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Lack of ring-fencing Tuesday Edition NEWS allows ExxonM to use Guyana's profits to ramp up exploration in Stabroek Block - Chris Ram AIETEUR

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December 05, 2023 - Vol. 16 No. 48

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Maduro assures regional leaders he will not invade Essequibo - VP Jagdeo Govt. to use IDB loan to set up water supply systems for Hinterland schools Homeless man gets home in jail after burglarising Police Sports Club

Gaza death toll rises as Israel expands offensive

89% of Venezuelans

turns back on Maduro's

referendum - Venezuelan opposition

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 05, 2023

Tuesday December November 05, 07,2023 2023

Kaieteur KaieteurNews News

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Lack of ring-fencing allows Exxon to use Guyana's profits to ramp up exploration in Stabroek Block In the absence of ringfencing provisions, ExxonMobil and the Stabroek Block CoVe n t u r e r s h a v e b e e n splurging Guyana's revenues to explore the 26,800 square kilometer deepwater block.

Once discoveries have been made, the company can then develop those and pursue production under the lopsided terms of the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA). Flagging what he described as “shortsightedness” on the part of the government for failing to ring-fence the Stabroek Block projects, prominent Attorney-at-Law and Chartered Accountant, Christopher Ram said Guyana is haemorrhaging US millions.

Ram during a radio appearance on Kaieteur Radio 99.1/ 99.5 FM last week argued that no competent leader would allow such an abysmal act to continue. A ring-fencing provision would mandate that each oil project pay for itself only. In this manner, once the project has been repaid, Guyana would

benefit from 50 percent of the earnings there. Ram during the radio programme however argued that Guyana has failed to ring-fence the Stabroek Block projects, allowing the currently producing projects to pay for a number of other costs in the Stabroek Block, such as exploration activities for instance.

The lawyer was keen to point out that Guyana not only allows for one project to pay for other costs, but these payments are also unrestricted or unlimited.

Ram told listeners, “Now nobody in their right mind, nobody who understands the concept of a production sharing agreement would allow that but our government does, so we lose millions and millions of USdollars in money that should have come to us, helping Exxon and their friends to explore for oil so that by the time they have to relinquish anything, they have already used up the entire area.”

The lawyer concluded that Guyana is being “conned” by the multinational oil

- Chris Ram corporation. According to the lopsided PSA Guyana signed with ExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC, the Contractor can deduct up to 75 percent of the revenues generated each month towards the recovery of cost while the remaining proceeds are split as profits equally with Guyana.

Gov't and ring-fencing The incumbent administration while in Opposition had hammered the then Coalition government for failing to implement a ring-fencing provision. It was Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo who assured that when the People's Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) returned to office, this would be a priority when the contract is renegotiated. “They sold us out to the foreigners.

The oil companies, every time there is a find out there, our people should be sad because nothing comes our way.

We are gonna renegotiate those contracts because

Attorney-at-Law, Christopher Ram that's not what we had in mind,” Jagdeo said back then. He added: “When we were in the early days, we were coaxing the people (ExxonMobil) to go along.

They (Coalition) came into office – three billion barrels of proven reserves and they gave up zero royalties, no taxes, no ring-fencing.”

Soon after taking office in 2020, the now Vice President has not only changed his tune but also his tone when it comes to the renegotiation of the Exxon contract and securing greater benefits for Guyanese. He

now believes that Guyana will benefit in the future from the lack of this provision.

His most recent position on the matter was adumbrated at a press conference in October this year.

Jagdeo said: “We admitted that we are foregoing revenue now in exchange for massive future income because it's going into new projects that will increase production, and so even with the same share of the 50/50, plus the two percent royalty that the future income, because of the bigger scale will be massive in Guyana's case and we are deliberately foregoing that in this period for that purpose and then trying to grab this bone now could cause you to lose all the bones, the bigger bones too in the future.”

Jagdeo continued, “If there is no ring-fencing, therefore it would take a bit longer to get revenue, so it comes back in the end, more revenue but it comes from a larger production so the revenue increases dramatically if the money

that would have come in earlier gets reinvested…because if you end at one project and you ring-fence and you collect and there is no new investment well then you will not get any additional resources in the future.”

Guyana has been repeatedly advised by independent international experts to ring-fence its oil projects to ensure the country benefits from its resources early on, as this would help to improve the nation's education, infrastructure and health services among others.

This is particularly important for Guyana, a new-comer to the sector, as the world transitions to cleaner sources of energy, causing a decline in oil prices.

Government in its HalfYear Report has already indicated that the country is likely to earn lower revenue from the industry this year than earlier projected.

It said this is as a result of declining oil prices on the global market triggered by a slide in demand for supplies.

89% of Venezuelans turns back on Maduro's referendum - Venezuelan opposition

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enezuelans who turned out to vote in a referendum on the status of the oil-rich Essequibo have overwhelmingly backed Venezuela's territorial claim, but the opposition in that oil-rich country has poured cold water on the exercise- estimating that about two million people voted out of a total of 20.7M eligible voters.

More than 95% approved establishing a new Venezuelan state in the territory known as Essequibo, officials said, according to the BBC. Guyana, and British Guiana before it, have administered Essequibo for over a century.

The referendum has ratcheted up tensions between the two neighbours.

Critics of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, say he called the non-binding referendum to whip up nationalist fervour and

distract from calls for free and fair elections to be held.

President Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, had urged people to turn out en masse and vote "five times 'yes' " to the five questions his government had posed on the status of Essequibo.

The 159,500-sq-km (61,600-square-mile) region makes up two thirds of the total of the land currently controlled by Guyana.

Ve n e z u e l a h a s l o n g maintained that a decision taken in 1899 by an international arbitral tribunal to award it to Britain, the colonial power which at the time ruled over Guyana, was unfair.

The matter is currently before the International Court of Justice, although Venezuela has disputed the international court's authority to rule on the matter.

In the referendum, the Venezuelan government

asked voters to back its stance on the controversy.

The most controversial question was the fifth, which asked Venezuelans if they agreed with "the creation of the Guayana Esequiba state" and its "incorporation into the map of Venezuelan territory".

Electoral officials said 95.9% of voters cast a "yes" vote to that question. Guyana has denounced the proposal as an attempt at annexation and President Irfaan Ali has accused his Venezuelan counterpart of fomenting conflict by calling for the referendum.

President Maduro hailed the results as "an overwhelming victory". "We have taken the first steps of a new historic stage in the struggle for what belongs to us, to recover what the liberators left us," he said.

The overwhelming support shown by voters had been widely expected as

Ve n e z u e l a ' s c l a i m o f sovereignty over Essequibo has very broad support in the country.

This is reflected in the fact that there was no campaign for a "no" vote.

What analysts were keen to see was how many people would follow the government's call to turn out.

Elvis Amoroso, the head of the National Electoral Council and a close ally of President Maduro, said that 10.5M votes had been cast something he described as "historic" in the country of 20.7M eligible voters.

What Mr. Amoroso did not say was how many voters took part in the referendum, a detail opposition politicians seized on.

Henrique Capriles, who lost to Mr. Maduro in the 2013 presidential election, suggested that considering that voters were asked to respond to five questions, the 10.5M votes only equated to

Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro described the result as a great victory but critics have queried the turn-out two million voters.

Opposition media also reported that polling stations had been very quiet throughout the day, casting doubt on the claims of the government that turn-out had been high.

The referendum came at a time of heightened tension between Guyana and Venezuela after the 2015 discovery of oil in the waters off Essequibo's coast by US oil giant ExxonMobil.

Tensions increased further in September this year, when Guyana held an auction at which oil companies bid for

exploration licences in Essequibo waters.

Guyanese citizens formed human chains on Sunday to show their support for Essequibo remaining under the control of their government. Guyana's president reassured them in an address broadcast on Facebook, saying that "there is nothing to fear" and that his government would defend the country's borders.

The International Court of Justice has warned Venezuela not to take any action that may alter the status quo in Essequibo.

Kaieteur News

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EDITORIAL Wharf and airstrip for gold operations Many are coming to this country and dictating their own terms. They want this and they want anything that enriches themselves, while leaving Guyanese grasping at straws. The latest entity coming up with ideas on how to look out for its own interests is Reunion Gold of Canada, which is seeking permission from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to build its own wharf and airstrip to facilitate its gold operations.

On the face of it, a wharf and airstrip aid efficiency in operations, and cut costs, which should help Reunion to be highly profitable, leading to its hiring of more Guyanese, and paying more royalties and taxes to Guyana. The company is estimated to be nicely perched on 4.2 million ounces of gold in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni area in the remote interior.

Considering the upside of that amount of gold, it should be a bonanza of an investment for Reunion should gold prices remain high. Depending on the contract between Reunion and Guyana, there should be something in it for this country’s treasury. Beside the potential positives, there have to be some other concerns in Guyana with the request to the local EPA to construct a wharf and airstrip around Reunion’s facilities in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni). A wharf and an airstrip could give any company a clear field to feather its nest to the disadvantage of Guyana. There are the issues of monitoring, checking, and overseeing the entirety of Reunion’s operations on a round-the-clock basis. Though no guarantee of integrity in Reunion’s operations due to probable incentives to locals, the barn door cannot be left opened, and all trust put in the tender mercies of any company. This is what has happened in other Third World countries, where foreigners corrupted the local staff that was set in place to police them. The Chinese did that and enjoyed a lovely time in its Ghanian mining operations. A wharf and airstrip that are unmanned by Guyanese is an invitation to exploit the situation that few would be able to resist.

With 4.2 million ounces of gold in the ground, that massive amount of metal could be gone a planeload or boatload at a time, and Guyana would be the poorer for it. In other words, the gold is shipped out, and Guyanese none the wiser about what is happening in distant goldfields.

By any measurement, a gold operation in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) might as well be on the moon, so far it is. Guyana has little knowledge of what is going on, and control is all but nonexistent.

Under prevailing circumstances, this country would be dependent on what Reunion sees fit to report to local officials. Whatever else went on out of sight would be anybody’s guess, with corporate intrigues likely getting the better of those in charge.

Guyanese should be aware (thanks to this publication) of how the Chinese have drawn a wall over their operations in different sectors (gold, bauxite, manganese) and different parts of this country with operational spheres such as Kwakwani and Matthews Ridge all being a part of a continuing evidence chain.

Guyanese rarely hear of how much gold or other minerals are found and shipped. Guyanese never hear of them reporting how much profits they have made in all the years that the various companies have been here. What Guyanese know is that they are still here, and operating freely and enthusiastically across Guyana’s rich mineral belts and basins. That alone says something, for no company sticks around for long in any place where losses (or meager profits) result.

Just recently, an Australian company, Troy Resources, skipped town, and left Guyanese with a multibillion-dollar bill owed. Troy Resources came to Guyana with a solid reputation, and the ugly record of how it responded to this country’s contract and other generosities now smells all across Guyana. This country cannot continue to make these mistakes, when it has under-weight babies, malnourished children, and many poor citizens. How Guyana’s EPA is going to deal with this request for a wharf and airstrip remains to be seen. Unless there are the tightest controls with Guyanese involved, the proper checks and balances, and robust documenting, this wharf and airstrip should not be approved.

Tuesday December 05, 2023

Ridiculous labels

DEAR EDITOR The Venezuelan VP in a post following the ICJ ruling last Friday said Guyana went to the ICJ for ‘wool and came out sheared’ (GSN December 1). It has to be asked how else is wool secured if not through the shearing process?

How ridiculous is that?

Likewise. the referral to the UN agency of a complaint by two Ve n e z u e l a n N G O s o f Guyana using children to defend and denounce Ve n e z u e l a ’s c l a i m t o Essequibo as warmongering and unethical (SN Editorial Dec 3), constitutes interference in our internal

affairs and seems a feeble attempt at clutching at straws.

There is no warmongering coming from our side of the border.

Guyana can make a similar complaint to the UN agency for children against Venezuela, who are taught the ridiculous mantra Essequibo belongs to

Venezuela and the Venezuela sun rises in the Essequibo.

Attaching ridiculous labels does not change the fact: Essequibo belongs to Guyana.

Always has, always will. The VP and NGOs better understand that.

Sincerely Shamshun Mohamed

Kissinger has died not Schlesinger (died in 2007) DEAR EDITOR, Well known PPP stalwart Hydar Ally (writing in KN Dec 2) made a faux pas, m i s t a k i n g D r. A r t h u r Schlesinger for Dr. Henry Kissinger who died a few days ago at 100. Schlesinger passed away in 2007. Both were outstanding Harvard scholars and advisors to Presidents — Schlesinger a Democrat Advisor and Kissinger a Republican and Secretary of State during different periods — Schlesinger in the 1960s and Kissinger in the 1970s.

