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AIETEUR

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Monday Edition February 07, 2022 - Vol. 15 No. 06 Online: www.kaieteurnews.com Online Price $80 readership yesterday, 78,381

After withdrawing $126B ‘illegally’ from oil fund …Govt. now tables motion seeking Parliamentary approval to cover tracks

OPM to install 1000 internet hubs in five regions Tain Campus Valedictorian credits success to solid support system

The protest continues for change to the contract.

Nigeria FPSO had 60,000 barrels on it before explosion ...authorities finally put out fire

Calls grow for full coverage insurance from ExxonMobil ...Opposition to table motion in Parliament to advance position President Ali, when will Guyana receive full cover insurance from ExxonMobil?

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Kaieteur News

Monday February 07, 2022

Monday February 07, 2022

Kaieteur News

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Calls grow for full coverage insurance from ExxonMobil ...Opposition to table motion in Parliament to advance position

By Renay Sambach “Guyana obtaining full coverage insurance for the oil and gas sector is very important and we have always wanted that for Guyana; to protect us in the event of an oil spill.” These are the words of Opposition Member of Parliament and Shadow Oil and Gas Minister, David Patterson.

In fact, during an interview with Kaieteur News, Patterson noted that among the several motions that he has in store to be tabled in the National Assembly is a motion calling for full coverage insurance.

He noted that this is part of his efforts to secure full coverage insurance for Guyana, before an oil disaster strikes.

Since 2015, ExxonMobil Corporation, the parent company of Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), has steered clear of being tied to full coverage insurance for its Stabroek Block projects, which are certain to deliver multi-billion dollar profits on an annual basis. Instead, it

has placed only its subsidiary (EEPGL) on the hook if such an eventuality occurs offshore. This is the state of affairs with its Liza Phase One, Liza Phase Two and Payara Projects.

During the interview, the Opposition MP underscored the importance for Guyana to obtain the maximum insurance coverage, from the parent company of the subsidiaries that are operating in our back yard, and highlighted measures that will be taken by the Opposition to secure same.

Patterson said, “EEPGL is just a subsidiary of Exxon, they have no asset in Guyana and not much can come from there. In the event of an oil spill or any accident out there, they [EEPGL] can just declare themselves bankrupt and pack up and go with no liability.” “An oil spill is s o m e t h i n g m a j o r, t h e ecological disaster it causes, and we also have our fishermen who depend on their catches to support their families,” Patterson added.

To this end he explained that without full coverage insurance, in the event of an

Construction of NDIA office and living quarters to cost $75M

T

he construction of an office and living quarters for the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) in Region 10, according to the engineers' estimate, will cost taxpayers some $74,749,950 million.

According to an invitation for bids, published in the Sunday edition of the Kaieteur News, interested eligible bidders may inspect the bidding document and obtain further information from the procurement office of the NDIA during working hours.

These documents will be available and can be uplifted from the office of the NDIA, cashier's cage finance building at the Ministry of Agriculture on Regent and

Vlissengen Road, Georgetown upon payment.

Bids must be addressed to The Chairman of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, Ministry of Finance on Main and Urquhart Streets, Georgetown.

The tender must be deposited no later than 09:00hrs.on February 22, 2022. Bids will be opened in the presence of bidders and representatives at the Office of National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, Ministry of Finance, Main and Urquhart Streets, Georgetown on Tuesday, February 22, 2022 at 09:00hrs. Late or incorrectly labeled bids will be rejected and returned to bidders unopened.

oil spill and the company d e c l a r i n g b a n k r u p t c y, Guyana will be put in a chokehold to not only foot the expense to clean up the spilled crude but to also get the company to pay for the damages caused.

Moreover, during his presentation in the National Assembly last week, Patterson said that on assumption of office, the People's Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) administration reversed the position that Guyana should be financially covered for any and all spills, to little or no coverage at all.

“When they reversed the Agreement between the Coalition and Exxon for the company to obtain the maximum insurance coverage on the market with the remainder being covered by the three parent companies,” he added.

According to Patterson, the limited insurance coverage, as against full or unlimited liability coverage “against all risks poses a most severe risk to Guyana, leaving us vulnerable to financial bankruptcy without the means to cleanup any oil

spill. Not to mention the nation's exposure to lawsuits from bordering countries.”

To this end, he used the occasion to remind of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which costed approximately US$70 billion, “and the environmental damage persists.” Patterson posited: “it is rather stunning that with the proposed increase in production, the government is now talking about having Exxon obtain insurance to the value of $2 Billion.”

Such a position Patterson said, begs the question, “did Exxon cancel the $2.5 Billion in private insurance that was put in place under the Coalition? Why would the government feel satisfied with only $2 Billion worth of liability coverage, when the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico costed more than $70 Billion?”

Additionally he queried, “…if the government is satisfied with only the $2 Billion coverage, how would any costs over and above that be covered?”

Questioned about this issue last week during a news

Opposition Member of Parliament and Shadow Oil and Gas Minister, David Patterson. conference, Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo shifted the attention from himself and government by extension on the matter to say that it is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA ) that is handling this crucial insurance negotiation with Exxon. The Vice President said, “This is an ongoing discussion and it is done mainly at the EPA so that was their position on the table in trying to get US$2B but they have been negotiating this and at the end of the day we will see…I don't want to give a ball by ball blow but you know the intention and you

will see the final product when it comes out and we are pressing hard for that sort of commitment.” Even though American oil explorer, ExxonMobil has faced five years of unrelenting criticism for refusing to provide Guyana with full coverage insurance on its Liza Phase One, Liza Phase Two and Payara Projects, the company appears hell-bent on continuing this trend for its fourth development—the $1.8 trillion Yellowtail Project.

And while Guyana's government continues to be (Continued on page 16)

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Kaieteur News

Monday February 07, 2022

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

Publisher: GLENN LALL-TEL: 624-6456 Editor: Sharmain Grainger Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

EDITORIAL

The VP

- a master builder (of sorts)

G

uyana’s all-powerful Vice President is a study in contrasts. When he deals with citizens of this country who stand up to him and question him, he is a ferocious pit bull. But when he has to represent Guyanese and deal with the slick and take-no-nonsense powers of Exxon, he is the picture of a pussycat in its tamest rendition.

This is what came to light in one of his most recent exploits with this oil wealth with which Guyana has been blessed (or cursed, depending on the point of view), and as we presented in our Sunday edition, “Pussyfooting continues… Jagdeo shifts responsibility for full coverage insurance from Exxon to EPA” -KN February 6).

Clearly, this grand Vice President of ours fancies himself to be a master builder.

The question is what does he think he is building? It is nothing other than smoke and mirrors where this vital issue of full insurance coverage for Guyana is concerned since nothing could be more imperiling to present and future generations of this country.

Also, the accumulation of our current paltry oil take from production could not absorb should a catastrophic oil spill occur, and we do not have full coverage insurance firmly in place to protect us.

While the Vice President fiddles and shifts, the issue becomes more sharply engraved in the consciousness of worried citizens, and it is not going away, as he would like.

This is because we at this paper will not let the issue to fade away into the darkness and distance of the back burner or the irrelevance of a second-rate consideration.

The Vice President would like nothing better than that, but we caution him, remind him, that we are unable to accommodate him on this one, or any similar such situation that endangers this nation.

It could be on the matter of money, where we feel we are being robbed blind by cheating partners, or expenses bulked up in billions without reason or pursuant to accepted standards by Exxon, or on this dangerous, and let’s face it, existential issue of full coverage insurance.

One bad oil spill and all the returns from that oil would be going away from us, as in not being in our hands and for our benefit, because it has been swallowed up by liabilities.

Yet the Vice President splits hairs and shifts with the wind when it suits him.

First, it was that he was waiting for some kind of “acknowledgement” from the people at the Exxon parent company.

We remind him that those billions of barrels of oil are ours and that Exxon needs them more than we do, so that its bottom line is healthy and it can keep its shareholders happy. Therefore, he (the Vice President) does not have to resort to these dodges, these walking around on eggshells exercises that he employs to evade the heavier sides of the responsibilities that he rushed to monopolise when his party took over the reins of power.

He craved the job of oil merchant and oil monopolist.

He must answer the bell, he must face the music, he must deliver. It will do him no good, give him no breathing room to catch himself, when he seeks to duck the mantle that he has seized for himself, and lateral this full coverage insurance matter to the EPA. The EPA has been reduced to wretched impotency, and it is apparent that this is due to the great handiwork of the Vice President himself, who now saddles it with this unwanted burden that it cannot carry.

It cannot cope, it is not capable. It is just not up to such a demanding task, and the Vice president knows it.

So, when the Vice President says that “This is an ongoing discussion and it is done mainly by the EPA, he is blowing smoke at Guyanese.

If he couldn’t get the job done, the EPA will fare worse.

If he is running away from the fight for full insurance coverage, the EPA will do no better than being floored repeatedly, and with its own blood running all over its sorry face, while leaving us vulnerable.

OGGN condemns denial of media accreditation for Energy Conference DEAR EDITOR, The Oil and Gas Governance Network (OGGN) is disappointed at being denied media accreditation for its authorised representative assigned to cover the International Energy Conference and Expo Guyana 2022 on February 15-17 at the Marriott Hotel. The OGGN’s representative is a local energy expert with local and international experience who has also worked for a few universities, and appeared as an energy expert on media programmes such as Globespan, Kaieteur News Radio and Moray House. Apart from the Kaieteur News and Stabroek News, the OGGN has published the most articles on oil and gas than any other group in Guyana or in the disaspora.

OGGN was established in 2017 and associates’ skill sets include professors, economists, doctorates, leadership experts, authors, engineers, media columnists, computer experts, CPAs, MBAs, etc., based across the globe. Our work has been published in several media in Guyana, Canada, USA, Latin America and carried by newswire services. OGGN speculates that

perhaps the Conference organisers are not comfortable with media organisations that examine energy issues critically and engage in activist journalism on the side of the people versus rapacious corporate giants fleecing poor nations with support from sellout Governments and Opposition.

