Kaieteur News

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VP Jagdeo NEWS defends incentives given to oil companies AIETEUR

Thursday Edition

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January 07, 2021 - Vol. 14 No. 01

Online: www.kaieteurnews.com

Guyana’s largest selling daily & New York’s most popular weekly

Price $80

Online readership yesterday, 91,949

Chatham House Expert

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says gas-to-shore project must be affordable

- Insists it cannot be seen as “end all”

President Trump blocked from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Peacemaker Passengers $864M in knocked hijack taxi at payment vouchers not out while presented ‘Policeman attempting for audit to part fight Corner’ - AG Report p.

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Gunmen open fire on home of Ponzi Scheme operators

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Guyana’s lawless giveaways affect our neighbours too Brazil is a regional neighbour hit hard by the sellout, backward behaviour of Guyana’s political leaders. The low standards and returns which Guyana negotiated are pressuring countries to relax strict industry protections.

As a consequence, the Brazilian stateowned oil company, Petrobras, is threatening to set the company’s sights on Guyana unless environmental permits are expedited.

The precedent set by Guyana, through its oil giveaways, is threatening a backlash in our relations with Brazil. When Guyanese leaders giveaway the nation’s oil wealth for ‘next-to-nothing’, this places Brazilian regulators in a difficult spot. Oil companies, including state-owned oil companies, can now demand that Brazilian regulators grant to them nothing less than what the oil companies obtained in Guyana.

The capitalist system is about competition. Oil companies are bloodthirsty sharks competing globally for oil assets. They will move their investments to where they can obtain the best terms. Oil companies will flock to free-for-all markets such as Guyana where they can benefit from lax regulation and breakneck terms.

This is good for oil companies, but will not benefit Guyana.

It will have ramifications for economic development in Brazil and for that country’s relations with Guyana.

Brazil is no push-over. PETROBAS – the Brazilian Petroleum Corporation – is angry. And the Brazilian government, in turn, has ways and means of apprehending us for lowering the sector’s negotiating benchmarks.

Exxon caves in to their investors’ call for truer environmental impact report

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Hear how Guyana is losing US$ billions without a depletion policy.

Listen all about it on The Glenn Lall Show 11am today (Rebroadcast)

Kaieteur News

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Thursday January 07, 2021

Exxon caves to investors' call for truer environmental impact report O

il supermajor ExxonMobil has finally bowed to investors' pressure to start reporting, on an annual basis, Scope Three emissions, a category of emissions it has evaded disclosing for many years.

This follows a plan it announced last month to reduce its emissions by certain specified periods.

To m a n y c l i m a t e activists and climate conscious investors, Exxon's additional reporting provides a truer representation of the impact of ExxonMobil's work on the

global environment.

ExxonMobil disagrees.

Simply put, there are three accepted categories of emissions for this kind of reporting by companies like ExxonMobil: Scopes One, Two and Three.

In its report titled 'ExxonMobil 2021 Energy and Carbon Summary', it is explained that Scope One emissions data generally covers the direct greenhouse gas emissions of ExxonMobil's operations, while Scope Two data tells investors and the public of the indirect greenhouse gas emissions from energy

purchased by the company to power its operations.

Scope Three data refers to the company's “indirect” (as it notes) greenhouse gas emissions derived from use of the company's products.

The sale of petroleum products by Exxon for 2019 was equivalent to 730 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

Exxon disagrees with assertions that Scope Three emissions data fairly represents its own efforts to protect the global environment, as it said that those emissions are outside of its control.

It said that, “Because Scope One and Scope Two emissions are within the direct control of a company, the criteria for identifying and reporting them is well established, transparent and consistent across industries.”

“Reporting Scope Three emissions, however, is less certain and less consistent,” it states. “Evaluating a company's Scope Three emissions and comparing them to other companies can be challenging due to inconsistent reporting

methodologies, as well as potential duplication, inconsistencies and inaccuracies that may occur when reporting emissions that are the result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organisation. The International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) acknowledges these issues.”

It further posited that Scope Three emissions are misleading when it comes to providing insight into the

company's emissionsreduction performance because, for example, data on increased natural gas sales for power generation would show an increase in Scope Three emissions despite the effect such sales would have on the amount of coal burned for power generation.

Exxon said that meaningful Scope Three emissions reductions would ultimately be driven by changes in society's energy use and the development of m o r e a ff o r d a b l e l o w emission technologies.

This company will only see increased pressure from climate-conscious investors (continued on page 8)

Student in UG bomb threat matter walks free

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esterday, almost two years after she was charged for a bomb threat at the University of Guyana (UG), 26-year-old Sheneza Diane Jaffarally of Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara was set free.

Jaffarally was on trial at the Sparendaam Magistrate's Court before Magistrate Rochelle Liverpool.

On December 1, 2020 attorney-at-law Latchmie Rahamat, who was

representing Jafarally, made a no-case submission on behalf of her client. Magistrate Liverpool yesterday upheld the no-case submission in which Rahamat stated that the prosecution failed to lead evidence to support the particulars of the charge and led no evidence to show that her client sent any message using the telecommunication system.

The lawyer also stated in her submission that the prosecution led no evidence to disclose the contents of the message for the court to consider whether it caused public anxiety and that no evidence, as prescribe in the Telecommunications Act, was presented to the court to show that a public telecommunication system was used to send the message.

As such, the Magistrate upheld the lawyer's submission and the matter was dismissed. It was alleged that on February 5, 2019 at Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara, Jaffarally sent by means of a public telecommunication system, for the purpose of causing needless anxiety to the staff and students of UG, a message which she knew to be false.

She had denied the charge and was remanded to prison by the Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan based on public safety. However, Jaffarally approached the High Court for bail and she was released on $10,000, bail.

Freed: Sheneza Diane Jaffarally It was reported that on the day in question, Jaffarally made several calls to the tertiary education institution, making several bomb threats, which later caused classes at UG to be cancelled, and resulted in the institution increasing security.

During a brief interview yesterday Jaffarally stated, “It has caused me great psychological trauma. I have not been able to attend school as yet.”

She added that it is not because she is not allowed to attend school but “Because I am so afraid of the situation I was put in... I have been going to therapy for the past year and I don't think another person should have to go through something like this because of negligence or because of people not investigating properly.”

Thursday January 07, 2021

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Chatham House Expert says gas-to-shore project must Insists it cannot be be affordable - seen as “end all”

By Kiana Wilburg

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n its bid to pursue a gas-to-shore project, the Government of Guyana must first ensure that the venture is affordable says Chatham House Associate Fellow, Dr. Valerie Marcel.

During an exclusive interview with other industry stakeholders on Kaieteur Radio's pro g r a m m e , Guyana's Oil and You, Dr. Marcel said it is clear from the inception that Guyana did not expect to find as much gas as it did in the Stabroek Block hence there is a common interest among ExxonMobil and its partners along with the government to bring the gas to shore.

The industry expert stressed, however, that the big question that has to be answered relates to the affordability of bringing the substantial resource to shore and whether Guyana can have all the relevant mechanisms in place to ensure the project is

efficient.

In addition to this, Dr. Marcel said that a gas-toshore project will still have shortcomings because it would not meet the energy demands of the entire country, especially the needs of persons living in far flung areas. Considering this, she said that Guyana needs to look at the role of renewable projects in the national energy matrix.

In her concluding thoughts, the Chatham House Fellow also said that the project has merit in principle but at the same time, admitted that she is making such a statement without having read or considered the feasibility studies or economics of bringing such a project on board.

Former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, was in agreement with the position expressed

by Dr. Marcel.

His reasoning for supporting such a project was premised on the fact that Guyana has poor power

generation capacity and infrastructure in place and therefore needs to find a response to the energy demand that is increasing annually by seven percent.

Patterson also noted that the previous government had commissioned several studies which examined the feasibility and practicality of the project.

It is important to note, however, that none of these studies which Kaieteur News perused prove that the gas-to-shore project is the most viable option for Guyana based on a comparative analysis done against the costs of renewable projects.

None of the studies commissioned also show that Guyana and its future generations would not be burdened with the repayment of exorbitant loans taken to fund the project.

Even as Patterson lent support to Guyana having a gas-to-shore project based

Region 10 pensioner recorded as 167th COVID-19 fatality

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he Ministry of Health reported a new COVID-19 fatality yesterday.

The latest fatality is a pensioner from Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) who is the country's 167th COVID-19 death. In its release, the Ministry said that the 85-year-old man

died while receiving treatment at a medical facility.

A total of 29 new COVID-19 cases were also recorded yesterday taking the number of confirmed cases to 6,436.

This was reflected in the Ministry's daily dashboard update which shows four

persons currently in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit, 20 in institutional isolation, 262 in home isolation and 46 in institutional quarantine.

The total number of recoveries to date is 5,983 and 39,565 persons have been tested for the virus since March.

on the studies his regime would have commissioned, he insisted that the country needs a holistic debate on all the alternatives available to meet the energy needs of the country.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC DISASTER Apart from the views offered by Patterson and Dr. Marcel, two other guests on the programme were quite blunt in their remarks that Guyana should stay as far as possible from the project. In fact, International Lawyer, Melinda Janki, stated that the authorities of the day are actually embarking on a “lunatic project” that is tantamount to courting massive debt.

According to a 2018 feasibility study that was handed to the former A P N U + A F C administration, a whopping US$304M is needed for ExxonMobil and its partners to bring natural gas from the Stabroek block to Guyana's shores.

The feasibility study,

which was compiled by Energy Narrative, a USbased market analysis firm, states that out of the US$304M, ExxonMobil would be responsible for US$165M, which will be used for pipeline construction costs.

The remaining US$139M for the construction of the onshore infrastructure will have to be financed by l o a n s t a k e n b y t h e G o v e r nment of Guyana.

Also, Guyana would still have to pay for the transportation of the gas but that price is currently under negotiations between the PPP/C and ExxonMobil.

Further to her concerns about the increase in debt, Janki had expressed that the nation is supposed t o s e e an Environmental I mpact Assessment (EIA) on the project before thought is given to its execution.

Considering that the law requires EIAs to be done for projects of this nature, Janki is of the belief that the gas to shore venture in its current state, is illegal.

The lawyer also

Chatham House Associate Fellow, Dr. Valerie Marcel contended that Guyanese are yet to see a current economic analysis which shows that this project is economically sound for Guyana in the long run as opposed to going the route of renewable energy now.

Taking the foregoing factors into consideration, Janki said that the gas to shore project is a foolish proposition.

Tom Sanzillo, Director of financial analysis at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), was quick to agree with Janki as he said Guyana has no evidence to show that it can achieve a financially sound arrangement.

In fact, Sanzillo said that the lopsided oil deal for the Stabroek Block deal is testimony to the fact that Guyana is incapable of negotiating the best prices for the pipeline and other infrastructure for the gas to shore project.

The financial expert said that Guyana ought to stay clear of the project or else it risks jumping off the edge of a most dangerous precipice.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday January 07, 2021

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

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

EDITORIAL

Bogus - there will be more It is a case of: ‘here we go again.’ And even as we say, no more of this nonsense, we know to our regret that there will be others - vulnerable victims, who can least afford the financial fallout from listening to and then falling for the latest bogus development in this society that separates the gullible from what they cannot afford.

As carried by this paper on January 6, the deceptive development on this occasion involved training in oil and gas, with dreams of employment in this wildly ballooning sector falling apart at the seams and with shocking suddenness. This latest scam and scheme snared dozens of hopeful and now hapless Guyanese, who are left worrying as to how they will be able to recoup their heavy monetary losses. From the reports, one policeman lost $260,000 and wondering how he will overcome this sudden financial disaster. Whatever the dozens of others lost, the amount has to be close to and hopefully not more than that quarter million plus Guyana dollars that the shortchanged policeman is out of pocket and regretting.

As for those from earlier batches who received certificates, those things are not worth the paper on which they are written. Whoever from whichever batch who are in possession of such certificates have no standing; those things lack any value. Something has to be told to our fellow citizens’ straight up, as hard as this may be to absorb: this whole thing was a fraud, a cruel hoax perpetrated on brethren by a cold and calculating predator, a ruthless one.

The money invested with so much anticipation is gone, unless there could be some recouping with the help of the police and the courts, it is all gone.

Now it is time for a word of warning for fellow citizens.

