Kaieteur News

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“Face-to-face” bidding Tuesday Edition NEWS process for Liza crude is - Energy to Guyana's advantage Dept. Head AIETEUR

December 17, 2019 - Vol. 12 No. 52

Online: www.kaieteurnews.com

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

Price $80

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Govt. fails to make key disclosures, despite promising transparency in oil sector Sheriff St./Mandela Ave. project…

IDB satisfied with corrective works - Funds to be released

by Chinese contractor before Dec. 31

The IDB team and other officials heading to inspect part of the project on Sheriff St.

UK firm paid US$300,000 to audit US$460M

Govt. reviewing Magistrate Moore Exxon's third field recuses self from development plan Bisram case after

Facial recognition security pre-contract costs cameras for ports of entry

Chancellor's intervention

Energy Dept. putting finishing touches on final draft local content policy - Reporting format already being used by oil companies

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 17, 2019

Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 17, 2019

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“Face-to-face” bidding process for Liza - Energy crude is to Guyana's advantage Dept. Head S

By Kiana Wilburg

ince international news agency Bloomberg released a report last week that the Government of Guyana would be engaging in a “face-to-face” bidding process with selected companies for the sale of the nation's crude, tensions in some quarters have been high. There was speculation that such a course of action opens opportunities for corruption or back-room deals.

But Energy Department Head, Dr. Mark Bynoe categorically stated at a press conference yesterday that nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the Director of the Department stressed that the arrangement which is expected to conclude this week, is to the country's advantage.

Dr. Bynoe said that the face-to-face bidding with companies which includes the likes of ExxonMobil, Hess Corporation, CNOOC/NEXEN, British Petroleum, Chevron, Shell, Total, and ENI for the first three lifts of Guyana's crude, will help to set national benchmarks.

He told the media that the companies were selected on the basis that they have a global refining footprint and integrated oil value chain as well as being in a position to support all operating procedures for the three cargoes. He said, too, that given Guyana's inexperience, coupled with the impending early dates for Guyana to take its share, which is February 2020, this introductory phase with selected companies was the best option.

Dr. Bynoe said, “We are seeking to protect the value of the resource by going this route. The true economics is still to be determined and stabilization will come after several lifts. Guyana also needs to develop a quality and quantity standard. All of these are considerations which guided the decision

Crude Marketing Specialist, Virginia Markouizou of RPS Group that was taken. We are committed to doing this in a transparent and accountable manner.”

WHO SELECTED THE COMPANIES? One of the burning questions on the minds of media operatives was for the Department of Energy to explain who was behind the selection of the companies for the bidding process.

Dr. Bynoe said that the department relied on the advice of its experts, one being Crude Marketing S p e c i a l i s t , Vi r g i n i a Markouizou of RPS Group, who was hired in November last.

Markouizou indicated that all of the international oil companies were invited on the basis that they have an integrated value chain.

Markouizou said, “When we say integrated value chain, I mean that they have vast experience, they are known to the market and ...We reached out to quite a range of them, and they all h a v e t h e s a m e characteristics. They not only have vast experience in oil, but have a global refining footprint, and this means they are very much aware of the intricacies of introducing new grade into the market, and they have done this many times in the past in supporting governments all around the world...”

Importantly, the Crude Marketing Specialist said that the companies selected

Energy Department Head, Dr. Mark Bynoe

can help Guyana introduce the grade into the market in a very standard way given their experience. She stressed that the Department is trying as best as possible, to prevent the Liza grade from succumbing to volatility.

Markouizou said, “...We want an environment where there is standardization and stabilization. The period for this type of stabilization takes about six months and we decided that it was prudent, to shorten it to three cargoes, so the first three months of production of the grade will be tested in refining systems with long experience in introducing new crude grade.”

NO PREVIOUS DISCLOSURE Dr. Bynoe was also challenged by the media to explain why the nation had to wait on a Bloomberg report to understand what crucial decisions are being taken regarding the nation's patrimony.

To this, the official said that there are some issues which the department can speak on in the initial stages or after. In this instance, he said that it was the intention of the department to inform the nation when the deal was sealed.

He said, “We were aiming to come to you when the matter was concluded and not during, because it can weaken the government's negotiating position... I was hoping to

CLARIFICATION

O

n Sunday last, Kaieteur News carried an article with the headline, “Guyanese should have a piece of every oil block – TT Expert Anthony Paul.” In that news item, it was noted that Mr. Paul told Kaieteur News that he made this recommendation in a report he had

done at the behest of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

This news entity wishes to clarify that Mr. Paul did not highlight this during the interview. Kaieteur News, on its own, found the said recommendation in the report which it has, and reference was made to same.

have a wrap up to say this is what was done...”

“PART OF THE TRUTH” Even though the Department of Energy officials contended that its approach is in Guyana's best interest, the media still demanded an explanation on why Bloomberg would find its handling of the issue to be “unusual.”

Markouizou was quick

to note that Bloomberg only gave half of the story.

She said, “Bloomberg is an international news agency and what they are quoting is part of the truth.

Trading of the commodity is a very global, transparent and in-the-minute business.

It happens in front of screens and it happens through phones...If you were introducing the third, or fourth or fifth grade, then telephone conversations would have been sufficient.”

The Crude Marketing Specialist argued that what Guyana is seeking to do is build relationships. She said that it goes beyond price negotiations, while stressing that the companies engaged will provide valuable feedback on the quality of the crude while helping to introduce it to the international market. For such an important task, a telephone call just wouldn't cut it, the official said.

She further noted that the oil would be sold Freight On Board (FOB) which means

that the government will not bear any costs associated with freight.

PREMATURE The Crude Marketing Specialist explained that after the introductory phase, the Department will issue a public request for proposals ( R F P ) n e x t y e a r, f o r marketing services for Guyana's crude. It was explained that doing the RFP at this stage would be premature, since the quality of the crude is still to be known.

She said, “The RFP is a marketing contract for Guyana's oil and it is going to be at least for one year with an option to renew depending on the performance of the marketer.

It is going to be based on marketing fee. Right now, this is an introduction phase and the markets, the traders, are all looking at us, trying to see how we will perform, and how the grade will perform in the initialization into the market.”

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 17, 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

The Traffic Chief and bar surveillance “Traffic Chief, Linden Isles has made a decision to carry out breathalyzer tests on drivers leaving night spots” (KN December 10).

Without one heartbeat missing, the hue and cry hit the heavens, but seeing it’s liquor involved, it might be wiser to say the protesting noises reflected the now characteristic regurgitating of the insensible, which saturates Guyana.

It is any port for a storm, for those looking to celebrate sending as many as possible ‘down the hatch.’ Under normal circumstances, involving something less dangerous and less costly to society, it might have been a case of continuous cheers for the boys and another one hoisted.

But the truth of local circumstances, is that it isn’t.

The broken bones and brutalized bodies stand as the disturbing testimonies of a culture long tolerated, and long severely damaging, which must be addressed, starting with the first small steps, commonsense and necessary steps.

Individuals, families, hospital wards, communities, and wider society can all attest to the follies of drinking and driving, the associated hurts, and the ongoing hesitancy and leniency that pervade dealing with this crisis (and it is) in a no holds barred, unflinching, and unswerving manner.

This paper extends a word of commendation and hand of support to Traffic Chief Isles for his efforts, which make a world of sense. If he is serious and determined enough, he should be allowed to make our roads safer for all of us, and not cater to the caprices of the besotted.

We say remove the kid gloves and deal with the situations, as they occur and as they warrant, in a thoroughly legal way, but also in a bold and brave approach.

It is not being done consistently, it is not being done cleanly, and it is not being implemented to the degree required that instills caution, if not apprehension in the minds of drinking drivers, who feel it is their God-given right to guzzle and then menace the rest of us.

Here drinkers and their comrades are gearing up for resistance under the banners of what is done elsewhere. It should be known - and if not, is made clear - that there are more concerted and intense pushes to tighten and not loosen drinking and driving standards.

In some overseas locales, blood alcohol limits are being reviewed, with further reduction of existing limits high on the table. Some societies think a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.8 is too conducive to problems, others have enforced a level of 0.5, and in Japan, it is as minimal as 0.3. It is noteworthy that no society, even the liberally liquid ones, is contemplating lessening existing standards or giving intoxicated drivers an easier street on which to wobble.

As for bars and this complete nonsense about police stalking, the Traffic Chief and his planners have to get creative to overcome the usual self-serving Guyanese craftiness and shoddy legalistic conveniences. Then, it is recommended that the dragnets be more strategic in timing and placement. The bars and hangouts are familiar to most, including nondrinkers, and the rollicking ones where the heady envelope can be pushed (or be permitted to) beyond what is safe can be cordoned appropriately and acted upon accordingly.

When drinkers are not even borderline in terms of the legal limit, and more like double and so forth over what is legal, then let the challenge be to determine those who desire to have this plastered all over police blotters, court records, and the press pages, with pictures to boot.

For those who volunteer the specious and vacuous through positioning that they feel threatened, the response of an endangered populace and those who obey the law is simple: more of us feel more threatened more of the time, than the soggy and addled, who wish to have things their own way, and to the greatest degree possible.

Individuals are free to drink as much as they desire in the sanctuary of their homes (domestic violence and health considerations and work readiness all temporarily ignored), but they should not be allowed to think, and then live, as though they can do the same on the roadways.

Mr. Isles said, “I only want to save lives.” He should be allowed to do so.

Why Dr. Hinds current piece is so timely DEAR EDITOR, I read with much interest the piece written by Dr. Hinds in this week’s Sunday edition of the KNews titled “ Rejecting the PPP’s twisted narrative”. Dr. Hinds no doubt does not need my stamp of approval in supporting his facts or thoughts having proved his worth in the political and resistance trenches of our country, but also intellectually in his academic pursuits. As is very clear in his narrative, Guyana’s political maturation from 1957 to present leaves much to be desired, not that our primary political players were/are more matured than any other country’s but in our case, the penchant for retaliatory politics fuelled by ethnic considerations make

for the political mess our country has and is currently experiencing. The descent into this political hell we find ourselves in has become even more profound under the stewardship of Jadgeo’s administration with him as a former President and presently party leader. His intransigence is clearly fuelled by an insatiable desire for power, a desire he took to unimaginable levels at the expense of not only African Guyanese but those of his poor and struggling supporters. I have asked this question of this group before, can they point to one thing Jadgeo has done for them that has moved their lives from struggling to survive on a daily basis to some form or level of economic tranquility,

not that he would have been able to have them afford a life residing behind the walls of a gated community, but at least to remove the daily struggle.

On the contrary he and his elite clique are living high on the hog they have replaced the previous Colonial Masters.

Not only are those blind supporters responsible for this glaring disparity between the newly super rich and themselves but spineless party executives who sat on their hands while Jadgeo slowly but surely took complete control of the party to the point that he is now absolute Leader. This situation reminds me so much of the current position the U.S Republican Party finds itself in with their incompetent,

inept, immoral Resident of the White House, Donald Trump, not that the adjectives used for Trump describes Jadgeo, but their thirst for power are identical, to the detriment of their individuals countries.

Like Trump in America, Jadgeo is the worst thing that has happened to Guyana hands down. Guyana has had some terrible leaders in the past and some may even say in the present, but in my humble opinion none can top Jagdeo for the damage he has done to our country and will do again if allowed to become the power behind the proverbial throne.

Maybe there is hope yet residing in the new political parties coming on stream.

Respectfully, Claudeston G. Massiah

Replacing Authority with Leadership DEAR EDITOR, It is difficult to come to terms with recent decisionmaking and the ramifications thereof. More often than not the pronouncements have been ill-informed, deficient of any analytical process.

There is this underlying misconception, indeed serfdeception, that authority translates into relevantly good judgment. This display of authoritarianism excludes the real possibility of there being others who know much better of the subject under examination.

Also the arrogance inherent in such misbehaviour but too often reflects the indifference of the decision-maker to the broader historicity of the situation on which he or she pontificates.

There is but minimal

awareness exhibited of the perceived attitude to, and indulgence in, the ‘command mode’ being archaic, and indeed long since replaced by behaviours which speak eloquently to a proactive ‘leadership style’, which consistently recognises all the players as equals, while setting an example of humility that reflects self-confidence in the first instance and critically, incites trust in the process.

In his book ‘Reinventing Organisations’ the author Frederic Laloux offers the following: “… asking for advice is an act of humility, which is one of the most important characteristics of a fun workplace. The act alone says ‘I need you’. The decision-maker and the adviser are pushed into a

closer relationship … this makes it nearly impossible for the decision-maker to simply ignore advice” Further on, Laloux reminds of having to live with the consequences of the decision – a reality which must always be taken into account. And about ‘Trust’, among other things, Laloux strongly advises: “Create workplaces that not only employ people but honour the soul in the process”.

As a long experienced practitioner and adviser in human resources management and organisational development, at the highest level across the Caricom Region, the writer can confidently attest to the actual value of Laloux’s advice; and indeed also revel in the carefully

constructed series of advice given by Jim Collings in his highly acclaimed ‘Good to Great’, where his research examined the managerial attributes that differentiated the ‘great’ corporate leaders from the ‘good’ ones.

Identified once again was the factor of humility!

Once more, but hardly the final observation, was the following: “But leadership is equally about creating a climate where the truth is heard … there is a huge difference between the opportunity of ‘having your say’ and the opportunity to be heard … this distinction, creating a culture wherein people have a tremendous opportunity to be heard and, ultimately, for the truth to be heard.”

E. B. John

Difficult to understand why GECOM has not discarded H2H data DEAR EDITOR, I observed in another section of the media that GECOM will be moving ahead with the inclusion of the recently data in halted H2H the placing in the voters’ list, WITHOUT VERIFYING THEM, and has further placed the onus of verifying 20,000 new registrants on the PPP. I have previously stated my reservations regarding the predispositions of the chairperson and have long recommended her replacement prior to elections in light of her earlier positions on critical issues relating to the integrity of the voters’ list.

This recent announcement further emphasizes the need for a replacement, it does not need

to be explained to anyone, or GECOM for that matter, that verification and validation of all data to be included in the national registration database and the list of electors is solely the domain of the office of the GUYANA ELECTIONS COMMISSION. This aside, it is my contention that the H2H registration recently halted was conducted in violation of the advice of GECOM’s legal advisor and GECOM’s own Guidelines and regulations pertaining to the maintenance of an up-to-date voters’ list.

This has provided ample room for data tampering, and without further thought, should be relegated to the dustbin. I propose some issues below to consider relating to the H2H data

collection affair: 1. The President went beyond GECOM regulations to unilaterally appoint a chairman.

2. This chairman left instructions dated June 11, 2019 for House-to-house registration, knowing fully well that GECOM’s legal advisor in an opinion dated just prior to May 15, 2019 which advised that such a course would be in violation of GECOM’s regulations.

According to Excellence Dazzell, the legal officer at the time: “Based on (elections laws), the list must be updated bi-annually by adding persons who are now qualified to be registered, to that list, and those who are no longer qualified to be registered, to be taken off that list… I therefore advise that procedures be put in place to ensure the revision of the list, otherwise the Commission

would be acting in defiance of the law and may prejudice any by-election that may become necessary,” according to another report.

Now why would the chairman out of the blue issue this order for house to house registration, knowing that it contravened the advice of GECOM’s legal advisor and GECOM’s regulations.

