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Monday June 01, 2020
Kaieteur News
Kaieteur News Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: SHARMAIN GRAINGER Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210
EDITORIAL
Collision of coronavirus and local culture Suddenly, Guyanese are compelled to manage themselves, and they have no use for it. Much preferred are the indiscipline and disorderliness of the daily routines that characterise our national commitment to chaos. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, an overwhelming number of us encounter extreme individual difficulty in battening down and behaving ourselves. We just do not have it in us anymore and, worse still, we have no interest in learning or improving. Suddenly, there is this strangest in civility, these unwelcomed barbarisms on Guyanese life. It is, not just of forming a line and being forced to stay in the line, but this unprecedented requirement-of maintaining separation, via the standard of social distancing. After decades of swaggering refusal to comply with any rule, of breathing down (literally) the necks of waiting neighbours, and of planting self (almost literally) in the shirts of total strangers, there is this invisible menace that halts many in their tracks. It took the unseen to bring some Guyanese to their senses. To be accurate, it is some small segment of their senses, and this is due to compulsory circumstances. At official levels, we are doing well with what is in place, which is indicative of the sensible, practical, and safe. On the other hand, in the private sphere, there is chronic resistance in many public places from many people. Like ornery mules, there is sturdy obstinacy, through balking and dragging of feet, with citizens just not wanting to comply. The speculation is that if this is occurring in bright daylight, then far worse could be the norm in private spaces when out of sight. To mention the troubling, this is dangerous, as in unconscious and unconscionable spreading of the life threatening. The alarms from many leading health overseers are that collectively, citizens have earned a failing grade. This is disturbing for those who adhere to the rules in every element required. Yet, they are placed in danger by the reckless and stupid. On Sunday, the media reported that the COVID19 National Task Force is close to expanding upon the precautionary measures operational. This is going to be a problem, because if so many already take serious issue with so few restrictions, then the prospects look rather poor for compliance when there are additions to what exists. It needs no great statistical prowess to appreciate that continued objection to and noncompliance with the coronavirus limitations increases the probability of a Guyanese contagion significantly. Neighbouring countries such as Brazil are hurting badly from a heavy coronavirus assault, while Venezuela is reeling from that and many crippling social woes. Add to that Guyana’s porous borders and a ready release for pent-up fears and pressures is available. We do not have much with which to offer a robust and credible defence against any incoming foreign carriers or already existing sources inside the domestic realm of the dreaded virus. Yet, we make merry by making fools of ourselves when we do not listen and when we insist on doing things our way, which is the old nationally disorderly way. Some examples should help to bring home what we play with carelessly. Complying pensioners waiting in line to collect monthly allowance repeatedly have to tell others to stay within their boundaries. It is illuminating that even among wise elders, there is indiscipline and impatience. Next, the bars do not even try to appear closed in some locales, and where they do, there is that local phenomenon of Guyanese style speakeasies: the side door, or the slot to exchange orders, cash, and commodity, or the closed doors with the festivities in full swing. There is the stress relief of hard liquor mostly, since it is cheaper by the liter and income streams have disappeared. Law enforcement has warned of curfews to be enforced through serious crackdowns. The chemicals and music drown those warnings. Then, the municipal markets are mainly masked but with much mingling, which is too close for safety. These examples should suffice, as to what we are not doing, how we are dismissing, and where we could be heading. Local insensitivity to well-intentioned regulations collides with the now settled local culture of disarray through the disobedient and the distressing.
George Floyd protests should make all Guyanese pay attention DEAR EDITOR, As the George Floyd protests rage escalate across the United States, I hope that all Guyanese are paying close attention that we consider ourselves forewarned, that we be sensible. For what we have here, is not police brutality, but brutality of the ballot box. It is the constitutional knee on our necks, with the plaintive pleas about being unable to breathe following. I warn again that fires are raging, and we would do well to listen. No matter how extreme I am, and I can be so sometimes, I am not an alarmist. I am a realist: hardnosed, clear-eyed, and bare-knuckled. I will call things today in this unsparing, definitely ruffling, likely scorching, manner. Should any be inexplicably and irrationally offended, I extend a handshake; it is of the usual variety with fingers in a connected whole. The brutality of the ballot box has plagued us and wounded us and drained us as a nation; our best prospects are no longer here, the dregs fight and claw. The customary crookedness from decades ago has returned with a vengeance in this most crooked of national elections. I have said repeatedly, it is not of who cheated, but who cheated more, who is more skilled at concealing the trail of acute wrongdoing, engaging in the continuum of nationwide electoral
brutalities. The opposition PPP claims that the Coalition under the PNC armada of groups cheated blatantly; for its part, the PNC now contends that it is the PPP, which cheated more. Who to believe? Whose word could stand here, when most have been of endless vagabondage when in office or in their personal lives? His Excellency, the Ambassador from the EU, has spoken glowingly of an ‘impressive’ process on March 2. I applaud him for his trust. But with both warring groups, and their supporting casts, contending that they have been ‘massively’ robbed, I submit that impressiveness does not equate to immaculateness. Immaculacy of elections day process, yes; but, immaculacy of input, I say a loud resounding no. I say this because what we did have is a criminal enterprise run by political henchmen, long accustomed to pulling the wool over the eyes of the gullible and walking away with the plunder of a tainted process. The PNC has had a long history of such egregious misconduct. The PPP protestations to the contrary, has proven to possess remarkable imitative powers in the field of elections skullduggeries. Its leaders and agents have studied and applied, and the results are what bring to this clashing pass. From these now serialized brutalities come that
unique Americanism of garbage in, garbage out. And over this, we rage with the fires that burn harshly within the hearts of both camps of contenders. It is because of this, I asked very seriously at the beginning of this writing whether we have found the time from our elections obsessions to appreciate the depths of feeling, of injury, of agonies of the George Floyd protestors, who take to the streets when atrocities keep repeating themselves without respite, without resolution. I say this, once again, whichever side loses come June 13 (or December 13), the desired social tranquility will not follow. One more time: The anticipated communal and national peace will not be forthcoming. I submit this on the firmest of grounds: That losing group, whichever it is, will have conditioned itself and people, and readied both, through the indoctrination that they have been deceived and defrauded and disenfranchised. It is that their votes do not matter, their lives and the quality of existence yearned for from the oil do not count. I do not think that there will much need for too much inciting, as the bitter antagonistic seeds have had the longest of sowing seasons. There will be no conceding by anyone. Here we do not have layers upon layers of localised and overall national protections, a la the United
States with its city and state police, its National Guard, and its near infinite reserves at the Pentagon. Neither manpower nor resources are present here, which means great vulnerabilities and great perils. Accurate or not, and right or wrong, there are the formidable beliefs that when this is over and the foreigners go home, that we will all do the same; that we will do so quietly and orderly with our disappointment and failure. I would hate to think that there are so many of my compatriots, who are dumber than me or that they believe that notions of democracy will stem the tide. Look at America at this moment, where democracy is eons ahead of Guyana. Let me say this now and in the most unambiguous manner: The PNC cheated post-elections in its studied attempts at one machination after another. I say this also: When I sift through and analyse all the shrouded mysteries of the pre-elections period, it is crystal clear that the PPP engaged in wholesale and clever preparations that set the stage for the manipulations and massive cheating that is now claimed by the PNC. Like the man from Europe said an ‘impressive’ day it was on March 2. The PPP, like the proverbial student of time immemorial, became better than the original teacher; 28 years in the wilderness is a long time of political apprenticeship. Part of the problem is that there are no takers from the opposite side that the other (Continued on page 5)
GECOM has the right, responsibility and jurisdiction to investigate the incidences of deceased and migrant voting and every other statistical anomaly DEAR EDITOR, It was only two months ago and the memory of strident demands for verification, transparency and credibility in the tabulation and declaration of results for District 4 is still searing and fresh. Western governments and missions, international observer missions, local observer and civil society groups and respected personalities, political parties outside of government and the PPP/C, in particular, agreed and supported legal actions, street protests and demonstrations (often violent), and threatened economic and criminal sanctions to force GECOM to conduct investigations, not sanctioned by the law at the time, into alleged improprieties by the Returning Officer of District 4 and to forestall and prevent
a declaration in favour of APNU+AFC. The overwhelming local and international pressure led to a CARICOM-brokered agreement between the President and the Leader of the Opposition that was supported by all contesting parties, as well as other domestic and foreign entities claiming to have an interest in our elections, and to a GECOM decision and order for the conduct of a National Recount of ballots including the following; 1. The reconciliation of the ballots issued with the ballots cast, destroyed, spoiled, stamped, and as deemed necessary, their counterfoils/stubs; 2. Authenticity of the ballots and the number of voters listed and crossed out as having voted; 3. The number of votes cast without ID cards; 4. The number of
proxies issued and the number utilised; 5. S t a t i s t i c a l anomalies; and 6. O c c u r r e n c e s recorded in the Poll Book. The PPP/C has always been uncomfortable with this broad remit and has tried valiantly to dismiss the numerous irregularities and to minimise their significance. Their most recent threat to employ the courts to frustrate the collection of damning and incontrovertible evidence of their electoral misadventure is destined to fail as it is clear to almost everyone that GECOM has the right, responsibility and jurisdiction, under its Gazetted Order 60/2020 of May 4, 2020, to investigate the incidences of deceased and migrant voting and every other statistical anomaly brought to its attention including the disappearance/
unavailability of 33% of Poll Books and the rejection of numerous Disciplined Services ballots for want of official mark. Ballots rejected for want of official mark (unstamped) is the only category of rejected ballots that is solely the responsibility of the Presiding Officer/ Assistant Presiding Officer, not the elector, and should be a rare occurrence, and rarer still where Disciplined Services ballots are involved since they are all together and stamped at the same time. The PPP/C has clearly abandoned all pretence of concern for transparency and credibility in favour of concealment and denial, and seems unable to mobilise and inspire the support it enjoyed a few months ago. Sincerely, Oscar Dolphin
Monday June 01, 2020
The world is in a recession DEAR EDITOR, An online news entity published an article on May 28, 2020, “PSC requests no quarantine for stranded Guyanese with negative COVID test”. I agree with the point of the PSC where they attempt to address the affordability of Guyanese citizens stranded across the world and the further cost of coming home as opposed to staying wherever they are. We appreciate the strategies and ideas discussed by your respected bodies and the constant fight to further protect the lives of the Guyanese people while supporting the business community during this economic slump. Gita Gopinath, IMF’s Chief Economist, referred to this financial crisis the entire world is going through as “The Great COVID Lockdown”. Now the real question is why is it that there are only two private facilities (the hotels which will serve as quarantine facility)? Why aren’t more hotels being used? How were these two hotels shortlisted, what criteria were used? Not only to give more options to the people who will be coming home but to help the economy. Why wasn’t it public knowledge that the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) was interested
in allowing hotels to house persons who chose to do so? The idea should be pitched to the government representatives that are currently running the show. Why not display another alternative asking for other hotels and housing facilities the opportunity to rent their facilities as these businesses are also attempting to survive during the pandemic and by doing so enable an equal opportunity for employees of the businesses who are mostly Guyanese to earn a living during these hard times. The hospitality industry isn’t the only industry that could provide services to these citizens during their 14 days quarantine. What about the food catering industry? Where these businesses have enabled the opportunity to provide services at a competitive price as these persons also need food to survive since different persons also have different food preferences. Why is food being screened by the civil defence force? Why weren’t contracts negotiated with businesses and market vendors to provide food items to persons while also certifying that these items have not been in contact with persons that had COVID-19? How can the civil defence force completely certify items delivered to them by families
of the quarantined persons that the items do not contain COVID-19? (Which would be encouraging congregations at their facilities I must say) In an attempt at preventive measures why wasn’t there an increase in health measures to allow the food industry the ability to still allow cooked food to these citizens? Also, why not allow the transportation industry (taxis), the ability to deliver food items that the citizens prefer, whether it is from fast food enterprises or market stalls? This enables a further group of individuals to earn money to afford basic living essentials. Articles further published by news agencies have identified the number of layoffs businesses facing however no word from the government of the day of cutbacks or measures that would enable improvement of our current standard of living situation. There is a worldwide economic downturn, some economists fear this global recession could last a very long time and that is the worst recession since the Great Depression. There is a need for opportunities. If the opportunity was presented to the public, it would enable price competition which is (Continued on page 6)
Bringing home stranded Guyanese DEAR EDITOR, I am writing concerning the above subject. I am very happy that the authorities are bringing home stranded Guyanese. But on the other hand, I am very sorry for some who cannot pay $200 to do the COVID test and in some areas, the test is not done there. From what I have been reading , I learnt that even one may test negative today, and they can be tested
George Floyd protests... From page 4 did not cheat and heavily. This is what we Guyanese are faced with, with our own ‘rednecks’ and cartels pushing for preselected outcomes. I had warned years ago about the latter, too, in one of my tomes. As should be obvious, I have gone past cheating. My interest is on how this nation will go on breathing. Because if and when we do not get clean oxygen to sanitise our elections brutalities, then the rest will follow. America today stands as our counsel and caution. It stands as our promise and our plight. Sincerely, GHK Lall
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Kaieteur News
positive tomorrow and vice versa. Although one tested negative and boarded the plane, when they arrive in Guyana, they can be tested positive. In this regard, I am humbly pleading with the authories to please allow all the stranded Guyanese to return to Guyana and then be tested. However this testing can be done at the airport using the four mobile testing units. The passengers can be sent home to be quarantined at their respective home for the 14 days until the results are available.
