K
AIETEUR “Guyana can't Saturday Edition NEWS withstand the fire of the entire p.7 June 13, 2020 - Vol. 14 No. 23
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Granger falsely claims Coalition's allegations - Makes no mention caused recountFormerofBarbadian Mingo's fraud PM defends p. 13
incoming CARICOM Chair…
Honesty, Integrity, Decency: David Granger has finally laid claim to his Coalition's unproven allegations of electoral fraud, even as he ignores the tabulation Clairmont Mingo rigged twice in his favour.
“Harmon has no authority… He is out of order!” p. 8
Body with plastic bag over head…
Killers appear to p. have mutilated 8 corpse to conceal victim's identity
Man loses eye after Family offers $100,000 falling from motorbike reward to find missing man p. 14
p. 12
Eyes of the world on - former Claudette Singh Bajan PM p. 3
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Kaieteur News
Saturday June 13, 2020
Kaieteur News
Saturday June 13, 2020
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Eyes of the world on - Former Claudette Singh Bajan PM By Kemol King
F
ormer Barbadian Prime Minister and Chief of the Commonwealth Observer Mission to Guyana's elections, Owen Arthur says that the eyes of the world are on the Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), (ret'd) Justice Claudette Singh, as she holds the balance of power on the Commission and will be the decisive vote on the declaration of the results of Guyana's March 2 General and Regional Elections. Asked very pointedly about her performance, during an interview yesterday on Kaieteur Radio, Arthur said that though he has not had a lot of direct exposure to her, he has determined that she is gracious and that she would want to do what is right. He noted that Singh is under a lot of pressure. “She's aware that the eyes of the rest of the world are upon her. That matters to her. And I think that you will find that perhaps to be a saving grace. Her reputation is going to matter to her too,”Arthur said. The Commission is set to
declare the results of the National Recount, which shows the People's Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) to be squarely in the lead with 233,336 votes, ahead of the 217,920 votes gained by the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change
“
And I don't want to accuse Mr. Granger or Harmon of being dangerous,' Arthur said, 'I am very circumspect in these matters. But I would rather not attribute to malice, that which can best be explained by ignorance.
(APNU+AFC) Coalition. Despite this clear lead amassed by the PPP/C during what has been judged by all observers as a comparatively smooth election, the Coalition has argued, with thousands of unsubstantiated claims, that the elections were fraudulent and that the results of the recount cannot be declared as they are not credible. Arthur said that if Singh makes a declaration contrary to the results of the recount, he would be respectful and
”
ever a case in her professional career as a judge where she ever made a judgment on the basis of facts other than those that were presented in the case.” The Chair had decided to embark on what appeared to be an investigation of the veracity of the claims being made by the Coalition, during the National Recount, and it was said by Commissioners that she collected 'evidence' from the party. She had also written to the Police Commissioner,
China's leading gold mining company buys Guyana Goldfields Inc for C$323M
C
hina's leading gold mining company, Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd has completed the proposed purchase Guyana Goldfields Inc. In a release to the media yesterday, it was announced that Zijin entered into a binding arrangement agreement which will allow it to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Guyana Goldfields for cash consideration of C$1.85 for each Guyana Common Share, valuing Guyana Goldfields at approximately C$323 million. On June 3, 2020, Guyana Goldfields had received a binding proposal from Zijin to acquire all of the issued and outstanding Guyana Common Shares and notified Silvercorp, a Canadian mining company
basis of the recount.” The PPP/C and A New and United Guyana (ANUG) have argued that any investigation about anomalies and the lawfulness of the Election Day process should be handled by the Court in an elections petition. Arthur shares this view. “I would have said if there were issues concerning irregularities,” he explained, “that would be as to the subject of a petition. And I think those two things are separate.”
wait for her to give a factual account of the basis upon which she made the decision. “Because obviously, she would have had to make that decision on the basis of evidence, and she was a judge…” Arthur said. “I don't know that there was
that submitted the first proposal to purchase Guyana Goldfields, that a superior offer was received. Silvercorp elected not to exercise its right to match and, as a result, Guyana Goldfields terminated the Silvercorp Arrangement
Agreement. Zijin has since agreed to provide Guyana Goldfields with a US$30 million secured loan facility to finance ongoing operations of the Aurora gold mine and to fund its other liquidity needs.
GECOM Chair, Justice (ret'd) Claudette Singh Leslie James requesting a verification of a list of names supplied by the Coalition, of 207 persons it claimed had votes cast in their names while they were out of the jurisdiction. The Top Cop had forwarded, in response, a list of 172 names from the list, stating that those were not in the country on Election Day. However, at least 24 persons whose names appeared on the Top Cop's list refuting the claim that they were not in the country on Election Day. Many of those persons signed sworn affidavits assuring that they were in the country and did vote on E l e c t i o n D a y. O t h e r s showed this newspaper photos of their passports to prove that they were in Guyana on Election Day. Though the inaccuracy of the Top Cop's report, and the false nature of many of the Coalition's claims have been well ventilated in the press, the Chair has not made
any public pronouncement on how she would be treating with them. One Commissioner, Vincent Alexander has said that there is evidence of electoral malfeasance, while his colleague, Sase Gunraj said that no evidence has been brought to the Commission to support any of the Coalition's claims. 'Declaration has to be made on basis of recount' Asked about whether the elections could be nullified, Arthur said, “the declaration has to be made upon the
'No concerns about fraudulent elections on E-Day' Arthur gave his own comments about the systems in place on Election Day, which he was impressed by due in part to the Commonwealth Observer Mission had reinforced confidence in the safeguards, as it had also provided technical assistance to GECOM. Arthur said, “They [Commonwealth technical experts] were there on the day itself and ensured that they were rendering assistance to GECOM. I must also say that all the groups that we met with in advancement of elections day expressed the fullest (continued on page 15)
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Saturday June 13, 2020
Kaieteur News
Kaieteur News Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL - Tel: 624-6456 Editor: Sharmain Grainger Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210
EDITORIAL