They were academic competitors and I gathered from classroom discussions with Prof Schlesinger, he was not fond of Kissinger.

Schlesinger, a giant in his field, who was Professor for several courses I took towards the PhD during the 1980s, some six years senior to Kissinger, never mentioned anything laudatory and was very critical about his junior scholar. Schlesinger never prescribed any books from Kissinger for the several courses he taught including on the Cold War and in diplomacy.

Of hundreds of books

prescribed for several courses, Kissinger was not on any reading list.; VS Naipaul‘s novels were in the reading list. That suggests the nature of the relationship between the duo.

Schlesinger was an academic who spent decades in the classroom. He was brilliant and the best Professor I had in hundreds of courses I took for multiple degrees. He was very profound in his views and analyses and was a perfectionist in demands in assigned reports and oral presentations from students.

Hydar Ally is of the view that Schlesinger damaged Cheddi Jagan and Guyana, referring to American actions in Guyana during the 1 9 6 0 s . H y d a r, a m o n g Guyana’s finest media writers, did not mention that Jagan was removed from office in 1964 because it was felt his communism posed a serious threat to American security interests at the height of the Cold War between capitalist West and Communist East Europe.

Jagan and PPP were earlier removed from office in 1953 at the start of the Cold War. Regrettably, Jagan didn’t

learn a lesson that communism (called by Socialism or any other name) would not survive in Guyana. The introduction of communism in Guyana was one of the precursors of the rise of the Burnham dictatorship that would destroy Guyana. Had Jagan not introduced communism in Guyana, America would not have undermined him.

The irony about Guyana’s politics, is that Jagan’s supporters were not and still are not communist. They supported Jagan out of ethnic loyalty as Africans did to Burnham. Guyanese looked to America as their saviour from Burnham and his socialist dictatorship.

In discussions I had with Schlesinger on Guyana at times before and after class, he blamed Jagan’s removal from office on the CIA, not himself.

He told me that the CIA was of the view in its longterm analysis that Guyana under Burnham would cause less problems for USA than a Guyana under Jagan. He went along with the CIA conclusion and assistance was provided to enable Burnham to capture power.

He expressed regrets for that blunder as Burnham turned out to be a disaster for Guyana. Schlesinger would apologise to Jagan in a oneto-one meeting around 1991 in Manhattan at the office of the Nation Magazine. Nation hosted a lecture for Jagan; Schlesinger was in attendance.

Kissinger did not have much involvement with Guyana. He left Guyana affairs to underlings and simply gave his stamp of a p p r o v a l t o recommendations from the American Embassy in Georgetown — such as on funding Burnham and his party, foreign aid, loans, etc.

The Americans were unhappy with Burnham’s tilt towards the Soviet bloc and attacks on USA, and they started to squeeze him as Kissinger was ending his term as Secretary of State.

Aid and loans soon dried up!

President Carter authorized aid but Ronald Reagan tightened the noose on Burnham, resulting in the near collapse of the economy and the almost emptying of Guyana of its people.

Yours truly, Vishnu Bisram

Maduro gambling for resurrection DEAR EDITOR, Last week we wrote that M a d u r o ’s b e l l i c o s i t y towards our Essequibo was “all political”; without a shred of legality supporting what in effect would be an annexation of two-thirds of our national territory. And it is for this reason that he and his predecessors have refused to entertain a judicial settlement of the controversy they created but insist on direct “negotiations” between the two countries where they could browbeat us because of their superior military capabilities. It should have surprised no one that Venezuela dismissed the I C J ’s r u l i n g o n t h e i r

“referendum”.

However, there is the truism that “all politics” is local: meaning that invariably actions at the macro level are driven by local contingencies. In the case of Venezuela, utopian populism reinforced by bad governance, corruption and incompetence intensified after Chavez succumbed to cancer in 2013. Maduro barely squeaked into office on a razor thin majority.

And it went downhill from there following Chavez’ degutting of the national oil company PVSA to install army cronies, which coincided with lower oil prices. Production

plummeted from 2.5 million barrels daily to barely 500,000 barrels. Agreements with foreign oil companies, which had been induced to make the massive investments to extract and process Venezuelan heavy crude oil, were now arbitrarily scuttled to bolster sagging state coffers. The companies like Exxon balked, left and later had to be compensated via court action. Venezuela’s GDP shrank by three-quarters between 2014 and 2021; debt doubled to more than $150B while hyperinflation skyrocketed 130,000 percent by 2018 and devastated savings. Maduro clung on to

power increasingly through political repression, censorship, and electoral manipulation. The 2018 elections, for instance which he “won” were widely considered fraudulent.

Under his regime, almost 8 million Venezuelans fled and 94% of those remaining live below the poverty line.

Maduro knew he could not hold on to power through democratic elections.

A week after Exxon announced on May 20 2015 it had struck a massive seam of oil extending into Essequibo territorial waters, Maduro issued a decree claiming the entire 200 miles (Continued on page 16)

Tuesday December 05, 2023

Kaieteur News

The Dowrich comedy and justified Bravo omission DEAR EDITOR I must confess that as I was fuming about the foolish noise in some quarters over the decision not to recycle Darren Bravo at the expense of young promising players, I erupted into fits of laughter upon reading in the press of the retirement of Shane Dowrich.

This fellow was just recalled to perform West Indies duties only a few days earlier by the now famous bunch of comedians led by the ‘Goodly Dr. Haynes”, for whatever conceivable reason, only they can explain.

Their penchant for being consistently inconsistent is a g g r a v a t i n g , embarrassing and disgraceful and you are left to ponder whether the WICB is utilising its scarce financial resources to rescue some former players who may fallen on tough times by providing them with employment.

No normal thinking person in the Caribbean, except his countrymen, could have understood the recall of Dowrich to the West Indies team and in the same breath exclude Darren Bravo. It was a barefaced act of insularity which has continued to p l a g u e We s t I n d i e s cricket.

We have had enough of it in recent times from the boys from the Twin Islands which has brought WI cricket (as one of my country-men ably described it) as low as duck ankle and now these comedians seems hell bent on wanting to take it out of existence by continuing along the same destructive path. In my recent missive I had advised the “Goodly Dr,” to do a Usain Bolt, but I suppose it is hard for some people to recognise when they have become the problem rather than the solution.

And as if WI cricket does not have enough drama up comes the unnecessary annoying noise of the nonrecycling of Darren Bravo. After years of failing miserably and then having one fairly good regional season with the bat 34-year-old Darren Bravo’s brother and a bunch of other individuals are shedding

Jacob tears over his exclusion from the WI team.

I can speak of many players in the West Indies who had been performing in Regional cricket over the years but were ignored at the expense of recycling average players who has turned out to be no good. I did not hear then, these same voices questioning the selection policy and asking for a clear set of selection criteria. This great Darren Bravo had his technique exposed about four or five years ago and the last time I saw him bat in the CPL, I can say without fear of contradiction that those flaws were still very much there.

Successful batsmen learn quickly that they have to sort out their challenges which are part and parcel of cricket.

Not wait four or five years when they are almost in their mid-thirties to make some runs and believe that you have a transport for a place in the West Indies team.

What about those young players who had been performing while he Darren Bravo was failing?

Who is Darren Bravo that they must now take a back seat and make room for him to play?

Do these people calling for those young performing West Indies players to be over looked and discriminated against for Darren Bravo to play have a tunnel between the ears?

While I agree with the decision not to recycle Darren Bravo, the selectors must strive for consistency

by terminating the practice of recycling average players who are tested and proven failures. And the policy should be applicable to the likes of Raymond Reifer, Roston Chase, Shamar Brooks, Jommel Warrican and Devon Thomas. Jason Holder who I think is one cricketer who has wasted his attributes and has been seen as a top all-rounder (which I disagree) cannot justify his place with batting averages of 29.4, 24.9 and 14.5 in Te s t , O D I ’s a n d T 2 0 respectively and a bowling average that is nothing to shout about. His captaincy record was one of the, if not, the worst in modern times and I cannot see recycling him will make any positive difference to West Indies cricket.

These recycled players cannot and will not take WI cricket anywhere so it is time to rebuild with the younger players for the future.

And for heaven’s sake, the West Indian public can do with a nice Christmas gift… The Goodly Dr. and his bunch of comedians should resign on Christmas Eve Day. Yours truly Eric Whaul

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Total reassessment of PPP required’ DEAR EDITOR U n l i k e D r. Vi s h n u Bisram, Dr. Randy Persaud was genuinely attempting to end his critique (‘Dr. Henry Jeffrey has it wrong again,’ KN 28/11/2023) in an even handed and positive manner, but the way he sought to do so would prevent us from properly grasping the nature of the problem and the possible solutions.

Unfortunately, this defect epitomises the customary shallowness of his contributions.

‘Finally,’ he said, ‘let me say that to try and blame Burnham or Jagan for what Maduro is doing is ridiculous. To label the critique of Burnham’s authoritarianism as racist, is the equivalent to those who equate the critique of Netanyahu as anti-Semitic.’

D r. P e r s a u d , F o r b e s Burnham, Cheddi Jagan and Nicolás Maduro did not suddenly drop from thin air.

Maduro was born in 1962, the same year that Venezuela informed the United Nations that it would not continue to abide by the arbitration award of 1899 and given the level of the state propaganda since then, generations of Venezuelans have grown up

believing that Essequibo belongs to them. To make matters worse, he now finds himself in a political career in which, regardless of what his own opinion may be, the management and/or manipulation of public opinion is critical to his and his party’s survival.

It cannot, therefore, be ridiculous to attempt to reconstruct history to

determine how it may have contributed to his g e n e r a t i o n ’s p r e s e n t behaviour and in the process attribute historical responsibility, i.e., blame. I would argue that such an exercise (digging up dead bones, if you wish Dr. Persaud) is necessary if we are to get to the root of the problem and seek to (Continued on page 06)

We are ready!

DEAR EDITOR, No one is begging Venezuela to behave. They know what the court has ruled and they know what can happen if they act aggressively and invade our land. We have reasoned with them long enough, and now it is time to wait to see if they will behave like fools or behave like good neighbours.

Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition have united in this act of greed. All Guyanese must stay on alert

and be prepared for the worst. Any foolish acts by fools who try to invade our land will be dealt with by the GDF and our Allies in a very decisive and deliberate manner.

Venezuela must keep in mind that our outstretched hand in neighbourly peace can quickly become a fist if they try to rob us.

Sincerely, Mr. Jamil Changlee Chairman The Cooperative Republicans of Guyana

Kaieteur News

PAGE 06

Tuesday December 05, 2023

Total reassessment of PPP required...

From page 5 convince Maduro that his position is untenable.

Indeed, if as Cheddi Jagan believed, it was the USA who sought the reemergence of the border dispute to stymie any possibility of Jagan spreading communism on the mainland, it would not be out of place for Guyanese to call upon the USA - the Venezuelans did in the 1890s - as still the senior regional power, to seek and reinforce a peaceful means of ending the controversy.

As for the comparison b e t w e e n ‘ B u r n h a m ’s authoritarianism’ and Netanyahu, you appear to be comparing unlike things and the cases are sufficiently different as to make such comparison invidious.

Netanyahu has made it quite clear that Israel is a Jewish state and in many ways the Palestinians are treated as second class citizens.

‘Dr. Jeffrey’s first error,’ he claimed, ‘is that he thinks that the Guyana-Venezuela matter before the ICJ is a bilateral matter.

Nothing could be further from the truth.’ Where did this come from?

How could a court case be bilateral?

I have the habit of quoting people so that the reader would know what was really said. I suspect that Persaud’s was trying to create and destroy a strawman: if so, he has failed miserably! What I did say is that ‘The Guyana/Venezuela border controversy is one of the costliest PPP legacies’ and n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g D r.

Bisram’s byline ‘Not the time to attribute or apportion blame for the border predicament Guyana finds itself ’, entrapped by PPP ideology, he then used archaic PPP propaganda that Burnham should not have agreed to the 1966 Geneva agreement, to surreptitiously do precisely what he advised against! ‘The case before the ICJ has nothing to do with any past president or their actions or whether they sold out Guyana’s

rights to gain or retain office. … Blaming B u r n h a m f o r opportunistically agreeing to revisit or reopen the Arbitration Award will not provide a solution to the conflict.’

