Monday April 29, 2019
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Kaieteur News
Where are the stellar achievements in the security sector under this administration? DEAR EDITOR, We will soon be approaching four years since Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan was handed the reduced portfolio from Home Affairs to Public Security. With the shoe on the other foot, it must be ‘pinching hard.’ Because of many a sleepless night Minister Ramjattan must be a very frustrated man. As for Commissioner of Police, Mr. Leslie James, it must be business as usual from the comfy of his lair. And for President David Granger, he must be a very broken-hearted,if not disappointed, Commander in Chief knowing there is no friendship at the top. For the people of Guyana, call it another rude awakening. Four years after proclaiming ‘IT IS TIME,’ it is indeed time for an assessment of the APNU+ AFC’s dramatic fall from grace particularly in the security sector. Notwithstanding, the exponential increase in numerical strength and the spawning of military and police ranks within the state and public sector, the sum total of horrific occurrences far outweigh whatever little may have been achieved in that sector since the APNU+AFC came to power. In the midst of the propaganda blitz: ‘Guyana’s security is in good hands, ‘Crime, corruption decline under coalition government,’ ‘Police addressing bribery,’ ‘A fully professional police force’ and ‘ UK security expert says stage set for police reforms,’ one thing is certain, there are no stellar achievements in the security sector. Having ensconced themselves in the comfy of their offices the ‘security experts’ are yet to recognize that contrary to their there declarations, there is no silver bullet to solve crime and ensure security in Guyana or
in any other Caricom country for that matter. Yet, soon after assuming office, the civilian security managers with oversight responsibility for the public and national security sectors wasted no time in letting the public know that the safety and protection of the citizenry are guaranteed with the APNU+AFC in office. It didn’t take long however for the populace to recognize that that assurance was to fall among the litany of unfulfilled manifesto promises made to them by the APNU+AFC. Among the first acts of the new government was to seek to exercise political influence, and to intrude in the operational mandates of the military and law enforcement agencies. In the case of the police, this was manifested by attempts to direct the Police Service Commission what it should do and not do. The axing of the end of year, one month tax free bonus hit members of the security sector hard. It turned out to be both a psychological and a financial hazard. Ranks looked askance when they saw billions being spent on extravagant and prestige projects yet the continued to be denied of their annual bonus. Next came the establishment of Commission of Inquiries into the Lindo Creek Massacre and the ‘attempt of the life of the president’. These Inquiries were aimed more at flushing out a number of ‘political undesirables’ from ranks of the military, police and CANU, and to parachute in their place, elements who the regime considered malleable to messages from the political directorate. The reduction of piracy on the Corentyne River and in the area of overlap had less to do with the Government of
Blatant wastage of water DEAR EDITOR, Please allow me to bring to your attention and the attention of those in authority of what can be considered a blatant wastage of our most needed commodity - water. Where? At the Enmore Police Station. For months now, many nights, the black tank there can be seen overflowing continously and when one passes early in the morning the tank is still overflowing giving one the impression that it was overflowing the entire night. I am aware that more than one calls were made to the station to bring the officers’ attention to this outrageous situation but to no avail. Outrageous because we all know the value of water especially since only recently Enmore experienced some water problems. Please can something be done to put an end to this madness. Concerned resident
Guyana’s much touted successes. On the contrary, it had more to do with the Surinamese Government’s strong actions to stamp out piracy in waterways under its jurisdiction. Dereliction of duty on the part of government to maintain a high level of internal security and good order within the prison system, resulting in two major disasters in less than two years, should be viewed as a microcosm of the APNU+ AFC’s abysmal failure in the security sector at the national level. In the wider society, contrary to the bleatings of the subject Minister, other apparatchiks in the security sector as well as the outrageous pro-government propaganda emanating from sections of the media, the citizenry continue to suffer
almost on a daily basis from gun crimes, robbery under arms, larceny from the person, break and enter and larceny, domestic violence, child abuse, and murders. Suicides have increased at the once prosperous but now depressed sugar estates. And unreported crimes have become notoriously customary. Attacks on the PPP/C administration’s jettisoning of the UK’s Security Sector (Draft) Reform Programme was misplaced and without merit. Alternatively, the PPP/ C government had committed to supporting, and had actually began utilizing on an annualized basis, budgetary resources to fund a five year Guyana variant of the model the British had recommended. The just completed Security Sector Reform
Report a/k the Combe Report is more or less a carbon copy of the Capita-Symmonds Report which the PPP/C administration had begun implementing, utilizing its own resources. I n s t i t u t i o n a l arrangements such as the establishment of a CrossGovernment Department (CGD), an Executive Leadership Team (ELT), a Strategic Planning Unit (SPU),a Police Reform Change Board (PRCB), an Inter-Agency Task Force on Piracy(IATF) and a Ministry of Public Security Forum (MOPSF) are, for the most part, embellishments and ‘tweeks’ of previous institutional arrangements, established in both form and substance under the PPP/C’s Security Sector Reform Programme. The retrofitted structure
recommended by Combe will see a significant increase in the bureaucratization of the Police Force where senior ranks will be called upon to attend to reform measures on a full-time basis. At the same time, an unprepared Ministry of Public Security will be saddled with the responsibility to ensure effective implementation of the programme and full realization of deliverables. That aside, problems are bound to arise in the Police’s ‘chain of command’ unless the Commissioner himself chairs both the ELT and the PRCB. Observers will be watching to see whether the Director of the SSRD will be a civilian or the Minister himself. Knowing how difficult it will be for the Minister to lead Continued on page 6
These are my personal views and not those of any organization and/or acquaintances DEAR EDITOR, Robin Singh (Kaietuer News, Sunday, April 28, 2019) comes across as another typical simple mindless victim of American propaganda. He glibly quotes George Bush who, many, based on facts, has assumed war criminal status, based on his patently false policies which has the unfortunate consequence of unleashing unmitigated terror on Iraq with devastating consequences with an unending time frame currently exceeding 15 years. Singh and others of his ilk would do well to review the testimony of former British MP Mr. George Galloway to the US Sub – Committee on the Iraq Oil for Food Programme (YouTube). The testimony speaks for itself and in my view
represents the most eloquent rejection of American and western convoluted and self – serving foreign policy. The repugnance of this policy, as far as I am concerned is more a reflection of the terrorism they so liberally apply to others and which in my view is central to the turmoil the world finds itself in today and may I say long after I would have departed this plane, as Islam represents a natural barrier to white supremacy, the only supremacy being the Creator of the heavens and the earth and all in between and below, the one to whom all mankind will have to answer for their sojourn in this material life. The question is, was Brother Abdul Kadir guilty of any crime, maybe, maybe not. But can we trust the judgement of a group of
profound liars who pronounced on Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction when their own investigators proved otherwise and whose policy of drone strikes has unleashed untold terror on innocent people whom they so callously refer to as “collateral damage”. That is the question for the Singh’s and others of his ilk. The only meaningful sanction is from the one who created me and Brother Kadir from a sperm drop, it is timeless. In anticipation of the usual verbiage as to the
virtues of accessing a visa and living in the so called ABC countries, I take this opportunity to relieve Singh and others of his ilk of these notions as my focus is on that day soon when my brothers and sisters will be lowering me in a deep hole, In Sha Allah. a hole from where there is no escape. From earth I created you, to earth I will return you, and from earth I will resurrect you. That is my focus. The Singh’s of this world would do well to reflect on this reality. Yours respectfully, Abdul Rahim – Forde
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The APNU+AFC Government is functioning in secrecy DEAR EDITOR, The Access to Information Act 2011, Act 21 of 2011 was approved by the National Assembly during the PPP/C Government. The basic objective of the Rights to Information Act is to empower citizens, promote transparency and accountability in the functioning of the Government, contain corruption, and make our democracy work for the people in real sense. It establish without saying that informed Guyanese are better equipped to maintain the necessary vigil on the instruments of governance and demands a more accountable government to the people. The access to information act is to make citizens informed about activities of the Government also. This APNU+AFC coalition Government continues to strangled the rights of people from the access to information that would expose the corruption, dictatorial policies, racial discrimination, etc. The Regional Democratic Council of Region Six is an elected second level government that represents the people, but continues to be disregarded when this Council requested information for projects, decisions and policies that is being executed and implemented by the APNU/ AFC coalition Government.
