Kaieteur News

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300,000 barrels NEWS of Liza-1 crude will be used as ballast on FPSO

Saturday Edition

AIETEUR

December 14, 2019 - Vol. 13 No. 49

Online: www.kaieteurnews.com

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

Price $80

Online readership yesterday 99,655

Refiners invited for “face to face” bidding - Bloomberg says on Guyana's oil arrangement “unusual” E'bo homes under water two days now

Some of the communities that were affected by floodwaters yesterday

More CCTV cameras for Stabroek area, Berbice Bridge, Lusignan, Anna Regina etc.

Petition filed to Deadly Nismes crash… DDL plugs $4B in have Magistrate Bus driver granted plant to produce Moore recuse bail on failing to himself from render assistance, pasteurized milk, Bisram case two other charges line of fruit juices

Oil companies would face no penalties for overstatement of costs - Dr. Bynoe

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Kaieteur News

Saturday December 14, 2019

Saturday December 14, 2019

Kaieteur News

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Refiners invited for “face to face” bidding on Guyana's Oil G

u y a n a i s expected to receive bids for its oil from at least half a dozen traders from Houston, Geneva and London as early as Monday. Bringing this revelation to the fore yesterday was reputable NY media house, Bloomberg.

The news outfit noted that Guyana which has no experience in trading oil, sent letters to refiners around the globe inviting them to bid for three million barrels of light-sweet oil. But there is a catch.

Bloomberg found out from its sources the buyer must take the “unusual role” of handling “all operating and back office responsibilities” related to exporting the crude. It said that this was outlined in a document it perused.

On top of that,

The Liza Destiny which will be storing and offloading oil from the Stabroek Block in a few days

- Bloomberg says arrangement “unusual” Bloomberg highlighted that the bids must be offered “face to face”. The news agency said that such a voyage is rare for traders, who do most of their business on instant-message platforms and by phone.

Despite the unusual arrangement, Bloomberg pointed out that the oil world is happy to play along with an inexperienced Guyana.

It was further noted that the three cargoes being offered by Guyana to the bidders are an appetizer for a bigger prize. After this sale that is part of an “incubation and launching” phase, Bloomberg said that Guyana plans to sell its crude via

long-term contracts.

The government will load its first cargo in February, but the first oil lift

will be exported in January

by Exxon Mobil, which operates the Liza oil field.

In the meantime, not a

word about this bidding arrangement has been made known to citizens. Neither the Department of Energy

nor the Ministry of Presidency has made mention of intentions to act in this regard.

Nursing shortage blamed for Diamond hospital's diminished capacity

A

shortage of nurses and midwives is currently plaguing the East Bank Demerara, Diamond Diagnostic Centre. The hospital, as a result, has been operating at a diminished capacity.

This was underscored by Deputy Chief Medical Officer [DCMO], Dr. Karen Boyle, who was part of a Ministry of Public Health delegation that toured the hospital recently.

“The Diamond Diagnostic Centre is operating at some 25 percent of what it should be operating at and as such there is an urgent need for more nurses and midwives,”

DCMO, Dr. Karen Boyle said Dr. Boyle.

She pointed out that while the hospital has brought on board a number of specialists, who have

helped to enhance the level of service and performance of the hospital, there continues to be a great shortage of the nursing staff.

Addressing this is crucial, said Dr. Boyle, even as she said that the Public Health Ministry, along with the Regional Health Services Department of Region Four, will meet to chart the way forward.

In the interim, though, she considered that several nurses will have to be shifted around to ensure that the hospital can have adequate nurses and midwives on duty. This move, she explained, should help to reduce the heavy workload of some nurses.

“I chatted with the staff at Diamond [Hospital] to find out how things are working and also to hear about some of their challenges and to brainstorm together in terms of what can be put in place, to see what needs to be done so that we can help to improve the quality of service.

“They are certainly doing a good job here but there are some areas where they definitely need help,” said Dr. Boyle.

Nevertheless, the DCMO said that she is

overall impressed with the level and quality of services being offered. She disclosed that she was particularly impressed with the fact that the hospital has been able to attract some nine specialists covering a wide range of areas.

She, however, noted that there is certainly an urgent need for more support nursing staff.

“We need more nurses to function in a number of areas in a 24-hour hospital. We will certainly need more

nurses and midwives and I think this is a problem that we are having countrywide,” Dr. Boyle said.

Commenting on the obstetrics and gynaecology [OBGY] services, the DCMO disclosed that there are two obstetricians at the hospital but stressed that in order to provide an effective 24-hour service there is an urgent need for more support staff.

“The truth of the matter is that 'ever so often' countries (continued on page 24)

Kaieteur News

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Saturday December 14, 2019

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

Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: Adam Harris Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

EDITORIAL

A dedicated task “The mother of Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz has turned her life into a shrine to his memory” (New York Post October 13). Junior was a teenager mistakenly identified, hunted down, and cold-bloodedly butchered in numerous murderous cutlass strikes in the Bronx.

The walls in Leandra Feliz’s Bronx home are a mosaic of her fallen son’s image. It adorns her clothing, her pillow and bed quilt. Pieces of apparel are framed on a hallway wall.

Even in the bathroom his picture lives.

“Everywhere, everywhere he is with me, in my heart, 24/7.” It is testimony to a mother’s love, standing for her dead son.

What do we stand for here? Live for? Dedicate our lives towards in this troubled, depraved, self-destructive society?

For a great many, the be all and end all, is to maintain the ascendancy of their race in the power structure.

For an almost equivalent multitude, it is the about figuring out, calculating, and committing everything to getting back in power. To be sure, there are the few manifesting the same heartfelt devotion to such altruisms as diabetes assistance, cancer relief, educational uplift, poverty reduction. They are too far apart, no matter how many diverse fields of noble endeavours are attempted, too few.

Vast ferocious swarms blight the horizon and torture the vision: the uppermost interest for most is about the tribe, the related politics, and the fanatical drive for power; power by any expediency. Power means control, means money, means all the woes lived and feared.

Principle is sacrificed, conscience shredded, judgment discarded in the unalterable convictions that this is what must be; and, when the storms and eruptions have stilled, that only can be, then this society is doomed.

For there is shortcoming in such thinking. Many of them. For despite the turbulences in the breasts, Guyanese are never, ever, truly stilled. Look carefully, and there are the undercurrents rippling. It is savaging to the sight, sore to the slightest of touches, and recoiling in the shuddering and hating that it brings, thus, the bitter gall on the tongue of those who fail, who lose. Second, it is because the convictions of strivers and winners and losers are in the wrong places, through the wrong priorities, that flow from the wrong priorities. Since it is about the winners alone, then there will always be losers.

Even in a near homogenous society, there will still be those who feel cheated and disenfranchised, as well as marginalised and penalised. Colour of skin gives way to that of class in the arrangement of station in the rungs of society. And Guyana is nowhere near a homogenous society.

Plural may not be the most appropriate of words, the particular one which captures the sulfuric essences of the rawness, shabbiness, and coarseness of a gathering of different peoples that recognise only the sharpness of differences. Acceptance and embrace across the board of only that, too. Where in our society are our people dedicated to raising voice and spirit, to straining strength and intellect against the serpents that envenom the children, while slithering effortlessly across the environment?

Where is that fierce unrelenting force field of personal powers brought to bear to exemplify: not this way, not like that, not again, not anymore?

Third, the tempests never settle into full stillness for there is only the customary strident denial of and furious objection to, all just placed before consciousness and reason. That is what is the life devotion of most here.

There is still implacable refusal to listen to, or contemplate, or make allowance for the merest sliver of consideration of another way. It is the culture cultivated and perpetuated in lifelong embrace. Another way, a radically different one, is arguably the only way, which could usher past the threshold to all the other ways never given a bona fide opportunity to take root, only to take root.

A woman in the Bronx lost a beloved in a horror, and her life is of the one-track.

Editor’s Note; If your sent letter was not published and you felt its contents were valid and devoid of libel or personal attacks, please contact us by phone or email.

Foreign Affairs, the G77, ACP, Sugar and the President DEAR EDITOR, On the cusp of the strong possibility of a change of government in Guyana, the Granger caretaker administration has made a number of unbelievably wrong moves on the international arena.

The first wrong move was made at home when the Ministry of the Presidency initiated an abrupt internal shake-up at the Foreign Ministry. Lame excuses were made to the effect that the shakeup was aimed at “ p r o f e s s i o n a l i z i n g ” G u y a n a ’s diplomatic service and more funnily, in the light of a date set for elections.

Incidentally, speaking about “professionalizing” the Foreign Service, wasn’t it Mr. Granger who in 2016, appointed a number of politicians as Heads of Missions, and who he is now recalling under the pretext of “professionalizing” the Foreign Service?

This sounds more like pure unadulterated jiggery-pokery.

In making this pronouncement, the President exposed his cloven hooves.

His utterances betrayed a cynical, yet uncanny reassurance that his re-election is reassured, when it is not.

Mr. Granger is free to make whatever changes he wishes to make at Guyana’s Foreign Service, but he must be aware of the inevitability that when he loses at the elections, a new government will be equally free to make whatever changes it wishes at the Foreign Service. His actions therefore can only be described as self-inflicted wounds on his caretaker administration.

According to the President, the removal of the former Director General should be viewed as “a promotion and not a demotion” since the intention is to

post her to one of Guyana’s overseas missions. This is a totally absurd proposition.

It is an established practice that all members of staff of the Foreign Ministry, including Heads of Missions, must report to and receive instructions from the Director General. Now, the former DG in her next life, will be reporting to and taking instructions from her successor, now designated a Permanent Secretary. If this is not a demotion then what is?

The deceptive and duplicitous statements on the part of the caretaker president will fool no one.

Those of us who lived through the Burnham dictatorship would easily discern the similarities in the diplomatic gallivanting and opportunistic forum shopping between the then Burnham dictatorship and the extant Granger caretaker administration.

What the caretaker Granger administration either fails, or pretends not to understand is that whether it is at the ACP, or at the G77 and China, the governments of the member states are fully aware of the consequences of the No Confidence Motion and the instability of the caretaker government of Guyana.

In this respect, the naivety of the caretaker administration is mindboggling to say the least.

It goes after the Chair of the G77 and China, as if holding chairmanship of the Group will give its tattered image at home a shot in the arm at the global level.

We all know that the President’s intention is to hitch his ramshackle coalition to the G77 and China and to use the UN body as a cover in case it

risks either postponing or rigging the much anticipated elections in Guyana.

Unfortunately for the caretaker administration, within the membership of the G77 and China, there are members of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), the A C P, t h e O I C , t h e O A S a n d CARICOM, all of whose leaders are au fait with the administration’s track record where, for 439 days, as if on a horse and chariot, it continues to ride roughshod over the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana.

While representatives of these countries will behave diplomatically correct towards Guyana during its symbolic chairmanship of the G77 and China, they will, nevertheless, continue to pursue their own permanent interests.

A tour d’horizon of the speeches made by representatives of many of the G77 countries at the last UNGA will show that their foreign policies do not necessarily coincide with Guyana’s.

And as it is in multilateral diplomacy, even though Guyana as chairman of the Group may wish to succinctly pursue its national interests by hitching its electoral wagon onto the multilateral interests of the G77 and China, such efforts will be well nigh impossible.

Guyana’s Chairmanship of the G77 and China will be more symbolic than substantive. No positive results would be achieved, other than declaratory and highfalutin commitments to fulfill due to the lack of financial resources.

All the talk that Guyana’s “election as G77 Chair has been hailed as a timely tribute to all Guyanese with recognition of the good standing and capacity of the (Continued on page 5)

I regret any confusion my statement might have caused DEAR EDITOR, Please note that in my letter, published in your papers on December 12, 2019, I stated that Professor Ellis was a staffer at the US Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana. I write to correct that assertion. In fact Professor Ellis is employed with the US State Department, the Department that oversees US Embassies around the world.

I therefore, find the comments attributed to the professor, even more concerning. Maybe, the State Department can offer

a more fulsome comment on the matter. Guyanese, going to the polls in March should have no doubt that their elections would not be affected by external influence. The State Department can give them this assurance. I regret any confusion my statement about Professor Ellis’s current place of employment might have caused. Apart from this, general sentiments expressed in my 12/12/19 letter stand.

Sincerely Lurlene Nestor

These two developments are significant in their own right DEAR EDITOR, Two recent developments have taken the spotlight in the international media.

The first is the Conservative Party’s victory in Britain and the second, the likely impeachment of United States President Donald Trump following a majority vote in the House Judiciary Committee.

Both of these developments are significant in their own right. The victory of Boris Johnson now paves the way for a speedier Brexit which had been the defining issue in the elections.

Boris Johnson took a political gamble in holding elections before the constitutionally due date, hoping to capitalize on a growing wave of nationalism in Britain and the entire western Europe.

The gamble has paid good political dividends for Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party, which now has a full

mandate to fast track a Brexit deal.