A Dangerous Unravelling Last night, the de facto President of Guyana, three months after an election that it is now clear he lost by a substantial margin, after hiding from the local press for months except a brief and babysat appearance at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre last month, appeared in an online interview with New York-based radio broadcaster, Mark Benschop. During the interview, Granger – against increasing international pressure from CARICOM leaders to US members of both the Senate and the lower house of Congress – said that he preferred that foreign heads of government and foreign politicians refrain from commentary on the elections in Guyana. The problem was that Granger was following US Congresswoman, Yvette Clarke, who spent the immediate hour preceding Granger speaking glowingly about his administration – in brief, commenting on the elections in Guyana. The Department of Information of the Granger administration wasted no time in filing a story on Clarke’s appearance (double-billed with Granger on promotion material) on the show in which she is recorded as “Chiding attempts to influence the outcome of the March 2 General and Regional Elections” and maintaining that “members within her caucus are keeping a watchful eye.” Of course, as this paper has covered, Clarke and her friend Hakeem Jeffries, both with ties to the Granger administration, are the sole members of the US Congress that have stood with the Coalition over the past few months with a growing bipartisan list of congresspersons and senators sending clear warnings over the past few weeks to Granger that any attempt to thwart the will of the people would not be tolerated. As it turns out, Granger’s absurdly contradictory approach to ‘foreign intervention’ and foreign politicians commenting on Guyana’s elections was the least bizarre of the President’s claims during the interview. He, for example, defended his political second in command, Joe Harmon’s intemperate comments ordering current CARICOM Chair Mia Mottley, a Prime Minister, to upbraid Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of another CARICOM country for daring to suggest that the recount be respected. Granger, who has said that he will abide by the recount and by the decision of GECOM, stated that Harmon’s position, which is that GECOM’s decisions and the outcome of the recount are fraudulent, represent his own perspective. Add this to the long history of self-contradiction and doublespeak Granger has subjected this country to over the past several years, most absurd and macabre of which is his mantra “I have always abided by the Constitution” even as there is an on the record Caribbean Court of Justice decision saying that he has not. As we are exposed to more and more of his plot unraveling, we are also seeing how much David Granger has lost the plot, how far he has in fact drifted from the fundamental reality of what is taking place around him. There can be no clearer example of this drift into what appears to be a boundless ocean of cognitive dissonance than when he claimed during the interview last evening that it was the discoveries of the countless ‘anomalies’, the claims of dead and overseas people voting, and procedural issues with GECOM that led to the national recount. That is a lie, and one that is so easily countered that to utter it, even from what he clearly believes to be the safe zone of a virtual interview from a cloyingly sycophantic host, belies what has to be either an absurd and delusional arrogance or severe cognitive issues – or both. To be clear, the national recount came out of two main things: commitment made by GECOM Chair, Claudette Singh to Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire in response to legal challenges to the machinations, in Granger’s favour, of Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, a name Granger has never once uttered in public; and threats by the international community that they would not accept Mingo’s fictional SOPs, ones that Granger’s party twice said that was in accordance with his Coalition’s. Forced by this pressure, the President on the weekend of
Warning from God’s word about lying DEAREDITOR, From a position of neutrality, I humbly submit this letter to the citizens of the land, which I dearly love. I am not a theologian but I am compelled to use God’s word to address the deadly virus of lying that has gripped our country. The word “One” in Guyana’s motto no longer has a message of unity because we are a divided people in a confused nation with an uncertain destiny but prayer and repentance always change direction if we are obedient to God’s will. We all know lying is wrong and it is for that reason that we are taught “not to lie” from birth but as we grow older the lust and greed for money, fame and power consume us and we now justify lies to achieve selfish goals with no regard for the pain and affliction imposed on others. Since March 2, the news media is saturated with trying to separate truth from lies and instead of going to God’s word, we choose to use the court without achieving the desired results. This brought me to search God’s word to see how many times “lie” is mentioned and discovered that this offence is mention more times than all the other offences combined and comes with a stern warning of serious consequences to the offenders. I wish to quote from
the wise King Solomon about the seven things that God hates and lying is mentioned twice among them and it is interesting to note that a lying tongue is followed by “hands that shed innocent blood” - Proverbs 6: 16-19. 16: There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18: A heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19: A false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. Lying works exactly like the nervous system that transmits messages at supersonic speed to the brain for action. My lie is transmitted the same way to God who immediately convicts me that lying is wrong. If I decide to execute the plan, additional lies will be my only means of false protection. God will not stop me from choosing the road to self-destruction because He gave me a brain or His spirit in me makes me aware that serious consequences await my stubbornness. Yes, you and I understand that guilt is a great and marvelous protective gift from God to help us to walk in His ways. Anyone
who suppresses guilt is rebelling against God’s warning and challenging Him. That person is either very brave or extremely stupid or both because inescapable consequences awaits him. The bible says in Proverbs 29:1 ”whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed— without remedy” and let me follow with this warning, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” Hebrews 10: 31. It is no secret that it takes more effort to lie than speaking the truth and it can damage our character for life. There is one truth; you speak it and it delivers the best that life has to offer but a lie has to have others in storage to defend the first until the ongoing cycle becomes unbearable. At this stage, you are left with two options which are: to repent and ask God and man’s forgiveness. If you choose to become a hardened addicted liar, believing your own lie and convincing yourself that it is now acceptable to use any means to destroy those who expose your nature, this is the beginning of the road to total destruction to self and others. Remember that with God, no man can cover his trail. We continue to believe the lie that we have a skin problem,
when in reality, we have a sin problem that exposes the condition of our heart. God’s word declares that, “the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? - Jeremiah 17: 9. God is the only cure for the sin of prejudice and discrimination, which has plagued us for decades but we have to confess this sin, repent and ask for His forgiveness. Freedom of choice is endorsed by God and no one has the authority to reverse that God-given freedom and I want to appeal to all concerned to stop trying to undo what has been done. The will of the voters is not negotiable. Please accept our choice and stop seeing us as Indo and Afro Guyanese because God made us one and indeed we are One People and blessed to be born in a land of great abundance and that land is Guyana. Let me close with the words of the wise king Solomon: “This is what I have found. God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes” - Ecclesiastes 7:29. Please be reminded that, “crime has no friends. Those who lie with me and lie for me cannot be trusted as my friends because they will eventually lie against me”. Harold Beharry
May the decision makers within the Education Ministry be divinely inspired to change course DEAREDITOR, I write to add my voice to the many that have expressed dismay and concern about our Ministry of Education’s incomprehensible plan to have our young Grade 6 students return to school next week before sitting the National Grade Six Assessment examination in the midst of one of the most deadly pandemics of all time. We continue to identify new cases of COVID-19 in Guyana.
