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January 26, 2020

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- union says it has lost confidence in Labour Minister

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Greenidge displayed the most resistance to disclosure of ExxonMobil’s contract and US$18M signing bonus – Former Presidential Advisor Tullow given special Dual citizens have until exemption from January 31 to explain relinquishing oil block ‘false’ declaration

Mahdia was once as mining community.

Today it is a town, a far cry from the ramshackle buildings that porkknockers once called home.

Family of woman, 64, seeks recourse after private hospital charges $1.3M for unnecessary tests US$200M oil and gas shore base...

Stanley Ming’s joint venture partner under investigation for corruption in Angola

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Kaieteur News

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

Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: ADAM HARRIS A. A. Tel: 225-8491, 225-8458, 225-8465 Fax: 225-8473 or 226-8210

Editorial

The Exxon oil contract If anybody thinks that the opposition is lacking in political astuteness, they should think again. If any Guyanese believes that the opposition lacks business wisdom, then he or she needs an education of the nuances and nexuses that flow from the convergence of business and political interests.

The much shredded, much denounced, much scorned Exxon oil contract, from the lips of just about everyone furnishes the context and proof.

The Reuters article dated January 20, tells the whole story in its unambiguous headline: “Guyana opposition candidate pledges to keep Exxon contract intact.” And that should calm the storms that raged, and still rages, across incensed Guyana, point out to the skeptics that Guyana’s back is to the wall and it is vulnerable, and that the PPP, like the PNC, has no say, no choice, no options in this matter involving the Exxon contract.

All the legal men and accounting men, who have done very diligent work in stripping the nuts and bolts of that bone-in-the-throat contract know this. All the political groups, all the citizens groups and civic groups and assorted groups that have taken strenuous and steely objection to the terms of the contract know, maybe not as much as the lawyers, but they know enough to appreciate that the document is so ironclad as to be unchallengeable anywhere.

Thus, the harping and carping of the critics are just so much empty air of an overheated variety, and which drags down further, instead of gathering heads together to live with it, work with it, and seek possible openings to rehabilitate it, in partnership with Exxon.

A lot of time and energy have been exhausted over the inevitable place where the opposition PPP now finds itself.

For “to keep the contract intact” is commonsense and the height of pragmatism by the opposition. It is an admission of where things stand and which, despite the party’s known criticisms, it must find a way to exist with, should the electoral opportunity arise and result in power.

While this is unfolding and is not surprising in some quarters, the current focus of Guyanese is on the contract itself. But that is only one part of the story, the obvious one, the easy one to bite on and pronounce on its features, which have encountered so many outraged objections.

For there was another piece of the Reuters story, which spoke of the US$230 million scheduled to come into the Guyanese coffers this year.

We do acknowledge that it is a pittance of what ought to have come, but it is counterproductive to keep crying over that lost love, as it is now history and this nation must move forward with the best use of what comes.

Should that number hold it is not chicken feed money.

At G$220:1 (or thereabouts), that amounts to a significant sum of money, relatively speaking, and to the tune of tens of billions of Guyana dollars. Prudent heads have to be in place, while sticky paws must be kept in sight, so that everyone can shout loudly and insistently, by isolating rogues who harbour ideas.

Better ideas from the political managers could do much good in many needed places.

They do not need to be reassembled and retold here, since they are so well known.

It is good that the leadership of the main opposition, a serious and formidable contender for governance of this nation, has arrived at the place that it did regarding the Exxon oil contract.

That is history, it is untouchable, it is inviolable in the sacrosanct nature of contracts, which is not going to change. It is, therefore, more constructive to focus and channel programmes and energies on how to maximize cash that comes during this year.

To be sure, it is not a cascade, but a trickle. Still, that trickle could be made to work wonders here, given the small population of this country.

The challenge for leaders is to deal with the money honestly, represent the people (all of them) cleanly, and there is potential to get somewhere quickly. This is an

Sunday January 26, 2020

Kaieteur M@ilbox Send your letters to Kaieteur News 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown or email us kaieteurnews@yahoo.com

REAL-TIME MONITORING OF OIL PRODUCTION IN GUYANA IS IMPERATIVE Dear Editor, The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, in supporting therenegotiation of oil contracts, had noted the risk of resources slipping through his country’s fingers while its leaders “were sleeping at the wheel.”

Are Guyana’s leaders asleep at the wheel? If so, it is time forGuyanese to wake up both Granger and Jagdeo.

Do we trust the oil companies with accurately reporting oil production? Do we have the personnel and technology in place to effectively monitor production?

Guyana needs experts, not amateurs, to monitor its oil production.Otherwise, it stands the risk of being fleeced of its oil wealth. Ifthe oil companies can under-report 50,000 barrels per day, it will result in a loss of more than US$150 M to our coffers each year.

Real-time monitoring of oil production is imperative. Saudi Arabia has put such a system in place to guard against oil companies corruptingthe ‘checkers’ and stealing their oil.

It will cost Guyana approximately US$8M to run a submarine cable fromthe Floating Production Storage and Offloading(FPSO) vessel toGeorgetown to allow for off-shore and real-time monitoring of production. It will take between 69 months for this cable to be put in place.

Alternatively, Guyana can use satellite connectivity for as lowas US$100,000 per month to monitor immediately what is taking place in the Stabroek Block.

It is time our leaders wake up. Guyana will lose billions if they fall asleep at the wheel!

Yours faithfully, Concerned Guyanese

integral aspect of the trouble with us here in Guyana: we have failed, long before the oil Powerball, to make the best use of that which lies under the land, above it, around it, and while all were well within the grasp. This cannot be allowed to happen again this time with the oil.

Unlike timber and fisheries and development loans and projects, the oil is not endless.

It is a depleting blessing and, if mishandled and misdirected for unscrupulous purposes, before we know it, it would be gone.

Sunday January 26, 2020

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Kaieteur News

Kaieteur M@ilbox

Kaieteur M@ilbox

I stand by my position that Bharrat Jagdeo has failed the sugar workers DEAR EDITOR, Response is being made to GAWU General Secretary Seepaul Narine’s letter, “The GAWU has considered the response of our trade union colleague, Mr. Lincoln Lewis” (KN 18th Jan, 2020).

Let me state from the outset, there was no need to clarify my statement on the government’s handling of sugar (KN 12th Jan, 2020: Is GuySuCo’s management attempting to embarrass the Govt. by refusing to bargain with the unions?). My position was stated clearly and restated as reminder of what was said (KN 17th Jan, 2020: I stand by my position that Bharrat Jagdeo has failed the sugar workers, their families and communities). Seepaul sought to deliberately misrepresent same and having this pointed out is pretending I “clarified.” Nonsense!

Sugar is a very serious matter and I refuse to be distracted by alleged utterances of Khemraj Ramjattan or others when under review is the stewardship of Bharrat Jagdeo, as President and Leader of the Opposition, in the handling of this industry and treating with the welfare

of these workers and their communities.

GAWU is well aware of my position on respecting the right to collective bargaining, regardless of which group is in office or union affected.

Equally, it knows I have had no qualms calling out any government for transgressing the rights of workers as outlined in the Constitution, laws and international conventions. All of these are matters of public record. With regards to the matter of Termination and Severance benefits for sugar workers, both the Jagdeo government and APNU+AFC have flouted the law and both attracted my condemnation.

While Seepaul claims he holds no brief for Jagdeo but entered into a litany of claims to give the impression that sugar was prudently managed during his stewardship as president, evidence does not support this. Under his leadership, GuySuCo has had to rely increasingly on the Consolidated Fund to keep it afloat. This is the most basic of evidence to start from. To argue otherwise in the face of the hard, cold fact is advancing a brief for someone

whose record cannot withstand scrutiny.

As to the viability of Skeldon, Kaieteur News of 29th March 2013 reports:“The US$200M Skeldon Sugar Factory built as part of Government’s plan to reverse the sorrowful state of the country’s sugar industry is a letdown, says Dr. Roger Luncheon, Head of the Presidential Secretariat” (US$200M Skeldon Sugar Factory seen as a letdown).

Trade unionists hate to see the loss of jobs, especially when opportunities for re-hiring and capacity building are limited. But the question to be asked is: What has Jagdeo done to address these on behalf of the very workers whose votes he relies on and counts?

I could tell sugar workers what Desmond Hoyte and Robert Corbin did as Leaders of the Opposition when President Jagdeo placed thousands of bauxite workers on

the breadline, bringing economic dislocation and depression to them, their families and communities.

Seepaul’s perception that there is stubbornness on the part of the Coalition Administration to deal with issues is not unlike the position of Jagdeo as President, which didn’t serve the working class well then as it won’t now.

This reinforced my principle that silence, and selective involvement when it comes to some workers’ welfare, hurts the welfare of all workers. Jagdeo as President succeeded in dividing the working class and a culture has been created where trade union solidarity no longer rules the day but partisanship.

I reiterate my position that were Jagdeo serious about the welfare of sugar workers, he could have done more. As recent as last month, the Minister of Finance “stressed that the union must sit with man-

agement to come up with a deal for satisfactory pay packages” (SN-Dec 6, 2019: Granger, Jagdeo differ on the way ahead for sugar). Shortly after, GuySuCo’s Chief Industrial Relations Manager Deodat Sukhu, said, “the cash-strapped corporation does not have the revenue or cash flow to pay workers the requested increase” (SN- 9th Dec, 2019- GAWU hopeful of wage hike offer from gov’t).

Jagdeo could have held GuySuCo’s feet to the fire for not taking note of the Minister’s statement.

He knows GuySuCo’s ability to pay increases may rely on the Minister who has responsibility for NICIL, the agency in which the company’s shares are vested.

He could have also sought an engagement with the Minister to ensure the management and sugar unions sit at the table. Cheddi Jagan would have done it, but he did neither!

Jagan not only relied on the political support of these workers, he fought for their welfare as Leader of the Opposition and President, and never missed any opportunity to advance same. Let Jagdeo tell the sugar workers and this nation why he refused to use his political privilege and muscle to work with the Minister, GuySuCo and GAWU to ensure collective bargaining and arriving at “a deal for satisfactory pay packages” last year.

These are the same workers as he seeks their votes, in this election cycle, he is promising a plan to improve their conditions of work and standard of living. Shouldn’t that plan also include working with the government as Leader of the Opposition to bring the economic relief they seek? He continues to fail sugar workers, their families and communities.

Yours sincerely, Lincoln Lewis

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Sunday January 26, 2020

Kaieteur News

Kaieteur M@ilbox

Kaieteur M@ilbox

The party leaders themselves must be transformed if the country is to be transformed DEAR EDITOR, There is a lot of grand talk about economic and social transformation in this election season and which party or president can bring us the meaningful change we so badly need. Just what picture of a new Guyana the peddlers of transformation politics have in mind I cannot say. Just what degree of revolutionary change each party contemplates, we will have to wait until the party leaders tell us.

In my view, a transformed Guyana would be a place where the gap between an ideal Guyana and an everyday Guyana is significantly narrowed. In an ideal Guyana, our economy is significantly diversified so that agriculture and mining- including oil- is

strongly supported by ecotourism and light manufacturing. It is a Guyana where our workers receive a living wage and have access to decent and affordable health care and housing. It is a Guyana where our physical infrastructure is robust and reliable and stitches the whole country together. In a transformed Guyana, we would see public transportation reformed and irresponsible drivers in jail.

Our political leaders would have scrupulous fidelity to the rule of law, and are constrained by an acceptable moral framework. They would exercise power solely for the common good and misplaced priorities such as pursuing payback on their adversaries is shunned. It is a Guyana

where anyone who wants a job can find it. Our educational system is skewed towards vocational training rather than academic subjects. Every Guyanese has access to some form of tertiary education, whether it is college or university or simple technical training. And our capital Georgetown is returned to the splendid garden city it once was. And racial identity politics is thrown in the dustbin of history forever.

In an everyday Guyana, the whole picture that stretches before us is heartbreaking. The government cannot keep the lights on without disruption. Traffic signals work occasionally.

Our healthcare delivery is hardly cutting edge and reli-

able. In so many areas, our physical infrastructure is dilapidated and rundown.

Most of our workers barely get by on measly wages.

Crime is rampant and the police are not on top of anything, at least not yet. Our educational system is not properly linked to our need for skilled labour and as a result, our talent pool is too small to match our aspirations for a bigger and better economy.

Our public transportation system is crying out for a makeover. It is a Guyana where our dodgy legal system is oppressive on the poor and those who cannot afford adequate legal representation.

The question in all seriousness that now must be

asked “Is how do we get from an everyday Guyana to an ideal Guyana?” Which party has a national strategic plan and is capable of forging broad support with the organisations in civil society and opposition parties?

I would imagine the answer is none of them. Our political parties, including the newly emerging ones, have a long- standing habit of promulgating pretty manifestoes, big on outcomes but short on the roadmap or actionable steps we need to get where we want to be. Without a catalogue of actionable steps properly conceptualised, implementation is badly handicapped.

Implementation is also challenged when our leaders make big, bold declarations, but come up short in followup, commitment and management control.

We should be thankful that none of our political parties is speaking of a ‘’ big

bang” approach to transformation. No one speaks of a socialist experiment going forward. No one wants to tear up the society and economy and approach re-construction the way a building contractor plies his trade. You must first remove the debris, re-lay the foundation and build from bottom up. All our numerous parties have comfortably set their sight on some form of neo-liberalism.

This is the ideological framework in which a possible change agenda will be pursued.

Although Badal’s Change Guyana party should be credited with some degree of outof- the- box thinking, his brand of corporate capitalism is ideologically par for the course. It is also true that no party can be serious about a change agenda, if it fails to recognise that transformation is a collaborative project and it has to win the support of (Continued on page 7)

Sunday January 26, 2020

PAGE 7

Kaieteur News

Kaieteur M@ilbox

Kaieteur M@ilbox

The Integrity Commission must be revamped

THE LEVEL OF DISTRUST OVER THE REVISED LIST OF ELECTORS HAS GROWN SINCE NOMINATION DAY

DEAR EDITOR, The Integrity Commission made news recently when its Chairman disclosed that several MPs failed to declare their incomes and assets (SN 15/ 01/2020). This letter makes no excuse for these MPs. Instead, it contends that the Integrity Commission must be fundamentally revamped.

In 1997, two years after the United Nations Convention against Corruption came into force, our National Assembly passed the Integrity Commission Act to, quoting the Act itself, “provide for the establishment of the Integrity Commission and to make provisions for the security of persons in public life.” Translating, the Act pinpoints three functions the Commission must perform: (i) monitor the wealth of specified political and professional officials (its self-assigned biggest role), (ii) detect and prevent conflict of interest situations, and (iii) serve as a complaint authority against public officials for acts ranging from (using as a guide the twenty-five criteria on the Commission’s complaint form) corruption and conflict of interest to politically-biased and inefficient service.

The Commission has failed on all fronts. Revamping must achieve three outcomes: (i) to remove overlap in both jurisdiction and mission with other state entities, (ii) to give more regard to privacy interests without compromising transparency (thereby encouraging more submissions from officials), and (iii) to create a Commission with a more impactful mandate.

First, several countries have recognised that revenue authorities are more effective at wealth monitoring than integrity commissions. The larger database of our GRA,

its more integrated systems, and its greater legal powers make it far more capable to detect undeclared and illegitimate wealth. In addition, the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) is more empowered than the Commission to investigate any sudden wealth of public officials and to recovery it. Then also the function of the Integrity Commission that addresses inefficient and unfair public service parallels that of the Ombudsman. By removing these overlapping jurisdictions and missions, the Commission could be streamlined.

Secondly, the protection of the privacy rights of public officials. As one who has had to disclose assets, incomes and liabilities to the Commission over the years in three different capacities (as MP, as dean of a university faculty, and as a spouse), I have never felt comfortable.

Apart from the nervousness about confidentiality of information in Guyana’s political milieu, I dislike the fact that the Commission demands more than is required to fulfill its mandate and that it includes officials (such as the deans of faculties) who are illpositioned to participate in the kind of mischief the Commission was established to thwart. An integrity commission should be mandated not to measure total wealth of a public official and his close family, but to monitor the variation in their yearly wealth. Measuring total wealth reaches back into the life of the official prior to his or her job appointment. It is therefore an excessive invasion of privacy. It is also unnecessary because annual declarations of assets and incomes from the date of one’s appointment can alone detect any suspicious richness without the need for total wealth

in the equation. As such, the requirement for public officials to declare their total bank savings and to list and value all other assets unjustifiably invades their privacy.

To make the argument differently, any need for such additional information does not warrant the invasion.

Thirdly, it would be more useful for the Commission to focus exclusively on detecting and preventing conflict of interest in the public service.

No other agency in Guyana has this mandate. In this refocusing, public officials would be obligated to declare only information that could place them in a potential or actual conflict of interest.

Such information should be limited mainly to properties owned (without stating their values as presently required), shareholdings in companies (without stating their values as presently required), private directorships, ownerships and partnerships, and gifts.

This less intrusive and burdensome demand may encourage prompt and full compliance by officials. However, and more to the point, the Commission (and the public) can use the information to assess the extent to which self-interest could interfere or may have interfered with the decisions of public officials.

The Commission must revamp itself urgently.

Sherwood Lowe

The party...

From page 6 the wider society. No party can independently bring transformation by relying on its own in-house brain power, its own resources and its ideals. The party leaders themselves must be transformed if the country is to be transformed.

Wesley Hicken

DEAR EDITOR, The level of anxiety and distrust over the Revised List of Electors (RLE) has increased noticeably and dramatically since Nomination Day with the attendant criticisms of GECOM. A short few months ago, with the exception of APNU+AFC, criticisms of the List was non-existent and muted. APNU+AFC were convinced then, as the Kaieteur News editorial of January 14, 2020 is now, that “the list is terribly troubling, if not outright flawed”.

APNU+AFC and their appointed Commissioners within GECOM had, many months ago, identified the listing of persons known, and presumed to have died, migrated and who had failed to uplift their national ID cards following the previous house-to-house registration as contaminating the list to an unacceptable degree and had secured a GECOM decision, under the previous Chairman, to conduct a house-to-house registration exercise to create a new and accurate list. The PPP/C objected strenuously and took the matter to the High Court and they, like many others who fault the list presently, declared their unqualified support for that list. The PPP/C’s legal action and the Chief Justice’s ruling regarding the requirement of residence verification for inclusion on the list has prevented any meaningful action to sanitise the list. So what has changed recently?

As far as I can tell, nothing has changed. Those who advocated unqualified support for the list, which existed prior to the truncated houseto-house registration exercise and had rejected and sabotaged that exercise continue to do so even more strenuously. There were 3 categories of potential electors registered during the house-tohouse registration exercise, all of whom would have been required to provide the relevant source documents (original birth certificate, marriage certificate, deed poll, naturalisation certificate, valid passport, etc.) copies of which are attached to the registration form in order to be registered.

These are: 1) first-time registrants, 2) persons previously registered whose data remain unchanged, and 3) persons previously registered whose data (name, address) were changed.

The second category of registrants do not affect the RVL in any way, and I do not believe that there has been any serious attempt to exclude the first category (new registrants) from entry onto the list. It would appear that all the hostility is being directed at the third category of registrants, who are already listed being previously registered, but desiring to be placed on the divisional list where they presently reside.

To seek to prevent GECOM from accommodating this legitimate request is a blatant

form of voter suppression championed by the PPP/C and former Prime Ministerial candidate for the Change Guyana Party, and contrary to the claims of Mr. Nigel Hinds, this is not an attempt to “prevent pre-election day rigging, election day rigging and postelection day rigging” but rather in furtherance of those objectives. The resort to obstruction, hysteria and propaganda can only be seen as an attempt to create a justification for rejecting the results of the election, if unfavourable.

At this stage, I do not expect that the bloat will be excised from the RLE but I do expect that persons, who were properly registered, would be listed in the division/sub-division where they currently reside and were registered during the house-to-house exercise. Moreover, I am confident that with the many parties fielding thousands of polling and counting agents and the numerous local and international observer missions exercising their vigilance throughout the entire process that, notwithstanding the quality of the list, the results of the elections would be acceptable to all.

Sincerely Oscar Dolphin

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Sunday January 26, 2020

Kaieteur News

“Watch what you eat to help cure diabetes,”- Dr. Budhendra Doobay “Diabetes is a preventable and curable disease; all you have to do is watch what you eat. We have to go back to the garden, the natural ways if we want to cure our diabetes.”

This hearty recommendation is one coming from the founder of Doobay Medical Center, Dr. Budhendra Doobay. He revealed this during an awareness session focused on the disease, diabetes, which was hosted yesterday at the Cara Lodge Lot 249 Quamina Street, Georgetown.

Lecturing over 200 diabetic patients yesterday, Dr. Doobay explained that there are alternative ways which individuals can use to lower their diabetes besides using medicine and drugs. The doctor added that these best practices can cure the chronic disease.

According to Dr. Doobay, diabetes can happen when your blood sugar cannot be metabolized by the insulin in your body. “High sugar is a toxic substance in your body, so no matter our age we must monitor our sugar intake.

“We do need sugar in our body; our brain needs it and we use it as a source of energy, but we do not have to get sugar by consuming glucose related items or carbohydrates. We can get sugar from fats and proteins.”

Dr. Doobay warned that the average person should not be consuming more than one tablespoon of sugar per day. “The generation of today is moving away from the natural products. People are now using preservatives.

“The habit of consuming soda drinks is not good for your general health. We must go back to the soil because the produce that comes from the soil is known to cure some diseases that doctors claimed are incurable.

“In the garden there are fresh products and there is nothing like fresh products to enhance your health,” Dr. Doobay explained.

He also stated that most of medications that are prescribed by doctors to help treat diabetic are doing more damage to the body than the diabetes itself. The doctor listed one of those drugs as

Dr. Budhendra Doobay educating a section of the audience

‘Statins’ which is prescribed to persons with Type- two diabetes.

Dr. Doobay stated that although the drug is widely given to patients by doctors and even sold at several pharmacies, it has a lot of bad effects on the body such as causing damage to the muscles and other soft tissues.

He also related tragic cases to the audience about

what had happened to persons who used “Statins” to treat their diabetes.

In one case, the victim was unable to walk due to the severe muscle- damage he sustained following using the drug. To date, that person has not regained strength in his legs.

According to the Medical Doctor, over the years cholesterol has been given a bad name when it should not because the body produces over 3000 grams of cholesterol per day. Hence, balanced cholesterol is important for our hormones, enzymes, among other.

He further added that although cholesterol is good to

the body it should not be in combination with diabetes because that chronic condition makes cholesterol bad.

Currently the two main types of diabetes are type 1 and type 2; Type 1 diabetes, widely known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin.

Type 2 diabetes is formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin in the body.

In the case of diabetic patients taking insulin as a drug, Dr. Doobay described such as

bad for the body.

“Besides inflammation of the blood vessels in the body insulin causes cancer; cancer loves insulin. Researches shows that if you have a dish and you put a cancer cell along with some insulin inside, the cancer cell grows very rapidly but if you removed the insulin from the dish the cell will stop growing. “Sugar is toxic but more toxic than sugar is insulin,” the doctor noted. He also made reference to substitutes for insulin are natural, garden produces, exercise and intimidate fasting.

Director of Doobay Medical Center, Dr. Roop Persaud also spoke at the event.

Sunday January 26, 2020

PAGE 9

Kaieteur News

Counter-measures being prepared to prevent coronavirus outbreak here – Ministry The Guyanese government is preparing countermeasures to prevent any outbreak of the coronavirus here, Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO), Dr. Karen GordonBoyle, announced Friday.

The coronavirus outbreak started in Wuhan, China late last year.

Dr. Gordon-Boyle said the country’s Port Health officials have been alerted and sensitised to how to spot “signs and symptoms” of the malady.So far, a screening tool (a questionnaire) has been developed to gather detailed information on the on-

set and natural course of illnesses of persons suspected of having coronavirus, the DCMO said.

The coronavirus is related to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

DCMO Gordon-Boyle said early in the new week, training programmes targeting key staff including Port Health officers, Immigration officers and Customs officers will be conducted by the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) in collaboration with PAHO/WHO. She said the Infection Control and Prevention Committee of the Georgetown

Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) is ensuring that the tertiary institution is in a state of readiness to care for any infected person.

As a precaution, “any person experiencing fever or flulike symptoms should visit the GPHC or the nearest Regional Hospital,” Dr. Gordon-Boyle has counselled.

Other symptoms of the ailment include runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat fever and a general sense of being unwell. Patients can develop pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and in severe

Dem boys seh...

Think about this Oil companies have one way in which they operate all over. De first thing dem does do in a country where dem discover oil is line the pockets of the top leaders.

De second thing dem does do is create chaos, confusion and instability with the people.

And while them fighting against one another dem oil company busy fetching away de wealth by the plane and boat loads.

This happen in nuff country. Dem does hire soldiers in dem country to shoot de people who dare to protest and resist de contract.

Dem boys just saying something. If the oil company pick 10 high-ranking PNCR members, 10 high-

ranking PPP members and five high-ranking AFC members; and throw a US$10 Million to each of dem.

That would amount to $250M up front. At de same Guyana getting less than that from Lisa One per year. If that happen de oil company ain’t losing nutten and at de same time de politicians mouth shut.

De oil company got anodda forty years under de protection of dem leaders who get buy out.

It means that 30 leaders would’ve sold out Guyana for US$250M to keep their mouths shut.

Well if they give you that for one year, then they sold the whole country out for 40 years, de Man above be wid de people of this country.

Forever and ever. Amen.

Right now de oil companies vex wid de Waterfalls paper. Dem boys talking all de time every time de oil company slip and every time it look like a politicians preparing to stretch out he hand to collect.

Dem boys want ask a simple question. Wid all wha dem put out about wha happen in countries that get better oil deals than wha Guyana get, why dem politicians not saying nutten.

One woulda think dem love de people of this country and be forceful and boisterous. Instead dem defensive more than de oil companies.

Talk half and ask how much of dem done collect in installments.

cases, even death.

While the incubation period for affected persons is still not known, it is advised that patients be isolated from the healthy population for some 10 to 14 days.

In the event that a person shows up with the coronavirus, PAHO and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) are being asked to support with the testing of samples, Dr. Gordon-Boyle said.

Globally, there have been 440 confirmed cases of patients with pneumonia blamed on the new strain of coronavirus. The authorities said that many of the patients are residents of Wuhan or visitors who recently went to the city.

Thailand and Japan have also confirmed at least one case among tourists who visited Wuhan. Early last week, the US CDC announced the first case in the USA. The outbreak of the virus has been linked to Wuhan South China Seafood City, also called the South China Seafood Wholesales Market and the Hua Nan Seafood Market.

Chickens, bats, cats, marmots, and other wild animals

are also available for sale in that market, suggesting a possible zoonotic origin to the outbreak.

So far, the WHO has been counselling hospitals around the world on infection, prevention and control. However, the global body has “advised against travel or trade restrictions at this time based on available information,” a statement said.

Other international public health institutions such as the US CDC, China CDC, and European CDC are working on the design and eventual distribution of diagnostic kits to other countries.

“In any case, it is expected that a consensus test will potentially be available at least some weeks from now,” the release said.CARPHA, in a prepared statement, said it “does not recommend at this time to conduct entrance screening (temperature screening) at ports of entry.

Passengers would already have been screened when exiting the Wuhan area and upon arrival in the US,” the Regional body said in a release.

“Member States are recommended to capture information on travel history us-

DCMO, Dr. Karen Gordon-Boyle ing the Passenger Arrival Card or surveys, for all new arrivals.

Arrivals that have recently travelled to China, especially to the Wuhan area, should be questioned for symptoms and advised to be vigilant for onset of those symptoms and to seek immediate medical attention at a public health facility. Passengers should be advised to seek medical care as soon as symptoms arise,” CARPHA has reported.

PAGE 10

Sunday January 26, 2020

Kaieteur News

Legislative expert, ‘Bryn’ Pollard, Husband chops wife then hangs self republican status. He became Chief Parliamentary Counsel, S.C. dies said when he checked he saw A Corentyne man hanged The legal fraternity is in and has been an mourning after Senior Counsel, Brynmor ‘Bryn’ Pollard, 91, died on Friday.

