Kaieteur News

Plane found K NEWS abandoned at ...propeller missing as Kuruduni police probe discovery

Monday Edition

AIETEUR

January 31, 2022 - Vol. 15 No. 05 Online: www.kaieteurnews.com Online Price $80 readership yesterday, 80,861

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

Peruvian Judge bars oil executives from leaving country after

oil spill

...Guyana still awaits full-cover insurance from oil companies

After doling out billions in contracts without ...Govt. now promising rigid ranking oversight system for bidders this year Wanted man Over 20,000 nabbed by COVID-19 cases police dressed recorded in January as woman The protest continues for change to the contract.

Fire destroys GNSC workshop

'Tax reliefs in budget are for the rich'

...Economist urges direct cash transfers from NRF to help ordinary citizens Lack of Ring Fencing Provision means Guyana won't realize @11:00hrs on Kaieteur oil gains before 2030s, if at all! @11:00hrs on Kaieteur Radio 99.1/99.5FM Radio 99.1/99.5FM

Kaieteur News

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Monday January 31, 2022

Peruvian Judge bars oil executives from leaving country after oil spill A judge in Peru on Friday last, barred four executives from Spanish oil company, Repsol, from leaving the country amid the devastating oil spill which saw more than 6,000 barrels of crude contaminating the shores of Peru.

Kaieteur News reported that the oil spill occurred on January 15, 2022, at one of the La Pampilla refineries off the coast of Ventanilla in the region of Lima, Peru. It was reported that the oil spill was caused by shock waves from an undersea volcanic eruption near Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean.

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

As a result of the oil spill, several Peruvian officials had called for the Spanish oil giant to compensate for what they described as an ‘ecological disaster’ that has occurred in Lima in recent

times. However, according to Peruvian media reports, Repsol officials have denied the liability for the spill and also called it an accident.

According to Peruvian media, a Specialized P r o s e c u t o r f o r Environmental Matters for Lima, Noroeste, had approached the Peruvian court, seeking an order to prevent four Repsol executives from leaving the country.

It was reported that the prosecutor was considering a criminal case against the company’s representatives and as such he approached the district court to issue an order preventing the Repsol executives from leaving the country – in order to ensure that they will be available for any possible criminal proceedings.

B a s e d o n t h e prosecutor’s submission to the court, Judge Romualdo Aguedo on Friday granted the order to prevent the four executives from leaving the country.

Peruvian media reported Continued on page 16

...Guyana still awaits full-cover insurance from oil companies Images from the aftermath of the oil spill.

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

Kaieteur News

Monday January 31, 2022

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‘Tax reliefs in budget are for the rich’ ...Economist urges direct cash transfers from NRF to help ordinary citizens

T

he tax reduction measures announced in this year’s budget will not benefit the ordinary citizens of this country and government instead should focus on ensuring that Guyanese benefit directly from the proceeds of the oil resources, Professor of Economics, Tarron Khemraj said.

Khemraj was among panelists of the Moray House Trust discussion on Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Act, a virtual consultation held on Saturday. In his presentation, Khemraj, a Professor of Economics and International Studies at the new College of Florida said, “It’s an interesting Budget. It has certainly, bright spots, but the most worrying spot of the 2022 Budget is how much it mollycoddles people who are already well off”.

He reasoned that the Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo recently said that he came up with an estimate that local content law alone will provide the business community with over US$600 million a year, but even with local content and the “wonderful tax breaks” Khemraj said he does not see the rationale.

For example, in this year’s Budget, government has announced measures to reduce the excise tax on double cab pick-up vehicles between 2000 and 3000 cc from 110 percent to 75 percent. A

Economist, Tarron Khemraj similar reduction is expected to benefit other vehicles servicing the oil and gas sector as well as cater to the increased construction activities.

To this end, the Economist warned, “I don’t see the good planning there and of course if you reduce the price of some of these vehicles and you make it too easy, you could have the Trinidad situation where one family now has three vehicles and so what you have, you are building roads to take care of the traffic congestion and then you are right back there in two to three years so sustainability has to be a lot more holistic”.

Khemraj’s views were shared

by Mike McCormack, Founder and Co-Chair of the Guyana Human

Rights Association. McCormack told the forum that Guyana can benefit more from its oil and gas operations through a sound taxation policy.

“The loss of value can be addressed by a sound taxation policy. The extractive sector in Guyana, in terms of taxes, things are moving in the wrong direction.

The recent budget reduced the taxes on luxury vehicles, four wheel double cab drive, which is used in the mining sector more than any other else. The tax rate on gold mining is two percent…but if you took a realistic approach to taxation the government could not justify raiding this fund to the extent, and raiding is the correct word,” the human rights activist contended.

In this regard, McCormack said it is his view that every citizen should receive a dividend from the Natural Resource Fund, the account which holds the revenue garnered from oil and gas production. He explained that the Fund should be developed in such a way that a portion generated is set aside to benefit Guyanese. In addition, McCormack said that the Fund should be taxable, which would therefore benefit the government.

In fact, he posited, “That would be a legitimate form of revenue to the government rather than sort of legalize looting which is envisaged in the current act”.

Founder and Co-Chair of the Guyana Human Rights Association, Mike McCormack In further defending his suggestion, the activist noted that a direct payment to citizens is an option that was utilised by Botswana and is currently in operation in Alaska as well.

“This money belongs to people and people are being denied the benefits of this use of natural resources,” he concluded.

Economist Khemraj while weighing in on the matter explained that given Guyana’s returns from the oil and gas sector, such an initiative would “definitely be possible”. This option, according to him, would also ensure that “people on the ground” also benefit.

“It is definitely possible because given the numbers, it’s

something that is worth discussing…if the Funds are invested, which it will be, according to the law, you can expect a fair amount of capital gains over a 10 year period. It is highly unlikely, although not zero probability, but highly unlikely, you would have a good return (of) four or five percent with index funds,” he pointed out.

While in Opposition, the then Leader of the People’s Progressive Party, Bharrat Jagdeo, had stated that his party was keeping an “open mind” on the issue of cash transfers from the oil and gas sector. “[Clive Thomas] suggested that the implicating could be done almost immediately. We had to look at the number… and pointed out that it [was] unrealistic. The US$5,000 per household would cost us in excess of US$1.5 B per year, and we were only going to collect, at maximum or so US$300M per year for the first four years. You can’t distribute per year, US$1.1B if you’re only collecting US$300M. That three times more that the amount,” Jagdeo explained.

However, Guyana began producing oil since late 2019, and last year, some US$607 million was sitting in the oil account and with oil production levels expected to increase within a few months’ time, Guyana’s earning will increase significantly.

Contractor given two weeks to wrap up works on $275M UG road Unhappy about the pace of work on the $275.5 million University of Guyana parallel road being rehabilitated by Yunas Civil and Building Construction, Minster of Public Works, Juan Edghill has given the contractor two weeks to complete works on the road.

The 900-meter road contract, which was awarded to Yunas Civil in December 2020 was slated to be completed in September 2021.

Kaieteur News reported that the road which links to Sophia has been in a deplorable state for some years even after several efforts at upgrading it. It was reported that the asphalt in the road continues to slip towards the drains on both sides, which caused the road to be in such a state.

According to reports, the newly built road will be equipped with geotextiles, which will hold the foundation firmly and prevent the road from returning to a deplorable state. The utility poles on the shoulders of the road will also be moved so that the road can be widened to 6.9 meters.

Four months past its deadline, Minister Edghill on Friday visited the road where he expressed dissatisfaction at the speed at which work is being done.

The University of Guyana parallel road when it was in a deplorable state.

Quoted in a Department of Public Information (DPI) article, Edghill said: “I had a conversation with the contractor. We are not going to tolerate sloth, whether it is from this contractor or any other contractor. Works must be completed… I cannot be busy

implementing 2022 and still fighting with 2021. So across the country, wherever we have had issues and time overruns, we have to get those projects wrapped up.”

He further warned contractors who do not finish projects on time to not attempt to bid for future

projects. “I am making it public, do not even attempt bidding because if we give you the job, we know you would not implement. We are beyond time on this. Valentine’s day is a beautiful day in Guyana which is just two weeks away from now and by then, this road must be

wrapped up,” he said during his visit.

The Public Works Ministry was recently allocated $76.7 billion out of the 2022 National Budget for the rehabilitation and construction of road links and bridges across the country.

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Kaieteur News

Monday January 31, 2022

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

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

EDITORIAL

Gas-to-shore new price tag “US$900M Gas-to-Shore project to now cost in excess of US$1.3B -Govt. pledges US$520M for Power Plant -Budget 2022” (KN January 29). Any citizen of this country who didn’t see that increased price tag coming is either naïve or gullible or blindly believing in anything shoveled down their gullets by the PPP/C Government.

We at this paper have spoken about it and have written about it and have sounded the warning. Now it is here in the fabulous figure of an additional US$400 million added on rather casually by cunning leaders in the government that saw it fit to stay quiet, then sneak it into the 2022 budget.

The Vice President, this country’s self-proclaimed oil sage and superman, hardly said anything, even though this is a project that he has touted furiously, and against all pushback.

He who has been so loud in singing the pluses of this must have projected, regardless of the cost, disappeared from the independent media radar and hid among the folds of protective friends in media back alleys and media slums. In the Vice President’s book, this is what passes for peerless oil management.

Notwithstanding the evasions and the exit strategies of the Vice President on this dispute-tainted gas-to-shore project, there is this news of the steep 44 percent (US$400M) increase over its original cost now soon to be on the books of Guyana. It is a formidable and fearsome figure that should grip all Guyanese with alarm because we are now approaching closer to GY$3T; meaning CLOSE TO THREE TRILLION DOLLARS IN GUYANA MONEY. In case we forget or get complacent, this may not be the final figure for the project when it is finally done and delivered.

By any measure, any accounting contemplation, what was a troubling development from the inception, has now assumed epic proportions and is frightening. Unhearing and unheeding leaders in this government are rolling the dice in a high stakes gamble. A very high one and they are doing this on the backs of still largely indifferent citizens. In a volatile industry involving a fickle commodity, it is too much to put this burden on present and future generations of Guyanese.

Almost three trillion Guyana dollars, allocated for a single project. One that is shrouded in controversy and continuing mystery, is taking a massively reckless plunge into the unknown. When Guyanese pause and consider that this project is being piloted alongside a crooked partner that has cheated and ruthlessly taken advantage of a backward society from the get-go, this only intensifies the quantity and degree of misgivings. What could be the incentives for government leaders that they must have this project on stream, come hell or hailstorm, no matter the cost, regardless of the negatives?

What could be the personal rewards for leaders pushing this project when even a proper and credible feasibility study done by an independent and trusted entity is still something not yet put before the Guyanese public?

What has gotten hold of them that they commit over half a billion US dollars on this gas-to-shore chip, in what could be interpreted as nothing less than true Las Vegas spirit, that of a high roller caught up in the throes of his addiction?

What manner of madness, of roguishness, has overtaken them that they rush ahead in secrecy, and on stealthy feet, in what is supposed to be an open and consultative democracy?

One Opposition Member of Parliament, the one assigned responsibility for oil and gas coverage, last year called it ‘money for the boys.’ The problem is that this money for the boys (and girls) means poverty for the population, the entirety of it, other than for the inner circle of government crooks salivating at what is in the works. In this scenario, which has much credibility because of the corrupt history of previous PPP/C administrations, every party benefits handsomely, and incomparably so. Exxon and it partners benefit, and they are already boasting. Leaders and favoured insiders in this PPP/ C Government benefit, like they have never done before. The local private sector, the powerful campaign financing section of it benefits and beyond their elections investments. The only ones not benefiting are Guyanese. But this gas-toshore project just must be, regardless.

Laparkan Fire- what happened and for what purpose?

DEAR EDITOR, Today, I put something before my fellow Guyanese, which I ask them to consider carefully. It has to do with the Laparkan fire, which is now swiftly fading into the mists. It is of the issues surrounding what it was, maybe what it wasn’t, or what it could really be, which when reconciled leaves us in a possibly tragic way. Any Guyanese with a single strand of what is about the destiny of this country in him or her, and the significance of what is at stake should absorb what I present, make their own notes, and proceed from there.