In fact, there is a news report that one of these newly discovered cases is a teacher who was engaged in the preparation of schools for the return of our children. This regrettable incident demonstrates just one of the many possible scenarios that could place our nation’s families at risk of contracting COVID-19. I wish that teacher a quick and complete recovery. No doubt the teacher was not well
March 14 reached out to CARICOM Chair, Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, to undertake a recount supervised by CARICOM. After prevaricating for two days, with a CARICOM team ready and waiting in the country, it was a Granger Candidate, Ulita Moore, represented by Granger candidate, Roysdale Forde that challenged the legality of the recount, ultimately losing that challenge, but setting the process back by weeks. It was only after then, when the recount began, that the allegations of dead and migrated voters started pouring in. In brief, the unfounded allegations that started during a recount delayed for weeks by a court case seeking to prevent that recount, could not logically be the reason for the recount – yet the man who campaigned under a banner of honesty, integrity and decency made that claim to tens of thousands of people last night. Recently, former Barbadian Ambassador to the United States, John Beale, was brutal in his assessment of the President, saying that Granger was being referred to in Caribbean political circles as a “sanctimonious gangster”. With his most recent radio appearance, just three days left before GECOM is bound to make a declaration declaring a winner of the 2020 polls, Granger did nothing to argue against that description. The final threads of the increasingly obvious plot to steal the elections are unraveling, but clearly so is its primary author –this is a dangerous development for the country.
enough to comply with the Ministry’s demands but felt compelled to do so. At this time, we need to support our teachers, many of whom are dedicated to their profession and to their students but are being instructed by the Ministry to engage in actions that would jeopardise their lives and those of their family members. No one deserves to be placed in such a position of danger. There must be a better and safer way. We need only to look to our close neighbour, Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), a country in which the COVID-19 virus is certainly under better control than in Guyana. Yet, T&T has not rushed to hold their equivalent examination (the Secondary Entrance Assessment or SEA). T&T has instead decided to hold this examination on 20th August, 2020 and have their examination level students return to classes on 20th July, 2020 so as to allow students to “adequately prepare for the assessment.” A statement from the T&T Ministry of Education also indicates that students will be provided with psychological and emotional support ahead of the resumption of school. T&T expects to re-open schools for the next term sometime in late
October, 2020. Now this sounds to me like a Ministry that is placing the welfare of its country’s most precious assets—its teachers and students—at the forefront of its decisions, as it should. Contrast this with the uncaring, inhumane and cavalier approach by our own Ministry of Education and its mad rush to roll out the NGSA come what may. While there are differences in the NGSA and SEA, there must be options that would allow a later and safer sitting of the NGSA that would still allow the next school term to start before January 2021. The Guyana Teacher’s Union (GTU) has been supporting our teachers and has put forth some alternatives that could address these concerns. I join the calls for the Ministry of Education to give more meaningful consideration to the GTU’s proposals and collaborate in coming up with a safer and more caring approach to the NGSA. The health and safety of our nation’s students, teachers and families lie in our Ministry of Education’s hands. May the decision makers there be divinely inspired to change course. Yours faithfully, Karim Paul
Saturday June 13, 2020
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Kaieteur News
Interim governance – one year is too short DEAR EDITOR, A couple of months ago, I repeated calls from decades ago for what I envision is the temporary solution of an interim governance structure. Recently, a few more voices have joined with their own calls for something similar. I think that this is encouraging and recognises where we are stuck and what gives a chance to survive as a nation. I say this regardless of what are our positions, or for whom our votes were cast. I am moved that others now associate with what my position has always been: neither party would be allowed to rule smoothly, given the cauldron that blows so much racial heat at this time. No single party could rule peacefully and efficiently. To repeat that now familiar Guyanese wisdom: “dis time nah lang time”. Dis time gat lethal assets. Dis time gat
unprecedentedly infuriated mindsets. In more conventional English, the tools, motivations, and wills are there. Selfish politicians and helpers ignore or dismiss, somewhat confident that they would prevail. They must be forgiven, for they know not what they do; though I think that they do. Most have too much at stake to give up anything; I don’t. Regardless, there are these continual calls today for a year of such an interim governance arrangement to find a way out of the impasses. Impasse is a word so much used here that now it lacks meaning. I disagree on the limitation of a year or even that of a year and a half. It is too short and against what is my assessment of local realities and the commonsense that flows from such. Think of this: the first year alone would be needed
to hyperventilate about who is responsible for the back alley brawl and the seizure that now stand as testimony to the radioactive no man’s land, from which none could emerge cleanly or intact. A whole year would be needed for quarreling and fighting over the mechanics of such thinking and tinkering. A year would be needed to arrange acceptable mediators and helpers. That is, if they have not washed their hands and shaken the dust off their feet in disgusted distancing from this unholy place. I am of here, and love here, and I done so. More and more, I get the impression that outsiders want no part of this place, including CARICOM. I continue. Then, after the mechanics have been somewhat settled, the players have to be determined. Now there is a can of snakes, which regrettably I must extend to
Guyanese Look Forward to the PPP’s Olive Branch of Hope and Inclusivity DEAR EDITOR, In response to Mr. Kwayana’s letter (KN June 12.20), it is unfortunate that Eusi Kwayana is no longer on these shores, since it would have been a real benefit to have met someone who is a virtual living legend of Guyana’s history. I had sought his company prior to the recent election for counsel and support. Guyana’s history is a sad one indeed, and while there have been wrongs on both sides of our political divide, I’m sure Mr. Kwayana can appreciate the PNC’s own contributions to dismembering whatever trust Indo-Guyanese could have had of them, even reaching to the more recent attempts in 2001 by the PNC to use African Guyanese lives to engage in a futile civil war against the then administration after the PNC realised that it did not have
the moral trust of Guyanese to ever win an election again. Indian Guyanese are to be commended for ‘taking a chance’ on putting the PNC, now operating through the APNU, back into government, even though they placed their votes in favour of the AFC, which turned out to be even worse than the PNC. The change in government in 2015 has been good to Guyana for a number of reasons. First, the younger generation of traditional PNC supporters witness for themselves the depravity of the PNC about which they heard so much during their short lives. Secondly, the PPP had an opportunity to reassess the population, recognising that not all people who would support the PNC are willing to condone its excesses. I think also many traditional PNC supporters recognise their party as being the source of
Scenario similar to 1992? DEAR EDITOR, So there is no money in the coffers to assist the ailing sugar company. It begs the question just what is there in the treasury
for the new government when it takes office? It begs a further question, “Is this scenario similar to 1992?” Shamshun Mohamed
ethnic insecurities. Lastly, among the more important, there is now a determined recognition that there is need for new blood, a reassessment of our national policy framework, and a renewed commitment to constitutional reform by all stakeholders. Guyanese look forward to the olive branch of inclusivity offered by the new PPP administration, because this is the fair, just and only true path for a society as diversified as ours. I add here that all sides of the population if not political divide, hope for healing of the wounds and personal and national pain endured throughout our short history. We are on the cusp of great hope and opportunity for social and economic progress. It is my sincere hope that we live up to the dreams and aspirations Mr. Kwayana, Dr. Jagan, Ashton Chase, and our other early fathers had for us as a nation. Regards, Craig Sylvester
encircle most political newcomers. I do so because their histories are not shrouded, but too much like the old wellknown cloths, meaning the PPP and PNC. But it has to be more than shared, governance, with inclusiveness in its broadest sense being the sensible scale, which is our extended Catch-22. To succeed is to end up with the same crooks. Look at what is there: The ranks of the private sector and the spiritual sector look most barren: too tainted and too compromised, which is the sorry state of Guyana. Since those are wide areas, not much is left. I would like to point to the professional, the close and remote diaspora, and
Guyanese academics. I come up woefully short. If they are different from one side or the other in terms of appearance, then they are leprous, shunning follows. If they ever uttered one opinion, or publicly favoured one side, then they are doomed, as in untouchable. So, this country is doomed, because wherever we lookcivil class, professional class, or thinking class - our men and women are condemned to hard distrusts and degrading fate. As evidence, I tender the compromise and now suspected comprised figure of the hapless Chairwoman of GECOM. Ah, what a tangled Gordian web we weave in the unknottable intricacies of circumstances nurtured. My recommendation
would be to lock the two leaders alone in a room and throw away the key; they are allowed to come out when they arrive at some position of compromise and cooperation. In the meantime, no food and water; and if I really had my way, no toilets either. But fat chance any of this happening. Once again, and this is unwelcomed by me, I detect that foreign minds and hands will have to be summoned to lift us out of our cradles. That is an indication of how helpless we are. Since they already virtually govern our elections process, they might as well be called upon to teach us how to govern ourselves. Sincerely, GHK Lall
THE MEDIA’s role is to hold them accountable DEAR EDITOR, “SN and KN are attacking our Government. They are being biased. They are the new opposition.” The above is satire. Not just onAPNU+AFC but on the PPP/C as well. Guyanese expect the media to hold the Government, the Opposition and all stakeholders accountable. Guyanese expect the new government to relish the media holding them accountable and not cry foul. Guyanese expect the new Government to work in a consultative manner promoting Inclusive Governance (which is not the
same as Shared Governance). Guyanese expect the new Government to govern transparently, practice good governance and are accountable as a minimum.