When the authorities get the results, they will then be in a position to take the necessary actions to deal with those who are positive, which I am certain that none would prove to be positive. I am quite certain that the airline are doing high temperature test and if any passenger is found with fever, the airline would stop them from boarding. Once more, I am begging for my fellow Guyanese to come home, and be tested at home. Thank you, Concerned citizen
Flaring and Guyana’s Oil and Gas Sector Dear Editor, The Oil and Gas sector is large and often, individuals forget about the gas component of this sector. Gas can sometimes be the largest portion of the finding and thus far Guyana has a lucrative 30-50 million cubic feet of natural Gas per day ( h t t p s : / / www.ecooilandgas.com/ guyana-wants-to-bring-lizagas-to-shore/). This natural gas (methane or ethane) we own can be: - compressed and stored in cylinders - liquefied into liquefied natural gas (LPG) - redirected into wells to maintain pressures and maintain output - a feedstock for Petrochemical plants to make hydrocarbons for fuel, rubber, glass, paint etc. As of today and the past six months, we have been and are flaring our natural gas at a reduced rate of 15 million cubic feet per Day (original rate being 80 million cubic feet per day). Flaring is basically setting the distilled natural gas afire into the atmosphere. Yes, increasing our carbon foot print and of course we are now, according to the Center for International Environmental Law, in the top 10 for gas flaring practices only after commencement of production six months ago. This flaring has been ongoing from the beginning and Exxon’s number one excuse is the failure of an equipment. If I were ExxonMobil and care about the environment, I would have acquired a new piece of
the compressor machinery used to reject the gas into the well. It’s obviously a manufacturing problem at this point in time yet the company that relies so much on it’s set principles of gold standards seem hell bent on flaring Guyana’s Gas more than fixing the actual problem. Yes, flaring is done from time to time and the contract does state that ExxonMobil engage in Non-routine flaring exercises; such events can be during equipment maintenance or to prevent pressure build up. Also, within the contract, it was noted that the gas will be reinjected or/and it will be used to power the Liza Destiny FPSO vessel. However, none of these are operational to date. Is ExxonMobil really as efficient as it portrays itself to be, following international standards etc.? Our leaders in the environmental protection agency board have chosen to continuously accept mediocrity. The excuse of flaring 80 million vs 15 million
is unacceptable and will not fill the jacket of rational Guyanese anymore. If the developer of Liza Phase one is inexperienced in fixing or relocating a brand new compressor then you, Dr. Adam’s and team, have to do some work and lobby for what’s right and just. Be proactive and offer solutions for the problems. Flaring is a big deal, the environment is a big deal. Our electoral system has failed us to an extent and I plead with the EPA to not fail us f u r t h e r. D o n o t a c c e p t mediocrity, not with our environment. You are in control unless you have your own contract on the side. You only leave me to have such a speculation. (Reference: - https:// www.generon.com/what-isgas-flaring-why-is-it-donealternatives/-https:// www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/ 2020/05/31/guyana-needs-toinvestigate-flaring-on-lizadestiny/) Yours sincerely, Dr. Josh Kanhai
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GECOM without jurisdiction to investigate macabre allegations DEAR EDITOR, As the national recount exercise continues to reveal the irrefutable and crude fraud perpetrated by Clairmont Mingo, in respect of the elections results for Electoral District number four (4) and continues to corroborate the accuracy of the Statement of Polls, made public by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/ C), the desperation of APNU+AFC proportionately increases. After publicly acknowledging that elections’ day activities were fairly and credibly conducted, and declaring themselves, immediately thereafter, to be the winners thereof, including stating as much in a Dossier, which they have submitted to the Government of the United States of America (USA), they are now back-pedaling. Not only in selfcontradiction, but in defiance of Public Statements made by every International and Local accredited Observer Teams certifying elections’ day activities to be free, fair and
transparent, APNU+AFC is now hustling to hastily construct an incredulous narrative seeking to undermine elections’ day activities. In this regard, they are concocting and manufacturing myriads of bizarre allegations of irregularities and malpractices, contending that they occurred on elections day, thereby not only impugning the integrity and competence of their own Polling Agents, who were present at every Polling Station through the country, but also implicating nearly 20,000 elections day staff of GECOM, in a conspiracy to perpetrate massive electoral fraud on the 2nd March 2020. How this gigantic, elaborate illegal design was executed without the detection of themselves, the Observers, their supporters, the press and indeed, the entire citizenry, remains one of the most confounded phenomena of this century. Now, they desire GECOM to undertake the macabre task
There is a trust problem in Guyana DEAR EDITOR, In his column, “Two parallel conversations: we talk past one another (KN, 31st May 2020) Dr. David Hinds posits that Indians do not want to be rule by anyone else but their own. Really? Is that why so many migrate to Canada, America, Caricom, etc. instead of India and Pakistan? There is a trust problem in Guyana. Many Indians placed their trust in the PNC led APNU+AFC Coalition in 2011 and 2015 only to have the Coalition let them down so they turned around and voted for the PPP/C in 2020.
Africans have a trust deficit problem in that they are not going to let any other race govern them because of slavery. The real issue that needs to be addressed at this moment in time is election rigging. It is despicable that nearly three months after elections, Guyanese are still awaiting the results of the election. He is correct in stipulating that we are talking past each other. Communication is not just about talking; it is about listening as well. Yours faithfully Sean Ori
of investigating these selfserving fictions. In a letter to the press, Basil Williams, wrote “that it is for the Guyana Elections Commission to resolve the irregularities, discrepancies and anomalies contained in the observations reports…GECOM is empowered to examine irregularities, discrepancies and anomalies in order to make a determination of the credibility or lack thereof of the recount process”. Unsurprisingly, Williams failed to cite any legislation or legal principle to support his fallacious contention. There is none. In any event, let us briefly examine the position of the APNU+AFC. At the recount, they are randomly calling out serial numbers of persons appearing on the list of electors, alleging that those persons migrated or are dead, without, not only providing a shred of evidence that those persons are dead or have migrated, but also not establishing that those persons actually cast a ballot; that the absence of a Poll Book or entry of a vote in a Poll Book, either render all the votes in that ballot box fraudulent or that particular vote invalid. When quizzed by the press on how these serial numbers are arrived at, Ganesh Mahipaul, admits that they are received from hearsay information. Aubrey Norton, in his interaction with the press, appears convinced that any irregularity, which occurs in a Polling Station, translates into the invalidation of all votes cast at that station. When asked to produce evidence to support his wild and multiple allegations, he boldly says that his “evidence is the allegation”, and once made to GECOM, it is GECOM’s duty to probe it in order to determine whether it is true or false. One objection proffered was that a voter was a member of the Jehovah Witness disciple and therefore, religiously prohibited from voting! The law aside, any rational mind examining this narrative of APNU+AFC will, ineluctably,
conclude that it is a compendium of rubbish. Leading APNU+AFC officials have publicly stated that the 2020 elections are tainted with fraud and have laid such allegations at the door of the PPP/C. In fact, Joseph Harmon has accused GECOM of electoral fraud. The determination of the existence of fraud and the imposition of legal consequences therefore, are matters, indisputably, within the remit of the Judiciary, under the doctrine of separation of powers. Special rules of court attend an allegation of fraud, more notably, that fraud must be particularly pleaded and specifically proved. Should GECOM embark on an enquiry into APNU+AFC’s baseless allegations of fraud, it would be trespassing on the preserve of the Judiciary, as it is common ground that GECOM is not clothed with any judicial function or responsibility by the Constitution. The Privy Council decision, in the Jamaican case of Hinds v R 24 WIR 326 (PC), makes my aforesaid contention unassailable. Very briefly, this case related to the establishment of a Gun court by the Gun Court Act of Jamaica. The Court comprised of persons who did not meet the threshold requirements for judicial appointments. Additionally, the Court was authorised to impose terms of imprisonment for certain gun related offences which only the High Court was jurisdictionally competent to impose. Certain sentences imposed by the Court were reviewable by a specially appointed panel, again, who were not qualified to be judges. The Privy Council ruled that the creation of the Review Panel was an attempt by the Executive to exercise the duties of the Judiciary and was unconstitutional. The Canadian legal academician Peter Hogg notes in his book, Constitutional Law of Canada, that, “provincial legislators may not confer on a body, other than a superior district or county court,
The world is in a... From page 5 described by Cambridge University as “the situation in which companies try to sell their products or services at lower prices than similar products or services sold by other companies”. In simpler terms, this would be allowing businesses to compete to produce at a lower cost, which enables more persons to afford private facilities opposed to choosing the
public facilities offered for “Free”. To be honest, if you could afford the cost of the private institution, would you choose it rather than the state facilities? Finally, we should remember Guyana is not only going through a downturn from the turmoil of the election, but now also because of COVID-19, the world is in a recession. Stephen Demille
judicial functions analogous to those performed by a superior, district or county court.” What Basil Williams actually advocates, is for GECOM to arrogate to itself judicial functions analogous to those performed by the Judiciary. Any such act by GECOM, I vehemently contend, will be in violation of the Constitution. However, the issue in Williams’ erroneous view goes beyond a violation of the separation of powers doctrine and invites GECOM to compound its violation of the Constitution. It is to be noted that GECOM’s gazetted Order relating to the Recount process declares itself to have been made, inter alia, pursuant to Article 162 of the Constitution. Article 162 itself declares that the functions of the Elections Commission are “subject to the provisions of the Constitution…”. Article 163 (1) (b) of the Constitution provides: ART 163: “Subject to the provisions of this Article, the High Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to determine any question – (b)(1) which either generally or in any particular place, an election has been unlawfully conducted or the result thereof has been or may have been, affected by any unlawful act or omission”. Viewed from whatever angle, the rantings of the political misfits and miscreants, notwithstanding, the matters which the High Court has been constitutionally authorised, exclusively, to determine are undoubtedly the nature and type of matters, which are the subject of APNU+AFC’s allegations. Again, I forcefully submit that if GECOM was to yield to the cunning of the APNU+AFC fanatics and venture in that direction, it would be trespassing on the exclusive jurisdiction of the High Court and would be violating the doctrine of separation of powers as well as expressed provisions of the Constitution. While the Constitution creates this exclusive jurisdiction in the High Court, the law provides that an Election Petition is the vehicle by which the High Court is approached to determine such questions. However, such a position can only be presented to the Court after the final declaration of the elections results have been publicly made by GECOM. This is the well-established procedure in such elections related challenges. In the local case of Petrie and others v the Attorney General and others (1968) 14 WIR 292, there was a
