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Murder of moneychanger and daughter… Saturday Edition

AIETEUR Police dogs sniff NEWS out warhead and bullet casing in getaway car

July 13, 2019 - Vol. 13 No. 27

Online: www.kaieteurnews.com

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Price $80

- individual known as “Yankee” reportedly also aided gang

Online readership yesterday 140,828

At Post-Judgment Hearing…

CCJ urges leaders to honour Constitutional timeframe for elections - says Govt. in “caretaker” mode - GECOM must also abide by provisions; Chairman's appointment to be concluded with utmost urgency

CJIA modified design remains elusive

The ball is in your court, Mr. President

TSU rank There could be a GECOM chair “as as Monday”, if Opposition acts shot and early in consensual manner - Granger robbed ...but backpedals on accepting nominees from rejected 18 “There is no other place to hide…

Mahdia businesswoman “Caretaker” govt. must shoots ex-worker during ensure elections in 3 months - Jagdeo alleged rape attempt

Kaieteur News

PAGE 02

Saturday July 13, 2019

GTU 'not aware of any ongoing negotiations' with Govt.

D

espite recent proclamations by government ministers that there are ongoing negotiations with the Guyana Teachers' Union [GTU] for a new multi-year remuneration package for public school teachers,

reports out of the union are suggesting otherwise.

Speaking on the matter yesterday was GTU President, Mr. Mark Lyte, who revealed that “Unlike what was mentioned by the Minister of Education and the Minister of Finance,

- demands outstanding matters in present agreement be fulfilled GTU is not aware of any ongoing negotiations.”

While the negotiation

process between the union and a government-appointed high level committee had commenced in March, this publication was informed that a follow-up meeting slated for April 30 never came off.

In fact, Lyte confirmed yesterday that negotiations were halted more than two months ago, owing to some concerns the union has with an agreement which the government is yet to fully honour. That agreement spanned the period 20162018, and a number of clauses agreed upon are still outstanding, Lyte explained.

It was for this reason, the GTU President said, that the union had intimated to the negotiating committee that its members were not prepared to advance new negotiations.

“We are not willing to continue until all the outstanding matters in the present agreement are satisfied...so we don't know that the negotiations are ongoing. What we know is that we have said to the

Ministry of Education's Permanent Secretary that we are not willing to proceed with the new proposal discussion after the very first meeting,” said Lyte.

“So that's where we are at,” said Lyte, as he proceeded to list a number of matters that the union hopes government will quickly resolve. Among them are the issue of the two percent increase that some teachers should have seen added to their salaries since earlier this year.

The crux of the worries relating to this increase, Lyte explained, is in relation to the difference between the union and Education Ministry's calculation.

This concern, Lyte said, was brought to the attention to the Ministry's Permanent Secretary, but to date, nothing has been done to address the perceived discrepancy. Added to this, the GTU President said that the union is disturbed over the non-payment of promised debunching monies to teachers which should have also taken effect since earlier this year.

Government had agreed to pay teachers a one-off lump sum of $350M in debunching monies, after which teachers were expected to be paid on respective scales. Teachers had started receiving their payment, but from all indications, government had not kept its promise to place teachers on the promised scale, so as to sustain their monthly debunching payment.

Other issues of concern include failure on the part of government to make payable a sum of $10,000 for Special Needs teachers.

Lyte is also worried that if government's mode of operation continues, the revolving housing fund for teachers could be in jeopardy. He said that a Committee was set up in hopes of ensuring that teachers could benefit in the not too distant future.

“We have had three meetings so far,” said Lyte, as he turned to the issue of uniform allowance, which the government is also yet to honour.

“In spite of several efforts, we have not gotten a

GTU President, Mark Lyte definite time when this allowance will be paid. They have not given a definite commitment. We are back and forth with them, but they have not honoured it...every time we are told that they are waiting on Finance for the go-ahead, but to date we have not been told July, August, or whenever it will be; nobody is saying anything,” the GTU President stated.

He added, “Our members are frustrated, they are as king w hen that payment will be done, but nobody is saying anything.”

Moreover, Lyte categorically asserted that, “The union is calling on government to honour the outstanding matters in the present agreement. We also call on the [Education] Minister to sign into effect or to give the go-ahead for the additional programmes for UG qualifications. I think there are about 11 programmes that should be recognised...There is no circular to treat with it, as of yet, and I heard she (the Minister) is talking about it, but I think everyone is waiting on her for whatever they have to do; how much money has to be paid or whatever.”

The concerns raised by the union follow pronouncements made by Lyte, mere months ago, that the relationship between the Ministry and union were improving.

As the union opened its first Triennial Delegates' Conference, he posited that healthy relations are paramount to any successful partnerships, even as he alluded to the two sides which had just last year end, amicably settled a deadlock for a multi-year remuneration package after countrywide industrial action had negatively impacted the education system.

Saturday July 13, 2019

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Kaieteur News

CCJ urges leaders to honour Constitutional timeframe for elections At Post-Judgment Hearing…

By Feona Morrison

T

hough it pointed out that the c o a l i t i o n government is currently in caretaker mode having been defeated on a vote of NoConfidence which was passed in the National Assembly on December 21, 2018, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) yesterday held that it is not the role of the court to issue a date on, or by which elections must he held.

While the court refrained from giving orders directing the date for such elections, it noted that the timeframe is outlined in the Constitution which stipulates within three months, unless extended by two-thirds of the National Assembly.

In fact, the CCJ said that it was for the President, Leader of the Opposition, Parliament and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), to decide on a date for elections.

President of the CCJ, Justice Adrian Saunders was among the five judges who heard the consolidated NoConfidence motion cases and the challenge to the President’s unilateral appointment of Justice (retired) James Patterson as chairman of GECOM. During a Post-Judgment hearing yesterday at the CCJ’s Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Headquarters, Justice Saunders, among other things, stayed clear of issuing coercive orders which were requested by the Opposition.

Notwithstanding this, the court ordered that Attorney General Basil Williams pay costs.

The court’s announcement comes at a time when Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo, through his lawyers, had asked the regional court to make an order that the President, dissolve Parliament, and by proclamation, appoint a date for the holding of elections no later than September 18.

In affirming the CCJ’s position on the matter, Justice Saunders noted, “It is not, for example, the role of the court to establish a date on, or by which the election must be held or to lay down timelines or deadlines that in principle are the preserve of political actors guided by constitutional imperatives.

The court must assume that these bodies and personages will exercise their responsibilities with integrity and in keeping with the unambiguous provisions of the Constitution bearing in mind that the No-Confidence

- says Government in “caretaker” mode -GECOM must also abide by provisions; Chairman’s appointment to be concluded with utmost urgency

Justice Adrian Saunders, President of the CCJ motion was validly passed as long ago as December 21, 2018.”

Justice Saunders reasoned that due observance of constitutional democracy and the rule of law in Guyana rests, in large measure, with the conduct of the various branches of government—the President and the Cabinet, the Parliament and the Judiciary.

All, he said, must be faithful to the spirit and letter of the Constitution and operate within the parameters given to each by the Constitution.

Given that the CCJ affirmed that the NoConfidence Motion was validly passed with the votes of 33 members of the 65member National Assembly last December, it thereby triggered the provisions of Articles 106 (6) and (7), compels the resignations of the Cabinet including the President and the holding of general election, Justice Saunders stated.

Article 106(6) and (7) of the Constitution states as follows: 106 … (6) “The Cabinet including the President shall resign if the Government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the national Assembly on a vote of confidence.”Further (7) adds, “Notwithstanding its defeat, the Government shall remain in office and shall hold an election within three months, or such longer period as the national Assembly shall by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the

votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine, and shall resign after the President takes the oath of office following the elections.”

According to Justice Saunders, “Article 106 of the Constitution invests in the President and the National Assembly (and implicitly in GECOM), responsibilities that impact on the precise timing of the elections which must be held. It would not therefore be right for the Court, by the issuance of coercive orders or detailed directives, to presume to instruct these bodies on how they must act and thereby pre-empt the performance by them of their c o n s t i t u t i o n a l responsibilities.”

“The judiciary interprets the Constitution. But, as we intimated in our earlier judgment, these particular provisions require no gloss on the part of the Court in order to render them intelligible and workable.

Their meaning is clear and it is the responsibility of constitutional actors in Guyana to honour them.

Upon the passage of a vote of no confidence, the Article requires the resignation of the Cabinet including the President,” Justice Saunders noted.

He continued, “The Article goes on to state, among other things, that notwithstanding such resignation, the Government shall remain in office and that an election shall be held “within three months, or such

Role of a caretaker govt. (Dawn.com) longer period as the National Assembly shall by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine …” The Guyana Elections Commission has the responsibility to conduct that election and GECOM too must abide by the provisions of the Constitution.”

The CCJ Judge said that given the passage of the NoConfidence motion on December 21, 2018, a general election should have been held by March 21, 2019, unless a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly had resolved to extend that period. He added that this is yet to be done. In January, court proceedings were filed challenging the validity of the No-Confidence vote, which effectively placed matters at a standstill.

The CCJ rendered its decisions on June 18, and there is no appeal from that judgment.

CARETAKER GOVERNMENT Moreover, Justice Saunders, said that it was

important for the court to note that while government is to remain in office, notwithstanding its defeat and the resignation of the President and Cabinet, Article 106 envisages that the tenure in office of the Cabinet, including the President, after the Government’s defeat, is on a different footing from that which existed prior to the vote of no confidence.

By convention, he added that government is expected to behave during this interim period as a caretaker and so restrain the exercise of its legal authority. The CCJ Judge explained that it is this caretaker or interim role that explains the three months deadline in the first instance that the Article lays down, in principle, for the holding of the fresh election.

In this regard, he said that Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings-Edwards, citing Peter Hogg, the Canadian constitutional expert, was right to note that: “…The government continues in office as a caretaker government or an interim government until the

next election ensues and a President is appointed (or reappointed) depending on the results of that election.”

UTMOST URGENCY In relation to the GECOM Chairman case, the CCJ held that it is now with utmost urgency that the President and Leader of the Opposition conclude the appointment of a chairman. Against this backdrop, the court said it saw no need to issue consequential orders and directions in light of Justice Patterson voluntarily resigning from the post.

All the Judges were in agreement that, “It is now a matter of the greatest public importance that the President and Leader of the Opposition should as soon as possible embark upon and conclude the process of appointing a new GECOM chairman. This imperative is now of the most utmost urgency in light of our decision in the NoConfidence motion cases, that the motion was validly passed, thereby triggering the need for fresh general elections.”

The court said that it was relying on Paragraphs 28 and 29 of its judgment in this case.

Paragraph 28 of the judgment reads, “Once the President and the Leader of the Opposition have hammered out a list of names not unacceptable to the President, the list, comprising the six persons, must then formally be submitted to the President by the Leader of the Opposition and the President must then select the Chairman from among those names. This approach gives the President a role in the identification of the six names, but it obviates the possibility that, after the formal presentation of the list, the President could suggest that one or more of the names, or indeed the entire list, is ‘unacceptable’.

Unilateral appointment by the President in keeping with the proviso to Article 161(2) can hardly be an option if the Leader of the Opposition demonstrates a willingness to engage in good faith the process outlined above.”

Paragraph 29 of the (Continued on page 8)

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Saturday July 13, 2019

Kaieteur News

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

Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: Adam Harris Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

EDITORIAL

Leniency is not working

S

entences are being reduced: too severe. Overdone and draconian. Leanings toward leniency.

Rehabilitation, not revenge. Punishing without being vindictive.

Appeals tribunals have listened to their inner voices.

Commendable. They should listen to the voices and wails of victims and families. Communities wrenched and wounded. Too much violence; too much brutality and recklessness and terrorising. Needlessly. Deliberately.

Where is the balancing hand of societal justice? The equalising scales of hard labour? Of harsh lashes. Of sending messages? Of effective deterrents?

Society is in a hard, bad, and dark place. There is fear and cowering. There is trouble facing the streets; venturing into a bank; shopping for ordinary wares. Something has to give. Before there are no more bodies and limbs to give over to the heinous. Cash is gone; so, too, is confidence.

Judges hold the key. Okay to diminish some sentences.

But cannot be by too much. Should not be halved and quartered. A slight shaving here and there. From a hundred or eighty, take away twenty, no more than thirty. Too many repeat offenders; too many condoners, too many disagreeable circumstances.

A Bloomberg story on June 12, tells of a passenger involved in a hijacking hoax via an airborne aircraft sentenced to life imprisonment and fined over US$700,000.

That’s life in prison for a 38-year-old scaremonger, although nobody died. The mere threat, the potential for terror, was enough to warrant that merciless sentence.

This society is subject to near uninterrupted brutality at the hands of vicious criminals in murderous episodes that range from drunken bar and wedding house brawls; to daily weaponised banditry; to violent occurrences of domestic abuse, which result in the deaths of mainly women. The streets have to be cleared; if that means that jails have to be filled for a long time, let them be. Society whether in homes, or the walks of business life, or the leisure of socialising - has to be protected through hard messages. Criminals brought before the bar of justice must shiver; and if that means greater severity, then so be it.

Leniency is not working; too many recidivists, too many stone killers roaming around; too many too willing to end life. There is little fear of punishment. The spectre of prison holds no terror. From the reactions of some of the sentenced, there is little remorse, no edge to the punishment handed down. It as if, even in losing, they have won, still hold the upper hand, and know something that society does not.

Punishment should not be such a breeze; so meaningless. The judiciary, in its entirety, has to be of a mind that this society needs to be rescued from the clutches of those who make it wretched. Be it street crime or corporate fraud, there must be zeal in applying the full force of the law.

It would be helpful if the magistracy is given more tools and options. Though the death penalty is effectively moot, its sting rendered impotent by lengthy delays, the lash must be a greater part of penalties. The cat o’ nine should be reintroduced. Barbaric these elements may be, but the reality is that only decent, law-abiding society can speak of the receiving end of barbarities. This has to stop.

Longer sentences; consecutive sentences.

Judges do not live in a vacuum; they cannot be that unaware of, or insensitive to, the tribulations and traumas of Guyanese life. One of the major limitations paraded before disturbed, disillusioned Guyanese is the farce of a four-year maximum for heavyweight violations. Just will not do. Insulting to a besieged society made vulnerable by crooked politicians and criminal circles.

The arms of the law must be in step with the demands of the times. When dealing with those who have nothing to lose, take away the one thing that they do have to lose: freedom. Wrest it from them for as much as is allowed under the law.

Education on respect for human life can help the needs to be calculated was in police custody at the GPF shed its problems murder based on information that he Sparendaam Police Station DEAR EDITOR, The murdering and abuse of prisoners while in police custody are human rights violations which are escalating in Guyana.

Recently, Mr. Lallbachan Bachan, a young taxi driver who was incarcerated at the Suddie Police Station on DUI charges became a statistics to these problems.

Mr. Bachan was found dead in his prison cell in which he was singly housed.

An autopsy report revealed that Mr. Bachan died from asphyxiation and his voice box fractured. So who murdered Mr. Bachan? Was it the police?

However, in an alleged cover-up attempt, the police claimed that Mr. Bachan died from a fall, which fractured his voice box. But drawing from

a bit of anatomy, it is obvious that the police are into fake news because the voice box is a vital cartilaginous structure which spans a short length of only about 25 millimeters along the upper respiratory tract. Given this, the tiny voice box is quite easily fractured through direct trauma such as squeezing on it in the neck region.

Therefore, it can be reasoned that the police fractured Mr. Bachan’s voice box by deliberately choking him and sealing off his airway thereby blocking the vital flow and exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide essential in sustaining his life. Editor, this knowledge is necessary in helping to zero in on how Mr. Bachan died. Also, a motive behind Mr. Bachan’s

failed to come up with the hefty bribe of $100,000.00 which the police allegedly demanded.

Further, the fact that Mr. Bachan was singly housed rules out the possibility that he was murdered by persons other than the police. Of course, the police need to be held accountable given the dynamics in this case.

Mr. Bachan was the main breadwinner for his family and his murder will no doubt plunge his young wife and their four young children into undue economic hardship in a country unable to provide them with any kind of social safety net.

Also in an unrelated case, about six months ago, Mr. Kalicharran Sawak became another statistics of grave human rights abuse while he

where he sustained a fractured skull and a slew of physical injuries, which caused him to haemorrhage and die. To date, nothing came out of this case, which can easily be cracked with whistleblowers.

Further, it needs to also be clear that no matter if the police murdered Mr. Bachan or Mr. Sawak, they need to be held accountable because these men were in their custody when their human rights were violated.

The ordeal of these two men is reminiscent of my very own experience with the GPF. Several years ago, a certain police constable unsuccessfully attempted to extort money from me. I was obviously selected as his victim.He retaliated by (Continued on page 5)

DECOLONISATION INCOMPLETE DEAR EDITOR, The 13 colonies (now the United States) was the first in the new world to remove the shackles of foreign rule of England in 1776. After World War 2, there was mass decolonisation from European powers. Korea was freed in 1945 by Japan’s defeat in the war. The U.S. released the Philippines in 1946. England freed India in 1947, Palestine in 1948, and Egypt in 1956; it relinquished Africa in the 1950s and ’60s, from various island protectorates in the 1970s and ’80s, and from Hong Kong in 1997. The French left Vietnam in 1954 and gave up its North African colonies by 1962. Portugal gave up its African colonies in the 1970s; Macau was returned to the Chinese in 1999.

The English speaking Caribbean was decolonised in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s from the United Kingdom. Our greatest accomplishment is Caricom because it’s anti-colonial. British colonialism is based on divide and rule and Caricom seeks unity. The modern colonialism main instrument is mainly financial.

