Kaieteur News

K

Mottley wins NEWS landslide second term AIETEUR

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

Friday Edition January 21, 2022 - Vol. 15 No.03 Online: www.kaieteurnews.com Online Price $80 readership yesterday, 80,550

…as BLP again grabs all 30 seats in Parliament

ExxonMobil clients among 12 companies bidding to review Yellowtail Field Development Plan Kenya is refusing to release the loan contracts for An illustration its Chinese-built railway of a fish or

The protest continues for change to ExxonMobil’s contract.

marine cage. in SOCU crackdown Six held on carjacking gang

US$5M worth of ammo found on ship with Guyana flag in Senegal Pres. Ali's unbridled discretion to appoint Board for oil money detrimental - Private Sector having nominee also concerning - Goolsarran

Now that they have legalised thievery of our oil money, on Kaieteur get ready to witness the spending bonanza…@11:00hrs Radio 99.1/99.5FM

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Kaieteur News

Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

Friday January 21, 2022

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ExxonMobil clients among12 companies bidding to review Yellowtail Field Development Plan

By Kiana Wilburg

T

welve companies, inclusive of two well established clients of Stabroek Block Operator, ExxonMobil, have submitted bids to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) for the review and evaluation of the Field Development Plan for Exxon's fourth project –Yellowtail.

The companies and their bids are as follows: Infinity Services in collaboration with XWells Mexico – US$617,500; Orwell Offshore-US$617,650; MSI International-US$817,761; Endeavour Management –US$598,934; Future Energy Partners Limited US$901,482; IHS Global Inc.-US$1,493,502; Bayphase-US$423,360; RPS Energy Consultants Ltd. –US$494,000; Sunstone Energy Advisory Service –US$785,040; Sproule –US$661,440; and StratOil Energy Services –US$324,080.

Kaieteur News' preliminary research has found that Infinity Services located at Lot 30 Fort St. Kingston, Georgetown, consists of skilled engineers and management consultants with varied skills in environmental and engineering projects across North America.

It has teamed up with XWELLS which was founded in 2014 simultaneously in the UnitedKingdom and Mexico by experienced drilling and wells engineers.

Kaieteur News understands that XWells Energy Limited (XWELLS) is a business advisory firm whose primary expertise is in oil and gas exploration and production. With a unique method aimed at understanding each project's issues and characteristics to propose tailor-made solutions, XWELLS' website says it has developed an integrated niche serviceoffering targeting upstream operators and key stakeholders.

With respect to its competitor, Orwell Offshore, it is listed as a leading UK firm with experience in

providing solutions for the Marine and Offshore industries.

Stratoil Energy Services which is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, claims to offer unique solutions to support organizations while noting that its experts cover the full spectrum of current industry issues, trends and best practice.

With regard to Sproule, it is a global energy consulting and advisory firm that helps companies, investors and governments minimise risk and optimise business decisions. It has a 70-year legacy of driving value for clients through independent, expert technical, operational and commercial analysis. It is headquartered in Canada but has offices in Mexico, the USA and the Netherlands.

Canadian firm, Sunstone Energy Advisory Services (SEAS) says it comprises some of the world's top experts while providing geoscience services for oil and gas investment and international growth. It also boasts on its website of having key 25-year-old relationships with ExxonMobil, Hess, and

CNOOC, the Stabroek Block operators. It also lists as one of its key achievements, work it has done on the Guyana Project (Discovery & Development) 2013-17 which led to the discovery of 10 Billion barrels of recoverable oil resources.

Founded in 1970, RPS is another leading global professional services firm in the UK which defines, designs and manages projects.

It works across six sectors: property, energy, transport, water, resources, defence and government services..

Also from the UK, IHS Global Ltd. provides industry data, technical documents, tailor-made software applications, and consulting services worldwide.

The company offers services to automotive, aerospace/defense, health care, construction, chemical, agriculture, maritime, government, and oil and gas industries.

With respect to Future Energy Partners (FEP), this company was established nearly 10 years ago by senior industry executives and

academics as an energy consultancy dedicated to ensuring the successful transition from the oil age to carbon neutrality. It is headquartered in the United Kingdom too.

Based in Huston, Texas, Endeavor Management boasts of being committed to help properly frame the strategic decision(s) and evaluate the critical elements required to reduce decision risk for its clients.

Finally, Bayphase is an international oil and gas consultancy which has decades of auditing experience but is a well known client of Exxon. It has previously been awarded contracts here and is based in the UK. TENDER DETAILS It was on January 8, last, that Kaieteur News published the government's request for financial and technical proposals from qualified firms to review the Yellowtail FDP. Yesterday was the closing date for submissions. The project documents note that the duration of the assignment is expected to be 50 days, with the possibility

of work starting by February 7, 2021, should all go as planned.

The bid documents state that the firms are required to consider Guyana's legislative and contractual framework, international best practices and industry standards, and the specific conditions present in Guyana, then proceed to conduct an indepth review of the Ye l l o w t a i l F i e l d Development Plan (FDP).

Government said the review must include all supporting and reference documentation, along with the related Environmental Social Impact Assessments (ESIA) submitted by the Stabroek Block Licensees.

It was further noted, that the review must include at minimum, an assessment of the strategy and the development model, as well as the criteria for the choices that have been made by the Licensees.

Must include cost effectiveness, and potential alternatives; engineering, geological and geophysical interpretations, simulations, and estimations, including recovery factor efficiency,

using natural gas injection and available natural gas for export; and the well and reservoir management s t r a t e g y, t a k i n g i n t o consideration the government's objectives of maximising the recovery of hydrocarbon resources and having no gas flared.

Interested firms would also be expected to review documents pertaining to the proposed oil and gas surface facilities, the associated financial models, economic analyses and cost estimates and reports, towards ensuring financial optimisation of oil and gas recovery profiles.

Also the Health, Safety, Environment and Social (HSES) impacts and proposed mitigation; the Decommissioning Plan and Budget; the natural gas utilisation plan for the field; and the overall risk management strategy.

Furthermore, Kaieteur News understands that the successful applicant would be required to prepare a report, setting out the opinions formed in the evaluation of the FDP and ESIA, addressing at minimum, compliance or non-compliance with the requirements of the existing legislative and industry standards, including any deficiencies, unresolved issues and areas of additional assessments or technical analysis that the government should request before making a determination on the FDP. According to the government, it expects support for the Natural Resources Ministry through engagements and information exchanges, with the Licensees as well as the provision of on-the-job training to Guyanese during the FDP evaluation process.

TRILLION DOLLAR PROJECT Kaieteur News previously reported that development costs for the Yellowtail project are poised to exceed US$9B or GY$1.8 trillion.

According to project documents, Yellowtail will consist of drilling approximately 41 to 67 development wells; installation and operation of Subsea, Umbilicals, Risers, (Continued on page 23)

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Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

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

Cameras for litterbugs, city clean-up We all know that the City of Georgetown is dirty and that citizens, both residents and those who don’t live in the city, can be willfully negligent in how they conduct themselves in the disposal of unwanted articles, large and small.

In fact, many can be downright irresponsible and reckless in what they discard, how they dispose of it, and where they dispose of their used-up items. This is a fact of city life that needs to be corrected using different approaches ranging from the slap on the wrist to an escalating series of penalties that deal with such violators of a clean city and what makes for a healthy capital and good order.

We at this paper are for that, and recommend that plans and programmes, along with embedded penalties, are part of a menu of measures that seek to arrest what is the continuing decline of our capital city. It is a disgrace, and how we treat this place reflects on us individually, and collectively as a people. It is why we say that this is best done by the people closest to the problem, who would be the Mayor and the Councillors of the City, and the entire staff that is part of municipal governance. They either get the job done or they don’t; and with the proper tools and resources to make the desired end result possible.

That would be a clean city, even one restored to some semblance of the Garden City that Georgetown was a long time ago. It would take hard and determined effort, and for long periods.

There will not be a clean city, or one to be proud of with one-off camera moments, and self-important sound bites, impressive sounding speeches for the media.

There will not be a clean capital city with what amounts to no more than another photo op for the gullible among Guyanese to swallow and say that something is being done; something that makes sense and that would be of enduring value, and make all of us want to linger in the shopping centres and markets of Georgetown, instead of rushing to get our tasks completed and then racing away as fast as our two feet, or four wheels, can take us out of it.

For these reasons we have this take on what this country’s head of state engaged in recently, and ask if he has any idea, one clue only, of how pathetic he comes across, how futile his actions are in the bigger picture.

He may think that he is setting this wonderful example of rolling up his sleeves and leading from the front. But all he does is make himself the object of ongoing ridicule. We recommend that he lets City Hall carry its weight and fulfill its responsibility.

We take this position, because we interpret what the President is doing as no more than showboating and mugging for the cameras.

That is not leading, not when there are all those other bigger things going on in Guyana that he ducks and evades, and never finds the time to address. What the President of this country is doing is nothing more than playing games, and failing to fulfill his larger duties.

The talk is of cameras and law enforcement for litterbugs.

The biggest litterbug (litter monster) in Guyana is Exxon and all those other businesses handed a free ticket of no EIA, and the clearance to contaminate our environment and harm our people.

Our fisherfolk are severely hampered because Exxon is out there and chasing them away, making their fields smaller.

The President is better off, serves this society better by getting 24-hour surveillance cameras, not for petty local litterbugs only, who foul up the city and impair our quality of life.

The President is wiser to target the monster litterbug, the powerful pollutant, and uncontrolled contaminating agency that is out there exploring for and producing our sweet, rich oil. The name is ExxonMobil, and we are clueless of the sum of what it does offshore.

Target the company, Excellency, not just ordinary Guyanese who are easy hits. Do something of substance, let all Guyana see what is present inside as leadership substance.

Public officials should not be thin skinned on criticism

DEAR EDITOR, I am against libel lawsuits except in the rarest of circumstances. I believe the motive behind libel is silencing of the media. Thus, I am terribly disappointed at the turn of events in that Mr. Sase Singh, CEO of GuySuCo, has filed a libel lawsuit against Kaieteur News (KN). At one time, Singh was a columnist for KN. As a public official, he ought to be tolerant of critiques (criticisms). I am not a public official. Yet I tolerate, all kinds of criticisms (some considered as attacks on me) of my writings. So does Mr. Freddie Kissoon who has refused to use the court to silence critics.

A free press is an effective way to hold public figures accountable. The court should side with the public and the press giving them wide latitude to criticise. The lawsuits against KN are a reminder of what occurred during the reign of Burnham and Hoyte. They used the court to censor the press. The Catholic Standard was abused in countless libel cases in court for penning the truth

about the oppression suffered by Guyanese.

Mr. Singh claims that three commentaries in KN last December libeled (defamed) him. I believe they were fair commentaries — complaint of his leadership style and in response to two fellow media operatives who penned that Mr. Singh was cleaning up the company of those riding the gravy train. I was/am of the view that Singh should be given an opportunity to run GuySuCo. But he is not above critique. As a public company, the public has a right to comment on the leadership of an entity – good and or bad, praiseworthy and or critical. And they did. Thus, I am of the view the Singh suit is wrong. Of course the court (not me) will now decide on the merits of the matter.

It was all good to write about how Singh was “busting up the gravy train” but when exposed that others in management at GuyCuCo are in default, Mr. Singh chose to resort to libel rather than allow ongoing exposure of those in default. No one should benefit over hard

working labourers who should enjoy perks of GuySuCo Using the KN suit as a precedent, those who were accused were terminated as a result of such belief should seek a day in court against GuySuCo’s management.

All the commentators about GuySuCo will have their day in court. I can see terminated and resigned staff and labourers and former Directors and management staff coming to court to give testimony on leadership and other things. It will be an interesting case. A lot will be exposed.

I am on the side of a free press and against libel. As someone who studied constitutional law, American judges allow a wide latitude of views in the media. Only when deliberate malice is proven, can a libel be won, and rarely was malice proven in an American court.

US Supreme Court judges tend to struck down lower court judgments on libel or slander. In other words, judges tend to side with the right to free press and fair

comment.

As for compensation in libel, it is only awarded based on real loss of income attributed to the malice. If no loss of income is suffered, then there is no compensation in the white man’s country. I do not know if Singh suffered a loss of income since December as a result of the three published articles.

KN lost previous lawsuits to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. I believe judges erred. If these cases were to be appealed to the CCJ, I think they would be reversed or the amount of compensation would be significantly reduced.

Appeals at the Privy Council from other Caribbean territories were reversed and or libel amount awarded reduced. I do not think the claimants against KN can prove they suffered loss of income as a result of ‘libelous’ articles published on them.

I appeal to public officials, don’t be thin skinned on criticism!

Yours truly, Vishnu Bisram

How long are we going to torture these citizens?

DEAR EDITOR, I note that both SN and KN carried articles on January 19th of the protracted and ongoing battle between Maurice Arjoon, former CEO of the New Building Society (NBS), and his former employer, the NBS. Although Mr. Arjoon is the focus of the stories, I take the liberty of including Mr. Kent Vincent, former Operations Manager of the NBS, who was subject to similar corporate mistreatment, and has his own case hobbling through Guyana’s Court system.

As I proceed to share my position, I state for the record that I know both Mr. Arjoon and Mr. Vincent, on more than a passing basis.

It has been years now since this NBS matter involving these two former officers has been dragged through

the system. They have been cleared, but they have not been paid, made right, with one interminable delay after another being used to stonewall them, and the speedy conclusion of their individual situations.

What is happening is no less than a serious miscarriage of justice, how the Courts should not work, and how the system is being gamed to thwart them. This is not law. It is not justice. It is an abomination and a disgrace to all of us, that what should have been closed a long time ago is still around to haunt Messrs.

Arjoon and Vincent.

These men have families who have been put through the wringer.

They have come out on top in prior holdings of the court, with prior adjudications favouring them. Yet they lan-

guish.

Editor, it baffles that these two men, two law-abiding Guyanese, have been dragged through the mud, with what I dare to call politically sourced charges, when they first originated and thereafter. They have been made to lose face with claims of incompetence, and worse still, corporate wrongdoing involving significant sums.

They cannot reverse those records; or as I would say put the toothpaste back in the tube.

The foul deed is done, and they must live with the odious results. Like so many other things we must live with in Guyana, until some breaking point is breached. And, the way things are going, it would not take much for flashpoints to flare and intensify.

The question I put before

this country is simple: for how much longer are we going to torture these two men? How much longer will the court system be a part of this injustice?

In the context of the Arjoon and Vincent instances, I can fully appreciate, that memorable remark that Charles Dickens placed in the mouth of Mr. Bumble in Oliver Twist. It goes like this: “If the law supposes that, the law is an ass-an idiot…” I think that it is more accurate to say that it is how business mocks the law into asininity.

I will not speculate on what the law in Guyana “supposes” but clearly, it has descended into the dismal idiocy, when this matter could be dragged out so long to grind two Guyanese.

Sincerely, GHK Lall

Fire Sprinklers protection system should be mandatory DEAR EDITOR, Please permit me the opportunity to share my thoughts on fire protection systems. As we are aware of the fire at the Laparkan bonds/warehouse where the bond was completely destroyed by fire, I am grateful that nobody was injured and the great job the Guyana Fire Department has done to extinguish the fire. A Fire Sprinklers protection systems could have avoided all that

damage caused by the fire, the laws of Guyana Fire Department and the Guyana building codes requires Fire Sprinklers protection systems for bonds and steel frame structures to have Fire Sprinklers protection systems.

Why is it that building/ business owners do not adhere to this most effective method of Fire protection for the safety of their employees and property? Is it because the property is insured that

there is a don’t care mentality? Or the safety of the building occupants doesn’t matter, just to provide a service and not care about safety of the occupants? The main Fire Sprinklers protection system should be mandatory standard procedure for all commercial buildings three-storey and higher and the protection of bonds/warehouses. If the leaders of our country are moving Guyana forward as a developing nation then please

put laws into place that we must adhere to and that the safety of our citizens and their property, business and goods or products are safe and protected. I do hope that Laparkan and others will consider Fire Sprinklers protection system for the safety of their business and customers goods, products, etc.....