Monday April 29, 2019
Kaieteur News
This government operates in Region Six without any respect or regards for this elected Regional Governance. There are numerous projects being managed by central ministries and they don’t even inform the RDC of projects execution, or give a copy of the contract documents because, I believe, ministries are scared of scrutiny that will unearth massive corruption . The East Bank Berbice Public Road Project is one of the biggest projects in the region that is being undertaken by the MOPI but that Ministry has refused to make available the contract documents to the RDC, likewise the Indian Monument Site at Palmyra, where billions of taxpayers monies are disappearing through the sales of materials etc. Berbician are still anxious to know what is the total cost of these projects. The RDC was informed, through the REO, that NDIA said the cabinet made a decision to reallocate budgetary funds from the 2019 regional allocation without providing any information or evidence of the decision of cabinet. The RDC Region Six is stunned because this can cause serious implications in transferring these funds to NDIA without the approval of the RDC. The Fiscal Management and Accountability Act does not
allow the transferred of funds allocated for Drainage and Irrigation in the regional Budget to be transferred to NDIA without the permission of the RDC . The NDIA, it seems, is being used evidently as an arm of the PNC to satisfy its supporters. Excavators are being used to execute private jobs for PNC supporters in Region Six, because of political intervention by senior government officials. Imagine the REO of Region Five is shutting down a RDC meeting because of alleged usage of NDIA excavators to execute private work in Bath settlement, but when NDIA excavators are used by PNC activists in various areas it becomes legal. This issue was highlighted to the CEO Mr Flatts but he refused to comment on the issue. F i n a l l y, t h e c i r c u s “Bringing the Government to the people”, continued in Region Five a few days ago, unfortunately Government continued to disregard the most serious problem in Region Five that is where APNU+AFC councillors and the REO are purposely shutting down the functioning of the RDC, which can be considered the “voice of the residents” in Region Five. Disregarding this major issue of democracy in Region Five is an insult to Mr David Granger who boasted about democracy in Guyana. What is happening in Region Six is a replica by this APNU+AFC coalition Government throughout Guyana. The RDC is demanding their constitutional rights for the access to information for all projects and policies that are implemented within. Regards Zamal Hussain
Where are the stellar... From page 5 a process as complex and challenging as reform of the Police Force in particular, and the security sector in general, the Director should, preferably ,be a competent, experienced and professional civilian and not a party hack. It will not be surprising were the APNU to parachute a soldier or an octogenarian of its liking into that position. Funding the raft measures recommended in the Combe Report will weigh heavily on the treasury since it has been recommended that the measures contained therein be funded by government and the private sector. The nation is in the dark latter as to whether the latter will be favourably disposed to forking out millions to assist in the implementation of the Combe Report is yet to be seen. But it was not only security sector reform, albeit retrofitted that the government adopted lock, stock and barrel from the PPP/ C. The Granger- led administration, notwithstanding its attacks on the PPP/C administration’s crime fighting strategy has recognized the need to preserve some law enforcement initiatives put in place by the previous administration. These include, maintenance of the Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons, the Firearm Licensing Approval Board, the Police Legal Adviser, the Stray Catching Unit, the Juvenile Holding Centre, the Customs AntiNarcotic Unit(CANU) and the National Intelligence Center. Moreover, the coalition administration, notwithstanding its harsh criticisms of the IDB funded Citizens Security Strengthening Programme CSSP (1) under the PPP/C has accepted the need to continue with CSSP (2). And as if on a wrecking
It is normal for the National Assembly to... From page 4 heated national debate for breaking ranks with his coalition colleagues in supporting the Opposition to unseat them. It is inopportune some seek to ignore these aforesaid stated fundamentals and find the issue more favourable to be a weapon for partisan gain. And to the issue of crime, we as a nation must remember that all crimes are bad - white collar, blue collar, corruption, executive lawlessness, public sabotage, domestic or international terrorism, and even those not convicted in a court of law due to technicality or other reasons. We cannot cherry pick or see justification in one as against the other or turn a blind eye to those who commit same because they are of us. Society functions better where truth and accountability apply to all. Lincoln Lewis
expedition, government flagrantly undermined the effectiveness of Community and Neighbourhood Policing, cutting down drastically the respective mandates of these to organizations to a size that hobbled it’s mobility and reach countrywide. Further, assisted by maximum administrative delay (MAD) the administration frustrated the implementation of the respective strategic plans of the Guyana Prison Service and Guyana Fire Service. In one fell swoop, the APNU+AFC disbanded the National Commission for Law and Order, the National Committee to Combat Interpersonal Violence, the Ogle and CJIA Security Monitoring Committees, the Advisory Committee on Alternative Sentencing, the Crime and Social Observatory, the Task Forces on Smuggling and Contraband and Illicit Drug’s and Firearms, and the Guyana National Computer Incident Response Team. All were deemed useless. Innovative crime fighting Initiatives to facilitate crime mapping by means of satellite, on-line crime reporting, an I-paid a bribe website, the Integrated Crime Information System and the regional House of Justice project were all scrapped by the ‘security experts’ attached to the Granger-led administration. Had the elections not intervened in May 2015, the then Ministry of Home Affairs would have increased the number of CCTV cameras in and around the city of Georgetown and other towns, a digital occurrence book was to be introduced at police stations, steps were taken to procure body cameras for police ranks, a redesigned machine readable passport was to come on stream in 2015, the Special Weapons and Tactical Team (SWAT) was to undergo advanced training with new, upgraded weapons, E and F divisions of the Police Force were to be delinked, floating police stations were to be established on the Waini and Berbice Rivers, the Cops and Faith Network was to undergo institutional strengthening, training of a number of police ranks selected to serve in the much anticipated Aviation Branch of the GPF was slated to begin at the Engineering School at Ogle, the Marine Branch of the GPF was on the cusp of becoming a world class organization, the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Prison Service were to undergo name changes from Guyana Police Force to Guyana Police Service and from Guyana Prison Service to Guyana Prison and Correctional Service. Restructuring of CANU was in the pipeline and branches of the unit were to
be established at all the newly established official ports of entry. Polygraphing of ranks in the disciplined services were to be extended to civilians engaged in law enforcement in one form or another. Had government not abandoned polygraphing as an anti-corruption safeguard, corruption in law enforcement agencies would have been drastically reduced. The scandal hitting SOCU might have been possible but highly improbable. The National Incident Response Team to fight off cyber attacks and enhance cyber security was to be strengthened and enhanced technologically and with additional highly skilled Human Resources. Correction of the defects at the Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory was to be accelerated in 2015. In that same year, the lab was expected to secure ISO certification and international accreditation as a precondition for evidence and DNA testing. A business plan to market the services available to the public was to be agreed and made public. The PPP/C’s law enforcement legislative agenda is unmatched and is by far, a remarkable one. However, not resting on its laurels new additional anticrime laws were being fashioned to add to those that had already began impacting positively the country’s law enforcement agencies. Currently a fierce debate is raging in external academic circles about the role and place of law enforcement in these modern times. There is a view that there is nothing magical about police work, that it’s a service with a market value and should be subject to market pressures in the same way as other services. This view is supported by another view that there should be competitive security agencies who would promote and market themselves by showing a downward trend in crime proving that they are doing a good job. Another view is that ‘if law enforcement bodies act improperly they should be hauled before the courts’. Yet others have asked whether ‘prosecuting more crime justify bigger budgets?’ After four years of abysmal failures in the security sector we too need to join in the debate otherwise ‘heaven help us’. Yours faithfully, Clement J . Rohee Former Minister of Home Affairs