‘Jeffrey’s next jeopardy,’ we are told, c o n c e r n s t h e P P P ’s supposed ethnic ideology. …The case of ethnic ideology is built bizarrely on an ancient letter written

by Cheddi Jagan in 1951.

In that letter to the Czechoslovak Communist Party, Dr. Jagan belted out some political positions popular in anti-colonial struggles.

There is no mention of r a c e … ( b u t ) J e ff r e y massages the document into a racial text.’ Instead of responding to Robin Singh’s characterization of Burnham based on the history of that era, he chose to convert Jagan’s anti-imperialism into antiAfrican racism.’

Understandably as a current PPP propagandist, Randy Persaud appears to

want to discard history, but he should not underestimate the importance and reach of old documents.

The entire border problem we are confronted with today has been based on ‘ancient’ d o c u m e n t s . S e c o n d l y, Jagan did not ‘belt out’ anything; he gave a short but careful analysis of the PPP’s position and its possible contribution to the development of communism in the region.

‘The purpose of this letter is to outline the political situation in British Guiana and the r o l e o f t h e P e o p l e ’s Progressive Party and to solicit aid on behalf of the Party. …British Guiana will … most likely play the leading role in any future development of the Caribbean Area and …. As such a strong militant party in British Guiana is vitally necessary.

The balance of power in the Executive Committee of the party is with the communists.’ (Cheddi Jagan, SN: 11/04/2023).

Thirdly, the truth is that the PPP was bent upon swapping Western imperialism for brutal Stalinism imperialism! As Jagan was writing his letter in 1951 based upon methods rooted in the first communist international, senior dissident members of the Czechoslovak Communist Party were being imprisoned for participating in a ‘Trotskyite-Titoite-Zionist conspiracy’ and after a typical Stalinist show trial (the Prague trials), 11 of them were executed. I cannot recall joining the Stalinist fold being popular in the anti-colonial movement, and certainly not in this region!

F o u r t h l y, r a c e n e e d n o t h a v e b e e n m e n t i o n e d i n t h e text: it was what underpinned Jagan’s promise and it still is the foundation of the PPP’s political power that it frequently nurtures with dog-whistles like ‘don’t split the votes,’ reminders of ‘kick down the door bandits,’ although being in possession of thousands

of security forces allowing disruptive remnants from a PNC associated protest march to harass its vendor supporters at Lusignan, etc.

The West understood the longevity of ethnic alliances with which the PPP was attempting to entice international communism.

I repeat, if according to Robin Singh, Burnham cooperating with the Western world to prevent the PPP from spreading communism in the region is ‘shameful’, Jagan’s effort to facilitate its establishment was ‘disgraceful.’

Indeed, now that the PPP’s attempt to deprive the Guyanese people of their democratic rights has been unmasked its historic moral pomposity about rigged elections, PNC racism, etc., has gone to hell! And when this is coupled to its current but understandable behavior a total reassessment of the PPP is required!

Regards Dr. Henry Jeffrey

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T B UN Tuesday December 05, 2023

Kaieteur News

“We have seen the Maduro government proclaim victory after the referendum. I believe that the consequences are disastrous and the outcome is disastrous for Maduro...

We know that figure is a rigged figure. All day long, we saw images from the polling places and reports from the Latin American press, pointing out that it was an abysmally low turnout and people were not interested in the referendum so miraculously, they extended the timeframe in the evening claiming that they had a large number of people at polling places which wasn't factual, and then manufactured a 50 percent turnout of eligible voters; but even if we assume for a moment that the 50 percent turnout was real, it meant that only half of the eligible voters showed up at the poll and of the half that showed up at the poll, at least five percent voted no.

So we believe that Maduro had no choice but to rig the outcome and he had no choice but to claim victory but in fact, it was a defeat given the low turnout.

People just rejected that. They saw it as a distraction from the electoral problems that Maduro faces at home,” Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo.

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Tuesday December 05, 2023

Kaieteur News

Maduro assured regional leaders he will not invade Essequibo – VP Jagdeo Guyana's Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, revealed in a Monday interview that President Nicolas Maduro has assured Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders that Venezuela harbours no plans to invade Guyana. Despite these reassurances, Jagdeo emphasised the importance of sustained vigilance.

The Vice President is currently in Dubai attending the United Nations Climate Summit. During an interview with the News Room's Neil Marks in Dubai, Jagdeo said that Guyana is prepared for the worst, as he conveyed the

country's readiness for any scenario by building defence cooperation with allies. He also urged Guyanese not to worry unnecessarily.

The Vice President said, “Maduro has been saying to the leaders that he has no intention of invading Guyana, he said this to Caricom leaders and all those who spoke with him. We have had the opportunity to speak with many of those leaders here at COP and they have all said in their conversations with him this is what he has said.” Jagdeo added that Venezuela lawyer to the International Court of

Justice (ICJ) said the same thing. “We don't believe they have a mandate for anything and secondly that they will invade Guyana and if you look at the assessment done

by CNN and many international bodies, they believe too, because they speak to a lot of people in Venezuela, in the military, in the U.S Intelligence circles, people believe that Venezuela will not invade.”

“But we cannot, the leadership in Guyana cannot just take assurances from the Maduro government that they will not invade the country even if that is so, we

have to be prepared for any eventualities and we must not let our guard down or let ourselves be less vigilant.”

Jagdeo continued: “we have to be very vigilant in this upcoming period because the Venezuelan leadership has shown itself to be very unpredictable and therefore that is why we have been working with our partners to ensure that we enhance defence cooperation that should the worst outcome happen that we can defend our country by all means necessary.”

As it relates to defence cooperation, Jagdeo said, “we are engaging, we are coordinating efforts, those who are engaged with us are working with us to build our capacity, not just planning capability but to look at protecting our territorial integrity.” “We are not a belligerent country and we are not one that would threaten Venezuela, so we are acting purely in a precautionary manner and in a defence capability but that does not mean that should they defy the International Court of Justice or defy the consensus in the world that we will just sit down and accept it and therefore this defence cooperation means preparing for the worse outcome.”

M o r e o v e r, J a g d e o reaffirmed Guyana's position to abide by the decision of the ICJ and to allow the

Vice President of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo substantive case to be heard to its finality, since the country is confident in its case.

He was keen to note that the controversy has not distracted government from its development agenda and is in fact focused on exercising sovereignty over the country's resources and utilising those in sovereign territory for all Guyanese.

“We have not changed or slacken the pace on any of our development programmes so the work of government continues and I would say to the people of Guyana, don't get caught up in this incessant almost traumatic experience of worrying unnecessarily and sharing things that may not

be the truth.”

He said that only on Sunday evening, the Guyana Defence Force issued a statement in response to a widely circulated video on social media where a tribe of Venezuelans were removing the Golden Arrowhead from Guyana's territory. Jagdeo clarified that this was not the case but the video was already shared by tens of thousands causing worry among citizens of Guyana.

The former President in this regard said: “I want them to rest assured that we are doing all necessary to keep our borders safe and we will take whatever steps necessary to do so and Venezuela will not succeed on this issue, will not.”

Taxi driver gets three years for killing teen

A

39-year-old taxi driver identified as Visram Singh of Somerset and Berks, Essequibo Coast was jailed for three years on a charge of causing death by dangerous driving.

Singh was charged last year and released on $300,000 bail as he was accused of causing the death o f Vi c k a s h K e v i n Fredericks, an 18-year-old from New Road, Essequibo Coast.

Fredericks lost his life on Boxing Day, Sunday, 26th December 2021 at about 17:15hrs on the New Road (public road), Essequibo Coast, after he was struck off of his motorcycle by a car

Dead: Vickash Kevin Fredericks

Convicted: Vishram Singh

(PMM 7156) that was driven at the time by Singh. Singh's conviction and three-year sentence came on Monday

after during his appearance before Magistrate Esther Sam at the Charity Magistrate's Court.

Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 05, 2023

PAGE 09

Boulders, bicycles and motorcycles Fifteen years ago, a child succumbed in hospital after being involved in an accident on a Sunday.

According to reports in the press, the child was riding a bicycle when it came into contact with a motor vehicle.

The impact caused the child to fall and hit his head on a boulder at the side of the street. This was indeed an unfortunate incident.

This occurrence raises two important issues, one of which I had previously dealt with in these columns before. The first issue concerns the safety of bicycles and motorcycles on our roadways which are being increasingly flooded by more and more motor cars.

The second issue concerns the quite prevalent practice of persons placing boulders at the side of their parapets and on their bridges, oblivious to the dangers these boulders present. I wish to first deal with the issue of safety on bicycles and motorcycles on our roadways.

I had called for a deliberate policy on the part of government to discourage the further importation of motor cycles since I feel that because of the increase in the number of motor vehicles on our roadways, there is little room for both bicycles and

motorcycles. If there is any doubt that bicycles and motorcycles are finding it difficult to navigate our streets, just take a look at any junction at which there is traffic lights. One will witness what a difficult time, bicycles and motorcycles have at those junctions. It is only a matter of time before there is no place for bicycles and motorcycles on our narrow streets.

Guyana must learn from other countries, more so Trinidad where the growth of incomes of the population has led to more and more persons being able to afford motor cars. In Trinidad, bicycles have become extinct in most areas except the countryside, and not many motorcycles are seen in busy traffic because it is too dangerous. Guyana, which in the 1970s and 1980s fell economically behind all of the countries of the region to the extent that those countries have progressed well beyond us today, should learn from their examples of dealing with traffic management.

One of the lessons of countries such as Trinidad is that bicycles and small motorcycles will become extinct.

Recognising the need for greater safety, the local authorities a few years ago

began to enforce the regulations that insisted that helmets must be worn by motorcyclists. I think given the recent upsurge in accidents, the narrowness of our roads coupled with the increase in vehicular traffic, it is time that regulations be passed making it mandatory for all cyclists using our roadways to be equipped with cycling helmets. It will save lives.

If that child, who was involved in that accident fifteen years ago, had on a helmet, the blow that he received when his head crashed into that boulder would not have caused as severe an injury. I am greatly disturbed, and have been for a long time, by residents placing these boulders at the side of the street and on the entrances to their homes.

These boulders are placed mainly for selfish reasons: to avoid persons parking on the parapets which I should remind all belongs to the government authorities and not to the homeowners, as well as to prevent persons from using their bridges to turn around. I have always found the practice of persons placing various types of barriers on their bridges so as to prevent vehicles turning into their gaps to reverse or turn around as extremely selfish. Yet throughout the

DEM BOYS SEH

Guyana does gat de best Christmas In Guyana we nah gat snow. De only frost we does see is in we freezer. We nah gat white Christmas.

We Christmas is like de colours of de rainbow.

Black and brown fuh de colour of dem cakes wah we does bake; blue fuh how dem public servants does get when de government announce de salary increase, and red is how we face does turn when we deh in dem traffic jam.

But despite not having a white Christmas, we does tek the yuletide celebrations seriously. No threat, foreign or domestic, can dampen the festive spirits. Come hell or high w a t e r, G u y a n e s e a r e determined to have a Christmas that’s merrier than ever.

While the rest of the world might be grappling with geopolitical tensions, economic crises, or the latest global pandemic, Guyanese citizens are

steadfast in their commitment to making Christmas special. In fact, if there’s one thing that unites this diverse nation, it’s the shared belief that no Grinch, Grinchtress, or Grinch government will steal their joy. Even if aliens were to descend from the heavens, Guyanese would likely invite them to a grand Christmas feast rather than e n t e r t a i n a n y extraterrestrial shenanigans.

Christmas is special in Guyana. It’s as if the very air becomes infused with the scent of pepperpot and ginger beer, making it impossible for any looming crisis to overshadow the festive cheer. However, amidst the glittering lights, decorations, music, food and drinks, there is one formidable obstacle that threatens to cast a shadow over Guyanese Christmas: the soaring cost of living.

Even the most ardent

Christmas enthusiasts are feeling the pinch as prices skyrocket. The only thing standing between Guyanese and the perfect holiday season is the evergrowing strain on their wallets.

But in true spirit of Christmas, let us join hands and declare that no matter the economic woes, no matter the challenges, Guyana will rise to the occasion. For in this festive season, the Guyanese people will find a way to make their Christmas bright and merry, proving once again that their dedication to the holiday knows no bounds—even if it comes at a hefty price.

After all, in Guyana, where the sun shines brightly and the people shine even brighter, a little economic turbulence and de government’s 5% won’t dampen the Christmas spirit.

