Govt. launches major K NEWS Ponzi scheme probe into Accelerated AIETEUR
Guyana’s largest selling daily & New York’s most popular weekly
Friday Edition August 21, 2020 -Vol. 22 No. 33
Online: www.kaieteurnews.com
- hundreds of millions of dollars in limbo; thousands affected -Cuban, Guyanese wife arrested
Price $80
Online readership yesterday, 154,521
Two major issues affecting 3 rd Well (Payara) permit…
ExxonMobil wants Liza Destiny dumping to keep loopholes 4,000 barrels of in Liza 1 & 2 permits toxic water daily that allowed flaring into the ocean - EPA against Payara being allowed to do the same Detectives and the pathogist Dr. Nehaul Singh at the scene where the remains were found.
Ram recommends anti-corruption code of conduct for public boards BK $352M emergency sea defence contract...
Delayed works Maid’s son confesses, leads cops to burnt remains allowed more of missing Canadian citizen damage p. 16
- another contractor hired to fix new breach - Minister Edghill
Burnt remains found: Nicholas Jaipaul
- was hired by rice farmer to also kill grandfather
Former Crime Chief sent to Reg. 8 as Commander
Police showed up at Christopher Jones’ home in search of barber chairs, other equipment
Judge dismisses case against decision Winston Jordan, NICIL to be over ECD land deals appealed
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Kaieteur News
Friday August 21, 2020
Kaieteur News
Friday August 21, 2020
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ExxonMobil wants to keep loopholes in Liza permit that allowed flaring By Kiana Wilburg Before the Government grants its approval for the Field Development Plan (FDP) for ExxonMobil’s third project in the Stabroek Block, called Payara, there are two major environmental issues which have to be addressed. One that is of grave concern is the fact that ExxonMobil is opposed to being bound by provisions that would prevent it from flaring once Payara gets up and running. In fact, the American multi-national wants to preserve the same ambiguous language of its first permit for the Liza Phase One Project which allowed it to flare over 10 billion cubic feet of gas on the Liza Destiny vessel. The company had blamed the need to flare on the mechanical issues experienced with the vessel’s gas compressor system. That equipment is currently being fixed in Germany. During an exclusive interview with Kaieteur News yesterday, Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Vincent Adams confirmed that indeed, one of the issues of concern relate to flaring. When questioned about why the company would want to preserve the loose terms despite concerns raised about the dangers of flaring, Dr. Adams said: “Well it tells you all you need to know about the mindset and safety culture of the company we are dealing with.” The EPA Head said he has a duty to protect the nation and ensure that the same blunder with the first permit is not made again. “After all, the granting of approvals requires that we learn from the mistakes made in the award of previous permits and incorporate those learnings into whatever we are doing going forward…I am not here to make a career, I am here to protect Guyana.” As it relates to ExxonMobil’s opposition, Dr. Adams sought to remind that he is entrusted with the power to withdraw or change unilaterally, any permit that is granted. The EPA Head said: “I am already rewriting the permits for Liza One and Liza Two...”
FAILURE TO PAY Dr. Adams was also keen to note that the EPA is in the process of taking ExxonMobil before the courts for its failure to pay the authority a fine that totals less than US$2,500 for the spilling of hydraulic fluid in six instances in the Stabroek Block. The EPA Head said that ExxonMobil is insisting that that the spills are not major and did not result in any environmental harm, as such; it does not believe it should be made to pay the fine. But Dr. Adams said he disagrees with this as the permit granted to the oil giant, clearly states that it has to follow the manufacturer’s guide on the use of materials and equipment. Due to its failure to follow such a simple instruction, Dr. Adams notes that there were six spills. “And now, they want to direct the EPA and tell the EPA what is in its laws and what those laws actually mean. It is ridiculous that they are pushing back on this…,” the EPA Head said. He added, “… When you consider this issue with flaring and then this refusal to pay this fine, it is clear to me that the culture of this company is production above safety. They are all about cutting corners for their bottom-line. We cannot continue like this…We have to take a firm position against ExxonMobil.” BROKE ITS LAWS Upon noting the comments of Dr. Adams to the effect that he had granted a permit with loopholes that allowed ExxonMobil to flare until it fixes the Liza Destiny’s gas compressor system, many international l a w y e r s a n d environmentalists have since noted that the EPA had no right to grant such a permit in the first place. International lawyer, Melinda Janki, was keen to note during an interview on Kaieteur Radio’s programme, Guyana’s Oil and You, that neither Dr. Adams nor the EPA has any legal standing to allow ExxonMobil to pollute the atmosphere. The lawyer pointed out that the EPA in allowing this to occur, is flouting the nation’s laws which require that the agency control or prevent pollution. Janki had said: “It is
important to note that the permit that was issued to ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) was issued before he (Dr. Adams) arrived on the scene. So he inherited a situation that is most unsatisfactory…and I agree that the permit’s language is badly written…” That said, Janki said it is prudent for the EPA to remember that its function by law is to protect the environment. “…It is bound by the Constitution which guarantees the right to a healthy environment, to prevent pollution,” the lawyer added. With this in mind, she insists that the EPA should shut down ExxonMobil’s operations until it can produce oil in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. 250 TOXINS Extensive research conducted by Kaieteur News shows that gas flaring contributes to climate change, which has serious implications for the world. The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, was keen to note in one of its studies that gas flaring is actually a major source of greenhouse gases (GHG) contributing to global warming which could accelerate the problem of climatic change and harsh living conditions on earth, if not checked. The Department also notes that there are over 250 toxins released from flaring including carcinogens such as benzopyrene, benzene,
What flaring looks like on a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel
carbon disulphide (CS2), carbonyl sulphide (COS) and toluene; metals such as m e r c u r y, a r s e n i c a n d
chromium; sour gas with Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) and Sulfur Dioxide (SO2); Nitrogen oxides (NOx);
Carbon dioxide (CO2); and methane (CH4) which contributes to the greenhouse gases.
Former Crime Chief sent to Reg. 8 as Commander
T
he shake-up in the Guyana Police Force (GPF) continues with Senior Superintendent, Michael Kingston, being reverted back to his uniform and sent to Region Eight as the new commander. Kingston was recently asked to hand over the reins of the Criminal Investigations Department to Senior Superintendent, Wendell Blanhum who will serve as the new Crime Chief. Blanhum had been there before but was removed after an inquiry into an alleged assassination plot against former President, David Granger, a few years
New Region Eight Commander, Michael Kingston
ago. He had been posted to the hinterlands. Kingston will be replacing Senior Superintendent, Ramesh Ashram, who will take up the new spot as Traffic Chief.
Kingston, back in June 2019, was appointed acting Crime Chief after the substantive officer and Deputy Commissioner, Lyndon Alves, was sent on administrative leave to allow for an investigation into alleged wrongdoings.
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Friday August 21, 2020
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
Payara: Ducking and Defending Should Be Adjusting and Correcting The Guyana government has signaled where it stands with Canadian consultant, Ms. Redford. It is ready to rationalize and defend. It is not enough. Look at us: we are so far gone in our reciprocal suspicions about the tricks of the other side, ulterior motives, and hidden agendas that there is NOT A SINGLE Guyaneseborn citizen, who is found acceptable to help us bridge our divide, make us agree to sit in the same room, and have a civilized constructive conversation. There is NOT ONE Guyanese that is trusted enough to bring us together to talk together and help us work together for the betterment of this nation. There is something wrong about them, feared about them. That man or woman may have said a word or taken a principled position at some time for some issue that was viewed to favor the other side. That is the end of any consideration, simply unacceptable. So, we look to Mars for any aliens available to help us out of our troubles. Except this time, we did not go into outer space, we went to Canada. From Canada, we got one Ms. Alison Redford. Since so much has been said about her, mostly critical, we neither revisit nor elaborate further. But we will say this: Ms. Redford, the consultant chosen from Canada, comes with baggage. It is the most savaging of ironies that we will immediately reject any Guyanese, who possesses a speck of, sometimes misplaced and mistaken, suspicion to help us out of disputed and knotty situations; but here we are ready to welcome Ms. Redford with open arms, despite her record that speaks negatively. What does this say about us? What does it say about our political double standards and the willingness of leadership to place ourselves in double jeopardy on a most crucial opportunity to get things on a more even keel with Exxon? We will not give our own a chance, because there is the risk that they will be biased to our interests, party interests. If this is not an expression of continuing Guyanese submission to a new form of colonizing, then we do not know what is, especially when our diaspora was touted several Saturdays ago as being vital to the way forward. As the developments regarding the choice of the Canadian consultant solidify, there are some other things that can be said, which reveal how self-destructive we have been and continue to be. We are hung up for years on end over agreeing on confirmations of a Chancellor of the Judiciary, and a Chief Justice. And there we are stuck immovably. We would still be stuck in the mud and filth of elections manipulations and elections impotencies, if it were not for the sweeping assertiveness, the unrelenting pressures, of the foreign diplomatic contingent. They were, no doubt, reading the guiding scripts from home. And now on this destiny-defining crossroad with ExxonMobil and Payara, we repeat and exhibit the same feebleness that courses through elections strength and integrity, the choice of judiciary leadership, and other areas too numerous to mention. We entrust reviewing of the Payara Field Development Plan and, by extension, our partnership with ExxonMobil to someone with a slippery background, who stands on the shakiest of grounds. The Payara review is our chance to project the formidable character of Guyanese determination, if only to get this one right, to make Exxon pause what has been an uninterrupted charge all over us. Before moving forward, a couple of things must be said. First, we will not fell Exxon and bring it to its knees. Since we lack the required reservoir of resources that could compel Exxon to do an about face, then what we are forced to settle for is a nip here and a sting there. That is, to slow it down and to make it listen and learn that we are serious, and we mean business. We do not have any heavy artillery, only little slingshots. If we use them continuously and wisely, we have a chance. Ms. Redford will not give us that chance. Her selection can neither be rationalized nor defended. We need the best. She is not. Move on.
That EPA has to sue Exxon for $2,600 for oil spills is reason to renegotiate oil contracts DEAR EDITOR, I find a news report that the Guyana EPA will be taking Exxon to court for the failure to pay fines of US$2,600 for 3 small oil spills to be very troubling. People of Guyana, do you believe this nonsense? Things like these are why the Oil and Gas Network (OGGNwww.oggn.org) has been advocating that President Ali and the Guyana government should renegotiate the bad oil agreements pronto. The EPA said they had written Exxon after they failed to pay, giving them five days to respond. “They never even had the courtesy of replying...I want to say that the EPA is rather dumbfounded and disappointed that EEPGL (ExxonMobil’s subsidiary) has taken this belligerent position to not comply with the laws of Guyana in paying this fine, especially after so
many recurrences of the same incident,” Director of the EPA, Dr. Vincent Adams, said Wednesday. This is the kind of disrespect, contempt and differential treatment the Kaieteur News has been highlighting that Exxon has for the “shole” countries, while they show respect for rules of the first world countries. It was reported that Exxon said they were minor spills that caused no environmental impact and that it was still looking at this country’s laws to determine if they should pay. People, can you imagine what would happen if there were to be a big oil spill that reached our coasts and fishing grounds? We are so ill prepared. This week there was a big fire and two of the three fire trucks did not have water, so why does anyone think Guyana can deal with an oil spill. Nation, do you see the kind of tragedy that can befall us if we don’t
renegotiate these contracts now and clarify things? Guyana’s EPA Act allows for zero discharge of any contaminant. Dr. Adams explained the fines for the oils pills were the maximum sum permitted - a paltry $100,000 (US$500) for this type of three infractions in March-May this year. “We fined both the company and the subcontractors for each incident,” he said. It would mean the EPAwould have to be paid a total $600,000 (US$2,600). The nation wants to know what fines Exxon will pay for burning billions of cubic feet of gas due to faulty equipment? Maybe Exxon and the EPA would explain that one for us. We call on the Government to correct these kinds of problems before we sign a similar bad agreement for the new wells in the oil block called “Payara”. We need a group of nationalist lawyers, similar to the
“Guardians of Democracy” who protected ballot boxes, who would combine their talents and sue to defend our national patrimony, keeping the oil companies accountable. Maybe we can call them “The Guardians of Oil Brigade.” If not, we suffer together as a poor nation. “A hole in the boat, is a hole in the whole boat.” Now is the time for everyone to step up – all those new parties with fresh energy, the unions, NGOs, all churches, the farmers – to support the Government as we call for a renegotiation of the oil contracts. (Please sign the OGGN’s petition to renegotiate the oil contracts. Go to:1) http://chng.it/ hnHfXYJssK, or 2) https:// www.change.org/ Guyana_oil_contrac ts_need_renegotiation). Sincerely, Dr. Jerry Jailall
Burn the hatchet - supporting the call for social cohesion DEAR EDITOR, I support the call made by Mr. G.H.K Lall for a “Truth and Reconciliation Mechanism” to address the racial dissonance prevailing in Guyana. My call is also encouraged by a letter carried in your Sat. 15th August edition written by my friend Winston Richard whose ethnicity, profession and beliefs are similar to mine. Hats off to you two gentlemen. It is disorienting and petrifying to contemplate where we are as a nation. How disappointed would our ancestors be if they were to see where we are today because of vitriolic politics. Like Winston, as a child, I too witnessed the horrors of the early sixties while living on the Plaisance-Better Hope border, and I pray daily that good sense would prevail and save us from the road of no return. Sometimes I recoil when I hear the distorted regurgitations of that era coming from certain spin doctors using the press for their narrow ethnic and divisive ends. There is a crying need for a forum where truth will be sifted from lie. I wish to suggest that the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) be the vehicle to initiate a process to collecting eyewitness stories of what life has been like in Guyana since 1953, the year I was born and when the Jagan-Burnham PPP formed the first massed based Guyanese Government. I also heard that the PPP had its first congress in Buxton. I humbly suggest that the ERC stimulate active
processes to genuinely and profoundly build bridges between the various people groups. I just don’t feel their presence or sense that the ERC is doing exploits to bring Guyanese together. I may be wrong, please correct me if I am. There is so much to gain and so much more to lose if we proceed along the current path of unjustified hatred and unnecessary suspicion. I agree with Mr. G.H.K Lall who in another of his letters suggested that our history be documented and become a compulsory subject in our schools. Let us not leave it to parents because sins will be redacted and amplified depending on who is doing the retelling. There are many historians and civic leaders yet alive who must be allowed to tell the story. I know that some will be tempted to bend it to their view point but let them tell it and let us research it and let the riot be validated or villainized by the truth. Last week I looked at the movie/biography (A United Kingdom) of Seretse Khamer and how he brought Bechuanaland (Botswana) into the modern age. I was hurt to see how far Guyana is fallen behind a country that was much more impoverished at the time of their independence. Both Guyana and Botswana gained independence in 1966. Guyana had no less than 10 times of the resources that landlocked and ideologically ostracized this southern African country. Botswana is just over twice Guyana geographically and it has
three times Guyana’s population. Why can’t the descendants of the Ganges and the Nile sit down and share the enormous pie that the jackals have been raiding for the last twelve decades. Is it not time we wake up and confront the real enemy? For the sakes of our children and grandchildren, for the honour of our ancestors who suffered under slavery and later under indentureship. Let us wake up and cooperate for Guyana. I thank you Mr. Glenn Lall for using your newspaper as a platform to challenge our political leaders to manage Guyana with altruism. I now ask you to embrace the call of not only informing but also to educate, aerate and radiate a culture of dialogue between all ethnicities. The voice of the ordinary man needs to be heard, because sometimes the voice of the representative does not reflect the reality of the represented. I would hope that the ERC can deepen its role by actively engaging cultural entities, political parties, religious organizations, the media, trade unions and the commercial sector to thicken the discussion, share thoughts and share experiences. Let’s begin to “ganga” talk with each other, as my friend Winston Richards said “there is so much love among us at the community level”, let us nurture that communal cohesion. It is our solemn duty to exorcise the bewitchment that has been suffocating this nation every time we go through the leadership selection cycles.