The global economic system comprises wealthy countries at the centre, and poor countries at the periphery. Economic neocolonialism extracts the human and natural resources of a poor country to flow to the economies of the wealthy countries. The poverty of the peripheral countries is the result of how they are integrated in the global economic system.

Organisations such as the

International Monetary Fund or World Bank give developing countries loans knowing a significant portion will be misappropriated. The fact that a part of the loan agreement is always structural adjustment which usually translate to increase taxes and loss of benefits to the populace and no required forensic audit indicate they only care about getting back their money and that the nation continue to be a source of income to the developed nations. China’s financing of other countries have a similar philosophy without the structural adjustment.

Singapore was in the 1960s a poor country and former British colony but tackled corruption as a priority. Its investment in education and

industrialisation would not have been possible with massive corruption. In 2019, Singapore ranked 3rd in the least corrupt countries by Transparency International.

Eighteen out of 20 countries with the highest homicide rate in the world are located in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The level of crime is commensurate to the level of corruption especially in government. Decolonization has 3 stages: 1. fight against external oppressor; 2. fight against internal oppressor and 3. Selfdetermination.

If enough citizen of a nation cannot live decently, there will be social upheaval expressed as crime, in particular homicides. The degree of (Continued on page 5)

Guyanese at Indentureship and Forced Labour proposed in 2016 by this Caribbean nationals in New Conference in Fiji writer and conferences were York a few decades ago.

DEAR EDITOR, Several Guyanese, including this writer, will present papers at a conference on indentureship and forced labour migration scheduled for Lautoka, Fiji, on July 15 thru 17. The conference is part of the commemoration of the official end of indentureship and other forced labour movement. Indentured labour from India started in 1828 to Reunion Island, Mauritius in 1834, Guyana in 1838, Trinidad in 1845, and other territories thereafter. Indians were sent as forced labourers to British, French, Dutch, and Danish territories. Some four million were sent abroad including to African countries.

The official recruitment of indentured labourers came to an end on March 12, 1917. But indentureship labor itself came to an end on January 1,

1920 by an Act of Parliament.

As part of the commemoration of the centenary of the official end of indentureship, conferences are planned in several societies (Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad, Guyana, South Africa, and India) over the next year to reflect on slavery and indentureship and the current state of the descendants of forced labor.

Similar conferences commemorated the centenary of end of recruitment that were held in 2017 in Fiji, Guyana, New York, Trinidad, India, Mauritius, South Africa, and Guadeloupe. Suriname held its centenary commemoration in June 2018 where several Guyanese including this writer presented papers. I presented on the need for power sharing in player societies.

The idea for the centenary of end of recruitment was

held in March 2017 in several locations where this writer presented other papers. In 2018, this writer proposed centenary commemorations for official end of indentureship in 2020 in Trinidad, Guyana, New York, and India and conferences have been planned for May next year in Guyana and Trinidad.

The Fiji conference is organized and hosted by the Global Girmitya Institute (GGI) of Fiji that is headed by Prof.

Ganesh Chand, former Vice Chancellor of Fiji National University and current VC of University of Solomon Islands. This writer is a co-director of GGI and an organiser of the Fiji conference.

(Girmitya means indenture or forced labour). Dr. Chand conducted research in Guyana and Trinidad and on

There are branches of GGI in several countries that experienced indentured labour from India.

This Fiji conference is inter-disciplinary and inter-ethnic. It focuses on history and the contemporary reality of migration. Some 125 scholars from around the world have submitted abstracts for presentation of papers on a variety of subjects. These include comparative aspects of forced African, Indian, Chinese, and Pacific labor. The scope of presentations includes many countries impacted by slavery, indentureship, and forced migration. This writer will present on the state of relations between India and the descendants of indentured labourers in the diaspora.

Yours Truly, Dr. Vishnu Bisram

Saturday July 13, 2019

PAGE 5

Kaieteur News

The nation needs a report on the outcome of the Caricom Heads of Govt. meeting DEAR EDITOR, The past week has been a relatively disappointing one for representatives of the security sector at the national and regional levels.

Just before the commencement of the 40th Regular Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government in St. Lucia, and just after its conclusion, law enforcement agencies across the region, but more particularly in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica were grappling with serious security problems within their respective jurisdictions.

In Trinidad and Tobago,

the business community was up in arms with the Minister of National Security and the Commissioner of Police over what they described as, “The freeness with which persons are able to kill in broad daylight, without fear of being apprehended.”

The business community’s concerns came in the wake of an escalating gang warfare that broke out on the twin-island republic compelling a former Minister in the Ministry of National Security to point out, “It appears that the more money we spend on National Security with particular refer-

ence to crime solving the murder rate continues to escalate.”

The former Minister went on to add that, “It seems that throwing money alone in solving crime is not working.”

The matter came to a head when the T&T Commissioner of Police in an apparent fit of frustration, publicly declared, “Somebody has to bell the cat and that somebody has to be the Minister of National Security in collaboration with the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General to get this thing done.”

The Minister’s remarks struck a familiar note reflect-

Education on respect for human life...

From page 4 enlisting a vanload of officers who were brandishing huge rifles as if they were in combat with drug lords. The brainless officers heard that I was visiting from New York and they reflexively raced over to get me based on erroneous calculation that I was loaded with money.

This experience made me realize how the Police prey on innocent citizens like criminals.

The coward police even forcefully took me over to the East Ruimveldt Outpost. I was no doubt traumatized.

And I knew that the

extortioner will frame me and have me detained. I also feared that the police were going to beat me and murder me in a dark cell.

As predicted, the extortioner fabricated silly lies about me but he failed to sell them to the corporal and he was booted from the Outpost.

The corporal was the one who stepped in and did the right thing in saving my life.

I was absolutely shocked to see drunken officers on the job at the Outpost. Some of them were pointing to great big ledgers and mumbling that I must deposit money in them but I pretended not to

understand what they wanted and so I asked the corporal for clarification. The corporal responded with a wide smile.

The GPF can’t be trusted.

The GPF is dysfunctional, dangerous, corrupt, abusive and lawless. The GPF can’t be of benefit to Guyanese given its lawlessness.

However, I am convinced that the GPF can shed its problems through education, which emphasize respect for human life. And this will allow only good things to fall into place for the benefit of every Guyanese.

Sincerely, Dr. Annie Baliram (Ph.D)

DECOLONISATION INCOMPLETE From page 4 inhumane condition people are living under correspond with the degree of social upheaval expressed as crime, usually violent crime.

All the policing in the world will not stop the extreme crime rate especially homicide because money that should be used to improve the quality of life of the people has been

diverted elsewhere. The fight against crime in the Caribbean has been punitive instead of corrective - aggressive policing, draconian legislation, etc.

The World Bank has recommended that the region increase prevention efforts, such as investing in education, behavioral and soft skills programmes, and well-

targeted poverty reduction efforts.The decolonisation process in Guyana and a lot of the world is incomplete.

Yours truly, Brian E Plummer

ing a universally recognised deficiency in law enforcement, the paucity of intelligence sharing among and between law enforcement agencies tasked with fighting crime in its various manifestations.

And the “Thing” the Minister was referring to “get done” appeared to be the high level of gun crimes coupled with gang warfare lasting several weeks on the island.

Meanwhile, in Jamaica, a shake up in the high command of the Jamaica Police Force was announced.

Several newly appointed commanders were dispatched to take charge of three troubled divisions replacing eight gazetted officers who were transferred and reassigned.

With 675 murders across the island, beginning from January 2019, four more than the 671 over the corresponding period in 2018, murders amounted to almost 4 murders per day with gun crimes being the most prevalent.

In the wake of this troubling situation, the Prime Minister of Jamaica on his return from St. Lucia acted swiftly.

He declared a state of emergency in the Police Division of St. Andrew South where, according to the Prime Minister, “The main cause of death was caused by gangs.”

Similar States of Emergency exist in three western parishes of Jamaica, namely Westmoreland, Hanover and St. James.

St. Andrews South was the fourth parish to be so declared.

Over in Guyana, law en-

forcement agencies were experiencing their share of challenges.

In the midst of celebrations marking 180 years of the Guyana Police Force and the claim that the Force is surmounting its challenges, the narrative seemed to point in a different direction.

A Deputy Commissioner and Head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Guyana Police Force was sent on administrative leave to make way for an investigation into allegations of misconduct and corruption against him.

The Head of the Serious Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) of the GPF was sent on administrative leave following publication of an audit report implicating him in a series wrong doings. Unconfirmed reports claim that it is unlikely his contract will be renewed.

In the midst of allegations over the wholesale of pillaging of assets of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO), news broke that an undisclosed cache of arms and ammunition belonging to the Sugar Corporation was seized and lodged at a civilian outfit. Questions have been raised whether the civilian outfit is licensed to hold such a large quantity of arms and ammunition.

A prominent gay rights activist was physically assaulted and a nurse employed with the Ministry of Health was found hanging in her room at the nurse’s quarters where she lived while a young man was found dead in the lock ups of a police station on the Essequibo Coast.

And as though this was not enough, a member of the Presidential Guard was found unconscious lying on a city roadway with head injuries.

Later in the same week, an ex-police rank was arrested after being found in possession of over 200 lbs. of marijuana.

But there were much bigger issues on hand for the police to address. These included allegations of government facilitating a peoplesmuggling ring in which police ranks were allegedly involved.

And Roger Khan’s much anticipated release from incarceration and deportation to Guyana from the USA has been met with a deafening silence on the part of government and the police.

A tour of the horizon across the CARICOM region would show that fundamentally, the challenges to law enforcement in each jurisdiction have a lot in common.

It was for this reason, and the perennial reoccurrence of crime and security challenges that the twin social phenomenon continue to feature prominently on the agenda of the meeting of Caricom Heads.Growing concerns by Heads of Government over the increasing challenges and potentially destabilising effects of crime and security gave rise to the convening of several special ministerial meetings of the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE) and summits of Heads of Government to address the problem.

The creation of the (Continued on page 6)

PAGE 6

Full compliance with the spirit and letter of the NCM is the gateway towards ethno-social-political harmony DEAR EDITOR, I write this letter prompted by the letter entitled, “APNU and PPP/C must use this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for meaningful constitutional reforms” in another section of the media on Friday, July 12, 2019 and “The Prisoner’s Dilemma and a Call to Extend & Reform” in Kaieteur News of the same date, by Terrence R. Blackman and Thomas B. Singh. I am responding because I think that they are both earnest and well intended. In addition, I would say that taking account of the social peace and quiet in our country since NCM, the overwhelming majority of us Guyanese of all races, classes, religions, and regions are all pondering our situation and looking for a way forward.

This may well be a once-in alifetime opportunity to grapple with the many things that have been holding us Guyanese back. We are all sensing that we are at an important juncture: I would draw notice to a number of recent letters from our former Prime Minister Hamilton Green and my appearance with him on the Internet GlobeSpan talkshow of Wednesday, July 10 which you can find on YouTube and Facebook.

Editor, in our current situation, full compliance with the spirit and the letter of the NCM and the related Constitutional provisions including those related to GECOM is the gateway towards our desired ethno-social-political harmony. I am aware that a number of persons argue that such compliance is insufficient for harmony: but it is an essential first step for everyone.

Editor, if there is one

Saturday July 13, 2019

Kaieteur News

thread that runs through our history from the mid-1950s; it has been the refusal of those who would have seen themselves as the elite of Guyana, to accord full equal weight as fellow Guyanese citizens to the average Indo-Guyanese, Dr. Jagan and the PPP. I am willing to acknowledge that this period has been a difficult and uncomfortable transitioning and learning period for us all: that the majority of us would have been confused, confounded and vulnerable to exploitation by the overlapping of the differences in our country, in race, class, city people - country people (urban/rural) and religion. Individual personalities and the international situation added more fuel to this already explosive mix.

From mid-1950, many who have gravitated to being supporters of the PNC and to the other third parties as they appeared, have to a greater or lesser extent spoken about and represented Dr. Jagan and his PPP supporters as not being sophisticated, urbane, nimble nor smart; country, agricultural rice and sugar, people; leaning towards godless communism; our brothers and sisters - yes, but second brothers and sisters who must wait their turn; not ready for government.Those sentiments provided fertile ground for the manipulative change from Constituency First Past the Post to a Proportional Representative (PR) system for the 1964 Elections – it was a calculated change to get Dr. Jagan and the PPP/C out of office. Those same sentiments also motivated and enabled the active participation of a few and passive acceptance by many of our rigged

elections from 1968-1985.

People however became less wedded to this rigging approach as our social, political and economic situation continuously deteriorated during the 1970s and 1980s when we all suffered greatly and in many ways that we were not conscious of.

The vacillating position of the leaders of the Coalition Government since the NCM demonstrate that they are still having difficulty to do the right thing and accept us supporters of the PPP and PPP/C as equal brothers and sisters and citizens. We of the PPP and the PPP/C want to be nothing more nor less. We recall our Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, being moved not long ago to plead during a debate in our Parliament that we of the PPP and PPP/C are filled with “not one dollop less of patriotism” than they the leaders of the Coalition Government.

Editor, my fellow citizens Messrs. Terence Campbell and Thomas Singh, for us to go ahead without first the full acceptance of and compliance with the spirit and letter of the NCM would be for Guyana to put itself once again on the road of getting around the PPP/C and their supporters, the road of 1964-1992. On the other hand, It is my belief that full compliance with the NCM (and the Consequential Orders of the CCJ being delivered as I write) would open the minds of us all to the harmony that we all desire and which is necessary if our recent find of oil is to be a boon and not a damning of us. Let us take that first step.

Samuel A.A. Hinds Former President and Former Prime Minister

The CCJ and CARICOM DEAR EDITOR, The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) yesterday refused to fix no timeline for general elections, but the Court made it quite clear that the coalition government can only function as a caretaker type administration. However, at the same time the Court failed to issue coercive orders.

The CCJ’s firm decision is rather disappointing to non government supporters, but the President, Justice Adrian Saunders, emphasized that the Constitution prohibits the Court from intervening on political aspects of the country, but in my view a long and dark road lies ahead since the issue of appointing a GECOM Chairman will prolong and as a result the election machinery cannot be put in place.

The big question what will happen in the interim? Can a country function for a long time with merely a caretaker government?

The CCJ is the judicial arm of CARICOM and although the CCJ was inaugurated 14 years ago only four countries: Guyana, Barbados, Belize and Dominica have abolished appeals to the Privy Council and accepted the CCJ as the final Court. Over the years, maybe for decades, there have been criticisms of the regional

Body.

These questions came up from time to time: Has CARICOM outlived its usefulness? Has it ever served the purpose it was established to do by its founding leaders in 1973 when the Treaty was signed in Trinidad and Tobago by Guyana’s Forbes Burnham, Jamaica’s Michael Manley, Barbados Errol Barrow, and Trinidad Eric Williams and known as the Chaguaramas Declaration. In just a few short years, CARICOM was being accused of not delivering and at one time was described as CARIGONE. The regional movement was established mainly to have trade and working relationship among its members as well as freedom of movement among others.

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) emphasized the free movement issue when it ruled a few years ago in the Shanique Myrie case.

It awarded substantial damages to that Jamaican woman who was harassed at the Barbados Airport and refused entry.

There have been numerous complaints by regional Prime Ministers that their citizens were denied jobs in certain countries, especially Barbados, and there was dissat-

isfaction that a few countries prefer to buy goods from countries outside the region.

Another complaint is that the regional Body is not effective and that the administrative staff is tardy and at times do not carry out the wishes of the governments.

A new complaint is that the regional body is bias and not representing genuine causes from Guyana while vigorously taking up issues concerning Venezuela and Haiti and closed its eyes on Guyana, which houses CARICOM headquarters.

Even regional commentators shy away from the flagrant disregard of the rule of law in Guyana.

I wonder why. Is it they do not want to “rock the boat”?

I wish to comment on an interview I had with Sir Shridath Ramphal nearly a decade ago in Barbados.

He said that CARICOM has a functional unity, but we have lost our way in governance at regional level”.

This situation has not changed as a matter of fact it is worse. Several other Caribbean leaders have also complained about the lackadaisical attitude of the Georgetown based organisation.

Oscar Ramjeet

The nation needs a report on the outcome...

From page 5 Implementing Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) and the Regional Intelligence Fusion Center (RIFC), among other regional security initiatives, were steps in the right direction.

However, failure by some member states to contribute financially, particularly to IMPACS, largely viewed by some Heads as a waste of money, resulted in the undermining of IMPAC’S mandate

and, in many instances, the under-utilization of its staff of highly qualified, experienced and technically capable officers.

One member state’s representative went as far as to openly inform his colleagues at a meeting of Heads that his country got better results working with Scotland Yard and the FBI than working with IMPACS to address national security matters.

Further, It is to be recalled that the former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago had advised her colleague Heads that her country would no longer be an ‘ATM’ to finance regional security projects outside of what was provided for under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) and other bilateral agreements with friendly governments and external agencies.

Recently, we learnt from press reports that serious disagreements among Heads surfaced at the St. Lucia meeting as regards payment of annual contributions to IMPACS with governments coming under pressure to pay up their annual contributions while others are in arrears of their payments.

The St. Lucia Heads of the Government meeting ended like a damp squib in so far as

regional security matters are concerned.

The signing of protocols amending the Revised Treaty of Chaguramas to incorporate CONSLE as a organ of the Community and IMPACS as an institution of the Community was long overdue.

And the wording in the Communique issued at the end of the summit was lukewarm on crime and security since all Heads did was to ‘agree to continue to strengthen the regional security architecture both at the institutional and personnel levels while acknowledging the role of and need to engage with international partners to this end.’

