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Tuesday Edition August 10, 2021 - Vol. 14 No. 31

Online: www.kaieteurnews.com Online Price $80 readership yesterday, 76,005

for seventh oil lift

House passes amended oil law to ensure lawful acquisition of private land for fibre optic cable, US$900M gas-to-energy project Concerns abound as Trinidad recovers from worrying oil spill

Guyana owed US$1.1B for rice shipment to Panama

- unbothered Guyana continues oil production with limited insurance coverage - had requested IICA's intervention 8th August 2021 Oil spill in the Gulf of Paria from Claxton Bay to Point-a-Pierre

Lowenfield withdraws

court case filed over motion for dismissal GEA takes fuel company to court over falsified invoice Imtiaz Khan

President, Carli Bay fishing Association

Three charged for embezzling $29.8 million from GWI's bank account

Parliamentary motion calls

for EPA’s intervention in Exxon flaring in Stabroek Block @11:00hrs on Lack of ring-fencing provision means Guyana won't realise oil gains before 2030s, if at All. Loophole Kaieteur Radio allows ExxonMobil-Led Development Team to use profits to pay for more oil exploration in Guyana. 99.1/99.5FM

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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

Vaccinated - to get or not to get Matters are coming to a head, with more official pressure applied, and doors being slammed shut. This is the still-developing story around the issue of vaccination.

The situation and choice before citizens boil down to this: to get vaccinated or to resist for as long as it takes, as is individually practical. After that, the outlook is barren, and brings objecting citizens’ right back to square one: they have to get vaccinated, and that should be the end of that.

Though we at this paper have our own ideas and challenging circumstances, we encourage our fellow Guyanese to make the hard choice and get vaccinated.

We think it is a good thing that protects self and many others, and that it is better to have it, than not having it.

There is full appreciation for legitimate fears that hobble many of our fellow citizens, but getting vaccinated is the most powerful option that is out there and currently available. In fact, in some locations, those to be vaccinated have a choice right now between the AstraZeneca, Sputnik, and Sinopharm vaccines. Getting vaccinated could save a life, especially number one.

We understand also that there are concerns that the COVID-19 virus, already at proven pandemic proportions, seems to have a life of its own, is a constantly moving target, and gives the impression of being indestructible and unstoppable. To put in a different way, the vaccines may not be as effective as it is being marketed, because there are so many unknowns still surrounding this virus and its operations.

This makes taking the vaccines an exercise that is more about hope and a prayer, as opposed to having scientific underpinnings. While some of this cannot be challenged with the strength and backing of complete authority, there is some truth to the concerns of those numbering in the ranks of the hesitant and, hence, resisting getting vaccinated.

It is our position that such thinking and conclusion is a step in the wrong direction, a hopelessly entangling one that leads to the wrong places, and could yield the worst of results. The statistics have confirmed that those who have been vaccinated have a higher threshold of resistance, a lesser probability of being infected by the virus, and a stronger chance of overcoming it without serious illness.

From our perspective, this is a winning hand, as there is nothing better out there, no other bird in the hand. For, on the other hand, those who have not been vaccinated have succumbed in greater numbers and more easily.

We want to be clear on a few more things with this virus and the personal (up to this time) decision on whether to get vaccinated or not. The statistics are a work in progress, with information and new developments still coming in from all over. Notwithstanding this, there is a core of firm facts and numbers with which to work, and which give cause for hope, and for reliance on the positives that could come from being vaccinated. Also, it has been said before, but we see no harm in saying it again: getting vaccinated is not a foolproof, virus-resistant remedy.

Because there have been some, albeit in small numbers, who did receive one or the other of the vaccines, and they still turned out to be among the stricken and fallen.

With all this as context, and in mind, the Guyana Government has been moving forward with its vaccination programme, as well as with the barriers it has been erecting to protect those who are allowed access to the inside of government buildings (and other public spaces). By default, this translates to not a full rollout of mandatory vaccination, but a carefully drawn and targeted arc of prohibition that serves to block a slew of citizens with legitimate business to conduct at government offices. This completely bars them from doing their business there.

Whatever the business, even if it is of an urgent and sensitive character, it will have to be put on hold, until something gives.

As we see it, the Government is not going to give ground. The onus, therefore, is on citizens to comply and quickly. Our last words are: get vaccinated.

Tuesday August 10, 2021

The unvaccinated should take warning, learn from the errors of victims who refused vaccines DEAR EDITOR, Guyanese singer, Eddie Hooper, in the 70s sang, “Take warning, you better take warning… you better do good…respect your fellow men as you should.” The Assembly of God preacher said, “Be like the wise virgin, not the foolish virgin who was not prepared” (Matthew 25:113). The Full Gospel Fellowship pastor said, “Too late, too late shall be the cry” (Luke 13:25). I asked my friend Suresh what he would recommend, that somebody said “There must be a better way to assist the hesitant nonvaccinated,” and that another person said, “The vaccine resisters need more education.”

Suresh said, in his own inimitable village accent, “Tell them rass, you go dead, if you nah get vaccinated.” I said, “Suresh, we have to say the same thing but in a nicer way.

We don’t want any more Guyanese to die; we already have over 550 people dead.”

I noticed there are some political surrogates of the PNC, the GTU and now the GPSU, whose top brass are well vaccinated, while using their members as political fodder telling them, “GPSU acknowledges and will fiercely defend the rights of any citizen, particularly its members who refuse treatment and medical intervention as well as those who wish to keep their medical information con-

fidential.” If workers’ organisations truly care, would they not be emphasising more on the benefits of vaccination, rather than saying we will back you if you resist the Government’s efforts to keep the nation safe? How much does the GPSU have in its medical and funeral support fund for the non-vaxxers? Workers need to be careful that fully vaccinated union leaders, MPs and politicians are not using them as pawns in their political games.

Be wise and take care of yourselves and families! If you or a family member gets infected with the virus, those same agitators will be nowhere around to help you in your trials and tribulations!

I notice the anti-vaccination crowd is using the slogan, “my body, my choice” which is a “pro-abortion” slogan used in the USA. It might be an appropriate slogan to use since the “anti-vax” crowds essentially are saying they have the right to abort their lives.

The rest of us are “prolife” and “pro-country.” In Guyana now, where adopting the self-styled titles of “Apostle” and “Bishop” is a new church gimmick, there is an “Apostle” fellow having a protest using the “pro-abortion” slogan. In the Facebook blogs, “Soph” said, “If you choose not to be vaccinated,

as is your right, we choose not to serve you, or come close to you, as is our right. And if COVID-19 chooses you, you will be comforted to know that we will sympathise.” Someone writing as “Better way to retire,” said, “Virus doesn’t know politics.

Those individuals and their families know what a nightmare and hardships that the deadly experiences unleash, including tying up public and private resources.” Al Fernandes said, “Tek de damn vaccine, my fellow Guyanese! It is NOT the ‘mark of the beast’. Damn.”

An unvaccinated Virginia man, Travis Campbell, who has a wife and seven children, is in the intensive care unit battling complications from the virus. He said, “I messed up big time, you guys — I didn’t get the vaccine,” Campbell said, “I’m trying to talk to you so you understand that I don’t want to go to your funeral and I don’t want you to come to mine. The new Delta strain … will get you down so fast you are not going to get back up.”

Dr. Steven Brown, a physician in Missouri, USA, said, “It’s inconceivable. They’re seeing people taking their last breaths and still denying the existence of the disease itself, still denying that there is a vaccine that can help them.”

He said “One-hundred percent of those who are requir-

ing ventilator support, who were the sickest of the sick, have not been vaccinated.”

Theresa Rosenberry said, “If you don’t want to get the vaccine that is your right. But you’re going to need to get your affairs in order and talk to your significant other where you want to be buried or if you want to be cremated.