Vishul Ishwaridin Fire Sprinklers & Safety Equipment services 592-650-0159

Friday January 21, 2022

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Kaieteur News

Lack of Statesmanship in not Welcome news that Darthmout recognising Yesu Persaud residents protested DEAR EDITOR, One can’t help but notice the small mindedness and pettiness of a few leading figures amongst the political directorate who have not offered condolence on the passing of Yesu Persaud or Balram Singh Rai. Even when Komal Chand passed away, condolence was not offered by small minded political actors from his own party and who also blanked the funeral.

One can have public differences with Komal and Yesu and still show empathy and sorrow in death. One can abuse Yesu but still respect him for his achievements.

Status was not accorded to

Yesu on a silver platter like some selfish politician who was handed political leadership. He worked hard for success.

Komal Chand, Balram Singh Rai, and Yesu Persaud were prominent citizens, pioneers in their field of endeavour. They contributed significantly to independence of thought. Rai and Komal helped build the PPP. At a minimum, their successors of political leadership and power should show gratitude for and recognise their pioneering work with some kind of statement on their passing.

The silence of political

actors or reluctance to praise the dead for their contributions would not diminish how the public viewed the deceased. Instead, their silence exposed their own pettiness and unsuitability for high office.

To maintain enmity and bad mindedness in death, and to victimise even the dead is not the trait of statesmen. Such actors don’t belong in public life. They don’t deserve the kind of adulation being heaped on them by sections of the public. Such individuals should walk away from public life.

Yours truly, Balram Gangadeen

All functionaries of the Public Service cannot be painted with the same brush DEAR EDITOR, Please permit me to respond to letter posted in Kaieteur News on 13 January, 2022 under the caption “A Truly Clumsy Public Service” by writer Mr. Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine.

The writer of that diatribe has unwittingly “painted” all functionaries of the Public Service “with the same brush,” perhaps because of his apparent belief in the saying “one bad apple can spoil the whole barrel.” Now, the colloquial saying “weh cuss come out, ah deh weh um deh,” may well fit this writer, because he went to lengths to besmirch the entire Public Service, without offering a shred of evidence to support his claim.

It is evident that the writer is pandering to the political hierarchy to obtain relief from archaic systems that so far Governments have not had the political will to change, modernise or mechanise. The systems that embrace both the issuance of passports

and certificates of births and deaths are somewhat casualties of such failures and only persons, who operate like the proverbial ostrich would overlook these systemic deficiencies, which are mainly inherent because of political interference. The other issues raised could surely be dealt with through terse and timely complaints to management and to the extent that breaches of the law has occurred, the Guyana Police Force. The hypocritical attack on the entirety of the Public Service begs the question as to what exactly is the writer’s motive and what is he attempting to achieve.

There was however two redeeming points within the writer’s presentation, viz.

(1) The Public service is overtly politicised; and

(2) “it is said that the improvement of any organisation must be inspired by its leaders.”

In relation to (1), there were attempts by some Governments to embrace Public Sector Reform. In 1990 under the Desmond Hoyte administration there was a Public Service Review, where the British Government facilitated the engagement of KPMG Peat Marwick Mc Lintock to review the Public Service, some recommendations of which were implemented, but proved ineffective in later days. Again, in 2001 under the Bharrat Jagdeo administration there was a Public Sector Modernisation Project funded by the Inter-American Development Bank, which was shelved because of (Continued on page 6)

manslaughter charge

DEAR EDITOR, It is welcome news that the people at Dartmouth, Essequibo have come out in the open to protest against the manslaughter charge laid by the PPP against a suspect in the killing last September of the young businessman and villager, Mr. Boston, a possible role model for the Essequibo.

The Minister of Home Affairs, in responding to the outcry after the event and the call for a transparent investigation had said, “The investigation must be thorough.”

We now know from the charge of manslaughter, the lesser offence, that the investigation was more than thor-

ough and may have anticipated the work of the courts.

Before the 1980 Constitution was amended, decisions of the DPP could not be inquired into by any court.

That barrier was removed and it is refreshing to read that lawyers representing the Boston’s family are considering a judicial review of the DPP’s decision to charge for manslaughter. I hope that the issue will reach the courts.

My “warped mind” (Mr. G. K. Lall) suspects that the twisting of arms and bullying of constitutional officials has continued, regardless of the party in power.

I hope that the people protesting in Dartmouth bear in

mind the need for wearing masks and for social distancing. They have the duty of defending our human rights, such as Mr. Boston’s right to life, and also of protecting one another from the pandemic, which is everywhere and so badly managed.At the time of the killing in September, the coalition’s Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Ramjattan, on analysing the statements by the police, had pointed to the likelihood of political interference.

The charge of manslaughter lends justification to his fears.

As events unfold in our country, the Attorney General’s proclamation keeps ringing in my ears, “the victory of the PPP represents the triumph of good over evil.”

Yours respectfully, Eusi Kwayana

“More than 381 teachers test positive for COVID-19” DEAR EDITOR, That’s the caption above the article in Kaieteur News Wednesday edition, page 12.

A picture of teachers (I presume) protesting/picketing against the Ministry of Education accompanies the article.

Taking a look at the picture, I can only make out two persons among the picketing group wearing a mask.

The teachers are all crowded together in very close proximity to each other, and not wearing a mask (except for the two), in the face of mounting COVID-19 infections all across the country

(1,083 new COVID-19 cases per day a few days ago, 53,178 cases with 1,101 deaths), calling for a closure of schools for two weeks.

What do these “Educators” and “Role Models” for our children expect if they refuse to wear a mask when in public?

Are they immune to COVID-19 viral infection? No way!!! Mask wearing is one of the ways to protect against contracting the virus. What message are they sending to the students under their supervision?

These teachers, who don’t care about their own

health, are supposed to keep our children “safe and healthy” in schools. This is an absurdity.

If the teachers will not protect themselves from the COVID-19 infection, then they are unfit to take care of the nations’ children.

They may very well have contributed in no small measure to the 219 students tested positive for COVID-19 so far.

It’s time that teachers who refuse to wear a mask in school be sent home without pay! May GOD help our school children and the society as a whole.

S. Ali

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Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

Tuschen residents express gratitude to Region 3 Chairman DEAR EDITOR, The Concerned Residents of Tuschen New Housing Scheme wish to publicly thank the Chairman of Region # 3, Mr. Ayube, for his prompt response to our pleas for help to address major community issues that are affecting our community.

After long being ignored by the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) his visit on January 13, 2022, to witness first hand mushrooming lawlessness which is rapidly

getting out of control, was most welcomed. His prompt arrival at the 10:00 am scheduled arrangement and his no nonsense walkabout, whilst attentively listening to complaints from residents was indeed a demonstration of true professionalism, caring and sensitivity, which has given us much hope that all is not lost and that our community will be saved from bullyish, recalcitrant and disrespectful residents and non-residents who are bent on breaking the

law.

We now await the corrective measures he had put in place for the NDC to execute.

We all know what they are and we do expect things to be done as quickly as possible as he ordered.

We look forward to a positive working relationship that will only benefit the beautiful Tuschen community. Once again Mr. Chairman a heartfelt thank you and may Allah continue to bless you.

Concerned Residents

The PSC is shameless DEAR EDITOR, I note that the Private Sector Commission was out in full force with a day of remembrance and book signing for Mr. Yesu Persaud.

It goes without saying that Mr. Persaud deserves all accolades and encomiums that come his way - but from the Private Sector Commission? These are the people who stood silently by when

this nation’s doyen of businessmen was verbally humiliated, embarrassed and ridiculed and told to go back to tax classes because he was brave enough to question a divestment which at the time was legally flawed. These same lackeys have crawled out of the woodwork to get some relevance by attaching their names to the great man.

But Mr. Yesu Persaud was

not the only one. When Mike Correia was also attacked for speaking out the PSC crawled away with its tail between its legs.

The death of Mr. Yesu Persaud should galvanise a professional and independent Private Sector and we should have some new faces, not the same faces being recycled over and over.

Hermand Ramcharitar

The future of our sugar industry DEAR EDITOR, Many of us may not share these sentiments, depending on which side of the divide we happen to fall, but it is evident that the importance of the sugar industry in Guyana has been receding into the background. Sugar is no longer a major contributor to our GDP, and the labour skills of which it was a substantive employer is fast disappearing.

Perhaps less recognised has been the industry’s unsung operational maintenance and management of the coastal water control structures bordering estates and associated rural communities.

Central government has already stepped in to preserve the functioning presence of these structures, established and maintained over the decades in support of both estates’ effective field drainage and workers’ housing protection from floods, funded in the

past by fiscal provision in estates’ capital and recurring expenditure budgets. Indeed the unique sugar plantation system designed by the Dutch initially, forged by the sweat and blood of slave and indentured labour that dug the canals, built the dams and prepared the land that first established the cane fields on which the industry was founded.

Subsequent to the belated restructuring of the industry’s expenditure components to remove the burden of financing drainage and road maintenance of the complex of estates and surrounding villages, responsibility for these works now rests with the Local and Central State authorities.

With the inevitable closure of some estates, it is imperative that the toils of our forefathers, grossly underpaid for manually digging ca-

nals and constructing riding dams, should not be lost, were the land to be left abandoned to bush and swamp.

To avert such a wasteful eventuality, continual access to the internal reaches of the estates’ lands must at all costs be facilitated.

My first proposal for the authorities’ consideration is the creation of a land communication infrastructure comprising permanent low-maintenance roads and bridges built on the existing main dams, which currently are far from weather robust. The State construction of all-weather roads was mentioned in a previous letter of 10th January, 2020 to the press titled “Sustainability of agriculture in Guyana”. For these proposed low-maintenance roads to have the capacity to absorb sustained traffic from punthauling tractors, their interface with the contiguous canals must be protected from erosion by a sturdy bulwark, provision of which must be enshrined in the road building contract and faithfully executed.

(Continued on page 22)

Display power by helping others rise DEAR EDITOR, The most powerful, confident, and influential people are the ones who enable others to be all they can be.

Inspirational leaders do not dictate what others should do, but instead guide them and allow them to make positive choices on their own.

Great leaders do not feel the need to put others down in an effort to feel superior.

The best leaders help to enhance the skills of others by inspiring them to go beyond what they believe is possible.

The most powerful people

empower others to utilise their own skills in productive and creative endeavours.

The most powerful people do not need to show their strength to others, but instead show other individuals that they possess powers that they may not have realised.

When an individual assists others to be all they can be, it is a sign of confidence, intelligence, and compassion.

The willingness to empower others to increase their skill set is a sign of true superior leadership.

We all possess a different

skill-set and when these skills are combined, we achieve the best possible results.

A combination of diverse perspectives is the best way to achieve incredible results and make all parts of a team feel inspired to be better players.

In conclusion, the most powerful people do not knock others down; they pick them up. We can all be more powerful, by empowering others, assisting others and encouraging others to be all they can be.

Eddie Brush

Tribute to Yesu Persaud DEAR EDITOR, Much has been and will continue to be said about Dr. Yesu Persaud.

His monumental achievements in business and his invaluable contributions to the advancement of entrepreneurship will no doubt be foremost.

That in no way even suggests that his efforts over many years to foster and preserve Indo-Guyanese culture and traditions, is of lesser importance.

I knew of him as a boy growing up on the East Bank and was in awe having had the opportunity to be in proximity to him during a moment in my tenure as a Technician at GuySuCo’s Central Laboratory, Georgetown.

He was instrumental in helping to realise the activities in 1988 to mark the 150th anniversary of Indian arrival.

Having directed a few Indianthemed stage plays by that time, I missed out on the anniversary celebrations due to prolonged hospitalisation.

My disappointment was profound.

When he personally approached me in 1989 to direct the sequel to “The Journey”, a stage play depicting aspects of the arrival of East Indians immigrants and settling in then British Guiana, my disbelief and joy were boundless.

Having been in the media for many years and having conducted numerous interviews, I was dumbfounded when he asked some years back to interview me on my achievements on the promotion and preservation of IndoGuyanese culture.

I felt it should have been the other way around.

The description of my feelings to his request would be an understatement given that mine’s pale in comparison to his.

We engaged in many discussions on the promotion and preservation of IndoGuyanese culture.

During some of those, it unavoidably diverted to life and challenges. His advice remains priceless.

Having had the opportunity to work at the Diamond

Distillery, I experienced the positive impact of his vision and astute leadership.

I was honoured, as I was the day he and I were asked by the Bank of Guyana to be recipients of specially minted coins for the commemoration of the 175th anniversary of Indian arrival in Guyana.

I never thought that such events of being alongside Dr. Persaud were possible for me.

In all of my interactions with him, he was humble, accommodating, comforting and encouraging. There were times when we had divergent points of views.

Even then, his humility shone through.

He has made an indelible mark in the various fields he influenced and as a cultural activist, I am aware of the void in the efforts to preserve India culture his death has left. He, however, has left a legacy; one of hope, optimism and determination to achieve for individual and collective advancement.

Sincerely, Neaz Subhan

All functionaries of the Public From page 5 continuous failure to implement reforms.

The Granger administration in the year 2016 set up the Bertram Collins College of the Public Service to treat with the politicisation of the Public Service by creating a professional cadre of Public Servants over time through, but this initiative was “shot down” by the Irfaan Ali administration, because of its

own political agenda. In this regard, the writer was an obvious “Rip Van Winkle,” since he neither dealt with the issue nor offered solutions to fill the void. On the matter at (2), I was shocked that Heads of Budget Agencies and other Agency Heads have not so far taken the writer to task for his comments, since by implication, the reverse is also true.

Hence, if as he says the Public Service is inept, inefficient,

and unprofessional, the leadership is an obvious failure.

All in all, it is my view that the crusading writer owes the entirety of the Public Service an unreserved apology, because of his inept linguistic latitudes and generalisations that is devoid of any empirical evidence or facts.

Yours sincerely, Owen John Guyana Public Service Union

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L B T LUNT.. UNT...B BL B Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

The spread of COVID-19 in our society, since the year began, has been unprecedented.

While it has long been ascertained that ALL are at risk, in recent days several of our young ones have fallen prey to the virus.

We all can agree that this is very worrying.

Guyanese, it is clear that this is not the time to play the fool.

Our very existence is at risk, get serious and take all necessary precautions without fail.

PAGE 07

PAGE 08

Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

Kenya is refusing to release the loan contracts for its Chinese-built railway (QUARTZ AFRICA) Kenya has declined to make public the loan contracts for its Chinese-built railway in response to a court petition by two activists, saying they have non-disclosure clauses and that releasing them would amount to breaching a bilateral agreement, impairing relations between Kenya and China. This sheds light on the secrecy surrounding Chinese deals with developing countries, which experts say complicates debt renegotiation.

The news is according to an affidavit by public works principal secretary Solomon Kitungu that also states that releasing the documents will undermine Kenya's national security, “since terms in the contract touch on foreign government information with implications on national security and foreign relations.”

SGR is Kenya's most expensive infrastructure project Built at a cost of more than $4.7 billion, the standard-gauge railway (SGR) is Kenya's most expensive infrastructure project. Since its inception, the project has been marred by accusations of being overpriced and damaging to the environment. It's also been criticized for being highly unprofitable.

The 453-mile track connects the country's capital, Nairobi, with the port city of Mombasa and the

R i f t Va l l e y t o w n o f Naivasha. Construction began in 2014, with the primary contractor being the China Road & Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and most of the funding coming in form of loans from the Export-Import Bank of China.

Passenger and cargo trains operate on the SGR, with passengers welcoming it for reducing travel time when compared to using buses, but cargo owners are avoiding it for reasons including higher fees and more time in clearing goods when compared to using trucks.

Critics worry about its debt burden on Kenya, its financial viability, and environmental impact. The Africa Star Railway Operation company, a CRBC subsidiary that

operates the railway's passenger and cargo service, has never made a profit in the four years of the SGR's operation and Kenyan taxpayers have had to fill the gap to sustain the company's operations.

Environmentalists, meanwhile, say the construction and operation of the railway, which passes through key wildlife areas such as national parks, has destroyed and degraded important ecosystems.

Khalifa and Gikonyo Two activists—Khelef K h a l i f a a n d Wa n j i r u Gikonyo—last year filed a petition at the High Court in Mombasa seeking to obtain all contracts, agreements, and studies for the construction and operation of the SGR. Through a coalition called Okoa Mombasa,

Khalifa had previously attempted and failed to get the documents through Kenya's Access to Information Act after the government directed that all containerized cargo at the Port of Mombasa be transported inland through the SGR. This was a move that had negative impact on the Kenyan coast's portbased economy as it forced logistics companies to move their operations to container depots in the country's interior.