Was he requested to leave this order prior to his resignation? Did David Granger or his representatives request the chairman to issue that order prior to his departure? This in and of itself is political interference and prejudices the decisions of GECOM in favour of Granger, if this was indeed the case. Because I am quite sure that no political party would favour GECOM obliging such a request from any other political party. It is my (Continued on page 5)

Tuesday December 17, 2019

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Kaieteur News

GECOM playing the fool - messing with voters’ list is the oldest election cheating trick DEAR EDITOR, There are now about twenty political parties that want to contest the upcoming elections, but it seems only the PPP is prepared to struggle for a clean list of electors and for free and fair elections. The others are recklessly staying on the sidelines depending on the PPP to carry the struggle for a clean list of electors and for free and fair elections. Where is Mr. Ramkarran and A New and United Guyana (ANUG)?

Where is Mr. Badal and his Change Guyana? Where is Mr. Shuman and his party?

Where are all the others, the doctors, the pastors, the lawyers who have all formed parties? Why have they abandoned their obligation to speak out against GECOM’s messing around?

GECOM claims there are 20,556 new registrants from the illegal house-to-house (HTH) registration and they want to merge this list into the OLE. They continue to ignore the salient, critical fact that these names were gathered in an exercise that did not include scrutiny and

verification by the largest political party in Guyana, as mandated by law. Already, PPP activists have shown exposed names purported to be new registrants who are really persons previously registered. Two such names that have emerged as examples are the names of Justice Cecil Kennard, a former Chancellor, and Mr. Jailall Kissoon, a former Minister of the PNC and a prominent attorney. Then there are names of persons who died many years ago.

How did these dead persons get to register in the recent illegal house-to-house registration? Just these examples demonstrate that the list of new registrants that GECOM has generated is hopelessly flawed and raises the possibility of criminal shenanigans. Why then is GECOM so dead-set to merge these names without 100% verification? Such verification is something that could be done within days. Their haste to merge this list and their absolute objection for comprehensive verification raise serious suspicion that

GECOM’s intention is not pure, that GECOM’s intention is towards something evil.

A clean list of voters is indispensable for a free and fair elections. Guyana’s continuous registration system is designed to ensure that every citizen above 18 years old has the opportunity to be listed. For the upcoming March 2020 general elections, there appears to be a vulgar messing around with the list of voters, promoted by APNU+AFC, with GECOM being complicit as an agent to mess with the list, all in contravention of the laws of Guyana.

Initially, GECOM wanted to merge 370,000 names from the HTH into the NRR (National Register of Registrants) and then extract a new PLE (Preliminary Voters List). But the mandated finger-print cross matching determined that about 300,000 of the names, in fact, were already in the NRR. GECOM then proposed merging the remaining 70,000, even though these were never verified by all political stakeholders and even though there were other anomalies. Under pressure, from the PPP, GECOM

It may not be too late for Govt. to revisit its approach to the sale of first oil DEAR EDITOR, I am no expert when it comes to oil but after reading in the media about the manner in which the sale of our first crude is about to be executed, I am reminded of a popular S h a k e s p a r e a n verse, ’something is rotten in the State of Denmark.’

Notwithstanding, the explanation provided by the Department of Energy in justification of the face to face bidding method involving a select group of contractors, I respectfully submit that such an arrangement lacks transparency and has the all the elements of political

Difficult to understand...

From page 4 opinion that the recently collected H2H data should NOT be used under ANY circumstances as a result of the foregoing.

Guyanese are urged to pay more attention to what is transpiring at G E C O M , because there continues to be a degree of vacillation and indecision regarding the simple matter of discarding the house to

house data that brings into question the ability of the management of GECOM to recognize that their procedures were violated, AND THAT THE RECENTLY HALTED HOUSE TO HOUSE R E G I S T R AT I O N CONTRAVENED THE ADVICE AND GUIDELINES. Yours Faithfully, Craig Sylvester, Party Leader, Democratic National Congress

involvement in the sale of what is referred to as our ‘black gold’.

I believe we are off to a bad start which could send out the wrong signals to those who are desirous of doing business with us.

A better arrangement, in my view, is to go initially with the prices obtained by ExxonMobil for its share of crude and then use that as the benchmark for subsequent sales, having regard to best practices based on industry standards.

At the very least, it would erase preceptions of political involvement and engender higher levels of trust and integrity in the entire process.

It may not be too late for the Government to revisit the approach it is pursuing in the sale of our first oil.

Hydar Ally

admitted that only 20,556 names were actually new registrants eligible to vote.

Even with serious questions surrounding the list of 20,556 persons, GECOM is insisting they will merge this list into the NRR and into the new OLE. They are steadfast in their refusal for verification, even as the list is already impugned, even as GECOM attracts further humiliation and embarrassment.

The refusal for verification is suspicious because this same GECOM wanted to remove about 20,000 names from the list because these persons still are to collect their ID cards.

The persons whose names they want to remove were legitimately registered, their registration were scrutinized and verified with at-home proof of residency and they met all legal requirements during their registration exercise and have voted in previous elections.

Yet GECOM demands they prove all over again that they actually exist.

Contrast this posture with the existing one for the socalled new registrants. These persons were registered with

no scrutiny by the largest political party in Guyana or by any of the other political parties outside of the APNU+AFC grouping, in contravention of the laws of Guyana.

From even before the NoConfidence motion, GECOM was messing with the voters’ list, the oldest cheating trick in elections around the world.

Guyana has a history of bogus voting lists under Forbes Burnham and Desmond Hoyte and the PNC. Just think of the BBC series showing Burnham registering horses in England as Guyanese voters. From the moment Granger became President in 2015, his gameplan was to follow the Burnham formula to mess with the voters’ list. This was the real intention when he bucked the well-established Carter formula to appoint James Patterson as GECOM’s chair. That is why before the CCJ forced Patterson to leave GECOM, he ordered a new HTH. The intention was clear, pad the voters’ list and remove as many names of persons suspected to be PPP supporters.

GECOM has a sacred

responsibility to generate an environment of confidence in the election. What GECOM is doing with the OLE presently is creating too much suspicion. The refusal to verify the list of so-called new registrants is reckless, particularly given the flaws already exposed. To add to the recklessness is GECOM’s demand that the PPP can verify by itself. The PPP will do so. But will GECOM accept the PPP’s findings? Is this going to be another unnecessary fight?

Justice Claudette Singh must act with fairness and with firmness. At the same time, GECOM’s insistence they will remove 20,000 names of persons who legitimately registered, many of whom voted in previous elections, just because they did not collect their ID cards is puzzling.

The bottom line is that there is a compromised group at GECOM which is wickedly fooling around, messing with the list of voters. The question is why? Nothing good could come out of this messing around with the list of voters.

Dr. Leslie Ramsammy

Another day, another manufactured controversy DEAR EDITOR, Here we go again. The “experts” on oil and gas crawling out to criticise the Department of Energy’s decision to invite bids for the first three shipments of Guyana’s profit oil.

This is despite a detailed and very welcome explanation by the department as to why this path has been chosen. Put simply Guyana’s oil “Liza” is a completely new grade to the market, and its properties for refinery purposes need to be evaluated carefully so as to maximise its price.

These are very complex issues and it’s not clear any of the ‘Berbice Chair’ critics have any exp e r i e n c e i n evaluating oil grades, marketing oil, or in the sector or indeed even any work experience period, other than as professional letter writers.

Now we have Mr Datadin threatening to file for an injunction to stop sales.

Hilarious were it not clear that this has nothing to do with the oil sector per se.

These folks are simply using it and other manufactured controversies the reshuffle at Foreign Affairs, the Walter Rodney sign board, the painting of State House green - as part of

an increasingly hysterical attempt to get back into power.

As we get closer to becoming a petro state, Jagdeo and his cabal are becoming more panicked. It’s sad because they are willing to sabotage the interests of the nation in order to further their own tawdry ambitions.

Stay Calm and Carry on!

Yours sincerely, Albert Russell

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 17, 2019

We also know ‘Salla- walla’ when we see it DEAR EDITOR, The response by the Department of Energy to grave concerns expressed about the invitation to SELECT petroleum companies to Guyana for face-to-face meetings is disingenuous. There is no need to sell Guyana’s share of profit oil directly. The share should be sold by the operator and should fetch the same price as the operator’s share. The price garnered for ExxonMobil’s share will be declared publicly to its shareholders and is a

transparent, trusted and audited process.

ExxonMobil cannot and will not lie to its owners (shareholders) and is closely monitored by capable institutions such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The same cannot be said for the process outlined by David Granger’s Department of Energy (DE).

The DE is being facetious when it suggests that “The short-term first phase beginning this week will focus on setting national

benchmarks for selling Guyana’s portion of its crude in the future”. One, the benchmark will be set by the sale of the oil lifted before our turn comes and two, each batch of oil is quality tested and sold according to those results.

The DE confirms that “Selected companies are invited to bid to buy Guyana’s product in the very short term” The obvious question is why? Oil is sold on the World market daily, there is no advantage to pre-selling oil of unknown (but expected to be

Deliberate mismanagement of my Appeal Court case DEAR EDITOR, On December 13, 2019 I phoned the Court of Appeal Registry for an update on my case. This was a follow up, after the submission of my petition the day before in connection with my vigil. I regard such submission and a suspension of my vigil, as the end of a phase in my call for justice, and the start of a period to allow the justice system to respond to my call.

I was told by the senior registry officer that no hearing date was set, and that documents were still being searched for. Hence there is no change in the official position since my press statement of November 20 last, and no explanation offered on the failure to contact me as promised.

These actions show a deliberate mismanagement of my case, and amounts to victimisation against me, as appellant. What is more is that I was also asked if I have a “certificate” from the High Court decision, which certificate is also being searched for. This is a provocation. I have stated since my May 20, 2019

address to the Appeal Court, that the High Court episode was a hearing behind my back. The Attorney-at-law representing the State did not challenge my narrative. The Appeal Court ruled that the High Court had no jurisdiction in my matter.

New phase of my efforts I believe everyone should be concerned about this anomalous state of affairs as it affects the administration of justice in Guyana. I also believe transparency is now critical to the future of my case, and therefore in the next phase to attain justice I will focus on calling on the Registry to give clarity to the direction it is taking. In the face of provocation I will maintain my call for a hearing date for my appeal and an investigation of the unlawful High Court episode. I wish to thank those who gave their time and energy to join me on the weekly vigil and all those who signed the public petition, from which twelve persons were selected as signatories. Also, the petitioners in the shoes of Rodney resonate the fact that, though not on trial, Walter

Rodney was found liable for possession of explosives in the 1982 trial. All persons on the vigil also helped to inspire the overseas letter-writing aspect, which indeed continues. However the vigil is now suspended as it needs to give way to fresh initiatives locally.

Clarifications needed As regards the direction which need clarification, most of all the Registry must clarify how the High Court certificate is relevant to my appeal, since the appellate court has ruled the High Court process unlawful, and hence those entire proceedings are ineffective from the outset.

Also, given that the certificate and all connected documents where they exists, have always been solely in the custody of the Court since 2010, why or how is it that such documents cannot be retrieved after more than four weeks. Finally, the Registry must give regular reports on its case management.

Continued silence would seem to implicate the Registry in past mischief. Copy of petition attached.

Donald Rodney

very high) quality. Should we, for example, accept a price USD $2 higher than Brent Crude per barrel, it would seem a good deal unless the quality is higher and the world market price would be Brent plus USD $8. In such a scenario, Guyana would have lost USD $18 Million due to undue haste. Given the present ravaged state of the Treasury, it is a risk we can illafford to take.

Then there is the issue of “selected companies”, the DE states “This strategy was employed upon serious consideration of advice given by an international team external to the DE” The DE gives us titles of persons but significantly fails to name anyone.

The DE gives us a lengthy three-point explanation of the ‘logic’ employed in reaching the decision to adopt a selfdescribed “novel approach” an examination of the three points is revealing.

In point one, the DE says the quality of the crude is not yet known. This is patently false; ExxonMobil has

signaled that the crude is expected to be higher than the benchmark Brent. However, each shipment of oil is graded onboard the FPSO rigorously, oil companies do not buy or sell ‘pig in bag’. Any sale before testing is going to be below real value as companies will claim ‘risk’.

Absolute hogwash!

Point two states “the DE has been advised, by the Crude Marketing Specialist, that in order to take Guyana through this limited short term phase, a few high-quality IOCs with a global refining footprint and integrated oil value chains would be best given an opportunity to support the DE during this incubation and launching phase”.

Guyana needs to get the best possible price for its share of profit oil, what it seems to have gotten is highpriced ‘consultants’.

Keep it Simple Stupid should be a mantra over at the DE; it seems they are easily confused or misled. Is Kevin Granger an advisor on the ‘international team’? Is it a

team or a gathering of cronies?

Point three of the DE’s response states “Guyana’s main incentive in taking this approach is to establish a norm in terms of quality standard and quantity availability so as to prevent any possible down-pricing” again, if or quality is low, it will be tested before lifting and priced according to world prices, same if it is high, every shipment will be tested and priced this way, in a very open and transparent process.

That is unless we deviate from the norm during the ‘face-to-face’ meetings.

The DE asserts that there is no untoward motive hidden in the request for face-to-face meetings and then, only with ‘selected’ companies, but I would suggest that when men with guns and masks are in our house, Guyanese do not have to wait to be robbed to know that they are bandits.

We also know ‘Salla- walla’ when we see it.

Respectfully, Robin Singh

People are dying because too many of our drivers deliberately drive dangerously DEAR EDITOR, Last weekend I drove to Linden and back. The surface of the Linden highway has deteriorated appreciably and it is definitely not safe on a number of stretches to drive in excess of 80kph. I was a successful racing driver and speak from experience, yet, while driving at that speed, minibuses and a number of private cars passed me as though I was standing still.

The majority of them don’t have the skills to drive at those speeds even on a good road, but are content to put themselves and everyone around them at risk of a fatal accident.

On two occasions I was

overtaken on a blind corner and at the top of a hill. An oncoming car would have resulted in a head-on crash.

On the East Bank public road it was bumper to bumper traffic on Saturday morning, but minibus drivers continued to overtake and force their way into line when faced with oncoming traffic.

Regular police motorbike patrols in heavy traffic conditions could easily stop this nonsense.

I describe this experience because it explains exactly why almost every day we read of fatal accidents on our roads.

A substantial number of drivers are simply grossly

indiscipline.

People are dying because too many of our drivers deliberately drive dangerously regardless of the consequences.

No amount of traffic police talk will cure this.

When the traffic police and the Courts together determine to suspend and cancel driving licences on each occasion that a charge of dangerous driving comes before them, we might get somewhere.

It would also, of course, help if people were unable to buy their licences and bribe dishonest traffic policemen.

Yours sincerely, Kit Nascimento

First Annual Youth Empowerment Summit set for Thursday DEAR EDITOR, The young people of Guyana, ages 18-35 will inherit and lead Guyana in the very near future as they represent the largest stakeholders of the population. We believe, that decisions made and those that will be made will have the greatest impact on our youth.

As such, we have created a platform for our young people to hear directly from the leaders of Guyana,

including His Excellency with regards to their vision for the continued development of our nation.

This programme will be held Thursday, December 19, 2019 on the lawns of the Watooka Guest House at 4 pm and it is free of cost. Youth from all across Guyana are welcomed as they will be allowed to interact and share with His Excellency and the leaders of our nation their thoughts, ideas and

expectations as we move Guyana forward.