Mr. Colwyn Abrams, Communications Officer for the Conference Secretariat, in an email to OGGN said: “Please be advised that your application for media accreditation for the upcoming International Energy Conference and Expo Guyana 2022 has been denied. The denial of registration means that your entity does not meet the set requirements for media accreditation.” One main Conference requirement is “Online Media” must meet the following requirements - “The applicant must have an established recording of having written extensively on energy and energy-related news and must present copies of three recently published articles.”

The OGGN website (www.OGGN.org) hosts hundreds of articles including several infographics on oil;

many videos explaining basic oil terms, resource curse, how women and rural citizens may obtain jobs in the oil and gas industry, flaring and environmental concerns; articles on taxes, comparisons of oil and gas in Guyana and Suriname contracts, etc.

In 2021, OGGN published the first Oil and Gas Directory of Jobs available in the oil industry in Guyana. No one else nor the Ministry of Labour had done that. The OGGN published that Directory and some media products listed above with support from a media grant from an International organization.

The OGGN regrets being shut out by the organizers of the Conference especially since local Guyanese stakeholders and citizens cannot afford to attend the conference. If OGGN were accredited, it would have been able to report on the conference to help Guyanese citizens understand the issues discussed at the Conference.

For instance, there are “Limited Tickets” for in-person attendance. The Conference website states, “Due to the high demand for tickets, we will be processing ticket

requests on a case-by-case basis for the remainder of the registration period.” These tickets cost US$350.00 – US$1,000.00 per person. That is G$73,500 to G$210,000 per person which is more than a month’s salary for a minimum wage worker. So, nation, how many Guyanese citizens can afford to attend the Conference? Similarly, for “Virtual Attendee Registration,” it costs US$150 for local Guyanese citizens. So, for locals, it will cost G$31,500. For some people that can be a month or half a month’s salary. That’s more than the COVID cash grant or “Because We Care” grant. OGGN calls on the Conference organizers to consider the pricing structure and how it shuts out citizens of Guyana from understanding Energy issues.

The Conference must also change its media policy that seems calculated to exclude legitimate media seeking to educate our Guyanese people. The people are watching.

Sincerely, Dr. Jerry Jailall, Media Head, for Oil and Gas Governance Network (www.OGGN.org)

A blind man could have seen it coming DEAR EDITOR, So, another man is gone, another crucial inquirer and sentinel of sorts.

Like Dr. Vincent Adams, Dr. Rudy Jadoopat is now history.

Even a blind man could have seen that one coming from a distance.

I am amazed that he lasted so long, but he couldn’t prevail against the forces against him, the kind of crooked visions suffocating this society.

They say he was a political appointee.

Unlike patriotism, political appointments are now the first refuge of political leadership scoundrels.

Categorising the droves of public service appointments since that fateful August 2020 takeover could be challenging, parallels notwithstanding.

Regardless, I suggest the antonym or complement for political appointments must be political witch-hunts.

The biggest surprise is that this particular witch (wizard) in the bowels of the Natural Resources beast took so long to unearth and sent packing with brooms and red lavender; red is most appropriate, it being the colour of the ruling PPP/C witch hunters.

Rather eerily, the creeping totalitarian tyrannies in Guyana today recalls 1930s Germany.

Because we live in politically correct times, I discard those familiar words beginning with a capital G and a capital N, which capture the essence of the sweeping evils that saturate Guyana today.

It is what captivates and imprisons 100 million Americans, believe it or not.

They are testaments to whom is followed, what is believed, and how far they will plunge.

American madness and megalomania have an ousted leader who exemplifies it to a T (yes, another capital letter).

It does not matter what a man knows or how much, he could be gone in a heartbeat.

Just ask the Semitic segment of pre–World War II Germany; well, those who survived.

It so happens that I know the fallen Dr. Jadoopat, heard

of his woes, the heaviness and difficulties of his responsibilities, resistances, pushbacks, evasions, and noncooperation-with which he coexisted.

I know from being near to those myself; the people and the influence, which they held over the people in power.

My position never changed: go to wherever and whomever; the chips will fall. I am ready. I told Dr. Jadoopat back then how I stood.

We haven’t spoken since, so there is no clue as to how he managed himself.

Editor, I knew that his goose was gone; it was just a matter of time, with plank after plank of regulatory oversight dismantled.

His Excellency called that “onerous” which

alerted of the sinister and ominous. I congratulate the President for being faithful to at least that one commitment.

Campaign financing is as good a basis as any for regulatory demolitions.

Regrettably, people are part of the collateral damage.

They are expendable, and political appointment suffices enough to be affixed to the certificate of passing from PPP/C Government life.

When leaders got rid of Dr. Vincent Adams, they came up with a winner of majestic proportions at the EPA. I will wager that when this is over that there will the equivalent at the EITI. I guarantee.

Sincerely, GHK Lall

GTT testing standby generators DEAR EDITOR, In response to your February 4, 2022 letter headlined “Hadfield Street residents are suffering from thick smoke and noise spewed from GTT’s generators”, GTT has been conducting daily tests, typically between 5:30pm8:00pm for approximately 40mins, of our standby generators as part of enhanced readiness. As of February 1,

2022, we tested our generators continuously – an operation will end overnight – however, testing that will be frequently, for a maximum of 30mins per testing regimen. It is important to note that these tests are imperative to ensure continual readiness of our operations.

We d o apologise for the inconvenience and assure residents that we are taking the

following steps towards bettering their experience: 1. Investigating further noise dampening solutions, 2. Exhaust mitigation measures, 3. Reduce frequency of testing.

Kind regards, Jasmin Harris P R And Corporate Communications Manager GTT

Monday February 07, 2022

There is a constitutional role for the Opposition, and it is not cosmetic DEAR EDITOR, The just concluded debate in the National Assembly on the National Budget must give this nation pause. This was an exercise in futility for the parliamentary opposition that represents half of the nation. Despite drawing the nation and government’s attention to the shortcomings in the Budget, the government will not budge. Their contempt for the other half of society was evident in the presentations of some, which were unbecoming for the august body.

Listening was a nightmare and burden for those who could recall the era of substantial parliamentary debates. It is a shame what political representation in the House has descended to.

These persons are being paid by us to serve us whether we voted for them or not and they continue to fall short. The arrogance, crassness and intellectual laziness were on display for the world to see what now graces the hallowed hall of the nation’s highest decision-making forum. And this would continue unless we the people not only demand better but insist on better through legislative action.

This society is divided politically right down the middle. One half supports the Opposition and has entrusted the responsibility to that side to represent their interests at the decision-making table.

The other half supports the Government and expects likewise. Together both comprise the electorate and their families. This is as simple

as it is and cannot be ignored.

Parliamentary conduct, particularly on grave matters like a National Budget, cannot continue as though it is the remit of a few or even half of the society.

What in effect the PPP has done is singularly determine for the other half of society what they must have. More so, by ignoring the input of the Opposition, they are not only violating the spirit and intent of the Parliament to function as a unitary force but are openly communicating to society that they don’t care about the welfare of the other half or what people think about them. Their conduct is striking at man’s most fundamental right and desire for self-determination. In our ethnically divided nation, it has serious repercussions for the realisation of the national motto - One People, One Nation, One Destiny.

The sloganeering of ‘One Guyana’ is a myth because there can be no oneness when half the society is deprived, marginalised and denied their rights. We cannot support such primitive thinking and behaviour. We are all Guyanese. The resources of this nation belong to ALL of us. There is a constitutional role for the Opposition, and it is not cosmetic. The Opposition, apart from serving as a check and balance on the Executive, also represents the interests of a constituency.

That representation must be respected and form part of the nation’s decision-making processes.

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Kaieteur News

This is the principle that informed the Trade Union Movement initiation and fight for one man, one vote and internal self-government.

This principle still stands.

How could it be fair, acceptable, and humane that the Opposition got NOTHING from the Budget?

This cannot be glossed over nor cheered. The politics of total exclusion will not create a compliant society; it will create a cauldron of boiling resentment, which will boil over. It is a shame in the 21st Century and two decades after “inclusionary democracy” was enshrined in the Constitution of Guyana, persons are still holding fast to the thinking that saw several uprisings in our history.

Where our forebears fought against atrocity from the period of slavery, to indentureship and colonisation, these new leaders should know people will not acquiesce when they put on the garments and characters we fought against.

It is total madness and highly unacceptable what we are witnessing in the 52nd year as a Republican nation, which saw us as a people severing the final yoke of being dominated. Half of the society is being denied the right to political, economic, cultural, and social self-determination.

The call is being made again to Members of Parliament, particularly the Opposition, to bring bills to the National Assembly to give meaning to “inclusionary democracy” as enshrined in Article 13. This (Continued on page 6)

Except we set aside our pettiness and learn from the lessons of history, oil and the other resources can be a burden and not a benefit.

DEAR EDITOR, There has been what I consider a storm in the teacup over the Budget 2022.

The Government side has boasted that it is the largest Budget ever. This is no big thing. What we seldom hear is quality as distinct from quantity.

Since Independence, every Minister of Finance made this claim. The Opposition as is customary has sought to criticise the Budget for its failure to identify clearly mechanisms to bring prosperity, comfort and pleasure to the ordinary folks in the urban, rural and hinterland communities.

On the new programme, The Public Platform on Channel 9, which is presented every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m., I urged that we give another few months before criticising the Budget as presented.

One of the Co-hosts disagreed, urging that there is enough evidence to deem the Budget as being unworthy.

There are certain facts however, that stand out which can only be addressed, and in every case corrected if we have the good sense and

nationalistic zeal to unite to face the mighty conglomerates who have great expertise in exploiting the divisions in small countries and instituting the well-practised imperialist policy of divide and rule.

If we stand together as I have proposed then the bounty from our bauxite, our gold, marine, timber and agricultural largesse and oil will become a benefit and not a burden.