Talk half. Leff half.

length and breadth of Guyana, persons are being allowed to concrete the entrances to their homes and then to treat these entrances as private property by erecting encumbrances to their use by other vehicles. I am calling on the authorities to put a halt to this practice. I am also calling on the authorities to prohibit the

practice of persons placing huge boulders at the side of the road. Those boulders constitute a hazard and any person falling and hitting one of those boulders is bound to suffer serious if not fatal injury. They should be removed forthwith.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not

necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)

Kaieteur News

PAGE 10 S

UTH

D TR

HAR

HK

BY G

LALL

Tuesday Monday December May 02, 05,2022 2023

H@RD TRUTHS

BY GHK LALL

President Ali needs to put houses in order From what is making the rounds, I discern that His Excellency, President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has some significant weight on his back, some serious housecleaning to contemplate.

In fact, he would be wise to do more than recollect and reflect; it would be better if he were to act unselfishly and smartly.

Some of what he should address with urgency has to do with himself, while the rest is inside the house over which he presides.

Today the president holds himself out as a Muslim of noble callings. I applaud him for his public identification with one of the great faiths, pillars of belief ever known to man. Before he had some different spiritual ideas, and other inclinations. Those were the days of yore, now long overtaken by immersion in Middle Eastern exchanges.

I am disappointed that there has not been more learning and application in the local domain, given how much that brotherhood knows about oil and foreign oil powers, and

how much they had to endure. In my book, this would be an incomparable benefit to the people of Guyana, all of them and not just a segment, considering the handicaps under which this country labours in this 21st century.

What was encountered in the sands of Arabia a hundred years ago under tents should not be the experience of the children of Guyana. Not in this day and age of human rights and the brotherhood of man, with no master race present in these politically correct times.

Political democracy matters for naught when there isn't economic democracy. For there is every indication of foreign supremacy in new clothing of those three bugbears(isms) that Dr. Cheddi Jagan used to have so much to say, most of it not pleasing to the ear.

Listen and absorb and learn from the Muslim brothers, Excellency. The other brotherhood may not be looked upon as kindly by current American friends in

the domestic habitat. Should President take tutorials and pointers from his Arab and Muslim folk, he is sure to hear echoes of Malcolm X, and that one about “white devils” and what is neither kosher nor blue-eyed soulfulness.

As an aside, and as part of His Excellency's makeover, I plead for him to think long and hard about his choice of garb at international gatherings.

There are some thoughts, which ought to influence and guide his actions: (i) Guyana is a plural society, with multiple spiritual persuasions' (ii) it does not sit well with many when the president is proud to be the manifestation of attire that is reflective of other societies and cultures, and (iii) when he is on official duty, which is all the time, he is representing all the Guyanese people, not one set. Though His Excellency cuts a remarkably contoured figure in his special threads, I urge pausing and rethinking.

In this same vein, and as

President Ali knows more than I ever would, there are numerous anxieties in Freedom House about who is benefiting and who is not in the parceling out of juicy plums (contracts).

Passions are ebbing and flowing with a Kashmiri pitch and strain. This is the bigger picture, and it is not in the president's interests to pretend unfamiliarity or, worse, wave aside pent-up anger, and continue merrily along the same pathway.

Come 2025, he could find himself a victim of passions that cannot be contained inside the party's house, and which spillover to his loss.

That is, loss of face, and loss of place.

But there is another house in which His Excellency looks at his absolute worst.

In the noble house of the people, he oversees a hodgepodge of occupants that is a maze of mystery and madness. The President

should be sufficiently schooled to know the sacred manner in which the Koran extols marriage. He has to decide what to do with what is before (around? under?) him in the second most vital house in this land.

Unfortunately for President Ali, even dark shades during a dark night are not enough to obscure what is right in front of his eyes, and which the teachings that he now embraces consider to be less than holy.

Furthermore, in that same house, there are denizens that should remind him of why Lot had to take a hurried flight from Gomorrah.

All the sacred texts counsel with the same voice: watch out for orphans, protect the younger ones.

The president may turn his eye and fake chronic sinusitis, but the stench of such abominations wafts higher and wider. In a short sentence, this is the kettle in

which President Ali finds himself roasting. And as if all of the above are not enough, there is a former president who runs amok, while making everyone in the government and party look like a mook, or a moron, plus fast hands and fast money in a Las Vegas style operating environment.

Beware, Excellency!

For all these reasons Excellency Ali longevity is in jeopardy. He is under the eyes of the radar, and they are beady, as in unsparing. From all reports, he hangs in the balance. Of this, there is no exaggeration.

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

Drivers in Hill Foot fatal accident charged

Charged, Steffy Timmerman The two drivers who were on Saturday involved in the accident at Hill Foot, Soesdyke/Linden Highway which claimed the life of Vishnudat Ramlan, were on Monday charged.

The drivers, Jonathan Bailey, 27, of Kuru Kururu, Soesdyke/Linden Highway and Steffy Timmerman, 27, also of Kuru Kururu made their first court appearance at the Diamond Magistrate's Court before Magistrate Judy Latchman where their respective charges were read to them.According to the police, yesterday Bailey was charged with Causing Death

by Dangerous Driving to

Charged, Jonathan Bailey

which he pleaded not guilty.

He was placed on $1,600,000 bail.

Timmerman was charged with Unlicensed Driver and Breach of Insurance, and she was fined $75,000.The matter was adjourned for court on 28th December 2023. It was reported that on December 2, around 1 8 : 1 5 h r s , 5 2 - y e a r- o l d Ramlan, a resident of Kuru Kururu was involved in the accident.

The police had reported, that Timmerman who was driving motorcar PMM 2014 claimed that she was heading east along the northern side of the road when she saw

Ramlan in her path. She reportedly swerved to avoid hitting him but her efforts were in vain. Her vehicle's right-side mirror jammed the man and he fell into the path of motor car PJJ 807, which was being driven by Bailey and was travelling behind PMM 2014.

Reports are that Bailey upon seeing this could not slow down in time and ended up hitting Ramlan.

The man had sustained head injuries and was rushed to the Diamond Diagnostic Center where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Both drivers were arrested and subsequently.

Tuesday December 05, 2023

Kaieteur News

PAGE 11

PAGE 12

Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 05, 2023

Homeless man gets home in jail after burglarising Police Sports Club A homeless man on Monday got a temporary home in jail, after he was remanded to prison by Magistrate Rondell Weever, for breaking into and entering the Police Sports Club on November 30, 2023.

Adico Smith, a 47-yearold father of three, is accused of breaking into and entering the Police Sports Club at Barrack Street, Kingston, Georgetown on November 30, 2023. Smith appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates' Courts, before Magistrate Weever, where the charges were read to him. He was charged with the offences; attempt to commit a felony and break-and-entry. The

accused pleaded not guilty with explanation. He claimed: “I does go deh fuh collect bottles and them police know this, me ain't know like them did vex duh day.”

Notwithstanding Smith's statement, the prosecutor was quick to enlighten the court that the defendant was seen at the scene, with a shovel, placing his hands through the grill, to open the fridge that was inside. The prosecutor objected to bail, pointing out that the man has a history of committing similar offences.

The magistrate then remanded Smith. The next scheduled court date is on December 18, 2023 for statement and fixtures.

Charged, Chris Gopaul

Mahaica fisherman to spend Christmas in jail for attempted rape

Remanded: Adico Smith

Chris Gopaul, a 33-yearold fisherman of Riverview Mahaica, East Coast Demerara (ECD) was on Monday remanded to prison on a charge of attempted rape.

The accused appeared at the Sparendaam Magistrate's

Court before Magistrate Alisha George, who read the charge to him.

Gopaul was not required to plea and was remanded to prison.

The matter was adjourned to January 9, 2024.

Teen walks free

Canje teen dies …on charge of causing death by dangerous driving in mini-bus crash A teenage boy was on Monday morning freed of a causing death by dangerous driving charge after Magistrate Esther Sam at the Charity Magistrate's Court upheld a no-case submission made by his attorney Bernard DaSilva.

Eighteen-year-old Adon DaSilva, of Lot 621, Charity Extension Scheme, Essequibo Coast was accused of causing the death of Mannieram Sooklall, 36, a labourer, of Lot 403 Charity Extension Scheme, on November 3, 2022, at Charity Extension Scheme Access Road, while driving an ATV Raptor in a manner dangerous to the public.

According to reports, at the time of the accident, the teen was riding an ATV bike along the Charity Extension Scheme Access Road at an alleged fast rate of speed, when he reportedly ran over Sooklall.

It was stated that upon seeing the man lying motionless, the teen reportedly panicked and drove off. The unconscious man was picked up by police and taken to the Charity Hospital, where he was pronounced dead by a doctor.

The teen was charged and released on $320,000 bail as the trial was ongoing before Magistrate Sam. At the conclusion of the trial, the lawyer made a no-case submission to the court on behalf of his client.

DaSilva's submissions emphasize the role of 'Prima Facie' evidence, stressing the prosecution' responsibility to prove both elements of the charge: dangerous driving and causation. The lawyer highlighted that the specific legal standards for dangerous driving, referring to authorities such as Smith and Hogan Criminal Law and

Deceased, Mannieram Sooklall Wilkinson Road Traffic Offences.

Regarding the evidence presented in court, the defence challenged the reliability of witness testimonies, particularly focusing on discrepancies in statements from individuals like Juliet Badri, the sister-in-law of the deceased. DaSilva highlighted in his submissions that under cross examination, Badri said she cannot be 100 % sure how the deceased came into injuries and that she did not see the defendant knock down the deceased.

The lawyer also argued that the prosecution failed to clarify inconsistencies and suspicions of witness tampering, raising doubts about the veracity of the evidence.

The defence further scrutinised the police witness, Sergeant Vijay Mahadeo, emphasizing the absence of visible damage to the ATV and the lack of tire marks on the deceased's body.

The defence questioned the validity of the post-mortem report, suggesting that the recorded “crush injuries” to the

Freed, Adon DaSilva head” might not conclusively link to a road accident, urging the court to consider alternative scenarios.

In terms of causation, the defence contended that the prosecution did not establish a clear nexus between the alleged dangerous driving and the cause of death. In addition, drawing on legal precedents, the defence argued that the prosecution failed to prove that the defendant's actions directly led to the fatal injuries.

In conclusion, the defence asserts that, taken as a whole, the prosecution's evidence is unreliable and falls short of the required standard for a prima facie case.

The defence submitted that based on these deficiencies, the charge of causing death by dangerous driving against his client DaSilva should be dismissed.

After reviewing the no-case submission Magistrate Sam on Monday morning ruled in favour of DaSilva's submission thereby dismissing the case against the teen.

The family of 18-year-old year-old Marvin Ishmile of Betsy Ground Village, East Canje, Berbice was thrown into a state of mourning on Sunday after the bus he was driving crashed and toppled along the Borlam Public Road, Corentyne, Berbice.

The accident occurred around 18:50hrs and involved minibus PPP 391 which Rai Badree, 60, of Betsy Ground Village was an occupant of.

Reports are Ismile was heading west along the roadway reportedly at a fast rate of speed, when he lost control and collided with a heap of sand on the southern side of the road. This caused the vehicle to topple several times and as a result, Ishmile and Badree suffered injuries about their bodies.

Police said, the driver was taken out of the vehicle by residents in an unconscious condition and was rushed to

the New Amsterdam Hospital where he was examined and pronounced dead. Badree who was rushed there and was treated and later sent home.

The teen's body was taken to the hospital's mortuary, awaiting a post-mortem examination. An investigation is ongoing.

Dead, Marvin Ishmile

The minibus, Marvin Ishmile was driving moments before the crashed.

Tuesday December 05, 2023

PAGE 13

Kaieteur News

Venezuela's referendum a resounding failure - Jagdeo T

he Government of Guyana (GoG) believes that the consultative referendum held b y t h e Ve n e z u e l a n government on December 3, 2023, which seeks to annex this nation's Essequibo region was nothing short of a “resounding failure”.

Emphasising this was Vi c e P r e s i d e n t B h a r r a t Jagdeo, during a live interview in Dubai, with BBC News on Monday.

The former Head of State told the British news agency that while the world was expectant of a “yes vote” on the referendum, it turned out to be a failure, since the Nicolas Maduro-led government hardly saw the participation of its people.

“We believe it is a resounding failure for the Maduro government considering only half of the total eligible voters turned out, and then, of the half that turned out, not 100 percent voted in favour of a yes vote, so less than half of the eligible voters voted in favour of the issues, the questions posed there,” the VP reasoned.