We wish to thank His Excellency in advance for his participation in this youth summit.

Kindly contact the undersigned on telephone number 690-3567 for any further information or assistance that you may require.

Your’s truly, Mr. Jermaine Figuiera MP Region 10

Tuesday December 17, 2019

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Kaieteur News

Energy Dept. putting finishing touches on final draft local content policy - Reporting format already being used by oil companies The Department of Energy has received the final local content policy draft from the Consultant, Dr. Michael Warner, according to Energy Department Head, Dr. Mark Bynoe.

The Department is editing the policy and aims to complete and finalise it before December ends. In addition, the reporting policy is already being used, as during a press conference yesterday, Bynoe told reporters that the Department has commenced the process of reviewing the oil companies’ local content

reports. This is in the hope that they adjust their operations to ensure a smooth transition to adherence with the policy’s requirements.

Kaieteur News has been reliably informed that ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), has submitted its 2020 plan, and a report on its local content achievements.

Dr. Bynoe said that the last report from EEPGL indicated that over 1,500 Guyanese are directly

employed with the operator and its contractors, with 76 percent of them being in the skilled and professional categories. He said the locals employed are predominantly from regions three, four and six.

The Director further indicated that the company has engaged with over 435 Guyanese vendors and spent over $82M in the third quarter of 2019, an increase of more than 150 percent over the 2018 figure.

Dr. Bynoe has commended EEPGL,

indicating that the Department of Energy is encouraged by the continued contributions made to raising capacity and standards in Guyana.

Government is currently working with CGX Energy and Tullow Oil to develop their local content plans.

The Director also said that EEPGL is working with the Council for Technical, Vocational Education and Training (CTVET) for the revision of the curriculum for electrical welding and fabrication level 1 programme.

The aim is to train trainers, starting in July and August of 2020, to ensure the revised

Local Content Consultant, Dr. Michael Warner curriculum is properly delivered. There are also facility upgrades in the works,

to ensure that the laboratories facilitate safe training procedures.

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 17, 2019

Magistrate Moore recuses self from Bisram case after Chancellors intervention The Marcus Bisram case took an interesting turn yesterday at the Springlands Magistrates Court after Magistrate Alex Moore announced that he was recusing himself from the case. Moores decision came after he received a letter from the Chancellor of the Judiciary directing him to recuse himself from the matter.

The proceeding which was scheduled to kick off on the 9th of December was delayed until yesterday after Moore had reported sick.

Bisram made his third court appearance yesterday. When the matter was called, State Prosecutrix Stacy Goodings, her assistant from the DPPs office, Attorney Mandal Moore, and the accused Marcus Bisram were all present, however the defence attorneys Sanjeev Datadin and Dexter Todd were not

present, the matter was stood down for a few minutes until they arrived.

At the commencement, Goodings was asked by Magistrate Moore to make disclosures of the statements, but she rose from her seat and declined to do so on the grounds that she received instructions from her office (DPP) for him (Moore) to recuse himself from the matter. She then requested for an adjournment until the Chancellor of the Judiciary had responded.

However, Defence Attorney Sanjeev Datadin arose from his seat and pointed out that they were not informed by the DPP of such a development, and argued that an order of the court was made, and as such “there should be obedience to that order”. He referenced the ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to have

Magistrate Alex Moore the matter conducted “expeditiously” and in that regard “we ask that the order of disclosure be complied with”.

Moore almost immediately said there was a further development and pointed out to the court that he was in receipt of the letter (from the DPP) “forwarded by the Chancellor to me and I was asked to respond”. He added that out of respect, he responded, but while that “internal exercise” was ongoing, the petition filed by Faiyaz Narinedatts relatives to the Court of Appeal in Georgetown was also forwarded to him. He stated the reason cited to him was that the petition has become a public issue and, “I was directed by the Chancellor to recuse myself” and “I hereby recuse” from the case.

Moore mentioned briefly that the issue of his conduct was raised in both the petition and letter.

The case was subsequently adjourned for the 13th of January for report at court one (1) in Georgetown, where it will be re-assigned to a court in Berbice thereafter.

Meanwhile, after the matter had concluded, Attorneys Datadin and Todd

Marcus Bisram spoke with members of the media and expressed their disappointment in the abrupt turn the case had taken.

Datadin referred to the new development as “magistrate

shopping”. He added that he did not notice in any of the media that the defence said in court that “whatever statements you have, we will (Continued on page 23)

Tuesday December 17, 2019

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Kaieteur News

Ministers are subject to greater scrutiny Ministers must expect to be held to a higher standard of public scrutiny. They are the most senior and influential members of the Executive arm of the State, and as such, their private and personal affairs are liable to be subject to greater public inspection.

Ministers must have “thick skins”. Criticisms and unwarranted accusations are often thrown their way, most of which have no justifiable basis. The best defence against malicious allegations is not avoidance or denial, but a willingness to be subject to greater public scrutiny.

At present, charges are being made about a house which a Minister built. This is not the first time that this has happened and it will not

be the last. The Minister can choose to ignore these charges or can be drawn into offering explanations which negate the allegations.

The minister should do neither. Those making the allegations have not presented a shred of direct evidence to justify their allegations. They have relied on circumstantial evidence.

This matter, however, is not just a personal matter. It is also a political issue which is not likely to go away and therefore, in the elections season, it is wise for the allegations to be laid to rest so that they do not incur any political liability on the part of the government.

The Coalition campaigned on a platform of promoting transparency in government.

It promised zero tolerance for corruption and promised financial probity and accountability at all levels of Government. This obviously includes high office. Many have not been impressed with the Coalition’s resolve in these areas. And this is a chance to put things right in this regard. The present allegations swirling in the public domain can be used to put to rest some of the ugly aspersions cast at the Coalition’s commitment to transparency and financial probity.

The Coalition shot itself in the foot when it failed to keep its campaign promise to establish an Investigative Commission on Corruption within the first 100 days in government.

The

Dem boys seh ...

People does change faster than de weather Guyana is a strange place when it comes to people and loyalty. People does feel strong bout one thing at one time and before you wink dem tek de odda position.

Is like two people who start to argue bout something. Dem does argue till it look like dem want to fight. After a while one of dem does stay quiet and de odda one talking all de time and asking everybody if he ain’t right.

Then somebody would put in an argument that counter wha he seh and produce some facts.

Right away de man does change he mouth and if you don’t stand up strong he would convince you that he never seh some of de things he seh before.

Dem boys remember when dem start criticise Exxon after Soulja Bai release de contract. People join in. Some seh how Soulja Bai sell out de country and some seh Exxon is de biggest thieves in de world. One man had every reporter calling him fuh a bad story about Exxon.

Then one day, he stop tekking dem call.

Dem boys coulda tell dem that de man get buy out. That is a common thing. People does go to court to be a witness in a case. Then somebody approach dem and de next thing you know is that dem start to seh something different from wha dem even tell de police in de investigation stage.

Just de odda day something like that happen in court. A policeman got to explain why he change he mouth in a particular case.

Lawyers does do de same thing. Dem boys had to defend a libel suit suh dem approach couple lawyers. Some of dem had to give up de case because dem situation change. One lawyer prepare de defence. But dem boys find out that when de case call nearly five years later this lawyer hide de file from de client.

In de end he decide to lef de client in de half. And he had a big conversation wid de man who sue he client. Dem boys seh something wrong.

Talk half and watch out fuh two-face people.

Investigative Commission on Corruption has fallen off the Coalition’s radar.

There is an opportunity now for the President to demonstrate the strength of his commitment to transparency in government.

It is also an opportunity for him to bury what can be a malicious allegation against one of his Ministers. The Coalition can benefit by publicly disproving these charges, thereby showing the entire world that the government is lean, clean and transparent, as promised.

The government has no Investigative Commission to refer the matter to. As so that option is closed.

The next consideration would have been to refer the matter to the Integrity Commission. Unfortunately, the Integrity Commission is not empowered to investigate these sorts of matters.

The Integrity Commission is a mere depository of financial declarations by public officers, including Ministers.

The only investigation which it can launch is if it has reason to believe that a false declaration was made. The present issue in the public domain has nothing to do with anyone

making a false declaration of personal assets.

Another consideration is to refer the matter to the Ombudsman. But this too is no-go, because the Ombudsman looks into matters concerning maladministration and malfeasance in public administration which results in injury to members of the public. The present matter has nothing to do with maladministration and malfeasance.

The non-resort to any of the above options, points to the inadequacy of mechanisms to address allegations of unaccounted wealth acquisition. All the babble about fighting corruption in government is therefore plain poppycock.

The President, however, still has an obligation to act to put paid to any falsehoods being peddled against any of his Ministers. He should lay the present allegations to rest and embarrass those who are attempting to besmirch his government. He has caused to be launched an investigation into the management of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, and therefore he can do the same when it comes to any of his Ministers.

In the case of an ordinary public official, any investigation should be based on a prima facie case being established. But in the case of holders of high public office, there is a need to ensure that even in the absence of a prima facie case, allegations are addressed completely and not ignored.

One way to do this in the present case is to appoint a forensic auditor to examine the building in question, establish what it would have cost to build it, and then decide whether the earnings plus savings plus any loans taken from the banks, could have built such a structure.

This is a one-week exercise whose value will be worth its value in gold for years to come.

Over to Granger!

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

Two homes destroyed by fire within hours Three families may have a bleak Christmas after their homes were yesterday destroyed in separate fires mere hours apart.

The tragedy began at Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara when an early morning blaze left 53-year-old Dularie Lall and her four children contemplating their next move.

The fire reportedly started around 03:00hrs and completely destroyed the three-bedroom wooden home.

The woman’s distraught daughter, Reshma Lall, who lives a village away, explained to Kaieteur News that her mother was sleeping at her Lot 2 Novar, Mahaicony home when she felt her hand burning.

Upon waking up, she was met with flames inside of her bedroom and immediately raised an alarm. “She seh when she get up, the whole room get fire, so she start holler and rush out fuh make sure dem children safe and they come out and start holler fuh the neighbours”.

According to the younger Lall, her mother, who resided at the home for more than twenty years, attempted to douse the blaze but unfortunately, her heroic efforts were in vain as the fire could not be contained. “She try fuh out piece but it was too much, she get burn on she hand and near she face and so.”

Reshma Lall said that her mother and siblings were unable to save anything from the blaze

Dularie Lall with her children after the fire but the clothes on their backs, and stood in horror as the place they called home for years went up in flames.

She explained that fire tenders arrived promptly, but it was a bit too late. The house reportedly did not have any electricity, so the family is baffled as to what could have caused the blaze.

“They did done start buy things fuh Christmas and the house had everything but it ain’t had light and they ain’t had no lamp light, so we ain’t know what happened, what cause the fire.”

The family was still recovering from the deaths of their father and grandmother, both of whom contributed considerably to the household.

Meanwhile, twelve persons from two families were displaced after a fire of unknown origin completely destroyed their Lot 1

Graham Street, Plaisance, East Coast Demerara home.

That fire started at about 10:30hrs.

Reports stated that Carl James, a construction worker, lived in the lower flat of the two story wooden house with his wife and six children, while Shaya Quamina lived in the upper flat with her three children.

According to information received, Quamina and her children ran out of the house screaming ‘fire’ while James’s wife, June Ann Holland who was painting with her children heard the screams and fled the house.

The fire was said to have started in a bedroom in the upper flat of the home. The blaze quickly engulfed the building, leaving both families thankfully alive but suffering estimated losses in the millions.

PAGE 10

Tuesday December 17, 2019

Kaieteur News

=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===

There are white folks advising APNU+AFC There was a trenchant reaction by the PNC to an observation made about the upcoming elections in Guyana

by State Department official, Dr. Robert Ellis. Ellis made a prediction about a PPP victory in April, before he became a scholar employed by the State Department.

The APNU+AFC leadership referred to Ellis as belonging to a lobbying firm whose service the PPP is making use of. What APNU+AFC did not go on to mention is that it has employed the service of a foreign lobbying firm too.

This firm’s consultants have been working out at Congress Place since March of this year, in a project named Operation

Palm.

I refer readers to my column of Wednesday, August 14, 2019, “The pathetic nonsense Granger’s British advisor uttered.”

In that column, I brought out information that the head of Operation Palm met the AFC’s executives at State House and addressed them on election strategy.

He advised them to play up the personality of Granger in the election campaign.

What is disturbing about this country is its pathetic journalism in an age where information is virtually available to anyone who wants it, because of the ubiquity of social media.

This gentleman came to Guyana in August, met with

the PNC leadership, met with more than thirty members of the AFC’s national executive, and not one journalist from even the opposition-aligned media sought to investigate.

No journalist has asked David Granger if the PNC has a foreign consulting firm doing research for it at Congress Place.

No journalist has asked David Granger if at his government residence, he facilitated a meeting with the AFC’s executive members.

No journalist has asked any of those AFC executives if they met this gentleman at State House.

No journalist has asked Khemraj Ramjattan, the leader of the AFC, if David Granger facilitated a meeting at State House with the foreign consultant.

Six AFC executives who were there, told me about the incongruity, in that the man was introduced to the gathering without his name given.

The reason for not offering the name is because both the PNC and AFC do not want information on him and Operation Palm getting out.

Here is an interesting disagreement that occurred

within the AFC when Granger sought to have his foreign advisor address the AFC. One leading female AFC bigwig suggested that a select group meet with the consultant instead of the entire executive body.

She didn’t want too many persons knowing about the man’s work in Guyana.

Ramjattan, for all his faults, opposed the suggestion and argued that the invitation was issued by Granger to the AFC’s national leadership, and the entire executive body should be in attendance.

So why is the PPP silent on Operation Palm? The answer is simple.

It is silly to think that the PPP does not know about Operation Palm. It is silly to think that the PPP does not know that a foreign Caucasian lady has been at Congress Place since March.

The answer is that the PPP has its own Caucasian strategists advising it.

The PPP feels that if it exposes the PNC’s links with a White foreign company, the PNC will retaliate and expose them too. The

point is, both leviathans are ashamed for the Guyanese people to know that foreign White consultants are planning election strategies for them. It doesn’t look good in terms of the race question.

The obvious question on the tongue of every Guyanese is: why bring in the White man?

What can he tell Guyanese politicians that the locals cannot? So now that the PNC is crying foul about Robert Ellis, will the media do its work? Will the Guyanese media at least try to attain some level of international professionalism?

Do you know that in their efforts to dirty Oppos i t i o n L e a d e r, J e r e m y Corbyn, for the just concluded nation election in the UK, one of the leading daily British broadsheets, The Telegraph, sent down a team to Guyana a few weeks ago to gather dirt on Corbyn’s communist connections to Cheddi Jagan and the PPP? The 2020 national election in Guyana is going to be a nasty one.

Frederick Kissoon Because of the money to be gained from oil wealth, the major contenders – PPP and PNC – are going to resort to all types of stratagems and conspiracies. It is left up to the media to separate the sheep from the goats, fiction from fact, secret operations from open projects.

Finally, the media need to zero in on another type of surreptitious thing going on – both parties are doing professional surveys about the election results. They are terribly worried about what those surveys reveal.