Monday April 29, 2019
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Kaieteur News
Guyana Gold Fields (AGM), Troy Resources Guyana Inc. among 19 companies which refuse to disclose persons who benefit from their profits By Kiana Wilburg Guyana Goldfields (AGM) and Troy Resources Guyana are among the 19 mining companies which refused to disclose the names of persons who benefit from its profits, which would have been subsequently revealed in the nation’s first report to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The document has a special section which is dedicated to “beneficial ownership”. This is in keeping with the reporting requirements of EITI. In fact, one of the EITI Standards stipulates that implementing countries must maintain a publicly available register of the beneficial owners of the corporate entity(ies) that bid for, operate or invest in extractive assets, including the identity(ies) of their beneficial owner(s), the level of ownership and details of how ownership or control is exerted. Guyana does not have such a register. And efforts by the Independent Administrator, Rached Maalej to obtain this information for Guyana’s first report were not entirely fruitful. The companies which refused to communicate the names of beneficial owners are: Innovative Mining, R Mining Inc., Azeem Baksh, Gold Target Export, Milburn Mahadeo, Grey Wolf Resources, Tesouro Resources, J&D Mining, New East International, Higgins Winslow Theophilus, Wal Jays Mining, Harpy Investment, Bauxite
Company of Guyana (Rusal), BOSAI Minerals Group (Guyana) Inc, El Dorado Trading, SSS Mineral Trading Ent, and Adamantium Holdings. The only companies which displayed no resistance to naming its beneficial owners are Excel Minerals Inc., Dinar Trading, Pure Diamond Inc., and Mohamed’s Enterprise. Speaking with Kaieteur News yesterday, Head of GYEITI, Dr. Rudy Jadoopat explained that the companies were asked to submit the information regarding beneficial ownership but many of them opted not to. He said, “And I don’t want to speculate or get into what are the reasons for the companies refusing to do so.” PUBLIC REGISTER In the meantime, Dr. Jadoopat told Kaieteur News that the local chapter of the
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative is working towards the creation of a public registry of beneficial owners and Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) in the oil and gas sector. The official noted that the creation of the registry is an important aspect of the work of the local chapter. According to Dr. Jadoopat, the register coincides with a requirement of the EITI Standard, which calls for the disclosure of those persons who ultimately control and receive proceeds from licences to extract a country’s natural resources. He also noted that the role of “Politically Exposed Persons” is an area of particular concern. “Many practices can make obscure who are the true beneficial owners of a company. The use of one or more shell companies and/or proxy/ nominee owners and directors
are two such practices. It is therefore important to strengthen the legal framework in key areas and to ensure that information on beneficial owners are publicly accessible in registries,” Dr. Jadoopat emphasized. He added, “It is worth noting that EITI’s interest in beneficial ownership dovetails with that of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) and its regional affiliates. Thus, there will be a degree of complementarity on this topic between Guyana’s pursuit of EITI compliance and compliance under FATF.” Further to this, Dr. Jadoopat said that other areas of the law that are comple-
mentarily important to ensure greater disclosure are the Access to Information Act and the Integrity Commissions, which are fully functional and in order. He commented that these provide citizen groups, police and journalists with the means of accessing information that might prove critical on PEPs, such as asset declarations and published salaries. Additionally, Dr. Jadoopat said that the Petroleum Regulations also make provisions for a body corporate, which has a shared capital to disclose the name of any person who is the beneficial owner of more than five per centum of the issued share capital. With Guyana’s admission
GY-EITI Head, Dr. Rudy Jadoopat as an EITI candidate country on October 25, 2017, the nation is required to publish a beneficial ownership roadmap by July 2018, with the aim of full disclosure of beneficial ownership by January 1, 2020. Dr. Jadoopat was pleased to note that the roadmap has been published.
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Monday April 29, 2019
Kaieteur News
Cops hunt Cumberland suspect in Canje businesswoman's assault/robbery The business place and home of Yasodra Singh that was robbed.
Police in Berbice are hunting for a Cumberland, East Canje man in connection with
the assault and robbery of businesswoman Yasodra Singh of Lot 21 Canefield, Berbice. On Saturday morning in broad daylight, the suspect allegedly entered Singh's shop and purchased an item. He then asked the owner
for a glass of water and as she was making her way to the kitchen, located at the back, the man followed her and shoved her to the ground. Two masked gunmen then entered the shop while the first suspect continued to kick Singh and demand money. According to the woman's daughter, Amrita Singh, her mother was at home with her three sons while her father was at the Port Mourant Market.
She stated that one of the men held a gun to her 10-yearold son’s head and ordered him to show them where the money was, "He (the child) carried them inside the shop and showed them a bucket where the shop money was", she said. About $135,000 was inside the bucket, as well as a quantity of phone cards. The thieves also took approximately $60,000 that her mom had in an apron pocket.
Monday April 29, 2019
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Kaieteur News
Kadir was a victim of entrapment A parliamentarian convicted of an offence is required to vacate his or her seat in the National Assembly. Apparently, however, there is no prohibition against the same parliament paying tribute to someone who has been convicted of ‘high’ crimes. Abdul Kadir, a former member of parliament, was convicted in the United States of conspiring to commit a terrorist act on the United States. It is alleged that he was part of a plot to blow up petrol storage tanks at the John F. Kennedy Airport. He was nabbed in Trinidad and extradited to the United States where he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment (without the
possibility of parole). He died last June in prison. He had served as a member of parliament for the People’s National Congress between 2001 and 2006 and had also been a Mayor of Linden during a period when there were no municipal elections. Last week, almost ten months after his death, the APNU+AFC suddenly and surprisingly moved a motion in the National Assembly for that body to pay tribute to Kadir’s dedicated service to the parliament and asking for an expression of sympathy to be conveyed to his family. The motion was tabled in the name of the government. Just why the government
would take ten months to pay tribute to Kadir is not known. Whether it fully considered the implications of its motion is also not known. When Kadir was nabbed by the Americans, the PNCR took the position that he was innocent until proven guilty. The party never disowned or disassociated itself from him. But it also never explained why after 2006, it had nothing to do with him or why he only served for a short period as Mayor in a PNCR stronghold. Kadir was a victim of entrapment by the American authorities desperate to prove that its campaign against terrorism on American soil was successful. The Americans had encouraged a
DEM BOYS SEH
Is better to give away $200 Almost everybody got a cell phone. Some people can mek calls pun dem phone any time but some got to always mek a quick call and beg people to call dem back. Dem boys want to know why people want to use dem phone and don’t spend any money. When people call dem or send a call me message dem does call back and tell de people to call dem. And of de person seh dem don’t have credit, dem does tell de people to sell de phone and buy credit. But that is not anything serious. Is when people borrow you phone to mek a call. People who can afford it does always quick to lend out dem phone. People does come up and ask fuh mek a Facebook Messenger call or a WhatsApp call. Dem boys find out de odda day how dangerous that can be. A man borrow a phone and he open a Facebook account. That is no problem. De problem come when he send a message to somebody using de account. Was a strange message suh de person go to de police. These days people can track anything. De police get Facebook to track de phone or de computer that set up de account. Is then de trouble start. De police go to de person wid de phone and arrest dem. That is when dem boys realize dem can get lockup even when dem ain’t do nutten. De person spend 24 hours in de lockup trying to explain wha happen. De police go to find de odda person and to this day dem can’t find de person. Is a decent cop who mek de person get to go home. Now dem boys seh when anybody come to borrow dem phone dem rather give that person $200 to buy credit. Is
better to give away $200 that to spend days in a jail. And dem boys know wha can happen to dem in jail.
