of knowledge, lessons learned and good practices in the field of environmental, economic and social sustainability among cities.

The workshop will exam-

ine a number of areas and initiatives, including integrated transportation systems; city planning for bicycles; the smart city and applications to enhance the quality and performance of urban services; ‘green’ inclusive city and intelligent lighting; climate-resilient neighbourhoods against flooding; and the development of sustainable housing and urban development projects.

projects, programmes, entities and governments to whom he extends scrutiny.”

The Finance Secretary then tersely reminded Sharma of his obligation as Auditor General to adhere to the code of ethics and auditing standards governing his profession.

“I wish to remind the Auditor General that the Audit Office of Guyana is the Supreme Audit Institution of Guyana, it is clothed in Article 204 of

the Constitution and is designed as an independent and professional body in the government accounting chain and therefore, he is best advised to observe the spirit and letter of the code of ethics and auditing standards of the International Organization of the Supreme Audit Institutions less he be seen to be guilty of bias, subjectivity and political influence,” he advised.

Finance Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Michael Joseph (Ministry of Finance photo)

11

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Cabinet reviewing National Geospatial Policy, NSDI Action Plan

THE National Geospatial Policy and Action Plan for the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) have been submitted for Cabinet review, Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC), Trevor Benn, has disclosed.

“Both documents have been with Cabinet since the beginning of this year and we have been in touch with them in relation to the documents,” Commissioner Benn said, while assuring that the documents are under “active consideration”.

Benn, in a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, said the proposed National Geospatial Policy and the National Spatial Data Infrastructure are intended to improve data and information management across all sectors. NSDI was birthed out of the ‘Sustainable Land Development and Management

(SLDM) Project,’ which is funded by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission. SLDM is intended to support the development of land administration, policy and planning.

The NSDI is a digital and open-data geospatial information system which facilitates communications among different sectors and enhances decision-making processes. The action plan sets out the priorities for improving cooperation in data and information management.

Benn said, the Lands and Surveys Commission, as the lead agency on the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), has consulted with stakeholders in both the public and private sectors, on the National Geospatial Policy and the NSDI Plan of Action.

Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC), Trevor Benn “We have made a lot of progress in the last three years in terms of designing and developing, and made ready for use these plans, and so, it is now with our political leaders to finalise and bring into action,” Commissioner

Benn said.

The Guyana Police Force, the National Data Management Authority, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Health, the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, the Natural Resources Ministry, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission and the Guyana Forestry Commission are among agencies that depend on geospatial information in the country.

He said while these agencies have developed geospatial information systems, NSDI and the National Geospatial Policy are intended to synchronise them.

“What we are trying to do, is to have a coordinated approach to the work that is already being done by all of these agencies, and to set standards, so that we as a country would have one specific standard for the

collection and dissemination of information,” the Lands and Surveys Commissioner explained. He noted that once the NSDI system is activated, the national data sets would be stored in a single from which they would be retrievable.

Senior Policy Officer in the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, Sally Bunning, had explained that NSDI is a basic building block to build efficiency and a modern approach to land management and planning. The NSDI helps different sectors to combine their information and database to create one map, so that all sectors can make decisions together. It will enable the GL&SC to interact better with other agencies and have better information to support farmers and agricultural sectors.

The SLDM project commenced in April 2018 with

the objective of promoting sustainable land use and the reclamation of degraded lands, which is essential to Guyana’s ‘Green’ State Development Strategy, the national development plan that guides the country’s ‘green’ economic and socio-cultural development over the next 15 years. The work is funded by the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund.

Guyana enjoys a diversity of natural resources, including agricultural lands, mineral deposits and rain forests.

Such endowment, however, is potentially threatened by land degradation and deforestation.

Sustainable land use and management is necessary, not only for protecting soil and water resources and ecosystems within Guyana, but also for enhancing livelihoods, food security and Guyana’s capacity to combat climate change.

12

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

New PUC comissioners ready to get down to business

By Lisa Hamilton

NEWLY-sworn-in Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Commissioners, Dr. Leyland Lucas and Ms. Verlyn Klass, come with a wealth of knowledge and are eager to bring a transformative perspective to the public utilities in Guyana.

areas of interest.

Delving into their academic life first, Klass stated that she studied Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Surrey in England, where she received a Bachelor of Science Degree.

She later completed her Master in Electrical Power Systems Engineering at the

Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) newest member, Verlyn Klass, being sworn in (DPI photo) Speaking with this newspaper recently, the commissioners opened up about their experience in the field and highlighted consumers’ rights, country-wide equity of public utilities and modern technology adaptation as key

University of Manchester’s Institute of Science and Technology.

After graduating, she was employed at the Guyana Electricity Corporation for some 17 years but now teaches courses in Power Systems Engineering and

Renewable Energy at the University of Guyana.

Klass has also completed research in the areas of Power Sector Policy and alternative energy sources, having competency in load flow studies; power systems protection and stability, and load forecasting.

Dr. Lucas, on the other hand, began his professional career after graduating from the University of Guyana in 1981.

He was employed at the State Planning Secretariat and worked under the tutelage of Messrs: Clarence Ellis and Clarence Blue.

INVALUABLE LESSONS He told this newspaper that working with these gentlemen, now deceased, gave him invaluable lessons of dedication to detail; labour matters and financing which have helped to shape his views of the Guyanese society.

He later migrated to the US where he worked in several areas, including banking and finance and real estate sales and management.

In 1990, he pursued graduate studies at Howard University, later returning to New York to work as a fundraising analyst at Amnesty International while he taught on a part-time basis.

In 1996, he pursued PhD studies at the Rutgers

Dr. Leyland Lucas being sworn in as commissioner at the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) (DPI photo) Business School at the plars for other sectors of this is the case,” she said.

State University of New the economy,” he said.

Klass also stressed the Jersey and later joined During his time as need for the PUC to enthe faculty of the Graves commissioner, he hopes courage the use of the best School of Business and to focus on service quality modern technology and all Management at Morgan to ensure the interests of available local resources State University. customers are addressed while ensuring that it is There, he rose through and respected, and on prompt in its deliberations the ranks from Assistant telecommunications to and decision-making.

Professor to Full Professor facilitate deregulation Her vision for the pubwith Tenure even while and power, placing his lic utilities services in teaching at the University efforts towards energy Guyana is to see affordable of Maryland; the Univer- efficiency. services; prompt resolusity College (UMUC); the tion of all customer comGhana Institute of ManEMERGING SECTOR plaints; equitable services agement and Public Ad“We have an emerg- countrywide; and gradual ministration (GIMPA) and ing solar power sector. sustained improvements Regent University.