We understand that many are trying to get an honest break in life, which we applaud, but only when done carefully and wisely. Anytime a certain magic word is seen anywhere in affairs of these kinds, it is time to get worried, time to make sure that the exits are accessed and used, without looking back and wondering ‘what if…?’ That word is GUARANTEED. In contexts such as these, guaranteed is a nasty, dirty, costly word, and no chances should be taken, especially by those who do not have the capacity to withstand the financial shock to their system. For those, who invested more than cash, but dreams also, the result could be no less than catastrophic and most gut-wrenching. So guaranteed on anything, be it employment, returns, or money back is a fool’s bait. Just be reminded of the plight of the many victims of the highly publicized Ponzi scheme that promised so much, but delivered little or nothing at all. Thus, guaranteed is out.

Some other warning words and catch phrases that Guyanese should be aware of include: ‘can’t lose’ and ‘sure winner.’ Those are always early warnings of trouble on the horizon, which could be painful, if there is resistance to listening, or rejection of plain old commonsense.

Exxon is not a fly by night operation, but a colossus of global standing and still greater reach. Exxon is not going to engage any ‘bottom house’ and backstreet agents to conduct any aspect of its business in Guyana. It is time Guyanese understand this, and educate themselves accordingly by doing their research and following the cues.

There is no free lunch, there is no jumping of the line, and there is no shortcut to the promised land of a relationship with Exxon.

That much must be made clear, and form part of the selfeducation that we drill into each other. The same is true for other companies that come here to work this oil, or be part of the downstream fleets of businesses. Guyanese must be realistic and sensible, and do a better job of managing themselves.

It is revealing that this bogus training business is local in origin. There will be many other such bogus schemes and people, both local and foreign scavengers that look to trick and cheat Guyanese into complacency and then error.

Our final word to fellow citizens: beware of the wolves that will come.

Marjoleine Kars’s “Blood on the River” contains some problematic aspects Dear Editor, As a trained historian and anthropologist, I was unnerved when reading Marjoleine Kars’s “Blood on the River: A Chronicle of Mutiny and Freedom on the Wild Coast” last year. This book is written about us, but certainly not for us. Without reviewing it in detail, I would like to point to some of the problematic aspects of the text.

Repeated references and questionable comparisons to the American Revolution leaves the reader constantly question who the book could have been written for. Parallels drawn between formerly enslaved rebels in Berbice and plantation owners rebelling against taxes in 13 colonies is not only a stretch but a worrying way to frame a historical institution like slavery. This was not the only troubling comparison in the book. In another passage

in her work, Kars refers to a mutiny by European soldiers stating that - ‘enslaved people were not the only disaffected workers in Berbice’, drawing a comparison between mercenaries and slave hunters whose pay was late and enslaved ‘workers’. In Texas, a 2015 textbook similarly referred to enslaved Africans as ‘workers’ and tried to draw comparisons between their plight and that of indentured workers. The struggle to correct the text and recall the geography book rekindled a debate about how White America (and Europe) deals with race and slavery — especially the power of language and grammar as tools to interpret history, already a subjective area to teach. Kars seemed to have missed this debate altogether.

Another troubling aspect of Kars writing is the treatment and space given to

various individuals and voices found in the archives.

Her focus and handling of the daughter of a plantation owner held hostage by the rebels is telling. In a work about enslavement and rebellion, in which Kars reduces motivations of African women to that of punishing ‘European women, whose white privilege was based on black women’s degradation’ she singles out Georgina as a ‘real survivor’.

While these passages humanize and reveal a great deal about Georgina and her circumstances, they illuminate virtually nothing about the multidimensionality of enslaved women-except this brief and superficial reading of their motivations and actions.

In addition to questionable gender and race politics, the work in some places lack historical

accuracy. Her assessment of the role of Indigenous peoples in supporting colonialism and the vital role, which they played as key lynchpins in slavery is shallow and at times bordering on the European notion of the ‘noble savage’.

Kars’ claim that Indigenous peoples came to the aide of the Dutch due to fear of competition over scarce resources or retaliatory attacks does not stand up to historical scrutiny. In fact, she even contradicts this argument several times in her own work. Kars mentions the Indigenous people who fought the African rebels in Berbice were recruited in Essequibo and beyond- they were in effect mercenaries.

Some travelled 350 km from the Upper Mazaruni to fight self- liberated Africans who they had no prior interaction with. The contingent from (Continued on page 6)

An open letter to the Governor of the Bank of Guyana Dear Editor, As head of the regulatory body for the Act governing the operations of Financial Institutions, I hereby ask of you the Governor of the Bank of Guyana to recommend to the Finance Minister an amendment to Section 33 of the Financial Institutions Act. The bottom line is to properly define the words ‘unsafe and unsound practices by financial institutions’ and to re-imagine ways to curb profiteering by those organisations.

In these times of grave economic, social, political and financial uncertainty brought about by the Covid-19 Pandemic, individuals and entities will need loans or overdraft to offset liabilities, or to obtain new capital to keep operations running in light of the adverse impact of the Covid-19 restrictions coupled with the adjoining general elections fiasco. This is not the time for business as usual. Because of the usual collaboration among Commercial Banks and other financial institutions directly or indirectly, insolvents hardly have any other choice than to borrow at high interest rates; while in reality, competition alone should have led to reduced interest rates in our free market scenario.

Mr. Governor, many persons may not fully understand the full impact of borrowing at high interest rates with compound interest, penalties and other fees attached; and the negative consequences that are

brought to bear on a defaulter, especially in these unforgiving times. The hidden price of credit is too high and some protection against exploitation must be put in place. While interest at commercial banks has reduced marginally, it is still high. Compound interest and penalties combine to make repayment a nightmare and cause borrowers to lose property even after paying back the capital and simple interest.

Since the deregulation of interest rates to create a financial free market, financial institutions can do what they please pertaining to interest and fees. The spread between interest on saving and lending has widened; while commercial banks offer 1.5% interest on savings they charge 8 to 20% interest on loans and overdraft and reap billions of dollars off stakeholders, without regard to the public good.

While commercial banks must make money to expand and progress, it makes no sense that businesses should be destroyed in the process.

The notion of profits over societal progress must be seriously reconsidered and the enabling authority is in your good office Sir Governor of the Central Bank.

I am calling for a ban on compound interest if the simply interest is higher than 6%; and if any compound interest should be charged on simple interest below 6%, the rate should be the savings interest rate which is now at 1.5%, not the lending interest

rate of 8 to 20% which is currently imposed by commercial banks.

Mr. Governor, some financial institutions registered under the Money Lenders Act were, and are still charging, up to 40% interest on non-collateral loans and loans secured by bill of sale, also compound interest and a fine if the borrower is in default. This is at variance with the Money Lenders Act, which protects borrowers from interest rates above 32% annually on non-collateral loans, and not more than 18% interest on loans secured by bills of sale. Some Financial Institutions registered under the Money Leaders Act are estimated to have collected tens of millions of dollars wrongfully by imposing compound interest and should be forced to repay their clients if borrowers move to the courts, or if the Central Bank conducts a Commission of Enquiry into the affairs of these financial institution.

On the other hand, the Financial Institutions Act makes no provision for the protection of borrowers from high interest rates, high fees and compound interest. A good example is the fee imposed for services offered

by ATM machines. Since the establishment of the ATM machines, which is a good service, fees have hiked from $20 to $70 dollars per transaction - 250% morealthough the Banks are deriving benefit from millions of transactions in excess of when the service was

introduced in Guyana. Public and private sector wages are also being paid through the banking system. Banks do make a lot of money on services, through ATM machines and debit cards.

They don’t have to impose excessive interest rates on loans or high fees to make money. The fee of $70 dollars for an ATM transaction should also be slashed to $50 dollars.

The debit card machines installed at business places is a good development, but one of the drawbacks is the installation cost of $100,000; additionally, business places are required to install several machines for the various commercial banks when one machine can do the entire job for all the banks, if an agreement can be reached among them.

To save our local industries the price of credit must be revised downward, if not, local businesses would not be able to compete with foreign investors who are obtaining credit at 6% interest and lower from overseas sources. Financial institutions need to make money but not in an unjust manner that ignores the public good and the wellbeing of our society.

I am calling on the Bank of Guyana to intervene to reduce the price of credit and let the Bank’s intervention be a feature of Guyana’s economic system when circumstances necessitates.

Michael Carrington Former Member of Parliament

Thursday January 07, 2021

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Kaieteur News

Elections are over and the time has come for us to avoid “cussing” each other Dear Editor, My wife and I had the opportunity to usher in the new year in the serene environment of our home; thanks to the coronavirus.

It afforded us the opportunity to reflect upon the political turbulence, torture and murder of young men, General Elections and the whole gamut of unpleasant occurrences, which characterized 2020.

Last year, Guyana experienced an onslaught of propaganda by our political leaders, some spending many millions in fees to foreign public relations units and allied entities.

They have made the twentieth century propaganda gurus look quite pedestrian.

I refer to Joseph Goebbels, Propaganda Minister of the German Dictator, Adolph Hitler and Joseph McCarthy, United States Senator, whose anti-communist propaganda like Goebbels brought grief and pain to millions.

As we enter a new year, it will be helpful if all Guyanese insulate themselves from the massive propaganda and rhetoric, which is now the order of the day.

My parents cautioned me with the wisdom that “every story has three sides; your

side, my side and the real story.”

Whether we are dealing with oil, the dispensing of justice, the handling of the economy and measures being employed to cope with this pandemic Covid-19, the information being fed to the nation on these important matters has tended to be myopic and garnished.

From the little referred, the first few hours of 2021, suggest that that third side, that is the real story, remains elusive.

In other words, ordinary folks are still longing to get the truth of matters, which affect them.

In spite of this, I urge young and old to share my optimism as contained in the sentiments expressed by the renowned English Poet Philosopher Alexander Pope, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast; Man never is, but always to be blest. The soul, uneasy, and confin’d from home. Rest and expatiates in a life to come.”

You see Dear Editor, the average Guyanese is forced to rely on one of the two sides and not oft times the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

If we are hoping to get to the bottom of every story told, we may end up in either

the cemetery wandering or in the lunatic asylum.

I ask us that we have hope, I ask us to avoid the sin of silence and to call upon our religious, civil but in particular our political leaders to treat each other with civility and to be committed to the words which flow from their mouths, that what they do is really and truly in the interest of Guyana and the welfare of succeeding generations.

We must not despair, but rather retain hope and believe that change will come – change for the better, change that will make us truly free and a happy and prosperous 2021.

A century ago, the great powers led by US and UK opened talks on German war payments.

An example, of the arrogance we in Guyana should avoid. Two men have a fight, damage is inflicted on and by both, but the loser must repair and compensate the winner. Injustice at the highest level, but the lesson we should learn.

The anger of the German people as a result of the pressure by the victors of World War I helped to create the extreme Fascist Party, the Nazi and its Dictator Adolph Hitler, leading to the trials and tribulations of World War II. While the political leaders

The roads in Providence Phase Three are bad and residents are suffering Dear Editor, Please grant me a space in your newspaper to bring to the relevant authority the plight and daily suffering the r e s i d e n c e of Providence Phase Three is enduring.

For the past two years, we have been bringing this issue up to the Ministry of Housing and, as of today, no relief is in sight.

This village that is less than five years old does not have proper roads for cars and pedestrians alike; it takes

approximately ten minutes to drive through filth and mud to get out to the main access road. Now that the rainy season is upon us, it has gone from bad to worst. We are experiencing the worst period that is unacceptable, even taxis and minibuses are refusing to come to our village, pedestrians with children must walk through the swamp daily to get out of the village.

We had some sort of hope that this new Government would have been caring and

listen to our plight, we have been tolerant and even considerate driving and walking in swamp everyday while the government settled in, but how much longer can we continue to live in conditions like this?

Yours truly, N.Singh

were seeking vengeance, Europe was hit by hunger and unemployment.

That lesson seems to be ignored by our political leaders, forgetting or ignoring the Biblical injunction, which demands “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourself but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written vengeance is mine. I will repay said the Lord.” (Romans Chap 12 Vs 19).

“Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink for in so doing Thou shalt heap coals of fire off his head.”

(Roman, Chap 12 vs 20).

Already for the new year, there are allegations that Covid-19 relief money and materials are not being fairly distributed. This may not necessarily be true but the result of a typical government bureaucracy.

Whatever, may be the whole story, a concerned government ought not to

ignore these and other allegations and therefore avoid the perception that there is vengeance in place.

Beyond that, it is my hope that the bounty from oil and gas, or other mineral and natural resources will be shared equitably by and among all Guyanese and by the time 2021 is drawing to a close, that the public servants, in particular our doctors, nurses, teachers, policemen, soldiers, firemen, municipal workers, our street vendors and the people who work in the private sector will all see an increment in their take-home pay and living conditions and most of all, an environment where our young people can release their creative energies for the benefit of our beloved Cooperative Republic of Guyana. That the number of persons to be housed will be realised as promised.

