Kaieteur News
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Saturday December 29, 2018
Grieving mom present as…
Five committed to High Court trial for British teen’s killing The five accused who were charged for the murder of British teenager Dominic Bernard were yesterday committed to stand trial in the Berbice High Court. After the preliminary inquiry was conducted at the 51 Magistrate Court against the five accused, Magistrate Charlyn Artiga ruled that a prima facie case was made out against Aaron Hing and Stayman George for murder, while for the other three accused, Jamal Sinclair, Krystal Thomas and Symphony Henry, a prima facie case was made out against them for accessory after the fact. Sinclair, Henry and Thomas were granted bail by the High Court in sum of
Murdered teen’s Mom, Linda Bernard
Killed: Dominic Bernard
$300,000 each in 2016 after t h e i r A t t o r n e y, N i g e l
Hughes, was successful in securing their pre-trial
Accused: Aaron Hing (left) and Stayman George liberty. The five persons were initially charged for (Continued on page 03)
Also for High Court: Krystal Thomas, Symphony Henry and Jamal Sinclair
Hitting it up Guyanese style! This photo is making its rounds on social media because of its eye-catching Christmas colours. It was located on the Railway Embankment, La Bonne Intention, East Coast Demerara.
Saturday December 29, 2018
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Kaieteur News
Int’l firms shortlisted for audit of Exxon’s US$900M pre-contract cost – Energy Dept Head By Kiana Wilburg The Energy Department has received several Expressions Of Interest (EOI) from international firms for the ExxonMobil cost recovery audit. This was confirmed yesterday by Energy Department Head, Dr. Mark Bynoe. During an interview with Kaieteur News, the official said, “We did receive quite a few Expressions Of Interest. As I indicated, you know how these things go. The procurement process takes quite a while, because you have the EOI then the RST (Request for Proposal), in terms of persons being asked to submit a financial proposal…We are going through that. But there is no issue of us being held on the line. What the contract requires us to do is to write to Exxon indicating that we intend to start this process, which we did within the requisite time, and we are now going through the process of getting a firm to help us complete that…” Dr. Bynoe refrained from stating how many companies sent in proposals, as well as how many were shortlisted. The official said he does not want to compromise the pro-
cess in any way. All he would divulge at this time is, “…I am aware they have already shortlisted (some companies).” The Department of Energy had tendered in November last for an international firm to assist Guyana in completing cost recovery audit covering the hefty pre-contract cost that ExxonMobil handed to the government. Dr. Bynoe said that the plan is to apply a collaborative institutional and capacity-building approach during the conduct of this audit. Along with the foreign firm, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be lending its expertise to help Guyana audit the controversial pre-contract costs, which is believed to be some US$900M. According to Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Godfrey Statia, the IMF and the World Bank would be training GRA officers in the areas of petroleum accounting, cost recovery audits and other tax-related matters. He said that help would also be provided to develop a risk assessment strategy for the
sector. In fact, this training has already started. Statia said that the support from the IMF will be financed through the Managing Natural Resource Wealth (MNRW) trust fund, which has also funded the technical assistance received so far on petroleum taxation and revenue management. Kaieteur News understands that the Fund and other institutions will be tasked with auditing, examining and verifying all available documentation and records necessary for charges and credits relating to the contractor’s activities under the Petroleum Agreement. This means all books of accounts, accounting entries; material records and inventories, vouchers, payrolls, invoices and any other documents, and correspondence will be requested and checked thoroughly. The international bodies will also determine if any required documents are yet to be submitted. The global financial bodies will also assess the impact of the audit on future Profit Oil and Profit Gas, its subsequent petroleum tax implica-
Energy Department Head, Dr. Mark Bynoe tions, and if relevant tax entitlements are optimized in the interest of the Government of Guyana. US$900M PRE-CONTRACT COSTS International lawyer, Melinda Janki, was one of the first persons to note that the country is neck-deep in US$900M worth of pre-contract costs. During a panel discussion on Guyana’s oil contract with
Five committed to High Court trial for British... From page 2 murder, hence based on the evidence presented by the prosecution, led by special prosecutor Attorney-atlaw Laxmi Rahamat, the magistrate would have arrived at her conclusion for the respective committals after Rahamat would have made her submissions. Upon the conclusion of the ruling there was a look of relief on the face of Bernard’s mother, while one of the accused (Symphony Henry), when asked if she desired to lead her defence or reserve it for the High Court, broke down in tears and told the court that “I don’t know anything about any murder”. The other four also chose not to lead their
defence and reserved same for the high court. Their matters will be heard at the high court at a date to be determined. Meanwhile, outside the courtroom, in a brief comment to the media, Bernard’s mother Linda Bernard, told reporters that she was pleased with the outcome to date. She said, while fighting back tears, in a very sombre tone, “I am relieved… this is a big step forward for justice for my son… and it’s massive. I don’t know what else to say. I am just so pleased, and pleased is such a pathetic word, but I am just really, really relieved… and we will all breathe a sigh of relief that it is going to the High Court and
you know something, God is in control”. According to initial reports, Bernard had arrived in Guyana on October 14, 2015, for a three-week vacation with his God brother, Aaron Hing. He was scheduled to fly back to England on November 5, 2015, but failed to do so. It was reported that his father, Andrew Bernard contacted his Godson ( H i n g ) a b o u t h i s s o n ’s whereabouts after he did not return home. However, Hing reportedly told his Godfather that he was unaware that the teen was coming to Guyana. This raised suspicions and the elder Bernard flew to Guyana
to locate his eldest child. His visit led to the intensification of the investigations which later resulted in the discovery of the teenager’s body. On January 8, 2016, a badly decomposed body, suspected to be that of Bernard, was found in a shallow grave at Nurney, Corentyne, Berbice, by CID ranks from Georgetown and Berbice. They were acting on an anonymous phone call. A ‘Post Mortem’ revealed that he had sustained a fractured skull, as well as a broken neck. DNA test results that came back had showed that the samples that were taken from the badly decomposed body had matched that of Bernard’s father.
ExxonMobil at Moray House, Janki reminded that the country has to pay US$460M in pre-contract costs. This covers the period 1999 to 2015. But there is a second lot. Janki noted that the contract specifically states that Guyana is to pay contract costs from January 2016 to when the deal was signed on October 7, 2016. The international lawyer said, “The costs for the whole of 2016 were about US$583M and if you apportion it to October, you get roughly US$400M. Again, Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman has agreed for Guyana to pay this. As at October 7, 2016, Government’s attempt to sell our oil costs us US$900M. I have found no law which gives the minister the authority to burden the nation with this, so it is quite possible
that he acted illegally.” (See link for more details: h t t p s : / / w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / jerome.edwards.925/videos/ 2144978259094356/) In his earlier writings on the petroleum sector, Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram had also pointed out that there was a second set of pre-contract costs specified in the 2016 Agreement signed by Minister Trotman. Speaking with Kaieteur News on the matter, Ram said his examination of the financial statements of ExxonMobil’s partners (Esso and CNOOC/NEXEN and Hess), the second element of pre-contract cost for the period January 1, 2016 to the execution date of the 2016 Contract – sometime in October 2016 – could range anywhere between G$75B to G$100B or roughly US$375 to US$500M. He noted therefore that Janki’s estimates are within reason and that it is up to Exxon as the Operator to disprove these amounts. Significantly, Ram pointed out that the Government ought to have been aware of the exact amount for the second set of pre-contract costs since Annex C to the 2016 Agreement required that those costs be provided to Trotman before October 31, 2016 and agreed on or before April 30, 2017. Ram expressed fear that neither the US$460 million – which in his opinion is substantially and improperly inflated – nor the additional US$375M to US$500M, has been subject to any verification, let alone audit.
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Kaieteur News
Saturday December 29, 2018
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
Trump Imperils the Planet (Republished from The New York Times)
I
t’s hard to believe, but it was only three years ago this month — just after 7 p.m., Paris time, Dec. 12, to be precise — that delegates from more than 190 nations, clapping and cheering, whooping and weeping, rose to celebrate the Paris Agreement — the first genuinely collective response to the mounting threat of global warming. It was a largely aspirational document, without strong legal teeth and achieved only after contentious and exhausting negotiations. But for the first time in climate talks stretching back to 1992, it set forth specific, numerical pledges from each country to reduce emissions so that together they could keep atmospheric temperatures from barreling past a point of no return. Two weeks ago, delegates met at a follow-up conference in Katowice, Poland, to address procedural questions left unsettled in Paris, including common accounting mechanisms and greater transparency in how countries report their emissions. In this the delegates largely succeeded, giving rise to the hope, as Brad Plumer put it in The Times, that “new rules would help build a virtuous cycle of trust and cooperation among countries, at a time when global politics seems increasingly fractured.” But otherwise, it was a hugely dispiriting event and a fitting coda to one of the most discouraging years in recent memory for anyone who cares about the health of the planet — a year marked by President Trump’s destructive, retrograde policies, by backsliding among big nations, by fresh data showing that carbon dioxide emissions are still going up, by ever more ominous signs (devastating wildfires and floods, frightening scientific reports) of what a future of unchecked greenhouse gas emissions is likely to bring. The conference itself showcased the very fossil fuels that scientists and most sentient people agree the world must rapidly wean itself from. The United States and three other major oil producers — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Russia — refused to endorse an alarming report issued in October by the United Nations scientific panel on climate change calling for swift reductions in fossil fuel use by 2030 to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, which it said were approaching much faster than anyone had thought. Wells Griffith, Mr. Trump’s international energy and climate adviser, managed in one quote to summarize the dismissiveness of the American delegation and its fealty to the president’s apparently unshakable conviction that anything that helps the environment must inevitably hurt the economy. “The United States has an abundance of natural resources and is not going to keep them in the ground,” he said. “We strongly believe that no country should have to sacrifice their economic prosperity or energy security in pursuit of environmental sustainability.” The administration is full of zero-sum philosophers like Mr. Griffith. The idea that sustainability may be a necessary condition of future economic growth appears never to have crossed their minds. Further depressing the proceedings were recent defections and political troubles in countries that, along with the United States, had been expected to lead the way to a lowcarbon energy future. No country’s backsliding, of course, compares with Mr. Trump’s. Determined to demolish President Barack Obama’s entire climate strategy, Mr. Trump has in the past year replaced Mr. Obama’s clean-power plan, which was aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, with an essentially useless substitute that would emit 12 times the pollution envisaged by the Obama plan. He has proposed weakening a major Obama regulation requiring automakers to nearly double the fuel economy of passenger vehicles by 2025. And the Environmental Protection Agency and the Inte-
Where are the investigations following the Kennard recommendations? DEAR EDITOR, Almost one month ago, the Former Chancellor of the Judiciary, the Honourable Cecil Kennard completed and handed over a mos t d e tailed, cogent and lucid report containing more than 31 prudent recommendations after an exhaustive investigation into some of the venality that has been occurring at City Hall. One would expect that dealing with these recommendations would be an unqualified priority of the Local Government Commission, the agency that sought the special competence of Mr. Kennard and who has the power to deal with all matters relating to the regulating and staffing of local government organs including employment and dismissal of staff. Of course, everyone would expect substantive as well as procedural standards for the review of the report to
be upheld in the interest of natural justice and fairness. But at the same time with the level of misconduct that has been unearthed by the COI, one could only imagine that in the interest of protecting evidence of misconduct, records that detail fraud, violations of bidding and tender procedures, of nepotism and cronyism, complicity, bribery, embezzlement, extortion, and malfeasance in office to name a few, that those officers that were fingered by the COI would have been immediately sent on administrative leave until a final determination is made on the fate of those officers. Additionally, one wonders if an investigation will be made into the display of sudden new wealth and acquisition of many properties and business by some officers through unexplained income, whether the State Assets Recovery Agency
will be called in to recover the many municipal assets and properties that have been doled out to friends and family. Indeed, there were properties that were not under the purview of the Georgetown Municipality that were illegally sold or leased out. One wonders whether the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) will deal with the privileged and well-connected municipal officers who were abusing their positions and acquiring wealth through illicit means. Citizens of Georgetown have experienced municipal officials, both elected and appointed — known to be on fixed income — moving from rags to riches in a very short period. Citizens have seen disregard by Council’s Officials for the functioning of the Integrity Commission and Revenue Authority, the National Insurance Scheme all of
which are legal entities. There is the prevalent instance is the use of state motor vehicles including those owned by the City Police driven by persons employed by the Council transporting children, and spouses of municipal officials. Then you have the chauffeurs and bodyguards of the big shots there that have often been subjected to the indignity of having to wait for extensive hours whilst the assignee engages in non-official activities. This is a form of corruption, given that it is an abuse of municipal resources. The Local Government Commission must ensure that the brunt of the law must bear down wherever misconduct occurs. Municipal officials who commit, or have committed, offences must be placed rapidly before the courts. Sincerely, Roseanne Rodgers
IMMATURITY OF SOME POLITICIANS DEAR EDITOR, I have long believed that qualifications are not a true marker of intelligence or a person’s profession reliable enough as an indicator of character or integrity. As a young Guyanese, I am appalled by the level of immaturity and insincerity of socalled political champions, displayed in our National Assembly. This I can speak on as I
hardly miss any session, viewing online of course, though when compared to the British Parliament, there are some similarities. Often, however, the display in the House is regrettable. The recent no confidence motion brought on by the opposition has caused me great discomfort and reaffirmed my reasons for hardly reading from certain publications or viewing the various
rior Department have taken multiple steps to roll back Obamaera efforts to control emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas many times more powerful than carbon dioxide. These three programs formed the basis of Mr. Obama’s pledge at the 2015 Paris meeting to reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. The health and environmental effects of the Trump rollbacks, as documented by a Times investigation published this week, are far-reaching and potentially devastating. The numbers are not great. The goal in Paris was to keep warming from exceeding 2 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels, and if possible to hold the line at 1.5 degrees, thresholds that scientists deemed unacceptably risky. Delegates knew that even if every country managed to fulfill its individual pledges, the world would be on pace for 3 degrees of warming in this century. Therefore, they agreed to tighten the targets as time went on, but instead they’ve slid backward. Many large emitters are not on track to meet their selfimposed goals. That includes America, despite the retirement of many coal-fired plants in favour of cleaner natural gas, the increasing cost competitiveness of renewable fuels like wind and solar power, and the valiant efforts of states like California to sharply reduce their own emissions and lead where Mr. Trump will not. The bottom line, according to the Global Carbon Project, is that after three years in which emissions remained largely flat, global levels of carbon dioxide increased by 1.6 percent in 2017 and are on pace to jump by 2.7 percent this year. Some scientists have likened the increase in emissions to a “speeding freight train.” That has a lot to do with economic growth. It also has a lot to do with not moving much faster to less carbon-intensive ways of powering that growth or in Mr. Trump’s case, moving in the opposite direction.
evening news, as too many are reporting with a political bias, and the thirst for truth, so as to liberate Guyanese to be intelligent voters, is stifled by sensation and political opportunity. I have read the Guyana Bar Association’s remarks and felt that the only thing missing from their writ was, “As supporters of the PPP/ C,” it would have been better for the association to remain silent than to respond and focus on only one element, Article 106 of the constitution, without considering other facts. One news agency described this disgraceful piece as “rubbishing the claims of Mr. Hughes.” Of particular note, however, is the claim that an interpretation contrary to the views of the opposition, all parties salivating for the election, and the Guyana Bar Association, would lead to instability. This I find to be rubbish, and I dare suppose that it is a tactic used to instill fear in volatile citizens and a call to arms of the opposition supporters. The Guyana Bar Association must remember that the PPP/C had about 202,000 votes in 2015, which I would equate to be about 26 to 27.5% of our population, this does not mean that they are insignificant, but the majority always rules, though about 40% either can’t vote or are cool with whatever others decide. This tactic of the main opposition is familiar to me. In 2015, when parliament was prorogued, I sat in the visi-
tors benches and listened to every presentation that day. Later that evening, an MP and a political activist of the then minority government, were parading on a television station playing clips of the sessions. Their main piece was one with Mr. Ramjattan speaking about the prorogation being a provocation of supporters. They played snippets and then said that Mr. Ramjattan was making a plea to his party’s supporters to take up cutlasses, etc. I called in right away and was labeled a PNC supporter. At the time, I was about to join the PPP/C, because I met Mr. Ramotar and had felt that perhaps his administration was not getting positive publicity and so only one-sided information was being presented. I knew I couldn’t stifle my conscience and be a part of a lying bunch of people. I have integrity and that cannot be bought. The remarks by Dr. Jagdeo and Mr. Ramkarran are obviously politically motivated. One is hoping to make the government look bad, the other just want to get back at his old party. Dr. Jagdeo says the government must resign immediately, Mr. Nandlall says the Speaker’s decision cannot be changed; Mr. Ramkarran says that the vote is valid. I must point out a few things, and since I have only my CSEC with six subjects and no legal training, I invite Mr. Nandlall and Mr. Ramkarran to clarify for the nation these items I have taken from the ‘Glossary (Continued on page 6)
Saturday December 29, 2018
Charrandass sold his soul, conscience DEAR EDITOR, Please allow me a space in your newspapers letter column to share my views on what has happened and said by the former AFC MP Charrandass on December 21, 2018 pertaining to his “YES” vote in support of the opposition’s No Confidence Motion against the government. Over the past days a lot is being said by the government, opposition, the public and legal minds and moreover the former MP who is being considered a “Betrayal” to the AFC and the majority of Guyanese at large that is being represented or voted for the coalition government. If we look back from the time this man joined the AFC to his last speech in the National Assembly during Budget 2018 debates, he degraded and belittled or should I say spoke his soul against the injustices that the PPP did to the Guyanese people. Let’s take for example his last speech in Parliament where he defended the government’s 2019 budget proposals. This very MP told the nation and the world that in 2019 Region Six will benefit positively and tremendously from transformational changes and developmental works that never took place under the PPP.
