Kaieteur News

...Guyana needs to vigorously pursue available options

Cost recovery provisions show biased nature of Exxon contract to restore parity and reclaim sovereignty

Trinidadian Energy Strategist, Anthony Paul believestheprovisionsinthe 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) Guyana signed with ExxonMobil as it regards the recovery of costs in dispute are in keeping with the one-sided natureofthecontract.

The PSA, as was reportedinapreviousarticle, allows Exxon to recover sumsflaggedbyanauditthat are deemed unacceptable, until the dispute is resolved between the parties. Upon the resolution of the dispute through arbitration by an international body, Guyana can be repaid with interest, accordingtotheagreement.

In an invited comment, the T&T expert said that contracts generally make provisions for finalisation for disagreement, by allowing for such individual areas of disagreement to be set aside, until they are later resolved. In the meanwhile, those areas that are agreed upon are dispensed with. Good contract management and oversight should require clear terms for determining whatisandisn'trecoverable, the mechanisms by which

such expenditure is determined, approved and committed, evidence that such expenditure was in fact made and that the good or service procured was delivered in a satisfactory manner

This is what partners in the operations, such as Hess and CNOOC in the Stabroek Block, demand of the operator and which process isdocumentedinagreements betweenthepartners,suchas the Joint Operating

Agreement and Accounting

Procedures. As the Client who pays all the bills, Paul said the Government has the right to access these and to audit the procedures as well as the expenditure of the operator, which is its contractor

He told Kaieteur News, “It appears that there is a concern in Guyana of particularly odious clauses in the agreement that put the onus of payment for any deviation from the contract on the people of Guyana. Although I am of the view these conditions can be successfully challenged or set aside without broaching the current contracts, the

government, as is its right, seems to have made a determinationthatitwilllive withtheseclauses.”

He said on the other hand, the government has decided to pursue additional value through local content. “They are to be credited for installing the legislative and administrative mechanisms to address this. In my mind local content, as currently being pursued, while being an excellent start, only scratches the surface of the in-country value addition that is available to the government and people of Guyana within the current legal and contractual frameworks More fully implemented, the local content law will go a long way to reducing cost recovery disputes and manipulation and tax evasion.”

The T&T Energy Strategist advised that these are just two of the mechanisms the government has available to it to reduce such disputes and claw back value from the sale of the Guyana's oil and gas. In a report commissioned by the U n i t e d N a t i o n s

Development Programme (UNDP) in 2016, Paul made s e v e r a l o t h e r recommendations to address the mechanisms for governing the sector, with a view to recovering from someoftheissuesthatwould have arisen out of the weak contractexistingatthetime.

Paul pointed out that Trinidad and Tobago asserted its sovereignty in cost recovery by assigning the Minister responsible for Financeasthefinalarbiterin all matters related to taxation, including cost recovery

As such, he noted, “The notion of having foreign courts of jurisdiction and arbitration is a slap in the face for sovereign nations, indicating that we are not to be trusted in making such decisions, even though they involve our own property This is consistent with the way our people and resources have been seen andtreatedforcenturies.”

To further strengthen the process,theexpertnotedthat there are clear rules that guidetheMinistersdecision. He said, “The point I am making here is that there

Berbice teen dies hours after being badly chopped

Keon Byass, the 18-year-old of Dukestown, Upper Corentyne, Berbice who was reportedly chopped about his body on Monday by two men who he had a grievance with died on Tuesday, hours after he was admitted to the New AmsterdamHospital.

According to police, the incident occurred on Monday, April 10, 2023 at about 09:00 hrs along the Dukestown Public Road. The suspects reportedly approached Byass on their motorcycle while armed with cutlasses and dealt him several chops about the body The duo then escaped and Byass was taken to the Skeldon Public Hospital and subsequently transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he died.

The teen's aunt, 48-year-old Bridget Byass, said her nephew left home Monday morning to take a pair of jeans tothetailoratNo.77Village.Shesaidit was while he was making his way back home that the two suspects approached him with cutlasses and chopped him abouthisbody

"He just drop off the jeans and he coming back home and these two boys like they wait for he and they ambush

Keon Byass

he. He had nothing to defend himself," the woman said. She further disclosed that after being chopped, her nephew tried to run away but collapsed in the street leading to his home. His brother picked him up and took him to the hospital.

"They just run and start to chop him with cutlasses. He run a little way in the street, trying to reach home and he fall

down, he didn't die. His brother pick himupandputhiminacarandtookhim to the hospital," the distraught woman said.

Meanwhile, the elder Byass said that the two suspects whom she said wereknowntohernephewhadattacked him two years ago and chopped him to his wrist. In another incident, just a few months ago, there was an altercation againamongthetrio.

All of those incidents Byass' aunt said were reported to the police but the suspectswereneverarrested.

“...every time they see him, they have a problem. It's an old grievance from school, he used to live with his mother, and he came and live with us. The very first time they trouble him, he wasalreadylivingwithmeandhesaidit was a school days thing. Since then, he hand damage, he could never work back. His wrist was damaged...but like theywerestillwaitingforhim.”

Kaieteur News was informed that one of the suspects has since turned himself over to authorities while police aresearchingfortheother

Theinvestigationisongoing.

needs to be a series of things to complete the governance system, beyond laws, regulations and contracts, to include guideline, rules, procedures and so on Trinidad has some but not all. The most significant gap in T&T is the lack of mechanisms for holding the regulatorstoaccount.”

To this end, Paul said where contracts leave room for ambiguity; clear regulations will close those gaps. He therefore urged, “So what should happen is that the Minister is the final arbitrator but there must be clear rules guiding him in making his decision and in how he reports to the people, who are owners of the resourcehemanagesontheir behalf ” The specialist explained that oil companies very frequently attempt to force countries into international arbitration, fully cognizant of the fact that governments- like those in the Caribbean- cannot afford the process, so avoid it,evenataloss.

On Wednesday, Kaieteur News reported that the f i n d i n g s a n d recommendationsofanaudit may not be enough to ensure Guyana is not cheated by the Stabroek Block partnersExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC- during production activities.

This is so as the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) states that while the Contractor will be allowed to recover costs in dispute, the matter will only be resolved through arbitration, if the two sides fail to reach an agreement within 60 days after the disagreementisflagged.

This process can go on for over one year, after the tribunalisfullyconstituted.

Notably, Guyana has agreed to submit its dispute to the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) for arbitration before three arbitratorspursuant to the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States. Research by this newspaper foundthattheinstitutionwas established in 1966 for legal dispute resolution and

conciliation between international investors and States. It is parented by the WorldBankGroup.

As it relates to payment for the arbitral services, Article 26.8 of the contract explains that the arbitrators shallassesstheexpensesand any other costs related to the arbitration and shall decide by whom such costs shall be paidintheiraward.

It must be noted that the same PSA makes all legal expensesfortheoilcompany recoverable- this therefore means that the costs for the process will ultimately be bornebyGuyana.

The decision of a majority of the arbitrators shall be final and binding on all parties according to the contract It also states “…judgment on the award may be entered by any court ofcompetentjurisdiction.”

Thisisclearlyoutlinedin the 2016 agreement the country signed with ExxonMobil and its partners, Hess and CNOOC. Annex 'C' of the PSA at Section 1.5 (b) outlines the procedures of an audit and rightsofthegovernment;itis explained: “…In the event that an audit claim by the Minister is not settled to the Minister's satisfaction by the Contractor's reply as provided for above, the Contractor shall be entitled to recover any disputed amounts pending final resolutionoftheclaim…”

It must be noted that the PSAmakesitclearatSection 1.5 (b) that: “…If within sixty (60) days of the M i n i s t e r ' s f u r t h e r investigation, the Parties are unable to agree to the disposition of the Minister's audit claim, the claim shall be submitted to the sole expert in accordance with A r t i c l e 2 6 o f t h e Agreement.”

Article 26 of the contract sets out the conditions as it relatestoarbitration.

Trinidadian Energy Strategist, Anthony Paul

GRA challenges British auditor on accepting

50% of Exxon's bills with related companies - says greater effort needed to protect Guyana's interests – Report

Ateam comprising some

20 technical officers from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Natural Resources Ministry has been working behind the scenes to ensure the country's first audit report on expenses in the Stabroek Block captures every unsound financialpractice.

To ensure no stone is left unturned, the local team led by GRAis meticulously reviewing the audit findings of IHS Markit which washiredin2019toauditUS$1.6B in costs incurred by ExxonMobil affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) and its partners, Hess Corporation and CNOOC PetroleumGuyanaLimited.

One of the key findings under discussion between IHS and Guyana'stechnicalteampertainsto bills Exxon racked up with related

companies. According to a letter seen by this newspaper, IHS accepted more than 50 percent of the related party costs on the grounds that there was “adequate documentation provided.” Those intercompany costs total US$48.4M.

Guyana's technical officers, specifically those at GRA, were keentonotethatmoreeffortshould havebeendoneonthepartofIHS.

The team said, “There was no further probing of these related party transactions to verify that therewerenomajortransferpricing issues that would lead to the unjust inflation of costs which would ultimately be borne by the GovernmentandpeopleofGuyana. Once again, there needs to be thorough verification of related party transactions to ensure that thesetranspiredat'arms-length'.”

IHSinitsMarch11,2021report

was keen to note that while it is a firm of international repute, the audit it was asked to do was not withoutchallenges.Itsaidanyaudit reliesonacquiringacompletesetof information, in this case from EEPGL and the respective Government of Guyana (GoG) agencies.IHSsaid,“Datagathering for this audit has been particularly complex and challenging as informationisspreadover18years, across multiple systems and GoG agencies.

Essential data to complete this assignment required input from multiple stakeholders in Guyana, namely: Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, Department of Energy, Guyana Revenue Authority.”

The British auditor further noted that all parties were actively

involvedinprovidingtherequested information, although it has taken stakeholders materially longer to respond to requests for information thananticipated.

It further noted that the data gathering and discovery stage required EEPGL to maintain open and transparent records. As part of the data gathering process, it said templates were developed to capture key information regarding wells, SURF (Subsea, Umbilical, Risers, Flowlines), support infrastructure, procurement processes, vendor contracts, expenditure records, invoices, field development plans, payroll and timewritingrecords.

Kaieteur News understandsthat these templates can be used to establish precedence for future auditrequests.

Duringthedatagatheringstage, the international auditor said

regular meetings were held with EEPGL in order to discuss data requests and seek clarifications of theanswers.

It is now more than three years since the audit of US$1.6B in expenses for the oil-rich Stabroek Block is yet to be completed.

Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Godfrey Statia said recently that government is now at the stage of awaiting feedback from Exxon's subsidiary Statiadidnotprovideatimeline for when this process would be completed, but assured that the documentwillbemadepublicatthe appropriatetime.

A second audit is currently underway for costs totalling US$7.3Bwhichwereincurredfrom 2018 to 2020. That contract was awarded last year May That too is stillongoing.

US$35M E-ID contract ‘a done deal’

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall SC has said that there is no turning back fromtheUS$35.4Mcontract s i g n e d f o r t h e implementation of the S i n g l e E l e c t r o n i c IdentificationSystem.

The Attorney General (AG) was at the time addressing the mounting calls by the main opposition parties and some civil society groups for the single sourced contract to be cancelled.

The Government has beenaccusedofhandpicking the German contractor Veridos for the project, b a s e d o n t h e recommendation of Sheikh

Ahmed Al Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates, who was involved in the sale of the controversial Sputnik vaccinestoGuyana.

During his most recent “Issues in the News” programme, Nandlall lamen ted th e legal consequences the country could face if it were to cave tocallsto terminatethesolesourced US$35.4M contract withVeridos.

“The contract has been signed, and therefore, it cannot be unilaterally cancelled That would amount to the [Guyana] government breaching the contract and that would attract liabilities and would put the government in a

terrible position,” Nandlall said.

In response to the critics, the Attorney General said there is a likelihood of lawsuits the administration and the country could be slappedwithifthecontractis unilaterallycancelled.

TheAG noted that while citizens have a right to publicly express their d i s p l e a s u r e w i t h government action, they must be accurate in their assessments and, more importantly,responsible.

He said that by calling for a cancellation of the contract, those persons are advocatingforalaw-abiding government to violate the sanctity of a binding

Man stabbed over parking space at night club

ASuccess, East Coast

Demerara (ECD) man was on Saturday night stabbed multiple times about his body during a quarrel over a parking space at a Kitty, Georgetownnightclub.

The victim was identified as 29-yearold Nicholas Singh. Singh is receiving treatmentatacityhospital.

Kaieteur News understands that the suspect and one of Singh's friends had an argument inside of the club over a parking

space.

It is alleged that the suspect left the club but returned armed with a Rambo knife after Singh andhisfriendssteppedoutoftheclub.

He attacked Singh's friend but Singh intervened and was stabbed. Security guards rushed to break-up the knife fight but the suspectmanagedtoescape.