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

Tuesday December 17, 2019

Kaieteur News

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Tuesday December 17, 2019

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Tuesday December 17, 2019

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African President spends oil money on high-end vehicles ‌ Son shows off nearly $20M in Lamborghinis and Ferraris on Instagram

E

quatorial Guinea has been in the oil business since the resource was discovered there in 1995.

The country on the Western coast of Central Africa, is about one-tenth the size of Guyana, and has a population just over 1.3 million people. With such a valuable resource, a country that tiny and a population that small, one would expect the people to be lifted out of poverty.

After all, it is one of the largest oil producers in subSaharan African. But much of the population of the small African nation still lives in abject poverty. Its known oil reserves are projected to run out by 2035 and, while it rushes to find new reserves, its development partners cry out about widespread corruption and poor performance detailed in key indicators.

A recurring paid advertisement published by Kaieteur News details the modus operandi of oil companies when they a p p r o a c h p o o r, underdeveloped countries to do business.

It states that they fatten the pockets of politicians and create chaos and instability in the country. It goes on to note that, while the chaos they engender causes the people of the country to fight against each other, the oil companies carry off the people's wealth from right under their nose.

Equatorial Guinea appears to be a textbook example of this modus operandi.

The country's current President, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been its leader for four decades, has been widely accused of corruption and abuse of power. While the people suffer and swim in the slums of poverty, the members of the Government live lavish lifestyles.

Mbasogo's son and the country's current Vice President, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue , for instance, had almost $20M in high-end vehicles seized from him a few months ago, which he had paraded on his Instagram page.

Before that, Brazil authorities seized $16M in

Vice President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Mangue

A Lamborghini Veneno Roadster at an auction preview in Switzerland, after it was seized from President Mbasogo's son, Teodoro Mangue (Denis Balibouse/Reuters)

accounts went to President Mbasogo's family, the subcommittee had found.

This occurred during the time Rex Tillerson was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ExxonMobil.

At one of the hearings, Tillerson was grilled by Senator Jeff Merkley. The politician's questions were based on how President

President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo cash and luxury watches from a delegation accompanying him there.

These are just a few of the few money laundering matters that the Vice President got himself involved in, with other countries.

One of the more egregious incidents involving President Mbasogo was brought to light when in January 2017, an American Senate Subcommittee investigation into the operations between the Government of Equatorial Guinea and ExxonMobil exposed a number of startling revelations.

Among the reasons for the hearing was that in 2004, the subcommittee identified a bank account in Washington where oil companies, principally ExxonMobil and Hess Corporation, deposited millions of dollars owed to Equatorial Guinea for operating there. These are the very two oil majors at the helm of operations on Guyana's lucrative Stabroek Block.

The money they deposited into those

Mbasogo became exceedingly rich due to ExxonMobil making payments into a private account as opposed to the country's National Treasury.

Tillerson was asked to say why ExxonMobil participated in such an a c t i v i t y, t o w h i c h h e responded by arguing away the oil company's involvement in what led to the enrichment of a few rich African leaders, with wealth that belonged to the people of Equatorial Guinea.

Mbasogo remains the

country's President, while the one of the largest oil producers in sub-Saharan Africa has a human development index that is 135th in the world.

A 2016 report on the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s Article IV consultation there, placed the poverty incidence at 44 percent. It also stated that only 48 percent of the population had access to cleandrinking water.

President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry

(GCCI), Nicholas DeygooBoyer, in a recent letter to the editor, detailed how public infrastructure projects formed the direction in which money has been squandered by the African Government, while Health and Education fall by the wayside.

Deygoo-Boyer explained that Guyanese, for whom First Oil is fast approaching, must let go of their divisions and complete the work needed to truly take advantage of the resource about to be exploited.

Kaieteur News

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Tuesday December 17, 2019

Govt. reviewing Exxon's third field development plan T

he Government of Guyana is c u r r e n t l y conducting a preliminary review of the Payara field development plan (FDP).

A field development plan is a layout of all of the processes and activities intended to develop an oil field, and the manner in which those will be executed. Before it begins to develop a field, an oil company is required to hand over its plan to the Department of Energy for approval before it gets to work.

The current review process is being conducted by the Department of Energy, in conjunction with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).

Director of the Department of Energy, Dr. Mark Bynoe, notified the media of this process yesterday, during a press conference at the Department's Brickdam office.

He said that the Government agencies have gained some level of understanding based on their experiences during the review processes for the Liza-1 and Liza-2 projects.

Those projects have been approved and are both set to be operationalised by this month and 2022 respectively. The projected cost for their development amounts to nearly US$10B. The Payara project is shaping up to cost just as much as Liza-2, as there are many project similarities.

Those include the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels, which would both produce 220,000 barrels of oil per day.

Dr. Bynoe said yesterday that the Liza Unity is about 97 percent complete. The Director told reporters that the topside fabrication is ongoing, while the line-pipe fabrication is 99 percent complete, and the buoyancy modules 80 percent complete.

“The operator is working with the Department of Energy to continue to fulfill the conditions that were laid down, and I'm happy to report that we have since received one such report from the operator that was a condition of the FDP approval.�

That report is being reviewed by the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Following the Government's preliminary review of the Payara FDP, Government will hire a third party reviewer to conduct a more comprehensive review.

It has completed the contract negotiation thus far, and is now awaiting the award of the contract to a reputable international firm.

Recent public discourse about the field development plans, as reported by Kaieteur News, indicate that there is a considerable push to make sure the activities planned by ExxonMobil and its partners on the Stabroek

The Stabroek Block, offshore Guyana Block, and the costs involved, are repeatedly and publicly scrutinised.

The Petroleum Directorate of Norway, for one, makes their field development plans public.

Industry experts have posited that Guyana should do the same.

Kaieteur News posed the

suggestion to Dr. Bynoe, who indicated his refusal to do so. He indicated that there is proprietary information that needs to remain confidential. When Kaieteur News suggested the publication of the field development plans after the removal of such proprietary information, the Director of

the Energy Department did not respond.

All of this happens as ExxonMobil hands out contract after contract for construction works related to the still unapproved Payara FDP. The company has indicated its intention to start production on the Payara project in 2023.

Tuesday December 17, 2019

Kaieteur News

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Venezuela migrant help, elections raised at meeting between Foreign Minister, US envoy

A

mbassador of the United States of America to the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch, yesterday called on Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Karen Cummings.

According to the US embassy, among mutual areas of interest discussed were US initiatives to provide humanitarian assistance to the growing number of Venezuelan migrants. Also raised was the upcoming elections. Guyana and the United States have continued to maintain a high level of bilateral cooperation since the establishment of diplomatic relations on August 15, 1966.

In photo,Ambassador Lynch with the minister.

Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 17, 2019

Every 1 cent lost on a barrel equals US$10,000 lost on each oil shipment - PSC's Dookhoo cautions

T

he selective request for bidders to submit tenders for Guyana's first shipments of oil is indeed “unusual and not a good start for Guyana.”

This is according to Private Sector Commission (PSC) Executive Member, Ramesh Dookhoo, who yesterday, in a public missive on a social media platform reiterated, “every cent matters” and that “as a citizen of Guyana, this development worries me.”

He was at the time making reference to a decision by the Department of Energy (DoE) to invite selected bidders for a face-to-face process, involving three million barrels of Guyana's entitlement of profit oil, to be sold on the international market.

The PSC Executive Member in warning against the impact of “bad decisions” as it relates to Guyana's sale of its crude oil, posits, “if Guyana is to lose one cent per barrel of oil due to bad decisions, it would cost the country US$10,000 for every million barrels sold…That's G$$2.1M for every million barrels sold.

He noted that “if production is 120,000 barrels per day, a full year's production will be 43.8M barrels.” He suggested that in such a case, one cent is worth US$438,000 or G$94M per

PSC Executive Member, Ramesh Doohkoo annum.

“I repeat every cent matters…Since what is at stake is very valuable, I would also like to say transparency matters.”

The Department of Energy in defending its approach had said that a two-phase process is envisaged for the sale of Guyana's crude.

The strategy employed, according to the department, comes subsequent to “serious consideration of advice given by an international team external to the DoE”. It was noted that the advisory team consists of a Crude Marketing Specialist, a Commercial Specialist and an external Legal Adviser, among others.

The second phase of marketing Guyana's portion of its crude is set to begin in January 2020, according to the Energy Department.

Tuesday December 17, 2019

Kaieteur News

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Sheriff St./Mandela Ave. project…

IDB satisfied with corrective works

by Chinese contractor - Funds to be released before Dec. 31 Minister Jaipaul Sharma (centre, partly hidden) in conversation with Consultants

An inspection being carried out at one of the sections of the site on Mandela Avenue

W

hat appeared to be a “tug of war” between the Government and Sinohydro Limited has ended after the defects on the Sheriff Street/Mandela Avenue road project were corrected by the contractor.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI), Jaipaul Sharma said that the corrective works were done in the first week of December.

A site inspection was then carried out on December 10, by the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), MPI, Egis Engineering Limited (a

foreign consulting firm) and SRK Engineering Limited.

Satisfied with the works done, the IDB has decided to release the suspended payments to the contractor before December 31.

The Minister said that the contractor has set up barricades along the project site in order to ensure safety for road users and enable a smooth flow of traffic.

Sinohydro has also fixed and covered the drains which caused flooding and affected the many businesses and residents who reside along Sheriff Street and Mandela Avenue.

The company pledged to maintain the site in

accordance with the contract and will continue works after the “rainy season” concludes.

Meanwhile, Minister Sharma said that he will personally oversee future inspections along with his ministry's consultants, Egis and SRK engineering.

After the payments were suspended to Sinohydro by the IDB, a state of uncertainty had loomed over the continuation of the US$31M project.

Sinohydro had ceased works, fired workers and removed key equipment from the project site.

The ministry had even released a statement

Project announced to improve drainage capacity to Ogle, Liliendaal

A

major project that will seek to solve, on a long term, the drainage issues between Liliendaal and Ogle, East Coast Demerara, has been announced.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, it is seeking consultancy services for the Flood Risk Management Project (FRMP-AF). The successful consultant will have to produce a report on “ H y d r o l o g i c a l Modeling/Optimization Study of Drainage Interventions and Detailed Design at Ogle and Liliendaal Catchment Areas in Region 4”.

Firms have until January 3rd, 2020 to make proposals.

According to the 'Request For Invitation' published on Sunday in Kaieteur News, Guyana has

received financing from the World Bank towards the cost of the FRMP. The ministry said that it intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services.

It is the principal objective, based on the completed detailed hydraulic study, for the consultant to determine the best options for drainage interventions to reduce flood risk within the Liliendaal and Ogle drainage areas and the recommended pumping capacities for the pump stations.

The consultant will have to produce final designs for selected drainage interventions, including drawings and computations, engineer's estimates and specifications.

The request said that interested consulting firms should provide information

demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the services description of similar assignments, contracts and contract amounts, experience in similar conditions and availability of appropriate skills among staff.

The ministry said that consultants may associate with other firms in the form of a joint venture or subconsultancy to enhance their qualifications.

The area between Liliendaal and Ogle, East Coast Demerara has many high-end homes, and also the University of Guyana, the CARICOM Secretariat, the Ogle airport and eventually the headquarters of Exxon, in Guyana.

There are thousands of homes in between.

indicating that it was capable enough to do the corrective works, if necessary, and bill the contractor. However, Sharma had insisted that the Chinese contractor must correct the highlighted defects, since they were already paid to do so.

His argument was that part of the funding they had received was to make sure

that traffic systems were in place for the safety of road users and also to establish measures to protect the environment.

In fact, it was agreed upon in the contract, but Sinohydro had deliberately neglected to do so, and had even failed to adhere to warnings by the IDB and MPI.

Sharma had suggested that the contractor “get busy” and do the corrective works as soon possible, because the IDB would have closed operations on December 13. He had warned that failure to do so would have resulted in the Contractor not receiving payments until January 2020.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 20

Tuesday December 17, 2019

University of Guyana honours long-serving staffers

T

he University of Guyana honoured its most senior staff at its 29th annual Long Service Award Ceremony, under the theme 'Respect and Resilience' at the Education Lecture Theatre (ELT), Turkeyen Campus last Thursday.

In his opening remarks, Dr. C. Nigel Gravesande, Registrar, indicated that “At the University of Guyana, we value each staff member; your contribution is important and subsequently noticed. Our success as a university is as a result of people taking action, and true power is in the initial insight from our employees.”

The event was organised by the Personnel Division.

The ceremony sought to recognise long service employees and reward them for their loyalty, dedication, hard work and commitment to the university over the years.

Professor Paloma

Mohamed-Martin, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Philanthropy, Alumni and Civic Engagement (PACE) and Chair, Transitional Management Committee (TMC) during her welcoming remarks acknowledged the sacrifice of not only the employees but their families as well.

She cited a poem by Martin Carter noting, 'All are involved and all are consumed…,' and that great sacrifice must have been involved in achieving such a milestone.

Further, she extended a special thank you to the employees, “I thank you for what you have given and what you continue to give to the University of Guyana. I know you are here because of love, commitment and passion for what you do. You have shown love to this University and we love you.”

Also in attendance were Dr Jacqueline Murray, D i r e c t o r, I n s t i t u t e o f Distance and Continuing

Standing are some of the University's Long Service Awardees, and seated are members of the Transitional Management Committee

Education who delivered the feature address and ProChancellor of the University of Guyana, Major General (Ret'd) Joseph Singh, who presented the awards and certificates to the long serving awardees.

The twenty-year awardees are Ms. Hermattie Ramkarran, Ms. Leelawattie Singh, Mr. Mohammed Ally, Prof. Brij Tewari and Mr. Samuel Lee. The twenty-five years awardees are Ms. Vera April,

Ms Lorraine Mc Leod, Ms. Nicole Grant, Ms. Sandra Peters, Ms. Florentia Wilson, Dr. Paulette Bynoe A.A. and Mr. Rishee Thakur.

The thirty-year awardees at the institution are Ms. Tagebrittie Singh-Jaichand,

Mr. Phillip Da Silva A.A., Ms Marcellin D'Aguiar and Ms Barbara Holder.

And those with thirtyfive years at the institution are Ms. Syndrene Harris, Mr. Oswald Aaron and Ms Jacqueline Morris.

'Spoil Child' makes court appearance for shooting at cop, illegal weapons

T

hree weeks after an alleged shootout with the police Teon Allen called “Spoil Child” was yesterday released on bail.

Allen, a former policeman, is before the court for allegedly shooting at a policeman and being in possession of illegal arms and ammunition.

He is jointly charged with 24-year-old Shaquille Grant, a miner, of 345 Section 'D' Sophia and 26year-old Jason Gonsalves,

also a miner, of 59 Bent Street, Georgetown.

The matter is before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty in the Georgetown Magistrates' Courts. Allen's co-accused made a court appearance two weeks ago and they pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

Allen did the same yesterday.

The first two charges alleged that on November 26, 2019, at Houston Public Road, Georgetown, the men had in their possession 16

nine mm rounds of ammunition and 7 .45 rounds of ammunition. Also it was alleged that on the same date and at the same location, they had in their possession one 9 mm pistol.

Finally, it was alleged that the men discharged a loaded firearm at Police Inspector Mohan Khan with the intent to maim, disfigure, disable, or to cause grievous bodily harm to the said person on November 26, 2019, at Houston Public Road, Georgetown.

Allen's lawyer, Siand Dhurjon, made a successful bail application for his client.