Politicians want to be in Government so don’t complain when you are being held accountable. Yours faithfully, Sean Ori
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The appropriate LongTerm View to pursue DEAR EDITOR, In the recent past Mr. Alex Volkov Vice President of Global LNG Marketing from our very own supplier Exxon, was in an interview with the Petroleum Economist on June 1st “ExxonMobil Takes The Long-Term View” speaking to the importance of Natural Gas. He clearly and very positively stated that Natural Gas was cleaner than coal and would play a great supportive role in a green energy strategy comprised of solar and wind. He even went so far as to say “It is reliable, efficient and flexible—making gas wellsuited to help meet peak demand and play a crucial role in securing our cleaner energy future”. He also stated, “LNG in particular is a game changer, allowing us to ship this cleaner-burning fuel in quantities that we have not seen before, to destinations where it is needed all over the world. The technological and commercial advances that the industry has put in place over the last decade—such as floating storage and regasification units, smallscale LNG and flexible supplies—have enabled and will continue to power additional demand growth”. In addition, Vietnam is structuring an agreement with Exxon that would make the supplier a key partner for the supply of LNG. A very lucrative opportunity that Guyana should ensure it also leverages once our local power generation needs are met. As for the current depletion of this expensive resource, it would be prudent
Saturday June 13, 2020
Kaieteur News
for the EPA and the Ministry to negotiate a payment equivalent to the lost value of this precious resource at the market price plus the cost of the environmental damage caused by the flaring. After all, this long ongoing operational issue is one which Exxon has to bare a substantial part of the burdens as it is an avoidable expense outside of normal operations. As for the “long-term view”, Guyana’s view was appropriate concerning the use of its limited natural gas supplies within five years. We should continue to insist on being able to use our Natural Gas as soon as possible. Five years is more than realistic. The market dynamics is changing quickly and our supplier is considering entering the power generation market, so the timing may be ripe to explore this option with them. Exxon is aware that its long term profitable is not sustainable if it doesn’t adjust to the environmental and market needs as they change. It is important that both Exxon and Guyana show a high level of agility as we deal with the development of our energy portfolio. We must do so in a manner that both protects the environment and enhances the profitable growth of all stakeholders. This would be the appropriate Long-Term View to be pursued. Best regards, Mr. Jamil Changlee Chairman The Cooperative Republicans of Guyana
Right on concept of ‘Deemed Elected’ DEAR EDITOR, Jagdeo is right to use the term ‘Deemed President”. The outcome of the election is not official until so declared by the Chair of GECOM, which would not happen perhaps until after or on June 16. But in political science, the term used for the winner of an election until such time he or she has been sworn in is ‘President Elect’ or ‘President Presumed’ or ‘Deemed President’. That is the norm in every country with a Presidential system. They are honorific titles used right after an election once the votes are counted. The incumbent is referred to as ‘outgoing’ or ‘lame duck’ and in the US, the norm is he gracefully bows out. The terms became popular in the US going back to November 1980 after the election of Ronald Reagan. I was a Biochem major but taking a political science course as well and remember the history well. Jimmy Carter, the man who saved Guyana’s democracy in October 1992, instantly became a lame duck the evening of the election,
and the front page of papers had landslide and President Elect Reagan. (It is hoped that Carter or some other respected elder may not be needed to save democracy now given rumour mills of resistance to the recount that showed Dr. Irfaan Ali as being the winner). Jagdeo is right to flash Deemed President because Ali had the most votes and the constitution does say the candidate with the most votes wins the Presidency and forms the government. For those of us who study political science, the terms President Elect, or Presumed President, or Deemed President are appropriately used. In any law abiding country, a candidate that wins an election right after the count is considered to have been elected (President Elect or Deemed President) until such time that an election body or a court says otherwise. The outgoing President (incumbent), also known as a lame duck and or the candidates he (she) defeated offer congratulations and
they may exchange pleasantries. A transition team is put in place for the inevitable transfer of power. Only power grabbers would want to stay on after defeat in an election. Guyana is not Kenya or Zimbabwe or some other banana republic where Presidents who lost elections refused to concede or want to have it redone. A respected President does not seek a rerun after losing an election. It is indisputable from the recount that Ali won the Presidency. The counting and recounting were transparent. The whole world accepts that the PPP won the elections. Ali is therefore President Elect or Deemed President, as Jagdeo correctly concluded. The opposition parties have rightly congratulated the PPP for the victory and many people have been appropriately using the term President Elect in referring to Ali. When GECOM makes it official and after Ali is sworn in, he becomes President. Social and political conditions have been very
tense in Guyana over the last four months. The outcome is inevitable. The country needs to exhale. The election conclusively decides the government. The opposition has won. To reduce tensions, President Granger should phone Ali and offer congrats for a well-fought campaign and let us bring this process to a closure. Mr. President, please don’t expend energy to avoid the inevitable. You have played your innings. Given your age and health challenges, spend more time with your lovely family. Behave responsibly! Concede power! Bow out gracefully! Congratulate your challenger! Let’s all (coalition and opposition supporters) work together to build Guyana into a modern, democratic state that rivals Singapore, Taiwan, and Dubai in development. I wish the very best to outgoing President Granger and his family and incoming President Dr. Irfaan Ali and his family and the PPP team. Yours truly, Dr. Vishnu Bisram
The incoming Minister of Education should postpone the NGSA DEAR EDITOR, Given the serious health risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the level of importance placed on the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), the Ministry of Education (MoE) should have taken the proposals of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) more seriously. Also, the Ministry should have conducted some form of public consultation with parents and guardians before setting the dates of these exams. After all, this placement exam is a major stepping-stone for our future doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers, and yes, politicians. Any decision on the timing of the exams should have stemmed from meaningful engagement with these key stakeholder groups. As expected, the Ministry’s unilateral decision has been met with criticism from different corners in recent
days. Notwithstanding, the importance of the public health concern, equally important is the readiness of these young boys and girls to sit these exams in such a short turnaround. Despite having access to learning materials via the internet, television, radio, newspapers, and past exam papers, for many of these students, the lack of academic structure at home over the last three months could not have been an ideal learning environment. To expect the majority of them to remain focused and selfmotivated outside of normal schooling is unrealistic regardless of the best efforts of their teachers, parents, and/or guardians. Their level and intensity of preparation were never going to be the same. Thus, to give these ten, eleven, and twelve-year-old students two weeks to prepare for the biggest test of