Singhwasrushedtoacityhospitalwherehe was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) fortreatment. Investigationsareongoing.

document.

Further, Nandlall defended the sole-sourced deal by stating that the contract was awarded in keeping with international bestpractices.

“So, these calls will not only put the country in legal trouble but will also have an impact on the international standing of the government. It would impose an image upon the government as one with a track record of breaching contracts it enters into with international and

local trading partners. The country's reputation could suffer internationally,” he

said.

Hecontinued“Itismy

(Continued on page 9)

...Guyanariskslitigationifsingle-sourcedcontractiscancelled-Nandlall

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall SC

Georgetown, Guyana.

Publisher: DR. GLENN LALL - TEL: 624-6456

Editor-In-Chief: NIGEL WILLIAMS

Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

EDITORIAL

SPIRITUAL LEADERS NEEDED FOR A NEW LOCAL CULTURE

The Seventh-day Adventists group is holding a major convention in Guyana this week. We extend best wishes to this local group of 65,000 Guyanesefollowersforasuccessfulconference.

Thethemefortheassemblyis“AnchoredinHisPromise, Advancing His Purpose” is a well-chosen one, with 400 Guyanese delegates attending, and sharing fellowship with their brothers and sisters from international locations. Religiousconventionsareatimeofinspiringtheharmonious among the membership, with sessions filled with teachings of love, understanding, and compassionate consideration. All denominations have mantras to these effects; speak inspiringly about the choices to be made, the lives to be practised,andthestandardstobeset,sothatthereisabetter worldandculture.

Allofthisandmorearesuretobehighlightedrepeatedly during the three-day conference. Of special note is that PresidentIrfaanAli,OppositionLeaderAubreyNorton,and theMayorofGeorgetownhaveallbeeninvitedtoattendthe openingceremony

This is fitting, and comes at a time when Guyana could benefitfromourtoppoliticalleaderssharingthesamespace, participating in fellowship, and (hopefully) greeting each other warmly, with a view to continuing some kind of conversationthatcouldbebasedonthesecondsectionofthe conference’stheme“AdvancingHisPurpose.”

One does not have to be a Seventh-day Adventist to identify with the pull of those three profound words, which couldmeansomuchforallcitizensofthissociety,oncethey areembracedsincerely,fervently

One does not even have to be Christian or Hindu or Muslim(oranyother)todiscernthatthiscountryishurting andhobbling. Forsure,thereisgreatpromiseinourhands, through the great gifts that have been given to this small diversenation.

The tragedyis thatwe havenot livedup to the promise. Andnowwhenthepromiseisatitsbrightestandgreatest,we are consumed with the bitterest backbiting, backstabbing, and backing away from the many challenges that stand before,becauseofself-servingpurpose.

Put differently, the Seventh-day Adventists speakers in thatopeningceremonyshould,inprayersandpresentations, makeittheirdutytopronouncepowerfullyandfranklyabout thevirtuesoftogetherness;theauthenticapproachestowards the aspirations of citizens blessed with so many assets. As the sacred book embraced by the Seventh-day Adventists does counsel: a house divided against itself inevitably collapses and fragments into dust. Guyana is divided like never before, and this polarization of the most extreme passionandenergypeaksattheworsetime.

President Ali knows this, Opposition Leader Norton knows this, and Mayor Narine (himself a spiritual leader) knowsthis.

Theyandtheirbrethrenallknowthis,andtherecanbeno denyingthis. Itiswhatwounds(thisdivision),andcripples usfromtakingthefullestadvantageofourendowmentsfor the prosperity of each and every Guyanese. They have to cometotherealizationthatthelackofthoughtfulleadership communication, the absence of constructive leadership engagement, the barrenness of any kind of leadership relationshipcannotbeofanydivinepurpose.

TheChristianandMuslimandHindushepherdsmustdo their part to press home the messages of unity, and not looking upon neighbours as enemies. TheAdventists have thebestplatformintheirconference,andthebestaudiencein thethreepoliticalleadersinvited.

Insteadofpointingtohowourreligiousleadershavenot selflessly risen to the demands of the times and the related challenges,thebetterstep,onewithpossiblygreaterresults, is to stress how much different they must be. The bigger benefitiswhenthebiggestnumberofGuyanese,withnone excluded, is a flourishing participant in this nation’s endowment.

Difficult to take colonization out of the colonized

DEAREDITOR,

Colonialism: Control by one power over a dependent people, forcing its own languageandculturalvalues.

“When you are being educated by the person who made you a slave, you are simply advancing towards your final destruction all this happens to us because the Colonizer have become the definer of our values.”

Mur-marKaddafi

I was away for a while andonlyjustcaughtupwith acoupleoftheletterswritten by persons who were not entirelyenamouredwithMr Burnham’spoliticalstrategy However, when I do read these letters, I sometimes wonder if these formerly colonizedpeopleeverlookat themselves,andacceptsome responsibilityforourpresent predicament. But then again why should they when they could just blame Mr Burnham.WasMr Burnham (a)naiveor(b)egotisticalas one writer claimed? Did he ignore the fact that he was dragging behind him over seven hundred thousand colonized people after that night of euphoria called

DEAREDITOR,

G r o w i n g u p i n Charlestown/Albouystown, mostofmyrecreationaltime I found myself socializing with various types of people society produces due to my curiousmind.Amongstthem were pirates, choke and robbers, kick-down-thedoor bandits, murders, etc., andmanyservedtimeinjail, some long and some short. What was noticeable about almostallwasthattheywere either addicted to marijuana or cocaine. Some of them were very good friends, but I’m proud to say I’ve never triedanyorwasforcedtouse any When offered, I declined, and they respected my choice They would sometimes fuss over the quality and feelings, but ironically,itnevermotivated me. Today, I look at the youthsandseefromayoung age many becoming substance abusers, and most do because they want to ‘blendin’andalongtheline, they somewhat become a menace to society Look at the attitudes of many young people today and you could beabletopredicttheirfuture. Is it the substance they are abusingcausingtheirwayof

Independence? Don’t you think that he knew the task thatlayahead?

Heknewtheinternaland the external. Internally, he knew he was dealing with people who were already entrenched in the colonial wayoflifeandexternallythe powers that be wanted it to remain as is. British Guiana then and Guyana now was always and is always controlled and run by the same ruling class The i n t e l l e c t u a l s , t h e professional people, the rich people who include the business sector, the politicians along with the ethnicity business These people enjoyed the ushering in of Independence, but did notunderstandwhatlivingin an independent country meant These colonized p e o p l e t h o u g h t independencewasstillliving off the larges of their benefactors,theywerebeing fed and clothed, and saw nothing wrong with that dependence,sincetheywere payingfortheluxury

Mr Burnham told the population of colonized people that they need to

thinkingtobecompromised, or encouraging them to either become a murderer, involve in wounding, or a victim? The recent spate of murders/woundings don’t seemtobefamilyrelated,so where are our youths heading? Editor, recently I wasdoingworkatabuilding in South Ruimveldt, and all theworkers,exceptme,used marijuanaandsmokedmore than someone who smokes cigarette,whichcausesmeto wonderwhatmedicalillness they have to make them abuse it so much. I don’t have a problem with them smoking,buttheirbehaviour tells me something is definitely wrong. Having no respect for anyone around, even for the owner of the buildingtheysmokeinfront of,andusingthemostvulgar language available to converse. I was under the impressionthattheyarevery talented for them to be allowed such atrocious behaviour, but when they started tiling, I was greatly disappointed and everyone who viewed the work expressed disappointment and the owner halted the work The result is two crackedtiles,unevenandout

Too many have been about what is in their own interest, which leaves the flock falling farther and farther behind. InsteadofAdvancingHisPurpose,asinterwoveninGuyana’s earthly treasures, the opposite has resulted. All must be

change their way of living. Theyresisted,anditbecame worse These colonized peoplewiththeircourageous families and other people threaded water, flew in the blue,evenacceptedtheback track, their mission to replenish all the edible stuff thatwaslostingoodoldGT Butwhentheyreturned,they brought nothing new, and what they returned with could have been easily gotten here with a little cooperationandsomesweat.

Queen Victoria reigned as Queen of Great Britain, Ireland and British Guiana for sixty-three years Somewhere in this land, thereisavillagenamedafter her The colonial powers who were running things in British Guiana decided to build a building and name it after her, not satisfied with that they put her on a throne infrontofthesamebuilding, so that she can overlook the sufferers on their daily jaunts. After the ceremony of Independence, the witch was removed from her position and out of our sights Unfortunately, however after Mr B passed,

of line, along with two broken, unused tiles in the bathroom. It is my opinion that substance abuse causes them to don’t have respect for people’s money and no self-esteem. Finally, editor, there’s nowhere you can go and see youths behaving decently and the majority of peoplepredictingtheirfuture based on their behaviour Society hasn’t failed them, but those in authority have.

For instance, at the Vreeden-Hoopjunction,numerous young men are touting, and whilst doing that, they openlyconsumealcoholand marijuana. Throughout the period they are there, they use the crudest language available without any respect/regard for anyone andshouldsomeonetrytoup upbraid them, that person would be pounced upon and ridiculed.

The police station is not far from there, but apparently, that’s not noticeabletothem.

Their actions seem to motivate many schoolboys into thinking it’s cool behaviourandcausesometo drop out of school and be about the lifestyle. The DJs p l a y i n g m u s i c a t

ourchiefcolonialatthattime did not only boast of returning “wheaten flour”, healsoreturnedhisqueento her throne. Not a word of protestcamefromthenewly independent Guyanese people; the old colonials took it in stride. Back in the day,anewshirtstyleformen busted on the scene it was calledthe“ShirkJac”. Itwas a fit for any occasion and particularly great for Guyana’s thousand degree heat But the colonized kicked it to the curb; they preferred what their benefactors wore and probably never understood why Seeing the sun in any European country is a blessing,andIshouldknow Thereisanaphorismthat says “you can take the pig out of the gutter, but you cannot take the gutter out of the pig” My personal aphorismforyearshasbeen, “you can take the colonized away from colonization but youcannottakecolonization out of the colonized. But, of course, we could always blameMr Burnham.

Respectfully,

MiltonBruce

dances/parties/fete etc. are another contributing factor

OnTuesday,11thApril,loud music could be heard emanating from an event at Uitvlugt sports ground until after 3 a.m. The Leonora Police Station was only two villages away, but residents had to listen as the DJs encouragedtherevelershow to disrespect women in explicit detail and what ‘boys’ should do when they haveissueswithothers. This makes me think that everyone is a badman and war it out, which includes picking up a gun.Aren’t the police observing this nonsense and placing some rules before issuing permission?Thereshouldbe a time for the music to tone down and turn off. The DJ should have some sort of decorum and use his language carefully Failure to do so should prevent the granting of permits and placesabanonDJswhofail toabide.

That’snotrocketscience, but if we all continue to accept what is dished out to us, society only ends up worse.

Yoursfaithfully, SahadeoBates

unselfish, all must be outspoken, and all must be genuinely committedtoahigherway Becauseoftheircalling,religious leaders must be the trailblazers for a new culture for a better Guyana. HisPurposeisthenadvancedbeyondbelief.

Manyyouthshavelostself-esteem,senseofrightandwrong

DEAREDITOR,

I crave your indulgence to respond to Mr Rohee’s letterofApril10,2023under the caption “Opposition commissioners preferred practiceswouldhavecaused harm to a free and fair electoral process” That letter was ostensibly intended to respond to my previous letter captioned “Proclaimed state of readiness for LGE attributable to Opposition Commissioners”, which outlined the positions taken bytheOppositionnominated Commissioners that ensured that GECOM followed the rightproceduresinpreparing for the elections. Notably, Rohee’s letter does not respond to any of the questions that I posed in my letter of April 7, 2023 nor does it refute any of my rubbishing of his eight points.

W h y t h e n a m I respondingtohisletter?Iam simplyrespondingtoexpose Rohee’s propensity for falsehood in his public pronouncements on things GECOM.

Mysingleexampleishis insistence that the Opposition appointed Commissioners“ignoredthe travesty they committed when they sat to give a free passtoRoxanneMyers,who didnotpossessthenecessary years of experience at GECOM to perform the functions of a DCEO.” He sought to contend that Ms. Myers did not have the experience required for the job.

In 2018, the GECOM advertisement for the positionofDCEOreadthus: “Post Graduate Degree in Social Sciences along with three(3)years’experiencein management of a widely dispersed organization

Therewasnodisputein2018 that Ms. Myers met that

requirement. She was not given a free pass Her qualifications and experience were superior to theothercandidates.

In 2021, GECOM’s revisedadvertisementforthe positionofDCEOreadthus: A Post Graduate Degree in Public Administration and specific training and verifiable experience in management position overseeing and directing diverse operations aimed at achieving targets within specific deadlines. At least five(5)years’experiencein Management of National Elections and Election Systems is a prerequisite requirement.”

