Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Saturday February 26, 2022

Kaieteur News

Saturday February 26, 2022

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Man drowns before Opposition has no experts in oil and fulfilling dream gas sector - Conference Organisers of owning farm I

The decomposing body of an ambitious Linden man, who reportedly drowned, was on Monday discovered in the Puruni River at Suewanda Backdam, Region Seven. The deceased has been identified as 32-year-old Marlon McAlmont called “Tattoo Man” of One Mile Wismar, Linden, Region 10. McAlmont’s dream of owning a large-scale farm ended sometime between February 18 and 21, 2022, while he was in the backdam accumulating funds to bring it to fruition. According to police, McAlmont was operating a small dredging pump in the backdam, along with two other men. The other men were reportedly the last to see him alive on Friday last. It was revealed that they left the camp and went to work in the area where the dredge is located, leaving McAlmont behind since he told them that he was too intoxicated to work. They stated that upon their return to the camp, the Lindener was not there but the clothes they left him in and freshly caught fish in a bucket were there. The two men carried out a search of the surrounding area and the nearby river but McAlmont was nowhere to be seen. However, on Monday, while carrying out another round of searching, McAlmont’s decomposing body was found afloat and bloated, stuck between some branches in the Suewanda Creek. When the police arrived,

The deceased, Marlon McAlmont they confirmed that the body was in an advanced state of decomposition with what appeared to be fish bites about it. It is suspected that McAlmont drowned. An investigation has been launched. According to reports reaching this newspaper, arrangements are being made for the body to be brought out to Georgetown w h er e a p o s t mo r tem examination will be conducted. On Friday, McAlmont’s m o t h e r, P a s t o r D a w n McAlmont, in an invited comment to this publication reflected on her son’s life and stated “That is what caused me to be so composed and is what will take me on.” He was described as a “good person” and “someone loving” who always tried to ensure that his mother was okay. McAlmont was “very skilled with his hands” and had a passion for art which brought about his nickname – Tattoo Man. His mother recounted her last conversation with him centered on his plans to start a large-scale farm when he returned from the interior.

f opposition can prove that they have an expert in any area that relates to Guyana’s emerging oil and gas sector, only then, will one of them be granted the opportunity to become a panelist at Guyana’s next energy conference and business conference. This is according Alex Graham, Communications Director of the International Energy Conference and Expo Guyana 2022 (IECE). Graham said this while speaking at a press conference held on Thursday at the Marriott Hotel, located in Kingston Guyana. The press conference was centered around plans for n e x t y e a r ’s e n e rg y conference scheduled to commence on February, 14 and end on the 17 of that same month. Reporters attending the press conference questioned the reasons why the organizers of the event did not invite a representative/s from the political opposition, a Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), such as a point person or a shadow minister of the oil and gas sector, to be one of the panelists or speakers at the recently concluded Guyana Energy Conference, 2022. Graham responded that his team was not responsible for appointing persons to be part of the panel, but related that the move was not a

political one. According to the Communications Director, the speakers at the event were selected based on certain criteria and one of them was that the speaker must be a specialist in a particular area of the sector. “You are not selected to be a panelist because you are a member of the opposition or a parliamentarian. You are selected because you are a specialist in a particular area,” Graham told the media. He continued, that all of the panelist who were at the event, were there because of a “specialism” in a particular area (relating to the oil and gas sector).

“We were not part of the team that selected anyone on the panel but I am confident that they did choose people with certain expertise; you either have to have certain expertise, or you either have to be working in the area right now or you have to have to have a track record in the area. Those are the criteria for selecting a panelist not politics”, said Graham. When asked, whether being a point person for opposition in the oil and sector, such as David Patterson, could make them eligible for selection, Graham’s response was, “point person in the

opposition does not make you a specialist. And if you can prove to me that he is an expert in any of the areas that were discussed (at the conference) then I will let the people know that we have someone here who can speak on this”. Patterson has in the past, criticized government’s general approach to the oil and gas sector with many deals made, shrouded in secrecy and has also questioned the price tag attached to the cost of the gas to shore project and its viability. Questions were also raised about the impact it can have on the environment.

Taxi driver robbed by bandits carrying baby, succumbs Insaf Zakir, a taxi driver who was on Monday last robbed by bandits carrying a b a b y, h a s r e p o r t e d l y succumbed to stab wounds he sustained to the chest during the ordeal. Zakir, also known as Gaddaffi, was attacked in his car around 21:30hrs at Crane on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD) by passengers he picked up at the Tuschen car park, on the East Bank of Essequibo (EBE). Kaieteur News was reliably informed that Zakir passed away the following (Continued on page 12)

Insaf Zakir, the taxi driver who succumbed to his injuries.

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Kaieteur News

Saturday February 26, 2022

KAIETEUR NEWS Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL-TEL: 624-6456 Editor: SHARMAIN GRAINGER Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

EDITORIAL

Why don’t we have well surveillance?

W

e need well surveillance over those production platforms, and we need it round-the-clock. Surveillance that is sophisticated, and which offers the degree of confidence that whatever Exxon is doing out there, we are right on top of them. We do not know what is happening out there, nowhere as much as we should know. Moreover, Exxon should not be trusted, because of the revealing record of what it has done elsewhere. What Exxon did was devious and dangerous. It is also criminal and which we will pinpoint later. It is why, therefore, uninterrupted surveillance should not be delayed much longer, not be resisted by any Guyanese, including political leaders, their supporters, and the bureaucrats they have placed in positions of substantial oversight. Surveillance cameras keep us informed, help us to reconcile what Exxon says and report it has done with our owned and controlled electronic surveillance tools and equipment. To conduct our oil business, manage our risks, and husband our oil wealth sensibly, we must have surveillance cameras, and at the earliest opportunity. A lookback into how Exxon has dealt with others should alert as well as alarm us, of how this American oil juggernaut uses its vast resources to mislead and endanger, and to trick and cheat. Because it is so wily, it doesn’t get caught often, but as the following examples confirm it does fall afoul of the law. In 1990, there was a heating oil spill from Exxon’s Bayway facility, into the Arthur Kill channel, that separates Staten Island, New York from New Jersey. According to reports, the first reaction of Exxon was to minimise the quantity of the leak, then “stonewall” investigating authorities (“Exxon ‘stonewalling’ on spill, New Jersey aide says” – New York Times, January 6, 1990). New Jersey’s Governor Thomas H. Kean was reportedly “angry and upset” about how Exxon’s people were responding to the spill, and ordered a probe for possible criminal violations, raising the ante on the company. Initially, Exxon first claimed that only 5,000 gallons of heating oil had leaked, then came closer to the truth with the belated admission that it was not 5,000 gallons, but some 500,000 gallons. It ended up being 569,000 gallons of heating oil that was spilled, but which the company officials first attempted to seriously minimise, only to be forced by gathering storms to level. The point for Guyana’s leaders, environmental observers, and Guyanese citizens is that Exxon’s people are long practiced in the arts of concealment of dangers, truths, and circumstances that give negative portrayals of company and leaders. Part of the mythology and mystique that the company crafted for itself is that “accidents are impossible, because no man makes mistakes, only a malfunctioning system.” Exxon is a company that must be watched on every move that it makes both on land and offshore, especially the latter. But there is still another side to Exxon, which underscores the need for unending vigilance regarding everything the company does, since it cannot be trusted, as the record attests. In the instance of an oil trader by the name of Chuck Hamel, Exxon’s people were not too low in tricking him first with deviousness, then in cheating him through what could only be rightly termed as nothing less than criminal. When Hamel disclosed that Exxon and others were deliberately adding water to the crude from the Alyeska pipeline, they decided to attack him by invading his home, secretly obtaining his phone records, and recording his phone conversations, which were all exposed. Worse still, Hamel had a lease on a plot in the rich Alaskan North Slope, which Exxon’s people assured him had no oil reserves. He sold his holdings to Exxon cheaply, only for the company to start producing 158,000 barrels per day from the same land. Exxon was forced to settle with him later. These examples emphasize the corporate deceiver Exxon is and how it cheats others. Guyanese, it should be clear why we must watch Exxon’s operations with round-the-clock surveillance, for it will lie to us, trick us, and rob us some more.

A travesty of diplomatic protocols DEAR EDITOR, On each occasion that I think people in this government can’t embarrass this country and its citizens more with the unthinking and careless, I am proven wrong. At the most trying of times, government representatives are exemplars of the worst in us with the untimely, the undignified, and the unbelieving. The star government performer in this instance was Guyana’s Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hugh Todd. I understand that there is/ was a picture of the Foreign Minister meeting with the Russian Ambassador, and what a spectacle it was, a travesty of diplomatic protocols, in total ignorance and disdain for the seriousness of the moment. The moment was of invasion and shelling from numerous points, and of war waged with vigor and power, in furtherance of a broadening nationalist vision, compliments of Vlad(imir) the Invader, the warrior, the aggressor. In such an hour of supreme agony for the people of Ukraine, there was Guyana’s Foreign Minister engaging in what I have no choice but to term the surreal.