Because there is a good chance it can happen to you.”

In recent news, six members of one Florida church died from COVID-19 in 10 days according to its pastor, who is encouraging people to get vaccinated, and the church is holding vaccination drives.

The USA, Canada, UK, European Union, and many countries are moving towards requiring people to be vaccinated. So, those political agitators who think they can claim the Government is a dictatorship and suppressing freedoms will not gain attention, support, and traction. We are in an international state of emergency, and there is no court that will say anyone’s rights are being violated.

The Government has done a good job getting the vaccines; it’s your turn to take advantage of its availability to you. Please accept this bit of education.

Yours truly, Dr. Jerry Jailall

Long COVID should be given serious consideration by people refusing to get vaccinated DEAR EDITOR, British race car driver and Seven-time Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, after finishing third in the Hungarian Grand Prix a couple Sundays ago, needed assistance to get to the podium because he had dizzy spells. He said after the race, “I haven’t spoken to anyone about Long COVID but I think it is lingering there. I remember the effects of when I had it [COVID] and training has been different since then. The level of fatigue that you get is different and it’s a real challenge.”

Science journalist, Elie Dolgin, wrote an article in the journal Nature (June 9) discussing ‘COVID’s cardiac connection.’ He wrote on the experience of a 19-year-old top ice hockey prospect, Marco Rossi, stating, “At preseason training camp, Rossi failed his medical examination.

A routine cardiac test revealed inflammation around the heart muscles, a condition known as myocarditis. If Rossi continued to skate, his heart might suddenly stop beating, and he could die.

Although he felt well, it seemed that Rossi — or at least his heart — had not yet fully recovered from COVID19, which he had contracted two months earlier.”

There are many reports of healthy young athletes (and people in general) contracting COVID and left with intense fatigue and other long-term symptoms that make it difficult for them to train and perform at their usual level, even if they only had a mild form of the disease; some Olympic athletes even pulled out of the recent Tokyo Olympics due prolonged COVID symptoms that significantly hampered their ability to train/exercise.

The Office of National Statistics in the UK estimates a total of 945,000 (as of Aug 9, 2021) suffering from Long COVID and this includes 34,000 children with symptoms like fatigue and shortness of breath that have continued for at least four weeks.

This led to experts calling for the vaccination of over-12s as they fear children will be left susceptible to infection as the majority of the adult population becomes vaccinated;

while researchers look for answers on the frequency and severity of this post-COVID problem.

To date, researchers are still trying to establish the science behind Long COVID (chronic COVID, long-haul COVID, post-acute COVID-19 or long-term effects of COVID) since it is not well understood.

Hypotheses (so no evidence established as yet), by researchers, on what is going on include, after infection fragments of the Coronavirus may disrupt the body in some way even if they cannot infect cells or, that the immune system goes out of control and attacks the rest of the body as every organ system in the body can be affected. Professor Akiko Iwasaki, an immunobiologist, and part of a group of researchers at Yale University in the US are recruiting people with Long COVID who have not been vaccinated.

They want to track what happens after they have been vaccinated. The hypothesise that vaccination may improve symptoms by giving the im-

mune system the boost it needs to clear the remnants of the virus away and rebalance the immune system since we know immunity developed after vaccination is more robust than natural immunity (if you get infected with the virus and recovered).

There is a lot still not understood about Long COVID but what is known is that millions are suffering from it months after the infection is over and they test negative.

According to the CDC in the US, people with Long COVID experience a different combination of the following symptoms, “difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, tiredness or fatigue, symptoms that get worse after physical or mental activities, difficulty thinking or concentrating (sometimes referred to as “brain fog”), cough, chest or stomach pain, headache, fast-beating or pounding heart (also known as heart palpitations), joint or muscle pain, pins-and-needles feeling, diarrhea, sleep problems, fever, dizziness on standing (light-headedness), rash, (Continued on page 5)

Tuesday August 10, 2021

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Kaieteur News

MORE SOUND ANALYSIS NEEDED FOR THE GAS-TO-SHORE VENTURE DEAR EDITOR, “One does not make changes to a winning team’ says the old adage.

But something is wrong with Guyana in terms of development.

The Gas-to-Shore project comprises some of the same players who were involved in a string of questionable projects.

We can identify the Marriot Hotel, a venture where expenditures are yet to be made public or accounted for.

Then the white elephant Skeleton Sugar Factory, the botched Amalia Falls Hydro project, the secrecy surrounding Surendra Specialty Hospital ($800 million) swindle, the Berbice Bridge fiasco and other failed projects that have cost the Guyanese taxpayers astronomical sums.

It is inconceivable that the Irfaan Ali government has persisted with these players.

It must be remembered that several members of the present government were investigated for financial crimes by the previous administration and some including President Ali, Brassington and Ashni Singh, among others were charged and placed before the courts. However, the charges were dropped in 2020 when this government took office.

What is evident is that this Gas-to-Shore project is between the Government

and Exxon with little transparency on feasibility studies, site selection, the costs,

the selection process, the amount of gas, etc. all remain shrouded in secrecy.

Today, more questions are emerging and fewer answers are being provided. It stands

Long COVID should be...

From page 4 mood changes, change in smell or taste and changes in period cycles.

Many studies have been conducted which show that 1 in 3 people who get COVID will have symptoms that last longer than the usual two weeks.

So, I want to emphasise and repeat that COVID exists and is a very serious problem which can have a long-term impact on your lives even in people with a mild form of the disease or who are asymptomatic (don’t show symptoms) initially.

No one is safe from getting COVID and no one wants to be left with a series of debilitating symptoms for the

long haul. The best protection we have against COVID is vaccination.

It remains that the vaccinated have a much lower risk of getting COVID than the unvaccinated. Vaccines work and they protect.

So, I urge people to get vaccinated (if you have no underlying health conditions) and keep upholding public health measures to break chains of transmission and reduce the spread. COVID can have long-term impacts on health and this applies to every one of every age group, even the young, fit and athletic.

Yours truly, Jacquelyn Jhingree, PhD.

to reason that this project is set to parallel the litany of technological white elephants Guyana has to contend with.

The David Granger government had engaged consultancy group, Energy Narrative, in 2017, to under-

take a study on the options, cost, economics, impacts, and key considerations of transporting and utilising Natural gas from offshore Guyana for electricity gen-

eration.

Three sites had been evaluated for the landing site of the proposed pipeline — none of them included the Wales Estate which experts claimed is not economical feasible.

Although the government has great plans to vitalise the energy sector, but according to experts, they are not sound policies.

In February, the government had proclaimed that four studies would be conducted on the geotechnical and geophysical aspects of the project and its impact on the environment.

Yet, the study most advocated for in the press was not mentioned – one to ensure that the project would be financially viable.

Exxon and other producers currently re-inject, flare (about 15 million cubic feet daily) and consume some 90

percent of the gas produced.

If the operator chooses instead to flare that gas or to pipe it to a processing plant, then it becomes uneconomic to extract the remaining oil.

The Government seems

to lack the capability to differentiate recoverable from non-recoverable costs, so

What was rresponsible esponsible for this about turn?

DEAR EDITOR, Was the court’s time wasted with the sudden termination of the court matter, which sought certain reliefs in a certain dismissal case?

What was responsible for this three sixty about turn?

Sincerely, Shamshun Mohamed

ExxonMobil can choose the option of greatest profit by not re-injecting the gas thus, saddling Guyana with more operating costs.