The Labour Party will now have to go back, as it were, to the drawing board, and come up with new and innovative strategies to regain lost political ground.

As for President Trump, he will go down in history as the third president of the United States to be impeached, even though it is more than likely that the impeachment will be reversed by the Senate where Republicans have a majority.

The impeachment proceedings highlighted the fractured nature of politics in the United States.

It is interesting to see how the impeachment dynamics will impact on the outcome of the US presidential elections due in November 2020.

My own prediction is that even if he survives the impeachment charges the damage inflicted on his credibility and image could greatly affect his chances for re-election.

Hydar Ally

Saturday December 14, 2019

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Kaieteur News

Sustainability of the Sugar Industry – 2019 and beyond DEAR EDITOR, ‘The most sustainable sugar industry in the English–speaking Caribbean’ Sugar producers in the English –speaking Caribbean are: Jamaica Belize Barbados Guyana It is to be noted that for some extended time now, major sugar production ceased in: Antigua St Kitts Nevis Trinidad Tobago But Guyana has never operated just as an industry, for its management long accepted responsibility for, amongst others, the following deliverables: a comprehensive community development programme which saw the development of at least 11,000 house lots in what were called Extra Nuclear Areas, that later became members of the Local Government System. The lots were eventually sold to the beneficiary employees at $1 each.

-the construction and management of Community Centres and Girls’ Clubs which accommodated sports, educational and cultural programmes, coordinated by Estate Welfare Officers (male and female), of every estate; the organisation of funding the construction of and/or repairing to worker houses through interest–free loans (initially repayable over a twenty year period) from the Sugar Industry Labour Welfare Fund–subscribed through a legal Sugar Welfare Levy on every ton of sugar exported; - The voluntary provision of free medical services to: a) all employees b) their spouses; and c) unemployed children up to age eighteen years d) all pensioners At the end of 2017 there were some 17,000 employees and 5,235 pensioners who benefited.

Before Wales Estate was

closed, the industry’s health services were provided by: six (6) Estate Medical Officers and twenty-nine (29) paramedicals (nurses, midwives, pharmacists) operating in fifteen (15) Primary Health Care Centres and two (2) Regional Diagnostic Centres.

Arguably also, the industry must be the largest subscriber to the National Insurance Scheme, one which is complemented by the first contributory medical scheme established in this country, beginning from 1964. Membership ranges from managers to weekly paid workers, who could also access overseas treatment.

Our sugar industry’s contribution to education is unmatched by any counterparts in the Caribbean, beginning with the very expansive Cadet graduate programme aimed at replacing all 350 expatriate Booker employees, beginning from 1956.

The scheme still obtains to cater for more current human resources needs. The investment in education and training at the University of Guyana and the Guyana School of Agriculture remains consistent. The previous five years up to 2017 saw substantial millions spent at these levels - complemented by costly annual bursary awards to workers’ children; as well as an Assistance To Study Scheme.

There has never been an industry in the Caribbean (in any language) which could have matched the residential Apprentices Training Centre established at Port Mourant, Corentyne, by Bookers Sugar Estates in 1957, whose early graduates were certified by City & Guilds Institute of London, United Kingdom.

Tradesmen included: • Fitter Machinist • Agriculture Mechanic • Electrician • Auto Electrician • Instrument Repair Mechanic and • Sugar Boilers These skills are still catered for; but sadly the Centre has not adjusted to training in more re-

cent technologies, as the factories still rely on the decades-old equipment.

So while the costs of all the above are included in the total cost of production in Guyana’s sugar industry, Caribbean counterparts have had minimal comparable financial responsibility Nevertheless, it is worth confirming that several sugar producers have had to opt out of producing a ‘sweet’ that, for health reasons, is increasingly less recommended for consumption – in the form of soft drinks, for example.

In the meantime, with decreasing production and productivity in field and factory, there continues this indulgence in a fantasy that the Industry could be profitably sustained when there are three operational units that are all desperately in need of technical upgrading in the first instance; but more critically of human skills.

The depletion of the latter has been ongoing for at least a decade, and is compounded by the scarcity of leadership at several levels of the job hierarchy.

Incidentally no one refers to the elephant at Skeldon.

A major lack of incentive towards achieving the expectations of policy-makers, is that there has been absolutely no increase in compensation throughout the whole of the sugar industry since 2014 – a situation which contrasts, at least contemplatively, with the largesse awarded to the suspect value of outputs from public servants.

How is the worth of one measured against that of the other? Accountants would rightfully ask to see the balance sheet. So that to whatever prospective the parties speak, there is this underlying self-deception about the now and future realities of the sugar industry.

Incidentally, it is worth noting that none of the sugar industries in the Caribbean would have had a record of what is mis-named ‘industrial relations’ as disruptive of ours. The following is just a sample of our superior record over five years.

So that when some, however glibly, would argue that the industry is already in a ‘ditch’, little would they have known that up to 2017 the in-

dustry was spending something like $1.2 billion annually on drainage and irrigation for the benefit of both estates and surrounding communi-

ties. So in the final analysis which ‘difference’ is going to dig the industry out of its dilemma of sustainability?

E.B. John

Direct election of the prime minister DEAR EDITOR, As Boris Johnson won the election in the United Kingdom, it made me think of the need for Guyana to elect its prime minister directly. I expected him to win because the narrative he told was optimistic and urgent.

The election showed me how the Westminster system encourages people to vote for party, rather than the best suited candidate.

The leader of government in this system is chosen by the party, not the people in general. It’s no wonder that

prime ministers in this system make decisions that are best for the party.

The prime minister in the Westminster system can decide who becomes a minister of government - not the people.

Remember, he was elected as an area representative, but the support of the majority of area representatives made him prime minister.

The most powerful person in government was not chosen by the people, but by his political party. Does this means that he answers to his

party not the people? So long as he serves his area and not the nation, he can remain prime minister, since he was elected by a small portion of the populace.

There are other changes like an elected senate that will enhance Guyana’s democracy, but I believe that gradual change will be wise.

Let’s start by the people e l e cting the prime minister, leader of the country, not his political party.

Yours truly, Brian Ellis Plummer

Foreign Affairs, the G77, ACP, Sugar and...

From page 4 country to effectively undertake responsibilities at the highest levels of the international community” and, that it is “in keeping with its deep commitment to principled conduct and the rule of law...” will be viewed as mere rhetoric and self-serving, principally because the government of Guyana is seen by the international community as a weak and a lame duck administration, unsure of its ability to secure a second term in office.

That aside, as if to give the lie to its “good standing and capacity of the country to serve at the highest levels of the international community” the caretaker administration not only abandoned the much larger 79-member and prestigious ACP Group, it resiled from participating in the recent ACP Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.

These moves must be seriously questioned, since they represent poor, haphazard and uncoordinated foreign policy formulation by the caretaker administration. The Georgetown Agreement is the cornerstone of the ACP Group. Guyana has been a respected and longstanding member of the ACP. Our country has benefitted enormously from financial instruments/schemes established between the A C P and the European Union such as the EDF, Sysmin, Stabex, the Sugar and Rice Protocols before they were abolished, save for the EDF.

Guyana currently holds the post of Secretary General of the ACP Organization.

It must have been a grave embarrassment and humiliating to say the least, for the Guyanese Ambassador to the ACP and his Guyanese counterpart as Secretary General, to have received news that Guyana of all ACP countries would not be fulfilling its responsibilities at the highest level of the ACP. The point here is that a transformed ACP is likely to bring greater economic and trade benefits to Guyana in the medium and long term, rather than the G77 and China, where the ambassadors meet to talk shop and engage in discussions that will be more political and ideological in nature.

The ACP/EU Sugar Protocol is now history, yet from all indications, government lacks a clear roadmap as regards its endgame for the sugar industry.

Because the price of ACP sugar on the EU market is residual, sugar exports to Europe have virtually ceased. Approximately 24,000 tons of the 110,000 tons of our sugar is consumed locally, while approximately 70,000 and 15,000 tons are exported to the US and Caricom respectively.

Under any APNU+AFC coalition administration, the expectation that sugar production will jump from 110,000 tons (2019) to 160,000 tons in 2025 is a pipe dream. This target is more achievable with the PPP/C in government.

What makes this goal even more unrealistic with APNU+AFC in office, is the lack of public consultation and adequate consideration by stakeholders as regards a business plan, an expansion programme, and transparency about where investments will come from to turn the industry around.

Moreover, questions have arisen whether the plant to produce white sugar should be located at Albion or Skeldon, and whether it could produce white sugar in three years, beginning from 2020, will depend to a large extent on the victory of the PPP/C at the polls.

All the aforementioned the wrong moves by the caretaker administration in the three theatres of negotiations - have occurred because of bureaucratic inertia, incompetence, poor formulation and coordination of foreign policy, coupled with a lack of direction and a sense of priority.

The cumulative effect will ultimately result in disaster for Guyana at home and abroad, so long as the APNU+AFC coalition continues to hang on to Office.

Yours faithfully, Clement J. Rohee Former Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation

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Saturday December 14, 2019

Kaieteur News

Oil companies would face no penalties for overstatement of costs -Dr. Bynoe

By Kemol King ExxonMobil and all other oil companies with which Guyana is doing business, will face no penalties if they are found to overstate the costs that they intend to recover from operations done offshore Guyana. This is according to Director of the Department of Energy, Dr. Mark Bynoe.

The Director was asked what Government would do if ExxonMobil overstates any of the costs included in the $10B it intends to recover for developmental works on the Stabroek Blocks Liza-1 and Liza-2 projects.

To Kaieteur News, Dr. Bynoe responded that the Department would simply refuse to pay overstatements, and that that would be the only action taken by Government to correct any misstatements.

In other words, there is no mechanism in place to deter these companies from attempting to rob the Guyanese people.

Kaieteur News had posed the question to Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, and to Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Godfrey Statia.

Both had declined to comment.

UK FIRM to AUDIT COSTS The Department of Energy has already recruited a London-based firm to audit the billions of dollars being claimed. The firm is IHS Markit Limited.

In its Expression of Interest (EOI), the London-based firm stated that it has the deepest source of information, analytics and solutions for the major industries such as oil, while noting that it has provided its expertise to clients in over 165 countries for more than 50 years.

The company further stated that it understands the holistic impact of costs on upstream operations.

In terms of what it is bringing to the table for Guyana, IHS said that it has a comprehensive global database of exploration and production costs. It said that this data includes local and regional costs at the component level so as to allow for detailed comparisons.

Kaieteur News understands that the firm will be working along closely with the officials of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) on these and other related audits.

The costs that Exxons subsidiary, Esso Exploration

and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) and its partners, Hess Corporation and CNOOC Nexen, are claiming are monumental.

US$960M PRE-CONTRACT COSTS Pre-contract costs, as stated in the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) they signed with Government, concern works done between the first contracts signage in 1999 and its revision in 2016.

The first US$460M of costs are overstated by “at least” US$92M, Attorneyat-Law and Accountant Christopher Ram had found. His calculation had found that all figures supplied by the companies, even when one allows for all expenses and expenditures, amount to a far cry from the US$460,237,918 that Exxon and its partners are claiming.

He also came to the conclusion that the costs cannot be refused. He had told this publication that the costs were approved when the contract was signed.

International Lawyer, Melinda Janki, was one of the first persons to note that the country is neck-deep in precontract costs.

During a panel discussion that was held on Guyanas oil

Director, Energy Department, Dr. Mark Bynoe

contract with ExxonMobil at Moray House, Janki had reminded that in addition to the US$460M, there is a second lot of costs, for operations between January 2016 to when the deal was signed on October 7, 2016.

The international lawyer had said, “The costs for the whole of 2016 were about US$583M and if you apportion it to October, you get roughly US$400M. Again,

Impounded cow at Den Amstel police station DEAR EDITOR, For approximately three weeks now I have noticed a cow, which I believe had been impounded, in the Den Amstel Police Station yard.

Throughout this period it has been tethered in one

section of the yard at the side of the station. It has been there although all the grass in the area that can be accessed by the cow has been consumed by now, and despite the prevailing inclement weather.

It is obvious to anyone

who is passing by on the road in front of the station that the cow’s condition has deteriorated and it is noticeably thinner and weaker.

I am appealing for this cow to be given better care, while urging that

steps be taken to resolve the matter so it could be returned expeditiously to its home.

I am hoping that all animals will be treated humanely while in custody at any station.

A. Hassan

Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman has agreed for Guyana to pay this. As at October 7, 2016, Governments attempt to sell our oil costs us US$960M.” US$10B DEVELOPMENT COSTS FOR LIZA-1, LIZA-2 ExxonMobil and its partners are looking to collect about US$10B from Guyana in the course of two years, in order to pay off for the Liza 1

and 2 field Developments.

These costs include those of the two Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading vessels, the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Hess confirmed this during a recently Energy Conference in Florida.

The costs include US$3.7B for the Liza-1 project, and US$6B for the Liza-2 project.