If this is not an authentic picture, then I owe the Foreign Minister an apology, without qualification. But the evidence abounding in public is of our own dear Foreign Minister smiling, glad handing, backslapping, and hugging the Russian Ambassador. I shrank, so cannot attest to whether there was any kissing. Though admittedly green in the gills for this most visible and vital of positions (more on this another time involving other PPPC selections), it was appalling how naïve and thoughtless, even amateur, the Hon. Foreign Minister of Guyana came across. There could not have been a more poignant, a more dangerous, moment than that of war and its perils to a nation’s sovereignty and the safety of its citizens. That is the plight of Ukrainians before the assembled might of the old KGB man, now headman of the Russia that he dreams of restoring. Editor, even a layman like me, totally unschooled in the protocols of diplomatic etiquette and associated comportment, would conduct myself with more of the kind of aloofness and austerity

A smiling Foreign Affairs Minister, Hugh Todd as he greets the Russian Ambassador to Guyana Alexander Kurmaz that the occasion of war demanded. The Russian Ambassador had to have been summoned and made to feel a degree of chilliness that should bring back memories of Siberia in the throes of deepest winter. Not this utter foolishness of hugging and handshaking and good ole time hobnobbing, as though all was well with the world, especially as the Russians see it. The Ambassador had to be called to the carpet (I would refrain from rolling him in it), and read the riot act in

the coldest of terms. It cannot be a friendly visit, a jovial exchange, between friendly relations. Not with what was unleashed, and what was happening in Ukraine. It didn’t send the right message to Ukrainians, or to other less impacted watchers. It is at times like these that I recognise how this country has gone to hell in a hand basket, how leaders on steroids put the callow and clueless where they don’t belong. Sincerely, GHK Lall

How can anyone or any entity with a modicum of decency support such an event titled ‘Stink and Dutty’ DEAR EDITOR, Recent events in our Nation have caused me to remember my mother (deceased in 2000). I remember her going to purchase meat at a stall in Bourda Market. The butcher in an attempt at being friendly greeted her with the words “ morning sweetheart”. She promptly moved to the next stall. Why? She was not his “sweetheart” and she disliked being

addressed that way. But in 2022 we have persons revelling in being ‘ stink and dutty’! Really? How can anyone or any entity with a modicum of decency and decorum support or endorse such an event? Is this how we see ourselves as a Nation 52 years after becoming a Republic? I was so mystified (or rather horrified) by that caption that I googled it to find out some more. I discovered

that “Stink and Dutty” is the name of a song released in 2013 by an artiste called Blaxx. I decided to listen to the song and here are some of the words that I uncovered. “I got a attitude problem”, “ Carnival will see me wus behaviour”, “ Move outta me way because ah stink and dutty”, “messing up the whole place because ah stink and dutty”, “ pure rum and bacchanal”. This is what we want to

identify with? Lord help us! Lord help our offspring! Another issue is that such large events make a mockery of the Covid-19 protocols! How could there possibly be social distancing at such events? But the (no doubt) sweet, clean and sanitised mask- wearing unvaccinated, are denied entry into the sweet, clean sanitized banks! We couldn’t be serious!! Regards Claudia Heywood

The Garden City – Re-Infrastructure DEAR EDITOR One does not readily recall the Ministries of Local Government and Regional Development and Public Works being substantively monitors of the state of the Capital City of Georgetown, of which they are prominent citizens. Hopefully, the former understands that the Mayor & City Council is an area of Local Government for which it has active responsibility; while the latter would be supportive in monitoring the state of infrastructure in the communities which make up Georgetown. Incidentally one is not certain which of the

three agencies should be responsible for street signage in say, Sophia, Prashad Nagar, Blygezight Gardens these past decades. Critically however, all the parties should give priority to the restoration of the former ‘Garden City’, with which their leaders may be unfamiliar; but should not be too embarrassed to ask around. One thing they would discover is that there used to be a ‘third’ market located in the very ‘New Market Street’ within a block from Water Street. It is in this regard that the parties are invited to relieve the unsightful and

disorganised vending which takes place in the heart of the city – much to the bemusement and disenchantment of the ‘oil and gas’ barons, amongst other aspirant foreign citizens. So this submission is made for urgent consideration to be given to designing and constructing an aesthetic modern market that would in turn inspire a higher and more hygienic standard of ‘vending’ by these groups of creative entrepreneurs – to be called ‘The Garden City Market’ which goes with all the vegetables and fruits that are sold and bought; and related

materials. One effect will obviously be the restoration of accommodation for pedestrians, and possibly vehicle parking so desperately needed, perhaps with some trees where feasible. Hopefully such a project can be given priority within the mythically oversized ‘infrastructure’ programme, while yielding financial returns to the City Council. The whole concept must be one for intensive discussion with the principals i.e., the vendors, who might know what they want and where. Additionally (Continued on page 6)

Saturday February 26, 2022

We don’t need the greedy DEAR EDITOR, People have short and convenient memories when it serves their interests. Those who are showing themselves to be greedy and only about wealth are criticising those who are trying to prevent a serious problem from occurring. How quickly we forget how swiftly things can change. The Guyanese people will find it difficult to forgive those who bankrupt the country and ruin the beauty we enjoyed when we had less and were contented to be happy with good health. No one wants a corrupt government filled with selfish, power-hungry and arrogant leaders. Nor does anyone care to have a bunch of riggers

take over by forcefully grabbing power. Living under a dictatorship is not a path to prosperity for all. Greed and the greedy are starting to cause neglect for what is necessary and important. Criticisms when constructive are instructional, but greed is blinding to the needs of the people. Nice roads and bridges, over payment for energy, and wasteful luxurious investments cannot and should not take the place of simply ensuring that when the rain falls or the tide is high that the place doesn’t flood. That is the simple truth that continues to be neglected. People will remember their homes being flooded before thinking of a pipeline or a hy-

dropower plant that they cannot see. If the house is flooded, what good will the electricity be. It is a safety hazard during a flood. I guess if they do make it safe to have electricity while the place is flooded it will help everyone see all the nasty and unhealthy water from the unclean drainage system that is ruining everyone’s home during a flood. Those who crawl before they walk always have a better understanding of their surroundings. Be humble and the populace will help you avoid the pitfalls of greed i.e. if we truly want a beautiful Guyana that is a tropical paradise. Best regards, Mr. Jamil Changlee

Removal of personal income tax would address oil equity issue DEAR EDITOR, The announcement by the People’s National Congress Reform on Republic Day that it is proposing the removal of income tax was quite a revelation and possibly one of the most enlightened proposals for sharing Guyana’s oil wealth. The first question is can the country afford it? The answer is a resounding yes. Revenues from personal income tax in 2021 were $42.9B or US$204M. This year Guyana is expected to receive 13 lifts of crude from the two FPSOs as part of the Profit Sharing Agreement. Fortuitously it comes at a time when crude prices are high and indeed they hit over US$100 per barrel yesterday due to tensions over Ukraine. While it is hard to predict prices for the rest of the year, the general consensus is that demand for oil will be strong and that supplies will remain

tight, so a price over $80 per barrel is not an unreasonable forecast. Since each lift for Guyana is made up of a million barrels that would be $80M per lift making a total for the year of around $1.04B, plus the nominal 2% royalty. So three of those projected 13 lifts, worth $240M, would easily cover the foregone personal income taxes. The employed have for years been carrying the burden of taxes while corporations have either enjoyed concessions or found ways to underpay or simply not pay. Therefore it seems only fair that now is the time for this to be lifted from their backs and for them to see an immediate improvement in

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their financial circumstances. I would like to hear a more detailed proposal from the PNCR and might suggest that this be limited to wages under $500,000 per month so as to avoid business owners giving themselves large salaries (Continued on page 6)

PSC supports swift operationalisation of the Local Content Secretariat DEAR EDITOR The Private Sector Commission (PSC) supports the swift operationalization of the Local Content Secretariat and the relevant mechanisms that facilitates the execution of its mandate. The Commission is pleased that the Registration Portal was launched last Tuesday and note that companies have already been accessing the registration process. The PSC had nominated Mr. Timothy Tucker, the Chairman of the PSC’s SubCommittee on Economics and Finance as its representative to the Multi-Stakeholder

Committee. The Commission has also established a Local Content Advisory Group, chaired by Mr. Shyam Nokta and which includes Mr. Paul Cheong, Chairman of the PSC, Mr. Timothy Tucker, President of the GCCI, Mr. Richard Rambarran, Executive Director of GCCI, Mr. Joel Bhagwandin, Chairman of the AMCHAM Local Content Committee, Ms. Mellissa Varswyk Director at AMCHAM, and Director at Women in Oil & Gas Guyana. The Advisory Group will coordinate and advance the lo-

cal content efforts of the PSC and its member organizations and businesses. The PSC will continue to work in close coordination with the Government of Guyana, the Oil & Gas Operators, The Centre for Local Business Development, Businesses, and other Stakeholders in order to train and educate the Guyanese labour force to take full advantage of the local content opportunities. Regards Onicka Jones (Ms.) Public Relations OfficerPrivate Sector Commission of Guyana Ltd

GAWU will not shirk its responsibilities DEAR EDITOR, The GAWU believes it is necessary to offer its response to Mr. Robin Singh’s letter which appeared in the February 25, 2022, editions of the Stabroek News, Guyana Times and Guyana Chronicle. In his missive, Mr. Singh has apparently decided to lump us with what he deems the “the usual nattering nabobs of nihilism”. While we admire the eloquent use of language, we fail to see how our expressions places us in

that group. It appears to us, Mr. Singh may have misinterpreted our statement in respect to the recently announced arrangements in respect of the Enmore packaging plant. We simply asked what would have been the faith of the employees of the plant. We fail to see how that could have been construed as throwing a wet blanket on the initiative. Of course, following our statement some clarity has been provided. The GAWU, for the

record, is not averse to any development in the interest of our people. We welcome initiatives which create decent jobs for our Guyanese brothers and sisters. We were therefore disheartened to note the apparent attempt to malign our character. We hasten to remind that our Union has a legal obligation to our members. We will not shirk this responsibility regardless of the ‘lucre’ as Mr. Singh puts it. Yours faithfully, Seepaul Narine President, GAWU

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Removal of personal income tax... From page 5 in order to lower their corporation taxes. Another benefit would be a reduction in the workload of the Guyana Revenue Authority which could

Saturday February 26, 2022

Kaieteur News

then increase efforts to recoup taxes elsewhere. It is something worthy of a national debate as it might be an elegant and simple way of addressing what is the

most important topic in our society today. How will the average man and woman benefit from this oil wealth? Yours sincerely Lynn Nicholas

Reckless decisions with devastating consequences DEAR EDITOR There was no lifeguard on duty (News Room Feb 24), then the pool should have been closed to the public, in the drowning teen incident at the resort. Likewise the teen who could not swim should not

have, been allowed to enter the pool. Responsibility for the tragedy lies on both sides with reckless decisions with devastating consequences: management of the resort for allowing the use of the pool without the mandatory lifeguard, and the relatives,

knowing there was no lifeguard on duty, threw caution to the wind and at their own risk and peril, allowed a nonswimmer to enter the pool. My condolences to the family and relatives. Regards Shamshun Mohamed

The Garden City... From page 4 however, specialist (overseas) advice could make an imaginative contribution to the discourse, based on prior experience. Nor should the Private Sector be overlooked as productive partners and

possible tenants. The ultimate target is to raise the bar of small entrepreneurship. In the process it is not unreasonable to expect an appreciable reduction in ‘municipal’ garbage, thus relieving the President’s Office of any fur-

ther cleaning exercises. But all that would be left is the unaesthetic Atlantic seashore that is now fatally infrastructured; and prone to be appropriately flooded in due course. Regards E.B. John

T N U L B . . . T B N U T L N T B . U . L . L T B . N . U . N U T L N B . U . T . L N T U N B . N U . L U L LUNT. B . T . . T T N N B U B . U . L . L T B . B . . N . . . T U T L N N T U U L N L B U . B . . L . . . T B T . . N . N T U L N LU B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . NT LUNT...B NT...BLU N U L B . . B . U . . T L . N T B . . U N . L N T B U N . . L . U T L B . . N B . . . T U . L N T B U . . L . UN T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L B U UN .BLUNT. . . L . T B . . N . T U . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . LU ...BLUNT LUNT...B NT...BL T B U . . L N . T B BLU T...BLUN BLUNT... UNT...B . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B BBLU T...BLUN BLUNT... ...BLU . T . N . N T T U L U L N L B U T...BLU U B . L . N . B T . . . N T U N N N L U U U B L . L B T LUNT.. UNT...B BL B Saturday February 26, 2022

Kaieteur News

The relationship between Guyana’s leaders and its people is tantamount to an abusive relationship. Abusive since the leaders are bent on depriving the citizens of what they deserve.