Undoubtedly, much more in this particular agenda item would have been discussed behind closed doors and in caucus that cannot be publicly disclosed, but the point that needs to be emphasized is that be that as it may, a Government of Guyana delegation attended the conference on behalf of all the people of Guyana yet there has been no report back to the nation as regards the outcome and benefits of the conference to Guyanese people.

The nation remains in the dark!

Yours faithfully, Clement Rohee

Saturday July 13, 2019

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There could be a GECOM chair “as early as Monday”, if Opposition acts in consensual manner - Granger -backpedals on accepting nominees from rejected 18 P

resident David Granger, hours after a number of orders from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), says that he is prepared to appoint a new chair for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) by Monday. However, he has conditions.

The Leader of Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, must toe the line and act in a consensual manner and in good faith if the process is to come to a conclusion.

The president also appeared to have changed his mind when it came to him considering names of 18 persons who were submitted on three lists that he rejected back in 2017.

Last week, the president had said he was willing to accept names of the 18 persons. In fact, 11 of those 18 names were submitted by the Opposition Leader, with three meetings held between teams from the Government and the Opposition Leader this week.

Those talks to shortlist names from the Opposition’s list of 11 and the government’s list of eight, ended Thursday, after the sides said they reached a stalemate.

Under the laws, the Opposition Leader has to propose a list of six with the President choosing one that he finds “not unacceptable”.

In 2017, after not accepting 18 of the names, the President then unilaterally appointed Justice (Ret’d) James Patterson as chair of GECOM, but a recent CCJ ruling found that the selection process was flawed and unconstitutional. He resigned

recently, leaving the post vacant and a scramble to name a chair.

The position is a battleground one ahead of early elections triggered by the December 21st noconfidence vote which was deemed carried by the CCJ. Yesterday, President Granger insisted on a clean list, but said he wants early elections also in keeping with the court rulings.

“Guyanese, the Constitution of Guyana is sacrosanct and supreme. The independence of the judiciary remains intact and the Elections Commission remains independent. The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has now concluded its deliberations and has issued its Consequential Orders on the consolidated cases related to the appointment of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission and the passage of the noconfidence motion.”

He said that the court has noted that of the greatest public importance, the President and the Leader of the Opposition should conclude the process of appointing a new GECOM chair.

“The President of the CCJ, Justice Adrian Saunders, stated that this is imperative and of utmost urgency. I agree. I have committed since 21st December 2018 to the holding of free and fair elections.”

Stressing that credible elections are essential to

President David Granger

representative democracy, the Head of State also pointed out that the credibility of the elections is dependent, in part, on the integrity of the Official List of Electors.

“I maintain that a contaminated list can vitiate the credibility of elections.”

Granger expressed his unhappiness with the current negotiation process between Government and the Opposition to hammer out a number of acceptable nominees.

“Guyanese, I met the Leader of the Opposition on 4th July in good faith. We discussed the process by which the nomination of persons would be submitted to me for the post of GECOM Chairman. Representatives of both the Government and the Opposition have met three times this week. However, that good faith has not been

reciprocated by the Leader of the Opposition. It was my hope that the two sides would have been able to “hammer out” the list of six nominees in accordance with the CCJ guidelines.”

Granger stressed that it is unfortunate that, despite the meetings between the two sides, the Leader of the Opposition “rejected” the idea of acting in a consensual manner.

“He chose to put forward candidates for the post who have been rejected previously.

Guyanese, it is clear that elections have to be held in the shortest possible time and, therefore, it is crucial to appoint a chairman of the Elections Commission. This could be done as early as Monday if the Opposition is prepared to act in a consensual manner and in

good faith.”

The President repeated what the Government has been saying: “GECOM and not the Executive is in charge of the elections. GECOM has to advise the President on its readiness to conduct elections. I commit to the holding of credible elections

in the shortest possible time.

Guyanese, I will devote all my energies until the forthcoming election to serving our people and our country and to delivering good governance.”

He made a pitch to Guyanese, “of whatever background when the election comes, to back myself, and the coalition to secure a better future for Guyana”.

Government and the Opposition, in addition to battling in the courts, have been clashing over GECOM. The former chairman had said that GECOM was preparing for house-to-house to sanitise the voters’ list which could take months.

However, the Opposition has made it clear that it is not accepting any such timeconsuming exercise being conducted. Rather, it said a short claims and objections period would be suitable and elections could be held within three months.

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Kaieteur News

CCJ and the Consequential Orders...

We lost the battle, but won the APNU+AFC’s caretaker status is a view, war - Attorney Sanjeev Datadin not an order of the CCJ-Govt. Lawyer

W

hen one consid ers the Conse quential Orders that were handed down by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) yesterday, Attorney-at-Law, Sanjeev Datadin, opines that the political Opposition lost the battle but won the war.

During an exclusive interview with this newspaper, Datadin said that the opposition lost the battle to get the CCJ to hold President David Granger to timelines for calling a date for elections and appointing a Chairman for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

Datadin reflected, however, that the war was won when the CCJ unambiguously noted that the Constitution is clear that elections should have been held following the successful passage of the NoConfidence Motion on December 21, last.

This meant that General Elections should have been held by March 21.

Datadin said that given this premise, elections must now be held in three months’ time, which would be in September. Further to this, the lawyer for former Alliance For Change (AFC) member, Charrandass Persaud, who gave his support for the Opposition’s successfully passed No-Confidence Motion, expressed that the war was also considered won when the court declared that

Attorney-at-Law, Sanjeev Datadin Guyana has a caretaker government.

Datadin said this essentially means that international organisations and companies like ExxonMobil have to change the way they deal with the APNU+AFC administration.

That aside, Datadin said he is disappointed that the court did not issue timelines.

He reminded that the opposition had asked the court on Thursday for its consequential orders to instruct that the President call elections in three months and appoint a GECOM Chair in three days.

The lawyer said, “...The court has now left that dilemma without any intervention in it, except to repeatedly say that everything must be

treated in utmost good faith , utmost respect. All of those ‘utmosts’ mean nothing to the people of Guyana.

Under Article 153, the court has the power to make such orders, issue such writs, and give such directions to remedy the breach of Constitution that has been complained of.”

Datadin continued, “It is transparent that the government engaged in everything they can to delay the holding of elections and the court has done nothing to abate the wanton disregard for the law.

The court should have, and was expected to do justice, and they have simply abdicated their responsibilities to the people of Guyana.”

Datadin added, “We are now left to the mercy of our politicians who have demonstrated no ability to resolve the said issues...”

The lawyer stressed that the court should have taken a stance and issue deadlines so that the delay tactics of the government would not further stymie the process of appointing a GECOM Chair and the holding of early elections.

While the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has said that the APNU+AFC Government entered caretaker mode following the successful passage of the Opposition’s No-Confidence Motion on December 21, last, one of the administration’s lawyers, Roysdale Forde, has stressed that this is just a view and not an order of the court.

Forde reminded that the court’s consequential orders were very clear.

The orders and declarations noted the following: “a) The provisions of Article 106(6) and (7) of the Constitution apply to a No Confidence motion; b) Thirtythree votes constitute a majority of the 65 member National Assembly; c) Mr Charrandas Persaud was ineligible to be elected to the Assembly by virtue of his citizenship of Canada but his vote on the motion of no confidence was valid; d) Nothing in the anti-defection regime established at Article 156(3) of the Constitution rendered Mr Persaud incapable of casting his vote on that motion in the manner in

Attorney-at-Law, Roysdale Forde which he did; e) The National Assembly properly passed a motion of no confidence in the Government on 21 December 2018; f) Upon the passage of this motion of no confidence in the Government, the clear provisions of Article 106 immediately became engaged; Costs are awarded to (Opposition Leader) Mr (Bharrat) Jagdeo and Mr Persaud respectively to be taxed if not agreed. In each case those costs are to be paid by the Attorney General. In the case of Mr Jagdeo those costs are certified fit for two counsel; and h) (Chartered Accountant) Mr ( Chris) Ram is

awarded 60% of his Costs to be taxed if not agreed. Those costs are to be paid by the Attorney General.”

In light of the foregoing, the lawyer stressed that nothing was said in the order that the government is in caretaker mode.

The lawyer said, “To act in accordance with that view, it would first have to be made out to the government, what are the limitations of that said convention as it applies to Guyana...I believe therefore that the view is incorrect as nothing in the Constitution says this...”

Further to this, Forde noted that on Thursday, the political opposition urged the court to hand down in its consequential orders, timelines the President must abide by in the appointment of a Chairman for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) as well as for setting a date for early elections.

Forde said he made it clear to the court in his application that the aforementioned is beyond its remit.

He further noted that he is pleased that the court did not overreach in this regard.

CCJ urges leaders to honour Constitutional...

From page 3 judgment adds, “As we stated earlier, the President’s power to appoint the Elections Commission Chairman in keeping with Article 161(2) is a constitutionally prescribed responsibility that is subject to judicial scrutiny. In reviewing what transpired here between 22 November 2016 and 19 November 2017, it is evident to us that the President was not entitled to lay down, as a precondition to considering a nominee, eligibility requirements that were additional to or at variance with those prescribed by the Constitution. So, for example, it was unfortunate that the President considered or was

advised that an acceptable candidate should either have or be deemed to have wide electoral knowledge and experience. As Counsel for Mr (PPP Executive Member Zulfikar) Mustapha pointed out, it is not unusual for a distinguished judge to have gone through her entire judicial career without trying a single elections case.”

DECLARATIONS AND ORDERS In relation to the NoConfidence motion cases, the CCJ made the following declarations and orders: a) The provisions of Article 106(6) and (7) of the Constitution apply to a No Confidence motion; (b) Thirty-three votes constitute

a majority of the 65 member National Assembly; (c) Mr Charrandas Persaud was ineligible to be elected to the Assembly by virtue of his citizenship of Canada but his vote on the motion of no confidence was valid.

Further the court declared, (d) Nothing in the antidefection regime established at Article 156(3) of the Constitution rendered Mr Persaud incapable of casting his vote on that motion in the manner in which he did; (e) The National Assembly properly passed a motion of no confidence in the Government on 21 December 2018; (f) Upon the passage of this motion of no confidence in the Government, the clear provisions of Article 106

immediately became engaged.

Costs were awarded to Jagdeo and Persaud respectively to be taxed if not agreed. In each case those costs are to be paid by Attorney General Basil Williams. In another case, costs were awarded to Jagdeo and are certified fit for two counsel.

Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram, who had asked the CCJ to validate the No-Confidence motion, was also awarded 60 percent of his costs, to be taxed if not agreed, and to also be paid by Williams.

The CCJ yesterday also declared that the process used to appoint Justice Patterson was flawed and in breach of the Constitution. In this regard, the court further declared that his appointment was void. The Court ordered that costs be paid by Williams to the appellant, PPP executive member Zulfikar Mustapha, who challenged Patterson’s appointment.

Following the delivery of the court’s judgment on June 18, Justice Saunders had fixed a post-judgment hearing the following Monday for parties to decide on consequential orders to be made, as well as court costs. He had made it clear that if the parties were unable to arrive at consensus, the court would intervene and make the necessary orders, as it saw fit.

Saturday July 13, 2019

T

he Guyana Bar As sociation has is sued a strong condemnation of statements purported to have been made by a member of the government.

The private sector commission has expressed concern over the government’s refusal, thus far, to honour sums due to a private company, despite court rulings in favour of the company.

The Guyana Bar Association and the Private Sector Commission are two civil society organisations.

Civil society is weak in Guyana. Over the years, a strong civil society has not emerged, because the state has become extremely powerful and omnipresent while the rest of society has become

polarised.

As such, civil society has remained malformed. Many civil society organisations, including churches and trade unions, have become either silent or inactive.

Most of them have become victims of the entrenched political divisions within the society.

Some civil society organisations which were vibrant in the past have become comatose. A case in point is the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA). The GHRA used to be very consistent, in the past, in issuing statements on political issues.

Yet, it has failed to even offer a whimper over the past four years, despite the many controversies which have

erupted.

The GHRA has become symptomatic of the sedentary fate of civil society. The churches, the social organisations and the trade unions have all become apathetic. They have stayed clear of involvement in the political and economic crisis facing the country Right now, Guyana is facing the possibility of instability. The country is politically polarised.

On the one side there is the PPPC and its supporters.

And on the other side is the PNCR and its supporters.

There is no force in between, because civil society is weak and there is no credible political third force.

Supporters on both sides

Dem boys seh ...

Soulja Bai, Jagdeo got problems; dem don’t drink When li’l children get a problem, de first thing dem does do is run to Mammy or Daddy to complain. If Mammy or Daddy tell dem to go and behave, one does feel he ain’t get satisfaction suh he does sometimes do some stupid thing.

But dem boys also know odda children who does complain to Mammy because dem expect de old lady to solve all dem problems. Dat is wha happen wid dem politicians in Guyana. From de start, Basil de Willie seh how de CCJ can’t tell Soulja Bai wha to do. It don’t have dat power.

Yet when de same CCJ talk ‘bout handing down consequential orders, some people believe de CCJ woulda call pon Soulja Bai to hold elections. Imagine dat ain’t happen and people

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Kaieteur News

vex. Dem expect a mountain and dem get a mouse hill.

But Guyana is a place wheh some people don’t accept certain answers or tek things when de decision go against dem. Nuff man tek de law into dem own hands when things ain’t go in dem favour. It happen all over de country.

Dem boys seh dat is wha people talking ‘bout. But de consequences really serious.

Things like dat could set back a country. De disturbances of more than fifty years ago still lef some bruises pon Water Street.

De days when people use to have an ordinary glass window dat allow window-shopping done because of things like violence. Everybody either put down shutters or grills. People even refuse to walk certain places at certain

times. All dat helping to bruk up de country.

Dem leaders not doing something and dem boys know is what. If dem use to chase ladies, then when dem meet dem woulda compare notes. Then dem woulda settle down to de business at hand, like appointing a GECOM Chairman.

Dem don’t even drink alcohol, suh dem boys can’t expect to see anything good.

If dem was tekking a drink together, dem woulda feel mellow and mek some decision even if it was a simple decision dat somebody woulda regret. Better yet, dem coulda smoke some weed.

Dat is why dem boys seh politicians who don’t drink should not go near any elections.

Talk half and help Soulja Bai and Jagdeo get high.

of the political divide are refusing to see reason. A simple task of identifying six names for Chairperson of GECOM cannot be settled by the parties’ plenipotentiaries and has to now be referred back to the President and the Leader of the Opposition The political crisis is deepening. The government’s intransigence is inflaming political tensions. The government is hell-bent on serving out its full term, despite the fact that for all intents and purposes it has fallen.

The economy is not as rosy as it appears. The importation of highly costly equipment for the oil and gas sector – primarily an off-shore operation – is mainly responsible for the growth of the construction sector, without which the economy would have flat-lined.

The non-oil sectors are unsteady.

The problems with not honouring court judgments and the ‘take-over’ of the Berbice River Bridge has sent the wrong signals to investors who will now be extremely

cagey.

All Guyana is hoping for oil production to begin early next year, but the political climate is risky.

The situation is not likely to get any better soon. The divisions reach right down to the level of the citizenry, and this is further isolating a civil society that is weakened and paralysed with fear, especially over the prospects of political violence.

The importance of the forthcoming elections is being exaggerated. It is NOT going to be the mother of all elections.

The 2025 elections is going to be the Mother of all elections. Oil production will only be around 120,000 barrels over the next few years and with the 2% royalty and the absence of ring-fencing, all Guyanese are likely to obtain is two loaves of bread per day.

Guyana is therefore confronted with an acute political and economic crisis. There is no solution in sight, and the absence of a strong civil society segment means that

there is no non-political force which can impress on the parties the urgency to compromise.

The weakness and meekness of civil society leaves citizens exposed to the wrath of political polarisation. And this is yet part of the continuing tragedy of Guyana.

No one will take seriously anything that the private sector, the churches, the union or the social organisations say individually.

But if they all join together, they can force the political parties to take note.

Unfortunately this coming together of civil society will not happen because, like the people of Guyana, civil society organisations are also victims of the political divisions within society.

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Saturday July 13, 2019

Kaieteur News

=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===

There will be no election three months from this date

I

f the leadership of APNU+AFC can be barefaced enough to say that the CCJ ruling on the GECOM chairmanship allows the president to submit names too, why does anyone think it will accept that a caretaker administration is currently in place?

At the time of writing (just minutes after the CCJ’s caretaker government statement), the APNU+AFC leadership has not reacted to the CCJ’s caretaker adumbration. But no doubt, by the time of the publication of this edition of KN, government leaders will

say that Cabinet and state functions continue, because the CCJ has not delineated the lines of a caretaker government.

On Monday evening on Benschop Radio, then on Wednesday on Hits and Jams radio in interviews, I opined that the upcoming elections will not be above board, because APNU+AFC will not demit office. APNU+AFC will not give up power if there is an election loss, and that leadership will attempt to shape the election results. I am saying it here again in the space of one week.

Anytime now, as you read this column, you will hear the words, “What is a caretaker government; the CCJ says that there must be a government in place and the government must rule until there are fresh elections”.

Every political appointee from President to Prime Minister to all ministers to political state-appointed officials will take to the media to explain that the CCJ did not say the government must not rule, it did not put a brake on the act of using power, therefore the government will govern.

So the people of Guyana, from this day onwards, must expect to see the APNU+AFC Coalition behave in the function of office as if there wasn’t the passage of a 2018 no-confidence vote (NCV). From here on, it will be business as usual. Preparations for the budget will continue. More policy implementations will take place. Cabinet will meet next Tuesday.