An examination of countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean has shown that wherever there is a deepening of a culture of carelessness, corruption and greed, the ordinary man and woman will receive the crumbs falling from the masters, table and here I urge all sane and sensible citizens to come out and support the lone-ranger Glen Lall whose courage and statements are enlightening our populace, alerting them to the way our natural resources are being harvested in a manner where the ordinary people are becoming the victims of per-

nicious exploitation.

As a young man, I was among those who walked behind Dr. Jagan and Forbes Burnham to disengage ourselves from the iron-grip of colonialism and dependence on Massa.

Our clarion call then was ‘Massa Day done.” Is this now a truism?

In the midst of our Crusade was the tricky and treacherous Cold War. Today, there is no Jagan, there is no Burnham, but I believe if this generation is given the information, we can place Guyana in the context of this new world, I believe it would give them the strength to agitate so that the Golden Arrowhead, which was hoisted at the National Park, at a minute after midnight on the 26th of May, 1966 will be meaningful.

I appeal by this letter to every son and daughter of the soil, every Amerindian, every Afro-Guyanese, every Indo-Guyanese, every (Continued on page 6)

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Kaieteur News

COVID-19 claims one more life; 196 new infections

A

n 89-year-old woman from Re gion Four, who tested positive for the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, is listed as the country’s latest COVID-19 fatality. This is according to the Ministry of Health, which reported that the woman died on Sunday while receiving treatment at a medical facility. As a result of this, Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll has moved to 1,181.

Meanwhile, in its daily COVID-19 dashboard, the Ministry recorded 196 new infections, bringing the total number confirmed cases in the country to 61,600. Out of that total number, 33,179 persons are women while 28,421 are men. A breakdown of new cases per region shows that Region Four leads with 109 new cases, Region Nine with 27 cases, Region Three with 25 cases, Region Six with 14

cases, Region Two with 10 cases, Region Five with eight cases and Region One with three cases. Further, its dashboard data shows that 15 patients are admitted into the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 119 persons are in institutional isolation, 5,540 are in home isolation and 17 in institutional quarantine.

To date, a total of 54,745 persons have recovered from the virus.

Monday February 07, 2022

Except we set aside our pettiness...

From page 5 Portuguese Guyanese, every Chinese Guyanese, every Euro Guyanese, every Mixed Guyanese, every Guyanese, whether you support the PPP, PNC, AFC, ANUG and irrespective of our religious beliefs who, except we set aside our pettiness and learn from the lessons of history, oil and the other resources given to us by the Creator, can be a burden and not a benefit, and tomorrow will be glorious and not damned.

As we look at the depleted forest, polluted rivers, gaping holes and depleted stock of flora, fauna and fish, and when we look at our unrecognisable demographics, we will not hang our heads in shame. That we will not be guilty from the sin of silence.

The question today is why do so-called intelligent Leaders continue on this journey of stupidity, when all they need to do is learn from the lessons of mankind history and experience of Guyana from Cuffy, Accra to Burnham and Jagan. I recommend to all Members of Parliament and those who ordained themselves as Leaders to read the

Book written by a Dutch Lady, Marjolene Kars, a review of the 1763 failed uprising titled “ Blood on the River,” and to understand why what should have been a successful revolution, a decade plus before the American revolution failed. For clarity, when Leaders have the same objective to rid themselves of an oppressor, but disagree on the tactics to maintain an initial victory, all is lost. 1763, 1955, are but two examples for Guyana. We must learn the value of unity in Guyana and to recognise the machinations of the mighty conglomerates in the region.

Beyond our immediate borders, we have the Caribbean Community. What was once a powerhouse in the region initiated by the three B’s (Barrow, Bird and Burnham) at Dickenson Bay in 1965 is now a fragile collection of socalled independent States in the Caribbean region, making little impact on the rest of the world. They have made a reality of pejorative description by a late West Indian Politician that we are like the proverbial yard fowl.

On this note Editor, I wrote a letter on January 10,

2022, which was sent to the two top PPP Members, that is President Irfaan Ali and VP Bharrat Jagdeo, the then Leader of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon, Leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan and Leader of the PNC, Aubrey Norton, on the Border issue and our natural resources.

Weeks after, the only response has been from Aubrey Norton expressing a willingness in the interest of our Guyana to sit and talk.

Failure to even acknowledge receipt of that correspondence for harmony instead of hubris is ominous and suggests that we are as a people in serious trouble and that those elected as Leaders are not serious about a Guyana of oneness, the only way that will allow us to bequeath our children and their children a country where they are the principal beneficiaries of our natural resources. Let us pray that good sense, goodwill and nationalism would insinuate itself. And that our Leaders, all of them will sit down to save some of us, and I say some, from being re-enslaved.

Regards, Hamilton Green

There is a constitutional role for...

From page 5 is the Principal Objective of the Political System, and it must be given a chance to work.

We cannot sit silent and allow the Government to think the other half that pay their taxes, and are also citizens, that it is acceptable to ignore and exclude their input in shaping a Budget that will impact their lives.

A National Budget is a nation’s Development Plan for a fiscal year.

Such a plan requires the input of the citizenry, individually or represented by their political leaders and stakeholders.

Yours truly and the Guyana Trades Union Congress are on record, for years, calling for the passage of the Budget to not be by a

simple majority.

A simple majority promotes and celebrates division, which goes contrary to Article 13, and legitimises the exclusion of others in determining how the national resources should be allocated for their benefit.

Regards Lincoln Lewis

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BL TLUNT.. UNT...B BL Monday February 07, 2022

Kaieteur News

The Irfaan Ali administration likes to boast about transparency.

We at this newspaper know otherwise and have written at length about this.

Today, the said administration is going to Parliament to approve spending the proposed sum in the $552.9B budget.

And what has it done?

1. Reduced the time for scrutiny for certain spending.

2. Reduced the number of days for scrutiny of the biggest budget.

So much for a transparent government.

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Monday February 07, 2022

Kaieteur News

Dr. Cummings flags locations for ...Dr. Anthony says decision based six new hospitals on population size, not votes

By Allyiah Allicock

T

h e m a i n opposition has questioned the proposed sites for the six new regional hospitals the government said it will be building this year, saying that the location seem more aligned with the administration's aim to “buy votes” rather than servicing the health needs of citizens.

Shadow Minister of Health, Dr. Karen Cummings last Thursday asked the Government to provide evidence that justify the selection of the sites. In Budget 2022, the health sector was allocated $73.2 billion of which a total of $12.4 billion has been budgeted for the design and construction of a state-of-theart paediatric and maternal hospital, upgrading of the

West Demerara and Bartica regional hospitals, and the construction of six modern regional hospitals at Anna Regina, Tuschen, Diamond, Enmore, Bath and No. 75 Village, Corentyne.

During her budget debate presentation, Dr. Cummings raised questions as to the selection of the sites where these facilities will be placed.

On the topic, Cummings said that these regional hospitals must be built in areas that can facilitate access to care and impose minimum geographic hardship for the admission for the least number of persons.

The Opposition Member of Parliament noted that her party believes that the proposed location for the hospitals is being done based on voter population.

“Regrettably, we are unsure if this is the case for the

Member of Parliament, Dr. Karen Cummings proposed regional hospitals, to be built and constructed at Anna Regina, Tuschen, Diamond, Enmore, Bath and No.75 Village, Corentyne.

What about Buxton on the East Coast, what about

Mahaica? To our minds, this singling out of locations based on voter population should be disallowed,” she argued.

Dr. Cummings stated that if this is the case, it would be a clear violation of the constitutional rights of all to access healthcare services under Article 24 of the Constitution.

In addition, she explained that it bars Guyana from achieving the goal of health for all people everywhere that is universal healthcare coverage.

“Health should not be politicised and thus the locations for the hospitals must not be determined if the area is PPPC or APNU stronghold or not.

Thus, we ask for the evidence that justify the selection of those sites,” Cummings noted in her presentation.

Defending the government's decision for the proposed sites for the new regional hospitals was Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony who explained that

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony the sites were chosen based on the population size in the specific regions and that people have easy access to healthcare services.

According to the Minister, a hospital will be in Anna Regina because it is the most populated area in Region Two. “Why should they not have a hospital there? That is what we are addressing, so

we will be putting that hospital in Anna Regina,” the minister argued.

Similarly he said, because villages like Tuschen and Parika in Region Three are becoming more populated, it was decided that another regional hospital will be built in that district so as to provide services for all.

“You have all those communities around there where there are a lot of people because of housing development, and we need to ensure that they have access to healthcare, and that is why we are going to put a hospital in De Kinderen,” Anthony explained.

As for Region Four, the Minister stated that two new regional hospitals will be built, one at Enmore and the other at Diamond.

He highlighted that the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation has always been seen as the National Referral Hospital but sometimes be referred to as a regional hospital in the region. “We (Continued on page 16)

Monday February 07, 2022

PAGE 9

Kaieteur News

The monster that is eating our few pennies

T

he Ministry of Finance is looking for economic and financial analysts. Eligible candidates will be expected to possess, at the minimum, a Bachelor s Degree in Economics, Management, Accounting or other relevant fields.

But it is not the eligibility requirements which raise eyebrows but rather the list of duties. The successful candidate will be expected to perform various functions, including budget preparation and execution, expenditure planning and management, monitoring and evaluation, project research, macroeconomic analysis and revenue forecasting and planning.

The salary, which the position of economic and financial analyst will attract was not stated. But given the demanding job description, it has to be one hell of a lot of money. No human being, except blessed with supreme powers, should ever be expected to undertake such a wide range of responsibilities.

That position is six jobs rolled into one. The job description of this one position reflects one of the yet to be resolved dilemmas affecting public administration. But there is also another which is not yet resolved ensuring greater equity is pay across the public service.