We have areas of this in the quality of service of Since the establishment country that cannot be all utilities. of the School of Entre- easily electrified. How Meanwhile, Lucas’ vipreneurship and Business do we create incentives sion is to see public utility Innovation (SEBI) at UG, as well as policies and services rise to an excephe has functioned as SE- procedures to ensure that tionally high level and to BI’s Dean and served as communities will have see the commission esthe Chairman of Guyana access to inexpensive and tablish a regime of excelRevenue Authority (GRA). reliable power? What lence; expand its role; and In addition to his teach- must be ensured is that push transformation with a ing responsibilities, he has we have power compa- broad-based approach. written extensively in the nies focusing on efficienDr. Leyland Lucas and areas of knowledge man- cy as a resource, which Ms. Verlyn Klass were agement, entrepreneurship provides both supply and sworn in to office on May and capacity development, demand savings to the 8, 2019 by President David and issues related to credit customer and the provid- Granger, in the presence unions and local content. er,” he expounded. of Minister of State, Dawn Dr. Lucas said the comMeanwhile, Klass also Hastings-Williams; Minmission is “extremely im- underscored the impor- ister of Business, Haimraj portant” to the provision of tance of the PUC in ensur- Rajkumar and other memexceptional service quality ing that Guyanese receive bers of the PUC. by the entities and sectors the quality utility services They replaced Comit is tasked with monitor- they deserve. missioner Maurice Soloing.

“Because many utili- mon, whom PUC Chair“Gone are the days of ties are monopolies, it is man, Dela Britton, has haphazard approaches to important to have a strong hailed as one who served dealing with customer is- regulatory body that is able with distinction. sues. Particularly within to look after the interest of Giving her thoughts a competitive and open the consumers. The PUC on the recent appointeconomy, poor service has the responsibility for, ment, Britton told this translates into inefficien- among other things, quali- newspaper: “Because of cies with a domino effect ty of service and tariff set- their wealth of experthroughout the economy. ting. There must be equity tise, I would imagine that We must therefore seek to between the quality of ser- the commission and our reduce these occurrences vice and the tariffs being deliberations and our and strive for the estab- demanded by the utility hearings will certainly be lishment of high standards and so the PUC has to be bolstered by their wealth which can serve as exem- proactive in ensuring that of experience.”

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House-to-house registration to start next month … as GECOM wraps up training

TRAINING for enumerators and other staff for the impending house-tohouse registration has officially been completed and the registration process is expected commence mid-June, 2019.

This was revealed by members of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Tuesday following the commission’s statutory meeting. At the meeting, the GECOM Secretariat presented an updated report on preparation works towards generating a new list of registrants for the upcoming General and Regional Elections.

“The report from the secretariat today, gave a clear indication of where they were in the process of preparing for house-to-house registration. The training is now complete so that the staff could be properly available,” Commissioner Charles Corbin said.

He added that there were indications of a projected delay following procurement challenges but added that the secretariat is “fully geared to move in accordance with the arrangement which they have in place”. GECOM Public Relations Officer (PRO),

some 200 cluster offices country-wide have been identified which will serve as meeting bases for the verification of information gathered.

“In each division and sub-division, there will be cluster offices that will be run by Assistant Registra-

GECOM Public Relations Officer (PRO) Yolanda Ward Yolanda Ward, later told the Guyana Chronicle that while the commission had plans for a June 1, 2019 commencement, this has been pushed back to midJune.

“We’ve completed the training aspect so basically what we’re doing right now is placing staff, those persons who would have been successful in the evaluation, into their respective teams,” Ward said. Those trained are expected to amount to some 1,800 teams and over 4,000 employees for the registration period. Already,

Gov’t embarks on reform, transformation of GPF … with IDB support

THE Government of Guyana, with support from the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB), has undertaken the reform and transformation of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) from an incident-driven, reactive institution to one that relies on analysis of patterns, incidents and problems.

A major initiative of this reform is the design, development and implementation of an Integrated Crime Information System (ICIS). This is with a view to supporting the Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) in creating an enabling environment, wherein comprehensive, up-to-date, crime-related information is readily available and shared through the use of modern technology.

Minister of Public Security, the Hon Khemraj Ramjattan , spoke at a community meeting at Kuru- Kururu on Monday.

Ramjattan said that government will be better able with increased, oil-derived revenue, to finance community- based programmes and projects such as the Citizens Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP) in that community.

The community of Kuru- Kururu was not earmarked for the Citizens Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP), simply because it has not been seen as a high-risk, crime-infested area.

These concerns were raised by the residents of Kuru-Kururu in light of the need to address the unemployment rate in the community and what may be an upsurge of criminal activities in Kuru-Kururu and surrounding areas.

Residents are of the view that with the implementation of such a programme, the issue of developing entrepreneurial skills for young people will be addressed in a practical approach for a beneficial outcome.

Meanwhile, residents addressed other areas of concern with the minister and team; these included land and land-titling issues, the need for a police station in the area and a secondary school in Kuru-Kururu.

tion Officers (AROs). So, as fast as the enumerators go out in the field and they conduct transactions and complete forms and registration, they will return to the cluster offices and that transaction will be verified by the ARO before it goes to the Reg-

istration Officer,” she explained.

The majority of these cluster officers will be located at schools. Meanwhile, weeks ago, the commission rolled out its voters’ education campaign on television, radio and in print. It is set to commence

the community aspect of this campaign within the next two weeks.

It will provide citizens with on-the-ground information on how they can get themselves and their documents ready to be registered to vote in the coming elections.

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China’s development has positive impact on Asia-Pacific: UN official BANGKOK, May 24 (Xinhua) -- China’s significant progress in economy and other areas has a positive impact on the Asia-Pacific region and the world as China and many other countries in the region are parts of the global value chains, said a UN official.

One of China’s major achievements is its significant reduction of the poverty rate, having helped hundreds of millions of people escape poverty, Armida Alisjahbana, executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), said in an interview with Xinhua in Bangkok. As China puts emphasis on sustainable economic development, Chinese development could be even more beneficial to the regional countries. The latest fruits of China’s development such as bike-sharing, e-payment and renewable energy can also benefit other countries through cooperation, she added.

In April, Alisjahbana attended the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, during which she and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between China’s Foreign Ministry and ESCAP. The MoU deepened the cooperation formed since the two sides signed a letter of intent to boost the Belt and Road construction in 2016, which is the first cooperation document on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) signed by the Chinese side and an international organization, she said. The executive secretary added that she was impressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s keynote speech at the forum last month, in which “sustainable development” came up several times.

(Armida Alisjahbana, executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), talks to Xinhua in an interview in UN ESCAP’s office in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 14, 2019. )

She said she believes the BRI projects would be “sustainable” and contribute to the realization of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The UN official, appointed to the position last year after working in the Indonesian government, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank, also expressed concern about the U.S.-China trade

tensions.