I know we can do better. We have done many things together and with all the resources we have we can do much greater things together. It is time for us to stand up, speak up and help each other up, out of the fetid acrimony that makes us behave like beasts and not human beings. I salute you Mr. GHK Lall (and all others like you) for being open minded and encouraging. I salute you Winston, I applaud you Pastor Richard James for your repeated call to let reason, dignity and common courtesy be the standard. I plead with you my fellow angry Guyanese to slow down, calm down and tone down the rhetoric that freely devastates and let us start listening to each other. Remember that the very air I breathe out is the one you breathe in. Let us start repairing the culture of respect and harmony. My Mother (she only had a grade three education) warned me “it’s not what you say that matters it’s how you say it”. I say, Let us not bury the hatched, let us get rid of the hatchet of racism. Let us burn the damn thing. The time is ripe for every Guyanese to take control of our destiny, to show that we are sensible and not pawns of those who would live lavishly while we scrape, crawl and beg for crumbs. Botswana did it in forty years, (their Pula is 11 to U$ 1) and we can do it too, for the coming generation. There is no better time to start than now. Mr. Glenn Lall (Continued on page 5)
Friday August 21, 2020
The way forward with the Coronavirus DEAR EDITOR, I would humbly like to voice my opinion about the novel coronavirus that continues to plague our shores. Let me start with reminding your readers, when the virus first hit our shores, I did write and indicate while I am not in the medical field that a two weeks total lockdown could have possibly eradicated what we are experiencing. However, calls for this by myself and other citizens fell on deaf ears; we heard the reason for this was because the treasury is empty and the whole political saga. Now here we are months later, with a new Government that has increased testing and as such we are seeing a spike in our active cases, mind you, most of these cases are deemed to be asymptomatic. I now see the call once again by many of those who were against a
total lockdown from the inception, now wanting a lockdown. How can we do a total lockdown given the mere fact that our cases are mostly asymptomatic? How do we shut down a country without ensuring each and every citizen receives a stimulus package? What criteria will be meted out for such a lockdown at this point in time? As much as I am paranoid about the virus, I do not see a total lockdown being the solution what I can suggest and again this is only my humble opinion, is that we: - halt all flights to and from the USA and Canada -start our own research on creating a vaccine (because we have many brilliant people in our country) -enforce hefty fines for those that refuse to wear masks while in public and for those who dare to break the
Disclaimer DEAR EDITOR, I, Jagnarine Singh, Bsc, MSc., the former head of the Guyana Rice Development Board, member of the PPP/C, completely and unequivocally disown the letter titled “The Honeymoon Period Is Over For Government” published in Kaieteur News on 20th August 2020. That Jagnarine Singh, is sadly a disgruntled and misled individual who clearly hasn’t spent a minute in government. His assumptions are based on the fact once His Excellency Dr. Irfaan Ali was sworn in as president everything would have been reset to prior 2015. Let me assure you I have every confidence in every decision taken thus far from the Executive Body of the
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People’s Progressive Party. Had I any complaint about anything, my platform to speak would not be Kaieteur News, but my party’s structure and reach out directly to the General Secretary. I would further like to emphasize how the press has a duty to ensure when it is publishing it does so as accurately as possible. I’m sure Kaieteur News jumped at the opportunity to use my name in this manner, I would urge them to verify next time. A proud PPP member Jagnarine Singh EDITOR’S NOTE: Please be advised the letter was published with no malice intended, and, as you made pellucid, the letter writer, who is identically named, is not otherwise identical.
curfew regulations (these fines should be anywhere from two hundred thousand Guyana Dollars to five hundred thousand Guyana dollars) - continue to educate our populace about the dangers of this virus -keep a rotation schedule for public and private sectors -enable a rotational system for supermarkets and banks for example, if there are 3 supermarkets in one area then one can open from 8 to 11 and another from 11 to 2 and the last one from 2 to 5. Banks can work throughout the week with one day being allocated for senior citizens, one day for foreign transactions, etc. In addition to all of this I would like to remind your readers that they should always wear a mask when in public, stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary to go out, sanitize and wash your hands when the need arises. Unless there is a vaccine in our country, this is the only way we can be safe again. Protect yourselves and your families! Sincerely, Tanya Niamatali
Burn the... From page 4 I challenge you, Pas. John Smith I challenge you, leaders of the religious community I challenge you, teachers and educators I challenge you, media personnel I challenge you, and my fellow ordinary Guyanese I challenge you. Let us burn the hatchet and build a nation that sees only one People (human beings) working together, living together, encouraging each other to grasp a common shared and beautiful Destiny. Michael O. S. Kendall Snr.
Importance of fire sprinklers DEAR EDITOR, The importance of fire sprinklers being installed in commercial buildings (three levels and higher), malls, gas stations, hotels, manufacturing facilities, sawmills, oil and lubricants storage facilities, and chemicals and medical facilities should be mandatory by law. Internationally, fire Sprinklers are mandatory, most fire departments have the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) codes and conduct which provide standardized guidance. In Guyana, the National Bureau of Standards - Code for Buildings- Part 3: Fire Safety use and Occupancy serves as the guiding building code. The Ministry of Home Affairs - Guyana Fire Service is the main authority in the issuing process of the fire permit for buildings to be erected/ constructed. Further, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Home Affairs - Guyana Fire Service, insurance companies, banks, and other building loan institutions to ensure building owners or developers construct in
accordance with the established codes/standards. In Guyana, we continue to witness more fires and yet [to my knowledge] the relevant authorities have not mandated building owners/ developers to follow the stipulated codes and the installation and use of fire sprinklers. Notably, companies such as Digicel GY, Citizens Bank, and Movietown Mall have installed fire sprinklers in accordance with the NFPA13 standards. Clearly, they understand the importance of protecting their business and safeguarding lives. I have to ask, to what extent are insurance companies, government, and private institutions knowledgeable of fire sprinklers and its importance. Why the standards and codes are not being fully enforced? Recently, there was a fire at the Giftland Mall. We have to ask what if this had occurred either at a time when patrons were present or at a section of the mall that had patrons at the time and probably where gas lines are present [i.e. the cafeteria].
I would therefore like to render my expertise to any institution or agency whether government or private in relation to developing and installing fire sprinkler systems in accordance with national and international guidelines. We witnessed another fire at DeSinco Trading where the fire department could not extinguish to save the property, no life was lost, but had there been occupants trapped in that building they would be dead because the time that was spent extinguishing the fire. Had Fire Sprinklers being installed the fire would have been contained and extinguish as to aid the fire department. We have many commercial buildings that need Fire Sprinklers protection. The fire department has to implement the installation of Fire Sprinklers protection for commercial buildings that are uncontainable fire risk, etc. Motor vehicles oil and lubricants, pharmaceutical bonds, chemicals bonds, etc. Vishul Ishwaridin Fire Sprinklers and Safety Equipment services
What are we doing about the military? DEAR EDITOR, Although I am a pacifist I do see the need for the necessity of a military force. We are not going to have the biggest or strongest military in the world. But, we can have a better equipped and more manpower
in the military. This is not to threaten our neighbours as we are utilizing the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in resolving Venezuela’s claim on our Essequibo County. It is about stability of Guyana and Regional
stability. We need an operationalized military of about 10,000 personnel. We’re not militarising The State just having a military that would act as a deterrent. Yours faithfully, Sean Ori
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Friday August 21, 2020
Kaieteur News
Something should come through from all of this DEAR EDITOR, I am reading what is below the captions these days. Mr. Glenn Lall, his newspaper, his radio station, and his team are all hailed as saviours and bastions of democracy and being heavily invested in the bruising struggle still not anywhere near to being fully over. I think it has been wellearned and well-deserved. Now I go a little further. Before continuing, I share a few snippets in the interest of full disclosure. I am a contributor to KN via a couple of channels. Also, I have my sharp differences with Mr. Lall, which are sometimes philosophical, political, and concerning the practical and the timing of certain things. Now with those behind I can proceed. There is no other citizen of this land, no other media presence, which has been as consistent (to the point of
uninterrupted constancy) on the matter of our oil. He is unrelenting to the degree where I suspect that it has become an obsession. About its rewards. About its management. And about getting what is fair and equitable, and just, too. I am sure that he has angered local political and bureaucratic bigwigs with the driven nature of his pressures and exposures of weakness, of failures, and of the meaning of it all for Guyanese. Some of us are known to be prolific (yours truly being no exception), but he leaves everyone in the dust. And just as he has angered the locals, I am certain that he has alarmed the powers that be at ExxonMobil with his piercing reminders - many daily reminders - of the startling injustices and embedded prejudices at work in the corporate behemoth’s
Guyana can’t afford to slide downhill DEAR EDITOR, I read with alarm, the reactions of the citizens of Guyana to some recent political appointments. Kudos to those members of the new administration that are clearly attempting to take corrective actions; however this new government really needs to realize that; it’s a new world out there. Citizens all over the world are standing up, becoming activists and demanding better from their government. Look at what is happening with demonstrations in Belarus and Israel, or even Mali. Who would have thought? The days of the ‘80’s and 90’s are over in Guyana, so should the days of brazen self
interest. The decisions made on some key appointments are counterproductive to the people of Guyana. We can’t go backward. Are we to take a slap from Exxon, and the other foreign entities with the right hand, and a slap from this government with the left hand with some of these appointments; and be ok with that? Guyana has just too many battles to fight, and with the consequences of COVID-19 lingering over our heads for a long time, we would hope that the “Elites” and “ Political Godfathers”, not take the people’s goodwill for granted. Yours Truly, Chi Kansi
dealings with us. If those powers at Exxon have any conscience they should be in extremis when they face their families, when they approach their gods. That is, if they do have any gods, other than Mammon as immortalized by Milton, and Mephistopheles, with whom they should be very much at home due to the corporate evils meted out to Guyana. For this alone Mr. Lall and his people stand alone and should be so recognized. But there are some people who go looking for trouble, and in Guyana, there is none better at it than Mr. Lall and his rambunctious baby boomers, Kaieteur News and its sister, Kaieteur Radio. Both have been recognizable, irrepressible in that darkest of Guyanese alleys, which is that of the ugly, barbaric, and profaning world of Guyanese politics. Things are so terribly devastating and consuming here that every street and airport and seaport and gold course and cricket ground
should be named ‘Guyanese Politics’ or ‘Political Guyana’ or ‘Dangerous Politics’. But it is into those minefields that Mr. Lall leads his band of brothers (and sisters) at KN. The coalition people (meaning PNC loyalists) loved him and his heavyweight productions when he went after the PPP, pre-2015. The paper could do no wrong for them, this I observed in cooler climes. And I also observed how the PPP leadership and its devotees hated him and his output. I said to myself that the man must be doing something right. And then came May 2015, and the jarring realities of Guyanese politics. The same man, this character conjured out of some madman’s brain, Lall and KN, are being beaten on the head with the high-heeled shoes of those, who once hailed them as Guyanese truth tellers and Guyanese oracles. The citizens whipping themselves into
hysterics would be those associated with the PNC, who now knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of his daily slings and arrows that left them weeping and gnashing their teeth. The PNC of post May 2015 knew what it was like for the PPP pre-2015. As a coalition supporter, I did not like some of this, but appreciated that genuine frankness and objectivity leads to enmity. Unsurprisingly, it was the turn of the PPP and its cabals to rejoice at the tide seen as favourable. I urge that party’s leaders and followers to get real, get some sense from this second half of 2020. In August 2020, we are blessed with near perfect vision. Guyanese can see clearly where we were, and where we should not return, whether pre-2015 or in the interval between May 2015 and August 2020. Many citizens have said, like the stricken Jews after the Holocaust: Never again!
