Kaieteur News

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AIETEUR NEWS

Guyana’s largest selling daily & New York’s most popular weekly

Exxon forges ahead with fibre p.

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Tuesday Edition April 20, 2021 - Vol. 14 No. 16 Online: www.kaieteurnews.com Online Price $80 readership yesterday 105,228

cable in Stabroek Block

GPL failed to maintain transmission lines in past four years p.

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…will intensify upgrades ahead of power generation boost - Pres. Ali

Two charges for DJ Repeat offender gets who stabbed Selector another fraud charge p.

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Application filed in High Court for release of SoPs, SoRs in criminal case against Lowenfield, others Guyana receives Toshao robbed of $4.5M boat third batch of Sputnik V vaccines and engine at Chinese Landing p.

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‘Disrespectful’ GuySuCo met with more protest action p.

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Guyanese have to pay all taxes on the books and every inch of land, while foreigners get everything free. Listen to The Glenn Lall Show @11:00am, Kaieteur Radio 99.1/99.5FM

Kaieteur News

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Tuesday April 20, 2021

'Disrespectful' GuySuCo met with more protest action S

ugar workers are of the view that the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has demonstrated to them and the Guyana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), 'scant respect' over stalled wages talks, leading to the industry being met with more protest action yesterday.

This obtained when workers of the Albion and Blairmont Estates downed tools to take part in the industrial action, to show their dismay regarding the attitude of the GuySuCo top brass as it relates to protracted wage and salary discussions that date back to 2019.

GAWU in a public missive on behalf of the workers yesterday said, “…like their colleagues at Uitvlugt Estate, who protested last Friday, (the striking workers) are calling on the state-owned sugar company to address the long-outstanding dispute in

Some of the protesting sugar workers yesterday earnest.”

According to GAWU, the estates' workers are peeved that the sugar corporation has remained mum on the matter and have expressed the belief that the company is not treating the issue with the seriousness required.

GAWU in writing on behalf of its workers observed

a report in yesterday's Kaieteur News, where Minister of Agriculture, Zulifkar Mustapha, shared that Government would seek to work with GuySuCo to “see what could be done.”

A s s u c h , G AW U contends this pronouncement offers a glimmer of hope, though it noted that the Minister has pointed out that the discussions are within the realm of the Union and the Corporation.

The Union did seek to point out too, that the utterances of the Minister were vastly different from what they heard from GuySuCo previously.

According to GAWU, “it has raised their (workers') suspicions about what the sugar company had told

them previously and they believe this was not a healthy development.”

Additionally, the Union said it was also concerned about comments made by a GuySuCo source in an article published in the April 17, 2021 Stabroek News.

That publication reported a source saying that the 2019 five percent increase that was given to workers, when calculated, will require some $1.5 billion annually.

G AW U c o n t e n d s however, “…this disclosure is wildly inaccurate and is seemingly the figment of someone's imagination.”

It was noted that “while we seek not to negotiate in the media, from data GuySuCo shared with the Union, we can say that the

quoted figure has been multiplied several times over.” GAWU nonetheless did express optimism that the Corporation can return to the bargaining table and “return with clean hands.”

The Union expanded, saying “…we believe that serious discussions could see the parties resolving their differences and resulting in a satisfactory agreement.”

GAWU has since used the occasion to reiterate that during previous engagements with GuySuCo, it indicated a willingness to re-examine its position. It was noted however, that such reexamination, “is predicated on the sugar company demonstrating its sincerity to finding an agreement and narrowing the differences

that currently exist.”

GAWU said that workers, in urging the Corporation to return to the negotiating table with a view to have the matters settled, “shared that they are not unmindful of the Corporation's situation.”

It was noted however, that despite the appearance that GuySuCo was neglectful of their plight, the workers are prepared to listen to, “any reasonable proposal from the sugar company.”

GAWU reminded too that while the company had committed itself to providing a response to the Union by the end of March 2021, April is almost complete and GuySuCo is yet to make its position known.

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Tuesday April 20, 2021

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ExxonMobil forges ahead with fibre cable in Stabroek Block

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xxonMobil Guyana, the operator with majority stake in the Stabroek Block, is forging ahead with its drive to install its own fibre optic cable to support its Guyana offshore and onshore operations.

As such, the company is currently looking to identify companies that can provide small boat and fishing liaison services locally, to complement its offshore installation of a subsea fibre cable in the near shore environment.

The company had announced the initiative some years ago, with ExxonMobil's local operating company, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), in 2019, commencing activities for support services that will help in acquiring a permit for the network.

Dubbed, the 'Fibre Optic Enablement Project,' EEPGL said at the time, it was “seeking to identify suppliers who can provide environmental and regulatory support services, for the permitting of a subsea fibre optic network connecting offshore facilities in the Stabroek Block to cable stations onshore Georgetown.”

The proposed fibre cable

The Liza Destiny FPSO from where the cable will be connected

is being networked to the nerve of ExxonMobil's offshore oil production platform in the Stabroek Block—the Liza Destiny.

It will allow for the flow of real time information between ExxonMobil and other stakeholders, with regards to the operations on board the production platform.

A project summary published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes that the installation activities be concluded in the third quarter of this year.

According to the

available summary, the fibre optic cable will establish a foundation for “high-speed, low latency connectivity of o n s h o r e a n d o ff s h o r e facilities to Guyana's foundation infrastructure, allowing implementation of digital technology to i m p r o v e p r o d u c t i v i t y, support remote operations, and support reliability” through process monitoring and inspection.

This publication understands that the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is expected to benefit from the landed cable, to aid in its monitoring of ExxonMobil's

Guyana receives third batch of Sputnik V Vaccines

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s the national COVID-19 immunisation campaign continued yesterday, a third batch consisting of 83,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccines arrived at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

Kaieteur News understands that the government had purchased 400,000 doses at a cost of US$8 million. These vaccines, it was revealed, are divided into two components.

During his daily COVID-19 update yesterday, Minster of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, explained that component one contains the first doses and component two contains the second doses.

He further explained that of the 83,000 doses that arrived yesterday, 43,000 are first doses. This now

adds to the 55,000 first doses that were already received. It was revealed that the 40,000 remaining doses of the vaccine will be administered as second doses.

On April 2, Guyana received its first batch of the Sputnik V vaccine, with a total of 25,000 doses coming into the country, while the second batch of 30,000 doses arrived last Monday.

With the arrival of yesterday's batch, the Minister said, persons who require their second dose of the Sputnik V vaccine will be able to access same.

According to Dr. Anthony, another batch of the vaccine is expected to arrive soon.

These vaccines, he said, will continue to come in tranches and will be distributed across the country.

The Health Minister said that the government's focus

is to secure vaccines for every adult so that every adult can be immunised.

During his update also, the Minister highlighted that a total of 86,601 persons have been vaccinated to date.Meanwhile, the Ministry in its dashboard update yesterday revealed that there were 38 new COVID-19 infections. The newly recorded infections have pushed the country's COVID-19 case toll to 11,901.

The dashboard also shows that 13 patients are in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit, another 10 in institutional quarantine, 77 in institutional isolation and 1,294 in home isolation.

Additionally, the total number of recoveries now stands at 10,246 after 66 new recoveries were recorded yesterday.

The COVID-19 death toll remains at 271.

offshore operations.

The tax agency had said

that it would have a CCTV system set up — following the installation of a fibre optic cable —in order to provide the authority with a 24/7 capability with regards to its monitoring activities onboard the Liza Destiny.

The agency has had to rely heavily on vessels which come to shore for whatever reason, to report on what's happening offshore through various forms, utilising regulations in the Customs Act. T h e L i z a D e s t i n y, Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, was appointed a sufferance wharf and private warehouse, pursuant to the Customs Act issued under Section 2 and Part 4 of the Act. A sufferance wharf is a

place, other than an approved place of loading and offloading by the Revenue Authority, where a senior customs officer may, by discretion and under certain conditions, allow the loading and offloading of goods.

As such, the Liza Destiny vessel is subject to all customs regulations, which concern sufferance wharves.

It is that classification that gives GRA the authority to conduct its surveillance.

Following the installation of the connection to the Liza Phase One operation, Exxon intends to connect to the Liza Phase Two operation in 2022, when the project is slated to come on stream.

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Tuesday April 20, 2021

Kaieteur News

Kaieteur News Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana.

Publisher: GLENN LALL-TEL: 624-6456 Editor: Sharmain Grainger Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

EDITORIAL

Disclosing all public debt We at this publication are in full agreement with the Centre for Global Development (CGD), and its report titled, “How China lends: A Rare Look into 100 Debt Contracts with Foreign Governments” (KN April 18). CGD took this clearcut position: “public debt should be public.” We make clear again our position, we absolutely agree.

The many billions in debt incurred by a nation’s leaders have to be paid back by the people in whose name those monies are being borrowed. The citizens of a country are the most essential aspect of its sovereignty and against which massive debts are incurred. They owe, have the burden to repay; are on the hook. And when there is delay or difficulty in repaying those accumulated debts, then it is those same citizens who feel the pain in the economic pressures that follow. Those would include the consequences that come from the declining state of imports and exports, the value of the national currency, the tortures to be endured for debt service, and the resulting drop in the standard of living, when harsh measures are put in place.

That is, on the backs of the citizens, the taxpaying citizens who have the obligation to pay back. It is not the leaders who irresponsibly ran up those debts, most likely misused the money and who should have gone to prison for life, but the citizens who must repay.

The reality, however, is that the public is rarely fully aware or aware in any detail, of what has been done on its behalf.

As the CGD report pointed out, “very few contracts between Chinese lenders and their government borrowers have ever been published or studied.” To make this a test case, we ask: which Guyanese citizen outside of senior government functionaries know anything beyond the number of millions or billions borrowed and from which agency? Here is another: which Guyanese expert or financial analyst, not inside the bowels of government, knows enough of those billions that we have borrowed in recent years? This cannot be good, and should not be.

We present an illustration. Since Guyana can now be fairly accurately described as a migrant nation, there have been the stories of citizens leaving people they thought trustworthy, to run their business for them, and with complete access to their assets, including bank accounts. We have heard the painful stories of what has happened in many instances, haven’t we? The projects left to be done are not completed in any satisfactory fashion, or at all. But the bank account is empty, with not a blind cent left. Something close enough has occurred with government after government (PNC, PPP, APNU+AFC) trusted by citizens voting for them, put in charge of natural resource assets, ended up borrowing billions, and both the monies borrowed and the assets are depleted and Guyanese getting nothing in return. Nothing in return, but the billions which they owe and must repay.

Recently, and confirming our position, leaders in the new PPP government have proudly announced borrowing billions from here and then of borrowing more billions from over there. It has been from this or that supranational lending agency, such as the World Bank and IDB; or, on a countryto-country basis, from China and India, among others. But that is all Guyanese know, have ever known: the amount borrowed for what and from where. The rest of the details are almost like a carefully guarded national security secret.

All citizens here know is that this is the total debt, and that taxes have to be increased to service the debt, or cannot be reduced because of all these staggering amounts of debt commitments.

While it is not surprising that Chinese lenders would insist upon non-disclosure clauses in debt contracts, it is surprising that such goes beyond China, through what the CGD report termed “unusual confidentiality clauses.” Since we, the Guyanese people are ultimately responsible for repayment, then, there should be nothing that is withheld from us, absolutely nothing that is so confidential that must be kept from us, so that we exist in darkness and ignorance.

The same goes for what prevails with debt owed to entities like the OECD and others. As the CGD report lamented,

As long as we bury our respective heads and pretend, reconciliation and healing will never happen Dear Editor, My original letter on the issue of rape in the Guyana National Service has started the dialogue and thus it has served the purpose of my intention. I recall my sister and I went to a function where we heard these young ladies talking about their preparation to go to National Service. They were talking about doing their hair and primping up their appearances, generally looking forward to going to National Service and we were shocked to the core. These were all of one race and at the same time the Indian girls, were mortified and dreading the day. Many parents who had influential jobs tried to get their kids off of doing the stint in the hinterland but with no success. Fathers openly wept as they bid their daughters goodbye on the boats. My own cousin was ordered to give six months in Kimbia and be allowed to stay and serve in the City for the last six months. He came out after six months and then he said Lewis took one look at him and sent him straight

back to Kimbia. Another of my peers who later had a senior position in the Energy sector related how his mother could not recognise him when he returned from Papaya. She closed the door on his face. He also related how he and some of his friends had to literally guard the Indian girls who were there, one of whom is presently married to a senior politician. A few second hand experiences but they all led up to me and many like me not being able to continue our natural progression of our education in Guyana.

I stated in my letter about the fears that I and many had. I brought up several topics that I said needed to be enquired into and documented about. National Service, the National Cultural Centre and the Wismar Massacre. Sadly, everyone since has ignored totally the latter two topics. National Service is easy to defend though. The ones who defend it seems to have had a great experience there and learnt how to be patriotic, just like their great leader wanted

them to. Did I and the many other like-minded Indians in Guyana who were anti Burnham and his maniacal endeavours then not patriotic? My late father, a Hindu and Indian rights activist that fought with his blood, sweat and put his life (and ours by extension) at risk many times, then is not patriotic according to these Burnhamites? Is it that patriotism in their eyes only reserved for those who obeyed that despot who was their leader and carried out his maniacal agenda? My dad came up with the idea to form an independent Hindu organisation when the main one came under the control of the Kabaka. The Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha was birthed after Dad called Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud after he was kicked out from the Maha Sabha. In his own words, at our Mandir just three weeks before Dad passed away, the late Pandit related how Jer (my Dad), called him at his home and asked what was he doing. And he (Pandit), replied nothing.