Experts have contended that the government has to consider the following conditions in pumping gas-toshore: · Scrubbing. The removing of impurities like Sulphur Dioxide, Hydrogen Chloride and lighter (more flammable) fractions. · Booster pumps, much like water pumps, to continuously keep the gas pressurised so it can travel to shore. · Offshore liquefaction instead of costly pipelines. · Without re-injection of gas to maintain reservoir pres-

sure which in turn allows the operator to extract more petroleum from a specific wellhead in order for oil to be forced to the surface. Without pressure the oil will simply, and more costly, have to be pumped up. · Neighbouring Brazil, Suriname and V enezuela

have their own gas; therefore, we are looking at a far-away market, as there does not exist a full consumption avenue.

But what is bizarre about this project, is that directives emanate from those who have experience and qualifications in oil and gas are not considered.

Yours truly, Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine

Road fixes needed for Albouystown area roads DEAR EDITOR, I am writing seeking the attention and action of fixes to the above-mentioned roads.

These roads are in a terrible state that is affecting motorists.

I believe these roads can serve as get away roads if you want to get across town rather

than having to drive through central Georgetown.

Ever since GWI dug up the roads, Middle Road and Punt Trench Dam, around the Albouystown area, those are also deplorable and unusable as well. Looking forward to some positive response.

Yours truly, Name provided

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Tuesday August 10, 2021

Kaieteur News

The Local Govt. and other commissions have fallen way short of expectations

DEAR EDITOR, The Local Government Commission (LGC) got our attention last week on the defective manner it appointed a Town Clerk. Likely, within the month, the majority party on the commission will repair this defect and the LGC will cease to make further news — until the next bit of “nonsense,” as Stabroek News put it in its Friday editorial.

The LGC is now four years old (granted, the new membership is only months on the job). But from its early days, no signs emerged that the commission focused on how to improve the quality of local governance. Yet, it is one

of several constitutional bodies on which taxpayers have spent billions of dollars collectively with little return. I, therefore, call again for an impact assessment of these entities as part of a comprehensive review of all the 1999/ 2000 constitutional changes ( h t t p s : / / www.stabroeknews.com/ 2019/10/25/opinion/letters/ we-need-a-systematic-evaluation-of-the-1999-2000-constitutional-reforms/). Any fresh round of constitutional reform would be a wishful exercise if not informed by an analysis of the fate of the 1999/2000 amendments.

But to focus for now on the LGC and the other com-

missions.

They have not delivered as envisioned for several reasons: (i) The nation has lost sight of, and the enthusiasm for, the transformative role these commissions were set up to fulfill, as discussed during the multi-stakeholder constitution reform process of 1999. To illustrate: the mission of the LGC extends far beyond mundane staff appointments.

It encompasses proposing policies and practices to promote effective local governance, as well as enhancing the capacity of local government organs (see section 13 of the LGC Act). Similarly, the Ethnic Relations

The slim margin of victory during the last electiondoes not allow for major mistakes in governance DEAR EDITOR, The PPP currently has a strong position in Parliament after the unsuccessful election rigging fiasco.

The party has shown that over the years they have made more good decisions than bad ones. It is to be seen what the future holds.

The slim majority which it enjoys in Parliament can only be maintained by making the best long term decisions for the country.

The recent forum on the gas-to-shore project, the calls for renegotiation of the oil contracts, the questions raised around the Amaila Falls project, the dangers of Manganese Mining project and the other questionable investments yet to be made will significantly influence the

next election.

Even with a weakening PNC, a weakening WPA and a weaker Coalition opposition, we must keep in mind that a third party alternative does continue to exist and grow in strength, especially after the recent nationwide flooding.

The slim margin of victory during the last election does not allow for major mistakes in governance.

Every dollar invested counts and transparency in the level of returns earned or to be earned is essential.

GuySuCo and NICIL are being closely watched for future success as well as the Bauxite industry.

Growth in the non-energy sector will drive job growth and the unemployment rate

must reflect good decision making. Violence and crime continue to be on the rise and our people look forward to stronger leadership to eliminate corruption in office and reduce crime to the minimum.

The PPP has a great opportunity before it to make a significant and lasting impact on our society.

We must all guard against temptation in office and ensure the people’s needs remain the top priority in all decision making.

I look forward to the Parliament ensuring that the next several years will be a success for both the constituencies of their respective parties and the independent minded voters in our society.

Best regards, Mr. Jamil Changlee

Commission’s (ERC’s) mandate reaches as far as pursuing the enactment of specific legislative and administrative measures to entrench equality of opportunity and nondiscrimination in public entities. Blame for this loss of vision and appetite must rest with the political parties and the several civic organisations that sat on the reform commission (such as the TUC, the religious organisations, and the private sector). Unfortunately, commissions, once up and running, hardly rose to overcome this problem. (ii) The mechanisms to appoint commissioners have turned out to be flawed. For the LGC, the mechanism whereby the government and the opposition parties select 7 of the 8 commissioners has led to the LGC being no more imaginative than the respective party headquarters. For the ERC, WGEC (Women and Gender Rights Commission) and the other rights commissions, the multi-stakeholder mechanism has produced commissions with weak ex-

pertise and narrow focus.

The mechanism used to appoint the public procurement commissioners may have avoided these jeopardies by requiring them to have relevant knowledge.

The best approach may lie in a marriage between stakeholder representation and expertise; (iii) Appointees do not work full time on commissions. Other jobs are their main preoccupation and income. However, the mandates of these commissions are too large for part-time commissioners; (iv) The shortness of tenure (3 or 4 years) and the sloth of (re)appointments have dented institutional continuity, capacity building, and memory.

The ERC, for example, was dormant from 2007 until resurrected by the Coalition government in 2015. At present, several commissions have no appointees; (v) the secretariats of commissions have not evolved beyond performing mostly routine administrative duties. As such, they have not accumulated technical capacity in the subject area

of commissions, such as in human rights, conflict resolution, or good governance; and (vi) only on rare occasion has there been public pressure on commissions. The starkest example is the recent public outcry over the ERC’s apparent impotence during the 2020 WCB incident.

To be sure, many good citizens have served and continue to serve as commissioners. But time and politics have reduced the grand mission of these entities to mere sideshows.

To recapture the spirit that inspired their founding would require untypical Guyanese drive and creativity. At least for now, let’s start by asking the LGC that the next time it makes news it must be to inform us of the measures it is taking to, for one, building the technical capacity of local government councils and, for two, ensuring the government increase the paltry subvention to councils by several million dollars next year.

Yours faithfully, Sherwood Lowe

Cheddi was honest, democratic and non-violent DEAR EDITOR, I agree with Freddie (Aug. 8) that Cheddi Jagan would not have victimised or harm him or anyone for that matter on account of political differences or media criticism. He would not have unleashed violence on critics, as Burnham and Hoyte did.

Cheddi was a very progressive political leader, the like of who was hardly replicated in politics. He was a non-violent Gandhian, incorruptibly honest and decent. I had the opportunity to interview him several times in Guyana and New York for newspaper and magazine articles. It was always pleasant to listen to him although I did not embrace his political rhetoric or socialist ideas.

Jagan had a very colourful tenure in public life - one in which he faced off frequently with the business community and the racist

Burnham. I heard him railed against big business in Guyana and at conferences in America. But he was held in high esteem by the business community although they did not support him politically till the 1990s. Cheddi encouraged political exchange and tried to convince others to accept his viewpoint and reading of politics and economics. They praised his honesty.

Cheddi encouraged political exchange and tried to convince others to accept his viewpoint and reading of politics and economics. He did not shut out others but listened to all points of view before making a decision. At times, he changed his mind on issues if one makes a strong case for a workable position.

Jagan tried hard to prevail with his socialist views that got him in political troubles.

Had he been pragmatic, as Bharrat Jagdeo has been of

late, Guyana would have avoided cold war politics and social and political problems would have been minimal.