When the statutory Cabinet session next Tuesday is litigated against by the opposition or even someone like Christopher Ram or even the Bar Association, the courts

will take months to rule and it will rule against APNU+AFC. Then there will be appeals to Guyana’s higher courts. By that time, elections will be due.

Make no mistake; this government will not do anything to bring about an election in three months’ time.

Granger isn’t going to select a GECOM name from the Opposition List in a hurry. Then he will reject all the names.

While this is going on, GECOM is at a standstill, and with insistence on house-tohouse registration, you are looking at elections between December and March 2020, effectively killing the life of the NCV. In actuality, the NCV is dead. It is as if it never happened.

The question one must ask in analysing the present predicament Guyana is in, is what went through the minds of those CCJ judges.

They are very learned men and women. They know that Guyana is in constitutional crisis and swimming in political miasma. They must have concluded that as judges they have done all they could have done to save this important regional country. I guess they said to themselves, “We are finished.”

For months now in email dialogues with close friends and relatives, I have warned against any long-term return to Guyana, because I envisage instability ahead. All the signs have been there, since the NCV, that volcanic disruption to the tranquil life of Guyana is on the horizon.

In my opinion, the most malignant intrusion into the vortex of our politics since the NCV is Granger’s insistence

Frederick Kissoon that under the constitution he has to submit a list to the Opposition Leader for consideration. I told Stan Gouveia on the Hot Seat radio programme last Wednesday when that issue came up, that you don’t need a lighted candle to find your way in bright sun.

To my mind, that decision

by Granger was the final flame of hope that was extinguished. It was not only nonsense and pathetic absurdity.

It was scary politics that should scare all Guyanese.

Granger and his coalition leaders are barefacedly saying to this nation that they will not observe the constitution. There is not even an infinitesimal thread in the constitution that Granger can grasp at to justify submitting a list for the GECOM chair.

Granger has in contemptible fashion insulted this entire country by saying that his list is justified because the CCJ said that he and the opposition leader must work together and consult each other.

The CCJ judges said those words about the current impasse too. Why can’t those words also be applied to power-sharing until fresh elections?

Saturday July 13, 2019

Kaieteur News

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Saturday July 13, 2019

Kaieteur News

Murder of moneychanger and daughter…

Police dogs sniff out warhead and bullet casing in getaway car

Chinese Landing Impasse…

Govt. issues another cease order

- individual known as “Yankee” reportedly also aided gang Police sniffer dogs have reportedly helped to unearth evidence that may link five suspects to the murders of moneychanger Aaron Latchman and his daughter Arianna Latchman.

Kaieteur News understands that the animals are trained to sniff out gunpowder.

When the handlers took them near to the car, the animals acted in a manner that indicated the presence of suspicious items in the vehicle.

The ranks then searched the vehicle, and found a warhead and a bullet casing.

Ballistic tests are being conducted for a possible match to similar spent shells that were retrieved from the murder scene.

The killers had ditched the white Toyota Premio, with licence plate PNN 1642, in D’Urban Backlands.

Investigators also recovered a false number plate, licence number PVV 5130.

Yesterday, police indicated that they had made significant progress with their investigation, which could result in charges soon.

At least three of the five suspects have reportedly admitted to playing a role in the murder of the father and

Minister Dawn Hastings-Williams in talks with the Toshao of Chinese Landing, and Laura George of the Amerindian Peoples Association, earlier this year.

Dead: Aaron Latchman

Dead: Arianna Latchman

daughter.

Police took two of the men back to the scene of the murder. The suspects also directed investigators to a house in Sophia where they split the loot.

On Thursday, police apprehended a fifth individual who allegedly said that he gave his accomplices “the wuk,” while denying being at the scene of the robbery and murder.

The suspect, known to the gang as “Long Hair,” was previously freed on two murder charges, and is on a charge of possessing an illegal firearm.

Kaieteur News understands that the suspects are pointing fingers at each other, with one individual confiding that he “cocked the gun” at Mr. Latchman, while denying that he fired the fatal shots.

Another alleged member of the gang has told the police that he waited in the getaway car and heard the gunshots. He claimed that his accomplices later ran to the car.

Under interrogation, the suspects indicated that a sixth man, who they called “‘Yankee” played a key role in the planning.

The suspects allege that while some of the bandits waited near the Latchmans home, an accomplice trailed the moneychanger from the city, and alerted those in wait that he was arriving.

Aaron Latchman and Arianna Latchman were shot dead just over a week ago after bandits cornered them in their premises and stole a bag of money from Mr. Latchman.

The father and daughter were laid to rest on Wednesday.

The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) has issued yet another cease work order against Wayne Vieira, a miner who holds a medium scale permit in Region One. This is according to Minister of State, Dawn Hastings.

A previous order had been struck down by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Minister Hastings said that the new order was issued after discussions with several officials, following complaints by representatives of Chinese Landing earlier this year.

The Toshao of Chinese Landing, Orin Fernandes, had held a press conference last May, and stated that the mining concession was issued to Vieira without the communitys free prior and informed consent (FPIC).

According to Sharon Atkinson, Vice Chair for the Moruca Sub-district Council, the concession was issued in 1995, after Vieira purchased prospecting permits to areas of the communitys land through an auction sale (lottery).

“GGMC converted those prospecting permits to mining permits, again without any notice to our community,” she had said back in May. When asked yesterday what was done to treat with the concerns of the residents, Minister Hastings said, “I did meet with the Toshao and Councillors from Chinese Landing. Subsequently, we had another meeting with the Minister of Natural Resources whereby they came to the conclusion that the miners permit was ceased.

The miner, at the moment, his working permit was ceased.

He was given a cease order.”

Since the CCJ already struck down one cease order, the Minister was asked on what grounds this one was issued.

She said, “… some part of the mining concession that was granted to the miner falls between that. So that, in itself has breached the Consti-

tution.”

“The cease order was granted by the GGMC, which is the authoritative body that looks after mining throughout the length and breadth of Guyana. And according to the Mining Act, it says if there is any breach of the mining act you can be a legal owner of the mining permit they have the right to give you a cease order. For example, if they found that you are polluting the water, or affecting the citizens, the GGMC can grant a cease order.”

The issuance of Indigenous lands without the FPIC of an Indigenous community is in breach of the Amerindian Act, not the Mining Act. This matter had been taken to the CCJ, Guyanas final court of appeal, and the court had ruled against a cease order being issued on the very condition the Minister iterated.

The Minister was reminded of that. In response, she said, “If I may say, its similar to what CCJ has ruled on this No Confidence Motion. I want us to understand that Guyana has its own laws.

Guyana is an independent country.”

In June, Minister Hastings had shown defiance of the CCJs ruling that the No Confidence Motion of December 21, 2018, was validly passed.

She had said, “CCJ cannot rule; Guyana has its own institution… Guyana is an independent country with its own independent laws.”

Yesterday, the Minister went on to state, “We have authoritative bodies and agencies that look after the interests and the welfare of our people… What I can tell you is that some of the concession that has been granted to him is directly within that titled land.”

The Minister was then asked whether Government disregarded the CCJs ruling.

She responded, “I did not say that.”

Kaieteur News contacted GGMC Commissioner Newell Dennison after the press con-

ference to confirm that a cease order was issued to Vieira. Dennison said that he is unaware of such an order being issued to the miner, but added that he would have to check the Commissions records to give a definitive answer.

In 2010, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) issued Cease Work Orders against Wayne Vieira, after realising that the issuance of mining concessions to him violated the Amerindian Act, because it was done without the FPIC of the community.

Vieira had contended that the order was not validly issued nor was it retroactively validated by the Amerindian (Validation Commencement) Act 2010.

The CWO was issued on November 26, 2010 under the Mining Regulations. Vieira had made several attempts since 2009 to secure a new agreement with the Village Council. His efforts proved futile. The CWO was subsequently issued under the Mining Regulations because of the absence of an agreement with the Village Council, as was required under the Amerindian law.

According to the CWO, the Mines Officer deemed the stoppage to be absolutely necessary for the maintenance of the public peace or for the protection of the States or private persons rights.

But Vieira moved to the High Court where he successfully challenged the decision to issue the CWO. That Court determined that the order could only be issued in relation to breaches concerning the Mining Act and not the Amerindian law.

The Commission took the matter to the Court of Appeal and won, following which the miner appealed to the CCJ. The Commission had argued that Vieiras attempts to reach an agreement to mine the lands, and his argument (Continued on page 14)

Saturday July 13, 2019

Kaieteur News

PAGE 13

Police ranks and relatives benefit from Medical Outreach Ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) as well as their family members benefitted from a health fair held exclusively for them on Thursday at the tarmac of the Training Centre, under the theme “Promoting and Fostering Healthy Habits for Long Life”. It was collaboration between the Ministry of Public Health and the GPF. The GPF is celebrating its 180th anniversary, and has a long list of activities planned, including church services, domino competitions, a swim meet, a route march, concerts and even sports.

Ms Iodelle Watson, the Force s Health Promotion and Public Relations Officer, welcomed all those in attendance to the activity, advising them to take full advantage of the services offered as they were all free and would prove beneficial to their well-being.

A large number of ranks from all of the various departments of the Force turned up to the event. Among the services offered were HIV Testing, Mental Counselling, BMI Testing, Vaccination, Dental Check Ups and Blood Sugar Testing. They were administered by persons from the Public Health Ministry.

Mens Health in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health administered a lecture on the said topic. The

Eye tests, blood pressure reading and blood donation were among the activities conducted at Thursdays Health Fair focal point was to raise awareness on a number of issues men tend to downplay or ignore like depression, basic hygiene, nutrition, as well as sexual and reproductive health. Deputy Superintendent Jewel Hayles-Sullivan, who is also the Police Welfare Officer, said that she was very happy to see the turnout of ranks which made the event a great success.

Also in attendance at the

event was Senior Superintendent and Deputy Force Training Officer, Mr. Fizal Karimbaksh, who took time to visit the various booths and spoke with representatives from the Health Ministry.

The Medical Outreach is part of the Forces Welfare Departments overall goal to ensure that members of the Force are fit and healthy and have access to quality healthcare.

It was the right time to propose the ganja amendment - Harmon Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency Joseph Harmon related that the Cabinets proposal to remove custodial sentences for small quantities of marijuana was put forward at “the right time.”

Those remarks were made by the Director General at a press conference held by the Peoples National Congress Reform yesterday.

“We have had this motion laid by one of the backbenchers of the National Assembly, and we have been deliberating on that matter from the time that motion was laid. We said that we [the government] were also going to wait on the study that was conducted by the Public Health Ministry and Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), and another study that was done

by CARICOM,” Harmon expressed.

He added that those studies have been completed, and there were some clear recommendations on the way forward. He said that, “we believe that it was opportune to deal with a sentencing amendment to the Act.” Harmon explained that now that the Government has

all different sorts of information at its disposal, the Cabinet was able to make a reasonable and informed decision on the amendment.

Meanwhile, member and representative of the Guyana Rastafarian Council, Khafra Messdjehuti expressed that he, and the council, are “not fully excited.” He further added that the government was, “wrong in delaying the matter so long,” and he firmly believes that “this proposal is just a political move”.

On July 02, the Cabinet approved a proposal that there should be no more custodial sentences for persons who are found to be in possession of 30 grams of marijuana or less. Cabinets decision will now be conveyed to Parliament where it will be fur-

40

ther debated to make the amendments to the relevant laws governing the Narcotics Act. Based on a recent report by the Caribbean Community, Cabinet gave this recommendation to support Rastafarians who require usage of marijuana in their worship and sacrament.

Cabinet stressed that the new decision does not mean that the possession of marijuana is no longer an offence, but persons will not be sentenced to imprisonment in accordance with the law.

Harmon further added during the press conference that he does not consider the government to be in a state of limbo, and that the government is “continuing the work of the people of Guyana.”

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Saturday July 13, 2019

Kaieteur News

“God forbid!! I didnt touch duh woman bag” - Porter tells Court A porter who was charged for allegedly carting off articles valued at $249,000 from a woman, was yesterday brought before a city court to answer to a larceny charge.

Forty-three-year-old Poonam Boodhoo of Supenaam, Essequibo Coast, was arraigned before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty in the Georgetown Magistrates Courts.

The charge stated that on July 10, 2019, at Robb Street Bourda, Georgetown, Boodhoo stole one black handbag valued at $7,500 containing $242,000, property of

Launna Brasse.

The defendant denied the charge that was read to him.

He then told the court, “God forbid!! I didnt touch duh woman bag, and if she say she see me tek she bag, something is definitely wrong with her eyes.” Police Prosecutor Annalisa Brummell made objections to bail being granted to the defendant based on the nature of the offence and the penalty it attracts. She also pointed out that the defendant and Brasse are known to each other.

She then revealed the facts of the charge which read

that on the day in question, Brasse fell asleep. After awhile, she felt something or someone pulling on her handbag and when she opened her eyes, she recognised it was Boodhoo.

The man then ran away with the bag containing the money. Brasse went to the Alberttown Police Station and made a report. Boodhoo was later arrested and charged for the offence.

Boodhoo was remanded to prison. His matter was adjourned until August 2, when he is expected to make his next court appearance.

Govt. issues another cease order From page 12 that he was treated unfairly, were irrelevant as the organisation was required by law to automatically issue the order.

Vieira, on the other hand, contended that not only was his conduct and treatment relevant, but that the Mines Officer was not authorised to issue the CWO for a breach of

any law other than the Mining Act. Upon review of the Act, the CCJ determined that the Minister responsible for the Mining Act could not make regulations under that law with a view to aiding or enforcing the requirements of another law the Amerindian Act. So Vieira retained his mining concession for the land.

Saturday July 13, 2019

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

PAGE 16

Saturday July 13, 2019

US$150M CJIA Renovation…

Modified Design remains elusive T

he modified design for the Cheddi Jagan International Airport is yet to be released to the public, though it has supposedly been given to several officials.

Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson had said that when this government assumed office in 2015, it noticed striking issues to the original design of the airport, accepted by the Jagdeo-led People's Progressive Party (PPP) Government. Hence, changes needed to be made.

Jagdeo has said he estimates that about $30M has been shaved off of the project, due to major

alterations made in the modified design.

Kaieteur News requested a copy of this plan from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure on June 25.

The approval of its release is subject to approvals by officials within the Ministry, according to Public Relations Officer, Krest Cummings.

Yet, Kaieteur News was informed by Cummings yesterday that the approval process has not yet started, because Minister Patterson has been busy with several outreaches.

Last Thursday, when asked for a copy of the design, Minister Patterson told Kaieteur News that he

Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

Opposition MP, Juan Edghill

has already given copies to Speaker of the House, Dr. Barton Scotland, and

Shadow Minister, Juan Edghill.

“I specifically made and

handed it over in parliament… They always claim they don't have information, so I gave it to him and gave a copy to the Speaker in the hope that whenever [Edghill] raises it,” the Speaker can attest that it has been handed over.

It should be noted that, when a document is laid in the National Assembly, it is handed over to the Clerk of the Assembly, not the Speaker.

When Kaieteur News checked with the Parliament Library yesterday, a staffer told this publication that if a document is not laid in the National Assembly, it would not be available in the library. This publication was also informed that the only documents available at the time, related to the airport, were its audited financial statements, for which the latest was of the year 2016.

This publication attempted to reach out to the Speaker's secretary, who had already left office, so that effort proved futile.

In a brief interview with Edghill, Kaieteur News was informed that he did, in fact, receive a copy of the modified design. Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, had said multiple times recently, that Minister Patterson would not release the design to the public, and urged the media corps to up the pressure on Patterson to release the design.

The Opposition had not attended Parliament for the last few sittings, since it indicated that it would be protesting what it considered an illegal Government after a three-month period had passed, following the passage of the No Confidence Motion on December 21, 2018.

So, if Minister Patterson gave a copy of the modified design to the Speaker and

Edghill when Parliament was in session, this would mean it was handed over months ago. It should be noted that though the Opposition was in possession of the design all this time, Jagdeo continued to accuse Patterson of keeping the design a secret, and urged the media corps as recent as June 27 last month, to up pressure on the Minister for its immediate release.

When Kaieteur News asked Edghill to provide a copy of the design, he said that he should not have to provide a copy of the design.

He added that Patterson, as the originator of the document, should be the one to provide it to the press.

This airport has been undergoing renovations for eight years, under three administrations. The completion date has been pushed back many times.

The last completion date, provided by Patterson, was June 30. But that has passed and the project has not been finalised.

Providing an explanation for the delay, Patterson said on Thursday last, that he would like a warranty to be provided for the HVAC [Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning] system.

That has not been done yet.

“When you start an airport, it never closes down,” he stated, explaining the need for the warranty.

“The supplier has a timeperiod that he runs it before he signs off, and they obviously started the commissioning late, so it should be handed over to us.

It was supposed to be handed over to us next week, or at the end of this week.”

Despite saying that he requires a warranty, the Minister went on to say that Government will be accepting the HVAC system w i t h o u t t h e H VA C certificate, because there's a defects liability period.

A defects liability period is a timeframe following practical completion, during which a contractor remains liable under the building contract. Patterson stated that that period has been in force for quite some time.

Kaieteur News

Saturday July 13, 2019

PAGE 17

GAWU readies to celebrate 100 years of trade unionism

T

he Guyana Agricultural and General Workers U n i o n ( G AW U ) o n Wednesday, July 17th, will convene a special conference as the trade union movement celebrates its centennial anniversary.

The conference which will be held under the theme “ A c e n t u r y o f Tr a d e Unionism – a 100 years of workers' struggles and achievement” will consider the advancements recorded since the first trade union appeared on the scene a century ago.

