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Thursday April 22, 2021
Kaieteur News
Govt. unable to pronounce on end to blackouts G
overnment is at present unable to pronounce on when the recent spate of blackouts plaguing the country would end, but the phenomenon is, in part, behind the push for a diversified power generation base using the much vaunted gas-to-shore project. This is according to Attorney General and
Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, who this past week in his, 'Issues in the News' broadcast, sought to lament the state of affairs of the Guyana Power and Light's (GPL) generation and distribution capacity. According to Nandlall, despite the upgrades currently being undertaken by Trinidadian and other contractors, “I don't know when it will stop and I am
- AG Nandlall saying that as part of a government. But we are working towards it.” To this end, Nandlall posited “that is why we are pursuing so many different avenues to provide power; power that is cheap, renewable and alternative to fossil fuel.”
He posited, “That is why we are promoting solar, we are promoting hydro, we are promoting wind and we are pushing the gas-to-shore project.” Insisting that, “you can't fault us for not trying,” the Attorney General also lamented that in recent
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall years the power company did not adequately maintain its systems that has led to the existing status quo. “There was no maintenance of the transmission lines for the past four years,” he said, parroting President, Irfaan Ali. “Right now there are Trinidadian contractors and a whole host of contractors who are working in servicing and maintaining the lines which have been neglected for the past four years and that is the hallmark of the APNU+AFC term in Government; every sector of this country was neglected.” According to Nandlall, the opposition is instead now looking to simply find fault with the proposed gas-toshore project, among other initiatives, to reform and transform the country. He posited optimistically “the upgrades that are currently being done will be
completed soon and we will have some normalcy restored in the electricity sector.” President Ali, while speaking at a swearing in ceremony at the Office of the President on Monday last, had noted, “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 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, efficient, nondiscriminatory, 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.”
Kaieteur News
Thursday April 22, 2021
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Fixing Liza Destiny's gas compressor woes could last three months The flaring that continues at the Liza Destiny FPSO
- In the meantime, daily production ramped up by 80,000 barrels
E
xxonMobil Guyana disclosed yesterday that it has finally removed the discharge silencer, a component of the gas compressor system for the Liza Destiny vessel that malfunctioned on April 13, last. That aspect of the equipment will undergo further assessment for damage, following which, a determination will be made regarding the necessary scope of repairs and/or modifications. ExxonMobil said it estimates that repairs or replacement will take approximately three months. In the meantime, the American oil explorer and operator of the Stabroek Block, said that production
will be “slowly ramped up” to 100,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd). It can also go as high as 110,000 bpd the company noted. Further to this, Kaieteur News and other media entities were told that flaring levels have increased from three to four million cubic feet of gas to 15 million cubic feet of gas. In its statement which provided justification for the increase, ExxonMobil said, “These operating parameters were defined after careful consideration of safety, environmental, technical and economic factors as well as discussions with the relevant government agencies on the best path forward while repairs and upgrades are ongoing.”
While it is extremely disappointed by its poor performance to date, ExxonMobil Guyana said it is nonetheless “proud of the team offshore that continues to work safely and manage operations e ff i c i e n t l y d u r i n g t h e COVID-19 pandemic…”
POOR TRACK RECORD Since December 2019, Kaieteur News would have diligently followed and reported on ExxonMobil's continually malfunctioning gas compressor system. On December 20, 2020, it had
Suspects arrested after throwing cocaine out of car window
announced that the gas compressor issue was fixed once and for all. But during that one-year period, it had already flared 12.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day, equivalent to the removal of 1.6M acres of forest. In simpler terms, this means that Exxon flared toxic Natural gas that could have been offset by a forest the size of Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam). (https://www.kaieteurnewso nline.com/2020/12/22/exxo ns-flaring-this-yearequivalent-to-the-removalof-1-6m-acres-of-forest/). But the issues with its gas compressor would soon return. On January 13, 2021, the gas compressor malfunctioned for a second time. The company did not reveal the cause at that time but said that it was fixed within a matter of hours, or so it thought. (https://www.kaieteurne wsonline.com/2021/03/07/e
xxonmobil-had-flaredearly-january-claims-itlasted-less-than-hours/). On January 29, 2021, the gas compressor broke down for a third time, forcing ExxonMobil this time around to send the faulty equipment to Germany for repairs and upgrades. A detailed assessment of the compressor subsequently revealed that an axial vibration of the compressor rotor is what led to mechanical disruptions. The equipment was back in Guyana by the second week of March where it was installed on the Liza Destiny vessel. Tests were subsequently being carried out in the early part of A p r i l . (https://www.kaieteurnewsonl ine.com/2021/03/14/exxonsrepaired-compressor-back-inguyana/). But before that could be completed, the gas compressor which was supposedly repaired and upgraded, malfunctioned for the fourth time.
Police investigating North Road shooting incident Daquan Wills and Joel Fung-A-Fat. The arrested suspects who reportedly threw cocaine out of a car window
W
hile being chased by ranks of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), two men reportedly decided to dispose of a quantity of cocaine that was in their possession. The incident occurred in the capital city on Tuesday afternoon. CANU in a release revealed that the men disposed of the parcel by throwing it through a window of the car they were travelling in.
The men have since been identified as Daquan Wills, 25, who was the driver of the car, and Joel Fung-A-Fat, 39, a resident of Forshaw Street, Queenstown, Georgetown. They are presently in police custody. According to CANU, its ranks were conducting an operation in the afternoon hours and one of its targets was a Maroon coloured Nissan Duke motor car, which was under surveillance. It was noted that when the ranks attempted to
intercept the car it sped off prompting them to give chase using their vehicle. It was during the hot pursuit, CANU reported, that one of the occupants (of the Nissan Duke vehicle) threw a parcel out of the window. The ranks eventually cornered the car on Vlissengen Road in the vicinity of Lance Gibbs Street. The parcel was recovered as well. CANU ranks, according to the release, found that the parcel contained suspected cocaine in a shape of a brick,
which weighed over one kilogramme. After apprehending Fung-A-Fat and Wills, the CANU ranks informed the suspects that they will be questioned by officers, who they subsequently led to an abandoned range house located at Stone Avenue, Campbellville, Georgetown. In the yard the ranks found another kilogramme of suspected cocaine also in brick form and 17 kilogrammes of suspected cannabis. Investigations are ongoing.
D
etectives are investigating a shooting that occurred yesterday on North Road in the vicinity of Carmax Auto Spares. So far investigators have detained one individual for questioning. Kaieteur News has learnt that gunshots rang out sometime after 12:00hrs forcing persons to seek cover in the nearby businesses. But according to investigators they are yet to ascertain who shot and what caused the shooting. Theories have circulated that it was a robbery and others
have speculated that it was a shoot-out. However, detectives, up to press time, claimed to have no evidence to confirm either theory. Kaieteur News was told that the detained individual is alleging that he was in a car with two other persons when they were shot at. The individual claimed too, that one of those persons was injured. However, police are yet to locate the two persons the detained individual referred in order to corroborate his story. Investigations are ongoing.
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Thursday April 22, 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
Why an Integrity Commission? Do we need an Integrity Commission? The one that we have, is it functioning as an Integrity Commission should? If it does, then how can it be improved? If it doesn’t fulfill what was envisioned, then what to do about it? We will now make an attempt to answer and address each one of those hard, searching questions. We at this publication say it most unequivocally: we need an Integrity Commission. There can be no debating about that, or distancing from the crucial presence of such a body. It is needed because of what we have as a major part of our political and professional public service culture, the culture of sleaze perfected by scoundrels, who take advantage of the trust placed in them, to gouge and gut the public treasury in many different ways. It is how public finances are managed (more on that another time). It is how basic services, billiondollar projects and procurement relationships are delivered and overseen. It always boils down to the standard and consistency of the ethics displayed by politicians and public servants in the exercise of their heavy responsibilities. Some have responded fully to what the Commission demands; others have not, which is where the problem resides. This involves many important responsibilities in the practices manifested in a host of areas covering from the high parliamentary to the regular day to day, and everything in between. Men and women must (not merely need to be) manifest a deep immaculacy in how they comport themselves. They have not to a worrying extent, which is what the most recent U.S. State Department Report noted (KN April 1), which confirmed the fears of a significant number of Guyanese about a number of sensitive places in Guyana, of which the Integrity Commission is one. But we did not need a State Department report to confirm our convictions, which is the answer we supply for our second question: Guyana’s Integrity Commission, to a discomforting degree, is not functioning as it should. Guyanese that fall within its purview have repeatedly and insultingly done more than give the Commission an upraised middle finger. Some Guyanese political presences and senior public servants have executed the equivalent of dropping their pants and responding with a full mooning in the face of the Commission. It is take that, and be done. The Integrity Commission has been mostly content to be done and gone, with little more than futile protestations of non-cooperation and non-compliance. That will not get the job of any selfrespecting Integrity Commission anywhere done in an effective and satisfactory manner. It has to do more, and in ways that brook no pushback. Our third question was: given where it is, can it be improved? We think so, and for the simplest of reasons: we need one that is working well; because if we don’t have that, then we might as well stop talking about clean stewardship and moral and ethical leadership. We might as well resign ourselves to the barbarians running amok inside this country, and the lunatics running the nationwide asylum. But that we cannot subscribe to, will never endorse, given the calibre of people we have had in the last half century and counting in charge of political and bureaucratic affairs. They must be watched, they must be policed and closely. The Integrity Commission can be improved, because the groundwork and structure have been erected on which it can make some meaningful strides. It has to have the right people, those who will not be pushed around or be a party to stonewalling and obfuscating. The strength and will must be there to probe and do some hard pushing back of their own. The mindset and operations of the Integrity Commission leaders have to be: deliver or be dealt with in no uncertain terms, with the full scope of existing laws to be brought to bear. We also believe that existing laws should be enhanced to give the Commission more teeth, through more powers. It must censure, it must haul before the courts, it must be punitive; and if some have to be exposed and embarrassed, then let that be the price of non-compliance. It must maximise what is currently available within its power to bring all violators (no exceptions) to book. It must go beyond publicising, warning and reminding. The Integrity
The Sawh family continues to call for an inquiry, 15 years on Dear Editor, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself” – the quote by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, during his first inaugural address in 1933 was one of Satyadeow Sawh’s favourites. Fifteen years ago, on April 22, 2006, a sitting Minister of the Government of Guyana had his blood spilled at the hands of murderers. Equally, two of his siblings and his security guard (and the family dog, also) were mercilessly slain. Others were badly wounded (most severely, another security guard, the
wonderful Mr. Aga Khan) and permanently traumatised. The people of this nation were collectively shaken. Fifteen years on, and we, the family of the late Satyadeow Sawh, are none the wiser about the motives behind this heinous episode. For the avoidance of doubt, we would like to see an independent inquiry into the intellectual authorship behind the criminal events of April 22, 2006. Almost annually, we have raised a hue and cry for more to be done to unearth answers. Our calls for action have been clarion,
unequivocal, apolitical, persistent, passionate, public and private. Indeed, such calls have not been isolated either - most recently, there was an excellent letter by Geoff Da Silva eloquently imploring action and, at various times over the years, prominent leaders from both major parties have publicly expressed support for an inquiry. Such an inquiry is necessary not only for the families of those who were killed, but also for the nation at large. Indeed, despite the passage of a decade and a half, we are still regularly asked by Guyanese of all
stripes, at home and abroad, whether there are any answers about who, what, where, when and, most vigorously, why. At a time when the Administration of President Ali is moving apace with a range of laudable projects and initiatives, our family optimistically and tirelessly implores the government (as past administrations have been implored) to put this issue on the front burner. Fifteen years is already too long; the time is now. There is, after all, nothing to fear but fear itself. Yours truly, Roger Sawh On behalf of the family of the late Satyadeow Sawh
GuySuCo is committed to finding solution to current GAWU negotiations Dear Editor, The Management of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) wishes to clarify several inaccurate public statements that were recently disseminated by President of the Guyana Agricultural Workers’ Union (GAWU). GuySuCo does not intend to negotiate in the press with the Unions, but we wish to bring to the table, at all times, factual clarifications to some of these public statements being made by the Union’s President. 1. After August 2020, the executive organisational staffing at Head Office was increased by a net of two (2) persons; not thirty (30) that is being alleged by the Union Boss. 2. Currently there is an employment freeze of senior staff at Head Office until the Human Resource and Skills Audit process is completed. That Report is expected to be submitted by the end of June 2021. 3. The GuySuCo compensation package is governed by the Hays Job Evaluation Methodology and the Corporation has been unable to meet the recommended rates for the
senior staff since 2013 (seven years), which means that the Corporation’s rates are below the average senior management salary rates in the public service and private sector. 4. The current management acknowledges that it inherited in August 2020, a debt owed to the GAWU Credit Union and the Union for dues totalling G$113 million. Since then to now the Corporation, with the limited cash flows, has paid approximately G$140 million to the GAWU. The Corporation formally committed to the GAWU to pay a further G$2 million per week to clear the inherited debt. 5. In 2020, the Corporation made a loss of approximately G$3.8 billion. This information is available to the GAWU. 6. In 2020, GuySuCo spent 102% of its earned revenue to pay wages and salaries. This meant without financial support from the Shareholders, the Corporation could not have met its wages bill. The information is also available to the GAWU. 7. The 2017
Commission must move to the courts for that maximum 12month sentence to be handed down to those playing games with the fulfillment of its work. Only when it does so, will there be an Integrity Commission worth the name, pulling its weight and fulfilling its mandate. The last question we raised above was: if it continues to fall short significantly, then what should be done with it? If the political will and political honesty are not there to give the Integrity Commission the legal tools and the procedural powers with which it must be armed, then there is only one option left. Pull the plug on it, disband it and stop making a fool of Guyanese who look upon it to be sentinel and security against the local political and professional predators constantly coming up with ways to cheat the system, and cheat the taxpayers. We hate to say that, but if our leaders and Integrity Commission people cannot get the job done right, then move on and be rid of it. We sincerely hope that matters don’t conclude there.