But the citizens of this land are not idiots. They see through the lies and schemes meant to rob the people of this nation of their patrimony in the name of progress. Citizens are slowly waking up to the reality in this land and they are fighting back.

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10 patients in COVID-19 ICU, 58 new infections

A

lthough no COVID-19 fatality was reported by the Ministry of Health yesterday, there are 10 patients receiving treatment in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU). According to its daily COVID-19 update, the Ministry recorded 58 new infections in the last 24-hour

period, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 62,856. The COVID-19 dashboard shows that a total of 40 individuals are in institutional isolation, 713 are in home isolation and 10 are in institutional quarantine. To date, at total of 60,877 individuals have recovered.

Saturday February 26, 2022

Parliament librarian dies in East Bank accident A Parliament librarian on Thursday died after he reportedly lost control of his pickup and slammed into a truck along the Friendship, East Bank Demerara (EBD) public road. Michael Gladstone Munroe, the 52-year-old librarian, resided at Lot 814 Section A Diamond EBD and was Head of the Parliament Library Department at the time of his demise. According to police, at 18:10 hours on Thursday an accident occurred involving motor pickup PRR 2609, driven by Munroe, and motor lorry GAB 1835,

driven by Sachin Singh Mohanlall, a 21-year-old of Lot 14 Fernandes Street, Linden Highway. It was said by police that the motor pickup was proceeding south along the eastern side of the road at a fast rate when the driver lost control and ended on the western side of the road where the left side of his vehicle collided with the front the motor lorry. The lorry, it was revealed, was proceeding north along the western side of the road. As a result of the collision, the driver of the motor pickup, Munroe,

received injuries about his body. He was picked up in an unconscious state and taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre where he was pronounced dead on arrival

by a doctor on duty. His body was taken to the Memorial Gardens Funeral Home. A post mortem examination is imminent. According to (Continued on page 16)

Saturday February 26, 2022

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The US, EU and NATO hold moral responsibility for the present crisis in Ukraine In 1990, there was an agreement between the USSR and the United States that NATO would not expand eastwards of Germany. This understanding which was necessary for the security of the then USSR, including Russia, was publicly acknowledged and is now confirmed in declassified documents. The USA, NATO and the European Union did not stick to their end of the bargain. The Cold War never ended, in so far as these three parties were concerned. The “not one inch eastward” policy was all rhetoric. The troika continued to threaten Russian security through the eastward expansion of both NATO and the European Union. America also got involved in supplying military hardware to countries co-opted as part of this expansion. And it openly meddled in the internal affairs of Ukraine. All of these were part of a deliberate policy of encirclement of Russia following the breakup of the USSR. The European Union in 1989 consisted of only a handful of states. Today it is comprised of some 27 states. From 1989 onwards its membership began to expand so as to absorb Eastern European states. Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, all of which in some shape or form had been part of the old Communist bloc, either joined NATO or the EU or both. Russia was slowly being encircled by states aligned to the western axis.

NATO has also been courting Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Moldova. NATO’s objective of encircling Russia has never been hidden and is continuing. NATO claims that it is defensive but the expansion of its membership to encircle Russia is far from defensive. Flouting provocation in the face of Russia, NATO has established a military base in Poland. In 2014, the Ukrainian parliament approved that country’s involvement in military exercises which would bring American troops onto Russia’s borders. America imposed a 60 year old embargo against Cuba and invaded Grenada in 1983, because, as it claims, these countries threatened its national security. So why then does it expect Russia to sit idly by and be encircled by hostile forces? As part of the plot of encirclement, America was involved in the coup against President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine in 2014. This plot was part of the wider plan to woo Ukraine into the orbit of both the EU and NATO, and as such represented a direct threat to Russia’s national security. Russia has always insisted that it has a right to its own security. The American’s proclaim this very principle in relation to Israel but seeks to deny Russia the same right. International law cannot be conveniently applied. It must be even-handed. America loves to quote international law when its interests are affected. But forgets that interna-

tional law is also on the side of the right of the Palestinians to self-determination, against the Cuban embargo and certainly, outlaws meddling in the internal affairs of states, as America did in 2014 in toppling the then Ukrainian government. The right to security and the right to self-defence are also principles of international law and in the face of NATO’s and the EU’s expansion towards the borders of Russia, that country has a right to its security and to take action to ensure this security. China and Russia recently called attention to another important principle of international law. The Russian President was in China for the opening of the Winter Games and the two states issued a statement. In that joint declaration, the two sides said, “No State can or should ensure its own security separately from the security of the rest of the world and at the expense of the security of other States.” The security of Ukraine cannot be had at the expense of the security of Russia. This is why the situation in Ukraine is a complex one and not simply a case of Russia being the aggressor. Russia is being encircled on all sides as part of a deliberate policy of the Americans, the EU and NATO. Russia has a right to self-defence. Ukraine has paid the price for being a pawn of the West. Its President is now pleading for help from the very forces which led him astray. But the Americans are not running to his assistance. It has already said that it will not deploy its forces in that conflict. Neither will NATO.

Dem boys seh...

De truth does stare we in de face Wat happen to de usual suspects? How come dem not out in GT protesting de Russian invasion of Ukraine? Dem does only wait fuh wan issue fuh show dem face. De odder day dem hear how de Brazilian President was coming to Guyana. Dem get pon dem high horses and issue a statement condemning de man and making him feel unwelcome. By now dem boys did expect dat de usual battalion of protestors woulda been out in de streets condemning de Russians. But rain does keep nuff people

indoors. It does also cause dem to see de truth. It mek dem boys remember de time Burnham wanted to go fishing in de Abary. So he call de local meteorological office and ask dem if it gan rain. Dem tell he dat it will be sunny all day. So Burnham and he convoy set off fuh de Abary. When he near reach weh he does fish, he see a fisherman packing up to go home. Burnham ask de man why he going home. De man seh dat he don’t want de rain come and ketch he. Burnham laugh and tell de man how he check before he come and de Met office

people tell he how rain not gonna fall. But de fisherman nah bother with he. He pack up and leff. By de time he left it start fuh rain cats and dogs. Burnham decide dat he gan hire de fisherman fuh predict de daily weather. But de fisherman turn down de job and tell Burnham, he does know when it gan rain by looking at de sky. Sometimes de truth does stare we in de face but we does try to deny it. Like de rigging in 2020. Wah de same usual suspects nah seh nuttin bout. Talk half. Leff half.

Ukraine stands alone. That is the price it has paid for being a consenting party to NATO and EU enlargement and the encirclement of Rus-

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

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Saturday February 26, 2022

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

Burnham at 99 is among the angels? Really! I don’t have a smart phone. I don’t have a Meta page. I don’t participate in social media. I don’t have a laptop. I use a very old desktop computer which is connected to the internet. Because of this attitude of mine, people often send me screen-shots of things posted on social media. I received an article I didn’t know about but it was taken from some kind of online outlet from Buxton named Village Voice. They should have been original. Village Voice, was until a few years ago, one of the most read newspapers in the world coming out of New York. It veered generally towards leftist, liberal analyses. I read that Guyana’s Village Voice may have to fold up because its original founder wants his paper back and has sued. The article was titled, “Burnham is among the

angels.” Surely, the editor should have changed that headline because it opens up Burnham to ridicule. Burnham was indisputably a tyrannical leader that threatened the existence of Guyana. If Burnham had lived on from 62, by the time he reached 70, I think Guyana would have collapsed with tsunamic force, such that it could not have survived even as a very distraught poor, nation. Those too young to know about those days should always see that in the death of Burnham, Guyana was born again. It was unfortunate that Walter Rodney did not overthrow him. I believe deeply in my mind, Rodney would have put him on trial. Burnham’s legacy is dead and gone. Those who pilgrimage to his mausoleum in the Botanic Gardens each year,

this week being no exception, where he would have been 99, are dwindling. His children live outside of Guyana and if not in their late 60’s are getting there. B u r n h a m ’s y o u n g e s t grandchild is 45. His subordinates, who shared power with him, are dead, migrants in other countries, or going close to their 90’s. Young African scholars who want to write positively about Burnham will find it a Sisyphean task. Two things have demolished Burnham’s legacy. One is the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry report and the struggle of Rodney himself, against Burnham. For the purpose of analysis we could collapse both factors. In 1974 Burnham had achieved 10 years in power. In 1974, Walter Rodney was denied a teaching job at UG and became a lightening rod throughout Guyana. The

contradiction here is insoluble. If Burnham was loved and admired how then, could Rodney have achieved such political potency? The important dimension in the confrontation between Rodney and Burnham was the role of Black people. Burnham was hemorrhaging Black support. It was going to Rodney and not the opposition leader, Cheddi Jagan. Rodney though respected and admired by Indians did not make a break through among Indians because their love for Jagan did not wane and the PPP as a party was still strong in the sugar belt, the temples and mosques and the villages. T h e R o d n e y Commission report is a nightmare for pro-Burnham researchers. There were testimonies that Rodney had penetrated the army and police. When Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, admitted in the d o c u m e n t a r y, “ W. A . R Stories: Walter Anthony Rodney,” that the WPA was stockpiling arms to confront Burnham, the Rodney family was livid.