That our educational, health, cultural and sporting

facilities will all be improved.

Money cannot be the constraint that we will reintroduce some form of National Service and other opportunities for persons to mix and meddle in a controlled environment learning to love, care and share.

Vital for this year, will be well thought-out plans, to be executed by managers, men and women identified based only on their competence, character and willingness to serve beyond the call of duty.

Elections are over and the time has come for us to avoid cussing each other but to be true to our promise and pledge to see Guyana forward with one objective and in so doing the worrisome widening gap between the wealthy and the poor will be attenuated. Dear Editor, may God bless you, may God bless and guide our leaders.

May God bless Guyana.

Yours truly, Hamilton Green.

I never thought that matters would come to this point in the United States of America Dear Editor, I never, ever, thought that matters would come to this point in the United States of America. Here is a situation where the Vice President of the United States has to be hidden away. And I would say, it is from his own president. The world has gone mad; at least the American version of it has.

I suppose that, in the end, when things are brought under control, some wag is going to conclude that democracy prevailed. But at what price? What enduring

bitterness and rancor and hate, as fueled by a president gone mad? Having suspected that things went too far or that he pushed them too far, or some sane remaining head knocked some sense into his, there was that belated call for calm from a president who has lost all of his marbles. I had said this before in different ways; perhaps, I will be believed now. It still feels eerie, like a death’s hand around the back of the neck.

The question is from here to where? Mitch McConnell, who waited too long, and

acted too late, now talks of the damage to any overturning of the elections.

Some horses are out of the barn of tight control, and they are scattered.

Beyond leadership appeal. Beyond the rhymes of reasonable men. Now I have a sense of what it was like to be at Charlestown, SC in 1861, with fevers at overflowing pitches.

One man talked about an ‘attempted coup’ for which he should be locked up or muzzled to prevent that kind of irresponsible talk. A lot of (Continued on page 6)

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Kaieteur News

Thursday January 07, 2021

With regard to elections, the Black race and Black leaders have nothing to be ashamed of Dear Editor, Permit the right to respond to Freddie Kissoon’s “Afro-Guyanese in 2020: Bonfires of deceit” (KN 5th January 2020). Valuable, but necessary, time is being taken to deal with the rigged mind, the nincompoopism of Freddie Kissoon who has nothing to do and all day

within which to do it. Every day he takes advantage of his media privilege to pound the African race on his electoral repeated nonsense, his garbage rants. Let me be very clear, the Black race and Black leaders have nothing to be ashamed of. Neither must we allow this racially driven captain of chaos to determine

our reality. He is not qualified to make such judgment about rigging and dishonesty because he has lost all credibility when it comes to his ability to be intellectually honest.

He is a self-admitted thief of intellectual property; he admitted publicly to stealing books thereby depriving the

...I never thought that matters From page 5 damage has been done to the Republic; a great many citizens burdened with how to continue. Where to leave politics behind, and from which point to start living and with purposes in mind?

There is despair in the air, and it is all the way from here.

I do not give a damn about the president. He will go or be made to go. It is the American Way. But he has left a lot of detritus in his wake, even though he is not full gone just yet. It didn’t have to be this way, except that those around him in the White House and the Senate did not have either the courage or moral conviction to face truth in the face and come out swinging on its behalf. To remind all: I did not vote for Mr. Biden, I didn’t vote at all. But Mr. Biden has

won fair and square, and for me that is all that matters, and the end of the line and all the other clashing storylines.

Of course, life is never so cut and dried; nor does it follow the contours that we simpler folks set as its fixed perimeters. Not too long ago, my heart bled for this beloved Guyana.

Now I am forced to do it all again for that other half, which is America. At this rate, I will not have blood nor tears to shed anymore. Soon enough all feelings could be gone, as there has been one psychic savaging after another, and there is only so much that can be absorbed.

It just goes to show how one man, be he stupid or imbecilic or reckless, can create so much chaos, introduce so much danger, destroy so much worked for

and so much gained. The reputation of America is now in tatters and it may never recover to the pride of perch that it held so dearly and for so long. Who would it dare to offer advice and counsel?

Who would deign to listen?

And it may not be refused respectfully, either. And it is all because of one man, and those other men and women who were too cowardly to stand up and say: no more.

Not now. Not tomorrow. Not ever. Well, it is a little late in the day for any of that now. I remember Aeschylus and one of my favorites: ‘And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. Yours truly, GHK Lall

owner the necessary revenue associated with sales. He who has brought international academic shame on this nation now thinks he has authority to speak about rigging. Who and what gives him that right? He was lucky that he was able to work at the University of Guyana (UG).

I stand by my position, the 2020 election should have been cancelled not declared given the revelations the recount process unearthed and the failure of GECOM to implement Order 60 of 2020 in its totality, as promised to society, in delivering “a credible count.” But he whose mind is rigged will never acknowledge this. His paid assignment is to do the daily dribble of seeking to convince society the riggers were the Coalition parties and Africans leaders were in the forefront of this.

The integrity of the vote in the 2020 election was not safeguarded and GECOM knew this during the recount exercise. No election body worth its salt, having recognised the gravity of the situation, should have foisted on this nation known tainted tabulations as legal (declared) results. There is nothing wrong in legally applying the full scope of the law to uphold justice or circumvent injustice.

It is one thing when an election is suspected to be compromised and declared but another when it is known to be compromised and declared. Guyana saw this in the 2006 Election when the

Alliance For Change’s votes and seat were knowingly awarded to the People’s Progressive Party/Civic. We witnessed it again in 2020 when GECOM, having gone through a recount and admitted “grave irregularities” by none other than the Chairperson, this nation was forced to accept tainted results as credible. But local and international bullysim, bordering on electoral terrorism, held many hostage. Even our children, going home from school in assigned and easily identified school buses, were not spared from the violent attacks and disruptive behaviours.

Kissoon, in collusion with others, wants the Black race to feel it must carry the sole burden and responsibility for the shenanigans in the 2020 election and basically for everything that is wrong in Guyana. He, even as he pens his drivel, ignores the irrefutable 47 boxes from the lower East Coast Demerara, a PPP/C stronghold, that had no statutory documents. In his corrupted brains, the Coalition is responsible and not the presiding officers who may have been corrupted. To this academic cheat, the Black race is not so stupid to rig against its own interest. This is intellectual idiocy at its best and only a corrupted mind would not recognise the illogic.

As I continue to follow President Donald Trump’s manoeuvres in the presidential election, I am even more convinced the electoral coup his

administration executed in Guyana (2020) and Bolivia (2019); he is hoping to replicate there. He is not only assailing the courts, but electoral bodies, political leaders, and legislatures to turn the election in his favour as was done in Guyana.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had the audacity to threaten our courts, GECOM and government officials with visa revocations if a particular result was not declared.

Whereas Americans and their institutions are standing up to Trump, notwithstanding the plummeting, in Guyana we had the opposite effect. It was political not legal dictate that ruled the day at the behest of rogues, local and international. Only rigged minds, peering through racist lenses such as Kissoon would see the obvious and say otherwise. He and many others like him have not evolved to the level of human decency, which we are witnessing by some in the USA who are not allowing Trump to compromise America’s democracy, despite the known ethnic and racial undertones.

It is time the decent people of Guyana, of all races, especially those descendants of Africa who he continues to badger and denigrate stop treating Freddie with kid gloves and fearing his pseudointellectual onslaught. It is time to take him and those who are his supporters on.

Yours truly, Lincoln Lewis

...Marjoleine Kars’s “Blood on From page 4 ‘foreign lands’ such as Venezuela and Suriname, would have travelled 700 km to wage war on a people whose freedom would have in no way affected theirs or diminished their political or resource security. Kars fails to see beyond this romanticized rational for the Indigenous - colonial alliance against Africans in Berbice.

She admits that Indigenous people were key in turning Berbice into a prison for Africans, without ever attempting to explore why.

A rather odd section of the work is devoted to cannibalism among the African rebels. While the historical record shows no evidence save for accusations of ‘slave catchers’ and testimonies of re-enslaved Africans bent on showing how cruel the rebels were and why they were never a part of it, Kars delves into the topic with little accuracy.

In one passage, Kars recounts that a local

Indigenous elder recounted tales of cannibalism among the rebels, who had a taste for Indigenous children - an interview, which took place some 243 years after the rebellion.

In this, Kars shows a lack of sensitivity or understanding of the broader context and dehumanizing nature of racism/racialization in Guyana.

Accusations of cannibalism against Africans is a form of structural violence and violence is never idiosyncratic. It has deep meaning for the user and the victim even when outsiders don’t recognize it.

Accusations of cannibalism, like that of rape, are often hurled against Africans in Guyana.

Most recently, our President accused African protesters in Berbice of raping young women, with no evidence presented, or charges laid or followed up.

It seems that our past is not immune to such accusations.

While there is no evidence of African cannibalism towards Indigenous peoples during the rebellion, there is ample evidence of the reverse that Kars has missed or chosen not to engage with.

In his seminal historical work on the Caribs in the Guianas, Neil Whitehead highlights ritual cannibalism of war captives as part of the cultural practice of the Caribs in the region. He also lists several accounts of Carib warriors engaging in such practices while putting down the rebellion. Kars seems to not have cross referenced her research. Blood on the River

by Marjoleine Kars proves that one can be an expert on the institution of slavery without being a scholar on enslaved peoples; as a result, the work reads more like historical fiction than a historical accounting of the 1763 rebellion.

Dr. Kwesi SansculotteGreenidge Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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L B T LUNT.. UNT...B BL B Thursday January 07, 2021

Kaieteur News

Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, claims he understands that the tax-free ride given to Exxon, its affiliates, sub-contractors and partners is too liberal.

Yet, he will do nothing about the fact that nine billion barrels of Stabroek block oil will be produced with no income or other taxes to benefit the Guyanese people.

What good is admission if it comes with no action?

Talk is cheap, Dr. Jagdeo.

What Guyana needs is action!

PAGE 07

Kaieteur News

PAGE 08

Thursday January 07, 2021

Vice President Jagdeo defends incentives for multi-billion dollar oil companies V

ice President, D r. B h a r r a t Jagdeo, sought to impress on Kaieteur Radio why it is important for oil companies to be granted incentives by the government, in an exchange with Kaieteur News' publisher, Glenn Lall.

The two debated that and several issues on Guyana's Oil and You on December 23 last year, hosted by Kaieteur News' Senior Journalist, Kiana Wilburg.

Dr. Jagdeo's explanation featured after he admitted that the tax regime granted to ExxonMobil for its Stabroek block operations is too liberal, as it effectively requires the company, its partners, affiliates and subcontractors to pay no taxes.

This has resulted in a situation where, as the country battles a pandemic,

Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo local businesses are chased after by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) for outstanding taxes they are struggling to pay, while multi-billion dollar oil majors operate tax-free.

“I know from a country's perspective that we have to get more,” the VP said, after committing that future petroleum agreements would feature fiscal regimes which are very different from that of the Stabroek block Production Sharing Agreement (PSA).

Notwithstanding this, Dr. Jagdeo believes that it is important to incentivize oil companies because of the scale of investments they bring to these oil developments. He said that the total assets in Guyana's banking system amounts to $1.1 trillion, or about US$5.6 billion.

Comparing this to the scale of investments being made by Exxon, the VP noted that the Liza Phase One project has an estimated cost of US$3.5 billion, while Liza Two is estimated at

US$6 billion and Payara at US$9 billion. The total cost of these three is estimated at US$18.5 billion dollars.

“If we look at the three developments, that's close to 20 billion,” Dr. Jagdeo said, comparing it to the money in Guyana's banks.

“To develop an offshore facility or any oil and gas industry far outweighs the capability of the country…

Where are you going to get that money if you're doing it?

Don't you understand the scale of it?”

“Often in economic terms, you have to look at transformation of a country and the scale of investible capital needed. So I'm just pointing out the scale here just for the oil and gas industry. Just three projects

done by Exxon alone, leaving out all of the others, it is eight times more than all the deposits we have in all of our banks. So if you want those resources to be developed, you have to first incentivize but protect the c o u n t r y … ” t h e Vi c e President said.

African Centre for Energy (ACEP), a policy think-thank has advised developing countries to ensure that they are more prudent in their determination of tax waivers for companies in their extractive sectors. ACEP posits that there is a need for those governments to establish a basis for exemptions, through scientific analysis of what they will cost the

government and how they are expected to benefit the country in return.