Then Dad said to him, let us

form our own Hindu Organisation. Pandit Reep then invited my father to come over to his home to discuss Dad’s suggestion and when Dad went over, there he was introduced to Uncle Harry Ramdass. It was the three of them who sat and explored the idea of my Father’s and thus the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha was birthed.

These three men, my dad Mohanlal Sahadeo, Harry Ramdass and Reepu Daman Persaud subsequently brought in others who made up the first Executive of the Sabha. (In the 10th Anniversary booklet for the Dharmic Sabha, the President in his address also referred to this when he stated that “at first he was reluctant to head the Organisation but he later acquiesced.”)

According to the ones who support National Service, patriotism seems to be planting cotton and beans and exporting to neighbouring countries, picking up guns and learning to fight/defend. I wonder, were any of these patriotic (Continued on page 6)

There should be a two-week lockdown because Covid cases are rising Dear Editor There has been a proposal in the public domain about a two-week lockdown.

Logistics here plays a big role, but we must first analyse a number of other factors and whether or not it is feasible to have a lockdown in Guyana, while accounting for expenditure and encompassing a macro, long term perspective of lowering / eradicating the virus: 1. Covid-19 has an incubation period of 14 days (the time it would take the body to display symptoms)

2. A complete lockdown can decrease Covid-19 cases significantly 3. With mass vaccinations being rolled out, it becomes easier in a lockdown for herd immunity to be achieved.

4. We can have temporary facilities set up in a decentralised manner to deal with potential Covid-19 cases.

5. Contact tracing & isolation can become more effective and a more accurate percentage of infected cases can be produced.

6. Measures can be put in place to ensure that citizen’s benefit from subsidies in

“Almost no OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and non-OECD lenders publicly release the text of their loan contracts. Nor do debtor governments.”

More and more, these lenders (and debtor governments) sound like the Mafia. The IMF has long earned such dishonour, but the OECD and China and others clearly belong in that same category. Like the Mafia, these international lenders are not friends, but dangerous entities creating lifetimes of debt. They are worse than the Mafia, since the debt dies when the debtor gets cut down. But with official lender agencies pretending at helpful partners, a nation’s debt continues generation after generation.

This is wrong, with much needed to clear the air, so that private citizens and experts can review these loan contracts and fully understand what is involved. We, the Guyanese people, need to know more and we so demand. This must be a condition of borrowings and on this, there cannot be the usual indifference. We must know more; we demand to know more.

utilities, and have provisions set up for them to benefit from goods and services during the lockdown.

But let us look on the flip side: 1. A lockdown costs a lot of money, accounting for expenditure on essential goods and services for the two week period – goods like basic grocery and other items that many who live on pay check to pay check may not afford to ration for that two week period, then we need to look at subsiding utilities like water, electricity and telephone services. We would also need to ascertain how many facilities we have and how many we can temporarily convert into Covid-19 units to meet the potential influx of covid patients – then we need to take into account things like transportation, essential medical items like ventilators, beds, masks, vaccines, sanitisers and incentives for frontline workers.

2. Covid-19 does not have a period of day when it can infect anyone, it affects everyone at any time of the day, even in and out of the Covid curfew, so let’s assume that we have a complete lockdown and we open back

and Covid cases begin to rise, as what happened with Barbados, the country will obviously lose billions.

3. The mentality of some Guyanese people are built on ignorance and generally it is innate in us to rebel against anything coercive – who’s to say that with a lockdown in place, there won’t be one or two ignorant people who would still leave their houses and have interactions with others like themselves?

4. We need to understand the interests of the private sector too, as their main purpose of existence is to make a profit. They are the ones who are going to be affected and we have clearly seen no encouragement from them to have a countrywide shutdown. So if it happens, how will they accept it? (Here is where political support will be tested.)

In conclusion, I am calling for a lockdown, and I would be more than happy to assist in proposing a plan on how to do so. Because Covid cases are rising and have been at their highest since September 2020, it’s time to put the people of this country first over anything else!

Yours truly, Chandradev Harripersaud

Tuesday April 20, 2021

The true spirit of Ramadan lies in abstaining from falsehood and evil Dear Editor, I would like to take this opportunity to say a few words about Ramadan.

Ramadan is a holy month in the Islamic calendar. Muslims around the world fast during this month. During the fast, they are not allowed to eat or drink anything from dawn to dusk.

But the true spirit of Ramadan lies in abstaining from falsehood and evil. As the Holy Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon him) has said, “If a person does not eschew falsehood and false conduct, Allah has no need that he should abstain from food and drink.” (Bukhari) Another purpose of fasting is to gain self-control.

During fast, we are supposed to have complete control over our emotions. As the Holy

Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon him) has said, “Fasting is a shield; so when one of you is fasting, he should neither indulge in obscene language nor should he raise his voice in anger. If someone attacks him or insults him, let him say, “I am fasting!”

(Muslim) Although there are many spiritual and physical benefits of fasting, one societal benefit of fasting is that it encourages us to care for the needy and poor people in our community.

When we abstain from food and drink, we share the pain of hunger. This way, everyone in the Muslim community can understand the feeling of a poor man who does not have sufficient food to eat or to feed his family.

Thus we are encouraged to

spend on the poor and needy in Ramadan just as Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) used to spend generously in the Holy Month of Ramadan.

By the grace of God, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is working together with Humanity First Guyana to share cooked meals to the street dwellers and needy people.

We also distribute food hampers to needy and poor families in the community.

These activities take place in the capital city and four other towns of Guyana. This way, we can uplift those who are weak and help them to get better. May God help us to spend Ramadan in the true spirit. Amen.

Yours truly, Maqsood A. Mansoor

I hope the Vice President will consider the Mitsubishi gas study Dear Editor, The article titled, “Japanese study said gas-topower viable” (SN April 18) is both enlightening and timely.

It requires some selfcorrection here and adjustment now that this new piece of information is available.

I thank SN, amidst the uneven discourses (not a proper discussion) surrounding a likely gargantuan gas-to-shore project decided upon immovably for Wales.

I have said publicly before that I am for a gas-to-shore project, but on the condition of an independent and credible study that can be trusted.

I cannot support because government leaders say so, for leaders have said many things, which we regret and pay harsh prices.

Based on existing studies, still not fully disclosed, I signalled my preference for a site at Clonbrook first and in the Berbice area second; the first because of the straighter line, the second because of deep-water port and economic zone offshoot possibilities.

Now being duly informed

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Kaieteur News

by the essence of this government commissioned 2019 Japanese study, I must reconcile what is now known with what I endorsed before, what may not be the best option, be it Clonbrook or Berbice.

Alternatively, to the possible dismay of the Hon. Vice President, Wales either.

My emphasis is on what presents Guyanese with the project that is the best possible option. I regret not telling the Hon. Vice President what he wants to hear, what he has contemptuously called a ‘no brainer.’

What the 2019 Japanese study enlightened all Guyanese to, including the Vice President is that onshore is of a little less viability than offshore.

The cents are small, but they are there and they add up. I notice that they are curiously close to the numbers that the Vice President has bandied about rather proudly and sometimes querulously.

To be clear, I trust the Japanese and an entity like Mitsubishi that recommends offshore rather than onshore.

To be clearer still, I do not trust the Vice President at all

and that is on anything; particularly on something as monumental and as costly as a gas-to-shore project. He likes big numbers and big projects; rather peculiarly, he dislikes intensely the associated big disclosures.

That offshore study should have been publicised from the inception and a final decision made by the coalition or this succeeding government in favour of what resulted.

Again, it is that offshore is a more viable choice than onshore. Undoubtedly, the latter has its share of pluses, but those are aced by offshore. Now that we have the bottom-line recommendation from this reputable study, it is perplexing that the Vice President still barrels impatiently and furiously forward with onshore and Wales.

I hope that he will not dismiss the Mitsubishi people as lacking altogether in brain cells. I will leave alone that this study and this recommendation were concealed from the Guyanese public.

Yours truly, GHK Lall

There is need to focus on the cultural aspect of development to retain indigenous identity Dear Editor, The election season for village leaders or Toshaos in Guyana is around the corner, May 2021. Most villages have already had nominations of candidates and these days, Amerindians –and particularly those in Moruca, the eldest and largest community in the country – are evaluating and campaigning for the leader of their choice to serve for the next three years.

On the campaign trail, all candidates pontificate about the rhetoric of “development” thus on this concept I wish to give a brief analysis. However, before I do so, please don’t get me wrong – I am not against development, I am only concern how it is planned and executed by leaders in my community, because the development model community leaders want for villages these days is based on a one-sided system that contemporary society promotes. Conventional development comes with, for example, consequences of the throwaway culture in which unwanted items such as old cars, old stoves, old batteries and solar panels can be seen disposed around homes, polluting the environment.

On the flipside, while there are good aspects from this development model, there is need to include the indigenous worldview that consists of the local knowledge and wisdom of elders to incorporate them with modernity in order not to lose vital cultural traditions, which elders have kept over the years in the community. We have seen consequences of this onesided development where some of our traditional practices have been rapidly fading away including the local Lokono language, which is in extinction as a result of previous leaders who believed that such model was the best to govern by.

There is need to develop the cultural aspect in order to

maintain our indigenous identity as a people advancing in the modern world. Furthermore, while this model of development over the years transformed Santa Rosa, the negatives have surpassed the positives by far. There, concomitantly grave social ills have emerged, such as exaggerated drugs and alcohol consumption, the rise in juvenile delinquency, the Haves and majority Havenots, and a growing number of persons becoming junkies caused by the abuse of drugs and alcohol to name a few in the process of modernity and advancement.

These social ills occurring in my homeland, the “fastest developing” Amerindian community in Guyana calls for a holistic approach to development: this requires a well-prepared village council to work collectively with stakeholders, example churches, et cetera, to address the social issues and render humanitarian services to the less fortunate and shutin at homes in Moruca. In this way, advancement means addressing the issues of human and also environmental aspects in the community to balance it with material development.

These can be a challenge to achieve for the leaders, because the current model of development promotes individualism, competition and power drunk people who are appeased and prone to waver to pressure from outside. Nevertheless, as Moruca advances in upward mobility, my people should also be promoting an empowerment education programme from the grass root level, which is paramount to sustain some of the indigenous customs, still practice there. There is need to educate villagers on The

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) that deals with promotion of indigenous culture and languages. There is also the importance to be educated on the Amerindian Act 2006, to learn how the State has an ambivalent approach to it regarding Indigenous people in Guyana, and also the Mining, Forestry and Environment Acts that our people need to be educated on.

While development brings services such as roads, education and health etc., it should also mean living happily where there are no crimes and violence, and where everyone is comfortable and employed and have access to higher education. On this note, it be would excellent if leaders and the people of Moruca can organise and plan to acquire better internet service and eventually seek assistance from government in establishing online degree programmes from the University of Guyana and other foreign universities at the secondary school at Santa Rosa, so that young people can enjoy the benefits of higher education using modern technology as they contribute to the advancement of their community.

In concluding, I wish to thank the current Toshao, Mrs. Whanita Phillips, who worked diligently in advancing Santa Rosa during her three years stint, and also wish the candidates contesting for the leadership of my village best of luck, for whoever wins to continue building where the previous leader left off, but with a holistic development approach for Moruca.

Yours truly, Morucan [Name provided]

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Tuesday April 20, 2021

Kaieteur News

Rejected Gecom Chair nominees should get an apology Dear Editor, Over 18 prominent individuals were on three or four lists of nominees submitted by then Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, for one to be selected as Chair by then President, David Granger, after Dr. Steve Surujbally resigned sometime around 2017. It was a very broad spectrum of nominees after wide consultation with the public. All of them were rebuffed by Granger as not being “fit and proper” for the job. They should, at a minimum, get some kind of recognition for agreeing to serve the country only to be

rebuffed as unqualified for the post.

The Constitution states that the Chair should be someone with a judicial background or anyone who the President considers as “fit and proper.” The Constitution also specifies that the President must select someone from a list (or lists) of six nominees submitted by the Opposition Leader.

The Constitution was violated – Granger rejected all of Jagdeo’s nominees (three lists of six) as not fit and proper for the post. They were held in disrepute by the then President ostensibly because

Sand truck operators should be treated as essential workers Dear Editor, We, the sand truck operators, who utilise the East Bank Demerara Corridor leading from the Linden/ Soesdyke Highway, continue to be perturbed by the level of discrimination meted out against us on a regular basis by the powers that be in our service to the construction sector.

For five days a week, we are subjected to blatant and shameless approaches taken by members of the Guyana Police Force, as we struggle to maintain a livelihood in this raging pandemic.

For hours each morning, we are forced to park our trucks and give way to the other vehicles, thereby limiting our productivity and service to our clients and their contractors, who greatly depend on our services.

If sand truck operators are not allowed to operate freely, it will cast the entire construction sector in disarray. How will contractors work? How can the masons, carpenters, labourers provide for their families, who are already struggling in this pandemic?

While the government boasts of a construction

boom, the movement of sand trucks are being limited. How can we achieve productivity in the construction sector when the most vital component to construction – sand – cannot be delivered in a timely and adequate manner to our clients?