Independent Audited Financial Statement of GuySuCo made it absolutely clear that by way of the Vesting Order of December 30, 2017 called the GuySuCo (Transfer of Property) Order 45 of 2017, “all moveable and immovable property of Wa l e s , S k eldon, East Demerara and Rose Hall” were transferred to NICIL. But the uniqueness of this dysfunctional transaction, as stated in that public document, acknowledged that “the liabilities of the vested estates remained with the Corporation.” Further, there is nothing “fairly straight forward” about a business that has the External Auditors declaring that “the validity of the going concern basis on which the consolidated finance statements are prepared is dependent on the continued support from the Government
of Guyana.” 8. The Corporation remains firm in its commitment to collaborate with the Unions to bring a final resolution to the workers compensation issues. To that end, the Corporation invited the Union to a meeting on May 4, 2021. GuySuCo’ s management remains firm in its commitment to working with all stakeholders, especially the three (3) Trade Unions in the industry, to build a resilient business with an empowered workforce in an environment that is healthy and safe for all. The Corporation is desirous of arriving at an amicable solution acceptable to all Stakeholders. Nonetheless, GuySuCo encourages factual discourse to advance the cause of the 7,400 workers and Guyana. Yours truly, Communications Team, GuySuCo.
A railway connection to Brazil would benefit the economy Dear Editor, The recent announcement by the Ministry of Agriculture of plans to implement a railway connection to Brazil for the transport of goods is an excellent step in the correct direction. This is very good news that will benefit the agriculture and productive sectors of the economy. It will also make it easier to develop the interior of the country as the railway system expands to also accommodate tourism and increased trade. Congratulations to His
Excellency, President, Dr. Ali’s administration on their thoughtfulness and foresight in the development of the transportation network of the country. Reestablishment of the railway system of our nation is long overdue. The prior removal of the railway has hindered the development of Guyana during the past 50 years. It is great that our development path will now be put back on track. Yours truly, Mr. Jamil Changlee
Thursday April 22, 2021
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Kaieteur News
Guyanese Americans endorse George Floyd verdict Dear Editor, Guyanese and other immigrant Americans I have spoken with unanimously endorse the guilty verdict against White police officer, Derek Chauvin, in the death of a Black man, George Floyd, in Minnesota. It is a rare instance of a White police officer being found guilty of murdering a person who is a non-White. It is also seen as a guilty verdict of systemic racism in America against people of colour and recent immigrants, who are not accepted as belonging in the country even though America has been built by immigrant communities going back five hundred years. America has had a history of racism since its founding.
The Floyd’s murder has galvanised people of all ethnicities and nationalities demanding that they be treated equitably and fairly regardless of background. People of all ethnicities went into the streets in cities across the country, including Guyanese in Richmond Hill, during a pandemic to demand justice. Guyanese Americans, like others, feel an urgent need for policing and criminal justice reform as well as legislation against racist attacks. Asian and Indian Americans have been victims of racist attacks (perpetrated by Whites and minorities including by Black Americans) of late. There were all kinds of reactions from Guyanese and
other Americans expressing relief that justice has been delivered and rather quickly in less than a year in Floyd’s murder. Some describe the guilty verdict as a champion of humanity over inhumanity, light over darkness, justice over injustice – messages echoed in Hindu scriptures and festivals like Diwali and Phagwah. Guyanese hope that the verdict will root out the brutality and prejudice faced daily by people of colour in their dealings with police. Floyd died of suffocation when his neck was pressed beneath the knee of police officer, Derek Chauvin, for some nine minutes in a shopping mall parking lot in Minnesota in May 2020.
The GDF did not fire upon anyone in October, 1992 Dear Editor, I cannot help but to register utter indignation and astonishment after reading a missive in “Letters to the Editor” Column, Kaieteur News, penned by Mr. Vishnu Bisram and titled “Did Hamilton Green personify Divide and Rule?” In his diatribe on March 16, 2020 Mr. Bisram boldly posited that “the Guyana Defence Force opened fire on thugs,” a totally misinformed view that forces me to respond and set the record straight. During that period I was a serving commissioned officer of the GDF at the rank of a lieutenant. My troops were vested with specific responsibility of assisting the Police in the maintenance of law and order in Georgetown. That is why I can assertively state that on October 5, 1992 and the days that followed, the GDF did not nor had reason to discharge a single round. At 14:30 hours, October 5, 1992, I was deployed in Georgetown and was tasked with the duty of assisting the police in the maintenance of
law and order. On the said day I engaged many disenfranchised voters who had in their possession slips issued by the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) advising them of the respective polling stations where they were listed to cast their ballots. I vividly remember these citizens complaining upon presenting themselves at those polling stations, their names could not have been found. During efforts to persuade several protestors to disperse, I was able to verify several authentic cases of disenfranchisement. It is indeed unfortunate that someone as learned as Mr. Vishnu Bisram would choose to address legitimate protestors as thugs. One is only left to summarise because they are Black. This seems to be the norm for a few misinformed bigots, who lack historical understanding of Black militancy. Notably, such writings fail to achieve good race relations which all patriotic Guyanese are desperately seeking. One can
even venture so far and accuse Mr. Bisram of seeking to further divide an already deeply polarised nation. Upon reading Mr. Bisram’s missive, I could only conclude that it takes a complete lack of values and compassion for him to think up, write and cause to publish a letter that only succeeds in distorting history while completely misinforming the uninitiated. I am, therefore, forced to regard Mr. Bisram in the category of our many politicians and so called social activists who have no shame about peddling lies and misinformation regarding the socio-political reality. Therefore I call upon all responsible and patriotic Guyanese to ignore such unbalanced dogma, even as we attempt to unite and bridge the racial divide. Resist those who seek to divide us by peddling alternative facts; thus, maligning and demonizing section(s) of the population. Yours truly, Lelon Saul Lt Col (Ret’d)
Floyd was accused of using a counterfeit bill at a store. Police was called. He was held. Video recording showed he was prostrate on the ground with handcuffs rendering him utterly harmless. Chauvin and three other cops used disproportionate force. Chauvin’s knee prevented him from breathing. Almost every Guyanese
or immigrant I spoke with about the case during the trial was expecting a conviction based on the available evidence. In fact, since the death almost a year ago, people had long made up their mind that the cop was guilty of murder. Also, almost all of America, including the President of the US and Governor of Minnesota State, was expecting and agreed
with the verdict. The Floyd’s family settled a civil suit with the city of Minneapolis for $27 million last month. In a sort of way, Guyanese and immigrant Americans see the verdict as justice for minorities who have been subjected to various kinds of injustices at the hands of racists. Minorities have been living in fear in certain (Continued on page 6)
We are having a rerun of pre-2015 all over Dear Editor, Reference is made to letter by Thomas Whitehead (April 19) on economic, business, and financial stagnancy in the country. The writer is right that money is not circulating and the working class is still suffering as under the coalition. Also, there is very little benefit for small business under this government and regular contractors are being sidelined and by-passed. People voted for change on March 2, 2020, for better governance. Have they gotten the change they expected or wanted? Has the government tried to renegotiate the oil contract? As one person intelligently summed up the electoral situation: It was a very difficult choice for voters to make in March 2020 – between a perceived racist, corrupt regime (party) that was on the verge of authoritarianism versus a very corrupt alternative with no internal party democracy.
The election results showed that a very slim majority rejected the authoritarian leaning perceived racist incumbent, replacing it with the corrupt. Now, there is much talk by people on the street about widespread corruption, perhaps worse than it was in 2015 before the change of regime. Business people are complaining that they have to pay to play. People are also complaining that one person appears to be running the show making almost all the decisions. We are having a rerun of pre-2015 all over. Politicians never learn. As under the previous regime, companies owned by ministers, their family members, relatives, and friends are benefiting from the bulk of contracts. Take the case of the Eccles Bypass road, the first half of which was done without tendering, in clear violation of contractual rules. Contractors complain that contracts are being awarded
at several other Ministries, as emergency works, to persons connected to a political party without quotations and tendering when these works are not really emergencies. Is that different from under the coalition? Traditional contractors with a history of performing these kinds of infrastructure works are being bypassed in preference for favored contractors. As expected, they are complaining. Consequently, money is confined to among a few companies without full trickle down and spillover effects that should have followed from government expenditures and contracts. Government financial activities are not having the full spin and circular effects they should. As a result, the working class is left without many benefits. People are complaining that there is a return to the kind of corruption that existed before May 2015. Yours truly, Sharmila Ally
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Inaccurate statements regarding UG’s pensions’ policy DEAR EDITOR, The Administration of the University of Guyana wishes to refer to an article published in your newspaper’s online edition of Sunday April 18, under the caption: “Why has the Government derecognised my status?” The references made to UG’s Pensions Policy are inaccurate and misleading and the University is therefore kindly asking for a retraction and correction accordingly. It should be noted, that the University’s Pension signatories’ policy has been significantly improved and is now more simplified, accommodating and transparent. On this basis, we note the following in relation to the changes made on November 30, 2020 to the University’s Pension Policy and by extension, the Life Certificate for Pensioners: 1. The amendment of the policy to include the use of Senior Administrative Officers of the University of Guyana or a Justice of the Peace to sign as verifiers of the Life Certificates for Pensioners, but only in instances when the pensioner is still employed at the University.
2. The amendment of the policy requirements for Life Certificates from 3 months to 6 months’ intervals. 3. The acceptance of electronic submissions of signed scanned or photographed Life Certificates for Pensioners who are still working at UG and are known to be extant.4. It should also be noted that in some cases, upon the request of UG Pensioners, University staff have made their way to pensioners’ home to render assistance and to collect the Life Certificates. Please see link below to the interactive Life Certificate Declaration for UG Pensioners:https:// uog.edu.gy/documents/ugpension-scheme-lifecertificate. It is hoped that your publication will act with some degree of urgency to have the inaccurate information retracted and corrected now that the facts have been provided. Yours truly, Public Relations Unit, University of Guyana Editor’s Note: As seen below, Mr. Kissoon has issued a statement in response to UG.