challenge to the holding of national elections on the grounds, inter alia, that the laws relating to the compilation of the list of electors and the registration of electors were all ultra vires, illegal and unconstitutional. At the hearing before Chief Justice Bollers, a submission by the Attorney General that the Court was without jurisdiction to entertain the application since the question which it raises belongs to a class of questions which are placed by the Constitution exclusively within the jurisdiction of the High Court exercising a special jurisdiction and as such are justiciable only after the election has been held, was upheld. Chief Justice Bollers, noting that the electoral process begun with the issue of the Proclamation by the Governor General regarding the holding of elections, observed that “if any irregularities or illegalities are committed from this period of time in relation to the various matters involved in the election…. then these irregularities may form the basis of an election petition, after the result of the election has been made known”. Basil Williams has referred to the experience of the Chairperson of GECOM, as a judge of many years, which experience he panders, equips her with the expertise to enquire into and pronounce upon the baseless and false allegations of APNU+AFC. Justice Claudette Singh has considerable juristic skill and experience. She has been an able and learned judge and I say confidently that employing her juristic skill, learning and experience, Justice Singh would know and recognize that GECOM has no curial role in hearing or determining the allegations of missing Poll Books, dead persons voting and migrated persons voting and would know that such allegations must be presented to the High Court by way of an Election Petition after the final results of the elections have been publicly declared by GECOM. All is not lost for APNU+AFC. As the clearly predicted losers of these elections, if they wish to continue their dark humour of their Tales from the Crypt, then they are certainly entitled to do so by way of an election petition. This would be the right way. Until that time, I remain supremely confident in the words of Justice Claudette Singh, who is on record in a public declaration, saying: “I know only one way, that is, the right way”. Mohabir Anil Nandlall, Attorney-at-Law
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GECOM Chair, Immigration exchange information about Coalition’s allegations
Police Commissioner’s response to GECOM Chair
Letter from GECOM Chair to Police Commissioner – highlighted area shows partial list of names submitted. The Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice Claudette Singh has received information from the Immigration Department, to support her investigation into the claims made by APNU+AFC during the National Recount of votes. A letter from the Commissioner of Police Leslie James, dated May 27, 2020, was sent to the Chair, in response to her earlier letter of May 22, 2020, seeking confirmation whether persons APNU+AFC alleges were out of the country, in fact were. Kaieteur News was informed that Justice Singh forwarded a list of 200 names to Commissioner James, and that a report from the Deputy Chief Immigration Officer confirmed that 172 of those persons were in fact out of the country on Election Day. This conflicts with a claim made by APNU+AFC
representative, Aubrey Norton last Friday that the Coalition sent a list of 600 names of which 90 percent were confirmed. Norton had claimed “we have sent a first batch of 600 such information to GECOM… we are reliably informed that immigration has confirmed over 90 percent of them that were ticked, according to their records, are out of the jurisdiction.” The Chair’s list included 200 persons, not 600, and no proof was provided to indicate that these persons had voted on Election Day. In the picture this paper has seen of the Chair’s letter, there appears to be a part of the listed submitted attached, featuring names, a column for dates of birth, a column of featuring dates but with no discernible categorization for them, and a column simply filled with the text “-do-”. It is unclear whether GECOM will return to the
OLEs to ensure that the corresponding serial numbers and names were ticked off, or whether GECOM already did verify that the list of names was already ticked off on the OLE to indicate that they have voted. The Coalition has been making many objections during the recount process, and its ‘foreign voters’ claims account for 1,999 out of the 4,122 irregularities, which it claims have been unearthed. Since the beginning of the recount, GECOM recorded objections even if the individual in question did not cast a vote. It was only a little over a week ago that GECOM passed down a directive for staffers to note only objections for individuals whose serial numbers were ticked off to indicate that they voted. The PPP/C responded to news of the Police Commissioner’s letter, alleging that the Immigration
Department had already supplied citizens’ personal immigration records to the APNU+AFC Coalition, with the Commissioner of Police purporting to verify the information that the department already supplied to the party. The PPP/C said that the Coalition is concocting the allegations and pointed to previous reports of false claims being made by the Coalition. Once instance noted by the PPP/C is a Kaieteur News report about how the Coalition falsely claimed that a Sisters Village, Berbice couple was out of the country on Election Day. The Opposition party claimed that it also found hundreds of persons who were in Guyana and voted, despite the Coalition claiming that they were out of the jurisdiction on Election Day. The PPP/C said that what
GECOM Chair, Justice Claudette Singh the Coalition is doing is just a tactic to delay the declaration of the results. The party intends to seek a meeting with the Chair for clarity on this development. Justice Singh’s decision
to investigate the claims has drawn the ire of Commissioner Sase Gunraj and his colleagues nominated by the Oppostion, who are concerned that the Chair made such a decision without allowing the Commission to make an official decision on how to deal with the allegations. Her actions especially now contrast with a statement she had made, that “he who asserts, must prove.” The Opposition maintains that any such objections are best suited for an elections petition. The party said that it is not afraid of any investigation of the sort, only that it has to be handled by the Court. Chair of ANU, Timothy Jonas, has raised similar concerns about GECOM carrying out such an investigation. Jonas has argued that GECOM is compromised.
GTUC concerned about stability of... From page 3 generated from this unwholesome process.” The General Secretary maintained that any matter affecting the living conditions of any worker must be of concern to every worker. He added that regardless of labour’s differences, “whether some may want to say it or not, we all have a horse in the race.” “I say today that labour must remain united in principle around the well-being of every worker in this country.” Additionally, Lewis pointed to the
ongoing recount of ballots cast at the March 2 General and Regional Elections being facilitated by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). That process, he stated, “in the interest of Guyana’s well-being must not be treated with lightly or trampled.” “We must be guided not by emotions and self-interest but by the Rule of Law and national interest. This recount is governed by gazetted Order of 4th May. GECOM must be allowed to function within the scope of the laws that govern its operation. No more, no less,” the GTUC General Secretary said.
Monday June 01, 2020
PAGE 9
Kaieteur News
The gate is straight and the path is narrow I grew up with my grandparents. The benefit of belonging to an extended family is that you can hardly fail to derive the benefits of your elders’ wisdom. My grandmother was a simple but wise woman. Even though she was not highly religious, she made it her duty to instruct us on the importance of moral values. Her basic concern was that we should know what was right from what was wrong. In those days when you went to nursery school, you wrote on a tablet made of slate. When you finished writing, most students would use their spit to erase their work and start on the next lesson. One day, one of my brothers was being provoked by another boy. In his anger, he knocked the boy’s slate out of his hands and it broke. A complaint was made to my grandmother. My brother tried to justify his actions by claiming that it was the other boy who started the problem. My grandmother would
have none of it. She admonished my brother by telling him that two wrongs do not make a right and that he would have to be responsible for a new slate for the boy. But she also told the boy’s parents that he should be punished for provoking my brother. My grandma was fond of reminding us that straight is the gate and narrow is the way. She constantly instructed us to stay along the straight and narrow path. She was quite fond of drilling into our heads the dangers of assuming that morality is relative. One of her favourite sayings was “Right is right and wrong is wrong.” She urged us to always stay on the “straight and narrow path,” to be honest and conscientious in all that we did. It is because she coached us in these moral values that today all of her grandchildren can boast that none of us have ever been arrested, accused of dishonesty or ever
being dismissed or reprimanded for any fraud. We did not have to go and learn about Kant and Nietzsche and all those other philosophers to determine how we should act in any situation. We simply followed the diktat of our grandmother who taught us that “right is right and wrong is wrong”. When we were kids and we were playing children’s games, she would overlook us to ensure that if we lost, we accept that we lost and did not cheat or claim that we won when we had not. Her adage was simply “If you win you win, if you lose you lose!” Those values we applied to our daily lives. If we lost fairly and squarely, we did not try to claim victory and maliciously accuse the winner of cheating. We accepted our defeat with our heads held high because we knew that it was better to lose than to claim a dishonourable victory. The most powerful of morals was contained in
DEM BOYS SEH…
Dem off-i-sar value dem visa Dem boys believe dat de real drama is about to begin. Dem boys believe in dem heart dat GEECUM wan cancel out de elections’ results so dat the HAP-New+HAY-Eff-See can stay in office. Dem can stay in office but dem nah gon gat no power – no budget, no parliament, no oil money but plenty sanctions. Dem boys know fuh a fact dat dem gat some big businessmen wah funding de campaign fuh discredit de elections. Dem boys know some ah dem. Dem selfish. Dem only concern is about themselves and dem pocket. Dem nah kay but dem boys. Dem boys also believe in dem heart dat the HAP-New+HAY-Eff-See trying to stir up unease in the army and police by claiming dat dem votes nah count. Is a lie.
Dem boys nah worried though. Dem boys know dat some of dem off-i-sar value dem visa. A stronger army and police standing guard over Guyana. It is called de Confederacy of God. The Creatah gat he own army and police and he looking down pon all de tricks wah de HAP-New+ HAY-Eff-See trying fuh deceive de people with. Dem old dogs’ tricks wha de HAPNew+HAY-Eff-See trying nah wuk. Dem tricks gone out of style and fashion more dan bell bottom pants. De world changing. De world nah gon accept rigging. De world nah gon send we back to de days dictatorship wha de HAP-New+HAYEff-See want bring back. Talk half and pray dat Claw-dette nah living in de past.
grandma’s simple statement that “right is right and wrong is wrong.” There is no inbetween, no grey area between right and wrong. Something is either right or it is wrong. Plain and simple! The world’s main religions teach the same truth. The Holy Bible says “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin (James 4:17).” The Bible admonishes us that it is a sin to know the right thing and not do it. The Holy Quran says that, “man is a telling witness unto himself”. In other words, man is a reflection of his morality. Hindu scriptures teach that to act in accordance with the Divine Will is right and to not act in accordance with this Will is wrong. It is good to kneel before the Creator but it is better to act in accordance with the wishes of the Creator. All the
kneeling in the world will not ensure morality unless that submission is matched by one’s actions. With each passing day, we are straying beyond the straight and narrow path. We are losing our sense of right and wrong. This is responsible for all the problems, which we are now facing. If only we could apply that simple test of grandma: right is right and wrong is wrong. But instead, we are being tempted by moral relativism: right is only right if it is in our interests. The elections in Guyana present not just a political challenge. It is also a moral challenge, one which requires that people act in accordance with right and wrong. Those who have lost the elections have a moral duty to concede their defeat and not to concoct false narratives.