He was well known for his work in CARICOM, the Commonwealth and drafting of legislations.

According to his son, prominent attorney-at-law, Andrew Pollard, S.C., Brynmor Thorton Inniss Pollard, SC, CCH, OR was born to Muriel and Fitzgerald (“F.H”) Pollard in the village of Buxton, East Coast Demerara, on October 19, 1928. The only boy, Brynmor had four sisters-— Elsa, Cynthia, Mavis, and Magda.

His parents were schoolteachers, and the family moved to Georgetown when he was still in primary school, when F.H. was appointed the principal School Inspector for Georgetown, in the then Department of Education.

He attended Queen’s College of Guyana, when it was still located at Brickdam.

After graduating from Sixth Form, he taught at the school briefly, before proceeding to London to read for the bar.

After graduation, he returned to Guyana in 1959, when he was admitted to the Guyana Bar. Pollard commenced private practice with fellow

The late Brynmor Pollard, S.C. Buxtonian, Sir John Carter, QC, at his Chambers in First Federation Life Insurance building at Croal Street and Manget Place, Brickdam.

He was invited to join the A t t o r n e y - G e n e r a l ’s Chambers by his lifelong friend, the then AttorneyGeneral Sir Shridath Surendranath “Sonny” Ramphal, QC. The late Senior Counsel was married to Jean Adair Mordecai whom he met while a law student in London, on the 7th day of February, 1959, in Port-ofSpain, Trinidad, where her father Sir John Mordecai, was resident as the GovernorGeneral of the West Indian Federation, the fore-runner to the Caribbean Community.

Pollard was invited to take silk and became Queens Counsel in 1970, shortly before Guyana attained

acknowledged authority on legislative drafting, constitutional and public law, and related matters. Sir Shridath, Francis O.C. Harris, and Pollard produced the Ramphal edition of the Laws of Guyana in 1974, which some lawyers regard as the last completely authoritative version.

He left the service of the Government of Guyana in 1979 when he was engaged by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) and seconded to the Caribbean Community as General Counsel.

At the Secretariat, he assisted in the harmonisation of the region’s Companies law, and providing assistance to the Constitutional assembly of Namibia, South West Africa which was poised to attain independence at the time, and was a leading participant in the efforts of the Council of Legal Education and its two law schools in Trinidad and Jamaica.

He was Vice-Chairman of the Juridical Committee of the OAS from 2000 – 2002.

He retired from CFTC in 1995, but remained active as a consultant in his profession, and a prolific letter-writer (Continued on page 59)

himself in the family’s Lot 426 Bush Lot Village, Corentyne Berbice home, after first attempting to kill his wife.The woman Nalicia Ragoonauth, 24, a mother of one of Bush Lot Village, Corentyne, Berbice is in a critical condition in the New Amsterdam Hospital.

She was chopped to her neck, wrist and forearms following an argument with the man Ganesh Narine 27 a Carpenter of the said address.

Reports are that the incident occurred just around midnight Friday at their home at Bushlot. Kaieteur News understands that the couple had a heated argument and Narine dealt his wife several chops to her body with a cutlass just before he grabbed a length of rope and hanged himself on a beam in the bedroom of the house.

The eight-year-old son of the injured woman who was in the house at the time of the incident told police that they all had just returned from a birthday celebration at a neighbour’s house around

Nalicia Ragoonauth 22:00 hrs.

There was a misunderstanding between his mother and step-father which developed into a heated argument.

He said he overheard his father threatening to kill his mother.

The lad disclosed that they had stopped arguing and they all retired to bed but about two hours later he was awakened by a loud noise. He

his mother exiting the room with what appeared to be wounds and blood about her body. He added that he also noticed Narine with a cutlass in his hand.

Nalicia exited the house, and ran onto the street where she collapsed. An alarm was raised and she was picked up by neighbours and taken to Port Mourant Public Hospital. She was later transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital, where she is presently undergoing medical treatment. Her condition is regarded as serious but stable.

According to the police she received injuries to both of her wrists, forearms and neck.

Narine however, was found hanging by his neck in the bedroom from a green rope that was tied to a cross beam of the ceiling. There were no apparent marks of violence on his body, the police said. His body is presently at the Ramoo’s Funeral Home awaiting a post mortem examination.

Sunday January 26, 2020

Kaieteur News

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Sunday January 26, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 13

Region Ten unveils official calendar of activities for Mash 2020

T

hrough its Commemorative Committee, the Region Ten Democratic Council has released its Mashramani calendar of activities for 2020. In fact, it has been revealed that the Region has plans for immense pomp and fanfare to observe the nation's 50th Republic Anniversary.

Deputy Regional Executive Officer (DREO), Maylene Stephen, disclosed that among the key activities will be: a cocktail event on February 6; Soca Semi Finals on February 8; Regional Talent Night on February 12; Flag raising ceremonies planned for Linden, Kwakwani and Ituni on February 22 and the National Costume and Float parade on February 23.

On the calendar of activities are the Linden Mashramani Float parade, Kwakwani Float parade, Mashramani Wet Fete, Children's Dance, Poetry, C aly p s o an d C o s tu me competition and an awards ceremony to recognize persons who have played a pivotal role in the growth and development of Region Ten over the past 50 years.

Stephen said that while all of the activities planned are expected to see eager participation from the general public, she stressed that the honouring of residents who have made valuable and

critical contributions over the years would be the hallmark of this year's anniversary celebration.

“We are now discussing the awards ceremony as we are seeking to ensure that those who are selected to be honoured would have certainly merited it.

“We want to recognize those who would have made the greatest contribution. We are cognizant that a number of persons have been contributing and would have contributed, however we seek to recognize those that have made the greatest contribution,” Stephen added.

The DREO said that the excitement among residents is heating up. Several persons have been approaching her office to enquire how they can get involved in some of the activities.

She however appealed to residents who have an interest in being part of the Regional Road Parade to come into her office so as to get registered.

“We want the public to know that registration has commenced and that they can come into my office and get registered as registration has already commenced and they should do this as early as possible,” she urged.

Commenting on the awarding of persons who have made sterling and significant contribution to the growth and development of

Region Ten over the past 50 years, the DREO said that a committee will be put in place to execute this event.

She stressed that they will be recognising the performances and/or contributions of several stalwarts from Region 10 with the view of determining those who would be honoured as part of the 50th anniversary. She noted that persons and organisations will be honoured in Education, Sports, Health, Community Development, Politics, Media, Religion, Agriculture and Public Service, stressing that while the list of persons who have contributed in these areas are very long, the region will review and select those who would have made the greatest impact.

“We are aware that Region Ten has been blessed with a number of persons who have truly contributed in a meaningful way to the holistic growth and development of the region in several ways, and that is what, through this award programme, we will seek to do, we will honour the best of the best as we will recognize our greatest from Linden, Kwakwani and Ituni,” she declared.

Stephen said that while a date for this event has not been confirmed, she is hopeful that it will be held in February. According to her

too, plans are apace to have the presence of a number of government ministers and the president at the event.

She said that despite this event not being one of the original activities planned for

the 2020 celebrations, she feels that with its timeliness and importance finding the required funding for it should not be too much of a challenge. “There are some organizations and companies

that we intend to approach for support and I am confident that we would be able to garner the required funding to execute this event as it is not only timely but very important,” she stressed.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday January 26, 2020

Family of woman, 64, seeks recourse after private hospital charges $1.3M for “unnecessary tests”

A

family is now seeking answers after a private hospital slapped them with a $1.3M bill it said was racked up in just over a week by an elderly relative.

The family now wants an independent medical review, with questions being raised about the medical procedures and competency of the doctors involved. The family has reportedly written to the city hospital informing the management of impending actions and making it clear that it wants to prevent other persons from suffering the same.

This latest complaint would come amid revelations and claims by several patients of private hospitals who said they were

without any scheduled consultation,” Barakat said in his letter of complaint to the private hospital.

“We were required to pay several times for continuous treatment we don't know prior what it was and what are the results and further plans. The only time we know is what on the paid bill.”

Barakat claimed in the letter that two Saturdays ago, his sister who was kept in the hospital overnight for observation after feeling some pains, was in good health.

“She was supposed to do an endoscopy (Stomach examination) last Sunday.

(She) didn't do it until this Friday. No reasons (given).

Several requests as to the

“People want value for their money and must know what they are paying for and how much in advance, with respectable consultation before and after billing,” he said in the letter.

He said that there appears to be an attitude where staffers seem to be capitalizing on people's emotions- “pay first, then we might talk to you. She was well since last Saturday morning…we fed her three meals every day.”

There have been a growing number of accusations that at least two private hospitals have been boosting its revenues by forcing unsuspecting patients to take caesarian operations (c-sections) for births. The difference

charged and sent for tests they believe were not needed.

The spotlight has also raised the possibilities of tax evasion by private doctors and a scheme to scam patients, many of whom have to borrow from families and their work place to pay for treatments. According to the sent correspondence seen by reporters of Kaieteur News, the woman in this case is a sister of businessman, Samuel Barakat.

He said that his sister was discharged after 10 days-eight of which she spent in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

At the end of the 10 days, Barakat said, doctors went ahead and conducted a battery of tests, all without the family's permission.

At the end of it, the hospital released the woman, 64, saying all they found was a slight trace of pneumonia.

“The doctor tell us about, kidney, cancer, gall bladder, heart condition, test after test, lab work etc. informally

delay; no response (given).

It's difficult to see the doctors and no request was made to see us. The only information we can garner was the bill we were required pay several times during the 10 days.”

Barakat said that he and his family are questioning the medical procedures and the competency of the doctor.

“We are requesting an independent medical review in the interest of the institution's reputation and protection of other people to be exposed to the same unprofessional arrangement with your medical team.”

The businessman said his family had no choice…they paid the bill. He said that he respects the hospital and had tried to contact a number of senior officials, including a close friend.

“We have paid the bill. I mean no harm to this outstanding institution… just want to protect others from mercenary and predatory medical staff and in absence of any review to paying patients at hospital.

between natural and csections is $50,000 and $300,000 respectively.

There were other accusations of patients being sent to do all kinds of tests seemingly unrelated.

One woman has engaged a lawyer and has sent a legal letter asking for explanations after her children's pediatrician, who had been looking after them for years, suddenly found that they had developed scoliosis (curved spine).

He suddenly found this out in a few minutes after visually examining the children. The tests which cost thousands of dollars for the children came back negative. The traumatised woman contacted her lawyer.

Kaieteur News will continue to examine the rising number of complaints about the allegations. If you know of similar cases or have a story to tell about experiences at the private hospitals, please contact us at kaieteurnews@yahoo.com or call on 225-8491.

Sunday January 26, 2020

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Kaieteur News

Tullow given special exemption from relinquishing oil block

B

ritish oil major, Tullow Oil, has got a special exemption from a key aspect o f th e r elin q u is h men t provision in Guyana's agreements with oil companies operating here.

Relinquishment is an important feature of agreements with oil companies. It typically denotes an oil company relinquishing a portion of a block, when the renewal period for its agreement is up. This allows other exploration and production companies the opportunity to buy into those blocks.

In Guyana's agreements,

the first renewal date typically comes four years after the Block is initially awarded. After that, a second renewal period of three years typically follows. At both junctures, operators are expected to relinquish parts of their blocks.

However, a perusal of petroleum agreements awarded to companies doing business with Guyana shows that the contract governing operations on the Orinduik Block is the only agreement that lets the operator keep the entire block after the first renewal period.

Orinduik is a whopping 1,776 square-kilometre

concession. Tullow owns a 60 percent operated interest.

Eco Atlantic holds a 15 percent working interest and Total EP holds 25 percent.

The special treatment given to Tullow and its partners on this Block is demonstrated in the following.

The Kaieteur Block is observed to have the most aggressive relinquishment provision, with two instances of relinquishment (25 percent, then 20 percent) required by the time the first renewal period is up. The operators of the Roraima and Mahaicony Blocks are expected to relinquish 25 percent of their blocks after

Dual citizens have until Jan 31 to explain “false” declaration - GECOM

Presidential Candidate of Presidential Candidate of Presidential Candidate of the URP, Vishnu Bandhu the PRP, Dr. Valarie Leung the LJP, Lennox Shuman

P

ublic Relations Officer (PRO) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Yolanda Ward, has said that dual citizens have until January 31 to explain their false declaration. Last week it was reported that three presidential hopefuls, Lennox Shuman, Vishnu Bandhu and Dr. Valarie Leung were disqualified by GECOM. The presidential candidates who belong to the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), United Republican Party (URP) and People's Republic Party (PRP) respectively had signed sworn declarations while being holders of dualcitizenships.

Commissioners from both sides of the Political divide had indicated that their names would be “struck off” the list.

It was even hinted that it would be left up to the law enforcement to undertake the next step in possibly laying

charges against the trio for making the false declarations.

However, Ward said that the names were not “struck off” but sidelined after they were identified as dual citizens. The commission had taken the decision to grant these potential candidates a grace period to explain the reason for their “false” declarations.

“They have until the 31st of January to come forward and defend themselves.”

Ward said if they present their case then the commission would listen to them and based on their reasons make a definitive decision. “If they fail to come forward by the deadline then the commission will be left with no choice but to go ahead with whatever decision it decides.”.

The topic dual-citizenship became very controversial since the 2018 no-confidence motion. After many court battles it was ruled that

according to the Constitution of Guyana persons who are holders of dual citizenship cannot be Members of Parliament (Mps).

The Act reads, “No person shall be qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly who is, by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state.”

But it seems as if dualcitizenship continues to be a problem as March 2 Elections approaches. LJP leader, Lennox Shuman, had told reporters that he had begun the process of relinquishing his Canadian citizenship but on Nominations Day he had not received any formal word from the Canadian authorities.

Bandhu had also made his declaration on Nominations Day and later sent a letter to GECOM stating that his citizenship was relinquished six days later.

Map showing the Orinduik Block (Tullow Oil, Eco Atlantic) the first renewal period.

The operators of the Kanuku, Canje and Stabroek Blocks are required to relinquish 20 percent of their blocks after the first renewal period. The operators of the Demerara and Corentyne Blocks are expected to relinquish 15 percent of their blocks after the first renewal period. The operators of the Orinduik Block are expected to relinquish nothing after the first renewal period.

The text in the agreement

reads “the Contractor shall not be required to relinquish at the end of the initial period any area of the original Contract”.

If the Orinduik Block was held to the same relinquishment terms as the other operators, a portion of it should have been relinquished earlier this month, on January 14.

This concession to Tullow Oil is extremely favourable, placed in a contract that has already

been pegged to be even more unfair than the Stabroek block agreement by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.

This is the very agreement which allows Tullow to recover the royalty it should be paying to the people of Guyana.

Why the relinquishment provision of this agreement steered away from the template for Guyana's petroleum agreements is a mystery.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday January 26, 2020

Sunday January 26, 2020

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Sunday January 26, 2020

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GECOM has no authority to disqualify any candidate T

he Guyana E l e c t i o n s Commission (GECOM) has no authority to remove anyone from the list of candidates on the basis that the person is a dual citizen. While it is illegal for a dual citizen to appear on a List of Candidates for election to the National A s s e m b l y, a n y s u c h disqualification has to be done through a legal challenge.

GECOM has the authority to deem a list defective, if it is not supported by the requisite number of signatories or does not meet the geographic and gender requirements for contesting the elections or if a candidate’s name appears on more than one list.

GECOM is required to send the defective lists back to the parties for correction, having pointed out the defects.

The issue of the eligibility of a candidate to contest an election requires judicial review. As such, GECOM has no authority to

disqualify a dual citizen from contesting the elections.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Guyana Elections Commission was quoted in the media on January 8, 2020, as saying that GECOM has no legal obligation to verify candidates’ eligibility. She was reported as saying that the onus was on the political parties and the candidates to determine the honesty of the declarations which each candidate has to make.

Candidates for elections are required to sign a statutory declaration (Form 3). Their signature on the declaration indicates that they have consented to be on the list of candidates and that they are aware of the articles 153 and 55 of the Constitution which deals with qualifications and disqualifications as members of the National Assembly.

The Declaration does not specifically require the candidates to swear that they

are not dual citizens, just to state that they are aware of the relevant provisions of the Constitution which address eligibility.

GECOM’s role is not to determine the eligibility of any candidate to become a member of the National Assembly. This power resides exclusively with the High Court. Article 163(1) vests in the High Court “exclusive jurisdiction to determine any question regarding the qualification of any person to be elected as a member of the National Assembly.”

This point was upheld by the CCJ in its decision of June 12, 2019 in the constitutional challenge to the legality of the vote of Charrandass Persaud. The CCJ affirmed that such a challenge has to be done by petition and within 28 days after the results of the elections.

The CCJ also observed that the court cannot take it upon itself, in violation of the Validity of Elections

R u l e s , t o e n l a rg e i t s jurisdiction to disqualify a member of the Assembly because the member was aware, on Nomination Day, that he or she was disqualified, but nevertheless consented to have his or her name placed on the List.

The CCJ stated that if parliament desires the court to have such an enlarged jurisdiction, then parliament must so specifically provide.

Parliament has not so provided. Neither has parliament altered the Statutory Declaration which is required to be signed by candidates. That declaration, as mentioned above, also requires candidates to swear to the truthfulness that they were aware of the Constitutional provisions dealing with the eligibility

for membership of the National Assembly.

The Declaration, which is part of the Representation of the People Act, should have been amended to explicitly state that the declarant does not hold allegiance to any foreign power (that is, he or she is not a dual citizen).

No such changes were made to the declaration, because both the PPPC and APNU+AFC are not opposed to dual citizens in the National Assembly. They knew all along that there were dual citizens sitting amidst their ranks. They never challenged each other’s dual citizens.

In its desperation to stay in power, the government decided to challenge the lawfulness of Persaud’s membership of the National

Assembly. It paid a huge price, with four government Ministers being forced to resign after the Court ruled that the dual citizens were not eligible to be either members of the National Assembly or Ministers.

But this does change the fact that any disqualification has to be made by the High Court and via an election petition made within 28 days of the results of an election.

GECOM therefore cannot disqualify anyone from the list on the basis that the person is a dual citizen.

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

Kaieteur News

PAGE 24

Sunday January 26, 2020

Only CARICOM countries can divide CARICOM

By Sir Ronald Sanders

T

he meeting between U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and the Foreign Ministers of seven Caribbean countries, gave rise to many questions, but the U.S. seeking to “divide CARICOM” should not be one of them.

External forces can try as they wish to divide the members of the 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM), but only those Caribbean nations can cause the division. So, there should be no blame attributed to the U.S. government for “dividing CARICOM” by the invitation to foreign ministers of only six of its 14 independent member-states to attend a January 22 meeting, hosted by the Jamaica government.

The U.S., like every other government in the world, has the perfect right to invite to a meeting any governments with which it wants to confer. The

issue – if, indeed, there is an issue – is with those CARICOM governments, particularly the host government, that agreed to the meeting without insisting that no CARICOM government should have been excluded from a ra r e opportunity to consult a U.S. representative as high-level as the Secretary of State.

After all, the meeting was held in the Caribbean, under the auspices of a CARICOM government. It was not held in the U.S. under the control of the U.S. government as occurred when President Trump invited five Caribbean leaders to Mar-a-Largo, his estate in Florida.

At the very least, it was within the Jamaica Prime Minister's capacity to advise the U.S. government that it would be both prudent and beneficial for representatives of all 14 independent CARICOM governments to be invited to what Mr. Pompeo's own State Department described as “a roundtable discussion” with

the named foreign ministers of the seven Caribbean countries.

It should be noted that, in addition to the six invited foreign ministers from CARICOM countries, the Dominican Republic was also an invitee, as it was to the Mara-largo gathering with President Trump.

In the past, whenever any CARICOM government has hosted a leader of a major nation, it has been the general practice to invite all CARICOM governments to be present for discussions.

The wider CARICOM meeting with such leaders did not preclude a bilateral meeting by the host government with the invited leader. Indeed, it was the norm that a bilateral meeting would be held between the host and guest leaders, followed by the wider consultation with all CARICOM governments.

In this context, the off-thecuff remark, made by Jamaica Prime Minister, Andrew

Holness, at a press conference with Mr. Pompeo, that, “if anyone wanted to attend, they just had to signal”, was unfortunate. Mr. Holness is a decent man; undoubtedly, had he prepared his response, it would have been more considered and less dismissive than it sounded.

No CARICOM country should have to ask for an invitation between a representative of the world's superpower and representatives of CARICOM countries. From the inception of the treaty organisation, CARICOM member countries have operated in recognition that there is strength in their taking common positions on the crucial issues that affect them jointly.

A separate collective CARICOM meeting with Mr. Pompeo would not have deprived the Jamaica government of bilateral discussions of matters of peculiar interest to Jamaica.

However, apart from specific national interests, Jamaican concerns, that are shared with all other CARICOM countries, would have been bolstered by Mr. Pompeo hearing the collective voice of the 14 independent member states.

That opportunity was lost at the January 22 meeting.

It is for the other five CARICOM countries that readily attended the meeting to consider whether they should

have accepted an invitation that excluded eight of the countries on whose support and solidarity they depend in global affairs.

Would the arguments that they advanced, not have had greater effect if Mr. Pompeo had heard them from 14 countries rather than 6, especially as among the remaining eight countries would have been Trinidad and To b a g o , G u y a n a a n d Suriname – three countries that possess resources that are of considerable interest to the U.S.?

Of course, at the heart of this matter is that CARICOM countries have never agreed to harmonise their external relations, as have the (still) 28 countries of the European Union (EU), which conduct their collective policies through a single European Commission under the direction of a Council of Ministers of the member states.

CARICOM governments have clung to the notion that CARICOM is “a community of sovereign states”.

In affirming this position in their external relations, they have placed the rights of “sovereignty” over the obligations of “community”, allowing each of them to pursue short term “benefits” from external sources at the expense of the longer term gains they would get from being seen, indeed and in fact, as a solid and

Sir Ronald Sanders unshakeable group.

But, there should be no mistake. External forces will always try to break any solidarity of CARICOM countries if it is in their interest to do so.

No CARICOM government should behave as if such attempts are an affront – it has always been a fact of international relations.

Instead, CARICOM countries should consider what they lose individually and collectively by fragmenting themselves, instead of acting in solidarity.

As for the Jamaica meeting, Mr. Pompeo had one overriding objective and that was to secure the support of the seven attending countries to vote for Mr. Luis Almagro to be re-elected as the SecretaryGeneral of the Organization of American States.

The U.S. has calculated Mr. Almagro's support and reached the unavoidable conclusion that he does not now have the 18 votes required to be re-elected.

There is nothing wrong with the U.S. government promoting and advancing a candidate it favours; many countries in the Lima Group and in the Caribbean are also promoting the candidates they back.

The more fundamental issue is not whether external forces are trying to divide CARICOM, but whether CARICOM will allow itself to be divided. Maybe, at the CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting in February in Barbados, the 14 Heads of independent member states should lock themselves in a room, without anyone else, and thrash out this issue.

(The writer is Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and at Massey College in the University of Toronto.

The views expressed are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper) Responses and previous c o m m e n t a r i e s : www.sirronaldsanders.com

Sunday January 26, 2020

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Kaieteur News

---Hinds’ Sight by Dr. David Hinds---

The choice between Coalition Politics of Transformation or One-Party Politics of Domination My friend Freddie Kissoon in one of his recent columns bemoaned the inability of the new parties to come together to fight the coming elections as a coalition. In other words, Freddie wanted these parties to replicate what the APNU+AFC parties have done. Ever since Freddie publicly indicated he would vote for one of these parties, he has been calling for them to join forces to maximize their chances of getting a seat or two, with the objective of bringing about a minority government after the election.

Freddie and I agree on a lot of the critique of APNU+AFC, but we differ on whether they should be returned to government.

I disagree with Freddie’s embrace of the new parties as the answer to the PPP and PNC monopoly of Guyana’s politics on two counts.

First, I don’t believe that the electorate is in the mood to experiment with a new party, especially since none of them has put forward a clear and compelling alternative agenda to those of the two large formations. Second, I am not convinced that a minority government is the answer to our contentious poli-

tics.

As Henry Jeffrey pointed out in his most recent column, the absence of a parliamentary majority party does not prevent the party with the presidency from governing.

We saw what happened after the 2011 hung parliament, whereby the PPP, despite losing the parliamentary majority, was still able to govern for four years. So, a repeat of the 2011 scenario would mean either of two things. Either the Third Party keeps the minority government in power, or it joins with the large opposition party to bring down the government, as the AFC eventually did to the minority PPP government.

So, I repeat, a minority government after the next election does not open the door to the transformation of the political process which Freddie desires.

But here is another problem with Freddie’s criticism of the new parties’ inability to form a pre-election pact.

Freddie has spent a lot of time this past year lambasting the AFC and the WPA, some of it justified, but a lot of it unjustified. Here the columnist is bashing Third Parties while at the same time asking people

to vote for the Third Parties he favours.

Freddie has also been merciless in his criticism of the Coalition, some of it justified and some unjustified. But again, he bashes a coalition, but wants other parties to form a coalition of his liking.

Why is Freddie then surprised that the new parties are reluctant to form a coalition?

They have already boxed themselves in a corner by saying they would not join with either of the two big formations. Without realizing it, they have given “joining” a bad name and, so, could not even bring themselves to form a joint slate.

The joining of votes after the election does not have the same effect as a pre-election pact. Ironically, by his relentless criticisms, Freddie has also helped to reinforce the notion that coalitions are not a qualitatively superior formation.

Unlike Freddie, I believe at this historical juncture, Third Parties are better positioned to potentially advance a transformative agenda in coalition with the big parties if the latter embrace a movement away from one-party governance. This approach

The Baccoo Speaks Robberies are always occurring, but this one will catch the attention for all the wrong reasons.

There will be injuries and some road rage that will bring the police to the scene.

The bandit would be acting alone. He would attack an individual who is a licensed firearm holder.

A river accident will lead to a fatality. A vessel coming from the interior would collide with another. One will try to run aground but it will be a difficult task.

The result would be a fatality in the heart of the city. ** The nonsense on the

**

roadways will continue. A vehicle will fail to stop at an intersection causing a collision.

A person sitting in the front of the smaller vessel would be tossed into the water.

is not without its big challenges, but I firmly believe it is more effective than not engaging them.

At the moment, the PNC has shown more willingness in theory if not always in practice to move away from winner-takes-all governance.

That is a small change, but it has big potential.

In the absence of revolution, revolutionaries must learn how to take advantage of what is possible. A small group of people are cursing WPA for being in coalition with the PNC. Incidentally, a lot of it comes from the PPP, a party that spent most of its life since the 1960s trying to form a Unity government with the PNC. But serious political people must always confront what is before them and ask what, in the concrete circumstances, is possible. The mistake of the AFC and WPA was not in joining the PNC in government, but in their failure to balance commitment to government stability with commitment to transformative policies and practice. They erred on the side of government stability and solidarity, and in the process allowed the Coa-

lition to govern in a routine manner.

So, like Freddie, I have had a lot of difficulties with the performance of APNU+AFC in government and with the leadership’s management of the coalition.

But unlike Freddie, I do not think those mistakes disqualify them from a second term. Like Freddie, I have difficulties with the way the AFC and WPA behaved in the government and approached the PNC’s desire to treat the government as a one-party formation, but unlike Freddie, I do not believe that those parties are useless.

I believe Coalition politics is the route to the desired national solution and national government, and I believe the AFC and WPA are pivotal to pushing the Coalition in that direction.

I respect Freddie’s stance towards the Coalition, but his crusade against the AFC and WPA and his concomitant over-disrespect for them has not helped his drive to sell the new parties as the alternative.

The first term has shown that there is no magic in coalition politics—intra-coalition tensions are real. To the con-

Dr David Hinds trary, the achievement of government exacerbates those tensions. But confronting them in creative ways opens up possibilities for the larger politics of change.