“We have a right to know the details of the project: how our money is being spent, the consequences of a loan default, and the government's decisionmaking processes in signing the deal. Right now, we know none of this – the Kenyan public is completely in the dark,” said Khalifa.

Gikonyo, his co-petitioner, is the national coordinator for The Institute for Social Accountability, a Nairobibased civil society organization.

Chinese lenders China is Kenya's largest bilateral lender, Africa's largest economic partner and 'the worlds single largest creditor. In the continent, where its lenders finance huge infrastructure projects, the Asian giant is often accused of debt-trap diplomacy because of the scale of its lending to African countries and the secrecy around its loan contracts.

Critics accuse China of using these arrangements to burden developing countries with debt that can make them vulnerable to exploitation on default.

The SGR contract has been a hot and recurrent

topic for years in Kenya, with some Kenyans worried that the Port of Mombasa is listed as collateral and that China would seize it on default. In 2018, President Uhuru Kenyatta denied this and 'said hed share the contract—a promise that he's yet to fulfill. In 2019, Chinese ambassador to Kenya Wu Peng said no Kenyan national asset is collateral for the loan.

T h e K e n y a n government's refusal to provide the Chinese loan contracts gives voice to the accusation that Chinese lenders use contracts to gain advantage over other creditors in developing countries. A report released last year that looked at 100 contracts issued from 2000 and 2020 between Chinese lenders and 24 developing (Continued on page 22)

Friday January 21, 2022

PAGE 9

Kaieteur News

Beware of the dangers from above!

Many years ago, the PPP/ C cleared the Lamaha embankment of squatters and their unsightly makeshift homes.

It was not the first time that this had happened; during the PNC regime, the squatters who planted kitchen gardens on small plots on the embankment were forcibly removed.

The squatters, however, returned only to find that they needed to be physically present to protect their small plots.

As such they erected makeshift homes along the stretch from Vlissengen Road to Camp Street.

The PPP/C served notice on them to remove. The PPP/ C however, offered resettlement incentives, including land, building materials and transportation.

Everyone moved and the embankment became a green space, devoid of unsightly structures.

But it was not aesthetics which led to the removal of the residents of the embankment located parallel to Lamaha Street and bounded by High Street and Vlissengen Road.

The PPP/C explained that the squatters were in grave physical danger since the electricity corporation was running high voltage power lines and this would pose a risk to life and limb.

Not long after the squatters had departed, permission was granted to a sports bar, located on Lamaha Street, to use two sections of the embankment for customer parking.

Later the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) established a staff parking facility on the section just east of Camp Street.

That site has now become

a temporary vehicle inspection bay for the GRA. It appears that the safety considerations which forced the removal of the squatters from the embankment did not apply to the customers of the sports bar or to the staff and clients of the GRA. Now, we are being told that a walkway is going to be built on the embankment between Parade Street and Camp Street.

The old train station, located between High and Parade Streets, is going to be restored and converted into a breakfast diner and an art gallery.

The adjoining section which will be developed into a walkway will have a parking bay.

Security and good lighting has been promised.

People will therefore be able to come out in the daytime and evenings and enjoy the warm tropical ambience.

They will be able to take a nice evening stroll. But only for one extended block since the walkway will start at Parade Street and end at Camp Street.

The high voltage power lines do not appear to be a concern at this stage.

But why have such a short walkway.

Why not have it extended, as was previously mooted, all the way to Vlissengen Road?

It could have then been used for exercising purposes and reduce the afternoon congestion in the National Park.

It would have also provided much needed outdoor relaxation and play area for the residents of North Cummingsburg, Kingston, Albertown and Queenstown, regardless of the dangers from

the overhanging power lines.

The GRA should have been asked to remove from that section which it presently occupies.

That agency collects hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes and surely can afford to pay commercial rates for private property to establish a car park/s for its staff and customers.

It has been reported that the GRA will be building a new building on the East Coast of Demerara.

Surely when this is completed there would be less need for the parking space on the embankment.

The initiative by the President to establish a walkway is a good one.

It increases the recreational space in the city.

But it makes little sense having a walkway which is merely one extended block.

A much more ambitious project, preferably done in phases could have been attempted which would have seen the entire stretch from High Street to Vlissengen Road developed.

Some persons had even indicated that the area could have been used for public parking.

North Cummingsburg, Kingston and Eve Leary are now crammed with vehicular parking.

And the entire stretch from High Street to Vlissengen Road could have become one large public car park.

Bus parks and car parks could have also been relocated along this stretch.

The walkway is being rushed.

It is expected to be finished in a matter of weeks.

But in the haste to develop this facility, the government missed the opportunity to

Dem boys seh...

Dem politician getting ‘bassadee’ We gat a word we does use for when people getting so jittery or nervous dat dem does can’t think straight. We does seh how dem get ‘bassadee.’

Well Glenn Lall gat de guvament and de Opposition bassadee.

De man tek a brave stand fuh expose de rotten deal wah we get from dem oil companies.

And is de guvament getting de jitters every time Glenn Lall open he big mouth.

In fact some ah dem politican frighten fuh

open dem mouth because dem know when dem talk stupidness, he gan expose dem. So nuff ah dem wah use to like talk, suddenly get dumb.

Nuff pressure coming down pun de Waterfall newspaper. But yuh can’t keep a good man down.

All de man asking fuh is a better deal fuh de people of Guyana.

De man nah looking fuh nuttin fuh heself.

He know dat if we sit back and accept this rotten deal, by de time we teeth ready fuh fallout, we still gan be poor.

All de wealth dis country gat – gold, diamond, timber bauxite, fish and now oil – and still we gat people ketchin hell in dis country fuh survive. Every day we hearing bout some new company coming to Guyana.

And dem getting nuff concessions and plenty ah dem fetching out we wealth and paying next-to-nothing in taxes.And when de boss man of de Waterfall paper protest, dem political leaders vex and dem getting bassadee.

Talk half. Leff half.

determine just what would have been best for the people.

But then again, this is the Achilles Heel of governments, isn dt it?

(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

Friday January 21, 2022

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

Bigamy: Guyana's crime rate is no. 7 S

omething is wrong in my country.

Things fell apart since the split between Jagan and Burnham in 1955.

The split got wider when Burnham ordered the assassination of Rodney in 1980.

The split extended its space when the Economic Recovery Programme of President Desmond Hoyte created humongous hardships in the society.

The split opened up like a wide chasm after 1992 with the rejection of the PPP as the body to govern Guyana.

From 1992, the orgy of evil violence that climaxed in Buxton from 2002 to 2006 literally destroyed the psyche of this nation.

The chasm became wider after certain forces in 2002 accepted a mental picture that the PPP will always win national elections.

Then the split got even wider and deeper after 2020 when certain forces felt that history was repeating itself and the PPP was back in the saddle and will be glued to it

for a long time to come.

This long Faustian journey from 1955 has literally destroyed the collective spiritual house of the nation.

What followed from 1955 was the application of the Darwinian process of natural selection. A distraught, shambolic, Kafkaesque, resigned generation passed on the evolutionary genes to subsequent generations.

What happened then is that the society since 1955 has been one of p s y c h o l o g i c a l amorphousness.

The post 1950 generation did not know and the post 1990 generation does not know what essentially life is, the purpose of existence and the role of moral values and individual moral obligations.

Out of this potpourri of confused conceptualisations of what people are and should be, the Guyanese society has no clue of what modern civilisation is all about and what are the requirements of humans in the world and in

their country. What emerges then is a bizarre society where behaviour is irrational, illogical but life goes on.

People do not care how they drive.

Professionals lack a sense of duty to clients.

Hospitals see people as sources of profits.

Public servants have not been brought up knowing what service to the people is.

Police officials completely lack knowledge of how they must relate to society. The media care not to know what the sacred values of journalism are. Cricketers lost hope since the 1960s.

Politicians see people as numbers to be exploited.

Skilled Guyanese cannot generate ideas on science, technology and agriculture that can shape a future for Guyana.

We still have an invoice b u s i n e s s c o m m u n i t y.

School children were never taught from the 1960s onwards what society is all about and what their societal roles after graduation are.

Frederick Kissoon UG academics from the death of Walter Rodney lost the meaning of what academia is and what role scholars should play in society.

Out of this bleak journey a mental cul-de-sac is where the country is living. Out of this long day's trek away from civilisation, the portrait is of a nation living in eras long gone with behavioural traits long dead.

In Guyana today, the transaction of important personal things to be done in the wider society is still based on countless pieces of paper.

Commercial banks are obsessed with pieces of papers.

Supermarkets invade your privacy by demanding to see your bill.

Only the righteous Hindu pandit, Muslim mulvi and Christian priest can sign your pension form.

Only an ancient society removes traffic signals and tells you to give way to oncoming traffic and you tell oncoming traffic “eff off.”

Out of this maelstrom of vacuous spirits lies the comedy of errors and the errors of death.

A new year began with all the daily newspapers and three online news outlets carrying the photo of a man wanted for killing 200 Guyanese, or so you thought when his image appeared as a police bulletin. But when you read on his crime was that he married twice. An ancient society sees the crime of bigamy as serious as mass murder.

But that is only half of the

picture. This crime of bigamy is in a country named Guyana which is number 7 in the entire world for criminal violence. If you don't believe it, Google it. Guyana is at number 7. As Guyana entered the new year, a poor labourer died senselessly, cruelly and in ways humans don't die in the modern world.

The entire media community referred to it as a freak accident. It wasn't. He died in a manner that was expected in a country where people have lost the will to think.

A construction site on the public road was left unattended.

He rode into the aperture where steel rods were placed and one of the rods pierced his brain. In a normal country, the site would have reflective tape or reflective cones.

The worst is yet to come.

This is Guyana.

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

Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

PAGE 11

Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

PAGE 12

Public Works Ministry pays contractor over $40M in full to fix three stellings T he Ministry of Public Works, u n d e r t h e guidance of subject Minister, Juan Edghill, between November and December 2020 entered into three contracts, with the same contractor, to rehabilitate three Stellings across Guyana. Not only was one contractor awarded the projects to rehabilitate the Bartica, Supenaam and Parika Stellings, but he was also paid over $40 million in full, a clear breach of the contractual requirements.

These were the findings of the Auditor General (AG), Deodat Sharma, in the Audited Report of 2020.

According to him, the contracts to facilitate rehabilitation works to the Supenaam, Parika, and Bartica Stellings were entered into with the same

The Parika Stelling

contractor on 4 December 2020, 26 November 2020 and 30 November 2020, respectively.

“The contracts required the provision of advance and performance guarantees of fifteen and ten percent, respectively, of the contract

price,” the AG detailed.

A further 10 percent of payments were also to be retained to correct possible defects.

However, the full contract sums were paid in December, even though the defects liability periods were

six months.

As a result, the Audit Office noted that the Department would not have been in a position to levy on the retention sums, had the contractor defaulted. In fact, it was concluded by the AG that, “This is poor contract administration”.

The rehabilitation works for the Supenaam, Parika and Bartica Stellings were pegged at $24,508,000, $12,530,000 and $6,220,000 respectively, amounting to $43,258,000.

The audit report also included another $900,000 expense for the Supenaam Stelling.

In response, the Head of Budget Agency stated that as it relates to the full contract sum being paid in December 2020, the retentions for Supenaam, Parika and Bartica were paid in December. However, the

contractor had submitted bonds to cover the retention amount and defects liability period. As a result, the Ministry said it would have been in a position to levy on the retention, if the contractor defaulted.

For the year 2020, the sum of $58M was allotted for the rehabilitation of the Bartica, Parika, Kumaka, and Supenaam Stellings.

The full sum was disbursed to the Transport and Harbours Department.

During his examination of the records submitted by the Department, it was learnt that the sum of $56.385M were expended, leaving an unspent amount of $1.615M at the end of December.

“The unspent sum was retained by the Department.

However, the $1.615M should have been refunded to the Consolidated Fund in keeping with Section 43 of

the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act 2003, which requires all unspent balances to be refunded to the Consolidated Fund.

As a result, the Appropriation Account of the Ministry is overstated by $1.615M,” the AG highlighted.

The Ministry in response to this finding, said “The Head of Budget Agency stated that including in the $1.615M is an amount of $643,000 on hold as retention which was scheduled to be paid in 2021 for the Kumaka Wharf.

There was a six (6) months defects liability period which would have expired on August 5, 2021”.

It went on to assure the Auditor General that every effort would be made in the future to have all unspent monies refunded into the consolidated fund at the end of the fiscal year.

The AG in his 2020 report also included that the sum of $99.435 million was expended on the rehabilitation of the Leguan Stelling in 2019.The document explained that a special investigation was being conducted into the rehabilitation of the Stelling.

According to the Ministry, the $99.435 million that was expended on the Rehabilitation of Leguan Stelling in 2019 has been recouped based on the contractor's works executed to date.

Kaieteur News

Friday January 21, 2022

PAGE 13

Pres. Ali's unbridled discretion to appoint Board for oil

money detrimental

- Private Sector having nominee also concerning - Goolsarran

L

ike many other i n d u s t r y stakeholders who have examined the PPP/C's rushed Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Legislation, Chartered Accountant and former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran finds the document with several concerning features and provisions.

In a detailed and ongoing examination of the law that was taken to Parliament on December 16, 2021 and passed less than two weeks later, Goolsarran wrote that he finds troubling, the provisions governing the appointment of a Board of Directors for the NRF. He said this is especially the case when it is examined against the Santiago Principles, one of which states: “There should be a sound governance framework that establishes a clear and effective division of roles and responsibilities in order to facilitate accountability and operational independence in the management of the SWF (Sovereign Wealth Fund).”

Goolsarran noted that the governance arrangements are detailed in Sections 5-14 of Guyana's NRF law.

He noted that the Board of Directors has overall

responsibility for the management of the Fund, including preparing an Investment Mandate and monitoring the performance of the Fund.

It comprises not less than three and not more than five persons appointed by the President who also appoints the chairperson. One representative each must be from the National Assembly and the private sector.

Goolsarran posited, “On the face of it, this arrangement is an improvement over the predecessor legislation since there was no provision for the establishment of a Board, and the Minister was responsible for the overall management of the Fund and for preparing the Investment Mandate.

We had expressed that in that legislation there was an over-concentration of powers in the hands of the Minister.”

“Our concern with the new legislation, however, relates to the composition of the Board and how its members are to be appointed.”

Expounding further, the Chartered Accountant said three members would be woefully inadequate to execute the Board's mandate while noting that the Act does

give the President flexibility to select up to five persons.

On this note, Goolsarran said, “But if the President decides to appoint a fivemember Board, three members will be selected by him based on his own deliberate judgment, which is undesirable.”

While the President can follow in the footsteps of the late President Desmond Hoyte and rise to the occasion by selecting persons with the appropriate technical and professional backgrounds and who are considered politically independent in the eyes of the public, Goolsarran said it would have been preferable if the legislation had limited the President's selection to one member.

He said in his analysis published in one of the nation's daily newspapers, “It would have been a good idea if the membership of the Board could have comprised of two representatives from the accounting profession, one from the legal profession and one from academia, leaving the President to choose the other member.

At least three members should constitute a quorum.”

What also troubles Goolsarran is that the private sector will be able to have a

Man hurt after falling from moving truck A

44-year-old man is currently nursing severe head injuries after he fell from a truck while it was speeding along the 10 Miles Road, Port Kaituma, Region One. He has been identified by police as, Dennis Benette, a miner of Canal Bank, Port Kaituma.

Bennette was among six passengers travelling in the tray of the truck bound for

Port Kaituma when he fell out around 19:30Hrs. One of the passengers related that Benette was sitting in the tray with the rest of them for the most part of the journey, however, while the truck was passing through 10 Miles, he stood up and attempted to sit on the rail while it was still moving.

Bennette somehow lost his balance while trying to do so and fell out onto the road.

The rest of the passengers immediately alerted the driver and he stopped.

He reversed the truck and the passengers reportedly jumped out to pick up a severely injured Benette.

They recalled that he was in a semi-unconscious state and was rushed to the Port Kaituma Hospital where he was admitted for injuries to his head and body.

nominee for the NRF's Board of Directors.

He reasoned that since the private sector will be the main beneficiary from the withdrawal and utilization of the resources of the Fund, its representative should not be part of the Board as this may present a conflict of interest.