M r G i d d i n g s ‘ applicationofApril19,2022 clearly stated that his work experience in electoral managementspawned“June 2018 – Present” (3 years, 10 months),atthattime.Atthat timeofapplication,hewas1 year, 2 months short of the prerequisite requirement Evenatthetimeofinterview (April 2023), he was still three months short of the requirement.

It is therefore fallacious forRoheetorepresenttothe public that Myers was favoured and did not meet the requirement The stipulation of 2018 was differenttothatof2021.Ms. Myers met the stipulated experience requirement in 2018. Mr Giddings, even in the face of the delayed process, did not meet the requirement when the interviews were belatedly held.

ThisexampleofRohee‘s fallacious propaganda exemplifiesmuchofwhathe says to the public on GECOM, and exposes the travestyofGECOM‘srecent recruitmentoftheDCEO.

Yourstruly,

VincentAlexander GECOMCommissioner

I can empathize with Terry Gajraj

DEAREDITOR,

I recently read Terry Gajraj’s post on Facebook concerning the lack of recognition by the government of Guyana for more than thirty years of representing the country in musical venues all over the world As a Guyanese Chutney singer, he has created a name for himself and at the same time has brought heightened awareness to the culture of G u y a n a . H i s accomplishments have been recognized by many countries but sadly he fell into the category of “a prophet is not without honour, save in his own country”. I can empathize with Terry for sadly I have had similar experiences. I have produced and directed seven films set in Guyana and with Guyanese actors and have had to run through hoops to have them shown and receive even the minimum of support and recognition by government andprivateagencies.

My film, “Brown Sugar TooBitterforMe”evenafter being pirated and sold on DVD’s still garnered over half a million views on YouTube with appreciation andacceptancebyaudiences from countries all over the globe such as Trinidad, India, South Africa, Mauritius, Suriname, England, Malaysia etc. So did the movies “Forgotten Promise”, “Till I find a Place” and “AJasmine for a Gardener”.

I thought that over the years, I was contributing to Guyanese culture by creating something like a Guyanesefilmindustry,butI guess that aspect of culture was not recognized by the powers that be, as it was so far apart and removed from attendingtorehabilitationof footballandcricketgrounds,

whicharebythewaynoless ofimportance.

Let me say however, the previousMinisterofCulture, Mr Frank Anthony, and the Prime Minister, Mr Sam Hinds always made it their dutytoattendthepremiereof my movies Mr Donald Ramotaralsodidsowhenhe wasPresident.

Other Presidents and opposition leaders even though invited every time never showed up. Thankfully too, Mr. Frank Anthony helped with transportation on two occasions. The film “Protection Game” was made and dedicated to G u y a n a ’ s 5 0 t h Independenceanniversaryin 2015. I proposed the idea to threeAPNU+AFC ministers when I met with them and who promised to showcase the movie as a proud Guyaneseproduct.

Oncompletion,Ireached out through emails, through letters and even had the emails printed and taken to them. Not a single reply That is after those Ministers of the then APNU+AFC government gave me the assurance that the film wouldbeshownforthe50th anniversarycelebrations.

I had hit the proverbial Guyanese brick wall. With no backing from the authorities, a venue could n o t b e f o u n d t o accommodate the showing ofthefilm.

Tothisday,thisfilmthat was dedicated for that

important occasion in Guyana’s History has not beenshowninGuyana.

Mylatestmovie“Brown Sugar Too Bitter for MeThe Oil Dream” was filmed entirely in Guyana, with an allGuyaneseCastandedited just before the elections of 2020, but because of the Covidpandemic,itwasonly shown in Guyana in

February 19-28, at Movie Towne. Afewweeksbefore this film was shown, a Guyanese actress who starred in an international movie, was heralded and felicitated by various departments of the government and the University of Guyana

Although this actress had donenothinginhermovieto promote the culture or the country of Guyana, the fanfare that she got gave me hope that at least the authorities were slowly waking up from their long slumbertoacknowledgethat “movies” were also part of the cultural landscape, but howterriblywrongIwas.

For the premiere of the movie at Movie Towne on February 19, I sent out 40 invitations which included the President, The Prime Minister, Vice President, all the Ministers of the Government as well as the

British High Commissioner andAmericanAmbassador I bought a separate phone so that I could have a phone number in that letter for RSVP Lo and behold, except for the British High Commissioner, the American Ambassador, the Prime Minister and three M i n i s t e r s o f t h e Government,no-oneelsefelt it necessary to respond.And of course on the premiere, N O T A S I N G L E MINISTER SHOWED UP. T h e B r i t i s h H i g h Commissioner, The American Ambassador and the Minister of Foreign Affairs though, did send representatives.Itwasavery disappointing day, as much was spent in the way of providing a red carpet affair with the anticipation of the attendanceofthepeoplewho should be pushing such a project to further help with culture.

Thepeoplewhoattended this event were entertained and impressed with Guyanese talent but again sadly, not the people who could have made a difference.Andimaginethis wasintheperiodcelebrating our own holiday/culture –MASHRAMANI.I met with thePresidentonFebruary

(Continuedonpage6)

Mr. Rohee has manifested a propensity for falsehood

ApplaudPresidentJagdeo’sVenturingontheMarriott-ASuccessStory

DEAREDITOR,

Iwriteinresponsetothe “Blunt Truth” in Kaieteur News (KN) of Wednesday, April 12, 2023. KN Blunt –yuhwrong,asyouhavebeen about 80% of the time

Whilst I recognize your concernsoftheGovernment seemingly about to give awaya“goldengooselaying golden eggs,” there is a larger view for sustained long-term venturing and the process of development of Guyanese and Guyana -an alternativeview-whichmust bepresented.

Then President Jagdeo’s venturing into constructing theMarriotthaditsworrying periodsbut,onmanycounts, ithasturnedoutjustgreat–a great success story Let us applaudhim,andthankhim. Idon’tknowifhewillclaim to have been born with the boon of being a “see far” manbuthehasbeensteadily looking into our possible futures His LCDS 2010 earned him worldwide recognitionas‘Championof the Earth’ and set the stage for Guyanese and Guyana, and other similarly less developed peoples and countriestoearnmoneyand other benefits from maintaining their standing forests, so that they could nevertheless get on with their development, in these times of awareness of earth warming and climate change, in a manner that would be win-win for all of our world and all peoples of ourworld.

No one ever knows how thefuturewouldturnout-so many things play into making the future. My President Jagdeo, now VP, over his twelve years as President, desirous of and

Guyanese and Guyana (as we all were and continue to be) ventured a number of projectsbasedonthelogicof and faith in development. Oneortwoventureshavenot turned out well: that is to be expected for nothing ventured, nothing gained Indeed, one of my set reading books of the late 1960’s/early 1970s, “Up the Organization”, maintained that if as a leader, you are doingbetterthanonesuccess in three ventures initiated, you may not be venturing enough and probably falling behind. The challenge is to discerningoodtimewhether an ongoing particular venture is succeeding or not and if not to adapt or end it; salvaging and learning as much as you could. As the Gambler admonishes, you have to venture and having ventured, you have to know when to hold, when to fold, whentowalkaway,whento run.

The Marriott venture, acknowledging its worrying times, has turned out well. Inthethirdverseof“Blunt”, KN berates the VP for wanting to sell the Marriott, agoldengoose,whilstinthe preceding verse artfully derides the Marriott venture asplacingbillionsofdollars of debt on (all) Guyanese heads.Whichisit?-agolden goose or a debt burden? It could not be both. We shouldnotletKNBlunthave it both ways, indeed they shouldhaveitnoway

This KN Blunt of Wednesday, April 12 (like the majority) creates and exploitsthemisconceptions, misunderstandings and confusion when thinking

appropriateforonesituation is applied inappropriately to another T h e

Marriott venture is proceeding along the lines and to the end as conceived, whether there was to be a discovery of oil off our shores or not. Of course, Exxon’s discovery of oil madethatprojectintoasure luckyventure. Weneededa new, brand-name hotel to improveGuyana’sattraction to visitors, particularly potential foreign investorsa new hotel that might help ignite our development. At the time, no local or foreign individuals or groups was readytoventure,whilstthere was lots of private liquid money in the banks that the Government had to be mopping up Generally speaking,asinthecaseofthe Berbice bridge, the VP’s Government was ready to take the lead in bringing about a greatly required development, by putting up the required risk-taking equityportionofcapital,and thereby attract the liquid money to provide the much lessrisky,debtportionofthe capital. This is what was done to finance the construction and the establishment of that Marriotthotel.

The hope and

expectation from the beginning was that some local or foreign investor would be emboldened to purchase the Government’s equitysharesafterthehigher risk period of construction and startup had been navigated successfully There was never any i n t e n t i o n f o r t h e Government to hold on to any equity in the Guyana Marriott hotel. The VP wanted eventually, a sector with a number of hotels, everyone good for the money, which would be competing freely for the Government and other business. The continued o w n e r s h i p b y t h e Governmentoftheequityor any shares in Marriott could have an unnecessary unsettling effect in a sector that is becoming wide open withmanyplayersofferinga wide range of grades and prices, and competition seems assured. Further, the Governmentinwithdrawing fromthehotelsectorhasthat money to venture and lead some other necessary developments.

Allowmetoidentifyone achievement ofVPJagdeo’s venturing with the Marriot w h i c h w e s h o u l d acknowledge. You see the Pegasustoday-PresidentAli

recently led the glorious opening of its larger new addition. Recallthelevelto which the Pegasus had succumbed shortly before the construction of the Marriott. The beginning of that Marriott construction sparked an elegant rehabilitation of the then existingPegasus.

There are other important achievements. I writethisarticleassomeone who sat at his desk and lookingthroughhiswindow, saw the construction of the Marriott from the beginning to the end – someone who worked at the necessary preparatory stage of site preparation in rerouting one of our major sewerage outfallsoutsidetheproposed property; someone who saw thatadifferenttypeofpiling wasbeingused–holesbored into the ground into which reinforced concrete pilings were cast. I was pretty sure that in its mood at the time, Pegasus would have rushed tothecourtforaninjunction against pile driving, if that hitherto usual method of constructionwastobeused. I saw local building materials – sand and stone, bulk concrete and hollow blocks being delivered: a significant local content before there were local

content laws. Even more, I learnt that the named contractor was a subsidiary of the Chinese firm established in Trinidad and Tobago – and a group of mostly Guyanese and T&T engineers from T&T called on me to say that they had beenawardedthecontractto design the foundations. As the VP hoped and expected, other newer technology was being introduced into, Guyana,manyopportunities to work were being created and levels of skills being lifted: and much was being learnt Pegasus, in the presenceofallthecriticisms oftheGovernmentawarding theMarriottoaconstruction firmfromChina(whichwas evaluatedasthebestchoice), turned to “follow pattern” theGovernmentandchosea firm headquartered in China for its own huge, magnificentaddition.

We all can and should applaud our VP’s venture in establishing the Guyana Marriott as that venture safely and successfully comes to its intended end. KN’s “Blunt” knowingly or unknowingly, and very wrongly, is doing much, much more harm than good tooursociety SamuelAAHinds.

FormerPrimeMinister

I can empathize with Terry...

Frompage5 22nd and he was eager to help and promised help directlyandalsothroughthe MinisterofCulture,andthat I would hear in a week. To this day, a month and a half later and even after followupemailstohim,Iamstillto receive a reply or any assistance Five months

before the movie was screened, I wrote the Minister of Culture HE NEVER REPLIED. When I got to Guyana and through externalintervention,hemet me and told me he has to screenwhohewouldmeet.I guess I was not qualified. Isn’t what I do, part of culture?Isn’thetheMinister

of Culture? I am not writing this to receive a reward or a medal or an award. I have gotten that from the powers outside of Guyana many times and from the people whoareappreciativeofwhat I do. Read the hundreds of responses on YouTube, you will get the idea. And there are many other people who have been involved in the movie process that need recognition like writers Somnauth Narine and Ronald Hollingsworth, and to those behind the scenes like Richard Sanchara and Rajiv Sanchara Singers Devindra Pooran, Terry Gajraj,andNadeerBacchus, and the many actors and actresses.

Something is terribly

wrong when people who promote Guyana and its culturearerecognizedoutof Guyana and their efforts are not promoted or encouraged at home ARE WE SO FOREIGNMINDED?

Now is the time for introspection and serious analysis.IfGuyaneseculture is “we own”, then we need bothgovernmentandprivate businesses to promote the works of our own artistes who are in the forefront of propagating our uniqueness. If we don’t wake up and smell our own Pomeroon coffee, we may find ourselves one day celebrating the American festival of Halloween rather thanourownPhagwah.

MahadeoShivraj

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

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WHAT IS THE PPP GOVT. GOING TO DO NOW?