He indicated that the defendant recently underwent a surgery for a shoulder wound which keeps opening, and it is possible that Allen may have to undergo another surgery.

Facts of the case presented by Police Prosecutor Seon Blackman stated that on the day in question the police received information of a suspicious car which was speeding on the East Bank of Demerara.

This resulted in a roadblock being set up, and

Teon Allen called 'Spoil Child' the suspected vehicle speeding away from the

roadblock. Police reportedly saw a firearm and claimed they heard what appeared to be gunshots.

The police returned fire and in an attempt to escape, Allen who was allegedly the driver of that vehicle, lost control of the car and veered off the road.

A search was conducted on the vehicle and the items mentioned in the charges were discovered.

The magistrate granted bail in the sum of $60,000 for each of the charges – totaling $240,000. The matter was adjourned to January 8, 2020.

Tuesday December 17, 2019

PAGE 21

Kaieteur News

Appeal Court fixes Jan. 22 to decide on whether Felix, Scott could sit as Technocrat Ministers It is public knowledge that a court action has been filed by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) to block Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix and Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Keith Scott from sitting in the National Assembly as Technocrat Ministers.

In fact, government had filed an appeal against a ruling handed down in February 2016, by the late Chief Justice Ian Chang, who ruled that the two Ministers cannot continue to sit in the National Assembly as non-elected members, as they were both elected as part of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) + Alliance for Change (AFC) coalition’s list of national candidates.

Following lengthy arguments proffered to the Court of Appeal by Solicitor General, Nigel Hawke and Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall on behalf of the PPP, the court yesterday announced that it will rule in the matter on Wednesday, January 22, 2020.

The appeal is being heard at the bench of Justices of

Appeal Rishi Persaud and Dawn Gregory and High Court Judge Franklyn Holder.

In his submissions to the court, Nandlall is asking that the appeal be dismissed with costs.

According to Nandlall, he is not challenging the qualification of any person to be elected as a member of the National Assembly. He even conceded that Ministers Scott and Felix are both qualified to be elected members.

His issue, however, is that they were not extracted from the list upon which they were elected. Nandlall submitted that the Ministers were elected as members of the National Assembly pursuant to paragraph Two of Article 60 or Article 160 (2) of the Constitution, as defined by Article 232 of the Constitution.

He submitted, “The challenge is solely directed to the President’s exercise of his powers to appoint Ministers, and having regard to the relevant provisions of the Constitution, the challenge is that Messrs.

Felix and Scott are not qualified to be appointed Ministers under those provisions on the ground that

Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection Keith Scott

Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix

they are elected members of the National Assembly and only non-elected members of the National Assembly can be appointed to those positions [as Technocrat Ministers].”

It is Nandlall’s contention that Ministers Felix and Scott cannot become Technocrat Ministers under Articles 103(3) and 105 of the Constitution.

This is so, Nandlall says, because Technocrat Ministers do not have a vote, since they were not elected by the people. In short, once elected by the people the Constitution does not permit such a person to sit in the National Assembly without being able to vote; it is only those persons who are not on

a list, and therefore did not face the electorate, who can sit in the National Assembly without the right to vote, Nandlall argues.

By Official Gazette publication, dated June 05, 2015, the Guyana Elections Commission, among other things declared the names of the persons who, as a result of the General and Regional Elections, were extracted to become members of the National Assembly.

Nandlall noted that it is common knowledge that these Members of the National Assembly are elected members and have a right to vote.

In closing, he urged the court to deliver its ruling

within a reasonable time, as this case raises constitutional issues of some importance.

He said, “More likely than not, this issue will arise again when Ministers are to be appointed after the March 2020 Elections. It will therefore be of great assistance if a ruling can be given earliest by this Court, so that, if an Appeal is to be filed to the Caribbean Court of Justice, every effort can be made to have the hearing and determination of the same, expedited and concluded before March 2020.”

Government has always insisted that the ruling was something it cannot accept, as it is of the view that the ministers were properly appointed. In an appeal against the ruling, Government contended that Justice Chang’s ruling was bad in law and a breach of the principles of natural justice.

Contended that the ruling cannot be supported in law, Government has argued that Justice Chang “fell into grave error of law and misdirected himself in law, when he found that persons who are on the successful list of candidates are elected and therefore cannot qualify under Article 105 of the Constitution of Guyana to be ‘non-elected’ members

of parliament and who have not been chosen or selected from the list of candidates to be Members of Parliament are excluded from being selected by the President as persons who are qualified to be elected as members of the National Assembly.”

In fact, Attorney General Basil Williams has argued that Chang also misdirected himself in law when he, “Failed to take into account that Article 163 (4) (a) of the Constitution of Guyana empowered Parliament to make provisions with respect to the circumstances and manner in which and the conditions upon which proceedings for the determination of any question under this article may be instituted in the High Court which Parliament did by enacting the National Assembly (Validity of Elections) Act, Cap. 1:04.”

One ground on which the appeal was filed is that at the time of delivering the ruling, Chang, who was the outgoing Chief Justice, was functus officio, which is used especially to define an officer who is no longer in office or of an instrument that has fulfilled its purpose.

PAGE 22

Kaieteur News

Govt. fails to make key disclosures, despite promising transparency in oil sector

By Kemol King The Department of Energy conducted a hasty press conference yesterday at its Brickdam office, leaving reporters with more questions than answers.

Energy Director, Dr. Mark Bynoe, delivered a statement on a series of matters before the Energy Department ahead of First Oil, and provided a very limited window for questioning by media representatives. The principal matter - that of the trade of Guyana’s Liza crude - took up the bulk of the brief question and answer segment, and even that matter has not been given complete clarity by the Energy Department.

Despite this, the Energy Director said that yesterday’s press conference was the last one for the year, and that further notices will be published by way of press statements. This restricts the media corps’ ability to secure important details and crossquestion the claims of Energy officials, for the information

[From left] Senior Legal Officer, Joanna Simmons; Energy Director, Dr. Mark Bynoe, Department of Energy; Crude Marketing Specialist, Virginia Markouizos of the Guyanese public, ahead of First Oil, which is on course to start in a matter of days.

Dr. Bynoe sought to assuage concerns about the circumstances of the bidding process to a series of oil companies, after an international publication, Bloomberg, notified the Guyanese people of the intended sale and its circumstances before Government did.

Bloomberg had noted that

the face-to-face nature of the meeting is unusual for the type of sale. The Energy Director and his Crude Marketing Specialist Virginia Markouizos sought to convince the local press that Bloomberg did not tell the whole truth, and that the faceto-face meeting is a necessary avenue, since the initial discussions about the sale would also include discussions about the quality of the Liza crude, and not just the price. He insists that the

choice was made in Guyana’s best interest.

Dr. Bynoe was asked why the Government is so reactive instead of proactive on matters such as this, and he said that all matters do not necessitate notifying the public during or before their execution. He said that some matters are better to be kept confidential, with notice provided when they have concluded.

Furthermore, when asked when the Department was going to notify the public about the bidding exercise, the Energy Director said that Government would have informed the public after all was said and done.

There have been multiple instances of reports being made by international publications like Bloomberg, on matters about which the Department of Energy has kept the Guyanese public in the dark.

Asked by Kaieteur News whether the bidding process (Continued on page 25)

Tuesday December 17, 2019

UK firm paid US$300,000 to audit ExxonMobil’s US$460M pre-contract costs UK firm IHS Markit will be paid US$300,000 to audit ExxonMobil’s US$460M pre-contract costs as stated in the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) inked with the Government of Guyana.

Making this revelation yesterday at a press conference was Energy Department Head, Dr. Mark Bynoe.

The official said that the company commenced its work with an incountry visit on December 9 – 11, 2019, w h i l e n o t i n g that the Department of Energy and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) will be working along closely with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) on this project.

Additionally, Dr. Bynoe said that the Energy Department has secured the legal expertise to assist

the audit process.

He further noted that the audit is expected to last for four months.

As to whether the report on findings of the audit would be made public, Dr. Bynoe said it is a matter that would have to be discussed with the revenue authority.

IHS Markit Ltd. is a global diversified provider of critical information, analytics, and solutions.

The company offers next-generation information, analytics and solutions to customers in business and finance which also serves to improve their operational efficiency and provide deep insights.

IHS Markit also serves business and government customers worldwide.

Tuesday December 17, 2019

Kaieteur News

Magistrate Moore recuses self...

From page 8 consent to it being admitted, whatever videos you wish to produce, we will consent to being admitted, whatever photographs you want we will consent to it being admitted because we believe you have no evidence”.

He further mentioned that “there were some sections of the media that said the Magistrate was not raising his voice, I believe it was Kaieteur News…He raised his voice at me two times for me to apologize to Ms. Goodings”.

Attorney Todd then chimed in and questioned “are you saying every time a Magistrate raises his voice then remove them from a case?” He argued that all that

was enforced by the Magistrate was in keeping with the law and that, “there is no merit in the complaint, no merit in the Prosecutrix making a complaint to the DPP, and there is no merit in the family making that complaint, and what we are seeing playing out is gonna take a very serious turn in this country”.

He mentioned that they will be moving to call out the Bar Association and noted that the Magistrate was balanced in his approach to the case.

To d d s a i d “ I a m surprised that the DPP has taken it to this level, I do n o t l i k e t o see what is happening and I do not like to see the open doors that it

is making now, because it means that if every family is not pleased with how things are going in court, we are gonna write and we gonna have that magistrate”.

Marcus Brian Bisram was extradited to Guyana and was charged on local shores with counselling, procuring and commanding Harri Paul Parsram, Radesh Motie, Niran Yacoob, Diodath Datt and Orlando Dickie to murder Narinedatt.

At his second court appearance at the Whim Court before Magistrate Alex Moore, a decision was made

by Moore to proceed with the matter by way of paper committal and Prosecutrix Stacy Goodings was ordered to have photocopied

statements submitted to him on the next court date (9th December).

A site visit was also scheduled to be done and the cross examining of the star witness (on request of the Defence) on the said d a t e . H o w e v e r, M o o r e reported sick and the matter was called at the New Amsterdam Magistrates Court before Magistrate Peter Hugh. The matter was then transferred to Springlands for yesterday after there was a no-show by Prosecutrix Goodings.

Faiyaz Narinedatt was beaten to death and his body dumped on the Number 70 Village public road between October 31st and November 1, 2016.

PAGE 23

PAGE 24

Kaieteur News

Convicted felon found guilty of murder Shawn Harris, 31, who already has two convictions to his name, was yesterday found guilty by a jury of murdering a homeless man.

Harris, who was represented

by Attorney-at-Law Maxwell McKay, had initially pleaded not guilty to the charge which alleged that on February 05, 2017, in the county of Demerara, he murdered 42year-old Sunil Singh, also known as ‘Grey’.

Singh was killed while trying to prevent a robbery from happening at the Blue Martini Night Club on Lamaha Street, Georgetown.

Reports surrounding the killing indicate that Singh wrestled a bandit and his accomplices to prevent them from carrying out an early morning attack at the night spot. It was then he was repeatedly stabbed about his body.

At the time of the robbery, a police release stated that the three men had visited the club after a police patrol went to enforce the 2am curfew.

Singh, after observing the men acting suspiciously outside the night club, alerted a bartender, who refused the men access to the club by telling them it was closed. An altercation ensued between the bartender and one of the

Guilty of murder: Shawn Harris men, who stabbed the bartender to his left arm.

Singh intervened and was struck to the head.

Following the jury’s verdict, McKay begged the court for leniency. The lawyer submitted that with the right programmes his client can be rehabilitated.

The prosecution, led by lawyers Shawnette Austin and Sarah Martin, said that based on prison records, this would be Harris’s third conviction. He had spent almost three years on remand pending trial.

During the trial, the prosecution led compelling evidence against Harris. The prosecution had relied heavily on CCTV footage

obtained from the nightclub.

In the footage, according to the prosecution, Harris was seen stabbing away on Singh.

The prosecutors argued that Harris stabbed Singh with the intent to kill or cause him serious bodily harm. To support this, was the evidence of Government Pathologist Nehaul Singh who testified that Singh was stabbed three times.

The doctor gave the cause of death as perforation of the lungs.

Police Inspector Prem Narine testified that Harris admitted to stabbing Singh.

Inspector Narine told the court that on February 18, 2017, he went to ‘B’ Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown where he contacted Harris, whom he had known for over a year.

According to Inspector Narine, he put a murder allegation to Harris and cautioned him.

He said that Harris then replied, “Sir when I reach the station, I gon tell you wha’ happen.” The police witness told the court that he noticed some wounds on Harris, and instead escorted him to the hospital.

He said that Harris told him that he came about his injuries after falling down a

flight of stairs at the Blue Martini Night Club. The police witness said that the murder accused was taken to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown, where he agreed to give a statement. Inspector Narine explained that Harris told him it was not a robbery, but a fight, after identifying himself on CCTV footage obtained from the nightclub.

According to Inspector Narine, Harris told him “Yuh see wha’ I tell yuh? Is dem man attack me at the bar and I attack them.”

It was then, Inspector Narine recounted, that the murder accused said that prior to going to the nightclub, he and his friends were drinking at Seeta’s Bar. Harris, Inspector Narine said, told him that one of the men, ‘Buck Man’, hit him with a baton.

As a result, Inspector Narine said that Harris told him they ended up in a fight during which he pulled out a knife and stabbed Singh and ‘Buck Man’.

The murder accused told the police witness that Singh ran out of the nightclub and onto a nearby street. He told detectives that he learnt of Singh’s death the following day.

One dead, another injured after bike collision at New Amsterdam Twenty-eight year-old Deen Grenville is now dead while his friend, 36-year-old Roderick Ageday is currently hospitalised in a critical state after the two collided while on their motorbikes on the New Amsterdam public road.

According to reports, on Sunday, at around 15:00hrs (3pm), the two were proceeding south along the eastern side of the public road, at a fast rate when they both lost control and collided

Dead: Deen Grenville with each other.

As a result of the collision,

both men fell on the roadway, receiving life-threatening injuries. Video footage showed Grenville lying on the road in an unconscious state while his bike lay beside him.

Public spirited persons attempted to stop cars to transport the men to receive medical attention, but the drivers appeared to be more interested in filming the incident.

Nevertheless, the men were eventually taken to the

An injured Grenville on the public road minutes after the accident

New Amsterdam Public Hospital where Ageday was admitted, while Grenville was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital.

He reportedly sustained a fractured skull, injures about the body and a punctured lung. He never regained consciousness and succumbed to his injuries at around 02:00hrs yesterday.

Tuesday December 17, 2019

World Bank to provide technical assistance in countering financial terrorism The World Bank will be providing Guyana with technical assistance and guidance to conduct the National Risk Assessment, (NRA) in the Countering of Financial Terrorism This will allow Guyana to identify any new or emerging money laundering or terrorist financing risks, threats or vulnerabilities.

The new NRA will also take into account an assessment of the Money L a u n d e r i n g / Te r r o r i s t Financing risks associated with the oil and gas sector, proliferation financing, virtual assets and illegal wildlife trade. This exercise will allow the country to appropriately address its vulnerabilities and threats ahead of its scheduled mutual evaluation.

The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/PF) National Coordination Committee (NCC), will be hosting another seminar on Thursday.

The purpose of this seminar is to commence Guyana’s second Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (ML/TF) National Risk Assessment (NRA).