The first words in the immediate aftermath of the fire were that it looked like something of an electrical nature. Close to that was information that chemicals for an unnamed oil company were stored there. We need no introduction on the devastations that can be wrought from electrically sparked conflagrations given long experience. Also, chemicals have their own elements that do not retard rapid spread in such a situation, but actually perform as a galvanizing accelerant. It could have been one or the other, or some combination of the two that contributed to the flare that is now the disaster delivered.

Citizens losing property, dependent ones out of product and luck, workers out of bread, and a company that

grew up with us, now out in the wilderness of forced crisis.

Those must all be lived with and dealt with in some manner, perhaps partial, maybe not for a while. I refrain from saying never, because the scattered pieces of shattered lives will be picked up, with moving on following in some manner, to some degree.

From those some scattered pieces trouble came, which is putting things gingerly. One very senior official stepped forward and attested that it was a clear case of arson.

In a millisecond, another from another official place came out and asserted that it was not. Which is it, and what is truly what?

Presently, there is eerie silence and mystery, and seems favoured to be so, since in matters like these in Guyana, there is this hasty retreat into oblivion. It is part of the settled governance culture of this land that unpleasant and inconvenient issues such as this one involving a fire are better left alone, with all moving on to the next thing. Murders grow cold, and so do fires. That is, if people who are bright a certain way have their way.

Now, by accident I stumbled across a possible piece of the puzzle. It is part secrecy, part epiphany (for me), and could be about many parts of what is dirty. It could be the beauty of what one leader hailed as progress and

development in another era (he was covering for washers and fetchers). I call it the acceptable price of tolerable collateral damage. My information is that an oil company, a foreign one, has (had) huge interest in the space occupied by that bond, and which served as a fourth utility in this country. I take that first piece (clue) and connect it to the paramount place of waterfront real estate in the calculations of finders and producers of Guyana’s wealth that is exported. Then, I attach another dot/piece to the importations that are essential to the work related to the exploitation of local wealth, and there is the commonsense extrapolation/ conclusion that wharfage and storage space is direly needed, and there is that Laparkan Trading bond standing in the way.

Well, that’s an obstacle that cannot be allowed to stand. After all, look at the purpose and people served.

They are not of the less than one percent controllers of this nation’s prosperity and promise; they are not of the political power structure.

Those people are expendable.

Correction, their interests are.

Editor, there may be disagreement with me. But suddenly that conclusion and counter-argument for and against arson begin to take on a different shape. We have had this before here, which I remind with the laughable situation where bandits were

executed long after the Mashramani jailbreak and a ranking law enforcement man hustled forward and said that his people did the killing work. There were late, not there. In view of the combustible elements embedded in this tragic firearson to not arson, to electrical, to possible chemical, to one feeding the other-and given the scope of the schemes made possible by that burnt out space now vacant, the thinking part of me probes for answers. I ask whether this was not a case of making things happen, so that others can be possible. I worry if powerful men, those with a record of ruthlessness globally, did not orchestrate the removal of an obstacle.

And I inquire if this was why there was that quick, efficient media position of arson, then its opposite, from officials, who should recognise arson when they assemble near its detritus and sentinels, human or electronic.

Then, only for that (arson) to be shrouded and ambulanced away into the growing wasteland that is of Guyana’s many diseases, now infested and tormented by the biggest one of all. It is oil. Finally, if it was not another instance of foreigners using locals for dirty jobs, starting with government. Has control of this country passed from our powerless hands?

Sincerely, GHK Lall

Cultural barbarians at City Hall DEAR EDITOR, After reading of the unfortunate and unpleasant experience encountered by Mr. Sahadeo Bates when he visited City Hall, to pay up his property rates, I felt compelled to commiserate with this gentleman as a fellow ratepayer who had a similar if not a more adverse experience whilst honouring my civic duty.

Like Mr. Bates when I entered the compound and cast my eyes on what remained of City Hall, I felt the urge to cry. I wondered what sort of depraved persons could have sat as Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Councillors for decades attending meetings, functions and other activities at this facility, whilst the building fell into ruins, loosening up one chunk at a time without attempting the most basic of repairs. Those persons could only be described as cultural barbarians.

How could they have been travelling to the furthest reaches of the world on worthless junkets, building presidential parks, having retreats to exotic resorts in the

hinterlands, renting portable toilets for millions of dollars to be placed at the residences of their bigwigs, putting up huge and expensive billboards around the City, and purchasing fancy sports utility vehicles whilst City Hall crumbled to ruins.

But about the sloppy, and unprofessional service and uncivil behaviour of the attending staff at City Hall; well one should not be surprised if one is aware of the nepotism and cronyism that obtains in the hiring process of the Georgetown Municipality. It reminds one of the friends and family plan offered by AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile, except that this one includes political cronies, paramours, church pals, and neighbours.

It was clear to me that these rate collectors are unconcerned or maybe even unaware that these rates that they are dithering to collect is what is being used to fund their whopping one hundred and twenty million dollars monthly payroll. Where did all of those millions that are placed in their yearly budget for training in customer service go?

But my primary concern and disappointment was that in 2022 when the entire world has advanced technologically, why the citizens of Georgetown have to pay for municipal services in-line rather than online? Will they ever come out of the dark ages?

The saddest part of all of this, is that while the country is on a transformational trajectory, whilst everyone else is getting on the train to the new and prosperous Guyana, City Hall is doing

their darndest to keep the citizens in a time warp of past life. With thousands of qualified, competent, professional and courteous persons out there looking for work, City Hall seems to have no interest in hiring them.

Local Government elections are due. Can we look forward to a change, a new dispensation or a metamorphosis at the Georgetown Municipality?

Don’t hold your breath.

Sincerely, Nadine Jerrick

Errant minibuses proving to be challenging for police DEAR EDITOR, Yet again the police are to roll out a campaign against untidy and reckless minibus conductors and drivers (INews Jan 28).

Too often these campaigns are rolled out with much fanfare and hype, then fizzle and die and it is back to the old ways. It is obvious these behaviours and

conduct are proving to be a challenge for the force.

In an unrelated matter: It has been observed that a number of minibuses working city routes and beyond do not have conductors. Are conductors a mandatory requirement and if so, are they still supposed to be licenced?

Regards Shamshun Mohamed

Monday January 31, 2022

KISSOON IS NO RACIST DEAR EDITOR, Please permit this brief response to Mr. Tacuma Ogunseye’s January 28th letter published in the Kaieteur News, titled “Addressing Kissoon’s attack on Walter Rodney”.

Mr Ogunseye really gets into the groove of attacking Mr. Freddie Kissoon as racist because he dares to criticise Rodney. Labelling an Indian as racist does not cut it anymore Mr. Ogunseye! Mr. Ogunseye should also know that there is no sacred cow in Guyanese politics. What Mr. Kissoon did was rightly take Mrs. Patricia Rodney and Shaka her son to task for not condemning the rigging of the 2020 elections as Mr. Kit Nascimento has so rightly pointed out in his letter. That does not make Mr. Kissoon a racist. Suddenly she shows up criticising the democratically elected Brazilian President as not welcome in Guyana. Where was Patricia Rodney and Shaka (and others) when Indians were under racist attacks by Africans during the aftermath of the 2020 elections in West Coast Berbice and at Agricola?

Where was the WPA or Professor Clement Seecharran for that matter who signed the letter?

Mr. Kissoon drew attention to the fact that the entire WPA cabal of African leaders have become blatantly Afrocentric in their approach to Guyanese politics.

This fact is as clear as daylight. Hiding under the shadow of Dr. Rodney will not shelter them anymore.

The hideous fact is the WPA is in bed with the dreaded PNC which assassinated their leader. Would anyone believe that Dr. Rodney or Mrs. Patricia Rodney would sanction such a makeover? There is no written record of her condemning the WPA for joining the PNC. Lastly, would Mr Ogunseye care to provide the evidence which forms the basis for his laughable conclusion that Mr. Kissoon has a “fast diminishing base of readers outside the PPP/C” when the Kaieteur News has the largest circulation of all daily newspapers?

Sincerely, Sultan Mohamed

When will Guyanese be refunded by Fly Jamaica or the Govt. of Guyana?

DEAR EDITOR, I am kindly asking that the Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill and Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Director General, Egbert Field please investigate this situation so Guyanese can be refunded by Fly Jamaica or by the Government of Guyana.

Since the last press conference held by Minister Juan Edghill on May 3rd 2021, there were no further updates.

The affected citizens of this country need to know when we will be refunded, I had purchased four tickets in July 2018 at the cost of over half of a million dollars, in a few months it will be four years and we still cannot receive a refund.

What happened to the bond that the airlines had to deposit with the Government for crises like these?

I do believe that given the failure of not maintaining a bond for Fly Jamaica, the Government of Guyana should be responsible for refunding the affected passengers.

It is hard to believe that a foreign company can come into this country and rob the citizens of this country with little or no representation from the Government.

I look forward to a positive response from the Minister of Public Works or GCCA Director.

Regards Affected passenger

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Kaieteur News

It is time our Govt. takes control of food prices DEAR EDITOR, The PPP/C government has opted (in part) to take the advice of the Opposition to increase pensioners’ allowance. The paltry $3000 and $2000 a month increase to old age pensioners and Public Assistants respectively, would not alleviate the burden of the recent rise in the cost-ofliving that the poor and destitute in Guyana suffers a problematic situation our Finance Minister surely must be acutely aware of.

Almost half (47.5 percent) of Guyana’s children under the age of 16 live in families that are in poverty. This

reflects poorly on our Government as it is both an economic and social tragedy.

Research shows, children in poverty have poor health and less likely to perform well in school, acquire a good formal education, find and keep good-paying jobs and contribute to the economy than their counterparts with financially better-off families.

People living in poverty simply do not have sufficient income to pay for enough food to meet the daily caloric and nutritional needs for proper nourishment and healthy, productive lives. Yet our Government’s only

concern is about pensioners when the real problem lies with parents, whether single or married, who have young children. Children should be our prime concern - they are the future of Guyana. For too long the poor in Guyana have been suffering in silence - too embarrassed to speak out.

With the discovery of so much oil in Guyana there is no reason why anyone, especially children, should not be having daily nutritional meals.

The time has come for the PPP/C Government to halt the 14 percent VAT on all basic ’food items’ like milk, cheese, flour, etc. Importers

should be allowed only 4 percent increase on the imported cost and retailers 6 percent increase on the purchase price which would cover transportation and other local expenses. This will go a long way in helping Guyana’s already poor and needy.

It is time for our Government to take control of food prices to stop the greedy merchants from overpricing their goods so that every child in Guyana would be properly nourished and have the same opportunities as every other child.

Sincerely, Gloria Holder

Budget 2022 is one that will further propel Guyana to higher heights DEAR EDITOR, Today I write to you with a lot of content in my heart regarding the 2022 budget which was presented in Parliament just a few days ago.

I listened keenly to the presentation by the Hon. Minister with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, and I must say that every minute of that five-hour long speech was worthwhile. I took note of several things that really had a lasting impact on me and as such, I ask that you permit me to highlight some of those.

It is my view that when we hear about budgets, automatically our minds linger in the direction of development, whether that be in the form of infrastructural development or social development in the sense that we will all be better off. This 2022 budget was focused on every aspect of development for Guyana and I am so happy that emphasis was placed on building ‘One Guyana’. With this in mind, I must say that I am fully supportive of the

budget’s theme “Steadfast Against All Challenges, Resolute in Building Our One Guyana”.

Editor, I wish to touch on three specific areas of the budget that I feel ought to be given more commendation.

The first area is that of public safety and security. The PPP/ C Government has budgeted $47.9B to help in this regard.

However, out of this amount, $88.9M was allocated to be spent to train 1,400 inmates in areas such as anger management, literacy and numeracy and tailoring. I was extremely pleased to see that emphasis was not only placed on the general population, but also those in our prison system. It is my view that development ought to meet every corner of Guyana especially now that Guyana is on an expansive path to prosperity. As such, knowing that the Government has acknowledged the need for those in our prison system to better themselves by providing more opportunities

to them really warms my heart.

Additionally, budget 2022 provides much needed support for our Amerindian brothers and sisters. In fact, $3.1B was budgeted to assist in Amerindian and Hinterland Development Programmes which ought to be commended. The Government has ensured that Amerindian

communities are not forgotten as was the case during the APNU+AFC time in office. I was very excited to learn that $3.4B is budgeted for the hinterland roads programme to improve connectivity which I think is a well-deserved area especially since the aim of the (Continued on page 6)

THANK YOU DEAR EDITOR, Please allow me the opportunity to thank everyone who has helped me during my recent visit to my home country, Guyana, especially the men who help to carry my heavy suitcases from the ferry and small boats.