He went on to identify better roads, drainage and irrigation. He went on further to praise David Patterson for lighting up the #19 Highway on the Corentyne in Berbice which was never done under the 23 years of the PPP. He went on to praise the said Minister and this Government for reducing the Berbice River Bridge Toll. He explained in detail that the PPP was to be blamed for this heavy duty toll that faces Berbicians. Further the former MP Charrandass went on to tell the nation in that very speech, that it was the PPP who has to be blamed for the closure of the Rose Hall Sugar Estate. He said that the government paid the workers their severance which is more money than they work during their working years in the industry. He went on further to say that we (APNU+AFC Government) was giving money to a business that does not bring back any returns. The former MP said in that very breath, that it is not the APNU+AFC government that cripples the industry but that was done a long time ago by the PPP. So it is very hard to believe that this very MP said that he has voted against this
government because of sugar workers. This very MP said that for almost three and a half years, he had to do what the government wanted to him to do. But he also said he is a successful lawyer, which I won’t dispute but the questions are; Does this successful lawyer have someone writing his speeches when he has to debate in the National Assembly? It is my firm belief that this very MP is losing his ability to think and remember what’s correct and right for Guyana. Because it was this very MP who used to go on television week after week in Berbice and cuss down the PPP for making Guyana a corrupted nation, for the state of the sugar and rice industries, for the state of infrastructure and making this country poor that people have to suffer. Didn’t he have a conscience when he was talking as to what had happened under the PPP that this government had to correct? In fact, he praised the work of the government especially the decision to downsize the sugar industry. Only, recently at a function on the Corentyne, this very MP praises the work of the government. He said that because of (Contiinued on page 6)
It is senseless to delay the inevitable DEAR EDITOR, To somehow delay the inevitable result of losing a noconfidence vote in the National Assembly and going to early elections, President Donald Ramotar prorogued Parliament in November of 2014. Although this tactic provided a brief respite, elections were inevitable, and the result is now history. The PPP 23year old reign of marginalization and corruption came to a crashing end. Fast-track to 2018. The APNU+AFC Coalition was defeated in a vote of no-confidence on December 21. But their tactics at potentially delaying the inevitable has been a bit more creative. They’ve belatedly enlisted the help of an Attorney who enjoys the public image of ‘respectable’ to conjure up loop-
holes that at best, can be used as a basis for litigation – delay tactics – or to proffer that the Speaker can somehow reverse his rightful decision to carry the motion through, after it was defeated. The Attorney’s selective interpretation of Article 106 and belated articulation of same may surprise some, but with large investments at stake, one should be surprised that he did not concoct several more arguments to show why the motion failed, just in case one of them cannot hold up. The government has since indicated that a subcommittee of Cabinet has been established to make recommendations on the way forward following Friday’s vote in the National Assembly. This case is, however,
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very simple. A motion of noconfidence in the administration was brought forward and passed by a majority of MPs, thereby triggering the fall of the government and elections in 90-days. Go to the polls and let Guyanese decide on a government of their choice. Any manoeuvre to delay or subvert the democratic process will further diminish the already deteriorating image of the APNU+AFC government. Its fate would be sealed like that of the PPP after Ramotar’s prorogation manoeuvre. Yours respectfully, Selwyn Paul
THE VENEZUELA INCURSION HAS ITS PRECEDENCE Dear Editor, The recent incident involving the Venezuelan Navy’s incursion into Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is reminiscent of that which took place in October 2013 when an Anadarco Petroleum Company’s exploration vessel was seized in Guyana’s territorial waters by the Venezuelan navy and taken to Caracas. On December 22, 2018, the Venezuelan Navy stopped two oil exploration vessels contracted by ExxonMobil (Corp) from carrying our seismic surveys in waters constituting Guyana’s EEZ. I do not believe that Venezuela’s action is coincidental. Unlike our inattentiveness, Venezuela pays keen attention to developments in Guyana. Venezuela’s action came one day after a controversial no-confidence motion against the sitting Guyana government in this country’s parliament. One would recall the Ven-
ezuelan reaction to Guyana in September 2015, shortly after the election of the incumbent government here. The Venezuelans amassed an extraordinary deployment of military personnel and equipment in border areas close to our Essequibo. Intuitively and prudently, the David Granger government went on an immediate diplomatic crusade internationally to whip up support for Guyana’s cause. Our subsequent move to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was a precise and effective move, pegging back the Venezuelan aggression temporarily. We must, however, be aware that some countries do not respect international laws and rulings. Therefore, preemptive measures against military aggression are often the best forms of communication. This recent Venezuelan incursion is one which, I believe, helps to solidify
Guyana’s appeal to the ICJ for our territorial controversy to be resolved in a timely and judicious manner. It is also basis for Guyana to seek the United Nation’s or our bilateral allies’ assistance in providing the necessary maritime support to help us secure our borders, since our own defense force lacks the technology and equipment to do so. It is no secret, that national sovereignty for some countries are mere formalities. Unfortunately, Guyana at this juncture, is one of them. We simply do not have the capability to resist the military might of a real Venezuelan offensive. We also have persons in our political sphere who are dangerously flirtatious with the Venezuelans and even prepared to cede portions of our territory to them because of socialist sentiments. Also, of great concern is Venezuela’s immediate alliance, military cooperation and (Continued on page 6)
Refute of Inaccurate Representation of Clerk’s Statements in the Guyana Times DEAR EDITOR-INCHIEF, I wish to refer to your article December 28, 2018, captioned “No-confidence vote certified, will not be reviewed — Clerk of House” and to state that the excerpt of the article, which refers to the Clerk is erroneous and misleading to the public. I reject it outright. As a matter of fact, the article should be recanted and an apology should be issued. I want to make it clear that I have never confirmed the validity or invalidity of the
passage of the no-confidence motion. Additionally, my statement that it is not my duty to conduct a review of the passage of the no-confidence motion was misconstrued and misrepresented in the article. I simply meant that a review of a no-confidence motion that was approved is outside my jurisdiction. As Clerk of the National
Assembly, I am required, by practice, to send resolutions to the movers of motions. This is what I did in the case of the no-confidence motion. It is hoped that this response serves to correct any misconception of the staff of the Guyana Times newspaper and the general public. Yours sincerely, Clerk of the National Assembly
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Recognising Jagdeo’s Contributions DEAR MR. EDITOR, Some of us will remember the financial crisis during 2007 – 2009 when world economies were plunged into extreme financial difficulties and many Chief Executives Officers (CEO), committed suicide or were fired and jailed. Subsequently, huge conglomerates started to recruit managers to turn around their businesses. Among such found were Jamie Dimon - Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase; Brian Thomas Moynihan Chairman and CEO of Bank of America; James P. Gorman Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley and Jeffrey Preston Bezos - Chairman and CEO of Amazon. Today, we can say after all these dreadful years, the economies around the world are doing much better, thanks to these prudent, competent and versatile new leaders. Dear Editor, good knowledgeable leaders are the key to success; can we say this of our current bath who have been given the mandate to run our country? I am at a loss to look at the quality and com-
Saturday December 29, 2018
Kaieteur News
petence of these men and women. Unless drastic changes are made quickly, our county will continue to get worse and slide into the abyss of destruction. As we carefully look around, we can clearly see the decline in every sector within our economy. We cannot be naïve and stifle our conscience; our country is not moving in the right direction. The racial divide is widening. The country is becoming more polarized, the people are struggling to survive compounded with enormous social problems such as crime, suicide, domestic violence, murder and life-threatening substance abuse to name a few on the increase. The government ministers have an open ticket to say whatever they want without respecting the feelings of the people. The government is bent on only speaking about Mr. Jagdeo and the People Progressive Party and they have inherited a broken country. I wish to remind the readers that it was Minister Jordan when pressed by Dr.
Ashni Singh admitted that he has received a solid economy. I cannot understand why so much emphasis is being placed on Mr. Jagdeo. This gentleman has provided exceptional leadership to his country first, as Minister of Finance, followed by the Elected President of Guyana and now as Political Opposition Leader. He has guided us through the great financial crisis of 2007 to 2009 when fuel price hit the US $110 per barrel. He has improved the lives of the ambitious, when ordinary poor people’s children became doctors, engineers and other professionals through scholarship.He has made his runs on bouncy unplayable pitches, in spite of a hostile opposition, unfair critics and a section of our society that was bent on destabilizing the country.Finally, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo has provided outstanding leadership for his country. Can we say the same for our present team? Well wishes and Happy New Year to all. Yours truly, Hanna B. Mohamed
Jagdeo desperately wants power DEAR EDITOR, Guyanese of all walks of life need to look on the bright side of life. This is a wakeup call for the Government and all Guyanese. Let’s take this opportunity to be strong, reflecting on twenty-three years of the Evil PPP. I say this because many people are passing judgment on the government, and forgetting it was just a few years ago that they were praying and crying for help to remove the Evil PPP Government. Lesson learned for the New Government who made misstep and errors. Let’s replace them with the Evil PPP Government, if Guyanese think it’s the right thing to do or the best way forward. When God opened the door for Moses
and his people and took them out of the hands of the Evil Pharaoh, some close to Moses and others got so powerful and began to rebel, forgetting the past and wanting to return because they were dissatisfied. Guyanese have a choice either back with the Evil PPP or return the Government and hold them accountable. The Government has many options and should not be forced to call elections. The evil and corrupt Jagdeo is playing all the cards to get back into power. I am begging my Guyanese family to pray for your country, with Faith and not Fear of the Evil PPP. David Sandiford
THE VENEZUELA INCURSION... From page 5 partnership with Russia. The Russians, who are seeking to expand their political and military influence globally, have demonstrated that they do not always respect international laws nor the sovereignty of countries. Two examples that come to mind are Russian’s 1979 to 1989 invasion and war with Afghanistan, and their annexation of the Ukrainian Crimea region early in 2014. Venezuela, with their recent decision to have Russia set up a military base on La Orchila - an island just off Caracas, may very well feel empowered to move to annex our Essequibo region either prior or subsequent to any ruling by the ICJ in Guyana’s favour. Venezuelan nationalism would be energized and used to bolster domestic support for the Maduro regime, especially with the prospect of petroleum gains that are currently in exploration by Exxon.Guyana would do well to encourage its key allies of Brazil, the United States and the United Kingdom to similarly increase military cooperation and the establishment of a permanent presence here, as counter measures to discourage any further Venezuelan ambitions and solidify Guyana’s territorial security. Guyana may also wish to advance coop-
eration with the Surinamese who have historically used the occasions of Venezuelan aggression against Guyana to register their own claims. If this suggestion sounds farfetched, we should consider what was done in Djibouti. Djibouti is a small Franco-Arab country in the horn of Africa with a population with a few thousand more than that of Guyana. Djibouti recency permitted the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to establish a military base in that country as part of their bilateral and military cooperation. Djibouti also has an ongoing territorial claim against it by Eritrea. Eritrea had seized territory from Djibouti in 2008. Djibouti temporarily relied on Qatari military presence in 2010 to help occupy and recover their territory. Djibouti’s hosting of foreign military bases earns it over US$2.5 Billion for lease payments from the establishment of those bases in that country. These are real happening in the real world which the Guyana government would do well to be cognizant of and take pro-active measures to activate locally in Guyana’s shortand medium-term trajectory. Yours faithfully, Orette Cutting
SAVE GUYANA NOW DEAR EDITOR, The 65 members of the Parliament of Guyana, following all correct protocols and procedures, debated a NO CONFIDENCE MOTION submitted by the opposition; and when the vote was taken, 33 members voted YES to the motion and 32 voted NO. The Speaker of Parliament confirmed and recorded the results of the vote. The Prime Minister of Guyana, spoke after the Speaker and he confirmed and accepted the results of the vote. The next day, the President is reported to have confirmed and accepted the results of the vote and accordingly agreed to invite the Leader of the Opposition to talks at his earliest convenience. In spite of all of the above, there is actually a subcommittee of five grown and highly qualified men who are meeting to decide if 33 is greater than 32. Let me get straight to the ending page of this stupidity; any attempt to use any convoluted argument to claim that in this case of voting, 33 is not greater than 32 will bring disaster to Guyana. If you
think we got problems now; you ain’t seen nothing yet. Such ‘stupidness’ will plant the tree of discord, discontent, and confrontation immediately and for generations to come and may even be the cause of civil unrest. Guyana will become ungovernable. And while the Guyanese are fighting among themselves, thieves will come in and remove our crown jewels. Elections in 90 days is not the answer to Guyana problems right now. Regardless of how well the elections will be managed, we will end up with one group in and one group still out. If the PPP gets in then the immediate focus will be on changing the administration. And all this will distract from the real and substantial work that needs to be done to get the country ready for first oil. This coalition government has limited itself to a particular group that is not necessarily fully capable of handling the challenges of first oil. It also refuses to employ the best talent from around the world, even though they should know
that such talent will save more than they will cost. Given the stated position of the leader of the PNC, Minister of Health, Volda Lawrence, this is unlikely to change. These extraordinary circumstances are presenting the political directorate of this country, the greatest opportunity to come together and work in the best interest of Guyana. The President and the Leader of the Opposition should immediately embark on discussions to form a national front/shared government. Both of them should agree on what are the challenges for first oil. They should divide up these challenges between them. Then agree to Shared Governance to achieve these objectives. This experience should inform as to whether they can continue the Shared Governance Experiment or go to elections in 2020 as separate political entities. Let us hope that these two people can rise to the challenge that this opportunity presents. History will judge them should they fail the nation. Sase
Charrandass sold his soul, conscience From page 5 what this government has done to the sugar workers make him vote this way. We all know that’s a lie. If he so cares for the sugar workers, why he didn’t resign from the time the downsizing of the industry started or ask the PPP then to bring this no-confidence motion? But I think he was waiting on the benefits from the parliamentary pension and the other benefits available. This very MP took supporters of the APNU+AFC government from his area the very day of the no-confidence debate to show their support for the APNU+AFC Government. But he told Kaieteur News via an interview or letter that he hasn’t done anything to develop Region Six. This statement may be true because as an MP you have the mandate to represent the people of your region by going around and listening to their concerns and try as hard as possible to address the issues affecting them. This MP does not do that. In fact after his day’s work he will call over a few friends and play dominoes until he is ready to take his rest. On weekends he will hardly be in the region and if he is then he
won’t move around, so people hardly get to see him. The only time you would get to see and talk to him is when a top government official or a minister is visiting the region. He will show up and then disappear. This raised many times with the leadership and the MP always made an excuse and beg to be forgiven. And the legendary Bob Marley says, “Some will eat and drink with you and susu pon you”. I find those lyrics well suited to find the latter part of my caption above. So, Mr Charrandass Persaud when you said you voted with your conscience
it was all lies and fake because the looks on your face in parliament and words in your interview with the media after you betrayed the very people you sat with that trusted you were totally different. Oh and I almost forget to mention that the evidence was clear that you had the PPP watching over your back after you decided with them to sell out. This government will rise again because they the development that took place in the three short years saw Guyana climbing positively on the world map. Regards Abel Seetaram AFC Member
IMMATURITY OF SOME ... From page 4 of Parliamentary Procedures,” from the Parliament’s website. I love this country and truth be told I am politically aligned but I will not try to blindside my party or risk making my country unstable so as to launch my independent campaign. I trust that open-minded Guyanese would find this useful, and please, take everything in the news with a grain of salt and a dash of blackpepper. Take notes on what is being said and research for yourself, all of the information is readily available. Watch parliament sessions using the parliament’s webpage and be more involved, listen to the politicians but promise none your blind loyalty and please, let us make anti-corruption normal. With love, Trevon Andre Chichester
Saturday December 29, 2018
Nine months later...
No clear plan for multi-billion GuySuCo bond – Workers’ Union laments
T
he Guyana Agricul tural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) has raised concerns over the handling of the $30B syndicated bond meant to revitalize the sugar industry, and has criticized what it interprets as ‘no clear plan’ by the government on how they will proceed with the execution of projects under the purview of that budget. Komal Chand, President of GAWU, told the press that stakeholders and the public are yet to be made aware of the details underlining the government’s efforts. He said that GAWU is aware that Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, said that the bond is meant to be used “…to acquire two co-generation plants; to upgrade existing factories to produce plantation white sugar; to build storage and packing facilities; and to contribute to two (2) years of general operational costs”. However, Chand said, there was no mention of investments in the cane fields to improve productivity. He said that in April this year, the then GuySuCo CEO, Paul Bhim, in a GuySuCo/SPU engagement, told GAWU that $11B would be spent on capital works across the three estates, with about 70 per cent of that sum being utilized in the fields. The GAWU President said that the union is concerned about whether there would be sufficient quantities of canes available, though they are supportive of initiatives in co-generation and white sugar. The union made note that State Minister Joseph Harmon had spoken at the end of October, of a plan submitted by GuySuCo to engender its viability, and that President Granger, in his address to the National Assembly on October 18, said that “a plan is being developed to boost production in the remaining East Berbice, West Berbice
GAWU President, Komal Chand and West Demerara estates”. Chand said, “We hasten to ask that between October 18 and 31, a span of 14 days, GuySuco was able to develop its plan and present it to the Administration,” which was, according to Minister Harmon, “underpinned by a 10-year supporting cash flow projection.” Chand said that on September 26, Agriculture Minister Noel Holder had said that he is clueless about the monies that were borrowed from multiple banks to finance the bond. “It seemed to us that apparently Minister Holder is out of the loop regarding the monies that have been borrowed which are backed by a sovereign Government guarantee and secured by the assets of NICIL – which incidentally belong to the people of Guyana. The Agriculture Minister’s tirade, as it were, is yet another demonstration of how the affairs of the country are addressed by the Granger Administration. It
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also, once more, brings into focus the Administration’s more than confused approach to the sugar industry generally.” Chand said that the union is in support of measures to improve the sugar industry, but only on the basis that measures are executed from credible and “well-thoughtout” plans. He said that the plans concerning the bond, borrowed with a sovereign guarantee, are very secretive. He urged the government to share those plans with the Guyanese public, and to have the necessary consultations with stakeholders who have interests in the betterment of the sugar industry. The monies for the $30B bond were raised by the National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (NICIL), an arm of the Government that handles investments. Earlier this year, NICIL successfully negotiated with a number of local banks and other financial institutions to raise the bond. The transactions were being handled by the Hand-inHand Trust with Republic Bank, and reportedly the Guyana Bank For Trade and Industry. At the end, the negotiations for what was considered the biggest facility of its kind, locally, NICIL managed to secure $30B The monies from the bond are to be spent on improving the factories of Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt, the three remaining estates of GuySuCo.