Freddie Kissoon’s response to UG Dear Editor, The Kaieteur News has asked me to respond to the above statement. I have not written anything about UG’s pension policy and thus the statement is misleading. I penned three lines in my Sunday (April 18, 2021) column about something I told Vincent Alexander moons ago about the restricted list of people who can sign a UG pension form. Only seven types of occupations can sign. There is nothing in the UG statement that contradicts that. The statement refers to changes in the pension policy but nothing is explained if the seven categories have been extended. In one instance it says if the pensioner is still working at UG, a senior administrative officer can sign. This doesn’t pertain to pensioners not working at UG. In another instance, it
Thursday April 22, 2021
Kaieteur News
says you can scan the form and send it and there were times UG staff members collected the forms at pensioners’ homes. But I am talking about who can sign the form not the scanning of the form or having it picked up. I close by saying that I did not write on UG pension policy and it must be embarrassing for UG for the world to see it cannot publish a logical response to something simply written about it. I hope the academic communities in Guyana and the Government of Guyana have taken note. I close with a question. Have the seven categories been extended? Which other occupations are now eligible to sign a pensioner’s form if the pensioner is not working at UG? Yours truly, Frederick Kissoon
We must strive to ensure an ecological friendly future, or we are all doomed Dear Editor, A very great mind averred that we should make things “as simple as possible, but not simpler.” I will attempt to follow this precept. Throughout human history, peoples have paid respect to their environment – air, water and earth in particular. I mean the indigenous peoples who have revered this planet with endearing and sacred words: dharti mata, pachamama, maga or mother gaia, iya aye, papatûânuku, maimata, maka ina, and so forth. Contemplate on this: All life (and thus civilisation) depends on six-inch top soil. The earth provides food; yet humans are abusing it. The same is true for the air and water. This has been going on and is still happening: Pollution in diverse ways, including excessive use of pesticide, herbicide and weedicide, antibiotics and hormones in factory farmed animals, unsustainable deforestation, over hunting, commercial over fishing, factory farming, decline of biodiversity, soil erosion, plastics in the soil, air, water and food, algal bloom, and carbon emission. Marine biologist Nicklen explains, “When people think of sea ice melting, they think of this lifeless substance, like ice in a glass. But it’s a very complex
substrate. You have up to 300 species of microorganism living in the salt brine channels of a piece of sea ice... the sun’s energy penetrates, and you get algae growing under the ice, and seaweed, which provides the food base for zooplankton. Billions of pounds of amphipods and copepods are growing under there, and it’s the same with krill. Then you have the polar cod that feed on the krill, and from there you have beluga whales, narwhals, bearded seals, Greenland sharks. If we lose the ice, we stand to lose the entire ecosystem.” An example of biodiversity collapse in the arctic biome! The Climate narrative is arguably the most defining and crucial issue of our natural world today. It is identified as an emergency climate crisis, because of the extreme damaging effects on nature. “Human activity has reduced the Earth’s total biomass by an estimated 50%, and destroyed or degraded 70% of the world’s forests over the recent 5,000 years.” The scientific data are overwhelming. Scientific American states: “There is mounting evidence linking increases in extreme weather frequency and intensity to climate change. The year 2020, one of the hottest years on record, also saw extraordinary wildfire activity in the Western
...Guyanese Americans From page 5 sections of America. They dare not venture in certain parts where they may be attacked by ‘rednecks.’ Even President, Joe Biden, acknowledged the persistence of racism in America when he committed to working for greater racial justice across the country. Biden chimed that he was “so relieved” about the guilty verdict, and he has pledged “to press forward with a broader racial justice agenda.” Vice President, Kamala Harris, also committed to “make something good come out of this tragedy (of the murder of Floyd.” One of George Floyd’s younger brothers has echoed the sentiments about racism. Similar responses poured in from prominent figures such as former president Barack Obama and civil rights activists. Obama said the murder and the guilty verdict are evidence that we must “come to terms with the prevalence of racism in its various systems, from policing to the economy. We will need to follow through with the concrete reforms that will reduce and ultimately eliminate racial bias in our criminal justice
system.” Those connected with the Floyd movement hope to carry forward their agenda of reforming policing and eradicating systemic racism. It is hoped that with the verdict, there would be passage of federal legislation aimed at reducing police brutality and racism across America. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act has passed the House but remains stalled in the Senate. Guyanese and others agree that there must be full accountability for police misconduct. The country needs a full measure of justice not only of police but of anyone involved in criminal activities that rob, steal, and engage in violence. While praising the verdict, Guyanese and others also condemned the riots and violence that followed Floyd’s murder last year May. Minorities suffered the most from the looting violence with their businesses destroyed unable to recover from the losses. Many businesses owned by minorities have remained permanently closed. They must also get justice with compensation and punishment of the guilty. Yours truly, Dr. Vishnu Bisram
United States and Australia, a Siberian heat wave with record high temperatures exceeding 38 degrees C (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) within the Arctic circle, a record low for October Arctic sea ice extent of 2.04 million square miles, an Atlantic hurricane season resulting in more than $46 billion in damage, and deadly floods and landslides in South Asia that displaced more than 12 million people.” ( h t t p s : / / www.scientificamerican.com/ article/the-climateemergency-2020-in-review/) There are literally hundreds of Articles, Reports and Statements from organisations and the press (the Guardian especially in the forefront) drawing attention to this grim crisis. Here are just a few sampling headlines: *Climate crisis: Earlier snowmelt in Alps means plants lose ‘protective coat, exposing them to deadly frosts. *The climate crisis can’t be solved by carbon accounting tricks. *How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates; The New Climate War. *Iceberg size of Greater London breaks off Antarctica. *Global oil companies have committed to ‘net zero’ emissions. It’s a sham. *Oil firms knew decades ago fossil fuels posed grave health risks, files reveal. *How to save an overheated planet. *Naomi Klein: how big tech helps India target climate activists. *The race to zero: can America reach net-zero emissions by 2050? *The World’s Worst Oil Related Disaster You’ve Never Heard Of. *The planet cannot survive our remorseless pursuit of profit. UN Secretary General, António Guterres, underscored that “Human activities are at the root of our descent toward chaos. But that means human action can help to solve it.” Despite the preponderance of evidence, there is so much callous insouciance by governments and culpable corporations directly involved in fossil extractives, and, as reported, by “Big Banks [that] Are ‘Fueling Climate Chaos’ By Pouring Trillions Into Oil, Gas And Coal.” It is indeed perplexing! It cannot be mindless political or ideological or cerebral sclerosis when basic commonsense dictates reasonableness in addressing such a major concern facing survival of planet earth. Well, there is a tipping point, when there may be no
return to life as we know it. Described in Guyanese picturesque language: when boat done gan ah falls; moon ah run till daylight ketch am; wha sweet ah goat mouth does sour he backside. Time to act is now! Recall Bishop Desmond Tutu’s allegory: “When the Europeans came to South Africa they brought lots of bibles. They gave us bibles and said, ‘Let us close our eyes and pray.’ When we opened our eyes we found that we had a lot of European bibles and the Europeans had a lot of our land.” Now also consider: when the investors come, they bring much money to your land, and after a few years they exploit and take much, much, much more – your wealth and patrimony. This is the essential message of The West on Trial. Guyanese should be well advised that in the pursuit of so-called oil wealth they are contributing to potential colossal infrastructure destruction, environmental devastation, without alleviating poverty and quality of life. Heed the Cree Wisdom: Only after the last tree has been cut down / Only after the last river has been polluted / Only after the last fish has been caught / Only then, will you discover, that money cannot be eaten. Nature is full with lessons for life, its accepted wisdom, for sustainable living. Humanity should respect such wisdom, and embrace environmental justice. We should all caution ourselves against the capriciousness of unconscionable immoral and perverse quest of fortune. We should try to find, develop, inculcate, and internalise what Joseph Campbell called ‘bliss,’ or the Japanese ikigai, or the Nakhichevan penchant for cleanliness and order. The populace (students, workers, academics, NGOs and all others) must wake up, and demand change of direction regarding the committed inglorious push for fossil fuel. If we want to enjoy what is left of our world, we have to be highly aware of our impact upon this Earth and desist from its further despoliation. Thurgood Marshall admonished “Whenever you see an injustice you must speak out. This is the only way we protect our freedom and democracy.” Today is Earth Day. Let us dedicate solemnly to save our Planet. We must strive to ensure an ecological friendly future, or we are all doomed. Sincerely, Gary Girdhari
T N U L B . . . T B N U T L N T B . U . L . L T B . N . U . N U T L N B . U . T . L N T U N B . N U . L U L LUNT. B . T . . T T N N B U B . U . L . L T B . B . . N . . . T U T L N N T U U L N L B U . B . . L . . . T B T . . N . N T U L N LU B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . NT LUNT...B NT...BLU N U L B . . B . U . . T L . N T B . . U N . L N T B U N . . L . U T L B . . N B . . . T U . L N T B U . . L . UN T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L B U UN .BLUNT. . . L . T B . . N . T U . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . LU ...BLUNT LUNT...B NT...BL T B U . . L N . T B BLU T...BLUN BLUNT... UNT...B . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B BBLU T...BLUN BLUNT... ...BLU . T . N . N T T U L U L N L B U T...BLU U B . L . N . B T . . . N T U N N N L U U U B L . L B T LUNT.. UNT...B BL B Thursday April 22, 2021
Kaieteur News
The Opposition is questioning the appointment of a communications arm of the Police Force headed by civilians.
While not condemning, once the appointment was done lawfully, we at this publication have questions too. Today we ask only one: Is a 'dressed-up' communications unit part of the Force's plan to address our escalating crime situation?
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Thursday April 22, 2021
Kaieteur News
ExxonMobil meets Opposition today on defective gas compressor …economic impact on Guyana high on agenda - Shadow Oil & Gas Minister
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resident of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge, has acquiesced to the request by Leader of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon, to meet and be briefed on the problems that developed this past week with the flash gas compressor on board the Liza Destiny. This was confirmed by Shadow Minister with responsibility for the Oil and Gas portfolio, David Patterson, in an invited comment yesterday. According to Patterson, the economic impact on the country as a whole will be high on the agenda, as he conceded that the slashed production would inevitably lead to longer payback periods on the initial spending by ExxonMobil for the development of the oil field currently producing. He did indicate that the opposition would want to be briefed by the ExxonMobil team before m a k i n g f u r t h e r pronouncements. The meeting was summoned by Harmon after the oil company reported that it had to reduce production down to some 90,000 barrels daily in order to ensure flaring at pilot
generators, and minimises flare.” To t h i s e n d , t h e Opposition Leader in a missive on Thursday last to the ExxonMobil top brass r e q u e s t i n g t h e u rg e n t meeting, said, “I am in receipt of numerous queries from our constituents, civil society and concerned citizens expressing their worry that EEPGL's (Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited) performance since inception, appear to be far
Shadow Oil & Gas Minister, David Patterson levels and to permit safe operations. The disruption to production occurred as the company was monitoring its re-installed gas compressor that had developed problems earlier in the year and had to be flown to Germany for emergency repairs. The company in making the announcement last week Tuesday said, “…we have reduced production to a minimum level that mitigates formation of hydrates in subsea systems, maintains gas injection and fuel gas to the power
below expectations.” EEPGL has as its majority owner, ExxonMobil Guyana and is the company which is currently producing crude in the Stabroek Block. As such, Harmon, in requesting the meeting, indicated that the reported lingering malfunctioning of equipment that continues to delay the termination of excess flaring, plus the significant reduction of operations to a bare
minimum production level, “are of considerable concerns to the Opposition.” He had also indicated to the ExxonMobil President, that the meeting is aimed at having the opposition be briefed on matters including the recent development and the root causes of the equipment failures resulting in excessive flaring and reduced production. Additionally, Harmon has told the ExxonMobil President, the Opposition is
also looking to hear, “your plans—with schedule—for permanently addressing these root causes, and the short and long term e c o n o m i c a n d environmental implications for all of Guyana. The Opposition Leader indicated meeting with the ExxonMobil team along with A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change's (APNU+AFC) senior Members of Parliament and the Shadow Minister for Oil and Gas.
Guyanese designer killed in T&T died from stabs, blunt injury – PM reveals
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post mortem (PM) conducted on the remains of 27-year-old Latchman Singh also known as Marcus Anthony, revealed that he died from multiple stab injuries and blunt injury to his head. Singh was murdered in Trinidad last week Tuesday. According to the autopsy, Singh was not only stabbed multiple times to his neck and upper back but he was also struck
to the head with a heavy object. Singh's Guyana-based sister, S a m i r a S i n g h , confirmed with this publication that the PM was performed on Friday last in Port-of-Spain by Dr. Somu Gajula, a pathologist at the Trinidad and Tobago Forensics Science Centre. Police are investigating the matter. Singh's boyfriend had discovered him lying motionless in a pool of blood, clad in his underwear in the evening of last week Tuesday when he arrived home at the El Dorado, Tunapuna apartment in Trinidad which they shared.
He then contacted the police and ambulance services. Singh was declared dead by paramedics who had arrived at the scene. Samira Singh had told Kaieteur News that her brother had moved to the twin island republic several years ago to boost his career in the fashion and make-up industry. Singh was described by friends, who spoke to this publication, as an outspoken and multi-talented young man. This sentiment was echoed by many to whom he was known as news of his death circulated on social media.
Murdered: Latchman Singh aka Marcus Anthony
Kaieteur News
Thursday April 22, 2021
PAGE 09
Dictators snatch your freedom I
n 1978, a movie was released by United Artistes. The Wild Geese was not a spectacular box office hit but given that it was a form of action movie, it did reasonably well to turn a small profit and to have a sequel. The plot was quite simple. It was about a group of British mercenaries who were hired to rescue a deposed African leader who was being held captive by a dictator. At the time, Walter Rodney and the Working People's Alliance were presenting the first real challenge to Forbes Burnham's then four-yearold unbroken rule. The very idea of Guyanese being exposed to an innocuous movie about mercenaries attempting a political rescue mission was sufficient to drive fear into the government. It did, and so much so, that Burnham banned the movie from Guyana. One of the pretexts of the ban was that it negatively portrayed scenes of apartheid South Africa. But anyone who has seen the movie would downplay the significance of this reason; the real fear was the rejection of mercenaries being used for a political cause. That very thought drove fear into the hearts of the Guyanese dictator.