Jagan was indisputably the most dynamic politician of Guyana. But his most glaring shortcoming was his failure to create a truly “free” people in which the population is not trapped in political or racial prison. He did not dump the Burnham constitution or carry out much needed constitutional reform, which he long promised when he was in opposition. He could have reformed the constitution to give people real, meaningful power given his passionate advocacy for the rights and empowerment of the working class. Nevertheless, we are grateful that he began institutionalising democracy in 1992 when he became President.

Yours truly, Vishnu Bisram

Guyana owed US$1.1 billion for rice ...

From page 3 $1.1 billion owed to rice millers by the Panamanian authorities and that the intervention of the regional body would hopefully lead to the conclusion of the matter. “Hopefully, shortly the Minister of Agriculture of Panama and myself, will have a meeting on this matter.

I am optimistic that after that meeting, we can have the payment.”

Guyana had shipped a substantial amount of rice to Panama and two contracts were

signed; one in 2018 and another in 2019. However, only partial payment has been made on the 2018 agreement to date.

On November 27, 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had dispatched a letter to the Government there indicating the need for urgency in honouring the obligations to Guyana.

Consequently, Panama acknowledged the arrears and has since committed to making the payment, but to date no such payment has been made.

Tuesday August 10, 2021

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Kaieteur News

The education cash grant T

he PPP/C govern ment is milking the distribution of the education cash grant to the maximum.

Ministers are turning up at schools where the distribution is taking place, even to the point of spending thousands of dollars to fly into hinterland locations in order to gain maximum political capital.

It has become a political spectacle. Parents, whose time is precious, have to sit impatiently and wait while the circus takes place around them.

They are forced to endure long, boring political sermons from Ministers and then a cultural extravaganza put on, not for their benefit, but to patronise the minister or ministers in attendance.

The PPP/C introduced the education cash grant as voteenticing measure in the run up to the 2014 elections.

It did not bring them the votes which they needed to return to office; instead they were given the boot and kicked into the Opposition benches.

The cash grant was inequitable.

When it started it was G$10,000 per year. And both paupers and millionaires benefited.

And since the cash grant was then redeemable at some businesses, there was a dividend enjoyed by the business class. In fact, some unscrupulous businesses charged a commission for cashing the grant.

The other ancillary measure which accompanied the cash grant was the One Laptop per Family Initiative.

This also failed to prevent the PPP/C from losing the 2015 elections.

The APNU+AFC quickly dismantled both initiatives when they took office in May 2015 with one Minister going as far as accusing the PPP/C of using the education cash

grant as a vote-buying measure.

The APNU+AFC had further said that it had evidence that the cash grant was intended to be a one-off payment since it was unsustainable.

But the Coalition never produced the evidence which it said was in its possession.

Early in its term, the Minister of Education of the APNU+AFC government, Dr. Rupert Roopnarine, had said that the government had not yet made a decision on whether to continue with the cash grant.

And later in an address to the National Assembly he said that the cash grant had not met its objectives, but he did not expound on how he arrived at this assessment.

The APNU+AFC had launched a Commission of Inquiry into education. While it was reported that a preliminary report had been submitted, it is still unclear what has become of the final report and whether it remains gathering dust.

This report would hardly have ignored pronouncing on the concept of an education cash grant and other supportive measures.

But unwisely the APNU+AFC failed to replace both of these measures with initiatives of its own.

And this has created the opportunity for the PPP/C to capitalise on the public goodwill emanating from the present pay out of the G$15,000.

On the campaign trail, the APNU+AFC have promised the payment of a cash grant if it was returned to office. But its proposal was modelled partly after the Bolsa Família Initiative in Brazil which pays grants to families on condition that their children attend school, and are vaccinated… yes vaccinated.

The cash grant is back. It has now been increased and there is a promise that it will

be increased incrementally to $50,000 per year by 2025.

No wonder even the super-rich who would have previously been embarrassed to be seen uplifting a G$10,000 voucher are now standing in line to receive the $15,000 cash grant and the G$4,000 uniform allowance.

One of the criticisms now emerging from the APNU+AFC camp is that the pay out will create a dependency syndrome.

But its proposal for making cash grants conditional on school attendance could equally be accused of encouraging dependency.

Concerns have also been expressed about transparency.

A large number of children belong to single parent families and there have been reports of children living with one parent but the other parent collecting the cash grant.

Then there is the concern about the cost of the initiative.

To graduate to an annual $50,000 per student is expected to cost the Treasury more than G$10B each year.

That is quite a massive sum considering the fact, that tens of thousands of children still do not have access to internet or to a tablet or computer to benefit from online learning.

Recently, one teacher complained bitterly about the poor online attendance of his students.

Only a small fraction of his students are making use of his online teaching. Poor parents cannot afford the $8,000 per month required for internet, plus the cost of a proper computer, plus the cost of uniforms for when school reopens.

The education cash grant would have been better conceived as a poverty-reduction measure rather than a support for education. But do not tell that to the blow-blow brigade in the PPP/C government.

Dem Boys Seh…

A BIRD FLY AWAY De West Indies cricket team had a fast bowler named Joel Garner. He bin tall like a lantern post. Dem used to call he “Big Bird”.

Dem also had a politician who was also a Big Bird. He used to be a long jumper and he tun Prime Minister of Antigua. He bin named Lester Bird.

Yesterday, dat Bird flew away to de Promised Land where all ah we gan end up one day.

And nuff people feel sad, including Prezzie Ali who send out condolence message. But like he nah check it

before he send it out because it gat plenty mistakes.

Prezzie Ali seh how de Lester Bird wuk with all of Guyana’s Presidents from Burnham to Jagdeo.

But dem boys wan Prezzie fuh know dat dem had two Birds who bin Prime Ministers of Antigua – father and son. De father bin named Vere Bird and he son, de one wah pass away yesterday, bin named Lester Bird.

Was Vere Bird who bin Prime Minister during Burnham time.

And Lester Bird was Prime Minister during Jagdeo time.

Is nat de same Bird wah serve with Burnham bin serve along with Jagdeo; one was father and one was son.

Is also de father, not de son, wah bin open de doors to Guyanese economic migrants running from Burnham and Hoyte. Was not Lester was Vere.

Dem boys gat some things fuh talk about dem Birds. But dem boys holding dem peace because ole people seh nah talk ill of de dead!

Talk half and remember dem had a third Bird too!

They are quite happy with the public relations returns of this initiative rather than with any resulting educational improvements.

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

Tuesday August 10, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 11

PAGE 16

Kaieteur News

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for

From page 8 also increased the amount of money each child would receive,” Minister Mustapha said.

He also told those in attendance that since assuming office, the government has been making allocations to the various sectors to benefit all sections of the country.

“Over the last year, the government has been making allocations to assist various sectors. When we assumed office, every household received $25,000 as part of the COVID-19 Relief package. Today, children that are attending public school are receiving $19,000. We will continue to make these kinds of critical investments because we see the importance of education in our country’s development. Over the next five years, we will be making 20,000 scholarships available to the eligible Guyanese. We made a number of commitments and today those commitments are being delivered to the people of this country,” Minister Mustapha said.

Distribution of the government’s ‘Because We Care’ grants commenced on July 15, 2021. The initiative will see each school-aged child in the public school system benefiting from a total of $19,000 that will be used to purchase school uniforms, books, and other materials for school.

Approximately 172,000 students will benefit from this programme giving a total of $3.2B going towards children and families across Guyana.

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Tuesday August 10, 2021

Tuesday August 10, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 17

Concerns abound as Trinidad recovers from worrying oil spill - unbothered Guyana continues oil production with limited insurance coverage After admitting to an oil leak caused by a faulty line, Paria Fuel Trading Company Limited, which is a Trinidadian company, was on Sunday trying to contain an oil spill.