“Many countries have trade relationships with China as well as with the United States. If because of the trade tensions, trade activities (and) trade volumes among countries decrease, then it will impact negatively,” she said. In the name of protecting domestic industries, the United States has placed steep tariffs on billions of U.S. dollars’ worth of products from its major partners, including Canada, China, Japan and the European Union, raising trade tensions around the world and shaking the foundation of the global trading system.

In the latest flare-up with China, Washington increased additional tariffs on 200 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25 percent earlier this month, and has threatened to raise tariffs on more Chinese imports. In response, China has announced that it will raise additional tariffs on a range of U.S. imports from June 1, and “will fight to the end.”

Beijing has also repeatedly called on the United States, which started the row, to get back on the right track as soon as possible and meet China halfway to achieve a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement on the basis of mutual respect. Alisjahbana said she hopes the world’s largest two economies will end their trade disputes with a win-win solution soon. “I hope this trade (tension) can be resolved, will be resolved soon in a mutually beneficial manner, because directly and indirectly, this trade tension will have impact on the rest of the world and certainly the region,” she said.

China’s smart cities to take shape with latest tech TIANJIN (Xinhua) -- A giant screen displaying a city’s real-time traffic, the flow of people and weather information at Huawei’s Smart City Intelligent Operation Center (IOC) caught many eyes in the recently concluded World Intelligence Congress (WIC).

The 5G-based IOC Solution would serve as a “brain” to select and analyze big data, provide solutions for decision-makers, and offer technical support for emergency command, said Yuan Bin, a marketing expert with Huawei.

It is just one case among many at the WIC that showcase a smarter way to manage a city. Urban traffic, healthcare, and access to city services are all expected to become easier with the latest tech, such as artificial intelligence and 5G. China has 167 cities with over 1 million people and more than 500 cities have proposed to build smart cities in 2018.

In Xiong’an New Area, which is still under construction some 100 km southwest of downtown Beijing, the citizen service center is geared up with technologies such as online applications, cloud computing and big data.

In north China’s Tianjin, where the WIC was held, a phone app that covers essential city services is being developed for the city’s citizens. Analysts say the push to make cities smarter is in line with the country’s advocacy of high-quality development.

China is experiencing a large-scale and fast urbanization process, which requires more modern, data-based and intelligent social governance, according to Peng Sen, president of the China Society of Economic Reform. “The digital model should be established on the first day of urban construction, to decide how the infrastructure will be built in line with the changes of city development,” said Liu Song, vice president of Alibaba.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES ARE FUELING THE TREND. Yu Shaohua, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said 5G could allow accessing the network at any time in any place by anyone, truly achieving the Internet of everything and integration of various industries to construct a smart city. One application is autonomous driving.

In February, China’s telecommunication and expressway operators agreed to launch the country’s first 5G-based smart highway project in central Hubei Province.

The highway, combined with autonomous driving ve-

hicles, would make it possible to gather real-time traffic information and make relevant predictions.

Smart stores, which offer customized AI-powered recommendations to customers, are also being built in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, and Jinan. Chinese technology companies such as JD.com, Suning.com, and Alibaba have all been expanding their offline stores in recent years, rolling out more customized services with data gathered on consumers’ preferences.

Experts say the integration of traditional businesses and tech may further stimulate consumption. “The

smart business will re-construct China’s consumption model, such as the integration of online and offline business and unmanned stores. Such models are expected to generate more new consumption scenes in the future,” said Shi Guangshun, an associate professor of the College of Artificial Intelligence in Nankai University. Shen Jin, global vice president of Qualcomm, said at WIC that the future of smart interconnection depicts a picture with people connected to a huge number of equipment terminals and other objects. Society can be more efficient, humanistic, innovative and safer, he said.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Guyana-Suriname ferry service temporarily restored

THE Guyana-Suriname ferry service will be restored temporarily on Friday to facilitate those Guyanese and Surinamese who did not get to catch the ferry before it was pulled off the run.

According to earlier reports, the service was suspended on Monday because the M.V. Canawaima was having mechanical problems.

The Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MoPI) said in a press statement on Tuesday that the M.B. Sandaka will be temporarily operating the Guyana-Suriname route from May 31, 2019 until June 2, 2019.

“It will depart the Moleson Creek Terminal in Guyana at 09:00hrs (Check-in: 06:30hrs to 08:00 hrs Guyana time) and depart South Drain over in Suriname at 11:30 hrs (Check-in: 08:00 hrs to 10:00hrs Suriname time),” the MoPI said.

According to the ministry, the window was created to facilitate the return of pas-

sengers and vehicles stranded on either sides of the border, but that thereafter, the service will again be suspended until further notice.

It, however, said that being a smaller vessel, the M.B. Sandaka will not be able to accommodate 20ft and 40ft containers and trucks higher than 3m and wider than 2.7m. As Terminal Manager Gale Culley-Greene had explained before, the M.V. Canawaima had been having mechanical difficulties for some time now, and a decision was taken to have it assessed and repaired.

She’d further disclosed that should the ferry have to be docked, another vessel would be sourced to take its place. The matter is currently said to be engaging the attention of both the Guyanese and Surinamese authorities.

It is not the first time the ferry service has been suspended due to mechanical problems with the vessel.

Back in January 2018, the

Police PRO recognised for years of service

Superintendent Jairam Ramlakhan shares a moment with Commissioner of Police, Leslie James THE Guyana Police Force (GPF) has recognised Public Relations and Press Officer, Superintendent, Jairam Ramlakhan, for achieving 32 years of service.

According to a GPF press statement, Ramlakhan, who joined the force on May 27, 1987, has worked in most of the seven police divisions and has played a critical role in the development of the force.

Described as a “jovial people-person”, Ramlakhan is beloved by almost everyone he comes into contact with; is passionate about community; and places great emphasis on the importance of togetherness.

He employs the philosophy of “do good and good shall follow you”.

Throughout his stint at the Press Office, Ramlakhan has enjoyed the support of the ranks under his command as well as the media, which have helped in the accurate and efficient dissemination of information.

“Congratulations Superintendent Ramlakhan, may you continue to serve at the highest level, unbiased and unblemished,” the GPF said.

ferry service was down from January 6-14, and had been scheduled for emergency docking in order to restore both engines.

“The M.V. Canawaima continues to experience extensive mechanical challenges that prompted the hire of a tug to assist in the propulsion of the vessel,” then Terminal Manager Deyne Harry had told a news conference at the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.

The ferry, which travels from Moleson Creek on the Guyana side of the border with Suriname to South Drain on the other side, has been reportedly delayed on several occasions due to mechanical problems.

The ailing M.V. Canawaima which is temporarily out of operation

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‘Bam-Bam’ to face the ‘capital’

A 37-year-old miner, who is accused of fatally stabbing his drinking buddy, was on Tuesday arraigned before Acting

Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus for the capital offence of murder.