He added to his commentary that “There have also been credible allegations that some key members of the Private Sector Commission, the parent body, are so closely associated with the ruling party that this may pose some difficulty for the selected person to act independently and objectively.”

In addition, with the Government holding the majority in the Assembly, and a nominee for the Board

would also be pulled from the House, Goolsarran said it is likely that the representative will be selected from among Government members. He said it would have been more comforting if the legislation had specified that the representative should be from the political Opposition.

Further, Goolsarran said it is unclear what mechanism will be used by President Ali to select the persons for membership to the Board.

Goolsarran said he would have preferred if such mechanism was embedded in the law, mandating the Public Accounts Committee to identify suitably qualified and trained persons after due consultations with the representative bodies and submit their names to the Assembly for approval, with

Chartered Accountant, Anand Goolsarran the President making the appointment.

He also believes that the President should not be responsible for selecting the Chairperson as prescribed in the Law. Goolsarran opined that Board members should have been given the power to elect their own chair while warning that an imposed chairpersonship can create tensions within the Board.

Given the foregoing, among other notable concerns, Goolsarran alluded that the rushed NRF Legislation, is indeed flawed while leaving room for improvements in the area of governance.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 14

Friday January 21, 2022

GNBS approves Standard for used vehicles …as Consumer body reports increased complaints of defective electronic items A new Standard for Used Vehicles has been approved by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards.

This is according to the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (CCAC).

The CCAC said that the proposal for a standard was made to the GNBA following a flood of complaints regarding the purchase of used vehicles. “The new Standard is intended to provide consumers with the requisite information which enables them to make informed decisions.

The Commission will, in 2022, host outreach sessions in all ten regions in its

programme to increase awareness of the Consumer Affairs Act and the role of the Commission,” the CCAC notified.

Meanwhile, the CCAC is also reporting a successful 2021, with more complaints being made to the organisation, hence more resolutions for disgruntled clients. During this week, the CCAC reported that the total value of complaints amounted to $211,034,785, while some $152,934,832 in consumer complaints was addressed for the year.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) attached to the organisation, Allison Parker told this publication that not

only did the dollar value for the complaints double when compared to the previous year, but the number of complaints resolved also increased by 152, reflecting a 58 percent increase, when compared with figures from 2020.

According to her, a total of 480 complaints were received last year by the Commission.

Topping the list of complaints were reports received from the electronics/electronics services, auto industry, and appliance/appliance sectors.

The auto industry accounted for the highest value of complaints, $117,167,673.

9-year-old among three COVID-19 deaths The Ministry of Health on Thursday reported that a nine-year-old boy from Region Six is among the country's three latest COVID-19 fatalities.

He is now the seventeenth child to succumb to the virus since the pandemic started in the country.

For the year, six children have already died of COVID-19.

The other latest fatalities are: that of a 60year-old man from Region

Three and a 75-year-old woman from Region Nine.

As a result of this, the country's COVID-19 death toll has moved to 1,111.

Meanwhile, the Ministry in its COVID-19 dashboard recorded 815 new infections, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 54,736. A breakdown of new cases per region shows that Region Four leads with 403 new cases, Region Three with 186 cases, Region Two with 67 cases, Region Nine with 45 cases,

Regions Six and 10 with 41 cases each, Region Five with 15 cases, Region One with 13 cases and Regions Seven and Eight with two cases each.

The dashboard shows that 16 patients are admitted into the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 178 persons in institutional isolation, 11,770 in home isolation and 38 in institutional quarantine. To date, a total of 41,661 persons have recovered from the virus.

The second highest value of cases received was for construction or building materials with grievances amounting to $61,124,229.

Meanwhile, the electronics/electronics services attracted the highest number of complaints, 169, with a value of $7,816,711.

The Commission noted that Region Four generated the highest number of complaints, 350, followed by Region 3 with 63, Region 10, 25, and Region 6, 23.

The organisation reported that inspections were done at 104 businesses in Georgetown, Rosignol, and New Amsterdam for compliance with the Consumer Affairs Act 2011 (CAA).

The inspecti ons found that 35 of the businesses were in conformance with the Consumer Affairs Act. However the majority of businesses, 69, which were not in conformity were made aware of their duties under

the Act and were permitted to bring their operations into conformance.

Re-inspections are scheduled to be conducted during the first quarter of 2022.

The container truck that killed Barrette, parked on Brickdam.

Man crushed by container truck identified as pensioner The electric motorcyclist who was on Tuesday crushed to death by a 40-feet container truck has been identified as 71year-old Carlon Windsor Barrett of Lot 32, Victoria Avenue, Eccles East Bank Demerara (EBD).

Barrett was killed by the truck around 14:30Hrs at a roundabout located in front of Muneshwers on Water Street, Georgetown. The driver who is in police custody has told traffic investigators that

he had put on his right side trafficator to indicate that he was turning in a westerly direction.

He continued that while making the turn “he felt the truck's right side trailer wheel ran over something”. The truck driver said that he stopped the vehicle right away and exited only to find that the wheel was on top of the electric motorcycle and a man's body. Kaieteur News had reported on Thursday that eyewitnesses were alerted of the fatal accident after they heard a loud popping sound.

The pensioner's mangle electric motorcycle.

Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

'Laparkan fire was an act of arson' Fire fighters extinguishing the flames at the bond on Monday last .

...Fire chief says police hunting suspects

A

cting Fire chief, Gregory Wickham on Thursday disclosed that the recent fire which destroyed the Laparkan Shipping Company's Storage Bond located on Lombard Street, Georgetown, was an act of arson.

The bond went up in flames just before midnight on Monday last. Millions of dollars' worth of imported vehicles and goods were destroyed. Speaking with Kaieteur News yesterday, Wickham said that his

investigators have found that the cause of the blaze was a 'malicious act'.He detailed that they were able to find this out by thorough investigations which included the reviewing of CCTV footage. The findings, he said has since been handed over to police investigators to continue the investigations.

“Our duty is to find out the cause of the fire, catching suspects and bringing them to justice will be the responsibility of the (Continued on page 22)

PAGE 15

Kaieteur News

PAGE 16

Friday January 21, 2022

Guyana-flagged ship nabbed in Senegal with US$5M in ammunition Senegal has seized three containers of ammunition from a Guyana-flagged cargo ship in the port of the capital Dakar, in a rare arms haul worth an estimated $5 million.

In a statement seen by AFP on Tuesday, Senegal's customs agency said it had searched a ship named the Eolika that stopped to refuel, after it had made “inconsistent declarations.”

Customs agents in the West African country found three containers of ammunition aboard the Eolika, worth the equivalence of an estimated $5.2 million, the statement said. The agency did not mention when the operation occurred. The

crew members were Ukrainian according to local media and were questioned. A Senegal's customs agency spokesman would not confirm the reports. Lieutenant-Colonel Ibrahima Camara, head of the maritime division of Senegalese customs, said in a video provided to AFP that the agency was unable to track where the ammunition containers had come from.

The video showed the containers were labelled “Repubblica Dominicana,” the Italian-language spelling of the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean nation. Specialized website (Continued on page 23)

Senegal seizes three containers of ammunition from a Guyana-flagged cargo ship in the port of the capital Dakar, in a rare arms haul worth an estimated $5 million. (Senegalese Customs/Handout/AFP)

Kaieteur News

Friday January 21, 2022

Images from the aftermath of the oil spill.

[Photo credits: Getty Images, AFP, and Reuters]

PAGE 17

Peru Govt. demands compensation from Repsol over oil spill

...company says “not my fault, it was an accident”

P

eru's officials are demanding that Spanish oil giant, Repsol compensate the country for the 'ecological disaster' which was caused by an oil spill from one of the company's refinery, the La Pampilla.

The devastating oil spill from the La Pampilla refinery occurred on Saturday last off the coast of Ventanilla in the region of Lima, Peru and was reportedly caused by the shock waves from an undersea volcanic eruption near Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean.

At the time of the undersea eruption, Suezmax tanker Mare Doricum was unloading a shipment of Brazilian crude oil at one of the La Pampilla refinery's offshore mooring buoys, and as such a quantity of the cargo was released, the Maritime Executive reported.

The company has since denied being responsible for the effects of the oil spill, and even stated that what happened was an accident.

Peru's Foreign Ministry in a tweet stated that the oil spill

in Ventanilla is the worst 'ecological disaster' that has occurred in Lima in recent times. According to the Ministry's tweet the oil spill has not only caused serious damage to hundreds of fishermen's families, but also endangered the country's flora and fauna in the area.

“This terrible situation has endangered the flora and fauna in two protected natural areas of more than 18,000 square kilometers, such as the National Reserve of the System of Islands, Islets and Puntas Guaneras, Islotes de Pescadores and the Ancón Reserved Zone,” the Ministry tweeted.

Tweet made by Peru's Foreign Ministry.

Also, Repsol reported that the oil spill was only equivalent to 0.16 barrels of oil, but when an investigation was done by Peru's Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement (OEFA); it revealed that the spill was equivalent to 6,000 barrels – this is according to a tweet by Congresswoman Adriana Tuleda, of the Avanza Pais party.

In fact, she also stated that Repsol's discrepancy is unacceptable due to serious impact the oil spill has on the environment.

It is for these reasons that she stated, “The sanction must be strict and the company must be held responsible for what happened.”

While, Congressman Waldemar Cerrón Rojas tweeted that according to Article 68 of the Political Constitution of Peru, the State is obliged to promote the conservation of biological diversity. He noted that it is opportune for the State to review contracts and determine the sanction of those responsible for the

pollution of their sea.

Moreover, Mayor of the town of Ventanilla, Pedro Spadaro told Exitosa, that he was outraged by the level of assistance Repsol has provided, to assist in the cleanup of the oil spill. He noted that from his account the company has dispatched a force of 15 people to manually clean up a beachfront of about two and a half miles in length.

Mayor Spadaro told Exitosa, “This is a mockery; it is not possible that nothing has been done in three days.

The oil is already [12 inches] below the sand.”

With over 6,000 barrels of oil spilled, Peru's Foreign Ministry has demanded that Repsol “compensate this damage immediately.”

Nevertheless, Repsol's Communications Director, Tine Van Den Wall Bake, during a radio programme on We d n e s d a y o n ' R P P Noticias', denied that the company is responsible for the damages the oil spill caused and noted, “We did not cause this ecological disaster and we cannot say (Continued on page 22)

PAGE 18

Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

Change in regulations forces unions to withdraw matter challenging COVID-19 measures

A

correction to the COVID-19 Emergency Measures by President Dr. Irfaan Ali has resulted in the trade unions that had filed legal proceedings against the government to withdraw the case.

The Guyana Teachers' Union (GTU), Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) and the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), last year filed legal proceedings against the government over the gazetted mandatory vaccine required for public servant workers.

Kaieteur News had reported that the “no vaccine, no entry” requirement had resulted in unvaccinated workers, who failed to provide a weekly negative PCR test, being denied entry into their place of work.

The unions were asking the High Court to declare that the COVID-19 health emergency guideline that was originally implemented by former President, David Granger, and the Presidential

Attorney-at-law, Darren Wade.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali.

declaration of current President, Irfaan Ali, to be deemed ultra vires and in breach of constitutional rights of the workers.

The Unions had claimed that Granger exceeded his

authority when he issued the first COVID-19 emergency measure back in March 2020 under the public health ordinance and that Ali did the same thing when he (Continued on page 22 )

Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

PAGE 19

Citizens Bank 2021 profits after tax pegged at $1.1B Citizens Bank has raked in a total of $1.1 billion in profits for the year 2021, representing an increase of $73.4 million when compared to 2020.

This information is included in the Chairman's Report of the Bank's Annual Report for 2021.

The Chairman, Mr. Clifford Reis, who is also the Chairman of Banks DIH, said “I am pleased to report that Citizens Bank Guyana Inc. has recorded profits after taxation of $1.1 billion representing an improvement of $73.4 million or 7.5 percent when compared to the prior year”.

He added that the bank's performance should be seen in the context of the continuing negative impact of the global pandemic on Guyana's economy, while explaining that the improved performance was achieved through the growth in, and moderate improvement in the overall quality of its loan portfolio.

It also attributed the growth to its prudent management of its controllable expenses.

Citizens Bank's total assets grew by 29.6 percent, according to the Report.

In addition to this, customers' deposit also expanded by 34.6 percent, receivables/ loans by 6.5 percent and gross revenue by 5.3 percent.

Meanwhile, net income

and advances grew by eight percent or $280.9 billion at September 30, 2021.

The private sector credit increased by some 8.8 percent to $275.7 billion during last year, the Annual Report outlined.

Mr. Reis added that deposits at the commercial banks also saw an increase of 16 percent to $565 billion by the end of September last year, with private sector deposits growing by 15.2 percent to $459.2 billion; representing 81.3 percent of total banking sector deposits.

The Chairman was keen to note in his report that with Chairman of Citizens Bank global economies expected Guyana Inc. Clifford Reis to expand by at least four percent this year, the Bank looks forward to another f o r t h e y e a r e n d e d successful year.

He said “the Guyana September 30, 2021 was $3.6 billion compared to economy is projected to $3.4 billion the previous grow by 46.5 percent during year, an increase of $0.2 fiscal 2022 buoyed by the million or 5.9 percent and continued expansion of the profit before taxation of $1.8 oil and gas sector and billion compared to $1.7 increase in output from the billion the previous year, traditional sectors, which resulting in an increase of sectors are expected to $0.1 billion or 5.9 percent b e n e f i t f r o m t h e government's expansive again.

The Bank noted that the infrastructure development annualized return on average program and increased assets was 1.4 percent, while foreign direct investments”.

In 1998, Citizens Bank the return on shareholders' equity was 10 percent, became fully owned by compared to 1.7 percent and locals.

The financial 10 percent respectively for institution's website explains the previous year.

While pointing to the that existing Guyanese b a n k i n g s e c t o r , t h e shareholders acquired the Chairman reported that loans remaining 70 percent of

shares in Citizens Bank Guyana Inc, held by Citizens Bank Jamaica Limited.

Banks DIH Limited, a company incorporated in Guyana, acquired sufficient additional shares to enable it to own 51% of the share

capital of the Bank. Other major shareholders of the Bank are the Continental Agencies Limited 16.7% and the Hand-in-Hand Insurance Group with 16.5%. 69 shareholders including 5 employees who hold the

remaining 13.01%.

Up to 2018, the Bank headquartered at Camp Street, Georgetown had about six locations in which it provides its retail and commercial banking services.

Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

PAGE 20

All set for Bolsonaro visit

...energy, deepening of trade ties high on agenda

P

resident Dr. Irfaan Ali Thursday evening flew back home after a one-day visit to neighbouring Suriname where he along with the leaders of that country and Brazil discussed a range of issues. And today he will host President of the Federative Republic of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazil–Guyana relations have traditionally been close.

Brazil has provided military assistance to Guyana in the form of warfare training and logistics. Bilateral relations between the countries have recently increased, as a result of Brazil's new South-South foreign policy aimed to strengthen South American integration.

In Suriname on Thursday President Ali met with the President of the Republic of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santokhi and President Bolsonaro for a working lunch at Torarica Hotel in Paramaribo. Ali discussed enhancing cooperation in a number of areas, including infrastructure, trade and energy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a release. Talks between the nations will be advanced at the ministerial level in the coming months. Ahead of the meeting the Office of the President had said that the

three leaders were expected to discuss the formation of an energy corridor, oil and gas and other natural resources opportunities, among areas of common interest.

“Discussions will centre on improving economic relations, energy and food s e c u r i t y , telecommunications, agriculture, infrastructure integration and the development of a deep water harbour in Guyana.”

The OP said since Guyana offers the shortest and quickest access to the Atlantic for significant parts of northern Brazil, a road connection linked to the deep-water port could also serve the interest of both countries. When the two leaders spoke last Monday via teleconference, they discussed enhancing the partial scope agreement between their nations with the hope of bolstering trade.

They also deliberated on topics for further engagements at the Ministerial levels.

To d a y P r e s i d e n t Bolsonaro and a team of officials are expected to travel to Georgetown for a special one-day official visit with President Ali and his Cabinet Ministers. Ali had listed energy, food security, telecommunication,

infrastructure integration and trade as some of the issues he would like to discuss with his Brazilian counterpart.