“In the era of trade unions in our country, the workers, and people of Guyana generally, have s c o r e d s e v e r a l achievements. A significant victory was the advent of Universal Adult Suffrage which has opened the way for Guyanese from all walksof-life to take part in national, regional and local elections.”

M a n y o t h e r improvements have included the right of Guyanese to belong to trade unions; the establishment of a national social security scheme; the recognition of equal pay for equal jobs, in addition to myriad of rights and conditions works enjoy in our contemporary times. The GAWU also recognises that the workers, along with other segments of the Guyanese people played a decisive role in the attainment of political independence and later were

in the forefront in the activities for the restoration of democracy.”

According to GAWU, it is intended that the conference will consider the contributions of trade unions and their leaders to lift, among other achievements, the living-standard and general enhancement of the lives of workers.

Addressing the conference will be GAWU's General Secretary, Seepaul Narine.

GAWU said that in his address, he will trace the development of the union movement in the country and point to some of the yet to be realised goals that are before citizens.

Addresses from the President of the Federation o f I n d e p e n d e n t Tr a d e Unions of Guyana (FITUG), Carvil Duncan and General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), Lincoln Lewis, are also slated to be delivered.

“The GAWU has also invited a representative of the political opposition, and Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Keith Scott will deliver a presentation as well.

Director of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Caribbean Office, Claudia Coenjaerts is scheduled to be present and take place in the Conference also.

And, President of the Senate of Grenada, Chester Humphrey is expected to deliver a presentation with

File photos: 100 years of trade unionism will be celebrated next week, with leaders expected to address a special conference on Wednesday.

special focus on the challenges and opportunities for the Movement in contemporary times. Senator Humphrey was a longstanding trade unionist, having served previously as the President of the Grenada Te c h n i c a l a n d A l l i e d Workers Union (GTAWU)

and was also General Secretary of the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL).”

The GAWU said it is pleased to organise this activity at this time.

“The centenary of trade unionism is undoubtedly a milestone achievement. The movement, as a whole, has

made a distinct and seminal contribution to our country and its people, and which,

we are sure, will continue as we set our sights on a better, and bright future.”

Kaieteur News

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Saturday July 13, 2019

Guyana no longer priority state regional funding for HIV prevalence …but adversely affected

S

ince Guyana has been reportedly no longer listed as a high priority state, overseas funding has been adversely affected, according to Artistes In Direct Support's Executive Director, Desiree Edghill.

Edghill noted that overseas funding has shifted to countries with the highest ratios of HIV victims, thus seeing her organisation, which was previously funded by 18 organisations, now receiving such assistance from only two. She expressed concern that those two agencies would also “close shop” with her entity, possibly by this month end.

She said Artistes In Direct Support is now mulling the idea of social contracting with Government, as well as approaching other avenues of global funding.

A.C.T., acronym for Accountability Credibility and Transparency, the foundation upon which Artistes In Direct Support stands, was laid twenty-two years ago and was the brainchild of the late Keith Andre Sobryan. His vision of a non-governmental

- NGO Executive Director

Artistes In Direct Support's Executive Director, Desiree Edghill organisation (NGO) focused on creating behaviour change through the use of their theatrical talents and peer education is kept alive through the hard work and dedication of Ms. Edghill and team.

Among their many objectives is Sensitisation on HIV through performing arts, HIV/AIDS prevention, Support groups and community mobilisation, providing linkage to care and treatment, and voluntary counselling and testing.

They also provide genderbased violence support

groups, Life skills and risk reduction counseling, Training of Peer Educators, Awareness sessions for inand out-of-school youths, dramatic presentations, and writing, directing and production of programmes and plays. They also aim to create and deliver a gendersensitive curriculum to institutionalised youths As statistics would dictate, the exact origin of the disease is unknown. The first reported AIDS case in the Caribbean occurred in Jamaica in 1982, followed by eight cases among gay and bisexual men in Trinidad and Tobago. In the early days of the epidemic, more men were affected than women. \ However, HIV/AIDS clearly was becoming a general population issue and was no longer a disease solely of gay or bisexual men.

Contrary to popular belief, the primary mode of HIV transmission in the region is heterosexual sex. The number of new HIV infections among women became and continues to be

higher than those among m e n . C u r r e n t l y, t h e Caribbean is the only area outside of Sub-Saharan Africa where women and girls outnumber men and boys living with HIV. There is a large degree of variation of HIV prevalence between the 21 Caribbean countries. Currently, there are two countries where the national prevalence is over 2 percent, those being The Bahamas, and Belize.

In Jamaica and Haiti, the HIV rate is estimated to be about 1.8 percent, while in Trinidad and Tobago the rate is 1.5 percent. The rate in Guyana and Suriname is between 1 and 1.1%. In Barbados and the Dominican Republic, the rate is 0.9% and 0.7% respectively. Cuba has the lowest rate, which is under 0.2 percent.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Caribbean appears to have been overshadowed by the seemingly more severe problems in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the countries with more active and highly visible activism.

Saturday July 13, 2019

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Kaieteur News

GuySuCo collaborating with GNBS to increase competitiveness The Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc. (GuySuCo) in collaboration with Belize Sugar Industries Limited (BSIL) and the Sugar Association of the Caribbean (SAC), is continuing its Joint-Work Programme in building stronger partnerships with local and regional stakeholders on both brown and white sugars, as well as related trade matters in the Caribbean region.

On Thursday, GuySuCo executives met with heads from various departments at the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS).

“The new Sustainable Business Model and Strategic Plan for GuySuCo for the period 2019 2021, is designed to ensure that the corporation operates and is managed at the highest level as a business; as such, quality assurance is being mainstreamed throughout the supply chain, value chain and in

other aspects of the business.

The GNBS is viewed as a critical partner in assisting the Corporation in building its capacity and ensuring that appropriate systems, guidelines and processes are aligned with national, regional and international standards,” GuySuCo disclosed yesterday, The GNBS has committed to supporting GuySuCo in addressing matters pertaining to its current products (brown raw and packaged sugar; and molasses), in addition to its valueadded products white sugar, co-generation and Cultural Heritage (Sugar) Tourism programme.

“The GNBS will provide support as it relates to certification for white sugar and relative to co-generation; support will also be provided on the required Energy Management standard, ISO 50001.”

Audreyanna Thomas, Corporate Communications Manager delivering GuySuCos presentation to representatives from GNBS and GuySuCo. GuySuCo said that the new Sustainable Business Model for GuySuCo focuses on the Triple Bottom Line (TBL or 3BL), meaning that its accounting frame-

Mahdia businesswoman shoots ex-worker during alleged rape attempt A 36-year-old man is in critical condition with bullet wounds to the stomach and hand after being shot by a woman miner he had allegedly tried to rape.

Police identified the victim as Benedict Patrick, of Charity, Essequibo, and said that the incident occurred early yesterday morning at Mango Landing, Mahdia.

The woman, who has been detained, reportedly said that Patrick had worked in a

mining operation that she and her husband own. She said he was fired a few days ago, but returned on Thursday, begging to be re-hired.

The woman reportedly told Patrick that she would have to consult with her husband, who was away at the time.

The fired worker stayed in her camp and consumed high wine with a friend, while the businesswoman went to bed.

It is alleged the woman awoke some hours later when she felt someone fondling her. She recognized the intruder as Benedict Patrick.

The woman, who owns a licensed firearm, allegedly discharged three rounds, shooting Patrick in the abdomen and arm.

The wounded man was transported to Georgetown and remains in an unconscious state at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

work will include three aspects: economic (financial), social and environmental.

“In relation to GuySuCos activities in the area of environment, the Corporation will be working closely with GNBS on ISO 14000 which is the Environmental Management Standard. Some standards are cross-cutting, such as the ISO 45001 - Occupational Health and Safety Standard.

This will also be integrated into the development of the Cultural Heritage (Sugar) Tourism product, a new business stream for GuySuCo.” This partnership building session has strength-

ened the relationship between GuySuCo and GNBS and clarified ways-of-worki n g t o g e t h e r, t o w a r d s GuySuCo becoming a resilient and sustainable business while complying with required standards.

Representing GNBS at the meeting were Shailendra Rai, Head - Product Compliance; Al D o n o v a n F r a s e r, H e a d Certification; Andrea Mendonca, Deputy Head Standardisation; Lisa Ahmad, Head - Human Resources; Syeid Ibrahim, Head - Marketing Communications and Keemo Fyfee - Deputy Head - Legal/Metrology.

GuySuCos representa-

tives included Rama Persaud - Commercial Manager; Vi j a y Gobardhan, Head - Factory Operations; Malika Jonas, Quality Assurance Mana g e r ; D w a r k a B a h a d u r, Manager - Special Projects; Audreyanna Thomas, Corporate Communications Manager; George James, Technical Process Controller and Olayemi Oyeyipo, Inspecting Chemist.

An essential aspect of this collaboration is to increase GuySuCos competitiveness, protection of the local and regional sugar market; and advancement and creation of additional market opportunities.

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Saturday July 13, 2019

Kaieteur News

GRDB granted extension Hotel owner granted bail, alleged hit man still on remand by CCJ to appeal judgment The High Court has granted bail to the owner of Rockies International Hotel on Light Street, Georgetown, while bail was denied for an alleged hit man. The two men are charged for conspiring to commit murder.

Now given pre-trial liberty is businessman Mark Grimmond, 57, of 320 Grove Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara; however, Chatterpaul Singh, 36, a miner, of 1 First Street, C u m m i n g s b u r g Georgetown, remains on remand.

The Preliminary Inquiry (PI) for the men is slated to begin in a little less than two weeks time on July 24, 2019, before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates Courts.

They were not required to plead to the indictable charge which alleged that between April 1, 2018 and June 7, 2019, at Georgetown, the defendants conspired with each o t h e r, a n d p e r s o n s u n known, to murder Dwayne Grant, a businessman from Lethem.

The magistrate had refused bail four times to the defendants, upholding the objection made by the prosecutor, which is on the seriousness of the offence and the strength of the evidence the police wish to present.

- Rice Miller’s application dismissed

Mark Grimmond

Chatterpaul Singh

Grimmond is represented by attorney-at-law Bernard Da Silva. He was pleading for bail for his client based on an ailment Grimmond is currently suffering from.

The defendant was granted bail in the sum of $500,000 by Justice Navindra Singh.

On the other hand, bail was also applied to the High Court by attorney-atlaw Arun Gajraj for Chatterpaul Singh, however Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall denied same.

According to the facts of the charge, Grant received certain information that the men were plotting to kill him and he reported it to the police. The police ranks acting on the report

went to a hotel where they made contact with the number two defendant, Singh.

Singh was arrested and at that point in time, he was reportedly found with a firearm. In a detailed conversation with the police, Singh reportedly admitted that he was contracted by Grimmond to kill Grant.

Grimmond was subsequently arrested and the allegation of conspiracy to commit murder was put to him.

Telephone conversations between the two defendants were obtained by the police. Based on advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions, the charge was instituted.

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Thursday dismissed an application for special leave, submitted by Rice Miller Arnold Sankar, to appeal against a decision made by the Court of Appeal of Guyana.

The CCJ agreed with the Court of Appeal that the Guyana Rice Development Board, the respondent in the case, should be granted an extension of time to seek leave to appeal, and leave to appeal the decision of the Full Court.

This matter goes back to 2016, when Mr Sankar sought damages in the amount of $99 million, for an alleged breach of contract by the board arising out of the purchase and sale of rice paddy.

The board’s case before Justice Diana Insanally was plagued by delays and procedural difficulties, but eventually the judge gave the Board an extension of time for the filing of its defence. Mr. Sankar successfully appealed to the Full Court which granted him judgment.

The Board’s appeal to the Court of Appeal was again marred by delays and procedural glitches, but the Court of Appeal agreed to give the Board an extension of time. The CCJ acknowledged that the Court of Appeal of Guyana had done the right thing.

The CCJ held that the Court of Appeal had the power to ex-

tend time in the interests of justice, and found that those decisions best served the interests of justice.

The CCJ found that in “arriving at a determination as to what was required in the interests of justice, a court should balance the interests of the dissatisfied litigant who wished to pursue a right of appeal, on the one hand, with the interests of the successful litigant who wished to have the satisfaction of the judgment in his favour without undue delay.”

The CCJ also agreed with the Board that several issues raised by their counsel, Mr. Timothy Jonas, required the consideration of the Court ofAppeal of Guyana.

The CCJ therefore dismissed Mr. Sankar’s application for special leave, but ordered that each party bear their own costs of the appeal.

The appeal was dismissed in a majority decision, 4-1.

Attorney-at-Law Anil Nandlall had moved to the CCJ seeking special leave to appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal, to extend time to file the appeal.

He is also seeking leave to appeal on the basis that the delay at the lower courts was excessive.

The lawsuit was filed by Nandlall and Associates on behalf of Arnold Sankar and Sons Rice Mills ofAiry Hall, Essequibo

Coast.

According to information, the milling company entered into an agreement with GRDB, which requested the company to purchase as much paddy as was available on the market at a price between $3,000 and $3,300 per bag.

GRDB had allegedly promised and agreed that it would purchase the paddy from the company at a price of US$490 per metric tonne.

But GRDB is said to have failed to deliver on its promise, resulting in the milling company filing action in the High Court.

In July 2017, High Court Judge Diana Insanally refused to grant judgment in the sum of $99,670,273 to the milling company after it requested that the matter be completed on the basis of a late defence filed by lawyers representing the State entity.

Sankar, being dissatisfied with the decision, appealed to the Full Court of the High Court before Justices Jo-Ann Barlow and Simone Morris-Ramlall who ruled that Justice Insanally ought to have awarded judgment at that point, as she would have become duty-bound to do.

The Full Court granted judgment to Sankar to the tune of $99,670,273, which allegedly amounted to monies he lost as a result of the breach in the paddy supply deal.

TSU rank shot and robbed A Tactical Services Unit rank was shot in the back and leg at around 05.00 hrs yesterday, during a robbery attempt near Costello Housi n g S cheme, Greater Georgetown.

Police identified the rank as Constable Shane Tobin, 26.

According to one report,

Tobin, who was out of uniform and unarmed, had parked his car in the area before visiting a friend.

He later left the friend’s home and was heading back to his car when two men attacked him.

Constable Tobin fled into a yard, but the robbers cor-

nered him and shot him in the back and leg. They reportedly then relieved him of his cell phone and a small amount of cash before escaping.

The wounded policeman managed to stop a taxi which took him to the Georgetown Public Hospital. He is reportedly listed as stable.

Saturday July 13, 2019

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Kaieteur News

“There is no other place to hide…

“Caretaker” govt. must ensure elections in 3 months – Jagdeo Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, yesterday challenged citizens to call the government “caretaker”.

This was hours after a morning session in the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), where the court stopped short of giving a date for elections, but said that the Constitution of Guyana spells it out clearly that elections have to be held in three months.

Over the last seven months, the country’s attention has been riveted on what happens next after a shocking no-confidence vote by the Opposition was carried on the evening of December 21st 2018 in the National Assembly.The Coalition Government, with just four years in office, challenged the validity of the vote.

It went to the High Court, which upheld the vote but ruled that Charrandass Persaud, a government parliamentarian who sided with the Opposition to carry the vote 33-32, was ineligible by virtue of the fact that he had dual citizenship with Canada.

The matter was taken to the Court of Appeal which ruled the vote was not carried and that 34 was the majority of the 65 seats. However, the CCJ in June ruled the vote was carried.

Yesterday, the CCJ issued a number of orders.

The CCJ noted also that it had expressed the view that it is expected that the Government will continue as a caretaker for the affairs of the country but that in light of its caretaker role, it should be restrained in the use of its legal authority.

Yesterday, Jagdeo said that the statements of CCJ on

the “caretaker” role of Government is perhaps the most profound of what was rendered and vindicated what the Opposition has been saying all along - that the Government can only prepare for elections.

He said the court actions have paused elections, but following the June 21st CCJ rulings, the pause button has been released and elections should be held in three months - by September.

While noting that the CCJ has not named a date, Jagdeo pointed out that the court has underscored what the Constitution has said – that the Government must resign and only remain as caretakers.

It cannot use the period until elections to file other court matters.

“All monkeying around stops,” a charged up Jagdeo told reporters yesterday at his Church Street office.

According to Jagdeo, a former president whose bid for a third term was turned down by the same CCJ, the Chief Elections Officer of GECOM and staffers have to comply with the court orders and the Constitution, and move with the utmost urgency and as soon as possible.

“There is no other place to hide and the court has finally decided.”The Opposition Leader also made it clear that this government cannot call Parliament.

Meanwhile, the Alliance For Change (AFC) which sits with the Coalition Government as the smaller faction, said it respects and accepts the recent consequential declarations and orders delivered by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

“The AFC maintains the court’s position on the appointment of former GECOM Commissioner James Patterson and recognizes that it is GECOM and GECOM alone that can determine a date and timeframe for General and Regional elections.”

The AFC said it notes, contrary to the view of the Opposition, that CCJ President Justice Adrian Saunders stated clearly “Article 106 of the Constitution invests in the President, the National Assembly and implicitly in GECOM responsibilities that impact on the precise timing of the elections which must be held, it would not therefore be right for the Court, by the issuance of coercive orders or detailed directives to presume, to instruct these bodies on how they must act and thereby pre-empt the performance by them of their c o n s t i t u t i o n a l responsibilities.”

AFC said that it is not, for example, the role of the court to establish a date on or by which the elections must be held or to lay down timelines or deadlines that in principle are the preserve of political actors guided by constitutional imperatives.”