Last November, the Senior Minister in the Office of the President announced that this year, 2022, the government would set about rectifying the irregularities in salary scales across positions in the public sector. The Minister noted that persons with similar qualifications

were earning disparately different salaries across the public service. But that should not be a problem. In fact, it is quite healthy for there to be disparities in pay across the public service so as to attract skills and allow for persons to graduate from one agency to another.

If the government is serious about parity, it should be less concerned about consistency in terms of pay according to qualifications and more concerned with rationalising the pay according to positions across the public service. One of the disappointing aspects of the just-concluded debate over the 2022 Budget has been the almost total absence of public service reform, including the need to rationalise salaries so that persons deserving of higher pay are rewarded.

Unfortunately, public sector reform has been placed on the backburner in favour of “scholarships, scholarships, scholarships”.

An oil and gas economy requires a different type of sector than that which existed before. This should have been one of the foremost priorities. Instead, it appears to be the least of the concern of the administration which has failed abysmally to initiate major public sector reform, including trimming a bloated bureaucracy which gobbles up a disproportionate amount of public revenues. Professor Tarron Khemraj had done an analysis of the current expenditure/capital expenditure ratio over the period 2008 to 2020. What he found was disturbing.

Guyana was spending 66 percent on current

expenditure and 34 percent on capital expenditure. In comparison, Khemraj found that over the same period 2008-2020, Jamaica spent on average, 34 percent on current expenditure, Barbados 23 percent and Trinidad and Tobago 17 percent. In the 2022 Budget, it is expected that, when approved, current expenditure will account for 60 percent of total public expenditure, despite the massive increase of more than G$100B in capital spending expected this year. This is clearly an unsustainable situation.

If there was any place where greater cuts needed to be made to help place more monies and services into the hands of average citizens, it should have been in reducing the distended public bureaucracy which this year alone will cost taxpayers more than G$1B for each working day. And it is going to be made worse by the absence of public service reform. Such reform is controversial but is nonetheless absolutely necessary if the government is to get a grip on public finances. The APNU+AFC had launched a Commission of Inquiry into the Public Service. It did not address the substantive structural issues of the public service and its financial sustainability. The Commission did make some important recommendations.

But the APNU+AFC placed these on the backburner, except for the recommendation of absorbing contract employees into the public service ^ a most unpopular measure which was applied mainly to those younger contract employees.

Nothing was done in relation

to extending the age of retirement or prohibiting the employment, on contract, of those public servants who have retired prior to reaching 65 years. One of the more important recommendations made by the COI was for the “optimum complement of suitably qualified staff for each ministry, office, division, department, and unit, etc. with the right organisational structure, needs to be

evaluated and determined by human resource and organisational audits.” This was not acted upon by the APNU+AFC. The PPP/C seems bent on continuing to ignore public service reform.

And this will be to the detriment of the country because there is no way that the country would be able to afford, in the distant, future, a paper- and pen-pushing bureaucracy which absorbs 6

out of every 10 dollars spent by the government.

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

Kaieteur News

PAGE 10

Monday February 07, 2022

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

2021 review, Part 6: the surrealism of Vincent Alexander and Charles Ceres

H

ave you read the newspapers of 2021 and the things Vincent Alexander and a man named Charles Ceres said about me? It was not your run-of-the mill castigations. Alexander and Ceres went into surreal directions.

It is wise to divorce myself from the two situations in order to understand the meaning of life in Guyana. If you want to understand how surreal this country can get and if you want to get into the minds of influential opinion-makers, you need to study what Alexander and Ceres did.

Once you concentrate on what Alexander and Ceres said about me, then, the picture gets lost.

Just focus on the action of Alexander and Ceres and the context in which they expressed themselves and the puzzle about this country is solved.

Let's start with Ceres. A letter appeared in this

newspaper on December 18 signed by Ceres headlined: “Charles Ceres to Freddie: Provide the evidence or be sued.” When that letter appeared, I guess curious readers wanted to know what bad things I said about Ceres.

Here is that bad thing I penned that Ceres wanted to sue me for.

I wrote that Ceres' grandparents knew my parents and eldest sister.

Then I asked Ceres if he knew when Burnham was president, he, Burnham, enabled Ceres grandparents and parents.

Life had to become surreal in Guyana when a man objects to you saying his grandparents knew your parents and because of that he wants the court to award him judgment for libel.

What was funny about Ceres is how did he come to that conclusion that his grandparents did not know my parents? Suppose his grandparents never discussed that with him or

felt it was not important to mention? Now wait for more surrealism. In the letter in which he threatens libel, he referred to me as a pseudoresearcher and someone who hasn't got post-graduate qualifications.

So what is the meaning of Ceres' action? I am a nobody so Ceres can attack my character and my qualifications but Ceres is in a higher category so I am not allowed to even mention anything, not about Ceres himself, but even his grandparents.

I ask the readers to put into context Ceres' letter and the picture of what Guyana is can easily be seen.

Put in context what Alexander wrote and you see the mind-set that has to be confronted so Guyana's young population can learn about their country and construct in their own minds the nature of the people who preach to them.

Last year, Alexander advised the editors of the

newspapers that when I write they should fact-check me. I don't have a problem with that; how could any columnist? What I object to is who is saying it. If I should be fact-checked then Alexander would not get a letter published in any newspaper in this country.

A citizen advocating that the newspaper I write for should fact-check me needs to have his offerings frame worked in graphic, large and c o n s i s t e n t f a c t u a l i t y.

Alexander not only fails to meet this criterion but could also be accused of alternative facts, invention of facts and embellishment of facts.

If the Chronicle during the reign of APNU+AFC regime had fact-checked Alexander then the newspaper and Alexander himself would not have lost a libel writ brought by the current Chief Election Officer of GECOM, Mr. Vishnu Persaud. The court ruled that Alexander's

description of P e r s a u d ' s character and his a c a d e m i c qualifications were Frederick Kissoon not fact-based.

Please do a Google he was chairman of the search to read what the judge youth arm of the PNC, said about Alexander's Young Socialist Movement portrait of Persaud. in 1973.

Next month will be two Each time I accuse years since one of the most Alexander on this page of infamous assaults on the participating in the wrong voting process by an election things his idol, Forbes body in the democratic Burnham did to Guyana, he world took place – the would reply that he has no Guyana national elections. knowledge of those things On to this date, Alexander because he was in Moscow denies that the March 2020 studying. conduct by some in I asked him about the GECOM's secretariat, the rigged election in 1973, he conduct of the then CEO, replied he was in Moscow. I Keith Lowenfield and the asked him about a 1983 then returning Officer for incident with Burnham, he Region 4, Clairmont Mingo, replied he was in Moscow were unbecoming. But the studying. How long did facts support such Alexander study in unbecoming conduct.

Moscow?

Here is a question for (The views expressed in Alexander. Can he state this article are those of the between what years he was a u t h o r a n d d o n o t away from Guyana in necessarily reflect the Moscow studying? I know opinions of this newspaper.)

Monday February 07, 2022

Kaieteur News

PAGE 11

PAGE 12

Kaieteur News

Monday February 07, 2022

OPM to install 1000 internet hubs in five regions

The poor condition of the Black Bush Polder road has resulted in this truck almost toppling.

One of the teams from the Office of the Prime Minister with residents of East Canje, Berbice.

The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), has begun the installation process of 1000 free internet access hubs across five regions.

Dubbed 'The 1000 Hubs Project', the initiative, which is a collaborative effort between the Industry and Innovation Unit at OPM and the National Data Management Authority (NDMA), will result in thousands of persons benefitting from free Wi-Fi, the Department of Public Information said.

The hubs will be outfitted with the 1000 internet boxes (LTE/WiFi CPE) presented to the Government by Chinese multinational technology corporation, Huawei, in November last year. During that presentation, Prime Minister Mark Phillips said that the donation will assist his Government in its aim to bridge the digital divide in Guyana.The LTE boxes are capable of transferring 4G networks outdoors at over 300 metres and just below 100 metres indoors to more

than 100 users at a time.

Head of the Industry and I n n o v a t i o n U n i t , M r.

Shahrukh Hussain, said that Pomeroon- Supenaam (Region Two), Essequibo Islands-West Demerara (Region Three), Demerara Mahaica (Region Four), Mahaica-Berbice (Region Five) and East Berbice – Corentyne (Region Six) were selected because of the proximity of the LTE towers on the coast.

Residents of Region Six were the first to benefit from the initiative, through the installation of the Wi-Fi devices at the Bush Lot Secondary School and four Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) buildings (Canefield/Enterprise NDC, Good Hope/No. 51 NDC, Port Mourant/Johns NDC and the Adelphi NDC).

Other public buildings in the region assigned for free internet access include M a n c h e s t e r Tr a i n i n g College, Kilcoy/Hampshire NDC and the Williamsburg Health Centre.Mr. Hussain urged community members

to make full use of the free Wi-Fi spaces. He said the initiative takes the total free government internet access points in Region Six to approximately 66. Work in Region Two is scheduled to commence in March with the installation of 18 hubs to add to the existing 32 internet access locations there.

Hussain noted that the entire project should be completed before the end of the year.

The hubs are geared to complement the current installation of ICT hubs in approximately 200 communities through the ICT Access and eServices for Hinterland, Poor and Remote Communities Project, also under the Prime Minister's direct supervision. The Government of Guyana has been promoting ICT development. At last month's budget, it was announced that $1.3b will be allocated to support the rapid development of the ICT sector this year.

Truck gets stuck in massive pothole on Black Bush Polder road Just over a week ago, the Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill and a team of regional officials from Region Six visited Black Bush Polder.

There he announced that this year, major upgrades will be done to the existing stretch of roads, bringing relief to drivers and residents who traverse it on a daily basis.

SAWA Investment Inc. was awarded the contract to the tune of $29.8 M to repair 100 meters of the Mibicuri Main Access Road, while $165M was awarded to Kascon Engineering Services to resurface 1000 meters of the Johanna road.

RIM Construction Inc. was given $204.7M to resurface some 1500 meters of the Yakusari Main Access Road.