4 Million Tonnes of Sugar!

DEAR EDITOR, The title says it all. Due to a shortfall of beet sugar in the USA which was caused by weather and other factors beyond the control of growers in the USA, there is now a need to increase the level of cane sugar being imported into the USA by “4 Million Tonnes!”

This will be either a missed opportunity for GuySuCo or an opportunity to reopen key facilities such as Enmore and Skeldon with the others to follow.

Lack of good inventory planning and supply & demand considerations has led to poor foresight in our sugar industry. There is no

reason why we have a current shortfall in production with excess planting capacity vs. the production capacity currently online.

Hopefully a 2- to 3-year long term agreement (LTA) will be negotiated with the refineries in the USA at a profitable price to allow for bringing our dormant capacity back online. If this is not done quickly, the Brazilians and Mexicans will take the business and continue to develop their sugar industry.

The call to our laid off sugar workers in the sugar belt should be “great news, time to get back to work!”

Best regards, Mr. Jamil Changlee

Saturday December 14, 2019

Kaieteur News

PAGE 7

Finance Ministry internal auditors warned to avoid bribes in oil and gas The oil and gas industry will demand more from the Ministry of Finances internal auditors. Yesterday, Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, charged the officials to be ready to take on the challenge.

The Minister delivered a brief charge to the Ministrys Central Internal Audit Unit, during the holding of its second annual staff retreat at the Watooka House, Linden.

In a matter of days, Guyana, through US oil giant ExxonMobil, will begin production, eventually leading to a significant increase in Government revenues.

Minister Jordan said the role of internal auditors would be critical to the process.

“Auditors must eschew threats, intimidation and bribery, aiming to perform their duties without fear or favour, affection or ill will,” he charged. The Finance Minister said internal audit reform was necessary and would mean a change of culture. According to Minister Jordan, the team must take the required steps to ensure that internal auditing remains an efficient tool to sustain sound public financial management in Guyana.

The government is on an

economic diversification path to avoid the “Dutch disease” and resource curse in which many oil-producing countries find themselves. At the same time, it is edging closer to the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund.

The Fund will ensure that the oil resources are managed efficiently.

“President David Granger has also earmarked 2020-2029 as the decade of development, which will entail significant investment in public sector projects, to expand core economic sectors, focus on value-added products and invest heavily in infrastructure development.

These developments will increase the roles and responsibilities of the internal audit unit,” Minister Jordan said.

He noted that they were already transitioning to the Integrated Financial Management International System, where all users were expected to adhere to standard rules and procedures to facilitate better monitoring and reduce the risk of misuse of public funds.

(DPI)

Staff of the audit unit pay rapt attention to Minister Jordan

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Kaieteur News

Saturday December 14, 2019

More CCTV cameras for Stabroek area, Berbice Bridge, Lusignan, Anna Regina etc.

The Stabroek Market area will have more CCTV cameras, it has been announced.

There will be more Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in the high-crime, congested Stabroek Market area.

Yesterday, the Minister of Public Telecommunications disclosed that high technology security camera system to support crime prevention efforts will see an additional 17 camera locations around the country.

Among the areas targeted are the Stabroek Market area, the Berbice River Bridge and the Lusignan Prisons on the East Coast Demerara.

The 17 new locations will bring the total number to 119 so far.

According to the Ministry, the cameras have been paying dividend, credited with solving a number of criminal activities around the country.

Major (rtd) Floyd Levi, Head of the National Data Management Authority (NDMA), disclosed this week that the programme is being ramped up under Safe City Solutions project being carried out in collaboration with the Chinese Government.

Huawei Technologies, the Ministry said, is leading efforts with the NDMA to execute the US$37.6 million project that would add a

crucial electronic surveillance component to help police fight crime.

The NDMA falls under the Ministry of Public Telecommunications.

Levi, according to the Ministry, said new CCTV systems are being installed at the Berbice River Bridge in Region Five and another at the Palmyra junction, leading to the bridge.

Additional sites being covered are the Mahaicony Bridge, Skeldon Market on the Upper Corentyne, Fort Wellington near the Government complex housing the police station, the magistrate s courts and the

Regional Democratic Council (RDCs) office in the area, Enmore-Haslington on the East Coast and Melanie Damishanas main junction.

Also targeted are the busy Parika area, Anna Regina on the Essequibo Coast as well as Charity on the Pomeroon River, Soesdyke Junction, one at the entrance to North Ruimveldt and Aubrey Barker Road and an additional system at the Stabroek Market area near Water Street.

According to Levi, the camera systems are nothing new to Guyana. “We have (Continued on page 22)

Saturday December 14, 2019

PAGE 9

Kaieteur News

THE BIG SHAFT Oil production has not yet commenced but Guyana is already saddled with a bill for US$11B. Of this amount, US$960 M is pre-contract costs and the remainder is the estimated costs for developing the two major fields, Liza 1 and Liza 2.

Before a drop of oil has been produced, every single Guyanese owes Exxon Mobil and her partners, US$15,000 or about G$3M. This per capita burden is about five times higher than the per capita debt burden which made Guyana one of the most highly indebted nations in the world. And those with memories will recall how much suf-

fering that debt burden inflicted on the population.

Despite the oil, Guyana will have a bigger debt, in the form of cost recovery, to service that debt. It will take years to remove this debt from around the necks of Guyanese.

Let us assume, hypothetically, that it costs US$5M for the development costs of Liza 1. Oil production is expected to start at 120,000 barrels per day.Assuming a price of US$55 per barrel, and the 75% cost recovery cap, it will still take about four years to clear the initial developmental costs of Liza 1 alone.

The Opposition leader has joined the chorus of calls for greater scrutiny of the US$10B

developmental costs. Guyanese are circumspect about these projected costs and, as given the suspicion, there are fears that these costs can be overstated by as much as US$2 B. A great deal can be done with US$2B. You can build a high span bridge across the Demerara and Berbice Rivers. You can bridge all of our rivers, construct the road from Linden to Lethem and increase public service wages five times and still have plenty change left over.

The discussion about scrutiny of the development costs of Liza 1 and Liza 2 are therefore not misplaced. It is important that every cent be accounted for.

And this is what this news-

Dem boys seh ...

Exxon got a nice plan to hustle oil When people want to shoplift dem does enter de store wid extra clothes.

Some women does wear pants under dem skirt and de pants got deep pockets.

Dem does pick up de thing dat dem want and put it in de pants pocket.

When dem done, dem does pick up something else and go to de cashier.

Dem boys know some who wear plenty clothes under dem real clothes.

When dem done pack things, people would believe is a suitcase dem packing. When dem get ketch and dem have to remove de items, it does be shocking.

Dem boys see a man wid pockets long till to he ankle. He thief things and drop dem in he pocket. By

de time he done thief, he got more items than some women does hold in a shopping basket.

But is not only people does shoplift. Dem boys find out dat dem oil company believe in shoplifting.

Dem boats does have a thing called ballast.

It does stabilize de ship.

If de ship floating in salt water, dem does pump in water to mek de ship float lower and not capsize.

When de boat meet fresh water, dem have to pump out de ballast water because de boat gon float too low.

Exxon come to Guyana wid a big boat dat everybody know as de FPSO. Dem had to pump ballast water in dis boat to sail it from Singapore; dem

boys understand dat.

What dem don’t understand is why de same FPSO gon pump out water and pump in 300,000 barrels of oil as ballast.

Dis is a case of shoplifting.

When de boat leffing wid de last set of oil, it also carrying 300,000 extra barrel because people gon forget dat de oil deh inside de ballast.

Dem boys done calculate dat about ten big boat coming to wuk in de oil field.

If all of dem tek 300,000 barrel oil fuh ballast when dem done is three million barrel oil dem thief from Guyana.

Talk half and look how de oil companies planning to thief oil.

paper has been calling for. It is simply calling for Guyanese to demand from their leaders that the country is not overbilled for the development costs of these two fields. For every billion dollars which the country is overcharged a great deal could have been done to benefit the country and its people.

But who is going to scrutinize these costs? Guyana is just pretending that it has the capacity to audit these costs.

It does not. This is a task which is beyond Guyana. The GRA does not have the capacity to do this. It does not have the skills to undertake such a task.

One solution is for the outsourcing of the auditing of the costs. Well, Guyana has not had a good experience in outsourcing scrutiny of foreign multinationals. The Jagan government brought in a firm to examine the Omai deal. The firm advised that Guyana got a decent deal. The 5% royalty was considered a decent deal.

Guyanese know what happened. An estimated 2.5 million ounces of gold was taken out of Guyana and the company never showed a profit. So much for a good deal. According to Exxon, The Liza Phase 1 development is expected to produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day with a with storage capacity of up to 1.6 million barrels.

The field is expected to have 17 wells in total – eight oil producing wells, six water injection wells, and three gas reinjection wells.

Production from Liza 2 is expected to commence in 2022 and the field is designed to produce 220,000 barrels per day. It will have approximately 30 wells, including 15 oil producing wells, nine water injection wells and six gas injection wells.

The combined production of Liza 1 and Liza 2 will only result in production of around 330,000. This is not going to be enough to allow for rapid pay-off of the devel-

opmental costs so that more monies can come Guyana’s way. And no amount of auditing of the pre-contract costs and the field development costs is going to change that.

There is only one solution to the present conundrum in which Guyana finds itself.

Auditing the pre-contract costs and the development costs of Liza 1 and Liza 2 are not solutions which are likely to be favourable to Guyana.

There is only one solution: renegotiate the oil deals.

As someone said, “Simply put, the Stabroek Block contract has to be renegotiated, and the Canje and Kaieteur contracts rescinded now.”

PAGE 10

Saturday December 14, 2019

Kaieteur News

=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===

UK election results: The poor are suicidal Why would any working class UK citizen look at the manifesto of the Labour Party in the just concluded election and vote for the Conservative Party? Well they did. The election results were a tale of horror and terror for the Labour Party. In large swathes of the working class world in the UK, Labour lost.

Overall, Labour had one of its most horrible nights in its history. Make no mistake; Trump’s victory in the US had absolutely nothing to do with the man Trump. I emphasize the ad-

verb, “absolutely.”

In the US, people went for the message not the man.

Trump simply milked what people desperately wanted.

And he promised them that.

If there wasn’t Trump, another presidential newcomer to the Republican Party offering the same recipe that Trump highlighted would have beaten the Democrats.

Race played a huge part in Trump’s victory and it did in Johnson’s success across the ocean in the UK. The Boris Johnson type would have easily succeeded in other European countries

like Italy, Greece, and Holland but certainly not in the UK. The British have long been viewed as the most conservative people among the white race across the globe. A Boris Johnson was unthinkable in a country like the UK. How then did he make it?

The British election was about race and Brexit. It was not about the contrast of two men – Johnson and Corbyn.

Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, assaulted British immigration policies in ways no other British leader has done before. She did this as Home Secretary under a

Conservative regime.

What happened was that the Conservatives had become an anti-immigrant party.

One of the reasons for wanting to leave the EU is that the Conservative Party sees Britain as being ethnically transformed from a predominantly Anglo-Saxon society through its continuing membership in the EU. Race feelings against nonAnglo-Saxon Europeans were harboured by Mrs. Thatcher and allowed to roam freely until it climaxed under May and Johnson. Mrs. Thatcher was deeply anti-German. The Conservative Party is antiGerman. International security arrangements, which have brought the UK and Germany together since 1945 are unrelated to how the British upper classes and their Etontrained politicians feel about the Germanic people.

The Conservative Party woke up one morning and found out that Britain was being overrun by Poles, Romanians, Bulgarians, Slavs, etc. The seeds of Brexit were planted there and then.

The election, yesterday, was not about Boris Johnson.

Johnson had done enough in terms of faulty character display to become the most ostracised politician among the upper classes of British society.

But those elites wanted Brexit and Johnson was the most vociferous demander of

“get the UK out of the EU,” so they adopted him as their cheerleader. Johnson became increasingly popular when he took over the Brexit slogan in his party.

A majority in English society wanted Brexit. The English in this election voted for Brexit not for Johnson. It wasn’t about personalities but issues. The most vivid example of why the Conservatives won the general election lies in Scotland.

In England, Brexit is popular. In Scotland, Brexit is a bad word. The election results for England and Scotland were diametrically the opposite.

In England, Brexit candidates won by a landslide. In Scotland, Brexit was defeated. The pro-European party, SNP won a landslide.

Their leader Nicola Sturgeon, even before the official results were declared, was demanding Scotland’s right to have an independence referendum.

Brexit and race helped Johnson. Readers should consult The Sociological Quarterly (Vol. 60, issue 2, 2019) for a very good analysis rejecting the potency of the economic factor in the victory of Donald Trump.

The study argued that White Americans from all backgrounds and those who voted for Obama changed to Trump and the decision was based on race.

The British Labour Party is uniquely multi-racial. It is

Frederick Kissoon the most multiracial of all the major parties in the developed world maybe challenged only by the Liberal Party in Canada.