Many of us who desire to fulfill our obligations to our clients opt to leave the comfort of our homes to go to the pits at 3am, sometimes 1am, to load. We are stopped by ranks along the East Bank Demerara and threatened to be charged for flouting COVID-19 regulations. We also leave at these wee hours in the morning because it allows us to utilise the Demerara Harbour Bridge freely so as to maximise the number of trips we make.

We cannot operate in the slow hours and we also cannot operate during the rush hours, so when should we operate? We are asking the powers that be for us to be treated as essential workers, given the important service we provide to the construction sector and this country.

Yours truly, Sand Truck Operators

they were not judges or lawyers. Major Joe Singh, who previously served as Gecom Chair, was also rendered as not being fit and proper for the post.

Granger insisted on a judge or lawyer being selected as Chair. None of the previous Gecom chairs, since the restoration of democracy in 1992, was a judge or a lawyer. Granger did not want any judge, but one he preferred –we all know what happened from March thru July 2019. He nominated and selected his own Chair of Gecom, James Patterson, in violation of the Constitution.

The High Court and the Appeal Court agreed with the President that he could make

his own appointment. Justice, Rishi Persaud, dissented. The CCJ overturned the (2-1) majority ruling ordering the President to follow the Constitution.

It took Granger weeks to address the CCJ’s ruling.

Patterson held on to the post for a week instead of resigning right away on June 19, 2019 after the ruling was made. Jagdeo presented additional names to Granger beyond the 18 previously submitted. Finally, he and the President agreed upon Retired Justice, Claudette Singh, as the new Chair.

Going by the CCJ’s ruling, all the persons nominated by Jagdeo for the position of Gecom Chair were all fit and

proper for the position. Their rejection is a blot on their character. Some are very eminent and distinguished professionals without any political baggage – like L a w r e n c e Latchmansingh, Ramesh Dookhoo, Christopher Ram, Rhyaan Shah, James Rose, Gerry Gouveia, Joseph Singh, Annette ArjoonMartins, Justice BS Roy, Kashir Khan, Justice Krishnadatt Persaud, Justice William Ramlall, Nadia Sagar, among others. They are owed some kind of formal apology and or recognition for their invaluable contribution to and agreeing to serve the nation. These individuals volunteered to serve as

Gecom Chair. They wished nothing but the best for the nation. In fact, some of them are now serving in state appointments. Others should also be approached in recognition of their competence and professionalism.

President, Irfaan Ali, should send each one of the rejected nominees for Gecom chair a letter or certificate thanking them for agreeing to serve the country.

Alternatively, or in addition, their names should be recognised in Parliament via a motion acknowledging their acceptance as nominees as Gecom chair.

Yours truly, Dr. Vishnu Bisram

...As long as we bury our respective heads From page 4 folks ever sent by their esteemed leader to defend our borders when he started the “Not a Blade of Grass,” issue? On the other hand, Dad helped many of those who were starving, using his influence and connections as a businessman to help those who could not get basic rights like getting a passport; he bailed people out when law enforcement decided to flex their muscles and arrested and beat the crap out of some random person for no explanation; I can go on and on. Many stories of how and what Dad did to help many defenceless Guyanese were also told to us, his kids, when he passed away suddenly.

This missive is not to praise Dad but it is to try to decipher what is really patriotism in the Guyanese context according to the minds of some Guyanese. Is it following a psychotic dictator achieve his sick desire to suppress anyone who opposed his racist agenda or is it helping the lives of Guyanese and preserving the culture and religion of its people? While Dad did so much for Indians and Hindus, no one could accuse him of practicing racism either. He was one of

the few Indian businessmen who had mostly people of African descent employed at his store and on his fishing boats. Many of his peers used to question him about this and he ignored their warnings and fears.

Dr. Bisram has been writing about the hardship during Burnham times and how it affected the lives of Hindus especially. Youths today do not know of the privations, sacrifice and shame many faced to get this generation to where they are today. We need to keep on writing and relating the hurtful truth. I remember going to the many mandirs all over Guyana with Dad and listening to the sufferings of the people who were afraid for their safety, were struggling to get by with basic necessities. They could not afford to or was afraid to get flour to make parsad and pholouri and only could bring some plantain chips to offer.

My siblings were greeted by a group of people waiting outside our place of business every morning...not customers but people coming from all over Guyana who had problems and had nowhere else to turn. They came to Dad as they knew he would never let them go back “bare hand” and without help.

Dad was deeply offended when Burnham stole the money from the Indian Immigration Fund and financed the building of the National Culture Center. Dad

refused to enter that building for many years and only started going when my sister and I convinced him that even though no one has ever acknowledged this, that that building belongs to the descendants of all of us Indians in Guyana. As I mentioned before, this is not to praise Dad, it is to question what patriotism is. Just like how Annan mentioned, many of us hold things close to our hearts and do not talk about trauma especially or do we boast about our achievements. It is part of our culture. Dad never sang his own praises and even while some took credit for his own ideas and others stole them, he never fought for recognition. I have never ever seen a human so selfless like my Father. He told Dr. Cheddie Jagan that he is staying to help him. This was at the 40th Anniversary of Dr. Jagan as a Parliamentarian.

Dad organised this function, which was held at the L.B.I., mandir. People did not want to participate and I sang and the temples on the East Coast of Demerara who were under Dad’s leadership, participated. At that time, very few were interested in supporting Dr. Jagan even just to sing at a function to honour him. Because of his close association with Dr. Jagan and his pivotal role in the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, Dad’s life was threatened. He was never

afraid though and my siblings and I lived with the fear that he is going to be murdered or assassinated. While his peers and ours were bailing out of Guyana, Dad stayed and kept his family with him and turned down many opportunities to settle abroad.

Many Guyanese have selected amnesia and pretend all is well. Neither PPP nor PNC has the fortitude or interest to inquire about the many incidents of rape and brutality linked to the National Service. There will be no record of this dark side of Guyana. Neither would talk about the Wismar Genocide.

And I wonder if many remember how Burnham built the National Cultural Centre when he hosted Carifesta?

Last of all, my brother Tacuma, in his reply to my letter agreed with the parts that suited his narrative and I will not judge him. I know him from his days as Colin. I know of his history in politics, most of which were told by Aunty Gladys. He is one of the many unsung patriots of Guyana. I welcome his support for us to inquire into and investigate our history. There are many incidents that need to be investigated. However, as long as we bury our respective heads and pretend that it was not so, reconciliation and subsequent healing will never happen.

Yours truly, N. Sahadeo

T N U L B . . .

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L B T LUNT.. UNT...B BL B Tuesday April 20, 2021

Kaieteur News

Even as the COVID hospital bursts at the seams, Government continues to operate as though it is doing a remarkable job of containing COVID-19.

But in much the way the little child was brave enough to tell the Emperor he was wearing no clothes, we at this publication are bold enough to let Government know that it is not doing a 'perfectly splendid' job in handling this contagion.

Although we understand, and quite well too, that a healthy economy is needed to foster development, of what use will be such an achievement when all of our people are incapacitated, or worse, dead?

People are being infected in droves and the deaths are constant.

As such, dear Government, we ask of you, isn't it time that drastic measures are employed to save what's left of our declining population?

PAGE 07

Kaieteur News

PAGE 08

Tuesday April 20, 2021

GPL failed to maintain transmission lines in past four years T

he Guyana Power and Light (GPL) have failed to maintain its transmission lines over the past four years, a situation that has to be remedied immediately, according to Head of State, President, Irfaan Ali. He was at the time addressing a simple ceremony at the Office of the President to swear in a fourth Commissioner on the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), Dr. Nanda Kishore Gopaul.

According to the President, “I had cause only two days ago to make a comment that GPL did not maintain any of its facilities for almost four consecutive years.”

The lines, he emphasised, “were not

…will intensify upgrades ahead of power generation boost - President Ali maintained, their system was not maintained” and “today we have to correct that.”

Empowered by the Public Utilities Commission Act, the President said that the PUC, among other things, is required to ensure that every public utility maintains its property and equipment, “in such condition that enables service that is adequate, e ff i c i e n t , n o n discriminatory, affordable and safe.”

On this note, he pointed to concerns at GPL, which were recently brought to his

attention.

President Ali has since reiterated his government's commitment to support the work of the PUC and expand and improve the quality of public services provided to citizens.

The work of the PUC, he said, is expected to intensify as Guyana enters a new phase of its development, “one which has already witnessed the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector and plans are ahead for boosting power generation and water supply.”

The President used the occasion to express confidence that Dr. Gopaul's stellar record of public service and wealth of experience will be an asset to the PUC. The PUC, he reminded, is tasked with regulatory, investigatory, enforcement and other functions conferred upon it by the PUC Act and other laws, including the Guyana Energy Agency Act, the Electricity Sector Reform A c t a n d t h e Telecommunications Act. The President noted that determining the effectiveness of the PUC's service can be achieved by examining the quality of services consumers receive, examining the work done to protect their interests and ensuring that they are receiving what they pay for.

Dr. Gopaul joins Chairperson, Dela Britton and three other Commissioners, Dr. Leyland Lucas, Verlyn Klass and Rajendra Bisessar.

A GPL work crew during a maintenance activity

OSH Officers to monitor Oil rigs and FPSOs after adequate training

O

ccupational Safety and Health (OSH) Officers will be able to do their part in monitoring G u y an a' s o il an d g as industry after undergoing adequate training.

The Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, while speaking to Kaieteur News yesterday, related this.

Earlier this month, at the launch of OSH month, Hamilton had explained that in Guyana there are no officers to inspect oil rigs and floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels. This, he had said, is because the officers would first have to be trained on how to inspect and what to inspect, adding, “it's not a joy ride with a helicopter.”

In light of this lack in capacity, Hamilton had revealed that government was ready to engage a

Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton remedial plan.

Currently the Ministry of Labour has nine officers within its employ but they are not yet trained for the sector. However, Hamilton shared that the Ministry is in

talks with companies to have the requisite training done.

They will have to look at the costing and other factors, but once those talks are finalised and training begins, the officers will be trained in OSH at the highest level to monitor not only the oil and gas industry but the other sectors as well.

Hamilton also disclosed that the Ministry is in the process of hiring 21 officers to expand the labour force, which will see them also being efficiently trained in OSH. He added, that since most of the OSH training will focus on oil and gas, if all things go well, the country could see adequately trained officers by year-end.

According to the Labour Minister, last year a joint technical committee was established with the United States oil giant, (continued on page 14)

Kaieteur News

Tuesday April 20, 2021

PAGE 09

A long way from the prize!

A

fter a person connected with t h e Wo r k i n g People's Alliance (WPA) was caught with a false bottom suitcase, containing a telescopic rifle, at the Ti m e h r i I n t e r n a t i o n a l Airport and later convicted and jailed for the offence, concerns were raised as to the intention of the weapon.

At the time, the talk in the street was that the weapon might have been imported to be used to target Burnham.

If Burnham's security were on edge then, they were on tenterhooks afterwards.

The President's security became paranoid. Burnham cancelled a community visit to Agricola after he was advised that the main entrance and exit was the same road.

After the incident with the man with the telescopic rifle, whenever Burnham spoke at the Square of the Revolution, there were always security lookouts on top of the Takuba Lodge building which housed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Burnham was scared as hell but he tried to dismiss the threat publicly by saying, “Shooting me is a waste; another Rasta gan tek meh place.”

Burnham eventually succumbed in 1985 to heart problems. He had a heart condition for a long time and it acted up during throat surgery.

He is believed to have suffered a heart attack during the surgery and died.

No person of similar ideological disposition took his place. The person who

Dem

boys seh...

G

uyana giving up more taxes dan it collecting. Dat gat to make tax reform a big joke.

And each year people asking fuh more tax concessions. De man who did name after de river, bin impose VAT pun nuff things.

And de new government decide dat dem gan remove most of dem taxes.

But dem doing it piecemeal because dem too gat people wah also asking fuh tax exemption.

It mek dem boys remember de story of de man

took over promised to follow in his footsteps but changed course. The PNC could not find another Burnham to take the Founder Leader's place.

It is easy to elect an individual to be leader of the PNC/R. The PNC/R elected Hoyte after Burnham's death (for a short time Dr. Reid was leader). After Hoyte's death, they elected Robert Corbin.

And after the defeat of Corbin in the General and Regional elections of 2006, the PNC/R elected David Granger.

Presently, a number of names are being thrown into the mix for the position of PNC/R leader if and when the next Congress of the party is held. And the talk is about finding a new leader in the party.

If the PNC/R however is to regain any credibility, it cannot find any leader. The party needs a remake, a genuine remake. Simply changing the leader is not going to allow for such a process.

What the party needs is a new crop of leaders to restore legitimacy and credibility to the party.

The PNC/R has to face reality. Because of the shenanigans, which it engaged in after 2nd March, it has given Irfaan Ali a third term. The incumbent President is virtually guaranteed a virtual walkover in the next elections in 2025.

The Guyanese people would have grave reservations about trusting the PNC/R to accept the democratic will of the

people. The PNC/R actions after the polls closed on 2nd March last year has left a bitter taste in the mouths of democratic-minded Guyanese.

The party appeared bent on winning the elections by hook or crook. It disgraced itself locally and internationally by claiming that it had won the elections and then later claiming that it has been cheated.