Roopnaraine was stating what was factual. Maybe the family did not know what Roopnaraine knew. This columnist Frederick Kissoon accepts and believes that Rodney was a c c u m u l a t i n g a r m s t o trusted people knew what the confront Burnham. I know WPA was doing. At the time, the role I played in providing Joseph Harmon was the head materials at the request of a of army intelligence and high level WPA functionary David Granger was second in charge of the GDF. who is still alive. Burnham knew Rodney was The WPA burnt down the using violence. Ministry of National In a discussion with the Development, stole the arms recovered from Jonestown US Ambassador, Burnham and Ohene Koama had guns warned the envoy that he in his car trunk when he was does not want to hear any gunned down by the police. criticism of his actions The police deliberately against Rodney when it killed him rather than arrest happened because Rodney was involved in violence. By him. For more on this, see my the time Rodney was interview with Hamilton assassinated, Burnham’s Green in KN of Monday, legacy was destroyed. He October 16, 2017, titled, became mentally unstable, “Explosive Interview with was a figure of fun, and wanted to die. Hamilton Green.” (The views expressed in It needs to be mentioned this article are those of the that because there was a a u t hor and do not Guyanese version of William O’Neal inside the necessarily reflect the WPA, Burnham and his opinions of this newspaper.)

Saturday February 26, 2022

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Kaieteur News

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Saturday February 26, 2022

Peru looking to overhaul laws to deal with - Peruvian oil companies after spills Minister

In light of the difficulties the Peruvian government is having with Repsol, a Spanish oil company, to clean-up the oil spill that contaminated their shores and water – Peru’s Minister of Environment (MINAM), Modesto Montoya, recently cited the importance of legislative reform to adequately deal with companies after oil spills. In a recent press release, Minister Montoya emphatically stated that he believes that Repsol is setting a bad example for the population and other companies, due to the fact that it is not fully complying with its obligations in the clean-up and remediation of the areas damaged by the oil spill that occurred on January 15, 2022 along Peru’s coastline. The oil spill occurred on January 15, 2022 at one of the La Pampilla refineries off the coast of Ventanilla in the region of Lima, Peru. It was reported that the spill was caused by shock waves from an undersea volcanic eruption near Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean. At the time of the undersea eruption, Suezmax tanker, Mare Doricum, was offloading a shipment of Brazilian crude oil at one of La Pampilla refinery’s offshore mooring buoys, and as such, a quantity of the cargo was released. R e p s o l h a d underreported the quantity of crude that was spilled but later investigations by Peru’s Agency for Environmental Assessment and Control (OEFA) revealed that almost 12,000 barrels of oils had spilled – more than double the amount that was initially reported by the company. During a recent interview on a Peruvian radio station, Montoya not only stated that the oil company is setting a bad example but stressed that MINAM Public Attorney’s

Recent images shared by Peru’s Ministry of Environment of the effects of the oil spill.

Peru’s Minister of Environment, Modesto Montoya. Office will initiate the corresponding lawsuits so that the company pays for the damage caused. In fact, the Minister said, the company should, on its own initiative, financially help the fishermen and other people who have been harmed by the ecological disaster. The Minister added that the company should do so, “so that the affected people do not suffer from hunger.” But according to Montoya, the State is assisting the population of these areas in compliance with the functions conferred by law. He stated too that a legislative reform is necessary to overcome the administrative obstacles that the executive power has, and to deal with cases such as the Repsol oil spill. It was at this juncture he insisted that there is no lack of will on the part of the government. More than a month after the disaster, the country is said to be still grappling with the clean-up. A Peruvian official announced that the company is not fulfilling its obligation. However, the country continues to take actions against Repsol. P e r u ’s A g e n c y f o r Environmental Assessment and Control (OEFA), an agency attached to MINAM, had reported that Repsol has paid three coercive fines of a total amount of S o l $ 1 , 3 8 0 , 0 0 0 (US$362,285) – the fines

were for the failure to comply with three of the 14 measures ordered. Those measures are: identification of the areas affected by the spill, cleaning of the affected areas, and containment and recovery of hydrocarbons (crude). The OEFA has also initiated sanctioning administrative procedures, where the fines can be up to Sol$55,200,000 (US$14,808,852) for Repsol – the agency had vowed to continue to impose fines against the company if it fails to comply with the 14 administrative measures issued. P r i o r t o t h e aforementioned fines being imposed against the company, this publication reported that the first periodic fine that was initiated against the Spanish oil giant, was in the sum of Sol$460,000 (US$121,500) for the non-compliance of identifying the areas affected by the oil spill. Kaieteur News reported that following the devastating oil spill, several Peruvian officials had called for the oil company to offer

compensation for the disaster. The first action that was taken against the company was Peruvian Judge, Romualdo Aguedo on Friday, January 28, 2022 granting the order to prevent four Repsol executives from l e a v i n g t h e c o u n t r y. Peruvian media reported that Judge Aguedo imposed an 18-month ban on the grounds of the potential risk that the officials might leave Peru. Those that have been barred are refinery manager, Jaime Fernández-Cuesta

Luca de Tena; terminal manager, Renzo Alejandro Te j a d a M a c k e n z i e ; environmental manager, Gisela Cecilia Posadas Jhong and production manager, José Gregorio Reyes Ruiz. In taking additional steps, Peru’s former Minister of the Environment, Rubén R a m i r e z o n M o n d a y, January 31, 2022, revealed that the government had taken the decision to suspend the company’s hydrocarbon loading and unloading activities. In other words, Repsol’s operation in the

country was halted until it can substantially prove that another oil spill will not occur again in its waters. However, in an update it was revealed that a fuel shortage in Peru had forced the country’s OEFA to lift the suspension on Repsol’s operation temporarily. However, the company was only allowed to continue its operations for 10 days and under supervision from the OEFA. That 10 days period has since come to an end and the Peruvian government has signalled that it has other (Continued on page 18)

Taxi driver robbed by bandits carrying... From page 3 day while receiving treatment for the stab wounds. Meanwhile, the hunt is still on for the suspects who hired his car on Monday night. Two men along with a woman carrying a baby approached him at the Tuschen car park for a trip to Best Village, WCD. The unsuspecting taxi driver agreed to take the job and they left. While driving past Crane Housing Scheme, the taxi driver said, he was placed in a ‘vice grip’ from one of the men who was sitting behind the driver’s seat. The individual then demanded that he

hand over his money and other valuables. Zakir had tried to fight back but the individual who was choking him used his knife to stab him to his chest several times. At this point, he decided not to resist any further, while the other passenger also grabbed his cellular phone worth some $48,000, before escaping by exiting the car together with the woman, still holding the infant and running away into the darkness. He was later rescued by police and rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where doctors treated him then referred him to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

Saturday February 26, 2022

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Kaieteur News

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Saturday February 26, 2022

T&T uses Int’l oil expo in Guyana to market oil blocks A map depicting the location of Trinidad and Tobago’s oil blocks

The deplorable state of the Parika to Hubu road. (Photo Credit: Robin Salim)

22 contractors vying to fix deplorable Hubu road Following an invitation for bids to rehabilitate the deplorable Hubu main access road in Region Three, which is estimated to cost $350 million, a total of 22 contractors are vying for the job. Among those that bid for the project include VR Construction Inc., Navin’s & Son Construction, United Construction & Supply, Ace Construction Service & Investment Inc., STP Investment Inc., Sawa Investment, JK International Inc. and Platinum Investment. This project which is being undertaken by the Ministry of Public Works is divided into two lots – lot one is estimated to cost some $220,866,870 and lot two is estimated to $130,027,307. Bids were opened on Tuesday last at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), The present state of the road was previously highlighted by a resident who wrote a letter in this publication last month,calling for the President to intervene in addressing the issue. Robin Salim, the affected resident, noted in his letter that the main road from the Parika junction leading all the way to St. Lawrence,

East Bank Essequibo (EBE), is in a deplorable state for some time now. “Road users, especially motorists are frustrated at the present condition. In some areas, the vehicles look as if they are going down in a trench. Many persons have complained that their vehicles have been badly damaged while navigating the huge potholes. Pedestrians are also forced to walk in the mud and huge potholes to avoid being in the path of the oncoming traffic,” Salim described in his letter. Kaieteur News understands that during last year, some sectional repairs were done on the stretch of road but due to heavy vehicles and machinery which would use the roadway it deteriorated. The Hubu main access road is the only road which gives residents in that community access to and from Parika and would also be used by logging trucks and farmers. T h e P u b l i c Wo r k s Ministry, which received the largest share of Budget 2022, would see the spending of $3.4 billion for hinterland roads and another $15.2 billion for the construction and rehabilitation of urban and community roads across the country.

(Continued on page 19)

Legend Licensed Acreage Open Acreage Unavailable Acreage 2021 Deep Water Bid Round Blocks

Despite not formally being a part of the International Energy Conference and Expo 2022, the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, particularly it’s Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, was sure to be present at the event’s side attraction—the International Expo—which gave the country an opportunity to market its oil blocks. Trinidad and Tobago has been in the oil business for more than a century now and has vast experience and knowledge when it comes to the oil sector. To this end, the country participated in the event to market over a dozen of its oil blocks through a competitive bidding process. Kaieteur News spoke with a Geologist attached to the Ministry in Trinidad, Raihaan Ali, who explained

that not only will the oil blocks be auctioned off to the b e s t b i d d e r, b u t a l l prospective bidders must pay a pre-bid fee of US$40,000 to receive the data package. Additionally, all bidders are required to pay a fee of US$50,000 per block they are interested in. Proposals to the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries in Trinidad and Tobago must include the share of profit petroleum, minimum work programme and minimum expenditure obligation. The bidding round will close on June 2022 and successful bidders will be notified by September 2022, Ali explained. The Geologist told Kaieteur News, “…we are here to really connect with some of the operators that will be in Guyana. We are here to promote our deepwater acreage that is up for licensing.

So we have our deep water bid rounds that are presently open and in the next month or so we are going to have our onshore bid round launched.” He added, “subsequent to that, we have approximately 10 blocks or so that are going to be put out on show as well. Based on the interactions that we have had so far, what we have noticed is that we have a lot of service companies and other subcontractors as well that are out here looking for business as well. But what we have done as well is really to help us stay connected to Guyana…we just want to form partnerships and we know that there is going to be a lot of investments in Guyana.” Guyana’s “give away” For several years, this newspaper has been at the forefront of calls for there to

be a thorough, independent investigation into the award of two blocks - Kaieteur and Canje - since several industry stakeholders who e x a m i n e d t h e m a t t e r, concluded that they were awarded under suspicious circumstances. With respect to the Kaieteur Block, this publication previously reported that it was awarded by President Donald Ramotar on April 28, 2015, just two weeks before the 2015 general and regional elections on the advice of former Minister of Natural Resources, Robert Persaud. Two companies received the block with 50-50 stakes; Ratio Energy Limited (now Cataleya Energy Limited) and Ratio Guyana Limited. Ratio Energy was incorporated in Gibraltar on April 15, 2013, and registered in Guyana on October 23 later that year.