It is because of this that I warn the men and women in the hierarchy of the PPP and its voters not to take Mr. Lall (that one or this one) for granted. Amidst the rejoicing, just ensure that the right thing is done for this country, all of it, everyone of its peoples. When the PPP does right, everything is gonna be alright. I think, if only from the past record, Mr. Lall will be watching in true Police (of musical fame) fashion. I remind them: never again must be lived to the fullest in clean governance. I caution the party powers: be careful. Or else a ton of bricks, many such tons, will tumble down on heads. In the best Guyanese tradition, it may then be the turn of the reeling and wretched PNC clan to celebrate. Something should come through from all of this: no friends. No allies. Only Guyana first. Sincerely, GHK Lall
The lack of character for honesty and integrity DEAR EDITOR, As the names, faces, appointments and portfolios are announced, there are a variety of expressions of deep consternations, denunciations, suspicions, r e s e r v a t i o n s , recommendations, acclamations and exclamations being pronounced across the board and on both sides of the fence, objectively and subjectively. Guyanese share mixed reactions appreciating, accepting, refusing and criticizing as they vent their feelings and opinions, including, surprise, disappointment, approval, admiration, dislike, disgust, regret, sorrow, outrage, skepticism, neutrality and prejudice. The accolades and condemnations as elucidated by various enthusiasts simply reflect how favourable anxious Guyanese are to flavour their interpretations with variety, contingent upon knowledge, history, experience, performance, anticipation and projection. Of course, how credible, accurate and pertinent or imprecise, lenient and erroneous these predictions and predicaments are, remain inconclusive and only time will tell if ventilated with opportunity. But they are vociferous if not authoritative and are not scandalous or presumptuous. One stigma that is of great concern and constantly echoed as a recurring sore thumb is the shared commonality of “baggage carriers!” Understandably, there is a dire
need for seasoned performers as a default retreat for educated guidance and discipline, but, why revisit a minefield that can again become explosive with confrontations and an affront to administrative vanity, curried with nepotism and cronyism? Both parties can ill afford this dangerous and slanderous engagement and pursue remedial alternative that promises the freshness of cleanliness with quality and quantity. Are these preconceived attitudes too hostile in nature and uncomfortable for entertainment or too judgmental in premeditation? Should remorse lend consideration for a second chance placement and possible reparation? Yet the dissents should not cease compatibility and create the entrance of complacency that may maximize the contempt and accusation, zoning into possible error, mistake, collusion, corruption, illegality and in-transparency. One should not rule out an open mind nor ignore a blind eye approach. This is essentially applicable to both sides of the divide. Prevention is always better than cure and thus, authoritative leaders should not pre-arm the nation with follies for legitimate missives but rather condescending towards a leniency for taking pride in good governance as their eager epistles. Will the APNU+AFC Party function as a past entity or will they metamorphose into yet another innovation and again
create disguised imitation of duplication? The coalition will perhaps fade into dissolution from an elimination process, trying to pretend an aloofness and submerged in a thick cloud, only to re-emerge as a knight in shining armour but trapped in a dusty uniform. Regardless, the sum total of their inglorious and infamous carry-forward will again be their opening broughtforward balance and cannot depreciate but will appreciate due to the consolidation of the nescient bankruptcy that cannot qualify for any write-off allowance. What goes around does comes around and this idiom will stymie the characteristics of honesty and integrity in this nefarious case. How will those guilty ones qualify to debate with bravado and a straight face the government’s governance and accountability when they themselves are saddled with humongous corruptions? Will they dare challenge their own miscreants when these matters will surface for scrutiny in parliament or will they be forced to walk out and save face and embarrassment? In actuality, only the joinder seat can forcefully and respectfully represent the legitimate right to question and query such audited reports when they will arrive for discussion. Even though the personnel may be a new face, it is that very opposition party that remains guilty of fraud and misappropriation and will be on the receiving end instead of the forefront to lead the attack. They will have to adequately supply the much needed answers which will be in great demand. This bridge over
troubled water is dangling loosely in the minds of fiddlers who are certainly far away from the roof and would perhaps prefer to be journeying on “The Orient Express,” but even that is contaminated with criminality, driven by a “sanctimonious gangster.” Chances are, nice and spicy choices are limited and soon, “In the Heat of the Night” will be playing to packed audiences and dancers will have to face the music. The rhythm will be an uncontrolled beat accompanied by a melody that will not be harmonious. The APNU+AFC party has left the door wide open and will expose their fragility with one of their weaknesses, the lack of character for honesty and integrity. This will continue to haunt them for years to come and it is a stained blemish that remains on the conspicuous surface that will be a hall mark for ridicule and attack. With the coming of so many forensic audits, the reports will be uncomfortable for discussion and debate. There will be no recourse and the cry of shame will reverberate with a deafening echo. The honourable attorney general, the auditor general, the revenue commissioner and the police commissioner do have sleepless nights ahead to deal with all the humongous unraveling that threatens to reveal all the illegitimate transactions from the previous administration. Good luck, the chosen few will need it. Respectfully, Jai Lall
Friday August 21, 2020
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Central Bank extends moratorium to year-end -to bring further relief to other loan institutions, customers While being a global health risk, COVID-19 poses a serious financial threat. As such, the Bank of Guyana (BoG) has decided to extend the moratorium to December 2020 to allow banks to further defer customer payments to end of the year. The decision was taken following consultations between the Governor of Central Bank, Dr. Gobind Ganga and the Guyana Bankers’Association. During an address to the nation on Wednesday, President Irfaan Ali said that the accommodation will result in loans not being classified as nonperforming. He noted that the Bank of Guyana will relax Sections 14 & 15 of Supervision Guideline (SG) No. 5 to December 2020. Ali announced too that the Bank of Guyana will reduce Liquidity Requirements in two areas lowering of the reserves requirement from 12 per cent to 10 per cent; lowering the liquid assets requirement for demand deposits from 25 per cent to 20 per cent and savings and time deposits from 20 per cent to 15 per cent. “Additionally, a waiver is being given to Section 13 of Supervision Guideline
BOG Governor, Dr. Gobind Ganga No. 5. The relaxation of stringent statutory measures is intended to result in direct benefits to customers of banks by giving the financial institutions the ability to operate with more flexibility. These measures will result in overall increased liquidity in the f i n a n c i a l s e c t o r. T h e reduction in reserve requirements will result in the injection of $9.4 billion and the reduction in the Liquid Asset Requirements will immediately release an estimated G$23.3 billion.” Further, the President noted that commercial banks agreed to continue supporting businesses with short-term working capital needs to meet payroll and other short-term funding requirements at concessional rates between 5-6 per cent to encourage businesses to remain open.
He explained that: “The current average short-term financing rate ranges from 8 per cent to 11 per cent, making this reduction a significant step towards promoting businesses continuity.” Commercial Banks agreed to offer general concessional reductions of interest rates of one per cent and up to two per cent on consumer loans below $10 million until December 31, 2020. The existing lending rate ranges between 6.5 per cent and 16 per cent.” According to Ali, some commercial banks have agreed to apply special treatment to the interest accrued during the moratorium period including (but not limited to) no capitalisation, term extensions and forgoing of interest in special circumstances to loans with an outstanding balance of G$10M and below. “Commercial banks have agreed to waive all bank charges especially AT M / l o c a l m e r c h a n t charges to encourage more out of bank transactions as well as charges for transactions by senior citizens. These measures will not affect the soundness of our banking system and financial architecture,” the President added.
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Friday August 21, 2020
Liza Destiny dumping 4,000 barrels of toxic water daily into the ocean -EPA against Payara being allowed to do the same By Kiana Wilburg s a result of Guyana not having the relevant technical expertise during the review of the Field Development Plan (FDP) for ExxonMobil’s first project called Liza Phase One, many critical environmental issues slipped through the cracks. One of them pertains to
A
the disposal of produced water into the ocean which ExxonMobil is hoping the government would miss once again in the review of the Payara FDP. When oil companies drill the sea floor to extract oil, it is not only oil that comes up with it. Water is part of the mixture too. As a result of it not being needed, it is
separated and disposed of. The critical issue is how that disposal is being done. International best practices dictate that this produced water should be re-injected into the earth’s surface. Research conducted by Kaieteur News notes that in some cases, the produced water is discharged into oceans and other offshore
water channels. Because no two geographic regions are alike, studies are done to assess the environmental risks of the produced water’s toxicity on marine life before granting approval for the disposal of it into the ocean. In Guyana’s case, not a single study was done for the Liza Phase One or Two Projects. Yet, Guyana went full steam ahead with approving the permits for those projects. Recognizing the grave mistake made in this regard, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is headed by Dr. Vincent Adams, wants ExxonMobil to put systems in place for the reinjection of the produced water for the Payara project. Kaieteur News was able to confirm with key officials close to the project that
EPA Head, Dr. Vincent Adams
ExxonMobil is not pleased about this request and has rejected it. When contacted yesterday, EPA Head Dr. Vincent Adams said that he is not a proponent for the dumping of produced water into the ocean. He said that the Liza Destiny vessel is already dumping 4,000 barrels of produced water into the ocean and in about six years, it will get to about 300,000 barrels.
Dr. Adams said: “I have worked in the oil fields as a Production and Reservoir engineer and we injected every single drop of water. If you are onshore, the water would obviously have to be re-injected. Also, the World Bank has made it clear that you should only dispose of produced water into the ocean when it is not technically feasible. In ExxonMobil’s case, it is more than feasible.”
Datadin, Narine in as PPP/C’s parliamentarians -Westford, Bheri back
Sanjeev Datadin
Alister Charlie
T
h e P e o p l e ’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) has provided the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) with a list of its Members of Parliament and the members of the Regional Democratic Councils. The party managed to gain a majority of 33 seats in the National Assembly, against 31 for the APNU+AFC coalition, and one for the tripartite joinder. The PPP/C noted that Ministers Oneidge Walrond and Robeson Benn were not on the PPP/C’s Nomination Lists. Hence, they were
Former Health Minister, Bheri Ramsaran appointed as technocrats, as the law provides. The list includes 12 persons from the PPP/C’s
Jennifer Westford Geographic List and 21 from the National Top-Up List. “Included in the 33 Members of Parliaments (MPs) are six medical doctors, four attorneys at law, economists, administrators, as well as activists from the labour movement, practitioners in broadcasting and the media, and the business community.”In addition to the Ministers of Government, the party’s list i n c l u d e s D r. Vi s h w a Mahadeo, Yvonne Pearson Fredericks, Faizal Jaffarally, Sanjeev Datadin, Seepaul (Continued on page 22)
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Friday August 21, 2020
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All candidates are supposed to be eligible for selection as parliamentarians General elections allow citizens to choose the President and representatives to sit in the National Assembly. When a citizen votes, he or she is casting a ballot simultaneously to elect the President and for the List of Candidates which was submitted by the party of his or her choice. That List of Candidates relate to persons who are contesting for election to the National Assembly. The List is not for election as a member of Cabinet. When a party therefore puts up its List of Candidates, it is from this List which it generally has to select its parliamentarians, depending on the number of seats which the party secured at the elections. Electors vote for a List on the presumption that all those on the List are eligible for election as parliamentarians. It is therefore, nonsensical, having selected persons on a List, to disqualify those very persons from being eligible for s e l e c t i o n a s parliamentarians. This is what the PNC/R has done in relation to its List. The PNC/R is now claiming that persons who would have served 15 years in the National Assembly are no longer eligible to be selected as the party’s parliamentarians. Why then did the party place these persons on the List of Candidates if it had criteria which would have disqualified these persons after the elections? It makes no sense placing persons’ names on the List of Candidates when they are disqualified by the policy of the party from being selected
as parliamentarians. Once they are on the list, they should be eligible for selection. G u y a n a h a s a representative system of government. Those in parliament represent the persons who voted in support of the List of Candidates on which those persons were represented. It is contemptuous of the people to place a candidate on a List and then after the elections to inform those who voted in support of the party that some of those on the List would not have been selected anyhow because there are term-limits on party parliamentarians. The party has the prerogative to decide who goes to parliament. This right is not being questioned. What is being questioned is that having gone to the electorate with a List, after the elections you cannot then turn to the same electorate and tell them that certain persons on the List were not selected because they served more than 15 years. If that was the understanding before the elections, then those persons should not have been on the List. If the criteria were developed after the elections, this would be unethical because the electorate would have already voted on the presumption that all the candidates were eligible for selection. Analysts have speculated that the non-selection of Volda Lawrence effectively hands the position of Leader of the Opposition to Joseph Harmon. Not necessarily so. There is no provision in any agreement which says that the Leader of the Opposition must come from the PNC/R.
If you were to go by seniority, then the Leader of the Opposition should go either to Raphael Trotman or Khemraj Ramjattan; they are the two most senior parliamentarians and one is a Leader of his party. The non-selection of Lawrence actually works in her favour. She can now concentrate more fully on party work. This will allow her to mount an effective challenge either for the leadership of the party or for the retention of the Chairmanship. She is therefore not necessarily disadvantaged by her nonselection, even though her supporters see this nonselection as a slight. It is not likely that Mr. Harmon can easily succeed David Granger as Leader. He lost in a bruising contest at the party’s last Congress and he was not a member of the Executive. He recently had to be co-opted so Lawrence and Basil Williams will still be seen as frontrunner to succeed Granger. Granger has proven to be a wily leader. He does not have 15 years of parliamentary service but has opted not to return to the National Assembly. But he is not giving up the leadership of the party having lost three successive elections – two local governments and a General Election – to the PPP/C. Harmon is not likely to command the support needed to succeed Granger. But Lawrence or Williams are not automatic shoo-ins either. There is a wildcard out there and speculation that he is tipped to take over whenever Granger calls it a day. That person is Trotman.
Dem boys seh...
Dem boys like eat fish! De permit wha de HAP-New+HAY-EffSee give to ExxonMobil fuh Liza 1 and Liza 2 was a give-away of Guyana’s oil resources. De agreement gat plenty loopholes and nuff, nuff generous concessions. Dat permit allow ExxonMobil fuh do to we whatever dem want to do and to get away with it. Dem even send we a US$10B bill fuh dem two field development projects. Dem boys want know when Guyana gun ever see US$10B from its oil revenue stream fuh pay back dem field development costs. But ExxonMobil know that once dem gat de permit in dem hands, dem can do we whatever dem want. That is why ExxonMobil hurry fuh get de permit fuh Payara. Dem know if dem hurry things up, dem gun get de same sweetheart terms like dem bin get fuh Liza 1 and Liza 2.
Dem nah satisfy with robbing we. It now seem to dem boys like if dem now want endanger we people life. Dem boys hear how dem want de same flaring fuh happen under Payara as happeing now under Liza 1. Dem boys also concern about de possible dumping of toxic chemicals in we waters. Dem boys does like eat fish but dem boys frighten dat if any toxic chemicals get into de water, it could kill out all dem fish wha dem boys like fuh eat morning, noon and night. Dem boys, however, gat faith in Ali and Granger. Dem boys feel dem two gun wuk together fuh get a better deal for Guyana. But dem boys nah gat de same trust in Joe Shanlin and Jag-deo. Talk half and tell Ali and Granger fuh tek dem time and peel dem pine.
There is speculation that is the one who is likely to be asked to take over when Granger calls it a day on his political career. Interesting
times lie ahead for the PNCR and, for that matter, the AFC. (The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
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Friday August 21, 2020
THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN
David Granger: Enigmatic or nonsensical?
I
have chalked up over 50 years in left-wing or working class activism. My understanding of Guyanese politics was made easier because I was educated right up to the doctoral level. And I say in all honesty, I have never seen a leader whose actions and words are so permeated with contradictions, irrationalities and meaningless sentences as David Granger. It is hard for the analyst to make sense of what he did as president and what he is currently doing. What follows are few samples from the confused songbook of a man who lost the general elections of a country that even with the global pandemic is set to have a vast economy in per capita terms.
