Kaieteur News

Houseapproves$445Mformoreshrimpponds

Recognising the success of its brackish water shrimp ponds in the Corentyne Region, the Ministry of Agriculturewillbeextending theprogrammethisyearwith a$4452millionallocation

Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha in response to questions raised by Alliance For Change (AFC) Parliamentarian, Khemraj Ramjattan said that any fish farmer or brackish waterfarmerwhoneedshelp will be getting assistance underthisprogramme.

Mustapha explained that last year when the initiative was conceptualised, his ministry focussed on subsistence farming. He said that there were about 120 farmers who together produced some 10,000 kilograms (Kg) of shrimp monthly.

Mustapha said that his ministry through dialogue withthefarmerspromisedto enhance output through the shrimp ponds He said that Government moved to commencetheinfrastructural work on the brackish water shrimpponds,andthoughthe project was not fully completed, output was increasedto83,000kgbythe

endofDecemberlastyear

Theprojecthedetailedis about 80 percent completed The agriculture minister said his team is hoping that upon completion of that project, production will be increased to 120,000 kg monthly The Ministry is also looking to branchoutsuchinitiativeson the East and West Coasts of Guyana. The objective is to make the country a large

scaleproducerofthisspecies of shrimp, which according to the Minister, is very lucrativeinothercountries.

In December 2021, this newspaper reported that the Ministry of Agriculture was pursuing 74 ponds to hopefully double the production of shrimp, by 2025, with a $58 million investment Kaieteur News wastoldthattheprojectsiteis

located along the Corentyne Coast from the Berbice River Bridge to Number 49 Village,inRegionSix.

Furthermore, it was related that the scope of works included the desilting of drainage and irrigation canals,pondpreparation(that is building dams higher), removal of vegetation in the pond and desilting where possible

Tubeswerealsoinstalled to facilitate drainage and irrigation. The works are being completed by the National Drainage and IrrigationAuthority (NDIA), as was related by a credible source TheMinistrysaidthat the project is specifically aimed at boosting the production of brackish water shrimp from 250,000 kilograms to 500,000

kilogramsinfouryears’time

This is one of the measures the Government has pursued amidst complaints of decreased seafood catch, by local fishers The Fisheries Department has teamed up with the NDIA to construct the74pondsfortherearingof brackishwatershrimp

According to Wikipedia, ‘brackish water’ , also sometimes termed brack water,iswateroccurringina natural environment having moresalinitythanfreshwater, but not as much as seawater Salt water is the ideal environment for the rearing ofshrimp.

In August last year, the Ministry of Agriculture invitedbidsforcontractorsto construct a shrimp farm at Onverwagt, West Coast Berbice, Region Five and anotherprojectatFarm,Rose Hall,BerbiceRegionSix

In2022,$230millionwas budgeted for the brackishwater shrimp production initiative Additionally, Budget 2022 provided the sum of $200 million to introduceanddevelopmarine cagefishing

In 2021, $58 million was spentonthefishponds

The brackish water shrimp ponds developed by the Ministry of Agriculture

Exxongoingafter10massive wellsinStabroekBlockthisyear

ExxonMobil nets record breaking US$55.7 billion profit in 2022

- foresees more multi-billion dollar revenues as production ramps up offshore Guyana

American oil giant, ExxonMobil Corporation announced yesterday that it made a jaw-dropping US$12 8B in the fourth quarterof2022,bringingtotal earnings to US$55.7B. This is a substantial increase whencomparedtoprofitsfor 2021totallingUS$23B.

Americanoilproducer,HessCorporation recently revealed that 10 massive wells will bedrilledintheStabroekBlockthisyear

Providing the details on this was Hess’ Chief Operating Officer (COO), Greg Hill. Duringhiscompany’sfourthquarterearnings call, Hill said approximately 10 exploration and appraisal wells will be pursued by operator, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL). He said these wells will target a variety of prospects and play types. He said they will include lower risk wells near existing discoveries and several penetrations that will test deeper intervals.

With regard to upcoming wells, he said operationsarecontinuingattheTarponFish-1 well,approximately43milesnorthwestofthe Liza-1well.

Another well of interest he said is called Lancetfish-1. Hill said it is a deep play exploration well, located approximately 2.5 milesnortheastoftheFangtoothSoutheast-1 well He said drilling operations are underwayontheNobleDonTaylordrillship.

Beyond that, Hill shared that there is a well called Basher, which will target a deep prospect in the Fangtooth area and another which will penetrate an updip upper campaigning prospect east of Barreleye discoverymadeAprillastyear

Hill recalled that the Fangtooth well was

one of the earliest and most successful indications of significant oil resources being trapped 18,000 feet deep in the Stabroek Block.

He further noted that the Fangtooth Southeast-1 well, located approximately 8 miles southeast of the original Fangtooth-1 discovery, was supposed to be an appraisal well but the penetration was so phenomenal that it had to be recorded as an independent discovery

Kaieteur News had reported that the Fangtooth Southeast-1 well encountered approximately 200 feet of oil-bearing stand stonereservoirsandwasdrilledto5,397feet ofwater

Hill said, “Fangtooth was our first standalone deep exploration prospect on the StabroekBlockandthisareahasthepotential tounderpinafutureoildevelopment.”

Hill said Hess and Stabroek Block partners, ExxonMobil and CNOOC PetroleumGuyanaLimitedareexcitedabout theirfutureinGuyanaastheyalreadyhavea lineofsighttosixfloatingproductionstorage andoffloadingvessels(FPSOs).

The COO said the company’s financial prioritiesaretocontinuetoallocatecapitalto high-return low cost investment opportunitiesinGuyana,tokeepastrongcash position and balance sheet, grow the dividend,andincreasesharerepurchases.

The oil giant was keen to note that shareholder distributions were an eyepopping US$29 8 billion, including US$149 billion in dividendsandUS$149billion of share repurchases Given the significant revenues made,Exxonsaiditincreased and extended its sharerepurchase programme with up to US$35 billion of cumulativesharerepurchases in2023-2024

Followingthenewsofthe record-breaking performance, DarrenWoods,Chairmanand Chief Executive Officer said, “The hard work and commitment of our people is what enabled us to deliver industry-leading operating and financial results and shareholderreturnsin2022”

He added: “while our resultsclearlybenefitedfrom a favourable market, the counter-cyclical investments we made before and during the pandemic provided the energy and products people needed as economies began recovering and supplies became tight. We leaned in whenothersleanedout.”

Woods said the plan for

2023callsforfurtherprogress onstrategicobjectives,which include leading the industry in safety, operating, and financial performance. He said Exxon will therefore continue to invest in its advantaged projects such as those in Guyana to not only cashinonmorerevenuesbut also to deliver profitable growth, help meet society’s growing needs, and reduce emissions in operations, while providing innovative solutions that help others reducetheirs.

At the Stabroek Block where Exxon is the operator through its subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), there are two oil ships in operation.ThesearetheLiza Destiny and the Liza Unity floating production, storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs).Bothareproducing over 380,000 barrels of oil perday

A third FPSO will come on stream this year at the Payarafieldwithanexpected capacity of 220,000 gross barrelsofoilperday(bopd)

The fourth development, Yellowtail,wassanctionedin April2022andwillutilizethe ONE GUYANA FPSO with an expected capacity of 250,000grossbopd,withfirst productionexpectedin2025.

A fifth development, Uaru, was submitted for approval to the Government of Guyana in the fourth

quarter PendingGovernment approvals and project sanctioning, the project is expected to have a capacity of approximately 250,000 gross bopd with first oil anticipated at the end of 2026.

A sixth development at the Whiptail field is already before Guyanese authorities for review Scoping consultations on that venture willkickstarttoday

CEO and Chairman of ExxonMobil Corporation, Darren Woods

Publisher:GLENNLALL-TEL:624-6456

Editor-In-Chief:NIGELWILLIAMS

Tel:225-8465,225-8491. Fax:225-8473,226-8210

PPPC accounting-extra $40M per km of road

Thisisroadengineeringtakentoanotherlevel,androad accountingbysomestrangeconventionthatisuniquetothe PPPCGovernment.Guyaneseshouldtakestockofwhatthe Opposition’s former Minister of Public Infrastructure, Mr David Patterson had to say about the higher cost of roads constructed under the PPPC Government, and the diminished quality of work resulting (‘PPP Gov’t paying $40Mmoreoneverykilometerofroadwork-Patterson’-KN January30).

Sincereturningtopowerin2020,thePPPCGovernment hasembarkedonaslewofinfrastructureprojects,withroads asoneofthecenterpiecesofitsvisionsandefforts.In2020,it was 175km of roads, in 2021, another 420km, and in 2022, thenumberwas520km,foratotalof1,115kmbuilt.Byany measurement,itisanimpressivenumberofroadkilometers undertaken.ButasformerMinisterPattersonsaid,“thedevil isinthedetails.”

Fromourstandpoint,itisnotjustonedevil,butacouple ofthemroamingaroundunderthecoverofroadconstruction andgorgingthemselvesintoastateofmassiveobesityfrom taxpayers’money First,thereistheissueofthequalityofthe roads being delivered. According to Mr Patterson, the quality has diminished, to the extent that Guyanese are getting “half the quality of work.” Half the quality of anything,beitconsumable(asinfood),ortheproductionof theinedible(likearoad)issimplyunacceptable.Butthishas beenclosetothenorm,mayevenbeonthehigherside,and for, which both, the PPPC and APNU+AFC (inclusive of prior PNC) Governments have had their share of incompetence,andcleverness.

Too much cleverness is one of those devils, which Mr Patterson pointed to in the spiraling cost per kilometer of roadconstructedbythePPPCGovernment.Itisnowoverby a staggering $40M for each kilometer of road built. Even when allowance is made for the rising price of road construction materials, $40M more per kilometer is taking costsaltogetherintonewterritory Itisarich,sweetspotthat hasroomforaworldofskullduggery,theusualcorruptions by those with their hands on the levers of power, and those whoexecutetheirplans.Intheinstanceoftheformer,ruling politiciansaretheoneswiththeirhandsinplaceswherethey should not be, and regarding the latter, the list is long; for starters,theyincludemenandwomeninthepublicservice, then expands into the known network of favored PPPC contractors and cronies, and snares those officers of the State, or engaged by it, to supervise and signoff on road projects. In this scenario, all the politically connected players, and the cooperative, get to share in a piece of the action.

Onekilometerand$40Mdoesnotamounttomuchwork andmuchmoneytodivvyupamonganarmyofgreedyand corrupt politicians and their executioners in the trenches of near and far-flung regions of Guyana. But, we invite our readers to return to the number of kilometers of road built from2020to2022,andthepictureshouldbecomeblindingly clear of how much unimaginable crookedness and thievery becomepossible. Asnotedabove,itwas175kmforlessthan halfof2020,420kmin2021,and520kmin2022. Multiply anyone, of those numbers from any of those three years of PPPC Government’s road construction by $40M, and one will see how Guyanese taxpayers are being tricked and robbed numbingly

In 2020, it was $7B, in 2021, the number soared to $16.8B and in 2022 it blew through the roof to $20.8B that likely found their way into the pockets of PPPC friends, families, and so-called guardians of democracy This was what they were guarding, the right to plunder the national treasury, gouge their fellow Guyanese. Even if some generosity is extended, and only half of those annual amounts was in crooked play, then we are still talking of a total of over $22B stolen by a criminal group of Guyanese undertheguiseofroadconstruction. NowonderthePPPC Governmenthasmadeinfrastructurethereservoirintowhich budgetmoniesarefunneled. Itpaysspectacularly

What the media saw as a loss was actually a major victory

DEAREDITOR, I refer to an article published in the Kaieteur News on January 25, 2023 under the caption, ‘Basil Williamslosesappealtobe struck out in libel suit’ by PrithimaKissoon

Former Attorney General, Basil Williams, SC, gained a major victory fromtheCCJ,forthesanctity of Guyana’s Judiciary and the Rule of Law when the Court determined that Ms. Prithima Kissoon’s brotherin-law,whosatasoneoftwo judges in Guyana’s Full Court of the Supreme Court to hear her appeal, ought to have recused himself given his close relationship with Ms. Kissoon, the appellant beforehim.

The CCJ in applying ‘Value 2.5 of the Bangalore

Principles of Judicial Conduct 2002’, further stated that in all the circumstances, it was satisfied that the Full Court was improperly constituted. This CCJ ruling comes against the background of a similarrulingbytheCourtof Appeal which held that Ms. Kissoon’s uncle ought to have disqualified himself fromsittingastheChairman of the Public Service Appellate Tribunal in her appealfromadecisionofthe PublicServiceCommission.

The CCJ also ruled that the State Liability and Proceedings Act though providing for the State to be liable for the acts of its officers and agents in tort, nothing prevents the actual AttorneyGeneralorMinister from being sued also for the

allegedacts.

Theeffectofthisrulingis that the current Attorney General and Ministers can alsobesuedintheirpersonal capacities for alleged tortious acts or omissions andbreachofstatutoryduty, andthetrialwoulddetermine liability

The CCJ was very clear that Mr Williams was not sayinghewasabovethelaw wheninparagraph[20]ofits Judgment it stated, “Mr Williams may not have expressly couched his argumentsinthisway…..”

Attorney-at-Law, Nigel Hughes representing Ms Prithima Kissoon had over five years ago in 2017 sued the APNU+AFC’s Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams, SC for allegedly

libelling her in the Guyana Chronicle Newspapers. Mr Williams in his Defence, contended that any statementsmadebyhimand reportedinthemediawerein replytotheClaimant’sattack against him in her letter of the 27th day of January, 2017, which was published two days later in the media.

SeniorCounselWilliamshas been a leading advocate for the civil and political rights and justice of the Guyanese peopleandhasapplaudedthe Chancellor of the Judiciary and her team for the launching of an updated Guyana Code of Ethics for JudicialOfficers.

Yourstruly, BasilWilliams,SC Former Attorney General and Minister of LegalAffairs

works

DEAREDITOR, C o n t r a c t o r s ’ transgressions from failure to start contracted works to inferior quality construction (e.g., ‘Edghill terminates El Dorado Road contract -after contractorfailstostartwork’ , SN, Jan 14, 2023, ‘Likely poor design caused crumbling of Burma Road”, KN, Jan 11, 2023; ‘Tenders for security services and others’, KN, Jan 27, 2003, ‘Poor work being executed on the Parika-Hubu road’, SNOct12,2022)continueto p l a g u e t h e m a n y t r a n s f o r m a t i o n a l infrastructural works undertaken by the PPPC government. Why do these transgressions, described in the Auditor’s reports 2019, 2020 (projects under the previous government), almost weekly media reports, letters from professionals and citizens in newspapers, citizen and Governmentofficials’verbal complaints captured on video footages and distributed on social media, continueunabated?

The PPPC government clearly wants to fulfill its manifesto’s promises to the people. To do so, it has embarked on constructing, rebuilding, and repairing a myriad of roads, bridges, hospitals, schools, government services’ buildings, and energy generating plants (e.g., the gas-to-shore facility) In addition, the government approved construction of new hotels, commercial and

residential buildings. Some of the latter are undertaken by the government to meet itsmanifesto’sobligations.

G u y a n a , a n impoverished nation just prior to oil and gas discoveries and production, and the current government, is in a transitional economic state. To undertake just the ongoing construction works requires multiple planning, design, construction, and management skill sets. It seems obvious from the President and various M i n i s t e r s r e g u l a r remonstrances, when visiting construction sites, thattheseskillsetsareabsent or, at least, deficient. The scale of infrastructure developmental projects is incongruent with the available technical human resources. In conventional civil engineering practice, the transgressions that have been noticed, agonized, and handledbythePresidentand variousMinistersaredealtat the project engineer’s level, many levels below a ministerialposition.

Afterapolicydecisionis made, the process for constructionworks,suchasa r o a d r e q u i r e s conceptualization, planning including economic viability, feasibility studies, engineering design abiding by codes and standards, specifications, contracting, project management and qualitycontrol.Thisprocess, if carried out efficiently and effectively, leads to value –getting your money’s worth.

The policy decision is a politicalone,buttheprocess is completely technical. A politician should never micromanage the process, even if he/she is technically qualified The complaints that arise indicate that the processisseriouslyflawed.

Wherearetheflaws?The answer requires a comprehensive study beyondthisnewspaperletter However, from the reported transgressions,therearetwo areas – contracting and project management – that are obviously dysfunctional. The National Tender and ProcurementAdministration ( N T P A ) (https://www.npta.gov.gy/) processes contracts a c c o r d i n g t o t h e Procurement Act (2003)

Two types of contracts –open and sole source – are described and administered by NTPA. For details of these contractual types, the readerisadvisedtocheckout the NPTA’s website given above and the Guyana Dialogue’s event on January 1 2 , 2 0 2 3 (https://wwwyoutube com/ watch?v=fTbxzfK tAQ; https://wwwtheguyanadialo gue.org) for an overview

The NTPA‘s procedure

follows international standards for transparency, non-discrimination, and meritocracy

Many of the delinquent andderelictcontractorswere awarded contracts based on theopenprocess.Underthis process, the contract is awarded to the contractor

who meets the minimum qualificationsandthelowest price. A bidder with the lowest price who does not meet the minimum qualificationsisaloser This is standard international practice and not only a Guyanese practice The winnerisrequiredtoproduce acceptable current evidence ofqualificationsandfinance beforeawardedthecontract. Sole source contracting is used when specialized or best-in-class skills or equipment or a particular commodity is required. Often, sole source contracting is associated with allegations of corruption.