I would also like to thank the police officers, lorry drivers, mini bus drivers and conductors, shop assistants for their invaluable help and

advice.

Without their help I believe many more would have robbed me because I look and speak with a foreign accent. For example, I was charged $50,000 Guyana dollars ($250 US) for a lastminute PCR test on Sheriff Street.

J Owen, United Kingdom Proud to be called a Guyanese

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Kaieteur News

Monday January 31, 2022

THE WORLD IS FACING GRAVE DANGERS

DEAR EDITOR, This year marks 60 years since the world came to the very brink of nuclear war. The event has come to be known as the “Cuban Missile Crisis”.

We now know from the documents released from the US State Department, the Kennedy papers and more recently from the archive in the former Soviet Union that we were really on the edge of a precipice.

Had such a war broken out human life, according to scientists, would have been extinct.

It is important to recall the reasons for that terrible crisis it still has a lot of lessons for today. It was during the period of the cold war. The US was trying to get missiles close to the USSR as possible.

They installed weapons in Turkey which was on the border of the then USSR. At about the same time the Cuban Revolution occurred.

The new Cuban government, headed by Fidel Castro announced that the Cuban Revolution was a socialist revolution, just after the attempted invasion at the Bay of Pigs, in 1961.

The government then proceeded to develop very close relations with the Soviet Union, then regarded as the leader of the Socialist world.

The USSR recognised the hostility of the US administration to Cuba and decided to take advantage of the situation. It persuaded the Cuban administration to allow it to install missiles on the island for Cuba’s protection from an American invasion. That was not the only reason.

The other position was that the USSR grasped at the opportunity to move its missiles closer to the US, as the US had done to the USSR. On discovering missiles on the Island, the US felt very threatened for the first time of its history. This was because while the United States fought many wars, they were always thousands of miles away from its borders.

The Second World War, the Korean War and Vietnam were very far away from the US. In 1962, for the first time, they had such devastating weapons only 90 miles from its borders. It scared the US administration and the whole population.The Kennedy government reacted very strongly. It established a blockade around Cuba and they demanded that the missiles be removed. The US was ready to go to war and for a few days the world stood still in deep tension. I was a child at the time, but I remember vividly how I felt and the people around me felt.

Fortunately, we still had some very educated leaders who were aware of war.

General Secretary Khrushchev was one of the commanders in the Red Army during the Second World War, where the USSR lost almost 30 million lives. He knew the horrors of war.

President John F. Kennedy’s experience of war first hand as well. The boat he was commanding was sunk and he almost lost his life.

Apart from that he was a highly intelligent man.

Those two leaders, having gone to the brink used that experience to try to make

the world a safer place. The first Arms Control Treaty came about as a result of that dastardly experience.

The announced goal was to move to complete disarmament.

Sixty years is a long time in an individual’s life. It appears that as we move further away from 1962, we have forgotten how close we were to a disaster. We have moved back to the days when we want to construct international relations based on military might. So here we are now facing a similar situation as we did 60 years ago.

This time the table has turned. The US and its NATO allies have been surrounding Russia with military bases.

The memory of how the US felt and how they reacted seem to be lost. Now they are pushing right on the Russian border, in Ukraine. Russia, as the US did 60 years ago, is saying “no way can we accept this.”

Russia knows the devastation of war. Every time it was attacked, by Napoleon or by Hitlerite Germany, it was in that same vicinity.

It is therefore very nervous and is expressing the feeling of being betrayed.

This is because the USSR was told by senior persons in the US administration that should it allow the reunification of Germany, in 1989, the NATO alliance would not move another inch to the east. That assurance was given orally to Mikhail Gorbachev the last president of the USSR. That promise was never kept.

The Clinton

administration, aware of Russia’s weakened positions after the collapse of the Soviet Union, took advantage and began moving NATO ever closer to Russia.

It appears that even though Russia had abandoned its Socialist system and became a fully capitalist state, the US continued to put pressure on it. The US has imposed numerous sanctions against Russia targeting many important sectors of Russia’s economy, etc.

The US even had a big hand in removing a government in Kiev that was friendly to Russia. The combination of these factors and more has convinced Moscow that the West has no good intention towards it.

It is clear now that the US seem to be determined that Russia must never become a super power again, that explains the constant imposition of inhibiting measures against that state.

In response to NATO pressures moving ever closer to Russia and the arming of the regime in Kiev, the Russians have amassed large amounts of troops close to its border with Ukraine.

This has upped the ante and an ocean of propaganda has been opened by the powerful Western India.

While, completely ignoring NATO’s expansion, the media is presenting the news that Russia’s troops on its own border is a threat to Ukraine. Russia is being presented as the aggressors and the NATO as the saviour.

Listening to the various news from the BBC and CNN

one gets the impression that those media houses are goading the NATO powers to attack Russia. The emphasis is to show strength. The media has created an expectation of war and more or less insisting that NATO must not back down completely totally ignoring Russia’s security concerns.

The talks that were held between Russia and the US seem to be the case that ‘the mountain went into labour and produced a mouse. No real effort is being made to go to the root of the problem which is security for all!

How will Russia react? No one really knows for sure.

The options that it has are not many all of which can lead to war, possibly nuclear war. All are dangerous to the whole world.

It can invade Ukraine, either wholesale or in parts.

That would lead to further sanctions and increase the possibilities of counter attacks and eventually an allout war.

It can also consider attempting what the USSR did in 1962; make some military alliance in this region with countries which have problems with the United States. Three of these come to mind, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba. Already the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr. Lavrov, has stated that Russia is looking to expand their relations with these

countries. This is extremely dangerous. We know from what happened in Cuba, 60 years ago how the US is likely to react to that.

The situation is very dangerous and can easily spin out of control. Let us not forget that both World Wars have had their origins in Europe.

Finally, I am concerned of the deafening silence of the leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean, and other regions of the world.

This is very unfortunate, because if war breaks out we will all be affected. If it develops into nuclear war then we could all be incinerated. It is tragic that while this situation has negative global consequences only two countries are talking and the rest are just onlookers. This must not be left in the boardrooms, people must have a say.

Heads of States and governments should demand a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss this and bring it to a just conclusion. We must not remain innocent bystanders, after all we are all involved, and we could all be consumed.

Let us raise our voices, let us remember the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

Regards Donald Ramotar, Former President

Budget 2022 is one...

From page 5 Government is building “One Guyana”. At the same time, the fact that approximately 200 hinterland communities are expected to benefit from the deployment of VSAT equipment to facilitate connectivity, for the first time in many instances, is another heartwarming area of this budget.

Lastly, I must mention the allocation that was made to support the First Lady’s Menstrual Hygiene initiative which is something that I feel needs more attention. This initiative is one that will benefit thousands of young girls across Guyana and the $50M allocation will definitely

allow the initiative to reach all parts of the country and will push Guyana one step closer towards ending period poverty. I commend the Government of Guyana and more specifically, the First Lady for this as Guyana is one of the few countries actively trying to end period poverty.

All in all, I think budget 2022 is one that will further propel Guyana to higher heights and I cannot stress enough on how thankful I am for the provisions that were made in all the areas, especially those that I’ve outlined.

Respectfully yours, Brian Azore

Monday January 31, 2022

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

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Monday January 31, 2022

After doling out billions in contracts without oversight - Govt. now promising rigid ranking system for bidders this year

Against the background of awarding a slew of mega contracts last year- some to contractors with no track record of building public projects, the PPP/C Government has said it is

committed to strengthening the public procurement system here, promising training and capacity building at all levels of the process.

The administration said

too that the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), which it has stacked with a slew of government cronies and sympathisers, will commence the delivery of ministerial and regional training modules, both virtual and face-to-face, before the end of the first quarter of this year.

Last year, the administration awarded contracts for the construction of the new Demerara River Bridge at a cost of $53.7B and the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project at a time when there was no Public Procurement

Commission in place. The contractors are all Chinese.

Before those projects, billions were handed out in other civil works contracts to government sympathisers the most notorious being the $346M given to the owners of Hits and Jams and Kashif and Shanghai to build a school at Bamia, Region 10.

The contractors themselves released a statement saying that despite having no experience in the field of construction, they are qualified in managing money. “…to be quite frank, we have been managing projects in the billions for a very long time…you know about Jam Zone, you know about Guyana Carnival, Kashif and Shanghai tournament.

These are really big hospitality/tourism projects,” one of the principals of Hits and Jams Rawle Ferguson posited. He cited as example “carnival would have brought about 50,000 people the last time and you did that by $1000 per person. You will get like $10 billion dollars and you do VAT from that you will get $1.4 billion. So we have been making money not just for our citizens, but for our government for quite some time in our country.”

During his budget speech last Wednesday Dr. Ashni Singh, Minister with responsibility for finance said the PPP/C Government is committed to restoring a

public procurement system that was systematically dismantled by the APNU/AFC. “Indeed, since we resumed office in 2020, our Government has worked tirelessly to restore credibility, confidence, a c c o u n t a b i l i t y, a n d transparency in public procurement,” Singh said.

He noted that the administration remodeled, modernised, and created a more user-friendly website for the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB). Uploaded the records of all tender openings and all contracts awarded at the NPTAB level.

Instituted a public virtual tender opening process twice weekly, whereby bidders are provided visual, voice and text communication at the opening process, from the comfort of their offices.

Revised, updated, and issued new standard bidding documents for goods, works and services, including security services. Completed the design and development of the bidders register and expect to roll out its implementation in the first quarter of 2022. Compiled a comprehensive training manual for procuring entities, including ministerial and regional entities. Remodeled the three (3) person independent evaluation committees, whereby the composition of that committee is drawn

Minister with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh from persons and sectors other than from the procuring entity.

This, Singh said was aimed at correcting fundamental checks and balances and control inadequacies that were prevalent under the previous administration, where the chairpersons of the evaluation committees were the same person that chaired the ministerial or regional tender’s board. “But most importantly, our NPTAB meets twice weekly, at which the business of the Board is captured, in structured minutes for each board meeting, and is kept for future examination as is necessary. This is in contrast with the ad hoc arrangements under the previous APNU/AFC government.”

Singh said going forward into 2022, our Government intends to continue to adhere to the stringent principles of Continued on page 16

Monday January 31, 2022

PAGE 9

Kaieteur News

A BOURGEOIS BUDGET The 2022 National Budget follows in the tradition of recent Budgets. The Budget has been described as propeople but it is fundamentally pro-business.

Considering that the Budget is more than 40 percent higher than last year’s pro-business Budget, local and foreign contractors – both large and small – can feel satisfied that this year there will be lots of money to be made through public spending.

The Budget is biased towards the construction sector. More than 20% of the National Budget is assigned to the infrastructure sector.

The government has been preaching about food security. Yet, infrastructure is allocated more funds than agriculture. Infrastructure is also allotted more funds than health or housing, water and sanitation.

Despite all the pre-Budget hype about energy and particularly the gas-to-shore project, spending on energy (5.3 percent of the total Budget) pales in comparison to the allocations for infrastructure. In addition, contractors will benefit considerably from the allocations to the social sectors – education, health, housing and water in which capital works will be undertaken.

But contractors also have other reasons to be happy.

They have been specially selected to benefit from the removal of the withholding tax on resident contractors, yet another discriminatory measure which contravenes the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.

The strange and belated discovery, by the government, that the country’s industrial and commercial transportation

fleet needs renewal will also benefit the construction sector. The fleet was being renewed for many years without any need for support from the government. Now suddenly it comes along and decides to reduce taxes on the importation of motor trucks which are less than four years old and used for the transport of goods, single and double cab pickups which are less than four years old, and the removal of VAT on container haulers. The business class will be the prime beneficiaries of these tax measures.

Interestingly the construction sector was said to have grown by a whopping 29.8 percent in 2021.

According to the Senior Minister in the Office of the President, this growth emanated from works in major public infrastructure as well as increased private sector activity in industrial, commercial, and residential construction. It can thus be concluded that it is this spike in construction in 2021 which therefore would have been principally responsible for the performance of the non-oil sector. More importantly, the construction sector grew without having the benefits announced in this year’s National Budget.