Dictators are so insecure that they wished to even control your private lives. This was evidently the case in Guyana during the reign of the despot Forbes Burnham who not only dictated what you should eat, what you should wear and how you should live, but also what movies you are allowed to see in the local cinemas. Burnham decided what you could do and could not do. He decided what foods you could eat, restricting a wide range of items, restrictions that were virtual bans. He decided that some school children had to wear Sanata cotton and attend Mass Games. His photograph and that of his Ministers adorned the covers of school exercise books. University students were required to serve one-year National Service, including a stint at one of the hinterland camps where they were exposed to military training and hard labour in the infertile cotton and legume fields. There were reports of women being sexually molested. Burnham limited your employment options. State enterprises commanded 80 percent of the economy and therefore most people worked for the State. But a party card was automatic passport for a job. So in order to get a job, your political
beliefs had to synchronise with that of the ruling party. And Burnham ensured that they were. Workers were subject to political indoctrination. They were required to attend ideological training programmes. For Republic Day observances, workers were coerced, sometime under the threat of dismissal, to march in what was known as the People's Parade. Many did so in order to avoid joining the ranks of the more than 30,000 who were retrenched. In order to avoid dismissal, many went reluctantly to clean drains and do hard work at Plantation Hope, while Burnham gallivanted around, like an overseer on his horse, sometimes in the company of one of his concubines. Women avoided eye contact with Burnham. It was whispered that he used to instruct his guards to bring some women to entertain him at the Residence, his official office. During the Rodney Commission of Inquiry, it was revealed that one of the reasons why the African Society for Cultural Relations with Independent Africa (ASCRIA) fell out with Burnham was because of his treatment of women. Freedom of the press was dead. The only nongovernment publications were a small weekly
Fishing competition boys seh... to be held soon! Dem
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competition planning and it gan be held soon. Dem boys hearing how it gonna become a fishy affair with plenty of rank and stickiness. De event, dem boys hear, being called a rigging event because it getting hosted on a rig in de middle of de Demerara River. No bangles allowed. De invitees done prepare fuh throwaway de rule book. De man with de purple suit get hired to keep order in case it gat need fuh dat girl fuh wuk she magic like de last time when de short man and de lanky fellow square off. De event gonna be a fishing competition but
because of de uncertainty as to who participating, it could tun into a fishing expedition. Fishing gat risks! So all dem invitees gat to wear lifejackets in case dem plunge over accidentally to haul in de big fish without hook, line or sinker. De big fish dem deh in de river. And de fishing nets done ready to cast to see what de catch gonna be like dis time around. De contest is a straight fight between de carasses and de kack-abellies. De catfish, dem seh, done swim way. Some of de fishers dem get a long line by de organisers. But who will judge? Word out is dat skilled people in de art of fishing gan get recruited to judge de
event. A Bingo specialist, dem seh, in contention. He, dem seh, able fuh multiply de number of fish. Another candidate, dem seh, know which fish to disqualify. But dem boys hear dat de winner not gonna be decided on right away. De judges gonna get de maximum time possible to tabulate dem results and verify carefully how much each fisher catch. De results of de fishing contest gonna be posted first on a spread sheet and then projected on a bed sheet. Challenges nat gonna be allowed. De judges' decision can only be overturned by de Fisherman's Society of Geriatrics. Talk half and may de best fish get catch!
independent religious newspaper, the Mirror newspaper, which was associated with the PPP and the rag of the ruling party, the People's National Congress. News was tightly controlled including by some who would now have you believe that they were always paragons of freedom. A highly militarised society developed. The ruling PNC had its own thugs, including recruits from the House of Israel. And spies were everywhere. You were subject to security questioning even if you were just a schoolmate of an Opposition member, as one former colleague of Rupert Roopnarine found out when he stopped one day to talk
with him on the roadway. F r e e d o m h a d evaporated. It was in that time that the Death Squad, a notorious group within the Guyana Police Force, emerged. Human Rights reports during that period referred to extrajudicial killings. In one instance, a woman was shot dead by a bodyguard of a Minister when she visited a government office. Thugs were let loose on striking workers and political meetings were broken up. Opposition political activists, especially those from the Working People's Alliance, lived under constant harassment and fear. The woes of political dictatorship in Guyana are
long and exhaustive. The period of repression and suffering, which took place, have not been forgotten. And that is why when there was a diabolical plan to return Guyana to political dictatorship, that memory kicked in. The Guyanese people said no to a return to democracy. They were not interested in tasting that bitter harvest. They rejected the rigging. They must now reject the riggers. (The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
Kaieteur News
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Thursday April 22, 2021
THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN
Mahadai Das, Heidegger, the AFC's young Turks and the Übermensch
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he richest and most absorbing philosophy book – “Being and Time” – that has been written was done in 1928 by a German philos opher, Martin Heidegger, who had a relationship with the Nazi government even if it was distant as some of his admirers claim up to this day. It remains incredible when you think of how brilliant this book is thus the author being brilliant too that he could have been associated with Nazi officials. We will never know why people do the things they do. Heidegger was no young person like Mahadai Das when at 22 years she began her flirtation with the Burnham dictatorship. Heidegger was 40 when he wrote the most profound philosophical treatise in intellectual history therefore he should have known better.
But was there something he saw in the Nazis' rise to power that was always in his mind? Heidegger was a huge admirer of Nietzsche. Nietzsche believed that human society was deeply flawed but still could be saved by a special person he called the Übermensch in his philosophical work, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.” In his underdeveloped political life, he thought Nazi Germany may have been the coming of a new world. I was at UG and had refused to do National Service (NS) when Mahadai Das had become the advertising face of NS. I was around in those days so I knew how Guyanese people felt about compulsory NS. It is misleading to say that Indians were the only community that hated NS. The society in general did, especially the middle class folks who at the time felt Burnham had become a
dictator and should be removed. There is no space in this column to expand on NS. I have done thousands and thousands of columns over a 32-year period and have offered my analysis of it which I may likely do once more. This column is about the naivety of young minds in politics. Unfortunately, the young, disenchanted souls in the AFC who are leaving in droves survived; Mahadai Das didn't. I didn't have any admiration for Das at the time when she was the face of NS. The weakness of humans is that we tend to think that all minds are alike and every human must understand how we understand things in general. I resented what Das was doing but I was a political animal, Das was not even, though we were about the same age. I looked at NS and
Burnham through political lenses. Das was not interested in politics. Her world was literature, poetry and Indian culture. She became a protégé of a famous Guyanese woman, Rajkumari Singh, a deep devotee to Indian culture. One can say then, that she saw Burnham through the eyes of her hero – Singh. Isn't that the way young people operate in politics over centuries? People want to belong and they see leaders as the route through which they can become something and through which they can belong. I have seen this in vivid display when I was a 16year-old youth knocking around the PPP. I have seen this in all the young men who hung around the WPA and admired Walter Rodney and Rupert Roopnaraine. I have seen this in glowing ways with the young Turks in the AFC who
saw Khemraj Ramjattan and R ap h ael Tr o tman Frederick Kissoon together as being the belong to. But the top of the Ubermensch. As soon as the AFC got AFC's pyramid was far more i n t o p o w e r , i n s t a n t rotten than its counterpart in degeneracy reared its fetid the PPP and PNC. Endless h e a d . I h a d e n d l e s s conversations with them conversations, night and day brought acknowledgement with five of these young but they stuck with their party the way Das stuck with Turks. Four were my students at Burnham. Das found out that UG and at the time I taught them, I doubt they would B u r n h a m w a s n ' t t h e have seen themselves in the Übermensch but the Antileadership structure of a Christ. In the end he was party in government – indirectly responsible for her Marlon Williams, Joel untimely death. The five young Turks in Edmond, Trevor Williams and Leonard Craig. The the AFC found out that other was someone I knew Trotman and Ramjattan moons before the AFC was weren't the Übermensch but the birth of nothingness. born – Michael Carrington. All five were decent They were luckier than Das. young men who believe that They are still alive. (The views expressed in they could play a role in shaping a better Guyana. this article are those of the Their party was in power. a u t h o r a n d d o n o t They had now come of age. necessarily reflect the They had something to opinions of this newspaper.)
Thursday April 22, 2021
Kaieteur News
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Thursday April 22, 2021
Kaieteur News
Trevor Benn charged for selling state land four times less than initial value F
ormer Head of the Guyana Lands and S u r v e y s Commission (GL&SC), Trevor Benn, yesterday made another court appearance after he was charged for misconducting himself in public office by selling a portion of State land four times less than its initial value. Benn, 53, of Century Palm Gardens, Georgetown, appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates' Courts before Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus, with his lawyer Mark Waldron. He was not required to plead to the charge which alleges that between December 1, 2018 and August 31, 2019 at GL&SC, Georgetown, while being a public officer, he willfully misconducted himself by executing the sale of two parcels of lands, all being a portion of Middle Walk, Plantation Ruimveldt, Georgetown. The charge further stated
that Benn willfully misconducted himself without any excuse or reasonable justification, when he caused Wilfred Brandsford, a businessman and former Director of the GL&SC, to pay the sum $13.5M to GL&SC for the portion of land knowing at the time, he did not have the authority to sell the said land and knowing the plot had been previously valued at the sum of $60.8M. Benn's conduct amounts to breach of the public's trust. Principal Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus, placed Benn on $100,000 bail and the matter was adjourned to May 28, 2021. Kaieteur News had reported that Brandsford is the owner of Car Care Enterprise, and he allegedly benefitted from the sale of 'severely undervalued' land located at Plantation Ruimveldt, Georgetown. In fact, when the portion of land that Brandsford bought was compared to
other similar land sales by the Government, it was discovered that Benn had allegedly sold the land for 10 times less than its actual value. Yesterday was not the first time Benn appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates' Courts for charges surrounding the illegal sale of State lands. On March 12, 2021, Benn appeared before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly for the alleged illegal sale of six acres of land and was placed on $200,000 bail for the offence. He was not required to plead to the indictable offence, which alleged that between January 1, 2018, and March 31, 2020, at G L & S C , G e o rg e t o w n , while being a public officer, he willfully misconducted himself by causing the sum of $27,000,000 to be paid by Janico Vide Industrial Engineering Limited for the lease of six acres of land at Plantation Ogle, East Coast Demerara, knowing that the
GL&SC did not have the authority to lease any land at Plantation Ogle, East Coast Demerara. It is also alleged, that on March 27, 2020, Benn granted a Provisional Lease to Janico Vide Industrial Engineering Limited and willfully misconducted himself thereby leading to a breach of the public's trust. Benn was arrested on March 10, 2021 after a probe was launched into the alleged illegal land sale. It is reported that despite the fact that the lands belonged to the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), Benn moved ahead to illegally leased the plot of land to a company called Janico Vide Engineering Limited for some $27M.
This publication had reported that the $27M transaction was made pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the company and the GL&SC signed. That MoU dictated that the engineering company would lease the land for 50 years and pay $200,000 per acre annually. Moreover, Benn was appointed Commissioner of GL&SC in 2016 by the D a v i d G r a n g e r administration and was granted presidential powers related to the sanctioning of renting and granting of leases, licences and permission of occupancy of all public lands. When the Irfaan Ali administration took office in August 2020, he was stripped of those powers and was later
Former Head of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC), Trevor Benn sent packing in November. Following the revocation of his presidential powers, Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, S.C., had stated that his government would review all the leases, licences and permissions to occupy Public Lands granted by GL&SC after the No Confidence Vote of December 2, 2018.
Charlestown man executed on Drysdale Street - reportedly begged for life before being riddled with bullets
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n elderly woman was Dead: last night Odingo disturbed from her rest by Anthony the sound of gunshots. A short while later she found Yearwood out that it was her grandson who was executed by gunmen on Drysdale Street, C h a r l e s t o w n , Georgetown. The slain man has been identified as Odingo Anthony Yearwood, 25, also known as “Dingo” of Charlestown. Yearwood was gun downed sometime after 20:00hrs. When Kaieteur News arrived at the scene, his body, covered with a brown cloth, was still lying on the street in a pool of blood, a short distance away from his home. Three spent shells were seen near the body and a trail of even more spent shells could be seen leading to the victim’s heading. He reportedly bicycle which was found in an alleyway close to his locked his door and the grandmother went to bed. home. A while later his His grandmother related that he had gone home grandmother said she hear earlier that evening but “pie, pie, pie, pie (sound of received a phone call shortly gunshots).” When she came outside to investigate, the after and went out. The woman said that he woman said that Yearwood did not tell her where he was “was lying on the road
bleeding from gunshot injuries.” Another family member who had seen Yearwood alive, said that she saw him riding home on his bicycle just minutes before he was gunned down. An eyewitness related t h a t Ye a r w o o d w a s attacked in an alleyway leading to his yard. That person recalled him having a heated conversation with an individual. Kaieteur News understands that Yearwood’s last words before gunshots rang out were, “Ow budday a know yuh, don’t shoot meh.” Yearwood in a bid to escape his killer, reportedly started to run but the gunman gave chase, firing more shots at him in the process. Some of those bullets struck Yearwood causing him to eventually collapse on Drysdale Street. Another individual also claiming to be an eyewitness has alleged that there was a second gunman who intercepted Yearwood as he ran. That gunman also fired some shots at Yearwood, the eyewitness said.