So, why did these contractors default? Are the qualifications,whichinclude among other requirements experience on similar projects, adequate human resources, and equipment, too low or not rigorously evaluated?Istheevidenceof qualifications and finance not meticulously validated?

Again,theseanswersrequire investigative reporting beyondthisnewspaperletter

Regardless of the outcome of the contracting process, it is the Government’s responsibility toensurethatpublicprojects are managed to satisfy the design (embedded in engineering drawings and specifications), quality and cost.Itisthewriter’sopinion that the crux of the problem lies in project management (“Aliadministration (Continuedonpage5)

Badcontractors,poorandabsentgovernment oversightcontinuetoplagueconstruction

Please establish a ‘Lost and Found’area at CJIA, Timehri

DEAREDITOR,

As a citizen of this country and one who was a Beauty Ambassador of Guyana for several years, I wish to express my view on theabovecaption.Ilovemy countryGuyanaandIloveto s e e t h a t w e h a v e infrastructure created for happiness, safety, security andconvenience.

Ofcourse,Iknowthatno institution can ever be perfect.And so I am writing ontheabovetogiveaserious recommendation to the Administrators of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, to please consider what I am saying andimplementitquickly

As this implementation could save a lot of heartaches, as someone whomIknowwellhadavery unfortunate experience and sufferedasaconsequence.

I recall when I was passing through the United Kingdom on my way to

represent my country in the Miss Universe Pageant in Malaysia an address book dropped in London at the HeathrowAirport. I realized when I was in Malaysia that thisaddressbookhadtohave gone missing in London at Heathrow

And upon my return to the Heathrow Airport, I made some inquiries and was sent for a long walk in the massive airport to a Secure Small Room where my address book was well secured.

As a result of my loved one’s experience recently at the CJIATimehri, I decided tocheckTrinidad,Barbados, JFK, New York, Miami International, Orlando International, just to verify whethertheyallhavea‘Lost andFound’area. AndYes,I found that they all have a ‘Lost and Found’ setup. Upon enquiring about Guyana, we do not have a ‘Lost and Found’ space.

Imagine this was quite a surprise to find that at our airport,theadministratorsof the airport, did not think of the necessities of having a counter for ’Lost and Found’.

Someone dear and near tomedroppedtheirpassport atCJIA.Itwouldappearnow in the Customs Department. The passport was found at CJIA and taken and kept at t h e I m m i g r a t i o n Department.

It was kept at the Immigration Department from the 20th December, 2022 to 30th January, 2023. The name on the passport is thatofanespeciallypopular gentleman in this country T h e I m m i g r a t i o n Department should not be a ‘ L o s t a n d F o u n d ’ Department.

But If the ‘Lost and Found’ provision should be operated out of the Immigration Department, thatshouldbeestablished.It

Badcontractors,poorandabsentgovernment...

Frompage4 urgently needs contract management for planned infrastructural boom,” SN Jan 7, 2022). It is not the citizen’s responsibility to report on a contractor’s default, nonperformance, or noncompliance.

In fact, calling on citizens to report on contractors’ blunders or malpractices is detrimental.

P r o j e c t s m u s t b e professionally managed by experienced, technical staff. As alluded to earlier, the Government lacks the required technical human resources,orsometechnical staff are corrupt, or both. In addition, a master i n f r a s t r u c t u r e

developmental plan (blueprint), building codes and Standards are woefully absent (“Guyana urgently needs building codes and standards,” KN April 27, 2022).

It is commendable that the Government under the leadership of President Ali has embarked on the numerous infrastructural works to transform Guyana. Thelegacyoftheseworksin improving the lives and livelihood of Guyanese requires value engineering. Qualityprojectmanagement is a key mechanism through whichvaluecanberealized. One way to stem the contractors’transgressionsis to fast-tract training in

project management, stateof-the-art technology tools for project management, training and certification of contractors.

Sincerely,

Dr.MuniramBudhu ProfessorEmeritus

should be properly documented, with proper recording system. I repeat for emphasis that there is no ‘LostandFound’attheCJIA airport.

O n t h e 3 0 t h o f January,2023 someone realized that no one called thepopulargentlemanabout his passport, which misplacement had caused that gentleman tremendous distress and confusion. The point is that the passport is now located. It is confirmed that CJIA does not have a ‘ l o s t a n d f o u n d ’ arrangement.

The distress was unnecessary Andiftheyhad

a ‘Lost and Found’ unit at CJIA, it would have been recorded into that system. The staffers there would know to go and check their recordsquickly

They would know that theyhaveapassportthatwas misplaced or items that are misplaced and that the passport or other items need to get to its owner/s immediately, especially if contact addresses and telephone numbers of the owner/s of the items are available.

It is normal for these kinds of losses by accidents to happen. The fact that our airports in our country and

points of exits and entries at borderaccessinourcountry would have no ‘Lost and Found’ does not speak well of our country as a Tourist a n d C o m m e r c i a l Destination. They need to have one established at the earliest opportunity at all points of entriesandexits.

I hope authorities that govern the airports and border crossings would listened to my guidance to establish this important ‘Lost and Found’ facility at variouspointsofentriesand existsintoourcountry

Sincerely,

KatherinaRoshana

Glenn Lall should consider running for President

DEAREDITOR,

Iamwritingthisletterto let you know that it is my wholeheartedbeliefthatyou are the only person who could put Guyana on a straight path and also bring realunityoftheracestrulyas “One People, One Nation, andOneDestiny!”.

I truly believe that you are the only person who can governthiscountryashowit is suppose to be governed, and I also believe there are many genuine persons who

willjoinwithyouinforming a t r u e G u y a n e s e government.

Sir,itismywishthatyou should strongly consider forminganewpartyandrun forPresident,thatistheonly way we will get real change andeveryGuyanesewillget a fair and better way of living.

There are many persons from all the major parties who will want to join with youinformingagovernment of“ONEFORALLandALL

FORONEGuyana”.

I am of mixed race of Amerindian and African descent. I am 73 years old andaprostatecancerpatient for the past twelve or more twelveyears.AllIamgetting from the hospital is five tablets and a lot of blood tests,andadatetoreturnfor my clinic day Is this the improvedhealthcaresystem that the president keeps talkingabout?

Yourstruly,

StanfordBarker

Concerted campaigns with aid from strategic actors to reverse democratic processes

DEAREDITOR,

The late US politician, diplomat and sociologist, Daniel P Moynihan popularized the phrase “semantic infiltration”, coined by foreign policy expert, Frank Ikle, to describe the “systematic distortion of meaning of certain words to confuse or mislead” Semantic infiltration is essentially a form of propaganda or disinformation that is designed to manipulate public opinion or shape public information for political advantage

According to Senator Moynihan it “is the process whereby we come to adopt the language of our adversaries in describing politicalreality”.

This weaponization of language is a regularly employed, and very successful, tactic of mainly right-wing, anti-democratic political interests which popularity and effect has proliferatedsincetheTrump presidencyintheUSA.

The former President himselfwasassessedtohave told30,573mistruthsduring his presidency which

spawned the phrase “alternativefacts”tocounter and defend against perceptions of wilful and pervasive dishonesty, distortion and deception

The most spectacular example of this is the “Big Lie” which continues to claim that Trump won the 2020 presidential elections intheUSbutwasdenieddue to extensive electoral fraud. This claim was repeated ad nauseum and propagated by acolytes, accomplices and variousmediaplatformsand ultimately led to a conspiracy to commit fraud, insurrection and coup d’état for which several investigations have been launched, hundreds arrested and charged and several convicted, some for seditious conspiracy

Moreover, the January 6 Select Committee of the US House of Representatives has made four criminal referrals – obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy to make a falsestatement,incite,assist, or aid and comfort an insurrection - against the formerpresidentandothers.

Apartfromtheactualand potential criminal conduct, the“BigLie”hasalsoledto threats and harassment of election workers and voters and state legislatures creating criminal penalties fornormalelectionactivities and steps to strip election officials of the ability to run and certify elections under the guise of “election integrity” which is an obvious strategy to suppress the vote and remove nonpartisan control of the election process in order to ensure a desired result Earlier this year, following claims that the October 22, 2022 National Elections in Brazil were stolen, thousands of supporters of the defeated president stormed the country’s parliament, presidential palace and Supreme Court reminiscentoftheJanuary6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol, in what has been labelled a “neo-fascist coup”. The Guyana 2020 General and Regional Elections preceded the US Presidential elections by more than 6 months and manyofthetacticsemployed by the forces of election

A daily word of wisdom corner recommended

DEAREDITOR,

Thisisjustasuggestion. Theworldweliveintodayis full of greed and violence and Guyana is no exception just as the Bible says “The love of money is the root of allevil”.

Forthesakeofposterity, I would like to suggest KaieteurNewsstartsa‘daily quote corner’ to remind us thatGodisstillincontrolof the nations. Maybe, just maybe, it will help this nation to heal from the degradationintowhichithas

fallen. There are lots of beautiful quotations from severalsourcesandfromthe Bible (in particular) that would be suited at this time forthisnationandbeasbalm forthesoul.

Beginning with, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge God and he will direct your path”(Proverbs3:5-6).Give thanksuntotheLORDforhe is good, for HIS mercy endures forever.(Psalms

denial,falseclaimsoffraud, harassment of election workers, violent protest and insurrection, and contingent elections appeared here first andwithgreatersuccess.

international pressure to effectacoupd’état.

118:1,29). SeekyetheLord while he may be found, call yeuponhimwhileheisnear: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, andhewillhavemercyupon him; for he will abundantly pardon(Isaiah55:6-7KJV).

There are so many quotations in the Bible (and elsewhere)youcouldnotrun out even if you print differentoneeveryday

Sincerely-inJesus, GloriaHolder

Bittersweet justice for Faiyaz Narinedatt

DEAREDITOR,

Thesaying.“youdothecrime,youmust do the time”, is apt, in the sentences handed downtothefiveinvolvedintheheinousand brutal killing of Faiyaz Narinedatt, a young son,husbandandfather

They snatched a young man’s life, now

they will see theirs dwindle and waste away and wonder if death would not have been better Bittersweetjustice.

May the family finally find peace and closure.

Yourstruly, ShamshunMohamed

It could be argued that support for this strategy, particularly among strategic actors, was much greater here and preparation for it more thorough. First, there was the pre-election phase initiated with the “NoconfidenceVote”intendedto unseat a democraticallyelected government, not at the polls, but by treachery misrepresented as conscientious, principled and patriotic protest, followed by a vigorous campaign of economic and political destabilization, allegationsofintenttorigthe elections,legalcampaignsto resistcleansingthevoterslist and replacement of Justice PattersonasChairmanofthe G u y a n a E l e c t i o n s Commission.Thencamethe election campaign and a coordinated series of actions, justified by dubious claims of possessing evidence of fraud and spurious demands for “verification”, to discredit and disrupt the tabulation of votes, prevent an unfavourable declaration and introduce contingent procedures for tabulation and certification to reverse legitimate results, through fraud,harassmentofelection workers, insurrection and

To this date, and in spite of having instituted 32 electoral fraud charges against several election officials and its political opponents, and having establishedaCommissionof Inquiry into alleged election fraud, the PPPC has not providedaniotaofevidence to substantiate its claims. In comparisonintheUSatleast 978 people have been charged and 530 convicted, including 50 for serious conspiracycrimesrelatingto theinsurrection.Theleaders of at least 5 political parties (ANUG, CG, LJP, PPP/C, TCI) that participated in the elections had publicly, and repeatedly, declared that many of the Statements of Poll (SOP) presented by the ReturningOfficerofDistrict 4didnotcorrespondwiththe SOPs in their possession reflecting very significant increases for APNU+AFC, andcorrespondingdecreases for PPPC, the sum total of whichreflectedadivergence of over 22,000 votes (which ismorethanthetotalvotein everyotherregionexceptfor Regions3and6).

Such a large figure suggests that hundreds of SOPswerecompromisedyet they could not produce one, choosing now to obfuscate by referencing recount data which is ex post facto and therefore irrelevant. A

simple comparison of the serial numbers, vote count and signatures of election officers and counting agents on the identified SOPs would have established the veracity, or otherwise, of thoseclaimsbutthatwasnot thetypeof‘verification,they wished to pursue. It is also not the type of enquiry the COI is intent on pursuing. It is clear that these parties, with much assistance from strategic actors, chose to reject the constitutional remedyforelectiondisputes andresortedtofraud,violent insurrection and contingent elections Former British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli said that “a precedent embalms a principle” The US and Brazil have demonstrated thattheyrejecttheprecedent forced upon them and have determined to resolutely upholdtheprinciplesoffree and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power Guyana, it seems, is yet to decide whether it will perpetuate or reject, like the USA and Brazil, what has been termed the new contagion likely to spread throughout the hemisphere undermining democracies andthreateninginternational security and stability, Guyana’s future as an importantplayerintheworld economydependsonit.

Sincerely,

OscarDolphin

Demarcation of Constituency Boundaries

DEAREDITOR, GECOM today, after hagglingovertheissueofthe demarcation of constituency boundaries from November 2022 to January 2023, decidedthatthereportofthe CEO met the standard required of such a report. The Opposition appointed Commissionersdifferforthe followingreasons.

1 The criteria and procedures (geography, community and population) for the demarcation of constituencies previously used were thrown out. The Chairperson and the Government appointed Commissioners argued that nominutescouldbefoundto show that they had been approved The CEO previously argued that there were no points of reference of the previously developed and used procedures and

criteria Documents were produced to show that they existed. He then resorted to contend that there were no approvedminutes.

2. The records clearly showthattheproceduresand criteria that were discussed fromMay2009toDecember 2009 were actually implemented and were the basisfortheconfigurationof constituencies in 2016 and 2018.

3. The CEO in his own wordsarticulatedthatheand his staff determined what criteria (population and a distorted concept of geography) should be applied.

Imagine a Commission threw out collectively determined criteria and procedures and accepted the validity of a report that resulted from a process that was crafted by the CEO,

deficientandneverapproved bytheCommission.

4. The report represents exactly what the Minister hadillicitlysoughttofoiston GECOM. In other words, GECOM has now clothed theMinister’sillicitactwith itsapproval.

5 The Opposition appointed Commissioners have reserved the right to provide statistical evidence to show that the proposed boundariesaresimplyactsof gerrymandering aimed at giving the PPP an unfair advantage in the upcoming localgovernmentelections.

6. While the discussion sofarwasaboutthevalidity of the report, the Government appointed Commissioners are insisting that there should be no discussion on the content of thereport.

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

Guyana shortchanged by US$93 Million

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

According to one Guyanese economist Guyana got shafted.

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

US$92.8M more is due to us for our oil.

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

Does the PPPGovt. care?

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

Do our analysts wish to study and agree or disagree?

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

Almost US$93M is not chicken feed money for a poor country like Guyana.

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

People who can’t afford to buy pumpkin or a puri could sure use it.

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

Is the PPPGovt. listening? Again, does the PPPGovt. care?

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT...BLUNT

Exxon finally sets venue for Reg.#4 meeting on sixth oil project

Oil giant ExxonMobil on Tuesdayannouncedthevenue for the lone meeting that will take place in Region Four, to heartheconcernsofthepublic regarding its sixth oil project it intends to start up in the StabroekBlock.

The company’s local operator, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) said in a publicnoticepublishedinthis newspaper yesterday that the consultationwilltakeplaceat theUmanaYanainKingston, Georgetown from 17:00hrs (5pm) to 19:00hrs (7pm) on Thursday,February2,2023.

EEPGL commonly referred to as ExxonMobil Guyana, had put out a notice informingstakeholdersofthe scopingsessionsplanned.The oil company detailed that eight meetings are planned to garner feedback from the public. The consultations kicked off on Monday, January 30, 2023 and winddownonFebruary7,2023.

Notably, the sessions will be spread out across Regions One, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six. While the venue and time was set foralltheotherRegions,Exxondid not specify where or when the

meeting will be held in Region Four,themostpopulateddistrictin thecountry

The meetings held in Region Four usually attract a greater number of citizens with relevant concernsabouttheproject.During its last Consultation on the fifth project, for example, Shadow NaturalResourcesMinister,David Patterson was in attendance, along with local Engineer and Chemist,

Alfred Bhulai Transparency Advocate and Lawyer, Elizabeth Deane-Hughes,wasalsopresentto registerherconcernsandquestions duringthescopingsession. With the venue yet to be announced for the meeting in Region Four, set for Thursday, February 2, 2023 stakeholders believe that this is a deliberate attempttoavoidtheparticipationof citizens Publisher of this

newspaper,Mr GlennLallafterhe became aware of the matter was eager to offer his comments. Lall whohasbeenvocalongovernance of the oil sector said Exxon is clearly not serious about stakeholderengagements.