The December 3 referendum included the following five questions: 1. “Do you agree to reject by all means in accordance

w i t h t h e l a w, t h e l i n e fraudulently interposed by the 1899 Paris Arbitration Award, which seeks to deprive us of our Guayana Esequiba?”

2. “Do you support the 1966 Geneva Agreement as the only valid legal instrument to reach a practical and satisfactory solution for Venezuela and Guyana regarding the controversy over the territory of Guayana Esequiba?”

3. “Do you agree with Ve n e z u e l a ' s h i s t o r i c a l position of not recognizing the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice to resolve the territorial controversy over Guayana Esequiba?”

4. “Do you agree to oppose, by all legal means, Guyana's claim to unilaterally dispose of a sea pending delimitation, illegally and in violation of international law?”

5. “Do you agree with the creation of the Guayana Esequiba state and the development of an accelerated plan for comprehensive care for the current and future population of that territory, which includes, among others, the granting of citizenship and identity

c a r d ? Ve n e z u e l a , i n accordance with the Geneva Agreement and International L a w, c o n s e q u e n t l y incorporating said state on the map as Venezuelan territory?”

Guyana had approached the World Court last month seeking protective orders that would effectively halt parts of the vote, aimed at paving the way for Venezuela to annex the Essequibo region.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday ordered Venezuela not to take any action that would alter Guyana's control over its Essequibo region, but did not specifically ban Venezuela from holding its referendum.

Jagdeo in his comments to the BBC told viewers that the move by the Venezuelan President was a distraction to the problems that grapple that nation.

He said, “We saw it as a distraction from the problems in Venezuela and now we have concerns all day long, the Latin American News agencies have been pointing out there was a low voter turnout, then the electoral council announced a figure that we can't believe.”

Map of Guyana showing the portion being claimed by Venezuela The former President continued, “So we believe that even with the rigging of turn out figures, they still didn't have half of the eligible voters on an issue that

Venezuela has over the past 50 years been saying to their people that Essequibo belongs to them.”

Jagdeo was keen to note that while the outcome of that

r e f e r e n d u m w a s “predictable”, the world remains in support of Guyana, especially with the recent ruling handed down by the ICJ.

Paper committal being sought to speed up court case of businessman charged for killing friend A paper committal has been requested to speed up the Magistrate's Court process involving businessman; Yogeendra Sukhdeo who is accused of killing his friend Amit Singh.

Paper committals reduce the period taken for Preliminary Inquiries (PI) in the Magistrate's court. In a Paper Committal, with the agreement of the defence, the Magistrate may admit statements, documents, writings and other articles tendered to the court in the absence of the witness for the substantive trial.

The request for the Paper Committal was made by Special Prosecutor Latchmie Rahamat. Rahamat said she hopes to fully disclose all statements and exhibits by January 19, 2024. The Court nevertheless has to get the agreement of Gordon Gilhuys, lawyer for the accused before it can decide whether to proceed with the Paper Committal or PI. Sukhdeo was initially arraigned for 21-year-old Singh's murder on October 31. He is currently before Acting Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus for the offence. Police report is that Singh was robbed and bludgeoned to death at a

house at Middle Road La Penitence, Georgetown.

Relatives recalled that Singh was picked up from his home in a car sometime around 13:00hrs that day but never returned.

Police were called in and detectives were quickly able to track down Sukhdeo who initially told investigators that he and three of his employees had robbed and murdered Singh at the Middle Road house, after duping the young man into believing that he (Sukhdeo) had a large quantity of gold to sell.

Police ranks later recovered blood-stained clothing and the suspected murder weapon which was a piece of wood covered in what appeared to be blood. It was later reported that the accused sustained injuries while he bludgeoned Singh and that the victim fought with his killer during the attack.

Sometime after, police said that Sukhdeo, who calls himself 'El Chapo Escobar' on social media, reportedly told ranks that he

Accused: Yogeendra Sukhdeo

Murdered: Amit Singh picked up Singh from his Delph Street and Campbell Avenue home in a vehicle with a false number plate. He drove Singh to his father's property at Middle Road, La Penitence where he killed the young man.

PAGE 14

Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 05, 2023

Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 05, 2023

PAGE 15

Security guard denies robbing ...claims he was at work women at the time of incidents A 40-year-old man was released on $120,000 bail on Monday, when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates' Courts charged for robbing two women of their gold chains and a phone.

Devon Holder called “Day and Night,” a security guard attached to Hoosein Security, is accused of robbing Shania DeFreitas on November 27, 2023, at Cornhill Street, Georgetown, of a gold chain valued at $216,000 and a Samsung Galaxy S12 valued at $98,000. It is also alleged that on the same day, at Stabroek, Georgetown, he

robbed Sylwattie Sukhoo of a gold chain worth $80,000.

Holder appeared before Magistrate Rondell Weever, where the charges were read to him, to which he pleaded not guilty to.

The accused who represented himself, highlighted that he could not have robbed the women because he was at work at the time. He noted that the work place can provide an alibi for him. He further stated that whilst in custody, the police prevented him from contacting any family member and also allegedly forced him to sign a

statement. Notably given certain circumstances, the accused then asked the Magistrate for bail in a reasonable sum.

The prosecutor objected to bail, on the grounds of statements made by the virtual complainants, indicating that Holder was dressed in a security officer uniform when he allegedly committed the offence.

According to the prosecutor, one of the victims described the man who robbed her as “slim built, tall, with plait hair, of African descent”. It was added also by the prosecution that

immediately before or after the robbery, the accused made use of personal violence towards the woman.

Notwithstanding the prosecution facts, the Magistrate granted bail, because of the lack of evidence, which states that Holder is actually the person that committed the offences.

Bail was granted in the sum of $120,000, with conditions that Holder reports to the Brickdam Police Station, every two weeks, commencing from December 15, 2023. The next scheduled court date is January 15, 2024.

Freed: Devon Holder aka “Day and Night”

‘I was just trying to help victims’

$100M prawn production project ...robbery accused tells court to commence soon at Onverwagt

Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha and team inspecting the ongoing works on the ponds

W

orks are progressing on the approximately $100 million prawn production project which is set to commence shortly at Onverwagt, Region Five.

Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha on Saturday inspected the works being executed at the location.

While there, he reported that 10 ponds are being constructed.

“By Monday, the lining of the ponds will start. After that, we should have water with the larvae in it. I think we will have three crops per year which will do well. These are prawns that attract a good price. The production here for the year might be about 50 tonnes of prawns,” Minister Mustapha emphasised.

The agriculture minister remains optimistic that the project will be replicated across the country since similar initiatives are already being carried out in both traditional and nontraditional areas.

Minister Mustapha highlighted that there are markets available for prawns, locally, regionally, and internationally.

Given the high demand for prawns in the Caribbean and North America, countries like Ecuador, and Vietnam are exporting a lot of this product, the minister noted. f Notably, the agriculture minister said the initiative may take a similar approach to the corn and soya bean project which sees the government opening up thosuands of acres of new land to enable greater cultivation.

These initiatives demonstrate the government's intention to boost the agriculture sector, while simultaneously lowering the cost of imported food to help achieve the 25 by 2025 objective. It also forms part of President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali's vision of Guyana attaining self sufficiency in all areas of food production and becoming a major food producer for regional and global markets.

In furtherance of this goal, Minister Mustapher divulged that Guyana and Barbados have been actively collaborating on the prawn production project, and local technical officers have already visited the island as

discussuions continue.

“They are calling it the 'brown pond' in Barbados. They are doing the brackish water shrimp, where they are bringing in salt water to mix it with the freshwater,” Minister Mustapha explained.

Locally, the production of brackish water shrimp is being conducted along the Corentyne Coast, and has continued to yield massive results since its inception.

“Now, we are developing the farm. We have done a number of works for them and we have seen the massive production. I am hoping that, by the end of that project, we might take production from the 10,000 kilogrammes that we started with to about 150,000 kilogrammes,” he underlined.

He also stated that farmers in other parts of the country have signalled their interest in the project.

“In another year from now, we will have our hatchery where we will produce our larvae. We will have our feed mill and all those things,” Minister Mustapha added. (DPI)

“I was on my motorcycle going to the gas station, when I saw them (virtual complainants), getting rob, so I try fuh step in but end up getting attacked, so I went back on the motorbike and ride away, but people around thought it was me and beat me up, and call police” a 23year-old man told a City Court on Monday after he was charged for allegedly robbing two persons at knifepoint of cash on Sunday.

According to police, on Sunday at McDoom, Greater Georgetown, while in the company of others, armed with a knife, Elijah Inshanally, robbed Nicholas Christopher of $25,000 in cash and Ronaldo Ramlall of $6,420 in cash, along with US$10. Inshanally made his first court appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates' Courts, before Magistrate Rhondell Weever, where the charges were read to him.

He was slapped with two counts of robbery-underarms by the court. The accused pleaded not guilty with an explanation. He explained that the virtual complainants and him do not live far from each other, so on Sunday, when he was riding his motorcycle, and saw Christopher and Ramlall allegedly being robbed, he intervened. However, he was attacked by the robbers and eventually got on the bike and rode away.

“I try fuh step in, but the robbers attacked me,” he stressed to the court.

Subsequently, according to the accused, residents around the area tracked him down, because they thought he was involved and beat him up.

Elijah Inshanally at the Georgetown Magistrates' Courts Police were then summoned and Inshanally was arrested.

During the court proceedings, the prosecution objected to bail, due to the seriousness of the offence, its prevalence and the punishment it attracts.

Notably, the prosecutor highlighted that the accused may be a flight-risk, because of the misleading addresses he gave investigators. It was pointed out in court that the defendant said he lives at Lot 3 H o u s t o n , G r e a t e r, G e o rg e t o w n , h o w e v e r, investigations revealed that he resides at Lot 33 Houston.

A d d in g to th at, s in ce Inshanally lives a “stone's throw away” from the Christopher and Ramlall, the prosecutor says that he can potentially interfere with them.

To this end, Magistrate Weever, refused bail and the accused was remanded to prison. The next scheduled court date is on December 18, 2023.

PAGE 16

Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 05, 2023

Venezuelan charged for ‘butchering’ Kilcoy man

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Venezuelan na tional was re manded to prison on Monday after being charged with the murder of Chetram Ramjattan, 43, a labourer of Lot 53 Kilcoy, Settlement, Berbice.

The 28-year, Simon Wills, appeared before Magistrate Peter Hugh, virtually at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court. The court heard that between Saturday November 25th 2023 and Thursday November 30th 2023, Chetram also knows as “Buck Crab” was murdered by Wills at Fyrish Village Corentyne Berbice.

The accused who was un-

Murdered: Chetram Ramjattan represented, was not required to plead since the charge was indictable, and he was remanded to prison until De-

cember 27th, 2023. Chetram’s body was found on Thursday, in a drain in the vicinity of Arjune Chicken Farm at Fyrish Village, Corentyne Berbice, Region Six around 06:50hrs.

Police had initially arrested three Venezuelan nationals in connection with his murder.

Prior to his death, Ramjattan was last seen alive drinking at his home. He subsequently left and was not seen or heard from. His wife later filed a missing person’s report.

A search party was formed and while looking for him, his partially decomposed

body was found in a drain.

He was clad only in a red and white track pants. Police were called in and crime scene ranks noted that Chetram’s body bore several stab and chop wounds. “Several suspected stab wounds were seen below the neck. Injuries were also seen on the head with what appeared to be several chop wounds,” police said. Kaieteur News understands that Ramjattan had an ongoing feud with the Venezuelans. On Friday, a post mortem examination conducted revealed that he suffered a fractured skull and blunt force trauma to the head.

IDB unveils “One Caribbean” programme to boost climate resilience DUBAI – During the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) presented “One Caribbean”, a new regional flagship programme aimed at promoting sustainable development of the Caribbean with a sharpened focus on high-impact initiatives.

Caribbean countries are among the most vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change, such as rising sea levels, threats to agriculture and biodiversity, and more intense and frequent hurricanes and tropical storms, the IDB said in a press release.

The IDB’s “One Caribbean” programme includes four pillars: climate adaptation, disas-

ter risk management and resilience; citizen and business security; sustainable development through private sector engagement; and food security.

Also, institutional strengthening and digital transformation are cross-cutting areas of work.

The goal of “One Caribbean” is to promote integration and resilience across the region through the support of projects and partnerships that can have a regional impact.