End tug of war between GuySuCo and NICIL – GAWU tells Govt. “The GAWU calls on the Government to apprehend the sad situation that is prevailing. It is time to end the tug of war!” It is the position of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU), that National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) are engaged in a stand-off that could be detrimental to the health of the sugar industry. A statement by GAWU, from its annual end-of-year press conference, reads that the year “ends on a sour note, as there seems to be no clarity regarding that confusion that has surrounded the sugar industry”. The union noted that, at the end of 2017, the APNU/ AFC administration “substantially stripped the GuySuCo of its assets relating to the closed estates and transferred them without liability to NICIL,” and that the corporation’s shares were also transferred to NICIL. Earlier this year, there was some amount of confusion that the state-owned GuySuCo had two Boards of Directors existing. The situation left government officials somewhat embarrassed and signaled a deep divide in the Coalition Government over GuySuCo. The embarrassing situation started at the end of last year when as part of the restructuring, the four closed sugar estates - Skeldon, Rose Hall, Enmore and Wales - were all transferred to the stateowned NICIL. The idea was to place the assets of the estates in the
control of NICIL’s Special Purpose Unit (SPU) with the intention to divest and privatise them. At the end of last year too, the shares of GuySuCo, owned by the Government of Guyana, were placed under NICIL. It was reported that the life of GuySuCo’s board, under Professor Clive Thomas, had ended, and moves were made to appoint a new board. The government had made it clear it was unhappy with the previous board, which did not inform them of the decision to close three estates within days, leaving more than 4,000 workers without jobs. In February, a Cabinet Decision named Colvin HeathLondon as the new chairman of a youthful GuySuCo, with the other board members being Komal Singh; Verna Adrian; Fritz McLean; Rosh Khan (jr); George Jervis; Arianne McLean; Vishnu Panday; Annette ArjoonMartins and two executives from GuySuCo. Minister of State Joseph Harmon had disclosed that the naming of a new board was on hold pending some clarity and questions asked by Cabinet. From indications, there were strong objections by ministers within the Alliance For Change (AFC) faction who expressed fears over a possible fallout. It was explained how the situation of the “new board” under Heath-London, happened. A sub-committee of Cabinet in February dealt with the appointment of the new board. Sitting on that sub-committee were Ministers Carl Greenidge, Winston Jordan,
Joseph Harmon and Agriculture Minister, Noel Holder. According to Finance Minister Jordan, it was “decided unanimously” by all the ministers, including Holder, that the life of the board came to an end and a new board would be installed, headed by Heath-London. However, the appointments met with objections when it came to the full Cabinet. While that was happening, GuySuCo, in newspaper advertisements, announced the names of the new directors. Despite the shares of GuySuCo being under NICIL, Minister Jordan made it clear that he was not responsible for the GuySuCo portfolio. GAWU’s President, Komal Chand, said, “The clear confusion regarding sugar was also manifested when we saw musical chairs being played by the Ministers of Agriculture and Finance, with both gentlemen denying they had Ministerial responsibility for the industry. Then suddenly and without any forewarning, the Agriculture Minister announced he was in charge of GuySuCo though no explanation, as far as we recall, was ever provided as to how the contradictions were resolved”. Chand said that since, at this time, the livelihoods of thousands of workers stand in the balance, and public funds have essentially been mortgaged to secure the $30B financing, the confusion is discouraging. He said that the government has allowed the situation to meet this point, where there is infighting between the two sugar-management bodies.
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Saturday December 29, 2018
Kaieteur News
No-confidence vote…
Charrandass was bribed - PNCR claims C
harrandass Persaud collected a bribe from “oil moneyobsessed” Bharrat Jagdeo. That is the conviction of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) as expressed at a press conference the party held yesterday. On December 21, last, Persaud, who sat in the National Assembly as an Alliance For Change (AFC) Member, voted for the Jagdeosponsored No-Confidence Motion, effectively bringing down his (Persaud’s) own government. Yesterday, at Congress Place, Sophia, Member of the PNCR Central Committee, Aubrey Norton, said that what happened on December 21 must be seen in the context of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and Jagdeo’s continued operation as if Guyana is a criminalised state. Norton said that t he “dismantling of the criminalised state by APNU+AFC government has demonstrated progress which has earned Guyana respect within the League of Nations. The motion clearly dem-
onstrates Jagdeo’s modus operandi to continue his embrace by taking his criminal actions to a new level by bribing a sitting Member of Parliament with the intention of bringing down the elected government of Guyana.” Norton told the media that the PNCR has no doubt that Persaud’s “act of betrayal” was compensated by a hefty sum. However, Norton did not provide any evidence of his conviction, neither was any report made to the police. He said, “It should be noted that Charrandass Persaud himself acknowledges the bribe by asking ‘What is wrong if I get paid?’ In his own words, he has admitted his embrace to the treacherous PPP culture of getting rich through corruption and lawlessness. “The Guyanese people have seen through this plot and there is no doubt that in any election the PPP will be defeated by APNU+AFC.” Further, Norton said that it is now pellucid that Jagdeo’s “obsession of wanting to control the wealth of Guyana that will emanate from
oil is indicative of one who is irrational, treacherous, and willing to do anything to achieve his selfish objectives.” The PNCR official said that it is Jagdeo’s obsession that forced him to collude with “forces” in Trinidad and Tobago and mobilised resources to “bribe a sitting Member of Parliament in pursuance of his hunger for wealth and power with the hope that the APNU+AFC Government will not be able to prosecute him and his former Ministers who have criminally pillaged the Guyana treasury.” Norton continued, “We wish to assure all citizens that we will not be deterred from dismantling the criminal enterprise that the PPP has established. The APNU+AFC government has improved the investigative capacity of the Guyana Police Force and has been collaborating with international law enforcement agencies. Therefore, Jagdeo and the PPP are worried and anxious.” Norton said that the era of Jagdeo’s “lawlessness, destruction of the sugar indus-
PNCR Central Committee member, Aubrey Norton try, handing out of state assets to his friends and the PPP; extra-judicial killings and the state protection of narcotraffickers and money launderers has ended. “Unfortunately, there are some people who enjoyed the crumbs that came from those illegalities and now seek to
suggest that money is not circulating. The youth of Guyana know that APNU+AFC has ushered in a change for the better and that their lives will not be cut short by brutal acts, commonplace during the Jagdeo regime. The youth of Guyana support the orderly develop-
ment of Guyana and are aware of their suffering under the PPP.” Norton sought to assure all Guyanese that there is now an opportunity for all to take stock and to prepare for the total involvement of all Guyanese in the process of ensuring that Guyana does not fall back into the hands of the “Jagdeo criminal PPP cabal.” Norton said, “Leader of the PNCR and the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, His Excellency David Granger, said we will operate based on the constitution. We will not allow this treacherous, heinous and vindictive act of betrayal which seeks to disrupt the orderly development of Guyana to succeed. “We will pursue all options open to us to ensure that our development continues. We wish to assure all Guyanese that the destiny of this nation, in the capable hands of APNU+AFC, is safe.”
PNCR flip-flops on willingness to head to polls within three months The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) is flip-flopping on its readiness to head to the polls. At a press conference the PNCR hosted yesterday at Congress Place, Sophia, Central Committee Member, Aubrey Norton said that the party never came out of election mode. He said that it will only be intensified now that elections may be around the corner. Also, Norton said that the PNCR has been in contact with its supporters. Further, Norton told the media that the PNCR is sure that the majority of the people of Guyana will vote in a manner that will not allow the return of the “corrupt,” “greedy”, “money hungry” and “criminal-minded” Jagdeo, who is in full control of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP). Norton said this during the question and answer segment of the press conference after he would have read a prepared statement. During his reading of the statement that focused on the actions of former Alliance For Change (AFC) Member of Parliament, Charrandass Persaud, when he voted with the People’s Progressive Party against the Government on a no-confidence motion, Norton
said, “We will not allow this treacherous, heinous and vindictive act of betrayal which seeks to disrupt the orderly development of Guyana to succeed. We will pursue all options open to us to ensure that our development continues.” This is in keeping with a similar sentiment expressed by the government just two days ago. “The coalition government assures its supporters and the public that it will pursue all available options (in face of the motion) and act in the best interest of all.” Some of the “options” being explored by the PNCR and the government would see an avoidance of election within three months. Norton was questioned as to why the party and the government are looking to explore these “options” if it is a case where it is ready to go to the polls and if it is so confident about voters’ support. Norton said that he “does not know that there is any scatter to avoid going to the polls.” Further, he said that there are some in the PNCR who believe that heading to the polls is the “best thing to do.” (Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell)
Boy, 11, buried alive while working mining pit with friends An 11-year-old school dropout was buried alive at around 21:00 hrs on Thursday while illegally searching for gold in an 80foot deep mining pit at Big Creek, North West District. Police identified the victim as Tyrone Tyrell De Souza, of Big Creek, North West District. According to reports, the owner of the pit ceased work on December 27, and left the area with his crew. After they had left, De Souza and nine of his friends entered the pit and began scour-
ing for gold. Their digging reportedly weakened a section of the structure, which collapsed, pinning De Souza. The boy’s friends eventually managed to pull him out. He was taken to the Port Kaituma Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. There is no indication that the lads will be charged, although they were on the claim illegally. The Ministry of Natural Resources had recorded 14 mining deaths up to October of this year.
Saturday December 29, 2018
N
o-confidence motions against the government are here to stay. The noconfidence motion which was successfully piloted on December 21st has resulted, for the first time, in the fall of a government. But it will not be the last time that such a motion will be introduced and passed in the National Assembly. Guyanese had better become accustomed to these noconfidence motions, since they are likely to occur with increasing frequency in all future parliaments. However, no-confidence motions must not be demonized. They have long been part of constitutional convention, and, in the United Kingdom where there is no written Constitution, are now provided for in law. They are an important means of recalling governments or testing parliamentary support for governments. In Guyana, both of the main political parties, the
PNCR and the PPPC, agreed in 2000 to amend the Constitution to provide for no-confidence motions. It was seen as a necessary means of recalling governments because of their conduct or performance. That provision, contained in Article 106(6) of the Constitution was activated last Friday.Guyana is in for a prolonged period of parliamentary instability. This has nothing to do with the bad-mindedness or lust for power of our politicians, but because demographics have changed without any change in Guyanese voting habits. The demographics of Guyana have changed, but Guyanese are stuck in their own traditional voting patterns. The ethnic composition of Guyana’s population has undergone major changes since 1992, but race-based voting still dominates. The PPPC between 1992 and 2006 could always rely on the East Indian vote, which
then was more than 50% of the population in 1980. The East Indian population has declined over the years and now stands at 39% of the population. East Indians still constitute the largest race in Guyana. The African population, from which the PNCR derives the bulk of its support, has dipped below 30%, even though it has declined less than the East Indian population between 2002 and 2012. On the other hand, persons classifying themselves as mixed are now 20% of the population with the Amerindians being a significant demographic at 11%. Migration is the single most important factor responsible for the change in demographics. And the loss of persons has been most acutely felt among the youth - people between the ages of 20-34 - with a decline of 10% between 2002 and 2012, indicative of the hemorrhaging of young
Dem boys seh ...
Santa got a solution fuh Charranrass De coalition causing confusion. Fuh three years dem running de country wid a 33 seat majority. All dat time, everybody agree dat 33 is more than 32. All of a sudden, Charranrass wha been pon de 33 join wid de 32 in a vote. Dat is how de no-confidence motion pass. Dem boys seh Nigel stir up a debate. He seh he daady do a case in Farrin couple years back and according to wha happen deh, 33 was not really a majority over 32. Dat start a talking dat nuff people want go back to school to learn arithmetic. Dem boys know one headmaster who had a 65 inch measuring tape. He cut
off 33 inch and measure it wid de 32 to see which one more lang. He carry it and he ask Nigel fuh judge. Nigel still trying to determine if de 33 is more than de 32. Is not dat measuring thing baffling dem boys. Dem hear some coalition members talking dat same dotishness Nigel preaching. He seh 34 is de majority fuh de no confidence to succeed. If dat is so, then how come de coalition been running de govt wid a 33-seat majority. And voting wid it too. Dem boys seh if 34 is defined as de majority fuh de noconfidence vote then de coalition should have a 34-seat majority. Since dem don’t have 34
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Kaieteur News
seats it look like if de govt is illegal. And while de coalition and all dem politicians rowing and fretting over Charranrass vote, Santa Claus is here wid a better vote. Santa tell dem boys if Parliament can’t wuk then no money can’t release; no business can carry on in de country. Santa seh wid he business, you don’t have to get money right away. He business involve girls dress up in skimpy Santa suit. De sign wha dem girls carrying tell de whole story. It reads, “Ride anyone of we today and pay tomorrow.” Talk half and tek up ease you stress wid Santa offer.
professionals. Given these demographic changes, no single political party, by itself, is likely to command a majority in the National Assembly. As such, political parties will have to find ways of wooing nontraditional supporters. That will not be easy. The PNCR joined with some negligible parties to form a grouping called APNU, which then linked with the AFC to contest as a coalition in the 2015 elections. Yet despite this, the coalition barely won the elections by under 5,000 votes, the slimmest of electoral victories in
Guyana’s history. Coalition politics, therefore, may not necessarily come to the rescue of the PNCR. And this is all the more so since the APNU+AFC coalition was riddled with internal suspicion and mistrust. On the other hand, the PPPC has failed to forge any alliances, deluding itself into believing that it can effectively broaden its base. That will be a most difficult task. While, therefore, the PPPC is most likely in any future elections to command the largest bloc of votes, and therefore win the right to form
the government, it is likely, like in 2011, to be a minority government. No single political party is likely to command a majority in the National Assembly. As such, Guyanese have to become accustomed to unstable parliaments and governments, with regular noconfidence motions and general and regional elections.
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Saturday December 29, 2018
Kaieteur News
=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===
No traffic cops, no plantain fries, no country Whenever prominent citizens are witnesses to my descriptions of unbelievable occurrences in Guyana, the integrity of my journalism is protected. I will name the other witness in the uncivilized descent in Le Repentir cemetery on December 19 I indicated to AFC Parliamentarian, Michael Carrington, my reluctance to journey into the heart of the city days before Christmas, because Guyana is Chato’s Land, where nothing is guaranteed. I know my country. I am not a diaspora boy. I am a Guyanese citizen who lived all his years in Chato’s Land. I know traffic shapes would be insane. I had to deliver my
wife’s Christmas cakes for his grandchildren and Thursday afternoon (Dec. 20) was the best day for me. I kept insisting to Carrington that he had to meet me somewhere else where traffic flow would be more civilized. Carrington suggested I drive into Parliament’s compound. I did that. When we were driving out, we saw six (please note, 6) traffic cops dressed out in “Macron’s nemesis.” If you don’t know what “Macron’s nemesis” is, it is the yellow fluorescent jackets that the protestors are wearing in their demonstrations to try and topple French President, Emmanuel Macron. I didn’t know if I would
APOLOGY FOR WRONG PHOTO Kaieteur News apologises for the mistaken publication of a photo with a story in our Friday edition, titled “Boxing Night argument ends in Boxing Day chopping death”. The photo captioned ‘Suspect: Samuel Chase’ is not the picture of the actual suspect. We regret the inconvenience caused to the individual in question.
see Carrington again before Christmas, so I invited him to snack with me at Arapaima; the Banks DIH outlet at the corner of Main and Quamina Streets. It was 5 p.m. This was rush hour. This was what I was afraid of. I turned east into Brickdam from the parliamentary compound then north into Avenue of the Republic. What I saw at the junction of Avenue of the Republic and Croal Street could never (I don’t care to be more careful with words, I say, “never”) happen in a civilized country. The lights were not working. There were no traffic cops. There are no words to describe that steel jungle we were in the middle of. We were not going to move for a long time. In this insane situation were two container trucks that could not move. Obviously, you ask yourself which country can be so stupid to have these large monstrosities right in the heart of the city during the Christmas traffic hours. But there was a more pressing question – where
were those six policemen in “Macron’s nemesis?” This was a disaster right in front of your eyes and there was no policeman to even attempt to regularize the situation. You had to be in that ocean of metal sharks to see what Guyana has become. This is a really pathetic country. But wait for my column on what happened in Le Repentir cemetery. We would never get to Arapaima, and my mind was obsessed with the thoughts of the large cakes in my car for those lovely little children turning into MacArthur’s Park. Remember in the song with that name, the cake melted and all the icing flowed down. Arapaima was impossible to get to. We decided to make a left turn into the famous DEMICO area and come back to Brickdam and get back into the parliamentary compound, and wait until civilization came back to Guyana. We did that after an irascible wait in the traffic. We crossed over
Brickdam to eat at DEMICO Roof Garden, which directly faces Parliament. Carrington ordered chicken and fries. I opted for fish and fries. I know my country. I know how illogical my county is. Something told me to inquire if the sticks would be plantain. The attendant, with the most pleasant smile you can see on a person’s visage, politically said to me, “we do not serve plantain fries here, only potato.” Can you imagine, one of Guyana’s largest food chains does not sell our own products? This country is simply unchanging. Rewind the tape exactly one year ago to my column of Wednesday, December 13, 2017 captioned, “Sorry, Mr. Kissoon, we don’t sell plantain fries!” That year it was with David Hinds, and the place was Royal Castle on Sheriff Street. This year it was with Michael Carrington, and the restaurant was DEMICO Roof Garden. Can anyone explain this rejection of plantain chips by
Frederick Kissoon these two eating houses? I don’t accept the explanation that because Royal Castle is a foreign franchise, it is prevented from serving plantains. Have these two restaurants done a survey to find out if customers would frown on plantain sticks? By the way, the bread that is used for the sandwiches at Royal Castle and DEMICO, is it baked in Guyana? Malcolm Harripaul, when he was a customs officer, told me that a prominent local, Portuguese business family imported their own bread and water. Do they still?
Saturday December 29, 2018
Kaieteur News
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Saturday December 29, 2018
Overruled no-case submission in Law Reports case…
CJ to rule whether court has jurisdiction to hear appeal
A
fter hearing arguments from the State, Chief Justice Roxanne George has said that she will rule on whether the Court has jurisdiction to hear an appeal against a no-case submission that was overruled by Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore, before whom former Attorney General Anil Nandlall is on trial in relation to an allegation of the theft of Law Reports. Yesterday, lawyers for Nandlall, including Senior Counsel Neil Boston, spoke on certain legal issues that were identified by the Court earlier this month. Thereafter, the Chief Justice fixed January 3, 2019 for the State, through Attorney-at-Law Leslyn Noble, to present arguments. She will immediately afterward make a ruling.