“This is just a sham because of therequirementinplaceforittobe done.TheywanttoshowtheWorld how transparent they were – that they engaged the country and its

people- so no one can accuse them of highhandedness with the people’s oil wealth,” he said.

He explained that the oil company craftily followed the regulation and published a newspaper advertisement so thereisevidencethatthepublic wasinvitedtoparticipateinthe meetings Lall was keen to point out however that in the same notice, Exxon said the venue and time for the Region Four meeting is yet to be announced ‘They are waiting ontheninthhourtotellyouthe consultation is here, knowing fully well the game they are playing, “ The Newspaper Publisheradded,“Whatismore painful is that the Government of the day and the Opposition aresilenttothisdisrespect”

A source at EEPGL told this newspaper that the oil company was having issues finalizing the location for the meetinginRegionFour According to individual, Exxon was trying to secure the Umana Yana in Kingston, Georgetown for the session. The source had assured that a notice would be published when the company secures the venueforthescopingsession.

Guyanese worker assaults Chinese boss for taunting him after being fired

AformerGuyaneseManganese Inc(GMI)employeeisnowonthe run after he assaulted his Chinese SupervisoronNovember2last,for tauntinghimafterhewasfired.

The wanted man is Rawle Gibbs, 50, of Wismar, Linden and theChinesemanheassaultedisFia Wiyun.

Kaieteur News was told that Gibbsworkedinthe‘Washerplant’ at GMI’s operations located in Matthews Ridge, North West District,RegionOneandwasfired afterherefusedto‘’turnaroundand facehissupervisor”.

This newspaper understands thatthecompanyhasanosmoking policywhenworkingattheWasher Plant and Gibbs was reportedly caught breaking the rule when his supervisorappeared.

To avoid being caught, he turned away when he saw the man coming. It is said Wiyun was reportedly giving him some instructions and subsequently asked him to turn around and face him, but Gibbs refused to obey because he was trying to hide the cigarettefromhisboss.

Hisactionsreportedlyannoyed the supervisor and he was fired on thespotandforcedtosignhisown terminationletter

Following his termination,

Gibbs could not leave the company’s premises immediately becausehehadtowaituntilaflight was available for him to leave.

Hourslaterwhilehewaswaitingon the company’s premises, Wiyun, now his former boss noticed him sulking in a corner and allegedly

begantauntinghim.

Wiyun while reportedly clapping and singing said, “Where is the farewell, where is the

farewell”.

Meanwhile it is reported that some other Chinese employees who were present also backed up Wiyun with his ‘taunting song’as theymockedGibbstogether

Eyewitnesses recalled that Gibbssuddenlyflewintoarageand gavetheChineseNationalasound trashing before fleeing the company’spremises.

Wiyun had to be taken to the hospital for treatment and the matterwasreportedtopolice.

Speaking with Kaieteur News, Commander of the Region One police district, Himnauth Sawh, saidthatwhenranksmadeattempts to arrest Gibbs he had already fled the area and police have been lookingforhimeversince.

“Efforts are being made to locatehim.Weareworkingclosely alongwithpoliceinRegion10ifhe shows up there,” Sawh told KaieteurNews.

Gibbs had reportedly managed to slip out of Region One police’s handsbybookinghisflightundera falsename.

Hisactionshavenowprompted travelagenciestonowdemandthat passengers present a valid driver’s license, ID card or passport when booking a flight out of Matthews Ridge.

The updated notice of meetings planned for ExxonMobil’s sixth oil project

GMI’s Operations at Matthews Ridge

Being on time most of the time

It is said that the only things that start on time in Guyana are banks and cricket.Notanymore.Ihave seen quite a few cricket matches of recent where the Umpireswentoutatleastten minutes beyond the scheduledstart.

Punctuality is a sign of excellence, someone wrote. If that is the case then standards of excellence are fallingthroughouttheworld. A survey in the United Kingdom,forexample,once found that many managers have problems with the late attendance of the younger membersoftheworkforce.

In Guyana, the problem of workplace lateness is not restricted to the newcomers to the job market. Most businesses in Guyana start workat8am.Trycallingany officeat8amandaskforthe

boss. A great many of the calls will be unanswered. Not just because the boss is not at his desk, but also because his secretary would have most likely not arrived bythattime.

The few workers that show up on time go unnoticed. Someone once said that the problem with beingpunctualisthatthereis noonetoappreciateit.

For over twenty-years, Jackhadarrivedpromptlyat work at 8 am. He was never absentandhewasneverlate. Then one day he did not show up on time. It caused uproar in the office, causing evenJack’sbosstocomeout of his office and walk the corridor wondering where Jackwas.

Then precisely at 9pm, for the first time after 20

yearsofbeingpunctual,Jack walked in late. His clothes weredustyandtorn,hisface bruised, his head busted and his spectacles broken. He dragged himself to the time clockandpunchedin.Aware thatbynowalleyeswereon him,hesaid,“Ifelldownmy stairs.Nearlykilledmyself.”

To which his boss answered, “And that took youawholehour?”

When you can have an unappreciativebosslikethat why bothertobepunctualif youcangetawaywithit.

Oneofthebestmanagers that Guyana ever produced made it his duty to ensure thathisstaffwasontime.He made it his ritual to ensure that he was in early to observe the early birds and thelatecomers.

The late comers did not

Convicted drug trafficker Barry Datarm nabbed at JFK

Self-confessed drug trafficker, Barry Dataram, was last Thursday arrested byFederalAgentsattheJohn F Kennedy International Airport in the United States ofAmerica(US).

The 45-year-old man is being housed at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention, the US Federal Bureau of Prisons has confirmed.

The U S had issued arrest warrants for Dataram in 2008 for drug trafficking and Kaieteur News understands that he is being detainedfortwooutstanding arrestwarrants.

An extradition warrant wasalsoissuedforhimback then.

Dataram, however,

managed to get the warrant blocked following rulings fromthelocalcourt.

In 2015, he was placed before the court to face trial for trafficking 129.23 kg of cocaineonApril26,2015.

Dataram's reputed wife, 21-year-old Anjanie Boodnarinewasfreedofthe drugtraffickingcharge.

The drug convict subsequently moved to the High Court and was granted a$4Mpre-trialbail.Afterhis release, Dataram and his wifemadegoodtheirescape from Guyana using fake passports.

In 2016, he was nabbed inSurinameandhandedover to Guyanese authorities This time Dataram pleaded guilty and was sentenced to

Dem Boys Seh...

last too long. They were quicklyletgonomatterhow brightorsmarttheywere.On the other hand, even if you wereaslackeronthejoband never came late, you were sure to be retained and even promoted.

This great manager once told his staff that they were nottobeblamediftheyidled on the job. This was their supervisor’sresponsibilities. But if they were late, they had to accept the consequences.

He never worried about staff taking long washroom and rest breaks; he hardly refusedanofferfortimeoff. But he was intolerant of lateness. Being unpunctual reflected a lack of appreciation and was a symptom of someone lackingpersonaldiscipline.

Themanalwayssaidthat the best employees were the

most disciplined and if you were not disciplined enough to be on time, you could neverbeagoodemployeeno matter how late you stayed after hours. Being on time, for him was the hallmark of e x c e l l e n c e Some persons however are habitual latecomers Nothing can motivate them to get out on time. One lady calledFannywaslikethat.

She was always late for work. No matter how much she tried or how often her boss scolded her, she just could not get to work on time. The problem was that shewokeuplate.

One day, her boss told her that he would fire her unless she stopped being late. Seeing the writing on the wall, Fanny was determined that she would have to wake up early if she was to get to work on time and therefore avoid being

fired.

Fanny decided to seek the advice of her doctor He prescribed her some medication and told her to takeone pillbeforegoing to bed. She did and woke up feelingwell-rested.

Fanny went to work on time. She headed for her bosses office and excitedly told him about the doctor’s prescription and how well it worked.Herbosssaid,“That is great Fanny, but where wereyouyesterday?”

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this n e w s p a p e r a n d i t s affiliates.)

Dataram.

Convicted drug trafficker, Barry

some8yearsinjail.

Dataram was recently releasedfromprisonandhas beenundertheradaruntilhe was caught last Thursday at JFKAirport.

Computers gan soon run de world

Itlookslikeifeveryhomeindecountry gat a computer Everybody Googling. Fuh weoldpeopledeGoogleislikemagic.Yuh typeinaquestionpundecomputerandyuh gettingdeanswer

Now dem gan something called Siri. Yuhnahgattotype.

Yuh just got to ask it de question and it ganansweryou.

Deworldgoinghigh-techanditbinstrat withdecomputer Datiswhydemboysfeel datdegovernmentshouldtryfuhensuredat demchildrengatfreeInternetaccess.Itgan helpdemfuhputbetterusetodemcomputer

Itmekdemboysrememberdetimeanot too smart man went into a store that sells curtains. He said to the salesgirl, “I would like to buy a pair of pink curtains. Thesalesgirlassuredthemanthattheyhada

large assortment of pink curtains. She showed the not too smart man several patterns,butthemanseemedtohaveahard t i m e c h o o s i n g

Finallythesalesgirlpickedoutapinkfloral printandrecommendedthistotheman.The m a n a g r e e d

The salesgirl then asked what size curtains wasneeded.Towhichthenottoosmartman answered, “Fifteen inches ”

”Fifteen inches?” asked the salesgirl, “that soundsverysmall.Whatroomaretheyfor?”

The man replied, “Oh, they are not for any room.Theyareformycomputermonitor?”

The surprised salesgirl replied, “But Sir, computers do not have curtains.”

To which the man answered, “Helloooooooo–I’vegotWindows!” Talkhalf.Leffhalf!

IstheGuyanaGovt.undemocratic?

Wecanbeginbyarguing that if the Guyana G o v e r n m e n t i s undemocratic then the person(s)orgroup(s)putting forwardthatpolemicneedto tell us which government around the globe is democratic.

Which CARICOM a d m i n i s t r a t i o n i s democratic?AretheMacron and Biden presidencies democratic?Inanyscholarly exchangeonifarulingparty isnotdemocratictherehave to be established guidelines or criteria from which you judgebehaviour

A legitimately elected political party can govern unjustly No academically trained student of politics canbenaïvetothinkthatan electoral mandate and democracyaresynonymous. The CNN commentator, FareedZakariawhenhewas editor of the scholarly journal, ‘Foreign Affairs” wroteanincisiveessayinthe journal titled, “The Rise of Illiberal Democracy,” (November/December, 1997).

Zakaria posited that a constitutionally elected

group when in power can violate the basic tenets on which democracy rests Zakaria’s status in the academic world rose tremendously after that essay which he later turned intoabook.

Years back using the Zakaria thesis in my work, Ravi Dev engaged me. Dev contended that despite the unpopular policies of a governmentitisstillopento change due to free and fair elections.Devwasright.My attitude to politics after March 2020 underwent a profound metamorphosis thatperhapshaschangedmy position on Guyanese politicspermanently

Despite my countless critiquesofthePPP’srule,it did allow free and fair elections and it lost two2011 and 2015. The five monthsofattemptedrigging of the 2020 election by the incumbent was a watershed moment for me. What the PPP did in 2011 and 2015 wastoopenuptheterrainof power to contestation.What the incumbent in 2020 attemptedtodowastoclose off the avenues of open

electoralchallenges.

Zakaria cited Argentina, Peru, Philippines, Bangla Desh, Romania as elected illiberal regimes. But Dev point stood out – these regimes can be changed by electoral competition. All thecountriesZakarianamed later down the years had change of government throughelections.

This puts Modi in India in the spotlight. I believe Modi is practicing illiberal democracy but he can lose the next election if the Congress Party starts from nowtodoitshomework.

In 2020, the PPP successfully survived the five months of election rigging through the support of important governments and powerful intergovernmental institutions throughouttheworld.

Come August this year, the Ali presidency will achievethreeyearsinoffice. Has it met the criteria of democratic and liberal constitutionalism? If it hasn’tthenwhichamongthe criteria we use to judge democracyitfailedtoadhere to?

In researching materials for this column, I went throughGooglesearchesfor criticism that the Ali presidency is not d e m o c r a t i c F r o m September 2020 with the politically instigated violence in Region 5 over claims that the death of two African youths to January 2023,theoppositionparties, civil society entities and the media have sermonized that the Ali presidency is not democratic.

But the polemical displays do not meet the criterion of evidential judgement What I have argued on this page since March2020isthatinsteadof a creeping illiberal government, we have a creeping intolerance among the opposition, civil society and the media. I went so far to do a column on this process. See my Tuesday, May 17 column of 2022, titled; “A creeping dictatorship since August 2020:The political nouveau lumpen.”

Here is one example of thefailuretociteevidenceof the Ali presidency being

undemocratic Ms Isabelle

D e C a i r e s , m a j o r i t y shareholder of the Stabroek News described Guyana as a country without a functioning democracy She r e s t e d h e r judgement on the way the government shaped the natural resource fund legislation. For a reply to Ms.DeCairesseemyarticle of Thursday, February 10, 2022 captioned, “Does Ms. Isabelle DeCaires know what sustains a functional democracy?”

I s G u y a n a a dysfunctional democracy because Ms. DeCaires is right about the legislation?

But an international expert onsovereignwealthfundsof oil producing countries who never came to Guyana and has no connection with the PPP saw the Guyana legislationasoneofthebest for safeguarding natural resource funds for oil economies.

Pleaseseemycolumnof

Thursday,February3,2022, titled, ‘Civil society forgot aboutAndrewBauer Why?’ on what that expert had to say about our sovereign wealth fund. Space has run outforustoelaborateonthe standards by which you judgeagovernmentasbeing undemocratic I conclude with my own opinion for now I do not accept theAli presidencyasundemocratic. Inalatercolumn,Iwilllook the standards by which you j u d g e d e m o c r a t i c governance.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this n e w s p a p e r a n d i t s affiliates.)

FrederickKissoon

Oil-rich Guyana still in company of world’s corrupt nations – 2022 Int’l Report

Accordingtotheresultsof the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Guyana continues to rub shoulders with some of the most corrupt nations in the world.

The index shows that Guyana gained a score of 40, one mark more than its standingin2021.

Nationswhichscoreinthe rangeof0to49areperceived as more corrupt than those withamarkof50to99.India, Maldives, North Macedonia, Suriname and Tunisia received the same marks as Guyana.Othersinthe49to42 range include: China, Malaysia, Cuba, Jamaica, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Kuwait and Trinidad andTobago.

Out of 180 countries reviewed, Syria, South Sudan,Venezuela, Equatorial Guinea,ChadandHaitiarein the bottom pile with scores ranging from 12 to 20 Countries with strong institutions and wellfunctioning democracies oftenfindthemselvesatthe

Continuedonpage14

2022 Corruption Perceptions Index with scores for some of the 180 nations reviewed

DecomposingbodiesacrossSouthAfricaaspower blackout‘pandemic’gripsnation

Protests against power blackouts in South Africa

(CNN) Car crashes, opportunistic criminals,rottingfood,decomposingbodies, bankrupt businesses, and water shortages. Welcome to life under SouthAfrica’s power blackouts.

Lastweekthegrimextentoftheoutages was laid bare when South Africans were advised to bury dead loved ones within four days.Inapublicstatement,theSouthAfrican Funeral Practitioners Association warned that bodies in mortuaries were rapidly decomposing because of the unrelenting electricity outages, putting huge pressure on funeralparlorsstrugglingtoprocesscorpses.

The situation is so bad that the country’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is considering declaringanationaldisaster,similartoonein 2020 at the height of the Covid pandemic, which had a devastating effect on the country’seconomy

Last week scores of supporters from the Democratic Alliance opposition party marched under heavy security through the streets of Johannesburg and Cape Town to voice their frustrations over the persistent

blackouts.

A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH

Known locally as loadshedding, widespreadelectricityblackoutsarecarried out multiple times a day by state-owned energy utility Eskom to avoid the total collapseofthegrid.

Shortages on the electricity system unbalancethenetwork,andEskomhasstated that controlled outages are necessary to ensure reserve margins are maintained, and thesystemremainsstable.Whilethecountry has been experiencing on-off power outages for years, since September 2022 scheduled blackouts have become routine, affecting everypartofSouthAfricansociety

For some people, not having access to reliablepowercanbethedifferencebetween life and death. Before she died in October 2022,LisVanOsneededoxygenfor17hours a day Her stationary oxygen machine required mains power, making periods of loadshedding extremely stressful, particularly when power did not return as

scheduled,herfamilysaid.

Her daughter Karin McDonald was forced to explore backup options such as invertersandabackupoxygenmobiletank, which only lasted short periods. “Towards theend(ofherlife)poweroutagescreateda lotofanxietyforeveryone,”shesaid.

‘APOOL OF MISERY’

South Africans experienced more than twiceasmanypowercutsin2022thaninany otheryear Andthingsaresettogetworsein 2023.