The Centre noted that tax exemptions are generally given with an expectation that it would return increases in employment, investment commitments for specific locations, capital attraction to competition and domestic market efficiency, and investments in specific economic sectors or activities as part of an industrial development strategy.

It said that a cost-benefit analysis would objectively determine the costs and associated benefits before tax exemptions are granted.

There is no evidence to suggest that Guyana has done any such thing.

US-based CDC lends support to Health Ministry's COVID-19 surveillance unit - Case trackers to be trained for each region - CMO

G

uyana is set to receive a boost in its capacity to track cases of the deadly Coronavirus/COVID-19 disease. With support from the United States–based Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Narine Singh, disclosed that the Ministry of Health's (MOH) surveillance unit will be able to train persons to specifically work as COVID-19 case trackers or contact tracers.

The CMO noted that this is an important component to the fight against the spread of the deadly disease since it will help the Ministry to keep tabs on the activities of infected persons in order to keep them from further spreading the disease.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Narine Singh Dr. Singh explained that “in other words, the more case trackers we have, the better we will be able to conduct surveillance on the

infected persons and possibly control the spread of the virus by follow-up calls, checks and so on.”

The CMO said that the initiative forms part of the support project for the USbased health department. He explained that the CDC had signed a cooperative agreement with the Ministry of Health to help improve its fight against the deadly disease.

As a result, Dr. Singh said that the Ministry has received financing from the CDC to assist with its COVID-19 crisis response activities, since COVID-19 has been declared a health emergency globally.

According to the CMO, the CDC has pledged to support a number of activities in Guyana in order (continued on page 17)

Exxon caves to investors' call...

From page 2 in the years to come, as its investors have blasted it as a poor performer among its oil industry peers, when it comes to reporting.

In the past two years, investors such as Legal and General Investment Management Limited (LGIM) and the Church of

England have dumped Exxon stocks out of dissatisfaction with its performance. Its European shareholders have lead the charge, in this regard.

Exxon has also faced multiple lawsuits from US states like New York and Massachusetts, as well as US local government leaders,

which allege that it made damning findings years ago about the impact its operations would have on the environment, and that it deliberately hid this information so it could lie to its shareholders and the public about the true environmental cost of its work.

Thursday January 07, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 09

The cart is being put before the horse T

he social media s i t e , O i l N o w, reported that the Minister of Natural Resources told the National Assembly that the Department of Energy will be converted into a professional technical unit to manage the oil sector and that the Petroleum Department at the Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) will be subsumed into the Petroleum Commission.

The startling revelation received very little comment after it was made. But it highlights the utter confusion which exists under the PPP/C when it comes to the oil and gas sector.

In August of last year, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo virtually said the same thing. He also said that the Petroleum Commission will be appointed in six months. Well, in six months a lot of things can happen.

A lot of things have happened already. A dubious review of the Payara Field Development Plan was done and is being treated as a topsecret. Payara has been approved by the government. Exxon has begun drilling in the Canje Block. Yet, the government cannot find the time to publish the Order bringing the Petroleum Commission into being.

A P e t r o l e u m Commission Bill was passed by the Coalition Government. The Bill provides for the Minister

responsible for oil and gas to bring into being a Petroleum Commission.

It was ill-advised of the APNU+AFC to conceive a Commission that has regulatory powers as well as the authority to execute policies and to advise the Minister at the same time. In the Natural Resources sector, international best practices suggest that it is conflicting to have one body as regulatory authority, the policy-making authority and the implementation arm.

The PPP/C wants the Petroleum Commission to subsume the functions of the Department of Energy and the oil and gas aspects of the work of the Ministry of Natural Resources. The functions of the Petroleum Commission are akin to the Public Utilities Commission being part of the Ministry of Telecommunications. It cannot be expected to monitor itself.

But this is exactly what the Petroleum Commission envisages. According to the law, the Commission will be required “to monitor and regulate the efficient, safe, e f f e c t i v e a n d environmentally responsible exploration, development and production of petroleum in Guyana.” However, the law goes on to extend these functions of the Commission beyond regulation and monitoring.

According to the Petroleum Commission Act, the Petroleum Commission also has an advisory and operational role. It is

expected to advise the Minister and to promote the policies of the government.

It therefore cannot be deemed an independent regulator. It is also expected to execute the decisions of the government and to ensure compliance with the conditions.

And judging from the statements reportedly made by the Minister of Natural Resources, the government has no intention of separating these functions.

Like the APNU+AFC, the PPP/C government wants to place the Commission under its thumb.

This is at odds with the advice which was rendered three years ago by the former Minister of Energy and Energy Affairs of Trinidad a n d To b a g o , K e v i n Ramnarine. He has urged that the Commission be separate from the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Five months into office, the PPP/C is still twiddling its thumbs on the question of the Commission. It has not yet brought any legislation to revise the obnoxious Petroleum Commission Act, and even if it does, it is not likely to slacken its grip on the control it intends to exercise over the Commission.

The PPP/C is yet to bring the Commission into being.

And it is likely to exercise maximum delay in doing so.

It says that it will bring a revised Petroleum Commission Bill but interestingly wants to do this after it develops a Local

Bandits on boys the de loose seh...

Dem

P

eople getting rob every day. Pickpocket return.

Dem picking yuh pocket in de minibus. Dem putting bag pun yuh leg and den one of dem friend gan create distraction in de bus while dem push a razor blade through de bag and cut out yuh money from yuh pockets.

People phone getting snatch every day. A lot of people who walking around with fancy phone is thieving phone. Nuff a dem wah pamping a scene with de latest phone is phone wah was somebody else own. But

up to now, de phone companies cannot come up with a plan fuh kill phones wah get stolen so as to deter phone theft.

As soon as night step in, people locking dem gate and dem door.

All dem people wah used to relax in dem hammock under dem bottom house, gat to lack dem door and guh upstairs because dem lil boys storming house as soon as nightfall come.

People hijacking hire cars. Dem driver wukking hard fuh put food pun dem table. Some of dem gat to wuk 10-12 hours every day.

And dem gat loan to pay fuh dem car.

And dem bandits come and tek away dem car and put dem man in debt.

Is a lot of thieving tekkin place. But de biggest bandits in Guyana are those who steal our natural resources and pay us next-to-nothing.

Dem creaming off we wealth and throwing scraps at we and we jumping up when we government give we a $25,000, instead of G$25M to which we are each entitled.

Ta l k h a l f a n d a s k yuhself: Who is de hand-it and who is bandit?

Content Law. This is putting the cart before the horse because it is the Commission which will have to oversee the Local Content Law. The absence of the Petroleum Commission gives the PPP/C free rein to grant permits, and without the regulatory oversight. The PPP/C's game is clear – control, control, control.

Without the Commission the PPP/C can do as it pleases.

Without a Commission, there is no pressure to develop a Depletion Policy.

And without a Depletion Policy, those who have interests in the Canje and Kaieteur blocks will be more secured because they know that they have a government in place which will not limit the rate of oil production.

And this will be to their advantage in selling buy-in rights to their blocks.

The lack of Depletion Policy effectively helps the owners of the blocks to make a fortune for an asset for which no signing bonus was paid.

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

Kaieteur News

PAGE 10

Thursday January 07, 2021

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

Guyana in 2020: The Black woman they couldn't vilify T

he envoys of the EU, Canada, UK and USA came in for exceptional abuse from those who supported the five months of attempted rigging in the election last year. From the time those diplomats denounced what they saw Mingo doing on March 4, the criticism of them have been relentless going way beyond the August 2 swearing in of Dr. Irfaan Ali as president.

The question in 2020 in Guyana that had a pronounced presence was

why the election riggers were insulting CARICOM leaders who were equally condemnatory of what was taking place? Here is the answer. It was easy to target the three white Ambassadors from Canada, EU and the USA respectively.

In a former colony of White domination, it was politically profitable to play on the psyche of African Guyanese. Also it was easy too to pick on the Canadian High Commissioner because she was Indian. There was

capital to gain by suggesting she was being racial in the context of Guyana electoral competition.

The white stratagem failed. Those who were rigging the election had to falter because they were reaching for the strategies of Forbes Burnham whose moment of majestic showmanship had long gone.

There were no reflections by the election riggers that 2020 bore no resemblance to 1973 when Burnham manipulated the national election of that year. There

was no moment of reflection by the election riggers that whipping up hysteria among the masses by denouncing the Whiteman for interference was a thing of the past, a past long dead.

It was easy for Burnham to tell African constituencies that the White imperialist was coming again. The generation that listened to him was born into an age of colonialism.

They saw the Whiteman's snobbery on the sugar estates and in the bauxite communities. In 2020, over 70 percent of the population had no direct experience with that kind of racial contempt. They had no direct contact with their colonial masters.

As each week rolled by, the White stratagem was not working. People from African constituencies were not shouting down “the White imperialist.” Each night, talk show hosts supportive of the PNC were personally insulting the American Ambassador and the British High Commissioner, but the venom failed to spread.

Next the PNC went into the direction of yesteryear – copying from Burnham. The PNC employed an American PR firm to persuade the American political establishment that if the PPP takes office the Chinese and Russians would control the government. The dossier produced by President Granger's relative, Michael Granger, to be circulated to American lawmakers was full of Cold War banalities.

But the year was 2020 and such stratagems were long outdated. Enter Mia Mottely.

Despite the rightful plaudits the diplomats from the ABCEU countries received for preserving democracy in Guyana last year, the

Frederick Kissoon Barbadian Prime Minister played a crucial role at a most crucial period. She must be placed in the category of those ABCEU envoys that saved Guyana.

It was Mottley who first broached the CARICOM observed recount to Granger.

In what can only be described as one of the most barefaced episodes of deceit in Guyanese politics, Granger announced that he had invited Mottley as chairman of CARICOM to organize a recount. That is not the truth.

It is a sordid fiction. After agreeing to the recount, Granger earned the wrath of Mottley when he tried to undermine the CARICOM effort by asking the court through a surrogate to strike down the recount.

Trinidad's Keith Rowley was livid and washed his hand of Guyana. But Mottley was not prepared to let Granger get away with his deceit. The die was cast. Once he agreed, Mottley knew that was the opening she wanted.

She was not going to get frustrated and give up on Guyana. Mottley knew the rigging was extensive and the world was watching and she was not going to pull CARICOM out of the picture.

The PNC hierarchy knew that Mottley was going ahead with the recount in one form or the other whatever was the ruling of the Appeal Court.

But they did not vilify her as they did with the envoys of the ABCEU countries. Had they embarked on that foolish direction they knew they would have destroyed their case. She was a Black Prime Minister and a woman.

Scandalizing her would have alienated significant numbers of Black Guyanese.

This explains why the PNC, AFC and their surrogates never attacked African personalities of eminence. The list included the former Liberian president, Ellen Sirleaf, who is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and Professor Hilary Beckles, Head of the Caribbean Reparations Committee. Mottley deserves Guyanese unlimited respect.

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

Thursday January 07, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 11

Kaieteur News

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Thursday January 07, 2021

President Trump blocked from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (Marketwatch) Social media companies condemned a video posted

by President Donald Trump during a withering assault on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, prompting Twitter to lock his account for 12 hours and threaten to permanently ban it, while Facebook imposed a 24-hour block.

Facebook and Alphabet excoriated the president but stopped short of saying they would boot him off their services. The companies face increasing pressure from lawmakers and citizens for acting as digital megaphones for Trump’s tweets and online videos, which have stoked violence and mayhem.

One potential impact is reform of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a crucial internet law that protects social-media sites from being held liable for the content posted by their users.

A Trump video, in which he professed “love” for a riotous mob that stormed the Capitol in protest of his electoral defeat, was liked more than 179,000 times on his Facebook profile.

Facebook Inc. first flagged the one-minute video for Trump’s insistence that he won the 2020 election by a landslide, and was robbed of the presidency.

It later removed the video from its platform, which reaches 2.7 billion active users monthly. “This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump’s video,” tweeted Guy Rosen, vice president of integrity at Facebook.

“We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.” “The violent protests in the

Capitol today are a disgrace,” a Facebook spokesman told MarketWatch.

“We prohibit incitement and calls for violence on our platform. We are actively reviewing and removing any content that breaks these rules.” Wednesday night, a Facebook spokesperson said it had found two policy violations by Trump’s page, resulting in a 24-hour block in which he will be unable to post on the platform.