I am not going to return to his presidential days in which so many confusions surrounded his five-year tenure. The point is no president or leader of the two major political parties – PPP and PNC – have consistently contradicted themselves the way Granger has. The latest is his sanction as Leader of the List of the 31 persons who will go to parliament. His choices would make sense if he never spoke about his criteria. But they make no sense given his criteria, and they are even more bizarre when you consider how he has asserted himself as a power holder in the past five years. We start with examples of
that assertion. He told the AFC he will not permit a 60/40 formula in the sharing of power whether in victory or defeat. The AFC accepted 30 percent. He told the AFC that he will no longer accept a neutral person as Leader of the List as APNU+AFC did in 2015 with professor, Harold Lutchman. Granger became Leader of the List. He insisted that if he retains the presidency, it is his constitutional right to choose his prime minister thus r e j e c t i n g t h e A F C ’s nomination. APNU+AFC lost the election, and Granger was still in assertive mode. As Leader of the List, he promulgated his criteria for parliament. He cited gender, demography, youth and most
of all, insisted that a party should be able to garner 7000 votes to have a representative going to parliament. We h a v e s e e n t h e APNU+AFC list and it is a continuation of either an enigmatic mind or a nonsensical politician. Granger accepted nine nominees from the AFC that met not one of his criteria. In fact, Granger has accepted the AFC’s violation of the constitution in which their quota does not include 30 percent of women. There is only one formation that Granger heads. It is named APNU+AFC. It means that he has to determine the shape of the group that will be going to parliament. If he rejected the AFC’s 40 percent demand in
the acquisition of power and its nomination of Ramjattan as PM candidate, why is he accepting the AFC’s ignoring of his laid down requirements? Five of the nine assignments from the AFC are Georgetowners, and six of those nine are from Region 4. His violation of his own requirement of 7000 votes for a seat makes Granger looks extremely foolish in the eyes of the world. Nine seats for the AFC would mean in Granger’s dictionary, 63,000 ballots. Is Granger losing his marbles? In the 2020 election, is Granger telling us that the AFC got 63,000 votes? Even if there was an agreement before the election to give AFC nine seats, no agreement is sealed in concrete but is determined by changing circumstances. If John agrees by a legal document to pay Harry $50, 000 for damaging his car, how can Harry and the court expect John to meet that obligation if a fire destroys John’s home? Granger has assigned a seat to the WPA. Really, is Granger enigmatic or just losing it? The WPA does not have 70 members, muchless 700, and it was virtually
Frederick Kissoon
impossible in March for 7000 Guyanese to have put their X on the ballot paper for the WPA. I say in all honesty that I believe more persons in the entire land of Guyana would more give a vote to CN Sharma’s party than the WPA for obvious reason – CN Sharma runs a popular television programme and is always in the eyes of Guyanese. Finally, Joe Harmon, who was not in the PNC and was incorporated into the party last Sunday, will be the official Leader of the Opposition. While naming him as such, Granger said his list is one for the future. Surely, Joe Harmon is not one for the future. Granger is a funny fellow. (The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
Friday August 21, 2020
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Friday August 21, 2020
Man who stabs, robs pensioner returns half of booty A minibus tout on Monday returned half of the booty he got after stabbing and robbing a pensioner. Collin, also known as Gaza, is accused of stabbing and robbing Patrick Harris, 69, of Lamaha Place, South Ruimveldt Park on August 12th last. The suspect, who is a “family friend” of his victim, had robbed him of $80,000 in cash after stabbing him to the head and his arms at a mall located at Last Entrance, North Ruimveldt. Harris’ granddaughter, Kadija Andrews, told Kaieteur News that around 14:00hrs on Monday, Collin turned up at the pensioner’s house accompanied by his uncle, his child mother with
their baby. Collin, Andrews said, took out $40,000 from his pocket and returned it to his victim. He then asked for Harris’ forgiveness. “He told us and our grandfather that he was sorry and blamed Molly pills for the attack and robbery of my grandfather,” said Andrews. The granddaughter said that Collin related to Harris that he had taken Molly pills given to him by his friends at the Stabroek Bus Park. He alleged that he got high and had no control over his actions. Kaieteur News had reported that the suspect had hailed up Harris that day at the South Bus Park and joined a bus together with
him, heading for North Ruimveldt. Harris had stopped short to pay some bills leaving the suspect to continue the journey alone. Sometime later Harris rejoined another bus and stopped at Last Entrance where he proceeded to use the urinal at the mall. It was while Harris was urinating that the suspect took the opportunity to attack him from behind. The suspect was even caught on video footage literally “skipping away” from the scene. Family members said that when confronted with both the footage and the facts of the robbery, Collin responded: “It wasn’t me, that is not me, I was under the influence of the Molly, is the
$500M COVID-19 relief to be pumped in education -Learning Channel, state radio, private media house to deliver curriculum As part of its response to the COVID -19 pandemic in Guyana, President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has said that $500M will be pumped into the education sector. In a live streamed update Wednesday, President Ali noted concern for children who have not been academically engaged in the traditional way since March. He said that his administration is particularly concerned about the impact of non-traditional schooling structures and the unavailability of resources and infrastructure particularly on children in the hinterland, children with
disabilities, and children who do not have access to data or internet. As such, the President announced that he will be making $500M available to equip schools and provide COVID-19 support services and facilities for children and teachers. “I’ve directed Minister (Priya) Manickchand to develop a plan to address the delivery of education to our children in a COVID-19 environment. After consultation with various stakeholders, it was decided that schools were not in a position from a public health, infrastructure and
facilities standpoint to facilitate a re-opening in September.”He said: “The ultimate goal is to have our schools in a state of readiness at the earliest.” Further, the President said that the Minister has been asked to implement a comprehensive plan aimed at ensuring children and teachers remain engaged in learning.In the interim, the Education Ministry has been tasked to put the infrastructure in place for the delivery of the curriculum via the Learning Channel, state radio broadcasting and privately-owned media houses.
The accused skipping away from the scene of the robbery
Molly make me do that, I will work and bring back the other half of the money soon, ah sorry.” They also questioned him as to reasons behind his ‘showing up’ at their house to return the money and apologize. The family members claimed that Collin told them that he heard persons were out to ‘get him’ for his actions against the pensioner. Harris accepted the money from Collin and told him that it is ok if he wants to pay back the rest of the cash. He rejected the apology. The pensioner reminded his attacker that he was
almost killed and is still recovering from stab wounds. Andrews told this newspaper that at that very moment she called the North Ruimveldt Outpost and notified the ranks that the suspect was in their house. The officers, she said, told her that there was no patrol available to make the arrest. Disappointed and unable to retain the suspect herself, Collin and his family exited the house entered the car and drove off. It is believed that the suspect might be hiding at a
Patrick Harris returning from the Kitty Health Center after receiving treatment for his wounds
Agri. Ministry to hold ‘Public Day’ by appointments only In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Agriculture will now be conducting public day engagements by appointments only. This decision was taken by Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, in keeping with COVID-19 protocols designed to reduce the number of persons gathering at the Ministry. “We have to engage our farmers even during the
pandemic. I met with my officers and we’ve decided to meet with farmers by appointments only. The public days are nothing new. It was discontinued by the previous Minister but I know the importance of these meetings so I’ve decided to reintroduce the programme in a way where the COVID19 guidelines are followed,” Minister Mustapha said. Minister Mustapha further stated that the meetings will
be held every Wednesday at the Ministry’s Head Office, with the first meeting taking place on Wednesday, August 26th from 10:00hrs. Farmers interested in scheduling an appointment with the Minister are asked to call his office on 227-5049 or send a text or WhatsApp message to 694-6878. Persons visiting the Ministry must wear a mask and are urged to follow all other COVID-19 guidelines.
GTT suspends phone credit transfers amid growing scam reports The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) have urged customers to take precautions to secure their personal data and information in light of attempts by persons to scam customers. “Most of the fraud reports received involve the transfer of phone credit, where persons are scammed into transferring credit in hopes of winning a phone for example,” explained GTT’s VP of Customer Experience, Orson Ferguson. Ferguson also indicated that customers should take all the necessary steps to prevent themselves from falling prey to these scams. “As a result, the company would be suspending the credit transfer feature to increase the security of the feature for customers.
Ferguson said that “with this step, we are taking reports from our customers into consideration to protect them proactively.” He said that “in the interim, customers can use Mobile Money Guyana (MMG) to self-top-up and credit other numbers.” The company indicated that once they are comfortable with the reassessment, the mobile credit transfer feature will be reintroduced at a later date. In January 2020, GTT recorded an increase in incidents of customers being scammed despite measures in place to reduce scams. The company continues to warn customers and encourages all customers to confirm all of the company’s promotions at www.gtt.co.gy/promotions or by way of the local media.
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Friday August 21, 2020
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Aberdeen reaffirms oil and gas links with Guyana Scotland (Energy Voice)Scores of oil and gas representatives met virtually Wednesday to discuss the opportunities available to supply chain companies in post-election Guyana. The world’s eye has been on the South American country for some time after ExxonMobil made several huge oil discoveries, equating to around eight billion recoverable barrels, in Guyanese waters. Last year history was made after the US supermajor lifted the first commercial crude from the region, setting it on its way to becoming a major focal point for the industry. Aberdeen has been building relationships and trade links with Guyana’s capital Georgetown, and in 2019 a landmark Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two cities. That was drawn into focus again at the AberdeenGuyana gateway event, organised by Granite PR, as more than 140 people heard that oil is going to change the country “beyond all recognition”. On the call were representatives from the
British High Commission and the Guyana Office for Investment. Guyana recently went through a “hotly contested and controversial” election that resulted in the opposition party taking power. Barney Crockett, Lord Provost of Aberdeen, said Guyana is now on the cusp of “making great strides forward” as he set out how both regions can benefit one another. He said: “Guyana is a very special place for me. We’re not Johnny-comelatelies here, we’ve been interested in Guyana since the very start. “There’s two reasons for my special interest in the region. Firstly, I hope it will produce great results for my city, but the second reason is, t h a t i t ’s a f a n t a s t i c opportunity to see a country that needs development get that in the right way. If Aberdeen can help in that, I’ll be absolutely delighted. “ We ’ v e s i g n e d a Memorandum of Understanding with Georgetown which is quite a comprehensive document for us. We’re keen to see more activity and I think the
new government will be too. “After a worrying period for Guyana we’re now on the brink of great strides forward and we look forward to that.” Guyana’s recent election, and the political turmoil that followed, has been watched with a keener interest than usual as a result of the country’s huge oil producing potential. Opposition candidate Irfaan Ali, who represents the People’s Progressive Party, was sworn in as president at the beginning of this month following a legal battle and recount. Greg Quinn, the British High Commissioner to Guyana, said the new government is keen to ensure that Guyana benefits from its vast oil reserves and supply chain companies will have to bare that in mind. “Oil will provide the funding needed to expand infrastructure and there’s been recent commentary in the press here about a gas to energy power station to improve the lot of each and every citizen. The government and the people in Guyana will also want to see more local investment and more jobs being created by any outside investor. The
bottom line, they want to see Guyanese benefitting from any outside investment. If a business wants to succeed here, they need to put in significant effort building links and partnerships with local firms. The importance of benefitting the local population and ensuring as much money as possible stays in Guyana will be at the forefront of the mind of this government. “If anyone thinks they can come to Guyana, do work and repatriate all of their earnings back to the UK that is not how this government wants to work and that will not be successful.” Brett Jackson, founder and managing director of Granite PR and creator of the gateway series, said: “The move to digital for our gateway series has proved that, even although we are
Out British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn
not bringing people together in person, we are still able to fulfill our event’s principles of facilitating international networking and knowledge sharing in a safe and a p p r o p r i a t e w a y. “ T h e
support this gateway has received from delegates in a range of locations gives us confidence and optimism as we look ahead to the shape and delivery of future events in our growing portfolio.”
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Friday August 21, 2020
Africo Selman appointed 17 arrested at advisor to Minister bar in Montrose Manickchand Advisor: Africo Selman
The Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, has appointed an advisor, Africo Selman. A former parliamentarian for the Coalition leading up to the 2015 elections, she switched to the People’s Progressive Party/Civic. The PPP/C, however, lost that election.Selman started work on Monday, according to the Ministry of Education. Selman, a Queen’s College alumna, holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences Degree in International Relations from the University of Guyana (UG). She also lectured Political Science part-time at the same university. “Additionally, Ms. Selman has a wealth of teaching experience at the primary level. She holds a deep passion for children and education. In this regard, she coordinated the Health and Education Relief Organization HERO) literacy program from 2008 to 2014 in Sophia, Georgetown and Den Amstel, West Coast Demerara.: She is a former Member of Parliament (MP) serving in the National Assembly from 2006 to 2020; firstly, as an MP for the People’s National Congress (PNC) and subsequently as one for the PPP/C.
Khan’s Hideout Bar
Minister Manickchand, in welcoming remarks, expressed delight that Selman is now a part of the MOE family. “She is an amazing teacher and has over 23 years of practical experience that will serve the nation well. She taught at the West Ruimveldt Primary School and at Success Elementary School, where she functioned as a Grade Six Teacher and the Grade Six Level Supervisor. Outside of that, she is also a lovely person who is an avid reader and I look forward to us working to take the sector to new and modern heights that will meet the needs of the children of today and tomorrow,” Minister said. Selman’s office will be at the Ministry’s Lot 26 Brickdam location.
A few of the persons who were caught at the bar Wednesday. Seventeen persons were on Wednesday afternoon arrested after they were caught at a bar imbibing. Police, acting on information, went to Khan’s Hideout Bar located at 100 Second Street, Montrose, East Coast Demerara, where the persons were caught breaching the COVID-19 regulations. According to a release by the police, ranks from Regional Division 4 ‘C’, led by a senior officer, acted on information between 17:15hrs and 17:45hrs,conducted an operation at the bar where 17 persons were found imbibing alcohol, even though the operations of bars are prohibited. Based on photos that were released by the police, the persons inside the bar were not
wearing their mask. However, after the police arrived at the bar, the patrons were cautioned, arrested and taken into custody. They were placed on bail and were given a date to attend court. On Tuesday, Region Three Commander, Errol Watts, and his officers decided to make an unexpected visit to Mary’s Bar located in Crane, West Coast Demerara. Watts walked into the bar filled with patrons, took out his note book and said everyone there will be prosecuted. He told the stunned patrons not to leave.The police also recorded the vehicles parked. The names and faces of all the persons in the bar were recorded and they are expected to make their court appearance soon.
Kaieteur News
Friday August 21, 2020
PAGE 15
Govt. launches major Ponzi scheme probe into Accelerated - hundreds of millions of dollars in limbo; thousands affected - Cuban, Guyanese wife arrested
T
he Government of Guyana has launched a major probe into a suspected Ponzi scheme which has left thousands of persons affected and hundreds of millions of dollars in limbo. Yesterday, the AttorneyGeneral Chambers expressed deep worry over the situation, making it clear that the matter had been brought to the attention of the Coalition Government with little or no action taken. According to Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, the government received dozens of complaints from members of the public, in relation to the operations of a financial outfit, located on the East Coast of Demerara. “The Guyana Securities Council (GSC) has written to the President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, the Vice President Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo and the Commissioner of Police, informing them of the operations of this scheme in the country,” Nandlall’s ministry said in a statement making it clear that the matter is of importance to the Government. On Wednesday, the Attorney General and
Minister of Legal Affairs met with and received from the GSC a report of the operations of the agency. “In short, the report describes the agency, styled Accelerated Capital Firm Inc. (ACFI), as a “Pyramid or a Ponzi Scheme” that has received hundreds of millions of dollars from thousands of Guyanese.” Yesterday, Government assembled a high-level team headed by the Attorney General, the Commissioner of Police, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Head of the Financial Intelligence Unit and Head of the Guyana Securities Council, to
Wife claims husband committed suicide Region Eight police are investigating claims made by a woman that her reputed husband allegedly shot himself, yesterday, in her presence at Granny Backdam, Mahdia.According to police, the woman’s husband, Dexter Weekes, 33, a miner of ‘A’ Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown, met his demise at 05:30hrs in the couple’ s bedroom.The woman told investigators that she and Weekes went to bed at around 20:30hrs Wednesday night. While in bed, she claimed that Weekes asked her for sex
Minister of Legal Affairs, AG Anil Nandlall during the high-level meeting with police and others yesterday.
Arrested: YuriGarcia Dominguez (r) and wife Ateeka Ishmael
but she rejected him and fell asleep.However, when she awoke sometime after 05:00hrs yesterday, she saw Weekes consuming a liquid substance which looked like alcohol. She started a conversation with him during which she recalled hearing a loud explosion. Weekes fell to the floor and lay motionless with a firearm beside him.Ranks are yet to return from the crime scene as investigations into the circumstances surrounding the miner’s death continues.