The charge Nandlall faces alleges that between May 18, 2015 and May 29, 2015, being a Bailee, in the then capacity of Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, he fraudulently converted 14 Commonwealth Law Reports valued at $2,313,853, property of the Ministry of Legal Affairs, to his own use and benefit. Nandlall, who has pleaded not guilty to the charge, is out on self bail. Following the Magistrate’s ruling on November 23, 2018, Nandlall moved to the High Court asking for a declaration that the charge for the offence of Larceny by a Bailee contrary to Section 165 of the Criminal Law Offences Act, Chapter 8:01, is an unknown offence, and therefore it is in violation of Articles 40, 144(4) and
Anil Nandlall 149(d) of the Constitution of Guyana. It is Nandlall’s contention that Magistrate Azore erred in law when she overruled the no-case submission made by his lawyer and when she
failed/refused to give any sufficient reason for her judgment as required by the Judicial Review Act Chapter 3:06 and that her ruling is contrary to, and in violation of, Articles 40, 144(4) and 149(d) of the Constitution of Guyana. Lawyers for Nandlall contend that the Magistrate’s ruling should be quashed, since it is unlawful, illegal, without and in excess of jurisdiction, erroneous in law, unreasonable, null, void and of no effect, and that unless restrained, the Magistrate will proceed to hear and determine the matter, thereby defeating and rendering the High Court action futile. The proceedings before the Chief Justice deal with the substantive matter—the ruling of the Magistrate and an interlocutory application,
which seeks a stay of the Magistrate’s Court proceedings which resume on January 25, 2019, for Nandlall to lead a defence, until the hearing and determination of the substantive action in the High Court. The Chief Justice had previously said that the application for a stay was not urgent, given that the criminal proceedings are scheduled for late next month. Justice George had indicated that at the appropriate time, the Court would consider the application for the stay. Nandlall was previously reported as stating that when he took up the post as Attorney General, he did so at a loss, and it was for that reason he agitated for the State to pay for the Law Reports. He had said that the arrangement received the
blessings of the then Head of State, Donald Ramotar. However, investigators are contending that because the books were bought with State funds they cannot be the property of Nandlall, and in fact, the State should not have entered into such an arrangement in the first place. The Ministry of Legal Affairs is contending that there is no evidence of an agreement between Nandlall and Ramotar, and even assuming that there was such an agreement, the use of public funds in this manner is a flagrant violation of the Financial Management and Accountability Act. Nandlall was charged after the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU), an arm of the Guyana Police Force, completed investigations.
UG students with disabilities to benefit from enhanced learning experience
T
here is no denying that students with disabilities attending the University of Guyana [UG] are faced with various challenges as they seek to pursue higher education. But there is hope on the horizon for these students. This development manifested Monday when the Guyana Council of Organisation for Persons with Disabilities [GCOPD] was granted substantial financial support intended to help address these existing challenges. According to information filtered to this publication, with funding from Tropical Shipping, a business entity situated at Lombard Street, Georgetown, the learning experience of students with
disabilities attending UG is slated to be soon enhanced. Tropical Shipping is a shipping and logistics company said to have the fastest transit time of seven days from Florida to Guyana. Tropical Shipping also operates complete shipping services to and from Canada and across the Caribbean. While the donated sum from the entity has not been disclosed, it was revealed that its significance will allow f o r t h e p r o c u rement of modern equipment and the relevant applications to enable students with disabilities attending UG and the Cyril Potter College of Education [CPCE] to access information in a format that will help them to conduct,
GCOPD’s Ganesh Singh accepts the financial support from a Tropical Shipping representative. research and write their exams in an efficient manner.
Among the items to be purchased are several Apple
Ganja trafficker jailed for three years A North Ruimveldt man was yesterday sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined $1.3M after being found guilty of trafficking 908 grams of marijuana. Ras Paris, 30, of 3720 North Ruimveldt, Georgetown, had denied the charge which stated that on March 29, 2017, at North Ruimveldt, he had in his possession the aforementioned amount of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.He was on trial before Senior Magistrate Faith McGusty in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. Yesterday the Magistrate ruled that she found sufficient evidence against Paris. She told the court that after going through the evidence which was lead by Police Prosecutor Seon Blackman, she found that the witnesses were all credible; hence she imposed the custodial sentence.It was reported that on the day in question, police acting on information went to Paris home where they made contact with him and requested that a search be carried out on his premises. During the search a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems suspected to be narcotics were found in an ornament. Paris was then told of the offence to which he denied. He was arrested and taken into custody. Paris was represented by Attorney George Thomas.
Ras Paris
iPads with Optical Character Recognition [OCR] applications, to convert printed text into a digital accessible format; a few laptops and a 3D Printer to produce materials in threedimension. Disability rights advocate and GCOPD Programme Coordinator, Mr. Ganesh Singh, in accepting the support said that it was timely and therefore very much appreciated. Singh, in expressing appreciation to Tropical Shipping, highlighted the prevailing challenges students with disabilities face daily, even as he recalled his own experience and those of other tertiary students with disabilities. Singh, who is visually impaired, is currently a student at the national university and has
been attending UG for the past six years, reading for various degrees. The equipment and applications, he said, will significantly mitigate the effects of the challenges faced by students with disabilities. Speaking at the presentation ceremony too, Ms. Glenis Hodge, Country Manager of Tropical Shipping, said the company was happy to play a role in enhancing the learning environment of persons with disabilities, as part of the organisation’s corporate social responsibility. Currently GCOPD is in the process of establishing a Resource Unit for persons with disability. The organization is one that has education as one of its priority area.
Saturday December 29, 2018
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Black Bush men remanded for robbing elderly shopkeeper
Robbed: Marvin Duncan and wife, Claudette A trio yesterday appeared at the Number 51 Magistrate Court before Magistrate Charlyn Artiga to answer to the joint charge of robbery under arms. Floyd La Rose, 35, of Mibicuri South, Martin Kyte and Dinesh Ramphaul appeared shackled before the court as the charge was read. The charge read that on Tuesday 25th December, 2018 at Mibicuri South, Black Bush Polder, being armed with a dangerous weapon - a gun robbed Claudette Duncan of $300,000 cash, $80 US, three gold rings valued at $200,000, one gold chain valued at $50,000, one cricket gold
band, a quantity of Digicel and GT&T phone cards valued at $12,000 and one BLU cellphone, a total value of $850,000. They were not required to plead and were represented by Attorney Chandra Sohan. The prosecution was led by Corporal Lennox Poliah, who, in his reasons for bail refusal, stated that bail should be denied under the grounds that weapons were used and that the accused men were positively identified by the victim. He also noted the nature and gravity of the offence. Bail was subsequently refused and January 7th, 2019 was set
The three men charged with robbery yesterday for report. Marvin Duncan and Claudette Duncan were both beaten and robbed Christmas night as they were about to close their shop at Zambia Village, Mibicuri South, Black Bush Polder. Duncan had told reporters that all three men concealed their identities, but he managed to recognize their voices and one of their faces after the mask slipped off.
Duncan was dealt several lashes to the head with a gun that one of the men was armed with. “When me turn around is then me realise is bandit, so me ask he what he doing, what stupidness he doing, and then the man lash me couple well time behind me head and me start bleed,” Duncan had said. His wife stated that after she heard her husband yelling,
she realised that bandits were in their home, and so she attempted to lock the door to the shop with her inside, but one of the men managed to push it open. She too was hit about her body with a gun. The men, he said, told them to lie flat on the ground, “Then one drag me to the kitchen. Me wife been in the shop, but while me lay down dem mask come down and me
say me know dem boys dis, but me nah talk let dem know”. He stated that one of the men noticed him looking at him and he threw a “rice bag over my face” but he had already identified who it was. In 2017, Duncan and his wife lost over twenty two million dollars after their home was set on fire by a drug-addicted relative.
Delivery of health care at GPHC set to be boosted with $28M endowment At a simple handing over ceremony yesterday more than $28M worth of drugs and medical supplies were handed over to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation [GPHC], compliments of the government of China. During the ceremony held in the hospital’s Resource Centre, Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier George Lewis, said “today I believe is another historic day in the development of relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Government of Guyana, since today we are witnessing a handing over of invaluable equipment and medical supplies valued at $28,230, 715.” Among the donated equipment, Brigadier Lewis said, are those that will cater to plastic surgery, surgery and other procedures, including orthopaedics, that are conducted routinely at the public hospital. Essentially, he said that the process will help the facility to improve its delivery of health care to its patients. As he made reference to relations Guyana has shared with China over the years in the area of health care, Brigadier Lewis recalled that this has allowed for Guyana to take advantage of health professionals in various capacities to provide specialised medical care, particularly to those who visit the GPHC, along with donations of much needed medical supplies and equipment. “We here are indeed thankful and grateful for the support of the People’s Republic
Minister Volda Lawrence is flanked by members of the 14th Chinese Medical Brigade following the handing over ceremony yesterday. of China...more particularly, we are grateful that this donation will help our patients and those who visit the institutions,” said Brigadier Lewis, as he urged that such collaborations be sustained. Accepting the donation yesterday was Senior Minister of Public Health, Ms. Volda Lawrence, who expressed gratitude “for the solidarity, support and invaluable service to the health sector...” “Today, once again we
witness the deepening and strengthening of relationships between our two peoples, through the donation of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals to our premier referral hospital,” said the Minister, as she emphasised the appreciation for such an act which will impact significantly on the quality of service offered to the citizens of the country. According to the Minister, the principal purpose of the health sector is to respond
to and achieve goal number three of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] which seeks to ensure the health and wellbeing of all and by extension that Guyanese are among the healthy in the Caribbean and the Americas. “It is a well known fact that in order to cater adequately to the needs of our citizens, contributions of this nature from our missions and partners are of inestimable value. We can’t
operate with medical supplies and pharmaceuticals for they constitute the lifeline between our doctors and patients,” said the Minister, as she reiterated appreciation for the donation as she commended the overall support from China to the health sector. Heading the 14th Chinese Medical Brigade was Dr. Shen Jiansong, who handed over the sizeable donation,. Dr. Shen also noted that the medical brigade to Guyana has, thus far, done
successful work with local general surgeons and medical staff. Just recently, the same brigade contributed over $6M in medical supplies and equipment to the Linden Hospital Complex, and last year the GPHC benefitted from a $22M donation. The Chinese brigade goes through a one-year tenure and has worked closely with local medical staff to provide training and exposure to specialized services.
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Saturday December 29, 2018
Several plots of GuySuCo’s lands at Wales, Diamond sold off Several properties of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) have been sold. The properties, located mostly in the Wales estate area, with a few parcels in Diamond, East Bank Demerara, were divested last month. The purchases were said to be part of the divestment exercise by Government to raise monies for the smallersized, three-estate GuySuCo, which is facing deep financial troubles. According to the Official Gazette of Guyana, of December 29, 2018, at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, four properties were sold to Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), the makers of El Dorado rums, by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL). On November 15th, NICIL sold DDL almost 12 acres, including four separate pieces of lands. The lands are for DDL’s expansion programmes. They comprise 1.34 acres; five acres; five acres and 0.6 acres. They were once under the control of
Diamond estate, part of GuySuCo. However, it was closed years ago, under the P e o p l e ’s Progressive Party/Civic, with workers shifted to the East Demerara estates, and others laid off. The administration buildings and a section of the estate were then sold to DDL, which expanded its operations from across the road to that location. DDL recently signaled intentions to further expand and is currently building a huge storehouse for DSL, its distribution arm. On the West Bank of Demerara, five properties which were badly run down and once home to staffers o f Wa l e s e s t a t e , w e r e sold. It will be recalled that in late 2016, Wales estate, said to be the w o r s t p e r f o r m i n g of GuySuCo estates, was closed. Sections of the factory have been dismantled and taken for use at others. Lot 7 of Plantation Wales, with buildings and erections, was sold to Deonarine Boodramall of Patentia Housing Scheme.
The Wales factory with the row of homes for staffers at right.
A Lombard Street businessman, Raymond Khalil, reportedly purchased two of the
homes - Lot 1 and 2 at the s a m e P l a n t a t i o n Wa l e s area, according to the Gazette.
A Patentia Housing Scheme resident, Roopnarine Ramkishun purchased Lot 5, while
Sasenaraine Shewnarain of Plantation Versailles, West Bank Demerara, acquired Lot 20.
Saturday December 29, 2018
Kaieteur News
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Saturday December 29, 2018
Saturday December 29, 2018
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Fourth man charged with murder of Bourda cheese vendor A vendor who operates at stall at Bourda Market, is the fourth person charged with the murder of popular Bourda cheese vendor, Troy Ramalho, who was killed four months ago while plying his trade. Tw e n t y - y e a r - o l d Niya John, of 51 D’Urban Street, was yesterday arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. It is alleged that on August 15, last, John m u r d e r e d T r o y
Ramalho during the course of a robbery. He was not required to plead to the indictable charge after it was read to him by the Magistrate. His lawyer, George Thomas, told the court that his client has an alibi to support his whereabouts on the n i g h t Ramalho was murdered. The matter was prosecuted by Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield who asked the court for three weeks to complete the prosecution file.
Driver dies after sand truck runs off road at Airy Hall A West Berbice truck driver was killed at a Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara yesterday after losing control. According to police, the accident occurred at Airy Hall when the sand-laden lorry was unable to negotiate a turn. Dead is 39-year-old Travis Isaacs, of Tempe Village, West Coast Berbice. He was said to be driving the lorry, GWW 6018. Police said that the lorry was heading east, with its tray filled with sand. It was taking the right bend when it ended up on the eastern side of the road, in the water. There were three persons in the truck at the time. All three, including Isaacs, were injured and rushed to the Mahaicony Hospital. Isaacs was pronounced dead while Akeem McPherson and Kurtis Elliott, both 20, of Plantation Ross, West Berbice, were treated and sent home.