The PNC/R faces a credibility crisis. It is now viewed widely in Guyana and outside of Guyana as not having a democratic bone. If the PNC/R however hopes to regain power, it can only do so through a democratic process.

However, not all those persons who were involved in the plot to rig the 2020 elections can be trusted with leading the PNC/R. As such, there has to be a fresh leadership. Anyone associated with the party's shenanigans, from March to August last year, cannot be part of the remake of the party.

So it is not a case of finding a new leader. It is not about finding a new leader so much as it is about finding a new slate, which can be distanced from the shenanigans of 2020.

It is a case of sweeping aside all those who were tainted by the elections of 2020. The party has to make a fresh start with a new slate of leaders demonstrably committed to democratic politics.

A new cohort of leaders is needed within the PNC/R. This group will have to show

Smarter de govt., wiser de population! from Israel who was leaving Russia to return home. At de Russian customs' table, de officials found a bust of Vladimir Lenin.

Dey asked de man, “What is this?”

The Israeli replied, “What kind of question is that? It is Lenin, the founding father of socialism. I bring him home as a reminder of my good time in Russia!”

The officials, impressed by the answer, said: “OK, you can go.”

Later, at Tel Aviv, de customs officials saw de bust and asked, “What is this?”

The Israeli man replied, “What kind of question is that? It is Lenin, the guy who invented socialism.

I left Russia because of him. He is to remind me of my terrible time over there!”

The officials, impressed by the answer, said, “OK, you can go.”

The Israeli arrived home.

Many people came to visit him.

One of his nephews asked, “Who is this?”

The Israeli replied, “What kind of question is that? It is 10kg of gold, which is taxfree!

that they are genuinely committed to respecting democracy.

And not only will this group have to be able to win control over the leadership of the party, but it will have to present itself to the public as representing change by distancing itself from those

who brought shame and disgrace to the country.

Unfortunately, there is no such group, which is likely to emerge within the PNC/R. And therefore it will be left to David Granger to assume the responsibility of rebuilding and preparing the party for a long stay in the

Opposition.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

Kaieteur News

PAGE 10

Tuesday April 20, 2021

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

Johnny Mathis sings about the key at the AFC's funeral T

he AFC had been in power five years during which I must have produced about 2,000 columns of which hundreds, I repeat, literally hundreds may have been caustic, tempestuous and academic condemnations of the dead meat the AFC became after it teamed up with the PNC and WPA to share state power. The term dead meat is not mine but was coined by the leader, Khemraj Ramjattan.

There has been a deluge

of resignations since the legal and fair defeat of the APNU+AFC in the March general election last year.

The media have continued to highlight this exodus. What has not made the news is that there have been literally hundreds of unwritten resignations, meaning people have gone but they are so contemptuous of the cock-eyed (figuratively speaking) leaders in the AFC that they just could not be bothered with sending in a piece of paper.

Take Trevor Williams; he is as high profile as any on the list of resignations since the electoral defeat. Williams told me he is long gone and he wrote a resignation letter since last year, planned to take it to Ramjattan but has not seen it as urgent. The Williams attitude tells a story of two types of resignations.

One is paper based. Here you have a document with a signature saying, “I'm done.”

The other resignation is non-existent but it exists. It is not a paper document. It is

not a voice emanation. It is action based. The action of the person tells you he/she is gone from the organisation. The most important manifestation of the second type of resignation is Leonard Craig.

Craig was the Deputy General Secretary and regarded as the person closest to joining the hierarchy of the AFC, dominated by the gang of six – Alstrom Stewart from Jamaica and in Guyana, Dominic Gaskin, Raphael Trotman, Khemraj Ramjattan, David Patterson (aka - mountain climber because he climbed the gate of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre and got stuck) and Cathy Hughes (aka, the Russian lady after her exclamation that the Russians came to rig the election in March).

Craig has tendered no resignation of any type but Craig is gone from the AFC. I have been informed that many executive and second tier leaders like Craig are gone (to Cove and John as they said when I was a little boy) or very inactive, very distant from the AFC or have ridden off into the sunset.

I have been informed that three AFC parliamentarians may give up their seats in 2022 thus quitting politics. I have been informed that at the forthcoming June congress,

Raphael Trotman, will not be contesting any Frederick Kissoon leadership position. I have two personal Yes, it's over, the kids are friends that live right next door gone to the AFC's head office – What's the use of trying to Dawn and Raymond Persaud. hang on I visit them often. You have to Somewhere we lost the key see the AFC's head office.

So little left for you and me No one has been to that And it's clear to see place in months. You can see Too much, too little the cobwebs hanging all over Too late to lie again with the place. There is no question you about it – wood ants are eating Too much, too little out the headquarters of the Too late to try again with AFC. The only person that you used to visit the building was We're in the middle of former Indigenous Affairs ending Minister, Garido Lowe. This Something that we knew was shortly after the new Was over government was elected. Oh, it was over Since November last year, Too much, too little, she has not been seen going Too late to ever try again there. No one goes there.

Too much, too little The truth is that the AFC Too late, let's end it being is dead. Do you know there is a friends big Johnny Mathis hit that is Too much, too little amazingly relevant in Too late, we knew it had to describing the death of the end AFC? The key is the symbol of And, it's over the AFC and listen to Mathis' It's over use of the word, “key.” The Yes, it's over, the chips are song's title is, “Too much, too down little, too late.” I have included Nearly all our bridges the lyrics to show you the tumbled down amazing relevance.

Whatever chance we try “Guess it's over, call it a Let's face it widened eye day It's over” Sorry that it had to end this (The views expressed in way this article are those of the No reason to pretend author and do not necessarily We knew it had to end some reflect the opinions of this day, this way newspaper.)

Tuesday April 20, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 11

Kaieteur News

PAGE 12

Tuesday April 20, 2021

Repeat offender gets Opposition MP tables questions another fraud charge about new Police PR Dept.

A

2 4 - y e a r- o l d businessman, w h o h a d previously faced the court on multiple occasions for fraud related charges, yesterday made another court appearance after he was slapped with a new fraud charge.

The defendant, Micah Sonaram, of Lot 2273 Flying Fish Street, North Ruimveldt, Georgetown, appeared before Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan, in the Georgetown Magistrates' Courts with his lawyer, Latchmie Rahamat.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge, which alleges that on November 4, 2020 at North Road, Georgetown, while being solely entrusted with $7 million by Steve De Costa to purchase and deliver one excavator, he fraudulently converted the money to his own use and benefit.

Charged: Micah Sonaram In her address to the court, Rahamat stated that the charge against her client is not valid, since he was charged for the same offence during a previous court hearing. The lawyer then made a bail application for her client that he be released on a reasonable amount of bail.

The police prosecutor then informed the court that the Director of Public

Prosecution (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, S.C., had issued a letter to discontinue the previous matter, citing the fact, that the police charged Sonaram under the wrong section of the Criminal Law Offences Act. Chief Magistrate McLennan granted the defendant bail in the sum of $50,000 and he is expected to make his next court appearance on May 10, 2021.

According to reports, last month Sonaram faced three similar charges, after he reportedly defrauded several persons using his social media business page, Parts Zone Gy, which advertises that he ships parts and machinery.

Prior to that, he was slapped with two fraud charges, which alleged that he defrauded persons of over $ 11 m i l l i o n . D u r i n g December 2020, he was charged for defrauding a businessman of $4.5 million and in 2017; he was charged for defrauding another man of over $5.8 million.

Deputy CCU Deputy Director, Stan Gouveia

O

pposition Member of Parliament and Shadow Home Affairs Minister, Geeta ChandanEdmond, has tabled several questions in the National Assembly concerning the newly established Corporate Communications Unit (CCU) of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

Kaieteur News understands that the MP tabled a total of eight questions and those questions surround the implementation of the CCU.

Shadow Home Affairs Minister, Geeta Chandan-Edmond The Shadow Minister is asking the Minster of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, whether or not the CCU was created in accordance with the Standing Orders of the Force, among several other inquiries.

This publication was able to confirm yesterday that the questions were submitted to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir.

The Director of the CCU is former Guyana Chronicle E d i t o r- i n - C h i e f , M a r k

CCU Director, Mark Ramotar Ramotar and his Deputy Director is broadcaster, Stan Gouveia. In the past, the GPF Public Relations (PR) Department was headed by serving members of the Force, who were trained in communications and public relations.

However, earlier this year the GPF announced the appointment of two civilians to run the Force's PR Department. Those appointments are now being questioned by the Shadow Home Affairs Minister.

Kaieteur News

Tuesday April 20, 2021

PAGE 13

Two charges for DJ who stabbed 'Selector' ‘Selector Yannick' (right) and 'DJ Raw Gold' working together in happier times at the HJ Radio studio

GRANTED BAIL: Clyde Watson aka 'DJ Raw Gold'

INJURED: Andrew Williams aka 'Selector Yannick'

“Raw Gold”, a part-time DJ who had allegedly stabbed his 'Selector' to the face during an argument in a local radio studio, was yesterday slapped with two charges.

The defendant, Clyde Watson popularly known as “DJ Raw Gold”, a customs broker of Second Street, South West Cummings Lodge, Georgetown, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates' Court before Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus.

Watson was charged for allegedly assaulting a woman, Melissa Duke, on April 10, 2021 at Lance Gibbs Street. It is alleged too, that at the same location and o n t h e s a m e d a y, h e unlawfully and maliciously wounded Marlon Williams also known as 'Selector Yannick'.

He pleaded not guilty to both charges and was granted $55,000 bail. Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus also placed him on a bond.

A bond means that if the defendant (Watson) is caught in another altercation with the victims, while the matter is ongoing, he could be sentenced to prison. Watson is expected to make his next court appearance on May 3, 2021.

Kaieteur News had reported that on Saturday April 10, last, Watson had stabbed his 'Selector' to the face with a broken Guinness bottle.

The stabbing incident reportedly took place around 20:45hrs in the Hits and Jams (HJ) Radio studio located on Lance Gibbs Street, Queenstown, Georgetown.

Based on new information received by this newspaper, Watson had allegedly “pushed down” Duke, before wounding Williams.

Watson had reportedly started an argument with Duke which became physical.

Williams, who was nearby, had reportedly intervened.

Watson, according to the reports, then turned his attention to Williams. He reportedly picked up a Guinness bottle and lashed Williams to the face, breaking it in the process.

Watson then allegedly used the broken bottle to stab Williams at least four times before running away.

Another individual, who had witnessed the stabbing, had recorded a video with his cell phone showing blood splatters on the walls and floors of the HJ Radio studio as he called for help.

HJ 94.1 had explained that Williams and Watson are independent DJs and were paying for air time to broadcast their weekend programme.

Following the incident, HJ announced that it had taken a decision to suspend the programme and its hosts from its airwaves.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 14

Tuesday April 20, 2021

Application filed in High Court for release of SoPs, SoRs in criminal case against Lowenfield, others A

n application has been filed in the High Court for the release of Statements of Poll (SoPs) and Statements of Return (SoRs) in relation to the March 2, 2020 Regional and General Elections.

This application relates to the private criminal charges brought against the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)

officers over their alleged misconduct during the elections.

At present, the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield; the Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Roxane Meyers and the Returning Officer (RO) for District Four, Clairmont Mingo, are facing charges of Misconduct in Public Office in the Magistrates' Court.

According to the document drafted by lawyers: Darshan Ramdhani, QC, Glen Hanoman and Ganesh Hira, who are among the list of prosecutors on the case, a request is now being made for an order from the High Court directing the Registrar to make photocopies of the SoPs lodged in her possession by GECOM's CEO.

The document states further that the applicants in the matter, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, S.C. and the Commissioner of Police (Ag), Nigel Hoppie, are requesting an order directing the Registrar to certify the photocopies of the SoPs made by her as being true copies of the original and taking other actions and steps as may be lawful,

Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield necessary and appropriate to render the photocopies admissible in a court of law.

The applicants are seeking an order directing the Registrar to make photocopies of the SoRs lodged in her possession by the CEO of GECOM for the General and Regional Elections held on March2, 2020; and an order directing the Registrar to certify the photocopies of the SoRs, taking other actions and steps as may be lawful, necessary and appropriate to render the photocopies admissible in a court of law.

A d d i t i o n a l l y, t h e applicants have asked the Court to grant any order that may be necessary to facilitate the obtaining of the certified photocopies of the SoPs and SoRs of the March 2, 2020 Regional and General elections in a lawful manner.

As part of the grounds of the application, the document stipulates that both the Commissioner of Police and DPP, by virtue of the Constitution, are legally empowered to apply for the SoPs and SoRs given their

supervisory role in the holding of election and the conduct of all criminal prosecution in Guyana. The court document states too, that the tabulations of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional elections did not go smoothly.

The grounds outlined further that as a result of the issues over the tabulation, private criminal charges were instituted against officers of GECOM, the constitutional agency charged with the conduct of the elections.

C o n s e q u e n t l y, t h e Guyana Police Force (GPF) subsequently conducted an investigation and thereafter the DPP received statement and documentary evidence from members of the GPF and advised charges based thereon, against several members of GECOM including the CEO, DCEO and Returning Officer for District Four. According to the application, the information forms relevant evidence for the prosecution to prove the Commission of the offences, which are charged.