Those who have won, have an obligation to be magnanimous. The elections may not have ended how we many would have liked but right is right and wrong is wrong. It is wrong to deprive the rightful winner of his victory. None of us would like to be in the position where our victory is being snatched away by rank dishonesty. It is wrong to try to subvert a process in order to win. It is dishonest to say one has won when you know that you have lost. The outcome of the elections represents a moral test. Will righteousness prevail or will dishonesty triumph?
PAGE 10
Monday June 01, 2020
Kaieteur News
THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN
Joe Harmon, Hannah Arendt and the banality of evil One of the superb thinkers in philosophy was the German philosopher, Hannah Arendt who was a student of the learned German thinker, Martin Heidegger (see Heidegger’s, phenomenal work, “Being and Time”; for me the best book on philosophy; for a good summary of that text, see, “Existentialism: A Guide for the Perplexed” by Steven Earnshaw). To understand why ordinary men and women with families that they love and who do not care about fame or fortune become evil, Arendt explains it using a concept she invented and which has found a permanent place in political theory. Arendt, in studying Adolph Eichmann, after covering his trial in Israel, wrote a book on him and coined the term, “banality of evil.” She broke new ground in the study of the evil mind by arguing that, contrary to popular understanding, evil does not only reside in those who crave power and spend their lives hurting people to get it. She posited that an ordinary, mundane bureaucrat, without any dreams of wanting to be
noticed or be known, could be capable of immense evil because such a mind simply follows instructions. Arendt experienced immense scholarly attacks for her concept from 1963 when she adumbrated her theory and it continues to this day, (philosopher Alan Wolfe in his 2011 work disagrees with Arendt on her interpretation of evil; see his book, “Political Evil: What It Is and How to Combat It” ). Since 1963, the debate has gone on but there is a middle way that has gained ground thus saving the concept of the banality of evil and giving Arendt credit for inventing it. The Arendt supporters argue that the concept is valid and workable, only that Arendt misapplied it to a Nazi killer. So while Arendt was wrong to see Eichmann as your typical robotic civil servant, there are in fact robotic, ordinary people who are capable of carrying out horrible acts of murder and they are not predetermined monsters. Forty years after Arendt looked at Eichmann in the dock in Israel, observed his mannerism, countenance and deportment and came up with the concept of the banality of
evil, the Croatian novelist, Slavenka Drakuliæ in 1999 had the same uncanny experience with a war criminal from Serbia in the dock in the Hague. On trial was Goran Jelisiæ, and after observing him at the trial, she brought new life to the 1963 concept of Arendt. Drakuliæ titled her book on Jelisiæ, “They Would Never Hurt a Fly.” The banality of evil is very much a strong concept in political theory. As we go into a third month of a disastrous attempt to rig the national election in Guyana, the banality of evil is ubiquitous in this country. Enter Joe Harmon. He said one of the most horrible lies ever told in the history of political competition in this land. Sadly ordinary decent humans who support the PNC and AFC will
accept Harmon’s egregious diatribe and could very well hurt other people. This is where the banality of evil comes to Guyana. Harmon said that the votes of the disciplined forces did not count in the recent election because they were not stamped. This is an unscientific impossibility. Harmon was unleashing a destructive game on Guyana. It is not scientifically possible to locate the ballots of soldiers and policemen because they were the first citizens to vote before polling day. Then those ballots were mixed on polling day with other ballots across Guyana. So if you emptied the ballot boxes for Xanadu School and you open them, there was no distinction between a civilian ballot and a military ballot because there
were no such different ballots. The counting officer and the presiding officer would not have been able to distinguish a vote by a soldier from a vote by a businessman. Arendt and Drakuliæ have stated that ordinary people are capable of the massive evil a sick tyrant can heap on others. Since the 2020 poll ran into a rigging cul-de-sac, Guyanese with top class education, housewives who would not harm a fly, policemen who are dedicated civil servants, trade unionists who are well known, university teachers, among other groups of non-political souls in Guyana and the diaspora, have trampled on their conscience and are coming close to manifesting the features of the banality of evil. Day after day in this
Frederick Kissoon country, some of the most incredible lies are regurgitated by people who have refused to recognize the rights of humans to vote and have their vote counted. Decent folks, incapable of killing even a mosquito believe these evil lies. They themselves are evil too. (The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
Moruca begins two week lockdown from Tuesday
- as residents allege deficiencies in quarantine care of COVID-19 patients Moruca Sub-District of Region One (Barima Waini) is scheduled to go on a twoweek lockdown from Tuesday. This is due to the rise of COVID 19 in the area, and comes amid claims that the healthcare facilities for patients are inadequate. According to Wanita Phillips, Toshao of the Subregion, residents of the district were already put on alert of the impending lockdown more than a week ago. “It may be a tough measure but at this point, it is necessary because some persons still don’t believe that this virus is real. This is scary because we already have cases in Moruca.” According to Phillips, the cargo boat will be allowed to bring food and necessary items, but persons will be barred from travelling in and out of the district. “Only a few shops will be allowed to operate but generally, there will be restriction on other services. “We believe that this may be the best way to keep the people safe because some of them are still not adhering to the precautions,” she said. Phillips noted that the decision to impose a lockdown was premised on a confirmation of nine cases of the novel coronavirus, inclusive of one death in the community, just last week. The community leader
noted however that before the lockdown starts, there will be a massive exercise to sanitise public spaces to further protect the population of over 12,000 against the spread of the disease. The Toshao said the lockdown is scheduled to commence on June 2 and end by June 15. Meanwhile, there have been concerns over the Region‘s capacity to care for COVID-19 patients. Miranda La Rose, a journalist from Santa Rosa, Moruca, has raised concerns about the condition of the makeshift quarantine facility for COVID-19 patients in the Sub District. In a lengthy Facebook post, the reporter detailed several alleged deficiencies in the system set up to treat COVID-19 patients. La Rose said she was able personally witness the deficiencies after two of her relatives were confined at a facility. She stated that, “After testing positive with Covid19, one of my brothers and a nephew-in-law were taken on Friday evening into a facility that was developed by the Santa Rosa Village Council at Santa Rosa in Moruca. “I know the council worked very hard on this facility under the supervision of the resident doctor. My confined family members were of the view that it was ok to be quarantined at the
Toshao of Moruca, Waunita Phillips facility. “On Saturday, they were moved to another location, the government’s guest house, on the advice of, I don’t know who, that was not prepared for them. The place they said appeared as though it had not been used for months or more, and was in dire need of cleaning. I was told they were asked to clean up the place themselves,” she said. La Rose continued that there were several shortcomings with the treatment at the facility. “My brother had a headache yesterday which I supposed could have been brought on by the stress, which they are experiencing in this guest house, and there were no medical personnel to tend to him. Yesterday, at the guest house, they were given breakfast at 11:30 am and lunch at 2:30 pm. I don’t know
what time dinner arrived. From what they were provided, I do not think the meals would help in strengthening their immune system to fight the disease no fruits, no vegetables. The authorities do not want family members to provide them with meals.” She held that the Regional Health authorities had enough time to prepare for this pandemic. “I hope they improve their service and not retaliate negatively to affect my family members because of us going public. “Because of the treatment in quarantine, people in Moruca will not want to be tested. I have tried to stay out of commenting on social media and it has been hard. I have other relatives who are frontline workers and who are susceptible, and it is hard not to worry about them,” she added.
Monday June 01, 2020
PAGE 15
Kaieteur News
GUYANESE HORROR FICTION KAMARANG…
GIRL SITS IN SHADOWS By Michael Jordan A power failure had hit the area. In the gloom, the Ritz looked like the old, abandoned shell that it sometimes appeared to be in his dreams. But the door was open, and Sealey saw a light flickering at one of the windows. His footsteps echoed as he climbed the stairs. The brothel was empty, save for the tall, fair skinned chap who seemed to be always bumming a drink. The barman was there, too, sitting near to a sooty kerosene lamp. He smiled as he saw Sealey. “Well, at least one customer ain’t desert me tonight.” “What about me?” asked the fair-skinned chap. The barman laughed. “You is a customer? I talking about people who does come up hay and buy.” He stood as Sealey came closer. “What you getting, mister?” “Beer.” “It gun be warm, you know.” “Is okay.” Behind Sealey, the red-
skinned youth said: “Hey Desmond, I pushing off now,” and headed down the stairs. The barman returned from the freezer with two bottles. He watched Sealey grimace at the taste of the warm beer. “Since morning,” he said. “Since morning the lights gone off. Doan know why they doan dump the whole Electricity Corporation in the flippin Atlantic.” Sealey tried to smile at the barman’s good-natured grumbling, but the man’s voice, echoing in the empty brothel, added to his unease. He glanced at the corridor. He wondered if the girl would show herself tonight. Or maybe she wouldn’t because of the blackout. Maybe the blackout was a blessing, and now maybe he could go home and lie with Brenda and stop poking his nose into other people’s business…
“Like yuh girls desert you tonight.” The words were out before he could stop them. The barman shrugged. “Well, they got to go where the customers deh.” He took a long drink from his beer, then placed the bottle next to a cluster of other bottles
come up here, keeping to sheself, making styles on every man that rush she. And then, just like that, this babyface boy come, and the first night … “He shook his head. “You know, I doan even think he paying?” And why did he feel that
Without moving, the figure in the darkness seemed to have shifted forward. And it had to be his imagination, because there was no light in the corner, but for a second he’d seemed to see her eyes, and had seen that they were fixed on him… nearby. “This is your business?” The barman wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Nah. Running it for an old bush whore who buy it last year. Get it cheap, because nobody want it for business. They say it blight.” He smiled. “But I think business gun pick up.” “Especially if you could
get girls like that goodlooking Amerindian girl I see here sometimes.” Again, the words were out before he knew he was going to say them. He felt a bitterness at himself, and yet an excitement that now he’d have to stay and see things out. The barman shrugged. “I wouldn’t really say she is one of my girls.” He seemed to hesitate, then added. “She different. She renting she own room.” He stared down at the counter. “And I know she could do better, but I guess is not my business. I ain’t worrying, as long as she paying.” But the barman was worried, Sealey sensed. Sealey removed his cap, placed it on the counter. “She coming here long?” The barman frowned. “She start coming up here around May…no… June. She
he had heard this same conversation recently? “Maybe he know her before.” Sealey’s voice seemed to come from far away, and he wasn’t sure that he had spoken. “You mean they had something going before? Don’t think so.” He grinned. “You ever see how worn out that chap does look when he come from she room?” Again, that disturbing sense of deja vu. “I hope he doan get too tied up with she,” the barman was saying, his voice dragging Sealey back from Kamarang. “Between you and me, they got something about that bitch…” Someone smashed a bottle in the street nearby. A woman cursed shrilly, adding some normality to the night. The sounds reminded Sealey that there was a saner world outside that he could return to anytime he chose to. He looked at the barman. The man’s bearded, shadowed face; his voice, which had dropped almost to a mumble, reminded him of his grandfather, telling jumbie stories on a moonlit backstep. Sealey sipped his beer. “You know where she from?” The barman shook his head. “The people who might know is the boy…or that old woman she claim is she auntie or grandmother.” “What woman?” The barman pulled at his beer. “A cripple-foot old lady she rent a room for near she own.” “Cripple…how?” But he already knew. It hadn’t been a crippled woman at Kamarang, but a crippled, broad-shouldered man who’d done the girl’s chores; a man with one of his feet turned backwards… “That girl is a really strange bitch, now that you mention it,” the barman said. “I remember the morning when she first come up here.