In a release published by the Trinidad Guardian yesterday, the company indicated that a leak along a 12-inch crude pipeline on land was identified as the source of the spill. It noted too that the requisite repair works were undertaken and the line was isolated at approximately 11.35hrs. on Sunday.

The release stated too that assurance checks conducted by the company revealed that there are no additional leaks along the pipeline. As such it noted that the spill is contained and residual clean-up is currently ongoing.

Reporting on the disaster, the Trinidad Express had revealed that an oil sheen along the Pointe-a-Pierre harbour was discovered around 19:30hrs. on Saturday by the company’s marine security.

The company stated that its Incident Command Team was activated and personnel were immediately dispatched to locate the source of the leak.

The company stated how-

ever, that a further sea survey early Sunday morning discovered areas of oil sheen and oil streaks located north of the Pointe-a-Pierre port.

A shoreline survey was also conducted. The company, even then, according to the Trinidad Express, had stated that it would deploy clean up assets to minimise the impact of the spill on the environment. It mentioned then that absorbent booms were being strategically placed to prevent further migration of oil into the sea as well as vacuum trucks to remove oil collected on land. It noted too that oil streaks were being mechanically broken up at sea.

Despite these claims, Loopnews, which also reported on the spill, pointed to the fact that Corporate Secretary of conservation group Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFS), Gary Aboud, who shared videos of the spill in the Gulf of Paria, on Sunday called for officials to address the matter urgently as the video disputed the alleged use of oil containment booms.

In one of Aboud’s videos, he stated that all of the fishermen of the Gulf of Paria were

being forced to pay a heavy price for government negligence.

This comes after he mentioned the poor overlooking of petroleum company of Trinidad and Tobago, Petrotrin, which was a stateowned oil company.

He said that the company was closed two years ago and addressed the issue of the infrastructure not being properly maintained.

“If we allow it to dilapidate and we funnel all the earnings of Petrotrin towards other purposes, then look at what happens to our environment,” stated Aboud as he picked up a clump of the crude oil floating above the water’s surface, the report added.

The Trinidad oil spill has brought to the fore Guyana’s unpreparedness for such a disaster given the fact that its oil production is not protected by full coverage insurance.

Despite repeated concerns being raised by many commentators, Guyana, to date, remains without comprehensive insurance coverage from the Stabroek Block operators – ExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC/NEXEN.

Ministry records 2 more COVID-19 related deaths A 26-year-old man from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and a 66-year-old man from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) are the country’s latest COVID19 fatalities taking the nation’s death toll to 561.

The Ministry of Health in a statement revealed that the patients died while receiving medical care at a facility. In its updated COVID-19 dashboard, the Ministry recorded 12 new infections taking the overall number of confirmed cases to 22,932. The new infections were recorded as six cases in Region Three, four in Region Four and two in Region Six. In addition, the dashboard states that there are 19 patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, 86 are in institutional isolation, 691 are isolated at home and six persons are in institutional quarantine.

To date, 21,637 persons have recovered from the disease.

The FFS Corporate Secretary, Gary Aboud, displaying the result of the spill.

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Tuesday August 10, 2021

Kaieteur News

Protesters block roads across Guatemala, urging president to step down Police officers walk past Mayan indigenous people blocking a road.REUTERS/Luis Echeverria

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Members of one of Guatemala’s biggest farmers and indigenous groups blocked roads across the nation yesterday, calling on President Alejandro Giammattei and his attorney general to resign over the firing of a top anti-graft prosecutor.

It was the third time in the last 15 days that people took to the streets to protest the ousting of Juan Francisco Sandoval, the internationally recognized head of the Special Prosecutor ’s Office Against Impunity (FECI), who was investigating potential acts of corruption by Giammattei.

Attorney General Maria

Porras said Sandoval had undermined her work and named the electoral crimes prosecutor to take Sandoval’s role.

In Guatemala City, police patrolled government buildings, while on the outskirts of the capital, members of the farmers rights group CODECA placed planks of wood fitted with nails across highways to stop cars from circulating. Images in Guatemalan media and social media showed roadblocks in other parts of the country.

“We are calling for the resignation and investigation of President Alejandro Giammattei and Attorney General (Maria) Consuelo Porras,” Telma Cabrera, an indigenous former presiden-

tial candidate for the Movement for the Liberation of Peoples party and a leader of CODECA, told reporters.

Many university students have joined the protests organized by CODECA, which said it plans to maintain roadblocks throughout the day.

Some CODECA leaders said they also plan to protest outside Giammattei’s government office.

The latest protests highlight growing frustrations in Guatemala over corruption and the dismantling of judicial independence.

In 2015, waves of such anti-corruption demonstrations brought about the downfall of then-president Otto Perez Molina.

Lowenfield withdraws court case filed over ...

From page 8 granted an interim injunction barring GECOM from discussing a motion for his dismissal.

Last week, Justice, Jo-Ann Barlow, granted the temporary order restraining GECOM from proceeding with the hearing of the notice of motion for dismissal based on the complaint by Commissioners Shadick and Gunraj, which was set for hearing yesterday.

Lowenfield along with

other GECOM officials are currently before City Magistrates facing charges for electoral fraud.

Those charges stemmed from a series of alleged grave violations by the GECOM

workers connected to the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections and for their defiance of the instructions by the GECOM

Chair, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, who in-

structed that the recount figures be used for the final results of the elections.

In June, GECOM had decided to send Lowenfield

and Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Roxanne Myers, and Region Four Returning Officer,

Clairmont Mingo, on administrative leave pending deliberations over three motions presented to GECOM for their dismissal.

TRIBUTE TO SIR LESTER BIRD From page 14 the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) serving twice as its Chairman - the first time he was not yet Prime Minister, but such was the confidence that leaders of the Eastern Caribbean reposed in him. He strongly influenced the decision to turn the Eastern Caribbean Currency Authority into a Central Bank that serves its member states so well today. He was convinced that the structures of unity and functional cooperation should be maintained in the OECS because the small size of the countries required unity for strength in regional and international bargaining.

In the wider Caribbean, he was literally and figuratively a giant. It was under his Leadership as Chair of CARICOM that with Jamaica’s PJ Patterson and Barbados’ Owen Arthur that the Re-

gional Negotiating Machinery was established for collective bargaining with the European Union.

Known for his bold oratory, his annual speeches at the UN became a “must listen”, often reported by the international media. He fought tirelessly for a bigger voice in the international community for small states.

Sir Lester Bird was a progressive thinker whose vast experience and knowledge as tourism minister, foreign minister and prime minister served the people of the Caribbean well in the councils of CARICOM. He had a testy relationship with Barbuda, an island in which he spent his summer holidays as a boy and for which he had great affection.

He always said, “I am half Barbudan - my mother is Barbudan”. He dreamed of a developed Barbuda, compan-

ion to Antigua in the development of modern facilities and infrastructure. He might have achieved it, had he won the 2004 general election.

It is beyond question that Antigua and Barbuda and the Caribbean Community has lost a gold star in the Olympics of West Indian achievement.

And, I have lost an irreplaceable friend and close collaborator of 44 years. I wish it were not so.

Rise, Lester, as you always have with your broad smile and the impish twinkle in your eye. You will continue to inspire through your work that must be recalled and retold for future generations.

(Sir Ronald Sanders is Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the US and the OAS, former High Commissioner to the UK and Ambassador to UNESCO and the World Trade Organization.)

New GMC commissions first local Agri-Business...

From page 13 critical given the effects the recent flooding had on the agriculture sector. Only recently, President Irfaan Ali announced a multi-billion dollar relief package targeting farmers who were directly affected by flooding.

Minister Mustapha said that the assistance, which will be in the form of a direct cash

injection, will serve as a means of helping those who were affected with returning to the land.