After all, dignity and you tail worth more than $200. Talk half and listen to wisdom.
convicted drug dealer to come to find one of the world’s foremost terrorist. The Americans were not initially interested in Kadir. He was probably not on their radar. Their main interest was El-Shukrijumah a top alQaeda operative and explosives expert, who plotted to blow up New York’s subway system and who it was suspected had links to Guyana. The informant who was working with the Americans was used to ferret out El Shukrijumah. Instead he met a man who claimed that he wanted to blow up the fuel tanks at JFK airport and who introduced him to Kadir. Kadir’s lawyer in an article published after his death had maintained that Kadir was not a terrorist and that there was never any plot to blow up any fuel tanks. He said that Kadir was a victim of an informant attempting to have his sentence for drug-related offences reduced. He said the so-called plot to blow up JFK was a concoction, implying
that the capability to execute such a plot never existed. It is not clear whether the APNU+AFC believed that Kadir was a victim of criminal entrapment or whether the tabling of that motion was merely a way of thumping its nose in the face of the Americans. But even if the government did feel that Kadir was a victim of criminal entrapment, how can its motion be justified given what Kadir confessed to during his trial? Kadir admitted during his trial that he had spied for the Iranians. He confessed to
passing information about the Guyana Defence Force to the Iranian Embassy in Venezuela. In some countries this would be considered as treason. Supporters of the APNU+AFC now find themselves in a moral dilemma in justifying its government motion last week. But that is not anything unusual in hypocritical societies.
Monday April 29, 2019
Kaieteur News
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Monday April 29, 2019
Kaieteur News
EXCLUSIVE: Sri Lanka warned of threat
hours before suicide attacks - sources By Shihar Aneez, Ranga Sirilal, Joe Brock and Sanjeev Miglani COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan intelligence officials were tipped off about an imminent attack by Islamist militants hours before a series of suicide bombings killed more than 300 people on Easter Sunday, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Three churches and four hotels were hit by suicide bombers on Sunday morning,
killing 321 people and wounding 500, sending shockwaves through an island state that has been relatively peaceful since a civil war ended a decade ago. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks on Tuesday, without providing evidence of its involvement. Indian intelligence officers contacted their Sri Lankan counterparts two hours before the first attack to warn of a specific threat on churches, one Sri Lankan defense source and an Indian govern-
ment source said. Another Sri Lankan defense source said a warning came "hours before" the first strike. One of the Sri Lankan sources said a warning was also sent by the Indians on Saturday night. The Indian government source said similar messages had been given to Sri Lankan intelligence agents on April 4 and April 20. Sri Lanka's presidency and the Indian foreign ministry both did not respond to
requests for comment. Sri Lanka's failure to effectively respond to a looming Islamist threat will fuel fears that a rift between Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena is undermining national security. The president fired Wickremesinghe last October over political differences, only to reinstate him weeks later
under pressure from the Supreme Court. Opposing factions aligned to Wickremesinghe and Sirisenahave often refuse to communicate with each other and blame any setbacks on their opponents, government sources say. Sri Lankan police had been warned weeks ago about a possible attacks by a littleknown domestic Islamist group, according to an Indian
intelligence report given to Sri Lankan state intelligence services, and seen by Reuters. Sirisena, announcing plans on Tuesday to change the heads of the defense forces, said his office never received the Indian report. Junior Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardene, an ally of Wickremesinghe, told Reuters that he was also not privy to the Indian intelligence findings.
UWI Professor for gender forum at University of Guyana The University of Guyana (UG) is gearing to host a public lecture on ‘Why Gender Matters: The crisis in Youth Masculinities and Natural Hazards’ by Professor Rhoda Reddock of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago. The event is scheduled for tomorrow, April 30 at 17:00hrs at the Education Lecture Theatre, UG, Turkeyen Campus, Greater Georgetown. Reddock is a Professor of Gender, Social Change and Development and former Deputy Principal of the UWI, St. Augustine Campus. A former head of the centre, now institute for Gender and Development Studies, she is also a former lecturer in Sociology. After completing her undergraduate studies at The University of the West Indies, Mona and St. Augustine campuses, she did her masters at the Institute for Social Studies, The Hague and Doctorate at the University of Amsterdam. An activist in the Caribbean Women's Movement, she was a founding member and first chair of the Caribbean Association for Feminist t Research and Action (CAFRA). A former president of Research Committee 32 (Women and Society) of the International Sociological Association (ISA) (1994-1998), she currently serves on the Executive Committee of the ISA and is a board member of Research Committee 05, Racism,
Indigeneity, Ethnicity and Nationalism. Reddock also served on the Council of the Caribbean Studies Association. Among her numerous publications are: Women Labour and Politics in Trinidad and Tobago; A History, Zed Books, 1994 which was named a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book for 1995; Plantation Women: International Experiences, Berg 1998, co-edited with Shobhita Jain. Caribbean Sociology: Introductory Readings edited with Christine Barrow, 2000 and the edited collection Interrogating Caribbean Masculinities, The UWI Press, 2004, winner of the best-selling textbook award of 2004-2007, and most recently the co - edited volume, Sex Power and Taboo, Ian Randle, 2009. She has also published over 70 peer reviewed chapters and book chapters. Professor Reddock is the recipient of numerous national, regional and international awards including the Triennial CARICOM Award for Women 2002, a distinguished Fulbright New Century Scholar Award in 20052006; and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Western Cape, South Africa, 2012. Most recently, she was elected to the United Nations Committee on CEDAW (The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women) for the 20192023 term. She has recently completed a term as visiting
Professor Rhoda Reddock professor at Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany. According to Professor Reddock, “One of my favourite memories is in Guyana after receiving the CARICOM Award for Women. I had a telephone call from a Guyanese man who had written to me when he was imprisoned in Trinidad, asking for assistance with his poetry. I approached Dr. Paula Morgan who read the poems and wrote comments. Years later, he called and read a poem he had written for me in honour of the occasion. I would like my legacy to include new generations of Caribbean citizens with a commitment to social transformation and justice. I have benefited from many years of education paid for by taxpayers of the region. I feel that some of us need to stay in the region to build our institutions. It is up to us to make these spaces where we want to live.”