Kaieteur News
Thursday April 22, 2021
PAGE 13
Natural gas electricity plants now less competitive than renewables …power companies saddled with billions in assets they can't sell - Bloomberg Report
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uyana is actively pursuing a gasto-shore project to set up a gas-fired power plant but the initiative is being promulgated at a time when the cost of renewables has dropped dramatically during the past decade, making gas-fired stations less competitive. A recent Bloomberg report documents that Natural gas is quickly falling out of favour with emissions-wary investors and utilities, at a quicker p a c e t h a n c o a l did—catching some power generators unaware and potentially leaving them stuck with billions of dollars of assets they can't sell. Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are among the banks that strengthened their financing restrictions on thermal coal under pressure from shareholders wanting to avoid the fuel, and the expectation is that gas is next. Executives at some western European companies say they're already struggling to sell gas-fired facilities. “If you find out somebody who is ready to offer a good price for our gas plants in Spain, then we are ready to sell,” said Jose Ignacio Sanchez Galan, Chief Executive Officer at Iberdrola SA in Spain. “We are not finding people.”
A drop in the cost of renewables has resulted in gas-fired stations becoming less competitive. Phasing out gas in power generation is just a first step. Cutting back use of the fuel in heating, transport and industry would wreak more potential damage. Europe wants to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, which is at odds with plans to build numerous infrastructure projects, like pipelines and terminals. If these are built but no longer needed, there's a potential 87 billion-euro ($104 billion) stranded-asset risk, according to calculations by Global Energy Monitor. In Italy, there are plans to build 14 gigawatts of new
Natural Gas electricity plants now less competitive than renewables
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If you find out somebody who is ready to offer a good price for our gas plants in Spain, then we are ready to sell; we are not finding people… - Spain
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gas capacity mostly to replace coal, according to Carbon Tracker Initiative Ltd. Europe's biggest utility, Enel SpA, is a global renewables supermajor.
Still, about 40 percent of the company's 88 gigawatts of installed capacity are made up of coal, oil and gas, but the Italian company is planning to reduce coal generation by 74 percent in 2022. Although a gas phase-
out is also coming down the track, it has plans to build more capacity. “The important thing is that the direction is clear, it will not change,” Salvatore Bernabei, head of global power generation at Enel, s a i d i n a n i n t e r v i e w. “Everyone should understand that we cannot change the world in one day.'’ Quicker Than Coal Coal has been slow and difficult to phase out in countries where mining provides thousands of jobs.
Gas will be quicker because it doesn't have the same tradition attached, and renewables are now a costeffective alternative, according to Carbon Tracker. “Gas will be a repeat of coal but quicker,” said Catharina Hillenbrand von der Neyen, head of company research at the Londonbased firm. “When we look at power generation, you can see that going really, really quickly.” This is already happening in Britain, where it's unlikely any further large-scale gas plants will be
built without technologies that cut emissions – such as carbon capture. SSE Plc, which trades on the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index, said it can't see a future for new gas stations that don't incorporate carbon capture or hydrogen. Electricite de France SA will no longer operate any fossil fuel-fired power generation in Britain after it announced the sale of its last gas-fired power station to private equity firm EIG Global Energy Partners LLC. Historically the involvement of private equity is to squeeze the asset to extract all remaining value. Investor Pressure
The Point Lisas Natural Gas power plant.
Investors pursuing an ESG agenda will add to the pressure on companies to get out of gas. BlackRock Inc. and Vanguard Group Inc. are among 40-plus investment firms committing to cut the net emissions of their portfolios to zero by 2050. Portugal's biggest utility, Energias de Portugal SA, said its strategy is to exit from its two remaining coal plants by 2025, shutting down one and possibly selling the other. “There is an increasing amount of funds that either don't like it or can't even invest in companies with coal,” Miguel Stilwell de Andrade, EDP's chief executive officer, said in an (continued on page 16)
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Thursday April 22, 2021
Kaieteur News
Female cops charged Six charges for bus driver who for deleting electronic assaulted female passenger data in fraud case
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CHARGED: Constable Jenneka Carmichael (left) and Constable Tatyana Smith
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wo female police officers yesterday made their first court appearance after they were charged for deleting electronic data, which is relevant to a fraud case in relation to millions being misappropriated from the Guyana Police Force's (GPF) Finance Department. The defendants Jenneka Carmichael of Lot 121 Onderneeming, West Coast Berbice, and Tatyana Smith, 21, of Lot 43 Third Street Alberttown, Georgetown, both police constables, appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates' Courts before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan. The duo denied the charge which alleges that
between January 28, 2021 and February 4, 2021 at the Guyana Police Force's headquarters Eve Leary, Kingston, Georgetown, they intentionally and without lawful excuse or justification, deleted electronic data from the GPF computer that was in the administrative office of the Felix Austin Police College Mess. According to the facts of the charge, Carmichael and Smith are clerks at the Felix Austin Police College. They were charged by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU). L a s t y e a r a n investigation was launched into the alleged misappropriation of $150M
from the Police Finance Department. SOCU carried out the probe and several senior officials were either sent on leave or relocated. A few officers were already placed before the court for fraud charges. However, it is alleged that before SOCU could have accessed the computers with the related data, the women had deleted the data. The women are said to be the only persons with access to the computers. They were arrested and subsequently charged under the Cybercrime Act. Both defendants were placed on $150,000 bail and the matter was adjourned to May 6, 2021.
he bus driver, who made headlines on Monday April 12, last, for assaulting his female passenger after she complained about the vulgar music he was playing in the bus, has been slapped with six charges. The defendant, Josh Harry, 28, of Back Road, Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara (EBD), has since pleaded guilty to four of those charges, which were traffic related. He made his first court appearance at the G e o r g e t o w n Magistrates'Courts on Monday. The four traffic charges were: breach of condition of road service licence, making loud and continuous noise, conduct of a driver (breach) and failing to carry a conductor. The prosecutor in that matter had asked the presiding Magistrate, Clive Nurse, to impose the maximum fines for the charges on Harry. Nurse agreed and ordered the defendant to pay a total fine of $80,000. Harry has since paid the sum. Yesterday he appeared again at the Georgetown Magistrates'Courts before the Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan, to face two more charges. Harry was charged with assault and damage to property. The charges allege that on Monday April 12, Harry assaulted his female passenger Ordella Peroune, of Pearl, East Bank Demerara, and damaged her cellphone screen valued at some $40,000.
The speakers and amplifier found in the bus
D: RGE ry A H r C Ha Josh
Harry pleaded not guilty to both charges and was released on $10,000 bail. He is expected to return to court on May 14, 2021. According to the facts of the matter, on the day in question, Harry was driving north along the Houston Public Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD), when Peroune, 47, of Pearl, East Bank Demerara, complained to him about his loud and continuous noise (loud music). The driver then stopped the bus in a rash manner, approached Peroune and snatched her cellphone out of her hand. In the process, he had hit Peroune on her mouth thereby breaching his conduct as a driver of a public transportation. The alleged assault was
captured on camera. In fact, it was Peroune herself who had recorded the video with the same cellphone Harry had snatched out of her hands. Peroune had told this newspaper too, that Harry caused her phone to fall to the ground causing the screen to crack. During an investigation, a licensing and certifying officer had searched the bus and discovered two six-inch and two eight-inch Faital Pro speakers. The officer also found a 1,000-watt amplifier and an Audio pipe. All the items found were classified as instruments of music, which were not authorised by the prescribed authority. Police had reported last Thursday, that all of Harry's speakers and his amplifier were seized.
Kaieteur News
Thursday April 22, 2021
Guyana significantly overwhelmed by challenge of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing By Kiana Wilburg
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he absence of key resources to do p r o p e r monitoring of the nation's sea space as well as to collect data from fishermen has left Guyana unable to tackle the growing challenge of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. This troubling reality came to the fore yesterday, on the eve of Earth Day, during a virtual discussion that was led by the US Embassy in Guyana. The participants included Krishnand Jaichand, President of the Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce; Lieutenant Commander, David Shamsudeen, Executive Officer of the Coast Guard; Annette Arjoon-Martins, Environmentalist and Head of the Guyana Marine Conservation Society; Denzil Roberts, Chief Fisheries Officer (CFO) at the Ministry of Agriculture's Fisheries Department; Veteran Journalist and proprietor of Demerara Waves, Dennis Chabrol; and Pamashwar Jainarine, Chairman of the Upper Corentyne Fisherman's Cooperative Society. To open the discussion, the Embassy's Public Affairs official, Violeta Talandis, invited Arjoon-Martins to share her thoughts on the extent of illegal fishing in Guyana and what attempts have been made from the world of non-governmental organisations to help create a space from which information about this problem can be accessed. Arjoon-Martins was keen to note that while the government is the ultimate
steward of the fishing resources, from her position, as a leader of an NGO, assistance can be provided in several ways. The Environmentalist said she was open to elaborating on this later in the programme, which she did, but the NGO head indicated that the most suitable person to answer that question would be the Chief Fisheries Officer (CFO). Ta k i n g o v e r t h e discussion from this point on, Roberts said, “When you talk about this matter, it means any fishing that breaks the Fisheries Laws and occurs outside the reach of the law. We have our neighbours to the west and the east and others which would venture into our waters to fish. However, we don't have evidence as to the volume of illegal fishing in our waters and the problem is the wide expanse of the maritime zone.” The government official continued, “…It is very difficult and we have the Commander Lieutenant who can explain more but it is very difficult to monitor what is going on out there and we would hear stories… but there is no evidence unless we have a very resource laden Coast Guard because they are responsible for patrolling the oceans...” Following this, Talandis asked Roberts to speak to the technology that is available to help his department bridge the gap and whether that is also a matter for the nation's Coast Guard. In this regard, the CFO said that the department makes use of Vessel Monitoring Systems which are used to keep an (continued on page 17)
Boat operator gets... From page 11 was reported that a scuffle ensued during which Dos Santos was shot to the neck. After reportedly killing the miner, Griffith allegedly escaped with a quantity of raw gold, a boat and an engine. However, he was captured at Itaballi. The stolen vessel and
some of the gold were recovered. It was reported that he had disposed of the firearm, but was positively identified by one of the victims. Earlier that day, Griffith had reportedly robbed several Brazilians at a mining camp but took out a gun and shot Dos Santos.
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Participants of the discussion yesterday that was held via the US Embassy's Guyana Facebook page
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Bandits reportedly used a glass-cutter to gain access to a teacher's car from which they stole over $200,000 in cash, a laptop and documents. The incident reportedly occurred last week Thursday sometime around 18:00 hrs. The teacher, Marlyn Gibson, said that her car was at the time parked at the Waterloo and Church Streets, Georgetown, junction. Gibson related that she was visiting a friend who lives a short distance away from where she had left her car. She recounted that she was chatting with the friend outside of her (the friend's) home when a “tinted, reddish-burgundy, small car” pulled up next to hers. It stopped there for a short while, Gibson said, as she recalled questioning, “Why would someone park so closely to my car?” After the strange car sped off in a southerly direction, Gibson decided to investigate. According to the woman, she had heard a noise and wanted to know if her vehicle had been jammed or scratched. When she arrived to where her car was, Gibson noticed that the glass on the right back window was neatly cut open. Her belongings, which she had inside, were missing. Gibson said that the bandits carted off over $200,000 in cash, a laptop, her car documents, a diary and two of her
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Kaieteur News
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Teacher Marlyn Gibson's car.
students' SBAs. The matter was reported to police and the car has since been taken to the Police Force's headquarters at Eve Leary to be dusted for fingerprints and other evidence. However, Gibson is worried that it will be difficult for police to find the perpetrator(s) if police “don't hurry-up and request camera footage from nearby businesses.” She said that it has been brought to her attention that businesses have a tendency of reviewing footage and then deleting same to create space for new ones. Kaieteur News understands that investigators have not yet gone to the location to access footage from nearby
cameras. Meanwhile, another teacher has since come for-
ward relating that her car too was vandalised while it was parked in the same area.
Woman, 52, is latest COVID-19 fatality - 160 new cases recorded A 52-year-old woman is the country’s latest COVID19 fatality. In an update yesterday, the Ministry of Health announced that the woman from Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) died while receiving treatment at a medical facility. Her death has brought the country’s death toll to 274. The Ministry revealed yesterday too that there were
160 new COVID-19 cases. Based on its dashboard update there are 12,132 confirmed cases in the country. According to the dashboard too, 12 patients are in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit, 74 are in institutional isolation, 1,330 are in home isolation and five are in institutional quarantine. To date 10,442 recoveries have been recorded.
Natural gas electricity plants now... From page 13 interview. “We're not going to wait until people tell us that gas is no longer going to be used. We're going to make sure that we're going to get out of there before.” There's no point building assets now that will be of no use in a few years, said Frans Timmermans, the European Commission's executive vice-president. Europe can skip the transition and go straight to clean assets by spending on the right projects now, he said. “We need to make the investments to create sustainable societies,” he said. “That capital, not spent well, will create stranded assets very soon, and we will put unbearable financial burden on the shoulders of our children.” U.S. Transition In the U.S., progress likely will be slower since there's no federal mandate for a transition from fossil fuels to renewable power. Gas is superabundant and cheap, thanks to the country's fracking boom, which has helped hasten the demise of coal. By 2016, gas was the
country's dominant power source. "Everyone is talking about it in terms of a transition, not a cliff,” s a i d Ry a n Wobbrock, a senior credit officer at Moody's Investors Service. “At this point, it would be very difficult to completely disentangle that system.'' But now there are indications that demand in the U.S. is topping out decades ahead of schedule with cheaper renewables and net zero moving up the agenda for utilities. Renewables could become the leading power sources on U.S. grids by 2028, Morgan Stanley said last year. President Joe Biden's US$2.25 trillion infrastructure and energy plan includes incentives for renewables and a massive transmission grid build out that could speed up the transition away from fossil fuels. Progress on carbon capture technology could throw a lifeline to gas, meaning that stations could serve as backup when there's a dearth of sun, wind or hydropower.