Single-sourcing is against the 2016 contract.

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The audit exposes almost a quarter billion US dollars in single-source violations.

How long is the PPPGovt. going to cover-up for Exxon?

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

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How long is the PPPGovt. going to hide these things from Guyanese?

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Exxon must not be trusted; Exxon must pay for these contract breaches.

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Govt. pussyfoots on correcting repeated skullduggery committed at State agencies

…PAC Chair says behaviour shows scant regard for rule of law

The Government is once again being accused of dragging its feet on implementing measures to correct the repeated skullduggery perpetrated at the level of State agencies as highlighted by the Auditor General(AG)'sreports.

Thisisowingtoitsfailure toadheretotheparliamentary standing orders which s t i p u l a t e s t h a t recommendations to help address those irregularities are to be made via a treasury

memorandum which laid in the parliament by the MinisterofFinance.

T h e T r e a s u r y Memorandum contains recommendations to provide guidance to accounting officers to address the repeated financial and managerial anomalies that were identified by the AuditorGeneral.

Parliamentary Standing Order 82 (3) specifies that within 90 days of the presentation of a report from

the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Government shall table its Treasury Memorandum with therecommendations.

However, it has been 117 dayssincetheadoptionofthe report and the Government is yet to table its Treasury Memorandumforthatreport.

In an invited comment, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Jermaine Figueira lamented on Government's failure to implement the Treasury

Memorandum.

H e s a i d t h a t Government's failure to adhere to the standing orders shows its scant regard for the ruleoflaw

Figueira noted that “apart from the firing of lots of the accounting officers that s e r v e d i n t h e l a s t government, we see similar occurrences of mal practices reported by the AG's recent reports, but we are unable to pointtowhatthegovernment is doing or its advice to

presentaccountingofficers.”

The PAC Chair stressed that this is not how the governmentshouldtreatwith issues that could reduce wasteful and irregular expenditure.

He noted, “The Treasury Memorandum is usually guidancegiventoaccounting officers to address financial and managerial anomalies that were identified in the AG's Report of the expenditure of government's finances. This, when laid in Parliament,givesthecountry and MP a gage as to how seriously the government treats with issues that could reduce wasteful and irregular expenditure.”

Just weeks ago, A Partnership for National Unity +Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Member of P a r l i a m e n t , G a n e s h Mahipaul called out the government for flouting the parliamentary Standing Orders to help address the irregularities highlighted by theAuditorGeneral'sreport.

In a statement issued to thepress,Mahipauldisclosed that the issue dates back to recommendations made for the 2016 Auditor General Report.Heexplainedthatthe PAC has presented, debated, and adopted a report on the audited public accounts of Guyanauptotheyear2016.

He said the government has since failed to follow through with the process to t a b l e t h e t r e a s u r y memorandum that is necessary to help correct the wrongdoings committed at thelevelofStateagencies.

“In the 2016 report, there w e r e a n u m b e r o f overpayments to contractors. Our recommendation is that the accounting officers must pay for measured work and those responsible should be m e t w i t h v a r i o u s sanctions…” the MP said adding that because the recommendations were not tabled in the form of the treasury memorandum, there

is no formal directive for the government agencies and ministriestofollowtocorrect theseerrors.

“That's why you find the issues that were raised by the auditor general report since 2016 are not being properly addressed and the issues keeps reoccurring and coming back again in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 reports even coming up to the 2022 report.”

As a result of this failure, Mahipaul believes that the M i n i s t e r w i t h t h e Responsibility of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh is in breach of the regulations as required byStandingOrder82(3).

According to Mahipaul, the Minister of Finance can be held in contempt due to this blatant disregard of the parliamentary principles and breach of the code of conduct.

Further, Mahipaul stated that by failing to take the necessary action on the recommendations contained in the PAC report, the entire Government is in breach of fulfilling its responsibilities and obligations to the people ofGuyana.

He said the PAC report c o n t a i n s s e v e r a l recommendations aimed at improving the guardrails of democracy and enhancing t r a n s p a r e n c y a n d accountabilityinGuyana.

He stressed that the Government's inaction on these recommendations indicates a disregard for the p r i n c i p l e s o f g o o d governance.

PAC Chair, Jermaine Figueira

NO BREACH OF THE COUNTRY’S LAWS

It is absolute foolishness to accuse the government of breaching the Procurement Act and the Fiscal

M a n a g e m e n t a n d Accountability Act by the contract it has entered into for the production and supply of a new national identification card. No such breachhastakenplace.

There are other legitimate concerns over the decision to have a new national identification card with electronic features

Those concerns relate to the lack of public consultation andthestrange,ongoingand one-sided relationship that has developed between GuyanaandtheUnitedArab Emirates (UAE) which facilitated the identification of the company who will producethecards.

Therehasbeennobreach oftheProcurementAct.The National Procurement and T e n d e r B o a r d Administration (NPTBA) has confirmed that it approved the sole-sourcing for the new identification cards. The Act vests the NPTBAwiththeauthorityto approve such sourcing of goodsandservices.

Itisabsoluteastonishing that anyone should raise a red flag about the solesourcingoftheproductionof nationalidentificationcards. The production of national identificationcards–withor without special biometric and security electronic features – is a national security issue and therefore qualifiestobesolesourced.

The Attorney General is absolutely correct in assertingthattheproduction of these cards is a national security issue and thus not necessarily subject to open sourcing.The security risks, including risks to personal privacy and the threat of cybercrimes is much too greatforanythingotherthan sole-sourcing for such identificationcards.

Privacyisnowanational security consideration. The World Bank has noted that the recording, storage, and useofsensitivepersonaldata carry risks associated with privacyviolations,datatheft and misuse and identity fraudaswellasthreatsfrom cybercrime. These new ecardscanbeusedtostorenot only biometric data but also medical and treatment

histories.Thisfurtheraddsto the security concerns of any penetration or misuse of the data.

But it is precisely these considerations which make itnecessaryfortheretohave been widespread public consultationsonthedecision togotowardsanewnational identification card The PPP/C government has behaved recklessly in this regard.

However, it cannot be accused of breaching the country’s procurement. The Procurement Act allows for sole-souring on national securitygrounds.

And it absolutely absurd forthecontentiontobemade that no contract can be entered into by government unless the National Assembly has approved funding for such a contract. Ifthiswereso,itwouldmean that in the event of an emergency or because of unforeseen circumstances, the government would be unable to execute works which involve acquiring goodsandservices.

It is bewildering how anyone can conclude that Section 30 (1) the Fiscal

US$35M E-ID contract...

Frompage3 respectfulviewandtheview ofthegovernment,thatthose conditionalities were met in thisinstance…Thiscardwill contain information of nationalimportancepeculiar toeachcitizen,andtheseare matters of sufficient importance to be considered mattersofnationalsecurity.”

Moreover, the Attorney General said, “Significantly, theProcurementActpermits single sourcing, whenever, thegoodsortheservicesthat is being procured involves matters of national security

It is the government's view that this card, that will store important personal data of the citizenry of this country will contain information of nationalimportancepeculiar to each citizen, is a matter of national security.” “Whatconstitutes a matter of national importanceisanissueforthe Executive to determine because it is within the bosom of the Executive that lies the responsibility to protect national interest, national security, and the defence of Guyana and its

Dem Boys Seh...

citizens. And the Executive has a made a determination that this is a matter that qualifies to be accorded that cover.”

He has assured that the legislative framework will be put in place ahead of the implementation of the project.Theproject,whichis scheduled to be completed within 12 months, will see citizens and residents of Guyana being issued with a single e-ID card to conduct various transactions in the both the public and private sector

SEAWEED POLLUTING WE SEASHORE

Just when yuh bin thinking about tekkinganicequietstrollondeseawall,yuh readingabouthowseaweedwashinguppon we beaches. It wash up behind de Marriott andinotherpartsofthecoastland.Isnowa coastal problem and it look like it getting worse.

Itgansoonbecomeamajorproblemfuh we,likeithasbeenformanycountriesinde Caribbean over de past ten years. Even Florida now gat a problem. More than 13 million tonnes are expected to wash up on beaches in Florida this year But dem countrygatmachineandpeoplefuhclearde seaweed.InGuyana,wenahgatnobodyfuh doso.Sowehavetolearnfuhfindpractical andsafeusesfordeseaweed. Datiswheredeagriculturemancomein.

ButdemboysfeeldatweAgrimangantry to find some good uses fuh dese seaweed once they are free of chemical contaminants. Dem boys hear it good fuh use as mulch fuh fertilize your soil. But he should not assume anything. He should carry out he tests and experiments because nobody knows fuh sure if dat brown seaweed fuh washing up pon we seashore canbeputtogooduse.

Demboyspreferdemscientistswahwe gat fuh mek dah pronouncement.And dem boys hope dem to do dat early because de seaweed pilingup pon we foreshore. Some ofitgettingtangleupindemfishermennets andmostofitsgatafoulodourwhenitstart torot.Itisnowatdelevelofnuisancevalue. Talkhalf.Leffhalf!

M

n d AccountabilityAct(FMAA) prohibits government from entering into a contract unless provision has been made for payment by the National Assembly That Section of the FMAA deals with programmes for which thereisanappropriationand itmerelyprovides,andquite sensibly too, that before any procurement takes place in relation to a programme for which there has been an appropriation that the government should first ensure that there are sufficientfundsremainingin the voted allocation for programme.

It constitutes some stretch of the imagination to infer that this places a prohibition on entering of contractsforwhichtherehas beennoappropriation.Andit isdisappointingtolearnthat such inference has been made by persons who ought toknowbetter

There are other more solid grounds on which the

new national identification

card project can be

criticized First, as mentioned before, there is the issue of the total lack of public consultations on an issue of such sensitivity and security concerns The publicisboundtobewaryof thisnewinitiativewhichwill allow for the capture, store and retrieval of personal information and over which they are ill-informed. In the absence of public consultations,thedecisionto move ahead reeks of recklessness.

Second, the role of the UAE in this project raises serious red flags. Jagdeo’s Middle Eastern diplomacy was an abject failure; and now it appears that this failure is being replaced by whollylopsidedrelationship between the UAE and Guyana, one in which the UAEhasmanagedtosupply Guyana with vaccines, nailed a contract for the training of coders and now helpedtofacilitateacontract

withaEuropeanfirmforthe supply of national identification cards. What is Guyana getting in return for forging such relations with theUnitedArabEmirates?

Guyanese should not reject the idea of a new eidentification card, as it is beingcalled.Buttheyshould c e r t a i n l y d e m a n d widespread public consultations and call into question this cozy but lopsided relationship that is developingbetweenGuyana and the United Arab Emirates.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this n e w s p a p e r a n d i t s affiliates.)

Notice of General Meeting and Elections

12thApril,2023

The Guyana Press Association will be holding its General Meeting and election on Sunday, May 14th 2023 at the Theatre Guild, Parade Street, Kingston.

Commencement timeis12:00hrs.

To be eligible to vote, one must be a member of the Association for continuousthreeyears

or more and their membership dues mustbeupdated. Eligible members are asked to kindly pay their dues on or beforeMay6th,2023. Payments can be madetotheSecretary SvetlanaAbrams.

C O V I D - 1 9 Protocolsinclusiveof physical distancing, mask wearing and sanitisation are required.

Companies granted extra time to submit bids for 14 oil blocks

The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) on Wednesday announced the extension of the period for submissionofbidsforthe14 oilblocksonauction.

Inastatementtothepress the Ministry of Natural Resources said, “On behalf of the Government of Guyana, (it) is pleased to announce the extension of the Guyana 2022 Licensing Round's bid submission deadlinetoJuly15,2023.”

Initially, the auction was intended to run until April 14, 2023, with contracts expected to be signed the followingmonth.

F o l l o w i n g t h e submissionoftendersforthe oil blocks, the bids received will be evaluated between July 19 and August 7, 2023. The Licensing Round will include negotiations

between the parties, commencing August 9 and concludingAugust28,2023.

Contracts will be awarded onAugust 31, 2023 according to the updated scheduleofactivities.

The bid round was officially launched on

According to the Ministry, it continues to receive strong global interest and the government has benefited

from insightful feedback during the consultation periods of the Indicative Terms and Guidelines and the draft model Production SharingAgreements(PSAs).

The Ministry also

explained that government r e c e n t l y c o n c l u d e d agreements with PGS Exploration (UK) Limited and CGG Data Services to reprocess additional 2D seismic data relevant to the blocks for tender This will a l l o w e x i s t i n g a n d prospective participants of thelicensingroundtobenefit from the availability of further seismic data to better informthebidssubmitted.

According to the Ministry, “The Government of Guyana remains committed to the successful

execution of the Guyana 2022 Licensing Round and the strengthening of the nation's fiscal and legal petroleum management frameworks.”