“Only recently, His Excellency, President Irfaan Ali, made a pronouncement on the way forward as it pertains to the recent flooding, and how the government intends to help those who were directly affected. We’ll be see-

ing an investment of $7.6 billion being made available to farmers who were affected by the recent flooding across the country. This investment will serve as a means of helping those farmers to go back to the land. That alone speaks of a caring government and a government that is investing in its people,” Minister Mustapha said.

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday August 10, 2021

Tuesday August 10, 2021

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Kaieteur News

BREAKOUT STARS OF THE TOKYO OLYMPICS TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The Tokyo Olympics crowned a number of new champions who announced themselves on the world stage. Here are some of the breakout stars: - Lamont Marcell Jacobs -Italy’s Jacobs produced arguably the shock result of the Olympics — and one of the biggest shocks in Olympic history — when he claimed victory in the 100m, storming out of athletics obscurity to

take gold in a time of 9.80sec.

A few days later the 26year-old helped Italy win a 4x100m relay gold, capping a remarkable transformation for a sprinter who had

never broken the 10-second

barrier this season and whose previous career highlight was this year’s European indoor 60m title.

- Tatjana Schoenmaker Tatjana Schoenmaker announced herself on the Olympic stage in style when she smashed the women’s 200m breaststroke world record to claim South Africa’s first gold in the pool since 1996.

The 24-year-old had already won silver in the 100m and threatened Denmark’s Rikke Moller Pedersen’s 200m world benchmark in the heats, joking she wished her fingernails were just a bit longer.

But Schoenmaker needed no help from a manicurist to clock 2min 18.95sec in the final and clip 0.16s off Moller

Pedersen’s record.

The South African gave a surprised scream when she saw her time on the board, promptly bursting onto tears and sharing a group hug with her competitors.

- Daiki Hashimoto The absence of 2012 and 2016 champion Kohei Uchimura — plagued by shoulder problems — cast a long shadow over the men’s all-around gymnastics competition.

But 19-year-old Japanese Daiki Hashimoto more than filled his compatriot’s sizeable shoes, becoming the youngest-ever champion.

Hashimoto edged out China’s Xiao Ruoteng and Russian world champion

Tuesday August 10, 2021 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Don't skimp when it comes to taking care of your physical health, Aries. In an effort to save money, you may not bother getting dental checkups, or you could opt for the least expensive doctor in the book.

TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) Keeping things in balance may be more trouble than it's worth, Taurus, so don't force the issue. Sometimes it's necessary for our personal growth to let the pendulum swing all the way to one side.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) This is one day when you feel on the edge of either an emotional breakdown or a triumphant epiphany, Gemini. To ensure a positive outcome, don't take yourself too seriously.

CANCER(June21–July22) Just because everyone else is walking on eggshells doesn't mean you need to, Cancer. Your upbeat spirit will be more welcome than usual due to the drama around you.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Your tremendous sensitivity in a certain situation could be causing you to jump to conclusions that are keeping you from seeing the truth, Leo. Your tendency is to assume things before you have all the facts.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) You may feel like you're doomed if you do and doomed if you don't, Virgo.

You may feel very opinionated about a certain issue, but you know that expressing yourself is likely to cause someone else to feel threatened or upset.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) You may find yourself bursting into tears for no apparent reason today, Libra. Seek comfort in sitting by a body of water where you can let your emotions flow.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21)Unexpected emotions are going to come out of nowhere and cause havoc, Scorpio. Be prepared to deal with the expected. The key is not to overreact. The calmer and more stable SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) You may want more freedom in a certain situation, Sagittarius. Perhaps it's your emotions that you want to distance yourself from, or it feels like someone is smothering you.

CAPRI(Dec.22–Jan.19) You may need to use charm and wit to ease a tense situation, Capricorn. Gridlock could be making you feel uncomfortable. Your solution to the problem is to put on a happy face and divert attention from the difficulty by telling some jokes.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Your emotions are active, Aquarius, and could be popping up in powerful outbursts. There's momentum building within that you shouldn't ignore or suppress.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) You may have a feeling that if you don't have something positive to say, you shouldn't say anything. This idea could keep you tongue-tied today, Pisces. If you're frustrated, angry, or hurt, address the issue openly.

Nikita Nagornyy with a superb final horizontal bars routine, then stayed dry-eyed on the podium despite the scale of his achievement.

“Had I cried, I thought it would have been as if were feeling satisfied with where I am now,” said the nerveless teen.“I thought the champion must not cry but only look forward.”

- Momiji Nishiya Japanese 13-year-old Momiji Nishiya captured hearts when she won the first Olympic women’s skateboarding street gold — beating an even younger rival into second place.

Nishiya became one of the youngest individual gold medallists in Olympic history when her stunning sequence of tricks put her ahead of Brazil’s Rayssa Leal — 127 days her junior.

Her performance mirrored that of Japan teammate Yuto Horigome, who won the men’s title the previous day.

Nishiya, who was one of many teenage tyros ripping up the skate park as the sport made its Olympic debut, said she wanted to celebrate by eating at a barbecue beef restaurant.

She also became the youngest athlete ever to win a gold medal for Japan.

“I’m so glad to become the youngest at my first Olympics,” she said.

“Tears came to my eyes.”

- Athing Mu At just 19 years old, Mu

announced her arrival on the biggest stage of all with a spectacular victory in the 800m, becoming the first American winner of the event since 1968 with an assured wire-to-wire performance to take gold.

Mu, whose parents moved to the United States from Sudan before she was born, is expected to add the 400m to her repertoire, raising the prospect of a 400m-800m double at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Hero Caribbean Premier League ...

From page 24 and making digital collectibles accessible to cricket fans from around the globe.”

Pete Russell, Hero CPL CEO, further added, "Hero CPL has always been at the forefront of innovation, and we are delighted to lead cricket's journey into the NFT space via this pathbreaking partnership with Rario. With it, our fans will be able to ex-

press their passion for the CPL by, amongst other things, literally owning a piece of the action. We look forward to a very successful collaboration."

Digital collectibles are gaining popularity among sports fans globally, with NBA, NFL, FIFA and Formula 1 taking first steps in this direction. This technology has found an ideal audience among passionate sports fans that are eager to own a bit of sports history, be it in the form of an image, an audio or video.

Based on blockchain technology, digital collectibles ensure that each token is unique and cannot be duplicated or spent. Rario is the first platform to introduce this in cricket and provide a platform for fans to engage and invest in tangible cricketing moments.

Belarusian sprinter auctionss medal...

From page 22 Tsimanouskaya said the silver medal she won in the team relay at the 2019 European Games in the Belarusian capital Minsk carried special meaning.

"Those competitions were extremely important for me as they were held at the home arena," she said. "Lots of people, including my family and relatives, came to cheer for me."

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Friday ordered two Belarusian officials - athletics head coach Yuri Moisevich and team official Artur Shumak - to have their accreditation revoked and be removed from the Games.

The Belarusian Olympic Committee has said coaches withdrew Tsimanouskaya from the Tokyo Olympics on doctors' advice about her emotional and psychological state.

In an exclusive interview with Reuters in Warsaw on Thursday, Tsimanouskaya said the two officials had told her the order to send her home came from "high up" in Belarus.

Kaieteur News

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Tuesday August 10, 2021

Belarusian sprinter auctions medal to support athletes caught up in crackdown WARSAW, (Reuters) Sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who was removed from the Tokyo Olympics by the Belarusian team after she criticised her coaches, is auctioning a medal from the 2019 European Games to support athletes who say they have been targeted by authorities.

Belarusian team officials took the 24-year-old to Tokyo's Haneda airport

against her wishes on Aug. 1, a day before she had been set to run the 200m.

She refused to board the flight home and has since sought refuge in Poland, fearing for her safety if she returned to Belarus.