Even simple daily tasks need to be arranged around loadshedding schedules, including meal planning, travel times, work that requires internet connectivity From preparing baby formula to keeping fans running during the summer heat, not having

access to mains power is makes daily life challenging for South Africans Maneo Motsamai, a domestic worker in Johannesburg, says the outages prevents her fromsimpletaskssuchascooking.

“Iboilwatertocookmealiemeal(maize porridge)andthepowergoes.Ican’teat,it’sa waste.Ican’tcopelikethat,”Motsamaitold CNN.Pumpstationscan’tprovidewaterand many small businesses without access to backup power are having to close shop and layoffemployees,accordingtopeopleCNN spoketo.

Thando Makhubu runs Soweto Creamery, an ice cream shop in Jabulani, Soweto, on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Hisfamilypooledsmallwelfaregrants

Continuedonpage23

GECOM approves report on demarcation of Local Govt.constituency boundaries

Opposition nominated representatives on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) haverejectedthereportoftheChief Elections Officer, (CEO) Vishnu Persaud on the demarcation of constituencyboundariescallingita move to legalize the Minister of Local Government’s previous act of gerrymandering the boundaries ofthelocalauthorities.

Last December, GECOM had cause to reverse the demarcation of constituency boundaries after recognizing that the Local Government Minister, Nigel Dharamlall,didnothavethepower tomakesuchchanges.

It was noted then that the Minister’s actions would affect the voters’ list since GECOM, as the elections body responsible for issuingtheListofVoters,couldnot provide same based on the constituency boundaries changed bytheminister

TheCommissionlaterembarked on its own demarcation activity under the auspices and supervision of the CEO and staff of the

commission.

However, their report presented on Tuesday during a statutory meeting of GECOM, according Opposition nominated Commissioner Vincent Alexander, was nothing more than a regurgitation of the minister’s demarcationoftheboundaries.

Alexander,inalettertotheeditor publishedintoday’snewspapersaid that GECOM approved the report with support of the Commission’s Chair, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh and all three Government nominatedCommissioners.

Alexander, an A Partnership for NationalUnity+AllianceForChange (APNU+AFC) representative on the Commission said that the report representsexactlywhattheMinister had ‘illicitly’ sought to foist on GECOMbefore “GECOM has now clothed the Minister’s illicit act with its approval,”Alexandersaid

According to Alexander, the criteria and procedures (geography, community and population) for the demarcation of constituencies

previouslyusedwerethrownout.

However, he noted that the Chairperson and the Government appointed Commissioners argued that there are no minutes of that meetingtoprovethis.

“The CEO previously argued thattherewerenopointsofreference of the previously developed and used procedures and criteria Documentswereproducedtoshow that they existed. He then resorted to contend that there were no approved minutes,” Alexander said.

Further, the longest standing GECOM Commissioner said, “The records clearly show that the procedures and criteria that were discussed from May 2009 to December 2009 were actually implementedandwerethebasisfor the configuration of constituencies in 2016 and 2018,” Alexander explained.

He said that the Opposition appointed Commissioners have reserved the right to provide statisticalevidencetoshowthatthe proposed boundaries are simply

acts of gerrymandering aimed at giving the People’s Progressive Party(PPP)anunfairadvantagein the upcoming Local Government Elections(LGE).

Alexander has submitted to the Electionbodydocumentsindicating the criteria and procedure outlined for the demarcation of boundaries. He recommended that GECOM goes back to its available process andthecriteriausedforthekindsof mapping on which the list should beissued.

Aspartoftheprocess,Alexander hadsaidthatpartyrepresentativesas well as registration officials would goonthegroundandtogetheragree on boundaries where GECOM would have the last say on those demarcations. Alexander told this newspaper that as part of the criteria, GECOM is to take into consideration, geography, communitiesandtheirpopulation.

Alexander said that Opposition Commissioners had previously rejected the CEO’s explanation insisting that there are procedures andcriteriathathavetobeused.To

Alexander

notfollowthenecessaryprocedure leavesthedooropenforcitizensto bedisenfranchisedifforexample,a communityofparticularsupporters is split, or if supporters of a particular party are bunched with supporters of another party, he explained.

He said that criteria usually entail fairly similar numbers of persons in a constituency and other factorsthatcontributetoabalanced configuration within the boundaries. To that end,Alexander said he committed to taking the documents, with the outlined GECOMmethodology,totheCEO

South Africa’s Opposition party, Democratic Alliance, protests outside headquarters of ruling ANC against power blackouts in the country

- Opposition Commissioners reject document, says it’s a representation of Minister’s illicit attempts at gerrymandering

Opposition-nominated Commissioner, Vincent

GuySuCo management to be reshuffled for better output ...as House approves $4 billion allocation –Agri.Minister

The sum of $4 billion wasapprovedonTuesdayby the National Assembly for the Guyana Sugar Corporation(GuySuCo)ina bid to boost production this year

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha is planning to reshuffle the management team to ensure this objective is realized.

The sugar sector has been declining over the past few years, but the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is still confident in its plan to resuscitatetheindustry

Opposition Members of Parliament on Tuesday pointed out that this sector hasbeenconstantlyfailingto meet production targets and

requested that the subject Minister disaggregate the sumallocated.

In response, Mustapha told the Assembly that, “$1.195 billion is allocated to Rose Hall As I mentioned, we will reopen Rose Hall (Estate) later this year-thesecondcropofthis year you will see smoke out of the chimney of the Rose HallEstate.”

The Minister then listed some of the equipment that would necessary for the operations at the estate. A few of these include fertilizer applicator, drainage tubes, cane punts andloaders.

Hesaidthat$539million willbespenttocompletethe

rehabilitation of the Rose Hall factory while another $50 million is set aside for infrastructural work in the area, such as the constructionofroads.

“Now another $452 millionisallocatedtoAlbion Estateandithasherewewill purchase tractor, fertilizer applicator,boomsprayerand then $300 million is allocated to the starting of the construction of the packaging plant- the first phase- at Albion,” he detailed.

Some $287 million is allocated for works at the Blairmont Estate and purchase of much needed equipment. A separate $200 million will be pumped into the Blairmont Packaging PlanttheMinisterclarified.

Meanwhile, the Uitvlugt Estate will receive a $56 million allocation for enhancementworks.

While responding to questions from Opposition Member of Parliament (MP), Vinceroy Jordan,

Mustapha explained that 75 percent of the construction work at the Rose Hall estate has been completed Additionally,hedetailedthat close to 3,000 hectares of cane is ready for the second cropthatwillbeharvestedat thatestate.

Jordan then told the House that even though resources continue to be pumped into the agency, GuySuCo has not been able to meet the targets. Against this backdrop - with the Opposition MPs hitting the tables in the Chambers in support- he asked the Minister whether there is a plan to change the management of the agency to see profitability and increasedproduction.

To this end, the Minister said,“Thisisoneoftheplan asIsaid,andwhenyouhave plansyouhavetocontinueto update plans and one of the plan is to ensure we have these packaged sugarlucrativesugar.”

As it regards leadership,

headded,“Themanagement of GuySuCo, yes, we have made changes We have made changes recently and we will continue. We have moved manager, we have replaced Managers and we will continue to do that. That’s a work in progress andwewillcontinuetobring new managers into the systemtowithnewideas.”

He argued that the Oppositiondoesnotwantthe sugar company in business as the members believe the employees are supporters of therulingparty Contrary to this, Mustapha told the House, “GuySuCo satisfy a number

ofissuesinourcountry.The social issues, look at how many employment GuySuCo is providing, look atthevillageeconomy,look at the health facility, look at thesocialfacilities.Allthose contribution GuySuCo is making to the development of our country and the honourable member is taking about profit GuySuCo will become profitable again.We have to work...”

The sugar sector is estimated to have declined by18.9percentin2022,with sugarproductionfortheyear totaling47,049tonnes.

Continuedonpage21

Oil-richGuyanastillin...

Frompage12 topoftheIndex.Denmarkheadstheranking,withascoreof 90. Finland and New Zealand follow closely with a score of 87 Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands,Germany,IrelandandLuxembourgcompletethe top10thisyear

In the past five years, only eight countries have significantly improved their scores, and 10 countries have dropped significantly, including high ranking countries such asAustria,LuxembourgandtheUnitedKingdom.Therest(90 percentofcountries)havehadstagnantcorruptionlevels.

The CPI was created and used by Transparency International,anon-governmentalorganizationestablishedin 1993withtheaimofbringingtogetherbusiness,civilsociety, and government structures to combat corruption. The index was first used in 1995, and it covers a growing number of countriesinannualsurveys.

TheCPIisbasedonsurveysofdomesticandinternational businessexecutives,financialjournalists,andriskanalysts.

Therefore, it reflects the perceptions of experts and businesselites,notofthegeneralpublic.Itrepresentsaverage scores from several polls and surveys for each respective countryfromthetwoyearspriortoitsreleaseandtheyearof release(e.g.,CPI2004wasbasedonsourcesfrom2002,2003, and 2004). The minimum number of surveys used for each countryisthree,whilesomecountriesareevaluatedwiththe useofasmanyas14to15surveys.

Furthermore, the CPI focuses on the public sector and evaluatesthedegreeofcorruptionamongpublicofficialsand politicians. Corruption is defined by the organization as an abuse of public position for private gain, which in practice usuallymeansbribetaking.

Becauseincorruptcountriesthequalityandindependence ofthejudiciaryandmediaareusuallylow,officialstatisticson corruption exposure and prosecution underestimate the level ofcorruptioninmore-corruptcountries.TheCPI,beingbased onevaluations,isalsoconsideredavaluablealternativesource of information about the degree of illegal practices among civilservantsandpoliticiansinagivencountry

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha (Source: Ministry of Agriculture Facebook page)

Protesters board Shell’s vessel demanding fossil fuel giant, “Stop drilling. Start paying”

fossilfuelsitcausesarippleof death, destruction and displacement around the world, having the worst impact on people who are least to blame for the climate crisis”

He added, “Shell and the wider fossil fuel industry are bringingtheclimatecrisisinto our homes, our families, our landscapesandoceans Sowe will take them on at sea, at shareholder meetings, in the courtroom,onlineandattheir headquarters We won’t stop until we get climate justice Wewillmakepolluterspay.”

Honorary Doctorate to be conferred on Letitia Wright

FourGreenpeaceactivists from Argentina, Turkey, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) on TuesdayboardedaBritishoil giant, Shell contracted vessel in the Atlantic Ocean with a banner bearing the message: “StopDrilling StartPaying”

In a press release, Greenpeace highlighted that theoilgianthasalreadymade eye-watering profits off the backofinflatedenergyprices, driven up by Russia’s war in Ukraine

As such, two days ahead of Shell’s profits announcement, four Greenpeace International activists boarded the White Marlin vessel at sea north of the Canary Islands in a peaceful protest against the climate devastation around

the world caused by Shell and the wider fossil fuel industry, without paying a penny towards loss and damage

Thereleaseexplainedthat at 08:00hours (GMT), the protesters approached the 51,000-tonne heavy-lift vesselinthreeboatslaunched from Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunriseshipandusedropesto climbontothedeck

The four activists are Carlos Marcelo Bariggi Amara, from Argentina; Yakup Çetinkaya, from Turkey;ImogenMichelfrom the UK and Usnea Granger from the US are now occupying the ship’s cargo, a Shell oil and gas platform While, two other activists, Yeb Saño from the Philippines, and Waya Pesik

Maweru from Indonesia attempted to join them but didnotmanagetoboard.

“The platform is a key piece of production equipment that will enable Shell to unlock eight new wells in the Penguins North Sea oil and gas field The protestors are carrying enoughsuppliestooccupythe platform for days,” Greenpeacestated Saño, who is executive director of Greenpeace SoutheastAsia,signedupasa volunteer with Greenpeace International for the nonviolentdirectactionandis now on board the Arctic Sunrise

He said: “Shell must stop drilling and start paying We’re taking action today because when Shell extracts

“They must take accountability for decades of profiting from climate injustice and pay for the loss and damage they’ve caused We need a just transition towards cheap, clean, renewable energy in a way that benefits communities, workers and the climate,” Sañosaid

Greenpeace reported that theWhiteMarliniscarryinga floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for a redevelopment project, “as Shell seeks to squeeze everylastdropofoilfromthe Penguinsfield”

On the local front, Kaieteur News publisher Glenn Lall, has started his own peaceful protest in Guyana with hopes of securing a more favorable deal with better terms for the Guyanese people from American oil giant, ExxonMobil that is also seeing record shattering profits owed to the soaring energyprices

The University of Guyana on Tuesday announced that it will host an Extraordinary Convocation Ceremony for the conferral of an Honorary Degree, Doctor of Letters, on Guyanese-British Actress, Letitia Wright, who starred in Black Panther, on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, at 9:00am in the George Walcott Lecture Theatre. The Actress is currently in Guyana at the invitation of H.E. President Dr Irfaan Ali.

Final report of ExxonMobil US$7.3B audit due for March -MinisterBharrat

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat responds to questions in the National Assembly

The Government of Guyana (GoG) is expecting the final reportontheUS$7.3billionaudittobecompletedbyMarch.

This is according to Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat. Bharrat during the Consideration of Estimates for Budget 2023 steered off of the regular programmeto entertainquestions on severalissues raised by ShadowNaturalResourcesMinister,DavidPatterson.

The Opposition Parliamentarian told the House that in November2022itwasreportedthatthesecondauditwouldbe completedbytheendoflastyear Tothisend,heaskedthatthe Minister say when exactly the final report will be ready and availableandlaidinParliament.

AccordingtoMinisterBharrat,“Thefinalreportisduein March of 2023.” He went on to explain that there may have been some misunderstanding regarding the expected completiondatefortheexpenditurereview

“I think from the inception when the contract was signed therewasabitofmisunderstanding.Inthecontractitsays120 working days and I think there was a lot of misconception...thatitwouldbe120runningdaysorcalendar days,butits120workingdays,”theMinisterexplained.

He said that the local consortium would have benefitted fromtrainingopportunitiesinOklahomaandHoustontoaidin buildingcapacity

The Minister acknowledged that while there is a “slight delay”inthecompletionofthereviewprocess,itiswithaview ofensuringGuyanesecanconductourownfutureaudits.He said,“Wecanreachastagewherewearenotauditing2018and 2019 but we can actually audit 2021 and 2022 or even half yearlyauditsoncewehavethatcapacity.”

Bharratpointedoutthatwhilethecountryhasskilled

Continued on page 21

Greenpeace protesters on their way to board Shell’s floating platform

Commonwealth Secretary-General launches landmarkYear ofYouth 2023

The Commonwealth Secretariat has officially launched the ‘2023 Year of Youth’–aseminal12months

devoted to the celebration and empowerment of the 1.5bnunder-30slivinginthe Commonwealth.

Youth-related issues like climate change, access to education, skills, employment, and political,

social and economic participation, will take centre-stage throughout 2023, with Commonwealth

Heads of Government committing to prioritise collaborativeaction.

Commonwealth young

people will feature in a variety of high-profile events aimed at spotlighting the issues facing their wellbeing and prosperity Prince Edward,TheEarlofWessex, a long-time champion for youngpeople,willactasthe Quality Youth Leadership Ambassador throughout the ‘2023YearofYouth’.Inthis role, His Royal Highness will support the inclusion of young people and shine a light on the valuable contributiontheyhavemade to member states. Further Youth Champions and Ambassadors will be announcedinduecourse.

Speakingatthein-person launch at Marlborough House, London, the Commonwealth-Secretary General, Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, said: “It is my absolute pleasure as Secretary-Generaltobehere l a u n c h i n g t h e Commonwealth Year of Youth and I am excited that thenext12monthswillbring Commonwealth leaders, stakeholders and citizens together to celebrate and empower our 1.5bn young people.

“Youngpeopleareatthe heart of the Commonwealth Charter. Despite the many challenges they face, young peoplegivesomuchtowards every aspect of the social, economic, political and cultural life of our 56 membercountries.

“The Commonwealth’s future success rests with them. So here today we commit to investing in and p r o m o t i n g t h e i r d e v e l o p m e n t a n d engagement at community, regional, national and panCommonwealth levels throughout this year and beyond.”

The launch featured the unveiling of the ‘Year of Youth 2023’ logo and website and gave an overview of the most prominent youth-focused events that will take place throughout2023–theevents calendar can be found here. These include but are not limited to: Commonwealth Day, the Commonwealth YouthGames–tobeheldin Trinidad and Tobago – the Commonwealth Global YouthWorkConference,and the Commonwealth Youth AwardsCeremony

The Commonwealth Year of the Youth initiative also marks the 50th anniversary for the worldrenowned Commonwealth YouthProgramme(CYP).