She was more thin…skin more white. She looked around, smiled, and gave me four pennyweights and say: “I want the room at the top.” I carry she upstairs, and again she smile, and look around … and moved around—almost as if she been here before, which is impossible because—” The barman broke off suddenly and stiffened. His eyes shifted. Sealey felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise as he smelt the familiar, musky perfume, and before he could help himself he’d turned, and there she was, within touching distance, face yellow-shadowed in the lamplight. He watched, frozen in place, as she floated past him like he wasn’t there and stopped at the bar. A rustle of paper as she dipped into her handbag. “Cider,” she said in that quick, sing-song voice, and it seemed to Sealey that the barman was darting to the freezer before the girl had finished speaking. She took the bottle and her change,
Cover design and illustrations by Harold Bascom the barman muttered. He glanced over at the girl. “What the hell she doing sitting in the dark?” he sucked his teeth softly, then moved
“I remember the morning when she first come up here. She was more thin…skin more white. She looked around, smiled, and gave me four pennyweights and say: “I want the room at the top.” then moved to the table nearest to the punch-box; her black hair, her black dress, swallowed up in the semidarkness. “Move like a flippin cat,”
to the freezer; returning with another beer. He drank, grumbling about the blackout and pretending to ignore the girl. Sealey’s eyes kept
shifting to the girl. He wished he could see her face clearly. Was she watching him? Had she overheard their conversation? Had she been listening in the corridor? But what if she had? She was only a prostitute, damn it! What he should do is go over to her and demand the truth from her; shake it out of her if necessary— Something in the girl’s posture had changed. Without moving, the figure in the darkness seemed to have shifted forward. And it had to be his imagination, because there was no light in the corner, but for a second he’d seemed to see her eyes, and Continued on page 18
PAGE 16
Monday June 01, 2020
Kaieteur News
Journalists covering US protests find themselves under attack
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channel WAVE-3, cried out on camera. And in Minneapolis, freelance journalist Linda Tirado was struck in the left eye by a rubber bullet fired by police, and said later on Twitter that she had permanently lost vision in that eye. “Authorities in cities across the US need to instruct police not to target journalists and ensure they can report safely on the protests without fear of injury or retaliation,” said a statement from the Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ). Members of the media have also come under attack by protesters. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, photographer Ian Smith said he was subjected to a beating until other demonstrators came to his defence. In Atlanta, the headquarters of news network CNN was attacked Friday by several dozen people. Someone in the crowd lobbed a flash grenade into the building’s lobby as police stood guard there.
Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro is devastating Indigenous...
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Floyd — may have drawn the widest coverage. The journalist, Omar Jimenez, was released an hour later after the Minnesota governor personally intervened. But there have been several other serious incidents across the country, notably in Louisville, Kentucky, where a riot-squad policeman fired what appeared to be pepper-spray pellets at a local TV crew filming the scene. “I’m getting shot!” Kaitlin Rust, a reporter with local TV
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the Amazon and punishes those who work to combat illegal activities.” Read more: Are the Amazon fires a crime against humanity? Brazilian legislation allows inspectors to burn confiscated machinery from loggers and miners. This equipment is often expensive, and so its destruction greatly undermines criminal operations in the forest. It’s a tactic that President Bolsonaro has reportedly condemned. In 2019, the destruction of seized equipment fell by half compared to the previous year. Many of the recent setbacks in Brazil’s environmental policy could be explained by a video that was released by court order on May 22. The video shows a meeting be-
tween Bolsonaro and his ministers from a month before, in which environment minister Salles suggests the government take advantage of press attention being focused on the pandemic to relax regulations in the Amazon. Indigenous people attend the funeral of someone who died from COVID-19 in Manaus, Amazonas state. Their masks read ‘indigenous lives matter ’. EPA-EFE/ RAPHAELALVES Failure to control environmental crimes doesn’t only threaten the forest though. It also increases the vulnerability of indigenous peoples to COVID19. A recent study found that indigenous lands that aren’t formally demarcated let in intruders much more
easily, preventing these communities from isolating from the disease. Of the 1,005 cases of COVID-19 confirmed among indigenous people living in the country, there have been 44 deaths, with 41 in the Amazon, the region with the lowest number of intensive care units in Brazil. The Brazilian Amazon may be on the eve of a catastrophe. COVID-19 could decimate indigenous communities, while the government response paves the way for profiteers to further degrade their lands and the forest. Bolsonaro’s legacy may be one of the highest national death tolls during the pandemic, and a point of no return for destruction of the Amazon.
Childcare expert calls for ‘boot...
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The advocate also suggested that family members be involved in the preparation of the care plan for the residents, be kept abreast with their child’s progress, and be allowed to visit and
have contact for bonding processes to facilitate reunification. Psychosocial Assistance would be given to the family to support the expected behaviour change.
Monday June 01, 2020
PAGE 17
Kaieteur News
“Madam Chair is going down a very, very slippery slope” - Shuman “We are concerned that Madam Chair going down a very, very slippery slope.” These were the words expressed by Presidential Candidate of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), Lenox Shuman, regarding the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) alleged decision to probe the claims of voter irregularity by the APNU + AFC Coalition. During a press briefing yesterday outside of the national recount centre at Liliendaal, Shuman alluded to a letter dated on May 22, 2020,
Madam Chair Claudette Singh, dispatched to Head of the Immigration Department, Leslie James, who is also the Commissioner of Police. This letter requested Commissioner James to verify whether persons whose names and dates of birth were submitted on a list, had migrated and could not have exercised their franchise on March 2, 2020—as claimed by the APNU+AFC. Against this, the Presidential Candidate said, “There are several issues that are wrong with that; the first is that in our view and based
on the legal advice that we have had is that GECOM does not have within its mandate the powers to undertake such exercise as is outlined in Article 163 of the Constitution.” Article 163 (1)(a)(i) explicitly states “… the High Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to determine any question… either generally or in any particular place, an election has been lawfully conducted or the result thereof has been, or may have been, affected by any unlawful act of omission.” Former Attorney General
Theatrical, Culinary and Literary Arts in Guyana need to broaden horizons
Author Michael Jordan
Actress/Playwright/ Producer Simone Dowding
Chef and Author Mark Wright
Bold steps need to be taken to encourage more interest among Guyanese in the local theatrical, culinary and literary arts. This was highlighted by Kamarang Author and Journalist Michael Jordan. Jordan along with Actress/Playwright/Producer Simone Dowding and USbased Guyanese Chef and Author Mark Wright were panellists on NCN’s programme The Dialogue, which focused the Creative Arts sector. As an author of one of the country’s few supernatural novels, Jordan noted that since publishing his book, opportunities given to him have allowed for Guyanese home and abroad to appreciate his work. This he said, has not only encouraged him but also reaffirmed his belief that writing can be viable in Guyana. “We need persons who are bold enough to tell our story. We must take that step to write our stuff down because there is an audience interested in what we have to say,” Jordan said. He also disclosed plans to produce a movie based on the novel, next year. Published and launched in 2017, Kamarang has
become a favourite for its take on a myth derived from Guyana’s Indigenous People. It can be found on Amazon, Kindle and Austin’s Bookstore. Agreeing with Jordan, Dowding noted that the willingness to support of the theatrical arts has been shown by entities such as Courts and NICIL. However, she feels that steps will need to be taken to recapture the attention of Guyanese people and attract more to the theatre. This was the catalyst for the establishment of the Purple Arts Production where Dowding puts her 30+ years of theatrical experience teaching young children the six disciplines of drama. “These disciplines are acting, directing, playwriting, costume management, stage management, and property management. It also teaches the art of listening, stage breathing and stage geography,” she explained. Dowding ‘s goal is to foster a new crop of performers to help revive the country’s performing arts sector. Spotlighting Guyana’s cuisine, Wright said that his profession provides a platform to showcase the country’s uniquely diverse
and eclectic cuisine via food preparation and presentation. “We (Guyanese chefs) are given a unique opportunity given our cultural diversity and multi-ethnic influence, – African, Chinese, East Indian, Portuguese, European. So, what I do is allow all of those ethnic influences to inspire my dishes…our cultural diversity has broad appeal in the world so it is important to have that wow effect,” he said. Wr i g h t has also published a book called ‘Healing Our Community: One recipe at a time” which focuses on a balanced approach to health and fitness whilst highlighting Guyanese and Caribbean cuisine. He noted that as the book is an “enlightening perspective of healing, health and wellness and what it seeks to provide the reader with tools needed to undergo their personal healing and transformation which hopefully will cause a ripple effect that will, in turn, transform their community.” All three panellists advised that for the Creative Industry to grow persons involved in the sector have to learn as much as they can and keep honing and practising their craft.
and executive of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/ C), Anil Nandlall and other stakeholders of the March 2020 Elections have posited that bearing this in mind, GECOM is operating out of its jurisdiction by examining the Coalition’s claims. Shuman noted that requesting immigration records would prove almost futile, as he stated that, “The boundaries of Guyana are so porous that you can actually land in Brazil and take a car and drive over without ever having your passport stamped, and I know because I have gone in and out of Brazil. You could do the same thing in Venezuela and Suriname. So to ask for verification, there is a whole plethora of things absent in that scenario.” “To compound the futility of the request”, Shuman said that Winston Felix, the Minister responsible for Citizenship and Commissioner James “have both shown bias”. Furthermore, Shuman said to the press, I remember the Chair making an assertion about “He who asserts must prove”. I think what Madam Chair has implied by her communication from the 22nd of May is that is “He who asserts must come to me to prove”, because basically, if we have 200,000 allegations,
LJP Presidential Candidate, Lenox Shuman
GECOM Chair, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh
does that mean now that we ask the Guyana Elections Commission to prove it? That seems to be the direction that the Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission is going.” Instead of examining the “unsubstantiated allegations of the Coalition,” Shuman wants an investigation into Region Four Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo, who is accused of inflating the votes for the APNU+AFC, and deducted from the PPP/C, as reported on extensively by this publication. “If you are looking for wrong doing also, what we have seen in this tabulation centre is that Mingo’s
numbers in themselves were completely flawed, inflated. Yet there has been no attempt made to address that issue— the fraudulent declaration by Mr. Mingo. We are curious to know if Madam Chair is going to ask the police to conduct a criminal investigation into the conduct of Mr. Mingo, and whoever else his cohorts may be. Once again, this is a very slippery slope that we are embarking upon,” he said. With the aim of seeking clarity the LJP and A New United Guyana (ANUG), Change Guyana (CG) and The New Movement (TMN) have jointly requested a meeting with the GECOM Chair and the Commission to discuss these burning issues.