Rusal deal among things to ... From page 11 competitive on the world market when compared to other sources and remedial work in the mines will also see potential additional costs. They further highlighted that relations between management and industry workers need to be patched to pave way for future investments in their operations. According to Minister Bharrat, Rusal has since agreed to prepare the documents for their report and there could be a Joint Technical Committee meeting very soon where the government will examine the company and its future operations in Guyana.
immediately adopt a multisector approach, investigate the operations of ACFI, with a view, inter alia, of reimbursing monies to the persons who “invested” in the scheme. The AG said that persons with relevant information are invited to assist in the investigations.In its report, GSC noted that the business engaged in by ACFI violates several pieces of legislation across the fiscal regulatory architecture. It was made clear that currently Accelerated Capital Firm Inc. (ACFI) is not licensed by the Guyana Securities Council to solicit investments from the public. “Under the Anti-Money Laundering and Financing of
Terrorism Act, it is required for all investors to provide the source of funds and ensure that the financial activities and money laundering risks associated with a customer are properly recorded. The Guyana Securities Council is not in receipt of that information from the application submitted.” The GSC requested from ACFI detail information and documents pertaining to its principals and the operations of the organization. “To date, the information has not been submitted as requested by the GSC and the application will not be processed unless the requisite supporting documents are submitted.
The GSC also wrote to Mr. Yuri Garcia Dominguez to cease and desist from advising the clients of Accelerated Capital Firm Inc. that the reason for nonpayment to their clients is that the Guyana Securities Council is in the process of granting a license to Accelerated Capital Firm Inc.” According to the statement yesterday, in fact the GSC made it pellucid that it would have no choice than to apply the full force of its mandate to Accelerated Capital Firm Inc. (ACFI) since the application dated the 5th August 2020, has not been approved. “Thousands of Guyanese citizens have enrolled in the
Ponzi scheme where ACFI claims that it uses a foreign exchange platform to trade and it seems that all aspects of the scheme operate online via training webinars, WhatsApp and emails. The methods of payment used to invest and trade are credit cards or by wire transfer.” Local banks have even closed the accounts of Accelerated.According to the statement from the AG office, investigations have revealed that local banks have terminated the accounts of Ateeka Ishmael and Yuri Garcia Dominguez, and refused their request to open a corporate account as a result of their due diligence and the public notice by GSC (Continued on page 17)
Govt. looking to train 400 young Guyanese regulators for oil sector Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo revealed last night on Kaieteur Radio’s Guyana’s Oil & You that he intends for Guyana to move toward developing a base of at least 400 young Guyanese regulators for Guyana’s oil and gas sector. The discussion at that point had focused on the ability and capacity of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to sufficiently ensure ExxonMobil does what is necessary to protect Guyana’s natural environment. Jagdeo agreed that the E PA n e e d s e n h a n c e d capacity, but he said that such enhancements are to be made across the board. He reminded that the Government intends to move toward a Petroleum
Commission, to ensure the regulation of the sector is handled by technocrats, “so you have less ministerial political involvement.” “Then, in the ministry itself,” he said, “you need to have policy capabilities, a whole range. Enforcement, compliance capabilities, auditing capabilities so that they can manage effectively these contracts and the sector, and we would like eventually to create a core of Guyanese managers, to put them on scholarships, train them, and we believe the company must share this cost with us.” Presently, the Stabroek Block agreement requires ExxonMobil to give Guyana US$300,000 a year for the purpose of training Guyanese for the sector. It is
– Jagdeo an amount that has been described as a pittance, and Jagdeo agrees.“$300,000 is not adequate for this sort of thing, for training in Guyana,” he said. ”They must provide enough funds for Guyana to build a great capacity, its own capacity to monitor the sector, and this would be good for them, because then, they’d have a core of professionals. You know, sometimes, if people don’t know about the sectors, they can be a bit unreasonable.” He explained that it would be in the company’s interest as well, to contribute substantially to development of local competence because, “in the long run, it
Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo helps them to have qualified regulators.”There will not be a substantial amount in the upcoming budget to handle such training, Jagdeo revealed. However, he said that the government would look at raising grants and loans from its partners.
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Friday August 21, 2020
Kaieteur News
Maid’s son confesses, leads cops to burnt remains of missing Canadian citizen - was hired by rice farmer to also kill grandfather
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By Malisa Playter Harry In a bizarre twist to the missing Canadian’s case, ranks from the Major Crimes Unit with the assistance of members of the Cold Case Unit of the Guyana Police Force along with Berbice detectives have stumbled upon what is believed to be the burn remains of Nicholas Jaipaul. Jaipaul’s burnt remains were discovered in a desolate area, in Moleson Creek, Berbice yesterday. His killer reportedly led police there after confessing to a crime which involved a well-known Berbice businessman. Jaipaul, a Canadian citizen, returned to Guyana in January with his 86-year-old grandfather, Ramkissoon Jaipaul, for vacation. The police had this week arrested an Upper Corentyne rice farmer who has been identified as the mastermind in the crime. Also arrested was the son of the maid who has been working with the Jaipauls since January. Also in custody are the maid and her co-worker who had been with the Jaipauls for years. A brother of the suspect is also
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in custody. The police have since squeezed a confession out of the maid’s son and based on the information provided to Kaieteur News by a police source close to the investigation, the suspect who is a 30-year-old from Number 70 Village, told police that he was hired by a rice farmer. The rice farmer is said to be from Number 70 Village. He hired the maid’s son to kidnap and kill the Canadian and his grandfather. He said he was promised $500,000 to commit the act. It was revealed that the rice farmer owed the grandfather of the victim money and the matter is still before the courts. He revealed, in disturbing details, that the plan was to kill Nicholas Jaipaul and then call the grandfather and demand a sum of $50M be paid for the safe return of his grandson. The idea was to lure him to a location where he would have also been murdered. However, that plan fell through the cracks when the 86-year-old reported that his grandson was missing, and police ranks were immediately sent to his home to monitor him and the calls he received on his telephone. The man had told Kaieteur News that his grandson may have gone missing Sunday night after he retired to bed because the next morning he woke up and saw him nowhere in the house. It was that same day that he received an anonymous call saying that they have his grandson. But the police were present and the call was traced to a location in Georgetown. Police in the city were alerted and they swooped down at the location traced from the call. It was there that
Burnt remains found: Nicholas Jaipaul the suspect now identified as the maid’s son was arrested. During interrogation, the suspect told police that the victim was taken from the home at Number 70 Village and strangled to death. He said he then transported the body to a location near the Moleson Creek Public Road and lit his remains on fire. He took investigators to the scene yesterday and it was there that the remains, believed to be that of Nicholas Jaipaul, was discovered. A skull and several bones were discovered. Pathologist Nehaul Singh was at the scene to conduct a post-mortem of the remains and a relative was present also to attempt to identify the remains. The relative who identified the remains, Rajendra Persaud, told reporters that the only way he could have identified the bones was by the skull. He disclosed that the victim had done a brain surgery when he was younger “where they had to put a stem from his head to his kidney”. Persaud added that his nephew was on medication but loved being in Guyana since he grew up at the house at Number 69 Village before migrating with his parents to Canada. There were no other belongings
connected to the victim found at the scene. Nicholas Jaipaul and his grandfather Ramkissoon Jaipaul returned to Guyana on vacation in January 2020 and were scheduled to return to Canada in May but because of the COVID restrictions placed on flights, they were stuck in the country. The grandfather had told this publication that his grandson hardly left the home during their time in Guyana and if he did, it was to accompany him when he was heading out. He had stated that the last time he spoke and saw his grandson was Sunday night right before he retired to bed. He said he left Nicholas awake in the home but when he woke up the next day he was nowhere in the house. The maid who began working with him in January reportedly checked the victim’s bedroom and around the house, but he was nowhere. The grandfather became worried and a report was made that his grandson was missing. The rice farmer was arrested yesterday after the suspect confessed. The police are still investigating.
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Detectives and the pathogist Dr. Nehaul Singh at the scene where the remains were found.
Friday August 21, 2020
Judge dismisses case against Winston Jordan, NICIL over East Coast land deals - decision to be appealed In spite of a request for adjournment by lawyers involved in the case filed to challenge the sale of prime lands along the East Coast Demerara, High Court Justice Sandra Kurtzious handed down a decision yesterday afternoon in which she dismissed an application by Kaieteur News Publisher, Glenn Lall to quash the transactions. Lall moved to court last July to have the sale of 130 acres of lands on the East Coast Demerara (ECD) by A Partnership For National Unity +Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government quashed following revelations of a massive sale of prime property by the then de facto administration. The case which lists former Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited, (NICIL) and the Attorney General as respondents, is yet to receive a response from Jordan. NICIL, on the other hand, has through its lawyer, Devindra Kissoon, presented arguments for the case to be discharged. The court was scheduled to provide a ruling on those contentions yesterday. However an email from both Kissoon and Sanjeev Datadin, the attorney representing Lall, was sent to the Judge on Wednesday evening informing her that newly appointed board at NICIL was requesting a two weeks adjournment of decision from the Court to review the transactions. Before rendering decision, Justice Kurtzious noted that though she was in receipt of the email she would not entertain the request for an adjournment at this time, since any decision of the Court will not impact on NICIL’s decision to review the transaction. The ruling is nonetheless set to be appealed by Datadin who had vehemently opposed the NICIL’s application to dismiss the case. At the interim, the Judge based her decision to dismiss Lall’s case on three main
PAGE 17
Kaieteur News
Attorney-at-law, Sanjeev Datadin
Kaieteur News Publisher, Glenn Lall
issues. Among them, she accepted the view by NICIL’S lawyer that the company has the power to privatize in accordance with Section 8 of the Public Corporations Act. The Judge held too that, that power to transfer “should be taken in its literal sense — Section 8 of the Public Corporations Act empowers the Minister to do just that which he has done.” Further, the Judge found that that Lall had no locus standi (legal standing) to institute the proceedings and no standing to prosecute the claim since among other things, he failed to comply with Part 56.02 of the Civil Procedure Rules which outlines prior to the filing of the claim, that is, when issuing a proceeding for administrative orders, the applicant must file a notice of claim for the administrative orders. Additionally, the Judge found that too that Lall was in default of correcting the defect by seeking relief from sanctions as stipulated under the Civil Procedure Rules. In view of the findings, the Judge dismissed the case against all parties and awarded costs in the sum of 300,000 — $100,000 be paid to each respondent. The case over the massive land deal was filed after the vesting orders, bearing Jordan’s signature, were posted on Facebook immediately raising questions as to how so many acres of land were sold in a day and also mounting suspicions that the then Coalition government was giving away lands before demitting office. Elections were held on
March 2nd. The information pointed to publications of the Official Gazette of orders numbered No. 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72 and 73. Lall’s application asked the court to overturn the sale on the grounds that the sale was unlawful, made without legal authority, ultra vires, malicious, made in excess of jurisdiction, made without adequate legal consideration, null void and of no legal effect. He referred to Sections 8 and 11 of the PCA, which stipulates that the Minister of Finance is empowered to authorize the transfer of state properties from only entities of the state. The PCA and its provisions of vesting order in general are not intended to apply to private companies. Citing specific sections of the PCA, Lall contended that the Minister cannot transfer property owned by NICIL to any private individual. He noted that all of the entities to which the lands were sold are private companies and that the PCA and its provisions of vesting orders in general are not applicable to private companies which meant that the purported transfer by Jordan was unlawful, ultra vires and null and void. Lall contended too that “The essential and key precondition of the statue is that it applies to property of State being transferred to an entity under the control of the Minister, there is no authority to vest the specific State to these companies as mentioned in Orders published in the Official Gazette.”
Police showed up at Christopher Jones’ home in search of barber chairs, other equipment Two vanloads of armed policemen yesterday turned up at the house of former Sports Director under the David Granger-led Administration, Christopher Jones, in search of barber chairs and equipment, said to belong to the state. According to information reaching this publication, the ranks arrived at Jones’ Tucville, Georgetown home just after 18:30hrs during a power outage. Jones has been named as a parliamentarian by the Coalition and would have led campaign by the incumbent that the elections of March 2nd were marred by irregularities. The US had announced visa restrictions on several coalition officials. It is unclear whether Jones was at home last evening. Nevertheless, a few Tucville residents came out of their homes in protest against the officers for their actions. In a live video seen by this paper, the angry residents prevented the officers from entering the former Sport Director’s premises. Shortly after, executives from the opposition A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) arrived at the scene in support of their party comrade. The executives include former parliamentarians, James Bond, Volda Lawrence and Aubrey Norton. They were also accompanied by Attorney-atlaw and member of the coalition, Darren Wade. Bond who was seen conversing with the officers, told media operatives that the
Former Sports Director, Chris Jones armed ranks wanted to search “Mr. Jones’ house”. He detailed that the ranks are accusing his party comrade of simple larceny which concerned some stolen barber chairs and other equipment. In an audit document seen by this newspaper it was detailed that almost $5,000,000 was expended by the Ministry of Social Protection for barber shop equipment under the line of Sustainable Livelihood and Entrepreneurial Development (SLED). The document also revealed that this equipment were never put to use and was stored in a room at the residence of the beneficiary… Christopher Jones. Nevertheless, Bond said that even if the officers were instructed to search the house, they must use wisdom. “The police cannot come at a politician’s house with guns at this hour of the night during blackout and in an area where he is supported to carry out a search and expect people to be calm; you need to be wise…there is better
ways of doing things,” said Bond. Meanwhile, Wade called the allegations and police presence an attack on a decent human being. He argued that police could not reveal who reported that Jones had stolen chairs in his possession. He said: “In order for an allegation to be made there must be a report. There must be a virtual complainant and the police cannot provide that.” With this being said, Wade speculated that it was the ruling Government the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) which instructed the ranks to search Jones’ house. Kaieteur News made contact with ‘A” Division Commander, Simon McBean to find out if he had any knowledge of the rank’s presence at Jones’ home. The Commander said that he was not informed of any such operation from his ranks nor is he aware of the allegations made against Jones. He added that the ranks at Jones’ house were not under his jurisdiction.
Govt. launches major Ponzi... From page 15 in the print media. The Coalition government was also criticized for its inactions. “Significantly, the GSC submitted letters that were sent since October 2019 to Mr. Winston Felix, M.P., Minister of Citizenship, Ministry of the Presidency, and Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, Minister of Public Security informing them of a suspected illegal investment
(pyramid scheme) allegedly operated by Mr. Yuri Garcia Dominguez and Ateeka Ishmael after publications were seen in the newspapers giving notice that Mr.Yuri Garcia Dominguez had applied to the Minister of Citizenship for naturalization in Guyana.” The notices, the statement said yesterday, invited persons who knew of any reason why naturalization
should not be granted to be sent to the Ministry of the Presidency. “The GSC received no response to these correspondences.”Last evening, it was reported that the Garcia-Dominguez and his wife, Ateeka Ishmael, were both arrested at their East Coast Demerara home. Items including phones and computers were also seized.
Police ranks and others at the scene last evening (Travis Chase photo)
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Friday August 21, 2020
Kaieteur News
1.5 tonne coke seized in Germany not loaded in Guyana - but probe reveals deep worry of systems at GRA A recent major seizure of one and half tonnes of cocaine in Germany was more than likely loaded in another country.
This was made clear in a statement by the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) which has been conducting the local probe.