The situation is even more complicated at Twitter Inc. TWTR, -1.15%, where Trump has 88.7 million followers and his controversial video has been viewed 11.4 million times.

Twitter, too, flagged the video. It blocked the video from being replied to, retweeted or liked “due to a risk of violence” before removing it.

Indeed, the removal of the video and two

Donald Trump’s Twitter page showing the two deleted posts. subsequent tweets pushed Trump to the brink of being booted from Twitter.

“In regard to the ongoing

situation in Washington, D.C., we are working proactively to protect the health of the public conversation occurring on the service and will take action on any content that violates the Twitter Rules,” Twitter said in a statement to MarketWatch.

But the company, like others, did not say if the president faces any disciplinary action for his tweets beyond flagging them.

A spokesman for Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube unit said it “removed a video posted this afternoon to Donald Trump’s channel that violated our policies regarding content that alleges widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Election.

For reference, the video is labeled and still up on Twitter.”

“We do allow copies of this video if uploaded with additional context and sufficient educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic (EDSA) value,” the Google spokesman added.

Still, while the chief executives of Cisco Systems Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. publicly castigated the mob in Washington, there was no word as of late Wednesday afternoon from the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter.

In an internal post to employees, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the riots a “dark moment in our

n a t i o n ’s h i s t o r y ” a n d “personally saddened by this mob violence.”

As Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet weigh their options on what to do with Trump’s incendiary socialmedia rants, some industry observers insist they have no choice but to ban his comments that reach millions of Americans.

“There have been good arguments for private companies to not silence elected officials, but all those arguments are predicated on the protection of constitutional governance,” tweeted Alex Stamos, Facebook’s former chief security officer, who is a vocal critic of the company.

“Twitter and Facebook have to cut him off. There are no legitimate equities left and labeling won’t do it.”

Trump was still at it late Wednesday, with a tweet that some think may eventually force Twitter’s hand.

He said: “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace.

Remember this day forever!”

Twitter flagged and removed the tweet, which was posted around the same time a woman was declared dead from a shooting at the riot.

Kaieteur News

Thursday January 07, 2021

PAGE 13

Passengers hijack taxi Clothes vendor's New Year's Day murder…

Police on the at ‘Policeman Corner’ hunt for suspect A

taxi driver on Tuesday had his car hijacked by his passengers at Policeman C o r n e r, L a P a r f a i t e Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD).

The taxi driver, Bhagwandin Narine, 39, of Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara (WCD), told police that his car was hijacked around 21:10hrs.

Investigators reported that apart from stealing Bhagwandin's car, the two male passengers held him at gunpoint and took away his gold wedding band worth $75,000 and a cellphone valued $86,000.

Bhagwandin, who told detectives that he plies his trade as a taxi driver at New R o a d Vr e e d - e n - H o o p , WCD, revealed that he was sent to pick up the passengers opposite the West Demerara Regional Hospital.

He further detailed that the men wore face masks.

One of them, he told police, jumped in the front passenger seat of his car while the other sat at the back.

The men reportedly told him that they were heading

The hijacked car

to Policeman Corner, La Parfaite Harmonie and asked him the fare. Bhagwandin told them the price and started driving.

At Policeman Corner, one of the men reportedly instructed him to stop at a sand heap along the road.

He complied but the passenger in the back seat choked him and placed a gun to his head.

Bhagwandin claimed that he was told not to say a word. He revealed that the

Dead clothes vendor: Paul Anthony Smith popularly known as 'Blacka'

other passenger sitting next to him exited and walked around towards the driver's side of the car. He reportedly opened the door, placed a gun to Bhagwandin's abdomen and warned him not to make noise; otherwise, he would be killed.

Bhagwandin told police that they searched and relieved him of his cellphone and gold band before throwing him out of the car and driving away.

$864M in payment vouchers not presented for audit - AG Report

A

ccording to the 2019 Auditor General's report, 744 payment vouchers totalling some $864.41 million were not presented to his office to be audited resulting in the limitation of the audit scope.

The entities in default are the Ministry of the Presidency, the Public Security Ministry and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF). The report pointed out that 304 payment vouchers totalling $259.472 million were in respect to the aforementioned entities while 436 vouchers carrying a value of $576.168 million were in respect to several regions.

Included in the amounts for the Regions were 426 payment vouchers valued $545.276 million for Region Five, which represents approximately 95 percent of the total value of unpresented vouchers for the Regions.

“As a result, it could not be ascertained whether value

Ministries, Departments and Regions still had cheques on hand which should have been refunded to the Consolidated Fund as at December 31, 2019 with the necessary adjustments being (continued on page 17)

Auditor General, Deodat Sharma was received for the sums involved, and whether the funds were used for the purposes intended,” Auditor General (AG), Deodat Sharma, said in his report.

Cheques on Hand Additionally, the AG pointed out that upon the time of the audit, a number of

Wanted for murder: Shawn Jones

P

olice have issued a wanted bulletin for a man who they believed might have killed Paul Anthony Smith, a clothes vendor, on New Year's Day. Smith, popularly known as 'Blacka', of 31 Bent Street We r k - e n - R u s t w a s reportedly shot to his back by another clothes vendor around 18:30hrs at Longden and Commerce Streets, Georgetown in the vicinity of the East Coast bus park.

Wanted by police for questioning in relation to the murder is Shawn Jones, 54, of 245 East La Penitence, Georgetown.

Anyone who might know where Jones can be located is asked to contact police on the following telephone numbers: 2266978, 225-8196, 226-2870,

226-7065, 227-1149, 2267065, 225-6940, 911 or the nearest police station.

Previously cops had arrested and questioned a 29-year-old man also of East La Penitence who was believed to be a relative of the wanted man. Kaieteur News had reported that he was the suspect.

Speaking with this n e w s p a p e r y e s t e r d a y, Commander of Region Four 'A', Simon McBean, said that he was questioned but all information and evidence gathered so far points to Jones as the prime suspect.

According to reports, the suspect shot Smith while he was heading back to his car with a cutlass in his hand.

Eyewitnesses recalled that just before the shooting, they heard a commotion between Smith and the

suspect. Some said that Smith had walked to where the man was and confronted him with the cutlass.

He reportedly stormed away towards his car.

Persons nearby then heard an explosion. Smith was soon after seen staggering for a bit and collapsed on the front passenger seat of his car.

Kaieteur News learnt that Smith and the suspect were at odds for some time over a grievance, which they had.

They were often seen confronting each other.

Things escalated that evening.

Smith has been described as a friendly individual who plied his trade as a clothes vendor at the bus park for a number of years.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 14

Thursday January 07, 2021

Man who allegedly burnt wife and children alive, remanded K

enford Downer, the man who allegedly burnt his wife and children alive last December, yesterday made his first court appearance and was remanded to prison.

The defendant, who was at the Bartica Magistrate's Court, appeared virtually before Magistrate Crystal Lambert in the Vreed-enHoop Magistrate's Court.

He was not required to plead to the indictable offence, which alleged that on December 12, 2020 at Four Miles Squatting Area, Potaro Road, Bartica, he murdered Carolina Kennedy, 48, a housewife, and their two daughters – five-year-old Mariana and three-year-old Gabriella Kennedy – during the course or furtherance of arson.

The defendant is expected to make his next court appearance on January 27, 2021.

A c c o r d i n g t o information, Downer was

hospitalized at the Bartica Regional Hospital and was being treated for injuries he sustained during the fire.

After spending almost four weeks in hospital, he was on Monday discharged and taken into custody.

Last week, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, S.C., advised the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to lay charges against Downer.

According to a police

report, at around 21:30 hrs. on December 12, 2020, an unknown caller telephoned the Bartica Police Station and reported a fire. The fire service was alerted and dispatched to the area.

However, a fire truck was unable to reach the location and a bucket brigade was formed. When police and fire service ranks arrived, the wooden structure was completely engulfed in flames.

After the fire was extinguished, the ranks discovered the charred remains of Kennedy and her two daughters in the southeastern corner of the house. The bodies of the

victims were subsequently removed, and transported to the Bartica Hospital Mortuary.

A search was launched for Downer and he was discovered in some bushes in close proximity to the house.

While he was being placed in the back of a police vehicle, the suspect admitted to the gruesome crime.

Based on information received, Kennedy and Downer had been living together for the past six months, and during that period, the woman had made several complaints to her mother about the suspect threatening her when he was intoxicated.

One week before the incident, Downer had allegedly threatened to burn

Remanded: Kenford Downer the house down to kill Kennedy and her daughters.

The woman was encouraged to report the matter to the police and she had planned to visit the station on Monday, December 14, 2020. She never made it.

Downer was previously convicted in 2018 for assaulting Kennedy.

Peacemaker knocked out while attempting to part fight

A

43-year-old man, who was trying to be a peacemaker, was knocked out after he attempted to part a fight between two men.

The injured man has been identified as Vindon Nurse, a construction worker of North East La Penitence, Georgetown.

The incident occurred at around 08:00 hrs. on Sunday

at Matthews Ridge, Region One. Reports revealed that the man was on his bed at Matthews Ridge Primary School, which is currently under construction, when he observed the two men having a violent argument.

Upon seeing this, Nurse approached them with the intention of keeping the peace, but was instead attacked. The two men

allegedly assaulted Nurse until he became unconscious.

He was then taken to the Parika District Hospital where he was seen and admitted. According to a police report, the two men, a 21-year-old and a 29-yearold, who were working at the same location as Nurse, are currently in custody assisting with the investigation.

Kaieteur News

Thursday January 07, 2021

PAGE 15

Launch of new strategic plan…

Govt. to introduce self-testing for HIV M

inister of Health, Dr. F r a n k Anthony, has announced a plan for Guyanese to selftest for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

Dr. Anthony made this disclosure on Tuesday when he launched the new HIV National Strategic Plan (NSP) 2021-2025, which aims to strengthen the national response to HIV/AIDS. The Minister noted the plan is to bridge past achievements with the objective of ending the disease by 2030.

Dr. Anthony noted that Guyana aims to reach the UNAID 90-90-90 goal, which is to ensure 90 percent of the persons in Guyana know their HIV status, 90 percent of the persons who are living with the virus receive treatment (antiretroviral therapy) and 90 percent of those who receive treatment are virally suppressed.

Minister Anthony said there are many steps along the way towards the elimination of AIDS. He noted that “We still have a lot of work to be done over the next five years if we are going to reach the target and move beyond that to achieve what we aspire for

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony by 2025… These targets might look like a simple number to achieve, but there is a lot of underlying work to do.”

“Another area we want to look at is self-testing. This is relatively new and it has been advocated around the world and some countries have implemented it with relatively good success and this is one of the areas that, of course, we would like to put in place here in Guyana,” he said.

Dr. Anthony noted the contribution from the various stakeholders which strengthened the plan and m a d e i t m o r e comprehensive.

He also acknowledged the challenges and weaknesses over the years, but pointed out the

Government's continued commitment to addressing them and finding new methodologies to ensure that the 2025 target is met.

As such, Minister Anthony says for 2021, the goal is to have a comprehensive (PreExposure Prophylaxis) PREP programme.

“The objective is to make sure anyone who is at risk can access PREP. Increasing self-testing is another area of focus, as well as reducing the burden of other sexually transmitted infections,” he stressed.

A d d i t i o n a l l y, D r.

Anthony said that there are plans to submit a proposal to the Global Fund for additional capital to combat HIV. In the meantime, Health Ministry Consultant, Dereck S p r i n g e r, d u r i n g h i s presentation, recognized the commitment of stakeholders to increase the national response to AIDS. While there have been achievements, he said, there are still numerous challenges which hamper the response, which must be resolved.

Mr. Springer said there continues to be dysfunctional coordination structures, high levels of stigma and discrimination, a weak paper-based monitoring and evaluating system, frequent stock-outs of medication and high dependence on expert

Over 29,000 devices verified...

Inspector verifying electricity meters From page 11 Metrology. For 2021, he said, the GNBS has procured a fitted Mobile Unit, which will be visiting strategic locations across the country to conduct the mobile

verification of devices used at Markets and other business outlets. In addition, the Bureau is actively looking to employ Inspectors within other outlying regions to ensure access to its services.

The PRO revealed too that, “there will be expansion of calibration services in the areas of volume, temperature, pressure, and torque, which are heavily demanded by industry.”

human resources in service delivery.

Additionally, Dr. Rhonda Moore, Programme

Manager at the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) said that the plan will see Guyana

laying the foundation over the next five years to achieve the global commitment of ending AIDS by 2030.