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Monday June 01, 2020
Kaieteur News
IMBAIMADAI TRAGEDY…
Farmer heard ‘cracking sound’ before tree crushed wife and grand-daughter Fifty-five-year-old Bennette John yesterday recounted how he heard an ominous, ‘cracking sound’, before a massive tree, weakened by a storm, crashed down on his wife and nineyear-old grand-daughter at Imbaimadai, Upper Mazaruni Region Seven, last Thursday. The freak accident on Mr. John’s farm claimed the lives of his 54-year old spouse, Desiree John and the couple’s nine-year-old granddaughter, Cindy John, and left another nine-year-old girl, Saya John, with shattered legs. His daughter, 22-yearold Romelia John, escaped with lacerations to her face and side. Mr. John explained that he had recently constructed a wood and tarpaulin camp on his farmland, in an effort to separate the family from other residents in the hope of them not contracting the coronavirus. It had rained heavily that day. He was relaxing in a hammock, while his wife, daughter, and three grandchildren were in another
Survivor Saya John at the GPHC. camp, having dinner, a short distance away. The rain had ceased, and it was at around 18:30 hrs that things went wrong. He heard a ‘cracking sound’, and the farmer immediately knew what that sound meant. “I jumped out from my hammock and I run to them (his wife and other family members) and shout ‘tree falling’.” But by the time he arrived, the tree had crashed down on the wooden structure. “I was in shock. I was hearing them screaming, and I began breaking the
branches,” Mr. John said. He managed to free his granddaughter Cindy, who lay motionless under one of the branches. According to the 55-year-old farmer, he “did not know where he got the strength from,” but he managed to remove branches that trapped his wife and other victims. After placing them in hammocks, he ran to a neighbour’s home, located some twenty minutes away from his camp. After they returned to John’s camp, the farmer begged his neighbour to
watch over his injured family. Mr. John then made the one-hour journey by road and boat to seek help in his nearby village. “Y’ALL RUN,ATREE FALLING” His daughter, Romelia John, who escaped with minor injuries, recalled hearing her mother shout a warning just before the tree fell. “It was dark and we were eating at the dinner table when mom shouted ‘y’all run a tree falling.’ “In panic, we ran outside, but it all happened so fast and the most, I could have done was throw my body over my two-year-old daughter to protect her from being hit.” She also recalled her father pulling her free from the branches, before heading to a neighbour for help. She said that her father eventually returned with relatives to transport them to the Imbaimadai Health Centre. However, heavy rains came again and they were forced to remain in the camp until the following day. Romelia described that night as a terrible one. She recalls the excruciating pain that she felt, the sound of her mother groaning, while her nine-year-old niece, Saya John, whose legs were shattered, screamed the entire
The two-year-old who escaped unhurt when the tree fell.
INJURED: Romelia John
night. The agony continued next day as they were transported to the Imbaimadai Landing to board a plane that would have transported them to Georgetown. But when they arrived, the plane had already left. They were taken instead to the Imbaimadai Health Centre, where nine-year-old Cindy John was pronounced dead. Saya, the other nineyear-old, and her grandmother, Desiree John, were listed as critical and the doctor requested that they be airlifted to the city. Trecella John, whose daughter sustained broken
legs, told Kaieteur News that it was while waiting on the plane that her mom succumbed. “I assisted my doctors to clean and bandage my mother’s wounds. She was still groaning with pain but before the plane arrived, we lost her.” She later travelled to Georgetown with her injured daughter, who underwent emergency surgery at the Georgetown Public Hospital on Thursday night. When Kaieteur visited the hospital late yesterday afternoon, Saya was recovering but was unable to speak.
...GIRL SITS IN SHADOWS From page 15 had seen that they were fixed on him. He shifted back against the step-rail; and though he hadn’t seen it do so, it seemed to him that the figure in the chair had shifted back into the shadows. He expelled a long breath. No sense going over now. She’d only deny, or cause a scene, which would make him do something stupid. Now was not the time to confront her. He raised the bottle to his lips. It was empty. He put the bottle on the counter, told the barman he was leaving, then headed for the stairs. He cursed himself for chickening out, even as he wondered, again, whether she’d overheard them. He was edgy, alert to every sound and shadow, and somehow, he wasn’t surprised when, half-way down the stairs, he saw a tiny woman coming up. She came up the stairs quickly, silently, and he continued down the stairs, because, after all, she was just a flipping old woman. But he was thinking that there was something wrong about the way she moved, because she wasn’t limping at all. He did not want to look at her feet, but he looked, anyway, and he guessed that it was too dark, because why couldn’t he see her insteps? Quarter-way up the stairs she stopped abruptly, and stared at Sealey, her face a white blob in the murky light. She made a strange, sniffing sound—loud in the silence and the darkness. After a moment, she continued up the stairs, now gripping the rail to her right, and now she was limping, and now he could see
the instep of her good leg. He shifted aside, praying that she wouldn’t brush him as she passed. She looked straight ahead, but she made the strange, sniffing sound, once more, as she passed. He continued down the stairs, feeling a tingling at the nape of his neck as if someone was watching him. He forced himself to not look back; hurrying down the stairs, hurrying away from the brothel, hurrying into Lombard Street, past two women sitting on a stack of lumber near the White Coconut Tree brothel. It was while he was approaching Stabroek Market that he realised that he had forgotten his cap. He cursed softly. He’d had that cap for years. It was almost like a part of him now. He sighed. No sense turning back. Hopefully, the barman would see it. He could collect it when he returned. But even as he entered a taxi, he thought of his cap; feeling now a vague unease at the thought of leaving a part of himself in the brothel, with its two women who seemed to prefer shadows to light. (Taken from the Guyanese supernatural novel, KAMARANG by Michael Jordan. Cover design by Harold Bascom.) KAMARANG IS BACK ON SALE FROM TODAY AT AUSTIN’S BOOKSTORE. The illustrated version is also available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback. You can also contact Michael Jordan for an autographed copy on +592 645 2447, or email address kamarangnight@gmail.com
Monday June 01, 2020
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Kaieteur News
Thuram takes a knee in US killing protest as Gladbach go third
Moenchengladbach forward Marcus Thuram takes a knee after scoring in Sunday’s 4-1 win at home to Union Berlin. (Pool/AFP / Martin Meissner)
Monday June 01, 2020 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) If you've considered a career in publishing, this is the time to go for it. It's also a great day to enroll in law school, an advanced degree program, or any field of higher education.
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Some absolutely wonderful news could come your way, Libra, possibly about career or financial success, perhaps involving positive changes in your neighborhood.
TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) Your dreams could be vivid, pleasant, and full of information to help you make a decision. New and exciting contacts could come into your life today
SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) You should feel especially warm and loving today toward just about anyone you meet, Scorpio. Good news about money may have caused you to feel especially positive.
GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Today you're likely focused on sex, romance, and committed relationships. The planetary energies surrounding love are promising, Gemini. CANCER(June21–July22) Today you should be glowing with good health, energy, and stamina, and be doing well at work, whether career, volunteer work, or a personal project. Success should come your way on all fronts, Cancer, particularly since you've been working hard. LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Love and romance are likely to be tops on your agenda today. You're feeling especially warm and loving now. Current and potential love partners could feel strongly drawn to you. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Important enterprises centering on your home could take up a lot of your energy over the next few days, Virgo. Many people might come and go from your life. Perhaps you're moving to a nicer place, or maybe transacting a lot of business in your home.
SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) You should be looking beautiful and feeling especially positive, warm, and loving attracting people of all kinds to you. Your self-confidence, optimism, and determination should peak over the next few days. CAPRI(Dec.22–Jan.19) Creative inspiration could come from deep within today, Capricorn. Visions, dreams anything that excites your imagination - could bring ideas for new projects. AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Group activities prove beneficial on several levels. You might project powerful warmth and love for all life. You're feeling especially optimistic about the future. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) You might find yourself in the public eye at some point today, Pisces. This is fine since you're looking and feeling great. You're likelier than usual to project warmth and friendliness to others.
AFP Borussia Moenchengladbach routed Union Berlin 4-1 yesterday behind closed doors with French striker Marcus Thuram scoring twice and taking a knee in protest at the death of an unarmed black man in the United States. First-half goals by midfielder Florian Neuhaus, who bagged Gladbach’s 3,000th goal in the Bundesliga, and Thuram put Gladbach 2-0 up at the break. Union’s Swedish striker Sebastian Andersson pulled one back early in the secondhalf after being left unmarked. However, Gladbach pulled away when Thuram added his second after pressing the Union defence. The 22-year-old French
striker then took a knee on the Borussia Park turf, imitating NFL star Colin Kaepernick. It was the latest show of Bundesliga solidarity with the current protests sweeping the United States. Schalke’s US midfielder Weston McKennie wore an armband in Saturday’s defeat to Werder Bremen bearing the words “Justice for George”. George Floyd, 46, died in Minneapolis in an arrest by a police officer who pinned him to the ground for several minutes by kneeling on his neck. Yesterday, Alassane Plea grabbed a goal of his own for Gladbach, having set up Thuram’s first, when he fired home off his left foot on 81
minutes to beat Union goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz. After a 3-1 defeat to Leverkusen last weekend, and a goalless draw with relegation-threatened Werder Bremen tomorrow, this was an important win for Gladbach. It lifted them to third in the table, but RB Leipzig can take their place if they win at Cologne today. On Saturday, reigning champions Bayern Munich opened a 10-point lead with a 5-0 thrashing of Fortuna Duesseldorf with the league’s top-scorer Robert Lewandowski netting twice. Later yesterday, secondplaced Borussia Dortmund can trim Bayern’s lead if they win at bottom side Paderborn.
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Samara Rodrigues eyes spot on senior national football team By Zaheer Mohamed It is no doubt that some of the finest sporting talents emerge from rural communities, but due to the lack of adequate facilities in those areas, the athletes are forced to ply their trade in urban localities in order to attain maximum performance at the elite level. The aforementioned is exactly what national junior female left back Samara Rodrigues plans to embark on after completing high school. Speaking with Kaieteur Sport recently, the 16-year old Rodrigues who was born in Port Kaituma, Region one, but migrated to Kumaka, Moruca where she now resides, said her aim is to secure a place on the national female football team-the Lady Jags. “My aim is to represent Guyana at the highest level with distinction and I intend to work hard in order to achieve my goal,” she added. Rodrigues, who attends the Santa Rosa Secondary School, represented Guyana at the U15 level in the Concacaf U15 female tournament in Florida and in 2019 in Curacao where she played in the Concacaf female U17 competition. “Playing for Guyana is an honour and it brings joy to my family. That’s a different level, it’s challenging and exciting at the same time,” she posited. Rodrigues pointed out that there is always room for improvement and she has placed emphasis on improving her speed, technique and how to slow down the game among other areas. However, access to quality coaching may be unavailable in her area at the moment, but the left-footer, indicated that following her CXC exams in 2021 she wants
Samara Rodrigues in her national outfit. to move to the city. “I plan to move to Georgetown after my exams and connect with a club there so that I can gain more exposure,” she informed. Like many outstanding athletes, Rodrigues developed a passion for the sport at a tender age. “I started to play football at the age of nine after I saw others playing. I started out by training with my sister Eldicka Benn, neighbours and friends. Shortly-after I became a member of the Golden Eagles FC in Moruca and hence my participation in tournaments,” she noted. Rodrigues has the ability to play in any position on the pitch, a skill not mastered by many in the modern day game. Playing as a striker, Rodrigues led Golden Eagles FC to a number of titles as she would often finish as one of the leading goal scorers. “The players always look up to me and we would support each other,” she said. But playing for a club which is based some distance away from her home and school was always going to be challenging for the talented Rodrigues, so she
WI player Smartt wants... From page 22 space to keep training and without coming in contact with a lot of people. It will bring about change in how we celebrate a dismissal. Our cultures in Guyana and Caribbean, we love our celebration but we must trust in our God and keep the faith and ask him to end this through prayers from everyone. I am not aware of any programmes for the girls due to the COVID-19 break but generally in female cricket
you are on your own to get things done, so it’s all left upon us to be a self-motivated and self-disciplined person. If you want to move forward or get to highest level of this sport in this c o u n t r y, ” s a i d S m a r t t , whose favourite cricketer is Virat Kholi. “The main people that helped me as a coach and as a cricketer are my Tucber Park Manager Carl Moore, Mr Hyles, Mr Winston Smith and presently at my club, Julian Moore,” Smartt concluded.