Saturday February 26, 2022

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PAGE 16 VACANCY

LEGAL NOTICE

Accounts clerk.Must know to prepare payroll,NIS & PAYE. Contact:621-8478 between 9AM-3PM.

FD-32 BETWEEN:STEPHANIE ROYLINDA SAMPSON nee FRANK Petitioner -and-MASIMBA MAINDELA ORETTE SAMPSON Respondent TO: MASIMBA MAINDELA ORETTE SAMPSON Formerly of Mazaruni Prison Com pond TAKE NOTICE that on the 11th day of January, 2022 a Petition for Divorce was filed against you by STEPHANIE ROYLINDA SAMPSON nee FRANK the Petitioner in the Family Division of the High Court inGeorgetown,Demerara. AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that as part of an Order made on the 24 day of March, 2022, 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. a newspaper published and circulated in Guyana. AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that if you desire you may appear or I attend in person or by your duly authorized agent or Attorney-at-Law at the Registry of 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 35 (thirtyfive) days from the date of the final publication of this Notice. TAKE NOTICE that the divorce is fixed for Directions Hearing on Tuesday the24 day of_arch,2022at1:15pm_before the Honourable Madam Justice Fidela CorbinLincoln via Zoom Meeting ID: 817 2463 7445 and Password: Courtl2. IN DEFAULT of your filing an Acknowledgement of Service/Notice of Intention to Defend, Answer and/or Cross Petition the Court may proceed in your absence and may make any Order it considers appropriate, including granting the Divorce. The Registry of the Family Division of the High Court is located at the Law Courts [Georgetown, Demerara]. The office is open to the public between 8:00am and 3:30pm Mondays to Thursdays and 8:00am to 2:30pm on Fridays except on public holidays and on

One salesman,able bodied porters.Experience in writing bills,stocktaking & cashing. Keyfood Trading, Mc Doom village. VEHICLE FOR SALE One Honda CRV,fully loaded immaculate condition, low mileage 3.3M negotiable. Contact:649-0956. 1 Nissan pathfinder in good condition, CAT 215 used parts.Tel:683-7225/275-0367. 1 Hino Canter,enclosed long tray 8000cc, Landcruiser Prado 2003 silver 3500cc. Call: 653-0490 whatsapp:641-4614. One 2007 RAV4 PKK series, one Leyland Daf Dump truck GMM series.Call 6230133/ 6235121. One CAT generator, Model: D342C,150KW,187KVA,One reliance electric 75hp motor, 460 volts,115amps.Call 6230133/6235121.

TO LET Size 500sqft below Hotel Princess Raven,suitable for Spanish Restaurant. Contact: Sarge tel:659-4333/223-6488.

WANTED Hiring Content Writers: $100,000 monthly. MondayThursday,work from home. Email your resume to andrewp @consultpr.net. Female ages 25-40 to take care of elderly male in Trinidad, accomodations provided. Call:1-868-489-4087 or 1-868755-1990. One (1) male able bodied clerk.Tel:231-2029/616-5954.

For one driver and one porter.Apply to Global Healthcare Supplies, 110 thirdst, Alberttow n.Email:gl obalhealthsuppliesinc@gmail.com. General Domestic, able to prepare vegetarian dishes. Apply with photo to 16 Vlissengen Rd Newtown, Kitty. Cashiers.Apply at Survival Supermarket with passport photo to 16 Vlissengen Rd Newtown,Kitty. Sales Person. Commission Only. 5 CXC 1 or 2 in Math and English Required. Contact:650-5626. For experience Hauler & Canter Drivers.Apply in person at Alabama Trading,65 Robb St Bourda. Vacancy exist at P.S.G.C.S for Labourers, General Cleaner, Maintenance worker,Time Keeping,Tool Issuing clerk-

SERVICES

One male able bodied clerk, one female able bodied clerk. Tel:225-2313/226-1497.

Visa Application: U.S.A, Canada & UK; Graphics design, advertisements, Wedding arch rentals. Tel: 626-7040

Pharmacist,Sales Girl, Maintenance Supervisor and Office Manager. Call: 621-6969 or 615-7784.

Salesgirl & Porters.Apply at Best Buy Food Supplies. Lot 1E Dennis C Middleton St Campbellville with written application.

Immediate vacancy exists for one female cleaner.Call:2311408/642-9191.

Drawing of Building plans and Estimate,K.Lakeram building contractor.Tel:2160671/692-8464 whatsapp 6220267.

Experienced Taxi Driver (Hire car license) and bus driver at Princess Hotel. Contact:6165419/265-7075/265-7076.

Installation, Repairs and parts for AC,Fridge, Washing machine, Stove etc.Call Nick#656-0110.

1 bar woman 18-25years & 1 cook 30& older,for the interior. Tel:660-9093/687-7638. One (1) live in nanny/baby sitter,must be vaccinated. Tel:626-6450/646-7142,Ogle East Coast Demerara.

FOR SALE

1 attractive waitress to work at Arvin Bar Pink Shop. Attractive salary offer.Tel:6897481,254-1523.

Cases of Hand Sanitizer For Sale, 250ml at $350 and 500ml at $500. Call 650-5626.

Live in domestic.Must know to cook indian dishes,$30$40,000 weekly.Tel:610-3974.

1-152 Laverda combine with Wobble box & Fiat engine farm ready.Call:637-8027.

FOR RENT One bedroom apartment, Middle road.Tel:686-4564. PROPERTY FOR SALE Prime location (Business). Lot 22 Covent Garden E.B.D. Tel:682-7490/647-4236.

Saturday February 26, 2022

Kaieteur News

Experience waitress to work 8hrs shift,$20,000 weekly. Tel:610-3974. Experienced Land Dredge workers.Serious enquiries only.Call:684-1030. One live-in couple for Essequibo Resort,man must be experienced boat-man & woman to cook & clean.Tel: 225-3557/226-0240. One part time gardener for Georgetown residence.Tel: 225-3557/226-0240.

One clerk for TSI Eccles Office,English & Maths grade 1 or 2.Call:615-9132 or email application to tech serigy@yahoo.com. Maid to cook and clean for East Bank areaa.Call:6159132. One Housekeeper to work with family,Mon-Sat,over 35yrs.Tel:503-0359/608-2444. One experience receptionist, over 35yrs.Contact:503-0359/ 608-2444. General Assistant.Must have CXC(Math & English), Computer Knowledge, Graphic Design Skills.Call/whatsapp: 600-4497. One Housekeeper/Cook full time,Mon-Fri(preferably from E.B.D).Interested persons can contact:622-0523/6091434.

LEGAL NOTICE 2021-HC-DEM-CIV-FD-32 IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE FAMILY, DIVORCE AND MATRIMONIAL JURISDICTION FAMILY DIVISION PETITION NO.

Ukraine’s capital under threat as Russia presses invasion KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian troops bore down on Ukraine’s capital Friday, with gunfire and explosions resonating ever closer to the government quarter, in an invasion of a democratic country that has fueled fears of wider war in Europe and triggered worldwide efforts to make Russia stop. With reports of hundreds of casualties from the warfare — including shelling that sliced through a Kyiv apartment building and pummeled bridges and schools — there also were growing signs that Vladimir Putin’s Russia may be seeking to overthrow Ukraine’s government. It would be his boldest effort yet to redraw the world map and revive Moscow’s Cold War-era influence. U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts agreed at an urgent meeting to send parts of the organization’s response force to help protect its member nations in the east. NATO didn’t say how many troops would be deployed. In the fog of war, it was unclear how much of Ukraine remains under Ukrainian control and how much or little Russian forces have seized. The Kremlin accepted Kyiv’s offer to hold talks, but it appeared to be an effort to squeeze concessions out of Ukraine’s embattled president instead of a gesture toward a diplomatic solution. The U.S. and other global powers slapped ever-tougher sanctions on Russia as the invasion reverberated through the world’s economy and energy supplies, threatening to further hit ordinary households. U.N. officials said millions could flee Ukraine. Sports leagues moved to punish Russia on global playing fields. Day 2 of Russia’s invasion, the largest ground war in Europe since World War II, focused on the Ukrainian capital, where Associated Press reporters heard explosions starting before dawn and gunfire was reported in several areas. After 8 p.m., a large boom was heard near Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the square in central Kyiv that was the heart LEGAL NOTICE such other days as the Registry is closed. Dated the 9th day of February,2022.

of the protests which led to the 2014 ouster a Kremlinfriendly president. The cause was not immediately known and smaller repeated blasts could be heard in the distance. Russia’s military said it had seized a strategic airport outside Kyiv, allowing it to quickly build up forces to take the capital. It claimed to have already cut the city off from the west — the direction taken by many of those escaping the invasion, leading to lines of cars snaking toward the Polish border. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have blocked off the cities of Sumy and Konotop and that the offensive had claimed dozens of Ukrainian military assets. The statement could not be independently confirmed. Intense gunfire broke out on a bridge across the Dneiper River dividing eastern and western Kyiv, with about 200 Ukrainian forces taking defensive positions and sheltering behind their armored vehicles and under the bridge. Another key bridge leading to the capital was blown away, with smoke rising from it. Ukrainian officials reported at least 137 deaths on their side and claimed hundreds on the Russian one. Russian authorities released no casualty figures, and it was not possible to verify the tolls. U.N. officials reported 25 civilian deaths, mostly from shelling and airstrikes, and said that 100,000 people were believed to have left their homes, estimating up to 4 million could flee if the fighting escalates. “When bombs fall on Kyiv, it happens in Europe, not just in Ukraine,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, pleading for Western assistance. “When missiles kill our people, they kill all Europeans.” His whereabouts were kept secret after telling European leaders in a call Thursday night that he was Russia’s No. 1 target — and that they might not see him again alive. His office later released a video of him standing with senior aides outside the presidential office, saying he and other government officials would stay in the capital. “All of us are here protecting our independence of our country,” Zelenskyy said. “And it will continue to be this (Continued on page 18)

Parliament...