President Ali also wants to discuss the possibility of Brazil assisting with the development of Guyana's bauxite industry and increasing the quota for rice exports under a partial scope agreement.

The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) says the Government of Guyana should use the opportunity at the upcoming meeting to re-habilitate its tattered credibility on climate issues, by distinguishing its Amazonia policies, from the Brazil leader's scorched earth

President Dr. Irfaan Ali and his counterparts; President of the Republic of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santokhi and President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro.

approach. In a statement on Saturday, the GHRA said the visit by Bolsonaro creates a dilemma for this country.

Underscoring that closer relations with Brazil Guyana's major supporter on its long-standing border controversy with Venezuela are always welcome, the GHRA said at the same time, however, it is distasteful to everyone around the world concerned with the environmental and climate crises to have to deal with President Bolsonaro personally. “Squaring this circle is the difficult task facing the Government of Guyana,” the human rights body stated.

The GHRA said only last

month, December 2021, over one million people worldwide signed an AVAAZ petition calling on the International Criminal Court “to take all necessary steps to start an investigation into Brazil's, President Jair Bolsonaro, for possible crimes against humanity over his government's policies against the Amazon and its people. We urge member states to take action to ensure that severe damage to the environment, whether widespread or long-term, is fully recognized as a crime of ecocide, and can be prosecuted under international law.

The global Petition went on to state that Bolsonaro

“green-lighted illegal mining and logging in indigenous lands, sabotaged environmental laws and now the destruction of the Amazon has risen by more than 20% in a year – a loss equivalent to 3,000 football fields per day”. Additionally, in 2019, President Bolsonaro accused “NGOs” of setting the Amazon forest fires, while continuously ignoring illegal clear-cutting by supporters who were emboldened by his rightwing Government.

“The one positive from the visit would be the opportunity it offers for the Guyana Government to engage with Brazil on (Continued on page 21)

Friday January 21, 2022

PAGE 21

Kaieteur News

Mottley wins landslide second term (The Guardian) – Mia Mottley, who shot to international fame during the Cop26 climate talks and oversaw Barbados’s break with the Queen last year, has won a second term as the Caribbean nation’s prime minister The 56-year-old’s Barbados Labour party (BLP) won all 30 seats, up from 29 in 2018 in an election marred by complaints that thousands of Covid-positive Bajans were denied a vote.

Mottley came to international attention last year when she castigated global leaders at Cop26 and her government jettisoned the Queen as head of state, installing the singer Rihanna as an official national hero at the same time.

She also has star power at home, where she is known by her first name only. Her cleansweep victory suggests voters did not blame her for the island’s tourism revenues falling by 90% during her truncated first term due to the Covid pandemic.

An 11th hour attempt to stop the poll failed on Tuesday night when the country’s high court ruled it had no jurisdiction to postpone the election, which took place amid rising Omicron cases.

Philip Catlyn, the opposition candidate who brought the case, had argued that 5,600 people in isolation were disfranchised after they were banned from going to polling stations to cast their vote.

Anyone who tests positive on the island of 287,000 people has to wear a tracking bracelet to deter them from breaking quarantine. As voting got under way on Wednesday, the Portuguese government announced measures to ensure that those infected with Covid could vote in that country’s snap general election later this month, fuelling accusations of unfair-

Mia Mottley casts her vote in St Michael, Barbados. Photograph: Nigel R Browne/Reuters ness.

Huge crowds celebrated into the early hours of Thursday outside BLP’s headquarters in the capital, Bridgetown, after Barbados’s midnight curfew was lifted for the night.

In her victory speech, Mottley said the landslide victory would allow her government to “lead the country first to safety and then to prosperity” and to prepare Barbados for the challenges “of the next 10 to 15 years”.

These include climate change and antimicrobial resistance, she said. Global heating poses an existential threat to Barbados. Last year the island suffered its first hurricane in 65 years and a storm with almost 500 lightning strikes in the space a minute, plus volcanic ash-falls from neighbouring St Vincent.

Though Barbados is reliant on long-haul flights and polluting cruise ships for much of its economy, Mottley was

All set for Bolsonaro visit...

From page 20 environmental and climate issues and simultaneously break its own prolonged silence on where it stands on them. In stark contrast to a decade ago, when Guyana's opposition to deforestation was globally recognized, the current obsession with oil, gas and gold mining expansion has completely swept these concerns off the table,” the GHRA said.

It added: “It remains to be seen whether the Government will seize this opportunity to re-habilitate its tattered credibility on climate issues, by distinguishing Guyana's Amazonia policies from President Bolsonaro's scorched earth approach.

Not doing so will rein-

…as BLP again grabs all 30 seats in Parliament

force the current image of Guyana inviting all-comers, reputable and disreputable, into an orgy of natural resource extraction. To deter comparison with the reckless approach of the Brazilian President, the Guyana Government needs to clarify the non-negotiables which ought to distinguish Guyana's Amazonia policies from those of its neighbour.” The GHRA said joint involvement in such discussions by all Parliamentary parties would both give credence to claims to their having espoused 'green' climate and 'green' development policies, as well as give some impetus to developing a genuine national position on climate change and the environment.

the breakout star of Cop26, taking global leaders to task for their inaction on climate change. At the BLP’s final rally on Tuesday, Liz Thomas, Barbados’s ambassador for climate change, reminded the crowd of the US president, Joe Biden, walking hand in hand with Mottley: “White people from all over the globe say to me: how do I get a Barbados passport? Caribbean people say to us: ‘How do I

get a Mia Mottley?’, ‘I wish we had a Mia, give us Mia, lend us Mia’, but Barbados got Auntie Mia,” she said.

Basking in her second straight landslide, Mottley promised to uphold the values of Errol Barrow, the first post-independence prime minister of Barbados, who said the country would be “a friend of all and a satellite of none”.Despite the BLP’s thumping victory, Cynthia

Barrow-Giles, professor of constitutional governance and politics at the University of the West Indies, believed Mottley’s imposition of republicanism without a referendum had turned some voters away from the BLP. “People are so angry they were not consulted by the prime minister. They see it as an authoritarian tendency and autocratic,” she said.

Barrow-Giles and a colleague

polled Bajans and found while only a minority wanted to retain the British monarch as head of state, most objected to the lack of consultation.Though the BLP’s lengthy manifesto made numerous eye-catching promises, such as building 10,000 homes and investment in the medicinal cannabis industry, Mottley’s second term is likely to be dominated by recovering and diversifying the Bajan economy, postCovid. As part of a loan deal with the International Monetary Fund, the Barbados government needs to achieve a 6% surplus of GDP, which may lead to austerity measures, said Barrow-Giles. One of Mottley’s preoccupations is also addressing Barbados’s ageing population via immigration. She wants to attract more “digital nomads” to the island and lure back the Bajan diaspora, repeatedly saying on the campaign trail that the island “hasn’t replaced its population since 1980". The main opposition, the Democratic Labour party, which ruled Barbados between 2008 and 2018, campaigned against the BLP “one-party state”. Voters were not convinced and Barbados will have no official opposition for the next five years.

PAGE 22

Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

Change in regulations forces unions...

From page 18 enhanced the order by issued guidelines for mandatory vaccination.

They contended that the President, along with his Minister of Health, did not contact/consult with the Central Board of Health for advice and recommendations as is re-

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forced to withdraw their case since their grounds of objection has been corrected. Attorney-at-law Darren Wade, who represented the Unions said, “The gazetted order was changed... COVID-19 regulations are now being managed by the Board of Central Health, which is prescribed

by statute; not the Minister.”

The lawyer added that it is on the basis of the regulations being fixed, the legal proceedings against the government was withdrawn in the High Court.

He also noted that each party in the matter will bare their own costs.

'Laparkan fire was an act of arson'

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However, with the corrections made to the orders, by President Ali the Unions were

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From page 15 Guyana police force”, Wickham said. Kaieteur News understands that the act was

perpetrated by more than one person and that police are looking for them.

On Monday when Kaieteur

News arrived at the scene fire fighters were battling to contain the blaze.

Some eyewitnesses had said

that it had erupted where chemicals belonging to an oil company operating in Guyana were stored.

Kenya is refusing to release the loan...

From page 8 countries, including 11 from Africa, found that Chinese contracts contain confidentiality clauses (pdf) that prevent borrowers from sharing de-

tails about the documents.

The research, led by AidData, a US-based development finance research lab, found that the contracts had become more secretive over

time, with all since 2014 having a confidentiality clause.

Study co-author Scott Morris said the limitations make it difficult for debt re-

negotiation because such discussions depend on borrowing countries being able to be transparent on their external credit exposure.

Peru Govt. demands compensation...

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From page 17 who is responsible.”For this reason, Prime Minister Mirtha Vásquez, stated that it appears as though Repsol did not have a contingency plan to deal with a large oil spill.

Similar sentiments were noted in a report by RPP Noticias. The outlet reported that the Minister of the Environment, Rubén Ramirez, pointed out that Repsol is responsible for what happened and that the contingency plan

the company deployed in response to the oil spill was not correct.

An oil spill contingency plan is a detailed oil spill response and removal plan that addresses controlling, containing, and recovering an oil discharge in quantities that may be harmful to navigable waters or adjoining shorelines.

Additionally, the Latin Post reported that on Tuesday, dozens of Peru's fisher-

men gathered outside the country's main refinery in Callao, Lima to protest the aftermath of the oil spill. The outlet reported that according to the police, the fishermen carried signs that read "no to ecological crime," economically affected families," and "Repsol killer of marine fauna.”

According to Anthony Chumpitaz, a representative, of the Association of Artisanal Fishermen (ASPE-

FAEA), during a meeting with Repsol, the company stated that, “it is not their responsibility and that it was something fortuitous due to the wave issue.”

This was reported by the RPP Noticias.

Meanwhile, on Monday prosecutors opened an investigation into Repsol's environmental contamination and as such the company could face a fine of up to $34.5 million.

The future of our sugar industry From page 6 It is known that state of the art upgrading of the country’s general infrastructure is on the Government’s agenda for early attention.

Prior to the advent of funding resources from oil extraction this undertaking would have been a difficult funding proposition. There will now exist the option of accessing oil-levered international funding or the deployment of internal funds garnered from oil proceeds. Establishment of a network of weather-resilient main roads in estates’ field system will increase accessibility of consolidated blocks of land for development by investors.

Income generation will be premised on the utilisation of this estate-developed land resource for a range of enterprises including renewable energy, industrial and agricultural. An important consideration for estates now in operation is the opportunity for cane farmers in particular to rehabilitate still existing but temporarily abandoned cane fields. This development will provide cane farmers as well as existing sugar estates with easier and expeditious access of their cane to factories with the aid of all-weather roads.

The following land use proposals, by no means exhaus-

tive, are put forward for consideration: The retention of prime coastal land for agricultural and horticultural pursuits, inclusive of sugarcane is still an attractive and viable proposition provided remunerative regional markets for the individual crops are contractually engaged on a long term basis.

Sugarcane on the currently three operating estates must be retained for several reasons which could be elaborated on in a subsequent discussion. Suffice it to say for the moment that in effecting better overall economies, firstly, field rehabilitation would be facilitated as part of the general estates’ road infrastructural upgrading support earlier proposed.

Secondly, cost efficiencies of factories would be improved by adopting a hybrid power system inclusive of cogeneration. This integrated power provision entails the utility of supplemental alternative energy sources of solar and wind in tandem with cogeneration, as will be later adverted. Thirdly, I would advocate that crop length harvests be considerably reduced to take strategic advantage of seasonal weather and available labour, after fur-

ther appropriate mechanisation of field operations as far as is feasible and practical.

Other crops already proven to be successful that should be extended on former cane lands include rice, which is eminently suited for our coastal soils, as well as coconuts and citrus to some extent, all of which can command regional markets in the fresh, primary or processed form.

Even after the appropriate deployment of former cane lands to other crops cultivation there will be appreciable vacant land areas remaining, not all of which will be cultivable. These can be converted where practicable to extensive solar and wind farms for which is available considerable international incentives, and which can in turn be incentivised locally, as already in place with solar panels, for entrepreneurs’ investment interest. Establishment of these renewable energy sources on former cane lands can be facilitated by rehabilitation and maintenance of the network of internal roads accessible from resurfaced main dams of which earlier reference is made.

It is envisaged that the available estate land will be

zoned for the diverse enterprises and activities including the above mentioned as well as industrial manufacturing and processing plants.

Establishment of these industries on former cane lands will benefit in the long term from their proximity to supplemental clean energy sources and primary crop material supplies.

Finally, it is advised that investors/developers/entrepreneurs enter into a covenant with the State to ensure that land leased for specific purposes be utilised in accordance with the acquisition terms.

Appropriate incentives from the State should be enshrined in the land usage contract endorsed as well as penalties for contract violations, with the State in turn providing infrastructure and utility services support as may be set out in the lease or purchase agreement.

Yours faithfully, Fritz McLean Formerly GuySuCo Executive Director, Agricultural Research and Diversified Crops; Chairman, Guyana School of Agriculture; Diversification Specialist, SPU/NICIL; and Board Chairman, Bureau of Statistics.

Kaieteur News

Friday January 21, 2022

PAGE 23

Six held in SOCU crackdown on carjacking gang T ...another stolen car recovered at ECD workshop

By Shervin Belgrave

he recent arrest of six persons and the discovery of another stolen car at a wellknown work shop located at Montrose on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) might just be the break that ranks from the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), needed to dismantle a carjacking gang operating across Region Four Guyana.

Relating to Kaieteur News that such a gang exists in the country was SOCU's boss, Senior Superintendent of Police, Fazil Karimbaksh.

This newspaper understands that SOCU has been investigating a number hijackings and car theft that took place in recent years. It was long suspected that the disappearance of these vehicles could be linked to a discreet and well-organized criminal gang that has managed to stay off the radar for a very long time.

However, time might just be running out for this suspected Car-Jacking gang after SOCU ranks were able to locate two stolen cars in a workshop at Montrose. The first car, a stolen white Toyota Allion, was found on Monday last. The vehicle was reportedly hijacked from a taxi driver, Steve Mootooveren a few days prior to its discovery at the workshop.

Kaieteur News had reported on January 16, that hijackers had used a beautiful woman to lure Mootoveren into a trap. She had approached him around 18:30Hrs on January 15, while plying his trade in front of the Giftland Mall and hired him for a drop to South Ruimveldt.

Mootoveren had told this newspaper he never makes trips to that area during the nights but decided to take a chance because she appeared

The second stolen car that was recovered.

to be an innocent and decent young lady. Upon his arrival at the location two gunmen pounced on him and dragged him out of his car and drove away with it while his female passenger vanished.

The matter was reported to police and SOCU took up the case. Investigators conducted an intelligence led operation and it took them to a Workshop on the East Coast were they found the stolen car.

They noted that significant changes were made to give the vehicle a new look but luckily they got there before the criminals could have removed the e n g i n e n u m b e r.

An employee along with the owner of the workshop and another man positively identified as the hijacker were arrested.

As SOCU continued its investigation, ranks on Wednesday were able to find a second stolen car at the same workshop. That car, a Toyata Fielder Wagon was

stolen on November 18, last year, from in front of a house located at Beterverwagting, ECD. Speaking with Kaieteur News yesterday, SOCU's head, Karimbaskh said that the owner had burst into tears when ranks called him to identify his car.

The suspected gang had changed the car's colour from a silver grey to white, a new engine number was also welded on and most of the parts were changed but what the criminals did not know, is that there were special markings placed on the vehicle by the owner, Tyrone Pires. It was those secrets markings that assisted investigators in identifying the stolen wagon.

Pires told Kaieteur news that when he saw the car, he was moved to tears because it was his only source of income. “I am a father of five children and working taxi is the only way I provide for my family. It was stolen from me just before the holidays and it

ExxonMobil clients among12...

From page 3 and Flowlines equipment; installation and the operation of a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel in the eastern half of the Stabroek Block; and— ultimately—project

decommissioning.

The FPSO will be designed to produce up to 250,000 barrels of oil per day. The initial production is expected to begin by the end of 2025–early 2026, with operations continuing for at

least 20 years. The project is expected to employ up to 540 persons during development well drilling, approximately 600 persons at the peak of the installation stage, and 100 to 140 persons during production operations.

Guyana-flagged ship nabbed...

From page 16 Vesselfinder showed that the Eolika had stopped in northern Italy and Spain's Canary Islands en route to Dakar.