Some energy companies are focusing on making sure that gas can keep operating, rather than ridding their portfolios of the fuels. “Getting the flexibility to deal with the variability in renewables production is really, really difficult if you don't have any gas-fired generation,” said Benjamin Collie, a principal for commissioned projects at Aurora Energy Research Ltd. in Oxford. European Gas demand is still expected to grow by three percent this year, according to the International Energy Agency. At least in the short term, the European Investment Bank, for one, will end all financing for fossil fuels in December. “To put it mildly, gas is o v e r, ” E I B P r e s i d e n t Werner Hoyer said during a January press conference. “Without the end to the use of unabated fossil fuels, we will not be able to reach the climate targets.” (A modified version of the Bloomberg report: https:// www.bloombergquint.com/ technology/gas-is-the-newcoal-with-risk-of-100-billionin-stranded-assets.)
Thursday April 22, 2021
PAHO: Don’t believe conspiracy theories about covid19 vaccines NEWSDAY - Dr Carissa Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), asked people yesterday not to believe false theories about vaccines for covid19. Etienne speaking in a webinar said: “Conspiracy theories are flooding social networks and that is playing a determining role in the confidence of the population.” Etienne said PAHO and the World Health Organization (WHO) are working with technology providers to deal with this misinformation. “The vaccines delivered by PAHO through Covax have been evaluated in detail and it shows our surveillance systems are working. and that leads us to adapt strategies when necessary.” PAHO reported more than 4.2 million doses have been delivered in 29 countries in the Americas. But it also said there had been more than 1.5 million cases and 40,000 deaths during the last week. Over the weekend the global death toll reached three million people, of whom half were from the Americas. In Canada the numbers of cases continues to grow, especially in young people. Central American countries continue to report
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Dr Carissa Etienne increases in cases, while in the Caribbean, Aruba, Bermuda and Curaçao also reported increases. In South America there is also a rapid increase, Argentina being the one that worries the most. Chile and Brazil are the countries have reported positive news, with a decrease in cases. Dr Jarbas Barbosa, deputy director, said two countries have already received their second batch of vaccines from Covax. But he said in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil vaccines stolen from warehouses have been
offered online. “It is a criminal activity that compromises the health system of those countries and must be investigated and rejected,” he said. On vaccines for Venezuela, PAHO said that country has already made the first payment to participate in Covax, but the second payment is still in process and it is being decided when and which vaccines will be sent there. Etienne asked countries which have high vaccination rates already to help the smaller countries by donating vaccines.
More than 7,000 hospitality workers receive training, Bartlett says KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, says the training of more than 7,000 hospitality workers has been done as a key strategy to reposition the industry for the post COVID-19 era. Bartlett, who was opening the 2021/2022 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, said the Government is committed to developing a competitive and productive workforce that can benefit from opportunities in the sector. “During the pandemic, we increased our efforts to train our hospitality-sector workers,” he said, adding that the training agenda was boosted with the establishment of the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation (JCTI), which is tasked specifically with facilitating the development of the industry’s human capital and supporting innovation in the sector. “This has been made possible through strategic partnerships with the Human Employment and Resource Training/National Service Training Agency Trust (HEART/ NSTA Trust), Universal Service Fund, National Restaurants Association, and the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute,” the minister told the House. The minister reported that the JCTI is offering several middle management certification programmes in Certified Food and Beverage Executive, Certified Hospitality Housekeeping Executive, Certified Hospitality Trainer, and Certified Hotel Concierge.
Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett In addition, he said 45 candidates have taken their examinations for culinary arts certification offered by the American Culinary Federation, and the first cohort of high-school students have completed training in the Hospitality and Tourism Management Programme. “They are ready to take up entry-level jobs in tourism. We believe that these young people, from all across the country, will help to boost the sector’s competitiveness in the post-COVID-19 era,” Bartlett said.
PM: Don’t blame Tobago for Covid-19 increase NEWSDAY - The Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said yesterday that reduced compliance with covid19 regulations all over Trinidad and Tobago is behind the recent increase in covid 19, cases, not people going to spend Easter in Tobago. Dr Rowley, who tested covid19-positive on April 6 while in Tobago, and is still in quarantine there, made this declaration after the Health Ministry announced new public health measures to curb the rising number of covid19 cases. These included no public gatherings for entertainment and concerts, the public service returning to 50 per cent office attendance on a rotational basis, congregations at places of worship being reduced from 50 to 25 per cent and numbers at weddings and funerals being limited to ten people. At 9 am, Rowley met virtually from the Prime Minister’s official residence in Blenheim, Tobago, with Health Minister Terrence
Deyalsingh, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds and their respective teams on the national covid19 response. The new public measures were announced at the Health Ministry’s virtual news conference at 11 am. In a subsequent statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister, Rowley said, “The problem of reduced compliance is all over the country and should be seen as such if we are to rectify the situation and get back to a level that could see us rolling back the recent restrictions.” He rejected attempts by some people who he said were trying to blame Tobago for the increase in covid19 cases. Among this group, Rowley included “politicians with nothing useful to contribute to be trying to establish that our current circumstances are as a result of a successful Easter weekend in Tobago.”
Rather, he said, “It is not where you spend your time it is what you do there.” Rowley continued, “For those who see political opportunities in these trying circumstances, I want to remind them that even before Easter the areas of spiking community spread were in County Caroni and County Victoria (in Trinidad).” He added, “Subsequently, the third most affected zone was St George East (also in Trinidad).” The Chief Medical O ff i c e r ’s ( C M O ) d a t a sheets yesterday, he said, showed the location of accelerating increases of confirmed viral infection continued to be to these three areas. In light of this data, Rowley declared, “To set about to separate the people of Tobago or their tourism economy for special hatred is misleading and just plain wrong.
...Guyana significantly overwhelmed by From page 15 eye on certain vessels within the industry on a 24/7 basis. He noted however that it is tough for the said systems to be employed with artisanal fishing, which consists of various small-scale, low-capital, fishing households. Further to this, Roberts noted that a vessel was recently acquired to do some research and to ensure vessels are utilising gears as per the nation's regulations. He said that this would be up and running next month. During his contributions, Lieutenant Commander, David Shamsudeen, was also keen to note the issues facing the Coast Guard when it comes to monitoring illegal fishing. He shared that Guyana has a coast line of 270 nautical miles and an Exclusive Economic Zone covering 200 nautical miles. “Altogether, we have a sea space of 54,000 sq nautical miles which is a very large area to cover in terms of patrol and that is one of our challenges and the vessels we are equipped with probably could take us just over our territo-
rial waters and the general areas that the illegal fishing occurs is beyond our territorial waters so one of our main challenges is to have assets that can take us to where those activities are happening,” the Executive Officer stated. Expounding further, Shamsudeen said that the Coast Guard is only able to monitor vessels within 12 nautical miles of Guyana's sea
space. He said, “We can be able to monitor those and check their documentation but beyond that, it is difficult to get out there…According to our capacity, we can't go beyond our 12 nautical miles.” Even though the nation's Coast Guard is significantly hamstrung by the lack of resources, Shamsudeen was keen to note that the government is working diligently to rectify this state of affairs.
Kaieteur News
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Boat operator gets 75 years for murder of Brazilian miner
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neal Griffith, a boat operator from Linden, Region 10, was yesterday sentenced to 75 years in prison for the murder of Brazilian miner, Braz Alves Dos Santos. The sentence was handed down by Justice Navindra Singh at the High Court in Essequibo, after Griffith was found unanimously guilty of the offence by a mixed 12member jury. According to the charge, Griffith murdered Dos Santos during a robbery, which took place on December 30, 2015, at his Puruni, Mazaruni mining camp. Following the verdict,
Griffith told the court that he is innocent of the crime. “I'm an innocent man. The State put a case against me that I know nothing about,” he said. In her address to the Court prior sentencing, State prosecutor, Tiffani Lyken, asked the court to take into consideration in the judgment, the fact that a weapon was used during the commission of the offence and that Griffith showed no remorse for his actions. On the other hand, defence attorney, Ravindra Mohabir, in his plea of mitigation pointed out that this is the first time his client had any brush with the law. The lawyer noted that
Jailed 75 years for murder: Oneal Griffith
Griffith comes from a stable home circle, is a married man and has two children. Following the consideration, Justice Singh sentenced Griffith to serve 75 years in prison. The Judge noted that Griffith will only have the possibility of parole after serving 50 years. Justice Singh also ordered that the prison authorities deduct the time Griffith spent in pretrial custody from the sentence. According to reports, on December 30, 2015 Dos Santos was working at a mining camp when Griffith held him and another Brazilian at gunpoint. It (continued on page 15)
Thursday April 22, 2021
Health Minister advises against use of alcohol 24hrs before and after COVID-19 jab
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ut of an abundance of caution, the Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, is advising against the use of alcohol 24 hours before one is to take a COVID-19 vaccine and 24 hours after. Dr. Anthony made his remarks while delivering the COVID-19 update on Tuesday during which he sought to address concerns emerging about COVID-19 vaccines and the use of alcohol. As it relates to the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, there are reports that health officials have been urging persons to refrain from the use of alcohol at least two weeks before being administered their first shot and then for another 42 days. In light of that Dr. Anthony said, “There is no scientific rational why people should abstain for that prolonged period, however, like with all vaccines, we would prefer people not to drink before they come for a vaccine and immediately after to abstain.” He qualified his disclosure by pointing out that if health officials are going to observe persons for side effects from the vaccine, then they would need those persons to be sober. “So we haven't seen in any of the scientific literature that the vaccine reacts in any adverse way with alcohol, but out of an abundance of precaution, I would urge that people who are coming for the vaccine, at least over the 24 hours before and the 24 hours after, remain sober so that we can monitor and
The Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony make sure there is no adverse reaction,” the Health Minister reiterated. He would have also cautioned against the use of medication before receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. When the government introduced its national COVID-19 immunisation campaign in February, the filaria campaign was also ongoing and Minister Anthony had warned against taking filaria pills and COVID-19 vaccines on the same day. This, he had said, was an extra precautionary measure to mitigate potential side-effects. He had stated too, that side effects would be difficult to track and monitor if two medical interventions are taken at the same time. However, he had noted that there was no evidence suggesting that medical issues may arise if the two are taken simultaneously.
Thursday April 22, 2021
Kaieteur News
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Thursday April 22, 2021
Thursday April 22, 2021
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IPL: Chennai Super Kings go top after Kolkata Knight Riders win
Deepak Chahar left KKR reeling with four early strikes. (BCCI/IPL)
Thursday April 22, 2021 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Reconnect with your selfworth today, Aries, and say out loud, "I am awesome!" You're good at extending your heart to others and helping them with their issues. TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) Stay at home tonight and cook a delicious meal for you and someone you love. You will gravitate toward beauty, both tangible and intangible. GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Today may seem like one of those days in which everyone but you has a perfect life, Gemini. Realize that no one has a perfect life. Everyone is plagued by demons of some sort.
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Today is a terrific day to let your sensitive, caring nature shine through fully, Libra. Surprise someone with roses and a candlelit dinner. Take care of the amenities like music and wine. SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Turn over a new leaf with your loved ones today, Scorpio. Infuse something new into the relationship. Add a new wave of tenderness and sensuality to the dynamic. SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) You're going to feel extra connected with the people around you today, Sagittarius. Go out and have a good time with loved ones.
CANCER (June 21–July 22) Today may be serious, Cancer, with clouds looming over your parade. Although the clouds are dark and threatening, that doesn't necessarily mean that rain will pour down.
CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) There's an Earthy weightiness to today. You could feel like your relationships are in a difficult situation. Don't worry, because the clouds are going to lighten up tremendously after today.
LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Today is a terrific day for you. You have the chance to start over on many levels, especially romantic ones.
AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Your love, generosity, and sense of beauty are heightened today, Aquarius. If there's one thing you need to do, it's go outside and watch the sunset.
VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Things are starting to lighten up for you, Virgo, even though you may find your interactions quite heavy today. Don't run away from the feeling. More than likely it's a result of you or the other person consciously or unconsciously wanting to get closer and more intimate.
PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Let your guard down today. Don't feel like you need to perform for anyone. Accept the notion that you're perfect the way you are. You don't have to prove your self-worth to anyone. Let your heart expand and your mind rest.