Tsimanouskaya told Reuters the reason she had been removed from the team was her public criticism of "the negligence of our coaches."

She said she had been entered in the 4x400m relay without her knowledge after some team members were found to be ineligible to compete because they had not undergone enough doping tests.

The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation, a group that supports athletes jailed or sidelined for their political views, said on Monday the medal was being

a u c t i o n e d a t Tsimanouskaya's request in support of Belarusian athletes "who suffered from the actions of Lukashenko's regime."

As of yesterday morning, bids for the medal had reached $5,200 on eBay. President Alexander Lukashenko has been accused of orchestrating an unprecedented crackdown on demonstrators and opposition figures in the wake of a presidential election held a year ago that critics and observers say was

Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who left the Olympic Games in Tokyo and seeks asylum in Poland, holds a t-shirt at a news conference in Warsaw, Poland August 5, 2021. (REUTERS/Darek Golik) rigged. He denies electoral fraud.The crackdown has affected elite athletes, some of whom have been jailed for

joining street protests.

In a statement carried by the foundation, (Continued on page 21)

Shakib stars as Bangladesh skittle out Australia for 62 in T20 series triumph

AFP - Shakib Al Hasan took four wickets as Bangladesh skittled out Australia for their lowest ever Twenty20 total of 62 to seal the series 4-1 yesterday.

Chasing 123 for victory, the visitors crashed out in 13.4 overs with Shakib returning figures of 4-9 with his left-arm spin in the 60-run rout in Dhaka.

Australia's previous lowest was 79 all out against England in 2005.

Bangladesh, who had secured their first series win over Australia after winning the opening three matches, bounced back from their previous loss to flatten the opposition batting.

"The boys showed a lot of character and hunger to win a series against a team like Australia," home skipper Mahmudullah Riyad said after the triumph.

"We executed our plans really well. Obviously it was hard for the batters, but we did well to keep getting 120-130.

All the bowlers worked really well together."

He said, "We always felt that in our backyard we are a very good team. We can't let anything go past.

"Though the ranking doesn't show it, I have always felt we have very good potential to be a very good team in T20 internationals."

Pace bowler Mohammad Saifuddin combined with Shakib to rattle Australia with twin strikes in one over and send back Alex Carey and Moises Henriques, both for three.

Shakib, who got Ashton Turner out for his 100th T20 scalp, wiped off the tail with

Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan receives the player of the match award after the win over Australia. (AFP) the wickets of Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa as Bangladesh celebrated.

The 34-year-old Shakib, a veteran of 58 Tests, 258 oneday matches and 84 T20s, said he is "still enjoying the game".Spinner Nasum Ahmed had done the early damage when he bowled Dan Christian for three and then trapped the in-form Mitchell Marsh for four in successive overs.

Skipper Matthew Wade (22) and Ben McDermott fought back with a 21-run stand for the third wicket but Mahmudullah broke the partnership. He got McDermott caught and

bowled for 17.

"I've played for a few years now, certainly the toughest conditions to play T20 cricket in," said a disappointed Wade. "Great learning for youngsters."

E a r l i e r, M o h a m m a d Naim made 23 in Bangladesh's 122 for eight after electing to bat.

Christian, who took an international scalp after seven years, and Nathan Ellis took two wickets each.

Scores: Bangladesh 122 for 8 (Naim 23, Ellis 2-16, Christian 2-17) beat Australia 62 (Wade 22, Shakib 4-9, Saifuddin 3-12) by 60 runs.

Tuesday August 10, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 23

Sandals gifts all Caribbean Olympians complimentary vacations Jamaica Observer ALMOST 100 Olympians from the Caribbean islands where Sandals Resorts International operates have been gifted complimentary vacation stays by the company's Executive Chairman Adam Stewart in recognition of their valiant efforts at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“Olympians who medalled in the justconcluded staging of the games will each receive one complimentary, no limit on nights stay in the highest room category at any Sandals or Beaches resort across the region, complete with luxury BMW transfers from their home, if applicable, to the resort of choice,” the award-winning, all-inclusive luxury resort group said in a news release yesterday.

“In addition, all athletes who represented their country in the Olympics in any event will receive luxury-included four-night vacations at a Sandals Resort in their home island. The contingent from St Vincent will enjoy their vacation at a resort in St Lucia, since the highly anticipated Beaches St Vincent is not yet open,” Sandals added.

Stewart, who is also executive chairman of the Jamaica Observer, first took to social media to reward Jamaica's gold medal-winning trio of Elaine Thompson-Herah, ShellyAnn Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, for their clean sweep of the women's 100m finals, declaring, “The world's best deserve the world's best vacations!”

He later extended similar complimentary, no-limit stays to all subsequent medal winners from Jamaica, The Bahamas and Grenada, and is now further extending the

offer to all Tokyo Olympics athletes from Jamaica, Grenada, The Bahamas, Barbados, St Lucia, St Vincent, and Antigua.

Commenting on the teams' exceptional accomplishments to make it to the Olympics and to stand on the podium, Stewart said, “It takes a great amount of sacrifice, hard work, dedication and consistency to even make it to the Olympics. Our Caribbean athletes have shown admirable grit, tenacity, and a fighting spirit, and as a Caribbean brand entirely committed to the development of the region and showcasing our regional talent, we are beyond proud of every single athlete who went out there to represent their country.”

He added: “I've been saying it throughout the Games and I will continue to say it, 'The world's best deserve the world's best,' and we cannot wait to roll out our red carpet for all our Olympians when their schedules allow.”

The athletes are set to receive complimentary stays for outstanding performances and fortitude in an Olympics that has faced delays and uncertainties due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“These Games and the performances our athletes have delivered have been just what we need to lift our collective spirits,” Stewart said. “We can never thank our athletes enough for everything they do for their countries and we cannot express enough what it means to all of us, but we are certainly going to make sure they have the best vacation experience of their lives when they redeem their wellearned prizes at Sandals Resorts.”

Gold medallist The Bahamas's Steven Gardiner celebrates after the men's 400m final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Bronze medallist Grenada's Kirani James celebrates on the podium during the medal ceremony for the men's 400m event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Bahamas's Shaunae Miller-Uibo celebrates with the national flag after winning the women's 400m final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Japan on August 6, 2021.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 24

Tuesday August 10, 2021

Hero Caribbean Premier League Associates with Rario for exclusive Digital Collectibles

G

ros Islet, Saint Lucia: Cricket fans will have the chance to buy, collect and

trade exclusive Caribbean Premier league (CPL) digital collectibles on cricket NFT platform Rario.

Rario, the world's first cricket-based digital collectibles platform, yesterday announced an

exclusive partnership with the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL), one of the most popular Twenty20

competitions in the world.

In this first-of-its-kind association, Rario is licensed to mint unique digital collectibles of memorable moments, not just from the upcoming tournaments, but also from the last eight editions.

By immortalising the league's iconic instances, these collectibles give fans a chance to claim singular ownership over their favourite moments in a tangible, verifiable way.

This association will also provide the platform for the global launch of the Singapore-based tech company Rario, with their first pack drop of collectibles scheduled for 29th August 2021, right at the beginning

of CPL 2021.

Announcing the partnership, Mr. Ankit Wadhwa, Founder and CEO, Rario said, “We are delighted to work with the Caribbean Premier League to usher in this new era of cricket fandom and consumption.

This partnership further cements the huge potential and increasing demand for digital collectibles in this sport.

We are confident that together, we can revolutionise the fans' experience and give them an opportunity to engage with the game like never before.

We are also looking forward to finally introducing our platform on the world stage (Continued on page 21)

West Indies announce 17-member provisional squad for Betway Test Series KINGSTON, Jamaica – Cricket West Indies (CWI) Selection Panel yesterday announced the 17-member provisional squad for the Betway Test Series against Pakistan, starting on Thursday, August 12.