It noted that the sector must be governed by a m o d e r n r e g u l a t o r y framework. To this end, it c o m m i t t e d t o t h e strengthening of the 1986 Petroleum (Exploration and Production)Act.

Eleven of the oil blocks on auction are located in the shallow area and three in the deepwaterzone.Eachareais governed by separate PSAs. They range between 1000 square kilometres to 3000 square kilometres with the majority of them being close to2000squarekilometres.

The oil companies will be expected to pay a 10 percent royalty and a 10 percent corporate tax. The cost recovery will be capped at 65 percent in a given year, while profits will be shared 50/50betweentheparties.

IHS Markit, a leading information services provider headquartered in the UK is taking lead on guiding The Guyana Governmentontheauction.

GuyanaleadsCaribbean ineconomicgrowth–IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reported Guyana as the leading Caribbean nation in economic growth, with a projected growth of 37.2 percent in Gross Domestic Product(GDP)byyearend.

Given the booming oil and gas industry, the IMF also projected that the economy would see growth of 45.3 percent by the end of 2024.

The announcement comes a few days after the World Bank made a similar prediction.

The booming oil and gas industry has been one of the main contributors to the advancement of the country withsome380,000barrelsof oil currently being produced daily.

Further, the construction sector recorded intensified infrastructural activities in both the public and private sectors, including improved roads, bridges, housing projects, and educational andhealthfacilities.

As the global economy grappled with the pressures triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the government implementedasuiteoffiscal

measures to cushion the impactofimportedinflation. The administration lowered the excise tax rate for petroleum imports and extended the application of thefreightcostadjustmentto pre-pandemic levels for the calculation of import taxes, amongothermeasures.

Additionally, the country's agriculture sector has historically been a major contributor to its economy and continues to play an important role in the nation's GDP

The government has also been working to promote agriculture and provide supporttofarmers,including fundingforlandpreparation, drainage and irrigation, and otheragriculturalinputs.

Meanwhile, in 2022, the IMF applauded the country's t r a n s f o r m a t i v e infrastructural projects and noted that those investments will support sustainable growth.

With careful planning and management, Guyana hasthepotentialtobecomea model for economic development in the region andbeyond.

(Modified from the Department of Public Information)

The Updated Schedule for Guyana's Licensing Round

Govt. terminates two Mahdia road projects after contractors failed to complete works on time

Two road projects being undertaken in Mahdia, Region Eight were on Wednesdayterminatedbythe Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar after he found that the contractors failed to execute theirworksontime.

Minister Indar was on Wednesday in Mahdia along with Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai and other officials inspecting several road projects in the area.

The Minister visited a major thoroughfare which has been under construction for almost three years; this project was valued $87 million.

In a statement on his Facebook page, the Minister said that after nearly three years of delays with excuses from poor weather pattern and stone shortage, to equipment malfunction; it wastimetotakeaction.

"This is no longer a project with K&P [Project Management] and the Government of Guyana. I am instructing the Permanent Secretary to cancel it," the

Ministerstated.

Minister Indar at the project site yesterday dispelled the weather excuse byshowingthecontractorthe tan on his skin and that of residents as indicative of the scorchingheat.

Further, the minister said that the September 2022 deadline was extended and noted that the completed portion of the road is “laced withstructuralissues”.

In June 2022, Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill was at the same project site and had expressed his dissatisfaction at the pace of worksontheroad.

At that time, the Minister had instructed the contractor to have the works completed withinonemonth.

“That letter of poor performance will be copied to the tender board and you guyshaveonemonth…ifthe work is not finished that you all cannot get no more work no other part of this country because you cannot fulfill a job I cannot let this continue because while you are sitting down under the shed and you work when you

get materials and your boss when he gets money then he buys materials, the people of Mahdia are suffering,” Minister Edghill had told the contractor during his visit to thearea.

K a i e t e u r N e w s understands that K & P Project Management signed an $87 million contract in 2020 with the government for the delivery of a 500meter road within six

months Meanwhile, the second project terminated on Wednesday by the Minister within the Ministry of Public Works was the construction of a concrete road at Danjah Hill.

“Minister Deodat Indar this morning (Wednesday) informed Mahdia residents that the i n c o m p l e t e construction project on the concrete road at Danjah Street will be canceled since it is well beyond its completion date,” the Minister said in anotherFacebookpost.

During the inspection of

the road, it was noted that only 42% of the $60.5M concrete road project was executed.

K a i e t e u r N e w s understands that this road which is located in the township of Mahdia is slated to span approximately 350 metres in rigid pavement concrete The contractor, United Contracting was a s k e d t o c o m p l e t e the$60,527,468 road before Christmas2022.

Meanwhile, during another inspection at the Mahdiamainaccessroad,the Minister instructed the same

contractor to complete the $108.6 million road (500 metres) works or face termination.

When questioned by Minister Indar on why preparatory works were not done, the foreman at the site blamedtheweather This attracted a sharp rebuke from Minister Indar and the residents who claimedtheweatherhasbeen mostlyfavourable.

"At the strike of one month from now, if this road isn't done, consider your contract done," Minister Indarstated.

The road works which have been executed so far at Danjah Hill in Mahdia. (Photo courtesy, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar)

Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar inspecting one of the ongoing road projects on Wednesday in Mahdia.

Photographer's home, bus riddled with bullets

Alone gunman on Tuesday evening riddledtheEccles,East Bank Demerara (EBD) home, and bus of a well known photographer, KeronBruce.

CCTVcameras mounted on the photographer's home captured the

gunman pulling up on a motorcycle around 22:30hrs.

T h e g u n m a n dismountedthebikeand walkedupBruce'sfence andstartedshooting.

The man reportedly fired at leasteightshotsbeforeridingaway on his motorcycle. Bruce, his wife andfour-year-oldsonwerehomeat the time and luckily escaped unharmed.

In an interview with an online

Local singer drops dead while tuning guitar for rodeo

mediahouseBrucesaidthatheisin the process of enhancing footage from his security cameras to get a properimageofthegunman.

Bruce believes, however, that thegunmanwaspaidtoshootathis house.

“It looks like a $100,000 gunman and I would like the police to do their investigation and find out who is the person that is behind the attack,” Bruce told the media before adding, “It's a scare tactic; if theywantedtoassassinateme,they

wouldhavedoneitdifferently…”

Asked if he has any enemies Bruce said, “The only adversary, I havewouldbethepersonthatItook court who accused me of sexual misconduct thatistheonlyperson, I can think of as somebody that mightwanttoharmme”.

The photographer said that trial for that case has concluded and he is awaiting the judgment. Bruce disclosed that he was threatened by hisaccuserinthepast.

He claimed that he also has

evidence of the person staking out hishouseinavehicle.

Bruce recently came under the radar after he was charged for committing multiple cybercrimes using a cartoon character called “mudwata”.

Brucehasdeniedbeingtheman behind “mudwata” and even sued social media personality, Mikhail Rodrigues aka “Guyanese Critic” for defaming his character by linking him to the cartoon character

A local singer, Dion De Souza, reportedly died on Sunday while tuning his guitar for a performance at the annual Rupununi Rodeo celebrations in Lethem, Region Nine, his relatives statedinaFacebookpost.

D e S o u z a i s a n

Indigenous singer popularly known for his country-style singing He had been performing his songs for years at the Rodeos since his return from Venezuela a few yearsago.

He was scheduled to perform on Sunday night but unfortunately, he died hours beforehisconcert.

De Souza is originally

from Moruca, Region One and has been singing since hisyouth.Hehadmigratedto Venezuela and had even served as a captain of an Indigenous Venezuelan VillagecalledSanFlaviano. He re-migrated to

Guyana a few years ago and picked-up where he left off by releasing a new song called “Stranger in my Homeland” and other country songs about his birthplace,Moruca.

De Souza was popular among the locals and performed his musical pieces at shows and government cocktail events acrossthecountry

Keron Bruce speaking to a reporter on Wednesday

Gunshot holes on Bruce's home.

Bruce's bullet ridden bus

The late, Dion De Souza

'Don King' on $400,000 bail for possession of gun, ammo

Thirty-two-year-old Whitney Welcome called 'Don King' a resident of Bartica, Region Seven, was on Wednesday placed on $400,000 bail for possession of a firearm and ammunition while not being a holder of a firearmlicence.

Welcome appeared at the Bartica Magistrates' Court before Magistrate Crystal Lambert, when the charge was read to him The defendantdeniedthecharges that were read to him and he wasgranted$200,000bailon both charges. The matters were then adjourned to May 16,2023.

TheGuyanaPoliceForce (GPF) had reported that Welcome was apprehended lastFridaywitha9mmpistol and six live matching rounds of ammunition following a policepursuit.

Acting on information received, three ranks intercepted motor vehicle PAB 8976 at First Street, Bartica, which was being driven by Welcome. It was

stated that instead of Welcome stopping, he drove away from the police and headed to Mongrippa Hill, Bartica,whereheranintothe office of a 30-year-old businessman.

When questioned by the police, the businessman related to the ranks that Welcome ran into his office and put a firearm under his counter One of the ranks searched and found one black 9mm pistol and the six liverounds.

According to the police, Welcome was told of the offence he committed,

GTT apologises for not maintaining manhole on Sherriff Street

cautioned and admitted ownership of the firearm. He was arrested and escorted to BarticaPoliceStation.

Real estate legislation drafted, consultations to continue

Th e A t t o r n e y

G e n e r a l ' s

Chambers has completed the drafting of the real estate legislation, following engagements with stakeholders and other key parties.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, speaking during his weekly televised programme 'Issues in the News'madethedisclosureon Tuesday.“The real estate bill is completed and I will be circulating it to the stakeholders in a matter of days and the consultative process will continue Consultation is an important part of our governance and is an important part of our legislative agenda,” the AG assured.

Key components of the legislation will include a code of conduct for real

–Attorney General

estateagentsandbrokers,the formalisation of the current transaction process with enhancements, and greater protectionforbuyers,sellers, agents,andbrokers.

He said the real estate sector is one that Guyana must regulate by way of legislation, under the AntiMoney Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) law

Last year, the attorney general met with real estate agents on numerous occasions, to discuss the enactment of legislation for this sector, which is expanding rapidly due to the massive transformation takingplaceinGuyana.

“Guyana, as is known, is scheduled to undergo a

mutual assessment later this year and one of the deficiencies identified in our AML/CFT structure is the absence of legislation governing real estate transactions,”theAGsaid.

T h e g o v e r n m e n t continues to modernise its legal architecture while developingnewlegislationto regulate industries that are expanding rapidly due to G u y a n a ' s e c o n o m i c transformation.

This forms part of the government's legislative agenda which is aimed at revamping many of the outdated laws and laying the f o u n d a t i o n f o r t h e anticipated economic development (Department ofPublicInformation)

The Guyana Telephone, Telegraph Incorporated (GTT Inc.) on Wednesday apologized for not maintaining a hole that has been damaging vehicles on SheriffStreet.

GTT described it as a manhole and said that the cover was damaged and there was a delay in replacingit.

“GTT Inc sincerely regretsthedelayinreplacing the permanent manhole cover on Sheriff Street in the vicinity of Duncan Street which was damaged. We understand that this has caused inconvenience to road users road users”, the company stated in a press release.According to the c o m p a n y, t h e a r e a surrounding the manhole was cordoned off with markings A temporary cover was also placed over the hole but “unknown persons” had removed them overtheweekend.

Nevertheless, the company promises that it will replace the cover of the

“manhole”withapermanent and secure structure by Saturday(April15,2023).

“Wewishtoconfirmthat a permanent and secure replacement will be completed by April 15, and we urge continued caution by motorists traversing the area Once again, we a p o l o g i s e f o r a n y inconvenience or safety issues caused by this delay…”GTTsaid.

GTT's apology comes one day after the Ministry of Public Works publicly clarified that it was the company'sfaultthatvehicles were being damaged as a result of the hole it failed to maintain.

The ministry said, “The alleged damage in the form of a “huge hole” is the cover of a metal chamber used by GTT, to access its utility c o r r i d o r (telecommunication cables) underground along both Sheriff Street and Mandela Avenue”.

The Ministry made it clear that such facilities are

operated and maintained by GTT before stating that its staff had made several reports about the hole to the company from time it was observed.

Residents living close by told Kaieteur News that many vehicles frequently fall into the hole on a daily basis.

“The noise it makes when vehicles fall in, especially at nights when there is not much traffic, jumps you out of your sleep”,onewomansaid.

On Sunday, motorists wereforcedtoplaceatyrein front of the hole to warn drivers after a minibus fell into the hole, during the earlymorninghours.

The bus was reportedly badly damaged and could not continue its journey It had to be pulled out and pushed to the side of the road. In fact, the driver was forced to leave it there and call another vehicle to transport his passengers and some equipment he had on board.