BBC Sport - Three-time champions Chennai Super Kings moved to the top of the Indian Premier League table with an 18-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders. Chennai made 220-3 from their 20 overs with Faf du Plessis making an unbeaten 95 and Ruturaj Gaikwad 64. Kolkata slumped to 31-5, with Deepak Chahar taking 429 from four overs. They recovered to leave 28 needed from two overs, with Andre Russell making a 21-ball 50, Dinesh Karthik 40 and Pat Cummins 66* but Chennai hung on. Chennai, who began the tournament with a defeat before back-to-back victories, started well with Du Plessis and Gaikwad sharing 115 for the first wicket. Gaikwad was under pressure after scoring just 20 in his first three innings, but the pair played with freedom and hit 15 fours and eight sixes between them. There were also useful contributions from Moeen Ali, who scored 25 off 12 balls, MS Dhoni who struck a eightball 17, while Ravindra Jadeja hit his only ball for six. Varun Chakravarthy was the pick of the KKR bowlers taking 1-27 from his four overs, but the rest struggled with Australia quick Cummins
...EXCLUSIVE Soccer-Breakaway From page 22 Minister Boris Johnson threatening legislation to stop the breakaway, had pushed the English clubs to withdraw. “I have had speculation to that extent that if six teams would have broken away and would have threatened the EPL (Premier League), politics would have seen that as an attack to Brexit and their political scheme,” he said. Asked if he regretted the way the breakaway was conducted - which was heavily criticised by his former ally UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin - Agnelli referred to the nature of the football business. “If you tell me other methods for putting together such projects ... if you were to ask the authorisation of others, I don’t think you would have carried out a project like this. “The relations are there, I have seen relations changing in time, some people I am quite sure that people will be open and talk to each other,” he said. “I don’t think our industry is a particularly sincere, trustworthy or reliable one in general.”
recording the worst bowling figures in this season’s tournament in going for 58 in four wicketless overs. KKR, who are captained by England skipper Eoin Morgan, had played their three previous games in Chennai, where the pitch has been slow and difficult to score, while Mumbai has had plenty of extra pace and bounce, and they struggled to adjust with ball and bat. Chahar found plenty of swing movement - both in and out - to remove Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Morgan and Sunil Narine before Russell combined with Karthik to put on 81 and drag KKR back into the game. When Russell was bowled, the ball after reaching his half-century, after misjudging a ball he was trying to leave for a wide, Karthik
and Cummins put on 34 from 22 balls, before Karthik was out lbw to Lungi Ngidi for 40. Cummins continued to attack, hitting Sam Curran for 30 in the 16th over, and brought up his half-century off 23 balls. Curran recovered to concede just eight from the 19th over, to leave 20 required from the final over but Prasidh Krishna was run out off the first ball looking to get back for a second run. Chennai go top - until at least today when the unbeaten Royal Challengers Bangalore play - while KKR are sixth. Scores: Chennai Super Kings 220 for 3 (du Plessis 95, Gaikwad 64) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 202 (Cummins 66*, Russell 54, Chahar 4-29, Ngidi 3-28) by 18 runs.
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Guyana Golf Association hosts “Train the Trainer” session in Region Three
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n Tuesday at the Leonora Track and Field Complex, teachers, Education Officers from Region 3 and representatives of the Ministry of Education Allied Arts Unit came together with The Guyana Golf Association to attend the “Train the Trainer” session. This session will certify the participants to teach the sport to more than 2,000 students in the coming year and to write the subject as a Physical Education sports elective in 2022. The session was made possible through the efforts of Mr. Ulric Charles, Sports Coordinator for Region 3 who received full support from Regional Executive O ff i c e r M r. J a i n a r i n e Somwaru and Regional Education Officer Mr. Devendre Persaud, Mr. Lindley Langhorne, Allied Arts Unit and the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture that provided the Leonora Track & Field Center for the training. The school in attendance w e r e : We s t D e m e r a r a Secondary; Vreed en hoop Secondary; Patentia Secondary; Leonora Secondary; Uitvlugt Secondary; Zeeburg Secondary; Endeavor and the Commons Secondary;
Essequibo Islands S e c o n d a r y, L e g u a n Secondary; L’ Adventure Secondary, Vergenoegen Secondary and Parika Salem Secondary. District Education Officer Ms. Barnes said, “The Education department of Region 3 is in full support of this programme and we see keen interest from our students as the sport opens many, once closed doors of opportunity, for them. More than ever, Guyana needs programs like these to develop the minds and focus of our future generations.” The GGA president expressed thanks to Ms. June Ann Gonsalves, Assistant Chief Education Officer Secondary Schools and Allied Arts Unit headed by Ms. Lorraine Barker-King their support and guidance in the development of the sport in the schools. The Education Department provides the teachers for training and the Guyana Golf Association is supplying all the equipment, balls, and training support. Ms. Gonsalves stated, “The discipline and integrity that Golf brings to our kids, especially in the schools that normally have no access to such a top sport gives us great hope for the prospects of developing a strong
national team from areas we normally don’t have great opportunities.” District Education Officer Mr. Doobay spoke about the importance of sports and training in physical Education saying, “I see this programme as a perfect complement for the teachers who needed some support. Everyone benefits from such an initiative and we are looking forward to making Region 3 a major factor in the sport.” So far, with 51 schools in Regions 10, 6, 4, 3 and 2 participating, the Guyana Golf Association has provided over 5,000 students with the opportunity to experience one of the most exciting sports that is fully covid-19 compliant. GGA President Aleem Hussain emphasized, “While golf has been played in Guyana for more than 50 years, it is only under the guidance of the Guyana Golf Association that it has really reached the general public. A year ago, Guyana had less than 100 persons who were active in the sport, however with the addition today of Region 3 schools, we will surpass 5,000 active players.” Never has a single sport dominated the Guyana sports arena in such a short time as Golf has done and
Hussain credited the incredible support he has received from Assuria General Insurance, Copa Airlines, H. Nauth & Sons, CIDI Blue Life Waters, the Shafura Hussain Foundation, AR Printery, Trophy Stall, Maraiko Bay Resort, the late Colin Ming, Anwar Shaffie, Danny Ramnarain, Peter Persaud, William & Aleena Knight, Sally Jack, and the Nexgen Group for the successes. The GGA President explained that now with dedicated Golf facilities under way for thousands of players to have easier and low cost access to the sport, the game will evolve to their revolutionary 3-Hole model that would expand regionally before becoming a fixture internationally, just as cricket evolved to the 20/20 format. The GGA will host a s e r i e s o f i n t e r- s c h o o l tournaments that will then lead to a regional competition, from which a national team will be selected to represent the country. Training will begin for us to qualify for the Olympics and Hussain feels that with the depth of talent and natural abilities already on display, Guyana could be a force to be reckoned with in Golf.
Thursday April 22, 2021
‘Holder could do pretty well’ - WI legend Lara tips former captain to be Windies star who could shine brightest for IPL
Jason Holder
SportsMax - West Indies legend Brian Lara has tipped for T20 captain, Jason Holder, as the Windies player who could shine most brightly in the India Premier League (IPL) this season. The all-rounder was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for the new campaign, after only coming in as a substitute for Australian Mitchell Marsh last season. Holder went on to score 66 runs, in seven matches, at an average of 33, and claimed 14 wickets, the third most on the team despite playing less than half the games. Lara, who is part of a commentary panel for this season’s tournament, has tipped the player to carry on
in the same vein. “Jason Holder could do pretty well. He ended up replacing Mitchell Marsh in the 2020 IPL, so I expect him to maybe come up with trumps this year,” Lara told StarSports. “The tracks are not so favourable to the pace where he is playing at present, but he is such a good all-round player that I hope he can maintain his play and really show that the West Indians are here to stay,” he added. Holder could, however, have plenty of competition for the top West Indian player with the likes of Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, and Nicholas Pooran also taking part in this season’s competition.
Kaieteur News
Thursday April 22, 2021
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Manchester Utd and Liverpool owners apologise for European Super League proposal BBC Sport - Manchester United co-chairman Joel Glazer says the club “apologise unreservedly for the unrest” caused by the proposed European Super League. The rare public comment from the American came after Liverpool owner John W Henry apologised to supporters. United, Liverpool and four other Premier League sides withdrew from the ESL on Tuesday after a backlash. “We failed to show enough respect for its deeprooted traditions,” Glazer said in an open letter to fans. The 50-year-old admitted efforts “in seeking to create a more stable foundation for the game” did not honour the conventions of promotion and relegation within the wider football pyramid. “For that we are sorry,” he said. “This is the world’s greatest football club and we apologise unreservedly for the unrest caused during these past few days. “Manchester United has a rich heritage and we recognise our responsibility to live up to its great traditions and values.”
BBC Sport’s Simon Stone said: “It is rare indeed for Glazer to speak about United. He has done one interview with MUTV at the time of the takeover in 2005 and that is it.” Glazer said they will work to “rebuild relationships” across football “with a view to working together on solutions to the long-term challenges facing the football pyramid”. “We also realise that we need to better communicate with you, our fans, because you will always be at the heart of the club,” he continued. The Duke of Cambridge, who is president of the Football Association, said in a tweet that he is pleased that football supporters’ opposition to the ESL had been “heard and listened to”. Earlier on Wednesday, Henry took sole responsibility for the “unnecessary negativity”, saying: “In this endeavour I’ve let you down. “The project put forward was never going to stand without the support of the fans. “Over these 48 hours you were very clear that it would
not stand. We heard you. I heard you.” Ferran Soriano, chief executive of Premier League leaders Manchester City another of the English clubs involved in the proposal apologised in an email to the club’s supporters. “We failed to remind ourselves of the unbreakable link between the passion of our fans and the right to have the opportunity to earn success. It is a truth that is fundamental to the DNA of Manchester City and the board deeply regrets taking a decision that lost sight of the historic values of the club,” he said. “We made a mistake and we sincerely apologise to our fans for the disappointment, frustration and anguish caused by the last 72 hours.” In other developments on Wednesday: § Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli admitted the project could not proceed after the Premier League clubs withdrew. § AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid followed suit, taking the total withdrawals to nine. § Rival managers, chairmen and officials called
for tighter regulations and possible punishments for the six English clubs. B e f o r e L i v e r p o o l ’s statement confirming the club’s withdrawal, captain Jordan Henderson had said on social media his side’s “collective position” was that they did not want the breakaway to go ahead. “We don’t like it and we don’t want it to happen,” read a message that was also posted by many fellow Liverpool players. Reds manager Jurgen Klopp and midfielder James Milner also voiced their opposition to the plans after their Premier League game at Leeds on Monday. In a video released by Liverpool, Henry also apologised to Klopp, the players and chief executive Billy Hogan, promising to do all he could to win back the supporters’ trust. “They have absolutely no responsibility for this disruption,” added Henry. “They were the most disrupted, and unfairly so. This is what hurts most. They love your club and work to make you proud every single day.” ‘It was nearly the worst
Players, fans hail ‘beautiful day for football’ as Super League unravels Reuters - Players, pundits and fans cheered a “beautiful day for football” after the breakaway European Super League unravelled with the withdrawal of the six English clubs who had signed up to the controversial competition. Following a storm of protests and threats of sanctions from the game’s European and world governing bodies, the Super League said it would “reconsider” its next steps after it was reduced to three teams each from Spain and Italy on Tuesday. Amid reports that Italian sides Inter Milan and AC Milan had also withdrawn, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher declared the competition dead in the water. “Super League is finished! Well done to all fans up & down the country!” he said on social media.
Manchester City were the first to back out of the venture, before Arsenal, Manchester United, L i v e r p o o l , To t t e n h a m Hotspur and Chelsea announced they were following suit. “What a beautiful day for football. Let’s keep playing, let’s keep fighting, let’s keep dreaming,” said Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy. Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward became the first casualty of the backlash, announcing his resignation shortly before his club gave up on a project he had been influential in bringing about. Former Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand, a fierce critic of the breakaway competition from the outset, said the teams were coming to their senses. “Teams finally seeing sense and pulling out of the #SuperLeague ... Football is
and ALWAYS will be about the fans,” he said on social media. “The fans have obviously not been a consideration at all ... disgrace.” ‘WE SAVED FOOTBALL’ Fans gathered in large numbers outside Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium ahead of their Premier League match against Brighton & Hove Albion to protest against the breakaway league. They ended up chanting, “We saved football!” after reports filtered through that Chelsea were abandoning the project. The Football Association welcomed the withdrawals of the six English clubs, saying the Super League had “threatened the whole pyramid”. “English football has a proud history of opportunity for all clubs and the game has been unanimous in its disapproval of a closed
league,” the FA said. “It was a position that, by design, could have divided our game, but instead, it has unified us all.” The split in the game threatened by the Super League, and the strength of feeling it generated, led political leaders across Europe to speak out, and, in some cases, threaten intervention.
idea I ever heard’ Manchester United Supporters’ Trust chief executive Duncan Drasdo told BBC Sport: “Driven from the Manchester United owners, it has tarnished the club. It has been damaged and there’s been huge damage to the relationship with owners at a lot of these clubs and in some cases irreparable and they will need to do something to try to turn that around. “ In a statement, Liverpool supporters group Spirit of Shankly said Henry’s apology was a “PR exercise” that was “too little, too late”. It added: “We need a fundamental change in football governance. One that is fair for the whole football pyramid, not just the rapacious elite.” Former Liverpool winger John Barnes went as far as suggesting a salary cap needed to be introduced to ensure “a level playing field” for every team in the Premier League. Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “I think it was nearly the worst idea I ever heard. It underestimated the power of the fans and how much they
love football and it is for everybody. We are all happy the first battle is won but I think it is not over yet. “ Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish told BBC Breakfast the ESL plans were an “attempted coup” and added: “What Uefa need to do is start looking after the game and stop pandering to these people and trying desperately to keep them inside the tent because they’re going to be inside the tent now whatever happens.” Brighton chief executive Paul Barber said the rules needed to be “tightened significantly” to m ak e s u r e th is n ev e r happened again. When asked whether the six English clubs should be punished with points deductions, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that was “certainly something the Premier League and Football Association need to look at”. West Brom manager Sam Allardyce said the idea of a Super League had merely been put on hold and without “better protection” we would see similar proposals “again and again”.