Over one hundred persons including Ministers of Government, heads of private sector agencies, heads of government organisations, and members of the diplomatic corps are expected to attend.

The NRA exercise will be conducted by a working group of seventy-five persons representing over forty public and private sector organisations in Guyana.

The exercise is in keeping with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendation that requires

countries to assess their risks, apply a risk-based approach,and put measures in place to mitigate identified risks on an ongoing basis.

The new NRA exercise is well-timed, as Guyana is preparing for its Fourth Round Mutual Evaluation by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), which is scheduled for the first quarter of 2023.

Last July, the Ministry of Legal Affairs’ members of the AML/CFT National Coordination Committee met the visiting World Bank team and several other stakeholders involved in the AML/CFT regime in Guyana.

The team provided technical assistance to conduct critical updates to Guyana’s multilateral taskforce (ML/TF) National Risk Assessment (NRA).

It is necessary for Guyana to conduct another NRA to reassess new risk factors.

The World Bank has developed a guide for countries conducting their ML/TF risk assessment. This guide is in the form of a methodological risk assessment tool. It is an Excelbased model that enables countries to identify the main drivers of their ML/TF risks.

The tool will assist Guyana in conducting a selfassessment of the ML/TF risk and vulnerabilities locally.

This approach is in line with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force.

One recommendation requires that countries identify, assess and understand the ML/TF risks within their jurisdiction and then implement a risk-based action plan and apply resources to mitigate the identified risks.

Sugar production projected to fall by ongoing second sugar crop shabby and discriminatory been extended to the treatment that has been 15,000 tonnes has week ending December 20, meted out to workers in Sugar production projected to fall by 15,000 tonnes. The state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) is unlikely to make the estimated 100,000 tonnes sugar projected.

While the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) was unable to provide definitive figures yesterday, it was being estimated that the target will fall short by 15,000.

GAWU’s General Secretary, Seepaul Narine, said that he is awaiting the latest figures, but is sure that the target will not be met.

GAWU through a memorandum dated October 29th from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), has been advised that the

2019 - three days away.

The extension would come as news of a major shortfall for the second crop was announced. The time would likely be used to increase production.

Through the memorandum, GuySuCo said that it has decided to reduce weekly production targets with effect from the week ending November 09, 2019.

Indeed, GAWU said, while it is not happy about the situation, at the same time, it has been saying, for quite some time, that workers’ commitment has been sapped.

“It appears to us that the proverbial chickens have come home to roost. The reality of the situation cannot be disconnected from the

recent times. In fact when the history of the industry, under state ownership is considered, this is the worst that the workers have ever been treated. Certainly those who direct and control the Corporation need to remove this imprinted stain of ignominy.”

Once referred to as ‘king sugar’, the industry has slumped after prices fell on the world market and Guyana lost its preferential market in Europe.

The aging sugar factories and a dwindling workforce coupled with poor agriculture have not helped.

In the last four years, the coalition government, insisting that the sugar industry is bleeding the treasury, has closed four sugar estates, sending home over 6,000 workers.

Tuesday December 17, 2019

PAGE 25

Kaieteur News

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The country’s airports and other entry points will have security cameras with facial recognition capabilities.

The three ports where emphasis is being placed is the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri; the Eugene F. Correia International Airport, at Ogle, and developing ports including the Guyana/ Suriname crossing.

According to the Ministry of Public Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n ’ s National Data Management Authority (NDMA), it is preparing to launch a major security initiative at the nation’s borders.

It will involve the installation of high quality surveillance cameras equipped with facial recognition and other top security monitoring features.

“This project which is set to come on stream soon, continues under the Safe City Solutions project being carried out in partnership with the Chinese Government tech giant Huawei Technologies…spearheading the security project which falls under the US$37.6 million venture that has already seen over 100 Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) high technology security cameras being installed around the country, particularly the capital Georgetown.”

According to Major (rtd) Floyd Levi, Head of the NDMA, preparations are still being made to have the ports

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Call: 623-5255 Mon-Fri, 8am5pm VACANCY Room attendant, Door Staff, 25-50 yrs, 233 South Road, Lacytown. #225-0198 Cashier/Waitress, Assistant cook. Call: 225-7933 or visit 172 Sheriff Street, next door to Survival

VACANCY Truck & Hauler drivers, Excavator operators, Engineers, Labourers, Security & Procurement Officers Accounts & Marketing Clerk. Apply @ chungsvacancy@yahoo.com Cashiers/Supermarket helpers, apply in person with written application @ Nirva Superstore, 49 Sheriff & Craig St. Tel# 227-5771 One (1) Clerk for TSI Eccles Industrial Site Office, English1 Mathematics -2, Quickbooks. Call: 615-9132 Evening Vacancies at DemBake: 1 Production Supervisor (P.M.), 2 Separation Clerks (P.M) and 1 Accounts Clerk. Email CV to: admin@demerarabakery.com or call 266-5848 Maid to cook and clean for East Bank area. Call: 615-9132

wired.

Levi noted that with Guyana becoming a popular oil state and opening up to an influx of foreigners, the country would need to get even more serious about security at the borders.

The official noted that with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and US Homeland security’s watch list being a large one, it would be almost impossible for ordinary security personnel to keep up with the numerous wanted or potentially dangerous persons seeking to cross borders.

“That is why we would have to keep an eye on who is coming and who is going out. We don’t know some of these persons and we would want to have the best equipment that would help us recognize a potential threat before it gets within our society.”

Levi reminded that only at the nation’s borders will the country be implementing facial recognition features in

regard to the cameras.

It was pointed out that that a small number of persons had raised concerns that this feature would be infringing on their privacy.

The NDMA head noted, however, that what the port cameras would allow when implemented is for the facial features of a potential suspect to be fed into a system and run against the individuals that may be present on a wanted list before alerting authorities to the potential threat.

“This is not something the ordinary citizen should be worried about,” Levi said”.

“This system is targeting those who would have broken the law and evading justice by crossing borders.”

The NDMA had recently announced that it had a total of 119 security cameras around the country with 17 strategic locations recently added.

The cameras have been credited with solving a number of criminal activities around the country.

Govt. fails to make key...

From page 22 will be accessible to the public, Dr. Bynoe said that it will be transparent every step of the way, and that Government will ensure the people are kept updated on developments as they occur.

However, he said that the press will only be notified of important developments after the conclusion of the processes, as he has said that this is one of the cases for which it is better to tell the public after the fact.

His Crude Marketing Specialist, Markouizos, sought as well to put reporters at ease by telling them that the market will

regulate itself. She said that the trading market requires transparency and that that requirement will encourage the traders to ensure their talks with Government are above aboard. Similarly, Dr. Bynoe said that Government’s interest in getting good terms for Guyana’s crude means that it will not allow any untoward business to be conducted.

“Government will be keen to share as much as it can when it can, to allow you to gain confidence that there’s nothing happening behind the scenes, nothing nefarious taking place,” the Director said.

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Tuesday December 17, 2019

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Tuesday December 17, 2019

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Jadeja run-out: Third umpire prompted review Trophy Stall and Upper ESPNcricinfo - On Sunday, Indian captain Virat Kohli said he was miffed at the Ravindra Jadeja run-out being referred to the third umpire.

He felt the on-field umpire Shaun George changed his original not out decision only after West Indies players, prompted by “people outside” appealed to him to review the incident. It now turns out that George was also prompted by the third umpire Rod Tucker to refer the decision “upstairs”.

E S P N c r i c i n f o understands that immediately after George had turned down the initial run-out appeal by the fielder Roston Chase, Tucker asked his colleague, via the radio that wires all the match officials, to refer it “upstairs” as the

decision was “tight”. All this happened at the same time as replays of the incident were broadcast on TV. As soon as he had seen the replays, Tucker decided to intervene.

George, who is from South Africa, then signaled he was referring the run-out to the third umpire, Tucker, who then relayed to George that Jadeja was indeed short of his crease.

The incident took place on the fourth delivery of the 48th over of the Indian innings. Having dug out a yorker-length delivery from Keemo Paul, Jadeja set out for a single. Chase, rushing in from cover, broke the stumps in a brilliant piece of pick-andthrow fielding.

George, who had witnessed the throw from the

side-on angle, felt Jadeja had made his ground and ruled not out when Chase inquired if it was out. But the decision was soon overturned, something that Kohli disputed instantly by walking up to the fourth umpire who was standing outside the ropes.

During the post-match presentation, Kohli told commentator Harsha Bhogle that “dismissal ends there” once George had told Chase it was not out. Kohli suspected George only referred the decision after the West Indies players, prompted by “people sitting outside”, who had seen the replays. “People sitting outside can’t dictate what happens on the field and I think that’s exactly what happened then,” Kohli said.

Tuesday December 17, 2019 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Romance is in the air today.

Alas, it seems to rain down on everyone but you. You must have put on your romancerepellent raincoat before leaving the house this morning.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) Your creativity is at an alltime high, Taurus, so take advantage of it. This would be an ideal day to paint or write.

Even though you consider your talents well below amateur status.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Your inspiration and creativity are high today, Gemini. If you've been thinking about taking up painting or poetry, this would be an ideal day to get started.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) It's bad enough having too many cooks in the kitchen, but when those cooks argue not only about how to cook the meal but also about how to design the kitchen.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Sometimes you can be too passive and let others trample all over you. Your lack of ego is admirable, but only up to a point, Libra.

Why let others take credit for your ideas?

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) An unethical acquaintance could be spreading unfounded rumors. Don't take anything you hear today at face value. Get all the facts before drawing conclusions.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) A longtime friend may become something more today, Sagittarius. It could be that there has always been a certain spark between you, but you haven't been able to acknowledge it until now.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) You may be frustrated today.

An anticipated romantic encounter may be postponed or canceled. There's no reason to consider it a major setback in the relationship.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Your self-confidence is at a low point these days, and this is making you especially vulnerable. It's likely that a recent confrontation with a close friend has you worrying about the overall health of the relationship.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) You could feel a bit low today due to disappointment in someone important to you. It could be that a mentor no longer supports you or perhaps an authority figure has shown his or her true colors.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) You may feel some frustration over your perceived inability to reach an important milestone in your career. It's possible that you only need to reevaluate the benchmarks.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) You're likely changing your mind about something that has been important to you, Pisces. Perhaps you're questioning your job, career path, or choice of a mate.

The ball was not dead Another key question asked on air immediately, but one that went unanswered, was whether it was valid for West Indies to raise an appeal after replays were already shown around the ground.

The simple answer is yes. The MCC’s Laws of Cricket says a team has time until the next ball to make an appeal.

Law 31.3, which deals with ‘Timing of the Appeals’ says “for an appeal to be valid, it must be made before the bowler begins his/her runup or, if there is no run-up, his/her bowling action to deliver the next ball, and before Time has been called.”

Lewis Hamilton wants to prove...

From page 26 drivers now. I am the second oldest driver now in F1 and (the target is) to continue to find new levels, new heights and raise the bar.”

The challenge of the new generation of F1 drivers is a theme Hamilton has returned to repeatedly through 2019.

And he will be expecting a renewed challenge from Ferrari, after the Italian team’s disappointing year in 2019, in which they won only three races and faced questions about the legality of their engine.

Ferrari’s major problem last season was a lack of aerodynamic downforce, which meant the car lacked grip in corners and overworked its tyres over a race distance.

Team boss Mattia Binotto said Ferrari were making major changes to car and engine for next season in the attempt to challenge Mercedes more vigorously.

“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 fast 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.”

He also said the engine would also be extensively revised.

“We have changed, by quite a lot, our power unit, in terms of architecture, the cylinder,” Binotto said.

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

Pre-season testing is on 19-21 and 26-28 February and the season starts in Australia on 13-15 March.

Corentyne U-19 50 overs cricket tournament put on hold The inclement weather has forced the organisers of the Trophy Stall and Upper Corentyne Cricket Association (UCCA) Under19 Inter club cricket Tournament to put a hold on until next year.

Six teams are participating in the competition namely: Scottsburg United, No73 Young Warriors, No72 Cut and Load, No43 Scorpions, No73 Mandir and No52 Cricket Club.

So far four rounds have

been completed. The tournament, which is being sponsored by the Trophy Stall Port Mourant branch through the generosity of Managing Director Ramesh Sunich, is being played on a 50 overs one day format.

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)

GVF shortlist U-21 male and...

From page 31 Rohoman and Montel Denny.

The females selected are: Shamariah David, Famke David, Cassie Junor, Kelly Gurrick, Marissa Ramnauth, Cherry Ann Fraser, Danielle Francis, Amisha Mohàbir, Latoya Drakes, Hannah Hicks, Ronelda Payne, Devonte Hernandez, Aalya Mohabir, Krystal Paddy and Philana Simpson.

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 17, 2019

West Indian Sports Complex Christmas Tournament concludes 2019 Badminton season - Akili Haynes outstanding The Guyana Badminton Association staged their last tournament for 2019 which was The West Indian Sports Complex Christmas Tournament which was played off at the National Gymnasium on Sunday 15th December 2019.

The highlight of the tournament was Outstanding Junior Champion Akili Haynes winning the Under19 Singles and also the Open Doubles with Tyrese Jeffery.

Special Thanks was extended to West Indian Sports Complex for making this tournament a success and also Ms. Ayanna Watson For providing Refreshments and Gifts for all the participants, Mr. Troy Beharry for Refreshments and the Executive Committee for a Job well done in organizing and pulling off this Annual Christmas Tournament.

The Winners are: Under-19 Boys Singles: 1st. Akili Haynes 2nd. Tyrsese Jeffrey 3rd. Matthew Beharry Under-19 Girls Singles: 1st. Priyanka Shivnauth 2nd. Alea Ruplal 3rd. Jayde Dasilva Open Men Doubles: 1st. Akili Haynes/Tyrese Jeffrey 2nd. Jonathan Mangra/ Avinash Odit 3rd. Darrell Carpenay/ Avian Rodrigues Open Ladies Doubles: 1st. Ayanna Watson/ Christina Kumar

THE CHAMPIONS – The respective winners display their trophies following the presentation of prizes to conclude the tournament and year’s activity.

2nd. Emelia Ramdhani/ Anna Perreira 3rd. Jayde Dasilva/ Priyanka Shivnauth Open Mix Doubles: 1st. Jonathan Mangra/ Ambika Ramraj 2nd. Avinash Odit/ Christina Kumar 3rd. Darrell Carpenay/ Ayanna Watson The Overall Results: Under-19 Boys Singles First Round: Trisson Harte defeated Renne Persaud: 20-22, 21-19, 21-17 Alexander Persaud

defeated Juan Ferreira: 21-7, 21-4 Under-19 Boys Singles Quarter-Finals: Akili Haynes defeated Trisson Harte: 21-4, 21-8 Matthew Beharry defeated Jaurel Hendricks: 216, 21-8 Isaac Mallampati defeated Jedidiah Uwagboe:21-12, 21-4 Tyrese Jeffrey defeated Alexander Persaud: 21-8, 214 Under-19 Boys Singles Semi-Finals: Akili Haynes defeated

Matthew Beharry: 21-7, 21-15 Tyrese Jeffrey defeated Isaac Mallampati: 21-5, 23-21 Under-19 Boys Singles Finals: Akili Haynes defeated Tyrese Jeffrey: 21-18, 21-12 Under-19 Boys Singles Third Place: Matthew Beharry defeated Isaac Mallampati: 21-12, 21-16 Under-19 Girls Singles Semi-Finals: Priyanka Shivnauth defeated Jayde DaSilva: 2220, 21-18, 21-17 Alea Ruplal gained a walk

Lewis Hamilton wants to prove himself against new F1 generation BBC Sport - Lewis Hamilton says he sees 2020 as a fresh start and another chance to prove himself against Formula 1’s new generation of drivers.