The seizure had been linked to containers of rice exported by a major Berbice miller. The incident had
threatened a major part of the country’s rice export market which is controlled by the company. According to CANU yesterday, the seizure was made on August 10 at
CANU will continue to participate in inter-agency collaborations in its bid to tighten the grip on Narcotic distributors throughout the Country. Hamburg Port, Germany by police. CANU found that the drugs were discovered in a 20foot container containing several bags of white rice shipped from Guyana. “The said contaminated container was one out of a shipment of a total of 12 20feet containers. That entire shipment of the 12 containers comprised 6,000 bags of white rice intended for export to a company in Poland. The vessel intended to transport the said 12 containers was loaded and sailed from Guyana between the 25th and 26th May, 2020.” According to CANU, it was confirmed that all 12 of the said containers were scanned locally by operatives of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and no narcotic was detected nor were their seals appeared to have been tampered with. In fact the containers were in-transit elsewhere. “It is key to note that the said vessel which departed Guyana arrived on June 7th, 2020 in another territory where the said 12 containers were reportedly off loaded in that territory and remained in – transit for a total of six days after which those 12 containers which included the one later found to be contaminated were then reloaded onto another vessel different from the vessel that initially transported those 12 containers from Guyana.
That said second vessel with the 12 containers and its other cargo then arrived in Hamburg, Germany on June 27th, 2020 and discharged the said 12 containers the following day, June 28th, 2020. “The said 12 containers remained at their boarded location in Germany for several days after which they were then searched and the suspected narcotic were intercepted on Monday 10th August 2020.” According to CANU, there was evidence that the container was handled elsewhere. “Importantly, newspaper clippings out of the territory in which the said 12 containers remained in-transit were found to have been used to wrap some of the bundles of suspected narcotic intercepted in Germany.” CANU said it has conducted an extensive investigation into the handling, shipping and export of this shipment of white rice and “has not yet found conclusive evidence that suggests that the suspected narcotic was loaded onto the contaminated container in Guyana.” Nevertheless, the entity was worried. It said it has unearthed loopholes and irregularities regarding the local handling of the shipment which has resulted in a collaborative investigation by CANU and GRA seeking to amend same. “CANU’s investigation continues.”
Guyana records 30th COVID-19 death - 70 new cases added Guyana yesterday recorded it’s 30th COVID-19 death at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). According to the Ministry of Public Health’s (MOPH) report, the deceased is a 73-year-old man who was a patient at the transitional ward at the GPHC. It was reported that the man was swabbed for a test, on his arrival at the hospital. However, his test came back positive after he succumbed. The MOPH announced that they have already reached out to the deceased man’s relatives and other persons he would have engaged with to conduct the necessary contact tracing. As of yesterday, Guyana recorded 70 new COVID-19
cases. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 846. There are currently eight persons in the COVID-19 ICU, 77 persons in institutional isolation, 333 persons in home isolation and 47 persons in institutional quarantine. There were also 18 recoveries recorded bringing the total number of recoveries to 399. Region One has 124 confirmed cases, Region Two- 8 cases, Region Three44 cases, Region Four- 248 cases, Region Five- 1 case, Region Six- 8 cases, Region Seven -174 cases, Region Eight- 11 cases, Region Nine- 169 cases and Region Ten- 59 cases. A total of 6,502 persons have been tested nationally.
Kaieteur News
Friday August 21, 2020
BK $352M emergency sea defence contract...
Delayed works allowed more damage - Minister Edghill - another contractor hired to fix new breach By Shikema Dey Brian Tiwari’s BK International Inc. was handed a $352M contract in June of this year to conduct what the previous administration flagged as “emergency” works to fix two breaches in the sea defence area at Dantzig, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara. However, the notably slow pace at which the works moved and the constant delays allowed more damage to that area. It was because of this fact that a new breach formed measuring 100 meters in length, resulting in the residents of Dantzig and neighbouring communities being inundated with salt water causing damages to homes, crop and livestock. Holding this opinion was Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill. Edghill told Kaieteur News: “It is the considered opinion of officials and residents of the region… that to respond to the previous breach and the slow rate of ongoing works have exposed us to the new 100 meter breach which is worsening on a daily basis.” Now, the new Irfaan Aliled, People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) will have to expend an estimated $145M to conduct further emergency works at the breached point. The Minister had initially said that the new breach occurred close to where BK International is conducting repairs and since this was so, instead of hiring a new contractor, they identified BK to complete the job.“The reality is because of how the sea defences are situated, even if you wanted to put in another contractor that is not currently mobilized on the
site to do that emergency work, you’re talking about an impossibility,” he said. However, yesterday Edghill told Kaieteur News that a new contractor, with capacity to fix the damaged area has been identified and a new route of access to be used to take machine and supplies for emergency works. On a site visit yesterday, Minister Edghill along with a team from the sea defence department as well as local authorities inclusive of Regional Chairman, Mr. Vi c k c h a n d R a m p h a l , engaged with the affected residents who complained about the harsh effects of flooding in the area. A Cabinet report, he said, is also being prepared for urgent consideration. Notwithstanding this, however, BK International and the other present contractor; A&S General Contracting are still expected to complete their ongoing emergency works w i t h a l a c r i t y. H e a v y concerns were already raised at the pace which the old breaches were being sealed by those two contractors. Kaieteur News, during a visit to the site in July, one month after the multimillion dollar contract was awarded, saw that no significant movement was made. The Minister pointed out that he will not be accepting any excuses for further delays.Meanwhile, the issue of the contract details between BK International and the previous administration still remain at hand. Despite several requests, Kaieteur News has been unable to acquire a copy to relay the details of how taxpayer monies will be spent.
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Minister Edghill along with a team from the Sea Defence department as well as local authorities inclusive of Regional Chairman, Mr. Vickchand Ramphal, speaking with the affected residents of Dantzig, Mahaicony.
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COVID-19 themed ‘DAYS LIKE DESE’ to air nationwide ‘DAYS LIKE DESE , now a 15-minutes sitcom with its main theme on COVID-19, will begin airing from today on all local TV stations throughout Guyana. A release from GEMS Theatre Productions (GTP), the production company producing the Season 3 sitcom, said it has found it necessary to develop these scripts with a COVI-19 message in order to help persons deal with the pandemic that is spreading rapidly in Guyana.It was pointed out that many are ignoring the COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines. So “GTP felt with adding some humour to the scripts and making it entertaining will send home the message to our viewership...”A new episode will be aired each week on the same channels at the same time, starting on Friday at 8:15am on NCN 11 and carried on all its channels countrywide Berbice and Linden; and 5:30pm on CNS Channel 6; Saturday at 5:30p.m on LRTV10 (Berbice); 7:00pm on Safe TV 2; Sunday at 2:00pm on WRHM TV6; at 5:45pm on DaAVE’S TV 7 in Berbice; 7:30p.m on ENETWORKS 1 and 7:45p.m on CHANNEL 19 Upper Corentyne; Monday at 11:30am on MTV 65; 2:45pm on TVG28; 5:15p.m on NTN 69 and 5:30pm on CHANNEL 26 in Berbice; on Wednesday at 4:45p.m on TTS Channel 5 in Bartica and the last airing of Episode 1 will be on Thursday at 7:15p.m on HBTV9. DAYS LIKE DESE is supported in this first episode by Toolsie Persaud Ltd, Chungs Global Inc., Church’s Chicken, Infinity Gas Station, Nand Persaud & Co. Ltd, NAGICO and NALICO Insurance Co. Ltd. and Guyana Power and Light.Season One and Two were aired in 2017 and 2018 respectively. The episodes can be viewed on Youtube. According to GTP, each episode will feature two or three actors and filming
Simone Persaud
Producer, Gem Madhoo-Nascimento them apart in respect to physical distancing. Filming would also be done mostly in open spaces. Producer, Gem MadhooNascimento will be teaming up with Sean Thompson in scripting the episodes. Thompson will also film and edit the series. Episode 1 will feature two of Guyana’s most popular actors, Sonia Yarde and Simone Persaud. The original ‘DAYS LIKE DESE’ was set in the living room of a mixed Guyanese middle-income family of good standing and moral ethics. There were children, friends, grandparents, uncles, neighbours and cousins of various income levels and living standards. Social cohesion was reflected deeply in the component of the extended family. Issues affecting our everyday life, for example, domestic abuse, climate change, recycling, trafficking in persons, conservation of basic every day utilities all played a major role in the series. Education through comedy was its main focus. Actors were Mark Kazim, Nathaya Whaul, Simone Dowding, Ron Robinson, Lavonne George, Mark Luke-Edwards, Rajan Tiwari, Simone Persaud, Kirk Jardine, Michael Ignatius, Joel Gansham, Makayah Smith, Safira Abrahim-Williams, Paul Budnah, Olivia Rodrigues and Kaylee Liverpool. Season 3 will feature most of the above actors plus others.
Sonia Yarde
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Kurupung ‘gangsters’ threaten, bully miners -police investigating
A mining camp in the Kurupung Backdam
Region Seven Commander, Dion Moore, plans to investigate reports surfacing of a ‘gang’ that is reportedly terrorizing, threatening, and bullying miners at Kurupung, CuyuniMazaruni. Moore told Kaieteur News that he received a phone call from the Police Eve Leary Headquarters in Georgetown alerting him of the ongoing situation at the mining area. He said that he was waiting on a report and will soon dispatch ranks in the area to carry out the necessary investigations. One of the miners working in the area reached out to this newspaper after the gang threatened to chop him to death early Wednesday. Kaieteur News learnt from the miner, that for two years now the gang which is headed by two brothers have been robbing, threatening, beating and bullying everyone who makes a living in that area. “They claimed that they are in control of Kurupung…that they own all the land, they are the bosses and can do what they please,” said the man. The miner said that he had gotten into a conflict with the brothers about a year ago over a gold claim (mining concession) granted to him by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC). “They have two four inch pumps and started working on my concession without my permission. I confronted them and instructed them to leave but they refused,” e x p l a i n e d t h e m i n e r. ”I did what I thought was right, I made a report to the police and officers came and removed the gang from the claim.” Since then, he said, they have continuously bullied and threatened his workers.
“We cannot even go on the landing…we have a house there and we are not permitted to enter. They would tell us this is our turf…don’t come out here… don’t pass… we will kill you,” the man claimed. Recently, the man had left his mining camp to buy food for his workers. Upon his return, he discovered that one of his excavators was used to move the gang’s engines and “box” to his concession. That was not all, his excavator, along with diesel and oil, was used to clear a spot and remove overburden for them to work. The miner said he became furious and fired his operator. It was not until the men reacted that he realized that they had forced the employee to work for them free of cost using his machine. The men then approached him and threatened that if he doesn’t allow them to work on his concession with his machine then he will be killed along with his employees. “We had some harsh exchange of words and I made a call and reported the matter to the police,” the miner said. However, a few days later, three men turned up at his camp with cutlasses and told him “this turf we run things here” and warned that if he refuses to do as the gang says, they will chop him to pieces.Fearful for his life, the man is pleading with the authorities to intervene as soon as possible. Kaieteur News has also received information from other sources that this gang is responsible for the trafficking of young Venezuelan women between the ages of 16 and 25 in the area. The men were also said to be responsible for a number of armed robberies and murders.
Datadin, Narine in as PPP/C’s... From page 8 Narine, Dharamkumar Seeraj, Bhagmattie Veerasammy, Dr. Tandika Smith, and Lee Williams. Other notable inclusions on the list are as follows: former Health Minister, Bheri Ramsaran, who was fired in 2015 by the then President Donald Ramotar for verbally assaulting and threatening a female activist; Dr. Jennifer Westford, who was once a subject of a series of larceny charges over theft of more than $600M in public
funds; and Alister Charlie who is accused of a sex crime with a teenager. According to the PPP/C’s release, the team represents the “diversity of Guyana…” The party said it is preparing to name its Parliamentary Secretaries. As for the RDC list, the PPP/C said that it represents “a diverse combination of new, young and seasoned women, youth, farmers, teachers, technicians, businessmen, and religious leaders.”
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Rusal deal among things to be discussed in calls for a report from Rusal upcoming meeting to- Government determine its future operations in Guyana
R
ussian-owned Rusal’s deal with Guyana is on the agenda of discussions to be held in an upcoming meeting, according to Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat. The government has also requested a report from Rusal to determine their future operations in Guyana during a meeting between the company and government officials. Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI) is 90 percent owned by parent company Rusal, with the rest owned by the Government of Guyana. The operations are at sites that were owned by the Government in Aroaima and Kurubuka, Upper Berbice River area, Region 10. Minister Bharrat, speaking with Kaieteur News, stated that President Irfaan Ali asked for a meeting to be held with the company as he would like to see their operations in Guyana restart. Bauxite Company of Guyana has seen many disputes between workers and management over labor and wages within the past decade. This is according to General Secretary of the Guyana Bauxite and General
Minister of Home Affairs, Hon. Robeson Benn Wo r k e r s U n i o n (GB&GWU), Lincoln Lewis who spoke to Kaieteur about the affairs of the former workers in a telephone interview. Lewis disclosed that the workers had conducted several strikes and protests, including their most recent one that involved the Berbice River barrier being established, however, this industrial action ended weeks ago. Lewis stated that the protest occurred in light of over 300 employees being laid off and Rusal blaming the action on fuel shortage and conflict with the Guyana
General Secretary of the GB&GWU, Lincoln Lewis Revenue Authority. Workers had blocked river shipments of bauxite on occasions with the company halting operations a few months ago, and attempting to ship out its heavy-duty equipment. Rusal had threatened to take action against these exemployees, however the GB&GWU stood firm with the workers, declaring that “enough is enough”. The company has been accused of also benefitting from generous tax and other concessions. Minister Bharrat acknowledged that investors leaving the country can contribute to high levels
General Manager & Country Representative of BCGI, Vladimir Permakov
Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Vickram Bharrat
of unemployment and this is not something the government wants – especially in the bauxite industry. Kaieteur News contacted Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, after learning that former Rusal workers had given up their lengthy protests and he was asked what plans the new administration had for the ex-employees and their dispute with Rusal. Hamilton disclosed that an initial meeting was held between officials from the government and Rusal, as instructed by President Ali. It was attended by Hamilton,
Robeson Benn, Minister of Home Affairs, and Rusal’s General Manager and Country Representative, V l a d i m i r P e r m y a k o v. Hamilton said the meeting served as a hearing of the bauxite company’s critical issues claimed they encountered that lead up to them being unable to continue bauxite mining operations in Aroaima, the aim being to find solutions to have their presence in Guyana restored. In Minister Bharrat’s briefing to Kaieteur, it was stated that the company has provided a summary of their experiences in Guyana that
A good step for Government to reduce corruption in the public sector would be the signing of an annual code of conduct for directors of state boards, according to anti-corruption advocate and attorney-atlaw, Christopher Ram. He earlier this week appeared on Kaieteur R a d i o ’s n e w e s t s h o w, Corruption, Governance & Justice, with hostess Kiana Wilburg. The discussion centered on what can be done to quash a culture of corruption in Guyana’s public sector. Ram noted that he was recently appointed as a director of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL). Such a designation, he said, would immediately subject him to the scrutiny of the Integrity Commission, making his financial affairs a matter of public record, though that was not brought
to his attention upon his appointment. “The fact that it wasn’t even drawn to my attention suggests that that culture, that ingrained behaviour, [and] ingrained philosophy do not exist,” the attorney said. What his appointers should have put to him, Ram opined, is the question of whether he is prepared to accept and comply with the strictures of the Integrity Commission Act. On this premise, Ram was keen to note his recommendation. “…it doesn’t necessarily mean they [directors] are gonna be perfect. We all can’t go to heaven. But it will make them conscious. When they have to sign that annual certificate that “I have complied”, they must have some nagging sense of guilt to know, you know this is not t r u e . ” R a m ’s r e c e n t appointment to NICIL is t i m e l y. T h e s t a t e
Minister of Labor, Hon. Joseph Hamilton included labor conflicts, technical matters, economic concerns, and the dispute between them and their exworkers who placed a block at the Berbice River to bar bauxite being transported by the company. In their breakdown, Rusal contended that there needs to be a proper restoration of their mine that was flooded to ensure there are safe mining operations. They also stated that a main economic concern was the operating cost for extracting bauxite in Guyana. The company maintained that the extracting cost was not (Continued on page 15)
Coalition, others owe NCN Ram recommends anti-corruption over $190M code of conduct for state boards The state-owned National Communications Network, which runs a string of radio and television stations, has reached the brink of financial collapse with over $190M owed by the previous David Granger-led A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition administration. The monies were for advertisements for the March 2020 elections. In his first media engagement, Minister of Public Affairs, Kwayme McCoy, disclosed that an assessment conducted into the operations of the Guyana Chronicle, the Department of Public Information (DPI) and NCN unearthed troubling findings. That report has been lodged with President Irfaan Ali. The whopping $190M is owned to NCN, according to Minister McCoy, by mostly ministries and government agencies. Further, he said a large chunk of that sum, approximately $16.7M is owned by the Coalition for ads. The assessment of these agencies, Minister McCoy reported, found “a lack of prudent financial management, nepotism where the entities seem have been just for friends and family, poor inter-personal relations, poor working conditions and polarization of staff.” “This company has been receiving government subvention and when we
Minister of Public Information, Kwayme McCoy examine what the company has in terms of finances, you see it’s in a very terrible situation and in terms of when you examine what NCN has to work with today, the tools, there has been a degeneration of the resources there - things are totally bad,” he added. He deemed the situation “very frightening” adding that the novel Coronavirus pandemic dampened revenue flow at the agency. In the case of Guyana Chronicle and DPI, a significant management deficiency was found. He described the situation as “topheavy staffing” adding that “it’s just about providing opportunity for friends and family and the critical matters are left lagging.” Additionally, Minister McCoy said that a series of financial management interventions will be conducted over the next few weeks.