It is for that reason that I think there is a clear choice before the electorate: Coalition Politics with possibilities for transformation or OneParty Politics that guarantees domination.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper) More of Dr. Hinds’ writings and commentaries can be found on his YouTube Channel Hinds’ Sight: Dr. David Hinds’ Guyana-Caribbean Politics and on his w e b s i t e www.guyanacaribbeanpolitics.news.

Send comments to dhinds6106@aol.com

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Kaieteur News

Sunday January 26, 2020

A bullet for a peace-loving man

By Michael Jordan To find a killer, know the victim. That’s the advice a very good detective once gave me.

I’ve taken his advice. I’ve tried to find out as much as I can about Marlon Welcome.

And guess where this has led me? It has led me to a possible motive as to why someone put a bullet in his head.

And maybe, just maybe, it has led me close to identifying the person who planned the whole thing.

Here’s what happened on Tuesday, February 16, 2010.

At around 01:30 hrs that day an ex-soldier living in ‘A’ Field Sophia heard two loud gunshots. The sound had come from the home of his next door neighbour, Marlon Welcome, a 33-year-old mechanic who lived at Lot 192 with his niece, Enkeni Isaacs.

According to the resident, he heard Welcome’s niece scream out her uncle’s name.

Shortly after, she ran outside and shouted that Marlon was lying motionless on the floor.

The resident and others entered the house, and sure enough, Welcome was lying on the floor just outside his bedroom. He was motionless and there was blood on his head. They took him to the Woodlands Hospital where he died shortly after.

When police visited the scene, they found that someone had removed a few louvre panes from Welcome’s kitchen window. It appeared that this was how the killer had entered Welcome’s home.

Crime scene detectives found some mud in the kitchen sink, which suggested that the killer had stepped on the sink after climbing through the window. A pipe outside the house near the same window was broken, and detectives believed that the gunman had stood on it to gain access to the window.

A relative says that police told her that a tracker dog they brought to the scene led them to a shop in Sophia, but they found nothing suspicious there. The slain man’s mobile phone was reportedly found outside his yard.

Enkeni Isaacs said that she had last spoken with her uncle at around 21:00 hours on Monday, February 15. The niece said she went to bed after indicating to her uncle that his cellular phone was left

The slain man’s residence

on the dining table. She awoke at around 01:30 hrs after hearing two loud sounds in the house and then heard her uncle groaning.

Ms. Isaacs said she ran from her bedroom shouting ‘thief’, and saw someone flee via the back door. She then stumbled over her uncle. Ms. Isaacs said she then raised an alarm.

But detectives felt that something wasn’t quite right about the scenario that was being related to them.

Because she was the only other occupant at the time of the killing, suspicion fell on Welcome’s niece. They detained her for three days. But they found nothing to link Ms. Isaacs to her uncle’s death.

Now the ex-soldier who lived next door to Welcome had told police that he believed that the sounds he had heard in Welcome’s house were gunshots. But for some reason, police did not think of swabbing any of the persons they questioned for traces of gunpowder.

Perhaps, like Welcome’s niece, who had described the noise as two banging sounds, they too seemed to believe the mechanic had succumbed to blows to the head.

Three days later, Government pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh examined the remains and discovered that Welcome had been shot at close range at the back of the head. A .38 warhead was extracted from his skull.

But who could have killed Marlon Welcome, and why?

Just who might have done the deed came to light about three weeks after Welcome’s death.

Ballistics experts examined a .38 Taurus revolver that they had recovered from a house at Fourth Field, Cummings

Marlon Welcome Lodge, East Coast Demerara, was nothing of the sort about on February 20, after arrest- Marlon Welcome.

According to police ining four men in connection with four armed robberies in vestigators, the young methe community. It was alleg- chanic had never been edly the same firearm the sus- charged for even a minor ofpects had used during their fence. He was a Government crime spree.

Technical Institute graduate Those robberies occurred who had established his own on February 20, four days af- workshop. A resident deter Welcome’s murder. scribed him as one of the most The ballistics experts com- decent persons in the pared bullets from the unli- neighbourhood. Another said censed firearm and the .38 he was a ‘peacemaker.’ warhead extracted from His mother said that he Welcome’s skull. They was ‘like a godfather’ to unmatched. derprivileged children in the While the suspects were community.”The only fault on remand on robbery and that Marlon had was that he firearm possession charges, did not like to fail,” his mother investigators questioned recalled. “If he was working them about Welcome’s mur- on an engine, and he was getder, but got nothing to con- ting problems, he would lie nect them to the killing. Law- down and then work again at men were baffled by the ap- midnight. parent absence of a motive.

“Marlon was such a lovRobbery did not seem to be ing person. I don’t even think one. According to Welcome’s I ever saw my son vex.” niece, she found $20,000 un- Revenge also did not seem to touched in her uncle’s room. be a motive. Revenge killings Taking the advice of my often have a brutality to them; old detective friend, I dug excessive gunshots or other into Marlon Welcome’s back- wounds. That fury was absent ground for a possible motive. in the Welcome murder. I’m Family members of murder sure that were I to ask my FBIvictims often say, ‘he had no trained detective friend, he enemies’ and ‘he was a decent would say that this was the man’, when in fact, the victim act of a cool and calculated had several enemies and a killer. long criminal record. But there But eventually I stumbled

The window through which the killer allegedly gained entry upon a possible motive. television. So why was he Apparently Welcome was found lying on the floor outin the habit of keeping large side his bedroom? Is it possums of money in his house, sible, as his mother has sugand someone had taken ad- gested, that he awoke and vantage of this situation. Ac- recognized the intruder who cording to a close friend, the then shot him? mechanic had confided that But how did the killer this individual had recently manage to shoot him at such stolen $80,000 from his home. close range?

He reportedly even identified And if indeed money was the suspect. stolen, the intruder(s) would According to the friend, have had just a few seconds Welcome suspected that the to shoot him, grab the money same individual had stolen from his room, flee through from him before. the back door, and scramble The close friend, and an- over his fence, even if they other individual, also said that knew in advance where shortly before his death, Wel- Welcome’s valuables were. come confided that he was How did they manage to do preparing to buy a property this? in Sophia. He had $300,000 If indeed two shots were that he would have used as fired, why did police fail to an advance payment on the find any trace of the second property. That money, if it in- bullet?Marlon Welcome’s deed existed, has reportedly mother was unhappy about all not been accounted for. these questions, since they They have suggested that brought back unwanted this individual planned memories of her son’s death.

Marlon Welcome’s murder She preferred that I left things and recruited someone to kill to the police, and let justice him. eventually take its course.

And indeed, there are sev“Whoever took my son’s eral puzzling things about this life, I wish that with the same case. speed that they killed him, that Why did the killers take God will take theirs the same the risk of killing Welcome in way.” his home, when it would have Welcome’s niece told me been so much easier to kill him that she too was eager to asin his yard? After all, he was sist the police in every way in the habit of working late to apprehend her uncle’s into the night in his workshop. killer.

Indeed, he had worked late “Whatever it takes to into the night some hours solve this I will help. This was before he was murdered. a cold-blooded murder.”

In fact, why kill him at all, Meanwhile, I’m still folif they were just after his lowing up on this intriguing money? Was a decision made case. And I somehow suspect to murder him because the it may not be as complex as it mechanic would have been seems. able to connect the gunman If you have any further to the person who was alleg- information on this case or edly stealing from him? any other, please contact us Why were the intruders at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, apparently so certain that Charlestown office or by telethey could enter Welcome’s phone. home without alerting him?

We can be reached on teleHow did they apparently phone numbers 22-58491, or know where his bedroom was 22-58473. You need not dislocated? close your identity. You can Welcome’s mother said also contact Michael Jordan that he sometimes slept in the at his email address: living room after watching kamarangnight@gmail.com

Sunday January 26, 2020

PAGE 27

Kaieteur News

==THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN==

From Marlon Williams to Mark Benschop: Searching for space

E

xactly a week after AFC official, Marlon Williams told me two things, Mark Benschop in almost identical fashion made a repetition.

Marlon said that it is regrettable that I am not campaigning for the APNU+AFC team in this election. He went on to remind me that the PPP sent killers to me. APNU+AFC sent emissaries.

Mark wrote from New York to ask me to give my vote to APNU+AFC and reminded me of the terrible things the PPP did to me and my family.

Marlon and Mark adumbrated a case of the APNU+AFC regime being far better in governance than when the PPP ruled.

It is outright dishonesty for any Guyanese to paint a canvas of the PPP government being a better, more democratic, more responsible entity than the five-year-old administration of APNU+AFC. I will not entertain a polemical exchange on the subject. I find it personally insulting to engage an argument of the PPP being of better quality. In fact, I will not use up space in this analysis on the issue.

My characterization of the PPP from 2001 to 2014 is twofold. The Jagdeo/Ramotar was evil and semi-fascist.

When I read Jagdeo, Ramotar, Teixeira and their colleagues writing in the newspapers about human rights, accountability, the rule of law and other sacred values my skin grows.

I will move on with my analysis as to why I cannot accept Marlon’s advice and Mark’s request by ending this section on the PPP with this

exclamation – “I don’t want that party to rule Guyana again! The PPP needs to be in hibernation for a few more years to understand human feelings.

Now for my analysis of APNU+AFC. I cannot and will not vote for APNU+AFC for a reason that is extremely simple.

I do not see that formation bringing about open, honest, caring, democratic governance. This is what I want for the country I will spend the rest of my life in. I have seen enough deliberate conspiracies by leaders in both the PNC (APNU is a fictional construct; I will not recognize it in my academic analyses) and AFC that tell me that a return to power by these PNC and AFC leaders will see a continuation of the rotten, decayed political culture that has sunk Guyana since the 1957 general election.

From Cheddi Jagan in 1957 to Burnham through to Hoyte to Jagan again, then Jagdeo, Ramotar, and Granger, governance in Guyana has been characterized by ethnic patronage, ethnic incestuousness, racial discrimination, autocratic exercise of power, one-man hegemony, reckless and irresponsible use of state funds and arrogant and brazen class preferences (except in the Burnham era) in which poverty has grown rather than dwindled, and economic exploitation of the lower classes has reached frightening heights under Jagdeo, Ramotar and Granger.

To Marlon and Mark, I say to you that while I cannot and will not dispute your contentions of the extreme atrocities of the Jagdeo/

Ramotar reign that are missing in the use of power since 2015, I do not see hopeful signs of improved governance in the return to power in 2020 by APNU+AFC. It will take a book length manuscript to enumerate the dangerous signs since APNU+AFC came to power.

But these warning signals have been so deeply worrying that I interpret them to mean that the future does not look good and will not be good if APNU+AFC acquires parliamentary majority in March.

I continue to argue in these columns that while a comparison between the terrible use of power by the PPP and the misrule of APNU+AFC cannot stand, a citizen is moving dangerously close to the precipice of selfdestruction by entrusting their faith and hopes in APNU+AFC amidst the dangerous signs I have pointed to in the above paragraphs.

I will not support APNU+AFC or vote for them because I am looking for space; the space to create a huge crater in front of the gate of either the PNC or the PPP after the election results. That crater will block the doorway of one-party domination and

one-race domination, which are the only two games that this country has played since 1957 when the PPP won the election that year.

The PPP will not share power with the PNC and the PNC will not share power with the PPP if either wins.

The answer to this country’s intractable problems is for them to share power. Since they are not go-

ing to do it, then we have to create space for a minority government to be hauled before the table of negotiations by a balancer.

That balancer I am voting for in March. In order words a third party.

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

Frederick Kissoon

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Kaieteur News

Sunday January 26, 2020

PPP NEEDS TO STOP FOOLING THE PEOPLE This is truly the silly season, with false promises flowing out of the opposition camp, promises that can never be kept.

On the campaign trail, the opposition speakers keep promising to re-open the

sugar estates. The Coalition’s leaders have been explaining over and over again why this promise is unrealistic. We talk about why, even with the best intentions, the dilapidated sugar factories could not be restarted; the estates could

not be re-opened unless a lot of money is re-invested to rebuild everything from the ground up; why the decadesold machines, turbines, pumps, crushers, etc. have to be removed and new hi-tech equipment installed; why the

finished product cannot be brown sugar for a large number of economic reasons.

Reason number 1: the world market in Europe that used to purchase Guyana’s brown sugar by the ton in the 1960’s and ‘70’s no longer exists! This is not what the PPP is telling supporters, some of whom are attending the rallies just to hear just how the PPP plans to give them back their back-breaking work cutting canes in the fields or working the factories.

At a recent meeting, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo had this to say: “We (Coalition) knew that the sugar industry was going down, that the ones at Skeldon, Canje, Rose Hall, LBI, Enmore, were absolutely useless for producing sugar.

We made the hard decision to close them down and in doing so we saved the jobs of 10,000 sugar workers.”

The APNU+AFC government had to subsidize the industry to the tune of $1 Billion over a period of 38 months from May 2015. From our close-up position in Government, we were able to see exactly how the Skeldon Estate pulled down the rest of the sugar industry.

The PPP/C administration did spend some $50 Billion presumably to refurbish this Estate. All this money, quite a huge investment, and the estate never worked. It became a ‘white elephant’.

But everyone knows that this was not the only time that the PPP wasted the people’s money on bad ideas. We will talk about the failed Amaila Falls hydropower project another Sunday. Let’s revisit sugar awhile longer ...

For many years between 1990 and the 2000’s, Guyana was producing sugar at 50 cents per pound, but the best price we could get for it on the world market was 16 cents per pound. The PPP even then talked up Skeldon estate, promising that it would

be a ‘modern estate’ that would make sugar cheaper.

Well, a promise is food for fools, because that never materialized. Skeldon workers were not only put out of work because the factory never turned over, but it did not produce a pound of sugar.

The country got no returns for such a big investment, and the workers were sent to work at Albion and elsewhere.

This administration was forced to close the Wales, Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon Estates and to sever approximately 5,200 workers.

President Granger, while speaking at the opening of the Diamond Magistrates’ Court, stated that during the PPP’s rule from 1992 to 2015, 5,340 employees of GuySuCo had been removed from the payroll.

“The downsizing of the sugar industry did not commence in 2016,” he said. Diamond estate alone severed 500 employees when it was closed in 2010, and GAWU had to take GuySuCo to court to get benefits for those employees.

This coalition government voluntarily paid out about $6 Billion in severance pay when the Coalition was forced to close a few other estates because they were draining the people’s $38B investment in Guysuco. But there were more benefits. Former sugar workers no longer had to report to work at 5.00 am to chop cane in the boiling sun. They were able to start up chicken farms, some bought mini vans and went into transportation, others are rearing pigs, have opened shops, and are growing kitchen gardens. They were not cut loose without help.

What we’d like to emphasize is that while we were pouring money down the sugar hole in the early years of this government, teachers, nurses, policemen, soldiers and other public servants were getting nothing, or very

little because there was little left to give them.

As soon as the decision was made to re-organize sugar based on the best economic analyses, we were able to improve wages for public servants, pensioners and everyone else on the national payroll. And the future now holds bigger things for Guyanese workers with the anticipated revenue from the oil industry.

Every projection says that Guyana’s economy will grow to 86% in 2020, even the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These funds will finance the many developmental programmes during this Decade of Development – 2020 to 2030.

We can tell you too that the PPP in government also failed to help the rice industry. It was PM Nagamootoo who went to Mexico and secured that rice market and we are constantly trying to get better prices for rice and paddy. This government also installed to 6 massive pumps in Region 6 to alleviate flooding which was long overdue.

Let’s put another lie to rest – this government never promised farmers to get $20,000 for one bag of rice, or $9,000 for a bag of paddy. The people who made up this lie are bent on mischief. The only reason for misinformation like this is to create confusion. So, when the PM visited his hometown recently, he reminded the villagers that they had asked this government for roads, street lights & clean drains, and for the piles of garbage to be removed, and it was done, even though the elected PPP/C councillors tried their best to stop the work of the NDC. Plus, the RDC was given billions of dollars to do the same works in the Region and they did nothing. He talked about a number of regional developments such as the new East Bank Berbice road, the installation of streets lights across the region, the muchneed reduction in tolls on the Berbice Bridge. He asked the people for their agreement to allow the Coalition to “continue what we have started,” telling them that no government in the Caribbean has done so much in such a short time.

We ask Guyanese to return the Coalition government to office to ensure “that a decent and honest government will manage the affairs of the country so that everyone can benefit.

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

Sunday January 26, 2020

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Kaieteur News

My column

Where are the people for the jobs?

Not so long ago there was talk about the young people not finding jobs; that there were no jobs. Indeed, many young people left school and could not find a job consistent with the skills they developed.

Those who did not do too well academically had parents who did not want them to stay at home, so these parents found places in technical institutes, and in schools like the Carnegie School of Home Economics.

Others sent their children to work with some friend or relative who were masons, carpenters and contractors.

Many young employees entered as labourers and graduated as they learned the trade.

But for the greater part there were so many who simply did not seem inclined to take a job. This may sound harsh, but it is true.

Last week a reporter visited the employment exchange and found that of the three thousand job seekers, more than a thousand were placed with job centres. Again, this had to do with the skills with which the young people were endowed.

For starters, I have found that many young people simply cannot write an application. A poor application to a potential employer is as good as no application. The spelling and grammatical mistakes were enough to ensure that the application end up in the waste basket.

There are call centres in Guyana, so those young people who enroll into computer classes develop the skills needed at the call centres. The unfortunate thing is that they do not last long, because these centres often use a trick.

After a promised period of internship, there is supposed to be an increase in pay. But because of the large number of people available, the call centres would simply let the recruit go. This is something that the Labour Department may want to investigate.

However, there are many who work for a few weeks and simply leave the job. They cannot cope with the discipline in the workplace. There is a certain time that one must report for work. There are also a certain number of hours which must be completed.

Many simply cannot appreciate these rules.

Media houses are always seeking reporters. In fact, outside of the call centres, I do not believe that there are any other places with such a high rate of turnover.

Recently, I examined the performance of some young people who came to work with my media entity. Some lacked the ability to think. They were

pretty good at regurgitating what was said. However, none saw the need to check on some of the statements made by the various presenters.

I would say to them that there is no substitute for reading and research. These days with the computer, research is at the finger tips. But for some of the young people, it may very well be that you are asking them to access the moon.

When the pressure builds, some simply walk off. There is no thought about a slow cent being better than a quick dollar. There is no acceptance of the fact that a half a loaf is better than no loaf at all.

Young people simply walk away from a pay cheque to sit idly at home.

There are vacancies in the education system, but it is a Herculean task to get young people to gravitate to teaching. They find excuses.

The police force and the army are not places to which many parents would direct their young children. The pay is good. But then again, there are those who enter these services, develop skills, and then transfer them to the criminal enterprise.

There are too many reports of ex-policemen or exsoldiers being caught up in the criminal enterprise. At one stage I began to conclude that most of the criminals were either ex-policemen or exsoldiers.

Just the other day there was a report of a serving policeman operating as a getaway driver for a group of robbers. Unfortunately, he was transporting a man who had sustained a gunshot.

Indeed, Governments try

to find jobs for the young people, but some only stay on the job for a brief period.

One young man who is now dead had just got a job with a carpenter. Sadly, when he received his first pay cheque the first thing he did was to procure a gun.

His friends later told me that he merely wanted a job so that he could buy a gun.

He got killed in South Ruimveldt during a robbery.

And he is not the only one who thinks like that. No longer do young people get a job which they could use as a stepping stone to other legitimate jobs.

Knowing the situation, I smile when I see the election campaign promises about providing 30,000 jobs. In the first instance I do not know where these souls would come from.

Glenn Lall would often say that people do not want to work. He spoke about being unable to find watchmen and labourers, despite advertising and seeking the help of friends.

I see the notices and advertisements in the newspapers running for days and wonder why there are no takers. Something must be wrong.

It may be about the pay.

Some people often say that they cannot work for a certain sum of money. I suppose that is why they venture into the gold fields or seek out minibus owners.

But even in the case of the latter, the indiscipline is evident. On Friday, a magistrate sent a minibus driver to jail because he was indisciplined enough to disgorge school children without stop-

ping. Indeed, there is the ubiquitous cell phone video. Just about everything is recorded.

Even the fight that proved near fatal was caught on camera, because people do not intervene anymore. So it was that the person with the camera recorded the children jumping out of the minibus which failed to stop.

This enterprising indi-

vidual then forwarded the video to the police. The rest is history. The driver would be spending the next six months in jail. His conductor managed to escape.

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

Adam Harris

PAGE 30

Sunday January 26, 2020

Kaieteur News

The President and national unity Guyana’s development has been undermined by divisions along ethnic and political lines. These divisions degenerated into violent conflict in the mid-1960s and wounded society deeply.

National unity has been proposed as a solution to the country’s divisions for a long time. Most Guyanese subscribe to the belief that a political solution would be a precondition to achieving national unity. The quest for national unity, therefore, has been tied to the need for ethnic and political unity.

A new expression entered the country’s social lexicon five years ago. Not many Guyanese could have claimed

(A review of three books by David Granger: Social cohesion and political inclusivity: Strengthening society, forging national unity; Immigration and integration: the making of the Guyanese nation; and One people: a cohesive community… an inclusive destiny.) familiarity with the concept of ‘social cohesion’ when the newly-elected President, David Granger, announced the establishment of a Department of Social Cohesion, following the elections of May 2015.

Social cohesion had never captured the public imagination before. All that is changing now. President Granger’s three-book collection, which deals with the question of social cohesion and national unity, provides a refreshing new outlook to these vexing

questions.

Social cohesion and political inclusivity: Strengthening society, forging national unity, the first book, makes the compelling case that social cohesion is needed to heal the divisions caused by ethnic and political strife.

The book provides an illuminating response to the longstanding problems of political and social divisions.

Social cohesion, as articulated by Granger, is subsumed in, rather than substitutes for,

political inclusion. President Granger, in this regard, is less myopic than others who have focused entirely on healing the country’s political rift without equal concern for healing the societal divisions caused by other factors such as poverty, inequality and unequal access to education.

The book –the text of an address he gave at a Roundtable Conference in September 2015 – can be regarded as the most profound policy statement, issued by any Guyanese government, on the question of national unity.

The nature of the brief presentation would have allowed the President to provide only a broad outline of his policy on national unity and social cohesion. This, no doubt, accounts for the book’s main shortcoming – its failure to provide precise practical measures or a detailed plan of action to achieve

social cohesion. The elaboration of such measures, would be a most welcome postscript to a substantial policy statement.

Social cohesion, according to the President, involves providing greater recognition to the various ethnic groups in the society so as to promote greater acceptance, trust and understanding. The two other books in the collection – Immigration and integration: The making of the Guyanese nation; and One people: A cohesive community… an inclusive destiny – do justice to this cause. *** Immigration and Integration: The making of the Guyanese nation, the second book, is an enriching source of knowledge on the contributions of three groups of ‘arrivals’ to the country’s development. President Granger, since his assumption to office, has designated formal

‘arrival days’ to commemorate the arrival of the country’s Chinese, Indian and Portuguese immigrants.

Multiculturalism has its discontents. The book’s main fault is its smothering of the issue of inter-group conflict which has left a legacy of strained relations among the country’s various peoples.

The book, notwithstanding that flaw, offers rich insights into the achievements of these groups and their contributions to the establishment of a multicultural society. The immigrants from China, India and Madeira overcame insurmountable odds.The book’s recounting of the remarkable tales of adaptation, integration and resilience of these groups no longer make the quest national unity appear eternally elusive. *** One people: A cohesive community… an inclusive destiny, the third book, identifies the origins of the country’s divisions as the failure of those who initiated the process of transportation of people from different continents to pay attention to how the various groups and cultures would co-exist eventually. That historical challenge is as evident today as it was one hundred and eighty years ago.

The book examines the remarkable contributions of Indian indentured immigration to the country. It concludes by arguing that the strands of the national tapestry are stronger because of the contributions of the country’s African, Amerindian, Asian and European fore-parents.

In other words, the country’s peoples are better together than separate, a message which has a familiar ring at this time.

The three books are not historical texts; they explain the President’s policy on national unity. David Granger is sending a powerful message to his country’s ethnic groups. He is encouraging them to move towards a more inclusive society first, by recognizing and respecting each other’s contributions and, then, by accepting diversity as an asset which has to be managed. This is policy-making at its finest.There is light at the end of tunnel. The idea of national unity is not dormant, much less dead. This collection of the President’s books on national unity leave no doubt about that.

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

Sunday January 26, 2020

PAGE 31

Kaieteur News

Blood clots: They cause more deaths than you know

By Dr. Zulfikar Bux Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine

D

o you know that blood clots are the most common reason why people get heart attacks and stroke?

Abnormal blood clotting is responsible for many lifethreatening conditions and it’s not often emphasized how important it is for us to try to prevent abnormal clotting in our bodies.

Today we will highlight the seriousness around blood clots so that you can understand how to minimize your risk of getting a lifethreatening clot.

WHATARE BLOOD CLOTS? Blood clots are differently-sized clumps of blood that have formed inside your body. Clotting is important to prevent excessive bleeding if you are injured or cut.

However, when a blood clot blocks blood flow to important areas of your body, it can be harmful or deadly.

Blood clots can occur in your arms and legs, abdomen (stomach), heart, lungs, brain, and kidneys.

There are two different types of blood clots.

These include clots that

stay in place and don’t move (thrombosis) and those that break away from the spot where they developed and move to different areas inside your body (embolism). Depending on what the clot blocks or where it moves to, a blood clot can be deadly.

WHATARE THE SYMPTOMS OF HAVINGA BLOOD CLOT? Symptoms are different depending on where the blood clot is located.

If the clot is in your arms or legs, you can experience pain (that feels like an intense cramp), swelling, and tenderness.

Your skin may be red and warm to the touch where the clot is located. If the blood clot is in your abdomen, you may experience severe stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Blood clots that travel to your heart cause a heavy feeling or pain in your chest, pain in your upper body, shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, and light-headedness. If the clot moves to your lungs, you could experience sharp chest pain, a racing heart, shortness of breath, sweating, and fever. You may cough up blood.

A blood clot in the brain may cause weakness in your

face, arms, or legs, speech and vision difficulties, headache, and dizziness. Many of these symptoms are the symptoms associated with other conditions, such as heart attacks and stroke.

WHAT CAUSES BLOOD CLOTS? Your body reacts to an injury or cut by clotting your blood just the way it should.

These types of clots are not a problem.

Sometimes a blood clot will form without a trigger (such as an injury or cut). This is more likely to happen with certain risk factors or conditions. Risk factors include: • Prolonged sitting. This is often the case with travel where you are forced to sit for long periods.

• Prolonged bed rest. This is often the case with surgery or illness.

• Pregnancy.

• Smoking.

• Obesity.

• Birth control pills/hormone replacement therapy/ breast cancer medicines.

• Certain cancer types (pancreatic, lung, multiple myeloma, or blood-related cancers).

• Trauma (serious injury).

• Some types of major surgery.

• Age (especially over the

age of 60).

• A family history of blood clots.

• Autoimmune disorders (your immune system attacking your body) • Certain infections (HIV/ AIDS, hepatitis C or Lyme disease).

HOW ARE BLOOD CLOTS DIAGNOSED? Whether you go to your doctor’s office or an emergency room, the doctor will examine your symptoms.

The doctor also will ask you questions that may help him/her to figure out the cause of the blood clot. He/She will do further testing depending on the area of the blood clot.

CAN BLOOD CLOTS BE PREVENTED OR AVOIDED? Blood clots are highly preventable. To prevent or avoid a blood clot, know your personal risk factors and control the risks you can.

For example, if you smoke, stop.

If you are obese, lose weight.

If you take birth control pills, talk to your doctor about an effective alternative.

If you are inactive, get moving. If you have a family history of blood clots, talk to your doctor. Your doctor may determine whether you should be taking blood-thinning medicine to prevent clots.

HOW ARE BLOOD CLOTS TREATED? A blood clot is treated based on where it is located.

Blood thinner medicines are the most common treatments for blood clots. Some medicines can be given through a catheter (a long, thin tube) inserted into the area of the clot. Some clots can be surgically removed. If your blood clot is due to an infection, your doctor may be able to treat the infection and reduce the risk of a clot.