PAGE 16

Kaieteur News

Thursday January 07, 2021

GuyOil workers to receive disputed salary increase CAR RENTAL

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Workers of the Guyana Oil Company Limited (GuyOil) will be receiving their long-disputed salary increases in the second quarter of 2021, according to the President of the Clerical and Commercial Workers Union (CCWU), Sherwood Clarke.

Clarke who spoke to Kaieteur News yesterday said that on December 29 last year, the union met with the Ministry of Labour, which had intervened in the matter and the management of GuyOil for deferral of the payments.

The meeting came after about 300 workers from the company decided to strike over Guyoil's refusal to pay them their bonuses and salWANTED

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ary increases for the year.

Upon hearing that they would not be receiving their payments, workers at GuyOil stations all across Guyana conducted a sit-in protest exercise, demanding their longawaited payments. It was stated that the company had agreed last year to pay the workers their bonuses and give a salary increase of eight percent but failed to do so.

The industrial action was supported by the CCWU and Clarke was quoted as saying that the previous board of the company had agreed to pay salary increases based on a performance appraisal system, but a new board was installed by the current administration and that board pulled out from the agreement.

The Chief Labour Officer, Charles Ogle, had condemned the strike action while stating that it breached protocols and labour laws. Days after the protest he was quoted as saying, “We had a meeting and we are at a stalemate pres-

ently, the company is offering nothing and the Union is asking for something…I wrote the union for them to come in…they didn't inform me or they didn't inform management. The Union is saying it is a sit-in and the management is saying it is a strike.”

In light of the meeting between the Union, the Ministry and management of GuyOil, Clarke revealed yesterday that the payments will be expected to be made by March 31.

He disclosed that it was also agreed that if the workers were to resume industrial action, they would not be dismissed or discriminated in any way, as threats to do so was made when the workers conducted a strike in December.

This newspaper previously reported that it was alleged that management at some locations threatened to fire workers if they did not work and continued to strike.

It was reported that they will be replaced with persons who

President of CCWU, Sherwood Clarke have pending applications in the company's system. Clarke made reference to the threats yesterday stating that he was still concerned because he was informed that a station manager was sent on administrative leave by the company's management after she supported the industrial action.

Kaieteur News understands that the CCWU and GuyOil have been in negotiations since July of last year to get the workers their benefits.

Thursday January 07, 2021

Gunmen open fire on home of Ponzi Scheme operators The home of Ponzi Scheme operators, Yuri Garcia Dominguez and his wife Ateeka Ismael reportedly came under gunfire last night.

According to reports, three gunmen turned up at his premises at Enterprise, East Coast Demerara and started shooting.

The men, according to police, were spotted exiting, and then reentering the vehicle after the shooting. Kaieteur News was told that Dominguez was not at home at the time of the shooting. An investigation has since been launched into the matter.

Dominguez and his wife are the principals of Accelerated Capital Firm Inc, a company which allegedly swindled at least 17,000 Guyanese of millions of dollars.

The couple is currently before the court facing multiple fraud charges. They have since promised to repay those who had invested with

Yuri Garcia Dominguez and his wife, Ateeka Ismael. them.

However, many had since told Kaieteur News that they are still to receive payments

and have accused Dominguez and his wife of fooling them on numerous occasions.

Pfizer vaccine approved for region but Health Ministry wants more info NEWSDAY - The Pfizer (covid19) vaccine has been approved for the Caribbean region, but Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the ministry has requested some more “technical information” before making any final arrangements.

He was speaking at the Health Ministry’s virtual press conference yesterday morning.

In November, Deyalsingh said based on the then-current research and science, the Moderna vaccine was more ideal for Trinidad and Tobago than Pfizer’s.

He had said, “The advantage is the Moderna vaccine can be stored at much

PAGE 17

Kaieteur News

higher temperatures than the Pfizer. The Pfizer can be stored at -70 degrees Celsius to -80 degrees Celsius…But the Moderna vaccine can be stored at -20 degrees Celsius for up to six months. So logistically, that is a huge improvement.”

Moderna is a US biotechnology company and Pfizer is a US pharmaceutical corporation.

He said Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram met with a representative f r o m W H O ’s C o v a x vaccination programme on Tuesday, at which he was also present.

He said, “We requested some packages of info that

they have promised to send about the candidate vaccines we are looking at in the region.”

These are the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Sanofi vaccines.

AstraZeneca is a BritishSwedish pharmaceutical company and Sanofi is a French pharmaceutical company.

Deyalsingh began saying no vaccine had yet been approved by the WHO for the Caribbean, but was corrected by Dr Erica Wheeler – WHO county representative for TT – who said the Pfizer vaccine had been approved.

Bogus oil and gas training...

Union official granted $680,000 bail The General Secretary of the Guyana Seafarers and General Workers Union (GS&GWU) was yesterday slapped with a total of 17 charges at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court.

Simone Fortune, who gave her address as East Canje, Berbice, appeared before Magistrate Renita Singh to answer to the charges of obtaining by false pretence.

It is alleged that the accused, between Friday 17th January, 2020 and Monday 20th January, 2020, at Pitt Street, New Amsterdam with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of $160,000 from 17 persons by falsely pretending she was in a position to conduct training and issue seafarer certificates.

Fortune pleaded not guilty to the charges and she was subsequently granted bail in the sum of $680,000.

The magistrate also ordered that her passport be lodged and that she report to a police station every Friday.

Fortune was represented

Simone Fortune

by Attorney-at-law Ryan Crawford and the case was adjourned until January 26, 2021.

Several persons invested their monies into participating in two courses that were advertised on a local television station in Berbice.

The courses advertised were, Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) and Lifting and Banksman courses, with a requirement of $260,000 to complete both courses. One course was $160,000 while the other was

$100,000 and upon completion they were told by Fortune that certificates would be given for both courses and they would be guaranteed jobs in the oil and gas sector.

The persons were all trained in five batches.

However, after the training was completed, no certificates were issued and they were given the royal run around to obtain them.

On the sign board located on a building in Pitt Street where some of the training took place, it listed Fortune as the General Secretary of the GS&GWU. Based on the information provided by persons who did the courses, Fortune led the training under the Inland and Offshore Recruiting and Clearing Agency (IORCA) and in January advertised training for the courses.

Five batches were trained and of the first two batches, a few received certificates, but those turned out to be fake certificates.

The others never received any. After the persons realized that they might have been duped, they decided to file a report at the Central Police Station and a probe was launched.

...US-based CDC lends support to From page 8 to support acceleration, planning and operational readiness for COVID-19 preparedness and response.

The CDC, he said, intends to allocate part of the funding to pay for the provision of case trackers' services.

According to the CMO, vacancies exist for COVID-19 cases trackers to operate in the 10 administrative regions. He noted that at present there are five case trackers in training.

The case trackers will be trained to boost capacity in each region.

At present, case trackers are needed for One, Seven, Eight, Nine and 10.

From the inception of the global pandemic, international health organiza-

tions have been pushing for case trackers' initiatives to be implemented as a more effective method of addressing issues of COVID19 in the Regions of the Americas – of which Guyana is included.

Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) had declared case tracking as an effective disease control strategy to identify cases and their contacts to then work with them to interrupt disease transmission.

According to the two global health agencies, by definition, case tracking involves the process which prevents further transmission of the disease by separating people who have (or

may have) an infectious disease from people who do not, which includes asking cases to isolate and contacts to quarantine at home voluntarily.

Last August, a case for case tracking had been presented to the local Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC) — the committee which is directly responsible for the testing and monitoring of COVID19, across the 10 administrative regions.

The HEOC noted, however, that while the committee agrees with the recommendations for more follow-up surveillance, specifically tracking of coronavirus cases, the initiative required more personnel; a resource which was not readily available at the time.

One of the fake certificates.

...$864M in payment vouchers not From page 13 made to the Appropriation Accounts.

In this regard, he revealed that 588 cheques totalling $713.942 million were still on hand.

Of this summation, 273 cheques valued at $569.686 million were in relation to Ministries and Departments, while the remaining 315 totalling $144.256 million were in relation to Region Two and Four to Nine.

As a result of this, the Appropriation Accounts were overstated by $713.942

million, Sharma highlighted.

Economic Fund/ Economic Project Also noted in the report for Economic Projects, the AG pointed out that Regions Two and Six operated on a cost recovery basis with the objective of making a profit.

However, these ventures were inadequately managed and supervised.

Region Two had three advances totalling $194,000 outstanding, while Region Six incurred a loss of $7.510 million and did not present payment records to substantiate

the expenditure of $3.396 million.

Most notably, however, he pointed out Region Five which operated a farm to provide agro-supplies to schools and hospitals and offer employment for persons in the Region.

This farm planted and sold cash crops. However, records to substantiate the operations of this venture revealed that amounts totalling $92.480 million were invested for the years 2016-2019, whilst only $165,000 were realized as profit for the year 2019.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 18

Thursday January 07, 2021

Over 29,000 devices verified by GNBS in 2020 Laboratory Technicians conducting Volumetric Calibration

Inspectors verifying scales

D

espite being faced with COVID-19 related challenges, the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), the national measurement institute, was able to verify a total of 29,675 new devices.

These, according to the entity's Public Relation Officer, Mr. Lloyd David, included 638 scales, 1,473 masses and 27,554 electricity meters for the Guyana Power and Light Inc. This, he said, indicates an overall increase in new devices verified as compared to the year 2019.

In fact David said, that many of the targets set by GNBS at the beginning of the year were met, notwithstanding setbacks caused by the pandemic.

Significant efforts, he explained, were made under the Legal Metrology Programme to verify weighing and measuring devices used in commerce to

protect consumers and ensure equity in trade. In addition, under its Industrial Metrology Programme, the GNBS continued to provide calibration services to a wide range of stakeholders during the year.

For devices already in use at shops, markets, and other locations such as s u p e r m a r k e t s , manufacturing companies, rice mills, hospitals, airlines, post offices, David said that a total of 5,009 scales, 9,977 masses, 140 weighbridge scales, 202 electricity meters, and 59 moisture meters were verified.

For volumetric measurements, the GNBS verified 1,722 petrol pumps, 270 bulk meters, 30 storage tanks and 114 fuel tanker wagons, the PRO revealed in a press statement. “These devices were verified for Rubis, GuyOil, Sol Guyana and other private companies countrywide to ensure measurement accuracy and conformance to safety

requirements,” David noted.

Overall, he added, there was a notable decline in the verification of devices already in use during 2020 when compared to 2019.

This, he said, could be attributed to necessary precautionary measures taken by the GNBS during the pandemic.

Last year, he revealed there was also a significant decline in the surveillance inspections, which are done to ensure that devices in use at shops and markets countrywide are stamped and in acceptable condition.

“Only 1217 surveillance visits were conducted, which resulted in 269 devices being seized and removed because they were either inaccurate, unverified or in a deplorable condition,” David shared.

Notably, in 2020, the GNBS, he said, conducted a series of measurements training for the Guyana Police Force (GPF) which focused on the verification and use of breathalyzers,

Inspector verifying Petrol Pumps

speed guns and the use of international system of units.

David revealed too that for Legal Metrology, in 2020, the GNBS worked to ensure it fulfilled its measurement role in the Oil and Gas Sector. Throughout the year, he said, Inspectors were fully involved in monitoring the verification of custody transfer meters on

the Floating Production Storage Offloading vessel, offshore. For Industrial Metrology, he added, the GNBS continued to provide vital calibration services as industries increased the use and demand for traceable and reliable measurements in Guyana. Measuring instruments were calibrated in the areas of Mass,

D i m e n s i o n , Vo l u m e , Pressure, and Temperature.

This resulted in the calibrations of 1,679 measuring instruments during 2020.

According to David too, the GNBS is looking to expand its services to stakeholders in both Legal Metrology and Industrial (continued on page 15)

Thursday January 07, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 19

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Kaieteur News

Thursday January 07, 2021

Thursday January 07, 2021

Keon Harding to replace Romario Shepherd in Windies squad to Bangladesh Keon Harding

Thursday January 07, 2021 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) You may not be sure what to think today. Mental confusion could be the day's theme for you, but don't let it get you down.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Your dreams and fantasies are more real than you know.

Smile at the people you pass and watch them smile back.

Your sensitive and fun-loving nature is infectious.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) Spiritual concerns are a bigger issue for you today, Taurus. You may have found that you're drawn to a fanciful mindset and unorthodox way of viewing the world.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Your sensitivity is especially heightened today, Scorpio.