Continuedonpage19

and ‘Sanbad’ sentenced to life

imprisonment for piracy attack in Suriname waters

The two men who were jointly charged with murder committed on fishermen, Tilaknauth Mohabir called ‘Kaiman’andMaheshSarjoo during the 2018 high seas piracy attack in Suriname waters were yesterday s e n t e n c e d t o l i f e imprisonment by Justice NavindraSingh

JusticeSinghsaidthatthe act committed by Nakool Manohar called ‘Fyah’ of No43 Village, Corentyne, Berbice and Premnauth Persaud called ‘Sanbad’was cruel, heinous, and coldblooded Both were found guilty on both counts of murderinNovember2022

Prior to the sentencing, Persaud denied being involvedinthedeadlyattack that also cost the lives of several other fishermen Manohar on the other hand chose to be silent but Justice Singhtooknotethatthemen were not remorseful and that there were no mitigating circumstances found in the evidenceputbeforethecourt

“Welookatamanwhois sittingincourtrightnowwho wasavictimoftheattack,he isstillshaking,seemslikehe canhardlywalk,hardlyfocus properly, this was a cruel, a gruesome, a heinous, coldblooded attack.” Justice Singhsaid.

Referencing Section 7 of the High jacking and Piracy Act which allows for punishment by death once convicted, Justice Singh noted that considering the evidence,“ Ifindnoreason tonotimposethatsentence” He further said that the men cannot be rehabilitated and thatitwouldbe“recklessand irresponsible of the court to allowthemtobereleasedinto societyatanytime”

State Prosecutor, Attorney-at-Law, Latchmie Rahamat, prior to sentencing saidthattherewasnoremorse expressed by the accused men Noting that one of the

“Whenthemcomeinthis boat them start fa lick this boatupwithcutlassandthem say everybody come out, everybodyneedfadienow Igetseveraladechop The first chop wah them chop, them put me inside the fish pentositdownandafterthat them tek me out and tie pon the anchor and throw me overboard.” He recalled duringhistestimony

One of the boat captains, Deonarine Goberdhan also testified that Tilaknauth Mohabir was a part of his crewanditwashimthatsaw the attackers’ vessels approaching them He stated that during the attack, Persaud who he knew, was laughing

“Sanbadsitdownponthe iceboxandahlaughandIsay ‘bai wah really going on budday?’andhesay‘shutyou (cursed) mouth’ Sanbad say he come to collect the boat”

Nakool Manohar

aggravating factors that should be considered, is duringoneofthetestimonies it was stated that they were told not to wear mask, “becausetheintentionwasto kill the fishermen, there was supposedtobenosurvivors”

Testimonies given in court had detailed that Nakool Manohar ordered Premnauth Persaud and others to ransom the fishing boats and that Manohar threatened revenge for his brother’s death His brother was murdered in Suriname Therevengeultimatelyledto thedeathofthefishermen

Darandeo Persaud also knownas‘Archiebai’,oneof thesurvivorsoftheattackhad told the court that they were on fishing vessel ‘Joshua 1418’ when they were attacked HesaidthatPersaud was apart of the crew that attackedthemandthathewas chopped, tied to an anchor, andthrownintothewater

wharf and told that if he was notapartofthecrew,hewill be killed but according to Balkissoon he got away and

returnedtoGuyana

while the State was representedbyAttorneys-atLaw, Nafeeza Baig and LatchmieRahamat.

Hejumpedoverboardand said he survived by keeping underwateruntiltheattackers left The following day he was rescued by a boat passing

Navin Balkissoon, had testified that he was acquainted with Monohar’s brother and knew him as ‘Paddy’inSuriname.Hesaid he attended the funeral serviceof‘Paddy’andthathe wasstandingwithManoharat thepyre,when‘Fyah’uttered that the pyre for those that killedhisbrotherwillhaveto belit

Balkissoon had said that ‘Sanbad’ was also at the funeralandsaidthathecalled his Sister and told her what ‘Fyah’hadsaidatthefuneral to him, but that he did not wanttobepartofwhat‘Fyah’ hadplanned Sometimeafter, he saw ‘Fyah’ and ‘Sanbad’ on the wharf where the crew waspickedouttoexecutethe attack and instructions were given to them He was approached by ‘Fyah’on the

CommonwealthSecretary-Generallaunches...

Frompage18

In August, the CYP will mark 50 years of working hand-in-hand with governments to support the education and personal developmentofmillionsofyoungpeopleand giving thousands more the opportunity to sit beside world leaders and advocate for their peers TheplanningoftheYearofYouthwillbe overseenbyanAdvisoryCommitteewhowill take responsibility for ensuring events and activities reflect the diverse, talented and vibrant youth population within the Commonwealth’s56membercountries

The launch was attended by Ministers including Hon Rosemary Mbabazi, Minister of Youth, Rwanda, Hon. Shaza Fatima Khawaja,SpecialAssistanttoPrimeMinister

onYouthAffairs,Pakistan,Hon.SarahMateke Nyirabashitsi,MinisterofStateforYouthand Children Affairs, Uganda, and Hon. Shamfa Cudjoe, Minister of Sports and Community Development, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as representatives from the Commonwealth Youth Council, Commonwealth Games Federation, the Royal Commonwealth Societyandotheryouthstakeholders.

The special designation for ‘the Year of Youth’ comes from a mandate by Commonwealth Heads of Government who met in Kigali, Rwanda in June 2022 There, Heads declared 2023 be focused on empowering young people, stakeholders and governments, to sped-up progress on youthfocusedissues

2018HighSeaspiracyattack...

Essequibofishermenkilled afterhitbyspeedingcar

Two fishermen were during the wee hours of Tuesday killed along the Devonshire Public Road, Essequibo Coast, Region Two, after they were struck byablackToyotaWagon.

Dead are 23-year-old Zamaan Rafeek of Paradise, EssequiboCoastandMohan Maniram, aged 50, of Hampton Court, Essequibo Coast.

Rafeek and Maniram were reportedly stuck around 00:50hrs while they wereheadingtotheriverside to prepare for a fishing trip out at sea. The fishermen work together on the same boat and Maniram was reportedlytowingRafeekon hisbicycletothelocation.

According to police, “Maniram was riding west alongthesouthernsideofthe road when a speeding car, PAD 831, heading in the same direction struck them frombehind”.

The impact reportedly severedManiram’sheadand tossed the rest of his body and Rafeek into a nearby trenchwhilethecarcareened off the road some 50 yards away from where it had struckthem.

Police said once the car gotintothetrenchthedriver exitedandranaway Hewas arrested about half an hour later after police found him hiding out at his house located about “200 yards” from the accident scene. A breathalyzer test conducted on him revealed that his breath alcohol content was way above the legal limit measuring 43 and 45 micrograms.

Aspolicetookhimaway to nearest police lock-ups,

crime scene investigators were tasked with removing Maniram’s headless body fromoutofthetrenchandhis severedheadofftheroad.

They were unable to locateRafeekatthetimebut continued searching and eventually found his lifeless body around 09:40hrs, submergedinthetrench.The bodies of both men are presently at the Suddie Hospital’s Mortuary as the investigationcontinues.

Meanwhile, Rafeek’s mother, Salema Shakorran told this publication that she learnt of her son’s death whilereturningfromapolice stationwhereshehadgoneto reporthimmissing.

Shakorran recalled that her son had left their home around23:00hrsonMonday night to take water for his workmates at the riverside and had promised to return home to assist her with his bed-ridden father but he neverreturned.

“I wait up, whole night me eye open because when they deh out me don’t sleep daycleanandmena see no body Me went by

one and two family and friends and investigate if themseehe,mewentbyme daughter-in-law and ask if hewentdehandshesehno Me go at the station and reportthatmecan’tfindme son, they call all the rest a station and them seh no body like he na deh at the station ,”Shakorran told KaieteurNews

Her search for Rafeek came to an abrupt end while shewasreturninghomefrom the police station The woman said that she was travellinginaminibuswhen she noticed a large crowd gathered along Devonshire PublicRoad.

The bus stopped and whenShakorranexitedtosee what was going on, she saw that they were removing her son’s body from a trench. Sherecalledthathewasstill cladinhisyellowjerseyand blackpants-thesameclothes hehadlefthomewith.

The grieving woman related that Rafeek was the sole breadwinner of their family of five after his dad took ill and became bedridden.

Dead: Mohan Maniram Dead: Zamaan Rafeek

Zamaan Rafeek’s body being removed from the scene

National Assembly approves budgetary allocation for Legal Affairs Ministry

Th e N a t i o n a l Assembly on T u e s d a y approved the Ministry of Legal Affairs budgetary allocationof$6.2B.

Some $150M has been allocated for constitutional reform while $30M has been a l l o c a t e d f o r t h e establishment of a local law school.

The Council of Legal Education recently granted its approval for the establishment of such an institution in Guyana and according to Attorney General and Minister of LegalAffairs,Anil Nandlall, SC, this move to establish the local law school is in keeping with government's transformationalagenda.

Some $435M has been a l l o c a t e d f o r t h e advancement of the Justice Sector Programme, which will cater to institutional strengthening and justice reform.

Nandlall outlined the d e t a i l s o f c a p i t a l expenditure, under the Policy Development and Administration programme.

He said that the project provides for alternative sentencing interventions, strengthening of probation services, design and implementation of the r e s t o r a t i v e j u s t i c e programme, implementation of case management and courtschedulingsystem,and training of judges and magistrates in the use of alternatives to pretrial detention.

The Attorney General disclosed that a building has already been secured and furnished to house the Law

Further, some $10 million has been allocated to facilitate public outreaches a n d s e n s i t i s a t i o n programmes.

As outlined previously, law revision is also on the cards for 2023, and some $220M has been allocated forthispurpose.

“This year, we are doing the revised Laws of Guyana from 2012 to December 31, 2022.WearealsodoingLaw Reports from 2007 to 2020, and that is the publication of the book as well as online,” Nandlalldisclosed.

He said too that some $6M has been allocated for consultations on the Arbitration Bill which is an ongoing process The introduction of this Bill, he said, is in keeping with Government's goal to make Guyana an arbitration capital.

Arbitration is considered the supreme method of conflict resolution for the oil and gas sector and a modern legislation would instill confidence in international investors that Guyana can be acompetentarbitrationhub.

man who killed wife, stuffed body in barrel sentenced to 25 years imprisonment

Suraj Veersammy, the Belvedere, Corentyne, Berbice man who had killed his wife, DevikaVickram, in April 2020 and stuffed her body into a barrel and dumping it into a trench was on Tuesday sentenced to 25 years in prison by Justice Navindra Singh at the BerbiceHighCourt.

Veersammy, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter in December2022.

Prior to his sentencing, Veersammy expressed remorse saying that he was sorryalifewaslost.

Meanwhile, State Prosecutrix, Nafeeza Baig, call on the Judge to consider thegravityandprevalenceof the offence when handing down the sentence. “The prevalence of this type of offence in today's society, senseless violence leading to senselessdeaths,thefactthat not only did this accused hang the deceased but he even went further to dispose of her body in a barrel and then throw that barrel in a trench,”theattorneysaid.

J u s t i c e S i n g h subsequently sentenced Veersammy to 38 years imprisonment.Thatsentence wasreducedto25yearswith 10 years being deducted for

Manganese Company still to honour President Ali's order to fix damaged dam in Matthews Ridge - Residents Complain

After more than a month since President Irfaan Ali instructed Chinese owned c o m p a n y , G u y a n a Manganese Inc (GMI), to fix a dam at Pakera, Matthews Ridge, North West District, Region residents have accused them of damaging, the company is yet to comply

ThePresidenthadvisited Matthews Ridge on December 20, 2022 to listen to the concerns of the residents living there. Their major concerns were the state of the roads in their community that according to them were being repeatedly damaged by GMI's ongoing operations and a dam that GMI was accused of breachingin2021.

Because of the breach, the community of Pakera sufferedseverefloods.Some repairs were done by the company, but not to the satisfactionoftheresidents.

K a i e t e u r N e w s understands that they had built a make shift bridge “with two fine wood” that poses a danger for the villagerstocross.

During President Ali's visit, the residents said that they had asked the company to fix it because there are elderly people and little

children living in that area that can injure themselves but,thecompanyrefused.

The residents alleged that company's General Manager,JasonWongwould tell them, “You can't tell us whattofix”.

K a i e t e u r N e w s understands that Wong told President Ali that he is only required to fix areas that are part of his company's contract but the President replied, “If you break the people dam then you got to fixit”.

A c c o r d i n g t o a Department of Public Information (DPI) report,

President Ali expressed his disappointment with the Manganese Company that has been maintaining the roadsinthearea.

Aliwasquotedsaying,“I would not accept the company not fulfilling its c o r p o r a t e s o c i a l responsibilities.Iammaking itveryclearthattheinvestors need to step-up their game a n d f u l f i l l t h e i r responsibility to this community”.

GMI had reportedly promised to fix the dam and honour its responsibility but to date has not fulfilled its commitment.

Final report of ExxonMobil US$7.3B...

From page 16 auditors, the locals are not familiar with the spendingoftheoilcompanies,hencetheneed toinvestincapacitybuilding.

hisearlyguiltypleaandthree years,fortimeserved.

Ve e r a s a m m y w a s captured by police at the Dharm Shala Shelter for the abandoned, located at Canje, Berbice. The convict had gone into hiding after a villager in Hampshire

discovered Vickram's remains stuffed in a blue barrel and dumped in a trench near the R&S Street, Hampshire Corentyne

At the time of its discovery, the body was already in an a d v a n c e d s t a t e o f decompositionandhadabed sheet tied around the neck. The corpse was later identifiedasVickram's.

While in custody, Veersammy confessed that he and Vickram had an argument over her decision

to leave him. He became angry and assaulted her before tying a sheet to a rafter in their one-storey wooden home and hanging her

He said he then cut her bodydownhourslater(when itwasdark)anddumpeditin a blue barrel they had in the house.Hethenmountediton his bicycle to discard of it, but one of his bicycle's wheels got punctured and he decided to instead roll the barrel into a trench located just a street away from the homehesharedwithher

Four days later a Cane

rvester made the discovery.

The contract for the Exxon audit was signed on May 24 last for VHE Consulting which is a registered partnership between Ramdihal & Haynes Inc, Eclisar Financial, and Vitality Accounting & Consultancy Inc. The Local Consortium is supported by International firms- SGS and Martindale Consultantsforthe'CostRecoveryAuditand Validation of the Government of Guyana's ProfitOil'Share'.

President Irfaan Ali in November last year told this newspaper that the process was estimated to wrap up before the end of 2022,

withthefirstreportreadybyDecember

When the Head of State was questioned on the audit during a press conference on January 17, he told Kaieteur News “Well I canonlytellyouwhatyouknow.”

Kaieteur News also reminded the President of his promise that these audit reports would be released for public scrutiny andifthepubliccanstilllookforwardtothis. Hesaid,“Thepubliccanlookforwardtoalot ofthingsandI'mnotapersonwhowalksback onmycommitmenttothiscountry.”

The audit will cost Guyanese some US$751,000. Like PresidentAli, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, had assuredthatthefindingsoftheauditwouldbe madepublic.

GuySuCo management to be...

From page 14 Government said this performancewaslargelydue tothelingeringeffectsofthe 2021 floods, which caused lower yields per hectare and reducedcanequality,aswell as technical challenges encountered in the first half of2022.

T h i s y e a r , t h e

administration believes that the subsector is projected to recover and expand by some 29.3 percent, as expressed

by Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh during the presentation of the 2023 Budget.

He said, “GuySuCo a n t i c i p a t e s h i g h e r performance from the existing estates, combined with forecasted production fromthereopenedRoseHall estatelaterintheyear

The Corporation expects output of nearly 61,000 tonnes of sugar this year.”

The sugar sector has been

declining since 2019 as is understood from the Ministry of Finance 2022 HalfYearReport.

An examination of the Government's report indicates consecutive contractions for the sugar industry- which in 2019 accounted for 0 4% of the c o u n t r y ' s G r o s s Domestic Product (GDP) at half-year, 0 3% in 2020, 0 2% in 2021 and 0.1%in2022.

Belvedere

Dead: Devika Vickram

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC

GMI repairing a road in Matthews Ridge

Suraj Veersammy

WANTED

Driver, Salesman & Porters required to work in warehouse. Must have experience, attractive salary offered.Call:696-4444.

Wanted:Experienced Cashier,Cooks,CounterPerson, SupervisorandLabourer Apply @ Shanta's, 225 CampandNewMarketSts orWhatsApp:+592-6541361.

OnehaulertruckDriverand licence Excavator Operator needed, must have at least 3 yearsexperience.Call:6447088/624-7248.

Seamstress, Tailor, Block maker&Carpenter wanted. Call/Whatsapp:691-1918

One Puri/ Roti Maker and two Kitchen Assistant needed at Rabbies. Call: 648-8279/231-6591.

SkilledCarpenters,Masons and Labourers. Call:6029469or615-7526.

One Domestic needed for residence.Call:223-5273/ 223-5274.

Persons to install outdoor carpet.Call:615-9132.

Urgently need one female Bartender and KitchenAssistant to work in the Interior Ages 25-35 yrs. Call 698-5526.

Kitchen Assistant and CounterClerkneeded.Call: 697-8160.

Farm Workers needed to workatHauraruniandHog Island.Call:674-8723.