their young lives is not only irresponsible but downright unreasonable. Even more alarming is the level of preparation of students from the poorer strata of our society and hinterland regions. Under normal circumstances, students from these households are at a disadvantage as they often lack the same level of materials, resources, and support at home to push them along. Hence, they rely heavily on interactions with their teachers and classmates to motivate and help them absorb the study materials, which often make a world of difference. In the absence of this much needed help, there is a real risk that these underprivileged students will be underprepared for these exams and risk being academically left behind. Furthermore, from an economic development perspective, the importance of this academic assessment cannot be understated. Since there is a significant difference between the top tier and bottom tier secondary schools in Guyana, these exams are a pivotal moment in a young student’s life as it not only determines the secondary school, which they will attend but also the level and quality of educational resources that they will have access to during their formative years. Given the significant weight
placed on the NGSA in Guyana, disadvantaged students may never be able to truly realise their educational potential and by extension improve their economic condition as adults. Hence, there is a strong likelihood that these students as adults will become stuck in a vicious cycle of poverty struggling to make ends meet like their parents and grandparents before them. While I admit that this is not an easy decision to make given the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and the logistics of the school year, we are living in unprecedented times, which call for extraordinary responses and leadership. With a new Minister of Education expected by the end of next week (only time will tell), it is incumbent upon him or her to postpone the NGSA until the major stakeholders are properly engaged and a reasonable decision can be arrived at. This will not only help to assuage concerns related to the public health implications but also allow our students, especially those from poor backgrounds and the interior regions more time to receive the help needed to adequately prepare for and excel at these exams. Anything less is a disservice to our students, teachers, and the nation. Yours faithfully, Omchand Mahdu
Kaieteur News
Saturday June 13, 2020
PAGE 07
“Guyana can't withstand the fire of - Owen the entire global community” Arthur By Shikema Dey
G
uyana faces the possibility of suspension and expulsion from the CARICOM Community as a result of not having elections results that are “free and fair” and those are consequences, according to Former Barbados Prime Minister, Owen Arthur, the country may not be able to withstand. The Former Barbadian Prime Minister made those comments in an exclusive interview on Kaieteur Radio's Elections Watch yesterday where he also pointed to the possibility of the country being booted from the Commonwealth Community. According to Arthur, who also headed the Commonwealth Elections Observer Team in Guyana, a “prosperous future” awaits Guyana but this is solely dependent on Guyana adhering to good governance practices. He stressed that the country cannot benefit from having itself portrayed as a “pariah state”. Ensuing consequences, he highlighted could be the expulsion from the C o m m o n w e a l t h Community. On April 2, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) had issued a warning indicating that if any government is sworn in without transparent results, Guyana can be subjected to disciplinary
Former Barbados Prime Minister, Owen Arthur actions and the government sworn in would lack legitimacy. CMAG is a body that deals with frequent offenders of the Commonwealth's shared principles. Referral to CMAG was said to be the first step to ultimate sanction. They also added that the possibility of Guyana being expelled from the Commonwealth is very high. “It would be a disappointment for this to occur as Guyana played a major role in the grouping and was at one point headed by a Guyanese, Sir Shridath Ramphal from 1975 to 1990,” CMGA had said. “ T h e r e a r e
consequences,” Arthur said in his interview yesterday “by being a member of the Commonwealth; it is not just a political act, you are a beneficiary of technical and other assistance. The Guyanese elections were conducted with technical assistance from the Commonwealth. And you could become a pariah state and you could be suspended.” He reiterated the notion that if issues emerging from the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections and the National Recount need to be dealt with, then such can be done at the level of the court. He said, “If in fact, there
has been a count that is incontrovertible, it would be well advised for people in Guyana to accept the results – if they have issues then that has to be sorted by way of a petition and the law provides for that.” Any deviation from this however, could lead to another grave consequence: suspension and expulsion from CARICOM as well. “If you go ahead and seek not to follow those processes,” Arthur said, “Guyana could be suspended from CARICOM; Guyana, if it came to that could also be expelled from CARICOM. Those would be tremendous decisions that would not be entered likely but Guyana is the principle beneficiary of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).” With the recount process completed, the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Keith Lowenfield is expected to submit his report to the seven-member Commission for deliberation today. The next phase would be the announcement of the declaration of results by the GECOM Chair, Ret'd Justice Claudette Singh. However, the APNU+AFC Coalition has signaled that any results emerging from the count will not be credible. Asked what would be CARICOM's move if the party refuses to accept the
results, the former PM said, “I am not a lawyer but if the government does not accept the results but also wants to stay in office, because that would be the particle implication, then CARICOM would have to make a decision as to whether Guyana would have to be suspended or not.” He continued, “If the government wants to stay in
“
What is happening right now is quite frankly holding up Guyana improperly so too and is being made an international laughing stock
office, and if they do not want the results to be declared and here I am speaking about an issue, which I have no legal knowledge of because I have never had this experience before. We know for sure that the country could be suspended from CARICOM if you did not comply with the charter for civil society and I hope it won't come to that.” The Former Barbadian PM stressed that Guyana enjoys a wide range of benefits from its relationship with CARICOM, all of which could be put at risk. Arthur said, “I think we would agree that you would have benefited more from the provisions where your citizens could move and work freely, in Caribbean countries and any other
Greenidge is still the Foreign Secretary By Shikema Dey
A
press release sent out by the Guyanese American Chamber of Commerce Inc. has revealed that Foreign Secretary, Carl Greenidge still holds ministerial office despite previous reports that he was removed from the post. The press release received yesterday June 12, spoke to a virtual Town Hall Meeting on the Guyana/ Ve n e z u e l a B o r d e r Controversy case. It said, “The meeting will take the form of an address by Guyana's Foreign Secretary, Carl Greenidge who is the country's lead agent in representation
before the ICJ on the controversy, followed by a panel discussion that will feature former United States Ambassador to Guyana, Perry Holloway; Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) of Guyana Gerry Gouveia; Chairman of the West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers Association (WIRSPA) Komal Samaroo.” His appointment as the Foreign Secretary was said to have ended back in April as part of incumbent President David Granger's endeavour to clean the slate, in anticipation of a possible new term for the government. It was then DirectorGeneral of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph
Harmon who made this disclosure while responding to allegations that the Greenidge was fired. Some sections of the media had reported that the Foreign Affairs Minister turned Foreign Secretary was no longer with the Ministry. Harmon had explained that the President is “doing what he has to do” in terms of bringing the engagements of Ministers, advisors and other such personnel to an end, stating “This is what you call cleaning the slate.” Harmon noted that, thereafter, those persons would be invited to meet with the President to determine what their role would be in a possible future cabinet or government, as
Carl Greenidge
“the President has to make a determination as to what his cabinet will look like, and his Ministers in that way”. He had also explained
country. You want the supply of agricultural commodities, and you stand to benefit from business initiatives. I led a Caribbean team of Caribbean businessmen to Guyana to help them invest in a 1000 sq miles of land under the CSME.” Most notably, the Former PM pointed to the fact the Guyana has the backings of the Caribbean heads of
that the persons would contemplate their role and say to the President, “this is my proposal, let us discuss it”.