The contractor class sits pretty for 2022. It sits so good that the government projects a 10.5 percent growth in the construction sector for 2022.

In the meantime, consumers are feeling the squeeze from the massive increase in the prices of both imported and locally produced goods. Last year, the government provided a concession to importers in which they would pay taxes on a reduced freight. There have been concerns as to what extent this measure has helped to either reduce or

curb further price increases.

It is not clear whether any analysis has been done in this regard but the business class will enjoy a further extension of this measure. The extension will last until the end of the year.

Reducing the excise tax on fuel has been presented as a means to reduce the costof- living. But there will not be any corresponding reduction in the cost of public transportation. In effect, and since all vehicle owners benefit, this measure cannot be seen as either a form of cost-of-living or working class relief. In any event, fuel prices are increasing globally and this measure can be better seen as helping to offset the increases which are expected at the pump.

No cost-of-living allowances were announced in the National Budget.

However, the income tax threshold has been increased and this will place more monies in workers’ pockets.

The government has also NOT announced whether it will be raising the national minimum wage to the proposed sum of $60,000 which will be a real boost to poorly paid workers particularly shop workers, domestic workers and security guards, many of whom are paid less than $60,000 per month for a 40hour workweek.

Considering the concessions which have been granted to the business class, a great insult was committed against pensioners and those receiving social assistance.

To have only increased oldage pension by $3,000 per month is unconscionable especially considering the recent surge in the cost of living. It also shows the callous approach of the PPP/ C towards the poor, the

Dem Boys Seh…

Fish cage or fish cake?

Dis whole plan fuh help de fishermen sound fishy. De guvament seh dem planning fuh build fish cage fuh help dem fishermen wah punishing because of low catch.

But dem boys nah understand how dis fish cage thing gan wuk. Dem boys could understand if dem cage was pun land but how yuh gan control dem fish cage pun de high seas.

Wah about if dem get a big wave and dem fish in de cage swim away. Wah bout if some shark swim in de cage and eat out dem snapper and bangamary. How dis fish cage thing gan wuk pun de high seas?

Who gan know which

fish cage fuh put all dem fish in? Who gan watchman de fish cage fuh prevent dem pirates from stealing not only de fish but de cage?

Who gan feed the fish?

Who can tell when de fish ready fuh harvest? Is more questions dan answers because dese cage does wuk better inland dan offshore.

Wah gan happen with dem big boat and dem fish cage. Who gan protect dem fish cage from dem big boat?

All dese questions remind dem boys bout de time when two men went fishing. One ah dem use to stammer. Suddenly, de man wah does stammer said, “shh ssshhh sshh”.

De other man ask, “What

is it, did you catch a fish?”

De stammering man continue to make ssshhh noises.

De other man say, “Spit it out.”De man with de stammer says, “ssshhh ship!!”

Before de second man can react a ship crash into dem boat.

Months later both of dem recover and went pon another fishing trip. De stammering man again start saying “ssshhh.”

De second man start fuh panick thinking he going to get hurt again. He jump out de boat as fast as he can.

De stammering man say, “sshhh sshhh Shark!!”

Talk half. Leff half and watch out fuh de fish cage!

elderly being the most vulnerable segment of this demographic.

Poor people cannot afford life insurance and very few poor workers enjoy medical insurance coverage. Yet, the government generously allows for premiums for life and medical insurance to be deduced from their

chargeable income. Who will benefit the most from this concession? Obviously the rich.

The National Budget essentially serves the interest of the bourgeois class. The working class has been thrown some sweeteners but the real honey is reserved for the rich.

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

Kaieteur News

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Monday January 31, 2022

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

177 pages remind me of the words Dominic Gaskin uttered in 2016

I

have always argued in private with friends that for some inscrutable reason, David Granger was prepared to fight whatever demands the AFC made on the PNC after they both won power even if it meant that the government would collapse.

Mr. Granger is a strange politician not a strange man. He is quite an ordinary person who can be easily understood and assessed as most humans are. But as a politician he is unnervingly unpredictable. I believe the reason he acted like that with the AFC is because he was a reluctant politician.

My sources told me that Robert Corbin left it to Rupert Roopnaraine to persuade Granger to fill the vacuum Corbin was leaving at the apex of the PNC. Few people knew how close Granger and Roopnaraine were since QC days. Even though Granger had a strategic placement in the army at the time of the Water

Rodney tsunami, they still maintained that link.

Few people in politics (I d o n ’t k n o w i f P P P ’s strategists at the time had any knowledge) knew that from 2001 when Jagdeo won his first national election, Roopnaraine was more in talks with the PNC and hardly passed on to the WPA what he was doing.

Granger was encouraged to replace Corbin but the former army officer knew absolutely nothing about politics.

In power, Mr. Granger didn’t understand the power lust of the WPA and AFC. So when fights broke out, Granger didn’t harbour fear of the PPP at the gate. His stance was: “I am not backing down, if you want, then you can leave.” If the AFC had left, the government would have fallen but Granger was more concerned with his principles.

It was the older heads in the PNC, particularly Basil

Williams (not so much Harmon) who knew that the AFC wanted power badly and the PNC should call their bluff. Guyana does not know what happened in 2016 between the PNC and AFC. After its retreat at the Conference Centre, the AFC demanded a substantial reduction in Harmon’s portfolios.

The PNC laughed at the proposal and absolutely refused to discuss it within the PNC. The proposal died before it was born. After this fiasco, Nigel Hughes resigned as AFC’s chairman.

By now, Harmon was prepared to sock it to the AFC because Harmon knew the AFC wanted power at all cost and that Nagamootoo loved the status that goes with being PM and that the AFC bigwigs were more powerdrunk than Granger would ever be.

After its humiliation in 2016, the AFC began to face a crescendo of criticism that

it had become a lame duck in power. Against this background, the Stabroek News interviewed Dominic Gaskin. His exclamation is good research material. He told the newspapers that the AFC cannot police the APNU. It could not even get the APNU to concede to even modest requests because there was no document on power-sharing. The Cummingsburg Accord was a childish piece of paper that said everything and said nothing.

There were two instances where the AFC literally, and I mean literally begged President Granger.

One was the request to have Shamir Ally as the ambassador to Kuwait. Mr. Ally implored the AFC for help. The AFC was told that foreign policy was not part of the AFC’s jurisdiction.

Eventually, Mr. Granger relented. The second one was that after the Commission of Inquiry into

the police force, President Granger took the decision t o f i r e c o m m i s s i o n e r, Frederick Kissoon Seelall Persaud.

The AFC went that the AFC walks a thin begging again. line in countries where there The parties that recently are ethnic bipolarity and f o r m e d t h e G e r m a n third parties have to struggle c o a l i t i o n m a s t e r l y to exist. That is far from the adumbrated how they truth. should function in The facts are graphic. government. It consists of The AFC, PNC and the WPA 177 pages covering the did not have a 177-page totality of power exercise. It document to bind each party delineates all the lines that t o a c c e p t p o l i c y underpin policy-making. demarcations and power Here is a simple hypothetical delineations. But even if example. It says that the they had, the older heads in German government will the PNC knew they could collect old stamps from contemptuously dismiss the Guyana only and not AFC, because the AFC and Barbados. It means all the WPA were more power parties in the government drunk than the PNC and PPP agree to that. have ever been.

I wrote this column because I saw Khemraj (The views expressed in Ramjattan talking shocking this article are those of the fictionalisations on author and do not television and on Facebook necessarily reflect the programmes of David o p i n i o n s o f t h i s Hinds. He continues to say newspaper.)

Monday January 31, 2022

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

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COME FEEL THE LOVE AT MOVIETOWNE’S

Monday January 31, 2022

Govt. to export 120 pre-fab wooden houses to Ghana this year

‘Garden of Love’

To c e l e b r a t e t h e upcoming season of love, MovieTowne Guyana on Saturday launched its ‘Garden of Love.’

From its launch and for the entire month of February, couples can visit MovieTowne’s Garden of Love, which comes complete with A Love Bench, A Kissing Bridge, A Love Tree, Flower Heart by Nesha’s Flowerland, A Love Seat, A Venice Themed Gandola Boat and of course our main attraction Our Flower Covered Gazebo. In addition to the wonderful scenery at the Love Garden, couples can also get hand sculpting done, personalized key chains and tokens for that special someone.

The Garden of Love is open on Weekdays from 2pm to 8pm and Weekends from 12pm to 8pm, and admission is only $500.

With every $9000 spent at any Movie Towne stores from February 1, to 28th, you can enter into the Cupid’s Shop to Win Competition, and win amazing prizes. The grand prize is a two day trip for two to Arrow point Nature Resort, second prize is a weekend stay for two at the Marriott Hotel and third prize is dinner for two at Jaxx International Grill.

The fun does not stop there, on February 5, the Garden of Love will be hosting a couple’s candle making workshop; on February 6, you can show off your creative skills with a couple’s Valentine Sip and Paint event and on February 13, feel the love and be serenaded by a live violin performance by Violinist, Akeem Adams.

For updates on

Scenes from the launch of the ‘Garden of Love’, on Saturday.

A model of a prefab home.

In a bid to expand the local value chain for wood products, government said this year, it will be exporting pre-fabricated houses to the West African nation, Ghana.

The announcement was made by the Minister with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh during last week’s Budget presentation. He told the National Assembly that some 120 pre-fab houses will be built locally using Guyana’s wood and other materials and would then be exported to Ghana. This initiative, the government said, will help secure a long-term relationship with this potential market.

The Minister did not reveal how Guyana would benefit from this initiative but noted that the administration has been exploring other markets for its sawn lumber and so far it sees Barbados and Ghana, as well as other countries which it did not name, as potential markets.

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister said, “Government will also work to resuscitate three kiln drying facilities at Essequibo, Berbice and Linden, which will support the supply of sawn lumber to the Barbados market, among many others”.

On the other hand, he said that the PPP is also planning to host a Wood Expo this year, to promote “value added opportunities” which is expected to benefit over 100 licenced saw millers and 25 higher-end value producers. This activity is scheduled for the second half of this year.

He told Parliament that the event will

attract over 80 overseas customers. “The event is slated to attract over 80 overseas buyers and several value-added experts from Europe and North America. In 2022, Government will work on finalising the Guyana’s Timber Legality Assurance System which is required for the implementation of the European Union Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade programme in order to be licensed to access the EU and other markets,” the Minister added.

In 2021, the forestry sector expanded by 11.3 percent. According to the latest declarations, timber output grew from 344,179 cubic metres in 2020 to 383,189 cubic metres in 2021, reflecting the high demand as a result of the expansion in construction activity.

Back in 2011, a number of companies were involved in constructing pre-fabricated homes. One such company was Bulkan Timber Works Incorporated.

Back then, the company’s Managing Director, Howard Bulkan said that a 700square foot dwelling could cost as little as $7M. Bulkan Timber Works had installed six state-of-the-art kiln-drying facilities. Its kiln used the waste wood to power boilers that dry the lumber.

The shingle roof produced had the potential to withstand hurricane winds of up to 150 miles per hour, something fortunately Guyana does not have to contend with, the company pointed out.

Banks DIH records $6.7 billion in after-tax profit for 2021

MovieTowne’s Garden of Love events, you can visit

their Facebook or Instagram page.

Local manufacturing company, Banks DIH in its 2021 Annual Report has documented a profit of $6.777 billion, after taxes, representing an increase of $1.506 billion or 28.6 percent when compared to 2020’s $5.271 billion after tax profits.

Chairman and Managing Director of Banks DIH, Clifford Reis in his report explained that the improvement in performance at the manufacturing company was as a result of an increase in physical sales by six percent, the increase in dollar sales turnover by 17.7 percent, management of operational expenses and better yields derived from raw material utilization.

Mr. Reis said “My fellow shareholders, I am pleased to

Chairman and Managing Director of Banks DIH, Clifford Reis report that the Banks DIH Group continues to excel by showing consistent sustained growth over the past year, ended September 30, 2021”.

He added that the group’s profit before taxes also improved from $8.899 billion to $11.078 billion, an

increase of $2.179 billion or 24.5 percent.

This means that the group’s net asset value per share also increased by 15.7 percent.

“The Board of Directors has recommended a dividend proposal of $1.70 per share unit, resulting in an overall cost of $1.445 billion as compared with $1.147 billion in 2020, an increase of $298 million or 26 percent,” the Report stated.