WHAT IS LIFE LIKE WITH A BLOOD CLOT? If detected early, a blood clot can usually be treated successfully. If it was not treated early, your quality of

Dr. Zulfikar Bux life depends on the seriousness of the damage. For example, a blood clot can cause stroke and death.

If you’ve successfully survived a blood clot, you may live with the fear of having another.

In that case, living with blood clots involves focusing on prevention.

If you are being treated with blood thinner medicines, you have to be careful not to cut yourself. The medicine can make it difficult to stop the bleeding.

Now that you know about blood clots, take the steps to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of it.

PAGE 32

SUNDAY GUYANAREMAINS IN THE DARK ABOUT PROPORTION OF OIL TO GAS IN STABROEK BLOCK ExxonMobil’s public disclosures on the hydrocarbon reserves, which it has discovered in the Stabroek Block say that the country’s recoverable resource is estimated to be more than six billion oilequivalent barrels.

Someone used to the industry would know that that language means that six billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) means oil as well as natural gas. Yet, to Guyanese who are a little less informed, the language could be misleading.

And it has been. In their attempts to determine the value of Guyana’s Stabroek Block reserves and subsequently, the portion of the wealth that will accrue to Guyana, persons have assumed that all six billion barrels are of oil.

This assumption is problematic on a few fronts.

First, it would lead persons, in their projections, to unknowingly inflate the value of the oil in the reserves, thereby giving Guyanese the wrong impression about how much wealth they’ll benefit from.

Second, not all the recoverable natural gas is likely to be sold.

Government has already disclosed plans to bring gas from the Liza Phase one project to shore, for electricity purposes. Some of the gas would be reinjected to maintain pressure sufficient for the extraction of the light, sweet oil.

Even then, the proportion of gas to oil is likely not minimal.

E x x o n M o b i l ’s 11 t h discovery called Haimara, made in early 2019, is a gas c o n d e n s a t e r e s e r v o i r, according to a 2019 technical report from the International Monetary

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Kaieteur News

Fund (IMF).

That means it is almost entirely natural gas, opening up a new area for development.

It is unclear whether the Government is aware of that and other details about more recent discoveries.

Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, had appeared on a Kaieteur Radio show, Guyana’s Oil & You, almost two weeks ago, and told the listening public that he is aware of the gas content in Liza Phases One and Two. That accounts for just two of 15 discoveries. Both of those discoveries were made years ago.

If Government is only aware of the gas content in two discoveries, it means that Guyana’s development partners like the IMF are privy to more information a b o u t t h e c o u n t r y ’s reserves than its own Government.

GUYANACELEBRATES FIRST OIL WITHOUT LOCAL CONTENT POLICY On Friday last, the Government of Guyana joined Stabroek Block partners ExxonMobil, Hess Corporation and CNOCC/ NEXEN at the Marriott Hotel for a cocktail reception that commemorated Guyana’s entry into the oil producers club.

This celebration was held even as the country remains without a Local C o n t e n t P o l i c y. T h i s document ensures maximum use of local goods, services and products, along with the transfer of technology.

For four years, the government promised that the policy would be in place before First Oil with the most recent of those promises being proffered

by Energy Department Director, Dr. Mark Bynoe late last year.

The task of completing the policy was done by UK

Consultant, Dr. Michael Warner. Kaieteur News would have exposed his connection to ExxonMobil in previous articles. Those news items also outlined that he was brought to Guyana by the US oil king to advise the government on local content and companies on procurement processes for the oil sector.

Furthermore, Kaieteur News would have exposed that he made alterations to the draft policy which was initially done by Trinidadian Local Content Expert and Energy Strategist, Anthony Paul.

For $22M, Dr. Warner not only removed key provisions that put Guyanese first, but also excluded from it, any recommendations for sanctions against foreign suppliers if noncompliance is discovered.

Kaieteur News was able to identify these after comparing the second draft with the one that Dr. Warner did.

In Paul’s draft, a strong case was made for ensuring foreign suppliers partner with locals. The Trinidadian said that partnership is crucial in ensuring the transfer of knowledge and technology.

The International Energy and

Strategy Advisor called for minimum requirements to be set for ownership through equity participation in joint ventures.

FIRST OIL RECEPTION WAS A CELEBRATION OF BETRAYALAND NEGLIGENCE-RAMSON The cocktail reception that was held on Friday last in honour of First Oil at the Guyana Marriott, was actually a celebration of a sellout, betrayal, and negligence on the part of the government says Opposition Member and Petroleum Academic, Charles Ramson Jnr. The Attorney-at-Law— who, like his other PPP colleagues, did not attend the event— said that a celebration would have been warranted if a good deal was had for Guyana’s oil from the get go.

Ramson said, “Every single commitment to prepare for first oil has turned out to be a missed milestone leaving us unprepared and the oil companies in a perfect position to take away our resources… What is there to celebrate, when unlike other countries, we are receiving way less than we deserve?”

Further to this, an impassioned Ramson highlighted the fact that despite several promises, Guyana is without a Local Content Policy which increases the opportunities for locals to have maximum benefit from the sector. He reminded that this is another failed promise of the Granger administration yet it has the audacity to be in celebration mode.

The Attorney-at-Law said, “Here it is we have political elites and Government elites celebrating on the very same day that a tanker comes to receive the first million barrels of oil for

ExxonMobil. So really, it is a celebration not for first oil which occurred since December 20, 2019; it is a celebration for ExxonMobil and our government gleefully participates in the total disregard of their responsibility which would be to manage the sector well and to secure good deals for us.”

In addition, the Opposition member commented that the only citizenship participation was the observance of fireworks at an elitist celebration.

MONDAY SURINAME PUTS STRICT LOCAL CONTENT REQUIREMENTS ONALL OIL COMPANIES – AS GUYANA STRUGGLES TO DRAFT ITS OWN POLICY No stone is left unturned when it comes to Suriname securing maximum benefits for its people.

According to the Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) the Dutch speaking country has with oil companies, there are strict Local Content rules which have to be followed.

These rules ensure companies have no room to escape their responsibility of using to the greatest extent, local goods, products and services as part of its operations.

According to the country’s PSAs, companies are required to provide a report demonstrating the evolution of local content involvement in its Petroleum Operations and a plan of action to increase the level of local content. They also have to submit a list of local purchases on a quarterly basis.

Also, a list of the number of Contractors’ and SubContractors’ local hires and

associated titles must be submitted in quarterly reports.

In addition, companies are required to use their best efforts to train locals with respect to its Petroleum Operations, including technical, administrative, executive and management positions.

These rigid rules are not only absent from Guyana’s Production Sharing Agreement with ExxonMobil, but also the draft Local Content policy that was finalized by UK Consultant, Dr. Michael Warner.

The government for the last four years has promised the nation that this document would be in place for first oil which officially started on December 20, 2019.

Up to the time of publication, the policy was not released to the public and the Energy Department is yet to provide an explanation for its failed promise in this regard.

US DEMANDS IMMEDIATE DISCLOSURE OF DETAILS OF FINDS ...SO SHOULD GUYANA – PETROLEUMENGINEER US States, in their dealings with private oil and gas companies, requires that details of finds be immediately reported to the State.

Guyana should ensure there is a mechanism that requires the same from oil and gas companies it is doing business with.

That is the advice of Petroleum Consultant and Engineer, Paul Nicholas Ramsaywack.

The specialist, who has over a decade of experience working with Exploration & Production operators across multiple onshore US basins, said that Guyana’s regulatory framework should be (Continued on page 33)

Sunday January 26, 2020

From page 32 competent enough to mandate that all is reported by ExxonMobil and other companies immediately.

Ramsaywack made these and other comments in a conversation with Kaieteur News about uncertainty surrounding the gas content in the Stabroek Block.

The general public still remains unaware of the proportion of oil to gas in most of the discoveries on the Block, operated by Exxon subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), and its partners Hess and CNOOC. Those discoveries now total over six billion oil-equivalent barrels.

ExxonMobil would not release its well lo g s f o r independent analyses to be done. Some have argued that the publication of the content of those logs would hurt the oil giant’s competitive advantages in the Petroleum industry.

Ramsaywack advises that there be some level of confidentiality, but just for a year. He suggested the State rewards oil & gas operators with public confidentiality for a year, by holding the information for that period. This practice, he knows to be common across US states.

“It allows a first move to be rewarded for their risk-taking,” the Engineer

explained.

He maintained, though, that the State must be privy to all the details from the get-go.

“A competent and fair regulatory body is critical.”

DAILY OIL PRODUCTION FIGURES MUST BE MADE PUBLIC – RAMSON JNR. First Oil officially kicked off on December 20, 2019. And from then to now, neither ExxonMobil nor the Government has provided Guyanese with daily updates on oil production figures.

According to Attorney-atLaw, Charles Ramson Jnr., Guyanese have a right to this type of information while making a call for same to be immediately disclosed going forward.

The Petroleum Academic noted that civil society oversight is critical to the management of the sector and the building of trust when it comes to the collection of revenue for the sector.

Ramson said, “Being in the dark for long periods about the production rates and projections severely constrains the ability of the citizenry to have oversight.

Exxon should be submitting this information to the government which should then make this information

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public.”

The Opposition Member told Kaieteur News that Guyanese need to know how quickly the company is expected to get to peak production, how the reservoir has been performing since production started, if it has been in keeping with its estimates, and what potential changes it foresees.

In the absence of same, Ramson said that all Guyanese are aware of is the date First Oil kicked off, and the announcement recently that a tanker is in Guyana’s waters to collect ExxonMobil’s entitlement of one million barrels of oil.

Ramson said, “So what has happened in between the time that First Oil started and the arrival of the tanker?

This is not a transparent method of managing the sector and for the independent and interested parties if there is an information blackout then it constrains the ability to have oversight.” The Petroleum Academic said that this is yet another example of the government sleeping at the wheel but at the same time, limiting Guyanese participation and education on how the sector is evolving.

In order for the citizens to keep the wickedness some politicians or persons involved in the sector may have planned and at bay, Ramson asserted that

transparency at all levels is an absolute requirement.

TUESDAY EPAAMENDS EXXON’S PERMITS TO ALLOW FOR UNANNOUNCED VISITS TO FPSOS Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Vincent Adams, has been able to defy the ExxonMobil –Guyana deal which requires seven days notice before visits for inspection could be made to the American company’s offshore operations.

In the environmental permits that the oil giant would need, Dr. Adams included a provision which allows his officials, the ability to visit the company’s Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels without prior notice.

While he has been able to secure this, the EPA Head said that the lack of resources does constrain the agency from making full use of that provision. But the official was quick to note that this is only for the time being.

The EPA Head said, “I have always said that oversight bodies should not have to provide notice. We should be able to visit at anytime. It is not practical for us to do so now due to the lack of resources but that would not be our permanent

state of affairs. I was adamant however that it needs to be in the permit as a matter of principle.”

Until the EPA gets a boost of resources, it will have to rely on ExxonMobil to provide transportation to its operations.

According to Global Witness, Governments and their respective auditing officers must have the power to make “unannounced” visits to inspect the operations as well as the records of oil companies. The international body that works to break the links between natural resource exploitation, corruption, and human rights abuses, said it is only then one can truly ensure companies are in compliance with the required standards of transparency and accountability.

The Global Witness made the said call during a review of just two of the Production Sharing Agreements (PSA) between the Government of Uganda and Tullow Oil; Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation and French oil major, Total S. A. POLICYFORUM GUYANA INVITES INT’L EXPERT TO COUNTER “DISTRACTING” PR CAMPAIGN BY OIL COMPANIES In an effort to counter the

public relations campaign of oil companies which seeks to purport that oil is a “wonderful-for-everyone adventure,” Policy Forum Guyana (PFG) is inviting a representative from India’s Goa Foundation, Mr. Rahul Basu, for a special public lecture and extended engagement with the citizens from February 3 to February 10. PFG, a network of civic organisations that came into existence in 2015, strongly believes that this exercise is necessary since the oil companies have successfully distracted Guyanese from addressing key issues such as equal rights of all citizens to share the benefits of the resources, the implications of inter-generational equity, and what these concepts mean for a Sovereign Wealth Fund and direct cash transfers.

Policy Forum Guyana said that Mr. Rahul Basu from the Goa Foundation will familiarise Guyanese with a principled approach to the extraction of natural resources and how they can benefit to the maximum extent.

Kaieteur News understands that the Goa Foundation is an environmental, non-profit body that advocates that minerals and natural resources be accounted for as a shared inheritance.

Rahul Basu, as Research Director, with a background (Continued on page 41)

Sunday January 26, 2020

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THE

PAGE 40

Sunday January 26, 2020

STORY WITHIN THE

Nude videos and a 'Rambo' knife

By Leonard Gildarie

T

he people of Guyana are to be saluted for what has so far been a peaceful elections campaign.

We are hurtling down to the most critical of all elections in our history, and save for the usual mudslinging of whose house is bigger and which party had the largest rally crowd, there has not been any major incident. I did see one enthusiastic supporter pulling down flags of another party in Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara.

Let's us keep it that way.

Our maturity will be closely scrutinized by the oil world and any sign of weaknesses would be capitalized on. It is how it works. We will not buckle.

Earlier this week, a video surfaced. The video was apparently made in a city hotel. From indications, a woman followed her partner to a hotel where she went directly to a room, opened the door and entered.

Her camera phone was on and caught the half-naked couple in a compromising position. The video was uploaded on social media, and of course, Guyana laughed. In the analysis, this woman marched right past the hotel's security, and had information that led to a particular room. The door, for some unknown reason, was not locked.

There are several things wrong here. How did the woman know which room the couple was? Where was security? Was there an escort? Why was the door open? Was it a set up? Did the police force see the video?

It must be made clear that I am not endorsing any kind of immoral behaviour.

Rather, we should be looking at human rights and the law.

When one enters a hotel, and uses a room, there are certain acceptable rules about privacy.

For example, visitors cannot come and march past the receptionist or security and go to the room. There are protocols. Secondly, the law is clear…sharing of nude photos and videos of persons without permission is criminal. There is jail time.

It is easy to check who first posted it. Technology exists. When I first saw the snide comments and the feeding frenzy, I wondered what it was. Someone sent it and I recoiled in shock. I refused to share.

Everybody makes mistakes and we can bash that woman in the video.

Have we spared a thought of the repercussions? What about her state of mind? I fully understand the other woman's situation and her anger. Two wrongs do not make a right. I suggest the police look into this matter a little closer.

Guyana also watched in shock as another video surfaced showing a school girl with a knife in the back.

There was a fight in Linden between students and suddenly one of them was seen staggering around with a knife in her back.

Police released a shot of the knife later. It was a 'Rambo' knife…a knife with jagged edges that can easily degut a person.

The insinuations are frightening. A student went to school with it. It was used to stab another student. What kind of anger would force one student to do that to another?

There is little the school could have done, save for patting down every student at the entrance.

I know the US has those security measures now, as a result of years of deadly attacks at its schools. The alarming thing is that we have no idea how bad things are in the schools. There are no stats available…at none I know of.

We k n o w t h e r e i s marijuana smoking in schools. We heard anecdotes of weapons taken to schools.

We know of gang fights. We know of girls barely in their teens having 'sugar-daddies', settling for as little as a KFC meal. There is no time now for being politically correct and sugar-coating things.

The issues have to be acknowledged by not only the policy-makers, but parents.

In the absence of the schools lacking the capacity, parents and guardians have to step up to the plate and take responsibility. It is

Leonard Gildarie asinine to blame schools or teachers alone for children.

We simply do not have the capacity.

What we are accepting as part of everyday life could be interpreted largely as an abandonment of values at the home.

Back in my days, I dared not contemplate walking with a knife in school.

A 'Rambo' knife was seen largely as a collector's item, a status thing, if you will.

Marijuana was a 'bad boys' thing. The fact is in many homes, both parents are working. There are many single parent homes too.

Teens are left largely on their own and peer pressure and bullyism have become the order of the day.

How do we fix the situation?

There has to be a national conversation where parents and the schools and the ministry all have to decide.

Should there be checks for weapons at the schools?

What about mandatory drug testing? Should parents check their children's bags?

The status quo should not continue.

I am sure the parents of that girl who was stabbed watched with horror at the moment it happened. They would want to retaliate. What went through the mind of that girl who did the stabbing?

As a country, while we are talking about oil and gas and elections, there are other conversations that need to be happening. It involves our future…our children; it i n v o l v e s o u r vulnerable…our seniors; it involves security; it involves congestion; it involves corruption and state procurement; and of course the quality of health care…and the list goes on.

We have about five weeks to E-day.

Time to ponder what we want from the government which will be running the country for the next five years.

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

Sunday January 26, 2020

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For a number of private hospitals, it is an unspoken policy that sending patients for tests that are unnecessary would be one of major ways how doctors are making money.

“OVER 90,000 CORRECTIONS” MADE TO REVISED LIST OF ELECTORS

From page 33 in the world of finance, has spearheaded the campaign to modify the treatment of mining in the International Monetary Fund’s Government Finance Statistics Manual and the United Nation’s System of National Accounts.

Furthermore, the Goa Foundation advocates the intergenerational equity principle, which articulates a concept of fairness among generations in the use and conservation of the environment and its natural resources.

TEACHERS DON BLACK AND WHITE TO PROTEST ASSAULT BY PARENTS “Parents! Stop the violence against teachers!” was the caption that followed several pictures posted on social media of educators all across Guyana, standing in solidarity of their colleague who was assaulted on school grounds by two parents, just days ago.

The teachers responded to the call made by the President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, Mark Lyte, who encouraged them to ban together in protest of the assault meted out to them and weak security systems in place at the institutions.

Lyte, on the GTU’s official

Facebook pages ,called on “all teachers regardless of status, race, political views and economic position are asked to dress in black and white for work. This is to indicate to our employers that we are dissatisfied with security arrangements put in place for teachers.”

And the teachers did exactly that. By noon, social media was abuzz with pictures of teachers decked out in their black and white attire.

Joining them was the Minister of Education, Dr. Nicolette Henry, along with the Minister of Social Protection’s School Welfare Department and Director of the Child Care and Protect Agency, Ann Greene.

WEDNESDAY PRIVATE HOSPITALS RAKE IN MILLIONS FOR UNNECESSARY TESTS For a number of years now, there have been rising numbers of complaints of the operations of doctors, private clinics and hospitals.

From accusations of wrong injections to malpractice, there has been little evidence that harsh sanctions have been meted out to punish doctors who would have gone rogue.

In recent weeks, there has

been a number of shocking complaints, accusing doctors of being in cahoots with specialists and private hospitals to force patients to pay for tests that are totally unnecessary.

Several hospitals’ staffers and also patients who suffered, reached out to Kaieteur News recently complaining of experiences.

“At one hospital, you go in for a routine cold, and they sending you to do HIV test and a whole bunch of other stuff,” one patient complained Tuesday.

It does not matter whether it is a simple visit for a cough. The hospitals are ordering you do a full barrage of tests…from full blood work to take even mandatory saline drips at the emergency.

One parent whose two children were suddenly ordered to take x-rays for scoliosis (curved spine) by the family’s pediatrician, is now seeking legal recourse. Another doctor expressed shock at the need for the x-rays.

“It is a public secret what is happening. I am, personally sick at what other doctors are doing,” a doctor who operates a private clinic said.

Over 90,000 corrections have been made to the Revised List of Electors (RLE), GECOM Commissioners, Bibi Shadick and Vincent Alexander told reporters Tuesday.

According to Alexander, the changes were made based on information gathered in the recent House to House registration exercise. He noted that the names of over 370,000 persons were garnered in that exercise, and of those persons, over 90,000 would have changed their addresses from when they were previously registered.

Shadick, the PPP Opposition representative on the other hand said that members of her team had requested that GECOM provide the information on the corrections made to the RLE, since it will eventually be used to craft the Official List of Electors (OLE) to take the nation to the election.

Shadick nonetheless stated that GECOM has not been forthcoming with the information and time is running out. She said that the Opposition wants to ensure that the changes are legitimate and that persons are aware of the changes before it is printed in the OLE. “The claims and objections period deadline for the RLE is January 25 and we are still to see the some 90,000 changes made.”

Shadick stated.

GECOM has been pushing towards getting the revised list circulated and vetted in 21 days.

The 21 days of claims and objections commenced on January 5, 2020.

GECOM has since been updating the recently published RLE to reflect changes in addresses and other information of some persons.

However PPP/C, which

Shadick represents, had dubbed the act “illegal”, saying that officials of the Commission have no right to tinker with the information without a claim or objection from a potential voter.

GECOM’s Public Relations Officer Yolanda Ward had however explained that from the recent truncated House-to-House registration exercise, there were a number of registrants who had made changes to their addresses and names.

MAN, 72, BEATEN BY SON’S BOSS DIES It started out as an investigation into malicious damage to property and the attempted murder of a 72year-old Strathspey, East Coast Demerara pensioner.

But murder will now likely be the charge heard after the elderly man, Ramsahoye Deochand, succumbed Tuesday to the injuries he sustained after enduring a severe beating from his son’s employer, allegedly over stolen money and a gold chain.

Police have arrested four suspects who were fingered behind the brutal assault of the pensioner at his Lot 109 Pump Road, Strathspey, East Coast Demerara home on Sunday last.

The man’s grandson, Randy Deochand, had disclosed to Kaieteur News that the beating stemmed from allegations that one of the man’s sons had removed an undisclosed amount of cash and a gold chain from his employer.

At the time of the beating, Deochand was at home with his wife, two sons, his daughter-in-law and his grandchild. Police reported that at around 02:45hrs, his daughter-in-law Taijwattie Bhawanie awoke to the sound of a window being smashed.

Upon investigation, she saw four identifiable men hurling objects at the house. The suspects subsequently

gained entry to the upper flat where the elderly Deochand and his family reside, and proceeded to ransack the home, forcing her and family to flee the residence. After the suspects left, she returned to her home and saw most of her valuables destroyed.

On proceeding to the upper flat of the home, she saw Ramsahoye Deochand covered in blood with lacerations and bruises to his face and about his body.

Kaieteur News was made to understand that the employer and others had previously thrashed one of Deochand’s sons after accusing him of stealing the items. This beating reportedly forced the young man into hiding and his employer commenced an intense search for him. They were said to have raided several of his relatives’ homes in Berbice, Linden and Mon Repos.

THURSDAY WAY CLEAR FOR FIU, CANU TO SHARE INFORMATION ON DRUG CRIMES – ARRANGEMENT WILL ALLOW FOR PARALLEL INVESTIGATIONS The way is clear for two major crime agencies to collaborate on sharing information on drug crimes. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was recently signed to allow for the exchange of information and intelligence relating to subjects suspected to be involved in or convicted of committing drug related offences– in a proactive, timely, safe and secure manner.

The agreement will allow the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Customs Anti Narcotic Unit (CANU) to help further ne u t r a l i s e t h e challenges and implications that come with non-compliance, including but not limited to (Continued on page 42)

PAGE 42

From page 41 blacklisting.De-risking will be further neutralised.

According to the National Anti Narcotics Agency (NANA), satisfying the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force recommendations (FATF) requires that the FIU cooperate and collaborate with all relevant stakeholder agencies and demonstrate effectiveness in sharing its intelligence product with law enforcement agencies and other appropriate authorities.

NANA explained: “Effectiveness will be tested based on the quality and usefulness of the FIU’s intelligence product in furthering investigations for effective prosecutions, convictions, confiscation and forfeiture (both criminal, civil or administrative processes) of assets which are derived from illegal activities, including but not limited to drug trafficking.”

NANA pointed out that drug trafficking is one of the most common predicate offences of money laundering committed in Guyana.

“CANU is one of the key agencies involved in the fight against the trafficking of illicit drugs and psychotropic substances in Guyana. Hence this MoU is seen as a significant and important development in the country’s fight against drug trafficking, money laundering and terrorist financing.”

OILAND CORRUPTION… GUYANA CAN PUSH FOR AUDIT OFFICE TO CHECK OFFICIALS’ EMAILS – UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON INSTRUCTOR While corruption is not unique to the oil sector, there are numerous exa m p l e s around the world which prove that it is without

Sunday January 26, 2020

Kaieteur News

question, one of the most tempting avenues for secret deals and cockishness. Kaieteur News would have highlighted that in Nigeria for example, its former Oil Minister, Dan Etete, made every effort to direct over US$1.1B away from the national coffers to a special account he opened overseas.

The authorities were able to prove this, and more importantly, recover this sum that was paid for an oil block in 2011 using leaked emails between the government officials and the oil companies involved in the corrupt deal.

Upon considering this, University of Houston Instructor, Tom Mitro, says Guyana can use this as its premise to push for the Audit Office to include as part of its work, the audit of officials’ email.

During an interview with Kaieteur News, Mitro said that obviously, this intention by citizens to push for this to be done would put the companies on notice that they need to be transparent in dealings via email. He was keen to note as well that with the release of the emails, some difficulties may be encountered.

The industry expert said, “There might be a few problems with disclosing all emails.

For one, there may be so many it would be almost impossible for one to go through them all and figure them out. And the email with the illegal dealings might not be with the operator, it is more likely to be with one of the subcontractor companies.

And there are probably hundreds of those…”

Further, he was keen to

note that quite often, the best source of information on an illegal deal is someone who was initially involved in the deal but felt that they were cheated.

YEARS LATER… GUYANA STILLAWAITS OIL DEPLETION POLICY It was in early 2016 that talks emerged about the need for Guyana to have a depletion policy which allows the leaders of the day to determine how fast or slow the oil and gas resources must be developed.

But even after the assumption of its petro-state status years later, the country is still to have this document for the efficient management of the sector.

This newspaper understands that the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) would have approved in December 2018, a loan of US$11.6M to help Guyana develop its capacity for the industry.

Part of this money was dedicated to the creation of this policy. To date, the citizenry remains in the dark

about the stage of completion for this document.

Trinidadian Energy Expert, Anthony Paul, would have cautioned in a previous interview that if Guyana wants to lengthen the life of its oil industry, then it urgently needs to put this policy in place.

In the absence of this crucial document, ExxonMobil and its partners, Hess Corporation and CNOOC/NEXEN, are steaming ahead with plans to extract Guyana’s oil as quickly as possible from the Stabroek Block.

In fact, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that ExxonMobil would be introducing five Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSOs) into the Stabroek Block, by 2025.

The first FPSO, Liza Destiny, was in operation since December 2019. The second FPSO, Liza Unity, is projected for hook up by 2022.

The FPSO for Payara has a 2023 deadline.

The IMF noted that a fourth FPSO would be in Guyana’s waters in 2024 with the fifth vessel hooked up in 2025.

FRIDAY JAGDEO JOINS CALLS FOR EXXON’S RELEASE OF GAS, OIL QUANTITIES IN ITS FINDS Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo says it’s a requirement that Guyana know the volume of oil and gas in every material discovery made offshore. He made this and other comments during a press conference at his Church Street office Thursday.

So far, ExxonMobil has made 15 finds on the Stabroek Block, but the public is in the dark about just how much oil and gas is in each discovery.

ExxonMobil has said that there are over 6 billion oilequivalent barrels in totality.

Apart from language that indicates there may be

exceptionally significant bouts of natural gas in the Pluma and Haimara wells, Exxon’s public disclosures don’t quantify or disaggregate what’s in each discovery.

Kaieteur News has heard from Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson that the Liza phase one field is estimated to contain one trillion cubic feet of natural gas. He also indicates knowledge of the gas content in Liza phase two.

The Government,

according to Jagdeo, is not competent or curious enough to demand those answers.

That or they’re compromised, Jagdeo believes.

Exxon’s Government and Public Affairs Advisor, Janelle Persaud, told Kaieteur News since late last year that the company is still analyzing its finds. Kaieteur News has been informed that well logs will show that Exxon and its partners already know. “[Government] wouldn’t even find out about it (Continued on page 43)

Sunday January 26, 2020

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Kaieteur News

From page 42 although it’s a requirement that you know.