Johnson is the English version of Trump. The UK conservatives are the English version of the American republicans. The rhetoric of Johnson on immigration was more pronounced than any other major leader in his party.

There is no doubt that the Tories picked up plenty seats because of the race factor.

Britain has become hostile to non-white immigrants and Johnson didn’t hide his feeling as Prime Minister and during the election.

The really sad feature of the UK poll was the devastation of Labour. Corbin is definitely gone. But equally sad too, may be the demise of the enduring democracy the world has seen from Britain for hundreds of years. The world is changing for the worst.

Saturday December 14, 2019

Kaieteur News

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Saturday December 14, 2019

Kaieteur News

DDL plugs $4B in plant to produce pasteurized milk, line of fruit juices - will require 2M pounds of fruits in 2020 Even with Guyana set to reap tremendous benefit from its nascent oil and gas sector, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) Executive Chairman, Komal Samaroo, is of the strong view that the agriculture sector must be developed to include value added processing of the nations fruits and vegetables into pulp and juices.

It will see milk supplied by local dairy farmers, for local consumption and export.

Samaroo explained DDLs decision to invest some $4B into its Tropical Orchard Products Company (TOPCO) expansion project which is designed to process and package increased volumes of existing products including cherry, passion fruit, carambola and guava juices as well as new ones including mango, pineapple, citrus and vegetable juices.

The expanded plant which is expected to be commissioned in mid-2020 will also

be geared to produce pasteurized milk, initially from reconstituted milk and eventually from milk supplied by local dairy farmers.

Discussions on the expansion project were held Tuesday with representatives of several relevant Government ministries and agencies including the Ministries of Agriculture, Finance and Education along with the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA), the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC), the National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI), the University of Guyana (UG), the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and the Carnegie School of Home Economics.

According to DDL, representatives of the agencies were brought up to date on the progress being made with the project through a detailed presentation by the plant manager, Rebecca Rampher.

“TOPCO will require a

combined total of almost two million pounds of cherries, carambola, guava and passion fruit in 2020, up from the 357,281 pounds supplied so far for 2019, an increase of 444 per cent.

“The discussions focused on the role all stakeholders must play to ensure the success of the project and the benefits to be accrued.”

DDL said that farmers will benefit from this project through a guarantee that their supply of fruits to TOPCO is secure, with stability of prices in spite of market demand/ supply conditions as well as the potential to increase their cultivation of target fruits (cherry, guava, passion fruit, carambola) to increase supply to TOPCO as well as supply additional fruits and vegetables. ”Another benefit to farmers will be the ability to collaborate with a network of technical and financial agriculture-support agencies, as part of the holistic market-driven approach to devel-

The stakeholders team touring the plant site on Tuesday oping partnerships with local fruits and dairy farmers.”

Tuesdays meeting provided for an exchange of views and information on current programs and projects taking place in the agriculture sector and how strategies for the success of the TOPCO expansion might fit into those projects.

“The necessary assistance that both farmers and some agencies will need to effectively execute their responsibilities was also discussed.”

According to DDL, the main components of expansion project are the installation of a

one-tonne-per-hour fruit processing line and of a 1L Tetra Pak Juice and Milk packaging line.

“This equipment is already in Guyana. The visitors were able to get an on the spot look on work currently taking place on the project.

“Later this week, farmers that currently supply TOPCO will tour the project as well as engage in discussions with TOPCO officials about the companys future requirements and the proposed arrangements and conditions for the guaranteed purchase

of their fruits.”

Next week, a meeting with TOPCO and the Ministry of Agricultures Planning Unit will be held to further advance the collaborative efforts on this project.

The DDL team participating in Tuesdays meeting was headed by Executive Chairman Komal Samaroo and included Production Director Shaun Caleb, TOPCO Plant Manager Rebecca Rampher, DDLs Project Engineer Joshua Gobin and Government Affairs Consultant, Wesley Kirton.

Saturday December 14, 2019

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Saturday December 14, 2019

377 more Teachers added to the Teaching System - As CPCE hosts 85th Graduation

The Cyril Potter College of Education's graduating class of 2019

President David Granger presents the President's award to Ms. Ateisha Brandt, best graduating student of the Cyril Potter College of Education

G

u y a n a ' s education sector has been boosted with the inclusion of 377 qualified teachers following the 85th batch of students graduating from the Cyril Potter College of Education.

The 85th Graduation ceremony themed, "Rebranding Teacher Education through verbal and visual identities” was attended by President David Granger; Minister of Education Dr. Nicolette Henry; and a number of senior Education Officers, officials and Public Servants at the National Cultural Centre (NCC) on Friday.

President Granger, in his feature address, stated that teachers play a vital role in Guyana's Education system; hence, the training they receive must be directly linked to the needs of the nation.

Speaking in relation to the “Decade of Development”, President Granger said that measures have been put in place to ensure the success of this project. Further, he added that this venture will take an education centered approach.

According to the President, the Government is fully committed to ensuring that teachers are in a commanding position to promote social cohesion.

The President asserted

that science education should be regarded as an important aspect within every school.

President Granger cited some of the improvements over the past few years and outlined future plans including incentivising teaching in the hinterland Region to improve the quality of the schooling the children are exposed to in the far-flung areas.

Minister of Education Dr. Nicolette Henry, in her address said that the work of the education sector is clearly defined.

“We have to continually develop new strategies to deliver 21st Century education, investing in people, communities and education to ensure that all the people of this country can have access to the best opportunities to prosper, prepare and participate in a resilient Guyana.”

In this year's batch, the Best Graduating Student award went to Ateisha Brandt. Of the 377 students who graduated, 82 will be deployed to the nursery level, while 125 and 170 will go to the primary and secondary levels respectively.

Cyril Potter College of Education recorded a drop in the number of students undertaking studies at the college when compared to last year's intake.

Saturday December 14, 2019

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

PAGE 16

Deadly Nismes crash‌

300,000 barrels of Liza-1 crude will be used as ballast on FPSO

Bus driver granted bail on failing to render assistance, two other charges

C

ompton Barrat, the driver of the bus that was involved in last month's deadly crash at Nismes, West Bank Demerara, was granted $120,000 bail on three charges yesterday.

But police will be seeking legal advice next week on whether he will face charges for the death of the four victims.

Barrat, 34, of La Retraite, West Bank Demerara, was charged for breach of insurance, failing to render assistance, and failing to report an accident.

He appeared before Magistrate Zamilla Ally in the Wales Magistrate's Court.

Ayesha Sealy He is scheduled to return to court on January 23, 2020.

It is alleged that Barrat was driving minibus BYY 2981 along the Nismes Public road on November 30, when he crashed into Toyota Primo PTT 691, which had just emerged from a filling station.

Maria Bisnauth,12, of Lot 125 Sideline Dam, Sister's Village WBD; Rawle Glen, a 52-year-old hire car driver of Canal Number One; Ayesha Sealy, 27, of Patentia Housing Scheme; and Zavira Jona, 22, of Patentia, WBD, were all killed.

Several other passengers were injured. Some remain hospitalised.

Police had said that Barrat turned up at La Grange Police Station some days after the accident.

He was accompanied by a n a t t o r n e y. B a r r a t reportedly said that he had switched places with Hensley Alleyne, who is said to the owner of the bus.

Saturday December 14, 2019

By Kemol King

E

Maria Bisnauth Tr a ff i c r a n k s h a d originally identified Alleyne as the driver. However, they stepped up their investigation after receiving information that another individual was driving when the bus crashed.

xxonMobil is set to lift 300,000 barrels of oil from Liza-1 to fill up storage tanks, providing additional stability for the Liza Destiny Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel when production starts.

The company's local subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), told Kaieteur News through its Government and Public Affairs Advisor, Janelle Persaud, “At any given time, there will always be at least 300,000 barrels of crude onboard the Liza Destiny.�

While it may be thought that the storage capacity for crude, of the Liza Destiny, is 1.6M barrels, the vessel has additional storage space for the additional 300,000 barrels. In previous reports, Kaieteur News noted that ExxonMobil detailed the use of water in its ballast tanks.

Ballast water is carried in ships' ballast tanks to improve stability. It is taken up or discharged when cargo is unloaded or loaded, or when a ship needs extra stability in poor weather.

On its voyage from Singapore, the Liza Destiny travelled with ballast water taken up from the ocean there, and is later meant to be discharged while offshore Guyana. This was iterated in Esso's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Liza-1 project.

Research conducted by this publication points to potential concerns about harmful fluids making their way into the ocean from that ballast water.

Asked about this, Persaud had been keen to note that all vessels supporting the company's operations comply with international ballast water management plans, adding that they are equipped

ExxonMobil's Government and Public Affairs Advisor, Janelle Persaud with sewage treatment facilities that meet international standards.

A cursory search of the EIA found no mention of ballast crude, but this is understood to be because, unlike ballast water, there will be no discharge of the ballast crude into the environment.

Hence, environmental damage where this crude is concerned is not a matter of worry.

Persaud assured that the 300,000 barrels of ballast crude will be sold at the end of the life of Liza-1 project.

It should also be noted that while the vessel will take up so many barrels of oil to balance it, the crude will not completely replace all of the ballast water.

It will accompany it, albeit in separate compartments. The amount of water kept in the ballast tanks will vary, depending on how much is needed to keep the boat balanced in the ocean with changing weather conditions.

While the choice could have been made to use water alone to balance the vessel, the saltwater is known to be corrosive. And because the Liza Destiny will be immobile for years, with no movement to a shipyard for routine maintenance, it is better to use less of the corrosive saltwater.

Saturday December 14, 2019

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

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Saturday December 14, 2019

E'bo homes under water two days now

T

he holiday is certainly off to a bad start for quite a number of residents living on the Essequibo Coast. Most of their homes have been submerged in floodwaters for the past 48 hours.

The heavy downpour commenced on Wednesday, and continued throughout Thursday and part of yesterday.

Within 24 hours, homes within the Anna Regina Township were submerged in flood waters as deep as four feet in some areas. Affected areas included Walton Hall, Hampton Court, Richmond and Three Friends. Despite the commissioning of a multi-milliondollar pump station in Three Friends last year, the community was still affected by floodwaters.

Most residents could do nothing but watch hopelessly, as the floodwater destroyed their appliances and furniture.

“Sand bag couldn't help because we sleep through the night. When we wake up, the whole house already flood out. Water reach till like 12 inches in the house… We try save some appliance and grocery from the cupboard but most of the things destroyed because the water take two days before it start draw off,” said one resident who lives in a oneflat concrete house.

The resident told Kaieteur News that he had no choice but to send his family with other relatives where they'd be comfortable.

Some of the communities that were affected by floodwaters yesterday Mayor of Anna Regina, Mr. Rabindranath Prabhulall, believes that the Civil Defence Commission should try to reach out to affected residents.

The Mayor said during an interview that he and a team from the Town Council were on the ground, where they had a firsthand look at the situation.

“Water is overflowing the canals and is affecting residents. There is a need for more pumps to be put into operation. We noticed multiple communities under water, including

the Anna Regina Market and we are advising residents to take precautionary measures at this time.” The recent flood caught many residents by surprise, especially since it is believed to be the worst disaster within the township in recent years.

It is believed that poor drainage networks within the township may have played a significant part in the recent flooding. Most residents said that the trenches within their communities have not been desilted for a number of years.

“Plenty of them trench na clean a good time now. And the only time the council find to dig trench is when the rain fall and the place flood…Them a wait till the thing happen before them can do something,” said one resident living in Three Friends.

Apart from the need for desilting trenches, residents highlighted the need for more pumps to be installed within the Township.

It was also suggested that the Anna Regina Sluice and pump station be upgraded in an effort to

improve the receding rate of the floodwaters. Residents are appealing to both the Anna Regina Town Council and the Regional Democratic Council, to improve their approach in dealing with flood affected areas.

“Is real frustrating to know that this place flood since Thursday.

Friday again yuh wake up and instead of the water going down, you see it raise more. The councils had enough time to prepare themselves,” said the resident from Three Friends who was mentioned earlier in this article.

Saturday December 14, 2019

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

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Saturday December 14, 2019

Petition filed to have Magistrate Moore recuse himself from Marcus Bisram case

C

lose associates of F a i y a z Narinedatt, a father of two who was murdered at Number 70 Village, Upper Corentyne, filed a petition with the Court of Appeal in Georgetown yesterday to have Magistrate Alex Moore recuse himself from the Marcus Bisram case. This case is currently ongoing in Berbice.

The petition was filed on the basis that the matter can engender grievous injustice to the current court matter.

The preamble of the legal document outlines that there was “excessive abuse of authority” by Magistrate Alex Moore during the court proceedings on December 2, 2019 at the Whim Magistrate Court.

Considering such, the petitioners are requesting that Moore recuses himself from the case “since we have lost all confidence and trust that he will act impartially”.