Fire destroys Mario's Juice Bar on Sheriff Street

Fire on Tuesday night destroyed Mario's juice Bar located on S h e r i f f S t r e e t , Georgetown.

The fire reportedly started around 23:00hrs and the Guyana Fire Service has blamed it on a “faulty industrial chiller” (refrigeration system)inthebuilding.

“The purported cause of the fire is the overheating of a faulty industrial chiller, which ignited and spread to the entire building,” GFS stated.

F i r e f i g h t e r s c o n t a i n e d a n d extinguished the fire but were unable to save the juice bar from being destroyed.

Reflective cones at the manhole.

Charged: Whitney Welcome called “Don King”

The firearm that was recovered

WANTED VACANCY

Skilled Carpenters, Masons and Labourers needed. Call: 602-9469, 660-6385 or 6257642.

Canter and Truck Drivers needed, must have atleast 3 yrs experience. Call: 6447088/ 624-7248.

Excavator Operators required, must have atleast 3 yrs experience. Call: 6447088/ 624-7248.

Office Clerk wanted, must have experience in Microsoft Excel and Words. Call: 6447088/ 624-7248.

Mechanist needed, must know to work on engine head. Call: 223-5273/ 2235274.

Experienced Mechanic/ Welder (must hold qualifications) and Servicemen wanted for mining operation. Call: 697-2533.

Experienced male Cooks and Medic/ Camp Attendant wanted for mining operation. Call: 697-2533.

Wanted: Experienced Cashier, Cooks, Counter Person, Supervisor and Labourer. Apply @ Shanta's, 225 Camp and New Market Sts. or WhatsApp: +592-6541361.

One live-in Domestic partner, light house work. Salary $ 80,000 monthly. Call: 603-9085.

Canter/ pick up Drivers needed. Call: 223-5273/ 223-5274.

Mini bus and taxi Drivers needed. Call: 628-1183.

1 Junior Accounts Clerk with NIS paye payroll knowledge, live-in Handyman and Night Guard needed in Hill Foot, Soesdyke and Industry area. $100,000 monthly. Call: 227-5222/ 675-0587/ 219-2170.

Professional Carpenters, Painters and Labourers wanted, attractive salary offered. Call: 686-1982.

Operator for excavator/ bobcat, semi-skilled Workers, Office Assistant and time keeping/ tool issuing Clerk . Call: 621-6969/ 615-7784.

Pump Attendant needed at Shell Station, Providence, E.B.D. Working shift (6am2pm and 2pm-10pm). Email: Shellramsburg@gmail.com

Experienced Hair Colorist, Hairstylist, Receptionist/ Massuese and Nail Tech needed. Call/ WhatsApp: 649-5005/ 226-6705.

Receptionist and Desk Staff needed at 233, South Road Lacytown, GT. Preferably males, 25-50 years old. Call: 225-0198.

Delivery Clerk and Porters needed. Apply at Lens 136 Sheriff Street C/Ville. Call: 227-2486/227-1511. Email: lensgy@outlook.com

Vacancy exists for Carpenter, $7000- $10,000 daily and Labourer, $5000-$6000 daily. Call: 650-1394/ 705-2817.

Kitchen Assistant, Supervisor, Chef and Salesperson needed. Call: 659-5559.

Vacancy for a Domestic Maid with experience in Indian cooking. Call: +592-637-6700.

Rewiring of Suddie Magistrates’ Court to cost $24M

Eight contractors have submitted bids to wire the Suddie Magistrates’ Court located in Region Two. The project, being executed through the Supreme Court of Judicature, is estimated to cost $24,453,694.

A similar project is scheduled for the Fort Wellington

Magistrates’ Court in Region Five. These works are estimated to cost $20 million.

The justice sector was allocated some $6.2 billion this year from the national budget for the strengthening of the justice system.

Below are the companies and their bids:

Supreme Court of Justice

Rewiring of Suddie Magistrates’ Court.

Supply and installation of transmission and distribution main from Cotton Tree to Blairmont in Ithaca, Region Five.

PEN PAL

Make seeks female for relationship. Ages 35-55 years. Call: 608-6017.

SERVICES

Visa Application: Canada and U.S.A. Graphics design & advertisements. Wedding decorations & elderly

grooming: hair, nail etc. Call: 626-7040.

Elevate your brand with our professional Graphic design services. Call: 619-0007, 629-5526.

For low cost repairs for AC units, refridgerators, freezers, gas stoves, washing machine, dryers, etc. Call: 629-4946, 225-4822.

Two1 bedroom apartment for rent in Diamond Housing Scheme. Call: 645-7933.

New unfurnished & furnished apartments and houses for short & long term rental. $ 800, $ 1000 & $2000 USD. Call/ WhatsApp: +592700-0030.

Guyana Water Inc. (GWI)

Extension of transmission and distribution mains at Experiment Village, West Coast Berbice, Region Five.

Guyana Marketing Corporation Rehabilitation of Bartica building inclusive of cold storage.

FOR SALE

One double Lot 80x160 on the east side of Friendship, Public Road, $12M GYD neg. Call: 626-4234/ 628-6212.

3 pure breed black and tan German Shepard pups, fully vaccinated, 8 weeks old. Call: 626-0953/ 650-9998.

Pure honey, wholesale and retail quantity. Call: 6214273.

Guyana Marketing Corporation Rehabilitation of Bartica building inclusive of cold storage.

One apartment for rent at 13 Stewartville Pasture, opposite the secondary school. Call: 649-2179.

VEHICLES FOR SALE

One CRV Honda, $3.3M negotiable and 1 Toyota Allion, $3.350 M, fully loaded immaculate condition, low mileage . Contact: 649-0956.

Extension of transmission mains in Parika Back and Hubu, Region Three.

Prince Harry will attend father’s coronation, Meghan won’t

AP — Prince Harry will attend his father’s coronation, Buckingham Palace said Wednesday, ending months of speculation about whether the prince would be welcome after leveling charges of racism and media manipulation at the royal family.

His wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will remain at the couple’s home in Southern California with their two young children, Prince

Archie and Princess Lilibet, the palace said.

A nearly identical statement from the Sussex’s representatives confirmed the news.

The May 6 date of the coronation at Westminster Abbey coincides with their son’s birthday.

While the announcement should silence the “will he or won’t he” debate in the British media, it won’t end the

royal soap opera swirling around Harry and Meghan as King Charles III prepares for his coronation.

When the prince attended the funerals of his grandfather, Prince Philip, and his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, commentators discussed everything from whether Harry would be allowed to wear his military uniform to exactly where he was seated.

The Suddie Magistrates’ Court located in Region Two.

Winston Jordan fraud trial over sale of $20M property to BK Marines Ltd. deferred

Thefraudtrialforformer Finance Minister, Winston Jordan who was charged for allegedly selling a state property to BK Marines Limited at a price that was grossly undervalued – was deferredtoApril24,2023.

The trial was scheduled to commence on April 11, before Senior Magistrate

L e r o n D a l y a t t h e Georgetown Magistrates' Courts. However, on that datethetrialwassetforApril 24.

The former minister of S o u t h R u i m v e l d t , Georgetown, made his first court appearance since December 2021, for the offence before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan andwasplacedon$3Mbail.

Jordan was not required to plead to the indictable charge. He was slapped with a charge which alleges that while being and performing dutiesofMinisterofFinance and being the concerned Minister for the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), a company owned by the Government of Guyana, between February

26,2020andJuly31,2020at MainStreet,Georgetown,he willfully misconducted himself.

It is alleged that the former minister acted recklessly when he signed NICIL Order, No. 50 of 2020, transferring to and vesting in BK Marines Inc., Mud lots situated at North C u m m i n g s b u r g , Georgetown, being over 2 553 acres, by paying $20,260,276, for a property valued over $5B and being sold at a price that was grossly undervalued to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public trust and withoutreasonableexcuseor justification.

The charge was brought against him by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), an arm of the GuyanaPoliceForce(GPF).

Kaieteur News had reportedthatJordanwasfirst arrested on December 2, 2021 and later released on bailforaseriesofallegations relating to transactions of public funds and state properties, estimated to value billions of Guyana dollars.

Miner gets one year for gun possession

Thirty-year-old Darby Vieira, a miner, was on Tuesday sentenced to one year imprisonment for the possessionofashotgun and ammunition while not being the holder of alicence.

V i e i r a w a s apprehended by police ranks onApril 4, 2023, at Imbaimadai, Region S e v e n , a n d subsequently charged with possession of f i r e a r m a n d ammunition without licence.

T h e m i n e r appeared at the G e o r g e t o w n Magistrates' Court before Magistrate Dylon Bess He pleaded guilty to the charge that was read to him and he was sentenced to one year imprisonment and fined$50,000.

According to the police, the first transaction that he was interviewed about is in relation to the alleged sale and vesting of the state's largest wharf facilities located at Kingston, Georgetown, valued a p p r o x i m a t e l y US$40,000,000 but was reportedly sold for US$500,000.

It is alleged that the purchaser BK Marines Inc., only paid US$100,000,

which is 10 percent of the purchase price, and Jordan issued a Vesting Order passing Title to the purchaser, without the payment of any further sum ofmonies.

It was further stated that the Vesting Order stated that the property is being sold free from encumbrance and liabilitiesandnofurthersum of money is owed by the p u r c h a s e r A l s o , subsequently the transport

wasreportedlyissuedforthe propertyandthevaluestated on the transport was US$2,000,000. It was noted however, that the agreement of sale stated that the title must only be passed upon full payment of purchase price.

The police also reported that investigators have evidence to establish that a facility which is a mere fraction of the size of the state property that is under

investigation, and located seven miles upriver, was sold by a private company forUS$17million.

Jailed: Darby Vieira

Former Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan

Development institutions can play greater role in addressing regional food insecurity – President Ali

DPI - As the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) progresses in its 25 percent reductionof the food import bill by 2025 initiative, international developmental entities can play a more active role in the implementation of policy initiatives to address the issueoffoodinsecurity.

In his virtual address at the CAWI’s Caribbean Leaders’ Open Dialogue on Tuesday,PresidentIrfaanAli stressed that more technical support can be offered by institutions such as the WorldBank.

“The adaptation cost for the developing world annually is estimated at US$150 million to US$300 million. We are not asking you to meet any adaptation costs. But, if you are talking about food security in a c l i m a t e r e s i l i e n t environment, then how are you going to help us to acquire the technology and tomodernisetheagricultural system to address the very issues we have raised?” the presidentquestioned.

He said issues, such as

labour shortages, climate changeandthedevelopment of new planting materials, require an aggressive, collaborativeeffort.

The head of state explained, “We don’t want theWorldBanktotellusthat they are going to do studies. We have enough studies on the table. We have enough data. The development agencies need to get out of this initial reaction of being s t u d y - o r i e n t e d organisations. I see a great role for theWorld Bank, but that must not be an evaluation role or a report production role. That role hastobeonethatfitsintothe solution.”

The head of state added that while government encourages further involvementoftheseentities in the CARICOM 25 by 2025 initiative, Guyana will continue to recognise and utilise its capabilities in advancing this agenda, as opposed to relying on assistance or coaching from externalparties.

“We have to use the solutionsavailabletomakeit

workforus,”headded.

Technology is necessary to enhance productivity, and this is something that the government is committed to advancing. “We’re working on many different initiatives to see how we can advance this agenda in a very rapid way,” the president remarked while noting that the region is committed to playing its part in finding solutions to the issues of foodinsecurity

To this end, the country has seen an aggressive approach being taken to strengthen and build capacity in the agriculture sector, as well as in incorporating technology in itsprocesses.

Earlier this year, PresidentAliannouncedthat the bilateral relationship between India and Guyana willseethedevelopmentofa regionalagri-techcampusto support the regional food hub This campus is expected to deal with the technological aspect, research and development, trainingandimprovementin policies that will lead to

Macron comments leave senior Taiwanese official ‘puzzled’

Reuters - Comments by French President Emmanuel Macron on Taiwan are puzzling,aseniorTaiwanese politician said, wondering whether France’s founding idealsofliberty,equalityand fraternity are now out of fashion.

Macron, in comments in an interview on a trip to China that was meant to showcaseEuropeanunityon China policy, cautioned against being drawn into a crisisoverTaiwandrivenby an “American rhythm and a Chineseoverreaction”.

He also called for the EuropeanUniontoreduceits dependence on the United Statesandtobecomea“third pole” in world affairs alongside Washington and Beijing.