As such, the DPP had instructed the (GPF) to obtain the SoPs and SoRs as part of the investigation and the gathering of evidence for presentation in Court as those are necessary for the fair hearing of the charges.

Further, it states that pursuant to the Representation of the People Act, the SoPs are required to be delivered to the CEO at GECOM. These documents are public records and there should be no restriction to the police obtaining copies of the said records.

“By Common law and statute namely section 50 of (continued on page 20)

OSH Officers to monitor Oil rigs and FPSOs after adequate...

From page 8 ExxonMobil, which is currently operating in Guyana. He explained that generally, there is OSH monitoring, but in the oil and gas industry, Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) monitoring is more common.

With the joint committee in place, it is expected that there will be knowledge sharing as it relates to HSSE. At the OSH launch,

Hamilton was also keen to note that many private sector entities in the oil and gas business have also been lending a helping hand to the government. The Minister revealed too, that joint technical committees have been established with the Maritime Administration Department and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, in a bid to ensure all the various sectors are adequately covered.

Tuesday April 20, 2021

Kaieteur News

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Tuesday April 20, 2021

$20M budgeted for rehab of Black Bush Polder seed drying facility

By Malisa Playter-Harry

B

uilt in 2009, a seed drying facility located at Lesbeholden, Black Bush Polder, Berbice, was left abandoned since it was set up. During a tour of the facility on Saturday last, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, who was accompanied by a team, saw that the structure was overgrown with vines and grass. Dust and cobweb were there in abundance as well.

The Minister described the dilapidated structure as “very disappointing” even as he drew attention to the fact that “it was not put into operation.” He expressed shock at the condition of the facility's dryer, processing plant and generator.

Following his assessment of the facility, Minister Mustapha instructed that the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and the Rice Producers' Association (RPA) work together in order to ascertain the cost to “bring

back the facility.” Some $20M has been budgeted to execute rehabilitation works on the facility, the Minister disclosed.

“I want this facility to come into use because we are having a lot of demands now for seed paddy. For last year we have launched a new variety of seed paddy, the GRDB-16, and those are in demand.” People on the Corentyne, the Minister said, will need those paddy and such processing facilities will be required.

“If you look around, GRDB is doing the experiment field that they have and there is a part that what we did at Burma they are doing here, the biofortified rice. That is a very important variety of rice because it has a lot of health benefits, it has zinc in it (and) other health benefits, so we are now in the trial stage,” Minister said.

With optimism he said, “...this time around when we rehabilitate it, we can have it for the benefit of the farmers and the RPA will play a role

Minister Mustapha engaging with RPA President, Leka Rambridge, in the facility

to get it done.” Additionally, he pointed out that the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) will have to be “more aggressive” in the work that it does.

“If you look at the building over there (building next to the seed drying plant), vine is taking over the building and that is why the former CEO, he should have seen (to it) that these things are in a better state. When you go around the country

The seed drying facility to be rehabilitated

The generator

The Minister with RPA President and others on the drying floor

these are the things that we are finding out now, I went to Timehri, 63 and other nurseries and its horrifying to see certain things that I am seeing.”

According to the Minister, he has tasked the new CEO acting at NAREI, Jagnarine Singh, to oversee plans for the building. “I want this building to be cleaned, set into a proper state and we can have someone living here to take care of these facilities,” Minister

Mustapha stated.

An estimate for the works to be completed is expected as soon as next week, this publication was informed.

Currently, there is one functioning seed drying facility in Berbice (Region Six). It is located at Number 56 Village. In addition, there are currently six seed drying floors in the Region, with three being located at Black Bush Polder and one each at Bengal Village, Number 56 and Crabwood Creek.

The NAREI building that will also be fixed

Kaieteur News

Tuesday April 20, 2021

PAGE 19

Key things to know about COVID-19 vaccines “Get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you can,” is the advice being proffered by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States. The CDC has noted too that widespread vaccination is a critical tool to help stop the pandemic.

Among the key things to know about COVID-19, the CDC lists:

- COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective; - you may have side effects after vaccination, but these are normal; - it typically takes two weeks after you are fully vaccinated for the body to build protection (immunity) against the virus that causes COVID-19.

A

l t h o u g h COVID-19 vaccines are effective at keeping people from getting sick, CDC noted that scientists are still learning ”how well vaccines prevent you from spreading the virus that causes COVID-19 to others, even if you do not have symptoms.”

Early data, it noted, show the vaccines do help keep people with no symptoms from spreading COVID-19, but “we are learning more as more people get vaccinated.”

The CDC admitted too that it is “still learning how long COVID-19 vaccines

A

H

owever, even the CDC is still learning about COVID-19. It has pointed out that: -we are still learning how well vaccines prevent you from spreading the virus that causes COVID-19 to others, even if you do not have symptoms; -we’re also still learning how long COVID-19 vaccines protect people; -we are still learning how many people have to be vaccinated against COVID19 before most people can be considered protected (population immunity).

-We are still learning how effective the vaccines are against new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19.

EFFECTIVENESS Turning attention to effectiveness, the CDC noted that studies show that COVID-19 vaccines are effective at keeping people from getting COVID-19. As such, it underscored that getting a COVID-19 vaccine will also help keep you from getting seriously ill even if you do get COVID-19. “ C O V I D - 1 9 vaccination is an important tool to help us get back to normal,” the CDC has revealed. It went on to explain, “COVID-19

vaccines teach our immune systems how to recognise and fight the virus that causes COVID-19.”

It typically takes two weeks after vaccination for the body to build protection (immunity) against the virus that causes COVID-19. That means, the CDC noted, it is possible a person could still get COVID-19 before or just after vaccination and then get sick because the vaccine did not have enough time to provide protection. People are considered fully protected two weeks after their second dose of the P f i z e r - B i o N Te c h o r Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, or two weeks after the single-dose Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID19 vaccine, according to the CDC. However, the CDC and the Food and Drug Department (FDA) have

recommended a pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson’s J&J/Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine in the United States out of an abundance of caution, effective Tuesday, April 13, 2021. The Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices (ACIP) will hold its second emergency meeting to discuss J&J/Janssen COVID19 Vaccine on April 23, 2021, the CDC has revealed. It has stated too that people who h a v e r e c e i v e d the/J&J/Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine/within the past three weeks who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath should seek medical care right away.

Reminding about the importance of staying safe, the CDC said, “You should keep using all the tools available to protect yourself and others until you are fully vaccinated.”

protect people.”

For these reasons, people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID19 should keep taking precautions in public places, “until we know more.”

Vaccinated persons, the CDC advised, should keep wearing a mask, washing hands often, staying six feet apart from others and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces.

SAFETY Alluding to the fact that millions of people in the United States have received COVID-19 vaccines, CDC noted that these vaccines

have undergone the most intensive safety monitoring in US history.

This monitoring includes using both established and new safety monitoring systems to make sure that COVID-19 vaccines are safe, according to the CDC as it reminded, “These vaccines cannot give you COVID-19.”

CDC has developed a new tool, v-safe, to help it quickly find any safety issues with COVID-19 vaccines.

V-safe is a smartphonebased, after-vaccination health checker for people who receive COVID-19 vaccines.

person. It even protects those who cannot be vaccinated, like newborns or people who are allergic to the vaccine, the CDC highlighted.

It however noted that the percentage of people who need to have protection to achieve population immunity varies by disease.

“We are still learning how many people have to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before most POPULATION people can be IMMUNITY c o n s i d e r e d protected,” the Achieving CDC added. In population addition, it is still immunity has learning how been touted effective the a s vaccines are extremely against new important in the variants of fight against the virus COVID-19. that causes Population COVID-19. immunity S t i l l means that learning enough people about the in a community characteristics are protected from You may have side effects after of new variants, getting a disease the CDC noted because they’ve vaccination, but these are normal that early data already had the show the vaccines may work against some disease or because they’ve been vaccinated.

Therefore, population immunity makes it variants but could be less effective against hard for the disease to spread from person to others. fter COVID-19 vaccination, a person may have some side effects.

These, according to the CDC, are normal signs that the body is building protection.

The side effects from COVID-19 vaccination, such as chills or tiredness, may affect someone’s ability to do daily activities, and they should go away in a few days.

Kaieteur News

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Tuesday April 20, 2021

Application filed in High Court for release of SoPs, SoRs in criminal case...

From page 14 the Criminal Law procedure Act Cap 10:01, the Commissioner of Police and any member of the Police Force has the lawful right to collect and recover all documents and property which are relevant to the investigation and prosecution

of any criminal offence,” the application outlined.

It adds that: “Section 509(1) of the Criminal Law Procedure Act Cap10:01 provides the statutory authority for an application to be made to a Magistrate for a warrant to seize and recover anything upon

it being shown on oath that there are reasonable grounds to believe that it will afford evidence to show the commission of an offence.” The application noted, however, that due to the election case before the High Court, the SoPs and SoRs are in the possession of the Registrar of

the High Court.

The information was handed over based on an order of the Chief Justice (Ag), Roxane GeorgeWiltshire, in an elections petition case currently engaging the attention of the Supreme Court.

H o w e v e r, g i v e n t h a t a

Magistrate's authority does not supersede the Supreme Court, the parties sought the necessary channel of applying to the High Court for a release of the information contained in the SoPs and SoRs related to Guyana's 2020 elections.

Tuesday April 20, 2021

Kaieteur News

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PAGE 22

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Room attendant supervisor 35-55 yrs old 233 South Road Lacytown Tel#225-0198 Vacancy for 1 secretary Call or whatsapp 683-8734 Experienced pit, jet and marrack men wanted. Call 6821176 or 697-2533 Security officers male and female 18 years and above Contact 223-4172 , 632-0101 or 6320909

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Tuesday April 20, 2021

Kaieteur News VACANCY

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Auto Electrical apprentice Age 19-25yrs apply in person Lot 120 forth street Albertown G/Town or Call 610-0340

Vacancies bettencourt parttime. domestic bakery table operator (male) bakery assistant (male) kitchen assistant Tel#231-1368, 223-1938

One clerk for Eccles office English & Mathematics, grade 1 or 2 Email application to techserigy@yahoo.com

Atlas Security Services Inc vacancy for visiting officers and security officers Tel#226-9905,2314962 or 653-1265

Tuesday April 20, 2021

PAGE 23

Kaieteur News

With Chauvin verdict looming, police departments brace for potential demonstrations

Toshao robbed of $4.5M boat and engine at Chinese Landing A Toshao of Chinese Landing, North West District, Region One, was relieved of his boat and 200 HP Yamaha engine, both valued at $4.5 million, between 18:00 hrs. on Sunday and 05:00 hrs. yesterday.

In a police report, it was revealed that on Sunday at around 18:00 hrs., 29-year-old Orin Fernandes had secured his boat to a landing aback of his home (about 100 feet

away) with a rope. This publication was informed that this is a norm for villagers to do.

Kaieteur News understands that the man went to make a check on his vessel at 05:00 hrs. yesterday when he discovered that his boat was missing.

Instinctively, the man made several checks around Chinese Landing for his boat since he thought that it had drifted away.

After searching for a while, the man was informed by persons in the area that they suspected that a known individual had cut the rope that connected the boat to the landing. The suspect was reportedly seen heading up the Waini River in the vessel.

Fernandes made an official report to ranks at the Acquero Police Station and they are said to be investigating the matter.

Covid-19: India added to coronavirus ‘red list’ for travel

A protester outside the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, where the trial of former Police Officer Derek Chauvin is being held. (CHANDAN KHANNA/Credit: AFP via Getty Images) Yahoo News - With Chauvin verdict looming, police departments brace for potential demonstrations Crystal Hill and Christopher Wilson yesterday The death of George Floyd in police custody last May sparked protests across the country for much of the summer. Nearly one year later, the trial of Derek Chauvin — the former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing Floyd — is coming to a close, leading to concerns that an acquittal, or a conviction on a lesser charge such as manslaughter, could result in

another wave of protests.

Police departments across the country, such as those in Minneapolis, Philadelphia and New York, told Yahoo News they’ve been monitoring the trial and anticipating potential demonstrations after the verdict.

“In light of the ongoing trial of the murder of George Floyd, and the recent policeinvolved shooting of Daunte Wright, the Philadelphia Police Department continues to monitor for any developments relevant to Philadelphia,” a police spokesperson told Yahoo

News in a statement.

“At this time, there are no known specific threats against our city. Still, PPD is prepared to activate with additional personnel to secure and patrol strategic locations throughout the city in the coming days/weeks if needed.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has already activated 1,000 National Guard troops in the city.

In December, a review commissioned by the Philadelphia mayor’s office found that police “were simply not prepared” for the Floyd-related protests.

U.S. Supreme Court doubts ‘green cards’ for some protected migrants (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices yesterday appeared reluctant to let people who have been allowed to stay in the United States on humanitarian grounds apply to become permanent residents if they entered the country illegally.

The justices heard arguments in an appeal by a married couple from El Salvador who were granted so-called Temporary Protected Status of a lower court ruling that barred their applications for permanent residency, also known as a green card, because of their unlawful entry.

The case could affect thousands of immigrants, many of whom have lived in the United States for years.

President Joe Biden’s

administration opposes the immigrants in the case. The dispute puts Biden, who has sought to reverse many of his Republican predecessor Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies, at odds with immigration advocacy groups and some of his fellow Democrats.