They’re not competent enough to ask for it and to start planning for the use of that,” said Jagdeo. He said that a People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government would ensure that it gets all the answers. The party is vying for re-election on March 2, after being unseated in the 2015 general election.

WORKERS BLOCK BERBICE RIVER AS RUSAL SENDS HOME OVER 140 WORKERS – COMPANY CLAIMS GRA BLOCKED DUTY FREE FUEL IMPORTS Russian-controlled Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI) is in the news again, sacking over 140 workers on Wednesday.

Workers reportedly retaliated, claiming the sackings were illegal and have since blocked the Berbice River, in the area of the Kwakwani river front.

Thursday, the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers’ Union (GB&GWU) insisted that actions by BCGI, which is owned by Rusal, one of the biggest bauxite companies in the world, smacks of a planned attack on democracy aimed at creating political turbulence.

General Secretary of the union, Lincoln Lewis, believes that the timing is suspicious, with indications that local parties are fueling the tensions, ahead of the March 2nd elections.

The sackings would come almost a year after workers shut the Berbice operations of BCGI, in Region 10, for over a month after a number of workers were sent home. The situation only ended after a government team intervened, but there is a current standoff over salary increase.

Vessels with logs were stranded in that Upper Berbice River area for weeks.

BCGI has been clashing with consecutive governments, sometimes refusing to attend meetings with labour officials and unions. The company came under fire after it was learnt that despite over US$100M in fuel concessions since it came here in the mid2000s, it failed to pay the Government of Guyana, which owns 10 percent of the company, any dividends.

Other than employment of over 300 staffers, there were little other benefits, derived for the country. Yet, BCGI continued to ship the bauxite out by the boatloads monthly.

BCGI had reportedly attempted to sell its heavy duty equipment, shipping them from the Kurubuka mines area to New Amsterdam, but tax officials from

the Guyana Revenue Authority blocked the sale.

SON AMONG FOUR CHARGED FOR MURDER OF MAN, 72 Four men, including a son of the victim, were Thursday arraigned in the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court for the brutal murder of 72-year-old Strathspey, East Coast Demerara resident, Ramsahoye Deochand.

Permaul Sankar, 34, of 491 Block 8, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara and Khublall Persaud, 35, of 104 Strathspey, E.C.D, along with Mahendranauth Persaud, 32, of 38 Strathspey, E.C.D and the victim’s younger son, 22year-old Mahendra Deochand of 109 Strathspey, East Coast Demerara, all appeared before Magistrate Fabayo Azore where the indictable charge was read.

The charge alleged that on January 20, 2020, the quartet, at Strathspey, East Coast Demerara, murdered Ramsahoye Deochand. The men were not required to plead to the charge. The pensioner succumbed to the injuries he sustained after a severe beating, allegedly over stolen money and a gold chain, on Tuesday. The man was hospitalised for two days before drawing his last breath at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

An autopsy conducted by State Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh gave the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head and multiple injuries.

From graphic images posted on social media, Deochand endured a cruel assault; his head was cut open, fingers bloodied and the elderly man sported bruises about his body. The man was allegedly beaten with a house music amplifier and equalizer.

The pensioner had suffered a stroke, leaving his

entire right side paralyzed.

Khublall Persaud, Mahendranauth Persaud and Permaul Sankar were represented by Attorneys-atLaw Haymant Ramdhani and James Bond, while Deochand remained unrepresented.

In their address to the court, the lawyers’ claimed that Deochand allegedly solely confessed to the crime, but this statement was thrown out by Magistrate Azore who stated that the case is in its initial stages and such accusations should not be put forward.

SATURDAY GUYANA’S MINIMUM SHARE OF OIL RESOURCES MUST BE BETWEEN 15 AND 20% –IMF Upon the request of the Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was invited last year to advise on what reforms would be needed for the fiscal regime of the petroleum sector.

Following this, the IMF visiting team provided a number of recommendations, a key one being that a reasonable, minimum share for the government should be between 15 and 20 percent.

The international organisation which aims to promote global economic growth and financial stability said that Guyana can achieve a 15 to 20 percent take from a combination of royalty and a monthly limit on cost recovery (with excess costs carried forward).

Given the terms of the Guyana-ExxonMobil contract, the cost recovery limit is 75 percent. This means that the contractor is allowed to recover 75 percent of his expenses from annual oil production earnings. The 25 percent that remains is called profit oil. According to the

agreement, this shall be shared 50/50.

Guyana therefore receives of 12.5 percent of the total production. When the two percent royalty is added, Government gets 14.5 percent of the production. The Fund has therefore recommended that going forward, Guyana should increase its take.

Energy Department Head, Dr. Mark Bynoe, has said on several occasions that he is desirous of increasing the Government’s take from its oil resources. Not only does he want an increased royalty for future contracts, but more profit oil too.

In the eyes of Fitch Solutions, an industryleading provider of macro intelligence data, Guyana’s two percent royalty in the ExxonMobil deal for the Stabroek Block is quite low especially when it is compared to other countries in the region like Brazil and Mexico.

The industry analyst noted that for the two nations identified, the minimum base royalty rate for deepwater acreage is 10% and 7.5%.

In fact, the company believes that even a doubling of the current rate will not discourage oil producers, especially after the recent oil discoveries.

At present, Guyana’s arrangement with ExxonMobil sees the country receiving a mere two percent royalty and 50 percent of the profit oil from the Stabroek Block. Importantly, Guyana has agreed to pay Exxon’s taxes out of its share of the profit oil. This simply means that Guyana is accepting way less than 50 percent of the profit oil.

And while there have been numerous calls for Guyana to get a fair deal, ExxonMobil has remained adamant about not returning to the table for the renegotiation of these and other terms.

GUYANACOULD RAKE IN $$ BILLIONS IF DATA IS MADEAVAILABLE ON RELINQUISHED OIL BLOCKS – INDUSTRY EXPERTS Oil companies would prefer it if the data they have accumulated on areas they have studied are kept secret, even after those areas ceases being theirs to operate.

That’s because the revelation of that data to other oil companies and the general public could lead to billions of dollars in signing bonuses for Guyana, particularly for parts of the Stabroek Block.

This was told to Kaieteur News in discussions with several industry experts.

ExxonMobil is slated to relinquish 20 percent of the behemoth 6.6 million-acre Block on October 7, 2020. The Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) it signed with Government in 2016 requires such a relinquishment after the first renewal period, which is four years.

It is typical for data to be kept confidential when a contract covers the concerned area. But after the relinquishment clause of the PSA is fulfilled, 1.3 million acres of the current contract area will no longer be covered by the agreement.

That acreage could form several new blocks. And the data that concerns it will be the sole property of the State.

At this point, many oil companies will fork up attractive offers for the rights to the relinquished areas. The area that is now the Stabroek

Block has been proven to contain billions in high quality oil-equivalent barrels.

G o v e r n m e n t ’s opportunity to get more value for the people doesn’t end there.

It is likely that ExxonMobil has already studied the data to determine which Blocks it intends to farm into in the future. Government can do whatever it wants with the data ExxonMobil will relinquish, including publishing it.

If it does that, other oil companies can study it and determine which parts of the relinquished area are more attractive and likely to contain commercial reserves than others.

All that does is give some of ExxonMobil’s competitive advantage to other companies, and makes it easier for Guyana to rake in billions of dollars.

When pressed about the meager US$18M signing bonus it collected for handing over Stabroek Block rights to ExxonMobil, one of Government’s justifications was that it didn’t know just how much value was there.

This time around, Kaieteur News would have already pointed out how other nations were able to collect large sums for acreage that was less valuable.

Stabroek Block acreage isn’t the only acreage that relinquishment concerns.

ExxonMobil has already relinquished 20 percent of the Canje Block. Others are to be relinquished in the coming years.

Guyana’s future opportunities are vast.

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Kaieteur News

Soca Construction Party set for Feb. 1 at the National Racquet Centre Guyana’s most established Entertainment Entity, Hits & Jams will be celebrating 20 years of success this year.

In consideration of the company’s thousands of supporters both locally and internationally, a number of themed - events in the form of mega concerts,

cooler fetes and pool parties will be launched.

The one year of festivities kick-starts with an event themed ‘Soca Construction Party’ on February 1st at the National Racquet Centre.

Revellers can purchase early bird tickets for just $1000 and general tickets for $2000

at That Look Boutique. Be sure to take advantage of the exquisite décor for the best photo ops and enjoy music vibes from the most versatile boom deejays including Gully Ras and Diamond, DJ Akelo, DJ Energy, Selector Carl, Mix Master Tony and Shizzle. See you there.

Enetworks to show HBO’s most thrilling Original Programmes for 2020 Having survived the end of “Game of Thrones” with buzzy new series like “Euphoria,” “Watchmen,” and “His Dark Materials,” in addition to the well-watched new seasons of “Succession,” “Barry,” and “Big Little Lies,” HBO is preparing for its first post-Westeros year with a similar onslaught of exciting adaptations, enticing followups, and shows skewing toward a younger demographic.

The latter point is perhaps more important than ever, given that 2020 marks another milestone for HBO: the debut of HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s

all-in-one streaming platform that bundles its various networks (and their programs) in one app. HBO Max will have

its own originals, but HBO is still the service’s crown jewel (as evidenced by those three telling letters right before “Max”). It’ll be up to the former Home Box Office as much as, if not more than, any other WarnerMedia network to drive subscriptions, and that’s harder to do without the No. 1 show in the world.

So what will entice subscribers to keep HBO (or add HBO Max) to their ever-growing streaming library this year? 2020 offerings include “The Outsider,” a Stephen King adaptation from “The Night Of” creator Richard Price; “Avenue 5,” Armando Iannucci’s “Veep” follow-up; “The Undoing,” starring Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman; “Bad Education,” HBO’s pricey TIFF film festival acquisition starring Hugh Jackman; “Perry Mason,” from producer Robert Downey Jr. and starring “The Americans” veteran Matthew Rhys, and don’t forget more new originals from indie film favorites Luca Guadagnino, Derek Cianfrance, Paolo Sorrentino. Meanwhile, plenty of fan favourite shows are returning, none more important than the rebooted “Westworld” Season 3, but additional entries like “Euphoria” Season 2, “Barry” Season 3, and “Succession” Season 3 cannot be undervalued. With “House of Dragons” not expected until at least 2021, this likely won’t be the only year without a “Game of Thrones” series on the docket — but it might be the most important year for HBO. Be sure to catch up on these riveting originals via the Enetworks channel.

Sunday January 26, 2020

Sangster’s Cream Liqueur recipes are sure to sweeten your weekend Sangster’s Original Jamaica Rum Cream Liqueur is a smooth, rich drink that is only a few decades old. Proudly distributed by Ansa McAL Limited , this liqueur was inspired by Bailey’s Irish Cream which was the first to combine the creaminess of dairy products with the tickling alcohol taste. If you want to sweeten your home entertainment activities this weekend, be sure to try these cocktail recipes listed below.

Mudslide Ingredients: · 1 oz. of vodka. · 1 oz. of Kahlua. · 1 oz. of Jamaican rum cream. · 1 oz. of milk, cream, or vanilla ice cream. · Ice. Directions: place the ingredients into a blender and mix them until you can see a smooth texture and color. Then, pour the mix in a glass. You can also drizzle some chocolate syrup inside the glass to add some sweetness and a mudslide visual effect.

Hummingbird Ingredients: · 2 oz. of vodka. · 1 oz. of Jamaican rum cream liqueur. · ½ oz. of Tia Maria or Kahlua. · 1 banana. · Milk. · Strawberry syrup.

Directions: first, put all the ingredients in a blender and serve the drink with ice, as a smoothie. You can either blend the ice with the drink or drop a few cubes at the bottom of the glass.

Banana Sandwich Ingredients: · ½ oz. of Kahlua. · 1/3 oz. of banana cream. · 1/6 oz. of Jamaican rum cream.

Directions: Shake the recipient well.

Then, pour into a cocktail glass over a few ice cubes.

Cherry Bomb Ingredients: · 1/3 oz. of Kahlua. · 1/3 oz. of Jamaican rum cream. · 1/6 oz. of banana cream. · 1/6 oz. of cherry brandy.

Directions: This cocktail should be

shaken well in the mixer and then served as quickly as possible, while still foaming at the top.

SHOTS WITH JAMAICAN RUM CREAM 727 Ingredients: · 1/3 oz. of Kahlua · 1/3 oz. of Amaretto · 1/3 oz. of Jamaica rum cream liqueur.

Directions: simply layer all the ingredients in a shot glass and serve on the spot. All the ingredients should be refrigerated.

Cherry Blossom Ingredients: · 1/3 oz. of Swiss chocolate almond. · 1/3 oz. of Sherry. · 1/3 oz. of Jamaica rum cream.

Directions: Layer the ingredients into a shot glass and serve immediately.

DC-9 Ingredients: · 1/3 oz. of Kahlua. · 1/3 oz. of Sambuca. · 1/3 Oz. of Jamaican rum cream liqueur.

Directions: This is another layered shooter drink that should be carefully prepared with cool ingredients.

Desert Skies Ingredients: · 1/3 oz. of Kahlua. · 1/3 oz. of apricot brandy. · 1/3 oz. of Jamaica rum cream.

Directions: take the cold ingredients and a cold shot glass, then layer them into the glass.

SEARCH BEGINS FOR MISS GUYANA CULTURE QUEEN 2020 For the first time ever; Guyana will be hosting a national pageant to select Guyana’s representative to the Annual Caribbean Culture Queen Pageant slated for August 2020 in St. Kitts and Nevis. Under the directorship of Guyanese born international fashion designer and Pageant Guru Randy Madray; the Miss Guyana Culture Queens aims to promote, market and preserves the diverse culture and tourism of Guyana. This year Miss Guyana Culture Queen will be selected through a national pageant from a lineup of carefully selected quarter-finalists. Applicants will complete a well-structured application online after which a panel of the pageant, fashion and other related professionals will select which applicants will move on to the interview round.

From the interviews; the quarterfinalists will be selected to begin the 2020 national pageant. The pageant in itself will feature a preliminary interview and the coronation event.

On the coronation night, delegates will compete in national costume, performing talent, swimwear, evening gown and interview. At the end of the production, Miss Guyana Culture Queen 2020 will be crowned and begin preparation for the regional competition.

Last year, Arian Dahlia Richmond was se-

lected by a team of professionals within the fashion and pageant industry as Miss Guyana Culture Queen 2019 and took on the task of representing Guyana at the Miss Culture Caribbean Queens 2019 Competition. With her grace, poise, and confidence, Arian competed with notable models in the Caribbean and secured the first-runner up position.

She also won several accolades such as Miss Photogenic, Miss Congeniality and Best Country Promotional Video produced by local videographer Anthony Indar.

The Miss Guyana Culture Team will comprise a brilliant team of creatives, professionals and local and international pageants, beauty and fashion experts. Applications are currently opened and the pageant seeks young women between the ages of eighteen (18) and twenty-six (26) who are of great physical health and possess the passion, drive and determination to showcase Guyana’s rich culture and tourism.

Applicants can sign up via the “ Sign Up” button on the Miss Guyana Culture Queen Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ missGuyanaculturequeeen) or via the link provided on the @missguyanaculturequeen Instagram platform. The application deadline is 28th February 2020.

Sunday January 26, 2020

Daily chocolate intake linked to lower risk of diabetes, heart disease

Study co-author Prof. Saverio Stranges visiting academic of the University of Warwick Medical School, United Kingdom, and scientific director of the Department of Population Health at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) - and colleagues publish their findings in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Chocolate is often perceived as a treat that should only be enjoyed from time to time.

Given its high fat and sugar content, this is no surprise; overconsumption can lead to health problems, such as tooth decay and obesity.

However, studies are increasingly suggesting regular, moderate chocolate consumption may yield significant health benefits, particularly when it comes to dark chocolate.

Dark chocolate has the highest cocoa content, which means it has the highest levels of antioxidants - specifically, flavonoids - which are molecules that can prevent some forms of cell damage.

For their study, Prof. Stranges and colleagues analyzed the chocolate consumption of 1,153 people aged 18-69 who were part of the Observation of Cardiovascular Risk in Luxembourg (ORISCAV-LUX) study.

Data on chocolate intake were gathered from participants’ completion of a food frequency questionnaire.

The team set out to investigate whether chocolate intake is associated with insulin resistance - where the body’s cells do not effectively respond to insulin, raising the risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

They also assessed how chocolate consumption affected liver enzyme levels, which is a measure of liver function.

Reduced insulin resistance with daily chocolate consumption The researchers found that 81.8 percent of the study participants consumed chocolate, with an average consumption of 24.8 grams daily.

Compared with participants who did not eat chocolate every day, those who did were found to have reduced insulin resistance and improved liver enzyme levels. The effect was stronger the higher the chocolate consumption, the team reports.

The findings remained after accounting for participants’ age, sex, education, lifestyle, and dietary factors that could affect the results.

Dietary factors included intake of tea and

coffee rich in the antioxidants polyphenols, which the researchers say have the potential to spur chocolate’s benefits for cardiometabolic risk.

Cardiometabolic risk refers to a person’s likelihood of developing diabetes, heart disease, or stroke.

Participants who ate chocolate were more physically active, younger, and more highly educated than those who did not eat chocolate, according to the authors.

Prof. Stranges and colleagues say their findings suggest that chocolate consumption may reduce the risk of developing cardiometabolic disorders by improving liver enzyme levels and protecting against insulin resistance.

“Given the growing body of evidence, including our own study, cocoa-based products may represent an additional dietary recommendation to improve cardiometabolic health; however, observational results need to be supported by robust trial evidence.

Potential applications of this knowledge include recommendations by healthcare professionals to encourage individuals to consume a wide range of phytochemical-rich foods, which can include dark chocolate in moderate amounts.”

However, Prof. Stranges notes that it is important to distinguish the difference between chocolate that contains natural cocoa and processed chocolate; the latter is much higher in calories.

“Therefore, physical activity, diet and other lifestyle factors must be carefully balanced to avoid detrimental weight gain over time,” he adds. http:// www.medicalnewstoday.com.

Happiness genes located for the first time In the journal Nature, the international team describes how it analyzed genomic data from hundreds of thousands of people to find genetic variants associated with our feelings of well-being,depression and neuroticism.

One of the researchers, Alexis Frazier-Wood, assistant professor of pediatrics and nutrition at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, says: “We report that we found three genetic variants associated with subjective wellbeing - how happy a person thinks or feels about his or her life. We also found two genes harboring variants associated with depressive symptoms and 11 genes where variation was associated with neuroticism.”

The team also found that the gene variants are mainly expressed incentral nervous

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Kaieteur News

system and adrenal or pancreas tissues.

For the study, the team carried out a meta-analysis that is, they brought together genomic data from many other studies - and used advanced statistical tools to analyze the pooled data as if it came from one huge study of 298,000 people.Previous studies have suggested that individual differences in happiness and well-being might be linked to genetic differences between people. There is increasing interest in the topic as growing evidence suggests wellbeing is a factor in both mental and physical health.

However, the researchers warn that genes are not the whole story when it comes to determining how people think and feel about their lives.

They explain that the environment, and how it interacts with genes, is just as

important.But, studying the genes could help us start to understand why some people might be biologically predisposed to develop these symptoms, they note.

The researchers also hope the findings, which are available for follow-up research, will help to clarify the picture of what causes differences in happiness. They see this breakthrough discovery as just the beginning and believe the variants they have located are but a small fraction of what is waiting to be discovered.

“The genetic overlap with depressive symptoms that we have found is also a breakthrough. This shows that research into happiness can also offer new insights into the causes of one of the greatest medical challenges of our time: depression.” http:// www.medicalnewstoday.com.

‘Stop using BMI as measure of health,’ say researchers The study provides more evidence to support the idea that a person’s body mass index (BMI = weight in kg divided by height in m2) is a flawed measure of health.

In spite of this, BMI continues to be used as a yardstick for determining health status. Many employers use it to calculate workers’ health care costs, note the researchers behind the new study, who report their findings in the International Journal of Obesity.

And soon, if a rule proposed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is adopted, US employers will be allowed to charge employees up to 30% of health care costs if they fail to meet certain health criteria such as not having a BMI in the normal range (between 18.5 and 24.99).

The study, led by A. Janet Tomiyama, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), analyzed the link between BMI and cardiometabolic health using data from the most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

The cardiometabolic health data available in the NHANES gives measures of blood pressure, triglycerides, cholesterol, glucose, insulin resistance and C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation).

The analysis shows nearly half of Americans whose BMI puts them in the overweight category (34.4 million people) are actually healthy according to cardiometabolic measures, as are 19.8 million whose BMI classes them as obese.

The researchers also found that 15% of Americans (2 million people) whose BMI calculation is 35 or higher thus classing them as very obese - are also healthy.

Prof. Tomiyama says: “Many people see obesity as a death sentence. But the data show there are tens of millions of people who are overweight and obese and are perfectly healthy.”

She says that these people would be unlikely to incur higher medical expenses and it would be unfair to charge them higher premiums based only on their BMI. The study also finds over 30% of Americans whose BMI puts them in the normal range (nearly 21 million people) are actually unhealthy according to cardiometabolic measures.

Altogether, say the authors, nearly 75 million adults in the US are misclassified as either healthy or unhealthy when BMI is used as the sole health indicator.

Prof. Tomiyama says she is surprised by the large numbers they found in the new study and remarks how un-

fair it is that many healthy people may be penalized, while many unhealthy people will not get charged more for their health insurance, based on their BMI. She notes: “Employers, policy makers and insurance companies should focus on actual health markers.”In previous work, her lab - which specializes in diet, stress and health - has also found no clear link between weight loss and improvements in blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, glucose and other health measures.Prof. Tomiyama now intends to study people with high BMI who are very healthy.Co-author Jeffrey Hunger, a doctoral candidate at the University of California-Santa Barbara, urges people to obsess less about their weight and focus on following a healthy diet and taking regular exercise.He says their study confirms how flawed BMI is as an indicator of health and concludes that “this should be the final nail in the coffin for BMI.” In 2013, Medical News Today reported on a Science paper that discusses why BMI is an inaccurate measure of body fat content and how there is an urgent need for accurate, practical and affordable tools to measure biomarkers that can better predict the risks of disease and death. http:// www.medicalnewstoday.com.

Low salt intake may raise risk of heart attack, stroke, and death Published in The Lancet, the study found that low salt, or sodium, intake may raise the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death, compared with an average salt intake.

Lead author Andrew Mente, of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in Canada, and colleagues say their results indicate only people with high blood pressure(hypertension) who have a high salt intake should reduce their salt consumption.

Furthermore, the researchers suggest current recommendations for daily salt consumption may be set too low.The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that Americans consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day - the equivalent to 1 teaspoon of salt.However, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) earlier this year revealed that around 90 percent of Americans consume salt at levels above the recommended limit.It is widely accepted that too much salt in the diet can lead to high blood pressure, increasing the risk for heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases.But does reducing salt intake to the levels recommended in current guidelines really reduce the risk of such outcomes? This is what Mente and colleagues set out to investigate.The team analyzed data of more than 130,000 individuals spanning 49 countries.They looked at the sodium intake of participants and how this related to the risk of heart disease and stroke among those with and without high blood pressure.

Compared with people who had an average sodium intake, the rates of heart attack, stroke, and death were higher among those who had a low sodium intake, regardless of whether participants had high blood pressure.Interestingly, low salt intake in the study was defined as an intake of less than 3,000 milligrams a day, which is above current recommendations in the United States.

Furthermore, the researchers found that only individuals with high blood pressure appeared to be subject to the risks associated with high salt intake - defined as more than 6,000 milligrams daily.Mente says the team’s findings are “extremely important” for individuals with high blood pressure.“While our data highlights the importance of reducing high salt intake in people with hypertension, it does not support reducing salt intake to low levels.Our findings are important because they show that lowering sodium is best targeted at those with hypertension who also consume high sodium diets.”Based on their results, Mente suggests that strategies to reduce salt consumption should be targeted at those with high blood pressure who have a high salt intake.Furthermore, the team believes the results indicate that the current daily recommendation for salt intake may be set too low.“An approach that recommends salt in moderation, particularly focused on those with hypertension, appears more in-line with current evidence.” http:// www.medicalnewstoday.com.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 46

Elephant and the Pig

Sunday January 26, 2020

Junior page

BY MUKESH MANI

A

n elephant was walking toward its herd after taking bath in a nearby river.

On its way the elephant sees a pig walking towards it. The pig as usual was coming after a relaxing dip in muddy waters. It was covered in mud.

Upon approaching closer, the pig sees the elephant moving out of its way allowing the pig to pass.

While walking past, the pig makes fun of the elephant accusing the elephant of being afraid of it.

It also tells this to other pigs standing nearby and they all laugh at the elephant. Upon seeing this, some elephants from the herd ask their friend in amazement, “Were you really afraid of that pig?”

To which the elephant replies, “No. I could have crushed that pig under my leg if I wanted to, but the pig was muddy and the mud would have splashed on me too. I wanted to avoid that, hence I stepped aside.”

Moral of the story: The mud covered pig in the story is a metaphor for

negative energy. When you interact with negative energy, you allow your space to be infiltrated by that energy too.

The evolved way is to let go of such petty distractions and focus all your energy on your goals instead.

Even though the elephant must have felt anger, it did not allow the anger to evoke an automatic emotional reaction.

Instead it responded after careful examination of the situation and that response was to let the pig go.

Once you are in a higher state of vibration (more self aware), you are no longer be distracted by petty things. You

no longer automatically react to all external stimuli. You have a deeper understanding of what serves you and what does not.

Spending your precious energy arguing/fighting with someone who is egoistically motivated is never going to serve you. It just leads to a, ‘who is better’ battle where no one wins. You end up giving your energy to an energy vampire who craves attention and drama.

Instead, you are better off spending all your focus on things that matter and simply discard things that are of a lower significance.

DoT-to-DoT Connect all the dots, start by counting from one.

What you need: red construction paper (we recommend you print on red paper), black construction paper, scissors, glue. You can also print the template on white paper and color in the template.

Step by Step Tutorial Print out the template. If you are going to use our template as stencil, we do recommend you print it on red heavier print paper, as this way you won’t need to cut the little black hearts to place on the ladybug’s wings. If you are going to color in the template, let color it before cutting. Cut out all the parts for the heart ladybug craft.

Trace the body part (two joining hearts) on black paper.

Also cut the head on black paper. Trace the wings on red paper. Cut out all parts.

You can cut the 7 small black hearts and stick them on the red heart or you can draw the hearts yourself.

Cut the red heart in half.

Fold the body (joined hearts) in half – making a heart shaped card. Stick on the small heart for the head of the ladybug. Stick on the two wings, slightly open apart. Cut a small white (or any other bright) heart shape (or other shape) and stick it inside the ladybug heart card. Write your note.

All done!

FUN WITH POETRY

by Uncle Roy We learn to speak well in school, To use words in the right way, But most times I use wrong language, Just as my friends and others say.

I know that I should speak right, As in school I learn to do; This will help me now and later, When I have studies and work to get through.

So I will try harder to speak right, And help my friends to do like me; This will make it easier to live and learn, To make myself the best I can be.

Kaieteur News

Sunday January 26, 2020

Keep on keeping on the road to Self-Improvement

H

ere are more tips to becoming your best: 13. Always try to put forward your best every time. The people who have succeeded in the greatest manner are those who pushed themselves to not accept anything less than the best they could give to any situation. Let excellence become a habit, and you will be surprised how much you can do.

14. Strive to be happy.

People often feel that, because there is nothing really exciting happening to them, then they cannot enjoy life. The fact is that real enjoyment of life does not come from thrills or extraordinary events. One can derive the greatest pleasures from the simple things around at any time – a w a l k i n o n e ’s neighbourhood, observing the trees, the birds and animals, even the people going about their everyday tasks. A lively conversation about what is in the news, or about what is happening in one’s own life, can be just as

uplifting.

15. Be content with what you have. Each of us at any given time must have what is needed to make us happy if we only appreciate it, and do not lust over what other people possess.

Your own health and talents, the love of your family, how you are being successful at what you are doing, all these can make you feel contented.