Drugs are periodically found on vessels

anchoring in the port of Dakar, an important trading hub on the Atlantic Ocean. However, arms hauls are rare. In June 2021, Senegal's navy seized eight tons of cannabis from a ship off the coast.

The first stolen car that was recovered

by SOCU ranks.

hurt because my children were forced to spend a black Christmas”, Pires told Kaieteur News.

The man said that he ended up indebting himself just to take care of his family throughout the holiday and had given hope that his car would be found. “When SOCU call me it was like a surprise and I felt good”, he said.

With the discovery of a second stolen car, explained Karimbaskh it is quite clear that we are dealing with a large “car thefing ring”.

In fact, the SOCU boss is confident that his ranks will discover more stolen cars and eventually dismantle the gang.

Sources related that the ongoing investigation has led to the arrest of three more

suspects and has even shed some light on how the gang operates and manages to keep itself off radar.

The source explained that the gang would legally purchase cars that were destroyed in road accidents.

They would store these vehicles and then send out its members to hijack or steal one similar to the “crashed cars” they had bought.

The stolen cars would then be taken to a workshop where mechanics are tasked to make them look like the legally purchased “crashed cars”.

Mechanics would remove parts and the engine numbers from legally purchased cars and place them on the stolen ones before they are resold to unsuspecting buyers.

The Parts removed from stolen cars would then be resold in the local market as spares. With this style operation the gang is able to operate un-detected for years because all their paper work for the vehicles they sold are legal and it was difficult for law enforcement officers to track them down.

Nevertheless, recent developments have allowed SOCU to make a major breakthrough in its bid to dismantle the gang.

Govt. distances self from ammo-laden ship The Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) said it noted with concern the interception by the Senegalese Customs of the Motor Vessel EOLIKA bearing Guyana registration with three containers of high-powered ammunition.

In a statement MARAD said the vessel's registration expired on 10th December, 2021 and that a search of the said vessel unearthed illegal arms and ammunition on board. “The vessel in question is not contained in the local ships' registry and it is believed that registration documents were issued by International Maritime Safety Agency of Guyana (IMSAG), an entity with which the administration had severed all ties since 13th August, 2021.”

The Maritime Administration Department said it subsequently notified all regional, and

international bodies and organisations of the effective termination of all arrangements with IMSAG, and advised of the veracity of registration certificates issued to vessels by IMSAG. As a result, several vessels

have been detained in various ports for false registration documents.

MARAD assures that it will continue to actively monitor this incident, and will spare no effort in protecting the image of the Guyana flag.

Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

PAGE 24

Man who tried to rape teen in tinted car out on bail - police says he is not a soldier

A man who allegedly attempted to rape a 16-yearold girl in a heavily tinted white car, PXX 490, along the Coverden East Bank Demerara (EBD) Public Road on Tuesday January 11, is currently out on $90,000 station bail as investigations continue.

The suspect was initially identified as a rank of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) but investigations conducted by police revealed that he was not a soldier but the husband of one. As it relates to whether he will be charged for trying to rape an underage girl, East Bank Police Commander, Mahendra Siwnarine said

that investigations are expected to be completed shortly and the case file will be sent for legal advice.

Reports are that on Tuesday, January 11, a teen was rescued from the hands of the alleged sexual predator by a man who saw her trembling and crying by the roadside. The man told Kaieteur News that he was heading on an errand to the location in his car, when his attention was drawn to a heavily-tinted white car, PXX 490, parked beside the Coverden road.

He reportedly completed his errand quickly and while returning he noticed the car again but this time, according

to the man, there was a young girl in tears standing not too far away. The man had continued that she was trembling and terribly afraid so he decided to inquire what was wrong but she did not respond immediately. By this time the heavily tinted white car had already pulled off and the man offered to drop the young lady home While heading to the location the young lady related that she was almost raped in the heavily-tinted car that was parked beside the road. She had managed to escape her attacker, (the driver of the white car) by unlocking one of the doors and running a short distance

The car in which the man tried to rape an under aged girl.

away but not before using her phone to take a photo of his licence plate number.

Her parents were alerted and that same night the suspect was tracked down.

Information led detectives to the home of a GDF rank. The

suspect was positively identified and arrested.

However, police would later find out that although his address corresponded with that of a member of the army he was not the soldier.

In fact, his wife was the

one serving the army. The victim had also recalled that while he had tried to rape her in the car, she had spotted a GDF hat and clothing. Police noted that the hat and the clothing also belonged to his wife.

Kaieteur News

Friday January 21, 2022

PAGE 25

GuySuCo, GRDB partner to better utilise Demerara Sugar Terminal bond

Instead of helping to boost the capacity of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), the Demerara Sugar Terminal (DST), along with its berthing facility, has been costing the corporation some G$110 million annually for the past five years.

This state of affairs, GuySuCo said in a release, has led to it partnering with the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) with a view of getting more bang for each buck spent.

The Corporation revealed that since the closure of four sugar estates – Wales, Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon – during the 2015-2020 tenure of the APNU+AFC regime, there was not adequate commodity to export. As a consequence, the release added, the south bond at the DST was moth-balled.

Nevertheless, the corporation said that the operating cost for both the DST which was built in the 1960s and is strategically

located on the east bank of the Demerara River, and its prime berthing facility of just over 130 meters in length and 7 meters draft at high tide, was approximately G$110 million per year between 2017 and 2021.

As such the corporation said, “…such a cost has been unsustainable” ever since the closure of the four sugar estates in a much smaller sugar belt that has only exported 33,117 MT in 2021 and produced only 58,025 MT in the same year after the worst floods in 40 years.

M o r e o v e r, i t w a s revealed that GuySuCo's strategic plan that was approved by its Board of Directors in March 2021 continues to guide the executive management in seeking out opportunities to unleash the potential of its non-core assets, among other planned initiatives.

Therefore, in a close partnership with the GRDB, the Corporation will utilise the south bond of the DST to assist with the export of rice while the north bond will

continue to be used exclusively for bulk sugar export, as has been the case since the closure of the four sugar estates. This move, the Corporation assured, is in compliance with its strategic plan and the directives of its shareholders.

According to its Factory Operations Director (ag), Vijay Goberdhan, “several critical conveyor systems and motors have to be rehabilitated to implement the elements of the strategic plan and to action this new collaborative relationship with the GRDB.” He related too that bills of quantity are being prepared to estimate the cost of the project and “that information will be submitted to the leadership at GuySuCo, the Ministry of Agriculture and the GRDB shortly.”

Agriculture Minister, Mr. Zulfikar Mustapha, had on January 12, last visited the sugar terminal “to survey for himself how the Ministry of Agriculture can assist in the fast-tracking of this

collaboration between the rice and sugar industry which is a welcomed development,” said GuySuCo's Chief Executive O f f i c e r ( C E O ) , M r.

Sasenarine Singh.

He is of the belief that “The outcome of these

partnerships will only redound to the benefit of all and especially those in the sugar industry as it shares the cost of managing the sugar terminal and multiply the benefits to the country.”

E v e n a s h e

complemented Minister Mustapha for spearheading the initiative, the CEO noted that GuySuCo is looking forward to working closely with both the GRDB and the Guyana Rice Milling Association in bringing this project to reality.

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Kaieteur News

Friday January 21, 2022

Friday January 21, 2022

PAGE 27

Kaieteur News

VAR to be used in remaining ‘Low IQ’: Medvedev takes aim...

Concacaf World Cup games Miami, United States (AFP) — Concacaf said Wednesday it plans to use VAR (video assistant referees) for its remaining 2022 World Cup qualifying games starting next week.

The federation for football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf) said in a statement video assistant referees will be used in multiple competitions this year.

Concacaf introduced VAR last year in the Concacaf Nations League, Gold Cup and Concacaf Champions League.

However, VAR has not been used so far in Concacaf’s regional qualifying battle for places at the World Cup. Six rounds of World Cup qualifiers remain in the region,

The VAR system will be used for the remaining Concacaf World Cup qualifying games, starting this month with three rounds of fixtures from January 27 to February 2.

VAR would also be used at men’s and women’s youth football tournaments taking place in the region, Concacaf said.

A Concacaf statement said the body’s efforts to roll out VAR more widely had been hampered by the pandemic, which disrupted plans for in-person training camps and caused leagues and competitions to be suspended.

Friday January 21, 2022 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) A close friend or lover could share a secret with you today, Aries. An older person could be in the news, perhaps an author or politician you particularly admire.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Today you should be experiencing a strong feeling of satisfaction and contentment with your life, Libra.

Business and financial matters continue to go well, and your home life especially appears to be secure and stable.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) Someone you've known for a long time but haven't seen for a while could suddenly come back into the picture, Taurus.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Business transactions taking place in your near neighborhood should prove sensible and satisfying today, Scorpio.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Today you and your family or a group of friends might spend most of the day out and about, Gemini.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) If you're into gardening or in any way working with the land, you're likely to spend a lot of time doing it today, Sagittarius.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) A class, lecture, or workshop could prove fascinating and stimulating for you today, Cancer.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) A warm and loving communication could come today from a longtime friend or romantic partner.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) If you've been thinking of buying a home or otherwise purchasing real estate, Leo, this is the day to start the ball rolling or finalize the deal, depending on your situation.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) A warm and loving communication could come today from a longtime friend or romantic partner. This could be the high point of your day, Capricorn, especially since a letter or delivery you've been waiting on for a while still might not come.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) A festive social event could either start or consolidate a love relationship, which could last for a long time.

New and interesting people could come into your life, Virgo, bringing stimulating conversation and useful information.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) If you've been thinking about starting a garden, this is a great day to do it, since anything relating to the land you begin today is likely to thrive.

From page 31 “On the court he’s an entereverybody doing it but tainer. It doesn’t mean he’s people who are doing it prob- bad. But it’s a big show, so I ably have a low IQ.” tried really to stay focused on Medvedev was more im- myself during the match,” he pressed by Kyrgios. said.

West seven-wicket “It’s Indies a toughUnder-19s matchup suffered “He’sasomebody that can defeat at the hands beat of South Africa. against Nick. anybody, we know it.

I know he can serve big Like when we say ‘anybody’ and that’s already really it means anybody, including tough,” Medvedev, the reign- Rafa (Nadal), Roger (Federer), ing US Open champion, said. Novak and any top-10 player “I felt like I was returning because he has a lot of motireally well and yet to break vation to do it. him it was really tough.

He wants to show “But these kind of this.”Kyrgios paid tribute to matches, first, second, third his conqueror, claiming round of a Slam, it’s like a big Medvedev was the best challenge where if you make player currently on it, you feel like, okay, if I can tour.Kyrgios said he threw evcontinue playing like this, I erything at the Russian in the can go far.” Medvedev, combustible atmosphere of a favourite in the absence of prime-time night match. deported defending cham“His consistency, every pion Novak Djokovic, said game he doesn’t drop his that a Kyrgios on form could level, he shows up every beat anybody in the world. game no matter what the

score is or how much pressure he’s under he never gets flustered,” said Kyrgios.

“He just has so much belief in his game. He’s just so confident right now.”

India maintain winning...

From page 28 at the second attempt by wicketkeeper Dinesh Bana as he headed back to the pavilion for 28. Ireland were eventually bowled out for 133, Aneeshwar Gautam perhaps the pick of the Men in Blue attack with figures of two for 11 at an economy of 2.75.

India next face Uganda, where a win would see them secure top spot in Group B, while Ireland face South Africa.Australia’s batters see them through tricky Scotland test Wednesday’s opening game saw two teams with a point to prove go head-tohead. Australia sent Scotland in to bat first at the Conaree Cricket Centre, a decision that looked like it might backfire when Scotland’s openers made a positive start. Charlie Tear and Oliver Davidson took their team beyond 80 before Davidson (33) was run-out. Wicketkeeper Tear, hit nine boundaries on the way to a half-century, before falling to an Issac Higgins delivery just three overs after his fellow opener departed.

However, Thomas Mackintosh kept up Scotland’s momentum after surviving a close lbw appeal facing his second delivery. Joined at the crease by Samuel Elstone, Mackintosh found his touch and the pair put on an impressive 71 partnership, before an outside edge from Elstone found Cooper Connolly. Although some good fielding from William Salzmann saw skipper Charlie Peet run out on his very first delivery, Scotland ended on a respectable 236 for eight. But their opponents’ response started well, with run-machine Teague Wyllie and Campbell Kellaway attacking the powerplay. The pair stuck 100 on the scoreboard without loss, before Kellaway (47) departed just shy of a half-century. That couldn’t stop an impressive Australia chase, with his replacement at the crease Aidan Cahill smashing 72 from 45 balls. Wyllie (101 not out) reached his century to help complete the job as Australia reached their target with seven wickets remaining. Despite a third straight loss in the tournament, Scotland will enter the Plate quarter-finals with their confidence boosted after producing their best all-round performance in their final Group D game.

PAGE 28

Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

NBA roundup: Nikola Jokic carries Nuggets to OT win

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) looks to the shoot the ball as Los Angeles Clippers center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) and center Ivica Zubac (40) defend in the fourth quarter at Ball Arena. (Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports) Reuters - Nikola Jokic had 49 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, Aaron Gordon hit a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left in overtime and the host Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-128 on Wednesday night.

Jokic finished one point short of his career high, and Gordon wound up with 28 points. Monte Morris had 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and Jeff Green scored 12 for Denver.

Ivica Zubac scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Reggie Jackson had 28 points and 12 assists for Los Angeles.

Zubac tied the game with

a layup with 26.4 seconds left before the Nuggets’ final play.

With the shot clock running down, Jokic threw a crosscourt pass to Gordon in the corner, and Gordon drained a trey as the shot clock expired.

76ers 123, Magic 110 Joel Embiid tied his career high with 50 points to go along with 12 rebounds and three blocked shots while leading host Philadelphia to a victory over Orlando.

Embiid shot 17 of 23 from the field and 15 of 17 from the free-throw line.

It was his 17th career game with at least 40 points and 10 rebounds. Tobias Harris added 21 points, Tyrese Maxey contributed 14 and

Georges Niang had 10 for the Sixers.

Mo Bamba hit 7 of 8 3point attempts, scored a career-high 32 points and blocked three shots before fouling out for the Magic.

Bucks 126, Grizzlies 114 Giannis Antetokounmpo finished three assists shy of his fourth triple-double of the season as Milwaukee handed Memphis its first road loss since Dec. 23.

Antetokounmpo poured in 33 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out seven assists while helping the Bucks snap their two-game losing streak.

Khris Middleton added 27 points.

Ja Morant was also on

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) spins away from pressure from Memphis Grizzlies forwards Ziaire Williams (8) and forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (13) during the first quarter at Fiserv Forum. (Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports) triple-double watch, pacing the Grizzlies with 33 points, eight rebounds and 14 assists. Jaren Jackson Jr. tallied 29 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.

Mavericks 102, Raptors 98 Luka Doncic scored a season-best 41 points and made a crucial 3-pointer with 1:01 to play as Dallas topped visiting Toronto.

Doncic also had 14 rebounds and seven assists for the Mavericks, who have won four straight and 10 of their past 11. Kristaps Porzingis added 18 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 16 for the Mavericks.

Pascal Siakam scored 20

points for the Raptors, who have lost four of their past five games.

OG Anunoby added 19 points for Toronto, and Fred VanVleet had 18 points and 12 assists.

Pacers 111, Lakers 104 Caris LeVert scored 22 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to lead Indiana to a comeback victory at Los Angeles. The Lakers led by 15 points in the first quarter and by five early in the fourth period.

Domantas Sabonis recorded 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his fourth triple-double of the season and 17th of his career as Indiana snapped an eight-game

road losing streak.

LeBron James had 30 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who lost for the fourth time in the past five games.

Los Angeles’ Dwight Howard grabbed seven rebounds to tie Hall of Famer Nate Thurmond for 10th place in NBA history with 14,464.

In other results: Hawks 134, Timberwolves 122 Heat 104, Trail Blazers 92 Hornets 111, Celtics 102 Rockets 116, Jazz 111 Nets 119, Wizards 118 Bulls 117, Cavaliers 104 Spurs 118, Thunder 96 Pistons 133, Kings 131 (Field Level Media)

ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup West Indies 2022

India maintain winning start, Australia bounce back India made it two wins from two at the ICC Under19 Men’s Cricket World Cup thanks to a brilliant batting performance against Ireland.