The petitioners detailed in the petition that on December 2, last, at the Whim Court the state Prosecutrix Stacy Gooding

was not allowed to present her case as she should since Moore's “demeanour (action and language) was openly prejudicial in favour of the defendant and the defendant's Attorney”.

It further stated that during the proceedings “(Moore) and Mr. Datadin, in obscenely loud voices, continuously interrupted the Prosecutrix to disorient her argument. It was perceptibly evident that the Magistrate demonstrated no interest in having the matter methodically presented by the prosecutor”.

According to the document, Moore, “falling into fits of unjustifiable rage, often banged his fist on the table and became vociferously menacing towards the Prosecutor. The bias and flagrant transgressions of judiciary sanctity exhibited by Mr. Moore are manifestly conspicuous enough to leave one in doubt or to arouse suspicion whether the Magistrates honor and integrity must not have been compromised or influenced

by lucrative factors which are incompatible with fairness and judicial probity”.

In addition, the petition mentioned that the police were ordered not to permit members of the deceased family to witness the hearing while “only those affiliated with the accused were allowed access into the courtroom. They jeered, mocked and ridiculed the prosecutor as the magistrate overwhelmed her ability to make a cogent presentation.”

It was for those reasons that the petitioners have filed to have the magistrate recuse himself from the case.

Meanwhile, the relatives and close family of Narinedatt yesterday released a statement to several media houses expressing full support and confidence with the office of the DPP and assigned state Prosecutrix Stacy Gooding.

Their statement comes hot on the heels of remarks made by Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan, who said that it is “embarrassing” that the state

was not fully ready to prosecute Bisram.

The statement by the family outlined that Goodings has been working diligently and displayed the code of professionalism in the courtroom “conducting herself with dignity, civility, courtesy and a sense of fair play to bring justice for Faiyaz and our family”.

The family added that it is important for members of the Ministry of Public Security to be knowledgeable “about these types of court matters and to work closely with DPP before releasing embarrassing statements to the press.

It sends the wrong message to families like ours and to the public, implying that the Prosecutor Ms. Gooding and the DPP are not doing their job.”

They further expressed that such behaviour instills corruption in the judicial system and prevents families from receiving justice but “our Faiyaz case will not become another statistic of a judicial failure”.

The matter for Marcus

Marcus Bisram Bisram commenced on November 21, last, a day after he arrived in Guyana by extradition. However, since the commencement of the case there have been several hiccups. The state had requested on November 21, last, that the matter proceed by way of a preliminary inquiry.

However, Magistrate Moore decided that it will take its course by paper committal and statements were to be handed over to him by Prosecutrix Stacy Gooding on December 9, but Magistrate Moore reported sick. The matter was called at the New Amsterdam

Magistrate's Court the said day before Magistrate Peter Hugh. Gooding was a noshow after she was informed that Moore reported sick.

Hugh transferred the case back to Springlands for December 16.

Marcus Brian Bisram was extradited to Guyana last month and is currently on remand at the Camp Street Prison after being charged at the Whim Magistrate's Court. Bisram was charged with counselling, procuring and commanding Harri Paul Parsram, Radesh Motie, Niran Yacoob, Diodath Datt and Orlando Dickie to murder Faiyaz Narinedatt between October 31, 2016 and November 1, 2016.

Bisram is being accused of ordering a hit on a Berbice carpenter, Faiyaz Narinedatt, a guest at a party, which he hosted back in late 2016.

Narinedatt was alleged to have been beaten by several men at the behest of Bisram.

He was pushed into the trunk of a car, taken to the Berbice public road, dumped and run over to make it appear as if it were a hit-and-run.

Saturday December 14, 2019

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Kaieteur News

Matthew s Ridge Gold Heist…

Cop, businessman, others granted $300,000 bail each The four defendants who are charged for the milliondollar gold heist at Matthews Ridge airstrip were granted bail on their last court appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates Courts.

Charged is Basdeo Francis, 37, businessman, of Skull Mountain Arakaka, Region One; Kurt Nedd, 27, police constable of 1597 18th Street, Diamond, East Bank Demerara; Ramesh Singh, 45, a truck driver, of Port Kaituma; and Leon Campbell, 26, a gold miner of Port Kaituma.

The four defendants were arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, when they were granted bail in the sum of $300,000, each for the joint robbery charge and Basdeo was granted $100,000,

on the two additional charges he have separately.

The men had pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that on November 11, 2019, at Matthews Ridge, North West District, while being armed with a dangerous weapon, a gun, they robbed Jose DeCosta of $95,000, cash and a quantity of gold amounting to $18M, property of Deonarine Sooklall.

Francis is being represented by attorney-at-law Jerome Khan, who had told the court that the quantity of gold that was found in his clients car belongs to his client.

Khan said that apart from Francis running his business, he uses his goods in exchange for gold from miners in Port Kaituma. The attorney also

Kurt Nedd

Leon Campbell

Ramesh Singh

Basdeo Francis

stated that the amount of gold that was shown in the press is not all of the gold. Some 30 ounces is allegedly missing, according to Khan.

Attorney-at-law George Thomas is representing po-

lice constable Nedd. He told the court that the police apprehended his client some distance away from where the incident happened. Campbell is being represented by attorney-at-law Adrian Thompson.

Attorney-at-law Jerome Khan, is now representing Singh, the driver had previously told the court that after four months of pleading for a job with Francis when he finally got a job it ended with

him in the lock-ups.

“Francis called me last Friday and asked me if I m working and I told him no. He then asked me if I want a work and I told him yes. He then told me that I have to transport this vehicle and pick up Fine Man…This man here I dont know his right name,” Singh added while pointing to Police Constable Nedd.

The police prosecutor had objected to bail being granted

to all of the defendants based on the value of the articles, the punishment that the offence attracts and the fact that guns were used in the gold heist.

The court heard that Campbell is a close friend to the victim and that Campbell was aware that the gold that was to be transported on the day of the incident.

According to reports, the (Continued on page 24)

Government spends almost $250M in 2019 to create job opportunities During an interview Minister of Social Protection; Ms. Amna Ally, recently in another section of the press, stated that the government has spent almost $250M this year on job opportunity programmes at community levels through Sustainable Livelihood and Entrepreneur Development initiative specifically in the hinterlands region.

All Guyanese of different ages have benefitted from the project. More than 150 cooperatives comprising women and youths were among those beneficiaries.

Under this very initiative, some of these residents in

Region Nine were able to start small businesses in the agriculture sector while a number of women in the region have also received economics training.

Minister Ally hopes that the consideration will be given in 2020 for this Ministry to receive more money for the programme, to bridge the gap between the coast and hinterland, and to empower additional citizens.

There were also significant investments in the Ministrys Difficult Circumstances Unit which allowed “thousands of individuals” to earn and provide for their families.

In the department, students were assisted to pay their school fees.

The Sustainable Livelihood Entrepreneur Development initiative was designed to provide support for the expansion of the local economy in communities across the nation and to aid small enterprises with the goal of stimulating youth employment.

In addition to the initiative, the Ministry of Social Protection has launched an investigation into the payment practices of some private businesses following reports from several security companies who are reportedly underpaying their employees.

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Saturday December 14, 2019

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Non-consensual penetration by an object is still rape-Sexual Offences Act FOR RENT Two bedroom apartment for rent in Albertown. #698-5800/ 648-1391

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The legal definition of rape has changed over the years; it does not only consist of the non-consensual penetration of the vagina by a penis.

A recent incident in which a mother and daughter allegedly inserted a mop-stick into the anus of a man who is said to have raped their 15-yearold relative has sparked much controversy, especially on social media, as to what constitutes rape under the laws of Guyana.

Under the Sexual Offences Act of 2010, a person (the accused) commits the offence of rape if the accused engages in sexual penetration with another person (the complainant), or causes the complainant to engage in sexual penetration with a third person, whereby the complainant does not consent to the penetration or the accused does not reasonably believe that the complainant consents.

Penetration, according to the legislation, means, any intrusion however slight and

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for however short a time, of any part of a person’s body or of any object into the vagina or anus of another person and any contact, however slight and for however short a time, between the mouth of one person and the genitals or anus of another, including but not limited to sexual intercourse, cunnilingus (oral sex on a woman), fellatio(oral sex on a man), anal intercourse and female to female genital contact…”

Prior to the 2010 amendments to the Sexual Offence Act, rape meant unlawfully placing a penis into a vagina.

In this case, it meant that the offence of rape could have only been committed by a man on a woman. However, under the current law governing sexual offences, rape is committed if there is sexual penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth of a person by another person’s body parts or any object.

The Sexual Offences Act being gender neutral so that the offences are allegedly committed whether the alleged perpetrator or the victim is female or male. Under the laws, rape attracts a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Section 3 of the Act

outlines, “A person who commits the offence of rape is liable, on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for life.”

At a media sensitization seminar held earlier this year, High Court Judge Jo-Ann Barlow had pointed to the difficulties faced with directing jurors in rape trials. Not only do jurors, but accused persons, the Judge pointed out, have a difficulty understanding what amounts to rape.

For one, Justice Barlow had highlighted that some jurors still believe that there must be some contact with a penis for rape to occur.

According to the Judge, “When they don’t hear about penis entering the vagina, jurors look at us as judges when we are directing them, as if we are speaking a foreign language.”

In this regard, Justice Barlow had stressed that educating the citizenry is of utmost importance as they need to know that rape is much wider than it was understood to be.

Furthermore, it is important to note that a person under the age of 16 cannot (Continued on page 24)

More CCTV cameras ...

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Major (rtd) Floyd Levi, Head of the National Data Management Authority (NDMA) From page 08 had them for more than 10 years or so.”

He noted that all 119 systems will all have omnidirectional cameras, allowing monitors to pan a large area, tilt the camera to obtain a better view and also to zoom in to get close-ups of activities ongoing.

“So if the police detect something or want to look around, they have 360 degrees of visual freedom to check out on any given subject.” The NDMA head noted that by all indications, the project will have no cost

overruns and will come in under the original budget.

The Ministry said that this sign of proper budget management will then allow project engineers to use savings to acquire additional cameras.

“A downside however, is the cost attached to the project to repair protective barriers around camera pylons as errant motorists have already crashed into a few, forcing money that could have been used to buy more camera clusters to be diverted to replacing the damaged ones.”

Saturday December 14, 2019

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Kaieteur News

Guyana inks air services agreement with Saudi Arabia, Spain, Germany, 15 other states Guyana participated in the 12th International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Air Services Negotiation Event (ICAN2019) which was held in Aqaba, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from December 2, 2019.

The objective of ICAO Air Services Negotiation Event is to provide states with a central meeting place to conduct bilateral (regional or pluri-lateral) air services negotiations and consultations with other member states of ICAO. According to the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), 61-member states of ICAO participated in ICAN 2019 from five ICAO regions of the world – Africa, Americas, Asia and Asia Pacific, Middle East and Europe.

The meeting was also attended by International Organizations and Institutions: International Air Transport Organization (IATA); Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO); African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC); The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA); Arab Air Carriers’ Organization (AAC) and International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).

Guyana’s delegation was led by Lt. Col. (Ret’d) Egbert Field, Director General of the GCAA and supported by Saheed Sulaman, Director, Air Transport Management, and Oneka Archer-Caulder, Director Legal and Treaties Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Guyana as a matter of policy, negotiates open skies (liberal) Air Services Agreements, granting up to fifth freedom traffic rights for passenger traffic and up to sev-

enth freedom for all-cargo traffic,” GCAA explained.

At the meeting, Guyana held 24 meetings with 18 countries: Senegal, The Bahamas, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Seychelles, Paraguay, Bangladesh, Greece, Rwanda, United States, Thailand, Spain, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Austria, Sierra Leone and Belgium. “From these meetings, Guyana was able to conclude negotiation of Air Services Agreements with eight coun-

tries- Senegal, Seychelles, The Bahamas, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Greece and Spain.”

GCAA was also able to start negotiations with six countries- Ethiopia, Jamaica, Bangladesh, Austria, Thailand and Belgium. It continued with Sierra Leone whom Guyana met at ICAN 2018 in

A 17-year-old has been taken into police custody after he confessed to brutally murdering a South Rupununi dredge owner and burying his body in a shallow grave. The dead man was identified as 31year-old Marcellus ‘Ton’ Reynolds of Achiwuib, South Rupununi. On December 8, police had reported the discovery of male skeletal remains in a shallow grave in the Marudi Mining area. It was later revealed that the remains were that of Reynolds.

Kaieteur News understands that the killing stemmed from money owed to the teen.

It was disclosed that the teen and the now dead man were close friends. The teen reportedly sold Reynolds a motorbike for $100,000 in February but only received half that sum.

Reynolds made a promise to sell his dredge to the teen for a mere $200,000. The teen

was said to have made a down payment of five pennyweights in gold to Reynolds for this transaction. However, the teen suspect remembered that Reynolds still owed him $50,000 for the motorbike and confronted him.