A federal law called the Immigration and Nationality Act generally requires that people seeking to become permanent residents have been “inspected and admitted”, into the United States. At issue in the case is whether a grant of Temporary Protected Status, which gives the recipient “lawful status,” satisfies those requirements.

Some justices suggested it might be a stretch to interpret the law as deeming the plaintiffs “admitted.”

“They clearly were not admitted at the borders, so is that a fiction, is it metaphysical, what is it? I don’t know,” conservative Justice Clarence Thomas asked. Liberal Justice Elena Kagan also cast doubt on whether the law broadly considers people who the government categorizes as “non-immigrants,” including those with Temporary Protected Status, as having been legally admitted.

Some justices suggested that the law’s meaning is not so clear cut.

Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor told Justice Department lawyer Michael Huston, “If you’re asking us to find the better reading of the statute, we should go by its terms: Those people have been admitted.”

BBC NEWS - India has been added to a “red list” of countries from which most travel to the UK is banned, over fears of a new Covid variant, the health secretary has said.

From 04:00 BST on Friday 23 April, most people who have travelled from India in the last 10 days will be refused entry.

British or Irish passport holders, or people with UK residence rights, will be allowed in but must quarantine in a governmentapproved hotel for 10 days.

Matt Hancock said there had been 103 UK cases of the India variant. In a statement to

the House of Commons yesterday, the health secretary said the vast majority of the cases of the new variant - officially known as B.1.617 - had been linked to international travel.

He said test samples had been analysed to see if the new variant had any “concerning characteristics” such as greater transmissibility or resistance to treatments and vaccines.

He told MPs: “After studying the data, and on a precautionary basis, we’ve made the difficult but vital decision to add India to the red list.”

Government to speed up UK climate change target BBC NEWS - Radical new climate change commitments are to become law in the UK, Boris Johnson will announce this week. The prime minister will say carbon emissions will be cut by 78% by 2035 almost 15 years earlier than previously planned - which would be a world-leading position.

And for the first time the climate law would be extended to cover international aviation and shipping.

But Labour said the government had to match “rhetoric with reality”.

It urged Mr Johnson to treat “the climate emergency as the emergency it is” and show “greater ambition”.

The government has accepted the advice of its independent Climate Change Committee (CCC) to adopt the emissions cut, which is based on 1990 levels.

The move comes as US President Joe Biden prepares to stage a climate summit from Washington.

For households the UK targets will lead to more electric cars, low-carbon heating, renewable electricity and, for many, cutting down on meat and dairy produce.

Homes will need to be much better insulated, and people will be encouraged to drive less and walk and cycle more. Aviation is likely to become more expensive for frequent fliers.

Environmentalists welcomed the government’s move, but warned that

ministers had consistently failed to achieve previous CCC-set targets.

And they insisted that Chancellor Rishi Sunak must show clearly how the transition is to be funded.

“This is fantastic - very big news,” Leo Murray of the climate charity Possible said.

But he added: “We’re not on track to meet previous climate commitments and in many ways the government is still failing.”

Mr Murray said ministers were “facing both directions at the same time”, as they had scrapped the Green Homes Grant for insulating homes, had not stopped airport expansion and were “still pushing a £27bn roads budget”.

Ed Matthew, campaigns director of climate think tank E3G, said: “Setting an ambitious emission reduction target would boost the UK’s diplomatic drive to persuade other countries to set out ambitious targets of their own.”

He added: “The UK now has the opportunity to spark a global green industrial revolution, but ultimately its credibility will rest on action.”

The CCC report accepted by the government says lowcarbon investment must scale up to £50bn a year in the UK. But it adds that in time fuel savings from more efficient equipment will cancel out investment costs.

The CCC believes around 1% of GDP - national wealth -

would need to be spent on shifting away from fossil fuels over 30 years.

Its chairman, Lord Deben, said previously: “The implication of this path is clear: the utmost focus is required from government over the next 10 years.

“If policy is not scaled up across every sector, if business is not encouraged to invest, if the people of the UK are not engaged in this challenge - the UK will not deliver Net Zero by 2050. The 2020s must be the decisive decade of progress and action.”

Net Zero means cutting emissions as far as possible, then capturing any emissions that cannot be prevented through tree-planting or engineering.

The government has adopted the new 2035 deadline for a 78% emissions cut because scientists say this is needed to keep the rise in global temperatures close to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

For Labour, shadow business secretary Ed Miliband said: “The character of this government on climate change is now clear: targets without delivery.

“So while any strengthening of our targets is the right thing to do, the government can’t be trusted to match rhetoric with reality.”

He added: “We need a government that treats the climate emergency as the emergency it is. That means greater ambition than this government matched with much more decisive action.”

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Tuesday April 20, 2021

Tuesday April 20, 2021

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Kaieteur News

...Llorente denies Liverpool place in top four From page 26 it. Liverpool dominated the first half and went ahead when Trent Alexander-Arnold latched on to Diogo Jota’s fine pass and squared it to Sadio Mane to slot into an empty net after Illan Meslier had rushed out of goal.

That was his first Premier League goal since January, a run of 10 games.

Leeds improved after the break and Patrick Bamford hit the crossbar before Llorente headed in his first goal for the club.

Liverpool stay sixth after this result. Were they to occupy that position at the end of the season, they would not even finish in a European place, unless one of

the domestic cup winners also finish in the top five.

But if the Super League does happen, the Reds would no longer need to worry about such things.

Liverpool were the dominant force in the first half especially, with Thiago Alcantara forcing a save from distance and Roberto Firmino shooting straight at Meslier before the goal.

Leeds battled back in the second half but Liverpool had two great chances to win it shortly before the equaliser when substitute Mohamed Salah dragged a shot wide and then in the final minute when Alex OxladeChamberlain was denied by Meslier.

Liverpool’s immediate future, though, is more likely to be decided off the pitch, rather than in a game at Elland Road against an English side not in the ‘big six’.

Leeds again prove a match for Europe’s elite Leeds followed up last weekend’s victory over champions-elect Manchester City with a dramatic draw against the title holders. Next up is old rivals Manchester United as they navigate a sequence of testing fixtures.

The hosts were not at their busy best in the first half - although Bamford was denied by Alisson after some poor goalkeeping - but they dramatically improved after the break.

Tuesday April 20, 2021 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Although you may pride yourself on your patience, Aries, this quality could be hard to come by today. It's possible that you've bent as far as you can and reached the breaking point.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) It may be best if you stay out of the line of fire, Libra.

Don't get into others' battles. By choosing sides, you create enemies. Use your compassion to soothe the situation.

TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) People could be exploding with rage all around, and you may wonder what the big deal is. If anyone is likely to have a level head through today's chaos, it's you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Although your general mood is good, this doesn't mean your day will go off without a hitch. When it comes to projects and getting things done, you may be the one to take the lead.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) The more you try to control others, the harder it will be to get what you want, Gemini. People with equally strong wills are making it known they won't be bullied by your manipulative behavior.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Difficult situations may arise in which you feel like you're doomed no matter what you do. Finding a working solution seems impossible due to the egos of the people involved.

CANCER(June21–July22) You may join hands with a spokesperson who's willing to attest to your honesty and good nature, Cancer. This person is happy to step up and toot your horn for you.

CAPRI(Dec.22–Jan.19) Be quick to point out when you see an injustice. If someone says something offensive or untrue, don't let it slide.

If you do, you're just as much at fault as the person who committed the offense.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) You may get frustrated when people who've taken shortcuts gain on your position, Leo. You believe that hard work is necessary to get where you need to go.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Your emotions may be erratic. You may want everyone to know what you're feeling and act out in an immature manner to get noticed.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) You may be fidgeting, Pisces, given your general restlessness. You're anxious to get up and do some sort of song and dance, and yet you insist on waiting for the right time. Meanwhile, you're getting extremely anxious for your big moment.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) You may be fidgeting, Pisces, given your general restlessness. You're anxious to get up and do some sort of song and dance, and yet you insist on waiting for the right time. Meanwhile, you're getting extremely anxious for your big moment.

Diego Llorente’s equaliser was his first goal in English football. (Getty Images) Bamford clipped a clever first-time shot over Alisson that came off the crossbar, and Jack Harrison was denied by the goalkeeper at his near post. Leeds got the goal they deserved when Llorente nodded in Harrison’s corner for a first goal in English football.

United sit 10th in the Premier League, eight points

...‘Seriously unimpressed’ From page 31 furlough payments from English clubs involved as well as withholding policing for Super League matches and even reforming ownership rules for clubs to give fans majority votes; · Fifa, Uefa and the Premier League have already threatened the 12 clubs - including England’s ‘Big 6’ with expulsion from all major competitions and even promised to ban their top players from playing for their countries; · The Super League struck the first blow this morning, revealing they have sent a letter to football’s governing bodies and have ‘filed a motion before the relevant courts’ in England, Spain and Italy to ensure the competition can start in as early as August without the ‘punitive measures’ the dozen rebel clubs have been threatened with; · Tottenham Hotspur, one of the clubs involved, sack their manager Jose Mourinho after just 18 months in charge; · Porto president Pinto da Costa confirmed they rejected an invitation to join the European Super League while German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund also not signed up;

behind the automatic European places. Although if six teams above them

suddenly became ineligible, they would be in the Champions League spots.

Kaieteur News

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Tuesday April 20, 2021

Mourinho fired by Tottenham 6 days before cup final

Tottenham’s manager Jose Mourinho looks on during the warm up session in this file photo.

It is reported that Tottenham has fired manger Jose Mourinho. (Peter Powell/Pool via AP, File)

AP - If the ending came earlier than usual for Jose Mourinho, the manner of it was all too familiar.

Dressing-room apathy and growing disillusionment at his tactics cost Mourinho his latest job in the English Premier League, with To t t e n h a m f i r i n g t h e Portuguese coach on Monday after 17 months at the London club.

T h a t ’s M o u r i n h o ’s shortest spell at a club since he broke into the big time as a slick and self-confident

coach of Porto at the start of the century.

Unusually for a man who has been a serial winner of trophies ever since, Mourinho leaves north London without having captured any silverware — also a first since those days at Porto.

That could have changed on Sunday, when Tottenham plays Manchester City in the English League Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

Mourinho won’t now get that chance.

“Jose and his coaching staff have been with us through some of our most challenging times as a club,” Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said in a statement announcing the departure of Mourinho, whose contract was due to run until the end of the 2022-23 season.

“Jose is a true professional who showed enormous resilience during the pandemic. On a personal level I have enjoyed working with him and regret that things have not worked out as we both had envisaged.”

Out goes one of the most high-profile, most expensive, and most experienced coaches in world soccer. In comes a 29year-old rookie in Ryan Mason, who had been in charge of Tottenham’s academy.

Mason had to retire from playing in 2018 on medical advice after failing to fully recover from a fractured skull following a clash of heads during a Premier League game the previous year. Mason takes temporary charge of a club whose bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League has collapsed — Tottenham has slumped to seventh place in the Premier League, five points behind fourth-placed

West Ham — but whose lofty status is such that it is among the 12 teams signed up to be part of a controversially created breakaway Super League.

That’s the kind of stage Mourinho expects to be coaching on. But there are now major doubts about his credibility as a top-class coach.

Certainly, any club potentially thinking of hiring him must question if it’s worth it.

Mourinho was hired in November 2019 to replace Mauricio Pochettino, who unexpectedly led Tottenham to the Champions League final before the team collapsed the following season.

It was an appointment which immediately split the fanbase, given Mourinho’s style of football and the tendency for his tenures to unravel.

A sixth-place finish last season was acceptable considering he had only half a year to stamp his authority on a team that was in midtable when he arrived. And when Mourinho led Tottenham to first place nine games into this season — thanks to a 2-0 win over Manchester City in November — he appeared to have the magic touch once again, with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min sharing a potent partnership up front.

Gareth Bale had recently returned to the club on a season-long loan from Real Madrid and Mourinho’s other main summer signing, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, was looking assured as the midfield enforcer.

But disgruntlement over his tactics and manmanagement methods resurfaced in recent months as Tottenham slipped out of

the Champions League places in the Premier League, and got eliminated from the Europa League in the round of 16 after a surprising 3-0 second-leg loss at Dinamo Zagreb.

Unusually for Mourinho, his team proved incapable of holding onto a lead, with no side losing more points (20) from winning positions this season than Tottenham.

Mourinho’s last game in charge proved to be a 2-2 draw at Everton on Friday, when Kane hobbled off in stoppage time with an ankle injury that might rule him out of the cup final on Sunday.

By that time, Tottenham was playing with no obvious identity or defensive robustness, while faith in Mourinho among the players cannot have been helped by a throwaway remark he made after a 2-2 draw at Newcastle, where Spurs again conceded a late goal.

When asked why Tottenham could not defend a lead, Mourinho said, “Same coach, different players.”

The ending felt eerily similar to his final days at Chelsea (his second spell from 2013-15) and Manchester United, where he fell out with players who seemingly were no longer playing for him.

Ten defeats in this season’s Premier League is the most in a single league campaign by a Mourinhomanaged team.

Kane tweeted his thanks to Mourinho after the P o r t u g u e s e c o a c h ’s departure was announced, saying: “A pleasure to have worked together. I wish you all the best for your next chapter.”

Whether that is ever in the Premier League again remains to be seen.

Llorente denies Liverpool place in top four BBC Sport - Diego Llorente scored a late equaliser for Leeds to deny Liverpool a place in the top four of the Premier League as uncertainty reigns over what that would mean following the announcement of the European Super League.