decided to move to a club closer to her village and hence her connection with Atkinson Brothers FC. Her last appearance in a tournament was in December 2019 when her team (Atkinson Brothers FC) won the Atkinson Brothers 5-aside title. In that competition, Rodrigues and another national player, Annalisa Vincent who represented the club as a guest player, formed a formidable force up front. And it was a first half double by Vincent that handed Atkinson Brothers FC the title. Athletes from across the country, especially the outlying areas do look forward to the annual Heritage games. This event is an important one on the sports calendar as it provides the athletes with an opportunity to showcase their talent and can pave the way for fruitful careers. The athletes participating in these events represent the cream of the sporting talent from those areas, and some of them have graduated to national teams. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, many athletes still remain positive that this year’s edition of the games will be successfully staged. In the 2019 edition, Rodrigues’ Atkinson Brothers side lost
to Sebai Invincible Talons FC in the final of the region one qualifier; the victory handed the latter team the right to represent region one at the finals in Georgetown. But Rodrigues feels that the best players should be selected from each team to represent the region following the playoffs as opposed to one team going forward. “This way the best players will be on show which will raise the standard of the competition and make it more exciting,” she noted. Football is one of the most popular sports in schools there and in the last interhouse tournament which was held in 2019, Rodrigues led her team to victory. She explained that she played in defence, which is her favourite position, in this competition so as to give other players a chance upfront. She wants to see more national players emerging from the region and believes with more developmental programmes there, more talent can be unearthed. “The players here have a lot of talent, but they need more exposure. Sometimes they suffer from stage fright, but with more tournaments being held they can overcome this
Samara Rodrigues (right) with Annalisa Vincent following their win in the Atkinson Brothers 5-aside tournament in region one in December 2019. hurdle. More coaching needs to be done here, so if coaches can visit these areas it will be a plus for us.”
Rodrigues also plays volleyball and cricket and currently trains at home with her sister.
Caribbean side will be bigger threat in England than before: Estwick BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Assistant coach Roddy Estwick believes West Indies are better poised now than three years ago to carve out a positive series result on their proposed tour of England. On their last tour of the United Kingdom in 2017, the Caribbean side pulled off an astonishing victory in the second Test at Leeds, but suffered heavy defeats in the two other Tests to go down 2-1 in the three-Test series. However, Estwick said players had gained significant experience since then and with several other players coming through to give the Test squad greater depth, the Windies could prove a serious threat for their higher-ranked opponents. “For me, I think we might be a better team when we go to England this time,” Estwick said while overseeing training sessions at Kensington Oval for the Barbadian group selected in the 30-man provisional squad. “Three years ago in 2017, it was a very, very
young unit. Now we’ve got seasoned Test players, we’ve got players with 50 Test matches so I think once we can hit the ground running and get the preparation in, get some match practice under our belts … we can be a lot better.” “We’ve got youngsters coming through. We’ve got Rahkeem Cornwall who could be a big threat in England especially if the weather stays the way it is. We’ve got Chemar Holder who just had an outstanding first class season and we’ve got Alzarri Joseph who’s improving all the time. “So we’ve got backup for the first time in a long while – we’ve got Keemo Paul another exciting all-rounder so we’re quite solid bowling wise.” He added: “If we can get scores on the board we can really challenge England because I know the bowling will be good, and the three big men (Jason Holder, Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel) are all in the top [20] in the world and that tells you our bowling unit is really improving.” West Indies will travel
with 25 players to the UK for the proposed three-Test series in July, which will mark cricket’s first ever tour played in a “bio-secure” environment due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The squad is expected to depart the Caribbean on June 8 and will be placed in a twoweek quarantine following their arrival in England, before moving to “bio-secure” stadia for the duration of the series where they will be isolated from the public. Replacement players will be chosen from among the travelling contingent, which will also form the opposition for any tour matches. “You can understand why they’ve done it because once you’re in a secure system you can’t leave so if players get injured, you can’t come into the secure area. [So] we had to do it that way,” Estwick explained. “But it’s going to be a challenge because keeping 15 players who are not going to be involved happy is going to be a challenge but it’s something you’ve got to do. “As coaches we’ve got to put our heads together, we’ve got to come up with plans, we’ve got to make sure they stay sharp, make sure
they stay ready if they get an opportunity to come in to replace whoever.” Estwick said intense planning for the tour was already underway and noted he had been in “constant contact” with head coach Phil Simmons who is currently based in the UK. “He’s been having Zoom meetings with all the management team. He’s trying to keep everybody upbeat – that’s the first thing he’s trying to do,” he said. “We’re having Zoom meetings sometimes two, three times per week … we had a meeting [last week] Saturday just to sit down and plan how we’re going to prepare what is needed to be done – the workload for the bowlers, the workload for the batters. “We’ve sorted that out now; it’s up to people to go and prepare, prepare properly, adhere to the protocols that are in place and try and stay as safe as possible.” West Indies are holders of the coveted Wisden Trophy after upsetting England 2-1 in a three-Test series in the Caribbean last year.
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Kaieteur News
NFL commissioner Goodell says ‘need for action’ after Floyd death AFP - NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Saturday there “remains an urgent need for action” as violent protests rocked the United States after the death of an unarmed black man in police hands in Minnesota. George Floyd, 46, died Monday after police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee to Floyd’s throat for several minutes, as Floyd pleaded with him to stop. A bystander’s video of the encounter has gone viral around the world. Chauvin was fired on Tuesday and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on Friday, but outrage over the incident sparked protests around the United States, many of which have erupted into violence. “The NFL family is greatly saddened by the tragic events across our country,” Goodell said in a statement on Saturday. “The protesters’ reactions to these incidents reflect the pain, anger and frustration that so many of us feel.” Goodell offered condolences to Floyd’s family as well as the families of Breonna Taylor, a black
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says league family ‘greatly saddened” by death of unarmed black man George Floyd at hands of police and violent protests that have followed. (Getty Images North America/AFP/File / Cliff Hawkins) woman killed in her own home by police in Kentucky, and Ahmaud Arbery, a black jogger shot dead by a white man in Georgia. Goodell noted that Arbery’s cousin Tracy Walker plays for the NFL’s Detroit Lions. “As current events dramatically underscore, there remains much more to do as a
country and as a league,” Goodell said. “These tragedies inform the NFL’s commitment and our ongoing efforts. We embrace that responsibility and are committed to continuing the important work to address these systemic issues together with our players, clubs and partners.” A number of NFL players
GTTA using downtime for strategic planning The Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA), through its President Godfrey Munroe, has shared with Kaieteur Sport some of its ongoing and planned activities for these troubling times of the coronavirus pandemic that has seen most sporting events and training being suspended based on the guidelines of health officials. Munroe explained that as an affiliate member of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the GTTA have been guided by their parent body, which has provided significant training, material and platforms to assist not only the GTTA but other affiliates dealing with the negative impacts of Covid-19. The administrator further revealed that, “As a national association we believe that this time provides the opportunity to work on a few key projects for which the executive committee would not have had the time to work on in a normal environment.” Those projects include but are not limited to: 1) Development of Selection Criteria Provision and Policy Guidelines.
2) We b s i t e Development. 3) Policy directives on coaches’ disciplinary matters and ethics. 4) Refining developmental plans at each level. 5) National team training restructuring. 6) Continued work on development of club structure. 7) Exploring equipment sponsorship arrangements for elite athletes. 8) Revenue generation planning. In terms of athlete engagement, the GTTA are currently in the process of setting up a controlled environment in which the senior national players can train. In addition, the association has setup options for virtual engagement between coaches and athletes that will allow athletes to benefit from virtual training activities in a structured manner. These activities will be conducted by Coaches Linden Johnson, Idi Lewis and Candacy McKenzie. As part of the GTTA’s social responsibility, athletes
are among sports figures who have spoken out in the wake of Floyd’s death. NBA star LeBron James was among those who contrasted pictures of Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck with the kneeling protests of former NFL star Colin Kaepernick in 2016. Kaepernick, who was ostracized by the NFL for kneeling during the national anthem in protest against racial injustice, has launched a fund to pay for legal representation for protesters who need it. Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores, who is black and of Honduran descent, noted some who voiced vehement opposition to Kaepernick’s kneeling protest as disrespectful had been silent as black Americans died. “Many people who broadcast their opinions on kneeling, or on the hiring of minorities don’t seem to have an opinion on the recent murders of these young black men and women,” Flores said. “I think many of them quietly say that watching George Floyd plead for help is one of the more horrible things they have seen, but it’s said amongst themselves where no one can hear. “Broadcasting that opinion clearly is not important enough,” said Flores, who is one of four minority head coaches in the NFL.
Protests: Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka. (AFP/File / Jose Jordan) - ‘Am I next? Floyd’s death sparked outrage across the sports world. Two-time Grand Slam tennis champion Naomi Osaka posted pictures of protests from Minneapolis on her Instagram account. “Just because it isn’t happening to you doesn’t mean it isn’t happening at all,” wrote Osaka, whose mother is Japanese and whose father is Haitian. In Germany on Saturday, Schalke’s American midfielder Weston McKennie wore a “Justice for George” armband in his team’s 1-0 Bundesliga loss to Werder Bremen. “To be able to use my platform to bring attention to a problem that has been
going on too long feels good!!!” the 21-year-old tweeted. Rising US tennis star Coco Gauff applauded Osaka’s Instagram’s post on Saturday. The 16-year-old African American, who burst onto the international scene with a fourth-round run at Wimbledon last year that included a triumph over her idol Venus Williams, had posted her own chilling condemnation of Floyd’s death on social media on Friday. In a video she referenced a number of unarmed black Americans who died in recent years at the hands of authorities or white fellow citizens.“Am I next?” Gauff asked.
Sri Lanka’s 13-man squad to begin training on Monday Head of the GTTA; Godfrey Munroe. at both the junior and senior levels have teamed up to create videos that use creative ways of spreading the message of covid-19 precautions. The pandemic would’ve forced the GTTA women’s team to miss out on a historic first participation in the World Teams championships in South Korea. It was also a big blow that will miss out on hosting the 2020 Caribbean Mini and Pre Cadet Table Tennis Championships that would’ve allowed for mass participation by locals since financing travelling has always been a bug bear for the association. Munroe concluded that the GTTA are currently awaiting the ITTF pronouncement and directives on the competitions scheduled.