Monday April 29, 2019
Kaieteur News
They believe they know her killer but…
Has the Guyana Police Force given up on Monica Reece? by Michael Jordan Twenty-six years ago on Good Friday, someone murdered a 19-year-old security guard named Monica Reece, and left her body on Main Street, after it fell, or was dumped, from a pickup. Twenty-six years later, two Police Commissioners have died, three have retired; four Crime Chiefs have retired, and two others have been transferred to other areas on the Force. Last Good Friday passed with police officials unable to say whether there is still an active investigation into Guyana’s most sensational murder case. “I can’t tell you”, was the response of one senior official from CID Headquarters, Eve Leary. What is perplexing is that three years ago, police had appeared quite upbeat about finally revealing the name of Reece’s killer. In July 2016, former Crime Chief, Wendell Blanum revealed that police had reopened their investigations into the April 1993 murder. Even from the outset, they had identified a prime suspect: a young man from an affluent and well-known family. He also had a pickup that appeared to match the description of the one that was seen speeding up Main Street after Reece’s corpse fell, or was dumped, onto the roadway. They had appeared to be so close to making an arrest that the suspect had to inform the police whenever he was travelling overseas. “There is an individual that is being pursued and that is why the investigation was reopened,” a source had told Kaieteur News Reece’s mom, Shirley Reece, was contacted and reassured that the investigation was still active. But all this came with a troubling disclosure. On August 26, 2016, Acting Commissioner of Police David Ramnarine told journalists that “an unprofessional course of action” took place at the time when the investigation was ongoing. The investigation was placed in the hands of the much vaunted Major Crimes Unit, whose ranks had solved several cold cases, including the killing of Babita Sarjou. But then came whispers that all was not going well with the investigation. Kaieteur News understands
Monica Reece: Will there ever be justice for her? that at present, there appears to be no active investigation. There has been no explanation over why the case has been stalled. Meanwhile, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum has been transferred out of the Criminal Investigation Department. Some ranks from the major Crimes Unit, including its head, have also been transferred out of that Unit. Reece, a Loss Prevention Guard Service employee, was slain on the Good Friday night of April 9, 1993. A post mortem revealed that she was badly beaten and had suffered a broken jaw. Police questioned several individuals and impounded several vehicles that fit the description of the pickup from which Reece’s body was dumped. A timeline of Reece’s movements that day revealed that at around 13:00 hrs, David McKenzie, Operations Manager of the Loss Prevention Guard Service, visited Reece at the Ministry of Health in Brickdam, where she was scheduled to work. According to McKenzie, Reece told him that if a man by the name of ‘Mark’ called for her at the office, he must tell ‘Mark’ to take lunch to her worksite. Reece also told McKenzie about her relationship with a man who drove a 4×4 pickup, who she claimed was in love with her. Reece also handed McKenzie a piece of paper with several names and a
telephone number. The security official recalled the name ‘Mark’ on the paper, but he could not recall the telephone number or what he had done with the paper Reece had given him. McKenzie later dropped Reece on his bicycle to a phone booth at Regent and Hinck Streets. That was the last time he saw her alive. Between 16:40 hrs and 17:00 hrs, Reece informed Mark Torrington, a security guard, that she had a date with “a Chinese man” from Mc Doom, East Bank Demerara. She told him not to be surprised if he heard she was dead. At 18:30 hrs, she left Kalian Yard at Lot 240 Camp Street. She changed out of her security uniform and was wearing a white T-shirt and black tights. At 19:15 hrs, she was seen by Special Constable, Linden Samuels entering the Brickdam Police Station compound. She was allegedly crying and about five minutes later, she was seen entering a black Pathfinder parked near the station. At around 20:30 hrs, she visited Charles McAllister, a driver, at a Church Street disco. She reportedly left, returned and then walked west along Church Street. Then about 22:05 hrs, a woman saw Reece’s body falling out of a pickup in Main Street. The case was labelled by some as a “high society Continued on page 22
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Kaieteur News
U.S. envoy signed North Korea document to pay for Warmbier’s care – Bolton WANTED
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WA S H I N G T O N (Reuters) - The United States signed a document agreeing to pay North Korea for the care of American Otto Warmbier but never paid the $2 million (1.5 million pounds) Pyongyang demanded, White House national security adviser John Bolton said yesterday. Bolton, who said he was not part of the administration at the time, confirmed newspaper reports that North Korea demanded the money before Warmbier was flown out of Pyongyang in a coma on June 13, 2017. Asked whether U.S. envoy Joseph Yun signed the document when he went to retrieve Warmbier, Bolton told “Fox News Sunday” in an interview: “That is what I am told, yes.” He said no payment was made. “It is very clear to me from my looking into it in the past few days that
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nobody was paid. That is clear,” Bolton said. Warmbier, a University of Virginia student visiting North Korea, was imprisoned in January 2016. North Korea state media said he was sentenced to 15 years hard labour for trying to steal an item bearing a propaganda slogan from his hotel.
Otto Warmbier
Sloth Island Nature Resort (From page 14) also enjoy a good book from the library. If you don’t feel like doing much you can cozy up in a hammock in the shade of the trees, but if a nature walk or swim or paddling in the water trail is what you desire, the staff will be delighted to assist. Whatever you choose, you are bound to enjoy nature at its best.” According to the review, from the Island one can access exciting excursions to the Indigenous village of Falmouth, the town of Bartica, Fort Kyk-Over-Al (oldest Dutch Fort in Guyana), Baracara Waterfalls, and the rapids of Marshall Falls, Parrot Island (night refuge for thousands of parrots), Eddy Grant’s Island (world famous singing superstar) and many Indigenous settlements. It is also close to the gold mining areas of Groote Creek, Blue Mountain, Puruni, Oko and Omai. Sloth Island is to be reached by boat from Parika (one hour) or by plane to Bartica (15 minutes) from Georgetown, and five minutes by boat from Bartica.
Has the Guyana Police Force... From page 21 killing” because all of the suspects were from affluent families. One senior detective who was part of the 1993 investigative team told Kaieteur News that “a number of things obstructed us.” “It was never intended for it to be a straightforward investigation. Where the obstruction came from, I don’t know, but there are some who knew where the obstruction came from.” Other investigators said that a prime suspect was taken into custody but was never fully interrogated. A pickup that this suspect allegedly drove on the night of Reece’s murder was impounded, but was reportedly released without being checked for possible forensic evidence. Commissioner of Police Laurie Lewis was at the helm of the Force when Reece was slain. Lewis had held monthly press conferences in which he had updated on the investigation. This had upset some of his detectives, who felt that too much information was being divulged to the public and to those responsible for Reece’s death as well. However, former Crime Chief, Alvin Smith had expressed confidence that the case can still be solved. “I honestly believe that something will break. Somehow, I believe that it will happen. My grounded belief is that the evidence is there. The evidence is alive. It comes to my mind often, after all these years. I think that the person (killer) is alive and that the evidence is there,” Smith said.
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Durant helps Warriors dispatch Rockets Kevin Durant scored nine of his team-high 35 points in the final 5:35 and Stephen Curry buried a back-breaking 3-pointer with 25.9 seconds remaining yesterday afternoon as the Golden State Warriors outlasted the Houston Rockets 104-100 in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals in Oakland, Calif. The second game in the best-of-seven between the top-seeded Warriors and fourth-seeded Rockets is slated for tomorrow night in Oakland. In a tight game that featured poor 3-point shooting and turnovers, the Warriors found themselves in an 89-89 tie with six minutes remaining before Durant took charge. His two free throws with 5:35 left gave Golden State the lead for good, and his three subsequent free throws and two field goals seemingly put the Warriors in command at 100-95 with just 1:26 to go. But a three-point play by James Harden got Houston back within two, before Curry countered with his 3-pointer that proved to be decisive. A dunk by Harden with 21.3 seconds to go kept the Rockets alive, and when Chris Paul stole the ball from Durant, Houston had a chance at a tie. But Paul was pressured into an awkward pass and Eric Gordon stepped out of bounds while retrieving it, allowing the Warriors to hold on. Paul thought he was fouled on the play and argued the non-call, for which he received a second technical foul and was ejected from the game with 4.4 seconds left.