Taiwan parliament speakerYouSi-kun,writing on Facebook late Tuesday above a screengrab of a report about Macron’s comments on Taiwan, questioned the French commitmenttofreedom “Are ‘liberté, égalité, fraternité’out of fashion?,” he wrote, referring to the official French motto of “liberty, equality, fraternity”

“Is it OK just to ignore this once it’s part of the constitution? Or can advanced democratic countries ignore the lives and deaths of people in other countries?” added

You, one of the founders of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic ProgressiveParty

“The actions of PresidentMacron,aleading international democracy, leavemepuzzled ”

China has been staging military exercises around Taiwan since Saturday after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen returned from a trip to the United States, where she met U S House of Representatives SpeakerKevinMcCarthy France, like most countries, has no formal

greater yields and

productivity Recognising thetransientnatureoftheoil

resource, the PPP/C Government has remained steadfast in its charge to achieving self-sufficiency

and sustainability, meticulously crafting policies that are geared

towards strengthening and preserving the country’s non-oil sectors to promote diversity

T h e C a r i b b e a n Association of the World Bank Group and IMF Staff

(CAWI) Caribbean Leaders

Open Dialogue consisted of apanelofCaribbeanleaders

and experts in the field addressing issues relating to food insecurity in the Caribbean, such as the management of accelerating foodprices,foodproduction adaptation amid climate change, and the role of policymakers in addressing thefoodinsecuritycrisis.

diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan but maintains a de facto embassy in Taipei and has joined other U S allies in underscoring the need for peaceintheTaiwanStrait Taiwan’s foreign ministry on Tuesday sought to downplay Macron’s remarks, though said they had “noted” what he said “The Foreign Ministry expresses its thanks to France for expressing concern about peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait many times and in many different international venues,” including, for example at the recent French-British l e a d e r s s u m m i t , spokesperson Jeff Liu told reporters.

French President Emmanuel Macron poses for a photo with Chinese President Xi Jinping

Letter to the Sports Editor An Open Letter to GFF President Wayne Forde

Dear Sports Editor,

In 2020 the world was hit by a pandemic which had the entire world in partial lock down. Sports were affected tremendously.

Football, of which I am acquainted with, was affected. The Guyana Football Federation in 2022 attempted to resuscitate football by ensuring all its affiliate run off a tournament by assisting with the funding of such tournament.

Later in the year the Honourable President His Excellency Dr. Irfaan Ali facilitated the running off of a yearend tournament and

football was the winner. However, come April 2023, the GFF has not seen it fit to attempt to run off a tournament.

The weather has been kind to us the grounds are all in preparatory stage yet no attempt or an explanation is forthcoming. Mr President why the reluctance to resume competitive football?

Funds should not be a problem; FIFA has been funding Federations with hundreds of millions of dollars. The weather is not a factor; venues are also not a problem.

So why President Forde is

there a football blackout? It was evident that the local players who represented Guyana in the recently concluded Gold Cup Qualifiers were lacking of match fitness, no amount of practice and physical fitness training can substitute for match fitness.

Sir you have been the President since 2015 and you were also President of a football club so you are very experienced in this regard as a football administrator. Are you the President only to go to Congresses, to go to workshops, to go and witness the National Team when they

Thursday April 13, 2023

ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19)

The planetary energy leaves you in a contemplative mood, Cancer. A lot of different possibilities have opened up for you recently, and you're trying to figure out which is the most appropriate now.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20)

A memory, dream, vision, or meditation could trigger a rush of spiritual energy, Taurus. As a result, you might want to jot your experiences

GEMINI (May 21–June 20)

A message from a friend could make your day, Gemini. The good news may involve travel, money, or a love relationship. There could also be an intellectual matter that you're anxious to look into.

CANCER (June 21–July 22)

Family members could spring some surprising news on you today, Cancer. This news may concern people you know or perhaps a family member has some interesting plans of his or her own.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22)

Talk of traveling to distant and exotic places could come up at a gathering of family and friends, Leo. Some of the talk is pure fantasy, but there are a few people.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Se pt. 22)

Career matters may be put on hold for a few days, Virgo, but your professional future probably won't be far from your thoughts.

Henry Jr, Ramnarine guide

Wakenaam Eagles to victory

play overseas? Is your Administration lapsing in its duties to Administer Football that was mandated to the present Executives?

You even had the temerity to amend the Constitution so that you can serve two more terms. Sir, this is not your Fort, why do you want to continue sitting in the hot seat without producing anything spectacular.

Without the playing of football there is no need for Administrators just be mindful of that. The Elite Clubs and Players are starved for football; it is very mysterious.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22)

So many fascinating ideas have come your way over the past few days that your mind is spinning. Some of what you've heard could be so radical that it will take some time to make sense of it.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21)

A deep, intimate conversation could take place today between you and a romantic interest, Scorpio. If this is a casual relationship, it may suddenly become more. If you're involved but not committed.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21)

This morning you may wake up from a dream with many inspiring new ideas. If you're into creative activity of any kind, you will want to jot these ideas down, as well as possibilities for bringing them to the rest of the world.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19)

Family members could spring some surprising news on you today, Capricorn. This news may concern people you know or perhaps a family member has some interesting plans.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18)

A few extra things need to be done around the house today, Capricorn. A few more letters need to be written, a few more cleaning chores should be done.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20)

Books that you may have received as gifts could have you thinking deeply about spiritual or philosophical matters today, Pisces.

Senior Football is not played in Berbice, Linden, East Bank, East Coast, Essequibo, Georgetown, and maybe in every conceivable area in Guyana. What is GFF doing to alleviate this problem, are they capable of rectifying same. Mr Minister of Sports I think your Ministry should get involved.

It is internationally known that Governments do not get involved in the daily administration of football but as a concerned stakeholder you should request from them an explanation as to why no football is being played and with your capable forces advise and lend them a helping hand.

When the players go out to represent us internationally it is all of the 750,000 people and 83,000 square miles they represent, not you Mr Forde and your inept Executives and Staff.

I think it is time you gracefully step away from Football so that new and innovative ideas could be implemented so that football could flourish and Guyana can earn their correct position as being one of the feared Caribbean Football Powerhouse in this region.

Regards, Concerned former National player.

Gladewin Henry and Ramesh Ramnarine turned in outstanding performances with the bat to guide Wakenaam Eagles to a 220run win over Wakenaam Rhinos when the Wakenaam Cricket Committee/New Doctor’s Clinic U19 40-over tournament continued recently.

Wakenaam Eagles posted 266 for 4, batting first at the Wakenaam Community Cen-

tre ground in Good Success. Gladewin Henry jr struck 94, while Ramesh Ramnarine made 77 and Justin Dowlin39. Tomesh Persaud took two wickets, while Shahid Mohamed had 1 - 36 and Trivel Evans 1 for 40. Wakenaam Rhinos were bowled out for 46 in 8.2 overs in reply. Tomesh Persaud made 19 as Varendra Pooran claimed 3 for 2 and Henry 2 for 0.

Gladewin Henry Jr (left) and Ramesh Ramnarine

Historic win for women’s

team at Jr Pan Am Hockey Championship

-Men’steaminmust-winactiontodayagainstCanada

ByRawleToney

Playingintheirfirst-ever Junior Pan Am Hockey Championships, Guyana’s women’steamearneda3-0 winoverBarbadosyesterday in Bridgetown on day three andtheirsecondmatchofthe tournament.

Abosaide Cadogan rockedthenettwice(1',46'), while Guyana’s other goal came from Georgiana Fernandes(7').

The Guyanese women had a shaky start to their campaign, going down 0-12 to Canada, before bouncing back to earn three crucial pointsagainstthe‘Bajans’.

Speaking exclusively to Kaieteur News, the team’s head coach, Phillip Fernandes, called the win “tough”,addingthatGuyana is the only team in the competition that doesn’t have artificial turf at their disposal.

“Nevertheless,Ithinkthe girls displayed superior skills, I think they were the betterofthetwoteams.With abitofbetterfortune,Ithink the scoreline could’ve been greater Ithinkwehavebeen punching above our weight given the fact that the conditions under which we trained are so difficult. I think they’ve adjusted so wellenoughfortheturf,and they managed to pull off a convincing win,” Fernandes

said. According to Fernandes, “The rest of the teams in the tournament remainsthetopnationsinthe world and are very difficult matches, so this was an important win for the local girls.”

Guyana will face Chile on Friday in a must-win game to keep their hopes of advancing to the next round alive “It was the first international tournament for many of the girls and of course their first international win, so it’s a good confidence builder, good experience for the future and we look forward to growing our team from here,”Fernandesnoted.

Meanwhile, the men’s teamwillplayCanadatoday from 1:30 pm, in a game wheretheyneedthreepoints

Abosaide Cadogan had a double in Guyana’s 3 – 0 win over Barbados at the Jr Pan Am Hockey C/Chip.

for an opportunity to be one ofthetwoteamsfromGroup Btoadvance.

TheCanadiansareontop of the table with a superior goal difference than the Guyanese and the USA, having won their opening match 6 – 0 against Barbados.

The USA are second following their 3 – 0 win over Guyana, while the men from the Land of Many Waters are third on the table with a -2 goal difference, after their 1 – 0 win over BarbadosonTuesday

Shaquan Favorite’s goal in the 13th minute against Barbados earned Guyana’s men’steamtheirfirstvictory at the Junior Pan Am Championships since the 1992tournamentinHavana, Cuba.

Gold is Money, Stabroek Ballers, BV latest

winner

-‘One Guyana Futsal Championships’continues tonight

GoldisMoney,Stabroek BallersandBeterverwagting (BV) are the latest teams to secure wins when the One G u y a n a F u t s a l Championship continued on Tuesday evening at the NationalGymnasium.

Michael Ore (16’,30’), along with Michael Pedro (25’) and Randolph Wagner (30’), were the goal scorersforGoldisMoneyin their 4 – 1 win over Foot Steppers.

Meanwhile, Stabroek Ballers, behind a hat-trick from Bevney Mark (9’, 10’, 13’), rallied to an emphatic 8-1 win against Bagotstown Warriors when thetwosidesmet.

MarkJhalu(2’,26’)had a double in the win, while the Stabroek Ballers’other goals came from Omar Jones (29’), Seon Taylor (3’) and Shemar Welsh (15’)

Bagotstown Warriors’ only goal of the game was scoredbyJoelMcGarronin the fourth minute Steveden Miller’s strike inthe12thminutewasallit took for Beterverwagting (BV) to secure their first winofthetournamentwhen theyfacedfellowEastCoast Demeraraside,Melanie

Also,onnighttwoofthe lucrative Futsal spectacle, Wismar All-Stars and

TimehriBallersplayedtoan entertaining3–3draw

Allan Haley (20’), Felix Innis (9’) and Jonah Simon (7’) found the net for Wismar All-Stars, while Timehri Ballers’goals were scored by Timothy Thomas (17’,25’)andMarkCorreya (18’)

The tournament will continue tonight with four mo r e match es , as Mackenzie All-Stars face Paradise at 8:00 pm, followed by a battle between Show Stoppers and North East, Tiger Bay versus Pouderoyen and Leopold Street coming up

againstKingston. The One Guyana Futsal tournament will carry a first-place prize of $1M, compliments of Mohamed’sEnterprise

The second-place team will pocket $500,000, while $200,000 and $100,000 will go to the teams finishing third and fourthrespectively T h e l u c r a t i v e tournament will see the second-place team with $500,000, while $200,000 will go to third place and $100,000 towards the team finishing fourth (RawleToney)

Guyana U20 team to play Suriname in first match

in Concacaf U20 Women’s Championship qualifiers

Guyana’s Under-20 Women’sNationalTeamare currently in the Dominican Republic preparing for their firstmatchagainstSuriname in the Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship Qualifiers.

Thematchwillbeplayed on Saturday, April 15 in the Felix Sanchez Stadium in SantoDomingoat3p.m.

The local team along with Guyana Football Federation (GFF) officials departed Guyana on Saturday,April10and11. A record 32 teams are in six groups-twogroupshavesix teams and four groups have five teams each - competing between April 14 and 23. Guyana is in Group C with the Dominican Republic, SurinameandDominica.

DeAbreu said the locallybased and overseas players are focusing on game strategies in training sessions “We are very thrilled to be competing in this tournament and to have the entire group together. The team had its first two training sessions yesterday, with the first session mainly focusing on skills through game scenarios practice and the second session focusing on game specific drills with moderate intensity These sessions have proven to get the best out of the girls and havehelpedthemtomeshas a group. The coaching staff will continue to work with the group in preparation for ourfirstmatchonSaturday.”

He added: “We have a very young and talented groupandwebelievealotof

good is to be expected. We encourage our fans to cheer us on wherever they may be ” Women’s Football Association (WFA) Andrea Johnsonsaidsheisconfident the national team will perform exceedingly well in thequalifiersandadvanceto thenextround.

“Congratulations to our players and staff on being selected to represent our beautiful country at the ConcacafU-20.

I am confident that our team will perform exceedinglywellaswehave beendraftedintoagroupthat I’mcertainwe’lladvanceout of. Over the past few years our Lady Jags have been performing magnificently and this time will be no different ” She too encouraged Guyana to

support the junior squad on their journey to the championship.“Asourteam competes over the next few days,Iwanttoencouragethe entireGuyanaandGuyanese in the diaspora to support them because Women’s Football is the Future,” Johnsonadded.