Chelsea fans celebrate outside Fulham Broadway Underground Station. (REUTERS/Kevin Coombs)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his government would consider passing legislation to stop the breakaway, likening the plans to creating a cartel. There is lingering anger toward the owners of the six English clubs, with some pundits suggesting their stewardship was no longer tenable. Liverpool great Graeme
Souness said supporters would not be able to forgive them despite the U-turns. “They have been shown to sell their soul, basically,” the Sky Sports pundit said. “They were going to sell the souls of our major institutions. They were selling their souls for quick money. Our supporters will not forgive them. We are not America.”
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Thursday April 22, 2021
Jamaica edged out of FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers
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amaica Observer Paulton Gordon, president of the J a m a i c a Basketball Association (JaBA), and Rohan Robinson, assistant coach of the Jamaican senior men’s national team, have both expressed disappointment with J a m a i c a ’s f a i l u re t o advance past the first FIBA Wo r l d C u p C e n t r a l America and the Caribbean Pre-Qualifiers 2023 that were held at the Adolfo Pineda Gymnasium i n S a n S a l v a d o r, E l Salvador. In Monday’s final game of the five-day, 10-game, round-robin tournament that saw five teams seeking three spots to the second round of pre-qualifying, Jamaica fell just short, beaten 68-66 by hosts El Salvador in front of
Jamaica’s Omari Johnson (foreground) dribbles past El Salvador’s Jose Araujo in Monday’s FIBA World Cup Central American and Caribbean Pre-Qualifiers 2023 that were held in San Salvador, El Salvador. (Photo: FIBA)
a loud crowd. Jamaica finished fourth in the round-robin
tournament, on six points after winning their first two games, beating Costa Rica
Ramesh Sunich/Trophy Stall added to new GCB list of sponsors Popular businessman Ramesh Sunich will be collaborating with the Guyana Cricket Board as efforts continue to expand cricket in Guyana. The Proprietor of ‘The Trophy Stall’ has agreed to donate the necessary trophies for all G C B - o rg a n i s e d I n t e rCounty tournaments, including the winner, runner up and man of the finals for each tournament. The increasing public confidence and goodwill generated by the reconstituted GCB, has resulted in a new pharmacy offering to donate medical supplies for first-aid kits for the three County boards. The name of this newest
Ramesh Sunich member of the GCB fraternity will be unveiled at the launch tomorrow, Friday April 23, 2021 of the GCB/ Dave Narine Educational Trust Fund. The newly-elected executives of the GCB will
continue to engage the corporate community as they continue to promote and develop Guyana’s cricket. Attendees are reminded to that there will be strict adherence to the covid-19 protocols.
EXCLUSIVE Soccer-Breakaway Super League cannot go ahead, says Agnelli Reuters - Breakaway European Super League founder and Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli called time on the project yesterday after six English clubs withdrew and he blamed the involvement of politicians for the league’s downfall. Twelve of Europe’s leading soccer clubs from England, Italy and Spain announced a breakaway league on Sunday but after 48 hours of intense criticism from fans and politicians the six English clubs backed out on Tuesday.
Asked whether the project could still happen following the departures, Agnelli told Reuters: “To be frank and honest no, evidently that is not the case.” Agnelli said he remained convinced that European football needed change and he had no regrets about the way the breakaway attempt was made. “I remain convinced of the beauty of that project,” said Agnelli, stating it would have created the best competition in the world. “But admittedly ... I mean, I
don’t think that that project is now still up and running.” Agnelli said other clubs were ready to join the new European league before the English sides left. “I’m not going to say how many clubs contacted me in just 24 hours asking if they could join,” he said, declining to name them. “Maybe they lied, but I was contacted by a number of teams asking what they could do to join.” Agnelli said he felt the B r i t i s h g o v e r n m e n t ’s intervention, with Prime (Continued on page 19)
69-67 and Guyana 107-87 but then lost to Nicaragua 54-92 before Monday’s game. Costa Rica were winners and will advance to the next round with Nicaragua and El Salvador. Gordon told the Jamaica Observer on Monday night that they had no illusions about what they were getting into after Jamaica had just three weeks to prepare for the event after a team withdrew. “We knew it would have been tough to compete in Central America with literally no chance to train as a team,” the JaBA president said. He praised the team’s effort, “Great effort by this group of young players.” Jamaica played
consecutive games on the first three days of the tournament and he said that “impacted our performance against Nicaragua and I think ultimately that made the difference,” but added that this should not be the end of the road. “We need to consistently participate in these regional tournaments to ensure players gain the requisite experience from the junior level. We consider this a speed bump in the road to the national team development, but we will continue to seek opportunities to grow the sport.” Rohan Robinson, who travelled with three localbased players and administrator Alf Remekie to the tournament, told the Observer, “It was a tough loss after such a good start under the circumstances; We wish we had the necessary players available to us, more experienced players as we could have done so much better, it should have been pretty easy for us to get through this tournament based on who we have available to us.” Nevertheless, he said it was not a total loss. “It was a good experience for the guys, it was one of the best group of players we have had, one that was able to come together so quickly and that was why we had the early success. I am so proud of them, just sorry they could not go further.” With no tournaments in the immediate future, partly
because of the coronavirus pandemic, Robinson rued the lost opportunity. “We only got in because one team had dropped out and we were invited within three weeks and we jumped on it and did the best that we could.” With a day to rest after playing three games, Jamaica was expected to have an edge over the El Salvador team that was playing for the fourthstraight day and trailed by nine points (53-62) with four minutes and 15 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. An 8-2 run saw the Jamaicans cut the deficit to two points 62-64 with just under 90 seconds to go and were within a point 66-67 with 35 seconds to go but came up short. Jamaica led by three points (18-15) after the first quarter and the scores were tied 36-36 at the half-time break before El Salvador assumed the lead 52-49 at the end of the third quarter. Omari Johnson, who led Jamaica in scoring in three of their four games, scored 18 points and had eight rebounds, Marcel Robinson scored 12 points and had eight rebounds, Joel Bailey scored 10 points, while Wa r r e n Wi l l i a m s a n d Romaine Thomas each scored nine points. El Salvador’s Roberto Martinez led all scorers with 19 points, Ronnie Aguilar who sat out most of the fourth quarter with four fouls and Jose Araujo scored 11 points each.
Jamaica withdraws from World Relays
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amaica Observer - The Jamaica A t h l e t i c s Administrative Association (JAAA) has withdrawn the Jamaican team from the World Relays just days after they named a 39-member team for the two-day championships set for Silesia, Poland, May 1-2, it was announced. The press release cited “existing travel restrictions, routing” and also the “SARS COVID-19 pandemic”, saying “it has become extremely challenging for the Jamaican team and officials to participate.” Double Olympic champion Elaine ThompsonHerah, who was named as
part of the 39-member team, expressed disappointment with the decision but outlined her own issues with travelling during the pandemic last year. “The cancellations are disappointing but beyond our control,” she said on social media. “Last year we had similar issues with travel. I remember our return flights took us to London then Barbados then back to Jamaica which was very hectic because of the pandemic.” When contacted by the Jamaica Observer, JAAA President Garth Gayle declined to be interviewed about the situation and referred to the release. It is the first time that
Elaine Thompson-Herah Jamaica will not be represented at the World Relays, having taken part in the four previous editions, in The Bahamas in 2014, 2015 and 2017, and Yokohama, Japan, in 2019. The release said also the withdrawal was in the best interest of “our athletes and stakeholders”. The Jamaicans were set to contest seven events, the m e n ’s a n d w o m e n ’s 4x100m, 4x200m and 4x400m as well as the shuttle hurdles.
Kaieteur News
Thursday April 22, 2021
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Narayan and Priyanna Ramdhani to attend qualification Badminton tournament
Region Six East Berbice Corentyne are COP T20 champs By Zaheer Mohamed
Narayan Ramdhani and President of the GOA Mr. Kalam Juman-Yassin. G u y a n a ’s l e a d i n g Badminton players, Narayan and Priyanna Ramdhani, currently on scholarship at the Kings University and Olds College in Alberta Canada as Student/Athletes, will be attending the XXIV Pan Am Individual Championships in Guatemala April 27 to August 02, 2021. Narayan will be playing to get the necessary qualifications points to attend the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games and at the Pan Am Championships he will play in the Singles Elimination Round of 64 (this large number of entries are is due to many players form round the world needing points) where he was awarded a bye and got into the round of 32. Priyanna will be playing to get her qualification points to attend the Cali South American Youth Games and a t t h e P a n A m Championships she will play in the Singles Elimination Round of 32. They will also
Team up in the Mixed Doubles in the draw of 32. After a year with no competition due to the Pandemic, they both will be competing once again and will try to do as best as they could to get these qualification points. Because of the pandemic they were exposed to limited training as some venues were restricted and had to be worked around when they could get on court. This sometimes means they had to travel for two hours, train for two hours and travel back for two hours twice a week. The Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) is happy for them to return to competition and would like to thank the Minister of Sports - Honorable Charles Ramson Jr., President of the GOA-Mr. Kalam JumanYassin, Demerara Bank - Dr. Yesu Persaud, Mohamed’s Enterprise -Mr. N. Mohamed and Ms. Ayanna Watson for making it possible for them to attend these Championships.
Region Six East Berbice Corentyne were crowned champions of the Guyana Police Force Commissioner T20 Cup following an 11-run win over Tactical Service Unit (TSU) in the final on Tuesday. Despite an attacking 85 from TSU left-handed opener Kemol Savory, Region Six successfully defended 149 at Police Sports Club, Eve Leary. Region Six were reduced to 13-2 losing the wickets of Kedar Amsterdam caught off Diquain Clarke for six and Kevon Boodie bowled by Eon Rodrigues for seven after they were inserted. However, Daniel Samaroo and Kareem Mentore repaired the early damage with a third wicket
stand of 54. Mentore struck three fours and one six before he was run out for 29, while Samaroo added a further 31 with Philbert Wilburgh. However, Pacer Rodrigues ended their resistance when he had Wilburgh taken for 13 which included a four and a six. Samaroo followed shortly after bowled by Jermain Semple for a top score of 39 which contained two fours and one six. Region Six were pegged back somewhat in the latter stages, but Troy Drakes kept the scorecard ticking with a valuable 28 as his team lost nine wickets. Semple claimed 3-29 and Rodrigues 2-23. Savory and Alex Burnett put on 27 for the opening stand with Savory getting the
chase off in fine style taking fours off Drakes and C. Mitchell. Nevertheless Drakes provided his team with the breakthrough by having Burnett stumped for five. TSU subsequently lost wickets at regular intervals courtesy of some steady bowling from Drakes and Mentore as they were reduced to 51-5. Drakes had R. Grosvenor (02) lbw, while Mentore sent back Andy Gillis (01), Rodrigues (00) and Zane London (02). But Savory and Dellon Allicock resurrected the chase with an entertaining sixth wicket stand of 52. The pair timed the ball well as they rotated the strike and dispatched the wayward balls. Allicock hit one four and two sixes before he was run
Priyanna Ramdhani at a meeting with Minister of Sports Charles Ramson Jr.
Runner-Up TSU side.
The victorious Region Six team with their accolades. out for 24 and as the pressure mounted on the batsmen to keep the score on par Savory was bowled by Mentore after facing 55 balls and struck seven fours and six sixes. His dismissal coupled with two run outs virtually signaled the end of the chase as TSU managed 138-8. Mentore captured 4-21 and Drakes had 2-26. Mentore was named man-ofthe-match and also took the prize for the best bowler. Other awards went to Kevon Boodie most sixes (13), Savory most runs (209), Rocky Hutson most wickets (7) and best catch, Savory best batsman in the final and MVP. The winning team pocketed a trophy and $250,000 and the runner up a trophy and $200,000. Headquarters took the third place prize.