The Reds are one of 12 clubs to agree to join a breakaway ESL to “commence as soon as practicable”. Even if it does not start next season, Uefa

has said it could ban the clubs - including six English sides - from European competition for their defection.

There was a strange mood around the first game involving any of the 12 teams since Sunday night’s announcement, with protests inside and outside the ground.

Fans of Leeds and other clubs gathered outside Elland Road to stage a protest - during which a Liverpool shirt was burned -

and a plane flew over the stadium displaying an antiSuper League message.

Inside the stadium Leeds players wore T-shirts saying ‘Earn it’ next to the Champions League logo and ‘Football is for the fans’. A banner behind one goal had the same message.

Leeds left the shirts in Liverpool’s dressing room too, in case they wanted to protest - a move that annoyed Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, who said he does not like the idea of the ESL but that he and his players had no say in (Continued on page 25)

Kaieteur News

Tuesday April 20, 2021

PAGE 27

NBA roundup: Bam Adebayo hits buzzer-beater as Heat top Nets Reuters - Bam Adebayo’s step-back, 13foot jumper from the baseline at the buzzer lifted the Miami Heat to a 109-107 victory at home against the Brooklyn Nets in a matchup of short-handed teams on Sunday afternoon.

Adebayo finished with 21 points, 15 rebounds and five assists to help the Heat snap a three-game losing streak despite playing without Jimmy Butler, who sat out with a sprained right ankle.

Landry Shamet scored a career-high 30 points and made 7-of-12 3-pointers to lead the Nets, who lost Kevin Durant early to injury and were already without James Harden (hamstring). Durant

scored the Nets’ first eight points before exiting the game with 7:57 left in the first quarter with what was diagnosed as a left thigh contusion.

Goran Dragic finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and Dewayne Dedmon totaled 10 points and 10 rebounds off Miami’s bench.

Kendrick Nunn made five of the Heat’s 16 triples and finished with 17 points while Ariza had 15 points and nine rebounds.

Hawks 129, Pacers 117 Trae Young collected 34 points and 11 assists and Atlanta used a fast finish to secure a win over visiting Indiana.

Clint Capela recorded 25

points and 24 rebounds while Kevin Huerter and Bogdan Bogdanovic each had 23 points for the Hawks, who have won eight of their past 10 games.

Indiana received 29 points and eight assists from Malcolm Brogdon and 18 points and 14 rebounds from Domantas Sabonis. T.J. McConnell came off the bench to score 18 points.

Knicks 122, Pelicans 112 (OT) Julius Randle had 33 points and 10 assists as host New York won its sixth consecutive game by defeating New Orleans in overtime.Randle added five steals, Derrick Rose scored 23 off the bench and RJ Barrett had 18 as the Knicks

Sri Lanka’s Lokuhettige banned eight years for corruption

Dilhara Lokuhettige played nine one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals for Sri Lanka between 2005 and 2013.

AFP - World cricket’s governing body yesterday banned former Sri Lanka fast bowler Dilhara Lokuhettige for eight years for corruption.

The 40-year-old, who played nine one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals for Sri Lanka between 2005 and 2013, joins a growing list of Sri Lankan players to have been punished by the International Cricket Council.

The ICC found Lokuhettige guilty on three counts in January after a two-year investigation, and added that the ban had been toughened because he refused to cooperate.

Lokuhettige was accused of being a “party to an effort to fix” or

“influence improperly” a game during a T10 tournament in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

He was also found guilty of “directly soliciting and inducing a player” and failing to disclose approaches to take part in corruption. Lokuhettige featured in an Al Jazeera documentary in 2018 when he spoke to an undercover reporter about fixing a game. The ICC said the ban had been backdated to April 2019, when the player was provisionally suspended.

ICC anti-corruption chief Alex Marshall said: “The severity of the sanction reflects the seriousness of h i s o ff e n c e s a n d h i s continued refusal to cooperate and should serve as a deterrent for anyone

considering getting involved in corruption of any kind.”

In November, another Sri Lankan, Nuwan Zoysa, was found guilty of three counts of corruption relating to the same T10 tournament, but is yet to be sanctioned.

Sri Lanka has faced mounting scrutiny in recent years over cricket corruption. The country’s former skipper Sanath Jayasuriya was banned from all cricket for two years in February 2019 after admitting two breaches of the anti-corruption code.

A former sports minister, Harin Fernando, introduced tough anti-corruption laws in 2019 after saying that the ICC considered Sri Lanka the most corrupt cricketing nation.

defeated the Pelicans for the second time in their past three games.

Zion Williamson had 34 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Pelicans, while Eric Bledsoe scored 22 points and Brandon Ingram added 19. Steven Adams had 10 points and 14 rebounds as New Orleans lost in overtime for the second consecutive game.

Clippers 124, Timberwolves 105 Los Angeles backed up

Brooklyn Nets forward Nicolas Claxton (33) defends Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) during the second half at American Airlines Arena. (Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports)

its standing as the top 3-point shooting team in the NBA, making half of its 42 attempts from long range in routing visiting Minnesota.

The Clippers, who began the night hitting 42 percent from distance, had 104 points by the end of the third quarter. Paul George led the Clippers with 23 points and added seven rebounds.

Kawhi Leonard returned to the Clippers’ starting lineup after a four-game absence due to a foot injury and

finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in 23 minutes.

Anthony Edwards topped the Timberwolves with 23 points, making 5 of 11 from 3-point range. KarlAnthony Towns added 16 points and six rebounds.

In other results: Hornets 109, Trail Blazers 101 Kings 121, Mavericks 107 Raptors 112, Thunder 106 Rockets 114, Magic 110 (Field Level Media)

Kaieteur News

PAGE 28

Tuesday April 20, 2021

William Walker Amid financial challenges, CWI restores full wins Bank of salaries across the board Baroda golf tourney

W

illiam Walker emerged champion of the Bank of Baroda inaugural Golf tournament which was held on Saturday last at the Lusignan Golf Club. Twenty one golfers participated in the event which was also attended by dignitaries including the Hon Ashni Singh, the High Commissioner of India, Dr K. J. Srinivasa, the (Ag) Resident Rep of UNICEF for Guyana and Suriname Mr Irfan Akhtar and Managing Director of the

bank Arun Gupta and members of the staff.

The results are as follows; first place William Walker handicap 11 gross 80 net 69.

2nd place: Maxim Mangra handicap 15 gross 56 net 71 3rd place: Gavin Todd handicap 20 gross 91 net 71 4th place Aasrodeen Shaw handicap 12 gross 84 net 72.

The Sponsors have extended congratulations to the winners and participants.

SportsMax - Despite admitting that their finances were in dire straits, President of Cricket West Indies (CWI) Ricky Skerritt has revealed that staff and players are now receiving their full salaries again after agreeing to a 50 per cent pay-cut last year.

It was in July 2020, at the height of the COVID19 pandemic which left CWI facing a major loss of income in the absence of regular cricketing activities, that CWI enforced pay cuts across the board, but the president now said all salaries are back to normal, even if only temporarily.

“The cut doesn’t exist at the moment…but let me just remind you (the cut) was part of the crisis management strategy,” he told Line & Length on Sportsmax over the weekend.

“We had put in place what we had called a financial strategy advisory committee which was a small task force combined from our finance committee

and our audit risk along with the compliance committee, the CEO (Johnny Grave) and myself.

“The pandemic isn’t over but we have relaxed one of those conditions, which is we are back to full remuneration,” said the 64year-old Kittitian.

According to auditors K P M G , t h e B o a r d ’s financial records show that CWI’s liabilities exceeds assets and raised the “material uncertainty” about the sports organization’s ability to keep operating indefinitely.

“We draw attention to Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, which describes that the group’s revenue is cyclical in nature and depends on the popularity of the various reciprocal tours undertaken

by West Indies teams,” the independent auditor’s report said.

“As at September 30, 2020, the group’s current liabilities exceeded its

Ricky Skerritt current assets by US$14,836,946 and its total liabilities exceeded its total assets by US$10,747,720.

“These events or conditions, along with other matters as set forth in Note 2, indicate that a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern. Our opinion is not modified in respect of this matter.”

Skerritt, who was just handed another two-year term along with his vice president, Vincentian Dr Kishore Shallow, also

indicated there were much better relations with stakeholders, players and staff over the last two years.

“The whole process is to not distract players away from their focus on cricket as far as possible and doesn’t give any interventions or any intrusions from an administrative or management level that can cause the players any kind of distress or any kind of unnatural concerns to do with the environment they find themselves in whether on tour or not,” the CWI president said.

Kaieteur News

Tuesday April 20, 2021

PAGE 29

CIDI Blue Life Waters and Guyana Golf Association Ink Major Deal Caribbean International Distributors Inc. (CIDI) Blue Life Waters and Thrill Beverages yesterday signed an exclusive deal to become the official water and beverage provider of the Guyana Golf Association and Nexgen Golf Academy as the push to make golf rise to the very top echelons of sports in Guyana continues.

General Manager of CIDI, a division of RUDISA Randy Goodett stated, “We are proud to be affiliated with the Guyana Golf Association and Nexgen Golf Academy as they have done an amazing job of elevating the sport to a whole new level. This partnership is one that will continue to expand just as our company has since our launch in 2007.”

Blue Life Waters is also the official water for the Guyana Football Federation’s Golden Jaguars and has increased market penetration due to high profile affiliation with major sporting organizations. CIDI opened offices in Mcdoom in 2007 and now has over 100 employees and has seen a steady increase in sales of its

major product lines which include Thrill, Parbo Bier, More Juices, Pro-Life Milk amongst other products.

“Our company sees the performance of our partners as a key to long relationships and from the aggressive development of the game of Golf by Mr. Hussain and his team in the past year, we have no doubt that the game will be a major factor in the country as thousands of new players will have access and we want to be a part of that success,” said Goodett.

A major part of the deal allows CIDI to showcase their brand locally and internationally at any Golf event held under the Guyana Golf Association and Nexgen Golf Academy auspices.

It will also become the official water for all golfers who train for the national team at the Academy with the expectation of making the Olympic team.

CIDI joins a fast growing group of major companies and private individuals including Assuria General Insurance, Copa Airlines, H. Nauth & Sons/KK Gas Station, the Shafura Hussain

Foundation, AR Printery, Trophy Stall, Maraiko Bay Resort, Christopher Ram, Anwar Shaffie, Danny Ramnarain, Peter Persaud, Captain Chen Deo, William & Aleena Knight, Sally Jack, the Scouts Association of Guyana, The Guyana Teachers Union and the Nexgen Group who have come together to make the dream of affordable Golf a reality for thousands of new players.

Over the past eight months, golf has risen to challenge established sports such as cricket and football in Guyana, propelled in part by the fact that it’s one of the few fully compliant covid19 activities permitted by the Task Force, but mainly due to the extraordinary efforts and promotion by the Guyana Golf Association and Nexgen Golf Academy.

A sport once held to be elitist and unreachable for the general public, has been drastically changed since the opening of the lighted Academy and Driving Range on Woolford Avenue in Georgetown which has breathed life into a sport by making it accessible, fun and

General Manager Randy Goodett, Marketing Manager Shania Garraway and Aleem Hussain at the signing. affordable. With several non-membership facilities under construction (scheduled to open this year), it is certain that the sport will continue its dramatic growth.

President of the GGA, Aleem Hussain, said that, the development of the scaled golf courses are a part of the plan to launch the three hole tournament series

internationally under the GolFun brand similar to the 20/20 cricket model.

“Expect to see the explosion of the game locally and regionally as people no longer have time for 5 hours of play but will opt for three and six hole tournaments that deliver fun and fast results in an hour or less.”

He expects that many groups will follow in their

footsteps now that the game has reached such prominence in the country and thanked the sponsors, supporters and new players for rallying behind the efforts of the GGA. Find out more about CIDI’s products and Golf in Guyana by visiting GGA, Nexgen Golf Academy and CIDI on Facebook or Instagram.

Kendall’s Union SC secures sponsor for the #19 Village, Corentyne, Berbice Club Kendall’s Union Sports C l u b o f # 1 9 Vi l l a g e , Corentyne, Berbice on Sunday 11th April 2021 officially secured a sponsor for the club.

Mr. Shudeo Bachan (Amar) and his family became the club’s sponsor.

Mr. Bachan and his family have been supporting the club for the past four years by sponsoring the clubs Kids Christmas party and their Back to school programme.

However, following some discussions between the Club’s Executives and Mr. Bachan, he agreed to sponsor the club and made a significant donation of over one million dollars to the club and also to members of the community.

The donation received included: 1. Cricket gears (3-Bats, 4-Gloves, 4 Pads, 2-Helmet, 3 Thigh pad, and 3 Arm guards) 2. Uniform 17 white (Shirt and pants) 3. 20 Floppy Hats 4. 50 Caps.

5. 45 Shirts for the youth

Gaskin ton hands LBI Sports Club four wicket win Members of the winning LBI Sports Club team.

Mr. Shudeo Bachan (Amar) and his family are the new sponsor of the Kendall’s Union Cricket Club of Berbice. teams 6. 4 Wheelchairs 7. 4 Walking sticks 8. 2 Pressure kits 9. 12 Shirts for the Executives And over $170,000 (Cash) was given to the club

and others members as prizes.