Thewinnerofeachgroup will advance to the May 2023 Concacaf Women’s Under20 Championship in the Dominican Republic, joining top-ranked teams

United States and Mexico.Under-20 Women’s National Team No. Name Position Club1

L

Goalkeeper MVSU2

Goalkeeper Fruta

ConquerorsFC3Nya-Grace

Young Goalkeeper

Markham SC 4 Niomie

Williams Defender

Guyana Defence Force 5

S h a m y a D a n i e l s

Defender Fruta

Conquerors FC 6 Savannah

Singh Defender

Burlington Bayhawks 7

A n i k a S p r o x t o n

Defender Caledon

Clycones 8 Akeelah

Vancooten Defender

Fruta Conquerors FC 9

M a l i y a G a n g a d i n

D e f e n d e r

Pickering FC 10 Heike

Clarke Defender

Markham SC 11 Samantha

Banfield Midfielder

WoodbridgeStrikers12Jaida

Brooke Midfielder

Pickering FC 13 Sandra

Johnson Midfielder

Fruta Conquerors FC 14

A l e x i s B a y l e y

M i d f i e l d e r

Unionville UMSC 15 Jayda

Schoburgh Midfielder

MarkhamSC16JaladeTrim

Forward Fruta

Conquerors FC 17 Shenessa

Cornelius Forward

MilerockFC18SidneyFacey

F o r w a r d

Unionville Soccer Club 19

G l e n d y L e w i s

Forward Guyana

Defence Force 20 Se-Hanna

Mars Forward

FC Stars of Mass 21 Nydel

Nelson Forward

Markham SC TECHNICAL

STAFF Head Coach - Paul

DeAbreu Assistant Coach -

Levi Braithwaite Assistant

Coach - Delon Williams

Goalkeeper Coach - Brooke Bradley Physiotherapist -

Natisha Moktnauth Team Manager-NaseyaBrewsterCupidoEquipmentManager -NicholaArgyle

Gold is Money Futsal Team

Pele FC Alumni cooperation Youth Youth Seminar concludes today

The Pele FC Alumni Corporation partners Lions ClubofDurbanParkandthe St JohnAmbulance Brigade had its fifth annual Youth SeminaratthePoliceSports Club pavilion, Eve Leary, from11-13April.

The Pele FC Alumni cooperation is a United States (US) based nonprofitable organisation which plays an integral role in the development of the youths in sport both locally and internationally. They also provide young aspiring footballers with the necessary support they need to advance their skills in the sporttheydesire.

This programme, which initially started almost a decade ago, is a fun; interactive and learning programmewhichwassetup to channel the performance of kids (boys and girls) both onthepitchaswellasinthe classrooms.

After the cooperation fortieth anniversary celebration, members of the

PeleFCAlumnicooperation sought the need for an AnnualYouthSeminaranda few years later they established that idea into whatitistoday

T h i s t h r e e - d a y programme is a fun yet educational seminar wherebyparticipantswillbe given a chance to interact with the different presenters ofthedayforanopportunity to win prizes. Whilst there, theywillalsobecateredfor, groomedandeducated.

ThePeleFCAlumniwill also be distributing hygiene kits, electronic tablets to all registered participants, as well as provide seven lucky participants scholarships to attend the University of Guyana.

However, this three-day seminar while it focuses on football, education and the educating of youths remains at the top of the agenda. Youngboysandgirlswillbe able to enhance their knowledge on social issues such as suicide prevention,

violence and person to person relationship. While here,theywillalsobetaught basic life skills as well as behavioural techniques and etiquettes that they can take with them and apply it in theireverydaylife.

According to the Chairman of the Pele FC Alumni Cooperation, Dennis Carrington, this year’s turnout has been the largest since they started back in 2015 with over a hundredandtwentyboysand girls attended on both days (Tuesday and Wednesday) andweexpectanevenlarger turnoutinthecomingyears.

Meanwhile, today, Thursday, the cooperation will be taking its registered participants on field tours namely the UG institute and the Caricom Secretariat, after which they will return to PSC for lunch and upon closing every boy and girl, will walk away with a bag full of goodies as an a p p r e c i a t i o n o f participation.

Double wins for Royals as Kings and Raiders record wins in Kevin Joseph U-23 B/ball tourney

There were victories for Victory Valley Royals, Kings and Retrieve Raiders in the preliminary round games to determine the four of six teams advancing in the Kevin Joseph Under-23 basketball competition beingcontestedattheRetrieveHardCourtin LindenlastSaturdayandSunday

Kings opened their play facing Sixers who are still to record a win and the Kings triumphed 93-18 behind Carmelo Man-SonHing’s26pointsand17fromJamalSemple.

Micah McLean recorded eight points for thelosers.

In game two Saturday, a 35 point performance by Kobe Tappin engineered Victory Valley Royals to a 72-42 win with Collin Phillips adding 24 for the victorious

Royals side. The Flames’Jumane Reynolds wastheirbestshotwith17points.

On Sunday Royals, the following day, humbledtheSixers109-15,thistimeTappin had a tournament high 43 points and teammate Collin Phillips contributing 28 points.

Shemol Jackson with 10 points had the topscoreforSixers.

In the second game Retrieve Raiders scored a 59-40 victory against Kid Rock BlazerswithShemarSavourygettingagame high17points,NeilMarks(Jr.)15andRezia Retemeyer14.

The preliminary round continues this weekendwithtwomoredoubleheadersatthe tournamentvenue,theRetrieveHardCourt.

Ms Natasha from the St John Ambulance Brigade engages youths yesterday at PSC as they to perform CPR

Scenes from the Pele FC Alumni Youth Seminar.

Port Mourant Turf Club horserace meet successful

JagdeoStabledominateswithmultiplevictories

Despite a number of challenges that included spills and broken bones where a horse had to be put down and jockeys suffered serious injuries including broken bones, the Port Mourant Turf Club, Easter Cup, horserace meet was successfully held at the Port Mourant Turf Club, CorentyneBerbice.

The large holiday crowd was treated to a full day of action. Intheenditwasthe Jagdeo Racing Stable that waslargeandinchargewith ChampionTrainerT Jagdeo havingagooddaywiththree victories and a number of other placings. The eightrace card had over $10M in cash, trophies and other incentivesatstake.

The feature open event sponsored by Banks DIH Limited with a whopping firstprizeof$2Mover1mile sawtheJagdeostablestaking the Lion’s share with a first and third spot. Our Stuie

ridden by Jockey D

Khelawanbiditstimewitha blistering run down the homestretch to come away withthevictory Stablemate Wild Texas Tom with Nicholas Patrick finished third. Splitting them was

Ariana’s Vision with Boodramsingh in the stirrups. Coup D’Etat with Razackontheperchfailedto executeandfinishingfourth.

Afewotheranimalswere withdrawnbeforethestartof thatevent.

TheraceforEandlower andNorthAmerican1sttime starters in Guyana saw Comverter of the Slingerz racing stable ridden by Anderson having too much moves for Soca Symphony, Creemore and Nice Companytotaketheevent.

The H class and lower eventsawSmokingHeelsof the Jagdeo stable with Khelawan on the mount in red hot form as it dusted the likes of Bank Note, Nuclear

Fire and Memories in that order.

The three year old and over Guyana Bred maiden event was won by Tizway, with Storm Town, Royal FlightandHardcorehavinga hardtime.

The event for Three-

year-old Guyana and West IndianBredanimalssawThe Jagdeo Stable being crowned King of the day as Gypsy King with Nicholas PatrickontheMountbeating the likes of Rachel, Red Ruby and El Dorado Queen fortheirthirdwin. RepublicanoftheElcock Stable with Semple in the saddleswastoohottohandle as it ran away with the incident filled L class open event. Amazing Grace, Dan StarandNotThisTimewere

theothersthatplaced.

During that race two horses, Miss Olympic and Tiny fell and were injured. Oneoftheanimalshadtobe putdownduetoitsinjuries.

The J class and lower maiden event saw Quiet Warriorblewupastormasit won from Miss Republic, Judge Not and Hurricane Lane.

Sarkar piloted by Colin Ross took pole position in the L class open even as Perfect Dream and Top

Rankinbroughtuptherear. The Jagdeo Stable was thetopstablefollowedbythe Elcock stables. Jockey Khelawan was the top rider on show They were presented with accolades compliments of the Trophy Stall.

SponsorsincludedBanks DIH Limited, KP Jagdeo GeneralContractors,Trophy Stall, Delmur Company Ltd and Kascon Engineering among others (Samuel Whyte)

Banks DIH Berbice Branch Manager Nandram Basdeo (centre left) and Minister Ashni Singh (centre right) presents the winning Banks DIH trophy to a representative of the Jagdeo Stables for Our Stuie victory in the feature race.

GBA/GUMDAC Badminton tournament off to exciting start

The Guyana Badminton

Association (GBA)

GUMDAC Tournament got offtoanexcitingonTuesday evening at the National Gymnasium, with the event seeing competitors from the Nursery Badminton Academy,YonexBadminton Club and the Berbice BadmintonClubs.

Players competed in the OpenMenDoubles,Women Doubles, Mixed Doubles, Under19 Boys Singles and Under19 Girls Singles categories. The GBA said they’re happy and delighted with the participation and enthusiasm shown by the players, adding that the

competitivenesswasevident inthegamesplayed.

Below are the matches

for Day One of the

GUMDACTournament.

def.AmaanKhan:21-6,21-5

U19 Boys: Marcus

Samuel def Phillip

Stephanas:21-19,21-11

U19 Boys: Matthew

U19 Girls: Genvieve Bookram def Gabrielle

Felix:21-13,21-17

U19 Girls: Mishka

Beharry def Aaliyah

Morrison/Nathan Vanbrook

d e f H a r e s h

Persaud/Matthew Spooner:

21-19,22-20MensDoubles:

Jahiem Carmicael/Osafa

Womens Doubles: Mishka Beharry/LeshaunteBerkeley def. Himanshi Kumar/Sarah

U19 Boys: Mohamed

U19 Boys: Gabriel Felix def.YuvrajSingh:21-17,2110

Farouk def Jerome

Williams: 21-10, 19-21, 21-

16

U19 Boys: Frank

Waddell def Marcus

Samuel:21-6,21-1

U19 Boys: Nathan Morrison def Phillip

Stephanas:21-6,21-12

U19 Boys: Jonathan Caesar def. Jaquan Nedd: 21-9,21-14

U19 Boys: Juan Ferreira

Spooner def Renako

Bender:21-10,22-20

U19 Boys: Lennox

Morrison def Onayi

Andrews:21-2,21-5

U19 Boys: Nathan

Vanbrookdef.MatthewFoo: 21-12, 21-13 U19 Boys: (Consolation) Jaquan Nedd def.AmaanKhan:22-20,2113 U19 Boys: (Consolation)

Renako Bender def. Onayi

Andrews:21-8,21-10

U19Boys:(Consolation)

Yuvraj Singh def. Jerome Williams:16-21,21-6,21-7

Bacchus:21-4,21-3

Under 19 Girls: Malia

Haleydef.HimanshiKumar: 21-5, 21-9 Mens Doubles: Viraj Singh/Colin Bowry def. Jedidiah Uwagboe/Juan

Ferreira:21-12,21-17

Mens Doubles: Xavio

Alexander/Jamal Sinclair def. Gabriel Felix/Nikolas Pollard:21-12,21-13

Men’s Doubles: Marlon Chung/Wenyuan Chen def.

Amar Crawford/Andrew Williams:21-10,21-5Men’s D o u b l e s : L e n n o x

DosSantos def Nathan

Morrison/Jaquan Nedd: 21-

10,21-17

Mens Doubles: Raah

Russell/Frank Waddell def.

DamonDully/RaoulWilson:

21-9,21-15

Womens Doubles: Anna

Perreira/Shivannie Persaud

d e f A a l i y a h

Bacchus/GabrielleFelix:21-

9,21-9

WomensDoubles:Alima

Eastman/AsiyaEastmandef.

Navaeh Eastman/Malia H

Lewis: 21-12, 21-6 Mixed D o u b l e s : C h e t Bowling/Ayanna Watson def. Gabriel Felix/Navaeh

Eastman:21-9,21-9

Mixed Doubles: Viraj Singh/Jefina James def Raah Russell/Asiya

Eastman:21-15,21-10

MixedDoubles:Avinash Odit/Anna Perreira def Jedidiah Uwagboe/Alima

Eastman:21-7,21-16

According to the GBA, the tournament is played nightly, at the National Gymnasium, 5-9pm nightly, andwillconcludeFriday

Participants on the opening night of the GUMDAC Badminton Championships.

Guyana’s Clayza Bobb making a move against her ‘Bajan’counterparts during the Jr PanAm Hockey C/Chip.