The programme proposes establishing a Project Preparation Facility (PPF) along with a strategy for partnerships and resource mobilization with financial innovation

at its core.

Additionally, it seeks to generate investment scans that will lead to national digital and resilient investment plans.

A panel discussion brought together the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley; IDB President, Ilan Goldfajn; Jamaica’s Minister of Finance, Nigel Clarke; the Secretary General of Caricom, Carla Barnett; and the President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Gene Leon.

President Goldfajn said: “The IDB is fully committed to supporting the Caribbean.

With One Caribbean the IDB is putting forward a regional program that aims to support

the Caribbean in becoming a more resilient and competitive region that can overcome the challenges posed by climate change.”

The IDB and the CDB also reinforced their collaboration towards the Caribbean during COP28, by signing an addendum to the 2020 Mutual Cooperation Agreement.

This new action plan strengthens activities aimed at addressing climate change resilient –physical and digital- infrastructure, project preparation and execution in priority areas, private sector productivity and development, and exposure exchange agreements and other financial products, among others.

Maduro gambling for resurrection...

From page 04 based on their Essequibo Border Controversy.

Since then, he escalated the rhetoric and hostility until our government decided to utilize the terms of Geneva Agreement that Venezuela had signed, and requested the UN Secretary General to choose one of the dispute resolution measures from Art 33 of the UN Charter. The latter chose the judicial route via its ICJ affiliate, whose jurisdiction Maduro contemptuously rejected.

I suggest that Maduro’s

bellicosity is not because he coveted the 1B barrel of oil then discovered by Exxon: Venezuela already had over 300B barrels reserve.

Their challenge was not oil reserves but exploiting those reserves. Rather Maduro was following the very well-known “diversionary theory of war”. As explained succinctly by one scholar: “…unpopular leaders generate foreign policy crises to both divert the public’s attention away from the discontent with their rule and bolster their political for-

tunes through a rally around the flag effect… Because people tend to react to territorial issues intensely, the embattled leader could attempt to manipulate and exploit this proclivity by launching specifically a territorial conflict.”

The unpopular Maduro already had on hand the 1899 Arbitral Award Border controversy Venezuela had raised in 1962 but which Chavez had downplayed.

He was counting on the populace emotionally rallying around the flag to even ignore objective facts about his ineptitude and dictatorial actions. Maduro truculently dismissed the ICJ’s jurisdiction over the Border controversy and has raised the ante by defying the ruling of the ICJ to go ahead with today’s provocative referendum. But Maduro would know that in the modern state system, annexation of other countries’ territory would not be accepted, especially when he is threatening a very powerful

American corporation – ExxonMobil. Powerful neighbours like Brazil and Columbia would also not brook opening up the Pandora Box of settled borders. So why take this risk?

He is “gambling for resurrection”. Here, leaders who see defeat staring them in the face of competition or conflict, take high-risk actions that would be considered “irrational” in normal circumstance because the high costs of defeat “objectively” outweigh the low probability of victory. Maduro would have concluded that the democratic elections insisted on by the US would be fatal and so will continue his bluff.

Even though the old Yankee bogeyman might even boost the “rally round the flag” effect, the US must reimpose sanctions to introduce free and fair elections that will remove Maduro.

Enough Venezuelans have not been duped.

Sincerely, Ravi Dev

Tuesday December 05, 2023

Kaieteur News

PAGE 17

Govt. to use IDB loan to set up water supply systems for Hinterland schools

M

inistry to use IDB loan to set up water supply systems for Hinterland schools The Ministry of Education is looking to utilise an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan to rehabilitate or construct water supply systems for secondary schools and dormitories in Regions One, Nine, Seven

and Eight.

In its invitation for bids, the ministry had stated that the government had received a loan from IDB toward the cost of the “Support to Safety Nets for Vulnerable Populations Affected by Coronavirus in Guyana” and intends to use part of the proceeds for this project.

It was reported in the media that back in December

Ministry of Education Rehabilitation/ construction of water supply systems at secondary school and dormitories in Region Nine

Rehabilitation/ construction of water supply systems at secondary school and dormitories in Region One.

2020, the government had received US$30.4 million under the Support to Safety N e t s f o r Vu l n e r a b l e Populations Affected by Coronavirus in Guyana project.

The IDB had reported that under this project, it has two main components: social protection and support for educational continuity.

In the education component, IDB had

explained back in December 2020 that the operation will finance actions to mitigate the effects of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for their reopening, including: the development of educational content for radio and TV for students in n u r s e r y, p r i m a r y a n d secondary schools; the distribution of pedagogical materials such as textbooks

and curricular guides for teachers; water supply improvement solutions including the installation of water pumps and storage tanks; and debt relief for public university students.

During the opening of tenders just recently, it was revealed that works in Region Nine have been divided into four lots (Lots 9 to 12) and will cost a n e s t i m a t e d

$168,222,921.

Works in Region Eight have been divided into three lots (Lots 7 to 9) and will cost $62,781,100 while works in Region Seven would be done in three lots (Lots 4 to 6) and would cost around $51,434,450. Works in Region One have been divided into three lots also (Lots 1 to 3) to the tune of $60,884,200.

Rehabilitation/ construction of water supply systems at secondary school and dormitories in Region Eight.

Rehabilitation/ construction of water supply systems at secondary school and dormitories in Region Seven.

“Tattoo man” put away for Christmas for stealing over $1M from Regent Street house

Labourer charged for obtaining credit by false pretence

A 32-year-old man was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment on Monday

by Magistrate Rondell Weever after he pleaded guilty to breaking into a Regent Street home whilst in the company of others, stealing over $1 million in items. Vishal Jones called “Tattoo man” appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, before Magistrate Weever, where the charge was read to him. He was charged for break-and-enterand-larceny.

The man is accused of breaking into and entering the home of Hazel Thompson, along with others and stealing $400,000 in shoes, $500,000 in clothes, a TCL brand television set valued $100,000, and a microwave valued $50,000, all totaling the $1,050,000. According to police, Thompson departed Guyana between November 17 and November 20, 2023 for the United States of America, leaving her daughter in charge of her house located at Regent Street, Georgetown.

The police related that on

Sentenced to jail: Vishal Jones

Charged, Satrajeet Ramdahar

November 17, 2023 at about 19:00hrs, the victim’s sonin-law visited and secured the said property with everything intact. However, on November 20, 2023 around 16:20hrs, he returned and observed three window panes on the eastern side of the building removed. When he entered the property, the house was reportedly ransacked. He made further checks in the house and discovered that several items were missing. A report was made to the police and an investigation was launched.

Ranks later obtained surveillance footage from the residence exposing Jones and two other males breaking into the house

S

a t r a j e e t Ramdahar, a 48year-old labourer of Long Creek, SoesdykeLinden Highway was charged on Monday with Obtaining Credit by False Pretence, Contrary to Section 194 of the Criminal Law Offences Act, Chapter 8:01.

The defendant appeared before Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Diamond/

Grove Magistrate’s Court when the charge was read to him.

Ramdahar pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that on August 15, 2023 at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, he obtained credit by false pretence.

Magistrate Scarce placed the defendant on $75,000 bail and the matter was adjourned to February 2, 2024.

Tuesday December 05, 2023

Kaieteur News

PAGE 18

Gaza death toll rises as Israel expands offensive (AL JAZEERA) Gaza Health Ministry official have said that hospitals continue to be “flooded with an influx of dead bodies” as Israel’s military widens its ground offensive in southern Gaza.

Palestinian officials say more than 800 people killed since the collapse of the truce.

On Monday Israeli forces arrested more Palestinians in overnight and early morning raids across the occupied West Bank. At least 15,899 Palestinians have been k i l l e d i n G aza since October 7. In Israel, the

official death toll stands at about 1,200.

‘Situation is dire’ Meanwhile, Abdul Wahab Hamed, who fled central Gaza and headed south to shelter from Israeli bombardment, said the situation in the south is alarming.

“The humanitarian situation here in the south is dire,” Hamed told Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum in Khan Younis. “ I t ’s m a r k e d w i t h relentless bombardment causing a significant loss of life and damage.”

Smoke billows over Gaza during Israeli bombardment amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas © John MACDOUGALL / AFP

“What unfolds here in Gaza is genocide.

It’s an ethnic c l e a n s i n g , ” h e added.Israel’s ongoing assault of the strip will allow the world to w i t n e s s “ t h e consequences of war and the unrestrained power given [to] Israel,” the Palestinian man also said.

The US State Department said that it expects Israel to protect civilians during its offensive in south Gaza.

Spokesman Matthew Miller says that it is “too early” to assess whether Israel is taking adequate measures to protect civilians in its renewed

offensive in Gaza.

When asked about reports of mass civilian casualties in Gaza since the fighting began again, Miller said “Unfortunately, we do expect to see civilian casualties as a result of this campaign, that is sadly true in all wars.”

Miller also said that there are 750 American c i t i z e n s , l e g a l permanent residents and their family members remain in Gaza, while more than 1,000 have left since the start of the October 7 war.

Regarding Monday’s operation Israeli forces killed Anas al-Faroukh, 23, in the town of Sa’i near Hebron, in the occupied

West Bank.

T h r e e o t h e r Palestinians were killed on Monday – one in Qalandiya refugee camp and two in Qalqiliya – raising the death toll to 258 since October 7, the health ministry says.

Earlier, soldiers raided Kufr Aqab and Qalandiya refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, injuring 44 Palestinians, according to the Palestine Red Crescent. ·26 wounded by live ammunition ·5 injured by rubbercoated metal rounds ·8 treated for tear gas inhalation · 1 wounded by shrapnel · 4 Palestinians beaten

Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 05, 2023

PAGE 19

Search intensifies for missing ...GDF alerts Caribbean fishermen counterparts to be on look out The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) has intensified its search to locate the four fishermen who have been missing for quite some time and has now been targeting the shoreline within our territorial waters.

They have alerted their Caribbean counterparts to be on the lookout for the missing men. In a statement on Monday the GDF said, their vessels to date have covered an area measuring over 9000 nautical square miles, and “the Coast Guard have alerted its Caribbean counterparts through the Regional Security System (RSS) to be vigilant for any possible sightings.”

According to the statement “The Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard Search and Rescue teams are actively escalating their daily sea patrols in a dedicated effort to locate the fishing vessel “ASEYAH One” which went missing on November 16th, 2023.”

They went on to say that: “in accordance with the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) the Coast Guard highest priority is the safety of the crew aboard the missing vessel.

Operations have been concentrated

The missing fishermen within Guyana's maritime space spanning from the Demerara River to the Waini River Mouth, covering the maritime boundary in the North West Region. Vessel operations have also extended to target the shoreline in our territorial waters.”

Vessels in the region including the Transport and Harbours Department (North West Ferry) have collaborated, and are on high alert keeping an eye out for the

fishing vessel. “The fishing vessel “ASEYAH One” along with its four crew members was last seen on November 16th 2023 departing to assist a distressed vessel.” It is important to note that the distressed vessel they set out to assist, has long since returned to port.

“The Guyana Defence Force remains dedicated to the search and rescuing mission, deploying all available resources and

collaborating with regional partners to ensure a comprehensive and cooperative efforts.” The Force did note that as updates are made available, they will be provided.

Missing are Hazrat Razack called “Denno” of Lot 742 Belle West Canal No.2, West Bank Demerara (WBD), Cyscil Persaud called “Dallas” of Sisters Village, WBD, Vickram Singh, of Long Pond, Wales, WBD, and Worrin

Yipsam called “Powas” of Herstelling, East Bank Demerara (EBD). The men left on November 16 in a red boat called 'Aseyah One', and have not been seen or heard from since. Their loved ones fear the worst since the fishing vessel they had gone to rescue returned to shore on November 25th, 2023. The crew told them that they had not seen the men and were rescued by another fishing vessel.

“I will be with you” – President tells Guyanese unity concert

I

n an impassioned address to the thousands gathered at the Providence National Stadium for a 'Night of Patriotic Reflection' on Sunday evening, President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has assured Guyanese that he will stand with his country in the face of its challenges.

The head of state said that it is an honour for him to be on the frontlines when addressing issues of national importance. “I want e v e r y G u y a n e s e t o k n o w, regardless of the circumstances, how difficult it is, how easy it is, how burdensome it is, how dangerous it is, you will never see

me away from you. I will be with you at the front, by your side, every single time, every single moment.