”
government in the Venezuela border controversy case, another benefit that can be jeopardized if credible elections relations are not met. “Guyana also benefits,” he explained, “from the fact that every Caribbean head issued a statement. The statement that we issued was to proclaim that the strong support and reinforcement of support for Guyana's territorial and sovereignty in the face of a claim by Venezuela for two-thirds of your land. So, CARICOM stands by Guyana on a matter of fundamental importance to the people of Guyana.” Arthur also pointed to the threats of sanctions by the ABCEU countries, and according to him, the matter would “not be taken lightly”, adding that “What is happening right now is quite frankly holding up Guyana improperly so too and is being made an international laughing stock.” “Canada, European Union, and the United Kingdom have also spoken,” he cautioned, “and I don't think Guyana could take, seriously withstand the fire of the entire global community if it seeks to incur that kind of sanctions at the economic level or other levels. I don't think so. The world is watching. In all matters, let Guyana be a country in the eyes of the global community, and is respectful of the rule of law.” (The full interview with Owen Arthur will be broadcast today at 11 AM on Kaieteur Radio, 99.1 and 99.5 FM)
Saturday June 13, 2020
Kaieteur News
PAGE 08
Former Barbadian PM defends incoming CARICOM Chair…
“Harmon has no authority… He is out of order!” By Mikaila Prince
O
wen Arthur, the former Prime Minister of Barbados, yesterday came to the defense of the incoming Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, after APNU+AFC Campaign Manager Joseph Harmon, launched an attack on him for sharing his pronouncements on Guyana's electoral process. During an exclusive interview yesterday with
Kaieteur Radio, Arthur, who also headed the Commonwealth Observer Mission which monitored the March 2, General and Regional Elections, stressed that Dr. Gonsalves was “in perfectly good order” when o n We d n e s d a y, h e specifically stated that, “…straight and plain, CARICOM is not going to tolerate anybody stealing an election.” Harmon was quick to respond to Gonsalves utterances, saying that the governing Coalition finds it
“strange and alarming” that he would make statements of this nature which closely resembles that of the People's Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C). Harmon said Dr. Gonsalves had “taken a public position that is prejudicial to the integrity and eventual outcome of the ongoing national recount of the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections.” The campaign manager said, in fact, “While the recount is still ongoing, it is inimical to the interest of all Guyanese. It is also clear that
Dr. Gonsalves fails to understand a CARICOM process which was initiated following a prime ministerial delegation to Guyana of which he was a part.” But Arthur advocated for the context in which Gonsalves spoke in, as he was keen to highlight the instruments of governance by which the CARICOM member states are bound. “People do not seem to understand that there are instruments of governance on which our relationship with CARICOM on sovereign countries are based,” the former PM said. “We operate with each other within the context of the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas within the Single Market Economy. There are other instruments that bind us. In 1997, 1998, Caribbean leaders of whom I was then one, agreed that there should be a thing called the Charter for Civil Society”—an agreement signed at a conference by the Heads of Governments in 1997. This charter sets out objectives to enhance public confidence in governance, to ensure continuing respect for internationally recognized civil, political economic, social and cultural rights, to create a truly participatory political environment within CARICOM, which will be propitious to genuine consultation on the process of governance, as well as other key goals. “Under this Charter, Caribbean governments
commit that we will have free and fair elections…We were not only conscious that we were building a regional economy but we were also building a regional society and that regional society had to be bound and governed by the best presents of democracy and good governance because we feel that you'd get a dividend from governance. Therefore, we found ourselves to the practice of good governance by signing a Charter for Civil Society,” Arthur emphasized. Arthur maintains that that is the perspective in which Dr. Gonsalves spoke in, and was keen to point out that a departure from the practice of free and fair elections in an infringement on the Charter of Civil Society. “For someone to attack Ralph Gonsalves for saying that CARICOM would not stand to see an elections stolen because he was speaking in generic way, is that people don't understand what binds us and that he was perfectly right to say that. To be castigated this way is quite unfortunate,” he said. Moreover, Arthur would like for certain protocols to be obtained and upheld when it comes to who has the authority to scold another C a r i b b e a n leader—commands that Harmon does not possess, as Arthur labels it. “Your leader, [President David Granger] sits in the council with other Caribbean leaders and there have sometimes also where they
APNU+AFC Campaign Manager, Joseph Harmon exchange sharp views, sometimes in public. It can't be that someone at the level of Mr. Harmon thinks that he has the authority to unleash the kind of vitriolic attack on Caribbean leaders. Harmon is not a Caribbean leader, and your leader should tell Mr. Harmon that he is out of order and he is out of place,” the former PM sternly reminded. Additionally, he pointed out that in a few weeks, a Guyanese leader will sit in council with other leaders of the Caribbean, and it would particularly be uncomfortable for that leader to face “them if somebody in Guyana is sending them threats and lambasting them.” “It can't be allowed” Arthur preserved, “and Mr. Harmon has to be told that he is quite out of order and that behaviour is not tolerable.” N o t a b l y, P r e s i d e n t Granger, while on a radio programme last evening noted that he stands by Harmon's statement and that he shares the views of his campaign manager.