ESPNcricinfo - Sri Lanka Cricket will go ahead with plans for a 13-man squad of players to begin training today, despite a sharp rise in the number of Covid-19 infections in the country over the past few weeks. The players will essentially put themselves and four support staff in a bubble, over the course of the 12-day “residential training camp” at the Colombo Cricket Club. The squad, which largely comprises of bowlers, will stay at a nearby hotel, and “will not be allowed to leave the hotel premises or the practice venue to attend personal matters” according to an SLC release. Although 531 new Covid-19 patients had been
identified in Sri Lanka since May 24, those new cases are believed to be almost entirely from quarantine centres from around the country, with recent returnees from the Middle East comprising the majority of patients. In general, the Sri Lanka government has indicated that the spread of the virus is under control, and has so far avoided reimposing the strict, extended curfews seen through April and the early part of May. The government is also understood to be supporting this resumption of training. “Health officials already visited the hotel and the practice venue, and provided health guidelines to the staff members of the respective venues,” the board release
said. Among those who will start training are quicks Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana, Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara. Spinners Wanindu Hasaranga and Lasith Embuldeniya and batsmen Kusal Perera and Danushka Gunathilaka have also been included in this squad. Head coach Mickey Arthur and batting coach Grant Flower - both of whom have been in Sri Lanka through the duration of the viral outbreak - are among the support staff. SLC had hoped international cricket could begin on the island in late June or early July, but India - the team that is due to visit next - have not confirmed the tour.
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Kaieteur News
WI player Smartt wants to see Women’s game grow (Part 2)
Coach Smartt (left) with the Regional U-19 Champions Guyana. By Sean Devers Guyana and Windies player Tremayne Smartt started Coaching after she joined Tucber Park/Bermine Cricket Club which had as much as fifty U-13, 15, 17, and U-19 youngsters as well as females, second and first division cricketers practicing and playing. “I began coaching to help out, which I found satisfying. I later went on to do the level 1 coaching course and in 2019 the level 2 course. I am always glad to share my knowledge especially in trying to get more young females and males interested and skilled enough, it is also satisfying to see both male and female go on to play for Berbice, Guyana and West Indies,” said Smartt. Romario Shepherd is the first player from Tucber Park team to play ODIs for West Indies. Smartt believes that if more youngsters get involved in sports and learn the
meaning of discipline the better their chances of not getting involved in trouble will be. Smartt advised young girls who want cricket as a career to see it as a dream of wanting be a cricketer, but cautioned that a career in cricket will only be for a short time. “They will be downfalls at any given time because cricket is a team sport and it all depends on performance and your faith is in hands of selectors. Work hard and it will happen but don’t forsake your education, try to keep a balance so you can get a good job to assist you. Cricket is there for a time but getting a good job to backup is always a better career,” Smartt added. “Female cricket has come long way but a lot more is needed for female cricket to reach the peak in this country or even in the Caribbean. We are way behind in terms of development.
The men have long had the spotlight, but our Windies women have shown that they too have a right to be acknowledged. Having won the ICC Women’s World T20 title in 2016,” Smartt advocated. The Berbician Coach suggests that more developmental programmes be implemented, to ensure the pool of women cricketers widens for the progress of the women’s game in the region. Smartt continued, “Yes, we know that female cricket would not generate the funds like our male counterparts, or bring big crowds to the grounds. But first we must start by taking small steps to improve it by creating a programme for females to be paid to train all year like our male counterparts locally. The same can be done in the Caribbean. Set programmes for them to keep them active during out of season. Pay coaches to oversee or ensure those
Berbice won the Women’s Inter-County title for the 4th consecutive time. Coach Percival is standing at right.
programmes are being done. By paying the females, I am sure a lot of young girls will be more interested to play and help to evolve the game in Guyana and in the other Caribbean countries. Stage more women’s cricket in various countries to help with the fitness and overall development of women’s cricket skills. Make the necessary changes to have our top women cricketers play in our male second division cricket set up. Have more schools’ programmes involving coaching in both primary and secondary schools. Go in to different villages and areas around the country and do spot talent programmes, publish it in newspapers and various social media and I am sure we will spot or on unearth lots more or a very talented pool of players.” Smartt gives as much assistance as she can at Tucber Park, by giving her time to help the youths develop in the New Amsterdam area. “I would assist those in times of need with passage to help them go play the game they love and give cricket clothes to those who are in need of it for training, we all know a lot of cricketers are talented but it is very taxing for some to get certain things to play the game they love. Recently I did a little charity to help out in this trying times of covid-19 for children at home in my area. I always believe in giving no matter how little you have, making positive difference in the lives of others no matter who they are,” stressed Smartt.
Smartt bats for West Indies Women’s. According to Coach Smartt, the general standard of women’s cricket in Guyana is low but at a stage where all is not lost. “We have the talent in the country. I went to Kwakwani for the first time and there was a cricket camp going on. Some of girls I saw in that village are good and can play for Guyana if they get some assistance to come out to take part in the cricket. One of them was a National footballer but she had good skills to become a good cricketer. We need to put things in place to help develop women’s Cricket in the country, more coaching programmes being done in remote areas and other parts of country. Provide incentives for females at Inter-county level which is only once a year and that’s the only event these girls are training for. By doing that I am sure that would encourage the girls to take the game of cricket more seriously. Give prizes as incentives to winning teams along with the trophy because if we look at the broader perspective we train the entire year to play just inter-county. What is there for these girls to be motivated or get even hungry for the game they love?” asked Smartt. My wish is that women are paid a stipend at local level and give women’s cricket more publicity so that the public and businesses can understand what’s going on. Doing that would maybe
encourage more support for us in the future. Staging more women’s cricket in various regions in the Caribbean throughout the year to help with the overall development of women’s cricket skills, for women’s cricket to evolve more all over the Caribbean. More young girls and women need to come out to play the game to help provide a wider pool of players. To improve the situation, we need to create a similar programme like the men franchise set up, more games throughout the year, better organized coaching programmes in schools and identify players and keep them together to help improve their skills,” Smartt said. “Covid-19 has brought about changes in our life of how we would normally go about doing things at home and in public. It plays a big part in how we go about training and not staying close to each other in this pandemic which brings a loss of funds worldwide. But covid-19 made itself the number one thing in everyone’s life at this time and we need to be each other keepers because our life’s depends on each other no matter who you are or what races you are. It brings about that one word we need to live in ‘unity’ and help each other to fight this covid19 pandemic together,” Smartt emphasized. “As cricketers the least we could do is find a little (Continued on page 20)
Kaieteur News
Monday June 01, 2020
PAGE 23
Burns dominates Woodley at UFC Fight Night Gilbert Burns of Brazil (right) kicks Tyron Woodley (left) in their welterweight fight during UFC Fight Night. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa via USA TODAY Sports)
Gilbert Burns of Brazil (right) reacts after his victory over Tyron Woodley (left) in their welterweight fight during UFC Fight Night. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa via USA TODAY Sports) Brazilian welterweight Gilbert Burns upset American Tyron Woodley in a five-round, unanimous decision in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. Burns (19-3), who is from Rio de Janeiro and trains in South Florida, has now won six straight bouts and was impressive in defeating Woodley, who entered as the No. 1 contender in the world in the welterweight division. One
judge scored the fight 50-45, while the other two had it at 50-44. Woodley, 38, enjoyed a three-inch reach advantage, but Burns, 33, stalked him throughout, scoring two massive knockdowns. In fact, Burns knocked Woodley down in the opening minute, using a right uppercut, a right knee and a then flurry of punches. Those blows opened a major gash over Woodley’s left eye and nearly ended the fight
early. Wo o d l e y ( 1 9 - 5 - 1 ) recovered enough to escape the round, but he got punched down again the fourth round. He never seriously threatened to win the bout. It was Woodley’s first bout since he lost his championship belt to Kamaru Usman nearly 15 months ago, and the rust was evident. Burns had a 76-29 edge in significant strikes. He also
had ground-control time for nearly five minutes (4:57) to just two seconds for Woodley. In the co-main event, heavyweight Augusto Sakai of Brazil earned a split decision over Bulgarian Blagoy Ivanov. One judge had Ivanov winning by a 30-27 score. But Sakai won the other two cards, 29-28, to raise his record to 15-1-1. Ivanov fell to 18-4 in a battle a pair of 250-plus-pound fighters.
Sakai has won six consecutive fights, including two split decisions. Ivanov, meanwhile, has lost consecutive split decisions. In a catchweight bout, Billy Quarantillo (14-2) defeated Spike Carlyle (9-2) by a narrow unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three cards. In what was likely the best fight of the night, Carlyle came out with a sprint and seemed to win the first two rounds. But Quarantillo nearly knocked
out a weary Carlyle at the end, and that earned him the win. Further down the main card, lightweight Roosevelt Roberts (10-1) got Brok Weaver (15-5) in a rearnaked choke and earned a submission win 3:26 into the second round. In a women’s strawweight bout, Mackenzie Dern (8-1) submitted Hannah Cifers (10-5) with a knee bar at 2:36 of the first round. (Field Level Media)
Douglas, Browne put Hikers in Nike says “Don’t Do It” on racism final against Ambris’s Breakers “For once, Don’t Do It,” Nike says on racism. (Getty Images North America/AFP/File / Drew Angerer)
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INGSTOWN, S t Vi n c e n t , C M C – Windward Islands batsman, Dillon Douglas, struck an 18-ball half-century to fire La Soufriere Hikers into the final of the inaugural T10 Vincy Premier League here Saturday. The 21-year-old, who played a single game for Volcanoes last November during the Super50 Cup in Trinidad, smashed two fours and seven sixes in an unbeaten 58 as Hikers, sent in at Arnos Vale, tallied 150 for two from their allotted 10 overs in the second semifinal. Opener Salvan Browne, who played the last of his two first class matches for Windwards 11 years ago, top-scored with an astonishing 70 from 28 deliveries. He counted eight fours and four sixes, posting 65 for the first wicket with Dean Browne (13) and a further 79 for the second wicket with Douglas. I n r e p l y, J e r e m y Haywood picked up four for 15 to restrict Botanical
Sunil Ambris managed just one for Breakers. Gardens Rangers to 117 for seven, earning Hikers a 33run victory. Kenneth Dember struck 33 and Hyron Shallow, 26, the pair posting exactly 50 for the first wicket off 24 deliveries. However, once they were separated, the innings slipped into decline. In the opening semifinal, Test player Sunil Ambris failed with one but
his Salt Pond Breakers o v e r c a m e t h a t disappointment to beat Grenadine Divers by five wickets. Ambris has been a standout performer in the tournament with 259 runs at an average of 43, while picking up nine wickets with his unpracticed off-spin. Breakers and Hikers were to clash in the final yesterday at Arnos Vale.
AFP - Nike has taken a stand against racism with a “Don’t do it” campaign, a twist on its famous catch phrase, as protests against police brutality spread across the United States. “For once, Don’t Do It... Don’t pretend there’s not a problem in America,” the US sports apparel giant said in a video posted to Twitter late Friday. The message came as protesters across the United States took to the streets against the treatment of George Floyd, an African American who died in the hands of police in Minneapolis earlier this week. In a rare sign of solidarity, competitor Adidas retweeted the video, with a message stating: “Together is how we move forward. Together is how we make change.” Floyd’s death on Monday was captured in a horrifying cellphone video now seen around
the world, in which a white police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes until well after he went motionless, while three other officers stood by. “Don’t turn your back on racism. Don’t accept innocent lives being taken from us. Don’t make any more excuses. Don’t think this doesn’t affect you,” Nike said in the video, in which white words appear across a black background. The campaign hardly marks the first time Nike, whose “Just Do It” slogan is known worldwide, has waded into US social justice issues. In September 2018, Nike made waves when it released an advertising campaign featuring US football player and activist Colin Kaepernick, criticized for kneeling during the US national anthem at games in protest at racism.
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