The club has expressed gratitude to Mr. Bachan and his family for their assistance and is hopeful for a long and fruitful relationship.

A fine century from Shawn Gaskin handed LBI Sports Club a four-wicket win over One Movement CC when the teams collided in a 30 overs game recently at Queen’s College.

Batting first, One

Movement posted 274-9.

Jonte Thomas slammed 10 fours and four sixes in a top score of 87, while Jerimiah Scott made 74 with seven fours and three sixes and Otis George got 24. Wasim Khan grabbed 4-67.

LBI responded with 2756 in 33.1 overs. Shawn Gaskin struck eight fours in scoring 132, while Ryan Singh made 43 with four fours and one six and Richard Dowlatram 39.

Damuka Junior took 2-40.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 30

Tuesday April 20, 2021

Collision could affect Mercedes IPL: Sam Curran & Moeen Ali impress in Chennai Super Kings upgrade plans, warns Wolff win over Rajasthan Royals Jos Buttler is castled by Ravindra Jadeja. (BCCI/IPL)

Valtteri Bottas finished fastest in a chaotic first practice for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix after Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon crashed out.

(Reuters) - The collision between Valtteri Bottas and George Russell in Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix could affect Mercedes’ plans for developing their Formula One car this season, according to team boss Toto Wolff.

The high-speed crash at Italy’s Imola circuit wrecked both Bottas’s Mercedes and Russell’s Williams, though both drivers were not injured. Stewards declared it a racing incident.

“The whole situation is absolutely not amusing for us, to be honest,” Wolff told reporters.

“It’s quite a big shunt.

Our car is a write-off in a cost cap environment; that is certainly not what we needed. And probably it’s going to limit upgrades that we are able to do.

“We are very stretched on cost cap, and what we always feared is a total writeoff of a car. This one is not

going to be a total write-off, but almost, and that is not something we really wanted.”

Wolff said he would speak to Russell and make his point.

Formula One introduced a $145 million cap this season and champions Mercedes, one of the biggest teams, have had to cut costs significantly although the cap does not include driver salaries.

Russell, 23, stood in for Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain last year when Mercedes’ seven-times world champion tested positive for COVID19, and the rising star is seen as a future Mercedes driver.

His situation, and the possibility he could one day join or replace Bottas in the champions’ line-up, added piquancy to the Imola incident.

Wolff made clear he felt the youngster should have been more careful as he tried

to pass the Finn for ninth place on a drying track with damp patches at the margins.

“The whole situation should have never happened.

Valtteri had a bad first 30 laps and shouldn’t have been there. But George should have never launched into this manoeuvre, considering that the track was drying up,” he said.

“It meant taking risks, and the other car is a Mercedes in front of him. In any driver’s development, for a young driver, you must never lose this global perspective. So, lots to learn for him I guess.”

Speaking to Sky Sports television after the race, Wolff joked about Russell’s future.

“I keep teasing him saying if he does a good job he can be in a Mercedes, if not we’ll be in the Renault Clio Cup,” said the Austrian.

“Today we are more close to the Renault Clio Cup.”

Jamaican throwers strike wins at Tom Jones invitational Jamaica Observer - Throwers Shadae Lawrence and Lloydricia Cameron were winners at the two-day Tom Jones Memorial Invitational hosted by the University of Florida which ended Sunday.

Lawrence won the women’s discus throw event on Friday while Cameron took the shot put Sunday, and there was an impressive performance in the 100m hurdles by Britanny Anderson who opened her outdoor season with 12.91 seconds (1.7m/s) run.

Lawrence threw 57.86m in the first round and was never challenged by the field of university athletes and also fouled her last three throws.

Cameron, who had a lifetime best 18.11m a week ago, won with 17.94m as she continues to chase the Olympic qualifying mark of 18.50m.

Anderson, who is based in Florida, was fourth in her first 100m hurdles contest of the season, tied for 10th best in the world after she cruised in 12.99 seconds (-0.8m/s) during preliminaries.

On Friday Anderson, the silver medallist at the World Under-20 championships in 2018, clocked a personal best 23.51 seconds (0.2m/s) in the 200m which was won by the

Shadae Lawrence

red-hot American Sha’carri Richardson who ran a season-best 22.11 seconds (1.0m/s), second in the world only to Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo after she ran a blazing fast and world-leading 10.72 seconds in the 100m a week ago.

Jelani was the fastest Jamaican man in the 100m Sunday with a season-best 10.27 seconds (0.8m/s), while a day earlier Andre Ewers ran 20.87 seconds (0.6m/s) in the 200m, Senoj-jay Givans clocked 20.91 seconds (0.5m/s), Christopher Taylor 20.97 seconds (0.5m/s), Walker crossed the line in 21.05 seconds (0.5m/s) and Tyquendo Tracey ran 21.08 seconds (0.5m/s).

Domonique Panton was fifth in the women’s triple jump with 13.03m (0.0).

B

BC Sport England allrounders Sam Curran and Moeen Ali both played key roles as Chennai Super Kings beat Rajasthan Royals by 45 runs in the Indian Premier League.

Chennai posted 188-9, with Faf du Plessis topscoring with 33 while Moeen made 26 and Curran 13 from six balls.

Curran then removed Manan Vohra and Sanju Samson in the six-over powerplay.

Rajasthan finished on 143-9, having been 87-2, with Moeen taking 3-7 and Ravindra Jadeja 2-28.

While no Chennai batsman made a matchwinning contribution of their own, six batsman made 18plus, and they hit 10 sixes to reach a score that was 10 runs above par at the Wankhede Stadium in

Mumbai so far this season.

They lost regular wickets, but Moeen’s hitting over mid-wicket, alongside Ambati Rayudu’s 17-ball 27 and Dwayne Bravo’s 20 off eight balls helped their innings maintain momentum throughout.

Left-arm seamer Chetan Sakariya impressed in taking 3-36 for Rajasthan, including the key wickets of Rayudu and MS Dhoni, while Chris Morris - the most expensive singing in this year’s auction at £1.6m took 2-33.

Rajasthan were well set, with Jos Buttler going nicely, when the ball was changed after the England wicketkeeper hit Jadeja over mid-wicket for his second six.

The replacement ball, which was dryer than the old one because of the evening dew, brought some grip and

Moeen Ali grabbed 3 for 7 to facilitate a collapse for the Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2021, Mumbai, April 19, 2021 © BCCI/IPL

turn for Jadeja as he bowled Buttler for 49.

That sparked a collapse of five wickets for just eight runs in 21 balls.

Jadeja and Moeen - who joined Chennai from Royal Challengers Bangalore this season - had Shivam Dube and David Miller trapped lbw respectively, before the England off-spinner saw Riyan Parag and Morris caught on the mid-wicket boundary.

Chennai move up to second - behind Royal Challengers Bangalore, who are the only side with a 100% record so far - while Rajasthan stay in mid-table.

Scores: Chennai Super Kings 188 for 9 (du Plessis 33, Ali 26, Sakariya 3-36, Morris 2-33) beat Rajasthan Royals 143 for 9 (Buttler 49, Unadkat 24, Ali 3-7, Curran 2-24, Jadeja 2-28) by 45 runs.

Kaieteur News

Tuesday April 20, 2021

PAGE 31

‘Seriously unimpressed’ Man United stars revolt against Big Six’s bid to form European Super League Daily Mail - Manchester United stars have yesterday led the revolt against the Big Six’s bid to form a European Super League after being ‘seriously unimpressed’ with the game changing mega plans, sources claim.

U n i t e d ’s s u p e r s t a r midfielder Bruno Fernandes became the first player from the breakaway clubs to publicly rally against the proposals, by sharing a social media post saying ‘Dreams can’t be bought’.

Other players at the club are said to have made their feelings known to executive vice chairman Ed Woodward as he delivered an emergency Zoom briefing earlier yesterday.

It comes as a ‘nuclear war’ broke out in football over the £4.3billion proposals, with fans threatening to overthrow the billionaire owners of the six teams involved - Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham.

Prince William, who is the current president of the FA, last evening gave his view on the European Super League project, saying it risked ‘damaging the game we love’.

And in another twist in the jaw-dropping saga, the Government yesterday threatened to step in - with ministers vowing to do ‘whatever it takes to protect the national game’.

United’s Fernandes, 26, led the criticism from within the team’s camp, as he shared an Instagram post by his Portuguese teammate Daniel Podence, who plays for Wolves, celebrating a goal for Olympiacos in the Champions League - a competition that would essentially be killed off by the new tournament.

Podence also wrote an ode to Europe’s top club competition, referring to Manchester United and Liverpool’s recent historic wins and other great moments, with the caption: ‘There are some things we just can’t really pay for’.

And in an act of defiance that may upset the American billionaire owners of Man United, the Glazers, who are among the architects of the new league, Bruno shared the post with clapping emojis and the phrase: ‘Dreams can’t be bought’.

The same post was also

Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham are the six English clubs who have signed up to the deeply unpopular European Super League. (Daily Mail) shared by Manchester City’s full back João Cancelo, who is also Portuguese, in a sign that there is also some anger among players at Pep Guardiola’s club, who are also signed up, as it was revealed that Uefa is working out how it can ban all players at the 12 clubs signed up from this s u m m e r ’s E u r o p e a n Championships and its president Aleksander Ceferin called the owners and their staff lying ‘snakes’.

Earlier yesterday, in a new twist in the rollercoaster r o w, t h e G o v e r n m e n t announced the launch of a top-to-bottom review of football in the UK. Ministers say the investigation, to be headed

up by former Sports Minister Tracey Crouch, will be a ‘root and branch’ reform of the governance and finances of football.

And in a further twist, the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said he had held talks with chiefs from the Premier League, Football Association and Uefa and said the organisations had the Government’s ‘full backing’.

‘But be in no doubt if they can’t act, we will. We will put everything on the table to prevent this from happening, he told the Commons.

In a strong and direct threat to the clubs involved, he added: ‘We will do whatever it takes to protect

our national game.’

One option being urged upon ministers is to impose a ban or further on incoming foreign transfers - a move which could seriously impact on the success of big teams.

There is a feeling among English football’s key stakeholders that Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham shouldn’t be allowed to access foreign talent under new post-Brexit recruitment rules if the controversial new division is started.

The unrest in the Premier League came as expert lawyers told MailOnline that the rebel clubs still have a good chance of winning any

blockbuster legal battle as football fans and former players turned on the ‘greedy’ mainly-foreign billionaire club owners and Boris Johnson vowed to make sure it ’doesn’t go ahead’ as fans threatened mutiny.

The Prime Minister has said the clubs, which include Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs, ‘must answer to their fans’ before launching the ‘very damaging’ change that they hope will make them billions in new TV money and advertising and a joining fee of up to £300million.

Supporters have accused the mainly-foreign owners of ‘treachery’ and threatened to never watch them again after the £4.3billion plan bankrolled by JP Morgan emerged Sunday.

Manchester United’s chief executive Ed Woodward was an investment banker there before moving into football having helped the Glazers buy the club.

Supporters of Liverpool, owned by American John W Henry, have put up banners outside Anfield today including one announcing the death of the club while To t t e n h a m H o t s p u r Supporters’ Trust (THST) threatened to overthrow owner Joe Lewis and Chairman Daniel Levy.

Manchester City’s Official Supporters Club felt the plans demonstrated ‘zero regard for the game’s traditions’.

One board member at one of the six Premier League clubs involved told Sky Sports News: ‘This is not a civil war, it’s a nuclear war. There are several board members at the six clubs who are opposed to joining the new league but they feel they do not have the power to stop it’.

He said that for the owners of the clubs, all of whom are based abroad, ‘are not that worried about (bad) PR’ and ’the wider good of the game is a secondary concern’. ‘They don’t like giving their playing assets away to countries for very little financial reward’, the source said.

Mr Johnson said the European Super League was not ‘good news’ for supporters and he would work with the football authorities ‘to make sure this

doesn’t go ahead’ as the six rebel clubs were threatened with expulsion from the Premier League and European competitions with their stars also potentially banned from playing for their countries.

The UK Government is said to be drawing up ‘very robust’ plans to fight back, including the Home Office withdrawing policing support from matches. They could also lead a legal charge to the High Court amid claims the move could be illegal under UK competition law, but legal experts have told MailOnline that the law is likely to be on the rebels’ side.

Mark Orth, of MEOlaw based in Munich, believes the rebels will succeed if the row goes to court based on competition law and precedents set in previous cases in European courts. He said: ‘I am of the opinion they have a strong case. They have a good chance of winning. There are good prospects for the start of the Super League and the clubs that take part’.

The row that threatens the most seismic change to English football in decades, came as: · UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says clubs and players involved in the proposed breakaway Super League could be banned ‘as soon as possible’ from all of its competitions and the World Cup - and calls the billionaires behind the plan ‘snakes’; · Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus said to be spearheading the Super League plan. Source tells BBC that clubs will focus on ‘fans of the future’ abroad rather than ‘legacy fans’ in the UK; · Investment bank JP Morgan has confirmed it will be financing the new European Super League, set to feature 12 of the continent’s biggest football clubs, with £4.3billion in loans; · Champions League BT rules itself out of buying TV rights while pundits on Sky Sports, home of the Premier League, vocal in their criticism as Amazon, Netflix and Disney+-owned Star mooted as possible buyers; · Government considers recalling Covid loans and (Continued on page 25)