However, residents in Black Bush Polder are contending that works are

being completed at snail's pace and adding to their woes, vehicles traversing the roads are faced with the difficulties of manoeuvring the huge potholes on the roadway.

This was the case on Saturday for a truck driver.

As he was making his way on the road, his double-axle truck carrying sand got stuck in a crater, causing a disturbance in the free flow of traffic for hours. Ramesh Deipnarine vented his frustration via social media and said that, "I have to post about the condition of Black Bush Polder road, Minister Edghill visited Black Bush Polder last week and today a truck stuck middle of the road...yet the Minister of Public Works did not see the road as an emergency situation, which needs immediate solution."

Deipnarine suggested

that road be graded and leveled and fill the holes with crusher run as a temporary solution until the contractor reaches to that point. "At Lesbeholden, the road work is about 100 meters and the contractor took approximately six months and yet it is incomplete, this contractor who is moving on turtle back will reach those bad holes I guess the day before election to fix them", Deipnarine stressed. Sectional works are currently being done with the use of Geocells, the Ministry of Public Works had said. Over the years, residents, farmers and drivers have complained about the deplorable state of the roads in Black Bush Polder. Despite minor works, the roads continue to be a major issue and the frustration of those using it has grown.

Monday February 07, 2022

Kaieteur News

PAGE 13

After withdrawing $126B ‘illegally’ from oil fund …Govt. now tables motion seeking Parliamentary approval to cover tracks

By Davina Bagot

O

ne week after presenting its $553 billion Budget for this year and including monies withdrawn “illegally” from the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) or the oil account, the People's Progressive Party (PPP) government is now scrambling to seek Parliamentary approval to cover itself from possible legal action by civil society members.

On February 1, 2022, after analysts spoke against the illegal manner in which the oil money was deducted from the Natural Resource Fund and incorporated into the Budget, the government quickly submitted a Motion to the National Assembly, seeking approval to include the sums into the National Estimates for this year. The motion, seen by Kaieteur News, was submitted by the Senior Minister in the Office of the President, with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh.

It states, “Be it further

resolved: That this National Assembly approves the sum of $126,694,310,000, e q u i v a l e n t t o US$607,646,570.98, to be withdrawn from the Natural Resource Fund for the financial year 2022, in accordance with the Natural Resource Fund Act 2021”.

The NRF Act, which was hurriedly passed last December in a matter of less than two weeks, by the government who sidelined calls for a thorough review, outlines that the Parliament must approve withdrawals from the Fund, to be included in the government's spending.

According to Section 16 (1) of the NRF Act of 2021, “The maximum amount that may be withdrawn from the Fund in a fiscal year shall not exceed the total withdrawal from the Fund approved by the National Assembly for that fiscal year in accordance with section 19”.

Section 19 (1) then goes on to say that the Parliament must approve the withdrawal, before it is included in an annual

Shadow Oil and Gas Minister, David Patterson Budget. It states “The amount that the Minister shall request the National Assembly to approve as the withdrawal from the Fund for the next ensuing fiscal year shall be included in the annual budget proposal…”

Meanwhile, Section 19 (2) goes on to say “The amount that National Assembly shall approve as the withdrawal from the Fund for the next ensuing Fiscal year shall be included in the annual budget…”

Weighing in on what he referred to as pilfering of the oil money, Shadow Oil and G a s M i n i s t e r, D a v i d Patterson on Sunday told Kaieteur News that the administration has been living up to its “corrupt” nature since its assumption to office and this recent move is evident that their motives are no longer secret.

He said, “They have issued a revised Motion because they recognise what they are doing is not correct.

So in that revised order what they are doing is going to Parliament to okay them using the money until the Board is in place or whatever it is, but they will use the Parliament to cover for what they are going to do now”.

The Member of Parliament (MP) on the Opposition side pointed out that not only has the government breached the section of the law that requires them to seek approval from the National Assembly before making withdrawals from the Fund, but they have also made this move before installing the

Senior Minister in the Office of the President, with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh Board of Directors and Investment Committee, which is tasked with the overall management of the oil account, according to the legislation.

Section 6 (a) of the NRF Act outlines “…the Board of Directors shall be responsible for preparing the Investment Mandate…” In this regard, Patterson stated, “We suspected that they would take out the money without a Board in place. The Board for all intents and purposes is just a rubber stamp because they have already taken money out.

They have already allocated it and by the end of

Wednesday Parliament is going to approve it”.

Given that a mere 13 days was given to scrutinise the Bill back in December, the Shadow Oil and Gas Minister argued that it is now evident that the ruling Party did not even offer themselves enough time to scrutinise the then proposed law, as they have broken it in their first attempt to be guided by the legislation drafted by them.

The NRF Act of 2019, enacted by the former Caretaker Coalition government was dubbed illegal by the PPP which (Continued on page 16)

PAGE 14

Monday February 07, 2022

Kaieteur News

Tain Campus Valedictorian credits success to solid support system

By Malisa Playter-Harry Famously said by Stephen Hawking, “However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.” For Tamesh Mohabir of Goed Bananen Land, East Canje Berbice, he has shattered the difficulties and overcome success in multiple ways. His most recent achievement landed him the title of Valedictorian of the University of Guyana, Tain Campus, Berbice.

Mohabir graduated with an astounding 4.0 GPA in the Bachelor's Degree in Education (Mathematics Concentration Programme) class of 2021. Mohabir who started from humble beginnings in Adelphi Village, East Canje and subsequently relocating to Goed Bananen Land, East Canje, grew up in a singleparent home after losing his father Robin Mohabir when he was just 3 years old.

His mom however, took up the role as mother and father to young Tamesh and ensured that education was placed as top priority. She even instilled good morals and family values that he would later put into use. For the UG graduate, the support system foundation was laid from the early stages of his life and transcended into his current life with his son, wife, siblings and other family members at his side.

The UG graduate noted that it was a Sunday, just a week ago, he was sitting with his son at his side and he decided to check his emails.

Upon checking, a feeling of shock consumed him when he opened the email sent by the co-ordinator for the Faculty of Education at UGBC Ms. Kimani Khedaroo, detailing that he had been selected as the

Valedictorian.

“I knew I did well but I didn't expect to be given this title. It came as a surprise, I am very happy about it, it is an honour to receive such a prestigious title”, Tamesh humbly said. He added that it took him a few minutes to digest what he had just read while his wife who was also nearby smiled and expressed

despite the challenges.

“The challenges actually began when COVID-19 hit and we had to transfer from face-to-face to online learning. It was a whole adjustment period, that took a while to adjust and the poor internet issues didn't make it any easier”, Mohabir said.

That aside, Mohabir said that he had to formulate a plan to

he missed during the free time available to him in the nights. Added to that, Mohabir noted that, “I was very fortunate to be in a class of very cooperative persons and very supportive so whenever I missed out on work, they would send me the stuff, if I don't understand, they would explain to me. It was a great

Tain Campus Valedictorian, Tamesh Mohabir and his family with President Irfaan Ali. excitement for him. The long hours of study, the sacrifices and the endurance of challenges had paid off.

Journey and success Mohabir who is an educator in the field of Mathematics at the New Amsterdam Multilateral in New Amsterdam, Berbice, had a distinct interest for Engineering but after that direction did not materialise, he turned to teaching, inspiring students to be better versions of themselves. He completed studies at CPCE and commenced studies at the University of Guyana, Berbice Campus in September 2019 to read for the two-year degree programme. For him, the journey has been great,

better manage his time to incorporate family, studies and teaching. “I had to make sure the time was distributed equally without shortchanging anybody”, he posited.

With a packed time-table for daily classes, Mohabir said there were many occasions when he could not attend classes due to school and teaching commitments, particularly during the period of SBA submissions for students (March-April 2021). He said however, because classes were solely online, he was at an advantage. His missed classes were recorded by lecturers and uploaded to the 'Moodle' platform.

This provided him with the opportunity to listen to what

Tamesh Mohabir

assistance.”

As he juggled his busy life, Mohabir mentioned that it was draining physically and mentally at times, but it was the thought of completing UG and receiving his certificate that motivated him to continue.

Now that he has attained success, his journey has not stopped. His aim is to continue studying.

Following his success, Mohabir and the valedictorian of UG Turkeyen Campus were given the opportunity to meet with President, Irfaan Ali and they were awarded for their achievement.

Describing the meeting with the Head-of-State as "phenomenal" and "unbelievable", Mohabir noted that sound advice was given to them to go a step higher in studies and to use

their expertise and knowledge gained to the development of the country.

He credits his success to hard work and a strong support system and is advising those who may be pursuing studies or have plans to do so “to grab the opportunity to achieve a tertiary education", while adding that there is a culture in Guyana where persons do not see tertiary education as a must. He noted that because the country is transforming at a rapid pace, entering the door of opportunity when presented should be taken.

Surinamese with fake Guyanese passport to pay fine or face jail time A Surinamese woman, Priya Sewraj, is expected to pay a fine of $40,000 or face 12 months of jail time for uttering a fake Guyanese Passport.

Sewraj was charged for making a false declaration for the purpose of procuring a new passport, which is contrary to Section 14 (3) (c) of the Guyana Citizenship Act Chapter 14:01. She appeared before Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates' Courts last Friday.

The court heard that Sewraj, in 2012 went to the Central Immigration and Passport Office where she made an application for a Guyana Passport and presented a Birth Certificate in the name of Bibshazia Khan. In the

Passport Application Form, she signed the name as Khan knowing that it was not hers and was subsequently issued with a Guyana Passport under that name.

However, on 29th June 2021, Sewraj made an application for an American VISA using her Suriname Passport. During the Visa Application processing, the defendant's fingerprints were scanned by the Electronic Visa System which returned a positive fingerprint match for one Bibshazia Khan. As a result an investigation was conducted and the defendant was arrested, told of the allegation and in a statement under caution, she admitted to signing on the Passport Application form as Bibshazia Khan knowing that was not her real name.