GeneralDomesticneededto work 3 days per week in Campbellville. Call: 6215140.

Handyman to work 4 days per week in Campbellville, $5,000perday.Call:621-5140.

OneReceptionisttoworkin officeinCampbellville.Call: 621-5140.

Securityrequiredtoworkin Charity, Essequibo Coast. Call: 687-5814/ 688-0417.

SERVICES

Visa Application: Canada andUK&U.S.A.Graphics design & advertisements. Wedding decorations & elderlygrooming:hair,nail etc.Call:626-7040.

Elevateyour brandwithour professional Graphic design services. Call: 6190007,629-5526.

VACANCY

Maid required to cook and cleaninEastBankarea.Call: 615-9132.

DeliveryClerk,OfficeAssistant,SalesClerk& Labourer needed at Lens Hardware. Call:227-1511/645-1613.

VacancyexistsforSalesgirl and Porters at Best Buy Food Supplies, Lot 1 ‘E’ Dennis and Middleton Streets C/ville. Apply in person with written application.

Lathe Operator, Welder & Handyman required. Call: 645-9333/220-6078.

Driverrequired,ages23-50 yrs. Must be able to assist in Workshop at Eccles and must have car and van licence.Call:645-8443/6429823.

Payless Variety Store is nowhiringSalesRepresentatives and Porters. Location: 42 Wellington St, Georgetown.Call:658-4494.

HotelAttendantrequiredat Hick'sVilleHotel.Call:6400673,231-0951,227-7714, 223-3448.Email:info@ vegeworld.net

Vacancyexistfortwoexperienced Dispatcher at Confidential Cabs. Call: 6951961/231-5784.

Experienced Kitchen Assistant,Cashiers&Roti/Puri Cook.Apply@Hack'sRestaurant5CommerceSt. OnefemaleCleanerneeded. Apply at Lens, 136 Sheriff Street C/Ville, Georgetown. Contact:227-1511/645-1613.

CarwashAttendants,ages 18-28, (preferably from E.B.D)toworkatVintage CarWashinEccles.Call: 617-2027.

Cashiers, male and female Supermarket Attendants andDriversneeded.Apply withwrittenapplication/CV and passport photo to Survival 16 Vlissengen Road, NewtownKitty

Male&Femaleworkersrequired to work at Carwash in Campbellville, must be able to work weekends. Call:604-1980.

EDUCATION

CSEC online maths classes are provided by qualified Teacher forJanuary2024exams$10,000monthly.Call: 603-9085

VEHICLES FOR SALE

One CRV Honda, fully loaded immaculate condition,lowmileage$3.3M negotiable.Contact:649-0956.

TwoCanterGABSeriesfor sale,$3.5Meachnegotiable. Call:667-9696.

Man who fired shots in ECD bar granted bail

BhaishnauthGurpersaud, themanwhowasarrestedlast Friday for discharging a loaded firearm in an East Coast Demerara (ECD) bar, was on Tuesday granted bail to the sum of $650,000 after he was charged for the offence.

FOR SALE

Housesforsale.Location: Tuschen,Providence,Diamond/LittleDiamondand Haslington. Call Pacific Development Inc: 6736210 /227-8274/ 917-7715202.

CAT320excavatorbuckets, CAT320idler,roadpainting machine.Call:275-0367/6837225.

Ton and a half - Dragline hammer,steelTraylor16ft, 2ft,8ft.CAT215excavator parts.Call:275-0367/6837225.

Prime property located in Prashad Nagar. Call: 6540200/685-3342/691-1153.

TwoBobcat,gravelbucket, 1 Sand roller, 1 Diesel generator and hand wheels for Bobcat.Call:665-1150.

One Bobcat bucket, bucket of excavator, welding plant, heavy duty fleet charger & 3-dieselcontainers.Call:6651150.

Thirty-three-year-old Gurpersaud,anelectricianof BelleWest,CanalNo.2,West BankDemeraramadehisfirst court at the Cove and John Magistrates’ Court before Magistrate Fabayo Azore where the charges were read to him. According to the police,Gurpersaudwascharged withthepossessionofammunition without a licence and with the possession of a .32 Taurus pistol (Possession of FirearmwithoutLicence).He pleaded not guilty to both charges and was granted $250,000bailoneachcharge. Also at the court, he was charged with the offence of discharging a loaded firearm ‘within 100 yards of public way’ which he pleaded not guiltytoandwasgrantedbail tothetuneof$150,000.

He is expected to return tocourtonMarch20,2023.

Kaieteur News had reported that on Friday sometimearound23:40hrs,theman had reportedly discharged a loadedfirearmatthe‘626Bar’ locatedatGoodHope,ECD.

Police in a report had stated that on that night, Gurpersaud and his 28-yearold cousin, a businessman of BelAirVillage,Georgetown, who is a licensed firearm holder of a Taurus pistol, wereatthebarconsumingalcohol, when Gurpersaud (whohadhiscousin’sfirearm in his possession) took out the pistol from his waist and discharged a shot in the air

The firearm and ammunition which was recovered from the night of the incident.

FORRENT

2 and 3-bedroom fully furnished luxury apartments forrent,shorttermandlong term.Tel:# 682-2585, 6911432.

One 5 bedrooms house for rent (furnished) located on SouthRoad,forbusinessor residence.Call:641-0959.

Threebedroomunfurnished apt inVreed-en-hoop and 1, 2 and 3-bedroom furnished apt in Providence and Diamond.Call/Whatsapp:6046664,682-6238,216-2299.

12 self-contained rooms, 2bedroom bottom flat, 8000 sq ft and 900 sq ft for business.CallRay'sRealty:6279685.

Charged, Bhaishnauth Gurpersaud

However, an eyewitness said that several shots were firedwhichcausedpatronsto seekcover Therewerenoreported injuries.

Following the ordeal, the police were alerted and responded to the incident which led to the suspect and several other persons being contacted and searched. Police said the firearm and 11 matching rounds of ammunition were found in his waist.

The suspect told police that the firearm was given to him by a friend whom police later learnt was his cousin from Bel Air The area was searched, and one .32 spent shell was recovered.

The cousin subsequently toldranksthatthefirearmbelongs to him. The two were toldoftheoffence,cautioned and arrested and subsequently an investigation was launched.

Solarelectricityfor30,000 hinterlandcommunitiesthisyear

PrimeMinisterBriga dier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips has reiterated that Guyana will this yearreceivesome30,000solar panel systems, to distributetohouseholdsacross200 hinterlandcommunities.

Phillips told the ParliamentaryCommitteeofSupply Mondayevening,that10,000 solar panels are expected to arrive in the first quarter of thisyear,while10,000ofthe systems will meet in the second quarter and another 10,000byyearend.“So,itis our expectation that by the end of this year all 30,000 of

the solar panel systems will beinthecountryandtheywill be distributed in 200 hinterlandcommunities,”theprime minister stated.

He said the overall aim is to bridge the energy divide, citing that it is his agency’s responsibility to bridge the internet and electricity gaps.

“I assure you that the Office of the Prime Minister will be working with the other Ministries including the Ministry ofAmerindianAffairs to distribute the 30,000 solar panels based on a needs basis.

“Mr.Speaker,wearecommittedtotransparency,andas

the information becomes available, we will communicate with the general Guyanese public and certainly the Opposition side of theHouse…Thisprojectwill benefit all of us,” the prime minister added. The hinterlandsolarprojectfollowsthe signing of a US $7.2 million Line of Credit agreement between the Governments of Guyana and India, back in September2021.

The signing coincided withthe57thanniversarycelebration of Indian Technical Economic Cooperation (ITEC)day.(DPI)

By GHK Lall

Astart is made b e y o n d o u r borders, then I return home, and ask: Why can'tweever? Whatiswrong with us? How do we get to that self-respect and love urged in parliament by a Guyanesestar?

What hope is there for us, oilornooil?

TwoAmericanPresidents fell overboard with official documents, the first in his Florida castle, the second seemingly wherever suited his fancy The former US President is still the Chief Executiveinhismind,maybe even thinks that he is still resident in the White House. Megalomania does that to a few lost souls each time a spellstrikes.

As for the incumbent, the man with his finger on the nuclear button, the worrying part is that, at times, he doesn't register as knowing which century he is in, or of which country he is the leader Thisisthestateofthe United States these days, and

Why can we come close to this here?

itisasadone.

The good part about this is that the U S Justice Department has moved with zeal, and latched onto not one, but two Special Counsels to look deeply, determine who failed, what shouldresult.

Like they say, only in America. Only in America can two presidents be under the microscope, with both on the dilapidated side. No one would ever mistake either of these two U.S. Presidents for Lincoln, or FDR; maybe some reincarnation of Richard Nixon, but nobody else.

Enter Robert Hur, registeredRepublican,aU.S. attorney appointed by President Trump, who declined to go after the p o l i t i c a l l y c h a rg e d investigation of Obama's Secretary of State, John Kerry

Now,RobertHurmaynot be Ben Hur, but he has inspired as an independent soul, when his integrity was on the line I would recommend the same for our

legaleagles-oneinparticular, a PPP Government man-to listen, learn, and lift themselvesup.

Then, there is Special Counsel, Jack Smith, tasked to investigate former President Trump relative to his handling of classified documents. Like Hur, Smith has been hailed for being unbiased, principled, and independent.

In addition, Smith isa prosecutor who has investigated people from both the Democratic and Republic parties, managed that tightrope with skill and accoladesforhisfairness.

I write today of besieged American Presidents, and American Special Counsels, with Guyana in mind. With 300plusmillioncitizens,and 200 plus years of liberty and democracy, America can dig up men like Robert Hur and Jack Smith, and hand them theinstrumentstoinvestigate presidents.

There is the supreme confidence, the steady maturity, and the willingness to trust in the ethics,

principles, and honor of some, even though they have rootsintheopposingparty

Compare that to how we are,whatwehaveinGuyana. I hang my head in shame, in regret, and in disgust. Here everything and everyone are assumedtoberankpartisans, hence filled with prejudice, and dishonorable In Guyana,being partisan means one is racial, arguably racist.

Both the PPP and the PNC are acutely, serially, guilty of such unswerving visions, armor-plated convictions I urge Guyanesetolookcriticallyat our legacy in times of controversy, in hours of crisis.

Weareunable,unwilling, and unready to find one Guyanese, who is not of our own tribe, to spearhead an inquiry, a commission, a panel that looks into what went wrong in difficult and demanding circumstances

Things are so bad here that thereisthisgreatinsecurity,a powerful uneasiness, to confirm two top judicial

officers, acting for years now How

depraved can mattersget?

To probe for truth in a murder, we have to obtain foreign forensic experts. And in the

granddaddy of

p u l v e r i z i n g

disputes, our nationalelections,wehaveto call for CARICOM, the Commonwealth, Canada, the EU, and US. In local crises threatening to mushroom into catastrophes, the cry, need, dependency is always for foreign crisis mangers, and foreign babysitters and foreign seeing eye dogs to leadusinourblindness.

All the big pontificators from parliament and at the pinnacle of public offices are reduced to total uselessness. Theycan'tthink.

They can't finalise a weighty decision, make a hard call, so trapped they are by the fear that to reach for a manorwomanfromtheother sideisasgoodascommitting political suicide, giving up

the ghost Inevaluating things, my conclusion is that this is here to stay, for we have fallen increasingly in lovewiththewayweare.

We can't go anywhere, with this culture embedded; this shameless, humiliating foreigndependency

To undo this full Nelson, I urge President, Vice President,OppositionLeader to rethink, reengage, and revisit what humiliates us nationally

'One Guyana' can never be when outsiders are our solutions. Engagement and consultation will only mean something if we learn to trust oneanother Ifwedon't,then whathavewe? Icontendthat itisnotacountry

Decomposing bodies across South Africa....

From page 13 they received during the Covid-19 pandemicto set up the business, but are now feeling the pressure from poweroutages.

InearlyJanuary,theshop was without power for 72 hours, when electricity did not return as scheduled. Thando was forced to shell out money for diesel to power their generator and preventallhisstockmelting. He says the outages are costly and destroying their hopesofexpanding.

Bongi Monjanaga, who runs a startup cleaning services company operating across Johannesburg, says the outages affect every part of her fledgling business, such as operating electric cleaning equipment, entering and leaving premises when security gates aren't functioning, and having internet to invoice clients and complete online tax compliance documents. “I find myself in this pool of misery when I'm just trying tostartup.

I'm just trying to grow,” shesays.

Dead chickens, food shortages,higherprices

The escalation of power outages is also deeply worrying for South Africa's food security, driving up prices, and placing an even greater strain on stretched householdbudgets.

With modern farming practices ever more reliant on electricity for crop irrigation, processing, and storage, loadshedding is having a huge impact on agriculturaloutput.

Gys Olivier, a farmer from Hertzogville in Free State province, in eastcentral SouthAfrica, says he and other farmers in the area have been forced to throw away hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of seed potatoes due to disruptions to the 'cold chain' – (the process of keeping produce refrigerated throughout the supplychain.)

Thereisalsolessdemand from growers due to water shortages, with pump stations reliant on electricity to operate. “We have done everything we can to make surethereisfoodonthetable for a very good price, but it's become so capital-intensive tofarm,”Oliviersays.

Meanwhilelivestockand poultryaredyingbeforethey e v e n g e t t o t h e slaughterhouse. A gruesome video circulating on social media shows workers removing 50,000 dead broiler chickens from a farm in North West province, the birdssuffocatedwhenpower outages caused ventilation systemstostop.

The financial damage to the farmer was around

according to local media reports.

Acrime'pandemic'

SouthAfrica is notorious for high crime rates, and loadshedding is making it worse as home security systems fail when the power goes out, giving criminals a field day inside unsecured properties.

Policing also becomes harder, with officers unable to reach crime scenes fast enough due to congestion whentrafficlightsareoff.

Tumelo Mogodiseng, General Secretary of the South African Policing Union (SAPU), describes the load-shedding as “a pandemic.”

He says his members' lives are now more at risk, with officers unable to see potentially dangerous situations in the darkness, and police stations, many of which don't have backup power systems, at risk of attack from criminals during blackouts.

“Police are dying every day in this country If this is happening in the daylight, what happens when there is no light for them to see at night?”

Mogodisengalsoworries that crimes are going unreported, with citizens fearful of leaving their houses during outages and traveling in the darkness. “Communities won't travel

to police stations to open cases because they are afraid,”hetoldCNN.Gareth Newham, who runs the Justice and Violence Prevention Programme at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria, says that it's hard to get solid data on the impact outages arehavingoncrime.

While anecdotal evidence suggests criminals are exploiting outages, the recent escalation of loadshedding has coincided with the Christmas holidays, when crime rates typically spike. His biggest concern is that continued loadshedding or a temporary grid collapse could lead to a repeat of the coordinated civil unrest, rioting, and looting in parts of South Africa's KwaZuluNatalandGautengprovinces 18monthsago.

“Acomplete breakdown in the grid could be the trigger for local level gangs getting more power, and we could see a similar kind of violence to that we saw in July2021.”

Eskom: The Roots of a Crisis

Under the ruling African National Congress (ANC), in charge since 1994, Eskom has become synonymous with corruption, crime, and mismanagement.

Last year a judge-led inquiry into graft under the former president, Jacob

Zuma, found that there were grounds to prosecute several former Eskom executives. Thegovernmenthasfailedto build new power stations to keep up with increased demand, and warnings from energy experts on looming supply shortages across the past two decades have gone ignored.

A 2019 report by the South African Institution of Civil Engineering shows skilled engineers have been leaving the country in droves Despite spending billions of USD on two huge coal power stations, neither works properly Older plants are dilapidated due to a lack

of maintenance, and organized crime steals vital coal supplies and cable from the rail lines going from minestopowerstations.

Renewable energy companies say they are desperate to supply to the grid, but the government has beenslowtocutredtapeand streamline regulatory processes that would reduce

the time frame for e n v i r o n m e n t a l authorisations, registration of new projects and grid connectionapprovals.

Legal challenges against the government and Eskom arestackingup.

Several political parties and trade unions say they willtakethegovernmentand state utility to court for not

upholding their duty to provideelectricity

Adjusting to life in the dark

With no end in sight to the outages, South Africans are desperate for alternative energy sources, but even they are out of the reach of manycitizens.

Thando Makhubu says hewasshockedbythecostto powerhisicecreambusiness off-grid.

“We were quoted R100,000 ($5,945) and that excluded the solar panels.” KarinMcDonald,whorunsa swimming school, similarly found the upfront costs of solar prohibitive “We received quotes for solar for the business and house and were not looking at anything less than half a million rand ($29,500) which is a major life decision to make,” she said.

There is also a long wait forsolar

“I know a solar provider that had 40 requests just last week, all for big solar projects, “ said Angus Williamson, a cattle farmer from KwaZulu-Natal province.

As they come to terms with their new reality, many SouthAfricans are finding it hardtostayoptimistic.

“The light at the end of the tunnel is a train heading in our direction,” said Williamson.