Lexroy Garraway, called ‘Bam-Bam’ of En-

Hapless elderly miner remanded to prison –– for having ‘coke’, ‘ganja’ in his possession

ACTING Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus on Tuesday remanded a 50-year-old miner to prison for trafficking cocaine and cannabis.

Errol Grenion of 4 Miles, Bartica appeared before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and pleaded not guilty to the charge which read that on May 25, 2019, at Third Avenue, Bartica, he had 122 grams of cannabis along with four grams of cocaine in his possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Grenion’s lawyer, Paul Fung-a-Fat, told the court that the substances were not found in his client’s possession.

But according to the facts presented in court by police prosecutor Adduni Inniss, on the day in question, ranks from the Bartica Police Station were conducting raids in the Third Avenue area when they saw Grenion, who was carrying a black plastic bag, acting in a rather suspicious manner.

Innis said that upon seeing the police, Grenion promptly dropped the plastic bag, whereupon he was arrested.

On retrieving the plastic bag and searching it in Grenion’s presence, the police reportedly found that it contained a quantity of cannabis as well as cocaine.

Of course, Prosecutor Inniss objected to Grenion being released on bail given the seriousness of the charge, and the magistrate, ruling in his favour, remanded poor Grenion to prison until June 5, and transferred the matter to the Bartica Magistrates’ Court.

Soldier, cosmetologist on ‘ganja’ possession charge NIKITA Bishop, a cosmetologist and Jamal Eastman, a serving member of the Guyana Defence Force, appeared before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Providence Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, May 28, 2019, as their trial for possession of cannabis continued .

The two were previously granted bail back in November 2018, when they had appeared before Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus for the possession of almost a pound of cannabis, which, according to the police, was found at their residence The charge against Bishop and Eastman, is that on November 5, 2018, at Lot 1212 Diamond/Grove, Bishop and Eastman had in their possession 380 grammes (equivalent to 0.8 of a pound) of cannabis in their possession for trafficking. They both denied the charge.

At Tuesday‘s trial, Attorney at Law Bernard Da Silva, who is representing the duo, cross- examined the police’s witness, Detective Sergeant Fraser.

Previously, Attorney Bernard Da Silva, had made a successful bail application on their behalf, while noting that the cannabis was not found in his their possession.

He said the cannabis was found under a building used as a shop by Bishop and which is accessible by the general public.

As a result, Da Silva urged the court to grant his clients bail, pending the outcome of the matter. The attorney’s application was successful and Bishop and Eastman were released on $100,000 bail each.

The matter will continue on May 31, 2019 at 13:30hrs

terprise, Lower Pomeroon appeared before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and was not required to plea to the charge which alleged that on May 22, 2019, at Takutu Landing, Puruni Road, Mazaruni River, he murdered Erick Nurse, called ‘Black-Boy’.

According to the facts presented in court by Police Prosecutor Shellon Daniels, on the day in question, Garraway and Nurse were ‘drinking’ at Joanna’s shop at Takutu Landing, when

the accused went into the living quarters of one of the shop’s female employees and hid.

But when the startled shop assistant discovered him there, she raised an alarm, and who should go to her rescue but the diseased, and he somehow managed to get his drinking buddy out of the woman’s hair and out into the open.

According to the prosecutor, when the woman last saw Nurse and Garraway,

they were in a heated argument, and the next thing she knew, they were scuffling.

And when she did venture out of her quarters again, Daniels told the court, she saw Nurse lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

He was rushed to the Bartica Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, while Garraway on being arrested, confessed to stabbing Nurse because he’d torn his

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Lexroy Garraway, called ‘Bam-Bam’ shirt and that he’d acted in self-defense.

The accused was remanded to prison until June 5, and the matter transferred to the Bartica Magistrate’s Court.

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There will be CPL matches in Guyana – Director General GUYANA will host 2019 Hero Caribbean Premier League matches. Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, confirmed to Chronicle Sport yesterday.

“As far as I am aware there will be matches,” Harmon said.

His statement comes as the CPL organisers released fixtures yesterday that featured every other West Indian territory except Guyana.

Instead, they released the remaining fixtures for the 34-match season that starts later this year, with the opening match happening on September 4 and the final on October 12, 2019.

So far, matches are confirmed in Barbados, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Kitts & Nevis and Trinidad & Tobago.

The first match will see last year’s winners Trinbago Knight Riders take on St Kitts & Nevis Patriots while Guyana Amazon Warriors match will get underway against St Lucia Stars.

Fans will have to wait until game 27 for a repeat of last

year’s final with Knight Riders taking on the Amazon Warriors.

To coincide with the release of the schedule, CPL has made selected tickets available for sale online for this year’s tournament. This includes group games in Trinidad and Jamaica. These are available at www.cplt20.com.

Hero CPL‘s Chief Executive Officer, Damien O’Donohoe, is excited about the upcoming season. “We are delighted with how Hero CPL continues to grow.

Last season we saw more than 200 million viewers watch the tournament and Hero CPL also made a huge impact on the economies of the countries we visited. We are certain that this year we will see those numbers grow once again.”

Speaking about the announcement of the tournament fixtures Hero CPL’s Chief Operating Officer, Pete Russell said: “It is very pleasing to get the fixture list agreed for this year. It is always a challenge and we would like to thank everyone involved in helping to pull this all together.”

Crawford victorious at 2019 Somerville in the USA YOUNG Berbician cyclist Romello Crawford produced the goods to win the Category 2 and 3 race of the 2019 Tour of Somerville with his trademark explosive sprint on Sunday in New Jersey, USA. The ‘Tour of Somerville’ race is the most prestigious event in the Tri-State area and was well attended

by Guyanese cyclists. Andre ‘Dexsalt’ Abdool and Lyn Murray also competed in the Category 2 and 3 race.

Meanwhile, the in-form Conor Salee won the Pro/ Category 1 feature event ahead of a five-man breakaway in a time of 1 hour 38 mins 14 seconds.

A number of Guyanese riders competed in Pro/Category 1 race including Scott Savory (2016 Champion) who crashed and fractured his clavicle, Raynauth Jeffrey, Briton John and the Burrowes brothers.

However, none of the Guyanese was able to break into the top 20 positions.

Holder wants ‘fearless’ approach from Windies BRISTOL, England (CMC) – West Indies captain Jason Holder has urged his side to play “fearless” cricket during the ICC World Cup starting tomorrow, after watching them pile up a mammoth total against New Zealand in their final official warm-up here yesterday.

The Caribbean side marched to an imposing 421 thanks to Shai Hope’s 101 and half-centuries from Andre Russell (54) and Evin Lewis (50), innings which laid the foundation for a comfortable 91-run victory at Bristol County Ground.

“I’ve got little to no expectation for the group, that’s the method that we want to approach it – no expectation and just to play fearless and enjoyable cricket,” he said, looking ahead to his side’s opening game of the World Cup against Pakistan at Nottingham on Friday.