Body with plastic bag over head…
Killers appear to have mutilated corpse to conceal victim's identity
T
he individuals who tied a plastic bag over a man's head after killing him appear to have taken pains to ensure he could not be easily identified. T h e b o d y, w h i c h appeared to be that of a man of East Indian ancestry, was found at around 13:55 hrs last Monday in a trench at Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara. The victim was clad in a burgundy jersey, black track pants with white stripes and a pair of
black socks. Sources who viewed the corpse said that a sharp instrument was used to remove several inches of flesh from the slain man's left arm. The cut was about an inch deep into the limb. This has led to speculation that the victim may have sported a tattoo or other distinguishing mark on the arm. Persons familiar with the community said that the area where the body was dumped is not regularly traversed. The corpse is at the Ezekiel
Funeral Home and sources said that at least two people with missing relatives have viewed the body. One family had speculated that the victim was a relative who worked at sea. Crime scene ranks were reportedly unable to uplift fingerprints because of the advanced state of decomposition. A police official said that the body will likely have to be buried, and later exhumed for a postmortem, if relatives turn up.
Kaieteur News
Saturday June 13, 2020
PAGE 09
Walter Rodney was betrayed by his own party T
he WPA stands indicted for betraying Walter Rodney. It has betrayed its former co-leader no less than 6 times. The first betrayal took place soon after his death. Walter had expected to die and had urged the party to use his body as a barricade for people's power. Instead, the then leaders of the WPA used it to retreat inwardly and backwardly. The second betrayal took place after the Grenada Revolution. The WPA announced that the Americans would no longer tolerate a leftist government in the Caribbean and it took the decision to distance itself from the ideology of Walter Rodney. Ironically, it said it was now a Rodneyite party. The third betrayal took
place when the WPA sold its political soul in return for a place at the table of A Partnership for National Unity. While the party is still holding to the line that Rodney was the victim of an assassination plot orchestrated by the then PNC government, it must be recalled that the WPA itself objected to the wording of a motion in the National Assembly in which the word “assassination” was used. It may have then had a fair basis for such an objection since the language of the motion could have been deemed prejudicial. But it was not that motion that halted the promised inquiry. It was the failure of the WPA to develop the terms of reference for the inquiry that eventually brought an end to a process
that was initiated during the 25th anniversary of the historian's assassination. At that event, the wife of the slain WPA leader called for closure to be brought to his death. The Bharrat Jagdeo administration agreed to bring closure by having an inquiry. The government asked the WPA to develop the terms of reference, no doubt because of the historical attitude of that party which claims Rodney for itself and which has always behaved as if Rodney belonged to the WPA and the WPA alone. But the WPA was not keen at all, despite the promises made to the Rodney family, to go ahead with the inquiry. And the reason was clear. The 25th anniversary of Rodney's assassination was in 2005. It was then that the
Dem boys seh...
Soulja Bai frikken de media like Dracula frikken daylight
D
em boys from de Waterfall radio invite Soulja Bai fuh come pon de station. Dem even send he some questions. Dem boys nah hear from he yet. One of de questions wha dem boys want ask he is whether he gon accept the results of de recount wha he commit to Caricom he gon do. Soulja Bai nah wan straight shooter. He dancing around de question and talking about declaration from GECOM and obeying de Constitution. Every time he talk is sheer Constitution and Constitution. Dem boys sure of one thing...dem nah gat de
constitution fuh all dem Constitution he talkin about. Is like if de word stick in he mouth. He nah answer dem boys yet but he gone last night pon Ben-cook radio. Dem boys believe Soulja Bai pickin' and choosin' because he frikken. Dem boys believe dat de going gon be soft pon Bencook radio and Soulja Bai like when de going soft. Soulja Bai appearing pon de Ben-cook radio is like talking' to heself. Is like if he askin' he self he own questions. Ben-cook nah gon press he like dem boys from de Waterfall radio. Dem boys feel Soulja Bai frikken fuh appear pon other
media house. Dem boys hear how he is de only man wha only host 3 press conference in 5 years. Dat gat fuh be in de Guiness Book of World Records. Like de man mo scared of de media dan Dracula frighten daylight. Dem boys seh Soulja Bai nah even appear pon de state media wha controlled by he guvment. Dem boys seh dem gon send he a pair of thick socks since it look like he getting cold feet. Talk half and dem boys seh na bother wid any i n v i t a t i o n s t o politicians...dem boys got plenty people in Guyana to talk wid.