Curry made the foul shot to complete the scoring. Durant shot 12-for-15 from the line during his 35-point outing for Golden State, which won despite committing 20 turnovers. Curry (18 points), Andre Iguodala (14), Draymond Green (14) and Klay Thompson (13) also scored in double figures for the Warriors, who are attempting to win a third consecutive NBA title. Green also contributed nine rebounds and nine assists to the win. Harden matched Durant’s 35-point total, but shot just 4 of 16 on 3-pointers and was 9 of 28 overall. He made 13 of his 14 free throws. Eric Gordon had 27 points and Paul 17 for the Rockets, who are playing the Warriors in the playoffs for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The Rockets shot just 29.8 percent on 3-pointers, making 14 of 47. The Warriors led 85-76 in the first minute of the fourth quarter after a pair of Shaun Livingston free throws, before the Rockets took advantage of Curry’s foul trouble to draw even at 89. Two free throws by Nene at the 6:00 mark finally got Houston even, setting the stage for the late heroics by Durant and Curry. The Rockets took advantage of 13 Warriors turnovers to forge a 53-53 halftime tie. Houston shot just 9 of 28 on 3-pointers in the half, but managed to stay even by shooting 12 of 13 on free throws, as compared to Golden State’s 2 of 4, and getting off one more field-goal attempt despite the large foulshot discrepancy. (Field Level Media)
Valtteri Bottas beats Lewis Hamilton to Azerbaijan win
BBCsport - Mercedes set an all-time record of four consecutive one-twos at the start of a season as Valtteri Bottas beat Lewis Hamilton to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. For the fourth race in a row, Ferrari were unable to challenge Mercedes - and again there were questions about the strategy chosen by the Italian team. Sebastian Vettel finished third, never very far behind the Mercedes, but team-mate Charles Leclerc finished fifth when it looked for a while as if he might have been able to take fourth ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Leclerc’s consolation on a weekend that he had looked like dominating until crashing in qualifying was a point for fastest lap. The result makes Mercedes the first team ever to start the season in such a dominant fashion and puts their drivers in an enviable position in the championship. Bottas returns to the lead of the championship, leading Hamilton by the point he gained for fastest lap in Australia. Vettel is 35 points behind. Hamilton closed in on Bottas in the final two laps looking for the win but made an error running wide at the last corner just as the Finn got the DRS overtaking aid by coming up to lap Williams’
George Russell and the leader held on. Bottas came close to losing the lead at the start, when Hamilton got alongside the Finn into Turn One after a better start from second on the grid. But Hamilton gave Bottas plenty of room on the outside, and that allowed Bottas to hold him off on the runs to Turns Two and Three, after which he controlled the race. Mercedes have the best car, but the margins appear to be quite small. But Ferrari are making it easier for them. Leclerc might have won had he not crashed in qualifying, there are questions over the tyre strategy in wanting to start on the mediums, and also over how the team ran Leclerc’s race. Leclerc’s off-set strategy, starting on the medium tyres, provided the main interest in the race. The 21-year-old started eighth after crashing in qualifying when he had appeared the favourite for the weekend, and once clear of the midfield runners he began carving huge chunks out of the gap to the front-runners. By lap 11, he had caught Vettel, who Ferrari immediately called into the pits to change from the softs to the mediums, and Mercedes followed the German in with Bottas and
Hamilton on consecutive laps. That put Leclerc in the lead, needing to go long on the mediums and hope to fight back on fresh soft tyres in the closing stages. Bottas, Hamilton and Vettel closed in and the Finn was on Leclerc’s tail by lap 31, and passed him a lap later. Leclerc pleaded to be pitted for fresh tyres immediately, but the team told him they wanted to wait because they were worried about the softs making it to the end. But they waited only two laps - in which time Leclerc lost eight seconds to Bottas, at least a second of which was caused by letting team-mate Vettel by. That left Leclerc well over 20 seconds behind Verstappen, and in a lonely fifth place. After the race, Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo was given a three-place penalty for the next race in Spain after reversing into Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat. The pair had been battling for 10th place when Ricciardo lunged up in the inside at Turn Three. He misjudged it and ran straight on, meaning Kvyat could also could not turn into the corner. Attempting to rejoin, Ricciardo did not see Kvyat and simply reversed into his car.
Houston Rockets forward PJ Tucker (17) shoots the basketball against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the first quarter in game one of the second round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena. Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports.
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Russell’s 80* off 40 beats Hardik’s 91 off 34
Andre Russell raises his fifty BCCI ESPNcricinfo - Dominant performances from opener Shubman Gill and No. 3 Andre Russell helped Kolkata Knight Riders halt their six-game losing streak in marvelous fashion against Mumbai Indians as they won
Monday April 29, 2019
Kaieteur News
their 100th IPL game. They hit a combined 12 sixes and 12 fours to help Knight Riders post the season’s highest team score, with assistance from Chris Lynn’s 29-ball 54. Mumbai’s pace-bowling duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga went wicket less for 92 runs in eight overs, and even their most economical bowler, Krunal Pandya, conceded nine runs per over, as Knight Riders accelerated steadily to get 75 in their last five overs. Mumbai were pegged back early in their chase of 233 with the dismissals of Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma inside four overs. When the ninth over of the chase ended, they had already lost four wickets, and the required run-rate was 15.72. But then Hardik Pandya entertained with many lusty blows off Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine and Harry Gurney, but the task of going at nearly 16 per over - for ten straight overs was too much even for him. Hardik’s 17-ball fifty was the quickest of IPL 2019, but with no other batsman making a significant contribution, Mumbai succumbed to their first defeat to Knight Riders since May 2015. On most other days, Hardik’s 34-ball 91 would go down as a match-winning innings, but on this occasion, it only helped Mumbai avoid what could’ve been a massive defeat. Kolkata Knight Riders 232 for 2 (Russell 80*, Gill 76, Lynn 54) beat Mumbai Indians 198 for 7(Hardik 91, Russell 2-25, Gurney 2-37, Narine 2-44) by 34 runs.
‘UWI was better option for training camp,’ says Skerritt Port of Spain, Trinidad, CMC – President of Cricket West Indies (CWI) Ricky Skerritt has defended the decision to use the facilities at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus to host a two-week training camp for the regional side. The move came under heavy criticism from president of the Barbados Cricket Association Conde Riley, who accused CWI of spending unnecessary money to host the camp there instead of at Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) in Antigua, which is owned by CWI. However, in a recent interview, Skerritt contended that holding the camp at UWI was, in fact, a considerably cheaper option. He said this
Ricky Skerritt was due to the fact that the majority of persons attending the camp were from Barbados. “He [Conde] unfortunately did no homework on that. The use of the UWI facilities at this point in time for what was
needed cost us no more than what they would have cost at CCG and in fact, the majority of the team selected for the camp were actually from Barbados so it saved us a tremendous amount of airfares,” Skerritt said. “Additionally, some of the support staff, three or four of the support staff are from Barbados, so I think what you had was a very angry man ranting without really being too clear on the details.” The two-week camp recently came to an end and the 15-man squad will head off to take part in a TriNations Series against hosts Ireland and Bangladesh from May 5 to 17, before turning their focus to the World Cup which bowls off on May 30.
Eliud Kipchoge records second fastest time EVER to win the London Marathon as he blows away Sir Mo Farah
Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei (left) triumphed in the women’s race after recording a time of 2:18.20. Sir Mo Farah ended a week in which he was savaged by one distance running great by being blown away by another. Farah was bidding to win the Virgin Money London Marathon for the first time, but he could not live with the extraordinary Eliud Kipchoge who romped to a record fourth victory. Farah’s preparations were marred by Wednesday’s explosive row with former distance star Haile Gebrselassie over an alleged robbery in the hotel owned by the retired Ethiopian. Gebrselassie, 46, responded to Farah’s claims with an astonishing statement alleging ‘multiple reports of disgraceful conduct’ by the four-time Olympic champion and his entourage. Farah’s camp insisted the unwelcome headlines would not affect the 36-year-old, and there was certainly no disgrace in finishing fifth in a time of two hours, five minutes and 39 seconds. He insisted afterwards that his public fall-out with Gebrselassie did not affect his race pace. Farah ended a week in which he was savaged by one distance running great by being blown away by another around the streets of the capital. Asked if the unwelcome headlines had been a distraction, the 36-year-old said: ‘Not at all. I stand by every word I said. ‘It’s all coming out now, there are a lot of people to
prove that. What happened was the honest truth. ‘I’m one of those people – I like to get it off my chest and just say it. It’s become a bit too much but at the same time I stick by every word I said.’ Talk of the Brit overhauling Kenyan Kipchoge proved fanciful from around the 14-mile mark, when the 34-yearold put his foot on the gas. Kipchoge, winner in 2015, 2016 and last year, smashed his own course record in a time of two hours, two minutes and 37 seconds. Already the world record holder, Kipchoge won in the second fastest time ever ahead of Ethiopians Mosinet Geremew and Mule Wasihun. ‘It was hard,’ Farah added. ‘I was running alone out there. I was just trying to push. At one point I thought I was closing that gap but somehow they got further and further away.’ In the women’s race, Brigid Kosgei of Kenya went one better than last year with victory. David Weir’s bid to win a ninth men’s wheelchair race ended in disappointment. The 39-year-old six-time Paralympic gold medalist, competing in his 20th London Marathon, finished fifth as Dan Romanchuk triumphed. The women’s wheelchair race was comfortably won by Manuela Schar of Switzerland.