Happiness is a choice, and you can be happy in any circumstances if you have a contented mind.

16. Do things that work to make your time benefit you. Getting rid of

distractions like watching less television will allow you time to really get connected to your family and friends, and do the things necessary to make you successful.

Read something worthwhile daily – a good story book, passages from the scriptures of your religion, instructions on some hobby you have.

Some people develop a wonderful practice of writing down their thoughts about what is happening to them every day, and this can be good reading in the future, and help you to see things more clearly.

17. Take the time to develop the relationships

with those who mean much to you. Spending time alone with a brother or sister, a father or mother, and really exploring your thoughts and feelings with them, can lead to great benefit to both of you, and give you a clear insight in how to live a better life. Take the time to celebrate with them anything they have been successful in, and they will surely do the same for you.

18. Work to build your relationships by courtesy to all. One of the main reasons why some people fail in their relationships with others, whether it is with parents, teachers, bosses or others with whom they associate, is because they do not pay enough attention to being polite to these persons.

The result is that they fail to impress them, even though they may be otherwise good enough in other areas of their behaviour or have the abilities to succeed.

Please watch out in the coming weeks for more pointers on becoming your best.

PAGE 47

The Choice Is Yours At every time and in every place, Of whatever people you belong, If you observe life with a clear honest eye, You cannot help but see – Life is cast in two clear moulds, And yours is the freedom to choose; Your choice will determine your fate For now, tomorrow, and all eternity.

On one hand there is the idle side, With many pleasures that call to you, It is easy as sliding down a hill, But filled later with destruction and sorrow, The other side has its hardships, With discipline and sacrifices to endure, But always resulting in a bright future, Full of promise and hope for tomorrow.

So he who is preparing to carve his destiny Must surely try to pass the test, With care and forethought to choose The path that would lead him to his best.

As you grow older, your destiny becomes more and more in your own hands.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

Solutions to last week’s

WORD SEARCH

sUguRu

Goodluck!

PAGE 48

Simple Ways to Relieve Stress and Anxiety 1. Exercise Exercise is one of the most important things you can do to combat stress.

It might seem contradictory, but putting physical stress on your body through exercise can relieve mental stress.

The benefits are strongest when you exercise regularly. People who exercise regularly are less likely to experience anxiety than those who don’t exercise (1).

2. Consider Supplements Several supplements promote stress and anxiety reduction.

3. Light a Candle Using essential oils or burning a scented candle may help reduce your feelings of stress and anxiety.

Some scents are especially soothing.

Using scents to treat your mood is called aromatherapy.

Several studies show that aromatherapy can decrease anxiety and improve sleep 4. Reduce Your Caffeine Intake Caffeine is a stimulant found in coffee, tea, chocolate and energy drinks. High doses can increase anxiety ( 5. Write It Down One way to handle stress is to write things down.

While recording what you’re stressed about is one approach, another is jotting down what you’re grateful for.

Gratitude may help relieve stress and anxiety by focusing your thoughts on what’s positive in your life.

6. Chew Gum For a super easy and quick stress reliever, try chewing a stick of gum.

One study showed that people who chewed gum had a greater sense of wellbeing and lower stress (11).

One possible explanation is that chewing gum causes brain waves similar to those of relaxed people. Another is that chewing gum promotes blood flow to your brain.

7. Spend Time With Friends and Family Social support from friends and family can help you get through stressful times.

Being part of a friend network gives you a sense of belonging and self-worth, which can help you in tough times.

8. Laugh It’s hard to feel anxious when you’re laughing. It’s good for your health, and there are a few ways it may help relieve stress: • Relieving your stress response.

• Relieving tension by relaxing your muscles.

In the long term, laughter can also help improve your immune system and mood.

9. Learn to Say No Not all stressors are within your control, but some are.

Take control over the parts of your life that you can change and are causing you stress.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/16 -ways-relieve-stress-anxiety#section16

SOLUTION TO LAST WEEK’S WORD SEARCH

Kaieteur News

Sunday January 26, 2020

Sunday January 26, 2020

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Sunday January 26, 2020

Kaieteur News

Sunday January 26, 2020

PAGE 57

GUYANESE THOUGHTS ON FIRST OIL

“If I can’t get a better deal for what is mine, then leaders must be sued” Kerian Jaggernauth University Student “I am 21 years –old. I don’t know much about the oil industry or first oil. I just know that we get oil but I have learnt from the daily media that Guyanese will not benefit from the current Exxon Contract.

My friends and colleagues believe that there is no hope. Boat gone a falls and can’t come back. I strongly believe that the media is doing a great job in pointing out what needs to be done to get a better deal.

I am aware that some politicians are not in favour of renegotiating the contract.

I don’t know why. But I believe that they should because the oil does not belong to them or the oil company. It belongs to we. Is we own. Our leaders were elected by us to negotiate on our behalf and if they made a bad deal that’s fine. But if there are told what needs to be done and they deny to make a change then they must be sued. It is like this.

I inherited a business but I don’t know how to make deals so I hire an expert who knows. The first deal he made was poor and could run my

company bankrupt. I call him and tell him that the deal he made is bad and disastrous for my company.

I point out what needs to be changed and sends him to renegotiate the deal. If he refuses I will fire him because I will be the one suffering from bankruptcy not him and if he refuses to be fired then a gun call de police fuh drag he out the building.”

This is why I believe that if our leaders refuse to make a better deal for us then legal actions must be taken against them” **

Wren Babb - Local barber

“Bai, I believe we getting something from this oil…We getting rob. You ain’t see Exxon get a whole ship with a million barrel.

Watch wa we get a litre bottle. Fuh me first oil is a disappointment fuh nuff people.

Everybody talking bout we gon get rich but so far I still fighting fuh a dollar.”

Wendy Austin– Secretary of the Guyana Conference of Seventh day Adventist “I don’t feel the big hype about first oil. I mean you hear all this talk about Guyana gon get rich but I ain see nutin yet. I does hear people talk a lot about this oil that we get a bad deal.

Suriname get a better deal than we. I don’t know much but it is kinda startling that Suriname get a better deal than we.

I am not against the government in any way.

They have done some good and deserve credit. If a renegotiation is the way to go I would support that 100 percent cause its only fair that we get enough to atleast come out of poverty. I am a single parent and I struggle to make ends meet if a

renegotiation cud mek my life better then I wud like that.” ** Anil —Vendor I use to follow that oil ting but I don’t follow it no more. That ting bout first oil is a disappointment. Plus I feel we get disrespected.

How Suriname could get more than we? Who is we?

We stupidy or something?

Plus let me tell yuh something we suppose to get more than Suriname.

Dem man come in we turf and trace de oil to Suriname. But dem can’t go in Suriname and dem suck out de oil. Dem gah pay dem man good. And we is dem eye pass. I don’t follow it up no mo because it does hut meh heart. I hear all dem tings bout them country suffering from oil curse and d people poor. Me ain want duh happen to me suh I gat different mind set.

I don’t depend on no oil money and wait fuh it. I gon sell and wuk hard every day fuh me dollar. If we get a better deal I would feel nice.

But then again yuh gat to get transparency wid dem politicians. **

Avinash “ Fuh me dis whole raw deal ting is because of corruption. You ain’t see Suriname signing bonus is US$100 million and we get US$18 million.

You could imagine we minister seh he thought it was a gift. What nonsense is that? He rite is a gift, a gift fuh he. Duh is pocket change fuh d Guyanese people. I am sure Suriname deh right now smiling with dem US$100 million. Dem probably done do something nice fuh de Suriname people.

We still deh waitin fuh see dis big money. I believe we can get a better deal but we gat to get rid of de corruption wha a tek place in dis place. Dem man get pay off because I can’t see you next door neighbour get something better and you sit down silent and smiling as if nothing bothering you.” ** Akash - Water seller “Me nah follow up dem oil ting duh buddae. I good hay in me corner. I gah wuk hard cause all dem promises but oil money false. We ain get nun fuh get from the oil ting. De whole ting disappointing.

I know when yuh invest yuh money yuh does ga get it back but duh Suriname ting raise nuff questions. You could suggest a renegotiation but when that guh happen. I is done 50.

Dem done seh we gun get rich, first oil cum and gone.

I still deh out hay in dis sun fightin fuh get a dollar. I would glad fuh dem get betta deal but at de rate how I see we moving I might dead by time we get a better deal. I only hope that meh grandchildren could cash in. but as it stands right now we ain getting nun and nutten fuh get.”

Akash - Water seller

Region Ten unveils official calendar of activities for Mash 2020

T

hrough its Commemorative Committee, the Region Ten Democratic Council has released its Mashramani calendar of activities for 2020. In fact, it has been revealed that the Region has plans for immense pomp and fanfare to observe the nation’s 50th Republic Anniversary.

Deputy Regional Executive Officer (DREO), Maylene Stephen, disclosed that among the key activities will be: a cocktail event on February 6; Soca Semi Finals on February 8; Regional Talent Night on February 12; Flag raising ceremonies planned for Linden, Kwakwani and Ituni on February 22 and the National Costume and Float parade on February 23.

On the calendar of activities are the Linden Mashramani Float parade, Kwakwani Float parade, Mashramani Wet Fete, Children’s Dance, Poetry, Calypso and Costume competition and an awards ceremony to recognize

persons who have played a pivotal role in the growth and development of Region Ten over the past 50 years.

Stephen said that while all of the activities planned are expected to see eager participation from the general public, she stressed that the honouring of residents who have made valuable and critical contributions over the years would be the hallmark of this y e a r ’s a n n i v e r s a r y celebration.

“We are now discussing the awards ceremony as we are seeking to ensure that those who are selected to be honoured would have certainly merited it.

“We want to recognize those who would have made the greatest contribution. We are cognizant that a number of persons have been contributing and would have contributed, however we seek to recognize those that have made the greatest contribution,” Stephen added.

The DREO said that the excitement among residents

is heating up. Several persons have been approaching her office to enquire how they can get involved in some of the activities.

She however appealed to residents who have an interest in being part of the Regional Road Parade to come into her office so as to get registered.

“We want the public to know that registration has commenced and that they can come into my office and get registered as registration has already commenced and they should do this as early as possible,” she urged.

Commenting on the awarding of persons who have made sterling and significant contribution to the growth and development of Region Ten over the past 50 years, the DREO said that a committee will be put in place to execute this event.

She stressed that they will be recognising the performances and/or contributions of several stalwarts from Region 10 with the view of determining

those who would be honoured as part of the 50th anniversary. She noted that persons and organisations will be honoured in Education, Sports, Health, Community Development, Politics, Media, Religion, Agriculture and Public Service, stressing that while the list of persons who have contributed in these areas are very long, the region will review and select those who would have made the greatest impact.

“We are aware that Region Ten has been blessed with a number of persons who have truly contributed

in a meaningful way to the holistic growth and development of the region in several ways, and that is what, through this award programme, we will seek to do, we will honour the best of the best as we will recognize our greatest from Linden, Kwakwani and Ituni,” she declared.

Stephen said that while a date for this event has not been confirmed, she is hopeful that it will be held in February.

According to her too, plans are apace to have the presence of a number of government ministers and

the president at the event.

She said that despite this event not being one of the original activities planned for the 2020 celebrations, she feels that with its timeliness and importance finding the required funding for it should not be too much of a challenge.

“There are some organizations and companies that we intend to approach for support and I am confident that we would be able to garner the required funding to execute this event as it is not only timely but very important,” she stressed.

Rusal threatens to remove essential...

From page 12 strong view that Minister Scott has also not demonstrated he has the c a p a c i t y, p o l i t i c a l , experiential, or labour driven perspectives to successfully manage the department he leads. “He has certainly not in the case of the bauxite and gold workers demonstrated

ministerial trustworthiness.”

RUSAL is one of the biggest bauxite companies in the world but has a sordid history of labour relations in Guyana. In 2009, it sacked over 50 workers for striking for better conditions in its Region Ten mines.

Last year, workers forced a month-long standoff,

blocking the Berbice River, before Government stepped in and brokered an uneasy resumption.

With elections five weeks away, the issue is putting to t e s t t h e C o a l i t i o n ’s government capacity to deal with investors, at a time also when Guyana has started oil production as well.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 58

Sunday January 26, 2020

Taxi driver’s hijacked car found in Berbice

A

48-year-old taxi driver of Canal Number Two, We s t B a n k D e m e r a r a (WBD) is in a state of shock after he was brutally robbed

and beaten Saturday morning by armed bandits.

The victim has been identified as Rameshwar Fewdyal of Lot 11 Roseatta Drive, Canal Number Two,

West Bank Demerara. The incident occurred around 06:30hrs. Kaieteur News understands that on the day in question, the victim who works as a taxi driver was

Victim showing the injuries he sustained during the robbery

plying his trade in the vicinity of Stabroek Market, Georgetown, when he was approached by two men who wanted him to take them to a location in South Ruimveldt, Georgetown.

However things did not go as planned.

In an interview, the victim stated that after arriving at a lonely corner in C a n e Vi e w, S o u t h Ruimveldt, the suspect that was sitting at the front of the car took out a gun that was in the waist of his pants and placed it to the victim’s head.

The bandit then ordered him to exit the vehicle while the passenger that was seated in the back of the vehicle started to choke him.

After Mr. Fewdyal exited the vehicle the armed

bandits drove off with the car; which was lately recovered in Kingelly Village, West Coast Berbice (WCB). “ I did not want to take them anywhere in the first instance but the men started to plead with me and asking if it’s not money I come out to work for. After they keep begging me I decided to take them to South and that is when they robbed me.”

According to the victim, during the course of the robbery he was beaten and chopped by his attackers.

The injury caused him to seek medical attention.

“I was so scared I left the car key in the car along with $120,000 that I also had in my car and the bandits drove off with everything.”

When contacted a police source stated that an eye witness saw a car driving down a dam heading to Back Street, Kingelly at a fast rate and decided to call the police.

However this would have been after the suspects had evaded a police road block, almost hitting down a police rank, the police then gave chase , causing the suspects to abandon the car in Back Street Kingelly Persons in the area remember seeing two men exiting the vehicle with injuries about their bodies.

Fewdyal stated that the car is currently at the Weldad Police Station, West Coast Berbice.

The matter is being investigated .

Sunday January 26, 2020

PAGE 59

Kaieteur News

STANDARDS IN FOCUS

THE GNBS ADVISES CONSUMERS TO GET ALL MEDICAL TESTING DONE AT A CERTIFIED MEDICAL LABORATORY

I

n Guyana, laboratories are certified by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) to the National Laboratory Standard GYS 170:2009 “General requirements for the operation of a laboratory”.

Conforming to this standard allows these laboratories to develop a comprehensive management system, which in turn facilitates the delivery of accurate and reliable test results for consumers.

Laboratory Certification is a means of determining the performance of l a b o r a t o r i e s t h a t are involved in conducting testing, measurement and calibration activities. It provides formal recognition that a laboratory has implemented a management system, thus providing a ready means for customers to identify and select reliable testing, measurement

and calibration services to meet their needs.

Currently, there are twelve laboratories that are certified by the GNBS. These are the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation Medical Laboratory, Woodlands Pathology Laboratory, Woodlands Medical Laboratory, Dr. Balwant Singh Hospital Laboratory, Eureka Medical Laboratories Inc., Medical Arts Centre Laboratory, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Labor a t o r y, Q u e s t M e d i c a l Laboratory, Guyana Defense Force Medical Laboratory, Dr. Leslie Persaud Medical Diagnostic Centre, Doobay Medical and Research Centre Laboratory and Anamayah Memorial Hospital Laboratory.

Patients needing medical tests should confidently do so by utilizing the testing services of these laboratories.

Certification benefits laboratories by allowing them

to consistently operate in accordance with established procedures that are based on the requirements of the national standard.

It also provides them with a benchmark for maintaining the laboratory management system and for improving the services offered to clients.

To ma i n t a i n this recognition, laboratories are re-evaluated periodically by the GNBS, to ensure that there is continuous conformance with the requirements, including the calibration of instruments used, employment of trained staff, the commitment to meet customer requirements, and verifying that their standard of operation is being maintained.

Laboratories may also be required to participate in relevant proficiency testing programmes between re-

Man’s Eternal Search for Meaning From page 38 bound to existence and fate.

James’ literary criticism of these key philosophical theories in philosophy is insightful.And while there is no definitive, empirical resolution on this subject, there are qualitative truths that bring us closer to understanding our purpose within an evolutionary and creational construct.

James does not embrace the ontological, epistemological or teleological arguments for creation, neither doers he refute them; but they all find a place in his paradigm.

Interestingly, there appears a Nietzsche-like pessimism in some of James’ writing. Man savours his ignorance, he concludes. He writes, “It is understandable and easy for the knowledgeable to assume that knowledge will inevitably overcome ignorance.” He bemoans the fallacy of this assumption, arguing that, “there is the fierce commitment of the ig-

norant to the reliable comfort of their ignorance.”

He is equally didactic as he shifts to the political and economic zeitgeist of the west. Capitalism as a system is gasping and reform is dire and necessary for economic equanimity, he notes. However, this supposed change is questionable as the political climate indicates.

James impugns the indolence and ineptitude of lawmakers amidst America’s political freefall; and autocratic rule could well be imminent, he avers.

Alarmingly, the Democratic Party is given a pass as he unleashes a damning indictment on the “45 president,” citing comparisons with the rise of Nazism and “white tribalism,” - for many, a hyperbole and a preposterous overreach.

And of man’s response to the ever changing world of technology, James states, “Although [these] certainly resulted in generally more favorable than unfavorable out-

comes, they no doubt caused varying degrees of discontent and distress among a wide range of people around the globe.” Nevertheless, he offers that “it is important to recognize the distinct relevance, contributory nature, endless value and extensive impact of human imagination,” – a new cultural dynamic that is “symptomatic” of man’s innate freedom.

Throughout, James clothes his work with analytical depth, but never does he surrender clarity in the process. In making thinkers in all of us, he has succeeded.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper) F e e d b a c k : glenvilleashby@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter@glenvilleashby Copyright © 2019 Owen Everard James ISBN: 9781692254407 Available at Amazon Ratings: Essential

Legislative expert, ‘Bryn’ Pollard... from page 10 cautioning successive administrations on potential slips and errors. He was nominated by the practicing Bar to act as its representative on the Judicial Service Committee, where he again provided solid service for several years until demitting office in 2010. Lending to the voices, expressing condolences, was the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, S. C. who described

Pollard as an outstanding attorney.Message of Condolence on the death of Mr. Brynmor Pollard, OR, CCH, SC, fromPresident David Granger, in a statement said he is saddened at the death of the legal luminary. ”For his outstanding contributions in the field of law at the national, regional, Commonwealth and international levels, Mr. Pollard was conferred the Cacique’s Crown of Honour

(CCH) and later in 2015, with the Order of Roraima.”“President Granger expresses heartfelt sympathy to Mr. Pollard’s four children –Mr. Andrew Pollard, SC; Under Secretary General of the United Nations, Ms. Catherine Pollard, Messrs Ian and Michael Pollard and his six grandchildren – Gina, Angelica, Nikolas, Tyla, Nataliya and Julia and other relatives and friends,” the statement said.

assessments, as a further demonstration of technical performance.

Credible results from certified laboratories will also give medical practitioners and other health professionals confidence in the results provided to them for the appro-

priate diagnosis and treatment of patients.

Meanwhile, laboratories that are not yet certified are encouraged to be a part of the GNBS Laboratory Certification Programme to deliver quality medical testing services that meet their custom-

ers’ needs and expand their client base.

For further information, please contact the GNBS on telephone numbers: 2190069, 219-0065, 2190062, WhatsApp: 692-GNBS (4627) or visit the GNBS Website: www. gnbsgy.org

PAGE 60

SERVICES

FOR SALE

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

Lot 14 - 10,204 Sq ft Ph#264-2948/615-2270.

ICONIC MARKETING & PRINTING –TEL: 6006887: We create A/works, logos, business cards, posters, etc, placements of ads included.

PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, G R A D U AT I O N , W E D D I N G S , ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 Jacob’s Jewellry and pawnshop, friendly money lenders. 16 Pike Street Kitty, Georgetown. Tel#227-8748/ 622-4970 We repair Fridge, Freezer, AC, Washer, Dryer-Call#231-0655/ 683-8734 Omar.

REPAIRS AT LOW COST: FRIDGES, AIR CONDITIONERS, WASHING MACHINE, FREEZER, SALE OF AC’S. TEL#629-4946,225-4822

(3) Mack Garbage trucks, 1 Skip Truck. Tel#683-6814/4420162 Copra Meal for sale.

Contact#223-5273/2235274

Salesman, good verbal/ excellent attitude, knowledge in stocktaking, computer literate & team player.Keyfood McDoom.

PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, G R A D U AT I O N , W E D D I N G S , ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620

1 bodywork technician. Tel# 668-7033

Snackette for rent, Mobile snackettes, price $20,000 monthly. Tel# 697-6311

Yamaha Outboard 150HP 400k, 4 HP, 120k, all foreign use. Call: 699-6467

One Apartment with two room for rent at Market Street Mon Repos E.C.Dem.Tel#220-7330/ 614-0005.

High & Saffon St (Business) Office space at High & Hadfield Street. Contact Ray’s Realty #627-9685 CHARLOTTE ST: 3 BEDROOMS, 2 BATHROOMS, UPSTAIRS, $1000 USD MONTH . CALL 670-5556. NO AGENTS PLEASE

LAND FOR SALE Transported land 11.6 acres, Lot 15 Public Road #2 Village W.C.B/ce 5 mins from B/ce bridge.Contact#686-4818/6487109.

KITTY: 2 BEDROOMS, SECURE $90,000 MONTHLY. CALL: 6705556. NO AGENTS PLEASE TO LET

Parfaite Harmonie $1.4M Schnoord $3.6M Farm Main road $6.5M Covent Garden (100ft x 50ft) $4M Tel# 6481635/656-0701

Lodge Apartments (Vlissengen/Durban): Unfurnished $40,000-$60,000 p/m. Furnished ( For Visitors) $600 US p/m. #633-8514/6687305/697-6421

Transported land for sale in Rose Hall Town.Call#603-1441

PEN PAL

Shalom Enterprise Driving School, 2 Croal St. Call: 2277560/227-3869-6. Join us on Facebook

Lot 1397 Section A, Block ‘X’ Great Diamond, Housing Scheme, Serious Buyers only.

(110x62) 231-6345

ACCOMMODATION

1-5 Acre fruit bearing & coconut plantation for sale/ lease@WBD Oppos Timehri Wharf.Email:gzplayter@aol.com/ whatsapp#4074912026.

Aracari Hotel -WBD (Near Bridge)-Pool etc.Open 24 Hours.From $25 USD.Phone 264-2946/8

2 bedroom concrete fully furnished apartment. Two story, family preferred, Master bedroom with A/C, Peter’s Hall Public Road. Tel# 671-1441

1 Single room @ 11 Charles Street, Charlestown. No self contained. Only Bachelors men working. # 223-4060/6754894

DOLLYS AUTO RENTAL CALL: 225-7126 & 2263693 -DOLLYS AUTO RENTAL @ YAHOO.COM/ W W W . D O L L Y SAUTORENTAL.COM

N.Outar Driving School, Learn to Drive the right way @ Cuffy Square.Affordable Package.Call#644-5166/6912561/681-2808.

VACANCY

Two storey with four (4) apartment at Market Street Mon Repos E.C.D Tel#2207330/203-850-5235.

CAR RENTAL

LEARN TO DRIVE

FOR RENT

Freezer & Quality used Self contain rooms to rent in restaurant equipment. Call: Prashad Nagar. Tel#227-2993 618-5080 Fully furnished lower flat 2 Prime piece of hand at La bedroom apartment @ South Grange Public Road 300ft X Turkeyen. $70,000 monthly 100ft $100,000 US including wifi, hot & cold Dollar.Contact Annie 695- water. 661-8958 0333.

Mining land for rent #621Corrugated steel rods 1/2 ‘’ 5900, Direct road and river (12mm) $745 = + 14%vat, 5/8 access, Kurupung river (16mm) - $1,310+14%vat at mouth, Gold & Diamond, Alabama Trading, 27 Lombard Inland Creek St or call #231-3345/227-4234 One bedroom apartment, All in one buy, entire boutique furnished, AC, washing closing down, sale all ladies machine, internet, light & clothing JL bland, over 2000 water included. Parking. Call: 682-6238/617-2666 pieces #225-0571/600-5076

99 Mining permits- Cuyuni Mazaruni. Contact #683-9756

AIDAN’S CAR RENTAL & TOW TRUCK SERVICE:PICKUP,9-11 SEAT MINI BUS, GOOD FOR AIRPORT & FAMILY OUTINGS, CHEAPEST RATE#698-7807

Sunday January 26, 2020

Kaieteur News

Indian Overseas male seeks female 30/35, must have good personality. Call: 602-9975 VACANCY Security Officers $85,000, Apply within @ 47 Croal St. Tel# 226-9905 or on FB page, Atlas Security Services Inc

Maid to cook and clean for East Bank area. Call: 615-9132 Soup Cook & Kitchen Assistant, Mon-Sat, Job location in town, Good pay.

Call: 225-6927 between 8am3pm for interviews Pump Attendant & Cashier, shifts rotated weekly Shell Service station Providence.Email: Shellramsburg@gmail.com.

Female cleaner office & home.

Call: 642-9823 Factory Workers- Must have sound secondary education, for more information. Please Call: 223-0090 Experience Goldsmith needed at Jacob’s Jewellery and Pawnshop. Address 16 Pike St, Kitty Georgetown.

Tel#227-8748/622-4970 One male Janitor. Apply at Alabama Trading, 65 Robb St Bourda One General Domestic, must be able to prepare vegetarian meal. Apply at Alabama Trading 65 Robb Street Bourda Labourers & Maintenance workers. Contact #621-6969, serious enquiries only.

Driver- must have sound secondary education, for more information. Please Call: 223-0090 Front end loader operator.

Contact#223-5273/223-5274 Female Cook/Baker for interior location. For further details.

Call: 618-2020 PROPERTY FOR SALE Lot 89 Robb street Lacytown, Georgetown.

Next door to Mike’s Pharmacy.Land size-3431.25 Sq.ft.Phone:617-5323/6668052.

One 3 Story building at 97 Sugar Cane St.S/Rveldt Gdns $125,000,000.Tel#674-9905/ 695-1365/225-2971.

House and land available at Parfaite, Tuschen, Diamond etc.

Contact Pacific Development Inc. 223-6035/ 604-4909 Broad Street & Republic Gardens, Georgetown, Enterprise & Enmore East Coast. Contact Ray’s Realty #627-9685

WANTED

WANTED

Maid. Requirements: person Wanted experienced hire car must be living on the East drivers at Ramada Princess Georgetown Hotel. Contact # Bank. Contact# 600-6887 265-7075 / 616-5419 Porters to work in Grocery Stall, Attractive Salary at One experienced female cook Stabroek Market. Tel#226- for a family, must be between 9800/683-9500. Experience an 25-35 yrs. Call: 231-8737 asset 1 Lorry Driver, must be able One Accounts clerk must be to work flexible hours. writing CAT, Previous work Contact Annie #233-3512 / experience necessary, send 264-3720 application to P.O Box 16005 Maid to work in Georgetown, must know to cook and Wanted land to buy in Parfaite household work. Tel# 661Harmonie on the West Coast 3317 and East Bank. Tel# 697-6311 Sales girl. Apply in person at 2 Waitress at D’Edward Village Alabama Trading, 65 Robb Berbice.Tel#327-5923/685- Street 5024.

1 Live-in male, multi-tasking & One experienced welder to 1 live-in domestic female, work in the interior, must have experience in cooking creole experience. Contact Imran # foods. Tel# 675-2550/656-9313 226-9416/502-8587 Live in, Live out family, Excavator operator to work Husband - Office duties, with mining firm, must have accounting, Computer literate. experience. Contact Imran Wife- Salesperson, Domestic. #226-9416/ 502-8587 Tel# 227-1813/ 227-1830 Diesel Mechanic to work in 1 Office Clerk, Computer interior, experience with Literate. Tel# 233-2725/233perkins, duetz, doosan 2439 engines necessary. Contact Imran #226-9416/502-8587 One driver for residence at Montrose, must have 10 years experience within the age 35-45 years. Contact #608-2440 1 male cook for interior $100,000 monthly. Tel# 6723359 Female Domestic wanted for light housekeeping $3000 Daily, Male skill labourer $4000 daily Vreed-En-Hoop 682-5230/615-4414.