The Alliance For Change further notes that the Caribbean Court of Justice went on to state emphatically that “the President and the Leader of the Opposition should, as soon as possible, embark upon and conclude the process of appointing a new GECOM Chairman, this imperative is of utmost urgency.”

According to the party, it strongly reiterates that this process is critical to ensuring public confidence in credible

general and regional elections.

“The party therefore urges that consultations between the President and the Leader of the Opposition must continue so that a new Chairman can be appointed without delay. Under a new Chairman, GECOM must urgently advise on the earliest date for holding credible elections. The Alliance For Change supports the holding of elections within the shortest possible time frame

by GECOM.”

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo

PAGE 22

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Tel#697-6311

Saturday July 13, 2019

Kaieteur News

Transported land 11.6 acres, Lot 15 Public road #2 Village W.C. B/ce 5 mins from B/ce Bridge. Contact# 686-4818/ 648-7109 CAR RENTAL PROGRESSIVE CAR RENTAL: CARS FROM $4000 & UP, SUV’sPER DAY- CALL: 656-0087 / 6435122,EMAIL:PRO_ A U T O R E N T A L @YAHOO.COM DOLLYS AUTO RENTAL CALL: 225-7126 & 2263693 -DOLLYS AUTO RENTAL @ YAHOO.COM/ W W W . D O L L Y SAUTORENTAL.COM AIDAN’S CAR RENTAL:PICKUP,9-11 SEAT MINI BUS, GOOD FOR AIRPORT & FAMILY OUTINGS, CHEAPEST RATE . Call: 698-7807 HEALTH HERBAL REMEDIES: DIABETES, INFERTILITY, MENSTRUAL DISORDERS, ENLARGED PROSTATE, KIDNEY, GALL STONES & SKIN DISORDERS ETC. CALL SPARMAN #676-5924

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LEGALNOTICE

LEGALNOTICE

Petitioner –and(DAVIDSON) ORNA ZORINA nee ENGLISH Respondent To the Respondent ORNA ZORNA DAVIDSON nee ENGLISH Lot 229 East La Penitence, Freeman Street, Georgetown, Guyana TAKE NOTICE that on the 18th day of February 2019 a Petition for Divorce was filed against you by JAMES GLADSTONE DAVIDSON, the Petitioner in the Family Division of the High Court in Georgetown, Demerara AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that as part of an Order made on the 13th day of March ,2019 the Petitioner was directed to effect service of his Petition on you by publication of this Notice in two (2) consecutive Saturday issue of the Kaieteur News Newspaper, a daily Newspaper printed, published and circulated in and around Guyana and on the Worldwide Web (Online) AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that if you desire you may appear or attend in person or by your duly authorized agent or Attorneyat-Law at the Registry of Family Division of the High Court at Georgetown, Demerara where you will be issued with a certified copy of the Petition together with related documents.

AND FUTHER TAKE NOTICE that if you desire to Defend this Divorce, then upon receipt of the certified copy of the Petition, you must file an Acknowledgement of Service, Notice of Intention to Defend (Forms are available at the Registry) Answer and/ or Cross Petition in the Registry of the Family Division of the High Court at Georgetown, Demerara within 28(twenty-eight) days after the date of the second and final publication of this Notice TAKE NOTICE that the divorce is fixed for Directions Hearing on Monday the 25th July,2019 at 9:00am before the Honourable Mr Justice Gino Peter Persaud in the Directions Hearing Room of the Family Division of the High Court at Georgetown.

IN DEFAULT of your filing an Acknowledgement of Service/Notice of Intention to Defend Answer and/or Cross Petition the Court may proceed in your absence and may make any Order it considers appropriate, including granting the Divorce.

The Registry of the Family Division of the High Court is located at the Law Courts, [Georgetown, Demerara]. The office is open to the public between 8:00am and 3:30pm Mondays to Thursdays and 8:00am to 2:30pm on Fridays except on public holidays and on such other days as the Registry is closed.

Dated the 13th day of March, 2019

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Saturday July 13, 2019

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Kaieteur News

Teen jailed for stealing Murder of fruit vendor at Stabroek Market…

Father freed, son committed bus drivers money A teen who was caught by public-spirited persons and handed over to the police after trying to run away with a bus drivers money, yesterday appeared before a city magistrate where he was sentenced to prison after admitting to the offence. Daniel Wilson, 18, of Diamond, East Bank Demerara, appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates Courts before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty.

The charge stated that on July 10, 2019, at Lombard Street, Georgetown, Wilson stole $24,620 in cash, property of Oslyn Roberts. The defendant first denied the charge that was read to him.

Police prosecutor Annalisa Brummell made objections to bail being granted to the defendant based on the nature of the offence and the penalty it attracts, and also the fact that the defendant was positively identified by the virtual complainant.

The facts of the charge read that on the day in question when the defendant was confronted by the virtual complainant (Roberts) he attempted to run away, but he was caught by persons in the area along with police ranks

Jailed: Daniel Wilson on patrol duties.

After Wilson was caught he handed over the money to Roberts. He was then arrested and taken into police custody where he was charged. Prosecutor Brummell ended her statement by mentioning that the evidence against the defendant was very strong.

It was then that Wilson decided to change his not guilty plea to guilty. He then offered to give an explanation to the court.

He said that, “When I come down to town in a bus I went walking when I see the money in the bus door. When I collect the money, he see me, so I start run, but some people ketch me and I give back the man he money.”

“He start cuff me up in me belly and dem other people start beat me up and calling me a thief…Watch your worship, my skin still bruise up from when they beat me,” Wilson added, while displaying his alleged injuries.

After listening to his explanation, Magistrate McGusty sentenced him to six months imprisonment, citing that he is a young man and therefore he has no need to commit such acts.

Wilson then told the court that he was under pressure from a previous magistrate who he is before in relation to another matter.

“Madam the other magistrate putting me under pressure, cause she tell me I must pay the other person in that matter some money and we done, but I dont know where I getting all that money, so she pressuring me. I dont thief madam, just give me a chance.”

Murder accused gets 3 years on ganja charge Odel Roberts, who is currently on remand at the Camp Street Prison on a murder charge, was yesterday sentenced to three years in prison and fined $30,000 for trafficking in narcotics.

Roberts appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty, and admitted to the ch a r g e which read that on July 3, 2019, at Camp Street Prison, Georgetown, he had in his possession 102 grams of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking. After pleading g u i l t y, h e o ff e r e d t o give an explanation to the court. “ I t ’s t h e p o l i c e fault my worship, when I deh at the hospital, one ah me family bring a food for me. I did not know that the weed was in the food, but moms, the police dem does have to check everything we collect, but dem police ain’t check the food.”

He went on to explain that, “Is till when I open the box and start eat I see the weed, the fried rice was on top

and the weed was at the bottom. I believe that I was set up, because dem suppose to check it moms.”

Police Prosecutor Annalisa Brummell then read the facts of the charge, which stated on the aforementioned date, at about 08:00 hours, Roberts was escorted to the Georgetown Public Hospital to seek medical attention.

While waiting for treatment, he collected a box of food from someone.

Upon his return to the prison, a search was carried out and a quantity of cannabis leaves, seeds and stems were found in the food box.

He was told of the allegation and in a caution statement admitted being the owner of the said cannabis.

After listening to both sides, Magistrate McGusty then sentenced the defendant to prison for three years and instructed that he is to pay a fine of $30,000.

Meanwhile, Paul Smith, 45, of Thomas Street, K i t t y,

Georgetown, was also sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and fined $2M by Magistrate Dylon Bess at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts where he was also on trial for trafficking in narcotics.

The charge against him alleged that on May 18, 2018, Smith had 4.934 Kilograms of cannabis in his possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Yesterday the magistrate ruled that he was of the opinion that the prosecutor had provided sufficient evidence against the defendant for a conviction and as a result handed down the sentence.

According to reports, police ranks in a search of Smith’s home discovered the cannabis.

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to stand trial in High Court

As the Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the murder of 20-yearold fruit vendor Richard Noel came to a close yesterday, the Magistrate discharged 54-yearold James McKenzie, but his 20year-old son, Timothy McKenzie, was committed to stand trial at the High Court.

The men, both of Lot 126 Thomas Street, Kitty, Georgetown, appeared before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty in the Georgetown Magistrates Courts where their PI was being conducted.

They had not been required to plead to the indictable offence which alleged that on June 4, 2018, at Stabroek Market, Georgetown, they murdered Noel, a resident of William Street, Kitty.

Yesterday after the prosecution closed its case in the matter, Magistrate McGusty ruled that a Prima Facie case had been made out against Timothy McKenzie and as result he was called upon to lead a defence in his trial.

As it relates to James McKenzie, she ruled said that the prosecution was contending that he gave his son the weapon which was used to kill Noel, however all of the witnesses that were called failed to give evidence concerning that contention. The magistrate consequently discharged him.

Committed: Timothy McKenzie (in front) and Freed: James McKenzie When Timothy McKenzie was asked if he had anything to say to the court in his defence, he downed his head and said, “I have nothing to say.”

He will make his next appearance at the High Court for the commencement of his trial at the next practicable sitting of the Demerara Assizes.

According to reports, the murder allegedly stemmed from an old grievance between Timothy McKenzie and Noel.

McKenzie had reportedly hit

Noels sister and the young men had gotten into a fight.

One year later, McKenzie allegedly met Noel and was heard asking him if he wanted “a problem.” Noel allegedly walked away, however, it is alleged that McKenzie ran behind him and stabbed him twice to the chest.

Noel fell to the ground. He was later rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries one day later.

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Saturday July 13, 2019

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Kaieteur News

Saturday July 13, 2019

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Kaieteur News

Who's Who in National Junior...

(From page 30)

Safirah Sumner - Relatively new to squash, this is Safirah’s first CASA. Spending a lot of her time focusing on exams this year Safirah has now dedicated herself to doubling up her efforts to participate in Junior CASA and to give a good account of herself. Hoping to gain some valuable experience this year, this athletic player will be moving up the ranks very quickly.

Carl Ince (Coach) - Coach Ince continues to motivate and train his students in an innovative and fluid way and continues to produce Caribbean champions. The successes he has been a part of are numerous and his hope of recapturing the Caribbean title this year is stronger than ever.

Recognised for his outstanding contribution to Squash many times over, he is an icon in Caribbean Squash.

Nyron Joseph (Assistant Coach) - A fully fledged coach; Nyron continues to learn from Coach Ince while mixing his own experiences into his own unique style of coaching, A significant factor in this year’s squad training regime, Nyron hopes to see his students show great improvement and play to their full potential.

Deje Dias (Assistant Coach) - Deje has been working closely with the squad over the past few months and is a real motivation to the youngsters. His experience as a junior player provides great stories for his students and working in collaboration with head coach and fellow assistant coach, he feels the team is a strong unit ready for the competition.

Saturday July 13, 2019 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) You may have been looking forward to a social event, group activity, or perhaps a get-together with a lover today, but circumstances beyond your control throw some unexpected obstacles in your way.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) Although you've been feeling especially strong physically over the past few days, Taurus, today you might feel a little under the weather.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Emotional matters could hit the fan today at a social event or group meeting of some kind.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) Stress might be getting the better of a household member today, Cancer. This person feels emotionally volatile. The least irritation could set off a temper tantrum.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Friends, neighbors, and relatives could be feeling especially stressed out and explosive today, Leo. This isn't a good day to initiate intense communications with them.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) The economy could well take a small dip, and you might hear from people expressing concerns about financial matters. Don't take them to heart, and certainly don't worry about your own financial condition. The trend will probably reverse itself soon

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Oppressive stress on you or those close to you could cause disconcerting upsets within your relationships today, Libra.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Stress could take a toll on you today, Scorpio. You might temporarily lose your ambition and be left wondering if it's all really worth it.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Surprising new developments in close friendships or love relationships could come your way today, Sagittarius. Someone might move away or perhaps move closer to you.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Unexpected developments might interfere with your home life or with plans to spend a quiet evening with your family, Capricorn.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) You may be looking forward to talking on the phone with someone dear who lives far away, Aquarius, but circumstances beyond your control could get in the way.

Perhaps you keep missing each other PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Although business and money matters continue to go well, some rather unsettling news regarding either your finances or the economy in general could reach you today, Pisces.

Garfield Wiltshire (Manager) - A decade manager of the Guyana Team, Garfield has been a part of many successes.

Honoured with the National Award; The Golden Arrow of Achievement this year, his long standing contribution to the sporting world was deservedly recognised. The manager is hoping to see the team regain their Team titles and add a few more individual titles to their achievements this year.

Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Georgetown...

From page 30 automatically seal their place in the National Championship in August.

To date Beacons [Bartica Champion], Melanie-B [East Coast Demerara winner], Brothers United [West Demerara/ East Bank Demerara winner], Trafalgar [Berbice champion] and High Rollers [Linden champion] are the teams to have secured automatic berths to the national championship.

Below features the fixtures for the Elimination matches.

Elimination Fixtures Saturday Fixtures-July 13th-Burnham Court Tarmac (1)Rising Stars vs Good-over-Evil (2)Ol-Skool Ballers vs Sophia (3)Albouystown-B vs Berlin (4)Kingston vs Broad Street (5)Bent Street vs Charlotte Street (6)Future Stars vs Sophia United (7)Leopold Street vs Pike Street (8)Queen St Tiger Bay vs Smyth Street

PAGE 28

Cricket fans warned over World Cup tickets on unofficial websites AFP - Cricket World Cup chiefs yesterday warned fans wishing to attend the final at Lord’s between England and New Zealand against paying thousands of pounds on secondary ticket websites.

England trounced Australia by eight wickets to seal their spot in the final, where they will be looking to clinch their first global 50over title.

The prospect of witnessing the host nation make history has led to a frenzied demand for tickets, with some put up for sale on unofficial resale platforms.

The cost of many of the tickets exceed £1,000 ($1,250) while some are upwards of £5,000.

The International Cricket Council reiterated its stance that it is “actively monitoring and taking action” against

England out to cap ODI transformation in World Cup final

The Cricket World Cup trophy.

(AFP/File / Oli Scarff) those trying to sell on secondary platforms.

Cricket’s governing body warned it can “cancel the accounts and tickets we see

being sold on secondary sites” and that the only way supporters can guarantee a ticket is through the official resale site.

WIFBSC Team to 150th Imperial Meeting getting ready to fire from July 18 in the UK The West Indies Fullbore Shooting Council (WIFBSC) 11-member team to the 150th Imperial Meeting of the National Rifle Association (United Kingdom) in Bisley is rearing and ready to take on the rest of the world from July 18th, next.

With sponsorship from a number of entities and individuals they were able to produce a Team Jacket for this historical event. According to Adjutant of the Team, Guyanes e b a s e d U S A shooter, Sigmund Douglas, he is happy with the response to the request by all towards producing the jacket.

“I would like to, on behalf of the team to thank all those companies and individuals that have contributed to this project. This team would strive to do its best in the competition which would be tough but we will persevere.”

The companies contributing are Industrial Safety Supplies Inc., Crown Mining Supply and Concept Innovation Security Inc. The individuals are Mahendra Persaud, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ret’d) Paul Slowe, President of the WIFBSC Major (ret’d) D. John Nelson JP, Norris Gomez, David Dummont, Lindley Scott, Carl Reid, Nelson Simmons, Wilbur along with the New York based trio of, David Lam, Lamart Williams and Abraham Araya.

Saturday July 13, 2019

Kaieteur News

A sample of the Team Jacket Guyanese Lennox Braithwaite will perform duties as Captain of the team; himself along with John Fraser (Guyanese/ USA based), Anderson Perry (Antigua & B a r b u d a ) , R e v. O l s e n Daniels (Antigua & Barbuda) along with Douglas would be arriving in the UK next Wednesday while another Guyanese,

Dylan Fields would be departing on Sunday.

Perry and Daniels would be making their respective debut at Bisley. Already in England are Trinidad and Tobago duo of Norris Gomez and Michael Perez (drafted in last week) as well as the UK based pair of Chalkie White (St. Kitts & Nevis), Caroline Gomez (Trinidad and Tobago).

England’s Ben Stokes hits a shot from which he is caught.

(Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith/File Photo) LONDON (Reuters) - Eoin Morgan’s England can cap a stunning white-ball transformation in tomorrow’s Cricket World Cup final but awaiting them at Lord’s will be a New Zealand side chasing their own slice of history.

Twenty three years after Arjuna Ranatunga’s rag-tag Sri Lankan side clinched the title in Lahore, Lord’s will anoint new 50-over world champions after Australia and India, who shared the last five titles between them, wilted in the semi-finals.

Of the two protagonists who will square off at the ‘home of cricket’, the hosts have more at stake.

Morgan’s men are agonisingly close to completing a remarkable turnaround since being dumped out of the 2015 edition following a defeat to Bangladesh, a setback that changed an otherwise Ashesobsessed England’s approach to one-day cricket.

They have since reinvented themselves as a ruthless one - d a y juggernaut, routinely racking up 300-plus scores with a fearless brand of cricket to reclaim the top ODI ranking last year after a five-year gap.

“It’s been a process for the last four years,” Morgan said after his team e n d e d A u s t r a l i a ’s t i t l e defence at Edgbaston.

“In 2015 we were way off the mark. We struggled against the top teams, and the teams that sat below that, so there was quite a drastic change in the way we played and the way we looked at playing our 50over cricket.”

They now parade an

intimidating deep lineup with Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow, comfortably the most destructive opening pair in contemporary cricket, leading the charge upfront.

Their 124-run stand in T h u r s d a y ’s s e m i - f i n a l against Australia was their fourth successive century partnership in the tournament.

Morgan described Joe Root as the ‘glue’ in the lineup which includes a bevy of swashbuckling match-winners such as Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes.