You can be assured of that. Do not worry about this. I will be at the front of any circumstance that requires my leadership for Guyana, and the people of Guyana. Make no mistake of this,”

Hundreds gathered at the National Stadium for the 'Night of Patriotic Reflection'

President Irfaan Ali addressing the gathering

he was quoted by the Department of Public Information as saying.

Over the past few weeks, President Ali has been engaging international partners on the ongoing controversy, and has been reassured that these countries stand with Guyana, on the right side of the law.

Maintaining that diplomacy is Guyana's first line of defense, the president noted that the nation will continue to spread messages of peace and positivity in the face of the challenges posed by Venezuela's aggressive claims to its territory.

Importantly, he asserted that no amount of propaganda or rhetoric

stemming from Venezuela will stir Guyana's unshakeable resolve that the Essequibo region belongs to us.

“No amount of terror coming from our neighbour would shake our resolve in the facts and the truth that Essequibo belongs to Guyana and our borders were set fully and finally in 1899. No amount of propaganda or lies will…disrupt our lives” he told the gathering.

Emphasizing that Guyana and Venezuela are neighbours and will remain neighbours following the resolution of the controversy, he urged that the Spanish nation responds to the issue with the same love, honour and dignity that Guyana has demonstrated.

PAGE 20

Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 05, 2023

Tuesday December 05, 2023

PAGE 21

Kaieteur News

Kevin Wickham and Academy bowlers combine to BCB AGM and General Elections to be held on the 17th of December 2023 The Cricket Board vice president- cricket develcrush Emerging Ireland by 432 runs at Coolidge would beBerbice hosting its annual opment, vice president- ad-

SportsMax - As was expected, West Indies Academy inflicted a soul-crushing defeat on Emerging Island in their four-day match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground to take a 2-0 lead in the series.

Having been set a nigh-impossible target of 575 runs, the tourists wilted under the pressure and we bowled out for 143, thus losing by a mammoth 432 runs.

Having resumed from their overnight total of 172-4, for an already significant lead of 432 runs, West Indies Academy, spurred by Kevin Wickham’s unbeaten 105 and contributions of 32 from Nyeem Young and 22 from McKenny Clarke, eventually declared on 321-8.

The spark in the dark for

WI Academy defeated Emerging Ireland by 432 runs to sweep the first-class series 2-0. (CWI)

Emerging Ireland was the haul of 5-75 by Tom Hayes, who got some support from Michael Frost whose two wickets came at the cost of 136 runs from 32 overs.

With a target of almost

600 runs, Emerging Ireland were never up to the task against a rested and confident West Indies Academy bowling attack led by Joshua Bishop who snagged 4-36 and Clarke, who bowled mi-

serly for 2-16 from six overs.

Lower-order batter Liam McCarty offered the most resistance with a knock of 35 not out. Otherwise, opener Stephen Doheny was the only other batter who got into the 20s, with 23.

Wilson seeks FIFA intervention...

Tuesday December 05, 2023 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) You'll notice that your emotions are coming to a monthly climax today, Aries.

Don't be alarmed but do be cautious about lashing out at people for no reason. You may feel on edge.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) This is a terrific day for you, Libra, and you'll find that there is a great deal of power at your disposal. This is a day of new beginnings. You have the opportunity now to start over.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) Extremes is the name of the game now, especially for you, Taurus. Today the emphasis is on action. You're the one to call to get the job done.

You won't wait another second to simply go for it.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) The fire is raging today, so be careful, Scorpio. Try not to be too impulsive in your actions. Your natural tendency may be to lash out against others without really thinking about the consequences.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Be adventurous and strike out into new territory, Gemini. Be a pioneer. Work to make some new discoveries in the world. Today isn't a day to worry about consequences.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Go for the gold, Sagittarius.

Today marks the beginning of the rest of your life. Treat it with respect. You may be on a crusade and your combative instincts could be working overtime.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) Certain situations may be difficult to deal with today as they take an emotional spin, Cancer. You're getting anxious.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) You may feel as if someone is poking you today, Capricorn, urging you to get up and get moving. Don't be surprised if someone seems to be picking on you for no reason.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) You should find that the general mood of the day is favorable to your personality style, Leo. Take this opportunity to present more of your thoughts and ideas to the world.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) This is a great day for you to get up on stage and make your presence known, Aquarius. Let people know that you're the leader of the pack.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Se pt. 22) The fog has lifted and you're ready to take off, Virgo. The dreaminess you may have experienced lately has been nice, but now it's time to get moving again.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) This is a good day to add spark to your life, Pisces. If things have seemed boring and stagnating lately, you may need to infuse a bit of excitement into the situation.

From page 25 appears to be an attempt to manipulate the election outcome by disenfranchising voting members.

He noted that these members have actively participated in recent GFF tournaments and the Elite League, with the surprising exception that they are barred only from elections and not other GFF activities.

As the leader of his slate, Wilson urgently seeks a response to the situation, expressing concern that the Electoral Committee’s actions do not bode well for the sport.

The GFF Electoral Committee, led by Marcel Bobb, declared four Elite League Clubs ineligible for the Extraordinary Congress on December 9, citing Article 15.1 (b), which requires a Member to hold an election for its decision-making body at least every four years.

Simultaneously, the Electoral Committee unveiled the competing slates for the December 9 congress.

The incumbent Wayne Forde heads one slate, contested by former president Franklin Wilson.

The competing slates include proposed vice presidents, ordinary members, and key figures in Guyana football.

general meeting (AGM) and general elections on Sunday the 17th of December 2023 at the St. Francis Community Developers Training Hall Portuguese Quarter, Port Mourant. The AGM is scheduled to start at 10am and a total of 14 cricket clubs and three sub associations are expected to participate.

The annual general meeting would see minutes of the last general meeting being submitted and adopted along with the president’s report, secretaryreport treasurer report and the chairman of competition committee report.

The elections which would be conducted by the cricket ombudsman would be for the position of president,

ministration, vice presidentfinance, secretary, treasurer, assistant secretary and assistant treasurer.

The clubs and sub association of the Berbice Cricket Board are Berbice River Cricket Association, West Berbice Cricket Association, Upper Corentyne Cricket Association, are RHTYSC, Albion Community Centre Cricket Club, Blairmont Cricket Club, Port Mourant Cricket Club, Kildonan Cricket Club, Whim Cricket Club, Chesney Cricket Club, Young Warriors Cricket Club, Rose Hall Canje Cricket Club, Tucber Park Cricket Club, Guymine Cricket Club, Mt Sinai Cricket Club, Police Sports Club and Fort Canje Mental Hospital.

Upper Demerara Academy Training...

From page 23 programme back in 2016 and we have seen the impact this investment has had on our football with the likes of Omari Glasglow, Curtez Kellman, Jermaine Garret, who have all graduated to the Golden Jaguars, along with scores of players still working towards the national team.”

The top GFF official also congratulated “the youngsters from the UDFA for put-

ting in a stellar performance.

It was a tough game for them.

It went right down to the wire but kudos to them and the coaches, President Wainwright Bethune, the executive committee and all the supporters.”

Forde added that the Namilco Boys tournament, a cornerstone of GFF’s youth development programme and is scheduled to return in 2024.

Tuesday December 05, 2023

Kaieteur News

PAGE 22

Westside Golf Course to operate under Vreed-en-hoop NDC Management - Opening set for upcoming weekend The West Side Golf Course is set to be top tier following completion.

T h e We s t s i d e G o l f Course will open this coming weekend with a family fun day on Sunday and golf challenges for fans and potential pros, as part of their commissioning.

The revolutionary designed 5-green 9 tee-box golf course will operate in the same manner as international municipal golf courses thanks to the recent discussions between the Course officials and the Local NDC which governs the Vreed-en-hoop area.

Chairman of the NDC Umesh Balram said, “This facility will be an asset to the local community and allow families to experience Golf along with other sports and activities such as cricket, football, fishing, birdcalling, dominoes and even cultural events and

weddings. We are extremely excited to partner with Nexgen Golf and Westside Golf Course to allow as many people as possible access to this developing sport.” Westside Golf Course was recently featured in Golf Architecture Magazine, the leading authority worldwide on golf course design and is the first of its kind designed and built by a Guyanese, Aleem Hussain. The course was dedicated to Ronald Sami and in memory of Shafura Hussain.

This model of golf course was developed by Hussain in response to the Honourable Minister of Education Priya Manickchand’s desire to have all learners be exposed to a sport during their formative years. The new Priority Programme, without having to travel long

distances to engage in competition. Several other sites in Regions 2, 4, 5 and 6 are being examined to start construction in 2024.

Designer and builder of the course Hussain stated, “We wanted to ensure that all Guyanese had access to a quality Course at affordable rates and at the same time, ensure that the local NDC can benefit from the operation of the Course. This

is the same model used by municipalities overseas to guarantee that Golf is affordable for all Guyanese and not just for the elite.”

The addition of the golf course to Region Three will complement tourism growth in the region which has seen a tremendous boost economically with the largest shorebase, gas pipeline, malls and hospitals being developed along with

the new Demerara Harbour Bridge and multiple road and highway projects being undertaken by the government.

The course’s unique design allows for beginners and young students to acquire the necessary skills and experience to play on larger courses whilst being difficult enough to challenge the better golfers in the country. The large lake, strategically

placed sand bunkers, elevated tee boxes and Atlantic Ocean breezes makes Westside Golf Course a delightful yet challenging golfing experience.

Construction of an open air dining and ‘chill spot’ over water is underway and is expected to be completed shortly. All are welcome to visit and enjoy the ambiance, simply call 645 0944 for reservations.

Upper Corentyne Cricket Association AGM Campbell, Christina and and election to be held on December 14th Darius Ramsammy T reign supreme -at ‘Clash of the Baddest’ National Senior Bodybuilding and Fitness C/ship 2023 The Guyana Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (GBBFF) National Seniors Championship dubbed Mr. Guyana ‘Clash of the Baddest’ concluded Saturday last in familiar fashion at the National Culture Centre.

Emmerson Campbell kept his Mr. Physique title, Darius Ramsammy reclaimed the Mr. Guyana title as the most muscular male in the business, while his wife, Christina Ramsammy won the Miss Bikini title. These three outstanding athletes were the champs last year and repeated their success this time around. Hannah Rampersaud won the Miss Bikini Wellness title, and Romelton Siland took the Men’s Fitness title.

In the Clash of the Baddest event, athletes competed across a number of different categories. Christina Ramsammy and Rampersaud dominated their Miss Bikini and Miss Bikini Wellness categories respectively.

Christina was a force, showcasing a welltoned body and great posture to secure the Miss Bikini title.

Aliya Wong grabbed second place, and Melitha Anderson settled for third.

Among eight contestants, seasoned pro Emmerson clinched another Senior Men’s Physique title, with Jonathan Jeffrey and Yusuf Khan taking second and third place respectively.

While Yehoshua Boodie won first place in the junior’s Bodybuilding division. Nicolas Albert triumphed in the 177 LBS-and-over weight class, Delrae McLean and Roger Callender claimed top spots in the Under-165 LBS and Under-143 LBS categories

Emmerson Campbell successfully defended his Men’s Physique title.

he annual general meeting of the Upper Corentyne Cricket Association will be held on Thursday the 14th of December 2023 at the Skeldon Community Centre. After the AGM, which is scheduled to start at 3:00 PM, the election of office bearers would take place. A total of 28 registered cricket clubs in this sub association are expected to vote for the position of president, vice president, s e c r e t a r y, t r e a s u r e r a n d a s s i s t a n t secretary/treasurer.

The election would be conducted by Malcolm Peters, the cricket ombudsman.

Each of the 28 Upper Corentyne Cricket Association clubs would be represented by two representatives and the UCCA is asking

for them to be seated at the centre by 2:45 for the AGM. The registered clubs of the UCCA which would participate in the AGM are Crabwood Creek Gladiators, Crabwood Creek Bomb Squad, Crabwood Creek Sports Club, Line Path Raptors, Line Path CC, Skeldon Back Centre, Just Try Cricket Club, Scottsburgh CC, Dukestown CC, #73 Young Warriors, #73 Radha Krishna Foundation, #72 Cut and load, #71 Sports Club, #70 MYO, #70 Young Blood, #70 Spartans, #69 Vikings, #69 Red Rose, #69 Eagles, #68 TurnTeam, #68 Superstar, #64 Fighting Marines, #67 Cricket Club, #48 challengers, #43 Scorpions, Yakusarie Caribs, Yakusarie Horizon and #35 Explosion.