The Magistrate, after listening to the p r o s e c u t o r, r e m a n d e d John to prison until January 18, 2019. Three men are already before the courts facing the same murder charge. Akeem Morris, 26, a m i n e r, o f 4 0 S a n d y Babb Street, Kitty; George Paton, 34, a taxi driver, of 177 BB E c c l e s , E ast Bank Demerara, and Royce Sandiford, 33, of Sophia, were not required to plead to the indictable charge, which stated that while being in
company of each other on August 15, last, they murdered Troy Ramalho during the course of a robbery. The Preliminary Inquiry into the matter is being conducted by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan. A c c o r d i n g t o information, on the day in question, Ramalho was shot and killed while plying his trade at Bourda Market, where he sold cheese and eggs. It was reported that two bandits, one of whom was armed with a gun, pounced
upon Ramalho. The court heard that the jewellery that Ramalho was wearing on the night he was shot is missing. A c c o r d i n g t o information, Ramalho was sitting on a bench at his business place, and had just finished selling a customer when the men walked up to him and shot him. Ramalho fell to the ground and was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Remanded: Niya John
Kaieteur News
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Saturday December 29, 2018
US murder suspect, Troy Thomas, challenges “illegal” confinement US murder suspect Marvin Williams, referred to as Troy Anthony Thomas, is continuing his extradition battle. Williams was ordered extradited on November 30, by Principal Magistrate Sherdel-Isaacs, who was then acting as Chief Magistrate. He is still in Guyana and has filed Constitutional proceedings before Chief Justice Roxanne George. Williams is scheduled to appear before the Chief Justice on January 11, 2019, for Habeas Corpus ad subjiciendum proceedings. The murder suspect, who is in prison, through his Attorneys, is challenging the authority of the State to hold him. Williams is asking the Court to examine and determine whether his confinement is legal. In an affidavit sworn to by Williams, he is arguing that his confinement is illegal—that he is being unlawfully detained and subject to legal process, unsupported by any legal basis or foundation. In Court documents seen by Kaieteur News, Williams said that he is applying to the Court for leave to issue a Writ of Habeas Corpus
directing the Commissioner of Police to show cause why he should not be immediately released. Earlier this year, lawyers for Williams, including Nigel Hughes, Bernard Da Silva and Darren Wade, had mounted a challenge against the Extradition Treaty between the United States of America and Guyana, before High Court Judge Jo-Ann Barlow. On June 15, 2018, Justice Barlow ruled that the Magistrates’ Courts had jurisdiction to hear the extradition proceedings. The Judge further ruled that there is an extradition treaty between the United States of America and Guyana. The Judge had noted that the Extradition Act 1870 to 1935 and the 1931 Treaty were incorporated into domestic legislation in Guyana. Further in the affidavit, Williams said, “I am advised by my Attorney-at-Law and verily believe that the treaty which was entered into between the United Kingdom and the United States of America on December 22, 1931, when Guyana was a colony of the United Kingdom, was never incorporated into the
domestic laws of Guyana.” “A Magistrate being a creature of statue is not empowered to interpret and/or apply the provisions of a treaty which has not been incorporated into the provisions of the domestic laws of Guyana. In the absence of any provisions in the treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States preventing the extradition of (Williams), the Minister of Public Security is not empowered to consider and or grant an authority to proceed to the Chief Magistrate for the extradition of Williams from Guyana to the United States of America.” Thus, the lawyers said that they had requested of the Magistrate to refer the matter to the Constitutional jurisdiction of the High Court, pursuant to Article 153 of the Constitution of Guyana. According to the murder suspect, the proceedings purporting to be extradition proceedings that were conducted by Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus, were beyond her legal power or authority, null, void and without legal basis for reason that there is no law which empowers her
Ordered extradited: Troy Anthony Thomas to act in the manner she did. The lawyers contend that the extradition proceedings conducted by the Magistrate were a breach of their client’s fundamental rights as guaranteed by Articles 40, 139 and 144 of the Constitution of Guyana. “I fear that there is a real danger that I will be wrongfully extradited. I fear that if I am extradited I may be further extradited to a third State by the United States of America,” Williams also said. Lawyers for Williams argue that Justice Barlow, before whom a challenge to the Extradition Treaty was mounted, made an erroneous
ruling that Thomas’ protective rights were not violated. It is the lawyers’ contention that the judge’s ruling is binding on Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus, even if erroneously reasoned. “The effect of the decision of Justice Barlow determined the inquiry being conducted by the learned Magistrate for reasons, among other things, that the L e a r n e d Tr i a l J u d g e (Barlow) made a finding on identity which was a live issue before the Learned Magistrate and further made a finding on the existence of the treaty.” And further, “In light of the decision of Justice B a r l o w, t h e l e a r n e d Magistrate was constrained to arrive at only one finding which is to issue the order for extradition. The effect of the ruling, erroneous as it is, was to remove from the Learned Magistrate the possibility of arriving at any other decision and consequently eroded the right of Marvin Williams to a fair trial.” According to lawyers for Williams, Magistrate IsaacsMarcus did not possess the powers to rule on the issue of fair trial and that the issue can only be heard by a Court of competent jurisdiction. Referencing a recent decision handed down by the Caribbean Court of Justice in the case of McEwan and
others v Attorney General of Guyana, also known as the “cross dressing challenge”, the lawyers have further argued that the issue of separation of powers were raised by them in the challenge before Justice Barlow. The US murder suspect has maintained that he is Marvin Williams and argues that Justice Barlow also erroneously made the ruling that he was Troy Thomas. Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus had ruled that she believed the murder suspect was Troy Thomas, a name he had answered to several times in Court. Anyway, Williams in the affidavit said that he is a Guyanese citizen and is entitled to protection under the Constitution of Guyana. The murder suspect said that he was arrested on March 14, 2018 at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, on a warrant issued by the Chief Magistrate. He said that even then, he denied being Troy Thomas. Since 2012, authorities in the United States had issued a wanted bulletin for the murder suspect. Williams (Thomas) is wanted in the US for the December 11, 2011 murder of 20-year-old Keith Frank, a Guyanese, which occurred in Richmond Hill, New York. Frank, a father of one, who moved from Guyana to (Continued on page 19)
Saturday December 29, 2018
Kaieteur News
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EPA was severely under-budgeted for years - Goolsarran By Kiana Wilburg For years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been unable to fulfill its mandate due to severe budget constraints. This worrying state of affairs was highlighted by Chartered Accountant and former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran. The anticorruption advocate recorded these findings in a most comprehensive report that was done when he was hired by the APNU+AFC Administration in 2015 to conduct a forensic audit on the entity. Goolsarran noted that the EPA Board is responsible for approving the Agency’s budgets, work plans and programmes. For the years 2012, 2013 and 2014, Goolsarran said that the Agency requested amounts totaling $933.036 million by way of subventions to meet operating expenditure. However, amounts approved totaled $569.393 million, representing 61 percent of EPA’s requirements. As a result, Goolsarran said that the Agency had no alternative than to reduce its programmes of activities to bring them in line with the amounts approved. The Chartered Accountant said, “I have reviewed the Environmental Protection Act, the related Regulations, the organizational structure, the EPA’s budgets, and work plans and the activities of the various Divisions. I have also reviewed the minutes of the meetings of the EPA Board, the Wildlife Management Authority and the Wildlife Scientific Authority. In addition, I have had detailed discussions with senior management in relation to the operations of the EPA.” The former Auditor General continued, “While the corporate governance arrangements and the EPA’s interpretation of its mandate are in conformity of the Act and its related Regulations, the Agency is constrained in its ability to effectively deliver on its mandate, mainly because of budgetary constraints. “In a recent brief to the Minister, the EPA stated that basic operations such as site visits required for the processing of applications for environmental permits have been delayed.” Goolsarran added, “The EPA also stated that as a re-
sult, there is a backlog in processing of applications which has implications, particularly if developers proceed with their plans without the EPA’s approval. There is a similar situation with conducting audits and renewals.” To compound the aforementioned issues, Goolsarran highlighted that the EPA is housed in a building in Sophia that has limited office space, and the physical environment is unsuited for the Agency’s operations. In particular, Goolsarran said that the Agency does not have laboratory facilities for the testing of samples. Additionally, Goolsarran noted that the EPA has also not been able to have a dedicated regional presence, so vitally necessary for a countrywide execution of its mandate, especially in the interior locations. Considering these and other issues, Goolsarran strongly recommended that the Ministry of Finance provide the EPA with adequate resources with effect from the next budget cycle, to enable it to more effectively discharge its mandate of monitoring the natural environment and assisting in its protection. He said that this includes funds not only for the construction of a new building estimated at $200 million, but also for securing facilities to ensure regional presence at least in Regions Seven, Eight, Nine and 10. OIL PREPARATIONS & STAFFING ISSUES In addition to being underfunded to carry out some of its fundamental tasks, the EPA’s 2019 budget does not cater for oil preparations. This was confirmed with the EPA’s Head, Dr. Vincent Adams. During an exclusive interview with this newspaper, the EPA Head said he does not have the human or financial resources needed for the proper management of the oil sector. In fact, the agency does not even have the human resources needed to be an effective regulatory body. In this regard, Dr. Adams said that currently, he has a staff of 97 officers. But for the EPA to be efficient, it needs a total of 262. Further to this, Dr. Adams said that the agency is continuously borrowing the equipment of other ministries to do its work. It is also un-
EPA Head, Dr. Vincent Adams able to do proper monitoring due to its poor fleet of vehicles. Dr. Adams said, “My staff members are not trained to deal with this (oil) sector. I don’t have engineers on my staff. Most of them have a Degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Guyana. They are hard and dedicated workers but they don’t have the science based qualifications for the fundamental sectors we have to manage such as mining.” The EPA Head continued, “I have one engineer, four chemistry majors and three biologists. I want to hire some more people, and get petroleum engineers, mining engineers, geologists, hydrologists, and chemical engineers. So before we can even get to preparing for oil, we need to get our human resources right to carry out our mandate, to fulfill our fundamental duties and oil will soon be part of that…The reality is that we are understaffed. So I have to tackle all these things.” The Environmental Engineer added, “I have to submit a supplemental early next year so I can get the funds to hire the professionals we need. I have made these issues known to Minister of State, Joseph Harmon and Finance Minister, Winston Jordan and they have been very supportive…” Turning his attention to the oil sector, the EPA Head told Kaieteur News that the supplementary he is preparing for 2019, will take into account, the money needed to transform EPA into a tough oil and gas regulator. (Continued on page 20)
US murder suspect, Troy Thomas... From page 18 the US when he was 12, was shot and killed outside a Richmond Hill, New York party, where he ran into some other men with whom he had an ongoing dispute. Williams is also wanted for two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. It was reported that he fled to Canada hours after Frank was killed. Williams is also being represented by Senior Counsel Andrew Pollard, Attorneys Elisabeth Deane-
Hughes, Kezia Williams, Prithima Kissoon, Jed Vasconcellos, Asa Shepherd-Stuart and Donna Bailey. In the Fixed Date Application filed by Williams, the Commissioner of Police, Director of Public Prosecutions and the Attorney General have been jointly listed as respondents. Until Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan signs off on the extradition, Williams (Troy Thomas) remains in custody of the State.
Chartered Accountant, Anand Goolsarran
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Saturday December 29, 2018
Kaieteur News
Proof of bribery for no-confidence vote could have serious implications - PM Nagamootoo Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo yesterday said that Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Barton Scotland will have to review allegations that the vote by former Member of Parliament, Charrandass Persaud last Friday was procured by unlawful means. Persaud, a former gove r n m e n t M P, v o t e d i n favour of the no-confidence motion brought against the administration by the parliamentary opposition. Several persons in the social domain have expressed their views that the former back-bencher might have taken a bribe, forcing the no-confidence vote to go through. Prime Minister Nagamootoo said Persaud is not even discounting “that he was bought.” He said, however, that this will have to be addressed. “If a vote in the National Assembly was procured by unlawful means to
overthrow a constitutionally elected government, that will have serious implications, and the Speaker will have to address that issue. If you had a member of parliament who knew that he had lost confidence in his party or his slate, he should have indicated to the house that he no longer wanted to support his slate and he wanted to endorse another slate so that the house would know how to deal with that situation.” The Prime Minister explained that Speaker of the House will also have to consider whether a simple 33 or 34 votes were needed for the motion to be carried. He said there is an overwhelming view that the motion needed 34 votes to pass and that this was known to the opposition. “They were privy to a legal opinion that says you needed 34. And so, they are
in a quandary now how to deal with the situation, because the Speaker had indicated at the last sitting that he will return on the 3rd of January to address the consequences o f t h e votes, meaning, did it meet the threshold under the constitution for a majority?” The Prime Minister said people are “coming to grips” with the reality that it is not a majority that is catered for in the standing orders, as the House regulates its own procedures. The majority, he said, is addressed in the constitution. “So, the constitutional majority will have weigh, more significance on how does one arrive at a majority… The formula has been one half plus one. So, if you have 64 members of the parliament, your one half would be 32 and a majority would
be 33. How then can you have 33 as a majority for 65, unless you can prove that 64 is equal to 65. So, you can see already that it is producing an absurd conclusion, and the constitution would have never contemplated the creation of an absurdity,” the PM said. To persons questioning the government’s decision to accept the ruling last Friday, the Prime Minister said the government made a decision to prevent disorder. “We accepted the ruling of the speaker, because as an Attorney-at-Law when a judge makes a ruling, you accept the ruling until you’re able to have that ruling withdrawn, those are things a court would do if it found it had been in error,” he said. (DPI)
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.
Murder, sexual offence cases dominate 2018 State prosecutors continue to work to dispose of hundreds of cases engaging the court system. According to the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), during 2018, 195 cases were disposed of - 129 of these cases received attention in the courts, while 66 matters were nolle prosequi by the DPP. Of these cases, 90 were presented from the Demerara Assizes; 27 from the Berbice Assizes and 12 from the Essequibo Assizes. There were 54 cases for murder, 15 cases for the offence of rape; 15 cases for sexual activity with a child family member; 13 for attempt to commit murder; 23 cases of rape of a child under 16 years; five for the offence of manslaughter and one case each for the offences of carnal knowledge of a girl under 15 years; causing death by dangerous driving and wounding with intent. From the cases presented, 147 persons were charged. According to the DPP, 34 of these persons pleaded guilty; 50 were convicted, formal verdicts of not guilty were delivered in relation to 18. There were 25 not guilty verdicts by jury, six hung verdicts, and one aborted
Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack trial, mistrial and quashed indictment. The DPP also disclosed that 16 of the 228 matters slated to be heard were disposed of during the October Demerara Criminal Assizes which ended on December 19. The Assizes commenced on October 2. According to the DPP, 13 received attention in the High Court of Demerara while three were nolle prosequi by the DPP. Of the 13 cases that were presented, six were for sexual offences and seven others for the offence of murder. There were six guilty verdicts by
jury, three guilty pleas, two formal verdicts of not guilty, and one hung jury and one mistrial. In Berbice, State Counsel Mandel Moore has completed seven cases. Of these seven matters, three were for the offence of murder, two for attempted murder, one for rape and another for rape of a child under the age of 16. Meanwhile, in Essequibo, 78 matters have been listed. State Counsel Shawnette Austin has completed three matters. Of the three matters, two were for the offence of sexual activity with a child family member and one for the offence of murder. The January 2019 Criminal Assizes for Demerara will open on January 8. There are 260 cases listed to be heard during the session. Justice James Bovell-Drakes, Justice Navindra Singh and Madam Justice Jo-Ann Barlow have been rostered to sit during this Assizes. The 2O19 Berbice Criminal Assizes will commence on February 12, while the Essequibo Criminal Assizes is expected to open on February 5. Justice Sandil Kissoon will sit.
EPA was severely under-budgeted... From page 19 He said, “Right now, I have $624M for 2019, but that did not take our preparations for oil into consideration. When I was brought on a few months ago, the budget preparation for the agency was already at an advanced stage. My first task when I came on was to do an assessment of the Agency and see where it is…And it needs major restructuring.”
The issue of EPA being woefully understaffed was also raised in the forensic audit report that was done by Goolsarran. But the issue remains unaddressed. In the audit report, Goolsarran said that the agency needs an additional 165 officers to “fully and effectively” execute its mandate. He noted for example that EPA’s Compliance Department has 27 officers but needs an additional 63 to be effective.
Saturday December 29, 2018
Digicel’s chief executive dies suddenly in native Germany Germany (Irish Times) The chief executive of Denis O’Brien’s Digicel telecommunications group, Alex Matuschka von Greiffenclau, has died suddenly while holidaying with his family in his native Germany. “No words can adequately express our sadness at Alex’s passing or our gratitude for having worked with him,” said Mr O’Brien, the group’s chairman, who has stepped in as interim CEO following Mr von Greiffenclau’s death on Thursday, in a note to colleagues yesterday. “Digicel has lost a committed hard-working and exceptional chief executive.” The 47-year-old joined Jamaica-headquartered Digicel last February and had been a key figure in the group’s months-long negotiations with bondholders on a debt refinancing, which concluded last week. It involved the majority of holders of $3 billion (€2.6 billion) of bonds in the heavily-indebted company agreeing to swap their notes, which were due in 2020 and 2022, for longer-dated securities. BONDS Some 96.6 per cent of holders of $2 billion (€1.75 billion) of bonds due in 2020 agreed last week to exchange their notes for securities that will be due to be redeemed in 2020. Meanwhile, 95.4 per cent of those holding Digicel’s $1 billion (€870,000) of existing 2022 bonds agreed to swap their holdings for notes that will mature in 2024. The accord followed almost four months of negotia-
-Alex Matuschka von Greiffenclau played key role in $3bn debt restructuring deal
Alex Matuschka von Greiffenclau joined Digicel as CEO last February and had been a key figure in the group’s months-long negotiations with bondholders on a debt refinancing, tions with bondholders in the group, which has a $6.7 billion (€5.85 billion) debt mountain.Mr von Greiffenclau, who succeeded former Digicel chief executive Colm Delves, joined the group from Dutch-based telecoms company Veon, which was previously known as VimpelCom. Prior to that, he served as a senior executive with Finland’s Nokia.The executive is survived by his wife, Julia, and three children, understood to be in their teens. No further details were immediately
available.“Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know him on a personal level have lost a dear friend,” said Mr O’Brien. “Over the coming days, we will share our thoughts for a suitable commemoration of Alex and his enormous contribution to the transformation of Digicel.” Plan On joining Digicel, Mr von Greiffenclau inherited a group restructuring plan, known invariably as either Digicel 2030 or Project Swan, which included a plan, outlined in February 2016, to cut more than 25 per cent of the group’s staff – or more than 1,500 roles – over 18 months.Mr von Greiffenclau also spearheaded an initiative, outlined to bondholders earlier this year, to reduce Digicel’s debt to 5.7 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) from a ratio of 6.7 times at the end of the group’s last financial year in March.The blueprint is predicated on boosting earnings by 10 per cent to about $1.1 billion (€960,000) for the current financial year, and generating about $500 million (€480 million) from asset sales. Digicel executives signalled to analysts in November that as the sale of non-core assets is dragging on, it may not reach the debt-to-ebitda target as originally planned at the end of March 2019.
Coke-buying ASP refuses to give statement -remains on open arrest at TSU
The Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) who has been fingered in a bungled cocaine transaction is reportedly refusing to cooperate with investigators, who have questioned his claims about being a robbery victim.According to sources, the ASP was questioned at CID Headquarters but refused to provide a statement to the ranks questioning him. He remains under open arrest at the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) Headquarters. Ranks from the Major Crimes Unit are spearheading the investigation. A police sergeant, who allegedly destroyed a statement that implicated the ASP, is also under open arrest at the TSU Headquarters. Kaieteur News understands that a lance corporal who also allegedly tried to conceal evidence has been transferred to the Police Mounted Branch. Crime Chief Lyndon Alves had told Kaieteur News that investigators were questioning the ASP about his claims about being robbed. Also still in custody are two Linden-based gunmen who had allegedly robbed the ASP
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of some $6M and his firearm during the botched drug deal.One of the detained men told investigators that he and his accomplice had robbed the ASP of his firearm and $6M when he approached them to buy two kilogrammes of cocaine. The incident occurred two Mondays ago at La Bonne Intention (LBI), East Coast Demerara. At the time, the men were reportedly unaware that the buyer was a policeman. However, the rank allegedly managed to hold onto the other individual, and subdue him with help from persons nearby.It is alleged that the individuals involved in the deal later realised that the victim was a policeman. They reportedly then made arrangements for the firearm to be returned. The ASP had claimed that he was robbed of his licensed 9mm pistol and jewellery two Mondays ago in the vicinity of LBI. The ‘robbers’ were said to have fired several shots into the policeman’s vehicle. The rank has said that he recovered his gold band and chain from one of the robbers, who was held at the scene.
Clerk charged with causing death of labourer at Peter’s Hall
A
clerk, attached to John Fernandes Limited, stands accused of causing the death of a labourer who was struck while clearing debris from the Peter’s Hall Public road. The clerk was yesterday charged and released on $400,000 bail for the offence. Oscar Stull, 24, of 675 Perseverance, East Bank Demerara, denied the charge, which alleged that on December 10, last, at Peter’s Hall Public Road, East Bank Demerara, he drove motorcar PWW 9187 in a manner dangerous to the public, thereby causing the death of Quason Lewis. He appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. Attorney-at-Law Patrice Henry, who asked the court to grant his client bail in a reasonable amount, represented Stull. The lawyer argued that if bail is granted to his client, he would return to court for the trial, citing that he fully cooperated with the police investigation. Facts presented by Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield stated that on the day in question, around 22:15 hrs, Stull was proceeding on the eastern carriageway of the Peter’s Hall Public Road at a fast rate, when he lost control of the vehicle and swerved right. As a result, the front right side of his vehicle collided with Lewis who fell to the roadway. T he injured man was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where he died while receiving treatment. It was reported that at the time of the accident, Lewis along with his colleagues, who are all attached to a private waste management company, were cleaning debris along the median on the eastern carriageway of the road. While the Prosecutor was not opposed to
Oscar Stull bail being granted to Stull, he asked that it be in a substantial amount and that conditions be attached. The Magistrate granted Stull bail in the sum of $400,000. Conditions of the bail are that he report every Friday to the officer in charge at the Providence Police Station until the completion and determination of the trial. His licence was also suspended until the completion of the trial.