Charged, Priya Sewraj

Kaieteur News

Monday February 07, 2022

Norway invested millions in economic infrastructure before creating oil account for savings - “Why should it be any different for us…?”

By Kiana Wilburg

N

orway, one of the world's most prosperous oil exporting nations, is often proffered as a striking success story new oil producers like Guyana should pay attention to.

One key lesson Guyana is often advised to keep its eyes focused on is how to save its oil earnings. Thanks to prudent saving, Norway has amassed an oil fund that totals US$1.4 trillion dollars.

But another key lesson this Scandinavian country teaches is the importance of making investments in economic infrastructure early on. Highlighting this rarely known and discussed point was Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jnr. During his blistering contribution to the recently concluded budget 2022 debates last week, the politician schooled members of the political opposition on the basis for which the PPP/C administration has chosen to make prudent investments that strengthen the nation's infrastructure stock.

Citing Norway, Ramson said this nation had discovered hydrocarbons in 1969 but started producing in 1971. He was keen to note however that a Sovereign Wealth Fund was not established until 1990.

Minister Ramson asserted that the Kingdom of Norway did not make its first transfer to such a fund until 1996.

Prior to that, Ramson who holds a Master's degree in Oil and Gas Enterprise Management from the University of Aberdeen, noted that Norway made prudent investments in economic infrastructure which included schools, hospitals, buildings, roads and bridges.

“So, why should it be any different for us here in Guyana where we have a weakness in our public infrastructure stock in the country?” the Minister asked.

In addition to closing the infrastructural gaps, Ramson posited that the use of the oil proceeds which would first be transferred from the Natural Resources Fund to the Consolidated Fund, would reduce the

- Min. Ramson

Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sport, Charles Ramson Jnr. nation's reliance on loans while keeping the debt-toGDP ratio at sustainable levels.

Speaking with Kaieteur News recently on the foregoing perspective, Minister Ramson also contended that like Norway, Guyana ought to spend its initial oil revenues “on building up public infrastructure to expand economic activity so that it sustains recurrent revenue.”

Further to the lesson of Norway, Ramson explained, “…when Norway found oil, it was a poor country in Europe but they used their oil revenues to help transform the country to the point where it no longer made sense for them to make further investments into public infrastructure, in building more hospitals or schools, their return on public expenditure had reached a point of diminishing returns…”

Minister Ramson added, “The point though is that investment in infrastructure allows us to be more time efficient…that is where we are going to get our biggest return…”

Since the discovery of oil, several international bodies have urged Guyana to use a portion of its oil funds t o i m p r o v e t h e infrastructural gaps, which have hindered development for years.

They have insisted that the country must do this while improving its systems for monitoring transfers and expenditure in a transparent and accountable manner.

The World Bank Group for example had completed and published a report in 2020 called: A Pivotal Moment for Guyana:

Realizing the Opportunities, its first Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) for Guyana.

The SCD—which is an assessment of the constraints a country faces and the opportunities it can take to a c c e l e r a t e progress—recommended that large-scale investments in education and health, along with infrastructure, are needed to increase the opportunities for Guyanese people, including: full coverage of basic services like improved water and sanitation, roads and other forms of infrastructure, electricity, primary and secondary education, healthcare, and financial services. The report by the World Bank Group said such full coverage of essential health, infrastructure, and education services are needed to address the country's geographic disparities.

Once again, this is a similar approach, which Norway took before creating a Sovereign Wealth Fund. (https://documents1.worldb ank.org/curated/en/6917616 07528494981/pdf/APivotal-Moment-forGuyana-Realizing-theOpportunities-SystematicCountry-Diagnostic.pdf).

In a similar report, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) also made several similar recommendations to address challenges that affect Guyana's economic development. In a report titled Development Challenges in Guyana, the IDB categorically stated that better electricity generation and distribution is critical to sustain growth and economic diversification while adding that improved transport links between the coastal areas and the interior and between the country and the rest of the world will be key to sustaining growth.

The IDB stressed that both public and private sector monies should be leveraged to address infrastructure bottlenecks. It suggested that a portion of the oil money should be used for this purpose. (https://publications.iad b.org/publications/english/d ocument/DevelopmentChallenges-in-Guyana.pdf)

PAGE 15

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Kaieteur News

Monday February 07, 2022

After withdrawing $126B ‘illegally’ from oil fund...

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From page 13 presented its own draft to the National Assembly on December 16, 2021. The Bill which included “illegal” clauses from the old Law was later passed on December 29, 2021 amid protest action by the Opposition in the National Assembly. Nonetheless, Patterson is now confident that to avoid legal action from civil society organisations, the government has laid a new Motion to “cover their tracks”.

“To preempt anybody going to court to stop them they revised that Motion to say that Parliament approved them doing it,” he speculated.

Transformational projects According to him, the PPP has always been clear on what it wants to do with the Fund, although its “so-called transformational projects” appear to be pulled from the air.

“These transformative projects are being pulled out of the air just like that. There is no study, there is no research, no environmental permits. There is nothing at all.

They're just going ahead willy-nilly with it,” Patterson contended.

The former Infrastructure Minister explained that in the case of the New Demerara River Bridge, the PPP abandoned its earlier invitation for bids and awarded the contract instead to a Chinese company.

“If you look at the Demerara Harbour Bridge, they went out for a bid to finance it and so forth. They

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have abandoned that and they have awarded a contract to a contractor who initially bid to finance the job and build it. So obviously that is why no American or European company could have bid because nobody could have financed it cheaper than the Chinese.

If the Americans knew that it could have been financed by the people of Guyana through this Fund, they would have bid but of course there is no plan,” he reasoned.

He was referring to the contract recently awarded by the Ministry of Public Works to Chinese contractor, China State Construction Engineering Corporation. The company won the project estimated at some US$256.6 million under a Design-Build-Finance model, meaning that the company was expected to finance the massive project.

Nonetheless, government has allocated the sum of $21.1 billion in the 2022 Budget to cover construction costs of the new bridge, even though it told the nation that the company would have funded the project.

Corruption On the other hand, while the government is yet to come clean and tell the nation what specific projects in this year's budget is being financed by the oil and gas proceeds, Patterson has cautioned that corruption is bound to take place. He warned, “There is going to be a lot of corruption because they are throwing so much money quickly into projects that has not even been designed or looked at in any extent other than somebody talking about it on the television. We know that there is gunna be a lot of areas for wrong doings and corrupt practices but that's what this government does”.

“We have to stop them or slow them from pilfering the funds but that's literally what's happening,” the MP signaled.

Analysts' take Chartered Accounting Firm, Ram and McRae in its observations noted that under Article 13 of the Act itself, it is clearly stated that, “withdrawal from the Fund can only be used for national developmental priorities and essential projects related to natural di-

saster.” It was further noted that as it is shown in the Estimates, the drawdown this year is purely budgetary support “which we double is permitted under the Act; it would seem that the most appropriate thing to do would be to include in the Estimates, a Separate Natural Resource Fund Statement.”

Additionally, a similar sentiment over the legality and use of the funds in the way in which it is being done in Budget 2022 was raised by former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran. In his Accountability Watch, he observed too that Section 16 of the Act provides for the Assembly's approval before any withdrawals are made from the fund.

As such, he contends “this raises the question as to whether the Assembly's specific approval is not required before the amounts involved are incorporated in the Estimates.” “Or, is it a case where once the Assembly approves the estimates it also approves the related withdrawals?” To this end, it was contended that “…the former should be the case.”

Cummings flags locations for six...

From page 8 want to change that. We want to ensure that Georgetown Public Hospital remains a National Referral hospital and do the complicated cases,” he said. There is currently a Polyclinic at Enmore.

Anthony said the hospital that will be built at Bath Settlement in Region Five, is because it is where the majority of the population in that

region resides. While in Region Six they are going to replace the Skeldon Hospital with one at Number 75 Village.

In addition to these new facilities, each one will be equipped with their own CT scans, digital X-rays, ultra sound machines and modernised laboratories and that all devices will be internet enabled, the minister asserted. He mentioned that the

reason behind all this “is so that people would not have to travel from all part of the country to come to Georgetown to get access to these things.” Meanwhile, regarding the maternal and child hospital, Dr. Anthony said it is to cater for all the high-risk mothers and children in ensuring they have access to specialised services.

Opposition ramps up calls for full...

From page 3 noticeably silent on the need for full coverage insurance from the parent companies of the subsidiaries operating in Guyana's basin – making headline in recent news are three oil spill disasters.

The recent one in Nigeria has resulted in approximately 60,000 barrels of crude and a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel going up in flames, and the 10 member crew feared dead

as their whereabouts remain unknown. There was also an incident in Peru which saw almost 12,000 barrels of oil being spilled in Peru waters.

The Peruvian government has since suspended the operation of the company responsible and imposed an 18month travel ban on four executives of the company, to ensure that they are in the country in the event of criminal proceedings being brought against them. There

was also a recent oil spill in Ecuador which resulted in the Amazon being contaminated.

A mudslide which was caused by heavy rainfalls caused a pipeline to burst resulting in two hectares of the Ecuador Amazon and 130 miles of a river being contaminated with crude.

Even as the company that owns the pipeline promised to clean up the oil, the country vows to take legal actions against them.

Monday February 07, 2022

Kaieteur News

PAGE 17

PAGE 18

Kaieteur News

Monday February 07, 2022

Lata Mangeshkar: India bids farewell to beloved singer (BBC NEWS) Lata Mangeshkar, one of India’s most beloved singers, has been cremated in Mumbai with full state honours.

Mangeshkar, whose voice was the soundtrack to hundreds of Bollywood films, died aged 92 on Sunday. PM Narendra Modi and stars of the entertainment industry attended the funeral, where large crowds gathered to pay their respects. Her extraordinary career spanned more than half a century and she recorded thousands of songs in 36 languages. Two days of national mourning will follow the funeral and the national flag will be flown at half-mast throughout the country.