On the other hand, the Chairman included in his report, that the company’s revenue generation also grew by $5.390 billion to $35.858 billion, when compared to 2020’s $30.468 billion.

According to him, “The financial year which ended on September 30, 2021 again Continued on page 16

Kaieteur News

Monday January 31, 2022

PAGE 13

Fire destroys GNSC workshop

Scenes at the GNSC Wharf yesterday.

An early morning fire destroyed a workshop at the Guyana National Shipping Company (GNSC) Wharf‘s Lombard Street, Georgetown.

According to an eyewitness, the fire started around 08:25 hours. This newspaper learnt that the old wooden building known as the “gear room” was being used to store spare parts for ships.

Commissioner of Police, Nigel Hoppie told reporters at the scene that the fire service was able to contain the blaze. For his part, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn was quoted, in a Newsroom Guyana report, as saying that he was satisfied with the response by the Guyana Fire Service.

Meanwhile, the Guyana Fire Service in a statement said it is currently investigating the circumstances which led to the fire. In its statement, the Fire Department said it was made aware of the blaze at 8:12 hrs and water tenders from the Central, Alberttown and West Ruimveldt Fire Stations along with Fire Boat ‘Protector 8’ were immediately dispatched to the Lot 5-6 Lombard Street, Georgetown location.

Also present at the scene was an ambulance and crew from the Guyana Fire and Rescue Service and the Police. As a result of the fire, a workshop and gear room which were housed in Continued on page 16

Plane found abandoned at Kuruduni - propeller missing as police probe discovery

A

Cessna airplane bearing registration number YV 506 was on Saturday found abandoned at Kuruduni, Essequibo with its propeller missing.

According to investigators, Kuruduni is located some 20KM from the Kurupukari crossing in Region 8.

Police reportedly received information of a plane on a trail in that area and ranks from the Mabura police outpost in Region 10 responded. The ranks reported that when they got there they found the aircraft in the bushes with its propeller removed. Checks were made in the plane, but so far no illegal item has been found onboard. It is suspected that, the aircraft might be Venezuelanregistered. Investigations are ongoing.

Meanwhile, only last year June a burnt-out aircraft suspected to have been used in illicit activities was found abandoned in a trail located in the Bisaruni area, Kwakwani, Region Ten. The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) in a press release stated

that no illegal cargo was found close to the site, nor were there any charred human remains located.

The Department of Public Information (DPI), also in a statement had said prior to the discovery of the aircraft, reports were received by law enforcement authorities that it was spotted around 20:15hrs on June 14, circling the Bissaruni trail, some 12 miles east of Kwakwani. DPI also relayed to the public that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has set-up roadblocks to intercept anyone who might be associated with the aircraft. A call was also made for persons who might have pertinent information to assist investigations to make contact with the nearest police station.

Head of CANU, James Singh also related to this newspaper that his Unit had heard of another strange aircraft passing through Guyana’s airspace yesterday. That aircraft, he said, did not land but had continued flying in the direction towards neighbouring Suriname.

According to DPI, the Suriname authorities were alerted

The abandoned burnt-out aircraft found on the Kwakwani trail back in June 2021.

by Guyana and that same plane was busted with 400 kilograms of cocaine in Kaaimangrasie, Suriname.

In recent years, several illegal aircraft have been found in the hinterland regions of Guyana with various kilos of cocaine and suspected drug-traffickers, one of them convicted and jailed for five years. The first two aircraft was discovered on September 13, 2020 at Nine Miles, Issano, Middle Mazaruni, Region Seven. One of them, a Cessna plane with three foreign nationals on board was found at the Nine Miles, Issano airstrip. Those men had told

investigators that they were heading to Suriname and had crash landed there. They also led investigators to locate the second plane, a Beechcraft, which had crashed in the jungle some distance away from the airstrip.

On board that plane, a body along with a cargo of 390 kilograms of cocaine was found. Two of the foreign nationals, Manoel Edson Pinheiro Costa, 35, an internet technician of Manaus, Brazil and Juan Ivan Fortool, 29, a Venezuelan pilot of Tumeremo, Estado Bolivar were charged with illegal entry and remanded to prison on September 19, 2020.

The third foreigner, a Brazilian pilot, Rafael Silveira Dias was convicted in April this year at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate for trafficking cocaine and has been jailed for five years. On May 20, CANU ranks were once again investigating the discovery of another aircraft which crash landed at Orealla, Upper Corentyne River, Region Six. That plane was found around 16:00hrs with 453 kilograms of cocaine and two Brazilians on board. The two foreigners found with the cargo of drugs had told investigators that they were heading to Suriname to drop off magnesium.

Kaieteur News

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Monday January 31, 2022

Wanted man nabbed by Elderly man severely beaten police dressed as a woman during fight over land - police arrest two suspects, looking for third

Murder suspect, Shawn Bobb, disguised as a woman.

In his effort to avoid being caught, 30-year-old Shawn Bobb, a labourer, of East La Penitence, Squatting Area Georgetown, disguised himself as a woman and hid away in a house at Mahaica.

However, the murder suspect’s effort has proven to be futile since he was on Saturday arrested. Bobb is accused of murdering his teenage stepson, Isaiah Edwards, 19, a construction worker, of East La Penitence, Squatting Area Georgetown According to the police, based on information received, police ranks in Regional Division 4 ‘C’ went to a house at Helena No.1 Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, where they apprehended the suspect. It was reported that upon the arrival of police around 19:20 hours, Bobb was seen

jumping through a glass window, dressed as a female, with a face of makeup and a wig on his head. Bobb was placed in handcuffs and escorted to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), where he was given medical attention.

Kaieteur News reported that Edwards succumbed to his injuries at the Infectious Disease Hospital located at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown on Thursday. It is alleged that his stepfather stabbed him while he tried to d e f e n d h i s m o t h e r.

According to police, the incident occurred on We d n e s d a y a r o u n d 18:30hrs. It was reported that the teen’s stepfather began assaulting his mother because she had not finished cooking. As such, the teen intervened and sustained stab wounds.

This publication understands that Bobb reportedly became annoyed and picked up a knife and attacked the teen and his mother. This resulted in the teen being stabbed to his right hip.

Bobb then fled the scene, while Isaiah and his mother were rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation by relatives.

Tests were conducted on the injured woman and her son.

However, only the son’s result showed positive for COVID-19. he was transferred to the Liliendaal facility where he subsequently died.

His body was then escorted to the Memorial Gardens Funeral Home for a Post-Mortem examination.

His mother remains hospitalised in a stable condition.

Dead, Isaiah Edwards and his mother.

A dispute over a plot of land at Clifton Settlement, Corentyne led to an elderly man being severely beaten about his body last Wednesday during a fight with two of the men who are claiming ownership of the property.

Police said two persons have been arrested while they are seeking a third. Doodnauth Takapersaud called “Gabbar”, who owns a chicken outlet at the said address mentioned above is calling for justice as he is frustrated at the slow pace of the police investigation.

Takapersaud said he was beaten by two men who claimed they were owners of the land he is constructing a fence on, but he indicated that he has a land title for it.

Ta k a p e r s a u d s a i d o n Wednesday 26th January 2022 his workmen were constructing a fence at the back of his land when a man whom he knew rode up with a motorcycle and asked who gave him permission to build the fence. He said he told the man he has a ‘transport’ for the land that he did not need permission to do any work on it.

Their verbal exchange escalated and Takapersaud decided to go to the Whim Police Station and returned with a policeman. He said the police viewed his documents and asked the man to leave him alone.

The businessman said he dropped the policeman back to the station and returned to the land. He said when he got there the man and his brother had removed some posts his workmen had planted and as he was about to video what they were doing, one of the men rushed at him and tried to grab the phone while the other began to beat him with a 2×4 length of

Doodnauth Takapersaud shows off the marks of violence inflicted on him.

wood about his feet and body.

“One of them jump on my neck and trying to pull me down on the ground and they fire more lash but I tried to get up and run but my knees were weak”, the businessman said. Takapersaud said there was a third person who kept shouting at the men to break his legs and kill him.

After the beating, Takapersaud was taken to the police station then to the Port Mourant Hospital where he was treated.

The businessman said this is the fourth time he was beaten by the men and is calling for swift justice.

Kaieteur News

Monday January 31, 2022

PAGE 15

$6B allocation for GuySuCo Venezuelans detained after should be directed to training, ganja bust at their home other employment opportunities for sugar workers - PNCR In Budget 2022, the PPP government has set aside a whopping $6 billion for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to be used to enhance field operations and packaging capabilities, with the hopes of reviving the sector, which continues to record yearly decreasing production rates.

This move however has been criticised by the major political opposition, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) which has categorically stated the these funds should instead be directed to training opportunities for current sugar workers and even be invested into creating other employment opportunities for the affected workers.

On Friday, the party hosted its weekly press conference, where its member, Economist Elson Low remarked that the administration should be looking at other ways to sustain the sector, given that even former President, Donald Ramotar, finds the reopening of the industry questionable.

He said, “What I think we should instead look at is what is the future going to be like for GuySuCo, what direction is that organisation going to go in and while we acknowledge that there are a lot of people who depend on GuySuCo, what we would like to see is this $6 billion

Economist and PNC/R Member, Elson Low being put towards training (and) put towards creating other employment opportunities for GuySuCo workers so that those workers can really benefit from an economy that is expanding as opposed to being totally dependent upon what is really constituted Guyana’s past”.

L o w, w h o h o l d s a B a c h e l o r ’s D e g r e e i n political Science and Economics from a United States College, Amherst, added that it is his belief that the government does not have a serious intention for the sugar industry to be sustainable on its own.

“I think that that is a fallacy and I believe that former President Ramotar himself had indicated that the efforts by the PPP to make the industry sustainable were

questionable, so I don’t think t h a t t h a t ’s a s e r i o u s argument,” he contended.

The Party’s Chairman, Shurwayne Holder added that he also shares the view that while sugar workers indeed deserve assistance, a broader assessment of the industry needs to be done.

In fact, Holder told the news conference, “We will continue to highlight to the public what exactly is happening here within the industry and what the government has been doing over the last two years and hope that good sense will prevail”.

According to him, the intent is for all of Guyana to be satisfied with the direction the industry is moving towards.

In June last year, the state media reported that the Ministry of Agriculture secured some $1.5 billion in supplementary funds from the National Assembly to offset critical capital works at GuySuCo. It was also noted that the Government’s financial investment in GuySuCo increased to $10.5 billion, since the administration took office on August 2, 2020.

Later that year however, an additional $3.8 billion was cleared by Parliament for wages, salaries, out-ofcrop expenses, as well as a one off $250,000 cash to Continued on page 18

Two Venezuelan men are now in the lockups after police on Saturday last, found 42 kilograms of compressed marijuana at their home located at Johanna Cecelia, Essequibo Coast, Region Two. Police in a statement said that ranks acting on intelligence, visited a house and conducted a search in the presence of the two men.

It did not take long for lawmen to unearth the illegal drugs compressed and wrapped in brown scotch tape. The suspects had reportedly stashed it in the ceiling of their home.

The marijuana was seized and both were arrested and taken to the Suddie Police Station where they were placed in the lock-ups pending charges.

The illegal marijuana that was found stashed in the ceiling of a house in Essequibo, Region Two.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 16

Monday January 31, 2022

Fire destroys GNSC workshop WANTED FOR RENT

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Porters & Salesgirls.Apply at Best Buy Food Supplies with written application at 1E Dennis C Middleton St Camp bellville Georgetown.

One (1) male able bodied clerk.Tel:231-2029/616-5954.

KitchenAssistant, Babysitter, Housekeeper & Sales person , must have secondary education.Call:6595559.

From page 13 the same building on the premises were destroyed. “Three jets working from Water Tender 107, using relay from Fire Boat ‘Protector 8’, one jet from WT106 and one jet from WT76 using relay from WT112 all working from an open water source were used to extinguish the blaze,” the statement added.

Investigations are ongoing to determine what caused the fire.