You're in tune with your emotions and more sensitive to your dreams.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Does it seem like your life is pulling apart at the seams, Gemini? Perhaps it's time to reevaluate. Major aspects of your being could be coming into question.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) There's an extra bit of fire in your words and emotions today, Cancer. Your sensitivity is heightened and you should consider doing some sort of volunteer work now.

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Kaieteur News

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) You may be going through a confusing period now, Sagittarius. Today's energy brings these issues into focus. Parts of your life seem to be slapping you in the face, indicating that a drastic life change is coming.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Spiritual concerns and fanciful daydreams move into sharp focus today. Perhaps you're pulled by playful emotions and escapism.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) There may be serious challenges in your daily routine today, Leo. How can you organize your day more efficiently? Take time to set a plan into motion. Write it down. You may want to drift into another realm, so let those emotions roam free.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Have you taken someone for granted lately? Today you should give them the thanks and attention they deserve.

Your sensitivity and psychic awareness are especially strong. You aren't in the mood to put up with superficialities.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) You may feel idealistic today, Virgo. This is fine, but make sure these ideals are rooted in reality or they may be nothing more than a pipe dream. Feel free to escape to another mindset.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) There may be some serious miscommunication today, so be honest in all your dealings, Pisces. Be as straightforward as possible, since issues can backfire if the truth is clouded.

SportsMax - Barbadian fast bowler Keon Harding has been selected to join the West Indies tour to Bangladesh later this month.

The 24-year-old, rightarm fast-medium bowler will replace Romario Shepherd who has been withdrawn after he tested positive for the Covid-19 virus, according to sports broadcaster Andrew Mason.

Harding has played 17 First-Class matches during which he has taken 54 wickets at an average of 25.11. His best bowling performance came against Trinidad and Tobago in February 2020 when he took 10 wickets in the match with a best of 5 for 19 in TT’s second innings.

The loss of Shepherd, though, will be a major blow to the West Indies, who were already without a number of stars including Captain Jason Holder, Shimron Hetmyer, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Kieron Pollard, Shai Hope, Sheldon Cottrell and Nicholas Pooran for the tour set to take place between late January and February this year. Shepherd scored a century and a 50 during the recent West Indies ‘A’ tour of New Zealand and was one of the shining lights in an otherwise disastrous tour. He also took two wickets in the unofficial two-Test series.

...Very Quiet 2020 for From page 23 collaboration with the Sport Minister.

A presentation was done by the Hockey Board members, outlining their intention of utilising the plot of land at Durban Park, Georgetown, which they acquired under the previous government.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the government and the Hockey Board, and the executives are hoping they can now have a lease, which will allow them to use the space on a long-term basis to develop the sport.

...A tennis boss said Serena From page 21 but has yet to break through and add to her title count.

Perhaps iriac’s criticism will serve as fuel to push her over the finish line. But until then, it’s safe to say Ohanian will actively defend her against racism and misogyny - even if it comes from one of her sport’s billionaire gatekeepers.

...RHTYSC completes another successful year From page 22 balls, scorebooks, trophies, medals, gears, scorebooks and also co-sponsored twelve sports events including a female football tournament.

During the year, the club also celebrated its 30th anniversary by hosting a wide range of activities during the period 1st August to 31st of September. The highlight was the honouring of long serving members, renaming of the RHTYSC all time Cricket X1, Senior Citizens Breakfast, Gregory Gaskin Dolphin Awards Scheme, Ansa Mcal Award of Excellence, Paying it Forward Programme and the Basil Butcher Trust Fund. The team also assisted six families whose homes were destroyed by fire or natural disaster.

The successful year completed with the hosting of a multi-million-dollar Outreach Programme and the sixth Annual Christmas Village. A total of 1036 food hampers, 5103 Christmas Toys, 500 Special Christmas packages and 300 Senior Citizens breakfast were among the items shared out while a wide range of organisations also received assistance including three orphanages.

Foster noted that the hard work and commitment

of the executives was the main reason for the success of the club in 2020 along with the support of the media especially NCN, DTV-8, LRTVS, CH 10, NTN, Guyana Chronicle, Guyana Times, Stabroek News, Kaieteur News, Newsroom and CH12. The work of the club would have not been possible without the support of over 400 donors and Foster noted that over ninety percentage of them are nonfinancial supporters.

Special mention was made of Bakewell, Metro Pepsi, Farfan and Mendes, Namilco, Poonai Pharmacy, DDL, Guyana Beverage, Ansa Mcal, F and H Printery, Nand Persaud Co. Ltd, Modern Optical Services, Panthera’s Solution, CCI, KSM Investment, Len’s Craft, Odyssey Transportation, Edward B Beharry, Andana Homes, Kings Jewellery, Food for the Poor, Star Sports, V-Net Communications, The Gift Centre, John Lewis Styles, Bounty Farm, John Fernandes Ltd, Ming’s Product Ltd, GNNL, Bissan Trading, Fitness Express, Trophy Stall, Dr. Tulsi Dyal Singh, 4R Bearings, Ministry of Natural Resources, Guyoil, PPDI, Republic Bank, GBTI, Demerara Bank, Mike’s Pharmacy, Small Business Bureau and Go Invest.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 22

Thursday January 07, 2021

David dominoes set for Sunday at Bagotstown

S

hawn David will be hosting his birth anniversary dominoes competition on Sunday at Lil Hole bar, Bagotstown, East Bank Demerara.

Entrance fee is $12,000, while $30,000 will be added to the prizes. The competition will commence at 14:00hrs and teams are asked to be at the venue 30

minutes prior to the schedule time for play to start.

Teams can contact Mark Wiltshire on 659-8672 for registration.

The competition is being sponsored by Lil Hole Bar, Target Hardware, Q’s Group of Companies, Tony’s Jewellery Store, Alisha’s Delicacies and Catering S e r v i c e a n d Z o e y ’s Investment.

Organiser Mark Wiltshire (2nd from left) accepts one of the prizes from Dwayne Atkins of Q’s Group of Companies in the presence of from left Pam Lyght of Alicia’s Delicacies and Catering Service, XUXA Atkins and Sean David of Lil Hole bar.

Thursday January 07, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 23

Jamieson bowls NZ to 2nd test, series win over Pakistan

A

P - Paceman Kyle Jamieson continued an extraordinary start to his test career, taking 6-48 as New Zealand beat Pakistan by an innings and 176 runs in the second test yesterday to claim its fourth win in four tests at home this summer.

Jamieson’s five-wicket haul was his fourth in six tests since his debut against India last year and followed his 5-69 in Pakistan’s first innings, giving him match f i g u r e s o f 11 - 11 7 i n Christchurch.

Pakistan was bowled out for 186 on the fourth day after starting its second innings 362-runs behind New Zealand.

Its first innings of 297 — a solid performance after losing the toss — was eclipsed by New Zealand’s 659-9 declared which was built around Kane Williamson’s 238, Henry Nicholls’ 157 and Daryl Mitchell’s unbeaten 102, his maiden century.

In sweeping both of its home series this summer, New Zealand moved past Australia to attain the No. 1 ranking in tests for the first time. Much of the credit for that belonged to the tall right-armer Jamieson.

“We had to graft away for decent periods of time and I

New Zealand bowler Kyle Jamieson celebrates after taking the wicket of Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan during play on day four of the second cricket test between Pakistan and New Zealand at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, New Zealand, Wednesday, Jan 6. 2021.

(John Davidson/Photosport via AP)

guess as a bowling unit we were clinical across the day,” Jamieson said. “I think the way myself, Tim (Southee), Trent (Boult) and Matt (Henry) bowled kind of set us up to finish it off.

“We’ve got the fourpronged attack and I see myself very much as the fourth prong.”

Jamieson claimed his first wicket of the second innings before stumps on Tuesday, leaving Pakistan 81 and New Zealand needing nine wickets to win. He then ran through the Pakistan top

and middle order on We d n e s d a y, u s i n g h i s weapons of menacing bounce and late swing, to achieve his best bowling figures in tests.

Jamieson began his firstclass career as an aspiring opening batsmen who bowled when needed. He developed his bowling, finding that at 2.03-meters (62 83 ) he is able to generate real pace and bounce which has made him a terror to visiting batsmen on New Zealand’s green pitches.

Jamieson hasn’t

neglected his all-round abilities and, as well his 36 wickets at an average of 13 after six tests, he has a half century and a batting average of 56.5.

He had scores of 44 and 49 in his first two innings in tests and took his first fivewicket bag, 5-45, in his second test against India.

Returning to the New Zealand team this season, he scored an unbeaten 51 in the first test against the West Indies and took 5-34 in the first innings of the second test of that series.

He scored 32 in the first

test against Pakistan and took 5-69 as New Zealand bowled out the tourists for 297 in its first innings of the second. Jamieson was 30 not out when New Zealand declared its first innings.

Jamieson claimed his first wicket of the second innings when he dismissed opener Shan Masood for his second duck of the match.

A f t e r Tr e n t B o u l t removed the night watchman Mohammad Abbas (3), Jamieson dismissed Abid Ali (26) before lunch and Haris Sohail (15), Azhar Ali (37) and Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan (10) during the second session.

Jamieson had assistance in his dismissal of Abid from substitute fielder Will Young, who took a brilliant diving catch at short backward point.

Azhar had been solid in making 37 until Jamieson went round the wicket and the right-hander followed a ball down leg, which he feathered to Watling.

Rizwan’s was a magnificent dismissal, an inswinging yorker which beat the Pakistan captain’s late defensive shot.

Jamieson then dismissed Faheem Ashraf (28) in classic fashion, setting him up first with short deliveries then pushing a full delivery across him which the batsman chased and edged to

Watling. That left him with match figures which were the fourth best by a New Zealander in tests.

After his recordbreaking contribution with the bat — which included a 369-run partnership with Henry Nicholls for the fourth wicket — Williamson added a wicket with his right arm off spin. He dismissed Shaheen Afridi for his first wicket as New Zealand captain.

New Zealand had only four tests this home summer and needed to win them all to attain the No. 1 test ranking and to promote its chances of reaching the final of the World Test Championship.

It had two innings victories against West Indies, then beat Pakistan by 101 runs and an innings and 176 runs.

“As captain and a player I take responsibility,” Rizwan said. “I didn’t do very well in ‘keeping. Fielding is a very important part of the series.

“If you want to win the match you must take 20 wickets. The bowlers created opportunities early on but we didn’t hold the catches.”

Scores: New Zealand 659 for 6 dec (Williamson 238, Nicholls 157, Mitchell 102*) beat Pakistan 297 (Azhar 93, Jamieson 5-69) and 186 (Gohar 37, Jamieson 6-48) by an innings and 176 runs.

Shepherd test positive for COVID-19 A tennis boss said Serena Williams - Says he has no symptoms - Her husband should retire ‘because calls him racist of her age and weight’ and sexist

By Sean Devers

For 26-year-old Guyana and West Indies fast bowling all-rounder Romario Shepherd it came as shock when he was tested positive for the corona virus and was ruled out of the West Indies tour to Bangladesh which starts on January 20 with the first ODI. While 12 of the senior players opted out of the tour of Bangladesh due to safety and personal reasons since on the sub-continent Bangladesh is only behind India in Covid cases, the pacer who plays for Tucber Park the Berbice domestic cricket showed commitment to the West Indies by agreeing to tour and was one of the senior players on a depleted side ODI team.

Yet to play Test cricket, the hard working Shepherd has played five ODIs and three T20 Internationals and also played in the CPL for Guyana Amazon Warriors

and in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings.

Wi t h a F i r s t - C l a s s century and four fifties in his 25 matches at that level and 74 wickets with a best of 524 Shepherd was looking forward to making an impression with both bat and ball and gave the weak West Indies side a fighting chance against a strong Bangladesh side playing in home conditions.

“I was very surprised when the test came back positive since I have no symptoms or nothing and feeling one hundred percent normal,” disclosed the powerfully built former National U-19 player who has also represented West Indies A, West Indies Cricket Board President’s XI, West Indies President’s XI. Shepherd who made his ODI debut against Afghanistan at Lucknow on November 6, 2019 and also played 29 List ‘A’ and 24

T20 games, is what the medical experts describe as being asymptomatic; someone not showing or producing indications of a disease or other medical condition.

“Yes I am disappointed but once my quarantine period is over I will look to perform well in the Regional Super50 in Antigua,” said Shepherd who made his List ‘A’ debut for Guyana in January 2016 against the Leeward Islands in the 2015–16 Regional Super50 and was the Man-of-theMatch after 3-37 from 10 overs.