Anti-corruption advocate, Christopher Ram organization has recently found itself under the microscope due to startling giveaways by the previous administration, of large swathes of state lands under questionable circumstances. Under the guidance of a new administration, the NICIL board will be chaired by accountant, Paul Cheong, while Sasenarine Singh, Ram, Nigel Hinds, Pauline Chase and Stanley Paul will constitute the rest of the board.
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Pursuit of Federer’s record spurred Djokovic to compete in U.S. Open Reuters - Novak Djokovic decided to travel to New York for the U.S. Open amid the COVID-19 pandemic because the 17-times Grand Slam champion did not want to pass up on the opportunity to close in on Roger Federer’s record tally of 20. Federer will not be at Flushing Meadows this year after he took the year off to recover from a knee surgery while defending champion Rafael Nadal joined a number of top seeds in refusing to travel to the U.S. due to COVID-19 concerns.
“I cannot say it’s the main reason why I’m here, but it’s one of the reasons,” Djokovic told The New York Times here adding that he came very close to skipping the tournament as well. “I have to think about myself and my health and my fitness and whether my team is OK to be here. Once that was checked, then I, of course, also felt responsible as a top player to be here, it’s important for our sport to keep going. “I want to play... That’s why I’m here. I’m personally
Novak Djokovic not afraid of being in a risky, dangerous health situation for myself. If I felt that way, I most likely would not be here.” Djokovic came under scrutiny in June when he hosted the ill-fated Adria
Friday August 21 2020 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Try not to lose sight of your own projects or desires, Aries. There's a great deal of power and manipulative energy in the air today that could throw you off course if you aren't careful.
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Feel free to speak more loudly today, Libra. You'll find that things fall into place more easily if you speak your thoughts outwardly and directly in the presence of others.
TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) Recharge today by getting outside and stretching your arms to the sky, Taurus. Be proud and courageous. You have the power to turn an unhealthy situation into a positive one.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) You should bask in a glorious splendor today, Scorpio. There's a great deal of power at your disposal. You'll find your ego is healthy, charged, and ready for the battlefield.
GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Difficult predicaments could arise today if you try to exert your will over others without having the most honorable intentions.
SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Add more sunshine to your day, Sagittarius. It may be time to stir up your inner passion and let it speak with greater confidence than you have been lately.
CANCER (June 21–July 22) The fire within you is raging today, Cancer, and you should be careful how you wield this power. Be proud and triumphant. Walk with your shoulders back and head high. LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) There may be a great deal of fuss over something that seems quite insignificant to you. Try to see the beauty and importance of everything around you. At the same time, make sure you give yourself enough credit for being the person you are. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Things are coming to a critical point for you today, Virgo, and you may find that other people openly object to your actions. It's OK to be a bit selfish if the situation is appropriate.
CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) You'll find that your spark can easily turn potential energy into kinetic energy, Capricorn. Don't underestimate the power of your words. Realize the profound impact they have on others and take responsibility for their consequences. AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Don't dwell on your fluctuating moods today, Aquarius. Look at the larger trends and how positive elements are coming together in your favor. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) This is your day to shine in all your glory. There's no need to hold anything back. You'll find that you have a great deal of love to share. Your heart is likely to go to extremes today in order to prove its love, passion, and affection.
Tour in Serbia and Croatia, which was scrapped when many players and staff, including himself, tested positive for COVID-19. The 33-year-old Serbian said he felt the criticism had turned into a “witch hunt”. “I don’t think I’ve done anything bad to be honest,” Djokovic said. “I do feel sorry for people that were infected. “Do I feel guilty for anybody that was infected from that point onward in Serbia, Croatia and the region? Of course not. How can you blame one individual for everything?” Djokovic will first play in the Western & Southern Open, a warm-up tournament which began in New York on Thursday (yesterday), before the U.S. Open begins on Aug. 31.
Narine stars again as... From page 39 Powerplay meant things were much calmer in the Knight Riders dugout. Narine has built his reputation as a hitter of spin, but he was severe on the pace of Russell, with the highlight an impudent inside-out four on one leg. He brought up a 35-ball 50 off the last ball of the 10th over, at which point the Knight Riders needed just 71 off 60 with nine wickets in hand. Munro’s was a curious innings - he managed just 16 off his first 24 balls, but 14 of them were boundaries, and it wasn’t until the 17th over that he breached a run a ball. This all-ornothing approach was a feature of the chase, and the Knight Riders will want to address their high dot-ball percentage as they move through the tournament. Mujeeb was excellent, and deserves huge credit for holding a skied return catch off Darren Bravo despite keeper Phillips nearly taking him out with a fulllength dive. But Narine’s belligerence and Munro’s anchor role meant that, although the Tallawahs will rue a few missed opportunities, the Knight Riders always had the chase firmly under control. This sense of ease was underlined when Pollard had time to block out an Edwards over in an ultimately vain attempt to steer Munro to 50, and the Knight Riders go into the weekend sitting pretty atop the standings.
Premier League 202021 fixtures announced: Liverpool to face Leeds in opening games BBCsport - Champions Liverpool will face Championship winners Leeds United in the standout opening weekend game of the 2020-21 Premier League season. Championship play-off winners Fulham will host Arsenal, while West Bromwich Albion, the third promoted side, are at home to Leicester City. The opening round of fixtures will take place on the weekend of 12 September. However, Manchester City v Aston Villa and Burnley v Manchester United will be rearranged. Those two games will not be played on the opening weekend to give City and United 30 days since their defeats in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the
semi-finals of the Europa League respectively. Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ opening matches are both scheduled for Monday, 14 September after their slightly earlier European exits. The Blues are at Brighton, while Wolves go to Sheffield United. The other opening weekend fixtures are Crystal Palace v Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur v Everton and West Ham United v Newcastle United. Exact dates and kick-off times will be confirmed when the television selections are made. Matches will be played behind closed doors amid the coronavirus pandemic. The English Football League fixtures will be announced today.
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NBA roundup: Robinson shoots Heat past Pacers for 2-0 lead - Doncic, Mavs pull level with Clippers
Duncan Robinson shoots as Indiana Pacers’ Myles Turner (33) defends during the first half. Ashley Landis/Pool Photo-USA TODAY Sports
Olympics: Torch relay schedule intact pandemic. for next year - Kyodo Organisers aim to stick to the Tokyo (Reuters) - Tokyo Olympic organisers plan to follow roughly the same schedule, delayed by a year, for the nationwide torch relay preceding the postponed summer Games, Kyodo News reported on Thursday (yesterday). The relay is expected to start on March 25, 2021, in Fukushima prefecture from the J-Village soccer training centre, a symbol of Japan’s reconstruction from the 2011 earthquake and
tsunami, Kyodo said, citing unidentified officials with knowledge of the matter. Runners are to pass through all 47 of Japan’s prefectures in the relay lasting 121 days, as originally planned, the news agency said. The relay had been scheduled to start in J-Village on March 26 this year, but just days before that, the International Olympic Committee and Japanese government decided to postpone the Games by a year because of the COVID-19
event as originally planned but could still make changes to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Kyodo said. “We are continuing to respect the original framework as much as possible while we review how we organise the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay,” the organising committee said in an emailed statement in reponse to the report. The Tokyo Olympics are now scheduled to run from July 23 to Aug. 8, 2021.
Field Level Media Duncan Robinson tied a franchise postseason record with seven 3-pointers in just his second career playoff game Thursday (yesterday) afternoon, helping the Miami Heat take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series against the Indiana Pacers with a 109-100 victory at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando. Robinson finished with a game-high 24 points, Goran Dragic added 20 and Jimmy Butler had 18 in a balanced attack that allowed the fifthseeded Heat to successfully follow up on Tuesday’s 113101 triumph in the series opener. Victor Oladipo, playing two days after suffering an eye injury that required brief hospitalization, paced fourthseeded Indiana with 22 points. Game 3 is slated for Saturday (tomorrow). Luka Doncic had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and the Dallas Mavericks earned a 127-114 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday near Orlando to even their opening-round Western Conference playoff series at one win apiece. Kristaps Porzingis added 23 points and seven rebounds, Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 17 points, and Trey Burke finished with 16 points
as the Mavericks leveled the best-of-seven series. Seth Curry chipped in 15 points and Boban Marjanovic, a former Clipper, hit 6 of 8 shots on his way to 13 points. Marjanovic added nine rebounds. Kawhi Leonard had 35 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers. Lou Williams contributed 23 points, while Paul George, who was limited by foul trouble, had 14 points and 10 boards. Marcus Morris Sr. had 14 points and eight rebounds. Toronto Raptors 104 Brooklyn Nets 99 - Norman Powell scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, Fred VanVleet had 24 points and 10 assists and Toronto rallied to defeat Brooklyn to grab a 2-0 lead in the firstround series. The Raptors, who raced to a 33-point first-half lead in Monday’s win, fell behind by 14 in the first quarter of Game 2 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference clash. The Nets still led by six entering the fourth quarter, but the defending NBA champion Raptors opened the period with a 19-5 run to lead 93-85 with 6:21 remaining. Utah Jazz 124 - Denver Nuggets 105 - Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points and Jordan Clarkson added 26 to help Utah run away with a
victory the Denver in Game 2 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series. Mitchell also dished out eight assists to help the Jazz even the series at 1-1. Utah finished with 32 assists on 45 baskets and shot 20 of 44 (45.5 percent) from the 3point arc. Royce O’Neale chipped in a career-high eight assists to help fuel the offense. The Jazz turned the ball over only eight times. Nikola Jokic scored 28 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out six assists to lead Denver. Michael Porter Jr. added 28 points for the Nuggets, who trailed the entire second half. Boston Celtics 128 Philadelphia 76ers 101 Boston recorded a second straight comfortable win to begin its playoff series against Philadelphia, getting 33 points from Jayson Tatum for a 2-0 series lead. Equaling the most 3pointers in their heralded postseason history, the Eastern Conference’s third seed outscored the 76ers 5715 from beyond the arc to successfully follow up on a 109-101 win in the opener. Kemba Walker added 22 points and Jaylen Brown 20 for the Celtics, who had lost three of four to the 76ers in the regular season. Joel Embiid led all scorers with 34 points for the 76ers.
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Ross, Giddings, Balram, Gajnabi and the BCB are 2019 Awardees - RHTY&SC, Gregory Gaskin Memorial Berbice Sports Awards The Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC) and it’s ten cricket teams recently hosted the annual Gregory Gaskin Memorial Berbice Sports Awards, sponsored by the Basil Butcher Trust Fund. This event is held in memory of Gregory Gaskin, the late founder of COPS Security Service and an outstanding supporter of sports in Guyana. National Volleyball Outside Attacker Shamroy Ross and West Indies Female Cricketer Shabika Gajnabi won the prestigious Male and female Awards for 2019 while another West Indies Female Cricketer, Erva Giddings received the Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to cricket over the past fifteen years. The pro active Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) was named the Sports Organisation of the year while businessman Deonarine Balram of the popular Shane General Store, was named Sports Personality for his support of all sports in the Ancient County during the period. RHTY&SC Secretary/ CEO Hilbert Foster in remarks stated that the ten cricket teams are forging ahead with plans to fulfill most of their activities despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. This is being done while observing the strict guidelines set by the government. He disclosed that due to social distancing,
no official programme was held but the Awardees were invited to receive their awards, individually. Foster reemphasised the importance of sports in the development of the character of young people and hailed all the Awardees as positive role models for youths to emulate. He urged them to uphold the high standards they have set themselves in the past and to work even harder to achieve even more success. The RHTY&SC, Foster stated would continue to be the premier youth and sports organisation in Guyana and was proud to be involved in honoring the memory of Gaskin. Ross, in 2019 represented the Guysuco Training Centre, Berbice and the National Volleyball teams with great success as an Outsider Attacker. He was named Berbice Volleyball Association (BVA) Most Valuable Player for 2019. Gajnabi made her debut for the West Indies at the senior level after outstanding performances for Berbice and Guyana. Giddings made her West Indies debut in 2008 and over the years has been an outstanding performer for the RHTY&SC, Berbice and Guyana. For over a decade, Giddings has played among her male counterparts at the Second Division level with great success, claiming over
Sports Personality Awardee Deonarine Balram receives his award from RHTY&SC’s, Simon Naidu. two hundred wickets. The BCB has been the leading County Board over the years and in 2019 successfully completed over 25 tournaments and dozens of off the field developmental programmes. The Sports Personality of the Year, Deonarine Balram is known across Berbice for his wholehearted support of sports and over the past twenty years has been the sole sponsor of the Balram Shane Memorial Cricket and Volleyball tournaments. RHTY&SC Assistant Secretary, Simon Naidu handed over all the awards which included a trophy,
medal, certificate of excellence and a collection of special prizes. The ten cricket teams of the RHTY&SC are Poonai Pharmacy Under-12 and 13, Farfan and Mendes Under-15, Bakewell Under-17 and Second Division, Pepsi Under-19 and Intermediate, Metro Female, Namilco Thunderbolt Under-21 and First Division. The joint RHTY&SC/BCB Basil Butcher Memorial project has distributed over $4M worth of items and sponsored several events in tribute to the Legendary West Indies batsman who died last December at the age of 86.