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Kaieteur News
LEGAL NOTICE
FOR RENT
SERVICES PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION, W E D D I N G S , ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 Visa Application: U.S.A, Canada & UK; Graphics design, advertisement, Wedding arch rentals. Tel: 626-7040; 265-4535. ICONIC MARKETING & PRINTING –TEL: 6006887: We create A/works, logos, business cards, posters, etc, placements of ads included. Installations, Repairs and parts for AC, Fridge, Washing machine, Stove etc call Nick 627-3206, 630-1600 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer-Call: 231-0655; 683-8734. Omar Eagle’s re-gas AC, Fridge, Washing machine & computer repairs, Gas stove, Plasma flatscreen, Electrical installation & more. Call: 6972969/646-0966
FOR SALE Used imported glass showcase L72" x H39" x W24" 40,000 each. Tel 625-1514 1 Pure breed German Shepherd Pup, Black & Tan. Tel# 626-0953/650-9998 1 Double Steel Wheel Roller, 1-9 Wheel Pneumatic roller, 2 Bitumen Kettle, 1- 3304 Di CAT engine. Tel#275-0367/ 683-7225
ENTERTAINMENT Big G Sounds is available for small events. (Wedding, Small BBQ, Birthday parties etc) Contact numbers #661-9931/ 622-5713/672-9293 PEN PAL Male seeking one single mature female for friendship or marriage. Ages 25-35. Whatsapp #692-6133 LEARN TO DRIVE N. Outar Driving School, Learn to Drive the right way. Affordable package. Call: 644-5166/691-2561 FOR SALE/RENT American Pool table. Tel#2770578
Newly constructed 2 bedroom house and apt in a safe and healthy environment. Call: 698-6496/ 622-6512 3 Bedroom upstairs, fully grilled, master bedroom, fenced concrete yard, parking space in Tuschen. Contact# 692-5525, 266-3973 1-3 Bedroom apartment situated in close proximity to UG & Teacher’s Training College, working persons/ student preferable. Tel#6859127 $40,000
Black German Shepherd pups, Riumzeight Gardens WCD. #269-0671/688-1656
TO LET Fully/Partly furnished apartments in Nandy Park/ Republic Park. Texila students welcomed! Tel#619-4824 for more details.
Secret Villa & Harmony Inn. Fully furnish, air-condition rooms & apartments. 2256337, 668-0306, 218-1400, 602-8769, 266-5243-4
VEHICLE FOR SALE
One 2011 Toyota Prado Landcruiser in immaculate condition. Tel: 656-7554
DOLLY’S CAR RENTALCALL:225-7126/ 2263 6 9 3 DOLLYSAUTORENTAL @YAHOO.COM/ WWW.D OLLYSAUTORENTAL.COM PROGRESSIVE CAR RENTAL: CARS FROM $4000 & UP, SUV’S PER DAY- CALL:643-5122/6560087, ,EMAIL:PRO_AUTO RENTAL@YAHOO.COM PROPERTY FOR SALE Transported property in Regent street between Wellington & Camp street. Tel# 655-3332. Opposite Guyoil Gas Station
Wanted land to buy in Parfaite Harmony, Uitvlugt, Tuschen or Zeelugt. Tel: 6421252 1) Experienced front and loader operator 2) Bulldozer operator. Contact #2235273,223-5274 One Driver needed urgently! Must be willing to work out of town. Contact 684-4936/ 667-8684 1 Live-in Nanny/Domestic , must know to cook various foods, Age 38-50 #682-8251 Live-in waitress 18-25 yrs salary, $20,000 wkly #6103974 One (1) male ablebodied clerk. Tel: 231-2029, 616-5954
Minibus for Contact#644-8396
sale.
1 TOYOTA ALLION 2007 (WHITE) $2.5M PRICE NEGOTIABLE. TEL#6222527 LAND FOR SALE Farm (East Bank) $3.5M Eccles $7M Herstelling $4M & $5M Schnoord $3M Dairy $2M & $3M Tel#656-0701/648-1635 Transported land 11.6 acres. Lot 15 public road. #2 Village W.C.B. Price $18M. Contact 686-4818, 648-7109 Onderneeming (Parfaite Harmonie) $1.6M Tel#6560701/651-1969
Dispatchers. Call: 672-9930 One female domestic worker to work in Trinidad. Age 2535 yrs. Tel# 1868-386-5302 VACANCY Front desk receptionist. Apply to the Manager Herdmanston Lodge Lamaha, Peter Rose St Vacancy for security. Apply to the Manager Herdmanston Lodge Lamaha, Peter Rose St 1 Office Assistant. Send application to Pacific Development Inc. Lot 3 Church Street, G/Town or pacific.developmentinc @yahoo.com Vacancy for Domestic maid. Call: 231-0734 One General Domestic, must be able to ccok vegetarian food. Apply at Alabama Trading 65 Robb St Bourda
WANTED’ House and land available at Parfaite, Tuschen, Diamond etc. Contact Pacific Development Inc. 223-6035/ 604-4909
Operator, Apply : Operations Manager, Wieting & Richter Limited 10-13 Water Street, Georgetown
For Porters, Apply at Alabama Trading, 65 Robb Street, Bourda.
Gasoline and Light Diesel mechanic needed. Contact Brian Ten Pow at #592-623- IN DEFAULT of your filing an 0318 Acknowledgement of Service/ Notice of Intention to Defend LEGAL NOTICE Answer and/or Cross Petition the Court may proceed in your 2018-HC-DEM-CIV-FDabsence and may make any 1419 IN THE HIGH COURT order it considers appropriate, OF THE SUPREME COURT including granting the OF JUDICATURE FAMILY, Divorce. DIVORCE AND The Registry of the Family MATRIMONIAL Division of the High Court is JURISDICTION FAMILY located at the Law Courts DIVISION PETITION [Georgetown, Demerara]. The NO. FD-1419 BETWEEN office is open to the public (Da SILVA) WANITA nee between 8:00am and 3:30 pm CRIGHTON Petitioner Mondays to Thursday and and- (Da SILVA) MARCONY 8:00am to 2:30pm on Friday De JESUS SOUZA except on public holidays and Respondent on such other days as the TO: MARCONY De JESUS Registry is closed. SOUZA Da SILVA Dated the 5th day of (Last Known Address) December, 2018. Lot 52 Tuschen Housing Scheme East Bank Essequibo Guyana
1 Live-in Nanny/Domestic must know to cook, age 30-45 #693-9795
1 Leyland Daf 60, working condition. 658-4655, 618-4457
CAR RENTAL
We buy land in Eccles, Herstelling, Farm, Parfaite Harmonie, Uivlugt, Zeelugt, Providence & Dairy Tel# 6117223/651-1969
1 Experienced Hiab Truck Driver. Contact#650-0402/ 603-1402
ACCOMMODATION
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PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION, W E D D I N G S , ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620
1-CAT 215 Excavator, 1 CAT 428 Backhoe, 1 Mack concrete mixer 8 Cu yds, 1 450 Honda Atv. Call: 275-0367/683-7225
Wholesale: Diesel Generators, Purple onions, Garlic, Bicycles, Lighters, Pain relief medicines, Tiger Balm available @ GT Wholesale #655-4303
VACANCY
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One experienced female accounts clerk, Apply at Alabama Trading, 65 Robb Street, Bourda
eight) days from the date of the final publication of this Notice. TAKE NOTICE that the divorce is fixed for Directions Hearing on Friday the 15th day of February, 2019 at 1:30 pm before the Honourable Mr. Justice Gino Peter Persaud in the Directions Hearing Room of the Family Division of the High Court at Georgetown.
TAKE NOTICE that on the 1st day of November, 2018 a Petition for Divorce was filed against you by WANITA Da SILVA nee CRIGHTON, the Petitioner in the Family Division of the High Court in Georgetown, Demerara. AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that as part of an Order made on the 3rd day of December, 2018 the Petitioner was directed to effect service of her Petition on you by publication of this Notice in two (2) consecutive Saturday issues of the Kaieteur News Newspaper, a daily Newspaper printed, published and circulated in and around Guyana and on the Worldwide Web. AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that if you desire you may appear or attend in person or by your duly authorized agent or Attorneyat-Law at the Registry of the Family Division of the High Court at Georgetown, Demerara where you will be issued with a certified copy of the Petition together with related documents. AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that if you desire to defend this Divorce, then upon receipt of the certified copy of the Petition, you must file an Acknowledgement of Service, Notice of Intention to Defend (Forms are available at the Registry), Answer and/or Cross Petition in the Registry of the Family Division of the High Court at Georgetown, Demerara within 28 (twenty-
Saturday December 29, 2018
Kaieteur News
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Mayors & Deputy Mayors encouraged to work with Central Govt
P
rime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, while performing the duties of Head of State, swore in several Mayors and Deputy Mayors yesterday in the Credentials Room at the Ministry of the Presidency. After administering the oath of office, the acting Head of State encouraged the newly elected Mayors and Deputy Mayors to work closely with central government to enhance their townships. He noted that the townships “depend on [central government] for subvention and support in many ways.” “Some of the areas that you would be managing as townships, border on areas that are controlled by the central government, so you have to work with your central government to p r o m ote those programmes that you have planned.” The Prime Minister noted that having a town council in every administrative region allows for a decentralised model of government and allows for the strengthening of local democracy. He explained that this decentralisation also allows for the provision of certain services such as the issuance of birth and marriage certifi-
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and other Ministers of Government with the newly elected Mayors from across Guyana cates, passports and documents important to their livelihood and businesses within far-flung communities. He also urged the elected officials to develop a sense of regional pride among their constituents. The Prime Minister remarked that the new batch of Mayors and Deputy Mayors reflect Guyana’s rich strands of diversity and ethnicity, as it included persons from different religious backgrounds, genders and race.
Newly elected Mayor of Georgetown, Pandit Ubraj Narine taking the oath of office
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LeBron (groin) could miss multiple games LeBron James did not travel to Sacramento for the Los Angeles Lakers’ game Thursday night against the Kings. James is officially day-today after straining his left groin during the Lakers’ victory over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. An MRI came back clean on Wednesday, but James is expected to miss a few games out of an abundance of caution. The veteran forward was injured Tuesday in L.A.’s 127101 upset win over the Warriors as he dribbled toward the basket and slipped. His right leg swung underneath him as he lost his footing, putting
pressure on his left leg and groin as he reached forward to try to maintain possession of the ball. “Obviously, we want him back soon as possible,” said Lakers coach Luke Walton. “But we also will be very cautious when we bring him back.” —Hall of Fame basketball coach Larry Brown has been fired by the Italian club Fiat Torino, the team announced. Brown, 78, compiled a 519 record in his first season with the Serie A team and was reportedly booed at home after Wednesday’s 96-79 loss to Sidigas Avellino. Brown, inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame in 2012, is the only coach to win championships in the NCAA (Kansas Jayhawks in 1988) and the NBA (Detroit Pistons in 2004). —The NBA has fined Orlando Magic guard-forward Terrence Ross $25,000 for throwing a ball into the stands following the final horn in Wednesday’s 122-120 home loss to Phoenix. NBA executive vice president of operations Kiki VanDeWeghe announced the fine in a statement. After the Magic’s Evan Fournier missed what would have been a game-winning 3pointer as time expired, the ball bounced off the back of the
Saturday December 29, 2018 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) It's possible that you're having some ups and downs in your love life at the moment. Someone may be asking you to play another role than you're used to playing in your relationship.
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Scientists seem to live in a world apart from the rest of us, Libra, and from the events in everyday life, because they're so absorbed in other realities. This is a lot like your universe.
TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) Today you may get the opportunity to feel proud of yourself. But don't let things get too out of hand. It isn't often that you allow yourself this little bit of narcissism.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) You're often like a Zen master who doesn't say anything to pupils for months, until the day the pupils begin to not believe any more and find themselves growing indifferent to the whole thing.
GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Today you may be overcome by a current of humanist thought. Your consciousness is traveling, and you probably couldn't care less about the details of the events going on around you. CANCER (June 21–July 22) Even if you're a good judge of character, Cancer, the people who know you say that you base your opinions on your personal feelings, which often affect your good judgment. LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) You have a tendency to want to explain everything that goes on around you, Leo. You rationalize everything in an instant, and group all your experiences into great theories. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) As a Virgo, you don't really like to talk about things. Talking just isn't one of your specialties. Everyone has his/her own role, and yours is to take action and create, not talk about doing it.
SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) It's time to take some time out of your busy day for your personal life. One of your family members or friends may need to talk to you, and you need to listen attentively to what they have to say. CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Today is a good day to clarify your life, Capricorn. You may have understood lately that it's useless to undertake anything new when you're confused. AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Are you going to be available to other people today? Someone in your entourage may need to confide in you. You're in no mood to waste time at the moment. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) You may come in contact with someone today with whom you enjoy a highly emotional exchange. You may even fall in love! Be very attentive to your moods and everything going on inside you, Pisces.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) moves the ball up the court during the third quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at Staples Center. (Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports) rim and into the hands of Ross. He immediately bounced the ball on the floor, grabbed
it and threw it one-handed toward the other end of the court in frustration. (Field Level Media)
Amla finds form as... From page 33 looked to have been gobbled up by Azhar Ali. Elgar began walking towards the dressing room, but was called back when the onfield umpires conferred over whether the catch had been taken.It was sent to third umpire Joel Wilson with a soft signal of ‘out’, which called for conclusive evidence for the decision to be overturned. With only the two-dimensional images available, the West Indian decided there was enough doubt to change the decision. It was a potentially a gamechanging moment in the innings with South Africa on 16-1 at the time and struggling. GOOD FORTUNE Elgar and Amla capitalised on that good fortune and both would go on to make halfcenturies in a stand that would last 40 overs. Elgar (50) then handed a first test wicket to Pakistan part-timer Shan Masood when he had a swipe at a loose delivery and was caught by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed. Theunis de Bruyn (10) was stumped offYasir Shah (1-20) trying to finish the game with quick runs and Du Plessis recorded a pair of ducks in the match when he attempted a hook off Afridi and was caught at fine leg. Pakistan skipper Ahmed focussed on his side’s poor batting, where they failed to pass 200 in either innings and lost their last nine wickets for 90 runs after tea on day two, as the major contributor to their defeat. “We are very disappointed in the batting, we had an opportunity to post a (bigger) target and we lost too many wickets in that session after tea,” he said. “We have good quality fast bowlers, but we have to put scores on the board. We will have to go away and work hard in the nets.” Scores: South Africa 223 (Bavuma 53,Amir 4-62, Afridi 464) and 151 for 4 (Amla 63*, Elgar 50) beat Pakistan 181 (Babar 71, Olivier 6-37) and 190 (Masood 65, Imam 57, Olivier 5-59) by six wickets.
Bowl roundup... From page 31 from Jones, who completed 30 of 41 throws for 423 yards with two interceptions. Duke (8-5), which entered the game having lost two in a row, held Temple without a point in the final 34 minutes. The Owls (8-5) were outscored 35-0 in the second half as the Blue Devils overcame a 13-point, first-half deficit. (Field Level Media)
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Endurance series to kick start GMRSC calendar - Guyana to have first Rally racing event in June The Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club (GMRSC) in a correspondence to Kaieteur Sports has indicated that round one of the Endurance Series will speed off on Sunday February 3rd 2019 to kick start Guyana’s racing calendar. Reigning open champions, Team Wreckers’ Adrian Fernandes and Annand Ramchand will be relishing the opportunity to get on the track, while former champion Motilall Deodass will surely have a point to prove on the endurance outer circuit. April 28th and October 15th will host round two and three respectively. The third Sunday in February 2019 is when the drag series will begin at the South Dakota Circuit’s recently refurbished drag strip where the local dragsters will attempt to overthrow the undisputed King, Team Mohamed’s Enterprise and their pair of Nissan GTRs. It may be possible that fans may get an opportunity to witness a new and rumored faster motor car that sources close to the champions have shared with the publication. The other drag racing dates are April 7th, July 6th, August 25th (Interna-
tional) and October 6th. March 3rd will see the commencement of the national race of champions which will be used to help select Guyana’s team for the first round of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) which is scheduled for the 23rd and 24th of March at Tr i n i d a d a n d To b a g o ’s (T&T) Wallerfield International Raceway. Round two of the race of champions is set for July 14th. The dates for the other CMRC rounds will see round two in Jamaica on May 26th, Barbados on September 1st, while the final leg in Guyana will be competed on two days, November 16th and 17th. Meanwhile, a source close to the club has confirmed that Guyana will have its first Rally racing event on June 23rd. Rally is a form of motorsport that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars. However, the details surrounding the venue or proposed route is yet to be confirmed but members of the motor racing community are relishing this new venture of the GMRSC. (Calvin Chapman)
Rameez Mohamed (left) and Anand Ramchand battling it out at South Dakota during the National Race of Champions in March.
Team Mohamed’s trio (being led by) Matt Truelove, Bryce Prince 2nd and Jason Aguilar 3rd will be on action during CMRC 2019 beginning March in T&T.
England would be “silly” to overlook Archer, says Hobart coach MELBOURNE, Australia, CMC – Hobart Hurricanes head coach Adam Griffith has labelled Barbadian fast bowling sensation, Jofra Archer, as a match-winner and believes England would be “silly” not to pick him for the ICC World Cup at home next May. The 23-year-old Archer has emerged as one of the most exciting young players over the last two years, due largely to his exploits for English county Sussex, Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League and Rajasthan Royals in the Indian premier League. He qualifies to represent England through his father and recently had his chances of eligibility
fast-tracked when the England and Wales Cricket Board relaxed their eligibility criteria last month. “He’s got the talent [to p l a y Te s t c r i c k e t ] , n o doubt. We’ve seen what he can do in white ball (cricket). I think he’ll definitely play a role for them in the World Cup – they’d be silly if he didn’t,” said Griffith. ”He’s on record that Test cricket is something he wants to play, he sees it as the pinnacle of what he can do. ”He’s a super talent … he’s hyper competitive. He wins games of cricket, so I think they’ll be looking at him.” Archer played for West Indies Under-19s but has turned his back on representing the senior side to focus on an England callup. He has been living in England since age 18, attempting to satisfy the eligibility requirements. When the ECB reduced their stipulation from a
Team Trans Pacific’s Toyota Alteeza will be one to watch in the upcoming drag race season.
seven-year wait to require persons to be resident 210 days a year in the country for three years, it served as an immediate boost for Acher’s World Cup chances. Sussex said he was likely to qualify at some point in March next year, with the World Cup bowling off May 30. Archer said earlier this month though he was thrilled by the prospect of representing England, he was not getting ahead of himself. “I’m a bit excited. However, that doesn’t guarantee I’ll be selected this year or for anything upcoming as yet,” he said. ”If it happens, it happens, but I don’t want to think too far down the line. I’ve still got lots of cricket to play even before then, so it makes no sense dwelling on that.” Already this year, Archer has been a stand-out for Hobart with five wickets in two matches as the franchise has made an unbeaten start to their campaign.