The Tour of Bangladesh consists of three ODIs and two Tests: the first ODI starts on January 20 with the second on January 22 and the third on January 25, while the Test matches are scheduled for February 3-7 and 11-15 respectively, while the Regional Super50 will be played from February 4-27.

The Insider - It’s tough to challenge Serena Williams’ greatness, but that didn’t stop one of tennis’ biggest purses from trying his hand at it.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion is widely considered the greatest women’s tennis player in the history of the game.

Williams is still going strong at 39 years old, as evidenced by her No. 11 world ranking and a Grand Slam semifinal appearance as recently as this fall.

But according to Ion iriac - the billionaire director of the Madrid Open - Williams would retire “if she had a little decency.”

The former professional tennis player and hockey star, who has since come into a vast fortune through his business ventures, openly s c o r n e d Wi l l i a m s o n Romanian television during

a recent interview. He insisted that the tennis legend should stop competing professionally because “at this age and the weight she is now, she does not move as easily as he did 15 years ago,” per Romanian publication ProSport.

Williams’ husband, tech guru Alexis Ohanian, was having none of it. On Twitter, the Reddit co-founder rebuked the 81-year-old, writing that it’s “safe to say no one gives a damn what Ion iriac thinks” before mocking his lack of Grand Slam success during his playing days.

“Had to Google it ... turns out my 3 year old has more Grand Slam victories than this,” Ohanian wrote alongside a photo depicting iriac’s career Grand Slam win total - zero.

Later that day, Ohanian promised that there would be

“no holding back” on his end “when a racist/sexist clown with a platform comes for my family,” an indirect but obvious jab at iriac.

It doesn’t appear as though Williams has any intention of slowing down.

In February, she’s slated to compete at the Australian Open - a tournament she’s won a whopping seven times - with a chance to once and for all tie Margaret Court’s record 24 Grand Slam tournament singles titles.

Wi l l i a m s h a s b e e n chasing Court’s tail for years. Her most recent Grand Slam victory - which famously came while she was eight weeks pregnant was early in 2017 at the Australian Open. Since returning from giving birth to her daughter, Olympia, Williams has advanced to four Grand Slam semifinals (Continued on page 19)

Kaieteur News

PAGE 24

Thursday January 07, 2021

RHTYSC completes another successful year despite Covid-19 - Surpasses target pandemic of 700 activities While the Covid-19 pandemic forced the majority of youth and sports organisations to close up their doors, the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, MS was still able to complete a highly successful 2020 and even surpassed its original target of seven hundred activities. Club Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster stated that the club adapted a strict Covid-19 guideline plan for its membership and management, while redoubling efforts to make a positive difference in the lives of those badly affected by the pandemic.

A total of 707 activities were completed under the sub-headings of sports, coaching, educational, charity, religious, youth development, social, community development, personal development, publications, anti-alcohol, anti-tobacco, anti-suicide, anti-crime among others.

The activities completed in 2020 was thirty-six less than the 743 achieved in 2019 but Foster stated that Management was still pleased as the RHTYSC had a six weeks break when the pandemic started in early March.

The cricket teams of the RHTYSC, MS in the first two months of the year did quite well as they won the Nand Persaud Female 20/20 tournament, Natasha Gangoo Tribute Trophy, BCB/Busta Champion of Champions, BCB/Stag Beer 50 Overs, BCB/Ivan Madray

Donation of Cricket gears to youths in Linden.

Memorial 20/20 tournament and the Lower Corentyne Let’s Bet Sports 20/20 league. Additionally, they were the runners up of the Ramnaresh Sarwan under 17 tournament and the Raffik Construction 100 balls Cup. The Namilco Thunderbolt Flour first division team have also reached the semifinals of the Banks Beer two days first division to date, while the other teams have reached the quarter-finals of the New Building Society 40 overs tournament, the finals of the Elizabeth Styles Under 21 and the overall final of Let Bet Sports County Wide.

Kevin Sinclair made his debut at the first-class level for Guyana after making a memorable debut for the West Indies Emerging team at the CWI one day level.

The highly talented Kevlon Anderson represented the West Indies in the ICC Under 19 World Cup and scored 103 vs Scotland in a warm up match and 86 not out versus England in an impressive tour. Sheneta Grimmond and Shemaine Campbelle toured Australia in February with the West Indies World Cup squad, while clubmate Shabika Gajnabi joined them on a tour to England in S e p t e m b e r. G a j n a b i successfully captained Berbice to the GCB female championship and she was joined by club mates Erva Giddings, Plaffina Millington, Marian Samaroo, Oma Matadin, Kimmone Thomas, Trisha Hardat, Dian Prahalad,

The Namilco First Division team poses after winning the Stag Beer 50 overs title.

Sherika Campbelle and Aleema Arokium.

Christopher Deroop, Nyron Hicks, Matthew Pottaya, Jonathan Rampersaud, Mahendra Gopilall and Jeremy Sandia represented Berbice during a reduced GCB junior inter county season.

All of the RHTYSC official cricket sponsors Poonai Pharmacy, Farfan and Mendes Ltd, Bakewell, Pepsi, Metro Office Supplies and Namilco renewed their sponsorship during the year at a combined cost of $1.4M. Club Member Esuan Crandon continued to serve Guyana as the senior cricket coach and was also named Asst Coach for the Senior West Indies female team, while Assad Fudadin played for the Jamaican regional team and Akshay Homraj for the USA at the International level.

The ten cricket teams of the club also successful completed over 300 personal development activities on their own as they are mandated to do each year by club management. The club distributed a total of 8917 food hampers under the Basil Butcher Trust Fund, Covid-19 response programme, Lorezao Johnny Memorial Fund and the 2020 Christmas Outreach

Prime Minister Mark Phillips receives the RHTYSC highest award.

Programme. A total of 2000 lbs of cricket and a combined $2M worth of face masks, cleaning detergents, sanitizers were also distributed along with large amount of clothing, f o o t w e a r, e d u c a t i o n a l materials, clocks, electric fans, toys, sports gears to over Sixty NonGovernmental Agencies, Public Institutions, Churches, Schools including the Williamsburg Health Centre, Little Angel Feeding Programme, Port Mourant and Mibicuri Public Hospital, Upper Demerara Cricket Association, Corriverton Links Football Club, Berbice Police Stations, St. Francis Roman Catholic Church, Rose Hall Town Council and Guyana

Clean up of the Rose Hall Town Public Beach.

Fire Service.

A combined 213 young cricketers across the country received assistance from the RHTYSC in the form of cricket gears, bicycles, schoolbags and uniforms.

Under a special programme the Lorenzao Johnny Memorial Fund, a total of 200 food hampers, plus dozens of school bags were distributed in memory of the Rose Hall Town Businessman who was murdered in February, 2020.

Among dozens of programmes hosted by the club in the year were National Grade Six Award Scheme, CSEC Award Scheme, Covid-19 Educational Programme, Naeem Nasir Memorial, DTV-8 Mother of the Year,

Walter Nero Father of the Year, Gregory Gaskin Berbice Sports Award, Busta Children Mash Parade, Say No to Covid-19 Posters, Say No to Crime Stickers, Youth Information Booklet, Annual Club Review Magazine, Rose Hall Town Public Beach Clean Up, Major Restoration of Club Office, Tribute to Medical Workers, Tribute to Retired Teachers, Tribute to Law E n f o r c e m e n t O ff i c e r s , Tribute to Teachers, Spelling Bee Competition, Essay Competition and Republic Bank School Bags Programme.

The RHTYSC also assisted dozens of sports organisations especially cricket clubs with cricket (Continued on page 19)

Kaieteur News

Thursday January 07, 2021

PAGE 25

Line Top, Bachelor’s XI triumph at Success Games

The victorious Line Top team with their hardware.

O

ver a three days p e r i o d , outstanding performances coupled with sportsmanship, harmony and respect were the order of the day.

The results from the games have left some wounds, but also left marks of accomplishments and unity among not only those that participated in the games, but members of the community.

The games were played in the Open category, Married Men XI versus Bachelor’s XI at Success ground, East Coast Demerara, recently.

In the Open encounter, both Line Top and Success Scheme fielded a number of talented players within the softball arena; however Line Top prevailed by 110 runs.

Line Top won the toss and elected to take first strike, amassing a hefty total of 219

from its allotted 20 overs.

Fazal Rafeek made a compelling 92, while he was supported by Tai Singh 43.

Bowling for Success Scheme, Suraj Budhoo and Kevin Olford picked up two for 30 and two for 33 respectively.

Fazal Rafiek returned with the ball to claim three for 16, while Leo Singh and Dayram Ramnauth captured three for 23 and two for 18 respectively as Success

The winning Bachelor’s XI with their accolades.

Scheme was bundled out for 109 in 13 overs. Kevin Olford made 32.

In the other traditional fixture, Bachelors XI made light work of what seemed to be a mammoth total against Married Men XI. Married Man XI opted to take first strike and scored 174 for nine off their allotted 15 overs. Ravi Ramnauth made 49 and Suraj Boodhoo 32; Seepersaud (only name

provided) bagged four for 24 off three overs and Kelvin Orford two for 33 off three overs.

In reply, Bachelor’s XI crossed the line 14 overs for the loss of three wickets.

Travis Fung scored 84 not out and Orford 53.

Because of inclement weather the Over 35 game was postponed.

It has been 21 years and counting since this activity has been part of the Success

Very Quiet 2020 for hockey

community and the Organisers would like to profoundly express gratitude to the following individuals/businesses that have been contributing generously in making this event a successful one over the years and continues to be supportive; Jai Keshan Construction, Prosperity Taxi Service, Chung Man Ta x i S e r v i c e , R & B Construction and Anand Persaud.

Action in the 2019 DMW Hockey festival.

Team Guyana pose with the Golden Arrowhead after winning the Masters of our destiny over-40 hockey festival on Republic Day. The Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) national women programme is due to resume shortly with training as the ladies, managed by head coach Philip Fernandes, prepare for a busy 2021 season that includes the Central America & Caribbean (CAC) games that will be hosted in Bermuda in July and the Indoor Pan American Championship that will hit off in the United States in June.

Despite busy days ahead, hockey had a very quiet 2020 season due to the pandemic

but the Golden the Golden Arrowhead was well represented in the sport before world-wide lockdowns were issued.

The flag was flown high in North America on the 50th Republic Anniversary of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana after Guyana’s Masters over-40 hockey team maintained a perfect record to win the ‘Masters of our destiny’ indoor field hockey festival which was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Playing at the University o f To r o n t o , G u y a n a

outlasted the United States of America (USA), Canada Red, Canada White and the England Lions in three exciting days of hockey which began on February 21 and concluded on Republic Day, the 23rd.

After playing unbeaten throughout the tournament, the Guyanese had no trouble getting past Canada Red in the final, while USA got past England Lions in the third place playoff. The ‘Masters of our destiny’ over-40 tournament was held in Toronto for the first time last year.

The tournament’s rules stipulated that all the players must be over-40 with the exception of one.

Head of the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB), Philip Fernandes, in an invited comment, had shared that although he was unable to participate, he was happy that the side represented Guyana well and it is even more special that they the tournament on a momentous occasion such as the 50th Republic Anniversary.

Postponed The local and international hockey season

was eventually cancelled but the GHB remained optimistic as they monitored the deadly covid-19 infection rate closely. The most notable locally cancelled competitions included the outdoor development leagues, the G T T N a t i o n a l Championships and the usually largely subscribed Diamond Mineral Water (DMW) International Hockey Festival.

Courtesy call Later in the year, the executives of the GHB met with incumbent Sport

Minister Charles Ramson Jr. to discuss a range of topics regarding the development of the game in Guyana.

The meeting formed part of a strategic effort by the Minister to have dialogue with the associations to foster growth and development of the respective disciplines.

Head of the GHB, Philip Fernandes, was accompanied by Vicepresident Robert Fernandes a n d S e c r e t a r y Tr i c i a Fiedtkou and they discussed possible areas of (Continued on page 19)

t

Spor

Kyle Jamieson celebrates a wicket with his team-mates © Getty Images

Shepherd test positive for COVID-19 - Says he has no symptoms Jamieson bowls NZ to 2nd test, series win over Pakistan Ion iriac (right) kisses Serena Williams’ cheek at the 2012 Madrid Open. (AMA/Corbis via Getty Images)

West Indies ODI pacer Romario Shepherd has tested positive for COVID-19.

A tennis boss said Serena Williams should retire ‘because of her age and weight’

Serena Williams competes at Roland Garros. (REUTERS/ Vincent Kessler)

- Her husband calls him racist and sexist Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd., 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown. Tel: 225-8458, 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/226-8210.