GHK Lall

Security guard, son shot during attack at Onderneeming Security attack

Asecurity guard and his son are nursing gunshot wounds at the Suddie Public Hospital, Region Two following an attack on Monday night by three gunmen at Onderneeming Sandpit,EssequiboCoast.

The victims have been identified as 63-year-old Stanley Paton, and 28-yearold Ryan Paton of Hot and Cold,Onderneeming.

The elder Stanley, who works as a security guard, told Kaieteur News that the gunmen attacked him first at around 22:00hrs while he wassleepinginahammockat the camp where he was stationed to watch over the HotandColdLoampit.

He recalled that he was awakened by the ray of a flashlight shining in his face.

Stanley said that he attempted to get out of the hammockbutbeforehecould do so three men surrounded him and placed a shot gun to hishead.

The man said he tried to escape but ended up in the scuffle with the trio as they heldontohim.

Stanley said he unmasked one of the men

beforehewasbeaten.

The security guard said that the trio dragged him out of the camp and took him to the bottom of a hill where he wasbeatensomemore.

Heclaimedthatashewas

family who began shouting outforhim. Stanleybelieves that had it not been for the screams from his family, that hewouldhavebeendead.

Realising that persons were alerted, the trio stopped beating Stanley and fled. However, as they were leaving,Stanley'ssonarrived to render assistance and they fired a gunshot in the direction of the father and son.

Both Stanley and his son were hit by pellets, which may have been from a buckshot round (shotgun shell that sually contains numerous pellets in the casingoftheround).

Stanley was wounded in his upper right arm while his son received injuries to his body The duo was rushed to the Suddie Hospital where they are receiving medical attention. Their conditions aresaidtobestable.

beingbeatenhescreamedfor help.

Luckily for Stanley his work place was not located far from his home and his screams might have awakened his sleeping

Baby dies during delivery at GPHC

The motive behind the attackisunclearbutKaieteur News understands that this the second time that Stanley and his family were attacked and they are now fearful for theirlives.

Police have since launchedaninvestigation.

BRISTOW Helicopters gifts Art Williams and Harry Wendt Aeronautical Engineering School $3M worth of equipment

BRISTOW Helicopters on Thursday, January 26, 2023

gifted the Art Williams and Harry Wendt A e r o n a u t i c a l Engineering School aquantityof maintenanceequipmentvalued$3M.

The equipment was presented to the George Loy Workshop at the Engineering School by Area Ma n a g e r, L t C o l ( R e t ' d ) Courtney Byrne, of BRISTOW Helicopters.

The donation was received by Accountable and General Manager,

Mrs Nalini Chanderban, Head of Training, Mr Rabindra Ramoutar, and Workshop Manager, Mr Rawle Ally

The equipment will supplement the school's current equipment used for practical Aircraft Maintenance Engineering training for its Ab-Initio and Modular Programmes, a statement tothemedias a i d T u e s d a y

“Col. Byrne said that BRISTOW was happy to contribute to capacity building and the positive impact this wouldcreatewiththeyouthsenrolledin

AircraftMaintenanceEngineering,who would b e g i v e n a n o p portunity to use industry standards equipment in their training processes,” the statement fromtheschoolsaid.

Mrs Chanderban thanked BRISTOW for the donation and stated thattheequipmentwillgreatlyassistthe school in its practical programme delivery

TheBRISTOWteamincludedpilots Captains Wayne Boodoo and Vishal Boochay and Helicopter Mechanic, Mr. DonalCarey.

A baby was pronounced stillborn at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC)onFridaylastdueto complications during delivery. Kaieteur News understands that the child died as a result of complications due to a congenital disease Information reaching this newspaperisthattheheadof the fetus came off during the processofdelivery

TheGPHCinastatement issuedtoKaieteurNewssaid that the hospital is knowledgeable about the caseinquestion.

The hospital claimed to haveworkedwiththemother and family to provide prea n d p o s t - d e l i v e r y counselling on account of the case being a uniquely complicated one as a foetus withapoorprognosis,which was medically determined fromtheonset.

In the meantime, GHPC urged those who are peddling and are privy to third party information related to this incident, to desist from inflicting further grief to the mother and her family who, with the guidance of our medical team, were appraised and had a comprehensive understanding of the associated risks of the pregnancy

Earlier this month, GPHC had recorded two more maternal deaths which occurred on January 1 and January6,2023respectively

In a brief statement, the Hospital said that a 31-yearold woman died at the

facility on January 6 while on January 1, 2023, a 25year-oldwomandied.

On December 23, 2022, Kaieteur News had reported that 38-year-old Tiffani D. Jeffrey died as a result of complications after giving birth at GPHC It was reportedthatthewomandied two days after she delivered herbaby

K a i e t e u r N e w s understands that the woman was diagnosed with sickle c e l l w h i c h c a u s e d complications during her pregnancy Overthepastfew months, GPHC has recorded anumberofmaternaldeaths.

A Lodge, Georgetown woman and her unborn child died on October 20, 2022, while on October 29, 2022 a Mahaica woman, Navita Maraj and her unborn child, diedatGPHC.

Since then, the relatives of the deceased have been callingforanswers.

Thehospitalhassaidthat investigations have been launched into the women's deaths.

However, it is unclear whether reports on the investigations have been completed and or shared withthefamilies.

Meanwhile, last year Dr Karen Cummings, Shadow Minister of Health, for the O p p o s i t i o n - l e d A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) said that considering the billions of dollars that is pumped into the health sector, Guyana should not be recording maternalandinfantdeaths.

...hospital says mother knew of "risks from complicated pregnancy”

Representatives of BRISTOW and the Art Williams and Harry Wendt Aeronautical Engineering School during the simple handing over exercise.

Gunshot wounds sustained by Stanley's son

An injured Stanley at the Suddie Hospital

$599MfromIDBloansetaside tobuildabattoirinRegion5

The Government of Guyana will expend some G$500M to construct an abattoir at Onverwagt, RegionFivethisyear

The Government had received a US$15M InterAmerican Development Bank(IDB)loanin2017for several projects, including the construction of the abattoir On Tuesday, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha during the second day of the consideration of estimates andexpendituresofthe2023 budget disclosed that the projectwillprogressoverthe next12months.

Mustapha’s response followedquestionsposedby Leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC) and Opposition Member of Parliament (MP), Khemraj Ramjattan who asked when the project is slated to begin

given the $500 million allocatedinthebudget.

“Mr Speaker, this was the abattoir that the Honourable Member came and misled this House and came and say that they started it in 2020 This abattoir, the contract was signed by the Permanent Secretary in November of 2022, and this here it’s a contribution from the Government of Guyana because you remember it’s an IDB project and we are hoping by the end of this yearthatthisabattoircanbe completed. It is not only $500millionfortheabattoir there is a number of other projects that are listed to be d o n e u n d e r t h i s programme,” the Minister said.

The project falls under the IDB programme titled ‘Sustainable Agricultural Development Project

(SADP)’.

Additionally,Opposition MP, Vinceroy Jordan asked the Minister to tell the National Assembly the current stage of the project given that the contract was signedinNovember2022.

“So Mr Speaker the construction of the abattoir… it was signed on the 3rd of November 2022, the contractor has been mobilizingandhehasstarted some work there and it’s been supervised by the Guyana Livestock and

Development Authority (GLDA), ” Mustapha responded.

TheMinisterassuredthe Housethattheprojectwould be strictly monitored to ensure that it is completed within the identified timeframe.

TheAgricultureMinister justified the construction of

the abattoir noting that it is important because “our country now is poised to ensurethatwebecomeabeef andcattleindustry,sothatis why we need this abattoir very importantly and we are looking that this would be completed very shortly beforetheyearisoutsothat wecanhaveamodernstate-

of-the-artabattoirsothatwe canstarttheexportofbeefto theCaribbean.”

K a i e t e u r N e w s understands that following the national competitive bidding procedure, the contractfortheconstruction ofabattoirwasawardedtoR. Ramotar Investment to the sumof$599.340million.

An abattoir located on Water Street, Georgetown.

Jefford's Classic to reignite the 'Golden Mile' - Event set for March 12 at the National Park

Unable to host his Jefford's Track a n d F i e l d Classic at its usual stomping ground in Linden, Edison Jefford dived into his creativebagwherehepulled outthe'GoldenMile'.

Set for Sunday, March 12, the Golden Mile, or as Edison puts it, the Jefford's Classic Mile, will see the crème de la crème middistance athletes in Guyana competing for cash prizes totalling$100,000ineachof the ten categories at the NationalPark.

“If you know the history of Athletics in Guyana, you'll know that the Golden Mile is one of the

historically great calendar events in Guyana,” Jefford said.

“It has been absent in Guyana for quite some time, and to the detriment of our middle-distance athletes, they've not had a signature event to call their own,” the former sports journalist stated.

The Jefford's Classic, since 2010, has been one of the biggest 'grass' track and fieldeventsinGuyana.

The Mackenzie Sports Club is the home of the classic, but, like everything else globally, the event was grounded by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic afterits2019installation.

But while things have returned to normal, Jefford is unable to return his

Classic to the MSC Ground after two years, given the fact the facility is under

Wednesday February 01, 2023

ARIES(Mar.21–Apr.19

Your dreams might be especially intense now, and some could even be prophetic You may have recently dreamed of an old friend you haven't seen for a while.

LIBRA(Sept.23–Oct.22)

Today you might feel the need to get as much done as possible. You're especially energetic, Libra, and you have stamina and focus, and so you should be able to accomplish whatever you want.

renovation.

“So I thought this year that because I wouldn't be able to do the Jefford's Classic again because of the rehabilitation of the MSC Ground, I should do something for middledistance athletics in Guyana and the Jefford's classic brand,”Jeffordadded.

The winners of various categories will pocket $50,000, second-place $30,000andthird$20,000.

Jefford reasoned that a novice event for fitness enthusiasts will be on the cards, “I'm trying to make this a big effort for everyone tocomeoutandfeelapartof agreatevent.”

Arsenal land...

From page 31 intelligence, deep leadership skills and a huge amount of P r e m i e r L e a g u e a n d international experience Jorginho has won in his career, but he still has the hunger and huge willingness to contribute here.

"We are so pleased to sign Jorginho and welcome him and hisfamilytotheclub."

Gunners sporting director Edu said on Arsenal's website: "Jorginho is an established professional with a strong mentality who brings quality andexperienceintooursquad.

"He is a player who fits our style of play, and he joins us at a verygoodmomentwherehecan contribute in a key position to help maintain our momentum. We welcome Jorginho to Arsenal."

West Indies, Australia...

From page 33

O'Reilly wit 43 and ably supported by Greg Hoysted 38, Kent Officer 13, Eric HigginandSamDaviswith10 apiece were the other batsmen that reached double figures. Rupert Staple was the pick of the English bowlers with 3 for 27 whilst John Butterworth pickedup2for29.

TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20)

\ Social events involving both old and new friends could prove especially satisfying at this time, Taurus.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20)

Today you might decide to get some annoying but necessary chores done, Gemini.You have the energy and stamina to finish them and probably will, although you may go crazy from boredominthemeantime.

CANCER (June 21–July 22)

Some information that you've been seeking for a long time might finally be unEarthed today through yourdiligentefforts,Cancer

LEO(July23–Aug.22) Leo, some volatile emotional matters that may have reared their heads over the past few days could finally be settled to the satisfaction of all involved.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22)

Some solid, honest communication between you and those you love is likely to clear up some confusion. Roles are more clearly defined, emotional problems clarified.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21)

You might need to do some of the less exciting choresinvolvedwithcreative or artistic projects today, Scorpio.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21)

You may have let household tasks and chores goforafewdays,Sagittarius, so today you might decide to getthemalldoneatonce.You have the energy and the staminatodoit.

CAPRI(Dec.22–Jan.19)

Somelettersandcallsthat you may have agreed to do for a group you're affiliated with might have to be taken careoftoday,Capricorn.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18)

Youmayneedtotakecare of paperwork related to financial matters today, Aquarius. You will pay bills, make deposits, or balance checkbooks. Whatever you needtohandle.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20)

You should be especially efficient in whatever work you need to get done today, Pisces. Your natural eye for detailisespeciallysharp.

In reply England were tottering at 45 for 8 before Neil Braithwaite was joined by Phil Deaken to put on a verysensiblepartnershipof70 runs that gave the England side some hope and respectabilitytotheireventual total of 127 to lose by 15 runs. Braithwaite was left stranded on a well-played 49 with 3 well timed boundaries Deaken made 25 whilst captain Richard Merriman made 10 runs. The Aussies gaveupawhopping26extras. The chief wrecker of the Pommies was MOM Mike Riley with 4 for 26 supported by Peter Dudderidge with 2 for 23. As expected, Neil Braithwaite was selected as the MOM for the England side.

Linden Mix team are winners of H20 boys' La'Fe one-day football tournament

The H2O Boy's hosted their second football tournament th on 29 January in the mining town of Linden. H2O Boys' a charitable arm of La'Fe, came back to host their second football tournament here in Guyana.

The La'Fe Football tournament is a one-day event, which aims to harness young talent among youngsters across theregiontendistricts.

According to the Event Organiser H2OBoys,theLa'Fefootballtournament wasyetagainanothersuccess.

ThetournamentwereheldattheZar's Ball Field in Linden on Sunday, where the first match got on the way just about 10:00am, matches ran straight into the evening with Linden Mix team coming out on top of UDFA football team in the final.

The well-coached Linden Mix team came out victorious in the 'penalty-kick'

decider final against the UDFA side. On Sunday the Zar's Ball Field wase filled with great jubilation and exciting football Also in attendance was President of the United Doctors Front Association (UDFA), Wainewrite Bethune.

However, fans were treated with an exciting display of young talent, as Linden Mix football team triumph over the UDFA side to claim bragging rights ofthe2023La'FeFootballtournament.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Organising Committee - Bernard Couchman expressed special thanks to the Mayor and Town Council of the City of Linden, Guyana Football Federation (GFF) and the UDFA Crew for their involvement in making the event a success. Mr Couchman also wishes to thank,alltheyoungstersfortakingpartin this year's tournament in memory of his sisterRaquel.

The winning Linden Mix Team take time out for a photo.

Youngsters assembled at Zar's Ball Field ahead of the start to La'Fe football tournament.

GFF reveals 2022 Year-In Review…

The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) hasreleasedits2022 Year In Review summarising a perioddefinedbythecollective resilience and determination of its members, players, fans and stakeholders to bounce back f r o m t h e C O V I D 1 9 restrictions and set a path of steadyrecovery

The special edition is packed with striking photos and stories capturing memorablemomentsovera12month period, commencing with the Lady Jaguars player Annalisa Vincent securing a four-year scholarship to Graceland University in the USA, and including other activities such as: the national teams' international matches, the launch of the FIFAFootball ForSchoolProgramme,andthe prestigious One Guyana President'sCup.

The more than 60-page editionalsocaptures,memories of a year during which football development strategies were reshaped to address new issues and to embrace new processes ofdelivery

"The Year In Review summarises how the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), with the support of our Members, the Government of

Guyana, players, fans and corporate Guyana rose to meet the challenges of 2022 by adaptingtoachieveourfootball development goals," shared PresidentWayneForde.

TheFederation reachedkey milestones in 2022, including the history-making return to

play with the simultaneous launch of the senior men's l e a g u e s b y R e g i o n a l Associations, the amendment of the constitution to bring the GFFinlinewiththelatestFIFA and CONCACAF Statutes, and the empowerment of Regional Associationssotheycandecide the best strategies to optimise local goals in order to meet nationaltargets.

Soft copies of the Year-In Review have been posted on theGFFsocialmediaplatforms andsharedwithourcommunity ofstakeholders.

Gary Ballance set for Zimbabwe Test bow against West Indies

...SeanWilliamsmissingthroughinjurywithCraigErvinenamedascaptain

ESPNcricinfo - Gary Ballance is set to play Test cricketforthefirsttimesince 2017 after being named in Zimbabwe's squad to face West Indies in this month's two-matchseries.

Sean Williams will miss the Tests in Bulawayo as he recovers from a fractured finger, with Craig Ervine, playing his first Test in three years, captaining the side in Williams'absence.

Zimbabwe will also be without allrounders Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl due to franchise commitments overseas, while fast bowlers Tendai Chatara and Blessing Muzarabani are both out injured.

There are a host of uncapped players in the 16man squad, with Tafadzwa Tsiga, Joylord Gumbie, Kudzai Maunze and Ta n u n u r w a M a k o n i rewarded for their domestic

formintheLoganCup.

Innocent Kaia, Bradley EvansandTanakaChivanga, who have all played limitedovers internationals, could be in line for Test debuts.

Chamu Chibhabha has been recalled six years after his last Test appearance, while experienced allrounder Donald Tiripano has also beenincluded.

Ballance played 23 Tests for England between 2014 and 2017, scoring four hundreds and averaging 37 45 He returned to Zimbabwe, the country of hisbirth,afterbeingreleased by Yorkshire last year and made his ODI debut against Irelandearlierthismonth.

The series, which begins at Queens Sports Club on Saturday, will mark Zimbabwe's return to Test cricket after an 18-month gap.