The Fire Prevention Department is slated to conduct Fire Prevention inspections later this week with the GNSC. This is being done with the

1 live in babysitter to care for 2yr old.Must be vaccinated & good with kids age 3848,$20,000 wkly.Tel:626-6450/ From page 2 that Judge Aguedo imposed 646-7142. an 18-months ban on the Professional Soup cooks and grounds of the potential risk kitchen assistance and pro- that the officials might leave fessional kichen manager, Peru. good pay.Shot hrs.Call:675- Those that have been barred 1509. are: refinery manager, Jaime Wanted skilled carpenters, Fernández-Cuesta Luca de mason & labourers to work Tena; terminal manager, in G/Town & Linden. Con- Renzo Alejandro Tejada tact:615-7526/602-9469/660- Mackenzie; environmental manager, Gisela Cecilia 6385.

Posadas Jhong; and production manager, José Gregorio Reyes Ruiz.

It was reported that the lawyers for the Repsol executives did not appeal the decision and said that they will collaborate with the investigaVACANCY tion.

Additionally, Peru’s Vacancy for qualified & exAgency for Environmental perienced Grade 2 Teacher.

Assessment and Enforcement Contact:623-1615.

(OEFA) alleges that Repsol Vacancy for experienced Canter & Hauler driver. Apply in person at Alabama Trading,65 Robb St Bourda.

From page 8 transparency and good govPorters,Cleaners and experiernance in public procureenced sales girl.Apply in perment. “In 2022, we will further son at Alabama Trading,65 strengthen the public procureRobb St Bourda. ment process through trainMale & Female,age 25-45 ing and capacity building at yrs.Apply at WB Cleaning & all levels of the procurement Janitorial Services & process, national, ministerial, washbay,D2 Louisa Row. and regional. NPTAB personnel will also be provided with Tel:503-2502. focused training, which will be Domestic worker to work at extended to key officials, MinPeter's Hall E.B.D,must be istries and Regions who manfrom the E.B.D age 25- age programmes and projects.

45yrs.Call:231-0363/226-9492. NPTAB will commence the delivery of ministerial and reOne office clerk,must be com- gional training modules both puter literate record keeping. virtual and face-to-face before Send CV to Durban Quarries the end of the first quarter of Inc. Tel:608-2241/608-2240/ this year.”

220-0912.

He spoke of the One clerk for TSI Eccles operationalisation of the bidOffice,English & Maths ders register within the first grade 1 or 2.Call:615-9132 or quarter of 2022 and will design email application to tech an open and transparent system to rank and classify conserigy@yahoo.com. tractors by capacity and make Maid to cook and clean for provisions for electronic East Bank areaa.Call:615- evaluations and payments to contractors. Further, Singh 9132.

aim of putting ample passive and active fire suppression systems in place to prevent and reduce the outbreak of fires at these facilities, the fire service noted.

“The Guyana Fire service repeats its call for the appropriate fire prevention and response measures to be put in place to avoid the loss of private and public buildings and to avoid the risk of injury and loss of life,” the statement concluded.

It was only two weeks ago that fire destroyed Laparkan Shipping Company bond next to the GNIC wharf and Benn expressed concerns about the

trend.

Acting Fire Chief, Gregory Wickham told reporters that the fire was deliberately set, although investigation is currently ongoing, and no one has been arrested to date. The bond was engulfed in flames destroying millions of dollars’ worth of imported vehicles and goods. Wickham told this newspaper that his investigators found that the cause of the blaze was a ‘malicious act’.

He detailed that they were able to determine this 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 Guyana police force”, Wickham said.

Kaieteur News understands that the act was perpetrated by more than one person and police are looking for them.

Meanwhile, Benn has been lamenting the lack of fire safety measures at most business places, something he indicated is required by law.

Peruvian Judge bars oil executives from leaving country... has not complied with orders related to the cleanup effort for these areas, and the agency has issued an initial fine of $4.8 million.

While speaking at a press conference, OEFA director, Mimiam Alegria, is reported in Peruvian media stating that the agency believes Repsol had failed to reach the deadline to identify areas affected by the spill. As such, she noted that if it is determined that the order has not been followed an additional “coercive fine” may be imposed on the oil giant and each further infraction comes with a potential monetary penalty.

Repsol has faced severe backlash for the oil spill and also for underreporting the quantity of crude that was spilledKaieteur News reported that Repsol reported

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.

Peru’s Foreign Ministry tweeted that 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.

As a result, they stated that the sanction must be strict and the company must be held responsible for what happened.

Repsol said in a statement that it would “continue working to remedy the impact generated by the oil spill, deploying all our efforts and monitoring all activities by air

to detect possible new affected areas.” However, Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) attorney-at-law Julio Cesar Guzman told Exitosa Noticias, that Repsol could face liabilities of up to $500 million for compensation for the effects of the spill.

Moreover, cleanup efforts are ongoing, with guidance from national regulators and from UN advisors.

While Peru continues to take action to protect its people and its environment, Guyana in contrast, continues to give Exxon the permission to pollute the airspace via flaring without consequence.

It has also been extracting oil offshore since 2019 and Guyana is still without full cover insurance from their parent company.

After doling out billions in contracts without oversight

Fitter Machinist,Welder fabricator,Mechanic,Apprentice & Male cleaner.Three year’s experience.Call:642-9823 or email: techserigy @yahoo .com.

said the NPTAB will commence work to digitise its records in its effort to move to a fully electronic system in preparation for the launch of an E-Procure platform by 2024.

Finally, action has already been taken with a view to seeking Parliamentary approval for the appointment of the members of the Public Procurement Commission.

Just last week this newspaper reported that Guyana, during the year 2021, dropped two points on the Transparency International Corruption Index, meaning that corruption in the country’s public sector has climbed, after a full year under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government. When the PPP/C demitted office, back in 2015, the country was scoring below 30 points.

During the years of the APNU+AFC that score steadily improved to 41. However, in the latest ranking, which was published last

week Tuesday by Transparency International, a global coalition against corruption, Guyana’s performance dropped from 41 in 2020 to 39 in 2021. The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is the most widely used corruption ranking in the World, according to the organisation’s website, which also explains that the data recorded in each country, measures how corrupt that country’s public

sector is perceived. A country’s score is measured on a scale of 0-100, where 0 means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean. When the Coalition Party assumed office in 2015, Guyana’s score stood at 29.

The following year, it progressed to 34, and in 2017, it jumped to 38. In 2018, Guyana dropped a point but in 2019, it again increased to 40 and finally, 41 in 2020.

Banks DIH records $6.7 billion...

From page 12 presented challenges mainly resulting from the COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions which contributed to curtailed market conditions.

However, the company continues to supply its customers with a range of quality beverages and food products and innovative strategies with the ultimate objective of remaining at the forefront of the highly competitive market”.

He said that Banks DIH was able to deliver products in a post-lockdown period by encouraging the creation of further customer connection through its ‘Stay at Home message and Delivery packs’.

Peter D’Aguiar founded Banks DIH, popularly known for its iconic Banks Beer, in 1969. However, its origin goes back to the early 1840’s with its chain of liquor stores.

The company expanded in 1885 when it launched its Cocoa and Chocolate Factory and a Schooner Shipping Agency.

It later ventured out with its soft drink plant and liquor bars.

Some of the products manufactured by Banks DIH include Hop House 13 Premium Lager, Wave Pale Ale, Banks Beer, GT Beer, Banks Shandy, Guinness Stout and, Banks Malta Supreme among several others.

Monday January 31, 2022

PAGE 17

Kaieteur News

Over 20,000 COVID-19 Two new magistrate cases recorded in January courts for East Bank Demerara

Government has announced that it will be building two additional magistrate courts at Friendship and Timehri on the East Bank Demerara this year.

During his budget presentation last Wednesday, Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh said that government has recognized that the stability and strength of the justice sector are paramount to public trust and to investor confidence.

“We have always supported, and will continue to support, the implementation of reforms in order to enhance and modernise our judicial system, while at the same time maintaining the highest respect for their constitutional independence,” Dr Singh told the National Assembly.

He said this year government has allocated $4.7 billion to build on the important work and advancement of the justice sector in Guyana, noting that last year $879 million was spent on the completion and construction of courts and living quarters countrywide, which will result in service at Bartica and Mahdia becoming operational this year. This year he added, $1.3 billion will be expended to support the judiciary in improving access to justice especially in previously underserved areas. “To this end, Port Kaituma, Mabaruma and Vigilance Magistrate’s Court will be completed in 2022, while two additional magistrate’s courts and living quarters along the East Bank of Demerara, at Timehri and Friendship, will be advanced,” Dr Singh noted.

He said these investments will increase the number of courts around the country to 46 in 2022, from 41 in 2019 and will result in timelier delivery and improved access to the justice

Attorney General, Anil Nandlall system, and reduced costs to citizens. “Mr. Speaker, a further $250 million has been allocated to improve the criminal justice system in 2022. To this end, the University of Guyana’s Prosecutorial Programme will commence this year, catering for 25 students initially for a duration of thirteen weeks which will increase our number of trained prosecutors.”

Further, Singh said the judicial policies aimed at reducing over-reliance on imprisonment are being developed to increase the use of alternative sentencing in the justice system. To complement these initiatives, a Management Information System for the Ministry of Legal Affairs (Restorative Page 69 of 92 Justice), Ministry of Human Services (Probation Department), Guyana Police Force, and the Director of Public Prosecutions will become operational this year, ensuring a coordinated approach to the effective management of cases.

Woman remanded for allegedly stabbing children father

Remanded, Maria Walcott

A 22-year-old woman, Maria Walcott, of Lot 465 East Ruimveldt was remanded to prison on Monday last for allegedly stab-

bing the father of her two children to the chest.

Walcott appeared before Magistrate Rondel Weever at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court where she was remanded

for allegedly stabbing her children father, Keishawn Braithwaite also known as Keishawn Griffith, with a scissors to his chest.

The court heard that Braithwaite, who is employed as a cashier is in critical condition and is currently in the Intensive Care Unit.

Meanwhile Walcott is set to make her second court appearance on February 21, 2022.

In March 2020, Guyana recorded its first confirmed COVID-19 case. At the end of that year, a total of 6,391 confirmed cases were recorded in the country.

In this month alone, over 20,000 COVID-19 cases were recorded, which have tripled the number recorded for 2020 alone. Kaieteur News analysis shows that from January 1st to 30th, a total of 20,230 confirmed COVID-19 cases were detected in the country.

Not only did the cases skyrocket in this month, but daily cases increased tremendously in January surpassing 1000 cases a day. Health officials began noticing the increase in cases at the ending of December just as the busy Christmas season was over.

At the end of the first two weeks in January, some 9,483 persons had tested positive for the virus. During that period, the highest number of cases recorded in just a 24hour period was 1,186, on January 13. It should be noted that the majority of these cases were recorded in Region Four, and other regions such

as Regions Three and Six. Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony had attributed the increase in cases to the easily transmissible variant called Omicron. During an emergency press briefing on the issue, the Minister said, “Based on the current epidemiology, what we are seeing, we believe strongly that there is omicron here.

From the 28 of December right onto now, we have seen a doubling of the cases, so on the 28 of December we had about 40 cases and as of today (Wednesday) we have had 788 cases within the last 24 hours.

These numbers are going to go up. Fortunately, most of the people that tested positive have mild symptoms, some of them are asymptomatic and we have not seen an explosion of hospitalisation.”

In response to the new surge, President Irfaan Ali, asked the public not to panic, saying that his administration has the situation under control. Notably, like the new infections, cases of children dying from the virus in Janu-

ary were alarming. Since the year began, six children under the age of 10 have lost their lives to the deadly disease. In just one week of the month, January 9 to 14, four children died.

Overall, a total of 17 children have passed away from the virus since the pandemic started. Meanwhile, on Sunday the Ministry of Health reported one new COVID-19 fatality, a fully vaccinated 65year-old woman from Region Four who died yesterday. As a result of this, the country’s COVID-19 death toll has moved to 1,166. In its daily COVID-19 dashboard, the Ministry recorded another 353 new infections, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 59,803.

The dashboard data also shows that 16 patients are admitted into the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 203 persons in institutional isolation, 11,324 in home isolation and six in institutional quarantine.

To date, a total of 47,094 persons have recovered from the virus.

PAGE 18

Kaieteur News

Monday January 31, 2022

$6B allocation for GuySuCo should be...

From page 15 severed sugar workers.

In this year’s Budget, government has allocated another $6 billion to the organisation with the aim of revitalising the sector.

While presenting this year’s Budget, the Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh said that strategic investments will be made at the Albion, Blairmont, and Uitvlugt, to upgrade the field operations and expand packaging capabilities, to produce more value-added products for both domestic and international markets.