“That’s the mindset I want to go in with and that’s the mindset I want the team to go in with – no expectation. (I just want) everyone to go out and just play fearless cricket, express yourself and just play the brand of cricket we play in terms of enjoying it.

“Every day I tell the guys just play with a smile on your faces and enjoy what you’re doing. That’s what I want the guys to do.”

Holder, who also led the Windies at the last World Cup staged in Australia and New Zealand four years ago, said in the past enjoyment had not always been a feature of the team’s performances.

“I think one of the things that have hampered us sometimes in the past is that we’ve not really enjoyed it to the extent that I think we should. It’s our living, our job,” he pointed out.

“We have put so many smiles on people’s faces back home in the Caribbean and for me I just want to continue to do that. I think we’re at our best when we play with freedom and a smile.”

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Yesterday, West Indies displayed the form which has made them one of the quietly feared teams at the May 30 to July 14 showpiece here. Holder slammed 47 from 32 balls in an important 82-run, seventh-wicket stand with Russell while veteran Chris Gayle belted a whirlwind 36 from 22 deliveries in a 59-run, opening stand with Lewis.

Shimron Hetmyer (27), Darren Bravo (25) and Carlos Brathwaite (24) all chipped in with cameos to put West Indies past their previous best of 389.

“That performance should give the entire group a lot of confidence, I thought we batted really well and we kept the momentum going through the innings,” Holder said.

“Credit to the way Shai played, I thought Chris was outstanding at the very beginning, getting us off to a good start, and then Andre played a really good knock as well.

“We had the foundation up front. I think we hit every target that we set to hit and the beautiful thing is that we had set batters in most of the time and wickets in hand to launch at the very end.”

New Zealand failed to come to grips with the demands of the run chase and were all out for 330 in the 48th over. They were slumping at 33 for three in the 10th over after the Windies seamers made crucial strikes, and needed Tom Blundell’s fiery 106 and captain Kane Williamson’s 85 to recover.

“I thought the bowlers were outstanding as well. To defend on such a good wicket and a small field it can be difficult and we went both sides of the park last time against South Africa,” Holder noted.

“It was good to see the bowlers come back and show a lot more discipline. I thought they stepped up the plans we set up and we executed really well.”

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

I need Wilder’s belt before I can say I’ve made it - Joshua UNITED world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua says he will only feel he has “made it” in boxing if he captures Deontay Wilder’s WBC title.

The 29-year-old faces Andy Ruiz Jr on Saturday and told BBC Sport he does not feel “burnt out” as a fight week begins for the first time in a decade.

“I’ve never been in a fight week where I have felt so energised,” he said.

Meanwhile Ruiz has revealed he got the New York fight by “bugging” Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn on Instagram.

Joshua, the WBA, IBF and WBO champion, cut a relaxed figure as he spoke on a New York rooftop, his

hands sporting plasters and his cheeks showing small blemishes likely picked up in sparring at the Miami training base he has used to prepare for his U.S. debut.

Saturday’s fight at Madison Square Garden will see him end nine months of inactivity, during which talks with Wilder have yielded nothing in the shape of a his-

toric contest where one man could win all four heavyweight world titles for the first time.

Asked if the glamour of New York and billboards sporting his name mean he has made it, Joshua replied: “Yeah, it looks like I’ve made it but it’s only when I put my hand on the last title - and win on Saturday - then I can say I’ve made it.

“It’s been down to calculated steps. It’s been a good journey, a tough journey. On the sides of the journey there are billboards then with time, two billboards but it’s all about winning in this sport.

“I haven’t put a foot wrong yet and I am not looking to put a foot wrong on Saturday either.”

AJ’S BREAKTHROUGH AND POINT TO PROVE Wilder - who is expected to face Luis Ortiz in his next bout - will not be at ‘The Garden’ on Saturday but his manager Shelly Finkel will be.

There appears little chance of a contest with Joshua in the coming 12 months, meaning both men risk losing their huge payday and unification bout with a defeat before then.

But Joshua, who stopped the respected Alexander Povetkin last time out, has previously warned delays will only make him better and feels the preparations for this fight are his best ever, having refined methods after almost 11 years in the sport.

“I’ve had 10 years of that feeling of being burnt out by

the time I get to the ring,” the 2012 Olympic champion said.

“Even in the Povetkin fight I was so ill and tired. This camp, I knew I couldn’t afford that again and again as it shortens the career. So it’s learning but it’s taking time. We are finally pulling it together.

‘give me the chance, I can do better than the other guys lined up’,” said Ruiz, who has one defeat in 33 fights.

“He messaged me back and I was telling my partner ‘hey babe he messaged back’. And what do you know, we got the fight on.”

Part of the fight week narrative is expected to

Anthony Joshua has been warned by Andy Ruiz Jr (at left) (Image: PA WIRE)

“It’s time to rebuild that name again. I feel like an underdog and like I want to prove myself.”

Ruiz, born in California of Mexican heritage, will give away around four inches in height and substantial reach to Joshua.

But the 29-year-old, who lost a world-title shot against Joseph Parker in 2016, appeared entirely at ease before countless media in New York and said he pounced on the chance to face Joshua when American Jarrell Miller failed drugs tests to lose his chance at the titles.

“I was bugging Eddie Hearn on Instagram, saying

focus on the physique of Ruiz, who weighed 262lb in his last contest, meaning he will likely be the heaviest opponent Joshua has faced.

The pair both worked out before the public in Manhattan yesterday, offering media a glimpse of Ruiz’s condition.

“I feel amazing, my conditioning is good,” he added.

“Miller gave me the opportunity but I’m here now to make history.

“This is for my Mexican people and kids. I wake up, run, train, all the sweat is for my kids’ future and it’s for Mexico, to be the country’s first heavyweight champion of the world.”

Aussies plot to stop ... two batsmen in Australia’s World Cup squad to have faced at least five balls from Rashid and not been dismissed by him.

From the 16 deliveries Rashid has bowled to Maxwell, the Victorian has scored 19 runs (a reasonably low strike-rate given he’s only played him in T20 cricket), though he played a false shot to nearly a third of those balls.

Shaun Marsh is the other batter to have successfully negated Rashid, managing 17 runs off 15 balls.

Rashid has had more success against Marcus Stoinis (who’s gone out to the leggie twice in just 13 balls), Aaron Finch (dismissed twice in 23 balls) and Steve Smith (once in 22 balls).

Further backing up Maxwell’s point about showing

restraint is the fact he and Marsh have also been the least aggressive players against Rashid among Australia’s World Cup batters. Marsh has attacked just 20 per cent of the balls Rashid has bowled to him and Maxwell 31 per cent.

On the other hand, the trio of Finch (who attacked 74 per cent of balls he’s faced off Rashid), Stoinis (54 per cent) and Smith (45 per cent) have been more cavalier.