Senior Kitchen Assistant, must have a minimum Primary education, 1 Experienced Driver & Cashier. Apply @ Hack’s Halaal Restaurant. 5 Commerce St

VEHICLE FOR SALE 1 Suzuki Escudo.Excellent condition, Low Mileage (50,000Km).$3.6M Neg.Call #649-0956.

Nissan Juke 2010, Blue, PTT series, fully loaded, excellent condition. Call: 681-4208/ 2206262 1 RZ minibus for sale, series BSS Newly spray over, hardly work $1.3M Neg. Contact# 603-2640

Massey Ferguson Tractor 283 $2.5M(Foreign Used) MF 165 Receptionist, Handyman and $1.5M, MF 135 $1M,MF 165 maid to work at Hotel, 25 years Loader Tractor $2.1M.682& older, able to work shifts, 5230/615-4414.

Apply in Person. Tel# 225Pick-up from Truck Canada 9211 Extra-Cab, 2005 Tacoma PROPERTY FOR SALE $1.750M, Ford-F 150 Sport Newly Constructed 4 $1.1 M, Ford Ranger Sport bedroom,3 bathroom, house $1M.682-5230/615-4414. overlooking the sea for sale.ECD#675-1510/613-7964. Red CRV-2007 Model.Contact 666-7895.

Modern Home, Georgetown, 3 self contain rooms upstairs, 2 room downstairs, Automatic Garage & Gate. Contact Ray’s Realty # 627-9685 3- Storey unfinished building, Lot 1486 Plot B Herstelling EBD. 2 storey unfinish building, Lot 1488 Onderneeming WBD. #6093777/697-4557/641-3893/6860522

Sunday January 26, 2020

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Kaieteur News

CONSUMER CONCERNS

Investing oil revenues in economic and social development, prioritizing oil refinery, ensures prosperity

By PAT DIAL When it was known towards the closing months of last year that Guyana would be an oil and gas producing country, economists and others began to think how the oil revenues should be spent.

There were simplistic suggestions of sharing the oil revenues among the population, immediately allocating one million dollars to every person in Guyana. There were more sophisticated suggestions of establishing a Sovereign Wealth Fund to which the revenues would be transferred to be used on various national programmes which required funding. There are many models of Sovereign Wealth Funds and the one chosen by the Ministry of Finance, as expected in such choices, would not be universally accepted.

The business organizations and individual business persons have their own ideas of the structure, framework and activity of the Fund. In addition, there is a very slowly growing feeling among the population that oil is the panacea and that all would be inundated by unlimited wealth. This article will try to exorcise this unrealism.

Fortunately, there are a number of able businessmen and other intellectuals who have been publicly giving competent advice on oil revenues.One of the first such persons was Komal Samaroo, Chairman of Demerara Distillers Ltd, who while addressing the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, pointed out two important characteristics of the Oil Industry. Firstly, that Oil is a commodity like any other and is subject to the vagaries of the international market -- it

may sometimes have to be sold at very low prices or even at a loss. And secondly, Oil is not a naturally renewable resource like Agriculture and will at sometime be exhausted.

Trinidad is suffering this syndrome as its oil resources are contracting and its economy is beginning to be negatively affected. He therefore emphatically recommended that oil revenues be methodically invested in social and economic developments such as Education, Agriculture, agro-industries, industries to produce consumer goods which would be self-generating.

President Granger while addressing a group of young people at Linden on the occasion of welcoming the first oil production, had a similar message as Mr Samaroo: “All around the world people are moving away from petroleum and you better learn that lesson that petroleum, whatever bonanza, whatever profit, whatever revenues we get, will not last forever.

So we have to put in place the type of development that would take us beyond petroleum. . . the youth would be provided with the right tools to ensure that Guyana does not become heavily dependent on the petroleum sector. . . Even some of the most productive petroleum countries now have the most successful solar energy generation plants. Some of the countries producing the most petroleum are also producing the most electricity from solar power.The President thinks that the priority investment should be made in Education and Training which would assist young people to become economically empowered. They would be involved

in agro-processing, agro-culture, apiculture, aquaculture, business outsourcing, cultural industries and eco-tourism among other industries.

Some people have been regarding the oil discovery as the source of a never-ending flow of wealth to be consumed. Fortunately, most Guyanese are regarding the oil wealth in a mature way as capital to invest in the numerous projects which have been crying out for capital investment over the last century. If the oil revenues are regarded in this way, its mystique disappears, since it would be only adequate to fully capitalize the various social and economic projects which would raise the standards and levels of Education, Health, Housing, profits, wages and employment.

If this message is consistently given to the Guyanese people by the media, political leaders, intellectuals, the education system and other makers of public opinion and is acted upon, then the oil industry would be a true blessing.

Among the first investments that have to be made is to build an oil refinery and a port that could accommodate tankers. These two valueadded projects would absorb a great deal of the oil revenues but would be generating more wealth from employment, high wages and profits than if the revenues were used to provide immediate satisfaction.Other sectors in which profitable investments could be made include Agriculture - Sugar, Rice, fruit, fish-farming and value-added agro-industries.Infrastructure - Roads, railway to Interior, river bridges, ferry services.

Green Power - Solar Power and Hydropower.

Motorcyclist killed in Craig accident A 47- year-old East Bank Demerara (EDB) resident met his demise on Friday around 23:45hrs while on his way home from work.

The victim has been identified as Dhanraj Budhram of Lot 1380 Bellwest Housing Scheme W.B.D. At the time of the accident the victim was riding a motorcycle with registration number CJ5890.

According to police sources, the other two vehicles that were involved in the accident are motor car PEE2203 which at the time was being driven 31year-old Leonard Juan, of Lot 9 Diamond, Junior Staff Compound, East Bank Demerara (EBD) and a car driven by 27year-old Quacy DeCunha of Lot 12 Supply, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

Kaieteur News under-

Dhanraj Budhram stands that at the time of the accident motor cycle CJ5890 was proceeding north along the Western side of Craig Public Road in front of motorcar PEE2203. According to the driver of motorcar PEE2203 a silver-coloured motorcar which was proceeding south along the Eastern

side of the road drove onto the western lane and into the path of the motorcycle.

As a result of the collision Mr. Budhram fell off his motorcycle and onto the surface of the road. He was bleeding profusely from his mouth and there were bruises and laceration on other parts of his body. After the accident Mr. Quacy DeCunha fled the scene while the other driver along with public spirited persons rushed the injured man to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre where he was pronounce dead on arrival.

Mr. DeCunha later turned himself in at the Grove Police Station in the company of his lawyer. Budhram leaves to mourn his wife and five young children. The matter is being investigated

Social Services - Education: better pay for teachers, upgrading of all educational institutions, raising levels of the University of Guyana, technical and IT training.

Housing- increasing momentum and quality of houses and land on offer. Hospital Specialty Hospitals, upgrad-

ing of all hospitals and health services. Industrialization production of consumer goods for local and export usage. Developmental Banklending established Private Sector and start-up entrepreneurs.

Once the political and intellectual leaders ensure that

the revenues are quickly channeled into developmental projects and the education system and media educate and inform the population of the value of such an approach to the employment of oil revenues, Guyana would be a country in growing and permanent prosperity.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday January 26, 2020

The Berbice River shall remain blocked until Russian...

From page 35 reluctant to engage in. It should be said this violation is being given tacit support by some within the ministry.

Those issues were made known to the Government and company at a meeting held at the Labour Department under the aegis of the CLO last Thursday. The meeting was called by the Department in response to the company unlawful laying off of 142 workers with effect from the same day on the

deception that government did not grant approval for the importation of duty-free fuel. This is the extent the Russians will go in flouting our laws in pursuit of a particular political outcome.

That same day patriots rose up, returned to the Berbice River and blocked it. I’m advised to communicate the River shall remain blocked until justice is served. That River not only serves as the route for transporting bauxite for export,

but a strong reminder that within her water flows the blood of Guyanese ancestry, on her bed lies their bones, and every wave holds within its fold centuries-old stories of a people’s valiant struggle against oppression and domination. Guyanese are not moving until the foreign eye-pass stops!

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

Sunday January 26, 2020

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Is Putin’s recent moves a “coup” intended to remain in power?

(MOSCOW) — Ever since Vladimir Putin announced a dramatic overhaul of Russia’s constitution and the removal of his longtime prime minister and cabinet, Russians have been asking themselves a single question: What is Putin up to?

Since the Jan. 15 announcement, Putin hasn’t slowed down.He put forward a bill last Monday containing constitutional amendments and by Thursday the Russian Parliament had approved its first reading, 432-0.

A constitutional council specially formed to advise on the potential changes had not even convened before the amendments were submitted, fully written.At the same time, the nation’s new Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, who replaced Putin’s longtime lieutenant Dmitry Medvedev, has spent the week forming his own government, the biggest political shakeup in a decade.

Some of Russia’s most powerful officials have been shuffled into new positions, including Putin’s powerful prosecutor general, Yuri Chaika, who’s been in office since 2006.

The moves have shocked both experts and ordinary Russians.

From the outset, many observers immediately interpreted the situation as Putin laying the ground to remain in power past 2024, when his

presidential term expires.

But how these recent moves accomplish that isn’t exactly clear. Russia’s independent media outlets have been filled with articles from experts trying to puzzle out Putin’s plan: Why now? Why so quickly? How do these changes add up to staying in power?The Kremlin has said once Parliament approves the constitutional amendments they’ll be put to a “public vote,” but no one really knows what that means — or when it will take place. It could be in April.

Putin’s political opponents, however, especially in the beleaguered democratic opposition, have objected strenuously.

On Wednesday, around two dozen prominent activists published a petition accusing him of carrying out “a special operation for illegally rewriting the constitution,” calling Putin’s recent moves a “coup” intended to remain in power for life. The petition so far has gathered more than 14,000 signatures.

Russia’s constitution limits a president to two consecutive terms. Now 67, Putin is in his fourth term, taking advantage of a legal loophole in 2008 when he moved Medvedev into the presidency for a term and remaining as prime minister, not giving up any real power.

Putin could repeat that

Vladimir trick in 2024, but he’s suggested he doesn’t intend to, and among the proposed constitutional changes is one that limits future presidents to two terms, consecutive or not.

Some experts have said they believe the proposed changes show Putin intends to leave the presidency but hold on to power outside of it.The leading theory as to how that would work includes revamping an obscure governmental body, the State Council, which Putin has said should now have a new role.

The council, currently a forum for gathering regional governors, could be transformed into a preeminent body where Putin could assume a new “paramount leader” position,

Putin similar to China’s Deng Xiaoping.

The other changes, including transferring more power to the parliament and to the courts, appears intended to weaken the office of the presidency, experts said.

In essence, Putin has carried out a preemptive coup against himself to maintain power, as Sergey Guriev, an economist who teaches at Paris’ L’Institut d’études politiques, put it in an article for the Russian newspaper Vedomosti. The practice, known to political scientists as a “self-coup” or “autogolpe,” was frequently used by dictatorial strongmen in South America.

But as more details about the constitutional changes have emerged, other prominent experts have questioned whether they in fact suggest something more surprising: that Putin wants out.

The proposed changes, they noted, do not in fact leave the presidency weaker than other bodies. Contrary to what Putin had suggested, the actual text of the amendments shows the president will retain the power to appoint the prime minister over parliament. Crucially, they also make clear the State Council would be subordinate to the president — whomever Putin chooses as his successor.

“Putin is not looking to dominate the system (although he will remain a key player), but rather to find a way to exert influence without risking any dangerous consequences for the state,” Tatyana Stanovaya, a wellknown analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center who also runs the political consultancy R.Politik, wrote in an article on Monday.

The changes submitted to parliament look more like an “insurance policy” for managing a successor, she wrote.

They “are designed not so much to strengthen his own position after he steps down as president, but to create mechanisms for resolving differences with the future presi-

dent, should they arise,” Stanovaya wrote in another article.

According to this theory, Putin genuinely would step back while remaining protected in power, delegating domestic policy — Stanovaya and others believe he’s bored with it — to his preferred successor. Putin would focus on international affairs and intervene only if he perceived a major unwanted change in direction.

For that, Putin most likely would head up a reformed State Council, but whether that will happen and how powerful it would be “directly proportionate” to how much control he felt he had over his successor, Stanovaya wrote, adding that it’s likely Putin has chosen a successor — although that person may not be revealed for quite some time.Supporting that theory was Putin himself this week, dismissing the suggestion he could remain as a supreme leader-like figure overseeing a successor. On Wednesday, he rejected the idea that he’d stay on as a “mentor,” similar to Singapore’s long-time dictator Lee Kuan Yew in the 1990s.

“If we have some kind of institution appear above the presidency, it can only mean dual power,” Putin told a televised audience in Sochi. “That is an absolutely fatal situation for a country like Russia.”

Independent Ministers Fellowship hosts first affirmation, ordination service -certifies over sixteen leaders Over 50 local churches converged at the Winner’s Cathedral on Sunday last to witness the conferral of certificates of title on the leaders of Zadok Ministers Fellowship.

The occasion marked its first ordination, affirmation and consecration service for the independent Ministers’ Fellowship.

The ceremony which took the form of a worship session was hosted at the Cathedral, Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge, Georgetown location.

The presentation of certificates represented an official acknowledgment of titles by the newly formed independent ministers’ fellowship.

The affirmation was led

by Archbishop Dr. Wingrove David Babb, founder leader of Special Miracles Ministries Royalty Centre Church.

Dr. Babb has several credentials attached to his name including a Bachelor’s of Ministry, Masters of Theology and an earned Doctorate.

He was officially acknowledged as Archbishop within the network of churches.

Pastors, Terry Anthony Thomas of Ambassadors of Christ Ministry, Apostle Safee Rahaman of Grace Pentecostal Church Guyana Inc, and

Apostle Royston Fitzgerald Hinds, of Home of Prayers; Praise New Beginning Church, each of whom held decades of service to the body of Christ, were elevated to the offices of Bishops.

In addition to their credentials, each Bishop was clothed and decorated with symbols which represent their new status in the churches.

Bishop Dr. Amy Babb, Pastors Desiree Thomas, Bechani Rahaman , Rita Hinds and Joan Edghill the wives of the ministers were also affirmed in their offices.

Additionally, Apostle Morris Subramani and Pastor Rampattie Subramani of Word of Life Faith Centre; Pastors Gregory and Marcelene Monica Dubisette of Restoreth Ministry; Pastors Harry and Rosan Seecharan of Pentecostal Family Ministry; and Pastor Denzil Ray Glenrick Thompson of World Changer Deliverance Sanctuary were presented with certificates for ordination and affirmation in their leadership post.

The ceremony took the form of procession by the bishops and pastors who blessed the congregation as they passed by.

Presiding Bishop of

Winner’s Cathedral Dr. Juan Edghill delivered the sermon.

He noted that the occasion marked the official induction for several Ministers into Zadok‘s Fellowship.

He noted that several of the awardees were already functioning in the leadership capacities before the acknowledgement before the congregation of churches.

Bishop Edghill referenced biblical texts that spoke to new beginnings. Further, he noted that the conferral marked the dawning of a new era for the ministers and a shift of their work in the body of Christ.

Archbishop Babb also addressed the congregation of churches. He told the leaders that just like the biblical figure David, their appointment to office can take different phases.

He noted David was anointed three times before he was recognized as King over all Israel.

Archbishop Babb referenced Saul who in the biblical times was also appointed King with assignment to unite the scattered tribes of Israel.

He noted, “God placed men around Saul to help him pursue that goal.”

From left: Bishops Terry Anthony Thomas, Safee Rahaman, Juan Edghill, Royston Fitzgerald Hinds and ArchBishop Wingrove Babb.

Babb said that the fellowship which aims to produce a network amongst local churches by forging unity among its people can serve as central point for training and launching leaders of the local church.

Zadok was formed as a group of Independent Ministers who believed that it was through wise counsel of Almighty God that they were inspired to form a network for Ministers who are broadly

located and without a local network fellowship.

The word Zadok in its simplest form can be defined as “Kings of righteousness” or the Priesthood which Ministered to God. Therefore, as a fellowship, the ultimate aspiration is to ensure a high quality of ministry, and to be a collective voice that speaks to the nation.

The fellowship was formed in December 2018 as a place where accountability,

order and impartation are manifested.Zadok Ministers Fellowship started with 70 Ministers representing local churches and ministries.

The new organization is expected to forge unity amongst people under the theme “WE ARE BETTER TOGETHER” a fellowship to be never divisive, exclusive, sectarian, but will be embracing ministers and churches in all 10 regions of Guyana- Urban, Rural and Hinterland.

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Sunday January 26, 2020

Kaieteur News

Stanley Ming’s joint venture partner under investigation for corruption in Angola

US$200M Oil and Gas Shorebase Project...

By Kiana Wilburg Philanthropist and motor racing fanatic, Stanley Ming, envisions establishing a state-of-the-art shore base at Parika, East Bank Essequibo.

It is projected to create hundreds of jobs for his Guyanese brothers and sisters. But he cannot accomplish this on his own.

While Ming has the land, he does not have the money hence his partnership with InterOil Group Limited, a company that is based in the United Kingdom. His joint venture partner has an extensive global presence. It has businesses in Dubai, Uganda, Cyprus, Malta and Angola.

Impressed with the firm’s global reach, Ming and his UK partner subsequently created and incorporated in April 2019, InterOil Guyana followed by the registration of ISIKA Shore base Inc. which will design and build the US$200M East Bank Essequibo shore base this year.

Independent research by Kaieteur News reveals however that this company Ming is in bed with one of many being investigated for corruption in Angola.

InterOil is one of several companies which worked with Angola’s highly mismanaged state-owned oil company, Sonangol. President José Eduardo dos Santos administration, Kaieteur News understands, allegedly stole billions of dollars on a yearly basis from Sonangol.

In fact, the former President had appointed his daughter, Isabel dos Santos, as Chairwoman of Sonangol

in 2016. With her father’s connections and control over the state resources, Isabel became the richest woman in Africa. Now that Angola is under new leadership, State prosecutors are going after the Angolan princess. They have since laid fraud-related charges against Isabel for mismanaging and embezzling funds during her 18-month stint as Chair of Sonangol.

Angola’s state oil company had contained US$57M in its account and by the time Isabel was done with it, only US$309 remained.

The current government is now pleading for international support to recover the stolen revenue while simultaneously investigating all the companies that have worked with Sonangol.

ANGOLA IS THE PROBLEM Over the weekend, Kaieteur News contacted Christian Fascio, the Country Manager for InterOil Guyana

vestigation.

Kaieteur News had also informed Fascio that there were some online news reports which suggest that InterOil had more than an arms-length relationship with Sonangol. But he was quick to state that his company is the opposite of whatever is

and several queries were made about the parent company’s operations in Angola.

Fascio was keen to note that Angola is a problematic country while confirming that it is not just InterOil, but all the companies that dealt with Sonangol that are under in-

said about them.

The Country Manager also told Kaieteur News that while the news agency is free to publish what it wants, the company is entitled to engage its legal department should there be a news item that is written without proof.

‘I DID NOT KNOW’

Philanthropist and Motor racing fanatic, Stanley Ming

Businessman Stanley Ming showing the location of the shore base (News Room photograph) Ming was also engaged what Fascio was told is that in strategic alliance with reliover the weekend by this InterOil Group is owed money able and proven technical newspaper about the con- by the contractor who hired partners. Its core business nections his joint venture them to work for Sonangol,” involves managing support Ming said. vessels in that country. partner has with Sonangol.

At the end of the day, the WAY FORWARD The former politician said, Ming told Kaieteur News “From the time you told me businessman said that about it, I questioned Fascio InterOil cannot do anything that he intends to find out as but he did not know anything without his “say-so” since he much as possible about about it because he did not is the 51 percent shareholder. InterOil’s relations with work in Angola. He had to call He confirmed however that Sonangol. The businessman the people in Europe and InterOil has informed him that said. “I want them to come asked them about the it is under investigation like clean with me because I will many other companies. not support dishonesty and Sonangol issue.”

Additionally, Ming was my reputation is at stake. I am He added, “My understanding, because I was lis- adamant that he knew noth- not into that kind of stuff. I tening in on some of the con- ing about how deeply told the Ministers and everyversation, is that Sonangol is InterOil may or may not have one since I met these guys the Angolan state oil com- been involved in the opera- that if you find anything that needs to be investigated then pany and that company like tions of Sonangol.

“We checked as much as let me know...” every other big company of Ming said his dream is to that nature has contractors all we could but we didn’t have over the world including the resources to check have this shore base project many of those who are here thoroughly...We did not go in become a reality and for right now like Halliburton, depth about their connections Guyanese to “run the show.”

“But I maintain that I had Schlumberger, and the big to Sonangol and to what exno idea that they were being guys that provide services to tent,” Ming added.

Kaieteur News found via investigated for relations with Exxon.”

Ming said that InterOil its research that InterOil Sonangol. It was a surprise to had a contract with one of the Angola was actually regis- me when you told me about big international companies tered in 2005 with Sonangol it,” the philanthropist conworking for Sonangol. “And and offers oil and gas services cluded.

Taxi-driver remanded on gun charge A 25-year-old taxi-driver was on Friday arraigned before Acting Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts after he was allegedly caught by the police with a gun in his car.

The defendant, Terrence Primo of 14th Avenue, Diamond, East Bank Demerara, pleaded guilty to the charge which stated that on January 20, 2020, at Leopold Street, Georgetown he had in his possession one .38 revolver when he was not a licensed firearm holder.

Primo said, “The firearm was in my vehicle so I pleading guilty to it.”

Magistrate Marcus asked the defendant if he knew the gun was in the vehicle. Primo responded, “At that time I didn’t know it was there…and it does not belong to me either.”A not guilty plea was then entered by Magistrate

Remanded: Terrence Primo Marcus, based on what the defendant said to the court.

However, police prosecutor Adunni Inniss made objections to bail being granted to the defendant based on the seriousness and penalty of the offence.The prosecutor highlighted that the gun was found under the driver seat of the motor vehicle, on the day

in question about 13:50hrs.

Primo was in motor vehicle PTT 7817, where it was parked at Smyth and Breda Streets. Police officers were patrolling the area at that time when they saw the defendant acting in a suspicious manner.

The police then approached Primo and asked to conduct a search of his person and the vehicle, a request that he did not object to.The court heard that nothing was found on the defendant but as soon as he [Primo] got out of the driver seat the firearm was discovered tucked away underneath.

According to the police when the firearm was found and the allegation was put to the defendant, Primo told the police, “Ow please for another chance.” Primo was arrested, taken into custody and later charged for the offence.

After listening to the facts of the charge, Magistrate Marcus remanded the defendant to prison and the matter was adjourned to January 31, 2020.

Sunday January 26, 2020

Kaieteur News

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Sunday January 26, 2020

Sunday January 26, 2020

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Kaieteur News

Business hit by bandits three times in three months

The police from Blairmont, West Bank Berbice, Region Five, Mahaica–Berbice, have been called out three times in three months to investigate a burglary at a business place situated at Lot 12F D’Edward, West Bank Berbice.

According to proprietor, H.N. Lalsa, former principal of the Government Industrial Training Centre, he was in his bed when at about 2:00 h o u r s We d n e s d a y, h e heard an unusual sound which he thought might have been as a result of someone having struck his bus which was parked on the premises.

So he ventured out on a porch on the upper flat to have a look.

Mr. Lalsa said that he believed that the intruders soon became aware that he was up and investigating, and so they left in a hurry. He recalled seeing at least two men leaving through a hole in his fence.

The property owner said that he called out to his neighbour as soon it became evident that thieves had been on the property.

Shortly afterward, they were able to alert the police when they got the attention of a patrol which was in the area.

The patrol was really attached to the Fort Wellington Police Station, but it ensured that there was no intruder hiding on the premises and then handed over the matter to the Blairmont police who responded promptly.

The perpetrators gained access to the property by cutting a hole in the fence, and

then proceeded to break the locks on the grill to the kitchen door.

They thereby gained entry to the store which is forward of the kitchen area.

At the time this publication visited, Mr. Lalsa could not have given an estimated value of what was removed from his property during the Wednesday morning burglary.

However, he reported that it was the third burglary carried out on his property over

the past three months, with one in November 2019 and another in December.

He further said that he would have lost close to three million dollars so far. And, his licensed firearm and very important documents were removed from the property dur-

ing the first burglary.

However, Mr. Lalsa and his wife, Norma, are happy to have been unharmed. They have been married for 63 years.

After residing in the USA for some time the couple returned to Guyana some fif-

teen years ago to be involved in business. However, the recent developments have caused the couple to be examining their options.

No arrests were made after the two previous incidents, and the police are continuing their investigations.

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Sunday January 26, 2020

Sunday January 26, 2020

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Kaieteur News

Endurance championship revs off today

Endurance Championship begins today.

Keith Evelyn (in picture) will be teaming up with Harold Hopkinson today in three-hour endurance race.

Sunday January 26, 2020 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Some unusual dreams may come to you tonight, and you might awaken with the idea that they're very important.

The images should be very clear, however, and you probably won't have much trouble working out what they mean.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) Relationships of all kinds should be thriving at this time. Mind and emotions join together in a beneficial partnership, enabling you to increase your understanding of those close to you.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Work of all kinds gets done a lot faster, Gemini, as friends or family members join in assisting you in getting it out of the way.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) Love blossoms today as communication with your beloved is enhanced by an increased understanding on both your parts, Cancer.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Using computers either to increase your income or manage your money may have seemed like Greek to you, but today you'll probably catch on very quickly.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Intellect and feelings are totally joined today, especially when dealing with friends. Your basic understanding of others is also enhanced by a keener sense of intuition.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) A focused and enhanced practical turn of mind, strengthened by intuition, may be of great help to you today when considering career matters, Sagittarius.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) A You probably won't want to spend much time at home today, Capricorn. Most likely you'll want to be out and about, perhaps at a large gathering, perhaps just strolling down a city street watching the people go by.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) A number of visitors might come to your house today, Leo, perhaps to discuss matters of interest to all of you.

Some intense disagreements could arise, but you'll be able to keep it all together.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Your imagination is flying high today. Intellect and intuition join together in a vivid and explosive union where the whole is definitely greater than the sum of the parts.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) If you're into computers and the Internet, you can expect to spend a lot of time today staring at a screen. You may be doing some writing or web design or animation

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Thoughts of travel could be on your mind today, and you might tinker with the idea of actually taking time off and going somewhere that you've always wanted to visit.

The Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) racing season speeds off today at the South Dakota Circuit, Timehri with the first round of the Endurance Championship.

Admission is free for all fans who will see in participation some seasoned speedsters the likes of Motilall Deodass, lap record holder Rameez Mohamed, Shan Seejattan, Dawolu Harper, Harold Hopkinson, Keithe Evelyn, Sean Bacchus, Raymond Seebarran and Shairza Roshandin among others that will be going head to head in three hours of endurance racing.

Defending Champions,

Team Wreckers’ duo of Adrian Fernandes and Annand Ramchand will have dig deep if they are to maintain their multiple-year dominance with many of the competitors sending stern warnings to the champions.

The drivers will also be using this meet to gauge their machines’ performance ahead of the GMRSC’s National Race of Champions (NROC) circuit meet that is scheduled for February 16th.

Following the NROC meet

the drag championship boosts off on March 15 with round one.

Circuit racing returns in July on the 5th with August 16th being the highly anticipated international drag racing meet.

Round two of the Endurance Championship is set for September 13 with the last round of Drag racing is set for October 4th.

The highly anticipated International Circuit-racing event is set for November 8.

PAGE 70

Sunday January 26, 2020

Kaieteur News

GCC awards outstanding players for 2019 GEORGETOWN, Guyana—The Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) presented awards to the club’s outstanding young hockey players and cricketers at a special ceremony on Friday last.