A scuffle ensued and Reynolds allegedly pulled out a knife. Sensing defeat, the teen left but returned at nightfall, laying in wait until the victim had fallen to asleep.

In the man’s comatose state, the teen took the opportunity to strike him once to the head. After the man did not regain consciousness, the teen dug a shallow grave, dumped the body, and made good his escape.

The teen’s crime was not left in the dark as Kaieteur News understands that it was his father who discovered the shallow grave.

From information received, his father was hunting in the area and observed

a murder of crows circling in the air. When he ventured to the area, he observed a foul stench and upon closer inspection, discovered the body.

The police were immediately alerted and received a tipoff that the teen was involved in the killing. The teen was then taken into custody for questioning. While in the presence of his father, the teen revealed that he was behind the brutal killing.

Meanwhile, police are awaiting transportation to take the remains to Lethem.

Investigations are continuing.

and good governance in the extractive industries, the United States Agency for International Development announces a US$500 million Extractive Industries Transparency Project.

The aim of the project is to build capacity for administration and governance of Guyana’s extractive resources and address gaps identified in Guyana’s first published report.

Programme support will also address required changes in data collection, monitoring and reporting systems that support Guyana’s attainment of the EITI stan-

Lt. Col. (Ret’d) Egbert Field, Director General of the GCAA with his counterpart from Germany

Shortly after signing the agreement with the aviation official of Spain Kenya.

“The eight Air Services Agreements were initialed and Memoranda of Understanding signed with these countries at the technical level pending signature at the ministerial level. These Air Services Agreements initialed and Memoranda of Understanding signed are provi-

sionally applicable until the Air Services Agreements are signed by both parties and enters into force.”

According to GCAA, this means that the negotiated agreements are immediately applicable for traffic rights between Guyana and these countries.

An Air Services Agreement (ASA) is an instrument used by states to jointly regulate, facilitate and promote their international air services relationships for their airlines.

Air Services Agreements govern traffic rights for international air services among airlines between two countries. These agreements are necessary for the development of a state’s international air transport network as it creates the infrastructure that allows airlines of one state to access new markets and develop their network. The benefits of such connectivity include trade, global inclusivity, economic development, tourism growth, inter alia.

The next ICAN event is scheduled for Medellin, Colombia.

U.S. funds project on transparency and good Teen confesses to killing dredge in the extractive industries owner, burying body in shallow grave governance To promote transparency dard. will determine Guyana’s abilActivities will include streamlining systematic public disclosure of data from the oil, gas, mining, forestry and fishery sectors; and raising awareness among citizens about the importance of transparency and accountability in the extractives sector.

The discovery of vast offshore oil reserves in 2017 constituted a milestone for the Guyana’s economic prospects and is expected to rapidly propel Guyana’s economy upward.

During this transition period, transparency, accountability and good governance

ity to responsibly manage its extractive resources and ensure revenues benefit the Guyanese people, and this programme supports attainment of these standards. Key programme partners include the Guyana Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) secretariat, the Multi-Stakeholder Group and other stakeholders from government, industry and civil society.

The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) is implementing this programme which concludes in September 2020.

PAGE 24

Saturday December 14, 2019

Kaieteur News

Non-consensual penetration by an...

From page 22 consent to any sexual act, whatever the nature. In fact, it is a criminal offence to engage in any sex act with a person under 16. Section 10 (1) of the Act states, “A person (“the accused”) commits the offence of rape of a child under sixteen years of age (“the complainant”) if the accused

– (a) engages in sexual penetration with the complainant or (b) causes the complainant to engage in sexual penetration with a third party.”

Subsection (2) adds, “It is irrelevant whether at the time of the penetration the accused believed the complainant to be sixteen years of age and over.”In recent times,

sexual offences have amounted to more than half of the cases for trial across the Demerara, Berbice and Essequibo criminal assizes. In most cases the accused persons are adult males and the complainants being children as young as nine months.

In August 2019, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP)

Shalimar Ali-Hack, S.C disclosed that the most popular sexual offences her chambers is faced with is rape of a child under 16 years old where there is penetration and sexual activity with a child where there is no penetration; sexual activity with a child family member and this includes both penetration and no penetration; sexual activity with a child by abusing a

position of trust and rape of the adult.Prior to the introduction of the Sexual Offences Court across the three counties, the judiciary struggled to dispose of these cases. In fact, at the close of each assizes it never managed to complete quarter of the cases. However, since the launch of Sexual Offences courts adjudication has been much swifter. The specialized

courtroom is provided for under Section 44 of the Sexual Offences Act of 2010.

In September 2019, Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings-Edwards, reported that since the inception of the Sexual Offences Court in Demerara, it has heard 44 cases and seen 31 convictions with 13 acquittals. Sentences for those convicted ranged from nine years to life imprisonment.

Cop, businessman, others granted...

From page 21 victim owns a gold mining company and made arraignments for a private plane to transport the gold from Matthews Ridge Airstrip to another airstrip in Guyana.

While waiting on the plane, the suspects, masked and armed with guns, arrived at the airstrip and attacked the victim.

The suspects then pointed the gun towards the victim and told them to lie down on the ground.

The suspects went into the ice-cooler and removed the quantity of gold and made good their escape.

Police constable

McGreggor acted on information received and intercepted Francis in his motor car. The police then asked to conduct a search on the car and three gas bottles were found with a quantity of gold concealed inside.

According to the police, when the gold was found Francis made an oral statement admitting to the police how he got the gold and he then accompanied the police to his home and showed him the guns and ammunitions that were in a barrel. The weapons were suspected to be used in the robbery.

Francis was slapped with two other charges posses-

sion of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.

The first charge stated that on November 11, 2019, at Skull Mountain Arakaka, North West District he had in his possession one .223 revolver and two 9mm pistols without being a licensed firearm holder.

The latter alleged that on the same date and location, he had in his possession 120 rounds of 5.56 and 25 rounds of 9mm.Francis pleaded not guilty to both charges after they were read to him. His attorney stated that his client never took the police officer to his home and showed him any gun or ammunition.

Nursing shortage blamed for Diamond...

From page 3 from the north come in and they raise their flags and are able to attract some of our brightest nurses. We are having serious challenges in terms of registered nurses and midwives...

“So we will have to find out how we can shift nurses and midwives from various regions to lend services here.

A shift system must be in place for this diagnosis center to really function the way that we envisioned it to serve the East Bank corridor,” Dr. Boyle stressed.

The DCMO disclosed too that the Public Health Ministry has been listening to several residents' requests for a significant expansion of the hospital admitting that the hospital has certainly outgrown its current space.

She said that the Ministry is seeking to address this issue, noting that some support have been forthcoming from the Pan American Health Organization [PAHO]. As such, she said that the Smart Hospital initiative is being given close attention.

“We have been looking at

expanding the hospital while changing some of the buildings that we have here and maybe use some of them that are used presently for housing and convert them into wards,” she added.

“The other option that we are exploring is having a new location with much bigger facilities so we are presently exploring these two options. So we do agree that there is a need for expansion of the hospital as there is a need for something more robust to cater to the needs of this population.”

Saturday December 14, 2019

Kaieteur News

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Ferrari plans major engine overhaul for 2020 F1 season Auto Sport - Ferrari is making “quite significant changes” to its Formula 1 engine as well as adding “a lot more downforce” to its car for 2020, in its bid to topple Mercedes.

Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc won just three races between them in 2019 as Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes swept to another title double, Mercedes’ sixth in a row.

F1’s four engine manufacturers have converged in the V6 turbo-hybrid era’s fifth season but despite aerodynamic and engine regulations remaining stable for 2020, Ferrari has opted for an overhaul because it believes there is more potential to exploit.

“We have changed, by quite a lot, our power unit, in terms of architecture, the cyl-

Ferrari plans major engine overhaul for 2020

Ferrari plans major engine overhaul for 2020.

inder,” said team principal Mattia Binotto.

“It’s quite a big review just to show that here again, there is much that can be done.

“The change we are looking for next year is quite significant changes on the engine itself.”

Though Ferrari estab-

Saturday December 14, 2019 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) You may feel like there's absolutely nowhere to turn.

Reality is a scary thing to face. The last thing you want to do is be serious.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) You have a strong sense of self.

You take charge of situations instead of letting them take charge of you. But this sense of independence and self-confidence may threaten other people.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) You may feel like a mediator between two camps, or you may be the one in a struggle that needs mediation.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) Be careful about taking everything as a personal offense. Others' inconsiderate actions may hurt you emotionally, but they don't have to.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Difficult tension may be frustrating for you to handle. You may wonder why everyone can't just get along. The answer may seem simple to you, with your easygoing attitude.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Tension may arise among friends when someone suddenly feels like an ignored third wheel. People tend to pair up. Do what you can to stay on topics to which everyone can contribute equally. Staying

united is key.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Your lively, imaginative spirit is in tune with the collective. The need for a worldly consciousness and evolving humanity has become more obvious to you as time goes by.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Just when you slow down, simplify, and plan, things start to pick up again. Your imagination starts to fly. Stabilization hinders your creative spirit.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Your sense of play might get you into trouble. This sort of attitude could run up against someone who's trying to stay on task and take things seriously.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Gadgets and new devices that are supposed to make it easier to accomplish certain tasks may actually cause more confusion.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Be careful about going overboard with your sarcasm. Some people take your comments seriously. Not everyone understands your humor. This could make communication unclear at times.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Self-image could be a difficult issue for you.

Perhaps you've painted a false picture of yourself lately. In an effort to cover your insecurity, you may not have expressed how you

lished a heavily-scrutinised straightline speed advantage in 2019, it had a cornering deficiency that proved too costly at several races.

While its engine development will aim to keep, if not enhance, the power advantage Ferrari has established, addressing its downforce

weakness is another key area that has been targeted for 2020.

“Our car next year is aiming for a lot more downforce by having more downforce, certainly more drag,” said Binotto.

“We are not expecting to be as far on the straight as we have been. But you never know what the others are doing.

“The things that we learned, we recognise that we need to have certainly more downforce - as we saw at the end of the season, still there is a gap to close.

“So, our car is aiming for more downforce and by consequence, we are certainly working more on drag.”

Ferrari is in the process of finalising the design of its 2020 chassis, with Binotto saying there are “still a few sessions” to set the car’s specification for pre-season testing at Barcelona.

The team will launch its car on February 11, eight days before the first three-day test in Spain.

“We are going through all the homologations,” said Binotto.

“We go through a crash test for homologation, but we are still developing at the wind tunnel.

“Certainly, the concept has been defined.”

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Kaieteur News

Dhanajaya de Silva inches towards ton as rain ruins third day ESPNcricinfo - Thirty-two deliveries. That’s all the cricket Rawalpindi saw on yet another frustrating, weatheraffected day. Overnight rain and a delay in removing the covers wiped out the entire first session of play - the onehour lunch break for Friday prayers unfortunately falling during exactly the brightest, most cricket-conducive period of the day. Play did eventually begin at 1.10pm, but went on for only 26 minutes, before the umpires deemed the light too poor for cricket to continue.In the 5.2 overs that were played, Dhananjaya de Silva stroked two confident boundaries - a checked drive through cover off Shaheen Afridi, and a pull through midwicket off Naseem Shah - and moved to 87, having begun the day on 72.On 81 he was very nearly dismissed, when he underedged a short-of-a-length delivery from Naseem, and the ball almost deflected into leg stump. Aside from that one scare, however, he appeared comfortable at the crease for the third day in a row, rarely missing out on scoring oppor-

592 Beer Inter-Village Football Festival quarterfinal set for tomorrow

Dhananjaya de Silva carves one through cover-point. (AFP)

tunities, though both Shaheen and Naseem were getting both seam movement and carry out of the pitch.

Dilruwan Perera was far tetchier, having been beaten repeatedly though he faced only 12 deliveries in the day.

Sri Lanka, though, did not lose a wicket and inched ahead to 282 for 6.

A result in this Test seems

extremely unlikely now.

You’d think it would require at least two dramatic batting collapses in the three full innings that are remaining though if there are two teams that can collectively produce such batting catastrophes, they are Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Scores: Sri Lanka 282 for 6 (de Silva 87*) v Pakistan.

One game played in latest Trophy Stall, Upper Corentyne U19 50 overs cricket Three matches were scheduled but only one was complete when fourth round matches were played in the Trophy Stall and Upper Corentyne Cricket Association (UCCA) Under19 Inter Club Cricket Tournament over the weekend.

A washout and a walkover were all part of the action in the games which are being sponsored by the Trophy Stall Port Mourant branch and are being played on a 50 overs one day format.

The highly anticipated game between Scottsburg United and No73 Young Warriors at Scottsburg was disrupted by rain. Scottsburg United batting first and made 133-5 off 20 overs with Aktar Nohar undefeated on 70 (6x4, 4x6), while Trevon Sukhu made18.

Eton Odel took 3 wickets bowling for No73 Young Warriors.