New head coach Haynes wants ‘pride and honour’ from Scorpions KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Newly-appointed Jamaica Scorpions interim head coach, Robert Haynes, says one of his goals this season will be to revive the sense of “pride and honour” in representing the franchise. The 54-year-old former Jamaica and West Indies legspinner on Thursday took over the reins of the side, and immediately spoke about the need to change the mindset of players.“Being here as interim coach is going to be difficult because you don’t have much time in terms of coaching,” Haynes told the Observer newspaper here. “But with my experience and with the players who have been involved for so long it’s to try to fine-tune things and to work on the mindset because that is where we are breaking down in the cricket.”These guys have to understand that they’re being paid as cricketers for Jamaica Scorpions, [so] they need to go out there and try to do their best, try to
perform, and try to understand that they need to represent with pride and honour.” Haynes takes over the side in the wake of the Scorpions’ humiliation in their opening match of the season in the second round. Set 107 to win by Barbados Pride at 3W’s Oval in Bridgetown, the visitors were dramatically bundled out 65 in just over a session, to lose by 41 runs inside three days. The defeat – plus several barren seasons – prompted the axing of Robert Samuels, who had overseen Scorpions for the past two campaigns. Haynes said he would be drawing on his successful past of having coached the senior team, and would also look to bring his passion to bear on the side. “It’s really a privilege and an honour to be involved once again at the national level in terms of the senior team,” he explained. “I coached Jamaica from 1988 for eight years and during that period I won five or
six cups [titles], so it was a great run then and coming back as interim coach I still have that love and passion.” He added: “I’ve been involved for the last two years with the Under-19s which has been a tremendous experience. There is focus on youth cricket [and] once you get that right it becomes easier at the first-class level.” Haynes’s contract runs only until the end of the season, at which point Scorpions will undertake a search for a permanent head coach – a post which Haynes said he would be looking to secure. “I’m interested [in the permanent job]. In life, once you get a taste of something and it’s going well [you want to continue]. It’s really exciting times in front of me and I’m looking forward to this challenge.” Scorpions host Windward Islands Volcanoes in the third round of the four-day championship in a day/night contest at Sabina Park next week.
Saturday December 29, 2018
GCA 2017/2018 year in review and what to expect in 2019 The Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) has managed to successfully run off a number of tournaments on 2018 and is looking forward to go a step further in the coming year. The GCA would like to express gratitude to its sponsors who made these competitions possible namely GISE, Star Party Rentals, Trophy Stall of Bourda Market, Ansa Mc Cal/Carib Beer, New Building Society, Noble House Sea Foods, Toucan Industries, Guyana Diabetic Association, V-Net Communications, GCA Tri State USA (Linden Fraser) and GCA Friends of Cricket. The GCA Competitions Committee must also be commended for their hard work which made the eight competitions for the year possible. The committee chairman Shaun Massiah has extended gratitude to the affiliated clubs and associates, the executives of each club, media, players, Umpires Council, Curators and supporters. “This lovely game of cricket cannot be played on a regular basis without their input and we have seen several players who have performed in our GCA competitions gone on by leaps and bounds to the highest level of cricket. Some of these players started from our peewee league and under 15 competitions. It was a challenged to get these competitions completed because of the unavailability of grounds. Nevertheless this year was better compared to previous year in terms of ground availability.” The competitions that were completed are; Carib Beer first division which was won by DCC, while GCC finished as the runner up. GISE, Star Party Rentals first division with DCC emerging as
Shaun Massiah the winner; Police placed second. NBS second division 40over which was taken by DCC - GCC placed second, Noble House Sea Foods second division which was won by GCC; Police took the runner up spot, Toucan U15 - DCC emerged as the champion team, while Transport SC finished second, GDA U17 DCC and Transport SC took the first and second places respectively, GCA/Tri State U19 - DCC took the title while Malteenoes SC finished in second place and V Net U13 which won taken by Transport SC; DCC took the runner up spot. Massiah added, “In looking into the new year 2019/2020 and onwards I would like to suggest the following.” “That all the club executives or Presidents conduct regular meetings and write to the Minister of Finance and Culture Youth and Sports asking for a waiver of their electricity and water bills, remembering that all sports clubs are non profit making organisations. Seek their help in employing curators/ grounds men whereas they can be added to their payroll. This can also be done for Coaches in the Schools and to rendered their assistance in acquiring much need machinery for their club such as Motorized Roller, Grass Cutter, rubberized covers and
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other equipment which can assist the ground staff. Suggest to the Ministry to include in their budget subventions for clubs to the tune of $1,000,000 per year since many clubs are struggling to keep afloat with the heavy bills, lunches, cricket balls, salaries and ground maintenance.” “We have sand in galore; several grounds need upgrading, one such is the Transport and General Sports Club Ground on Thomas Road, Thomas Lands. This ground has been unused for approximately 13 years while the drainage around DCC, Transport, Malteenoes SC and GCC needs cleaning. Grounds in the East Ruimveldt, Hadfield Street, South Ruimveldt, Sophia and the University of Guyana desperately need to be upgraded so cricket can be played through out Georgetown on a regular basis; these non functional grounds are hampering youths from being meaningfully occupied.” Massiah stated that 2018/ 2019 NBS 2nd division 40over is in progress with the semi finals and final set to be played under lights at DCC while an U19 competition will be contested on or just after the resumption of season. “We will also be hosting a1st division 2 days, 1st division 50 overs and a T/20 competition, our youth Festival of cricket: Under 13, 15, 17, and another under 19 competition with our partners from the USA Linden Fraser and Tri State as well as a second division 2 days and a T/20 Competition. There will also be club outreach/clinic, seminars and emphasis will be placed on female cricket.” Competitions are set to resume on January 12.
GFF/ExxonMobil International Futsal
Roraima Superstars shine during opening night’s play
Play between Caledonia and Linden All-stars on Thursday. The Guyana Football Federation (GFF)/ ExxonMobil International Futsal festival kicked off on Thursday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) with much subscription from the local fan base, a gathering which is not usually enjoyed by the usual events that are hosted at the indoor facility. After a long hiatus of competitive futsal at the venue, the eager fans were not disappointed on the night which saw good roundrobin match ups among all eight of the teams that are contesting the event. One of the three guest teams, Galaticos De Roraima that fittingly translates to Roraima Supertars, backed up their name and handed West Demerara All-stars a sound 11-3 thrashing. The Brazilians knocked
the ball around with the flair that is usually associated with their homeland and were scoring goals with much ease mainly through dribbles on the wing before squaring to unmarked players in the box. Raphael Lopes scored five of the winners’ goals, while Pomailsande DeJesus bagged a hat-trick with Jaoa DaCosta and Lucas Martins and Arckson Andreazza each netting one goal. A brace from Trayon Bobb and one from Dexroy Adams accounted for West Demerara’s consolation goals. In the feature game of the night, Georgetown All-stars registered a win for the locals with an emphatic 8-2 win over ZV All-stars of Suriname. Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson and Pernell
Schultz each netted braces, while Stephan McLean, Adrian Aaron, Ryan ‘Bam Bam’ Hackett and Phillip Rowley banged in one goal each in the win. Earlier in the night, Trinidad and Tobago’s (T&T) Morvant Caledonia United got past Linden All-stars 7-5 in the 12-goal thriller which the islanders led throughout, while Guyana All-stars had an easy 4-0 win over East Coast All Stars. The tournament has four playing days from December 27th to 30th (tomorrow) when the winning team will pocket $1.2 million, while the losing finalist will receive half that amount, third will get $300,000 and fourth $100,000. Admission to the Homestretch Avenue venue is $1,000. (Calvin Chapman story and photos)
Hinds makes donation of 22 basketballs to LABA and its clubs - Calls intervention of sport authorities to have unused basketball goals re-assigned to MSC
Nigel Hinds at left hands the basketballs to Bulls’ Shane Lewis.
Nigel Hinds, president of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation, has donated 222 basketballs to the Linden Amateur Basketball Association and its affiliated clubs as he called on the sport authorities to find a means of having the unused pair of basketball goals at the National Sports Commission’s National Gymnasium re-assigned for the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court. The LABA had requested the under utilised basketball
goals be placed at the Mackenzie Sports Club basketball court since it has been at the National Gymnasium without being used since 2016 and the recent crashing of one of the basketball backboards at the MSC has rendered the facility without the means of having competitions played. For this to happen Hinds opined that the NSC could and should accommodate this LABA request by having the goals relocated as it is for government to have the
nation’s interest to develop sport across Guyana and not only in the City. He felt that this is a real occasion where the sport authorities can really impact and show how much they care for the youths of the nation and render the necessary help for a good cause. He rubbished a report that the NSC says it does not own the MSC hard court, thus the goals cannot be placed there as Hinds felt strongly if the government sport authorities are interested in sport nation-
ally, they would find a way to accommodate this removal if they really have an interest transforming basketball in Guyana. The association, Hinds noted, had planned three tournaments for its end of year programmes which have been put on hold due to the fact that a replacement of the basketball goal remains in doubt; and the fact that attempts have not borne any positive change in the current situation facing the game in Linden.
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Saturday December 29, 2018
NBA roundup: Lillard, Blazers burn Warriors in OT The Portland Trail Blazers stole the ball from Stephen Curry when the Golden State Warriors could have run out the clock, and Damian Lillard nailed a 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds remaining Thursday night for a stunning 110-109 overtime victory in Oakland, Calif. Kevin Durant, completing a night on which he had a triple-double, misfired on a 12-footer at the final horn, allowing the Trail Blazers to win for the fifth time in their past seven games. Durant had 26 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, and Curry led the Warriors with 29 points. Jusuf Nurkic had a 27point, 12-rebound doubledouble for Portland, which got 24 points from CJ McCollum. Rockets 127, Celtics 113 James Harden matched his career high for 3-pointers, and Houston extended its homecourt winning streak to eight games with a victory over Boston. Harden scored a gamehigh 45 points, his eighth consecutive game with at least 35, and hit 9 of 18 3-point attempts to pace the Rockets to their eighth win in nine games overall. Clint Capela produced
Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) shoots the basketball against Portland Trail Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu (8) during the second quarter at Oracle Arena. (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports) a double-double (24 points, 18 rebounds) for the Rockets while Eric Gordon scored 20 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Kyrie Irving led the Celtics with 23 points and 11 assists. Marcus Morris added 19 points before being ejected with 4:38 to play fol-
lowing his second technical foul. Boston, which erased a 17-point lead before falling behind for good in the third quarter, lost for the fourth time in six games. Kings 117, Lakers 116 Bogdan Bogdanovic made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Sacramento a victory
over visiting Los Angeles, which was without an injured LeBron James. Bogdanovic scored 23 points, Willie Cauley-Stein added 19 and De’Aaron Fox had 15 points with 12 assists and nine rebounds as the Kings won their third consecutive home game. Sacra-
Dennis D’Andrade elected unopposed as Upper Corentyne Cricket Association President The Upper Corentyne Cricket Association (UCCA) on Sunday 23rd December, 2018, hosted its long awaited Annual General Meeting at the Riverton Hotel in Corriverton. Twenty nine delegates representing twenty four Clubs in the Sub-Association were present at the historic meeting. Dennis D’Andrade, who served as head of the Upper Corentyne Cricket Association Interim Management Committee for several years, was elected unopposed as President, while his other Executives were also elected unopposed. The others elected were former National Player Sydney Jackman as Vice President, Lakeram Latchman as Secretary, Deodat Persaud Thakurdeen as Treasurer and Lawrence Mentis as Asst Secretary/Treasurer. The election was conducted by Neil Rudder, President of the Mount Sinai Cricket Club and a retired Senior Public Servant in an open and transparent atmosphere. President of the Berbice Cricket Board Hilbert Foster congratulated the elected officials and urged them to work along with every Club in the Sub-Association, even those who might be critical of them. Real Cricket Development, the Berbice Cricket Board Presi-
mento took down the Lakers after trailing by 15 points with just under seven minutes remaining. Los Angeles’ Lonzo Ball nearly delivered a tripledouble, scoring 20 points and contributing 12 assists and nine rebounds. Kyle Kuzma scored 33 points, and Brandon Ingram added 22 for the Lakers, who were missing James (groin) for the first time this season as well as Rajon Rondo (hand). 76ers 114, Jazz 97 Joel Embiid scored 23 points, collected 15 rebounds, dished out six assists and blocked five shots to lead Philadelphia to a victory over Utah in Salt Lake City. Embiid finished a point shy of 3,000 for his three-year career before fouling out with 4:21 left. JJ Redick added 24 points and Jimmy Butler chipped in 18 points for the Sixers, who won for the third time in four games. Ben Simmons finished with a triple double: 13 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists. Philadelphia swept the season series with Utah for second straight season. Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points and Dante Exum
BCB starts early preparation for the 2019 Under-15 Inter-County Championship - 48 called to trials
The Elected UCCA Executives, President Dennis D’Andrade along with Vice President Sydney Jackman are seated. dent stated, would only be achieved when administrators are visionary, honest and hard working. Foster committed himself to raise over $1M worth of sponsorship in 2019 to host at least 6 tournaments, while assisting clubs with balls and white shirts during the year. D’Andrade in his acceptance speech, pledged to work even harder to lift the standard of cricket in the Upper Corentyne area. Priority
would be placed on organising more coaching programmes and hosting junior cricket in the area. Vice President Sydney Jackman provided a comprehensive report on the activities of the Upper Corentyne Cricket Association in 2018, which was approved by delegates present along with a detailed financial report. Among the tournaments played in the Sub-Association were Inter-
Primary School, Inter-Secondary School Under-19, InterClub Under-19, Ramnaresh Sarwan 40-Overs, Magic Moments 20/20, while Clubs were actively involved in Berbice Cricket Board organised Tournaments at the Under-15, Under-17, Under-19, Under-21, Second and First Division levels. The elected body would meet shortly to appoint other executives and committees.
added 20 off the bench to lead the Jazz. Rudy Gobert chipped in 17 points and 15 rebounds for his 30th doubledouble of the season. Utah shot just 38 percent from the field while allowing the Sixers to shoot 50 percent. Bucks 112, Knicks 96 Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 31 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, dished out eight assists and blocked four shots as host Milwaukee topped New York. Things got testy early in the fourth when Enes Kanter knocked Antetokounmpo to the floor with a forearm to the head at the 9:56 mark. The two players went face-to-face with Kanter being the aggressor while play continued on the other end. Play stopped, and Kanter was given a double technical and ejected. Antetokounmpo also was assessed a technical but stayed in the game. Khris Middleton finished with 25 points for the Bucks. Luke Kornet connected on 7 of 11 3-point attempts and led the Knicks with 23 points. New York’s Noah Vonleh recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. (Field Level Media)
The proactive Berbice Cricket Board would tomorrow start early preparation for the 2019 Inter-county Under-15 Championship, which is scheduled for early February, 2019. The Berbice Cricket Board has appointed Secretary of the Upper Corentyne Cricket Association Lakeram Latchman as the Manager of the Berbice Under-15 Team, while Leslie Solomon, who was the 2018 successful Coach, has been reappointed to the position. The Board in late November started its on the field preparation with the hosting of the 2nd Edition of the Mike’s Pharmacy Under-15 Tournament. The Berbice Cricket Board had earlier in the year, hosted the first editions which was won by Albion Community Centre Cricket Club who defeated Rose Hall Town Farfan & Mendes Under-15 by six runs in the Final at the Albion Cricket Ground. The following players are asked to report to the Albion Community Centre Ground tomorrow at 10:30hours with their cricket gears and white uniforms: Isaiah Thorne, Boodram
Lakeram, Baskar Dhanai, Kumar Deopersaud, Rampertab Ramnauth, Willon Semple, Naresh Veersammy, Altaf Balman, Sanjay Algoo, Tameshwar Mahadeo, Justin Megu, Reyad Rahaman, Veer Farhad, Rashad Gafoor, Matthew Pottaya, Andy Tageraj, Adbur Munroe, Tiquan Samuels, Damian Cecil, Travis Dookarran, Shazam Khan, Mark Ramahlo, Kelvin Samuels, Tuvraj Shaundeo, Shiv Harripersaud, Dwayne Williams, Tulseram Ramsarran, Savian Orokium, Devon Sobhai, Romeo Deonarine, Avoshkar Persaud, Ryan France, Christopher Deroop, Antonio Ramphal, Rawl Dindyal, H. Felix, Salim Khan, Raheem Khan, Tavindra Doobay, Tomesh Hemraj, Lakeraj Ramlekan, Saglain Mc Almont, Jevon Duncan, Tovsaunt Connely, Icjundo Rogers, Kenny Budhoo, Manoo Inasak, Nyron Hicks and Tameshwar Mangall. The squad would be reduced to 26 for the hosting of two trial matches each in January, 2019. The Berbice Cricket Board hopes to name its Inter-County Team by the 15th January, 2019, so that the appointed Manager and Coach can have adequate time to properly prepare the team.
Saturday December 29, 2018
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Kaieteur News
Latham shines for dominant New Bumrah barrage puts India in charge in Melbourne Zealand as big win beckons
New Zealand’s Tom Latham in action. (REUTERS/Paul Childs/file photo) (Reuters) - Tom Latham produced another masterful innings of patience and concentration as New Zealand turned the screw on Sri Lanka on the third day of the second test at Hagley Oval in Christchurch yesterday. The 26-year-old lefthanded opener was dismissed for 176 in the final over before tea, having batted for more than 9-1/2 hours, faced 370 balls and guided his side to a second-innings lead in excess of 500. Captain Kane Williamson declared the second innings about an hour after the interval on 585 for four, leaving the visitors needing to score a world record 660 to win the match and two-test series 1-0 after the first test ended in a damp draw. The highest fourth innings total to win a test was the 418-7 that West Indies achieved against Australia in Antigua in 2003. Sri Lanka’s victory target was made all the more diffi-
cult when opening batsmen Dimuth Karunaratne (nought) and Danushka Gunathilaka (four) were dismissed in the first two overs. Captain Dinesh Chandimal, who was on 14, and Kusal Mendis (six) saw them through to 24-2 at stumps and needing to score another 636 runs to win the match and series or bat two further days to save both. The hosts’ strong position was testament to Latham, who dominated their second innings, despite a fourth test century from Henry Nicholls (162 not out) and New Zealand’s fastest test halfcentury from 28 balls by Colin de Grandhomme (71 not out) as they chased quick runs after tea.Latham also scored a career-best 264 not out in New Zealand’s only innings in the first test in Wellington, batting for more than 11-1/2 hours and facing 489 deliveries.It has been a superb return to form for the 26-yearold, whose place in the side
while probably not under serious threat, had begun to be questioned after a lean run of form. Since he notched 177 against Bangladesh in early 2017 he had scored a total of 488 runs in 19 innings at an average of 27.11. In his three innings in the current series, he has scored 450 runs at an average of 225 and anchored several fruitful partnerships in New Zealand’s massive totals of 578 in the first game and 5854 in Christchurch. He brought up his eighth test century, and first on his home ground, when he cut Suranga Lakmal to the fence for his ninth boundary, but fell just short of a second double-ton, feathering a catch down the leg side to wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella. Latham was ably supported by Nicholls, who surpassed his previous highest test score of 145 not out shortly before the declaration.