The GCC Hockey & Cricket Award Ceremony was held to celebrate the players’ performances during 2019, and according to the Club’s Captain, Mr. Richard Jodah, the GCC had a particularly successful year in hockey and cricket.

“We have dominated the First Division in cricket, the Second Division…the Under19, the Under-17 and the Under-15”, he said, as he praised the players for their performances.

Jodah said he looks forward to the Club building on the success of 2019 as it moves forward this year.

He added, “This is what Georgetown Cricket Club was born on, to produce and to give hope to cricketers, young hockey players and [help] all these sports players to harness their skills and succeed in whichever sports they choose.”

Meanwhile, GCC President, Mr. Timothy Tucker noted that the 162year-old club is the oldest in the Caribbean and has produced over 22 players for the West Indies cricket team.

“As a whole, the club would have won the Guyana Cricket Board Club of the Year award, and I really think that is an outstanding award,” he said, adding that he hopes corporate Guyana will see the

The outstanding GCC cricket and hockey players who were awarded for their outstanding performances in 2019 pose with club officials. potential of the players and the Club, and partner to support the development of players.

“Our goal is to create a premier sporting academy; we would like to see our National and Regional teams dominated by GCC players,” he stated. He spoke of some of the club’s goals for 2020, among which are plans to improve the facilities, add new sports, and build an allweather practice facility for cricket.

“We have procured an ‘accident and injury’ insurance policy for all our players,” he said, explaining that the policy will cover

players injured during GCC activities.

Delivering the feature address was President of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), Mr. K. Juman Yasin, who spoke of the difficulties facing sportspersons, such as the merging of sports and academics and the workplace, as well as the dangers of burnout and stress.

Offering words of advice to the players, he said, “Stay organised…talk to other persons, get a plan, write it down and stick with that plan.

The other factor is to manage your time.”

Mr. Juman Yasin urged the players to seek help when

necessary and engage in selfmotivation. “You have to talk to yourself, you have to see yourself as a champion,” he said.

In addition, hockey administrator, Mr. Philip Fernandes commended the GOA for their committed and ongoing support of the sport in Guyana.

Also in attendance was High Commissioner of India to Guyana, Dr. K. J. Srinivasa, who lauded the good work being done by the GCC. He told the gathering that India is open to collaborating with Guyana for the development of cricket, which is a beloved sport for both countries.

Rasheed, Gainda star as Everest CC, Bel Air Rubis grab first innings points Left arm spinner Javed Rasheed grabbed eight wickets, while Arvind Gainda bagged six as Everest Cricket Club and Bel Air Rubis took first innings points in their respective matches when the Georgetown Cricket/ Association Noble House Sea Foods second division two day tournament continued yesterday.

At Everest CC, the home team batted first and made 159 all out. Urshadeva Balgobin struck 74, while Richie Looknauth made 30.

Nigel Simpson and Andre Foster picked up three and

two wickets respectively.

Diplomats were pegged back by accurate bowling from Rasheed and were bowled out for 78, in reply.

Ronaldo Gibson made 16 as Rasheed finished with 8-20.

Batting a second time, Everest CC closed the day on 7-1 to lead by 88.

At Queen’s College, University of Guyana managed 139 all out, batting first. Y. Singh scored 36 and Melroy Stephenson made 28 as Gainda bagged 6-26. Bel Air Rubis responded with 209 all out. Keon Franklin stroked 73 while Krishna Deosarran made 42 and Mahendra Jeenarine 23. Spinner Damion Vantull captured 5-30. Trailing by 70, University of Guyana finished the day on 14-1, in their second turn at the crease.

Play continues today.

(Zaheer Mohamed)

From left, Keon Franklin, Arvind Gainda and Krishna Deosarran.

Among other special guests at the event was Guyana’s celebrated former Test Cricketer, Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Cricket and Hockey Awardees First Division Leon Johnson: Best Batsman Stephon Wilson: Best Bowler Ronaldo Mohammed: Best All-Rounder Bernard Bailey: Best Fielder Second Division Winston Forrester: Best Batsman Stephon Wilson: Best Bowler Ronaldo Mohammed: Best All-Rounder Bernard Bailey: Best Fielder U-19/U-17 Mavindra Dindyal: Best Batsman Darrius Andrews: Best Bowler Zachary Jodah: Best AllRounder Mavindra Dindial: Best Fielder U-15 Mavindra Dindyal: Best Batsman Johnoton Sooklall: Best Bowler Thaddeus Lovell: Best All-Rounder Zachary Jodah: Best Fielder Emerging players Seniors Ronaldo Mohammed Stephon Wilson Juniors Mavindra Dindyal Zachary Jodah Taddeious Lovell Darrius Andrews Arian Persaud Ravildo Philips Krsna Singh

Joash Charles Dominic Roberts Jonathan Sookhlall U-13 Fyad Mohammed Omari Cummings Yusuf Hack Alex Balgobin Promising Junior Wicket Keeper Shaahid Vieira Special Awards Leon Johnson: Most Successful Guyana Senior Captain Ronaldo Mohammed: Making the Guyana Senior Side Zachary Jodah: Making and Captaining the Guyana U-15 Team Mavindra Dindyal: Making the Guyana U-15, U17 and WIU-15 Team Thaddeus Lovell: Making the Guyana U-15 Team Krsna Singh: Making the Guyana U-15-Team Richard Jodah: Invaluable Commitment and Contributions to Cricket Peter Persaud: Invaluable Service to Cricket (youths) Hockey Awardees Marzana Fiedtkou: Female Most Valuable Player Dominique Degroot: Female Outstanding Contributor on and off the Field Kevin Spencer: Male Most Valuable Player Dwayne Scott: Male Outstanding Contributor on and off the Field Makeda Harding: Female Best Junior Player Abosaide Cadogan: Female Most Promising Player Kareem Mckenzie: Male Best Junior Player Meshach Sargeant: Male Most Promising Player

Sunday January 26, 2020

PAGE 71

Kaieteur News

Mahadeo lands Premyum sponsorship for KARES 2020 Caribbean Fitness Challenge preparation

By Franklin Wilson Ahead of defending his title at the 6th annual Kares Caribbean Fitness Challenge set for Sunday February 9 next, Guyana’s Crossfit champion Dillon ‘The Beast’ Mahadeo has landed sponsorship towards his preparation from Premyum, the flagship brand of Associated Packers Industry (API).

At a simple ceremony yesterday at API’s Office located on Sheriff and John Streets, Campbellville, Deputy CEO Ms. Marissa Bujan in handing over the sponsorship which confirms Mahadeo as a Premyum Brand Ambassador, commented: “We are proud to be behind this local stalwart of the Crossfit Games. He has done excellent over the years and the Premyum line of products stands with Mahadeo as he seeks to defend his title at the Kares 2020 Caribbean Fitness Challenge.”

Mahadeo in response expressed gratitude to API and Ms. Bujan for their partnership which will go a

long way in ensuring that he is well prepared to defend his title and land his sixth as he has never been defeated since the competition commenced.

“This sponsorship will go a long way in helping me to prepare for the competition, we have lots of expenses as athletes and we appreciate the private sector coming on board. This would go a long way and I appreciate Premyum coming on board.”

With a number of athletes from Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and Barbados expected to be here along with some exciting local talent, mounting a stern challenge to Mahadeo, the champ said that he is expecting the challenges to be exciting.

“I really love competing in my backyard and having these guys come over and competing here would be something very near and dear to my heart. It would be a special competition, I have competed with these guys in the Caribbean before, some of them have really good fitness and they give a really good challenge and competition. I

Trophy Stall and Upper Corentyne U-19 50 overs cricket tournament resumes After being put on hold due to the inclement weather, the Trophy Stall and Upper Corentyne Cricket Association (UCCA) Under19 Inter club cricket Tournament resumed over the weekend with one game in the f i f t h round.

In the game that was played at No73, Young Warriors whipped No73 Mandir by 161 runs at the No73 Young Warriors ground.

No73 Young Warriors batted first and made 265 all out in 49 overs with Niradj Singh 79, Victori Latchman 35, Danesh Latchman 28, Tamesh Hemraj 17, Raul Jabbar 17 Sarwan Chairnarine 16 and Nicholus Tamer 15.

Andrew Tahal and T. Doobay took 2 wickets bowling for No73 Mandir who were dismissed for 104 in 13 overs with K. Heera 34, Andrew Tahal 24 and C. Ramdass 14.

Doing the damage for No73 Young Warriors was Raul Jabbar with 6-29 and he was supported by Ethan Odell with 3-13.

Six teams are participating in the competition the others

Raul Jabar being Scottsburg United, No72 Cut and Load, No43 Scorpions, and No52 Cricket Club.

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

The top teams at the end of the preliminary matches will advance to the semifinals with the winners clashing in the final.

The competition is being coordinated by former National Wicketkeeper batsman Sydney Jackman.

(Samuel Whyte)

am really looking forward to defend my title here at home, in my backyard and hopefully at the end of the day I can hoist the Golden Arrowhead.”

The 6th annual Kares Caribbean Fitness Challenge which will be handing out the most lucrative prizes ever, both male and females receiving the same amounts from first to fifth places, the top prize being $500,000; Mahadeo noted that he

would be using this competition as preparations for the 2020 Reebok CrossFit Games to be held in Madison, Wisconsin, USA from July 29 to August 2.

“One of the competitors coming is also a crossfit games qualifier so I am looking at this competition as a stepping stone and preparation towards the crossfit games in Madison, Wisconsin and as I’ve said before, I don’t take any competition lightly. I put my full efforts and 100% focus on competing and doing my

best.”

Mahadeo posited that at the end of the day he strives to be a better athlete: “Not only worried about beating the competition in front of me but in the grand scheme of things, I want to be the best version of myself that I can be.”

On competition day, February 9th, action will get underway from 06:30hrs with event #1. With a time cap of 30-minutes, athletes would be involved in a one mile odd object carry (20lbs, 40lbs); 75 overhead squats (55lbs,

75lbs) and cap it off with a one mile run.

A few hours to recover and then it’ll be on to the afternoon session from 13:00hrs where fans would be able to join all the action for a fee of $1000. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place athletes would receive $400,000, $300,000, $200,000 and $100,000, respectively.

There will also be a competition for the Fittest Teens in Guyana which will attract youths between the ages of 13-17 years old, girls and boys.

PAGE 72

Kaieteur News

Sunday January 26, 2020

AAG third development meet

Baird set sights on Tokyo Games

Leslain Baird pitches the javelin during yesterday’s development meet at the ECC ground.

By Calvin Chapman Over 150 athletes took to the Enmore Community Center (ECC) ground on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) yesterday for the third

Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) development meet which sped off in glorious sunshine.

At the ECC, which is situated opposite the Enmore

Martyr’s monument, Sprinter Davin Fraser of the Police Progressive Youth Club (PPYC) and National Javelin record holder, Leslain Baird of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) club turned in notable performances.

In the men’s open 60m dash, Fraser clocked a blazing 6.90s in a big win over the field. His club mate Stephon Boodie was second in 7.04s, while Yannick Williams of GDF was third in 7.11s.

Fraser’s rival, Akeem Stewart didn’t compete yesterday but the rivalry between the two speedsters is set to recommence this Saturday at the National Track & Field Center (NTFC) Leonora when the fourth development meet speeds off.

In the open men’s Javelin event, Baird, who missed the business end of last season after suffering from internal hemorrhoids, continued his positive rehabilitation with an impressive performance yesterday. Baird registered a distance of 64.90m, spearing into the heavy Atlantic Ocean

Tonya Rawlins of GDF (right) crosses the finish line ahead of Cassie Small in the women’s 300m race yesterday at the Enmore ground. breeze while using a short run-up.

Speaking with this publication, the South American Games Silver medalist expressed pleasure with his performance despite being out of competition for a while, “Last year I missed a few big meets, the National Championships, the Aliann Pompey Invitational and the Pan Am games because of this injury but I am getting back to full speed. Currently I am just doing a short run up but I am still throwing a decent distance at 90% effort.”

Yesterday’s meet was

Baird’s second competitive outing since returning from injury with last week’s second AAG development meet in the ‘mining town’ of Linden being his first. He further shared with Kaieteur Sport that the AAGs development meets are proving to be very important because he is using them as a precursor to for the international stage/Olympic qualifiers.

The army man will be heading to Jamaica in March to compete in the Digicel grand prix which will also serve as an Olympic qualifier.

When quizzed about his thoughts on the remodeled qualification system of the

International Olympic Association (IOC) for the Olympics, Baird posited that it will definitely be a tough challenge since he will have to go some distance better than the 78.65m National record he currently holds in order to make it to Japan with the Olympic Standard set at 85m.

This Saturday’s fourth AAG development meet will be the first even-distance track meet of the year and will also serve as the first Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) junior games qualifier. The 49th CARIFTA games will be held in Bermuda this Easter weekend.

Caribbean Football Union hires Camara David as General Secretary Bridgetown, Barbados – The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) has announced that Camara David has been appointed by the Executive Committee as the organization’s General Secretary, effective February 1, 2020.

Mr. David previously served as the General Secretary of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) where he was responsible for the technical and administrative operations of the TTFA inclusive of 15 national teams and over 40 employees.

In his role as General Secretary, Mr. David will act as the chief executive officer of the CFU, leading its daily business and operations.

“The appointment of Camara David, a bright, energetic Caribbean national to the position of General Secretary of the CFU will allow us to better serve our Member Associations, strategic partners and the football fans across our region. It also affords us the chance to continue building

Camara David on the sustainable foundation we set in recent years as we reformed and rebranded the Caribbean Football Union,” said CFU President Randolph Harris.

“It is a privilege to have been selected to serve the Caribbean Football Union as the General Secretary. It is my pledge to work with the team to continue on the path that the CFU is on, maintaining and strengthening existing relationships and establishing new ones as we look towards greater representation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” said

Mr. David.

In addition to football, Mr. David is at home in academia as a Sports Management Lecturer at the University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus. Prior to joining the TTFA, Mr. David served as the General Secretary of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Championship and, before that, as the Director of Competitions and League Operations of the Caribbean Women’s Premier League.

Mr. David is a graduate of the University of the West Indies where he did his undergraduate studies in Economics and Sports Management. He also holds an International Masters in Sport Management, Law and Humanities from CIES, FIFA Master 16th Edition.

Sunday January 26, 2020

PAGE 73

Kaieteur News

CWI’s Regional four-day

Hungry Jaguars scent blood going into final day - Permaul reaches 500 FC wickets

By Sean Devers On a day in which 30-yearold left arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul captured his 500th First-class wicket in his 116th game, Jaguars had Red Force in a corner hoping to miraculously survive today’s final day of their third round Regional First-Class encounter at Providence.

At the end of the penultimate day yesterday, the were scenting blood, with the Red Force, needing 403 for an improbable victory hanging on for dear life on 122-6, still 281 away with just four wickets in hand and only a thunderstorm today could save them from their ninth defeat in their last 11 matches against the Jaguars.

Scores: Jaguars 323 & 177-5, Red Force 98 &1226.

Yesterday Chanderpaul Hemraj hit an entertaining 54 from 92 balls, 147 minutes with fours boundaries and added 65 with Tagenarine Chanderpaul who made 33 from 98 balls and 91 minutes with five fours. But only Vishaul Singh, who faced 72 balls and batted for 142 minutes in his 37 with six fours and Chris Barnwell (21) passed 20 as Jaguars declared at 177-5, 41 minutes before Tea. Off-spinner Bryan Charles followed-up his 5-87 in the first innings with 2-58, while Yannick Ottley had 2-8 for the Red Force, set 403 to win ended the third day 122-6, still 281 away from an improbable win.

First innings top scorer Jeremey Solozano again top scored with 34 from 72 balls, 92 minutes with six boundaries. He shared in a 62run fourth wicket stand with Jason Mohammed who made 33 off 64 balls, 81 minutes with four fours. Yannic Cariah chipped in with 27 from 42 balls and an hour’s batting.

Pacer Keon Joseph has 215 from six overs while Permaul has 2-27.

Jaguars resumed on 53 without loss with Chanderpaul on 29 and Hemraj on 22 and the lead of 278 and the overnight pair pushed their team further in front with an opening stand of 65.

But first innings tormentor, Charles, made the break-through when he trapped Chanderpaul LBW in sunny conditions on a track starting to keep low.

Skipper Leon Johnson and 26-year-old Hemraj added 38 runs before Hemraj reached his fourteenth FirstClass fifty from 88 balls, 144 minutes with four boundaries before he had his stumps disturbed by Bravo at 103-2.

Johnson then missjudged the length and was LBW playing to an arm-ball from Charles. Johnson’s 15 lasted 77 minutes and 58 balls and his demise left the fivetimes defending champions on 115-3 and by lunch, Singh and Chris Barnwell had taken the score 136-3 with their team enjoying a lead of 361.

On the resumption, Barnwell was LBW and Anthony Bramble, who made 91 in the first innings, was bowled for a second ball duck by left-arm spinner Yannic Ottley, who struck twice in the over with the score on 159.

Kevin Sinclair joined Singh and together they carried the score to 177-5 when the Jaguars declared with the diminutive 31-yearold Singh 13 short of his 17th fifty at this level and Sinclair on 12.

Set 403 to win their first match at Providence in the sixyear history of the four-day Regional Franchise League, the Red Force slipped to 18-2

by Tea. Keagan Simmons (0) was dismissed for the second time in the match by Joseph to

leave the Red Force on 1-1.

Joseph struck again four runs later when Bravo (2) was bowled for the second time in the game for a low score.

Solozano and Mohammed took the visitors to 18-2 still 385 away from only their second win in the last 11 matches against the Guyanese with a session and a day remaining in the contest.

After the break, the largest crowd of the game; about 50 fans in the Red Stand, watched as Solozano and Mohammed, who engaged the Guyanese in a verbal confrontation, batted responsibly.

A majestic cover drive by the left handed Solozano off left- arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul brought up the 50 partnership.

A medium paced delivery from off-spinner Sinclair found Solórzano’s edge and flew past Johnson at slip for a boundary as ‘Operation rebuild’ began to progress under cotton wool like clouds which floated lazily from blue skies over the Providence sward.

But with the score on 67 and the partnership worth 62, Solozano played back to one that skidded on to him to trap him in front of his wicket to give Sinclair his maiden FirstClass wicket and the 20-yearold celebrated with a double back flick.

Joshua DaSilva joined the experienced Mohammed with Sinclair and Permaul operating in tandem with a cluster of fielders around the bat.

Permaul, who had 4-29 in the first innings soon removed Mohammed at 71-4 and DaSilva (8) as Permaul achieved his landmark and Red Force slipped to 82-5.

Cariah and Ottley put together 35 for the sixth wicket before Bishoo had Cariah LBW for 27 at 117-6.

Lifetime ban imposed on player/patrons for match...

From page 70 MUST undertake to provide close security for the Match Officials as far as practically possible throughout their presence at the venue, and for their safe exit of same.

(2) That the Promoter / Organizer MUST undertake to provide adequate security personnel to prevent

unauthorized entry into the playing area.

(3) That the Promoter / Organizer be required to lodge a Security Deposit with the GFF, which can be used to offset any unanticipated expense, inclusive of, but not limited to, contributing to any medical bills for persons injured through the negligence of the Promoter

/ Organizer in providing the conditions required to guard against such and / or (4) That the Promoter / Organizer be required to provide temporary Insurance Coverage for the players and match officials for the period immediately preceding, during, and immediately after play on match day.

Chanderpaul Hemraj plays forward in his 58 at Providence yesterday.

Ottley and Akeal Hosein batted out the rest of the day to delay the inevitable as they carried the Red Force into today’s final day.

Scores: JAGUARS 323 (Anthony Bramble 91, Tagenarine Chanderpaul 68,

Chris Barnwell 58, Chandrapaul Hemraj 36, Devendra Bishoo 27; Bryan Charles 5-87) & 177 for five decl. (Chandrapaul Hemraj 54, Vishaul Singh 37 not out, Tagenarine Chanderpaul 33; Yannick Ottley 2-8).

RED FORCE 98 (Jeremy Solozano 27, Kjorn Ottley 22; Nial Smith 5-12, Veerasammy Permaul 4-29) and 122 for six (Jeremy Solozano 34, Jason Mohammed 33; Keon Joseph 2-15).

PAGE 74

Kaieteur News

2020 season of the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Championship opens in Linden Defending champion High Rollers, as well as giants Silver Bullets, Swag Entertainment and Presidential stormed their way into the quarterfinal section when the 2020 season of the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Championship kicked off on Friday with the Linden zonal competition at the Silver City Tarmac.

The youthful High Rollers unit defeated NK Ballers 1-0.

On the other hand, Silver Bullets riddled Haynes Hitters by a 4-2 scoreline. Presidential mirrored the aforesaid scoreline, downing Elite Ballers 4-2. Similarly, Swag Entertainment sent a stern warning to the field, brushing aside Barsenal 5-1.

Meanwhile in other results, Retrieve Unknowns defeated Quiet Storm 1-0 on penalty kicks, after regulation time ended 0-0. Similarly, Amelia’s Ward Russians edged Capital Storm 3-2 on sudden death penalty kicks following a scoreless regulation time interval.

Also, Amazings, last year’s losing finalist, defeated Dave & Celina’s via the walkover route. According to the event coordinator Rawle Gittens, “The opening night illustrated the enthusiasm and

excitement surrounding the tournament as the fans who descended on the venue in the traditional large numbers, was treated to quality and exciting action which is certainly only going to improve as the tournament progresses.”

Gittens further said, “With the tournament only being four days in duration, everyone was required to compete on the opening night, as the tournament is being contested utilizing an elimination format. The eventual winners will progress to the quarterfinal section, with the losers advancing to the Plate Exhibition Round. The winning teams from the quarterf i n a l s will then advance to the semi-finals, while the four losing quarterfinalists will also enter the Plate round. The Plate Round will conclude on the final night of the event and will be held before the third place playoff.”

Up to press time, the quarterfinal round of matches was underway. The other playing nights for the tournament are February 7th [semi-final round] and February 8th [Final]. The Berbice Zonal tournament is slated to commence upon the

conclusion of the Linden tournament.

Winner of the event will collect $400,000 and the championship trophy. On the other hand, the runner-up will pocket $150,000 and the respective accolade. Similarly, the third and fourth place finishers will receive $100,000 and $75,000 respectively and a trophy.

Complete Results Game-1 Retrieve Unknown-0 vs Quiet Storm-0 Quiet Storm won 1-0 on penalty kicks Game-2 Presidential-4 vs Elite Ballers-2 Game-3 Dave & Celina’s vs Amazings Amazings won via walkover Game-4 High Rollers-1 vs NK Ballers-0 Game-5 Amelia’s Ward Russians0 vs Capital Storm-0 Amelia’s Ward won 3-2 on sudden death penalty kicks Game-6 Swag Entertainment-5 vs Barsenal-1 Game-7 Silver Bullets-4 vs Haynes Hitters-2

Sunday January 26, 2020

FIFA Visits Guyana

FIFA commends GFF on progress, football development as three-day visit concludes “We have to commend President Forde and his administration for the work they have done – the turnaround of Guyana’s football in such a short period – we’ve seen a drastic turnaround…the visit was very successful and we’re happy about its outcome. …,” said Marlon Glean, FIFA’s Regional Development Office Manager, in an exclusive interview at the conclusion of a three-day visit to Guyana.

The visit, which began on Wednesday, was aimed at examining the progress of the FIFA-funded projects, discussing new and emerging technical projects for 2020, reviewing the finances and, in particular, ensuring the funding is being used as designated.

The FIFA Regional Manager was high in praise for the work of the GFF: “We’re very impressed with the GFF’s management of the FIFA Forward Funds. We think in terms of their spending, they have done a good job in diversifying the spending. We have projects from infrastructure development to support to the Regional Member Associations to national team and competitions support. So we’re seeing a wide range of projects coming from the GFF. In fact, it is one of the Associations who utilized all of the funds allocated for the 2016-2020 period.

The Federation here has done a god job in terms of ensuring that not only was the money spent but that it was spent in the right places. We have already seen, in the short-term, results coming from the investment – the country’s appearance at the Concacaf Gold Cup and the resulting visibility to Guyana.”

Marlon Glean, FIFA Regional Development Office Manager, and GFF’s President Wayne Forde speak to a national media representative.

Glean, along with President Wayne Forde and General Secretary Acting Ian Alves, also paid a courtesy visit to Hon. Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr. George Norton on Thursday: “We thanked him for his support and the support of his government. We’re grateful for what they have been able to do with the Federation over the last couple of years. We also talked about future partnerships. We know there are issues, from time to time, with the availability of the stadium to host international matches and ensuring that the Federation is given the facility so they can host international games and accommodate more patrons and, instead of using small pitches for national leagues, they can be comfortably be played in a larger stadium with more support, which can translate into more victories for the national team.” Forde added that an update of the plans in train including the international campaigns for the senior men’s national team, the U-17 and U-20 Girls

and the U20 Boys was also provided.

“I am very excited, based on the technical plans I saw for 2020, about what’s to come for Guyana’s football especially at the youth level,” Glean added. “The level of competition I saw and the projections in terms of national team participation for 2020, the football academy which will be groomed to grow the national teams…

We’re happy to see what’s going on in Guyana, we are happy about the management of football here, the financial operations of the Federation, the player and other opportunities we’re hearing about, the recently-held Congress and the mandate given by the clubs/affiliates (to the Forde-led administration) to manage football in Guyana for a few more years…the GFF is on the right path, putting the right things in place.”

Accompanying Mr. Glean was Jordan Victoiri, FIFA’s Regional Development office staff member.

Lifetime ban imposed on player/ patrons for match official assault The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has imposed an immediate lifetime ban on Kelvin Moore of the North East La Penitence football team and his brothers Kevin and Calvin Moore from all football venues for assaulting match referee Errol Squires.

This was among the recommendations made following an internal investigation of the incident,

which occurred during the ‘Adoni Productions’organized GT Beer “Keep Your Five Alive” Indoor Football Tournament at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue, over the period October 17 – November 9, 2019.

While the matter is engaging the attention of law enforcement, the organizer of ‘Adoni Productions’ has been

requested to assist Mr. Squires with a substantial part of his medical bill for treatment for injuries sustained during the assault.

Among the other recommendations are the following: (1) That one of the conditions for the approval of any tournament by the GFF is that the Promoter / Organizer (Continued on page 69)

Sunday January 26, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 75

WDCA/Beacon Cafe 50 overs tourney resumes today

T

h e W e s t Demerara Cricket Association/Beac on Cafe 50 overs competition will resume today at Joe Vieira Park with Independence A facing Sawpitt CC. The competition was put

on hold due to inclement weather and the organisers are hoping that other grounds will be available so that they can stage more matches.

Sawpitt CC currently lead zone A with 20 points from seven games followed

by All Youths A on 16 points from six games, Independence A on 16 from four and Bell Vue on 16 from seven.

Zone B is headed by Zeeburg with 24 points from eight matches, while MC Gill Super Stars are in

second place with 22 points from seven games.

Windsor Forest

occupied third position with 20 points from five games and New Windsor

are in fourth position on 18 points from seven matches.

CWI’s Regional four-day

rt Spo

Hungry Jaguars scent blood going into final day

Thirty-year-old left arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul captured his 500 th First-class wicket yesterday at Providence.

Pacer Keon Joseph started the slide with the first two wickets as Red Force slipped to 5-2 at Providence yesterday.

- Permaul reaches 500 FC wickets Mahadeo lands Premyum sponsorship for KARES 2020 Caribbean Fitness Challenge preparation

Cleveland Thomas (#469) leads Odwin Tudor (#487) and the rest of the pack during the men’s 1000m race that he won.

AAG third development meet

Baird set sights on Tokyo Games

API Deputy CEO Ms. Marissa Bujan hands over sponsorship to the new Premyum Brand Ambassador, Dillon ‘The Beast’ Mahadeo.

Lifetime ban imposed on player/patrons for match official assault

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