No72 Cut and Load whipped No43 Scorpions by 9 wickets in their game at the No72 ground. The Scorpions had their sting taking out of them early and were bundle out for 43 in 18 overs.

Bowling for No72 Cut and Load, Rsheed Ali with 4 and Mukesh Edward 3 wickets were destroyers. In reply No72 Cut and Load hurried to

Saturday December 14, 2019

Aktar Nohar of Scotsburgh United was 70 not out.

24-1 with Sundat Chattergoon making 12.

No73 Mandir gained a

walk over from No52 Cricket Club in the game which was scheduled for the No52 ground as the home team did not have enough players to start the game.

The tournament is being sponsored by the Trophy Stall, Port Mourant Branch through its General Manager Ramesh Sunich.

The top teams at the end of the preliminary matches will advance to the semifinals with the winners clashing in the final.

The competition is being coordinated by former National Wicketkeeper batsman Sydney Jackman.

(Samuel Whyte)

592 Beer Inter-Village Football Festival coordinator Eon Havercome [left], 592 Brand Manager Seweon McGarrell and Ansa McAl PRO Treiston Joseph pose for the cameras following the conclusion of the press briefing.

W

ith the quarterfinal round for the 592 Beer Inter-Village Football Festival slated for tomorrow, the tournament coordinator Eon Havercome has disclosed that the event will officially conclude on January 1st 2020.

Speaking at a press briefing at the National Gymnasium, Havercome disclosed that the decision to prolong the tournament was based on the overwhelming support received from the players, fans and sponsors since the events inception.

According to Havercome, the tournament provides the

Exciting times ahead for Windies...

From page 31 with cricket, you cannot relax.

“Once you rest with cricket, it will bite you so youve got to keep preparing, keep your processes and once you keep doing that then you will get the results.”

He added: “Were happy with the way we performed in the T20s [against India]. After the three T20s we played in the Caribbean, the gulf between the two teams was wide and were happy that weve narrowed that gap and

we hope we can do the same thing in the 50 overs.”

A major criticism of West Indies in the one-day format was their over-emphasis on boundary-hitting while neglecting rotation of strike especially in the critical middle overs.

But Estwick argued they had made significant strides in that area.

“I thought we did that brilliantly against Afghanistan.

That is an area where weve improved,” he stressed.

“We know that weve got

to improve in that area and weve kept working at that and we brought it down against Afghanistan.

And when you look at Afghanistan, you know they [have got] quality spin bowlers so that was a good test for us and we were able to do that in that series.

“Once we can continue doing that we know weve got the power at the back end of the innings keep rotating the strike, keep turning over the strike, keep limiting dot balls, well get a better score.”

avenue to display their skills following a prolonged absence, adding semi-final matches will be staged on the traditional football dates of Christmas and Boxing Day respectively. He further added that the tournament has highlighted that football within the East Coast Demerara region is alive and simply needs to be properly structured.

Meanwhile, Seweon McGarrell, 592 Brand Manager praised the coordinators for staging a wonderful tournament to date, adding that the decision to extend the event is fully supported by the company as it has received tremendous support from fans and players since its inception.

The opening quarterfinal matches will occur tomorrow, Sunday December 15th.

Mahaica will lock horns with Friendship from 20:00hrs, while the second match will pit Buxton against Paradise from 22:00hrs.

The event will then move to Golden Grove ground on December 22nd.

In the first match, Brush Dam will match skills with Golden Grove from 20:00hrs, with Beterverwagting [BV] matching skills with Anns Grove at 22:00hrs. The respective winners will

progress to the semi-final section.

Initially, the 12 team event featured four groups of four.

Group-A comprised Buxton, Plaisance and Mahaica, while group-B consisted of Friendship, Paradise and Victoria and group-C featured Brush Dam, Melanie and Anns Grove.

Group-D was made up of Annandale, Golden Grove and Beterverwagting [BV].

The winner of each group alongside the second place finisher advanced to the quarterfinal round. The grand finale is pegged for January 1st.

The eventual champion of the event will pocket $500,000 and the championship trophy. On the other hand, the second, third and fourth place finisher will receive $200,000, $150,000 and $100,000 respectively and the corresponding trophy.

Similarly, individual prizes will also be awarded for the Most Valuable Player [MVP] of the tournament, the MVP of the finale, the Best Goalkeeper of the tournament and the Best Goalkeeper of the final. Some of the major sponsors of the tournament include Bakewell Guyana Incorporated, ExxonMobil, and the Colin Talbot Construction Services.

Saturday December 14, 2019

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Kaieteur News

BACIF officially hands over GFF Super 16 Trophy Described as a work of art and craftsmanship

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t a simple but sig nificant handing over ceremony yesterday at the Brass Aluminum and Cast Iron Foundry Ltd., West Ruimveldt, Business Area, Managing Director Mr. Peter Pompey officially handed over to the GFF President, the GFF Super 16 trophy that was manufactured by the local Casting & Machining Specialists.

The historical presentation of the first trophy ever developed through these means has been described as a work of art and a work of craftsmanship by Mr. Pompey.

“It signifies what Guyana can do as a country and what we can do collectively. As trust that as the trophy is handed over and makes its journey around the football arena, it would be appreciated as a trophy of value to this sport.”

Pompey noted that football has value in Guyana as it relates to community development for the nations youth whilst pointing out that the work of the GFF has been undertaking in terms of the rebranding and re-developing, needs to be supported by corporate and all Guyana.

“Because football has a

positive influence and can develop our communities in a positive way.

So BACIFs association with this project, were extremely delighted and happy to be a part of it and I want to thank Mr. Forde and his team for demonstrating the faith in BACIF to provide something that will truly represent not only our country and BACIF but also the GFFs image.”

The trophy would have been conceptualized by Mr. Forde and Mr. Pompey during a conversation before it was then drawn up on paper before the experts and engineers came into the picture to manufacture same, some five weeks or so ago.

Forde, who commenced his engineering career at BACIF a few decades ago, described the trophy as a spectacular piece of engineering and craftsmanship realized.

The GFF Super 16 Cup, which would have been an undertaking since this new administration took office some four years ago, has been adding more value to the competition ever since then, Forde stated. He further noted that it was against this backdrop that the idea of producing a trophy by a local

The beautiful GFF Super 16 Cup trophy on display that was manufactured by BACIF. company with the requisite expertise would add further value to a quality tournament that the Federation is striving to realize.

President Forde also indicated that the GFF Super 16 Cup has now taken on an international flavor. “GFF has shared with FIFA, Concacaf and our colleagues within the CFU region the design of the

trophy, the concept of the trophy and it has drawn a lot of

attention and excitement. We will be sharing the images of the final product with our governing bodies and hopes that it inspires similar initiatives across the football community.”

Forde expressed gratitude to the Mr. Pompey and his hard working staff for contributing to what they see as a wholesome sporting initiative within the communities.

“Football has the power to bring people together; it allows our young men and women to put their energies and invest their time in a valuable way, in a manner that returns to them a measure of success over the course of their most productive years.

We are pleased to collaborate with BACIF on this project and were very happy with the product that we have received here today. I want to take this opportunity to call on other corporate stakeholders to come on board and sup-

port the GFF in its work and its undertaking to develop the game here and help us build his product, the GFF Super 16 Cup over the next couple of years into a valuable, highly exciting and very competitive tournament that we can all put on our calendar of activities on a yearly basis.”

The GFF Super 16 Cup is set to kick off tomorrow, Sunday December 15, at the Police Sports Club Ground Eve Leary with a potentially exciting double header from 18:30hrs when Elite League side, Milerock FC tackle City side, Pele.

The feature clash brings together another GFF Elite League team, Guyana Police Force FC and East Bank Football Association team, Timehri Panthers from 21:00hrs; only the winners will advance.

Over Four Million Dollars in cash and incentives are up for grabs.

Exciting times ahead for Windies, says Estwick

Anthony Joshua: Fight with Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury ‘has to happen in 2020’ Yahoo Sports - Unified heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua has told Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder a fight with him “has to happen in 2020” as he targets all four major belts.

Joshua won back the IBF, WBA and WBO titles from Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia last week, avenging his shock defeat at Madison Square Garden six months earlier.

The only strap not in Joshua’s collection is the WBC title, which American Wilder has held since 2015.

Wilder is due to face Fury in a rematch on February 22, and Joshua wants to fight the winner in an undisputed bout.

“I feel like it’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’, the last ring, let’s get it on, let’s make history,” he told BBC Radio 2.

“It has to happen in 2020, we’re in the same division, same era, if these guys want to make history - especially Wilder, because he has the last belt.

“We created history by becoming a two-time champion of the world, and I feel like we can add to that legacy

Head coach Phil Simmons (right) makes a point to Keemo Paul (centre) and Romario Shepherd during a training session. (CWI Media)

Comparing the heavyweight division to ‘The Lord of the Rings’, Anthony Joshua said he wants to fight Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury next year. in 2020.”

Joshua later wrote on Twitter: “Let’s get ‘undisputed’ trending! That’s what I want & that’s what the people want... I want it bad! I came to take over & not take part!”Ruiz has spoken of his desire for a third fight with Joshua, though his poor performance in the Briton’s points win means that is unlikely.

Instead, Joshua has his sights set on the WBO’s mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk - who stepped up to heavyweight earlier this year after becoming an undisputed champion at cruiserweight or his IBF equivalent Kubrat Pulev.

“If I don’t fight those guys, I’ll have to give up my belt, and I’d rather fight to defend them,” Joshua added.

CHENNAI, India, CMC Despite a recent disappointing record in One-Day Internationals, assistant coach Roddy Estwick believes the signs are there that West Indies are about to turn around their fortunes in the format.

Speaking ahead of tomorrows start of the three-match ODI series against India at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Estwick said not only did the Caribbean side possess the quality players necessary but were also beginning to develop a high class work ethic in their preparation.

“Its exciting times for us.

When you look at somebody like (Shimron) Hetmyer, (Nicholas) Pooran, Shai Hope weve got young batsmen who are developing,” he told a media conference here Friday.

“But the key thing is how you prepare, if youre pre-

pared to work hard and youve got a benchmark in Virat Kohli somebody who you will see in the gym and will work very, very hard, and once our players can learn from players like that then weve got a chance because without hard work theres no success, and hard work is boring but it gives you great success.

“Once they can learn and keep working, keep dealing with the process then theyve got a chance.”

West Indies have struggled in ODIs in recent years and currently languish at number nine, ahead only of the likes of minnows Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe.

However, the year began with much promise when they held world number ones England to a 2-2 draw in a fivematch series at the Caribbean.

But a wretched World Cup campaign where they man-

aged just two wins in nine matches and finished ninth, coupled with a subsequent series loss to India at home, saw their form slump again.

Estwick said the players had lifted themselves well for the ongoing subcontinent tour, however, and reflected the high level of professionalism required.

“Theyve been brilliant on this tour. We cant fault them on this tour at all, theyve worked really hard and theyre beginning to see the results,” he pointed out.

“If you look at Hetmyers play in the T20 [its been] very, very exciting. Now we go to the longer format and people forget that already at a very young age hes got four ODI hundreds so obviously theres a lot of talent there and once he keeps working and thats the key, you cannot rest (Continued on page 30)

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Play Tennis Course concludes today Participants listed to a point being made during the programme.

The Guyana Tennis Association four days Play Tennis Course is set to conclude today.

The course commenced on December 11th and concludes today December 14th, 2019 at the National Racket Centre.

The programme is aimed to additionally equip tennis coaches, potential tennis coaches and teachers with the theoretic and practical skills required for training juniors for tennis.

Saturday December 14, 2019

Kaieteur News

It consists of both on court and theoretical teachings.

The course is being facilitated by an International Tennis Federation Expert, Mr. Damien Applewhaite. Mr. Applewhaite has been coaching for the past 19 years. He was the first ITF Level 3 coach in the Englishspeaking Caribbean and has been an ITF Team Coach of the COTECC Under-16 team.

KFC Schools Football starts today at GFF Training facility Providence

By Sean Devers The second annual KFC Goodwill Schools Football Tournament will commence today with two matches from 13:00hrs at the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Training Facility at Providence.

The top three teams from this year s Guyoil Tradewind Tankers U-18 Schools Football tournament advanced to the KFC Goodwill Schools Football Tournament.

Yesterday, at the KFC Headquarters on Vlissingen Road, this year s tournament, run by the Petra Organization, was officially launched with speeches by Petras Co-Director Troy Mendona, Beharry Restaurant Holdings Inc. Operations Manager Gregory De Gannes and the Captains of Annandale and new kids on the block Marian Academy.

KFCs Operations Manager Gannes said he was thrilled, happy and excited about this competition and was pleased to be once again working with the Petra Organization.

“We are looking forward to a well-run and competitive tournament and we always support sports, especially Football and cricket. We are aware of the benefits that Sports play in the lives of young people. Play hard, play fair and may the best team win,” the Trinidadian Gannes stated.