From page 8 police, a breathalyzer test was conducted on the driver of the motor lorry but no trace of alcohol was found in his system.

Kaieteur News

Saturday February 26, 2022

Four companies bid to provide air transport services for Health Ministry During the opening of tenders at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board ( N P TA B ) o f f i c e o n Thursday, it was revealed that four companies submitted bids for the

provision of air transportation service to conduct medical evacuation, transport of medical supplies, medicines, pathology team and staff. This project is being undertaken by the Ministry

of Health. Meanwhile, 18 companies also placed bids for the procurement of commodities for lots one to four for the Sophia Training Centre, under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.

Ministry of Health Provision of air transportation service to conduct medical evacuation, transport of medical supplies, medicines, pathology team and staff

Ministry of Health Supply and delivery of cooked meals for staff at Ocean View Quarantine and Treatment Faculty

Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport Procurement of commodities lots 1-4 Sophia Training Centre

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Nicaragua court convicts government critics of ‘conspiracy’ (BBC NEWS) A court in Nicaragua has found seven critics of the government of President Daniel Ortega guilty of conspiracy in what human rights groups have denounced as a “political trial”. Among those convicted are three opposition leaders who had planned to run in the 2021 election. Dozens of government critics were detained in the run-up to the poll, in which Mr Ortega won a fifth term. The prosecution has asked for sentences ranging between eight and 13 years. Those convicted are: · Juan Sebastián Chamorro, presidential hopeful · Arturo Cruz, former ambassador to the US and presidential hopeful · Félix Maradiaga,

presidential hopeful · José Pallais, former deputy foreign minister · José Adán Aguerri, business leader · Tamara Dávila, activist with opposition group Unamos · Violeta Granera, sociologist and opposition activist In a trial held at El Chipote prison behind closed doors, the judges found the seven guilty of “conspiracy to undermine [Nicaragua’s] national integrity”. The rights group Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights said the seven were innocent: “The regime convicted them of crimes they have not committed.” They are not the first to be convicted in a wave of trials against opponents of the Ortega government. Earlier this month, two of

the most outspoken critics of the president - Dora Téllez and Lesther Alemán - were also found guilty of conspiracy in trials dismissed by rights groups as a “sham”. Less than two weeks ago, another jailed opposition leader, Hugo Torres, died while awaiting trial. Following his death, the regional body Organization of American States (OAS) said it “categorically condemns the persecution and arbitrary detention” of Nicaraguans and urged the immediate release of “all political prisoners”.

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Kaieteur News

Peru looking to overhaul laws to deal... From page 12 alternative sources to obtain fuel. As the Government of Peru takes action to protect its people and its environment, Guyana in contrast, continues to give American oil giant, ExxonMobil, permission to operate without full coverage insurance to cater for such a disastrous oil spill. Just recently, ExxonMobil announced that it has commenced oil production at

Guyana’s second offshore development area called Liza Phase Two in the Stabroek Block. Among the oil companies working in Guyana’s backyard is the very oil company –Repsol – that caused the oil spill in Peru. The clean-up and remediation of approximately 12,000 barrels of crude that contaminated the shores and waters of Peru is expected to cost

some US$65 million – this was announced by Repsol’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Josu Jon Imaz. Imaz told analysts on a conference call, “What we are seeing today in cost terms could be around $65 million, more or less … this figure could increase in coming weeks.” The CEO added, “A main part of this figure is going to be covered by insurance companies and so on.”

Saturday February 26, 2022

Ukraine’s capital under threat... From page 16 way. Glory to our defenders, glory to Ukraine, glory to heroes.” Zelenskyy tweeted that he and Biden discussed “strengthening sanctions, concrete defense assistance and an antiwar coalition,” adding that he was grateful to the U.S. for the support. A U.S. defense official said a Russian amphibious assault was underway, and thousands of Russian naval infantry were moving ashore from the Sea of Azov, west of Mariupol. The official said Ukrainian air defenses have been degraded but are still operating, and that about a third of the combat power that Russia had massed around Ukraine is now in the country. All told, the official estimated Russia had fired more than 200 missiles into Ukraine, with some hitting residential areas. A senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of current intelligence assessments told the AP that Russian armor is 50 kilometers (31 miles) to both the north and west of Kyiv. Zelenskyy offered to negotiate on a key Putin demand: that Ukraine declare itself neutral and abandon its ambition of joining NATO. The Kremlin initially said it was ready to send a delegation to Belarus, then later backpedaled, saying it preferred to meet in Warsaw. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested it was too late, saying Zelenskyy should have agreed to talks earlier on. The assault was anticipated for weeks by the U.S. and Western allies and denied to be in the works just as long by Putin. He argued the West left him with no other choice by refusing to negotiate Russia’s security demands. In a window into how the increasingly isolated Putin views Ukraine and its leadership, he gave a strongly worded statement Friday urging the Ukrainian military to surrender, saying: “We would find it easier to agree with you than with that gang

of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who have holed up in Kyiv and have taken the entire Ukrainian people hostage.” Playing on Russian nostalgia for World War II heroism, the Kremlin equates members of Ukrainian right-wing groups with neo-Nazis. Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, angrily dismisses those claims. The autocratic leader hasn’t disclosed his ultimate plans for Ukraine. Lavrov gave a hint, saying Friday: “We want to allow the Ukrainian people to determine its own fate.” Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia recognizes Zelenskyy as the president, but wouldn’t say how long the Russian military operation could last. Ukrainians, meanwhile, abruptly adjusted to life under fire, after Russian forces started moving in to their country from three sides in an invasion telegraphed for weeks, as they massed an estimated 150,000 troops nearby. Residents of a Kyiv apartment building woke to screaming, smoke and flying dust. What the mayor identified as Russian shelling tore off part of the building and ignited a fire. “What are you doing? What is this?” resident Yurii Zhyhanov asked — a question directed at Russian forces. Like countless other Ukrainians, he grabbed what belongings he could, took his mother, and fled, car alarms wailing behind him. Elsewhere in Kyiv, the body of a dead soldier lay near an underpass. Fragments of a downed aircraft smoked amid the brick homes of a residential area. Black plastic was draped over body parts found beside them. And people climbed out of bomb shelters, basements and subways to face another day of upheaval. “We’re all scared and worried. We don’t know what to do then, what’s going to happen in a few days,” said one of the workers, Lucy Vashaka, 20. AP reporters saw signs of significant fighting near Ivankiv, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of Kyiv. Russian troops also entered the city of Sumy, near the border with Russia that sits on a

highway leading to Kyiv from the east. A Russian missile launcher was seen on the outskirts of Kharkiv in the east. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Kyiv “could well be under siege” in what U.S. officials believe is a brazen attempt by Putin to install his own regime. Zelenskyy, whose grasp on power was increasingly tenuous, appealed to global leaders for even more severe sanctions than the ones imposed by Western allies and for defense assistance. Zelenskyy cut diplomatic ties with Moscow, declared martial law and ordered a full military mobilization that would last 90 days. The invasion began early Thursday with missile strikes on cities and military bases, followed by a multipronged ground assault that rolled troops in from separatist-held areas in the east; from the southern region of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014; and from Belarus to the north. After Ukrainian officials said they lost control of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, scene of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, Russia said Friday it was working with the Ukrainians to secure the plant. There was no corroboration of such cooperation from the Ukrainian side. Biden announced new sanctions that will target Russian banks, oligarchs, state-controlled companies and high-tech sectors, saying Putin “chose this war.” He said the measures were designed not to disrupt global energy markets. Russian oil and natural gas exports are vital energy sources for Europe. The European Union slapped asset freezes on Putin and Lavrov themselves, in addition to other sanctions. Britain is freezing the assets of all large Russian banks and planning to bar Russian companies and the Kremlin from raising money on British markets. “Now we see him for what he is — a bloodstained aggressor who believes in imperial conquest,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said of Putin.

Kaieteur News

Saturday February 26, 2022

PAGE 19

Opposition petitions Parliament to expel Dharamlall regarding ‘dildo’ remarks The Parliamentary Opposition has submitted a Motion to the National Assembly to send Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, to the Parliamentary Committee of Privileges, for likely sanctions to be imposed and steps be taken, to expel the official from Parliament for h i s p u r p o r t e d “dishonourable behaviour and language” used in the House on February 9, 2022. During that sitting, the Minister, in response to heckling by a female O p p o s i t i o n Member—Natasha Singh-

Lewis—said, “you got to get a dildo, that’s what’s you looking for.” The Opposition Motion submitted by former M i n i s t e r o f Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s , Catherine Hughes, states that a review of the closedcircuit video of the proceedings confirmed that the “offensive words” were clearly used. According to her, “those words spoken by a member of the 12th Parliament of Guyana were vulgar, lewd, distasteful, misogynistic, and unprecedented in the august chamber of the National Assembly.”

22 contractors vying to... From page 14

She also argued that Standing Order 41 (6) expressly prohibits the use of “offensive and insulting language about Members of the Assembly,” and that the words of the Minister caused “great humiliation and embarrassment,” to all current and former female Members of Parliament (MP). To this end, Hughes noted in the Motion that Dharamlall’s utterance has brought disrepute, mockery and ridicule to the National Assembly and members should therefore stand in solidarity with the female MP and condemn in the harshest and strongest terms possible, the dishonourable behaviour and language of the Minister. The Opposition MP is of the view that the Local Government Minister should be sent to the Committee of Privileges, for its consideration of, and sanction for his behaviour and that the said Committee recommends punishment fitting and commensurate with the transgression committed. Hughes in the motion also called on the House to resolve to censure Dharamlall and “initiate the necessary steps for his immediate expulsion from

the National Assembly.” On Tuesday last, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) faction of the Parliamentary Opposition held its weekly press conference where the party’s MP Natasha SinghLewis said that such trends, if not arrested and reversed will diminish public respect for the National Assembly. She also called out the House Speaker, Manzoor Nadir, for condoning the behaviour of the government MPs. She argued, “the performance of the Speaker of the House has reached a crisis point, in terms of his blatant bias, and subservience to the government,” and went on to quote the Party’s Leader, Aubrey Norton who said that the Speaker, “has been, and continues to be complicit in making the National Assembly a tool of oppression.” The MP noted that since the remarks of Norton were made earlier in the year, the Speaker has unfortunately not mended his ways but instead has gotten worse. Singh-Lewis at the time argued that, “to overlook M i n i s t e r D h a r a m l a l l ’s violation without appropriate sanctions runs the clear risk of normalising

Former Minister of Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes the crude and misogynistic behaviour that our society is struggling to discourage. To send the right message to our young men, Nigel Dharamlall must go.” Opposition Member of Parliament, Sherod Duncan had sought to chastise Dharamlall calling him a “nasty fella” which was disallowed by the House Speaker who requested he take his seat. Duncan, in response, shouted “I will not take my seat! I will not withdraw,” as he continued heckling the Minister, adding too that “the Speaker is condoning you all of the time.” The Speaker then called on the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Gail Teixeira to move a motion for Duncan to be suspended for the next four sittings, w hich w as eventually allowed. It must be noted that after

Dharamlall made the “dildo” comments he posted an apology on his social media page, explaining that he was merely responding to “incessant insults” by Duncan. According to the M in is ter, “o n man y occasions, the MPs on the government side have been ridiculed with some of the most uncouth and slanderous things about their bodies, their spouses, their children, their sexuality and even their dead relatives. Some of the chief culprits in the heckling crowd of APNU+AFC include MPs Sherod Duncan, Coretta McDonald and Natasha Singh-Lewis.” He said too, “my heckle regarding a dildo was aimed at verbal excesses of MP Sherod Duncan… to those offended by my comment I am truly sorry. That is the truth.”