Left-hander Usman Khawaja has faced only three balls off Rashid, while Carey and David Warner (his teammate at Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL) haven’t faced him in a match.

“I think just putting pressure on them to bring back the medium pace and faster bowlers might be the way we go,” Maxwell continued.

“But once we have that

FROM PAGE 29

batting meeting during the week guys will come out with certain plans. Guys might target him, I don’t know.”

Leg-spinner Adam Zampa has previously explained t h a t R a s h i d ’s g re a t e s t strength is his ability to hold the ball more loosely than other wrist-spinners, making it difficult for batters to decipher the difference between wrong’uns and leg-breaks.

“The reason he runs in so fast is because he’s got really thick fingers and holds the ball right at the end (of his fingers),” Zampa explained.

“I bowl it (with the ball) right in my palm; he bowls it right at the end. He’s so hard to pick because he just uses the end of his fingers.

“I tried doing it but they were just slipping out.

“I was like, ‘this bloke is unbelievable’.”

29

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Record security in Madrid England are ‘favourites’ for for Champions League final the World Cup

By Elena Rodriguez

- Glenn McGrath

GLENN McGrath, who has turned making pre-series predictions into a mini-sport of its own, has come out with perhaps his most surprising prediction yet, naming England - arch-rivals during his playing career - as the favourites for the 2019 World Cup. McGrath retired from international cricket in a blaze of glory, as Player-of-the-Tournament in the 2007 World Cup in which Australia smothered all opponents, and he remains one of the game’s all-time greats. He is now the director of cricket at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai where his role is to mentor and finetune young fast bowlers.

During his playing career, McGrath was part of an Australia team that regularly beat England, but it is the hosts’ recent one-day prowess that has made him back Eoin Morgan’s team as the one to beat. “England, a very good one-day unit,” McGrath told ESPNcricinfo

recently during his trip to India. “To me they are the favourites going into this World Cup, so I think they’ll do very well.”

Was this the first time McGrath has called England a ‘favourite’ for any cricket tournament?

“Probably! I can’t remain biased my whole life,” he laughed. “You’ve got to go on current form. The England team - the way they go about it, they have impressed me.

“They have scored some big, big totals. Most teams used to go hard in the first 15 and the last 15, and consolidate in the middle. But teams like England, India are just going hard the whole 50 overs, and that’s the impact T20 cricket has had. So yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever said ‘England are the team to beat’ or the ‘favourites’.

“I didn’t say they were going to win the World Cup though! So they are the favourites and are going to be tough to beat in their own conditions,

but fingers crossed, Australia can do well.”

India and Australia, McGrath said, were the other clear contenders based on the form and past history.

“The two standouts to me were India and England, with fingers crossed, Australia doing well. South Africa are always a good team, West Indies are bit of a dark horse - they can play really well or badly, probably similar to Pakistan.

So it’s going to be an interesting World Cup. England and India are tough to beat, but with Australia’s form, I think we’ll see them make the final.

“I was a little bit concerned how Australia were going to go, but their form of late has really impressed me.

They’ve performed really well in conditions that are not suited to them, so that bodes well for their chances.

I’d like to think that they’ll make the finals. India are a quality one-day unit as well.

They’ll be in the running.”

(ESPN Cricinfo)

Dhoni, Rahul hit tons, wrist-spinners strike as India beat Bangladesh

(REUTERS) - India eased to a 95-run victory over Bangladesh in their final World Cup warm-up match yesterday after centuries from Lokesh Rahul and Mahendra Singh Dhoni helped them post a mammoth total of 359.

Bangladesh won the toss and opted to field first but, despite removing openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma cheaply, they failed to take advantage of bowler-friendly conditions in the morning session in Cardiff.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli scored 47 off 46 balls with five boundaries before Rahul and Dhoni added 164 runs in a fifth-wicket stand.

The partnership came to an end with the dismissal of Rahul, who finished with 108 off 99 balls with 12 fours and four sixes.

Rahul made the squad as a back-up opener but he is also competing for the number four spot alongside all-rounder Vijay Shankar and wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik.

“The biggest positive from today was the way KL batted at number four,” Kohli said. “He is such a class player.”

Former captain Dhoni reached his century off 73 balls and went on to score 113 before losing his wicket

to left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan in the final over.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya made a 21-run cameo to take the total to 359-7.

Bangladesh openers Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar made a steady start to the run chase before they were rattled by Jasprit Bumrah’s double strike in the 10th over.

Sarkar was caught behind for 25 and Shakib perished to a perfect yorker for a first-ball duck.

Das was dismissed by Chahal in the 32nd over, triggering a batting collapse as Bangladesh went from 169-2 to 216-8.

Both Chahal and Yadav finished with three wickets each as Bangladesh were bowled out for 264.

Kohli was pleased with his bowling unit ahead of their tournament opener against South Africa on June 5.

“Bumrah got us the

Mahendra Singh Dhoni reaches his century off 77 balls

Das (73) and Mushfiqur Rahim (90) offered some resistance with a 120-run partnership for the third wicket but they failed to step up the scoring rate against India’s wrist-spinning duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav in the middle overs.

breakthrough and Chahal and Kuldeep got us six wickets,” he said.

“In the second half (in the coming matches), the ball might turn a little bit but initially the ball will swing and seam, which will be the most important phase.”

MADRID, Spain (Reuters) - Madrid will deploy a record number of police and security personnel for Saturday’s all-English Champions League final, barring trucks and using drones to counter a high threat of terror and prevent any fan trouble, officials said yesterday.

Madrid authorities expect around 67 800 fans to attend the clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium.

Some 4 700 police, aided by drones to help coordination, will keep watch over what the authorities deemed as a “high risk” event. They will be reinforced by civil protection, fire corps and other personnel, altogether repre-

senting the largest security operation for any sporting event in the city.

Heavy vehicles will be barred from driving near the stadium and designated fan zones for 24 hours starting at 0800 local time on Saturday.

The level of anti-terrorism alert in Spain is four on a scale of five, which implies a high risk of an attack.

“Security forces and corps have done an enormous, exhaustive and excellent job so that we can all enjoy (the match),” Maria Paz Garcia-Vera, representative of the Madrid regional government, told a media briefing yesterday.

She said it was important to separate the fans of each team at all times. Fans will therefore arrive at different airport terminals and take different metro lines

to the stadium from their separate meeting places in the city - the Colon Square for Spurs fans, and the Felipe II Square for Liverpool supporters.

The security operation will end when the majority of fans have left.

Police Director Francisco Pardo said aerial control of the surroundings and coordination in real time via a drone was this year’s novelty. In a joint effort with UEFA, Spanish police will also launch the so-called Fan Information Teams to advise fans.