According to the Minister, “Government’s commitment to the sugar industry remains unwavering in spite

of inheriting a devastating situation that was dominated by the callous shutdown of three sugar estates.”

He pointed out that since returning to office, the PPP/C has shifted its focus to “reopening and recapitalising the closed estates; rationalising cost structures; diversifying the sugar sales mix to maximise earnings; reengaging previously displaced workers; and repositioning the industry on a sustainable path to profitability.”

The Minister was keen to note that even though it continues to make investments into the sector, it is still considering the possibility of engaging private investors to run some of the estates.

In fact, Dr. Singh noted that this year, in anticipation

of improved production levels, the Guyana Sugar Corporation will be concentrating its marketing efforts on shifting from the ‘low-value bulksugar markets’ to more bagged and packaged sugar products.

The Minister told the National Assembly that these products will increase from 34 percent in 2020 to 64 percent of total production in 2022.

Additionally, the MP said he was pleased to report to the House that over 1,300 persons have been reemployed with GuySuCo, while another 5,000 worker, who were severed following the downsizing of the industry by the former Coalition government between 2016 and 2017, have each received cash grants of $250,000 last year.

Monday January 31, 2022

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Monday January 31, 2022

Monday January 31, 2022

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Kaieteur News

NBA roundup: Klay Thompson’s late trey lifts Warriors past Nets Reuters - Klay Thompson drilled a clutch 3-pointer with 12.5 seconds remaining and combined with Stephen Curry to score Golden State’s final 17 points Saturday night, allowing the Warriors to outlast the visiting Brooklyn Nets 110-106 in San Francisco.

On a night when they combined to shoot just 10-for32 overall and 5-for-18 on 3pointers, Curry (19 points) and Thompson (16) got plenty of support from Andrew Wiggins, who went for a team-high 24 points.

Able to play because the game was on the road, Kyrie Irving paced the Nets with 32 points. James Harden (sore right hand) joined Kevin Durant (sprained left knee) on the sidelines.

After Irving and Patty Mills hit two free throws

apiece to get Brooklyn within 104-103 with 30.8 seconds to go, Thompson took a Curry pass and drilled just his second 3-pointer of the night to make it a four-point game.

Raptors 124, Heat 120 (3 OT) Fred VanVleet’s 3-pointer with 2:17 to play in the third overtime period gave visiting Toronto a five-point lead, and it held on to defeat Miami.

Gary Trent Jr. scored 33 for the Raptors, who have split the first two of a three-game road trip. Scottie Barnes finished with 22 points and nine rebounds for Toronto.

Pascal Siakam added 21 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, four steals and four blocked shots while OG Anunoby had 20 points and 14 rebounds.

Jimmy Butler had 37

points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for the Heat, who had a three-game winning streak end. Gabe Vincent scored 17 points for Miami, Bam Adebayo had 14 points and 16 rebounds and Tyler Herro had 13 points.

Grizzlies 115, Wizards 95 Ja Morant scored 34 points to lead six players in double figures as Memphis led wire-to-wire in a rout of visiting Washington.

The Grizzlies have won three straight and 16 of their last 19 games. Desmond Bane scored 19 points for the Grizzlies, De’Anthony Melton added 13 points and Steven Adams recorded a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds.

Kyle Kuzma paced Washington with 30 points,

Monday January 31, 2022 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Duels of love and romance are apt to come to a critical climax, Aries, and you’ll find that the person who is challenging you has quite a bit of gunpowder at his or her disposal.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) Your extremely overpowering emotions are apt to scare people off today, Taurus, especially when it comes to matters involving intimate relationships.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) While long-term trends in your life may not be going exactly the way you want them to, Gemini, you certainly have plenty of shortterm pleasures to enjoy, especially today.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) You may be anxious to fit things in your life into pigeonholes, Cancer. When it comes to matters of love and romance, this may be hard to do, especially on a day like today.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) You may feel like going back to being a student in junior high, Leo, just going through puberty and joining the other kids in animated discussions about who likes whom and who’s going out with whom.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Be careful about getting caught up with people who are careless or fickle, Virgo, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Your tender emotions.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) our luck has just turned with regard to issues of love and romance, and wow! Has it turned for the better, Libra!

You should be sitting on cloud nine today when it comes to matters of the heart.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Romance is in the air, Scorpio, and all of a sudden you notice that all around you couples are walking handin-hand, exchanging longing gazes.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Your upbeat and active nature is exactly what turns people on to you, Sagittarius. Attention is apt to turn in your direction today when social acquaintances realize what an incredibly capable person you are.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Today is one of those days when you could feel lethargic and downbeat, Capricorn. For some reason, even if you have a driving urge to get up and do something, it seems as if there’s a twoton weight sitting right on top of your head.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Your heart is apt to beat much more rapidly than usual, Aquarius. Love is in the air, the trees, and the people around you.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) More than likely there was at least one time in your life in which you felt like the ugly ducking, Pisces.

Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) reacts after making a three point basket against the Brooklyn Nets in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center. (Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports)

all after the first quarter.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 15 points and Spencer Dinwiddie had 10.

Celtics 107, Pelicans 97 Jayson Tatum scored 38 points and Jaylen Brown added 31 as Boston defeated host New Orleans.

Josh Richardson came off the bench to score 10 points, Robert Williams III had 16 rebounds, and Marcus Smart had 12 assists for the Celtics.

Rookie Jose Alvarado scored a season-high 19 points and Willy Hernangomez added 14 to

lead the Pelicans, who played without points and assists leader Brandon Ingram (ankle injury) along with rebounding leader and second-leading scorer Jonas Valanciunas (non-COVID illness).

76ers 103, Kings 101 Joel Embiid had 36 points,12 rebounds and six assists to lead host Philadelphia back from a 17point deficit past Sacramento.

Embiid was 10 of 18 from the field and 14 of 18 from the free-throw line while scoring at least 25 points for the 17th game in a row. For the 76ers, Tobias Harris added 16 points and eight rebounds, Tyrese Maxey contributed 13 points with seven assists and Danny Green scored 11.

The Kings played without De’Aaron Fox for the fourth straight game because of his sore left ankle. Tyrese Haliburton scored a careerhigh 38 points, including a flurry of 14 straight points in the final quarter. Harrison Barnes added 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Kings, who lost their sixth straight.

Mavericks 132, Pacers 105 Luka Doncic scored 30 points, dished 12 assists and grabbed six rebounds, Reggie Bullock scored 23 points off the bench, and host Dallas cruised past Indiana.

Dallas never trailed and was only tied for a brief 2-2 spell early on, despite an early departure from Kristaps Porzingis because of knee soreness. The Mavericks bench combined for 64 points, led by Bullock and his 6-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. The Mavericks went 16 of 34 from deep as a team.

Domantas Sabonis flirted with his second triple-double in as many nights, posting 21 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, and Duane Washington Jr. scored a career-high 22 points off the bench.

(Field Level Media)

Kaieteur News

PAGE 22

Kieron Pollard landed some thumping blows, West Indies vs England, 5th T20I, Kensington Oval, Barbados, January 30, 2022© Getty Images

Monday January 31, 2022

Holder takes four in four to wrap up series win over England in sensational fashion Akeal Hosein celebrates the first-over wicket of Jason Roy, West Indies vs England, 5th T20I, Kensington Oval, Barbados, January 30, 2022© Getty Images

SportsMax - Jason Holder sensationally came up trumps at the end as he took four wickets in succession to help secure the West Indies a 17-run victory over England in the final T20I that sealed a 3-2 series win.

West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard had won the toss and elected to bat, with the hosts posting 179-4, with England falling short in reply, bowled out for 162 in the 20th over with Player of the Match Holder (27-5) decisive with a double hat-trick in the final over.

After an encouraging start, West Indies did suffer a minor

wobble as they lost wickets in consecutive overs, with Kyle Mayers (31) and Romario Shepherd (six) falling in the sixth and seventh, giving England a boost.

Brandon King (34) was the next to go as he was caught at the rope, and Nicholas Pooran (21) was dismissed in the 14th over, with West Indies looking solid if unspectacular ahead of the final five overs of their batting innings.

It was then that they really picked up the slack, with Pollard (41 not out) and Rovman Powell (35 not out) accumulating runs at a

much greater rate, their fifth-wicket stand of 74 ultimately integral in the grand scheme of things.

The total of 180 certainly did not look unassailable for England and they reached the halfway stage at 86-2 having only lost Jason Roy (eight) and Tom Banton (16), with James Vince in fine form.

The wickets of Moeen Ali (14) and Liam Livingstone (six) followed just a few minutes apart, and while Vince (55) reached his half-century, he too departed in the 14th as a top-edged slog fell short of the boundary from Akeal Hosein (30-4).

The excellent Sam Billings (41) at least got England into a position where they were still alive in the final over, but they could not meet their target of 20 in six balls as Holder's incredible haul clinched the series.

Holder's historic heroics Having almost looked without hope, England did make things a little tense towards the end – but what a performance from Holder.

Just when West Indies needed the ultimate display of experience, Holder took over in style. His hattrick was the Windies' first in men's T20Is, and then he went one better.

It was a truly memorable end to the series.

Billings deserving of praise Although he was not England's highest scorer, Billings did play a vital role in keeping them in contention.

His 41 off 28 balls meant England were still in the hunt in the final over. A poorer showing could have seen them fold much earlier – he can leave with his head held high.

Scores: West Indies 179 for 4 (Pollard 41) beat England 162 (Vince 55, Holder 5-25, Hosein 430) by 17 runs.

Thompson-Herah's season-debut 7.19 60m "felt good...but it wasn't about the time"

Elaine Thompson-Herah said she felt really good after winning the 60-metre dash.

SportsMax - In her first race since her incredible 2021 season, five-time Olympic gold medalist Elaine Thompson-Herah said she felt really good after winning the 60-metre dash at the Queens/Grace Jackson meet at the Stadium East in Kingston on Saturday.

Running into a stiff headwind of – 1.9m/s, the fastest woman alive clocked 7.19 to win ahead of Remona Burchell, who ran 7.29 and Sprintec teammate Shashalee Forbes 7.37.

“The run felt good. It was my first time in spikes since the start of this season,” Thompson-Herah told Sportsmax.TV. "Obviously, the -1.9

wind would be a factor in the time (but) the run wasn't about time.

It was just to get a race at the end of a very heavy week, to see how I would feel and I felt great.”

No longer with MVP Track Club and under the guidance of its globally respected head coach Stephen Francis, Thompson-Herah now trains under the watchful eye of her husband Derron Herah and has reportedly set several targets for this season when she will go for her first world title in Eugene, Oregon in July.

On the basis of what she accomplished on Saturday, she is off to a good start.

Kaieteur News

Monday January 31, 2022

PAGE 23

Nadal pulls off comeback for the ages to claim Grand Slam record MELBOURNE, euters) Rafa Nadal roared back from two sets down to edge Daniil Medvedev in a classic Australian Open final and claim a record 21st Grand Slam title only months after fearing his glorious career might be over.

With Novak Djokovic forced out by deportation and Roger Federer recovering from knee surgery, the Spanish great is now one major title clear of his 'Big Three' rivals after surviving the 2-6 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 7-5 thriller at Rod Laver Arena.

"It was one of the most emotional matches in my tennis career," Nadal said after the five-hour 24-minute epic.

"It's just amazing now (given) one month and a half ago I didn't know if I will be able to be back on the tour playing tennis again.

"And today I'm here in

front of all of you having this trophy with me."

Riding a wave of raucous support from the crowd, a vintage Nadal pulled off his greatest escape to deny Medvedev again, less than three years after leaving the rangy Russian heartbroken in five sets at the 2019 U.S. Open final.

In a match steeped in drama that stretched into the early hours of Monday morning, sixth seed Nadal was two points from the title but was broken as he served for the match at 5-4.

He held firm to break Medvedev again and served out the match to love, with a backhand volley the final coup de grace.

Dropping his racket, Nadal shook his head and grinned, then kicked a tennis ball away and pumped his fists in delight.

Tributes flew in from around the world, with

Federer and Djokovic quick to congratulate him.

"A few months ago we were joking about both being on crutches. Amazing. Never underestimate a great champion," Federer wrote on social media. " A m a z i n g achievement," said Serbian Djokovic. "Always impressive fighting spirit that prevailed another time."