Rehabilitation of Cozier pump station…

One of 2 contractors bids $20M more than engineer’s estimate

O

ne of the two contractors v y i n g t o rehabilitate an inoperable pump station at Cozier on the Essequibo Coast in Region Two, managed to bid $20,773,090 above the engineer’s estimate. This project, which is being done under the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), has been estimated by a

The inoperable pump station at Cozier on the Essequibo Coast

government engineer to cost some $262,561,250. The project was opened on Tuesday at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) office, and the two firms which applied for the contract were Adamantium Holdings which entered a bid of $261,080,869 and Civcon Engineering Contractors which entered a bid above the engineer’s figure at

$283,334,340. The Region Two Vice Chairman, Mr. Humace Oodit, previously told Kaieteur News that the present pump station at Cozier has been inoperable for about 20 years. As a result of drainage issues many rice and cash crop farmers in that area have suffered considerable losses. The project, which is slated to be of 12-months

duration, will see the installation of one 100-cubic metres per second pump and one generator which will be used to operate the pump, according to Oodit. He related too that the pump will benefit approximately 200 farmers and other residents within the market area of the village, and will also provide drainage for about 7,000 acres of farm land.

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Kaieteur News

Saturday February 26, 2022

Saturday February 26, 2022

Kaieteur News

Rockaway Group of Companies supports Adams The Rockaway Group of Companies has thrown its support behind Essequibo and Guyana all-rounder Ricardo Adams. At a simple ceremony held on Wednesday at Everest Cricket Club, Chief Executive Officer of the entity, Hafeez Ali, presented Adams with a bat and a pair of batting gloves. Ali noted that he has been following Adams since he was playing at the age group level and he has always been impressed with him. Ali, a member of the Everest Masters team and owner of the Rockaway teams in Guyana and New York, noted that Adams has constantly been an outstanding performer and

is also a disciplined individual. He urged the talented cricketer to continue training and wished him well. Adams expressed gratitude to Ali and said he is looking forward to the upcoming season. The allrounder stated that he is happy for the support and will continue to work hard on his game. The all-rounder who hails from Zeelandia, Wakenaam was instrumental in Essequibo winning the local Franchise 50-over and threeday titles with a number of centuries and five-wicket hauls under his belt. During his youth career he represented Guyana and carved a century in the Re-

Ricardo Adams (right) accepts the bat and gloves from Hafeez Ali of Rockaway Group of Companies. gional U19 tournament. Adams also represented Guyana at the senior level

with his last appearance being in 2018, against Jamaica in the Regional Super50.

Fury to fight...

Saturday February 26, 2022 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Love and romance are first and foremost on your agenda for today, Aries. You and your romantic partner may leave a gathering of friends to be alone together and talk. TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) A festive event takes place in your home today, Taurus. Is it a family member's birthday? A lot of lighthearted banter takes place alongside. GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Your neighborhood is a busy place today, Gemini. Perhaps a public gathering of some kind is happening, maybe social, political, or humanitarian in nature. CANCER (June 21–July 22) Financially, things seem to be going great for you right now, Cancer, and therefore you could plan to make an investment in your home. LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) At this time, Leo, most of your focus is on either a group you're affiliated with or an intellectual subject in which you have an intense interest, or perhaps both. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Today you might decide to spend much of your day alone at home, Virgo, perhaps working on a creative project of some kind.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Expect to be surrounded by genuine love and affection today, Libra. Friends, family members, and a very special romantic partner could pay you far more attention than usual. SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Idealistic love could come your way today, Scorpio. This might involve a colleague or possibly someone in a group with which you're affiliated. SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Travel by air, perhaps in the company of some friends, could well be in the works for you, Sagittarius. A group with which you're affiliated might want to take a trip together, perhaps to a place associated with artistic or spiritual traditions. CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) A lucky break could put you into a higher financial bracket than you were two days ago, Capricorn. Career matters, perhaps those concerning the arts, could be involved in some way. AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) A social event could bring a fascinating new someone, perhaps from a different culture, into your life, Aquarius. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Are you falling for someone you know on the job, Pisces? If so, you might find out that your feelings are reciprocated.

From page 24 for this fight for years, and while he is a deserving challenger, no heavyweight can match ‘The Gypsy King’,” said Arum. “This is going to be a momentous night of boxing with tens of thousands of fans in attendance at Wembley Stadium.”

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Kaieteur News

ICC Women’s World Cup 2022…

Windies meet Australia in warm-up round The second warm-up match of ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 sees Australia Women take on West Indies Women at Lincoln Green in Lincoln, New Zealand. Australia Women recently faced England in the 2022 Ashes series. It was a comprehensive performance from them as they stayed unbeaten throughout the Ashes to retain the urn. The Aussies finished the Ashes series by cleansweeping the English side in the ODI series and will be brimming with confidence coming into the World Cup. Meg Lanning will con-

tinue to lead the Australian side. They have plenty of experience on their side and are certainly a team to watch out for in the Women’s World Cup 2022. The Aussies will surely start as favorites and will be eager to begin their preparations on a positive note. West Indies Women, meanwhile, have been struggling a bit in recent times. They lost 1-2 to South Africa Women in an ODI series in South Africa earlier this month. The Caribbeans did win the second game in a Super Over but failed to carry the

winning momentum forward as they lost their next two games. They will be hoping to bounce back in the upcoming few weeks. Stafanie Taylor still has the responsibility of leading the side. The likes of Deandra Dottin, Anisa Mohammed and Hayley Matthews will be looking to use their experience to contribute to the team’s success. We s t I n d i e s S q u a d : Cherry Ann F r a s e r, Rashada Williams, Stafanie Taylor (c), Deandra Dottin, Hayley Matthews, Chinelle Henry, Anisa Mohammed, Shermaine Campbelle, Kycia Knight (wk),

Chedean Nation, Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Afy Fletcher, Karishma Ramharack, Shakera Selman. Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes, Ashleigh Gardner, Ellyse Perry, Nicola Carey, Annabel Sutherland, Alyssa Healy (wk), Beth Mooney, Darcie Brown, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Megan Schutt, Amanda Wellington. (Note: All players from the squad can take part in the warm-up match) The match bowls off today at 4pm AST. (Sportskeeda)

Saturday February 26, 2022

UEFA moves Champions... From paga 21 Saint-Denis at the original time of 20:00 GMT (21:00 CET) on May 28. UEFA also ordered that all Russian and Ukrainian club sides, as well as the national teams, must play their home matches at neutral venues “until further notice”. Spartak Moscow will be in the draw for the Europa League round of 16, which takes place on Friday, while Russia are due to face Poland in a World Cup play-off tie next month, the winner of which would play Sweden or the Czech Republic for a place at the finals in Qatar. The football associations of Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic had all previously warned they would not consider travelling to Russia for matches following president Vladimir Putin’s

decision to launch the Ukraine offensive. “The signatories to this appeal do not consider travelling to Russia and playing football matches there. The military escalation that we are observing entails serious consequences and considerably lower safety for our national football teams and official delegations,” they said. “Therefore, we expect FIFA and UEFA to react immediately and to present alternative solutions regarding places where these approaching playoff matches could be played.” UEFA’s executive committee has agreed to remain on standby for further extraordinary meetings “to reassess the legal and factual situation as it evolves and adopt further decisions as necessary”.

Saturday February 26, 2022

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Kaieteur News

GFF congratulates Curtez Kellman on US Pro contract The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) on Saturday extended its congratulations to Golden Jaguars and former Western Tigers midfielder Curtez Kellman on securing a two-year professional contract with U.S. team Sporting Kansas City II. Sporting Kansas City II, affiliated with the city’s Major League Soccer (MLS) team, is part of the new MLS Next Pro league, which is classified in the third tier of the U.S. soccer system. Kellman impressed the club during a trial facilitated through Guyanese-born former Canadian international and Sport-

Curtez Kellman ing Kansas City striker Alex Bunbury, the Guyana Football Federation and Western Tigers. “We are delighted for

Curtez, and have every faith in him to seize this amazing opportunity and work hard to reach his full potential as a player in this crucial phase of his career,” said GFF President Wayne Forde. “Curtez is not only a hugely talented young man; his exemplary attitude, commitment to his career, and dedication to improve every aspect of his game since a young age have impressed everyone who has had the pleasure of working with him. He is a true role model for all young players in Guyana to follow.” The MLS Next Pro is de-

UEFA moves Champions League final from St Petersburg to Paris (SportsMax) - The 2022 Champions League final will be held in Paris after UEFA stripped St Petersburg of the right to stage the game. The decision came after European football’s governing body condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and called an emergency meeting of the executive committee to discuss the situation. It is understood UEFA agreed to relocate the final on Thursday, the first day of Russia’s military assault on neighbouring Ukraine, which continued on Friday. An an-

UEFA also ordered that all Russian and Ukrainian club sides, as well as the national teams, must play their home matches at neutral venues “until further nouncement was delayed while a suitable new venue was selected.