They have had a potent pace attack but Barbadosb o r n J o f r a A r c h e r ’s spectacular rise has added an extra dollop of hostility.

One indication of the significance of the moment is that the final will be shown live on free-to-air television, a first since England’s victorious 2005 Ashes series.

“Very cool, particularly given the 2005 Ashes for me was sort of the day cricket became cool,” Morgan said.

“Throughout the whole summer, the game was on the front and back page of every newspaper going around, everyone was talking about and it that is really good for the game and it’s the game I love so it’s great news that it’s on free-to-air.”

MORGAN WARY OF ‘DIFFICULT’NZ Morgan, however, will not take anything for granted, especially against Kane Williamson’s team who upstaged India in the first semi-final in Manchester.

Matt Henry and Trent Boult blew away India’s

vaunted top order in a lowscoring thriller and with Lockie Ferguson in the ranks, they could be quite a handful for any batting lineup.

“I think New Zealand throughout the whole tournament has been probably the hardest side to beat and the best side in the group stages,” Morgan said.

“I think their performance in the semi-final was probably their best.

They will be a difficult side to beat on Sunday.”

The 2015 finalists began well before three back-to-back defeats nearly scuttled their campaign in the group stage.

Against India, Williamson and his men showed how to defend a low total against a strong lineup, complementing their accurate bowlers with trademark sharp fielding.

The only grey area is their batting, which relies too heavily on Williamson, comfortably their leading run scorer with a tournament-high 91-plus average.

Ross Taylor topscored for the team against India but opener Martin Guptill has been woefully out of form since his 73 not out in their opener against Sri Lanka.

Known for punching above their weight in the World Cup, New Zealand have the chance to go one better than their sevenwicket defeat to Australia four years ago.

“I’m sure people back home are pretty excited and, you know, another great opportunity to play in a World Cup final,” Williamson said, promising to “play our best cricket” tomorrow.

Saturday July 13, 2019

PAGE 29

Kaieteur News

Sir Garfield Sobers Intentional Schools cricket tournament

AL Sport & Tour Promotions NSC Cobenna Memorial Schools Windball Cricket

QC’s Persaud & Jaikaran share in record double century opening stand Ketley and Winfer Gardens in After a no-result in their winners row in latest action opening game and a victory in their next match in the 33rd annual Sir Garfield Sobers 40over International Schools Cricket tournament, Queen’s College of Guyana remained unbeaten after three matches when destroyed Trinidad’s St Mary’s College by 10-wickets on Thursday in Barbados.

The right handed Mavindra Persaud reached the boundary 12 from the 106 balls he faced in an unbeaten 105, while the left handed Brandon Jaikaran finished one short of his hundred from 117 balls decorated with eight fours as Queen’s College galloped to 227 without loss with 3.2 overs to spare relying to a challenging 226-4 in their allotted 40 overs at Gall Hill.

Batting first the Trinis were spearheaded by solid batting from Jahrel Nedd who made 60, Nicholas Ramlal who scored unbeaten 50, Andre Seetaram who contributed 48 and Gerard Chin with 30 as Navindra Persaud picked up 2-33 for Queen’s College.

Persaud and Jaikaran flayed the hapless bowlers to all parts of the small ground with the first unbeaten double century partnership in the 2019 tournament and the first ever by a Guyanese school since Covent Garden, captained by Zaheer Safie, became the first school from Guyana to participate in this tournament in 1998.

At Windward: 360 Cricket Academy beat The Business School Guyana by seven wickets as the other Guyanese school in the tournament, slipped to their third defeat in as many matches.

The Business School were bowled out for 141 in 37.2 overs despite Akeem Critchlow’s 55 and 41 from Tathesh Shivrattan. Hugh Sheriff had 3-18, Jed Collins took 2-17, Tyler Small captured 2-17 and Anay Baruah got 2-22 for 360 Cricket Academy who reached 142-3 in 29.1 overs.

Results in the AL Sport & Tour Promotions National Sports Commission 22nd Edition End of School Year Edward Cobenna Memorial Primary Schools Windball Cricket Champions Trophy organized by Sports Officer A. Munroe, show wins for Enterprise and Winfer Gardens primaries.

In the Girls’ competition - Ketley won the toss and batted first, they scored 81-0, with Tattinna Gordon 50 (4s-

11) and Ommanna Vanderhyden 26.

Enterprise folded for 541, with Tyra Wilson 40.

In the Boys division Winfer Gardens posted 1231, Shane Prince 48 (6s-6), Dellon Wray 32 and Dorwin George 30.

Ketley fell short at 72-0, Randy Collins made 38 and Ezekiel Frank David 14.

Enterprise scored 99-2, Moses Cordis 40(6s-6) ad Colin Gravesande 29.

Saint Pius 81-4, Jeremiah Griffith 18, Jaden Jero 12.

Grahams Hall reached 501, Taj Paul Mangro 16, Romario Williams 15.

West Ruimveldt 51-1, Vikash Asran 24, Joshu Gomes 16.

Enterprise scored 112-1, Khy Atkinson 58 (6s-7), Moses Cordis 48 (6s-4).

Ketley 110-2, Christopher Nurse 46 (4s-9), Ezekeil Frank David 37 (6s-4), Randy Collins 16.

Young Guyanese athlete Harrison making waves in the US Double trouble! Mavindra Persaud (left) & Brandon Jaikarran became the first pair of openers from a Guyanese school to share in a double century opening stand.

- Joins Brown, Daley, Durcan as June Athletes of the Month Eight-year-old overseas based Guyanese; Alpha Harrison of Brooklyn, New York has been selected as the USATF New York Youth Athlete of the Month for June 2019 after some outstanding performances.

In the New York Junior Olympic Championships that was constested on the weekend on June 15-16, Harrison won the 100m (14.40s) and the 200m in (30.20s), while finishing second in the 400m with a time of 1m 15s.

On June 22nd in the Youth Challenge Series, the youngster completed the

sprint double again with a time of 14.71s in the 100m and 31.52 in the 200m.

At the USATF Youth Championship in North Carolina that was contested from June 25-30, Harrison won the 200m in 29.69seconds, a new record for the USATF New York Zone.

In the 400m he finished second with 1m 8s which was also a record time for his zone.

He capped off the Youth Championship with a 14.58s performance in the 100m that was good enough to see the young Guyanese finish second in the race.

Alpha Harrison Harrison joins Tai Brown, 19, Lisa Daley, 49, and Ciara Durcan, 16, as the other Athletes of the month.

(USATF website)

Hamilton Green 9-a-side Inter Ward Cup final to be played tomorrow - Dennis Edwards and Sparta Family sponsors’ day’s activity Mavindra Persaud drives during his unbeaten century in B’dos on Thursday.

360 Cricket Academy were spearheaded to victory by Lachlan Shaw (41), Ben Jones (37 not

out), Hugh Sheriff (18 not out) and Lachlan Ball (18) as Tathesh Shivrattan took 2-30. (Sean Devers)

NSC “Teach Them Young” basketball set for July 22 - NSC Table Tennis camp commence same day The National Sports Commission July August “Teach Them Young” programme will be staging a Basketball Camp set to commence on July 22 and will conclude on August 2.

Registration fee is $1,000 and will be done at the National Sports Commission Head office Homestretch Ave. Sessions start at 09:00am and conclude at 12:00pm Monday to Friday.

Meanwhile, the NSC’s July - August

“Teach Them Young” Programme will be having a Table Tennis Camp which will be commencing on the 22 July, and will conclude on the 23rdAugust. Registration will also be done at the National Sports Commission Head office Homestretch Avenue.

Registration Fees $1000 and Sessions start at 01:00pm and conclude at 03:00pm Monday to Friday.

Dennis Edwards and the Sparta Family are the sponsors of tomorrow final day of competition in the Hamilton Green Inter Ward/ Village 9-a-side Knockout Football Tournament which will conclude with eight matches at the Den Amstel ground, West Coast Demerara.

Coordination Lennox Arthur indicated his intent to ensure the tournament is concluded tomorrow once excess rain doesn’t fall.

Action starts at 3:00pm with the remaining playoff games followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and final under lights provided by Brian Tiwari of BK International Company.

The 30-minute games, which will be divided into 15-minute halves with a 5-minute interval, opens with Mahaicony coming up against Bagotville at 3:00pm followed by Timehri against Charlestown, Soesdyke face Lilliendaal, Pouderoyen versus Sophia, Goed Fortuin play De Kinderen, Bourda Blues take on Mocha, Den Amstel Back Street battle Zeelugt and Uitvlugt oppose Vreed-en-Hoop.

The winners of these games advance to the quarters, with the respective winners going onto challenge for a spot in the final.

Sudden death penalties will be used to

separate the sides in the event of a draw at the end of full time. The no offside rule and all of the FIFA rules will be in effect.

The champions will take home $300,000, while the runners-up team will collect $100,000 with both teams getting the Prime Minister’s Trophies which were donated by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.

The player with the Most Goals will receive a Home Dinette Chair from China Trading, while the footballer who scores the second most goals will be presented with a Lazy Boy chair from AH&L Kissoon. The Best Goalkeeper will collect the Minister of Natural Resources trophy.

Trayon Bobb (4), Adrian Aaron (3), Jamal Harvey (2) and Tyrone Khan (2) are the current top goal scorers in the tournament.

Among the sponsors of the tournament are: John Fernandes, Courtney Benn, Techno mills, Ready mix, Sattaur Gafoor, Sparta Family, E.C Vieira, BEV Enterprises, BK International, IPA, New Thriving, Ricks and Sari, E-Networks, Star Computers, NAMILCO, Cummings Electrical, National Sports Commission, Star Entertainment, Alfro Alphonso and the Prime Minister.

PAGE 30

Djokovic holds off spirited Spanish challenge to reach Wimbledon final

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning his semi-final match against Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut. (REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge) LONDON (Reuters) - Top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic held off a spirited challenge from Spanish outsider Roberto Bautista Agut yesterday to triumph in four sets and advance to tomorrow’s Wimbledon final against Roger Federer.

Remarkably the 6-2 4-6 63 6-2 success was the Serb’s 12th victory in his last 13 Grand Slam semi-finals and he is now one win away from his fifth title at Wimbledon and 16th Grand Slam singles crown.

The match turned on an amazing 45-shot rally in the seventh game of the third set, which Djokovic won to hold serve and stay a break up – and from then on he took total control as the Spaniard, who had looked calm and confident in his first Grand Slam semi-final was eventually brushed aside.

“I had to dig deep. It’s the semi-finals and Roberto was not overwhelmed,” Djokovic, 32, said.

“He played really well. He was managing his nerves in the first set but later on he established himself and started to play better. I got a bit tight. It was a close opening four or five games of the third set - that’s where the match could have gone a different way.”

Bautista Agut flashed a brilliant return past Djokovic

Saturday July 13, 2019

Kaieteur News

from the first serve of the match but he barely threatened for the rest of the set as his high-risk approach produced too many errors and a provided a straightforward set win for the favourite.

The second was a different story as Bautista Agut dialled back a little and found that he was able to outduel the master. Djokovic was making uncharacteristic errors on seemingly simple shots and was frequently left staring skywards, questioning himself.

Bautista Agut snatched a break in the third game and served superbly to back it up, dropping only four points in five successful service games to level the match.

REALMATCH The Centre Court crowd, most of whom were probably focused on the big-gun showdown to follow, realised they had a real match on their hands and they were treated to a superb third set. It, and probably the match, hinged on the seventh game as Djokovic, a break to the good, served at 30-40.

The players then smashed out their remarkable 45-shot rally, much of it a mesmerizing exchange of identical crosscourt backhands that had the crowd gasping before Djokovic blinked first to switch the angle of attack and take the point with a

devastating winner.

It was the longest rally officially seen at Wimbledon since records began in 2005 and Djokovic duly served out and stayed on top to take the set.

The champion then took command in the fourth set, cutting out the loose groundstrokes and picking up points with adventurous serveand-volley attacks, and after breaking for a 2-1 lead he never looked back.

Bautista Agut had no answers but can be pleased with his efforts in what is turning out to be the best year of his career, having never previously reached even a quarter-final at a Grand Slam.

The 31-year-old can now join his friends on a belated stag break having had to postpone his plans to jet off to Ibiza after his unexpected progress to the last four in London.

Djokovic, however, has got more business to attend to.

“Regardless of the history and many finals I’ve played, playing a final at Wimbledon is something different so I’ll definitely enjoy that experience,” he said, adding that he would be watching as much of the Federer-Nadal match as he could.

“I’m a fan of that matchup as well,” he said. “It’s one of the most epic rivalries of all time so it’s fantastic to see them play today.”

Vintage Federer holds off Nadal to reach Wimbledon final LONDON (Reuters) - A vintage display by Roger Federer took him past Rafael Nadal into the Wimbledon final in an eagerly-anticipated first grasscourt duel between the great rivals for 11 years yesterday.

The 40th career meeting between the golden duo with 38 Grand Slam titles between them, swung this way and that before Federer

seized control to claim a 7-6(3) 1-6 6-3 6-4 victory.

World number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic now stands between the 37-year-old Federer, the oldest finalist here since Ken Rosewall in 1974, and a record-equalling ninth Wimbledon title in tomorrow’s showpiece.

Ansa Mcal Non-Alcoholic Brand joins with RHTYSC/BCB for Youth Information Booklet

RHTYSC Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster receives sponsorship from Ms. Gabriella Lopez of Ansa Mcal as Errol Nelson and Fhlaris Mohamed look on.

Long standing sponsor of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, MS, Ansa Mcal (Guy) Ltd, has once again joined hands with Guyana’s leading Non Governmental Organisation to make a positive difference under the Company’s Non-Alcoholic Brand. The Company is pumping $300,000 into the publication of one thousand copies of a Youth Information Book for youths in the Ancient County especially those involved in Sports.

Secretary/CEO of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, Hilbert Foster stated that the Booklet is a major part of the Club’s highly successful Say No/Say Yes Campaign. The ten Cricket Teams of Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club under the programme, advise youths to Say No to Crime, Suicide, Drugs, Alcohol, Tobacco and Yes to Education, Life, Sports, Religion, Culture. The Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club is working along with the Berbice Cricket Board with the Ansa Mcal sponsored Booklet Project to make sure that thousands of youths playing the game of cricket are fully informed of the social ills they would face and to get them to make correct decisions.

The 40 Pages Booklet would be published at the F

& H Printery in Georgetown and would provide information on twenty five topics of importance to youths including the Importance of Education, Importance of Discipline, HIV/ AIDS, Suicide, Choosing Friends, Personal Hygiene, Public Manners, Role of a Sports Ambassador, Importance of Religion, Public Speaking, Peer Pressure, Drug Abuse and Sports Etiquette.

The Booklet would also have important information for young cricketers, so that they would understand their roles as role models and students of the game.

Foster, who is also the President of the Berbice Cricket Board, hailed the publication of the Booklet as another major effort by the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, MS to offer sports and education as a positive alternative to a life on the road, involving crime, drugs and alcohol. He praised the support of Ansa Mcal who he described as a foundation of the successes of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club over the years and hailed the cooperation of Brand Manager Errol Nelson, Gabriella Lopez, Fhlaris Mohamed. He committed the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club to playing a major role in the promotion of the Company in a positive way.

Foster disclosed that the Non-Alcoholic Section assisted the Club in successfully hosting its 29th Award Ceremony and the two organisations would be working together in the future on other projects including the 2019 Christmas Village. The Non-Alcoholic Section also renewed its sponsorship of the RHTYSC, MS Television Programme.

Brand Manager Errol Nelson hailed the outstanding relationship between the Club and Ansa Mcal as it continues to make positive difference in the lives of others. Ansa Mcal, he stated was pleased to be associated with the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club as it was well known for its work.

He expressed confidence that the objectives of the Booklet would be achieved and looks forward to similar projects in the future.

Ansa Mcal over the last two decades has sponsored or co-sponsored numerous programmes for the Club including Annual Awards Ceremony, Annual Youth Review Magazine, Annual Cricket Academy, Christmas Village, Charity Programme, Say No/Say Yes Campaign, Ansa Mcal Award of Excellence, Tribute to Outstanding Teachers and Mother of the Year Award.

BCUA classes continue today The Berbice Cricket Umpires Association training sessions are set to continue today at the BCB office at 13:00hrs.

The classes on the Laws of Cricket, which commenced on May 27, will be held every Saturday.

A release from the GCUA stated that their statutory meeting for July will be held on Saturday 20 at 1:00pm at the BCB Office, after which the classes will continue.

Facilitators for today are Clement Brusche and Imran

Moakan with assistance from Shawn Coonja and A. Outar.

Four candidates are set to undertake the final written exams; Abbas Hussain, Ragendra Sooknanan, Muntaz Alli and Ingram Johnson.

Kaieteur News

Saturday July 13, 2019

PAGE 31

Who's Who in National Junior Squash Team The Junior National Squad will be travelling to Trinidad on 12th July, 2019 to take part in the Caribbean Squash Championships and today Kaieteur Sports presents a profile of the players and Officials aim make Guyana proud in the Twin-Island Republic.

David Fernandes (President of the Guyana Squash Association) Long serving President David has been involved in squash for a long time and has had the pleasure of seeing many family members enjoy successes in the game. Passionate about sport for youths, he is a motivator and mentor to every team member. David looks forward to an exciting CASA this year.

Grant Fernandes - Grant is competing in his first Junior CASA this year. The 10 year old started playing squash 2 years ago and is just excited to be in Trinidad competing. This young dynamo loves to be on court and is looking forward to making some new friends.