MELBOURNE (Reuters) Rampaging paceman Jasprit Bumrah pummelled Australia with a six-wicket haul in the performance of his young career to put India in a commanding position on day three of the third test yesterday. Bowling fiery spells full of precision and guile, the 25year-old with his signature slingshot action helped rout Australia for 151 soon after tea in their reply to India’s declared first innings total of 443 for seven. However, Virat Kohli’s batsmen struggled as much as their Australian counterparts with seamer Pat Cummins taking four wickets in a lionhearted spell as India staggered to stumps at 54-5 on another stifling day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Despite the collapse, the tourists hold a 346-run lead with two days to play, and are in prime position to take a 2-1 series lead into the fourth and final test in Sydney. Debutant opener Mayank Agarwal was 28 not out at stumps with pugnacious wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant on six. “We lost a few more wickets than we wanted to but we’ll assess tomorrow morning and we’ll try to add as much as we can and then hopefully get them out,” Bumrah told reporters. Made to toil for two days in the field — and much of it in scorching heat — Australia’s over-worked bowlers were given only 66 overs of respite before they were pressed back into service following a dismal display by their batting team mates. Wicketkeeper-captain Tim Paine and opener Marcus Harris shared their side’s highest score of 22 on a day when 15 wickets tumbled, more than double the seven that fell through the opening
Bowl roundup: Wisconsin mauls Miami Jonathan Taylor rushed for 205 yards and a touchdown as Wisconsin routed Miami 35-3 on Thursday in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in New York. Wisconsin’s defense forced five turnovers, and the Badgers’ offense rushed for 333 yards. Taylor, the Doak Walker Award-winner as the nation’s top running back, averaged 7.6 yards per carry. For the season, Taylor rushed for 2,194 yards. For his two-year career, Taylor has 4,171 yards — an NCAA record for a sophomore — and 29 touchdowns. Wisconsin (8-5) won its fifth
consecutive bowl game, including two postseason wins in a row over Miami. The Badgers beat the Hurricanes 34-24 in the Orange Bowl last year. Miami (76) is 1-8 in its past nine bowl games. The Hurricanes benched quarterback N’Kosi Perry, who had led the team to back-to-back victories. Instead, coach Mark Richt started Malik Rosier, who completed just 5 of 12 passes for 46 yards with three interceptions. Perry entered late in the third quarter and went 1 of 5 for 2 yards with one interception. Baylor 45, Vanderbilt 38
Charlie Brewer threw for 384 yards and ran for a careerhigh 109 as the Bears beat the Commodores in the Texas Bowl at Houston. Baylor (7-6) controlled the tempo much of the evening, running 81 snaps for 668 yards (the Commodores had 62 and 573, respectively). Baylor didn’t punt until just under two minutes remained in the third quarter. With 1:50 left in the game and the score 38-38, Brewer hit wide receiver Marques Jones on a short hitch route, and Jones broke open down the right sideline for a 52-yard
touchdown for the winning points. For Vanderbilt (6-7), Ke’Shawn Vaughn (13 carries, 243 yards, two touchdowns) and Khari Blasingame (101 yards from scrimmage, three touchdowns) had big evenings. Duke 56, Temple 27 Daniel Jones threw five touchdown passes and the Blue Devils dominated the second half to defeat the Owls in the Independence Bowl at Shreveport, La. TJ Rahming had 240 yards on 12 receptions and caught two of the scoring passes (Continued on page 27)
Bumrah went on a roll and scythed through Australia’s middle and lower order ©Getty Images two days. Bumrah’s haul of 6-33 was the best ever recorded by an Indian bowler at the MCG, and he removed all four Australian batsmen who made starts, while cleaning up the last three wickets for six runs after tea. Having softened up Harris late on day two by rapping his helmet with a nasty delivery, Bumrah had the opener dismissed with a desperate hook that was swallowed by Ishant Sharma at short leg. JADEJA JOY He left Australia in huge trouble at 89-4 at lunch, trapping Shaun Marsh for 19 with the last ball of the session, a slower full toss that hammered into the lefthander’s pads. Bowling Travis Head for 20 after the interval, Bumrah returned later to rattle through the tail. Ravindra Jadeja made a successful return in his first appearance in the series, claiming 2-45 including the wickets of Usman Khawaja for 21 and recalled all-rounder Mitchell Marsh for nine. Having tormented the home batsmen with a slew of deliveries that bounced and spun viciously out of a foot-
mark, the wily left-arm spinner will look forward to facing Australia’s troubled parade of left-handers again. Tim Paine’s side were dismissed 93 runs short of making India bat again, but captain Kohli declined to enforce the follow-on and sent Australia back into the field. Cummins, though, gave home fans in the sparse crowd some late cheer, taking 4-10 in an extraordinary sixover spell that included dismissing Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara for ducks in near-identical fashion, both chipping to Harris at leg gully. Even with some rain forecast over the final two days, Australia’s hopes of staving off a comprehensive defeat appear bleak. Cummins, however, was refusing to rule out a fairytale. “You never know if we knock them over early,” he said. “The wicket’s still pretty good. We’ve seen a lot of matches here go right to the end of fifth days. You never know.” Scores: India 7 for 443 dec and 5 for 54 (Agarwal 28*, Cummins 4-10) lead Australia 151 (Bumrah 6-33) by 346 runs.
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Saturday December 29, 2018
Kaieteur News
Not enough focus on female cricket By Sean Devers At a time when the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) is the only Board that organises hard ball club cricket for females, the GCB schedules female tournaments without preparing the ladies resulting in substandard competitions especially at youth level. The Inter-County players from Demerara play in female softball teams since there are no female hard ball competitions at Club or school level. The sub Associations and the Education Ministry are also guilty of not paying enough attention to the development of female hard ball cricket. The U-17 T20 Female Franchise League was a good initiative and although the teams lacked proper preparation and some of Laws of Cricket were not adhered to, there were positives from the tournament. The League was won by Essequibo and while nobody scored a 50 or took a five-wicket haul everyone contributed with their only loss being to West Demerara and that loss in the super-over, was the only Tie in the tournament. Lisa Charles, Annalisa D’Aguiar, Lilitha Patterson, Divani Ross, Navika Narine, Marcia Anthony, Lavina Ragbeer and Onika Stoley all contributed in a team effort. Lower Corentyne only lost to Essequibo and finished second as 14-year-old Canje Secondary School’s Navina Ramnauth looked the best off-spinner on show and got support from Anissa Samaroo, while Ashmini Munisar and Skipper Lafano Gilgeous batted well. National U-18 Tennis Champion, 17-year-old Afrucia Gentle of Mae’s was the MVP of the League. Gentle began with 55 not out at
- ‘Pelting’ & not adhering to Laws marred schools tourney Afruka Gentle
Erva Giddings
Navina Ramnauth Albion and followed it up with scores of 89 run out, 109 not out, 13 and 56 for an aggregate of 322 at an Average of 107.33. The powerfully built Gentle captured 10 wickets with her left-arm spin and shared in useful opening stands with Dalancy Seecharran, while National U-15 Footballer Shamaya Daniels offered support in a ‘three-member’ team. East Coast’s Shemika Edwards (51) was the other batter to score a half-century while Demerara’s Buckam, who took 5-18 against West Berbice and was the leading wicket-taker with 15 victims and along with Lower Corentyne’s Ramnauth who had 5-8 in the final round against GT, were the only
bowlers with five-wicket hauls. The best players from this tournament should be worked on with the aim of making their U-19 County teams. Although providing coloured uniforms, bats, pads and gloves, the League was hastily arranged without Coaches sent into the schools to work with players resulting in the strongest sides not being selected. Qualified Umpires were not appointed by the GCB and Coaches used as Umpires which resulted in the ‘no-ball’ Law for illegal actions and for balls bouncing more than twice in addition to the ‘time out’ law not being adhered to, while the playing conditions for ‘wides’ were changed in the middle of the tour-
Demerara team
nament with wides being scored as two runs and not re-bowled. Next year the GCB should collaborate with the Education Ministry to send Coaches to schools before picking the best players from each school for the Franchise teams. In the Female U-19 Competition Demerara were declared champions after defeating Berbice and President’s XI on February 17 & 18. Despite going down to the President’s XI by one run in the final game, Demerara emerged champions of the female Inter County U19 T20 tournament. The President’s XI fell for 38 in 17 overs with Lavern Welcome and Mandy Mangru taking two wickets each for Demerara who were dis-
missed for 37. Yougeeta Ballkishun made 11 and Mangru nine. Kessica Munroe grabbed 4-11, Lafona Gilgeous 2-10 and Grimmond 2-3. Demerara beat Berbice by 15 runs in the first match to win the tournament on a better net run rate. The 50 overs format was won by defending champions Berbice (8) defeating Essequibo (0) and Demerara (4). Led by a brilliant all-round performance from 32 year-old left-arm pacer Erva Giddings, Defending Champions Berbice got their 2018 campaign off to a winning start when they crushed Essequibo by 160 runs at Lusignan in a game reduced to 24 overs. Giddings scored an unbeaten 45 before returning to take 5-3 with her left-arm pace to crown a fine allrounder display on a slow track. An undefeated 50 from 24year-old National batter Ketana Mentore shared in an unfinished 111-run sixth wicket stand with Giddings as they joined forces with Berbice on 62-5. Opener Sheneta Grimmond chipped in with 25 to rally them to 173-5 in 24 overs. West Indies Pacer Tremayne Smartt, who started the Essequibo slide, captured 4-23 as Essequibo included four players from the East Coast and were bowled out for 13 as eight batters failed to score. In 2017 at Everest against the same opposition, Essequibo were routed for an embarrassing 15 from 37 balls to set the record for lowest total in Female Senior Inter-County Cricket and this year they sank to an all-time low. Essequibo were bundled out for a paltry 38 in their first game against Demerara at Bourda and their performance at this level keeps plunging lower and lower with each match. Demerara were beaten by Berbice in the deciding game before the T/20 Competition was cancelled due to the inclement weather.
Saturday December 29, 2018
Kaieteur News
PAGE 33
Review 2018 Regional Super50
Jaguars Bridesmaids once again in B’dos in October - After failing to clear semi-final hurdle in February By Sean Devers
G
uyana’s 10th 50over title and first since 2005, eluded them twice in one year although they reached the semi-final stage on both occasions. The first Super50 was played in Antigua from January 31, 2018 with Leon Johnson hoping to join Clive Lloyd (1983) and Roger Harper (1997) as Guyana Captains to win the double. Kent and the United States were joined by Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, the Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, the Windward Islands and the Combined Campuses and Colleges. Barbados and the Windward Islands from Group A, and Guyana and Kent from Group B progressed to the semifinals. In the first semi-final, Barbados beat Kent by 13 runs. In the second semi-final the Windward Islands beat Guyana by 52 runs, with Tyrone Theophile scoring his first 50-over century despite a 72-run eight wicket stand between Veerasammy Permaul (37) and Sherfane Rutherford who was run out for 49. The pair joined forces with the Jaguars at 108-7 chasing a revised target of 284 from 47 overs. Shiv Chanderpaul, 38 with four fours and a six, Anthony Bramble (27) and Chris Barnwell (25) all wasted starts. Off-spinner Raamal Lewis had 3-56 as the Windwards reached 286-7. The Windward Islands won the tournament, beating the defending champions
Barbados in the final. Barnwell, a replacement for Kemo Paul, was an instant success with 89 against the Leewards in the first round and 56 against Jamaica in his 215 runs from six innings. He also had 4-35 in the return game against the USA. Shimron Hetymer, who scored 103 against USA, only played seven matches due to Windies duties, was Guyana’s leading run scorer with 284 runs with a ton and a fifty. Johnson had two fifties including a 99 when he was run out against the Leewards in his 189 runs from eight innings, while Chanderpaul Hemraj had two while Shiv Chanderpaul was the other Guyanese to score a fifty. When Shiv batted with Tagenarine in the semi-final it was the first time that a father/son pair had batted together in a Regional 50over game.Devendra Bishoo (14), Kemo Paul (13), Permaul (11) and Romario Shepherd (11) were Guyana’s leading bowlers. In the October Super50, the Jaguars changed the positivity they showed throughout the tournament to a depressing dose of ultracautious batting in the Final in Barbados. Jaguars were again condemned to Bridesmaid when CCC Marooners, in their second final, won their first title with a six-wicket victory to extend Guyana’s title drought to 14 years. This was Guyana’s 17th Final and first since Red Force bowled them out for 65 in 2015. Between 1980 and 2005 Guyana won nine titles but none since they beat Barbados at Bourda in 2005.
Clinton Pestano
not out to rediscover his form with a second half-century in his last 14 innings. He put on 119 for the second wicket with the gritty opener Dean Elgar (50) to lay the platform for the win, though both survived early scares as Pakistan’s seamers created immense pressure on a wicket that showed both sideways movement and variable
Shimron Hetymer
Christopher Barnwell. The 22-year-old Tagenarine Chanderpaul scored a subdued 56 from 95 balls with four boundaries and shared in four partnerships of over 24 but none higher than 37. Chanderpaul’s maiden 50 included 58 dot balls but his only support came from Trevon Griffith (20) and Raymon Reifer whose 38 took his tally to 323. A combination of cautious batting, a sluggish track and controlled bowling resulted in Jaguars falling for 204 in 49.1 overs after facing 157 dot balls. Jermaine Levy (4-43) and Skipper Carlos Braithwaite (3-42) bowled well for CCC who reached 205-4 in 37.4 overs. CCC were led by a shotfilled 109 opening stand between Kyle Corbin (72) and Kjorn Ottly (45). Braithwaite chipped in with an unbeaten 30. Trinidad Red Force had undoubtedly the strongest team on paper in Zone ‘A’ of the tournament but Guyana Jaguars, who topped the zone, had the best ‘team’, the only bowler with a hat-trick and arguably the best Captain. Jaguars had three batsmen in the top six runscorers and two among the six wicket-takers. The Jaguars were without 21-year-old batting sensation Shimron Hetymer,
Amla finds form as South Africa coast to first test win v Pakistan PRETORIA (Reuters) Hashim Amla struck an unbeaten half-century as South Africa brushed aside some early alarms to record a six wicket victory over Pakistan on day three of the first test at Centurion Park yesterday. Chasing a modest 149 to win in testing batting conditions, Amla took his side home shortly before tea on 63
Chanderpaul Hemraj
bounce. Starting their second innings chase under gloomy skies after overnight rain, South Africa opener Aiden Markram was trapped leg before wicket by Hasan Ali (1-39) for a duck before the home side had a run on the board. Seamer Shaheen Afridi (1-53) induced the edge that (Continued on page 27)
Kemo Paul and Devendra Bishoo for the entire tournament and Guyana’s 30th ODI player Chanderpaul Hemraj, for the last five games. The Jaguars looked the best prepared and fittest team and finished with 29 points after losing their first game. Their dominance was demonstrated by them winning all five of their games with a bonus point. Jaguars (1) and Red Force (2) qualified for the semis in Barbados on October 25 & 26.Chris Barnwell scored 255 runs with two half-centuries (61 not out & 99 not out) and was only behind Red Forces’ Nicholas Pooran (283) and Canada’s Naveet Dhaliwal (271) on runs aggregate in the Trinidad zone. Opener Trevon Griffith (207 runs), Raymond Reifer (217 runs), while Sherfane Rutherford (121) Hemraj (141) and Skipper Leon Johnson (107), reached 100 runs. Hemraj played three games before leaving for the ODI series in India and scored an unbeaten 103.
The Jaguars’ bowling was very consistent and was backed up by good fielding with Jamaican off-spinner Ramaal Lewis finishing with the third most wickets (12) behind Canada’s Romesh Don (17) and Windies ‘B’ Larry Edwards (13). Berbician pacer Clinton Pestano proved to be one of the ‘finds’ of the tournament, bowling with immaculate control, good pace and bothway movement. Only Don, among the pacers had more wickets than Pestano’s 11 and two washed out games, possibly robbed him the opportunity of passing Don’s wickets. One of the highlights of the tournament was Pestano’s hat-trick: He removed Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo in three balls to become the first Guyanese to claim a ‘50over’ hat-trick and the fifth bowler to do so. Rajendra Dhanraj (1996), Anthony Martin, Pollard and Sunil Narine were the others to do it. Reifer (5 wkts) proved his all-round ability, while Veerasammy Permaul (8),
Ricardo Adams (4) and Romario Shepherd (5) also bowled well for the Jaguars, were astutely led by Johnson. The zone matches were set in the middle of the rainy season and was marred by adverse weather which escalated into the worst flood in T&T in 50-years resulting in five games being washed out including the last two rounds. U-19 foursome Ashmead Nedd, Kevin Umrou, Sachin Singh and Kevlon Anderson were selected for a Windies U-19 Camp after Guyana, who finished third in the 3day format and won regional 50-over U-19 tournament for the sixth consecutive year. Barbados won both the Regional U-15 and U-17 tournaments. It was announced at the GCB Awards Ceremony that National Coach Esuan Crandon had been selected as Assistant Coach to the Windies senior team and the LBI facility on the East Coast would be upgraded to an International venue with lights being installed during the second phase of work.
rt o p S Linden All-stars’ Custodian Travis Bess, spent a lot of time on the floor after conceding seven goals in his team’s lost to Caledonia on Thursday.
Roraima’s Andreazza about to score one his three goals on Thursday against West Dem All-stars.
GFF/ExxonMobil International Futsal
Roraima Superstars shine during opening night’s play
West Dem. All-stars (on the ball) created a few opportunities of their own but lacked the finishing touch.
Hinds makes donation of 22 Endurance series to kick basketballs to LABA and its clubs start GMRSC calendar - Calls intervention of sport authorities to have unused basketball goals re-assigned to MSC
- Guyana to have first Rally racing event in June
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