The Mercedes driver won his sixth world championship in 2019 and next year can equal Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of seven drivers’ titles.

Hamilton said it was “surreal” to be mentioned in relation to the German.

“Each year, it’s a new, fresh start for everyone, a new chance to rise to the challenge,” Hamilton said.

The 34-year-old was speaking during the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award show, in which he finished second in the public vote to cricketer Ben Stokes.

“You know, honestly, I never look at records,” Hamilton said. “I don’t really

Hamilton recently swapped his car with motorcycling legend Valentino Rossi - having a go on the Italian’s bike. (Getty Images) know why.

“I just remember growing up in Stevenage and watching Michael Schumacher win world championships, so it’s very, very surreal still to this day to have my name brought up in the same sentence as his.

“That’s a real honour and something my family are very,

very proud of.

“I am inspired by so many people who are here in the UK, here in the audience, so many of the sportsmen and women who are doing great, great things.

“And if there is one young kid who sees what I do - or even adult - and it helps them get across the line, that

would make me really happy.”

Hamilton won 11 of the 21 grands prix on his way to the title in 2019 and he said it had been “an incredible year”.

But he is already looking forward to the challenge of 2020, when among his biggest threats in addition to team-mate Valtteri Bottas are expected to be rising stars Max Verstappen of Red Bull and Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, both of whom are just 22 and who finished last season third and fourth behind Hamilton and Bottas.

“Working with this huge team, each year coming with the focus and being able to deliver and raise the bar each year - many of the champions out there know how hard that is,” Hamilton said.

“I’ve been very proud of working with this great team Mercedes.

“There are a lot of young (Continued on page 25)

over from Mishka Beharry: Under-19 Girls Singles Finals: Priyanka Shivnauth defeated Alea Ruplal: 15-21, 21-19, 212-19 Third Place went to Jayde DaSilva Open Men Doubles First Round: Matthew Beharry/Isaac Mallampati defeated Trisson Harte/Jaurel Hendricks: 21-6, 21-6 Easa Sanichara/Shaven Greene defeated Alexander Persaud/Jaun Ferreira: 21-1, 21-4 Open Men Doubles Quarter-Finals: Akili Haynes/Tyrese Jeffery defeated Matthew Beharry/Isaac Mallampati: 218, 21-8 Ernesto Choo-A-Fat/ Marlon Chung defeated Easa Sanichara/Shaven Greene: 2117, 21-18 Darrell Carpenay/Avian Rodrigues defeated William Holder/Haymant Ramdhani: 21-17, 21-13 Jonathan Mangra/ Avinash Odit defeated Alexander Persaud/Jedidiah Uwagboe: 21-4, 21-12 Open Men Doubles SemiFinals: Akili Haynes/Tyrese Jeffery gained a walk over from Ernesto Choo-A-Fat (Injury)/Marlon Chung Jonathan Mangra/ Avinash Odit defeated Darrell Carpenay/Avinash Odit: 21=17, 21-19 Open Men Doubles Finals: Akili Haynes/Tyrese Jeffrey (Under-19 Champions) defeated Jonathan Mangra/ Avinash Odit: 19-21, 21-7, 2725 Third Place went to

Darrell Carpenay/Avian Rodrigues Open Ladies Doubles Round Robin: Ayanna Watson/ Christina Kumar defeated Priyanka Shivnauth/Jayde DaSilva: 21-8, 21-16 Emelia Ramdhani/Anna Perreira defeated Priyanka Shivnauth/Jayde DaSilva: 218, 21-13 Open ladies Doubles Finals: Ayanna Watson/ Christina Kumar defeated Emelia Ramdhani/Anna Perreira: 21-19, 21-16 Third Place went to Jayde DaSilva/Priyanka Shivnauth Open Mix Doubles Quarter-Finals: Darrell Carpenay/Ayanna Watson defeated William Holder/Angelica Holder: 1821, 21-17, 21-15 Avinash Odit/Christina Kumar defeated Easa sanichara/Anna Perreira: 2113, 21-17 Akili Haynes/Emelia Ramdhani defeated Trisson Harte/Priyanka Shivnauth: 21-7, 21-11 Open Mix Doubles SemiFinals: Jonathan Mangra/ Ambika Ramraj defeated Darrell Carpenay/Ayanna Watson: 21-13, 21-12 Avinash Odit/Christina Kumar defeated Akili Haynes/Emelia Ramdhani: 21-11, 22-20 Open Mix Doubles Finals: Jonathan Mangra/ Ambika Ramraj defeated Avinash Odit/Christina Kumar: 21-9, 21-13 Third Place went to Darrell Carpenay/Ayanna Watson

Tuesday December 17, 2019

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Kaieteur News

GFSCA U-15 team depart for USA

US Embassy’s Mark Cullinane, Deputy Chief of Mission (3rd from left) and Violeta Talandis, Public Affairs Officer (5th from right) with executives of GFSCA and players.

Representatives from United States Embassy met with cricketers of the Guyana Floodlights Softball Cricket Association (GFSCA) Under 15 team yesterday morning before they departed for Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They

players were given tokens prior to their departure.

The GFSCA have put together an under 15 team for the first time to participate at the annual Cricket Council United States of America Open Youth Tournament to be

held from December 20 to 23 at the ICC approved Central Broward Regional Park, Lauderhill, Florida.

Since its inception, this tournament has grown from strength to strength and now is in its 11th year for senior teams and its third

UDFA GT Beer year end Football in Linden

Williams and Davidson brace hand H & L Winners Connection 4-3 win - Archer strike hands Aroaima win against Panthers Haynes and Lewis’ Winners Connection battled their way past Hi Stars 4-3, while Aroaima downed Amelia’s Ward Panthers 1-0 as the Upper Demerara Football Association’s GT Beer year-end football championship continued Sunday night at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground.

Playing in the first game Damian Williams and Marmalaque Davidson each got doubles in the win for the Winners Connection club, after Hi Stars had fought back thrice to level the scores in the close encounter.

Williams gave his team the lead in the 8th minute before Hi Stars’ Elijah Samuels netted to draw the game level.

But Williams would get his second goal in the 12th minute to give his side a 2-1 lead before Osaho Rose then knotted the scores 2-2 in the 20th minute for Hi Stars.

Then Marmalaque Davidson got his name into the score sheet when he got his first goal in the 36th minute, to hand Winners

Scorer for Aroiama Javon Archer

Winners Connection Marmalaque Davidson

Connection the lead which they would hold on to when the first half ended.

But Hi Stars were not to be outdone and in the 65th minute Martin Leacock would even things out for the Hi Stars as the scores read 33. However, Davidson would give his side the lead for good with his second goal in the 69th minute which they maintained to the end of the encounter to come away with a 4-3 victory.

The other game on the double header card ended with Aroaima coming away

with a narrow 1-0 win which was decided in the first half of the game. In the 28th minute, Javon Archer would make the best of an opportunity which came following the goalkeeper error in saving a shot from outside and Archer would be there to tuck in the winning goal of the game.

The competition continues tomorrow with two more matches when the first at 19.00hrs is between Botafago and Panthers and the other at 21.00hrs feature Silver Shattas and Coomacka.

year for youths.

The squad will be lead

by Transport Sports Club and national youth player Alvin Mohabir and include West Indies Under 15 batting star Mavendra Dindial, National youth all rounder Zachary Jodha, Jonathan VanLange and Demerara under 15 opener Romeo Deonarain. The management of the team is boosted by former West Indies Captain, Ramnaresh Sarwan and former national

player, coach and senior selector, Hubern Evans.

The full squad reads: Alvin Mohabir, Nicholas Shiopersad, Gabriel Rookhum, Arun Gainda, Zachary Jodah, Romeo Deonarain, Nityanand Mathura, John Persaud, Mavendra Dindial, Jonathan VanLange, Dave Mohabir, Ravindra Singh, Stephon Sankar and Premkumar Permaul. Ramnaresh Sarwan Manager, Hubern Evans Coach, Ricky Deonarain

Assistant Manager, Davanand Mohabir Physio and Lalta Gainda, Technical Analyst.

Official sponsors for the Guyana Floodlights Youth team are, Survival Group of Companies, Ramchand Auto Spares, Rubis Guyana, Tropical Spring Waters, Ariel Enterprise, Trophy Stall, 4R , Nauth Motor Spares, Mikes Pharmacy ,Motor Trend, Rohan Auto Spares , Steve Jewellery , WJ Enterprise and Clear Waters.

Police FC and Milerock send Timehri & Pele packing; Minister...

From page 29 Panthers were finally able to get on the score sheet when Lloyd Matthews scored in the 60th minute.

But four minutes later, Police restored their fourgoal cushion with a Darren Benjamin strike and ten m i n u t e s l a t e r, Tr a y o n Bobb, who was named the player-of-the-match finally got one of his own.

Timehri’s second goal came off the boot of Jarel Wa l c o t t i n t h e 7 5 t h minute. They could have gotten a third but Captain Shanon Samnauth sprayed his second attempt wide of the upright after he scored the first but it was ordered retaken by the Referee.

Police have now earned themselves a quarter final place and will play the w i n n e r o f t h e We s t e r n Ti g e r s v s R i v e r s Vi e w match-up (Saturday Dec, 21st in Bartica) on Christmas Day. Milerock found the going tough against a young Pele team and could not break the deadlock until the second half. The GFF Elite League side, much more active than the City side, had to pull on all their experience to secure the win.

Jose Depaz and veteran Rawle Gittens, Captain of the team scored in the 51st and 59th minutes to formalise the win and their place in the final eight (Christmas Day) when they

will take on the winner of the Fruta Conquerors vs Buxton Stars clash set for t h i s F r i d a y, D e c e m b e r 20th.

Meanwhile, the competition was officially kicked off by Minister within the Ministry of the P r e s i d e n c y, with responsibility for Youth Affairs, Hon. Simona Broomes in the presence of GFF President, Wayne Forde.

Both dignitaries met the players of Milerock and Pele, wished and them well before the action got cracking.

This weekend will present three days of fierce battles at various venues including Bartica and Essequibo.

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday December 17, 2019

Buxton ‘Carl Hooper’ CC annual Awards Ceremony

Rawle Merrell named Cricketer of the Year

By Sean Devers On Sunday Evening at the Roger Harper Hall in Buxton, the Buxton ‘Carl Hooper’ Cricket Club held its annual Awards Ceremony which commenced with the reciting of the National Pledge.

Bowling all-rounder Rawle Merrell collected Awards for Best Batsman, Best all-rounder and Cricketer of the year.

Director of Sports Christopher Jones, Former West Indies off-spinner, present Chairman of CWI Selector and President of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) Roger Harper, East Coast Cricket Board’s Ray Barton, GCA’s Shawn Massiah and Buxton ‘Carl Hooper’ Cricket Club President Essie Peters spoke at the Ceremony.

The Director of Sports told the gathering that sports unifies a nation, adding that, while, the Government has not done enough for Sports if the Collation Government is re-elected the plan is to build several Mini Stadiums across Guyana since he feels that Sports can be the thing that fosters social cohesion since it attracts people of all races, religions and social status.

“Saying that without providing facilities, equipment and funding is just words, but everything can’t happen overnight…Rome was not built in a day. But I know Sports is ver y important to developing Communities and producing more Hetymers,” said Jones, who served as the Shadow Sports Minister wh e n the previous Government was in power.

“We are doing things that you may not be aware of; like

Director of Sports Chris Jones hands over the Cricketer of the year award to Rawle Merrell. providing 17 Scholarships to sportspersons for them to develop academically without forsaking their sports.

We have employed Football Coach Gordon Braithwaite and Boxing Coach Orlon ‘Pocket Rocket’ Rogers to work in Regions 1, 7, 8 and 9, while we are constructing a Stadium in Berbice,” the Director of Sports informed.

“But doing such projects needs funding and the budget for Sports is never enough so I would recommend to reduce the Health and National Security budget and use it in Sports,” Jones added.

He feels that if people in the various communities are able to access facilities with lights to exercise, they will become healthier and an ease to burden on the health sector, while if more

opportunities are created for youths to play sports then crime would be reduced.

“If the youths have nothing to do the devil will find work for idle minds so if we get them involved in physical activities they will be occupied and will be too tired to be involved in criminal activities,” Jones reasoned.

Jones added that the Government will be looking at the idea of getting former or present National Sports persons to go to schools to Coach.

The Director of Sports commended Peters for his hard work and promised to assist the East Coast Club.

Harper, one of only two Guyanese Captains to win both the first-class and 50 overs titles in the same season, said whenever you attend an Awards Ceremony

The Awardees with (sitting from left) CWI Chairman of selectors Roger Harper. ECCB’s Ray Barton, GCA’s Shawn Massiah, Director of Sports Christopher Jones and Buxton CC President Essee Peters at Sunday Evening’s event.

it shows that someone has achieved something.

“It was good to see the Director of Sports here and it shows that he believes that coming here is important for areas like this,” said Harper, who is also the President of the DCC. Harper reiterated what Jones said about the importance of sports in contributing to cohesion and a healthy nation.

Barton, representing the ECCB, told those present that Cricket on the East Coast is not without challenges with unavailability of grounds, marginalisation and discrimination being the main issues.

He claimed that the East Coast team that played in the CGI Franchise was not a true representation of East Coast Cricket and said the Buxton team has been doing well and encouraged the players not to forget their education.

Massiah congratulated Peters for his tireless work at the Buxton club and explained that the Buxton and Transport SC have a strong relationship, adding that several TSC players play for Buxton in East Coast Cricket.

“A club is very hard to run and good pitches are

important for producing good batsmen. I saw a few guys pushing a roller at the Buxton ground which is far from what is required and one of the things the Sports Ministry can do is to help poor clubs with motorised rollers and covers,” said Massiah who stressed the importance of discipline and respect.

Peters, who endorsed Jones as the next Sports Minister, explained that in 1991, Errol Nelson, Marlon Thomas, Debra Pile and himself saw that crime and social ills were taking over the youths in Buxton and started the Club to give them an avenue to channel their energies by playing Football and Cricket.

Peters thanked all those who have helped for their support and said he runs the club without a cent and hoped the club could produce more East Coast, Demerara, Guyana and the West Indies players.

Club Captain Marvin Cato performed duties of Master of Ceremonies and informed that the team toured Trinidad this year and plans to travel to Barbados next year.

Cato got an Award for being the club’s most

successful Captain, a position he has held from 2005 to 2018 after Marlon Thomas led the team from 1998-2005.

Awardees: Most Disciplined Player: Joshua Blackman Most Successful Captain: Marvin Cato Most outstanding University graduate: Kurt Booker Best graduating CSEC Student: Joshua Blackman Best Overseas Player: Akian Hinds Most Improved batsman: Treon Hatton Best Fast Bowler: Ryan Mc Kay Best Fast Bowler: Andre McFarlane Best spinner: Clive Andries Best batsman: Rawle Merrell Best bowler: Andre McFarlane Best all-rounder Rawle Merrell Best ‘B’ team player of the year: Akeem Blackman Best ‘A’ team player Owen Andrews Player of year: Rawle Merrell A minute of silence was observed for the late Floyd ‘Shaka’ Andrews and Debra Pile.