Samuel Ince-Carvalhal - Samuel has improved significantly this year in both his game and coaching. A minor injury halted his Nationals bid, but his dedicated training and increased strength has pushed him up a level and will help him compete against his peers as he moves up to th U17. This will be his 5 CASA and he has put in the work to hopefully make it a successful one.

Nicholas Verwey - Nick has been playing squash for the last 2 and half years. This year being his second CASA experience, he is delighted to be representing Guyana. Last year Nicholas placed fifth in the Boys U13 category. This year he is looking forward to competing against some of the old faces and match up with the new faces in the U15 category. Much improved this year he is playing great squash.

Makeda Harding - Makeda started playing squash in 2011 and represented Guyana from 2013-2017. She took a break from squash last year and focused her energy on Hockey but has recently resumed squash training and hopes to perform to the best of her ability as she enters the U19 category. A strong player with good experience Makeda is looking forward to the challenges of her new category and achieving good results.

Madison Fernandes - Madison has competed in four Junior CASA tournaments and she placed 4th in the under 15 category last year. She took a break from squash for a couple of months to concentrate on her hockey but is back hoping to do even better in her first year in the U17. Madison loves fitness training which will be of great help to her on court.

Abosaide Cadogan - After coming over from badminton just over four years ago Abosaide quickly picked up the game of squash. A swift climber, her athleticism and strong will has moved her into achieving great successes. Under 17 and 19 National Champ this year her goal is to better nd last year's 2 place finish, earn her first CASA title and help the team reach the top.

Kirsten Gomes - This will be the 5th CASA for the Under 15 National Champ, who came 3rd in U15 at Junior CASA last year. She is looking forward to competing this year and is feeling confident her team has a shot at bringing home the title. Kirsten has shown great improvement in her fitness and game after working very hard and will be a powerful force to be reckoned with in her last year in the U15 category.

Mohryan Baksh - It's been a good year for Mohryan who won the under 13National title. He has been playing squash for almost 6 years and he has racked up some valuable experience in 3 CASA's. He is hopeful the 4th will see himbring the U13 title home. Mohryan's discipline and dedication have paid off as is evident in his improvement.

Louis DaSilva - This will be Louis's 3rd CASA and after winning the plate in both Guyana and Jamaica he has great expectations for this year. He took time out for study earlier in the year but he has been training every day to make up for it. His calm demeanor is an asset on court. Squash is Louis's favourite sport.

Joshua Verwey - 11 year old Josh has been playing squash for 2 and half years. He is very excited to be playing in his first CASA and looks forward to playing other boys in his age category from different countries.

His enthusiasm comes from observing the competitors at last Junior CASA in Jamaica where he supported and cheered his older brother and other Guyanese friends.

Shomari Wiltshire - The long time champ has been developing each part of his game this year and continues to progress at a rapid pace; playing intelligent squash. Shomari won the nationals U17 and U19 titles and was honoured with the award of Guyana's 2018 junior sportsman of the year by the National Sports Commission. His quiet confidence is well placed as his consistent training makes him a formidable opponent.

Gianni Carpenter - Gianni has spent some time away from squash while he focused on Motor racing but has since come back full force and worked hard to improve his game.

The left hander is looking forward to being part of the team this year and will be giving 100%.

Daniel Islam - After a move to the US and a shift in focus to his studies, Daniel is pleased to be back in the fold leading his team in the U19 division in Trinidad. He has kept in touch with Coach Ince to ensure he followed the right training plan leading up to CASA. Always a great talent and a joy to watch, his first time in U19 will be an exciting time for Daniel.

Shiloh Asregado - With two CASA's to pull from, youngster Shiloh has been busy preparing for his third and is hoping to make his mark in his move up to Under 13.

Michael Alphonso - The reigning U13 champ has been working really hard going into his 4th CASA. Mikey won the U15 Nationals and placed 2nd in the U17 and U19. His goal is to help Guyana regain the overall team title. This talented young athlete is a strong player who has a broad repertoire of shots under his belt and speed to match up to any of his peers.

Quinn Lilico - This is Quinn's 4th CASA and he looks forward every year to coming from the UK to represent Guyana. He has achieved great successes with his local team this year

Tianna Gomes - The youngest member of the squad, 8 year old Tianna is a newcomer to squash and will be competing in the U11 category.

She is hoping to gain valuable experience in her 1st CASA. Tianna is an enthusiastic lively character both on and off the court and she is so excited to be taking part this year.

Christiana Fernandes - Christy is competing for the third time in the U11 at Junior CASA. She has been working really hard each week to prepare for the competition in which she will try her best to be victorious in. Fast on and off the court, her racket skills are becoming more mature and she will be putting all her efforts into her matches.

Beau Fernandes - Beau is competing in her 2nd Junior CASA after finishing 2nd in the U11 division in 2017 and skipping 2018. The powerful 12 year old is keen to get back into competition this year. Such a happy and positive young lady, she is a real asset to the team.

(Continued on page 25)

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Saturday July 13, 2019

Kaieteur News

Serena and Halep chase milestones in Wimbledon final LONDON (Reuters) Serena Williams no longer wants to obsess about elusive Grand Slam “number 24” and Simona Halep is desperate to win Wimbledon more than to stop the American reaching that milestone but there will be no place for either to hide in today’s final.

No matter who wins the title decider on Centre Court, the one thing for certain is that it will be a historic occasion.

The 37-year-old Williams is chasing an eighth All England Club singles crown which would see her match Australian Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 major singles titles.

National pride will be at stake for Halep as she bids to become the first Romanian to win a singles title at the spiritual home of grasscourt tennis.

Halep said if she dwelt on Williams’ records over the past 21 years it might be game over before she stepped on court for a contest compatriot

and gymnastics great Nadia Comaneci said would be “watched by every Romanian alive on the planet”.

“I will focus on myself. I’m not thinking about her record.

Her records are huge already.

It’s nothing about that. It’s just a tennis match, big challenge, a great match. So I will try just to give my best,” said Halep, who has lost just one set so far.

A quick study of their rivalry would also suggest Williams will probably be the one holding aloft the Venus Rosewater dish considering she has won nine of their previous 10 meetings.

The 27-year-old Halep’s only victory over Williams was almost five years ago, while the American has won all three of their Grand Slam clashes, including at Wimbledon in 2011.

So which memory from those tussles will Williams rely on as she gets ready for what could be one of the most memorable days in the history of women’s

Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Georgetown Championship commences tonight All roads will lead to the Burnham Court on Carmichael and Middle Streets when the second night in the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Georgetown Championship commences.

In the opening match, Rising Stars will oppose Good-over-Evil at 19:00hrs, while Ol-Skool Ballers engage Sophia-A at 19:30hrs and Albouystown-B tackle Berlin from 20:00hrs.

The fourth fixture will pit Kingston against Broad Street from 20:30hrs, with Bent Street battling Charlotte Street at 21:00hrs and Future Stars opposing Sophia United from 21:30hrs.

In the final two matches, Leopold Street match skills with Pike Street from 22:00hrs and Queens Street Tiger Bay takes aim at Smyth Street at 22:30hrs.

According to an official release from the tournament coordinator Three Peat Promotions, “We envision another competitive and thrilling night of action that is certainly expected to entertain the large crowds that will always swarm to the venue.”

The release further said, “The tournament is in its 10th year and many giveaways will occur to the loyal fans and

communities that have played their part in making this tournament a phenomenon.”

The competition will be hosted for the duration of seven days. The first two match-days will feature elimination fixtures, with the respective winners progressing to the group stage.

The other playing dates are July 19th, 20th, 26th, 27th and August 3rd.

The group round will be played over the following three nights, with the top two finishers from each section advancing to the quarterfinal and subsequent semi-final round.

The eight teams which fail to advance from the group round will comprise the Guinness Plate Championship.

Three venues are slated to be utilised. They are the National Cultural Centre Tarmac, Burnham Court and the National Racquet Centre.

The overall winner will (Continued on page 25)

tennis?

BIGGEST KEY “The biggest key with our matches is the (6-0 6-2) loss that I had. I never forgot it,” said the 11th seed, who is also bidding to become the first mother to triumph at Wimbledon since Australian Evonne Goolagong beat American Chris Evert in 1980.

“She played unbelievable.

That makes me know that... she can get there again. So I have to be better than that.

“There’s so many impressive things about her.

Obviously her tenacity, her ability to find power. Can’t underestimate her. She’s like a little powerhouse. I feel like she’s back. She wants to prove that she can do it again.”

Halep will also take heart from their battle at this year’s Australian Open being a close one and the fact that she has more than just an A-game in her repertoire.

“I have a better game these days. I can play everywhere, against anyone.

When I go on court... I know how to change some things when (other things)

don’t work very well,” said the 2018 French Open champion.

“Now, I believe that I have my chance to win against her.

I respect a lot what she has done and what she’s doing.

But I feel mentally stronger facing her.”

A ‘Plan B’ or even ‘Plan C’ could come in handy for Halep as Williams was at her devastating best in a 59minute destruction of unseeded Czech Barbora Strycova in the semi-finals.

Moving as smoothly and striking the ball as crisply and as powerfully as at any time in her career, the American has so far unleashed 45 aces and won 83 percent of her service games.

Playing mixed doubles with Andy Murray, albeit in a losing cause this week, has also helped her to sharpen her volleys - an ominous sight for anyone on the opposite side of the net.

Williams has already had two failed attempts in finals to win that 24th major - after contesting last year’s Wimbledon and U.S. Open showpiece matches - and, regardless of what she says,

Simona Halep of Romania celebrates as she wins the women’s singles semi-final match of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships against Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine. (Photo by AFLO) everyone knows the American wants that record.

“I just trained and I trained and I trained to get physically more fit. So I’m definitely at a different place,” said Williams.

“It’s really not about 24 or 23 or 25. It’s really just about going out there and giving my best effort no matter what. No matter what I do, I will always have a great career.”

Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship – Group A

‘Lady Jaguars’ aiming to place in the top two; first test is against Bermuda tonight Guyana will open its quest for top group honours when the nation makes its debut in the Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship this evening at the Leonora Track and Field Facility against probably the most experienced team of the group, Bermuda from 21:30hrs.

Group A play which will open at 19:30hrs with Suriname and St. Lucia battling each other also has Antigua and Barbuda in contention.

Head Women’s Coach of Guyana Seniors Women’s Team and the Under-20s Dr. Ivan Joseph is confident that given the challenges endured arriving at this final selection, his young charges would give a good account of themselves as they seek to make themselves and country proud.

“This is part of our rebuilding programme so we’ll be hopeful to look to place in the top two, to put forward what we’ll call momentum as we continue to build our programme.

This is part of the, I think necessary foundation block for us to move

forward to get more competitions.”

Wi t h r e g a r d s t o n o t selecting a captain or captains, Joseph said that his experience with coaching, especially women’s teams is that they are leader full and his strategy would be to delegate those responsibilities across the team rather than just giving one or two players those responsibilities.

“Part of our job as coaches is to make sure that we develop as many women’s leaders as we can and that’s the process of no captains.”

Coach Joseph who has been with the programme for just about one year now, said it has been a challenging job to arrive at a lineup that would be impactful given the fact that players are based in Guyana, Canada and the USA as well as him having so to do after seeing the players as a unit in just about one or two sessions.

Another challenge Joseph highlighted would be building a competitive chemistry as the starting X1 would be playing as a unit for the first time against the Bermudans

having not had any warm up matches prior to this competition.

“Again, when resources are tight you have to do the best you can within the confinements of the tournament.”

Sharing the head table with Joseph at yesterday’s Press Briefing at the Ramada Hotel were Taylor White (Goalkeeper) and Lensey Adolph, a Defender.

Tr e v o r Anderson, Coach of the St. Lucia Team informed that their objective is to win the tournament and is looking forward to good football being played.

“I’m expecting as a team that they follow the objectives of the technical staff, that’s the goal we need to achieve.

Some of the players were on the senior team, just about four of them, so it’s a mixture of senior and youth. The age group is between 17 to 20.”

Suriname’s aim here also is to qualify for the next round in first or second place, “Nothing less than that”, their Head Coach boasted.

Head Coach of the B e r m u d a Te a m , N i k i t a

Robinson followed the same line of her coaching colleagues in that they are here to win the group and advance to the second round.

“This is a very young but experienced team, quite a few of these players have played in the U15, 17 and some at U20 level already.

Quite a few have played against the USA as well so they know what it takes, they have been preparing very well for this so the coaches are very happy with the level that we’re at and the level we’re going to play at.”

Robinson noted that they have respect for all the opposing teams as all have been harbouring thoughts of winning the group but they {Bermuda} would be playing, “Our game and focus on the things that we have to do, we do it right, we would be successful.”

Its was also stated by Robinson that Bermuda is in a state of rebuilding, citing that the men’s team has had success as well as their Under15 and 17 teams in the past two years, “So this is the next step for us at U20,” she posited.

Kaieteur News

Saturday July 13, 2019

PAGE 33

Semifinal action between Kwakwani and Queen’s College.

The Kwakwani under-14 boys team.

YBG-NSBF Finals tonight at CASH The respective finals of Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) National Schools’ Basketball Festival (NSBF) National Playoffs, tips off tonight at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) on Homestretch Avenue, with Kwakwani featuring in each of the respective three matches.

In the under-18 final, six-time champion Kwakwani Secondary will face first time finalist President’s College, who will try to become the first East Coast team to win the under-18 championship.

In the girls’ division final, two-time defending female champion, Marian

Academy, will try to hold off a very talented Kwakwani Secondary, but will have to do so without the service of MVP Point Guard Jada Mohan, who has recently migrated.

St. Stanislaus College (Saints) will try to continue their fairytale run all the way to championship against the super talented Kwakwani under-14 team.

The 14th edition of the National School Basketball Festival is sponsored by Edward B Beharry and Company Ltd, Banks DIH, Exxon Mobil, the National Sports Commission, Bounty Ltd and John Fernandes Ltd.

ExxonMobil U-14 school football tournament resumes today The Kwakwani female Basketball team for National Schools tournament was among those present at Gymnasium on Saturday night.

Director of Sport bestows gold medal of acknowledgment on Archer Robert Singh Play in the ExxonMobil under-14 schools’ football tournament resumes today at the MOE Ground.

F

ollowing two weeks of intermittent rains, the second annual ExxonMobil Under-14 schools’ football tournament resumes today at the Ministry of Education (MOE) ground on Carifesta Avenue with 14 matches from 10:00hrs.

There will be a total of six matches in the Girls 7/13/2019 10:00 hrs 10:00 hrs 10:50 hrs 10:50 hrs 11:40 hrs 11:40 hrs Boys 7/13/2019 12:50 hrs 12:50 hrs 13:40 hrs 13:40 hrs 14:30 hrs 14:30 hrs 15:20 hrs 15:20 hrs

girls’ division and eight in the boys’ as the round-robin stage continues in the tournament that is also being supported by the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH).

The respective top performers in the boys’ and girls’ division will see a project of their choice being done at their school.

Today’s full fixtures are below.

Round 3 Ministry of Education Ground Match # Uitvlugt vs Lodge 13 New Campbellville vs Tucville 14 East Riumveldt vs St Mary 15 Charlestown Secondary vs St Stanislaus 16 Anns Grove vs Annandale 17 Dolphin vs Richard Ishmael 18 Round of 16 Ministry of Education Ground Match # Marian Academy v/s East Ruimveldt 37 Cummings lodge v/s Ann’s Grove 38 St John’s v/s President College 39 Carmel Secondary School v/s Golden Grove 40 Dolphin Secondary v/s Tutorial 41 St Mary v/s New Campbellville 42 North Ruimveldt Multi v/s Queens Town Secondary 43 Lodge Secondary v/s Charlestown Secondary 44

From Left: Secretary-General Mrs. Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon, Robert Singh, Director of Sport Christopher Jones and Head Coach/Director of Archery Guyana Mr. Nicholas Hing.

At a Mid-morning Tuesday last Special Presentation Ceremony organized by the National Sports Commission, Archer – Mr. Robert Singh was honored with a presentation of the Gold Medal of Acknowledgement for outstanding achievement at an International Sporting Event by the Director of Sports Mr. Christopher Jones.

The accolade was in honour of Archery Guyana’s performance at the recently concluded 3rd Annual Caribbean Beginners and Developmental Championships held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on June 28-30, and Singh, Guyana’s sole representative secured medals in all of the

events.

These events saw contestants from eight countries: Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Colombia, British Virgin Islands, St Kitts & Nevis, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana. These Championships were organized as a stepping stone to prepare for World tournaments and games for Caribbean Archers who have not competed in a World Ranking event.

Present at the Ceremony were Archery Guyana Secretary-General Mrs. Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon and Head Coach/Director of Archery Guyana Mr. Nicholas Hing.

Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship – Group A

‘Lady Jaguars’ aiming to place in the top two; first test is against Bermuda tonight

Under-20 ‘Lady Jags’ Head Coach Ivan Joseph flanked by Taylor White (left) and Lensey Adolph.

Ready for the Challenge! Representatives of four of the competing nations from right, Bermuda, St. Lucia, Guyana and Suriname.

t r o Sp

Serena and Halep chase milestones in Wimbledon final Serena Williams of the United States during the women’s singles semi-final match of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships against Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic. (Photo by AFLO)

Djokovic holds off spirited Spanish challenge to reach Wimbledon final Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning his semi-final match against Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut.

(REUTERS/Toby Melville)

Vintage Federer holds off Nadal to reach Wimbledon final

Switzerland’s Roger Federer celebrates after winning his semi-final match against Spain’s Rafael Nadal. (REUTERS/Carl Recine) Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd., 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown. Tel: 225-8458, 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/226-8210.