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Delhi Capitals hold off Royal Namibia, PNG secure ODI status Challengers Bangalore to make after wins over HK and Oman playoffs after six-year gap Delhi Capitals vaulted to the top of the IPL points table with a 16-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore at home, the win putting them in the playoffs for the first time since 2012. They had star performers all around, starting with half-centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer, then a good finishing job from Sherfane Rutherford and Axar Patel, and finally a clinical bowling performance led by Amit Mishra and Kagiso Rabada. Mishra took two wickets in the crucial 13th over, and Rabada was excellent in the death overs - not to forget Ishant Sharma’s four-run 19th over - to leave Royal Challengers with no chance of pulling out a fourth successive win in their lateseason resurgence. Dhawan and Iyer struck fifties, lasting exactly 37 balls each. They struck seven fours and five sixes between them, as they added 68 runs for the second wicket that put Capitals in a position to push towards a big total. Dhawan mostly got his boundaries on the on-side, apart from hitting a four and a six through the covers and long-off. All five of Iyer’s boundaries - the two fours and three sixes - came through midwicket, while he found plenty of ones and twos on the leg-side too. But once Dhawan and Iyer fell within three overs of each other, Capitals slowed down significantly. In between their dismissals in the 13th and 16th overs, Rishabh Pant also fell for
seven off as many balls, which left the rest of the batting with a lot to do to get close to the 200-run mark. Colin Ingram fell for 11 too, to make it tougher, but Rutherford and Axar added 46 runs in the last 3.1 overs to get them to a score that eventually proved good enough. Rutherford struck three sixes and a four in his unbeaten 13-ball 28, while Patel struck three fours in his unbeaten 16. Rahul Tewatia, fielding as a substitute, dropped Shivam Dube at a crucial juncture in the game, in the ninth over. That was, however, just one blip in an outstanding catching performance from the Capitals players on the day. The first was from Axar, who plucked Parthiv’s crunched cut out of thin air at point in the sixth over. Rutherford then took a straightforward - though hard-hit - catch off a Kohli pull at the deep soon after, but the real stunners were to follow. Axar again, away at deep midwicket, made good ground, caught the ball, and did a neat skip to avoid the boards to send AB de Villiers back, and Shikhar Dhawan pulled off a cool, running catch for Dube’s dismissal. The what-a-catch moments, though, belonged to Pant. First, when he hared away towards square-leg and threw in the dive to just about pouch Heinrich Klaasen. And then, in the penultimate over, when he dived and flung out his right hand to grab the
chance off Gurkeerat Singh’s flash. Parthiv Patel once again provided Royal Challengers with a fast start, hitting seven fours and a six in his 20-ball 39, as he added 63 with Virat Kohli in the opening stand. But once Axar caught Parthiv smartly at point off Rabada, Royal Challengers slowly slipped downwards. Kohli and AB de Villiers both fell to catches in the deep trying to pull halftrackers from Axar and Rutherford respectively, before Heinrich Klaasen, playing only his second IPL game of the season, was brilliantly caught by Pant in the 13th over. After Klaasen’s attempted scoop hit his helmet and lobbed away from the wicketkeeper, Pant ran hard to his left and dived to complete the catch at full stretch. Shivam Dube’s departure later in the same over added to Royal Challengers’ woes, as the equation went up to 77 from seven. Gurkeerat Singh hitting Ishant for two fours and a six in the 17th over certainly gave Royal Challengers some hope, with the equation down from 52 off 24 to a very gettable 36 from 18. But Rabada conceded just six runs in the following over and Ishant, desperate to have another go and prove a point, then went for four in the penultimate over, before Rabada shut down the chase with another efficient final over in which he gave away just nine runs.
Amit Mishra picked up two wickets in the 13th over BCCI
JJ Smit and Zane Green walk off after their 103-run unbroken stand took Namibia to their highest ever List A score Peter Della Penna. ESPNcricinfo - A record Namibian total propelled by twin centuries from Stephan Baard and JP Kotze took them to a historic win over Hong Kong at Affies Park to clinch ODI status for the tournament hosts, the first time they will be playing one-day internationals since the 2003 World Cup. After sending Namibia in, Hong Kong’s bowling unit did well to restrict Namibia early as Jean Bredenkamp focused on seeing off the new ball before falling in the 15th over for 19. Even after 20 overs, Namibia had only reached 78 for 1, but added 318 off the final 30 overs - and 128 in the last 10 - in an intelligent display of power hitting as Baard, Kotze, JJ Smit and Zane Green utilized the wind at their backs hitting towards the Pavilion End. Baard had brought up his 50 off 78 balls in the 25th over, at which point Kotze was only on 36 after entering at No. 3. But Kotze commenced his onslaught in the 27th off Kinchit Shah’s offspin, smashing him for a four and two sixes. More carnage came against teenage legspinner Jhatavedh Subramanyan in the 32nd as Kotze slammed a brace of fours and sixes off the first four balls to move into the 90s before bringing up a 62-ball ton in the 35th over. Baard took nearly twice the time, bringing up his century off 121 balls in the 41st over, by which stage
Kotze was on 148, putting fellow Namibian Gerrie Snyman’s WCL record of 196 made in 2007 at neighboring Wanderers in the crosshairs. But Kotze and Baard fell in the space of four balls across the next two overs, ending a 243-run stand. However, the carnage was far from over as Smit and Green continued to slog away adding an unbroken 103-run stand over the last 46 balls as Namibia finished 16 runs short of the all-time WCL record made by UAE when they scored 412 against Argentina next door at Wanderers in 2007. Hong Kong were actually in far better position than Namibia had been at the 20over mark as Anshuman Rath made yet another halfcentury leading Hong Kong in reply with a 132-run second wicket stand with Kinchit Shah. But both fell in the space of 10 balls in the 23rd and 25th over and from there Hong Kong’s chase fizzled. Papua New Guinea 221 for 8 (Bau 80, Doriga 65, Fayyaz 4-46, Nadeem 4-47) beat Oman 76 (Khawar 29, Pokana 5-14, Soper 3-15) by 145 runs. An hour into the day, PNG’s dreams of ODI status appeared to be going up in smoke at 32 for 5. But a miraculous recovery effort from Sese Bau and Kiplin Doriga revived their innings to post a competitive total before a stunning new-ball spell from left-arm seamer Nosaina Pokana rocked Oman as PNG reclaimed the ODI
status that they lost at the 2018 World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe with a shock win over Oman. Doriga was named Man of the Match for his 65 made from No. 6 before completing five dismissals behind the stumps and a runout in a stunning collapse from Oman to break their 10-match WCL winning streak. PNG benefitted greatly from the injury-enforced absence of Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsood while fast bowler Kaleemullah was also rested after Oman had secured a place in the final prior to entering the last day of roundrobin play. Doriga and Bau constructed a 129-run sixthwicket stand that brought the match back to life and set the stage for an incredible turnaround. Set 222 to win, Pokana was on a hat-trick after dismissing Jatinder Singh and Aqib Ilyas on the first two deliveries of the chase. By the end of the ninth over, he had claimed his maiden five-for as Oman fell to 23 for 6, reminiscent of their 24 all out performance against Scotland without Maqsood in February. Stand-in captain Khawar Ali was one of just two batsmen to reach doublefigures, having watched helplessly at the non-striker’s end from the start of the chase. Chad Soper followed Pokana’s new-ball spell to wipe out the Oman tail for just 76 to move PNG above Canada on net run rate.