Annandale Secondary won the Guyoil Tradewind Tankers U-18 Schools Football tournament by beating Lodge in the Final, while Marian Academy finished third.

The tournament originally catered for two overseas Schools along with four local Schools, two of which are from the Hinterland. However, City School Marian Academy has replaced the School from French Guiana.

Lodge Secondary, Marian Academy, Annandale Secondary of East Coast along with Waramaradong from Region nine and Annai from Region seven are the teams hoping to dethrone defending Champions Shiva Boys Hindu College from the Twin Island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

The tournament commences today with Annai Sec opposing Annandale Sec from 13:00hrs, while Lodge Sec face debutants Marian Academy from 15:00hrs at Providence.

The competition has semi-finals and a final this year unlike last year when the tournament was run on a league system and the team with the most points were crowned Champions.

The competition continues on December 16 and 18 at Providence, while if the weather improves the Semifinals will be played on December 20 at the Ministry of Education ground on Carifesta Avenue where the third place play-off and Final will be hosted. However, if the adverse weather continues all the games will be contested at Providence.

The tournament will be divided into two zones of three teams with each team playing two matches with the top two teams qualifying for the Semis.

The Annandale Secondary Captain Jerome Harrigan said playing football as teenagers is a very good thing and produces a brotherhood-like relationship between the players from the various teams. He noted the Lodge have always given them a good fight, adding that his team are determined to capture the winning Trophy this year and beating the Trinidadians who won every match last year.

Mike Bascom, the Vice-

Captain of Annai said that his team is ready for this tournament and is also confident of winning, while Randy Hamilton the Marians Academys Skipper said that despite this being the first time in tournament for his team the aim is to be very competitive.

Hamilton told Kaieteur Sports that he knew of their last minute inclusion on Wednesday Evening when they received their third place Trophy.

“Last year we finished second to last in the Guyoil Tradewind Tankers tournament and when we heard that we were replacing the French School by virtue of ending third this year our feelings was pure excitement,” Hamilton said.

“We are confident that if we remain focused and follow the guidance of our Coach (Devon Winter) we can go much further than the expectations of many in our first big tournament,” Hamilton informed.

He disclosed that they usually practice on their School ground and the National Park and due to their Coachs status in local Football, have had two practice sessions at the GFF Training Facility at Providence.

“We are going there to train this afternoon (yesterday) while we have the experience of playing two matches in the Guyoil Tradewind Tankers tournament there so we are confident of giving a good account of ourselves,” the Marians skipper concluded.

The Trinis were expected in the Country last evening, while Waramadong, who will play their first match on Monday, was on the Linden Highway travelling to the City as the launching was in progress.

Brazil, Colombia, Japan round out 2023 women’s World Cup host bids

(Reuters) - Brazil, Colombia and Japan have each submitted formal bids to host the 2023 Womens World Cup, the sports global governing body FIFA said yesterday, a day after Australia and New Zealand announced their joint bid.The four submissions come amid “an unprecedented interest” from member countries, FIFA said, with the upcoming edition of the tournament set to be the first to feature 32 teams.“France 2019 was certainly a watershed moment for womens football, and now it is FIFAs responsibility to take concrete measures to keep fostering the games incredible growth,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a written statement.

The most recent womens World Cup in France enjoyed record TV audiences and high attendances, with the United States winning a record fourth title.

FIFA will evaluate the potential hosts dur-

United States players celebrate winning the Women’s World Cup with the trophy. (REUTERS /Denis Balibouse/File Photo) ing January and February, before the FIFA Council selects the winning bid at its June 2020 meeting in Addis Ababa.

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Kaieteur News

PAGE 33

ASATT Invitational Swimming Championship T&T Day 2

Elliott Gonsalves takes 200m breast gold; Monique Watson captures silver

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eam Dorado Speed Swim Clubs Monique Wa t s o n a n d E l l i o t t Gonsalves captured gold and silver medals on day two of the Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad and To b a g o ( A S AT T ) Invitational Swimming Championship being held by the Marlins Swim Club at the National Aquatic Centre in C o u v a , Tr i n i d a d a n d T o b a g o .

A release from the club informed that the first event of Day 2 was the 100m Freestyle, which is one of the more popular events in the championships. Delia George (8 years-old) and Kyra Soares (10 years-old) competed in 8 and Under and 9-10 categories respectively.

Delia posted a time of 1:45.61 (20th place) and Kyra a time of 1:18.39 (12th place). Athalcy Hunte and Brittany Quamina competed in the girls 11-12 category registering times of 1:08.53

(11th place) and 1:17.92 (33rd place) respectively.

In the boys 11-12 years category, gold and silver medalist on Day 1, Vladimir Woodroffe placed 5th in the 100m Freestyle, while Stephen Ramkhelawan placed 8th in a time of 1:04.26, Tyler Allicock placed 15th with a time of 1:09.77 and Alex Bentham 24th with a time of 1:13.75.

There were 41 competitors in the boys 11-12 100m Freestyle event. In the 100m Freestyle Girls 13-14 category, Maiya Ifill placed 12th in 1:05.95 out of a total of 31 competitors. Raekwon Noel placed 16th in the Boys 13-14 years category in 59.24, while Ethan Gonsalves and Stephon Ramkhelawan placed 22nd (1:00.96) and 34th (1:06.01), r e s p e c t i v e l y .

Safiya Foster placed 22nd in the girls 15 and Over category in 1:21.79. Daniel Scott ended 11th in the Boys 15 and Over category in

56.54 seconds. The 200m Breaststroke was the second event of Day 2.

Monique Watson added a silver medal to the gold medal she won on the previous days 400IM event with a time of 3:11.27 (this is also a C Time standard).

Not to be outdone, Elliott Gonsalves produced another gold medal in the boys 11-12 years 200m Breaststroke with a time of 2:49.20, while Stephen Ramkhelawan placed 7th with a time of 3:10.35 (a B Time standard).

In the Boys 13-14 category Ethan Gonsalves clocked 3:01.82 (5th place) and Stephon Ramkhelawan 3:03.78 (7th place).

The 50m Fly was the third event of the evening.

Delia George clocked 53.62 in the 50m Fly (19th place) and Kyra Soares clocked 39.63 (11th place) in the Girls 8 and Under and 8-10 categories, respectively.

In the Girls 11-12 category, Athalcy Hunte and Brittany

Coach Nicholas Fraser and some of his swimmers of the Dorado Speed Swim Club in T&T. Quamina placed 9th (32.76) and 22nd (37.86), respectively. Athalcys time of 32.76 was good enough for a B Time qualification.

Vladimir and Tyler Allicock placed 7th (31.44) and 18th (35.41) respectively in the Boys 11-12 years category.

Maiya Ifill, the lone competitor in the Girls 13-14 category, placed 16th with a t i m e o f 3 3 . 1 3 .

Raekwon Noel placed 16th in the 13-14 category with a time of 28.96 which was good enough for a B Time standard. Ethan Gonslaves

and Stephon Ramkhelawan placed 30th (31.63) and 40th (33.95) out of a total of 47 participants.

Daniel Scott competed in the 50m Fly event placing 12th with a time of 27.35 out of 48 competitors. The final event of the night was an exciting 400m Freestyle Relay. Dorado fielded a team in the Boys 11-12 400m Freestyle event. Vladimir Woodroffe was the first Dorado swimmer in the pool and touched first with a time of 1:04.50; Stephen Ramkhelawan and Tyler

Allicock entered in the 2nd and third legs respectively and increased the distance between the Dorado team and the others consistently.

By the time Elliott Gonsalves had finished the race the Dorado Club Team had opened up a lead of approximately one length of the pool to make it an easy win.

The third days events yesterday, were the 800m Freestyle, 400m IM (Males), 200m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 50m Breaststroke and 200m Backstroke.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday November 28, 2019

Inaugural Dragon Stout Street-ball Community Cup officially launched

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Director of Sport Christopher Jones (3rd from left) and Dragon Stout Brand Manager Jamal Baird share the head table with officials and various Reps during the launch.

mid much anticipation and excitement, the inaugural Dragon Stout Street-ball Community Cup was officially launched yesterday at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue.

The three day elimination tournament which is slated to commence on December 17th, will be contested utilizing an elimination format. The second playing date will be December 19th, with the semifinal and grand finale pegged for December 28th.

16 teams will contest the opening night, with the resulting eight winners advancing to the quarterfinal round.

Upon the conclusion of the final eight section, the semifinal and final will occur on the final night of proceedings.

D ragon S tout Brand Manager Jamal Baird stated that the selection of the teams from the various communities and regions gives the tournament national flavour, adding, “It is the start of an exciting project which has the capacity to become a staple of the local street-ball and community landscape and attract a mass following. Its an exciting opportunity for the brand to establish and foster a relationship with the respective communities through the common denominator of sport.”

He further stated, “Presently systems and structures are being fine-tuned to ensure a memorable event that will leave a lasting impression in the minds of the spectators and more importantly the players.

There is a buzz within the respective communities about the tournament which bodes well for its success as players are excited to compete. I am excited for the tournament and the festivities to commence.”

Director of Sports Christopher Jones commended the work being undertaken by Ansa McAl under its Dragon Stout brand in staging the tournament, adding that the NSC will always support such projects which are important in the development of sport and social cohesion amongst the

communities.

He added that initiatives such as this provides the platform for players to showcase and develop their respective talents, adding, “I want to wish all the teams the best of luck and may the best team win.”

Meanwhile, Back Circle Captain Selwyn Williams and Rio All-Stars coach Troy Lambert exuded their respective confidence in the ability of their charges to secure the championship.

Winner of the tournament will pocket $300,000 and the championship trophy. On the other hand, the runner-up will collect $150,000. Meanwhile, the third and fourth place finisher will receive $75,000 and $50,000 respectively and the corresponding accolade.

Below features the complete list of fixtures for the event:

Dragon Stout Complete Fixtures Day-1-Round of 16-Dec 17th Section-A (1)Sparta vs Showstoppers (2)Future Stars vs Albouystown (3)Gold is Money vs Mocha (4)Leopold St vs Ansa All-Stars Section-B (1)Bent Street vs Broad St (2)Sophia vs North East La Penitence (3)Back Circle vs Festival City (4)Rio All-Stars vs Alex. Village Day-2 Quarterfinals-Dec 19th Section-A (5)-Winner (1) vs Winner (2) (6)-Winner (3) vs Winner (4) Section-B (7)-Winner (1) vs Winner (2) (8)-Winner (3) vs Winner (4) Day-3 Semifinals and Final-Dec 28th Section-A Semifinal (9)-Winner (5) vs Winner (6) Section-B Semifinal (10)-Winner (7) vs Winner (8) 3rd Place Loser (9) vs Loser (10) Grand Final Winner (9) vs Winner (10)

Saturday December 14, 2019

Kaieteur News

PAGE 35

GMMAKA holds Annual Karate Awards for students and executive members The Guyana Mixed Marital Arts Karate Association (GMMAKA) held its annual awards and ceremony recently where students and executive members were given special awards for their hard work and dedication throughout the year.

Among those awardees were Mr. Abrar Wahid the Vice President, the Public Relations Officer Mr. Raul Joseph, Ms. Alliyah Ramnarine the General Secretary, Ms. Sophie Tegi the Assistant Secretary, Ms. Julie Ann Ramnarine the Organizing Secretary, Ms. Anacicia Watson a member of the disciplinary c o m m i t t e e a n d M r.

Kamratan Shiwraj and Ms Karen Da Costa who are Trustees within the Association.

Students of the various branches were given awards for being the most improved, the most hardworking, most disciplined, most attendance, most reliable, most outstanding and most excellent.

Among those were five students who earned the students of the year awards: Chandrapaul Sukhu of the Iron Fist Marital Arts Academy, Malinie Shiwcharan of the Red Dragon Marital Arts Academy, Omesh Kissoon of the Vreed-en-Hoop Marital Arts Academy, Dominique Doodnauth of

Mixed Martial Arts awardees at the event. the Invisible Kicks Marital Arts Academy and Troy Harris of the Alberttown Marital Arts Academy.

Master Lloyd Ramnarine expressed thanked everyone

for their hard work and support throughout the year and wished everyone much more success and productivity for the New Year.

BACIF officially hands over GFF Super 16 Trophy

GFF President Mr. Wayne Forde accepts the GFF Super 16 Cup trophy from BACIFs Managing Director, Mr. Peter Pompey.

t r o Sp

Described as a work of art and craftsmanship

KFC Schools Football starts today at GFF Training facility Providence

KFCs Gregory De Gannes presents the winning Trophy to Petra Co Director Troy Mendonca, while some of the Captains and Petras Jackie Boodie share the moment at yesterday launching.

Inaugural Dragon Stout Exciting times ahead for Windies, Street-ball Community Cup officially launched says Estwick Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd., 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown. Tel: 225-8458, 225-8452, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/226-8210.