The four-time champions made 307 for five from their 50 overs on the way to a 174run win that puts them top of Group B. Meanwhile, three-time champions Australia were pushed by an impressive Scotland team but managed to seal a win that marks the perfect response after their defeat to Sri Lanka on Monday.

India show class to defeat Ireland India followed up Saturday’s 45-run win over South Africa with a comprehensive victory against Ireland at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago.

Opener Harnoor Singh set the tone for his team, back to

his best form after only scoring a solitary run in the win over South Africa on Saturday.

This time he made 88 before Matthew Humphreys trapped him lbw. However, by that point India were already closing in on 200, helped by Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s 79.

They then set a daunting target of 308 for Tim Tector’s team, who started the tournament with a 39-run over Uganda, to hunt down.

The powerplay proved tricky for Ireland to get a foothold in the match and keep up with the required run rate.

And when spinner Rajvardhan Hangargekar struck in only the third over to send Jack Dickson back to the dressing room, they were left reeling.

Any hopes of a fightback finally went when Joshua Cox’s thick edge was caught (Continued on page 27)

India made it two wins from two at the ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup thanks to a brilliant batting performance against Ireland.

Friday January 21, 2022

Jason Roy returns to action with 36-ball hundred ahead of West Indies T20Is ESPNcricinfo - Jason Roy marked his return to fitness by hitting a 36-ball hundred and 115 off 47 overall - in England’s warm-up match against a BCA President’s XI at Kensington Oval.

Roy has not played any cricket since tearing his left calf muscle during England’s final Super 12s game of the T20 World Cup against South Africa in November when he collapsed in pain after running a single and was carried off the pitch.

But his onslaught, which contained nine fours and ten sixes, signalled his fitness ahead of the five-match T20I series that starts on Saturday and will be staged in Barbados in its entirety.

Roy added 141 in 61 balls with Tom Banton - who kept wicket and was preferred to Phil Salt at the top of the order - for the opening stand, 92 of which came in the sixover powerplay.

Ashley Nurse slowed the scoring through the middle phase, taking 2 for 20 in four overs with his offbreaks, and removing Roy and Moeen Ali in the space of five balls.

But James Vince, Eoin Morgan and Salt - in an unfamiliar role at No. 6 - struck some late blows to take England to an imposing total of 231 for 4.

England used eight bowlers - five seamers and three spinners - in their defence, taking regular wickets

Jason Roy took the field for the first time since the T20 World Cup. (ICC via Getty) to keep their opponents to 137 for the loss of 11 wickets, with each team fielding 13 players.

Tymal Mills took three wickets, Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan picked up two each, and Reece Topley, Saqib Mahmood and Liam Dawson shared three more between them.

David Payne, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone who the PA news agency reported has been suffering from illness in recent days were the squad members not involved, while Sam Billings arrived on the island after a gruelling long-haul journey from Hobart.

Shamar Springer, who was part of West Indies’ World

Cup-winning Under-19 team in 2016 and has played for Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL, top-scored with 36 off 23 balls from No. 7.

On Tuesday, West Indies had comfortably beaten the BCA President’s XI on the same ground. They restricted their opponents to 131 for 6, with Hayden Walsh Jr taking 2 for 28, and then batted on past their target to reach 169 for 4 in 19.2 overs. Kyle Mayers, who opened the batting with Brandon King, topscored with 38.

Scores: England 231 for 4 (Roy 115, Vince 40*) beat Barbados Cricket Association President’s XI 137 for 11 (Springer 36, Mills 3-25) by 94 runs.

Hero CPL viewership passes 500 million once again The viewership of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) passed the half a billion mark for the second successive season in 2021 with strong numbers across the globe. The total viewership was 517.4 million across linear TV and digital channels.

The 2021 Hero CPL took place in St Kitts & Nevis with all 33 matches taking place at Warner Park, Basseterre. The home franchise, the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, emerged victorious in a thrilling final against the Saint Lucia Kings, which was the most watched game of the tournament with the semi-final between the Patriots and Guyana Amazon Warriors the second most viewed match.

Once again it was India that represented the largest linear TV viewership with the Caribbean close behind.

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Kaieteur News

There were major broadcast deals across the globe. In India, Star and Fancode shared the linear and digital broadcast and ensured CPL became the second most watched league after the IPL. In the Caribbean, Sportsmax and the major local stations showed the games. BT Sport in the UK, Fox Sports in Australia, Willow in the USA and Sky in New Zealand were the other major global networks to broadcast CPL. The tournament was also streamed on Hero CPL’s social media channels, ensuring the CPL could be watched anywhere in the world.

The total viewership of 517.4million sees the Hero CPL maintaining the big boost in coverage that the tournament received in 2020, once again showing the worldwide appetite for ‘The Biggest Party in Sport’. The

2021 broadcast featured a number of innovations including virtual pitch advertising, live player tracking and the use of Sportcor’s Kookaburra Smart Ball for the first time in a live tournament setting.

Pete Russell, Hero CPL’s CEO, said: “We were delighted to pass the 500 million viewer mark set in 2020 and to maintain that figure for 2021 when we were competing with so many other sports, is a fantastic achievement. These figures show where the Hero CPL sits in world cricket with the tournament now being amongst the most watched cricket leagues in the world. We very much looking forward to continuing this fantastic success in 2022 and promise to continue to innovate and deliver unforgettable viewing experiences.”

Randolph Roberts returns as President of Flying Ace Cycle Club Well known cycle coach and founder of the Flying Ace Cycle Club (FACC) of Berbice Randolph Roberts, has been returned as President of that entity.

Roberts, who founded the Club in New Amsterdam, East Berbice almost three decades ago, will double up as Treasurer and Coach.

The elections which were held recently at the Club Headquarters at Alexander Street, New Amsterdam Berbice saw a number of other persons being elected to serve.

Businessman John Lewis, who once served as a long time a President, has been elected First Vice with Senior Council Murseline Bacchus the Second Vice President.

Cyclist Balram Narine will serve as the Club Secretary and he will double up as Club Captain.

The Committee Members are Pearl Arokium, Fizal Ally, Ray Singh and Eli Hazel. Businessman and Former Mayor Errol Alphonso remains the club Patron with Rhonda Russel an honorary member.

The first event for the club is slated for the third Sunday in February.

Roberts has been a crusader in terms of cycling and cycling development in Guyana with special reference

Randolph Roberts to Berbice with his long and dedicated service for over two decades in the sport.

Roberts would like to thank all those who assisted the club over the years and

would like to call on the Government and the business community to continue to assist them in whatever way possible.

(Samuel Whyte)

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Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

Holders Algeria out of Africa Nations Cup after losing to Ivory Coast BBC Sport - Defending champions Algeria crashed out of the Africa Cup of Nations with a 3-1 defeat against Ivory Coast in Douala.

Needing a win to stay alive, Algeria trailed by two goals at the break after Franke Kessie capped off a fine move and Ibrahim Sangare headed home.

Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe put the Ivorians 3-0 up before Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez hit a penalty against the post.

Algeria, for whom Sofiane Bendebka scored a late consolation, exit bottom of Group E after a torrid campaign.

Djamel Belmadi’s men are the third holders to exit at the first hurdle in the past five Nations Cup finals.

Their departure from the competition is in marked contrast to their entry, travelling to Cameroon on a 34-match unbeaten run and looking to surpass Italy’s all-time record of 37.

The Algerians had drawn 0-0 with Sierra Leone before a 1-0 defeat by Equatorial Guinea, and leave with just one point from three games but did at least finally get on the scoresheet in Cameroon when substitute Bendebka’s late goal inspired a brief rally.

Ivory Coast’s Elephants topped the group to line up a mouth-watering last-16 match with Egypt, scheduled for Douala on Wednesday, 26

January.

Algeria shell-shocked by Ivorian display The poor pitch in the Japoma Stadium was a major talking point before the game as two recent former champions - with Ivory Coast last winning in 2015 - met in a final group tie that had the feel of the big occasion.

Algeria coach Belmadi had been baffled by his team’s lack of goals and when Ismael Bennacer clipped the post after 22 minutes, only for the Ivorians to score a minute later, he must have sensed the worst. A sweeping move ended in Max-Alain Gradel cutting the ball back for Kessie to side-foot home, sparking huge celebrations as all 12 Ivorian substitutes charged off to celebrate with the AC Milan star and leaving goal-shy Algeria needing two goals to win.

The North Africans look shell-shocked and matters swiftly deteriorated as the Elephants converted good pressure to double their lead as Ibrahim Sangare was inexplicably left alone at the far post to powerfully head home a fine cross from the impressive Serge Aurier.

Belmadi knew his halftime talk was key but instead it was the West Africans who charged forward, forcing two good openings before Pepe delivered a trademark goal

Algeria's Abdelkader Bedrane and Baghdad Bounedjah react after the match REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani when cutting in from the right flank to stylishly curl home with his left.

Any thoughts that it was not Algeria’s day were confirmed when Mahrez, so good from 12 yards recently for Manchester City, smacked a 60th-minute penalty against the right-hand post after Youcef Belaili had been felled.

Elephants display confidence As an army of orangeclad Ivorian fans roared their

deafening approval, Ivory Coast coach Patrice Beaumelle started to rest players by making changes before Bendebka finally restored some respect for a team that lifted the trophy in Cairo three years ago. Ajax striker Sebastien Haller thought he had added a fourth, and his second of the tournament, when heading home another Aurier cross late on, only for the goal to be ruled out for

offside.

In confident form, showing real belief as well as excellent strength and purpose, Ivory Coast fully deserved a win which left Algeria’s despairing players sitting on the floor, staring into the distance in disbelief at the manner of their exit. They became the 12th Nations Cup champions to exit the competition in the first round when defending the trophy. The final whistle

also prompted a significant pitch invasion as dozens of spectators flooded onto the grass and found themselves incredibly close to the players, before security forces belatedly restored order. Douala is already under scrutiny for the quality of its surface prompting suggestions matches may be moved from Cameroon’s largest city.

Friday January 21, 2022

GCB’s President seeks meeting with Education Minister Priya Manickchanda Requests Friday afternoons off for School Cricket Programme activities President of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Bissoondyal Singh has indicated his readiness to institute a very comprehensive school cricket development programme. In this regard, the GCB will soon be meeting with officials of the Ministry of Education to discuss the implementation of the school cricket programme for 2022 onwards. The Board plans to place emphasis on nursery, primary and secondary schools, with the nursery aspect being formally explored for the first-time in the history of GCB’s cricket administration. The nursery school’s cricket main focus is to introduce cricket related skills to kids at an early age.

These training and development activities will be carried out across all three counties of Guyana under the categories Nursery, Under-9, Under-11, Under-13, Under15, Under-17, Under-19 and will feature key development areas of male and female cricket. All activities will begin with the training of students interested in playing the sport to facilitate the identification of these players for competitive matches.

With the exception of Under-9 cricket activities, the competitions will be played from an inter-zone stage before graduating to players

Hon. Minister of Education Priya Manickchand

GCB's President Bissoondyal Singh

participating at the intercounty level. The Under-9 category will be played under an inter-school format which will be conducted for the other school categories also in 2023.

To support this initiative, the GCB will engage the Ministry of Education to permit the conduct of cricket related activities on Friday afternoons within and among schools.

Additionally, President Singh has plans for the establishment of his country-wide academies along with a cricket college which he feels will enhance the all-round development of our cricketers and for giving those who may not become a professional cricketer, the opportunity to have a career in other areas.

A number of professional facilitators will be involved in

the learning exercises that are designed to suit the studentathlete. The training activities are expected to include lateral areas of development, giving players an opportunity to consider careers in other related cricket areas such as, Match Referee, Umpire, Scorer, Curator, Coaching, Manager, Statistician, Physiotherapy/Strength and Conditioning and Administrative responsibilities.

These training activities will include the conduct of Cricket West Indies coaching certification courses and pathway activities to umpire certification courses. It will also include the component to meet the ‘player,’ where national players will impart their cricketing knowledge to students.

‘Low IQ’: Medvedev takes aim at Melbourne crowd after victory AFP - Daniil Medvedev took aim at sections of the raucous Australian Open crowd following his entertaining victory over home hero Nick Kyrgios yesterday, saying: “They probably have a low IQ.” The Russian world number two took all that the mercurial Australian and the Melbourne spectators could throw at him to march into the third round.

The title favourite served out a 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over the 115th-ranked Kyrgios in 2hr 58min.

It was a madhouse inside Rod Laver Arena with unpredictable Kyrgios dealing out all his assortment of underarm serves and tweeners before a partisan home crowd, while embroiled in a running battle with the chair umpire.

Calculating Medvedev dealt with it all to ease through and will now face Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the third round.

But the 25-year-old was unhappy with the behaviour of some of the spectators.

“I came to win this match

PAGE 31

Kaieteur News

Australian Open Day 4: Road ends for Emma Raducanu, Andy Murray as most top seeds advance Yahoo Sports - Round 2 is now complete, but yesterday at the Australian Open could not have been more different than Wednesday.

While nearly all of the top seeds made it through to Round 3 on Wednesday, Thursday brought the defeat of several top women’s seeds, a young champion and a longtime favorite.

Some top seeds advanceIt was an eventful day for some of the top-seeded women and men, and there weren’t a lot of easy wins to be found. No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, had to beat back a challenge from Nick Kyrgios. Kyrgios gave it all he had before Medvedev won 7-6(1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka had to rally from a first set loss to beat Xinyu Wang 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas was tested by Sebastian Baez, with two s e t s g o i n g t o tiebreakers. Tsitsipas eventually won 7-6(1), 6-7(5), 63, 6-4. Ninth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime played tiebreakers in all four sets against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, pulling out a hard fought 7-6(4), 67(4), 7-6(5), 7-6(4) win. But not all the wins were hard.

Simona Halep, Iga Swiatek and Ana Pavlyuchenkova all easily made it to Round 3. None of them lost a set and none of their opponents were able to win more than two games in a set.

Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev also cruised to wins

Emma Raducanu won’t win her second straight Grand Slam at the Australian Open after being eliminated in Round 2. (Photo by Robert Prange/ Getty Images) in straight sets.

Muguruza, Kontaveit, Schwartzman all out The women’s Top 10 suffered their first significant losses yesterday. Thirdseeded Garbine Muguruza suffered a shocking upset to France’s Alize Cornet, who is unseeded at the Aussie Open and ranked No. 61 in the world. Cornet beat Muguruza 6-3, 63 in a match that lasted just under 90 minutes. No. 6 Annet Kontaveit was also handed a surprising loss when she was beaten by Clara Tauson in straight sets. The men’s field also lost a top seed with A rg e n t i n a ’s Diego Schwartzman loss to Australian wild-card Christoper O’Connell, who is currently ranked No. 175 in the world. O’Connell defeated the No. 13 seed 7-

6(6), 6-4, 6-4. Road ends for A n d y M u r r a y, E m m a Raducanu The road to the Aussie Open championship ended for Andy M u r r a y o n T h u r s d a y.

Murray, the former World No. 1 who is playing as a wild-card, lost to Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel, who is ranked No. 120 in the world. After the straight sets defeat, Murray expressed frustration that he couldn’t make it farther, and admitted that he was disappointed in himself for losing a Grand Slam match to a player outside the Top 100.

Emma Raducanu’s journey at the Australian Open also came to an end yesterday. The surprise winner of the 2021 US Open was upset by Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic, marking the first time a player from Montenegro has made it to the third round of any Grand Slam.

Shiv gets Head Coach job for Tallawahs - ‘It’s going to be challenging’ says Windies Test great

Russia’s Daniil Medvedev (L) talks to Australia’s Nick Kyrgios after their men’s singles match.

(AFP/William WEST) and I am happy that I was able serves, it’s not easy, I just had to do,” he said on court to stay calm.” Expanding on afterwards.“It’s not your the theme, he told Eurosport: choice when you get booed “It’s not between first and second (Continued on page 27)

By Sean Devers “It’ going to be challenging but with the right people around you, it can make your work easier,” those were the words of Guyanese Shivnarine Chanderpaul speaking to Kaieteur Sports on his appointment as Jamaica Tallawahs Head Coach.

The 47-year-old lefthander is the second highest Test run scorer behind Brian Lara with 11,867 runs from 164 Test matches.

His 30 Test hundreds is second most to Lara’s 34.