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GMR&SC Endurance Championship - Round 2
Fernandes continues to outlast the pack By Calvin Chapman Team Ramchand Wreckers dominated the field once again yesterday afternoon when the checkered flag was waved at the South Dakota Circuit, Timehri where the second round of the Endurance Championship took place. The event, organised by the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) sped off in sweltering heat at the race track that is just behind the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), after heavy showers on Thursday had threatened to dampen the event. Adrian Fernandes, who is the reigning overall and 1600cc champion, followed up his win in the 2019 season opener last January with another such performance when he registered a superior 81 laps in the three hour race, behind the wheel of his Gillette sponsored Toyota Levin motorcar. Fernandes’ teammate, Anand Ramchand, won the 2000cc class while coming in fourth
Monday April 29, 2019
Kaieteur News
overall with 72 laps. The 1500cc class was won by Reeyaz and Richard Hamid who completed the race with 71 laps. Motilall Deodass of Team Motor Trend was slow and steady to finish the Unlimited class with the most laps; 53. Shan Seejattan, who registered the fastest lap of day (1 minute 21 seconds), did not finish the race and only completed a meager 17 laps in the unlimited class. The team of Azaad Hassan and Davin Panday who missed round one of the 2019 Endurance Championship, finished second overall and second in the 1600cc class with 79 laps. Meanwhile, Dawolu Harper in his Kinshasa Bakery sponsored Toyota Starlet was 3rd in the 1600cc and overall category with 77 laps. In round one, he also placed 3rd with an identical 77 laps completed. Next up on the GMR&SC’s calendar is the highly anticipated second round of the Drag Race Championship followed by Guyana’s first Rally Racing event.
GuyanaNRA/Secure Innovations & Concepts Action Pistol Shoot
Murtland and Erwyn Smith fires their way to victory in the Senior and Junior classes Murtland Smith fired his way to victory in the senior class while Erwyn Smith did the same in the junior category when the Small Bore section of the Guyana National Rifle Association (GuyanaNRA) held an Action Pistol Shoot sponsored by Secure Innovations and Concepts Inc. The venue was the Timehri Range where Murtland Smith accumulated 154 points to win ahead of Azaad Hassan with 150 and Michael Tang who ended third o 130 points. The competition consisted of three stages, each with a fixed time of 10 seconds, 25 seconds and 30 seconds respectively,
shooters having to engage targets before the time expired with limited rounds in their magazines. Smallbore Captain Dale Hing informed that the event was very challenging for the competitors because of the limited ammunition and fixed time unlike the IPSC events where ammunition is unlimited and there’s no fixed time. Erwyn Smith’s winning score in the junior competition was 137 points. Settling for the second place was Jason Cox on 124 points with the third place going to Brian Backer on 115 points.
Celtics pull away to crush cold-shooting Bucks, 112-90
Leonard scores 45 as Raptors capture Game 1 vs. 76ers
Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard (2) dunks for a basket past Phildelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) in game one of the second round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports Kawhi Leonard scored a career playoff best with 45 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 108-95 Saturday night in the opening game of their Eastern Conference semifinal. Pascal Siakam added 29 points and seven rebounds for the Raptors and Kyle Lowry added nine points and eight assists. JJ Redick had 17 points for the 76ers. Joel Embiid chipped in with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Tobias Harris had 14 points and 15 rebounds. Ben Simmons also had 14 points with nine rebounds, James Ennis III had 11 points and Jimmy Butler had 10. The Raptors led by as many as 19 points and took an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter. Leonard’s 14-footer had the Raptors leading by 18 with 7:06 remaining. The lead reached 20 on Leonard’s jumper with 4:17 to play. The Raptors opened a lead of 14 points during the first quarter but settled for a 39-31 advantage entering the second quarter. The 76ers continued to chip away and drew within one point when Harris hit a jumper with 8:02
left in the half. The Raptors then reeled off nine straight points and led by 10 when Leonard made a pair of free throws with 5:44 remaining. The Sixers pulled back to within seven points, but the Raptors led by 11 with 2:45 to go in the half on Leonard’s running layup. A cutting dunk by Simmons completed the first-half scoring with the Raptors leading 6152. Leonard had 27 first-half points and Siakam had 22. Harris and Embiid each had 12 first-half points for Philadelphia. Redick started the second half with a 3pointer to trim the lead to six points. His fourth 3-pointer of the third quarter cut the lead to four points with 8:48 remaining. The Raptors pulled away again and Leonard’s 3-pointer had them ahead by 17 with 6:02 left in the third. But Ennis hit a 3-pointer to reduce the margin to 11 at the 4:45 mark. The Raptors pulled away again and led by 19 on Leonard’s pull-up jumper with 1:34 to play before Redick answered with his fifth 3-pointer of the quarter. The Raptors led 92-81 after three quarters. (Field Level Media)
2019 NBA Playoffs between the jBoston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum. Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports Al Horford and Jaylen Brown hit 3-pointers in a 12-point, third-quarter flurry yesterday afternoon that erased a momentary deficit and propelled the visiting Boston Celtics to a 11290 victory over the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the opener of their Eastern Conference best-ofseven semifinal playoff series. After beating the Bucks just once in three tries in the regular season, the fourth-seeded Celtics will look to go up 2-0 when the clubs tangle again in Milwaukee on tomorrow night. The Celtics led most of the game, but found themselves down 56-54 after Robin Lopez nailed a 3-pointer in the second minute of the third quarter. Boston responded with its 12-0 run, which Horford capped with his 3-pointer for a 66-56 lead with 7:37 left in the period. The Celtics went on to lead by as many as 19 in the quarter, and gradually pulled away in the final quarter after the Bucks rallied within 12. Milwaukee’s comeback effort was handcuffed by the fact that Giannis Antetokounmpo shot just 7-for-21 in the game. He nonetheless managed to lead the Bucks in scoring with 22 points. Kyrie Irving was the game’s top scorer with 26 points,
completing a double-double with a game-high 11 assists for the Celtics, who swept Indiana in the first round. Horford made three 3-pointers to account for almost half his 20 points, while Brown finished with 19, Gordon Hayward 13 and Terry Rozier 11. The Celtics outshot the Bucks 54.0 percent to 34.8. Horford also had a double-double for Boston, grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. Khris Middleton registered a 16-point, 10rebound double-double for the Bucks, who were held under 100 points just five times during the regular season before scoring 119 or more in all four games of their first-round sweep over Detroit. The 22-point margin of defeat was Milwaukee’s largest of the season. Nikola Mirotic was a third scorer in double figures for the Bucks with 13 points. Milwaukee’s best stretch of the game came just past the midpoint of the second quarter, after it had fallen behind 40-25. Mirotic had a pair of 3-pointers in a 15-0 run that drew the Bucks even, although the Celtics were able to reclaim a 52-50 lead by halftime. (Field Level Media)