GABF retracts sanction of Basketball Clinic

By Calvin Chapman The Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) has confirmed via correspondence to Kaieteur Sport that it has retracted its sanction to allow Dr. Ray Evans of Blazer Elite Academy of Turks & Caicos and Rodney Curry Snr. to host any basketball related activity in Guyana due to numerous negative reports from fellow Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Presidents and their failure to comply with the protocols of the local federation.

The men were invited by the elite coaches of Guyana initially to host basketball workshops and scouting clinics but after other CBC administrators found out that Evans and Curry Snr. were working in Guyana they immediately raised red flags in that they were collecting monies from youngsters for services.

The GABF subsequently spoke with Curry Snr. and Dr. Evans and it was explained that they

should sort out their issues with the CBC before continuing basketball related work in Guyana.

Immediately after, the GABF got word of the partners still doing basketball business locally, inclusive of trying to drafting Guyana’s elite players and collecting monies from the studentathletes for recruitment services which goes against the agreement initially made between the GABF and the partners.

In a document seen by Kaieteur Sport titled, “Cease & Desist of all Basketball activity”, which was forwarded to the overseas pair, the head of the GABF, Mike Singh, urged the duo to contact the head of the CBC Glynn Clarke, “To ensure these issues are rectified and solutions on a way forward are highlighted when visiting various countries on basketball projects.”

During an interview with Kaieteur Sport yesterday, Singh elaborated that, “We don’t doubt that these guys may have contacts with

Michael Singh schools (colleges) in the U.S. but if other presidents (regional administrators) are calling and complaining about them we need to do our due diligence. The bottom line is if you are going to find spots for kids (in colleges) around the U.S. why these kids need to pay US$150 even though we (the GABF) made it clear that they should not collect monies from the youngsters.”

The administrator further noted that if anyone wants to do any basketball related business in Guyana, they need to follow protocol.

Tuesday December 17, 2019

PAGE 33

Kaieteur News

Petra/KFC Goodwill schools football

Andrews double, Paul leads DC Caesar Fox Secondary to 3-1 win over Lodge Secondary, Ash hat-trick boosts Shiva Boys

Adica Ash

By Zaheer Mohamed A double from Ovid Andrews with a goal each on either side of half time and first half strike from Whitaker Paul handed DC Caesar Fox Secondary of Waramadong, Region Seven a 3-1 victory over Lodge Secondary of Georgetown, while Shiva Boys of Trinidad and Tobago defeated Annai 3-0 when the Petra Organisation/ KFC Goodwill schools football tournament continued yesterday at the Guyana Football Federation National Training Centre, Providence.

Following a somewhat sloppy start, the contest gradually gained momentum with both teams having their fair share of possession. DC Caesar Fox had an opportunity to take the lead, but there was no one up front to capitalise on a cross from the right side of the box before Andrews forced a saved from Lodge goalkeeper Joshua Denny. Denny, a midfielder had to perform duties between the upright after their first choice keeper Rashad Roberts was absent.

Andrews had a wonderful opportunity to put his team

Ovid Andrews (left) and Whitaker Paul ahead once again, but with two defenders to beat he decided to shoot instead of passing to his strike partner Paul who was unmarked, and the shot was kept out by Denny.

Andrews and Paul complimented each other well upfront as DC Caesar Fox Secondary gradually started to dominate possession. A free kick from Mclee George of DC Caesar Fox Secondary from just outside the area was sent wide of goal, while his teammate Yasir Abraham sent another into the defensive wall moments later. Paul had a shot saved from just outside the box before Andrews handed this team the lead in the 32nd minute as he headed home a corner from Nadir Walker.

Lodge had an opportunity to draw level shortly, but Nicholas Trontman weak shot was calmly kept out by

goalkeeper Chris Esteen.

Paul extended DC Caesar Fox advantage when he slotted home after receiving a pass from Conway Eiliman on the right side of the area in the 35th minute. George sent his weak shot straight into the hands of Denny just before the interval.

Lodge showed more purpose in the second half and had a few opportunities to score, but failed to finish.

However, they won a penalty after Dorwin George who was brought down inside the 18yard box and the striker made no mistake from the spot in the 53rd minute.

Andrews netted his second in the 67th minute when he collected a pass from the left side of the area and beat Denny from inside the box.

Denny was put to the test once again and he pulled off a fine save moments before

Action between Shiva Boys and Annai Secondary the final whistle to deny Walker following a build up on the right side of the area.

Shiva Boys vs Annai Secondary Led by a hat-trick from Adica Ash, defending champions Shiva Boys of Trinidad and Tobago started off their campaign on a positive note when they defeated Annai Secondary of Region Nine 3-0 in the second fixture of the double header.

Even though Shiva Boys had the better of the exchanges, Annai Secondary showed that they are not far behind, but their team work was lacking somewhat in the first half which contributed to Shiva Boys triumph.

Annai’s Junior Rodrigues was denied by Shiva Boys goalkeeper Keane Subero before Ash put his team ahead on the 23rd minute. A diving Annai goalkeeper, Leston Smith, failed to gather

the ball from a cross and Ash made no mistake from within the 18-yard box, easily tapping home.

Terrell Noel of Shiva Boys saw his weak header calmly kept out by Smith before Rodrigues sent his free kick wide of goal from the left side of the box.

Both teams had several opportunities prior to half time, but shots were sent wide of goal.

Annai increased their pace in the second stanza and had a decent chance to draw level, however Amir Robertson weak shot from close range went straight into the hands of Subero. Shiva Boys were denied twice shortly after before Ash scored his second in the 66th minute. Ash found the back of the net after he was given space inside the box following a pass from the right corner.

Moments later Shiva Boys had two goals disallowed and an effort kept out by Smith, while Annai wasted a fair opportunity to score as the shot was sent over the bar.

As Annai kept pushing forward they were denied on several occasions by some stern defence, however another fair opportunity presented itself in the latter stages; after the shot was punched out by S u b e r o , the rebound was sent over the bar from inside the area with only the keeper in the way.

Ash completed his hattrick in the 89th minute; he capitalized on a fumble by Smith to tap home, handing his team a hard-fought win.

The competition continues tomorrow with Shiva Boys playing Annandale at 13:00hrs and DC Caesar Fox facing Marian Academy at 15:00hrs.

Police FC and Milerock send Timehri & Pele packing; Minister Broomes kicks off tourney

By Franklin Wilson The 2019/2020 edition of the Guyana Football Federation Super 16 Cup kicked off in style on Sunday night last at the Police Sports Club Ground, Eve Leary.

Walking the plank were

Timehri Panthers and Pele going down to the Guyana Police Force Football Club and Milerock Football Club, respectively.

Like they had boasted before, that Timehri Panthers did not stand a chance, the

Rawle Gittens (left) and Jose Depaz – Milerock FC.

Police Force romped to an emphatic 6-2 win but while the score line looked impressive, the young Panthers did give a good account of themselves but the experience of the Law Enforcement team made the difference in the end.

The competition’s opening match saw the Linden based Milerock getting past Pele 2-0 as the Elite League teams dominated on night one. Police did not have to endure too much of a wait to stamp their authority against the East Bank #1 team.

It was in the 10th minute of play that Jamal Harvey netted the first of his double, Police, not wanting Timehri to settle and get comfortable.

The game was fast paced and flowing throughout which resulted in Timehri making errors in the defensive third which were pounced upon by Police.

Harvey would complete his brace in the 21st minute which further increased the

Daniel Wilson (right), Jamal Harvey, Trayon Bobb, Colwyn Adams and Darren Benjamin - Guyana Police Force FC. odds against the East Bank side in terms of bouncing back even as they had a few shots on goal; their goalkeeper, Kellon Major looked sharp between the uprights bringing off a few excellent saves. His opposite number also denied the

Panthers on a few occasions.

Police would establish a comfortable 3-0 cushion before the half time whistle, Colwyn Adams tucking a shot past Major in the 24th minute.

It would have always been a high mountain to cross with Police building up such a

commanding lead so early on.

But despite being behind, the Panthers never gave up as they kept battling. Police tapped in the first of three more goals in the second half when Daniel Wilson fired home in the 52nd minute. The (Continued on page 27)

PAGE 34

Tuesday December 17, 2019

Kaieteur News

YBG Titan Bowl

Kwakwani and President’s College are champions

Under-18 Champions, President’s College pose with members of the organizing committee and head of the National Sports Commission, Chris Jones (right).

The 10th annual Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) coordinated Titan Bowl knockout basketball tournament concluded on Sunday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) on Homestretch Avenue where perennial powerhouses Kwakwani

Secondary clinched two division titles in the girls’ and under-16 boys, while President’s College withstood the challenge of New Amsterdam Technical Institute to lift the boys’ under-18 title.

Kwakwani made light work of Marian Academy

girls’, winning the final 50-29 with division MVP Shania Sears leading her team to victory with a massive 29 points and seven rebounds to outshine Kellian Sauers who led the losers with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Kwakwani then showed why they are considered one

Girls’ division champions; Kwakwani Secondary. of the top basketball schools in Guyana if not the best with an eventually comfortable 3934 win over Arima Secondary in the boys’ under-16 division.

Elijah David hooped 12 points for the victors with good assistance from division MVP Hosea Conway who

had 10 rebounds and six points. Kelon Phillips netted a game high 14 points but finished on the losing side.

In the feature final, MVP Jushawn Bailey sunk 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead President’s College to their 60-54 win over New Amsterdam Tech.

Gabriel Lim was outstanding in the showdown, snatching 23 rebounds to majorly compliment his 16 points scored for the East Coast outfit’s win.

Kadeen Dover tossed up 21 points in a losing cause for the Berbicians.

Dragon Stout Street-ball ‘Community Cup’ kicks off tonight With the aim of concluding an unprecedented year for the Streetball format, the eagerly anticipated and inaugural Dragon Stout Street-ball ‘Community Cup’ will officially kick-off this evening at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue with eight slated elimination matches.

According to an official release from Dragon Stout Brand Manager Jamal Baird, ”Tonight is the start of an exciting project which I envision will catapult the brand into the realm and conversation of being a viable staple within the Streetball fraternity. The objective is simple, don’t lose. With the championship being contested utilizing an elimination format, a simple mistake could be the difference between the joy of victory and the agony of defeat as there is no safety of the group stage. The tournament provides the opportunity to foster a truly significant relationship with urban Guyana, while

providing the platform for the development of the players and the format.”

Baird further stated, “I want to reiterate to the spectators and players that all systems and structures have been formulated to ensure a memorable event that will leave a lasting impression in the minds of everyone. There is a genuine atmosphere of excitement amongst the competing teams and communities which bodes well for the successful staging of the championship. I am truly excited for the tournament and the festivities to begin, as we aim to conclude 2019 with the proverbial bang.”

In the opening match, Avocado Ballers will oppose North East La Penitence from 19:00hrs, while Sophia battle Festival City from 19:30hrs and Leopold St tackle Ansa All-Stars at 20:00hrs. In the fourth affair, Gold is Money match skills with Mocha from 20:30hrs, while Future Stars tackle Albouystown at 21:00hrs and Rio All-Stars battle Alexander Village from

21:30hrs.

In the final two matches, Bent Street take aim at Broad Street from 22:00hrs and Sparta face-off with Showstoppers at 22:30hrs.

The second playing date will be December 19th, with the semi-final 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 semi-final and final will occur on the final night of proceedings.

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.

Dragon Stout Complete Fixtures Day-1-Round of 16-Dec 17th Fixtures Avocado Ballers vs North East La Penitence-19:00hrs

Sophia vs Festival City19:30hrs Leopold St vs Ansa AllStars-20:00hrs Gold is Money vs Mocha20:30hrs Future Stars vs Albouystown-21:00hrs Rio All-Stars vs Alex.

Village-21:30hrs Bent Street vs Broad St22:00hrs Sparta vs Showstoppers22:30hrs Section-A (1)Sparta vs Showstoppers (2)Future Stars

vs Albouystown (3)Gold is Money vs Mocha (4)Leopold St vs Ansa AllStars Section-B (1)Bent Street vs Broad St (2)Sophia vs Festival City (3)Avocado Ballers vs North East La Penitence (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)

Trophy Stall 40 miles Cycle road race in Berbice pushed back to next Sunday The Trophy Stall 40 miles cycle road race, which was slated for last Sunday along the Corentyne highway, has been pushed back to next Sunday due to unforeseen circumstances.

The Trophy Stall through the generosity of its Managing Director Ramesh Sunich has teamed up with the Flying Ace Cycle Club (FACC) of Berbice to stage the event.

All arrangements remain the same. The race is set to commence from in the vicinity of the Trophy Stall Port Mourant Branch

opposite the Gas Station, before proceeding to Number 51 Village, Corentyne and return to the point of origin for the finish.

It is open to Berbice cyclists only and there will be prizes up for grabs in the open, juvenile and 12-14 BMX categories.

Prizes will be presented to the first five finishers along with the first three juveniles.

The 12-14 BMX Boys will ride for 20 miles from Number 51 to Port Mourant, following the seniors.

Eight sprint prizes will be up for grabs. All the top riders

of Berbice are expected to take to the road as they renew their rivalry to decide the best among them.

The likes of Romello Crawford, Balram Narine, Curtis “Chappy” Dey, Andrew Hicks, Andre ‘Padlock’ Green, Ajay Gopilall, Ralph Sewnarine, Jeremiah Joseph, Mario Washington and David Hicks are among them.

The event which is being sponsored by the Trophy Stall Port Mourant Branch is set to bring the curtains down on the racing calendar for 2019 in Berbice.

Tuesday December 17, 2019

Kaieteur News

PAGE 35

GVF shortlist U-21 male and female squads for Inter Guiana Games

T

he Guyana Vo l l e y b a l l Federation (GVF) under the leadership of President Levi Nedd successfully held National Volleyball under-21 training sessions for male and female players at the National Gymnasium in Georgetown.

The purpose of the training sessions was to shortlist players to participate in an Inter Guiana tournament to be convened in French Guiana with the three Guiana’s in February

2020.

The shortlisted names are as follows, pending a final selection in early February: The males selected shortlisted are - Terrence Groenhart, Andre Jagnandan, Noelex Holder, Kristoff Sheppard, Hellond Singh, Daiymon Al Ahamad, Kellon Leitch, Daniel Joseph, Steffan Norah, Tyrece Farley, Levi Nedd (jnr), Ronaldo Bobb, Jaleel Roberts, Tyrone Farley, Lukris Brummel, Andy (Continued on page 25)

The male and female participants pose for a picture after the volleyball practice sessions.

Kwakwani and rt Spo President’s College are champions YBG Titan Bowl

Under-16 Champions; Kwakwani Secondary.

Action between DC Caesar Fox Secondary and Lodge Secondary

Police FC and Milerock send Timehri & Pele packing; Minister Broomes kicks off tourney

Petra/KFC Goodwill schools football

Andrews double, Paul leads DC Caesar Fox Secondary to 3-1 win over Lodge Secondary, Ash hat-trick boosts Shiva Boys Hon. Simona Broomes kicks the ball off to signal the start of competition in the GFF Super 16 Cup 2019/2020. At left is GFF President, Wayne Forde.

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