Chanderpaul has also played 268 ODIs and 22 T20Is and will take over from Floyd Reifer, who has left the role after being named the head coach of the West Indies Under-19 side.

“It’s an absolute honour to be appointed as the new Head Coach of the Jamaica Tallawahs and I am really looking forward to working

with the players and support staff to bring another championship to Jamaica,” added Chanderpaul, who made his T20I debut against New Zealand at Auckland on February 15, 2006.

The CPL 2022 is scheduled to bowl off on August 26, 2022 before the grand final is set for September 16, 2022 with all 33 matches will be played in St Kitts and Nevis.

Chanderpaul will take over from Floyd Reifer, who has left the role after being named the head coach of the West Indies Under-19 side.

“Shivnarine has had an illustrious playing career and is one of the greats of the game. He has served West Indies cricket with distinction, and I know he will take the Tallawahs to new heights,” said owner of the franchise Krishna Persaud.

Sir Curtly Ambrose has

been appointed as the bowling coach and like Chanderpaul with the bat, the 58 year-old Antiguan pacer’s 405 wickets from 98 Test matches is second most by a West Indian to Courtney Walsh.

“Sir Curtly brings in a lot of technical expertise and experience to the Tallawahs and we look forward to having him in the team,” said Persaud.

Ambrose has worked with the West Indies side as the bowling coach during the 2016 T20 World Cup in India.

West Indies went on to win the title by beating England in a thrilling encounter in Kolkata.

In the last year, Ambrose has been working with the young bowlers of the Under19 side.

Andre Coley, who has worked with the franchise between 2010 and 2013, will serve as the assistant coach.

PAGE 32

Friday January 21, 2022

Kaieteur News

Guyana invited to historic U16 UEFA tournament in Moldova In what is a definite first for Guyana, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) will in April send an Under-16 boys’ national squad to a UEFAsponsored international youth tournament in Moldova, featuring three European national teams.

In the unprecedented engagement, Guyana will face the hosts, whose senior Men’s team has ranked as high as 37th in FIFA world rankings, as well as the mountainous principality of Andorra and the Faroe Islands in a round-robin tournament, which takes place between April 11 and 19.

“This is a truly historic moment for Guyanese football that represents a once-in-alifetime opportunity for our young players and coaching staff to showcase their talent and gain invaluable exposure in Europe,” GFF President Wayne Forde said.

“We are extremely grateful to UEFA Assist, Concacaf and the Moldovan Football Association for including Guyanese youth in this

Howard McIntosh unique, cross-cultural learning experience, building on our already very strong partnerships with UEFA and our own regional governing body.”

“This experience will create lifelong memories for the squad, broaden horizons and

inspire a whole cohort of young players and coaches to strive to reach their full potential in football,” Forde added.

“We know that the boys and staff will make Guyana proud as ambassadors for our sport and nation, and leave an

extremely positive impression on our European partners.

This will put Guyanese football on the map in Europe and open up connections and new opportunities for our young players, coaches and referees for many years to come.”

The exclusive invitation, which has been facilitated and fully supported by Concacaf, is a further sign of the strong relationship between the GFF and European football’s governing body, as part of the UEFA Assist programme.

This programme has seen UEFA’s assistance in the provision of two mini-buses, ongoing collaboration in the development of a professional league, and capacity building and “return to play” planning.

“We are delighted to support the development of the Guyana Football Federation’s U-16 national team,” said UEFA Head of International Relations Eva Pasquier.

“The opportunity to play in a European tournament, learn from and exchange with UEFA national associations, and experience new cultures will undoubtedly help these

young stars to develop both on and off the pitch.

And this is exactly what UEFA Assist is all about.”

Players, who must have been born on or after January 1, 2006 to make the U-16 squad, will be carefully selected in the coming weeks through an extensive talent identification process, organised by the GFF Technical Department across the GFF’s nine regional associations and non-affiliated hinterland communities.

“While we will be looking to draw on existing talent from our national network of GFF Academy Training Centres, we also want to ensure that every player who should be considered for this incredible trip will be considered by our staff, so we encourage our members, clubs and hinterland communities to participate fully in the talent identification sessions, which will be announced shortly,” said GFF Technical Director Ian Greenwood.

“We will then focus on an intense and holistic training regime to fully prepare our squad for the task ahead.”

The Moldovan tournament will also provide an ex-

cellent platform for preparation for the forthcoming Concacaf U-17 Championship qualifiers, which are scheduled for August.

The cost of the trip to Eastern Europe will be covered by UEFA Assist, a UEFA programme which seeks to develop football within and beyond Europe, with provision made for a 28-strong group to travel, including 20 players. Concacaf has played a significant role in facilitating UEFA Assist support projects for its members since the programme’s inception.

“Under the leadership of President Victor Montagliani, Concacaf is committed to working with and supporting all of our members to put football first and provide development opportunities, which will truly benefit players and coaches across the region,” said Howard McIntosh, One Concacaf and Caribbean Projects Senior Manager.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the Guyana Football Federation and its young players, and we commend President Forde and the GFF for their dedication to growing the game in Guyana and Concacaf.”

Cave, D’Anjou to represent Guyana at IMMAF World Championships after US Lab mishap

Anisa Mohammed and Hayley Matthews named in ICC Women’s ODI Team of the Year

- Team pays courtesy call on Minister Ramson prior to departure

CWI congratulates duo on their stellar performances in 2021

Ijaz Cave and Corwin D’Anjou will be the only two representatives for Guyana at the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) World Championships, which is set for January 24 – 29 in Abu Dhabi. D’Anjou will compete in the Men’s Welterweight (77.1kg) division, while Cave will do battle in the Men’s Light Heavyweight (93kg) category. Initially, the Guyana Mixed Martial Arts Federation (GYMMAF) had announced a six-man team to attend the prestigious event in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Capital City, however, as Executive member, Dr Sawan Jagnarain explained, following a mishap in several important test that had to be done overseas, Webster McRae, Akeem Fraser, Christopher James and John Campayne will be left behind.

According to Dr Jagnarain, the GYMMAF had solicited the services of a lab in the United States of America, since some of the required testing of the athletes that are mandatory by the IMMAF, could not have been facilitated in Guyana. Dr Jagnarain said the athletes blood samples were done and sent in December but up to crunch time, the Lab related that they had encountered

some technical difficulty and only two of the samples were done, being that of Cave and D’Anjou. “This is a major blow to all the work the athletes had put in,” a livid GYMMAF president, Gavin Singh highlighted. Singh said he had spoken to the other four athletes and apologised on the GYMMAF’s behalf, while encouraging them to stay the course and focus on other up-coming International engagements, one of which will be the IMMAF Pan American Championships. Meanwhile, the team paid a courtesy call on Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr Wednesday.

Minister Ramson, according to Singh, has been supportive of the GYMMAF since coming into office last August. Through the National Sports Commission (NSC), the GYMMAF had received support from the Government of Guyana. Minister Ramson congratulated the fighters for being selected, adding “all of Guyana is behind you and on behalf of the Government of Guyana, I want to say good luck.” “This is a huge achievement since you will be the first Guyanese to compete at the World Championships. You should be proud and be good

ambassadors for Guyana,” Minister Ramson said.

Guyana will be the only country from the Caribbean present in the UAE, given the fact that Trinidad and Tobago had to withdraw after their representatives recently tested positive for COVID-19.

Singh revealed that Guyana’s up-coming participation in their first IMMAF World Championships is a manifestation of almost two years of planning, with the GYMMAF using the opportunity presented by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Several companies came in for praises from the GYMMAF, particularly Banks DIH, Bounty Farm, Akbar Inc, Sandcorp Development, Zoon, Universal Travel, WR Services, Eureka Labs, Acarai Properties and Northwest Securities.

The aforementioned companies, according to Singh, played a major part in helping to make the team’s trip to the UAE a success. Hosted by the UAE Jiu-Jitsu and MMA Federation, with the support of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and in partnership with Palms Sports, the senior and junior national tournaments are to take place at the Jiu-Jitsu Arena in Zayed Sports City, near UFC Fight Island (Yas Island).

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua Cricket West Indies (CWI) yesterday congratulated Anisa Mohammed and Hayley Matthews on being named in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women’s One Day International (ODI) Team of the Year.

Experienced off-spinner Anisa Mohammed finished 2021 as the joint-highest wicket-taker with 20 wickets with at an average of 18.00, being one of the most economical bowlers conceding at just 3.61 runs per over. Her best figures in 2021 came in the second CG Insurance ODI against Pakistan Women at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua, where she took 4 wickets for 27 runs in her 9.4 overs bowled.

Talismanic allrounder Hayley Matthews had success with both bath and ball.

She scored 380 runs including one century and one half-century, picking up 18 wickets at an average of 22.44. Matthews smashed an unbeaten 100 not out in the third CG Insurance ODI against Pakistan Women at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua for her highest score of 2021. She spun a web over the same opponents on the West Indies Tour to Pakistan in the second ODI at the National Sta-

dium in Karachi where she finished with 4/26, helping the West Indies Women defend their 153 run total to win the three match ODI Series.

On learning of her selection, Mohammed said, “I feel really excited and honoured to be named in the ICC Women’s ODI Team of the Year… I didn’t play cricket for almost a year and a half because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so I just wanted to have fun after not playing for so long.

I wanted to go out and do my best and help my team as best as I could, and I was actually shocked when I saw I got most wickets.”

While Matthews said, “It’s pretty exciting. Going into 2021 I would have set some pretty big goals for myself, so I was happy that I was able to go out there and have a good year. Looking at it from a team stand-point I guess it was good for us to see where we were at last year and looking back now on the growth we’ve had when it comes down to our bowling, batting, and fielding. It’s been really good to see the progress and it’s something myself and the team will be looking to build on in 2022.”

Both players expressed delight in the increased amount of both match time

and preparation camps that the West Indies Women had in 2021. Under the guidance of Head Coach, Courtney Walsh the team was able to have several high-performance training camps in Antigua, as well as two international series against Pakistan Women and South Africa Women. 2021 also saw the West Indies Women’s A team host an inaugural home series against the visiting Pakistan Women’s A team.

CWI President Ricky Skerritt extended congratulations to the players.

He said: “Their selections speak testimony to their own outstanding individual attitudes towards improving their own game, but it also provides an important return to CWI on our refocused Women’s program. There is still much work to be done to grow and improve the Women’s game in our region, but this global achievement

by Anisa and Hayley should provide inspiration to all of their colleagues, and to all stakeholders.”

The West Indies women are currently in South Africa where they will take on South Africa Women in a warm-up match and four ODIs starting January 28 to February 6 at the Imperial Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.

Kaieteur News

Friday January 21, 2022

PAGE 33

BCB to stage Under-15 trials

T

he Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) is forging ahead with plans to select the best possible under15 team for the upcoming GCB inter county tournament.

The BCB started the Tenelec Under15 countywide tournament with sixteen teams and then invited a total of fifty six youths to a special train ng session with the junior selection committee under the chairmanship of Balram Samaroo at the Rose Hall Canje Ground.

The next step would be the hosting of three fifty overs trial matches across the county.

The matches would be held on Saturday 22nd of January, Wednesday 26th and Saturday 29th.

The selectors have named three teams along with captains for the trials which would be played on a competitive basis.

The teams would bear the names of three cricketing legends of the county and BCB President Hilbert Foster has stated that this trend would continue for the rest of the year as the board pays tributes to heroes of the past.

The three teams would be John Trim XI -led by Navin Budhan, Rohan

Kanhai XI led by Ricardo Ramdehol and Ivan Madray XI captained by Sohail Mohamed.

Fixtures 1. Madray XI vs Trim XI on Saturday 22nd at Albion 2. Madray XI vs Kanhai XI ON Wednesday at venue to be named 3. Kanhai XI vs Trim XI on Saturday 29th.

The teams are ROHAN KANHAI XI JOHN TRIM XI IVAN MADRAY XI 1.Chamesh Seenauth 1.Farhan Balle 1.Adrian Hetmyer 2.Romario Ramdehol (CPT) 2.Vishal Williams 2.Razam Koobeer 3.Fiaz Baksh 3.Arif Bacchus 3.Lamror Seecharran 4.Ravin Boodwah 4.Navin Boodwah (CPT) 4.Devin Lalbeharry 5.Lakeram Singh 5.Shoaib Gafoor 5.Jayden Edwards 6.Devavand Samaroo 6.Gavin Kisten 6.Aden Semple 7.Rohit Sarjoon 7.Thierry Henry 7.Sohail Mohammed (CPT) 8.Roshawn Crandon 8.Matthew Pereira 8.Richard Ramdehol 9.Yoganand Mohan 9.Akash Sooklall 9.Abdulla Azad 10.Reshan Sakrulla 10.G. Griffith 10.Enqrique Mickle 11.Glenroy Fraser 11.Shamul Daniels 11.Dave Prettipaul 12.Vikesh Roopnarine 12.Alvin James 12.Nicholas Lepps 13.Winston Hartman 13.Arif Khan 13.Nicholas Hall 1. All players are asked to walk along with their vaccination cards to the trials.

2. All players please report to the venue by 8.30am with white clothes and cricket gears.

3. The final Berbice would be announced by Sunday the 30th of January.

RHTYSC, MS Cricket teams targets 750 activities in 2022 as they launch calendar with donations RHTYSC Asst Secretary/CEO hands over donation to Port Mourant Hospital.

RHTYSC executives and players hands over donation to the Dharma Shada.

The cricket teams of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club last week launched their 2022 calendar of activities and announced plans to complete a total of seven hundred and fifty activities for the New Year after successfully completing a record 715 activities last year.

The teams - Rose Hall Town Farfan and Mendes under 15, Poonai Pharmacy Under 12 and 13, Bakewell Under 17 and Intermediate, Pepsi under 19 and Intermediate, Vitality under

23, Metro Female, Namilco Thunderbolt Flour under 21 and First division undertake a wide array of activities under several sub-headings as part of their sponsorship agreements with their respective sponsors. The official sponsors of the RHTYSC, MS cricket teams are Poonai Pharmacy, Farfan and Mendes Ltd, Bakewell, DDL Pepsi, Metro Office Supplies, Vitality Inc and Namilco Thunderbolt Flour.

The teams under the supervision of their management team launched

their 2022 calendar of activities by handing over donations of items to the Berbice arm of the Dharma Shada Senior Citizen Home and the Port Mourant Public Hospital. The teams also joined with partners to officially hand over a $2.7M home to Ms Ruthel Henry to fulfill a commitment made

by Club Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster to the office assistant of the Berbice Cricket Board.

The donation to the Public Hospital consisted of office chairs and much

needed items including bleach and soap, while the senior citizen home received a large amount of food items to assist them to prepare meals for their inmates.

RHTYSC Asst Secretary/CEO Simon Naidu stated that during 2022, special emphasis would be played on improving the lives of the less fortunate and in the p r o m o t i o n o f education/sports among youths. The club, he stated has set itself a target of 750 activities for the year under

the subheadings of charity, educational, sports, coaching, community development, youth development, religion, publications, medical, senior citizen citizens welfare, anti drugs and pro life.

The club would also invest heavily into its cricket section by obtaining over one million dollars worth of new cricket gears and cricket balls for training sessions.

Club Coach Delbert Hicks would also be provided with all the necessary equipment to fulfill his duties. Among

the hundreds of activities plan for the year are annual award ceremony, annual magazine, senior citizens breakfasts, youth information booklet, upgrade of children playfield, restoration of club office, Tribute to Heroes, A n s a M c a l Aw a r d o f Excellence, Tribute to Law E n f o r c e m e n t O f f i c e r, Berbice Sports Awards, Tribute to Teachers, CSEC Outstanding Students, Tribute to Medical Workers, Basil Butcher Trust Fund among others.

Guyana invited to historic U16 UEFA tournament in Moldova

Eva Pasquier UEFA Head of International Relations Eva Pasquier.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Shiv gets Head Coach job for Tallawahs ‘It’s going to be challenging’ says Windies Test great

Anisa Mohammed and Hayley Matthews named in ICC Women’s ODI Team of the Year

GFF President Wayne Forde

t r o Sp Algeria claimed offside for Ibrahim Sangare's header from a free-kick, but to no avail. (Getty Images)

Hayley Matthews

CWI congratulates duo on their stellar performances in 2021

Anisa Mohammed

Holders Algeria out of Africa Nations Cup after losing to Ivory Coast

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