The panel have recalled fast bowler Chemar Holder and middle-order batsman Shamarh Brooks. Holder made his Test debut in New Zealand last year but has not featured since then. Brooks last played in New Zealand and has earned a recall following a polished century in the Best v Best four-day match last week.

A d d i t i o n a l l y, t w o experienced players, lefthander Darren Bravo and fast bowler Shannon Gabriel will not feature in the upcoming two-match series.

Roger Harper, Lead Selector of the Senior M e n ' s Te a m s a i d : “Chemar Holder returns, having recovered from his injury.

He will bolster the fast bowling department.

Shamarh Brooks batted his way into the provisional squad by scoring an accomplished century. He will certainly add some depth to the squad's batting.

“Shannon Gabriel has been given time to rehab fully and build his conditioning, so he was

not part of the preparations for the Test series against Pakistan, which included the Best v Best game. Darren Bravo has been part of the 'bubble' from the preparation camp leading into the Betway Test series against South Africa and has been given a break.”

Harper added: “I expect the team to be highly competitive in every department while playing with passion, purpose and determination. I look forward to the batsmen stepping up as they did in the series against Bangladesh and against Sri Lanka earlier this year in Antigua.”

The two-match Betway Test Series will be played at Sabina Park from August 12-16 and August 20-24.

The Betway Test Series forms the first of six Series in the new cycle of the International Cricket Council World Test Championship to find the best Test match cricket team in the world.

FULL SQUAD Kraigg Brathwaite (Captain) Jermaine Blackwood (Vice Captain) Nkrumah Bonner Shamarh Brooks Rahkeem Cornwall Roston Chase Joshua Da Silva Jahmar Hamilton Chemar Holder Jason Holder Shai Hope Alzarri Joseph Kyle Mayers Kieran Powell Kemar Roach Jayden Seales Jomel Warrican

Tuesday August 10, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 25

Maxido founder Master Massiah nominated for induction to Internacional Hall-Of-Fame

This will be his 5th HOF (Hall-of-Fame) award, following 3-times "Legends Of Martial Arts" HOF (2015, 2016, 2017), and the WKU (World Karate Union) HOF 2018.

The Guyanese, who has been a Martial Arts practitioner for 49 years, is often sought after by Martial Arts schools in the USA, to share the no-nonsense techniques of the MAXIDO system, which does not teach it's students to "fight" by way of punches & kicks, but to e ff e c t i v e l y d i s a b l e a n aggressor/attacker by way of dislocation & breakage of the arms (wrist, elbow, shoulder, etc) in under four seconds.

This confirms the meaning of its motto – Pain Application For Bullies.

The defence master was recently (July 16th) a p p o i n t e d a m e m b e r, instructor, & representative of ISTRID/ITMI (Italian Military Tradition - System Security & Safety Operations / Institute of Traditional Martial Arts -Italy).

The MAXIDO system has taught over 300 students (between USA & Guyana) since its launch in Brooklyn, USA, in 2017. Students, all adults, are made up of mostly business owners, professionals, careeroriented, females, elderly, law-enforcement, security personnel, etc. Ages range from 20, with the eldest student being a female 75 years of age, and the eldest male, 74.

Master Max, or "Soke" (as he is referred to by most

Master Max Massiah (all black) and some students pose for a photo.

students - meaning "Head of f a m i l y / Te a c h e r o f Teachers") was appointed the ICMAF/IWSF (Guyana) President (International Chinese Martial Arts Federation/International Wushu Sanshou Federation), and the WISDA (Guyana) P r e s i d e n t ( Wo r l d International Self-Defense Association), in 2020.

The very reserved & humble Martial Artist also was honored with 3 Action Martial Arts Magazine HallOf-Honor awards (2018, 2019, 2020), 2 Kung Fu & Karate Masters Of Martial Arts awards (2016, 2017),

and is the holder of a rare Pan-Caribbean medal, presented by 14X International & World Karate Champion, 10th Dan Professor Christopher Francis.

The MAXIDO Chief is also a member of: *International Board of Black Belts/World Black Belt Council, *Caribbean Martial Arts Alliance.

The 60-year-old posited that he was honoured to be a 5X Hall-Of -Famer, who always proudly displays the Golden Arrowhead at events & seminars he has conducted in the USA, with the aim of promoting & marketing

Guyana, to the many Worldrenowned Martial Artists he has met, trained, & shared training seminars with. Some may recall he had brought the famous Chinese Movie star & Martial Artist, the legendary Hwang Jang Lee (aka "Silver Fox") to the Sports Hall in Guyana in 2016, - a event dubbed "Silver Fox & The Grandmasters".

Soke Max noted that, “My aim and goal is to teach & share MAXIDO SelfDefense to a level where bullies & thugs would become hesitant to attack or assault anyone, with the fear

of their intended victim being a MAXIDO practitioner, who will send them to the hospital in a haste.”

The Dojo (training school) which was located in Waterloo St, Georgetown, is now located at a new & larger location in Enterprise, East Coast, due to the increase in the amount of students being too many for the old venue.

"Due to the Covid situation, the general training is on hold, so we are only currently conducting "Personalised" training, which is an advanced form, and runs for four weeks, with no more than six students in a class,"

he added.

In closing, Master Max said, "If business owners would allow themselves & staff to learn the techniques of MAXIDO, not to play the hero, but 90% of the situations happen because the victims have no clue what to do. If one knows what to do, it can make a huge difference in the outcome of a situation".

For those interested in being taught effective selfdefense by one of the World's best; Master Max Massiah can be contacted on (592) 609 8132 or email maxmassiah@yahoo.com

Reliance lift Shivnandan Madholall memorial trophy Reliance produced a fine all-round performance to beat Reliance Scheme by 40 runs in the 8th Shivnandan Madholall memorial trophy match on Sunday at Reliance ground, Essequibo Coast.

Reliance took first strike after winning the toss and tallied up a challenging 1489 from the 20-overs, while Scheme only responded with 108 off 17.5 overs.

Opener Basil Persaud led the way with a solid 47 which counted three sixes and two fours while Shawn Narine contributed 20 and 15 from Premnauth Persaud (unrelated).

Trevis Simon grabbed three wickets for 15 off four overs while Denesh Persaud

collected three wickets but conceded 21 runs in his four overs and skipper Ravendra Madholall claimed two for 12 off four overs.

When Reliance Scheme batted, former national youth player Rovindra Parasram hit a top-score of 26, while Freddy Lall and Madholall offered descent fight with 14 each. Veteran softball player D h a n n y B e n n y, w h o instigated an early collapse, snatched three for 16 off four overs while Ryan Lall also accounted for three victims but conceded 21 runs off his four overs and Kumar Dass supported with two wickets.

Basil Persaud was later named player-of-the-match

and he took home a trophy.

Both the winning and runners-up teams were a given a trophy each.

At the presentation, several players reflected on the life of Shivnandan Madholall who passed away in 2013 at age 30 due to Malaria.

Shivnandan represented Essequibo and Guyana at the regional youth tournament.

He was the brother of former national under-19 batsman Rovendra Mandolall.

Some of the people who spoke about Shivnandan Madholall's cricketing career were Elroy Stephney, Asif Akbar, Simon and Ravendra Madholall, another brother of Shivnandan.

The victorious Reliance side strikes a pose with the trophy.

YBG and California 2 Guyana Basketball Foundation executives helping to shape a positive future for Guyana’s youths.

Chemar Holder (CWI)

Shamarh Brooks (CWI)

West Indies announce 17-member provisional squad for Betway Test Series Maxido founder Master Massiah nominated for induction to t r o p S Internacional Hall-Of-Fame Australia were clueless against spin yet again. (AFP/Getty Images)

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