It was a triumph that defied time and logic, with the 35-year-old Nadal fighting back from a two-set deficit for the first time in 15 years -- the last time against M i k h a i l Yo u z h n y a t Wimbledon in 2007.

It came 10 years after losing a five-set marathon to Djokovic in the 2012 Australian Open, which lasted nearly six hours.

Having suffered three other final defeats in 2014, 2017 and 2019, Nadal can now savour a second crown

Russia's Daniil Medvedev in action during the final against Spain's Rafael Nadal.

(REUTERS/Morgan Sette)

Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates winning the final against Russia's Daniil Medvedev.

(REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

at Melbourne Park, 13 years after beating Federer in another epic decider in 2009.

The long hair and pirate shorts of that era have fallen by the wayside, but the class and fighting spirit endure despite titanic battles with his body.

He missed Wimbledon due to fatigue and the U.S. Open with a chronic foot condition, leaving him on the brink of quitting the sport in late-2021.

'THE KID STOPPED DREAMING' Just making the second week at Melbourne Park felt miraculous for the Spaniard, who joins Djokovic, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson as the only men to win all four Grand Slam titles at least twice each.

Thrashed by Djokovic in last year's final, U.S. Open champion Medvedev has now lost three out of his four major deciders.

Often booed and heckled by sections of the

shamelessly pro-Nadal crowd, Medvedev admitted the frosty reception had hurt him, and he was still raw hours after the match.

After a lengthy monologue in his post-match media conference, Medvedev said he would gladly skip Wimbledon or the French Open if he could instead play in front of home fans in Russia.

"The kid stopped dreaming. The kid is going to play for himself," he said with emotion.

"It will be tougher to continue tennis when it's like this."The hyped-up crowd was often unruly and one intruder jumped on the court to protest Australia's detention of refugees as Nadal struggled to serve out the second set.

After a brief delay as the protester was bundled off court by security, Medvedev went two sets up after sealing the tiebreak and flapped his hands at the crowd with a

smirk.

It proved a red rag to a bull as Nadal and the terraces united to harry Medvedev through the rest of the match.

The Russian was left begging for crowd control from the chair umpire as Nadal stormed back into the game.

"They are idiots. No brains. Empty brains.

Probably in their life it must be very bad," he grumbled during a change of ends.

The 25-year-old's frustrations only grew as the match wore on and his court coverage waned.

He frowned as a trainer worked on his left thigh but dragged himself out to make a game of it.

Nadal, however, was not to be denied.Ten years Medvedev's senior, with creaky knees and a suspect foot, the Spaniard finished full of running, showing himself and the world that further records may yet be at his mercy.

Egypt 2-1 Morocco: Salah sends Pharaohs into semis SportsMax - Mohamed Salah inspired a turnaround to send Egypt into the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals with a 2-1 win over Morocco.Egypt, looking to extend their record with an eighth AFCON title and their first since 2010, fell behind in the sixth minute through Sofiane Boufal's penalty.

That came following a lengthy VAR review after Ayman Ashraf had brought down Achraf Hakimi just inside the right-hand side of the box.Egypt dominated possession in the first half but their response did not come until eight minutes into the second, Salah tapping in on the rebound after Yassine Bounou had

repelled Mohamed Abdelmonem's flying header.

The Pharaohs needed a superb save from Mohamed Abou Gabal, who was later substituted because of an injury, to keep them in the tournament nine minutes from the end of normal time when he turned Nayef Aguerd's header onto the crossbar.Morocco's failure to take that chance was punished in the 10th minute of extra time, Salah darting past Aguerd down the right flank and laying on a perfect cross for Trezeguet to dispatch a simple finish with Bounou stricken.

Egypt will now face hosts Cameroon in the last four on Thursday.

Mohamed Salah inspired a turnaround to send Egypt into the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 24

Goalscorer Famara Diedhiou plays in Turkey for Alanyaspor, but played for Bristol City between 2017 and 2021. (Getty Images)

Senegal move into Afcon semi-finals BBC Sport - Senegal overcame Equatorial Guinea to set up an Africa Cup of Nations semi-final against Burkina Faso.

Ex-Bristol City forward Famara Diedhiou put Senegal ahead with a firsttime strike following Sadio Mane's pass.Equatorial Guinea were awarded a penalty before the decision was overturned, but then equalised soon after through Jannick Buyla's low shot.But substitute Cheikhou Kouyate volleyed Senegal ahead, with Watford's Ismaila Sarr side-footing a late third.Senegal, who never have won the tournament, face Burkina Faso on Wednesday, before Egypt play Cameroon in the second semi-final on Thursday, with the final taking place on Sunday, 6 February.

Equatorial Guinea, 114th in Fifa's world rankings, had

been hoping to cause an upset against a Senegal side ranked 20th - the highestplaced African nation.

Mane helps Senegal secure victory Senegal started well as Idrissa Gueye fired a freekick wide and Diedhiou had a shot saved by Jesus Owono before their 28thminute opener.Liverpool forward Mane, taken to hospital with concussion after suffering a clash of heads in the last-16 match against Cape Verde, played an excellent pass and Diedhiou finished well.

But Equatorial Guinea, semi-finalists in 2015, fought back early in the second half.They thought they had a penalty when r e f e r e e Vi c t o r G o m e s pointed to the spot after the ball hit Kalidou Koulibaly's hand at close range. But, f o l l o w i n g a VA R

intervention, Gomes watched the incident on a pitchside monitor and judged Koulibaly could not have moved away in time as it was so close.Equatorial Guinea bounced back from that disappointment and equalised in the 57th minute as Pablo Ganet linked up with Buyla, who fired an angled strike past Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

But Senegal were gifted a 68th-minute second when Crystal Palace midfielder Kouyate, brought on just t h r e e m i n u t e s e a r l i e r, volleyed into the net after two Equator ial Guinea defenders collided into each other while trying to head clear.

Another substitute Sarr, playing his first game since November after injury, sealed Senegal's victory after good work from team-mate Saliou Ciss.

Monday January 31, 2022

English Coach Ian Greenwood completes term as GFF Technical Director Georgetown -: Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Technical Director Ian Greenwood will in March complete a successful fiveyear term in charge of the day-to-day national football programme in Guyana, rounding off a recordbreaking stint driving the establishment of a sustainable and holistic foundation for future growth in the game.

Greenwood, a UEFA A license holder and former coach at Leeds United and Huddersfield Town, led the design, creation and implementation of a new national football philosophy, development programme, the GFF's ground-breaking Academy Training Centres and talent pathway, with a focus on nurturing youth and coaches across Guyana through age-specific curricula.

During his tenure, the Guyana's senior men's team made its first appearance at the Concacaf Gold Cup, the U15 male team won the nation's first international youth tournament, the U20 women's team came within two games of reaching the FIFA Women's U20 World Cup, and the U17 women's team reached its first ever Concacaf Championship – a huge leap forward after conceding 40 goals in three

qualifying games back in 2013.

In addition, the U20 men's team qualified for its first championship since 1984 and, this year, the U17 and U20 women's teams will compete in consecutive Concacaf Women's Championships for the first time.

The total number of national team engagements increased 142% during Greenwood's tenure, with a rise of 567% in female youth international matches and a jump of 344% for male youth teams.

Goal differences and win percentages have also improved across all national age groups, and talent from the hinterland has been integrated into all the national squads.

“Serving football in Guyana has been a huge privilege for me and I want to say thank you to the entire football community for its support in the last five years as I conclude my stint here,” Greenwood said. “I am deeply proud of what we have achieved together since 2016, especially in terms of developing young talent and coaches across Guyana and strengthening the GFF's technical capacity, and I will look back fondly on my time here as I take the next steps in my career.”

“Guyana has such huge potential in football and I believe we have now laid the foundations for that potential to be realised in the future,” he added. “I would like to thank President Forde, the Executive Committee and the GFF administration for the opportunity to join the team and wish them all the very best for the future.”

An expert in youth and coach education, Greenwood also led the transformation of Guyana's coaching structure. Having inherited a situation where no domestic-based coaches held valid certification, Greenwood leaves his post having helped 75 coaches attain Concacaf coaching qualifications from D to B licenses, the highest level offered by the regional body.

As part of rollout of the Academy Training Centre youth and grassroots development programme, he also created a national framework of employed, t r a i n e d Te c h n i c a l

Development Officers to increase the GFF's impact and capabilities in its nine regional associations.

With the goals for Greenwood's tenure complete, including transitioning the operational management of the Academy Training Centres to the regional associations and the establishment of the club charter system, GFF President Wayne Forde said the federation was thankful to the Englishman for his service.

“Ian's appointment has proven to be a huge success for the GFF and football in Guyana, especially given that the scope of our initial ambitions and the lack of suitably qualified homegrown talent at the time required the recruitment of an specialist from overseas,” said GFF President Wayne Forde.

“Ian has been instrumental in capacity building and upskilling our talent pool to help us avoid that situation in the future,” Forde added. “He has also been a very popular figure among our staff and community, who worked hard to assimilate into our culture and to become one of our own.

His impressive legacy in developing our football strategy, staff, coaches and players will continue to have a positive impact on Guyanese football for many years to come, not least in the roll out of our nationwide network of Academy Training Centres and his achievements in turning around our coaching structure.”

The process to find Greenwood's replacement has begun, with further details to be announced by the GFF in due course.

“We have been delighted with his professional work ethic and commitment to the cause, as well as the wideranging results on the ground that are there for everyone to see. Our youth development structure is now regarded by FIFA and Concacaf as a model of best practice for the Caribbean region,” Forde said.“As an adopted son of the soil, we will miss Ian and wish him every blessing as he returns to the UK and moves on to the next stage of his evolving career in football.”

Kaieteur News

Monday January 31, 2022

PAGE 25

GCA's U-15 trial over the weekend

Henry grabs 6-10, Mohabir (46) shine on Saturday Persaud (41) & Wilkinson (4-7) perform on Sunday

Johnaton Mentour bowls to Lormar Seecharran at MYOyesterday.

(Sean Devers photo)

Dave Mohabir followed up his46 on Saturday with classy 27 yeszerday at MYO and looked the best of the batsmen on show. (Sean Devers photo)

By Sean Devers

R

ain affected third trial match organised by the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) as preparation for the U-15 Demerara Inter-Association 50-over tournament ended in a no-result. Clyde Butts' X1 were tottering on 35-6 in 18.1 overs, chasing a revised target of 120 in reply to the 207 posted by Roger Harper's X1.

After 10-year-old Lomar Seecharran (10) was bowled

by Sameer Bhola at 54-4, Dave Mohabir and Dhanish Persaud added 44 for the fifth wicket before fell to legspinner Riyad Latif at 98-5.

Mohabir followed up his 46 the day before with a classy 27 with four fours and a six and looked the best batsman on show.

Joshua Charles was looking set on 15 before he

Left-arm spinner Brandon Henry had 6-10 on Saturday at DCC. departed before Persaud, who made 41 from 39 balls with six fours and two sixes, was bowled by Kwesi Wilkinson who trapped Brandon Henry first ball to be on a hat-trick.

A well-played 28 from the younger Latif (Reyaz) decorated with five boundaries, including a six,

helped Harper's X1 pass the 200 mark as Wilkinson finished with 4-7, while Riyad Latif had 3-7.

Nobody in Butts' X1 reached double figures when another downpour halted play for the final time as the versatile Mohabir picked up 2-2 from three overs.

On Saturday at DCC in Queenstown, left-arm spinner Brandon Henry grabbed 6-10 from five overs to spearhead Butts X1 to a 96-run victory at the DCC ground.

Butts' X1 made 207 with Mohabir leading the way with 46, while Ramesh Singh supported with 18.

Dhanesh Persaud showed his worth with the ball taking 3-14 for Harper's X1 who could only manage 111, Persaud and Joshua Charles both making 13 as Shane Prince had 2-10 and Riyad Latif 2-4 support the impressive Henry.

Dhanesh Persaud drives during his top score of 41 yesterday.

(Sean Devers photo)

Holder takes four in four to wrap up series win over England in rt sensational fashion o p S Nadal pulls off comeback for the ages to claim Grand Slam record GFF Technical Director Ian Greenwood will in March complete a successful five-year term in charge.

English Coach Ian Greenwood completes term as GFF Technical Director

Spain's Rafael Nadal gives a speech to celebrate winning the men's singles final with trophy. (REUTERS/Emeahub Aws)

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