Zimbabwe Test squad to play West Indies: Gary

Ballance, Chamunorwa C h i b h a b h a , Ta n a k a Chivanga, Craig Ervine (capt), Bradley Evans, Joylord Gumbie, Innocent Kaia, Tanunurwa Makoni, Wellington Masakadza, Kudzai Maunze, Brandon Mavuta, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Milton Shumba, Donald Tiripano, TafadzwaTsiga.

Spanish police detain 23 for alleged soccer match-fixing in Spain, Andorra and Gibraltar

MADRID, (Reuters) - A group of 23 people, including soccer players, have been arrested as part of a probe into suspected match-fixing in nonprofessional Spanish, Andorran and Gibraltarian soccer leagues, Spanish police said yesterday.Those arrested aresuspectedofbelongingtoaringthat allegedly won as much as 500,000 euros ($540,750) through minor bets with payouts that were too small to raise regulatory flags, acting on information from players who then

influenced the games' final outcome, policesaid.

"A second layer of the scam comprised soccer players who took advantage of their position to organise the fixing in the teams under their influence,"policesaid.

No players were identified, but police said the ring targeted some 30 games in non-professional leagues such as Spain's third division and the local leagues of micro-state Andorra andBritishenclaveGibraltar

Officials from the three football associations didn't immediately respondtorequestsforcomment.

Theinvestigationwascarriedoutin 2021 and 2022 with the help of several organisations, including Spain's football federation RFEF, LaLiga, the Betting Market Global Investigation Service (SIGMA) and European governing body UEFA's Anti-MatchFixing Unit.It was also supported by internationalpoliceforces Europoland Interpol. ($1 = 0.9246 euros)

Gary Ballance debuted for Zimbabwe in ODIs earlier this month. (AFP via Getty Images)

Leicestershire signIndia's Rahaneas SunilNarine returnsto Surrey

AFP - Leicestershire have signed India's Ajinkya Rahane for part of the 2023 English domestic season, the Midlands county announcedyesterday

The 34-year-old, who has captained his country in all formats, will arrive at Grace Road in June and be available for eight firstclass County Championship matches and all oftheOne-DayCup.

Rahane has scored 4,931 runs, including 12 centuries, in 82Tests and 2,962 runs in 90 one-dayinternationals,althoughitisjustover ayearsincehelastrepresentedIndia.

Leicestershire finished bottom in last season's Second Division of the County Championshipwithoutwinningamatch.

Rahane, who previously had a county stintwithHampshirein2019wherehescored a century on debut against Nottinghamshire, said in a statement: "I'm really happy to be joining Leicestershire for the upcoming season.

"I can't wait to play alongside my new team-mates and explore the vibrant city of Leicester."

Leicestershire director of cricket Claude Henderson added: "He (Rahane) comes with a lot of experience and a tremendous work ethic.It'sagreatopportunityforustotapinto that."

Meanwhile Surrey have re-signed West Indies spinner Sunil Narine for the 2023 Blast.

Narine will be available for all fixtures thatdonotclashwithhiscommitmentstothe

RHTYSC launches full coloured review magazine - GTT is main sponsor

The Management of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club MS last week launched its 2022 Review Magazine as the club presses ahead with plans for 2023. The magazine was launched inabriefceremonyinvolving the management and members of the club, which is among the most active and vibrant youth and sports organisationsinGuyana.

Club Secretary /CEO Hilbert Foster, who served as the Editor in Chief of the forty pages magazine, hailed it as another red letter day in the remarkable one in the RHTYSC thirty three years history.

KolkataKnightRidersinthelucrativeIndian PremierLeague.

Last year, Narine took 14 wickets at an economyof5.96peroverintheBlast,andhit 199runsatastrikerateof163.11.

"Getting knocked out in the quarter-final last year was a real disappointment with the teamwehad,"Narinesaidinaclubstatement. "Iknowwecandobetterthisyearandwilldo whatIcantohelpgetustoFinalsDay."

The club, he stated, has published an annual magazine since 2000 but it was the first time that it was fullycoloured.Themagazine was produced by the Public Relations Committee of the club and published at J Printery in New Amsterdam. The review, apart from

r e v i e w i n g t h e c l u b achievements in 2022, also covers the outstanding work done during the last five years by the eleven teams of theclub.

Among the sub headings covered are Cricket Teams, RHTYSC Honour Roll of International Players, sponsorship, Award

C e r e m o n y, M e d i c a l

O u t r e a c h , t r i b u t e

programmes, Charity Outreach, Say Yes/Say No campaign, Club Executives, Future Cricketing Stars, Christmas Village, Republic Bank Summer Camp, Busta and Bakewell Cricket Academy, Tribute to Club Members, National Awards, support for ST Francis Church, Community Projects, Dolphin Award of Excellence.

Tribute to Parents, Construction of Homes, meetings with Government Officials,BasilButcherTrust Fund, 2023 Captains and

major achievements 19902023 were also noted. The magazine also features a Secretary's Remarks from Foster,whoexpressedthanks to his fellow executives for their dedication in making a positive difference The RHTYSCin2022produceda total of twenty two regional and Guyana players, while a combined 29 played for Berbice at all levels. The magazine would be shared out free of cost across Guyana, the West Indies and NorthAmerica. Special thanks were extended to the management of Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Co Ltd (GTT) for beingthemainsponsorofthe magazine, especially Marketing Executive Clarence Perry Other sponsors were Bakewell, Panthera Solutions, Ansa Mcal,BerbiceCricketBoard, GNNL, Mart,Annexe Salon, Guyana Beverages, Namilco andBanksDIHLtd.

West Indies close Day 3 on 82-2 in second innings against Zimbabwe XI, leading by 477

SportsMax -West Indies closed daythreeoftheirtourmatchagainst Zimbabwe XI in Bulawayo on 822, a lead of 477 as they continue to prepare for their upcoming Test seriesagainstZimbabwe.

Resuming from their overnight score of 52-5, in reply to the West Indies' mammoth first innings total of 517, Zimbabwe XI were bowled outfor122.

Timycen Maruma, who was on 15 overnight was eventually dismissed by Motie for 37 while Milton Shumba, who was on nine added only four before he was bowledbyGabrielfor13.

Tafadzwa Tsiga scored an unbeaten 21 and number-11 batter

FarazAkramadded19managingto get the score past 100 after ZimbabweXIhadslumpedto87-9.

Joseph took 2-12, while Motie returned figures of 2-24. Gabriel, who is returning from an extended break because of injury, finished with2-21.

Choosing not to enforce a follow-on,WestIndiesopenedwith Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Raymon Reifer, in an apparent bid to provide time in the middle for other batters in the squad. Captain Kraigg Brathwaite scored an

unbeaten 116 in the West Indies firstinnings.

However, Reifer failed to take advantage of the opportunity when he got out caught behind off Akram's bowling for one having facedfourballs.

Nkrumah Bonner's poor run of form continued when he was dismissed caught behind off the bowling ofWilliam Mashinge for a mere13.

Chanderpaul, who made 46 in theWestIndiesfirstinnings,retired notouton23.Meanwhile,Jermaine Blackwood, who only managed 17 in the West Indies first innings was

RHTYSC Members pose with their copies of the magazine

unbeaten on 34 with Jason Holder notoutontwoattheotherendasthe match approaches its fourth and finalday

Akram has 1-4 from his four overs while Mashinge has so far taken 1-6 from the three overs he bowled.

Jermaine Blackwood was unbeaten on 34 at close of play Monday

India's Ajinkya Rahane

Arsenal land £12m Jorginho from Chelsea after Caicedo blow

SportsMax - Arsenal signed Jorginho from London rivals Chelsea in a deadline day deal to bolster theirmidfield.

The Gunners agreed a reported £12million fee with the Blues for the 31year-old midfielder and the PremierLeagueleadersgot the deal over the line in time.

Arsenal, bossed by Mikel Arteta, had been pushing to sign Moises CaicedofromBrightonand Hove Albion but saw a number of bids rejected, with the Seagulls making it c l e a r t h e E c u a d o r international would not leavethismonth.

The Gunners moved instead to strengthen their

squad with a proven p e r f o r m e r , s w i f t y completing a deal for Jorginho, whose contract with Chelsea was set to expire at the end of the season Jorginho's arrival comes amid concern for Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey, who was withdrawn in Friday's FACup defeat to Manchester City with an apparent rib injury, while

ShaiHope's91*invainasJohnsonCharles blasts107*tohelpComillaVictorianscomplete highestsuccessfulchaseinBPLhistory

SportsMax-WestIndian batsman Johnson Charles produced a magnificent 107 not out to lead the Comilla Victorians to a seven-wicket winovertheKhulnaTigersin the Bangladesh Premier League at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadiumyesterday

A 184-run second wicket partnership between them helped the Tigers reach 197 after 19 overs before Iqbal was finally dismissed five runs short of a magnificent hundred. Iqbal hit 11 fours and four sixes in 61 deliveries.

that of Hope and Iqbal in the Tigers'innings.

Mohamed Elneny has been sidelined with what Arsenal described as a "significant" kneeproblem.

A Champions League winner with Chelsea in 2020-21, Jorginho was also part of the Italy squad that wontheEuro2020title.

Arteta said of his new recruit: "Jorginho is a midfield player with (Continued on page 27)

So far, so good for Garrett at Allianz Field

- Focused on joining Minnesota

By Rawle Toney

GoldenJaguarsdefender, JeremyGarrett,toldKaieteur News that it has been “so far, so good” at Allianz Field in the'Landof100,000Lakes'.

Garrett departed Guyana over the weekend and wrappeduphisseconddayof training as he takes a shot at playing for Major League S o c c e r ( M L S ) s i d e Minnesota United (Next Pro team) after receiving a Tryoutfromtheclub.

The former Fruta Conquerors defender's tryout with the 2019 US Open Cup Runners-up was made possible by Guyanese Hallof-Famer, Alex Bunbury through his Alex Bunbury Sport and Academic Academy(ABSAA)Inc.

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) defender said he had passed his fitness test and had a light training session.

Garrett hopes to impress

United

Coaches Adrian Heath and CameronKnowlesenoughto stay at the St Paul-based club.

Ifsuccessful,Garrettwill join his countrymen Omari Glasgow (Chicago Fire FC)

and Curtez Kellman (Sporting KC) in the MLS NextPro-League.

The articulate player is having his third outing at chasing his dreams, dating back to his 2016 stint at Sporting Lisbon as a 16year-old, along with a shot at MLS club DC United as an 18-year-oldin2018.

Garrett graduated from the Louisiana State University (LSU) at Eunice in 2019 after a stellar outing with the Bengals on the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)level.

T h e c h a r i s m a t i c defender, who Captained Guyana at the U15, U17, U19 and U20 levels, will look to impress the Coaches

The Tigers took first strike after the Victorians won the toss and elected t o f i e l d f i r s t , a decision that looked lik e th e r ig h t o n e w h e n M a h m u d u l H a s a n J o y w a s d i s m i s s e d b y P a k i s t a n i p a c e r Naseem Shah in the third overwiththescoreon13. That wicket brought Tigers skipper Shai Hope to the crease alongside Tamim Iqbal and the pair put on a T20 batting masterclass, blastingtheComillabowling all over the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.

In the end, Khulna ended their 20 overs on 210-2 with Hope ending not out on 91. His knock came off just 55 balls and included five fours andsevensixes.

The Victorians reply got off to the worst possible start whentopbatsmanLittonDas was forced to retire hurt after beingstruckonthewristwith the second ball of the innings.

This brought Captain Imrul Kayes to the wicket and he and Mohammad Rizwan put on 22 before Kayeswasdismissedforfive inthethirdover Rizwan was then joined at the crease by Charles and the two put on a display like

The pair put on what turned into a match-winning 122-run partnership before Rizwan was dismissed for a th 39-ball73inthe14 over Charles continued on his merry way and brought up a magnificent hundred with a th sixovercoverinthe18 over His knock came off 53 balls and included five fours and 10sixes.

He closed proceedings th with a six in the 19 over to help the Victorians complete the highest chase in BPL history

The Victorians now have 12 points from nine games andhavesecuredtheirspotin the playoffs with a game to spare.

Scores: Khulna Tigers 210-2 in 20 overs (Tamim Iqbal 95, Shai Hope 91*) Comilla Victorians 213-3 in 18.2 overs (Johnson Charles 107*, Mohammad Rizwan 73).

in St. Paul at the Allianz Field.

Garrett, on January 1, won the GFF/Kashif and Shanghai One Guyana President's Cup tournament. He currently plays for the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) after playing all his club career with Fruta ConquerorsFC.

He has played an important role in the defence for Fruta Conquerors and GDF in their run to several localtitles.

At the school level, Garrett played for Chase Academy racking up many titles before accepting a scholarship offer to play on theNJCAAcircuit.

WhileplayingforLSUat Eunice, Garrett helped guided the institution to their historic maiden NJCAA 2018 Region 23 Men's Championship. He won the District Championship twice andwasnamedofthebest11 ofLouisianaDistrict.

Jorginho

West Indies, Australia & Rest of the World register wins in 1st round of the O60s Caribbean Cup BIG MAN CRICKET

The BMC Caribbean Cup got offtoawonderfulstartSundaywith all six teams participating. The West Indies and the Rest of the World teams had an easy day at the park registering comprehensive victories in their encounters, whilst Australia had to sweat it out to earn theircloselyfoughtwin.

MATCH 1 at BNOC Sports Club - In the WI v USAencounter, the home team coasted to their first win against USAat the O60s level. USA had gotten the better of them in previous encounters in Houston, Texas and in Queensland, Australia. Play got underway at 9.35amsincebothteamsobserveda minute's silence in recognition of the passing of former WI test cricketer, Dominican Irvine Shillingfordafewdaysago.

USAwonthetossandelectedto take first strike and lost Gregory Caracciolo in the 6th over through the LBW route to Zamin Amin whenthescorewasjust15.The2nd wicketpairthentriedtoconsolidate the innings with a 17 run partnership when Chandrakant Barlingay was bowled by Tony Boyke with the score on 35 Thereafter wickets fell at regular intervals and the USAteam meekly foldedforaninadequate82runsoff 33.2overs.

Abdulsamad Motara was the pick of the WI bowlers grabbing 3 wickets for 14 runs off his 6 overs. He was well supported by Zamin

...Tournament is in Association with Blue Waters & Barbados Tourism Marketing

INC

Amin with 2 for 9 and Everton Batsonwith2for15.

The Windies boys served up no lessthan25extraswhichwaseasily the top score for the USAside. Our boys then proceeded to knock off the runs in 16.4 overs in a very clinical and professional manner after the openers, George Harris and Keith Lawrence set the stage with a solid opening partnership of 52 before losing Harris in the 12th over for a well-played 31 off 39 deliveries with 2 @ 4s and the only maximum of the match. Former West Indies international player, Dwayne Smith graced the occasion to witness his father, Wilbur Bruce entered the crease at number 3 for the Windies and batted well for his

13 runs off 17 balls. Opener Keith Lawrence ended up with 27 off 44 deliverieswith2boundaries.

As is customary, the 2 teams eachnominatedaManoftheMatch fromtheopposingside.WIselected Syed Abid Naqvi for his top score of 17, whilst Abdulsamad was selected as the MOM for the WI team.

MATCH2attheWanderersCC - In the Rest of the World v the Americas Invitational XI, ROW won the toss and elected to bat on a wonderful batting surface and rattled up the highest score of the tournament finishing at 225 for 8 off their allotted 45 overs. Again extras top scored in the ROW's innings with a healthy 43 runs

followed by Neil Calvert with 37 hitting the boundary line 4 times. There were useful contributions from opener Anthony Bennett 36 with 3 boundaries, Peter Moses 26, ArnoldManders26,JohnCourtney 22 and Gary Whitaker 18. Dave Ramdan was the pick of the Americas InvitationalXI with 2 for 20.

The Invitational XI was never really in the hunt for such a mammoth total and lost early and regular wickets to eventually fold for 137 all out off 42.3 overs. Dave Ramdan offered token resistance with 36 peppered with 4 boundaries, Winston Herbert 23, Kritsinh Parmar 16 Brasker Bhakta 13 & Pramesh Seheult 12. Peter

Doyle was the chief destroyer for theROWteamwith5for37.Andre Manders supported with 3 for 15 andJohnCourtney2for31.

MATCH 3 at the Pickwick CCIn this Ashes showdown in Barbadosbetweenthe2archrivals, England & Australia, the match lived up to expectations of a keenly contestedencounter

However, both teams also observed a minute's silence for Irvine Shillingford before the match commenced. Australia won the toss and elected to take first strike and made what seemed to be an inadequate 142 for 8 off their allotted 45 overs. Top scorer for Australiawasopener,Peter (Continued on page 27)

West Indies and the USA teams mark a minute's silence in respect to former WI player Irvine Shillingford who died recently.

Charles' unbeaten 107 helped Comilla Victorians chase down 211. (BCB) 21

Tamim Iqbal and Shai Hope put on 184 runs for the second wicket. (BCB)