Crowds gathered outside her home, where her coffin began its journey to a city park where it was publicly cremated. Mr Modi was among those who laid flowers on the pyre.

One mourner, Rajesh Kumar Ram, told the AFP news agency “her voice

touches the soul of every Indian. Her songs have been with us all through our lives.”

Mangeshkar was admitted to a hospital in Mumbai in January after testing positive for Covid-19. As the news of her death became public, tributes began pouring in to the woman who was often called the “nightingale of Bollywood” for her role as a playback singer, recording the songs that actors would lip-sync on screen. President Ram Nath Kovind said the news was “heart-breaking for me, as it is for millions the world over” and added that in her songs “generations found expression of their innermost emotions”.

Mr Modi, meanwhile, said Mangeshkar’s death had left a “void in our nation that cannot be filled”.

Mangeshkar was a huge fan of cricket, and India’s former captain Virat Kohli said her songs had “touched millions of people around the world”. Several Bollywood

stars also expressed their condolences. Actor Hema Malini said she was “lucky” to have performed to several songs sung by Mangeshkar. “No one can sing like her, she was very special.

Her passing away is very saddening,” she told the news agency ANI. Mangeshkar was equally popular in neighbouring Pakistan, where TV channels broadcast rolling coverage of her death. “The subcontinent has lost one of the truly great singers the world has known,” Prime Minister Imran Khan said. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Born in Indore in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on 28 September 1929, she began learning music at the age of five from her father, Deenanath Mangeshkar, who was active in the world of theatre. After her father’s death, the family moved to Mumbai where a teenage Mangeshkar began singing for Marathi movies.

She also took bit roles in a few films to support her family, but would say later that

Thousands gathered to pay their respects her heart wasn’t in it. “I was happiest singing,” she told interviewers.

Her big break came in 1949 with the release of a haunting song titled Aayega Aanewala for the movie Mahal.

“Soon every female actor wanted her voice. But she was always busy and only a few fortunate music directors got the chance to make her sing,” music director Mohammed Zahur Khayyam later recalled.

Over the next few decades, Mangeshkar sang thousands

of songs which were lipsynced by Bollywood’s biggest heroines across generations.

Mangeshkar was nominated to the upper house of India’s parliament in 1999, but said later that she had been reluctant to take it up and that her tenure there was “anything but happy”. She received India’s highest honour for civilians, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001. In 2004, when she turned 75, one of Bollywood’s biggest directors, Yash

Chopra, wrote for the BBC that he saw “God’s blessings in her voice”. Mangeshkar, who never married, had a rich life outside her work with interests ranging from cricket to cars. Her younger sister Asha Bhosle is also a celebrated Bollywood singer. The two always dismissed any hint of sibling rivalry and even performed together occasionally.

“We’re very close - we have never competed with each other,” Bhosle told the BBC in 2015.

Kaieteur News

Monday February 07, 2022

PAGE 19

Nigeria FPSO had 60,000 barrels on it before explosion ...authorities finally put out fire

The aftermath of the oil ship explosion. [Photo credit, Reuters]

Nigeria's Minister of State for Environment, Chief Sharon Ikeazor.

Nigerian authorities have announced that the oil production and storage ship that recently exploded in Nigerian waters was carrying approximately 60,000 barrels of crude at the time of the explosion.

The announcement was made by Nigeria, Minister of State for Environment, Chief Sharon Ikeazor, via a statement through the Director of Press, Federal Ministry of Environment, Saghirel Mohammed.

An official of the Sheba Oil Exploration and Production Company Limited (SEPCOL), Ikemefuna Okafor had confirmed the incident in a statement on Thursday last.

In fact, Okafor said a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel named 'Trinity Spirit' erupted in flames in Ukpokiti, on the coast of Nigeria's southern Delta state.

As a result of the oil ship explosion, one of the 10member crew that was onboard Trinity Spirit at the time of the explosion is feared dead as his whereabouts remains unknown.

Moreover, according to a statement from the Nigerian authorities, the fire has since been extinguished and that the National Oil Spill Detection Response Agency (NOSDRA) will go for an over flight on Sunday and Monday to monitor the situation of crude spill in the sea. Minister Ikeazor added too, that the over flight operation will continue in the weeks ahead, until the remnants of oil in the FPSO is evacuated and measures evolved to foresee a recurrence of such kind of

incident.

She tweeted, “NOSDRA has notified me that a joint investigation of the incident is planned for this weekend before which the fire incident would have been fully controlled” and “Clean Nigeria Associates is a cooperative of oil companies responding to tier 2 oil spill incidents and will mobilize to the incident area to protect vulnerable ecosystem working with NOSDRA and NIMASA and other relevant regulatory agencies.”

According to the Minister, the cause of the fire incident is still to be determined. A SEPCOL official had said that initial responders to the incident included local fishermen and Clean Nigeria Associates, a team operating at a nearby facility. The official noted too that the extent of damage is

still unknown but the ship is able to store up to two million barrels of oil and the explosion raises serious environmental concerns.

Kaieteur News had reported that three months ago an oil spill in nearby Bayelsa state spewed for one month, causing severe damage to land and water bodies before it was contained.

Ibiosiya Sukubo, a leader of one of the communities in the Niger Delta that was recently affected said, “The ecological and aquatic devastation caused by oil and gas exploitation and exploration has been quite colossal and astronomical.

The movement of heavy marine vessels creating a host of turbidity without proper compensation, alleviation, remediation, is an appalling circumstance

we find ourselves in, the Niger Delta.”

Nigeria is trying to maximise its petroleum output, and authorities have intensified a crackdown on illegal tapping of pipelines.

Petroleum officials say the country loses some 150,000 barrels of oil a day to such theft.

The Nigeria incident comes at a time when Guyana is still to secure full coverage insurance from oil operators here despite numerous calls for such. Currently, the Liza Destiny vessel is operating at the Liza Phase One Project in the absence of full coverage insurance. Next month, Guyana will be starting up its second oil ship called the Liza Unity. It will be producing 220,000 barrels of oil from the Liza Phase Two Project.

Despite numerous calls

A screengrab taken from a video of the explosion in Nigeria.

from local and regional actors, neither the PPP/C Government nor ExxonMobil have made any effort to give Guyana full coverage insurance to protect its environs and citizens from the irreversible and devastating effects of a potential oil spill.

On January 15, 2022, almost 12, 000 barrels of crude was spilled from one of the La Pampilla refineries off the coast of Ventanilla in the region of Lima, Peru. It was reported that the spill was caused by shock waves from an undersea volcanic eruption near Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean. At the time of the undersea eruption, Suezmax tanker, Mare Doricum, was offloading a shipment of Brazilian crude oil at one of La Pampilla refinery's offshore mooring buoys, and

as such, a quantity of the cargo was released.

A Peruvian judge has since imposed an 18-month travel ban on four officials of the Spanish oil giant, Repsol, the owner of the refinery, in the event of criminal charges being brought against them and the Peru's government had suspended the company's operations.

There was also a recent oil spill in Ecuador, which resulted in the Amazon being contaminated. A mudslide, which was caused by heavy rainfalls caused a pipeline to burst resulting in two hectares of the Ecuador Amazon and 130 miles of a river being contaminated with crude.

Even as the company that owns the pipeline promised to clean up the oil, the country vows to take legal actions against them.

PAGE 20

Kaieteur News

Monday February 07, 2022

Monday February 07, 2022

PAGE 21

Kaieteur News

AG Carifta Trials

Harvey and Smith latest to make standard Athletics Guyana held their second meet of the year that served as Carifta 2022 trials yesterday at the National Track & Field Center (NTFC), Leonora, where Atoya Harvery and Keliza Smith registered impressive wins to book their places at the 49th Carifta Games that is scheduled to be hosted in Jamaica this Easter weekend.

In the completely overcast conditions, Smith managed an impressive 11.80s to win the girls’ 100m dash final by time, and book her spot at regional youth championships.

Furthermore, the 18-yearold also qualified for ladies 100m at the World Junior Championship later this year.

Speaking to the media after her win yesterday, Smith, who’s personal best is 11.6s, mentioned that she could’ve done a lot better but the conditions were not ideal.

She credited the ease in which she won the race to the amount of work she has been putting into the gym and she revealed that her best is yet to come.

A shy Harvey made light work of the opposition in the

under-17 women’s 1500m, with a personal best time of 4 minutes 46 seconds to book her ticket to Jamaica.

The Running Braves starlet shared with Kaieteur Sport that she is excited to have qualified for the games, once again, but due to covid-19 she didn’t get to participate at the previous editions.

The other two athletes that have qualified for Carifta 2022 so far include 2019 Gold Medalist Anisa G i b b o n s a n d We s l e y Tyndall. (Calvin Chapman)

Rohit begins ODI...

Monday February 06, 2022 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Today is a good day to think about your ambitions, Aries.

Considering what you really want out of life can be instrumental in setting goals and making dreams come true.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) You might be feeling a bit more hesitant than usual when it comes to making decisions, Taurus. Even if someone accuses you of being distrustful, it's your sense of caution that saves you a lot of grief.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) You may feel that you have to defend your motives today, Gemini, and this can really put you off, especially if you can't see a reason for it.

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SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) You might be feeling a bit more hesitant than usual when it comes to making decisions, Scorpio.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Sagittarius, you may find yourself feeling more aggressive than normal today.

This can serve you well when it comes to getting what you want, provided no one suffers in the process.

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Given your hard-driving nature, these are areas that may be neglected.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) It's the perfect day to do some planning, Pisces. Take the time on a regular basis to think about the things you want to do and accomplish.

From page 22 to 100), had West Indies in all sorts of trouble, but it also brought Holder out into the middle.

The captain led the way as the tourists belatedly showed some fight, making 57 to pass 2,000 ODI runs (2,011) and become the fifth West Indies player to reach that mark along with 100 wickets in this format. Holder has 141 ODI wickets but could not add to that tally.