“The Champions final is a world showcase. They will be looking at us from all over the world and the Spanish police want to be there to offer a good image of Spain as a safe, hospitable and friendly country,” Pardo said.

Aussies plot to stop spin star Rashid Khan … Maxwell suggests restraint, as Australia ponder how to overcome unpickable Afghan

GLENN Maxwell is one of limited-overs cricket’s best players of spin, but the all-rounder says Australia might need to take their medicine to successfully counter the threat of spin wizard Rashid Khan in their World Cup opener against Afghanistan.

The Australians know Rashid perhaps better than any of Afghanistan’s opponents, yet Maxwell admits the 20-year-old remains one of the few bowlers in world cricket who can make the best look downright silly.

Even gloveman Alex Carey, who kept to him for two full KFC Big Bash seasons at Adelaide Strikers and faced him countless times in the nets, struggles to pick him at night time.

“At times I think I can (pick him),” Maxwell said of Rashid, who averages 16.02 in the BBL and holds the ODI record as the fastest man to 100 wickets. “He’s very difficult. He is probably one of the more difficult ones (spinners) I’ve played against.

“He and (West Indies finger-spinner Sunil) Narine are probably the two you go through stages where you think you are going to hold them and then they bowl a ball

that beats you.

“And you sit there shaking your head.

“For me, I feel like I don’t think I’m going to get out to him, but I don’t feel like I’m going to score much off him.

him.”

Australia’s batters will this week sit down to discuss how they intend to counter Rashid for their clash with Afghanistan in Bristol on Saturday.

And should they look

Rashid Khan

“It’s about targeting other blokes and making sure I’m putting pressure on him to change his lengths and I felt like I did that against him during the Big Bash at different times.

“I will be drawing on that experience a little bit. We’ve got a bit of footage to watch, but it’s a different kettle of fish when you’re actually facing

closely at his numbers against each of them in the BBL and the IPL (none of Australia’s batters have played against him in international 50-over cricket), they may decide Maxwell’s cautious strategy against him has merit.

Data provided by Opta show Maxwell is one of only TURN TO PAGE 28

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Future Stars, Bent Street, Back Circle and Tiger Bay move into Corona semis

Part of the action in the Corona Futsal tournament

THE final four of the 2019 Corona Futsal competition have been decided following the quarter-finals on Monday night.

Future Stars, Bent Street, Back Circle and Tiger Bay all recorded contrasting wins to move into the next round.

The first game between Stars and West Front Road ended 2-2 in regulation time and required pen-

alties. West’s Andy Duke opened the scoring in the 9th minute before Daniel Ross brought things level in the 17th. Collin Nelson granted West the lead once more in the 19th before a last-ditch effort from Randel Bowman sent the game to penalties.

Keiron Salomon, Shemar Fraser and William Europe converted from the spot to send Future Stars

through. Collin Nelson and Jamal Pedro each scored but Randolph Wagner missed his shot.

Bent Street made light work of California Square 4-1 in a one-sided affair of game two. Pernel Shultz brace (14th and 17th) coupled with Sheldon Holder’s (10th) minute goal and Daniel Wilson’s 20th minute strike ensured the win. Meshaka

Barrat scored California’s lone goal.

Back Circle were also easy winners over NorthEast La Penitence via 5-2 margin. Trayon Bobb’s hattrick (6th, 16th & 19th) alongside single strikes by Stephen Williams (18th) and Dellon Kelly (5th) ensured victory while Keifer Brant’s 4th & 16th-minute braces were consolation.

In game four, Sparta Boss were eliminated 3-4

by Tiger Bay. Back-to-back goals by Deon Alfred (22nd and 24th) and Isaiah Andrews (24th) meant that Tiger Bay took a big lead before Sparta realised what was happening. Eventually, Sparta got into their groove with Gregory Richardson scoring in the 25th and Eusi Phillips in the 26th but Leon Gravesande’s 28th minute strike restored the two-goal lead for Tiger Bay. Jeremy Garrett would score once for Sparta in the 29th but that was not enough to avoid elimination.

The semi-finals are billed for June 1, with the final set for June 8.

Kenyan Mbihia dominant at GCOS Independence 5K KENYA’S Godfrey Mbihia showed his class over the past weekend to dominate Guyana’s best and make a clean sweep of the Guyana Committee of Services (GCOS) Independence 10K on Sunday and the 5K on Monday.

The 40-year-old Mbihia kept strides with two young athletes at the front of the pack on Monday afternoon and his experience showed, as he took the lead on the final stretch of the race along Thomas Lands.

Heading into the National Park and nearing the finish line, young Mark Nicholson did his best to catch up with Mbihia but the damage had already been done and the Kenyan was once again victorious.

Having now twice competed against Guyanese athletes, Mbi-

hia had many positive things to say about them, while explaining

Kenyan Godfrey Mbihia crosses the finish line to capture the GCOS 5K on Monday afternoon

how much he had enjoyed the race.

Meanwhile, Kissanna Glen was the first female to cross the finish line. Glen, who is a member of the Running Braves Athletics Club finished minutes before some of her male counterparts in an impressive performance.

The 5K race was hosted by the Guyana Committee of Services (GCOS) with sponsorship from Guybisco, Office of the President, Office of the Prime Minister, GTT, ANSA McAL, BK International, Brans Security, Busta Beverages, Cummings Electrical, and Kenneth Phillips.

Cash and prizes totalling $800 000 were distributed to the winners and top performers of the various categories.

Osaka flirts with early exit as top players struggle at French Open

By Julien Pretot

PARIS, France (Reuters) - Naomi Osaka’s quest for a third consecutive Grand Slam title almost came to an abrupt end yesterday as a number of top players struggled to book their spots in the second round of the French Open.

On a windy and chilly day at Roland Garros, world number one Osaka, who won the U.S. and the Australian Opens, lost the opening set to love against Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova before rallying back for a 0-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 victory.

Defending champion Simona Halep, Osaka’s potential semi-final opponent, lost her way in the second set against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 victory on a windswept Court Philippe Chatrier.

In the men’s draw, German fifth seed Alexander Zverev was also pegged back during his match against Australian John Millman and needed five sets to progress after winning the first two.

Last year’s semi-finalist Juan Martin Del Potro also huffed and puffed into round two with a four-set win against Nicolas Jarry

of Chile.

Victoria Azarenka avoided the fate of fellow former world number ones Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki, who were knocked out in the first round, when she beat 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets.

Osaka had the biggest scare, however, as spots of rain and swirling winds disrupted her game with the Japanese failing to put a mark on the scoreboard in the first set.

Schmiedlova twice served for the match, only for Osaka to raise her game and force the contest into a decisive third set during which her variety

of shots and power proved too much to handle for the world number 90.

Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic became the oldest man to win a match at the French Open for 46 years as he beat Spain’s fellow veteran Feliciano Lopez in the first round.