West Berbice Cricket Association AGM and elections set for December 10th

C

respectively. Raul Greene won in the Masters division, and Darius Ramsammy outperformed his opponents in the Under-176 category, also securing the Mr. Guyana title.

The event was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and Fitness Express.

ricket clubs in t h e We s t B e r b i c e Association met on Thursday last and voted to hold the general election of the West Berbice Cricket Association on Sunday the 10th of December. The clubs presented were Shieldstown Sports Club, D Edwards Sports Club, #5 Modderlust, Woodley Park Young Strikers, Cotton Tree Die Hard, Bath Sports Club, Achievers Youth and Sports Club, Hope Town United, Bush Lot United, Bush Lot Rising Stars Rainbow Generation and Paradise Challengers, while Blairmont Community

Centre was present as an observer.

The teams voted Joel Dilchand to conduct the special meeting which was held at the Cotton Tree Ground. The clubs voted for election for the 20242025 term to be held on Sunday the 10th of December 2023 at the Fort Wellington Secondary School from 10:00AM. The clubs also decided that the following club should be allowed to vote Shieldstown Sports Club, D’Edward Sports Club, #5 Modderlust, Woodley Park Young Strikers, Cotton Tree Die Hard, Bath Sports Club, Achievers Youth and Sports

club, Hopetown United, Bush Lot United, Bush Lot Rising Stars, Rainbow Generation, Paradise Challengers and Blairmont Renaults. The Blairmont Community Centre and the Region Five Police team shall attend as observers.

Each club shall be represented by two delegates and they are asked to be seated by 9:45 for a prompt start of the elections. The elections, which would be conducted by the cricket Ombudsman, would see the election of the WBCA president, vice p r e s i d e n t s e c r e t a r y, treasurer and assistant secretary.

Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 05, 2023

PAGE 23

GFF-Namilco U17 National Academy Championship Playoff...

Upper Demerara Academy Training Centre are Beat Berbice ATC 2-1, Bartica defeat National U17 Champions East Bank 3-2 for third position The Upper Demerara FA Academy celebrate their victory with trophy.

Upper Demerara Football Academy clinched a thrilling 2-1 victory against Berbice Football Academy on Saturday to emerge champions of the Guyana Football FederationNamilco Thunderbolt Flour Power Under-17 National Academy Playoff.

In another amazing encounter on December 2, Bartica Football Academy defeated East Bank Football Academy with a 3-2 scoreline to secure the third position at the Georgetown Football Club on North Road.

For two months, passionate fans were treated to highly competitive matches featuring Guyana’s finest youth teams.

Saturday’s double header was an exhilarating finale to the action-packed GFF 2023 youth season.

The final between Upper Demerara and Berbice produced spectacular football, highlighting the balanced skills and talent of both teams. It was their first clash in a youth football final. Berbice’s Tyrone Delph set the tone with a stunning 18th-minute goal, which his team successfully defended through the first half, much to the delight of their supporters.

But the halftime break and coach’s pep talk infused Upper Demerara with renewed vigour and determination. At the 53rd minute mark, Rodensio Tudor’s goal brought the score level for their team.

The match intensified as both sides created numerous

scoring opportunities, fueling the excitement among the cheering fans.

Ultimately, it was Upper Demerara’s Ryan Arthur who broke the deadlock with an unforgettable 86thminute goal, securing the coveted winner’s trophy for his team.

Upper Demerara Head Coach Orden Nelson said he is happy with the playoff triumph which is a significant breakthrough for youth football for the region following a dry spell of several years.

“It’s great, excellent, a wonderful feeling,” he shared during a post game interview. “It’s been a while we didn’t win any Under-13, 17 or 15 so it’s a pleasure to take it home to Linden.”

He shared that he told his team to have “faith in themselves and confidence because we come to play football. So just put it together. It’s great.”

A jubilant team Captain Omarion Ramsammy added that, “It feels really great to know that we won the trophy.

It was a hard game. Berbice really played hard but we outplayed them. It wasn’t the first time we were down so in the second half we had one mindset, we knew what was the goal, so we went and got it.”

Berbice Football Academy Assistant Coach Travis Moore extended congratulations to the champions and shared his team “executed okay it’s just that we didn’t hold our composure enough, but at the end of the day the better

team won. We must say congratulations to Linden and we will go back and we will come back again next year.”

In the tournament’s third place match, Bartica’s Ezekiel Basdeo netted a goal at the 36th minute to finish the first half with a lead.

An altered East Bank side emerged in the second half, equalising the score with a spectacular goal by Matrim Martin in the 75th minute, eliciting enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.

Bartica staged a comeback with another goal from Basdeo at the 83rd minute, followed by Reizer Reid’s goal at 90+3 minutes, clinching the third place in the tournament.

Bartica captain Reon Hall thanked his fellow players and the Head Coach Curtis Joseph for their devotion throughout the tournament. “It was a very great tournament. I want to thank the coach for carrying us through the whole competition. Great work from the team. I’m excited we won. It was difficult in group, but still we fought through and came out victorious.”

The playoff tournament kicked off on October 7, dividing teams into two groups. Group A comprised Georgetown, East Coast, East Bank, the National Under-15 Team and Berbice, while Group B included Upper Demerara, Essequibo, Bartica, and West Demerara.

After the round-robin phase, the top-performing teams from each group

earned a place in the championship round.

At the presentation c e r e m o n y, N a m i l c o Financial Controller Fitzroy McCloud lauded the dedication and commitment displayed by all participating teams throughout the tournament.

He also praised the champions for overcoming “everything in front of you, every challenge. The

discipline to train to prepare and the discipline to execute coaches orders to be able to overcome the challenges on the field and to end up victorious.”

GFF President Wayne Forde emphasised the enduring partnership between Nalmico and GFF and underscored the tournament’s significant impact in nurturing talent for national-level play, with

alumni players including Omari Glasglow, Curtez Kellman and Jermaine Garret who are now playing with the Golden Jaguars.

“I want to recognise the National Milling Company who has been an enduring and generous partner of the GFF, investing heavily in youth football. NAMILCO committed 30 million dollars to the GFF U17 Boys (Continued on page 21)

Kaieteur News

PAGE 24

Tuesday December 05, 2023

Cadogan, Jardine hat-tricks lead GBTI GCC to championship title - Pepsi Hikers, Antonio’s Hikers, TT Masters claim respective titles After four days of intense action, the 2023 Guyana H o c k e y B o a r d (GHB)/Diamond Mineral Wa t e r I n d o o r H o c k e y Festival concluded on Sunday at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue. The final day showcased thrilling performances as champions emerged across four categories, with TT Masters team being the only team outside of Guyana to secure championship victory.

In the Exxon Mobil Women’s category, the GBTI GCC Tigers reigned supreme, clinching the 2023 championship with commanding performances.

Meanwhile, the Pepsi Hikers claimed victory in the Diamond Mineral Water M e n ’s c h a m p i o n s h i p .

Notably, Antonio’s Hikers showcased exceptional skills in the Republic Bank Men’s Over-35 category to secure their title.

Additionally, the Trinidad a n d To b a g o M a s t e r s dominated the Value4U Over-45 division, ultimately seizing the championship glory.

The day of finals unfolded with the unbeaten GBTI GCC Tigers making their way to the championship match.

Their journey began with a dominant 8-0 win against YMCA Old Fort, setting the stage for a clash against TT Police in the final. With unparalleled confidence, GCC showcased their prowess, overpowering TT Police with an impressive 6-2 victory.

GCC’s early four-goal onslaught within the first 10 minutes, led by Sonia Jardine and Abosaide C a d o g a n ’s b r i l l i a n t performance, solidified their dominance. Although TT Police managed to score two goals later on, Jardine’s hat trick sealed another championship triumph for

GCC. In a fiercely contested battle for the Diamond M i n e r a l Wa t e r M e n ’s championship, the Pepsi Hikers engaged in a thrilling match against Bounty GCC. The game swayed back and forth, keeping spectators on

the edge of their seats.

Ultimately, the Hikers emerged victorious with a 64 win, fueled by pivotal goals from Davin Munroe and Aroydy Brankford in the dying minutes, securing the coveted title.

Over in the Men’s O-35

c a t e g o r y, s p e c t a t o r s witnessed an epic showdown between Antonio’s Hikers and GCC The Sequel, culminating in a thrilling penalty shootout after a gripping 4-4 draw. Antonio’s Hikers clinched a deserving 3-2 victory, claiming the

Men’s O-35 championship.

Meanwhile, TT Master displayed dominance in the finals against GCC Vintage.

Roger Daniels shone bright with a double (goal) for TT Masters, mounting a welldeserved 2-1 victory, and also the 2023 Masters title.

Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 05, 2023

PAGE 25

Banks DIH supports Ballers Ent. B

anks DIH has reiterated its dedication to nurturing emerging talents through its social and community development initiatives by backing Ballers Entertainment with a timely sponsorship for the ongoing East Bank Versus the Rest Street Football competition.

This commitment was affirmed during a casual gathering held last Saturday at the company’s Thirst Park location.

During the simple ceremony Public Relation Officer of Ballers Entertainment, Clayton Reece declared, football hosted under the Ballerz Entertainment banner has have positive reverberations on our both socially and financially. He pointed out that, “Growth has been consistent with every edition and gratitude must be expressed to Banks DIH for always being ready and willing to support. They have remained steadfast in

their support of activities like these that impact the community positively for this we are grateful.”

“It is a pleasure for Banks DIH to be a part of this initiative and we would continue to support this type of football at the community and grassroots level throughout the country.

We are usually at the forefront of major football and other sporting activities and are always eager to play a part in football development through this initiative.

We have worked before with the organizers and indeed they have been doing a wonderful job and we must extend congratulations to them and wish them well in their future endeavors in aid of community development and football at the grassroots level. We are proud to be a part of this and will continue to support these kind of initiatives,” Banks DIH Events (Outdoor) Manager, Mortimer Stewart said during his opening remarks.

Present at the sponsorship presentation were (from left) Mortimer Stewart Events Manager, Oral Jones Ryda Hard Wine Brand Manager, Teon Jones, Lyliton Ramsay of Ballerz Entertainment and Dwain Bristol GT Beer Manager.

Wilson seeks FIFA intervention

…GFF presidential candidate threatens legal action

Former GFF president, Franklin Wilson,

FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura.

Wayne Forde GFF President

By Rawle Toney Following the exclusion of Santos FC, Western Tigers, Guyana Police Force ( G P F ) , a n d t h e We s t Demerara Football Association (WDFA) from the Guyana Football Federation’s December 9 Congress, presidential candidate Franklin Wilson is considering legal action unless FIFA intervenes.

In a letter addressed to FIFA’s General Secretary, Fatma Samoura, and obtained by Kaieteur News, Wilson questions the GFF’s authority to disqualify legitimate members from the upcoming Congress.

Wilson stated, “It is my understanding that one of the duties of the Electoral

Committee (EC) is to prepare the voter list with the assistance of the General Secretariat. The EC does not have the authority to debar or suspend members.”

A former GFF president, Wilson pointed out that members were not given any notice of disciplinary proceedings or suspension by the GFF. They only learned of their ineligibility when the list of members was released on December 2, 2023.

Wilson argues that members have been deemed suspended without due process, violating the principles of natural justice that involve laying charges and allowing the accused a fair opportunity to defend

themselves, none of which occurred.

The seasoned sports administrator explained, “It is my understanding that the jurisdiction of suspending members is the GFF C o n g r e s s . Te m p o r a r y suspension may be done by the General Council following due process, and such suspensions are placed before the next Congress for a final decision. It is my understanding that these members were never allowed to defend themselves.”

Wilson emphasised that t h e u n i l a t e r a l disqualification of legitimate members, who are solely part of his slate, (Continued on page 21)

r ts Spo

Cadogan, Jardine hat-tricks lead GBTI GCC to championship title

Diamond Mineral Water Men’s Champions - Pepsi Hikers.

- Pepsi Hikers, Antonio’s Hikers, TT Masters claim respective titles

Campbell, Christina and Darius Ramsammy - at ‘Clash of the Baddest’ National Senior reign supreme Bodybuilding and Fitness C/ship 2023

Podium finishers of the Miss Bikini Aliya Wong (left) Christina Ramsammy (center) and Melitha Anderson.

2023 Mr. Guyana Darius Ramsammy (center) celebrate with Orlando Dublin and Errol Teekaram at the Clash of the Baddest championship.

Wilson seeks FIFA intervention …GFF presidential candidate threatens legal action 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.