The match will now be held at the Stade de France in (Continued on page 21)

signed as a feeder system for the MLS. According to Bunbury, Kellman has all the ingredients necessary to impress the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame player’s old club and make the step up to the top tiers of U.S. soccer. “This is a really special moment because it opens the door for other Guyanese play-

ers to get these kinds of opportunities,” said Bunbury. “The type of player that my old club, Sporting Kansas City, is looking for is exactly what this young man is. He has got quality and his character is impeccable. We should all be complimenting this young man because the feedback I’m getting from ev-

eryone is that he is a class act on the field and off the field.” Golden Jaguars Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz encouraged Kellman, who has also played for Georgetown Football Club, to “make a total commitment” to this opportunity and said he looked forward to “monitoring his progress”.

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Kaieteur News

Saturday February 26, 2022

Fury to fight Whyte at Lady Jags hunt Honduras Wembley on April 23 in today’s curtain raiser

2022 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship…

- Matches to be live streamed The Guyana Women’s U20 National Team takes on Honduras in its first game of the 2022 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship on Saturday, with Head Coach Paul DeAbreu reporting that the squad was “working hard” in the Dominican Republic. The U-20 Lady Jags squad, featuring 15 Canadabased and three Guyanabased players, has been drawn in a group with 2018 champions Mexico, 2012 semi-finalists Panama, and 2015 fourth placed Honduras. Guyana is making its second consecutive appearance at the regional championship, having reached the quarterfinals in its first outing at this level in 2020 – just two games shy of qualifying for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. Alongside the top 16 ranked sides in the region, Guyana qualified automatically for this year’s tournament as it is regarded by

Concacaf as the 10th strongest nation in this age and gender group in the Caribbean, and Central and North America. Today’s match against Honduras kicks off at 16:00 hrs local time and will be streamed live on Concacaf’s Facebook and YouTube platforms. “The U-20 Lady Jags made history in 2020, reaching the quarter-finals in their first appearance at this level,” said Guyana Football Federation President Wayne Forde. “We know the whole nation and Diaspora will want to tune in and roar for the team on Saturday as they seek to emulate and improve on that memorable run.” “On behalf of the GFF and the football community in Guyana, we wish the squad and staff all the best for this important competition,” he continued. “Despite all the challenges that the pandemic has posed in the run-up to this tourna-

ment, we know the girls will give it everything they have got, make us all proud and set a shining example for other young women to get involved in football, especially as we prepare to launch the GFFBlue Water U15 Girls’ Development League.” Guyana takes on Mexico on Monday, February 28 at 19:00hrs and Panama on Wednesday, March 2 at 16:00hrs in its remaining group matches, which will also be live-streamed. The top three teams from each of the four groups will progress to Round of 16, alongside four additional qualifiers. The Lady Jags’ team reads Anessa O’Brien, Arden LaRose, Jessica Myers, Inari Moore, Hasha Holder, Shamya Daniels, Rory Scott, Alliana Holder, Gabriella Salvadore, Valentina Khan, Savanna Mordesir-Singh, Samantha Banfield, Kiana Khedoo, Dylana Makarowski, Jessica Jagdeo, Alleia Alleyne, Audrey Narine and Jenea Knight.

(BBC Sport) - World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will meet Dillian Whyte in an all-British fight at Wembley on 23 April. Whyte signed a contract to meet the WBC champion earlier this week just hours before the deadline. Fury, who is unbeaten with 31 wins and one draw, has not fought in the UK since August 2018 when he beat Francesco Pianeta in Belfast. Whyte, who has 28 wins and two losses in his 30-fight career, is the mandatory challenger for the WBC belt. Fury’s last outing saw him retain his title with an 11thround knockout of American Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas in their third fight. “Tyson Fury coming home to fight under the arch at Wembley Stadium is a fitting reward for the number one heavyweight in the world following his exploits across the Atlantic in his epic trilogy against Deontay Wilder,” said promoter Frank Warren,

WBC Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury (L) and WBC Interim Heavyweight title Holder Dillian Whyte whose Queensberry Promo- nation of fans right across the tions won the purse bid to world.” Since his last fight in the UK, Fury has fought exstage the fight. “The fact that this manda- clusively in the US after signtory defence of his WBC title ing a promotional deal with comes against another Brit Bob Arum’s Top Rank. Whyte last fought when only adds to the occasion. They are two of the biggest he beat Alexander Povetkin characters in British sport and with a knockout in March both normally have plenty to 2021 - the Briton was forced to pull out of a bout against say for themselves. “It is going to be an in- Otto Wallin in October becredible night and a huge oc- cause of a shoulder injury. “Dillian Whyte has called casion for sport in this coun(Continued on page 21) try that will capture the imagi-

Saturday February 26, 2022

Kaieteur News

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‘More cricket needed for players to improve’ says Trevon Griffith By Sean Devers At the age of 30, G u y a n a ’s l e f t - h a n d e d opening batsman Trevon Griffith feels that while better pitches and facilities could help young players improve, he thinks the most important thing for a player’s development is to play more cricket. “The players just need to play more cricket. The players already put in the work and do what they have to do to better their game but for me, playing more cricket, which has to be organized by the authorities, is very important. More cricket… the national side has an excellent coach already so I don’t really think Coaching is the problem. We just need more cricket and a longer season of first class games since players in England, India and all over the world play far more First-class cricket than Guyanese and West Indians. Match practice in high level competitions is the only way we can consistently compete in Test and ODIs…the older players

used to play a lot of FirstClass cricket in England but that is not so anymore,” says Griffith. Griffith played the last of his 21 First-Class matches against the Leewards in 2019 at Providence before missing the last Regional Super50. He was tested positive for Covid-19 all though he showed no symptoms. The Guyana top order of Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Shimron Hetymer and Skipper Leon Johnson have all failed to register big scores in their first two matches leaving the Guyana Harpy Eagles third on the points table with three matches remaining in April. Griffith’s First-Class Average is 17.51 with two fifties, but has been named among the standbys for the Harpy Eagles and says he is keen on getting back in the First-Class team. Griffith last weekend scored a shot filled triple century in the GCA first division two-day final against GCC to become the highest scorer for DCC; surpassing the 273 made by the late Andrew Lyght in

1983 against GYO. When asked how confident he is of regaining his place at the top of the order, Griffith, who copped four awards in the GCA tournament, said he can only do what he can do. “Well I can only focus on scoring runs which is the most important thing for me. Being selected is out of my hands and I can only allow the selectors to do their job which is select who they think is best for the national side,” Griffith, who admitted to enjoying playing 50 over cricket the most and T20s. In ‘white ball’ cricket, he has performed better than in ‘Red ball’ games at the Regional level and explained the differences in his approach in the different formats. “Well I try and have the same approach to start, but obviously white ball is a bit different whereby you have the fielders inside the 30yard circle and you’d go over the top early in your innings, while in red ball it’s important to get a start and push on. So for me yes, I bat a bit different in white ball

Griffith punches past cover for a boundary. (Sean Devers photo)

Trevon Griffith & Keon Joseph were the 2 Guyanese named in West Indies U-19 team after the 2009 TCL U-19 tournament in Jamaica. (Sean Devers photo) versus red ball,” continued Griffith, who has also played 34 List A and 18 T20s. Griffith was born in Georgetown, Guyana April, 18, 1991 and grew up in Tucville. “I attended the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School and growing up for me was not easy as my parents’ struggled, find it hard, but still manage to give us a decent life whereby I was able to peruse my dream,” Griffith disclosed. “I always played cricket but was into football little bit, but my mother (Selena Thompson) tell me not to play Football because she wanted me to play cricket,” continued Griffith who first joined a club as a 10-year old when he joined GINC before moving to DCC two years later. Griffith first played for Georgetown at the under15 level at the age of 14 before playing for Guyana at the under15 level in 2005. “After I played for Guyana under-15 I realized that this is what I want to do for a living and I played for Guyana under19s in 2008 and 2009. “My most memorable match was for Guyana against Trinidad in the 2015 Super50 finals at Queens Park Oval.” T&T, led by a century from Jason Mohamed, made 200, Guyana were bowled out for 65 with Griffith (31) being the only batsman to reach double figures before he was caught at slip by Pollard off Narine, ended with 6-9. “My most memorable game at youth level was Guyana against Leewards

islands in Jamaica in 2009 because I scored a century,” said Griffith who was the leading run-getter in the TCL G r o u p We s t I n d i e s Challenge tournament in 2009, scoring 406 runs at an average of 40. The highlight was a century against Leeward Islands. However, he had a disappointing one-day tournament but had done enough to warrant selection into the squad for the 2010 U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. “After I came back from youth World Cup I continued to work hard and found myself into the National trials and I was scoring runs and that’s how I was selected in the national team,” explained the left-handed batsman who bowls a bit of off-spin. Griffith, who made a splendid 85 against Pakistan at the U-19 World Cup, got a wonderful Guyana Republic Anniversary gift when he made his First-Class debut on February 23, 2012 against Jamaica in Antigua as a 20year-old. “I always like to bowl but it not something I took very seriously, but I realized that I have the ability to bowl pretty decent and that’s when I started to bowl more,” Griffith added. “Well since the draft system came about I was selected for Jamaica in the draft and that’s how I played for Jamaica. Life in Jamaica was good…I enjoyed my time where as I blended in well with the culture which is very similar to what we accustomed to in Guyana. The difference with

Jamaica and Guyana is their Night-life, but obviously there is a lot more to do there like adventure wise and other things,” said the dreadlocked player. “My most memorable match at senior level would be the 2015 Regional Super50 final at the Queen’s Park Oval which we lost,” said Griffith, who made his List ‘A’ debut on October 2009 at Providence when the West Indies U-19s played the Leewards at Providence and has so far played 34 games in this format; scoring five fifties with a highest of 80. In the final Griffith can’t forget, a century from Dave Mohamed got T&T to 200 but only Griffith who made an attractive 31 before he edged Sunil Narine to Pollard at slip, got into double figures as Guyana were dismantled for 65 with Sunil Narine taking 6-9. Griffith, who played for many years in Trinidad and also played in Barbados with the HPC, disclosed that the fastest bowler he has even faced is Wahab Riaz, the leftarm fast bowler from Pakistan who he faced at Bourda when Guyana played Pakistan. Griffith who has no children and enjoys being by himself said that there’s no one person he could single out who has helped him in his career but mentioned Gavin Nedd, Paul Nixon and Donavon Miller. “If I was not a cricketer what would I be? That’s a good question. I always wanted to play sports so maybe I think football because that’s the other sport I like a lot.”