Karlovic, who turned 40 in February, won a match featuring players with a combined age of 77 - the oldest in a Grand Slam in the professional era. He became the oldest male player to win a Grand Slam match since Ken Rosewall, aged 44, did so at the 1978 Australian Open.

King makes impact on return as Windies collar Ireland again

Veteran all-rounder Stacy-Ann King

DUBLIN, Ireland (CMC) – Veteran all-rounder Stacy-Ann King marked her first appearance for West Indies Women in nearly three years with a strong all-round performance as the Caribbean side strolled past Ireland by 45 runs in the second Twenty20 International here Tuesday, to set the stage for a clean sweep of the threematch series.

Opting to bat first at Sydney Parade, West Indies rallied to 157 for six off their 20 overs with the 35-year-old King top-scoring with 34 from 33 deliveries and opener Hayley Matthews getting 33 off 32 balls.

Captain Kim Garth led the Irish attack, taking three for 22 with her right-arm seam before returning with the bat to top score with an unbeaten 51 off 48 balls as the hosts were restricted to 112 for six off their 20 overs.

King had yet another telling impact, snatching two for 15 from four overs of left-arm medium pace while leg-spinner Afy Fletcher ended with two for 20.

Yesterday’s win gave West Indies a 2-0 lead in the series following their 64-run victory in Sunday’s opener, and they will bid for a whitewash in the final match today.

Matthews gave West In-

dies a breezy start, striking two fours and two sixes and putting on 32 off 22 for the first wicket with Britney Cooper whose 20 came from 11 balls and included three fours.

Once Cooper fell caught and bowled by Garth in the fourth over, King arrived to anchor the innings, first in a 38-run, second-wicket stand with Matthews and then in a 48-run, third-wicket partnership with Shemaine Campbelle (19).

The left-handed King counted four fours in a knock before becoming one of two wickets to fall to Garth in the 16th over, as West Indies lost four for 18 runs at the death.

In reply, Ireland looked like challenging when they reached 60 for two at the start of the 12th over but then lost four wickets for seven runs in the space of 18 runs to surrender meekly.

Batting at number three, Garth struck four fours and a six, adding 45 in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand with Sophie McMahon (11 not out), to rescue Ireland from a dire position of 67 for six in the 15th over.

Waldron had earlier counted three fours in a 28ball 25 as she put on 24 for the first wicket with Gaby Lewis (11) and a further 23 with Garth for the second wicket.

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Wednesday May 29, 2019)

COMPLIMENTS OF THE TROPHY STALL- Bourda Market & The City Mall (Tel: 225-9230) CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD- 83 Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158) (1) (2)

ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY’S QUIZ: 5 times (1987/1999/2003/2007/2015) 2 times (1975/1979)

TODAY’S QUIZ: (1) When were standardised 50-over per side matches first used in the ICC world Cup? (2) Who has the distinction of scoring the first ICC World Cup hundred?

ANSWERS IN TOMORROW’S ISSUE

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Keanu Marsh-Brown anxious for Gold Cup experience

By Rawle Toney

KEANU Marsh -Brown might have ended his season with a disappointing 1-0 loss to Tranmere Rovers at Wembley last Saturday in their English League Two playoff final, but his focus is now on the CONCACAF Gold Cup and ensuring that Guyana progress out of a difficult group.

The Newport County (League Two) 26-year-old winger, playing in his first international match for Guyana, was instrumental in the side’s 2-1 over Belize; the game that saw the country booking their first spot at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. However, speaking exclusively with Chronicle Sport recently, Marsh-Brown, whose older brother Ronayne (MarshBrown) also suits up for ‘Golden Jaguars’ believes that the Gold Cup presents the perfect opportunity to “show the football world what Guyana can do.”

Guyana will open their 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign against defending champions USA on June 18 at the Allianz Field in Minneapolis.

The Golden Jaguars were drawn in Group D of the 16team tournament, with the defending champions (USA), Panama and Trinidad and Tobago.

Following their June 18 opener, coach Michael Johnson and his squad will travel to Cleveland to take on

Panama on June 22 at the FirstEnergy Stadium then play their final group game against regional rivals, Trinidad and Tobago, on June 26 at the Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas.

“Our group is great and our opening game is even better playing against the hosts in their country; we have a great team, great manager and coaching staff and backroom staff behind the scenes. We will go into the tournament and games with no pressure but we are not going into games just to enjoy the moment,” the flashy winger noted.

Guyana came close on several occasions to reaching the Gold Cup, but would usually fall short, sometimes as close as a one-goal difference.

However, the UK-based player believes that under coach Johnson, the country is seeing probably their best assembled team which he thinks “will leave history and the Gold Cup is the start of an amazing journey for success”.

Marsh-Brown will be amongst the group of players that will commence preparations on June 1 with an international camp that will include two international friendly matches.

The camp begins on June 1 in Bermuda where they will come up against fellow Gold Cup debutants Bermuda in an international friendly on June 6.

Golden Jaguars will then travel to Costa Rica to continue their camp over the period

Keanu Marsh-Brown

Keanu Marsh-Brown in action against Belize at the National Track and Field Centre on March 23.

(Carl Croker photo)

June 9-13 and while there they will play another international friendly, this time against Caribbean powerhouse Haiti on June 11. From Costa Rica the team will travel to their base in St Paul, Minnesota, USA. “Playing for Guyana is huge for me, personally, and my family. My grandad would have been proud to see me out there and I’m glad we won that game (against Belize) to seal the spot to the Gold Cup. The excitement is still there but it has toned down.

I’ve played in some big matches before and been involved in a team that reached the UEFA cup final with Fulham so playing in this tournament (Gold Cup) I will know how to focus and turn all that excitement into fuel on the pitch,” the former Fulham player said.

Guyana’s Gold Cup squad will comprise players from the various tiers in English football, the MLS, the USL and the Canadian Premier League.

However, despite the team’s success, some fans are in an uproar about the local to overseas-based players’ ratio, but Keanu said that “as a team we do not think like that we are one team and one nation and for us to be successful … we all need to stick together and be one people. All we want is to be successful as a team and we are all playing for the badge and the nation Guyana, so we need the backing of our people to be that 12th man and unite and stand behind us.”

Holder wants ‘fearless’ approach from Windies

T

… after beating Kiwis in final ICC World Cup warm-up match

Shai Hope acknowledges the crowd after making a century in Bristol yesterday (Getty Images)

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Crawford victorious at 2019 Somerville in the USA

There will be CPL matches in Guyana – Director General

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Amazon Warriors got past the Trinbago Knight Riders to make it to their 4th Hero CPL FLASHBACK:Guyana final in the 2018 tournament

Guyanese Romello Crawford won the Category 2 and 3 race at the 2019 Tour of Somerville over the weekend in the US

Keanu Marsh-Brown anxious for Gold Cup experience 31

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2019