Narine stars again as TKR remain unbeaten A fine all-round bowling display saw Trinbago Knight Riders win the battle of the unbeaten teams and go to the top of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) table. Glenn Phillips was the only standout for the Jamaica Tallawahs as the powerhitters struggled for fluency, and Sunil Narine’s second consecutive 50 did the bulk of the work even as the Knight Riders took their time about the chase. Ali Khan and Jayden Seales started superbly after Knight Riders captain Kieron Pollard put the Tallawahs in. Walton spliced Ali Khan to square leg and Kirton was trapped in front by Seales remarkably, this was the first LBW of Hero CPL 2020. Glenn Phillips and Tallawahs captain Rovman Powell both hit their first ball for Hero Maximums, but a
flamboyant DJ Bravo catch gave Ali Khan the wicket of Powell. Asif Ali coming to the crease in the third over cannot have been part of the Tallawahs’ Plan A. A mini-recovery ensued as Phillips took Seales for a pair of boundaries, and Asif welcomed Khary Pierre to Hero CPL 2020 with an enormous straight six. Narine bamboozled Asif five balls straight but found himself hammered into the stands for a magnificent Powerplayclosing Hero Maximum. Narine had his revenge, bowling Asif with a deceptive quicker ball. The Tallawahs crawled to 63/4 at halfway, and it got worse when a Fawad googly completely deceived Brathwaite. The leg-spinner’s first two overs tonight contained a remarkable 11 dot balls. Phillips broke the spell off
Fawad to come out of his postPowerplay slump and reach 50 off 34 balls. The Tallawahs were careful to see off Narine, but at 90/5 with six overs to come, the acceleration had to come at some point, and once Phillips fell trying to whip Seales over deep square leg the onus was all on Russell. Ali Khan delivered a nearperfect over, closing by nearly holding a spectacular return catch off a ferocious drive from Ramaal Lewis, who came into the Tallawahs XI for Veerasammy Permaul. In truth the American was lucky to escape with his teeth intact. Thanks to a fine diving catch at mid-off from Colin Munro, a restless Russell fell having faced a good number of deliveries for under a run a ball for the second game running. Remarkably, he hasn’t yet hit a six in this year’s Hero CPL.
The final over saw Fidel Edwards, into the team for Oshane Thomas for his first Hero CPL game since 2015, run out as he sacrificed himself to save Lewis, but the all-rounder couldn’t manage a boundary. Ali Khan and Dwayne Bravo’s death bowling was outstanding, and the Tallawahs total felt sub-par. Edwards and Mujeeb-urRahman troubled the top order, with Lendl Simmons losing his shape off the paceman and gifting a catch to mid-off. After 4 overs the Tallawahs had Trinbago nerves jangling, but Narine’s eyes lit up when inexperienced off-spinner Lewis came into the attack. 14 runs came off the over, Munro and Narine both drove Russell for four through cover, and 38/1 off the (Continued on page 37)
Zouks beat rain and Tridents to get first win The St Lucia Zouks’ mix of smarts and firepower saw them home in a breathless chase, after a heavy rain shower cut short a Barbados Tridents innings that started brilliantly but was derailed the Zouks’ battery of offspinners. A late burst of four wickets for 11 runs in 18 just balls proved crucial in keeping the revised target in range, as the power of Rakheem Cornwall and the perennial excellence of Mohammad Nabi meant even Rashid Khan couldn’t deny the Zouks their first win of Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020. A couple of top edges and a bruising straight hit saw Cornwall take 13 off Tridents captain Jason Holder in the first over of the chase, but Rashid’s googly did for him as it has so many before, Shai Hope having ample time to complete a stumping. Jonathan Carter held legside catches to dismiss Najibullah Zadran and Nabi, but not before the latter had backed up a superb bowling spell with a six and a four off his countryman Rashid. Andre Fletcher made victory a formality with a Hero Maximum of his own off the champion leg-spinner, and with scores level he guided Raymon Reifer through point for four to seal victory with four balls to spare. At the start of the day Holder bucked the trend of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) so far and chose to bat, backing the allround abilities of his four spinners in glorious conditions that were a far cry from the damp and grey of the end of the match. There was backing for spin too from Daren Sammy, as Saad bin Zafar came into the Zouks XI and recovered well from being cut for four by Johnson Charles to bowl a good first over. Obed McCoy gave Charles three easy boundaries including the day’s first Hero Maximum, but while the opener dispatched Scott Kuggeleijn’s first ball over long-on, a good leaping catch from Sammy at mid-off saw him depart next ball. He had done his job, however, with 35 off 19. With Charles so
effective, the pressure was off Hope and he responded with two fluent fours off Mohammad Nabi. Corey Anderson couldn’t believe what he’d done when he smashed a high Kuggeleijn full toss straight to cover, Chase physically knocked off his feet as he held on well, but 53/2 represented a good Powerplay. Nabi gave a middle-overs off-spin masterclass, forcing Hope into attacking the long boundary where Mark Deyal took a simple catch. Holder’s 11-ball cameo gave no hint of the troubles to come, with the long boundary not long enough to stop him taking Rakheem Cornwall for a four and a six in consecutive balls. But if Sammy was relieved when his opposite number toe-ended one to him at long-on, he was ecstatic when his offspinners ripped through the Tridents’ middle order to turn the game on its head. Sammy was happy to bowl Nabi out early, and with the death overs approaching he went to his third off-spinner, Roston Chase, who picked up Carter and Kyle Mayers in consecutive balls. Reifer denied Chase the hat-trick, but the Zouks had heaped the pressure on those Tridents all-rounders with the champions 107/6 off 14. Deyal, yet another offspinner, became the eighth bowler used and the fifth to take a wicket as Andre Fletcher took a good catch off Reifer’s outside edge. The return of seam released the pressure, Kuggeleijn going for 11, and the Tridents had recovered to 131/7 with 11 balls to go when the darkening clouds finally burst and reduced the chase to the minimum allowable. But the off-spinners had done the damage, and with the rainy season underway captains’ preference for chasing may just be reinforced even further. Scores: St Lucia Zouks 50/3 (Fletcher 16*, Nabi 15, Cornwall 14; Rashid 2/24, Reifer 1/13) beat Barbados Tridents 131/7 (Charles 35, Holder 27, Hope 19; Chase 2/8, Kuggeleijn 2/28, Nabi 1/ 19, Deyal 1/3) by 7 wickets (DLS target 47 off 5 overs).
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Friday August 21, 2020
Kaieteur News
Our aim is to peak at the back end of “I always want to contribute the tournament - GAW Captain Green to the team,” - Keemo Paul Captain of the Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) Chris Green said their aim is to be peaking at the back end of the tournament. Following their three-wicket win over the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots on Wednesday night at the Brian Lara Stadium in their second game of this year’s CPL. Green said they want to continue to get better and better: “There is no point peaking in game one and two, we want to be peaking at the back end of this tournament and that’s what our aim is, and doing something we haven’t done yet,” he noted. Despite the win, Green stated that there are some areas they want to improve in. “We certainly like to keep it as generic as possible and learn off the positives. There are a few things that we want to tighten on. In game one we missed our lengths at times and I thought we were excellent in this game. From the batting in this game, our key will be multiple wickets and we want to try and continue to get better and look at the back end of this tournament.” Green pointed out that it’s great to get their campaign up and running. “We had a tough scrappy game in our first match, so we spoke before this game about just tightening a few things with the ball and that’s our blueprint moving forward. We can keep getting better from there and I think that’s really exciting for us.” Green commended manof-the-match Keemo Paul and Shimron Hetmyer on their outstanding performances. Paul picked up 4-19 while Hetmyer struck his second
Chris Green half century to lead the Warriors chase. “Keemo is really determined, you can see the fire is his eyes, it’s a different Keemo Paul. For me as a captain and for us as a team I just want to run off and give him those opportunities he is asking for.” “Hetmyer is outstanding, batting at three in a T20 tournament is a tough position and he has played the perfect blue print for us, being that guy where we have the hitters to bat around him and set up our run chase really well.” The Warriors lost a few quick wickets in latter stages of their chase, but Green noted that it’s something they have to look at moving forward. “It’s just about being switched on in the moment, loosing multiple wickets put us a little bit backwards. We spoke about not loosing multiple wickets because that put some pressure on us and it’s something we have to get better at, particular in these low chases and moving forward.” The Patriots Captain Rayad Emrit felt they came up
short in their batting. “We fell short by some 25 runs, 150 would have been perfect on this pitch, it’s a bit tricky, the power play is a bit easy, but it gets challenging in the middle overs.” “We know that we are a bit short of a batter at the end to hit the ball and there is a lot of pressure on Evin (Lewis) and Chris (Lynn). They know that they have to be responsible; we sort of got off to a decent start but losing Evin in the last over of the power play set us back. Having a good start is important and having Evin in the middle overs as well, he can get the spinners away, we need one of our senior batters in the latter stages”. While their batting fell short, Emrit said their bowling is their strength. “We have a decent bowling attack, this is our strength, we missed Sohail (Tanvir) in this game, but Drakes and Jaggessar did a decent job, if we can get 150 on the board the bowlers can have something to work with.” The Warriors next game in on Saturday (tomorrow) against the Jamaica Tallawahs from 14:15hrs.
Guyana to participate in Online Archery Cup of the Americas Archery Guyana is proud to announce that due to our affiliation to World Archery Americas (WAA), we have been invited to participate in the Online Archery Cup of the Americas, which is organised by World Archery Americas. This competition is set out to have the spirit of competing on a virtual arena whilst abiding with the COVID-19 safety measures across the Americas (north, south and Central America and the Caribbean) Archery Guyana is tasked with conducting Qualification rounds, which will be a 600 round.
Scores will be recorded electronically, pictures of equipment, scorecards and the target will be sent to the Competitions and Judging Committee via Whatsaap for tabulations and scrutiny. Seven archers will be undertaking the challenge of recording the highest score out of 600 for Guyana. Canadian-based Guyanese Wayne DeAbreu and Devin Persaud will be shooting from an Archery facility in Canada, while Umasankar Madray, Nicholas Hing, Robert Singh, Samira Duncan and Talitha Kissoon will be shooting from various locations in Guyana. Cognizant of the National
Covid-19 Protocols in place and abiding with the laws and the social distancing safety rules as to the limit on the number of persons permitted to be in any gatherings, shooting will be done in pairs at different time and dates (23rd and 25th August). Archery Guyana will then submit the scores for Guyana by August 31st to World Archery Americas, which will be tabulated along with scores from all other partaking countries. Top 2 archers in each category will be short listed to take part in an Elimination shoot, set for late September.
Keemo Paul was named man-of-the-match after picking up 4-19 against the Patriots. Randy Brooks CPL T20 All-rounder Keemo Paul earned the man-of-the-match award as five-time finalists, the Guyana Amazon Warriors defeated St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots by three wickets on Wednesday night in their second match of the 2020 Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Paul picked up 4-19, the best figures so far at the Brian Lara Stadium and was also involved the run out of Ben Dunk as the Warriors limited the Patriots to 127-8 before an attacking half century from
Shimron Hetmyer, his second in as many matches saw the Warriors to 131-7. Following the contest, Paul said he always set a standard for himself, but was disappointed the way he got out. “I am obviously disappointed the way I got out, however picking up four wickets is fantastic. Every time I come to the field I always want to contribute to the team be it with the bat or ball or in the field, so I always try to keep a standard for myself and work extra hard.
We already had our plans so I knew what I had to do so I am happy that I executed well,” he added. Hetmyer has made a fantastic start to his CPL campaign and Paul feels that more is yet to come from him. “Hetmyer is dedicated worker and he is always up for a challenge. He is a top class player and has a very far way to go. I am super proud and really excited for him. I think there are lots more to come from him,” Paul posited.
Powerlifting Federation and Minister Ramson meet The Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Federation (GAPLF), met with the Honourable Charles Ramson, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports on Friday July 14th, 2020. Representing the GAPLF were Runita White, Public Relations Officer and Erwyn Smith, Committee Member. The Minister expressed his commitment to working in partnership with the GAPLF and framed the principles for engagement. Mr. Ramson stated that it was not his objective to interfere with the way in which the GAPLF operates and he committed to meeting on an ongoing basis to assist the advancement of the organisation’s goals. Mr. Ramson said that a primary objective for all of the associations is to showcase Guyanese talent through national engagement. Minister Ramson said that would be the first of many meetings
Minister of Sport Charles Ramson Jr with GAPLF’s Runita White (left and Erwyn Smith. to discuss the growth of the sport and wants to ensure that we are not discontented with the works of the Ministry.
The GAPLF is pleased to work alongside the Ministry in order to help with the development of the sport.
Friday August 21, 2020
Kaieteur News
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Team Plaisance copped second place.
Buxton wins Emancipation 5k road relay
Team Mahaica that finished third.
The community of Buxton ran away with the first Emancipation 5k inter-village road relay that sped off on Sunday last in the village of Mahaica on the East Coast of Demerara. A total of five villages competed; namely, Plaisance, Vryheid’s Lust, Beterverwagting and the champions Buxton, while Golden Grove and Victoria did not start the race. The race was run in Mahaica around the routes of the ‘old’ and new roads. The victorious Buxton team consisted of Jonathan Seedath, Trevon Prince, Aaliyah
Team Buxton won the Emancipation 5k road relay. Headley, Adei Primo and Sean Booker to finish in a superior time of 15 minutes 41 seconds. Team Plaisance (Emmanuel Sancho, Meckiel Samcj, Akeem Henry, Akeia DeFlorimonte and Neshawn Burnette) were second in 17m 50s. In third, Mahaica (Nicholas Daw, Samuel Henry, Latovia Moore, Timothy France and Shem McKenzie) clocked a combined time of 19m 29s. Vryheid’s Lust were fourth in 20m 07s, while B.V were last in a time of 20m 50s.
Narine stars again as TKR remain unbeaten
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Sunil Narine. Randy Brooks - CPL T20/Getty
The victorious St Lucia Zouks. CPL T20 via Getty Images
Colin Munro won the #CPLSTUD of the TKR v JT match.
Zouks beat rain and Tridents to get first win Sportsmsan Shamroy Ross is flanked by Sportswoman Shabika Gajnabi (right) and Lifetime Achievement recipient, Erva Giddings.
Ross, Giddings, Balram, Gajnabi and the BCB are 2019 Awardees - RHTY&SC, Gregory Gaskin Memorial Berbice Sports Awards Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd., 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown. Tel: 225-8458, 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/226-8210.