But both innings belong to opposite number Rohit There is little doubting Rohit’s ability with the bat, and the opener’s 60 took him past Sachin Tendulkar (1,573) onto 1,583 ODI runs against West Indies, with only Virat Kohli (now 2,243) scoring more for India.

The full-time captaincy role is a new one, however, and Rohit was just as impressive in that sense.

Rewarded for putting his faith in the spinners, the skipper also had three successful reviews from three to account for Darren Bravo, Nicholas Pooran and Shamarh Brooks. Scores: India 178 for 4 (Rohit 60, Suryakumar 34, Joseph 2-45) beat West Indies 176 (Holder 57, Chahal 4-49, Washington 3-30) by six wickets.

PAGE 22

Monday February 07, 2022

Kaieteur News

Rohit begins ODI captaincy in fine fashion with landmark win over Windies SportsMax - Rohit Sharma enjoyed a brilliant start to life as India’s ODI captain in a

West Indies’ captain Kieron Pollard greets Indian players after Indian won the first one day international cricket match in Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. dominant six-wicket defeat of West Indies yesterday.

Rohit was named skipper in December but only now, in the series opener in Ahmedabad, has he been able to lead his side due to a hamstring injury.

It was worth the wait, however, as India cruised to victory in their 1,000th ODI,

aided by 60 runs from 51 balls from Rohit.

That knock, which included 10 fours and a six, set the tone for a straightforward chase after West Indies had been bowled out for 176.

Even that modest total required some heavy lifting from Jason Holder, whose 57 improved markedly on a woeful

West Indies players celebrate the wicket of India’s Rishabh Pant during the first one day international cricket match in Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

7-79 start after the Windies skipper survived a scare.

Holder could have been the victim of a hat-trick ball from Yuzvendra Chahal (4-49), but his inside edge fell short of short leg.

Chahal’s fellow spinner Washington Sundar – returning for his second ODI more than four years after his first – finished with 3-30 to help ensure a straightforward target for Rohit and Co. An opening partnership of 84 with Ishan Kishan took any jeopardy out of the situation, as India comfortably made 178-4 in 28 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Holder reaches milestone in attempted rescue act...

A stunning spell from Chahal, whose four wickets took him to 103 in 60 ODIs (the fifth-fastest India bowler (Continued on page 21)

Monday February 07, 2022

Kaieteur News

PAGE 23

Providence claim Mark Wiltshire Arjoon rallies to claim the title birth anniversary dominoes title 2022 Bounty Farm Handicap Tournament…

The 2022 edition of the Bounty Farm Handicap Tournament came to a close on Sunday at the Georgetown Club’s Squash Courts as Alex Arjoon persevered in a grueling encounter to reign supreme in the Main Draw Championships.

Arjoon ended the tournament undefeated following his two-set victory over shotmaker Michael Alphonso in the finale. Finishing third in an equally impressive effort was Gabrielle Fraser, who got the better of Ian Mekdecki.

Prior to the Main Draw Championships, the Plate Segment which was being run simultaneously saw Jason Van Dijk defeat Jonathan Antczak for top honours.

The third place playoff in the Plate Competition, which was the first scheduled match of the day went in favour of Lee Fung-A-Fat since Joshua Abdool was unfit for play at match time.

In the well-spectated Main Draw finale, the fitter of the two was the one who came out on top. Alphonso, who is well known for his creativity in shot making, was forced to play longer rallies

Providence chalked 84 games to win the final of the Mark Wiltshire birth anniversary dominoes tournament which was contested recently at Strikers Sports bar, Meadowbrook.

F and H placed second with 76 games, while R and R took third place on 74 games.

Spartans placed fourth.

Sean Davis of providence was voted MVP.

Alex Arjoon by the eventual victor, which dually tested his endurance.

The three-set match saw Arjoon win 15-14, 15-9 to lift the title.

In the match that preceded that, Fraser was marvelous with her ability to be persistent. She claimed the first set against Mekdecki 15-11 but the opponent bounced back to take a set 13-15. In the final

set, Fraser but all doubt to rest when she won 15 – 8 to secure the third place spot.

Van Dijk’s victory in the Plate Championship was unexpected but quite deserving as he settled Antczak with two set in his favour, 15-5 and 156. That victory also meant that Van Dijk, like Arjoon, completed the tournament with an unscathed record sheet.

The winning Providence team

PAGE 24

Monday February 07, 2022

Kaieteur News

Rain washes out GCA’s weekend cricket We are disappointed but can’t control the Weather’ - Massiah

By Sean Devers Now that National Covid Task Force has approved the resumption of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) competitions the adverse weather has washed out all cricket set for over last weekend.

The GISE, Star Party Rental and Trophy Stall First

Division Two-day Semi-final between GCC and Police scheduled for Bourda, while the other Semi-final involving Everest and DCC at the Everest ground, which both hosted matches in U-19 World Cup. The Noble House Seafoods second division two-day fixture at the Eve

Leary ground where Bel Air Rubis were set to oppose Police was among those affected.

Chairman of the Competitions Committee of GCA Shawn Massiah informed that these competitions stems from 2018/2019 and everything went with the pandemic and elections with these com-

petitions which are now at the Semi-final stage.

“Everything was in place, all teams have submitted their squads, the scorers were in place and the grounds were ready, while there was beautiful sunshine during the week and everybody was anticipating good matches this weekend, but with the weather stepping in now with the semi-final stage.

We wanted a good match so that the players would have something to play so it’s really disappointing that we could not because of the weather,” Massiah lamented.

“This has further pushed back the staging of the new competitions that we have holding. This would mean that if the weather is again bad for next weekend, cricket might not be able to resume in March. The GCA was hop-

Shawn Massiah ing to finish off the first division competition this month and get into the new competitions.

We are very disappointed and we want everyone to have a fair chance, especially at the semi-final stage but we can’t control the weather,”

Paradise CC overcome Rising Star CC Host Paradise CC of West Berbice defeated Rising Star CC of Zeelugt by six wickets when the teams collided recently in a T20 fixture.

Rising Star took first strike after winning the toss and managed 137 all out.

Keon Roberts struck four fours and two sixes in a top score of 53, while Elroy Fernandes made 16 and Lawrence Pellew got 17. Akeem Salt took 2-33. Paradise CC responded with 138-4. Roberts claimed 3-17.

Keon Roberts

continued Massiah, who is also chairman of the competitions Committee of the Guyana Cricket Board.

Massiah informed that the planned U-15 match between Berbice U-15 and a GCA U-15 set for yesterday has also been postponed since DCC was flooded.

“We will try to see another opening to get that played, whether in Georgetown or Berbice and try to see how much practice matches we could get for the GCA team heading into the Demerara Cricket Board’s Inter-Association tournament,” said Massiah, who informed that there are just tentative dates for both the DCB’s Inter-Association and t h e G C B ’s U - 1 5 I n t e r County tournaments which could be this month.

Monday February 07, 2022

Kaieteur News

PAGE 25

Guyana Harpy Eagles Squad for first and second rounds of West Indies Championship 2022 at the airport.

Guyana Harpy Eagles Depart, keen on regaining Region 4-Day honours The Guyana Harpy Eagles departed yesterday, Sunday February 6, 2022, for Trinidad to open their campaign as they seek to regain the Cricket West Indies (CWI) regional 4-Day championship honors. The

Guyana Harpy Eagles will play the Windward Volcanoes from February 912, 2022 at the Queen's Park Oval.

The senior national players are keen to get on to the field after a prolonged

absence of Regional 4-Day Tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The GCB's President Bissoondyal Singh remarked, that based on reports the players have been able to utilize their time

EBDCA 40-over semi-finals rescheduled

The semi finals of the East Bank Demerara Cricket Association 40-over competition, which was set for Saturday, has been rescheduled due to rain.

Ruimveldt were set to take on Herstelling B at LBI and Herstelling A were to face Silver Bullet at Farm. Meanwhile, Ruimveldt overcome Meadowbank by five wickets in their quarterfinal fixture at LBI. Batting first, Meadow Bank were bowled out for 87 in 19.2 overs. Usherdeva Balgobin made 18 and Sunil Joshua 12. Eric Sukrah grabbed 3-17, D. Junior claimed 3-32 and N. Permaul 2-20.Ruimveldt responded with 905 in 20.4 overs. Shemroy Barrington scored 35 and Martin Pestano-Belle 19. Stephon Wilson claimed 3-17 and Balgobin 2-26.

The new date for the semifinals will be announced shortly.

Eric Sukrah

away from regional tournaments to improve their capabilities of performing consistently well at the regional and international levels.

The GCB has invested immensely in the preparation of the players and will continue to advance meaningful relations in ensuring sustainable funding and player professional conduct. President Singh

went on to state that he trusts all members of the Guyana Harpy Eagles will excel in the five-round West Indies Championship 2022 and that the GCB looks forward to the national team winning the tournament.

The Guyana Harpy Eagles squad: Leon Johnson (Captain), Keemo Paul (Vice Captain), Chandrapaul H e m r a j , Ta g e n a r i n e Chanderpaul, Vishaul Singh,

Askhaya Persaud, Anthony Bramble, Tevin Imlach, Ve e r a s a m m y P e r m a u l , Gudakesh Motie Nial Smith, Clinton Pestano, Shimron Hetmyer, Keon Joseph and Antony Adams.

TheManagement Staff is: Manager Albert Smith, Head Coach Esuan Crandon, Assistant Coach Manager Ryan Hercules and Physiotherapist Angelica Holder.

Rohit begins ODI captaincy in fine fashion with landmark win over Windies

Jason Holder hits down the ground © BCCI

t r o Sp Atoya Harvey

A general view of a fireworks display during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Beijing National Stadium. (Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports)

Keliza Smith

AG Carifta Trials

Harvey and Smith latest to make standard Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd., 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown. Tel: 225-8458, 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/226-8210.