promise was made for an inquiry into his death. The next year was however an election year and the WPA, which by then had become miniaturized as a political party was interested in the leech politics. It wanted to suck political nectar from the PNCR as part of a Big Tent arrangement. If the WPA had moved ahead with the development of the terms of reference of the “Inquiry”, it would have jeopardized its chances of being part of the Big Tent and so it simply forgot about the request of the family for closure to be brought to Rodney's death. This WPA therefore sacrificed the Inquiry in order to safeguard the WPA linking up with the PNCR under the Big Tent. The fourth betrayal of Walter Rodney occurred when the one WPA leader 'confessed' that the party had been stockpiling arms just prior to Rodney's death. It was a most shameless betrayal because it supported the twisted narrative of the
PNCR that Rodney got what was coming to him. The leaders of the party know fully well that hours before Rodney was assassinated that a decision was taken to prepare for some of its activists to go into hiding because of the fear of repression. In fact, one of the leaders of the WPA was mandated to undertake this task. Burnham was therefore gunning for the WPA and Rodney's death was a direct result of Burnham declaring war on Rodney. Rodney probably could never have imagined what his party would have come to, that it would pay such a price to jump into bed with the PNCR. Even the WPA perhaps could not have predicted the level of opportunism to which it eventually descended when it made its infamous confession about stockpiling arms. The fifth betrayal was the WPA joining with the PNCR and other parties to form A
Partnership for National Unity. It was evident even before the marriage was announced that the WPA was being sidelined in the discussions. At one point, it did not even know that a list of candidates had been announced for the 2011 elections. The sixth betrayal was when the PNCR stopped the Commission of Inquiry into the death of Rodney. The WPA shamelessly remained within the Coalition. It should have left. The WPA continues to betray the memory of Walter Rodney. He would have been ashamed of the party that he helped to establish. (The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
Kaieteur News
PAGE 10
Saturday June 13, 2020
THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN
Walter Rodney - Guyana loves you, it always will T
oday marks 40 years since Walter Rodney was assassinated. The Commission of Inquiry, which his very close revolutionary comrades, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine and Clive Thomas, refused to testify at, concluded that President Forbes Burnham was complicit in the assassination. The historian is inevitably tempted to ask: if this or that hero were alive today, what would he/she think of the times we live in and how would they see and judge those that they fought with. Would Che Guevara have accepted that a head of the power structure should rule forever? Fidel Castro only stepped down from power because old age undermined his health. Would Burnham have chastised those who seek to perpetuate his name by proclaiming the role of the
state is not to provide employment? What would Rodney have made of what Cheddi Jagan became? Rodney literally gave Jagan a lifeline when his dynamism overtook Guyana and melted Burnham's magic. If Rodney were alive, he would have parted company with Jagan because Jagan spent all his life championing working people's economic well-being but he became a helpless victim of ethnic retrogressive politics. As president, Jagan did not reach out to the African peasantry and the urban African proletariat. There isn't a Rodneyite scholar on Planet Earth today, June 13 that will not be fascinated by the question they are all asking; how w o u l d Wa l t e r h a v e approached the merger of the PNC and WPA in 2011 and what would have been his thinking of the return of rigged elections. More
importantly for me, is what would have been his attitude to his intimate colleagues who are still alive today and are still talking and writing about Guyanese political economy? Space of course will be a constraint but here are a few of my takes. I believe he would have accepted the PNC/WPA merger but he would have argued that just as the dialectics make the human, the human makes the dialectics. This meant he would have laid down formidable guidelines for the merger as an opposition party and as a party in power. Once the merger had acquired office and Rodney saw that the class power had shifted away from the working people, he would have pulled out of the coalition. Andaiye and Moses Bhagwan believed this was what the WPA should have done. They took this position because they
think this was what Walter would have done. Andaiye is dead. Bhagwan is alive so he could expand on that feeling. On the question of the 2020 election, because his politics was grounded in class dialectics, Walter would never have accepted the disenfranchisement of the working people through rigging as the APNU+AFC did on March 4 with Clairmont Mingo as its agent. Though he would have argued that the election brought into power the Jagdeoite ideological perspective of economics, Walter would have advocated for the confrontation of continued Jagdeoite economics. He never would have embraced the 2020 rigging because of one, seminal rule in life – if you allow permanent power, you are paving the way for permanent dictatorship. On the last question – what would he have made of Bonita Bone, Rupert Roopnaraine, Clive Thomas, David Hinds, Eusi Kwayana,
Tacuma Ogunseye etc? The least said of Ogunseye the better. Walter would have expelled him from the WPA over his horrible rhetorical support for the pathology of race violence in Buxton, something which Andaiye felt the WPA should have been done. Would he have accepted Bonita Bone's embrace of the politics of Ronald Waddell? Imagine Waddell went on Channel 9 in 1997 and urged East Indians in Guyana who voted for the PNC that they will be given physical protection and that those Indians who voted for the PPP have themselves to blame if things should happen to them. Those tapes are still available. Bone had to know that Waddell was deeply involved in the “Buxton Trouble.” This columnist knows of the activities of Waddell in Buxton but then again that is no secret. If Walter were alive and had retired from politics and someone came up to him and explained the backward transformation of Rupert
Frederick Kissoon Roopnaraine from Third World revolutionary to reactionary Cabinet minister, how would he have reacted? Roopnaraine told his party at a statutory executive meeting (and to Dr. Alissa Trotz, Dr. David Hinds and WPA executive, Keith Branch) that as a Cabinet minister, he can no longer discuss government business with party leaders. Ogunseye is the only one to go public with that information in a letter to the Stabroek News. Finally, Clive Thomas – since December 2018 to now, Thomas, in his weekly Stabroek News column, has penned not a single line on politics. (The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
Kaieteur News
Saturday June 13, 2020
PAGE 11
40 years after Rodney's assassination, WPA honours his contribution - But no action taken four years after COI report was submitted to Coalition administration By Bhim
T
h e Wo r k i n g People's Alliance is paying tribute to its most famous founding member, Dr. Walter Rodney, 40 years since his assassination under the then People's National Congress (PNC) regime, even as four years has passed since a Commission of Inquiry report into his death was submitted to the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) +Alliance For Change (AFC) government. The WPA is a member of APNU of which the PNC is the largest member. “This year's anniversary,' a statement from the party noted, “comes at a critical juncture in Guyana's sojourn as the country confronts its historical contradictions. It also comes at a time when the wider world confronts
the still raw scars of chattel slavery on the condition of the sons and daughters of the formerly enslaved.” The statement added that, the WPA is aware of the attempt by some forces in their narrative to insert Rodney in the current situation. However, the party urges its supporters to steer clear of that inducement but instead remember Rodney for what he contributed at another critical moment. “ We a l s o u s e t h i s anniversary to invoke his spirit as we recommit our part to the core ideals which have guided us over the years and we prefer to leave it to the younger generations to critically interrogate that period and tease out Rodney's contributions to aid them in their own contemporary struggles.” The WPA believes that it is fair to conclude that
Rodney is one of the leading thinkers and activists of the Guyanese post-colonial struggle for bread, justice, and freedom. That his contributions are hailed beyond Guyana points to the breadth and scope of his importance as part of the Universalist Caribbean intellectual and political tradition. The message comes against the backdrop of no movement on or public discussion of the findings of the report coming out of a Commission of Inquiry, s t r a d d l i n g t w o administrations, into the circumstances of Rodney's death. During the final year as President, Mr. Donald Ramotar by Instrument, dated February 8, 2014, appointed Sir. Richard L. Cheltenham, Former Barbados Minister; Mr. Seenath Jairam of Trinidad
Dr. Rodney's Life (Excerpted from the Rodney Commission of Inquiry Report)
W
alter Rodney was born in Georgetown, Guyana, on March 23, 1942. He came from a working class family of five sons. Walter was a “bright boy” at school and gained a scholarship to Queen's College. There, he excelled academically and earned a reputation as an outstanding debater. I n 1 9 6 0 , Wa l t e r graduated first in his class and won an open scholarship to the University College of the West Indies, as it was then known at Mona, Jamaica. He entered the History Department and graduated with First Class Honours in 1963. Rodney then attended the School of Oriental and African Studies, a constituent college of the University of London, where at age 24, he received his Ph.D. with Honours in African History. Rodney's thesis, A History of the Upper Guinea Coast, was published by Oxford University Press in 1970.
Walter was multi-lingual. He learnt Spanish, Portuguese, French and Swahili in order to facilitate his research for his doctoral thesis. Walter was married to Dr. Patricia Rodney and had three children namely, Shaka, his son, and Kanini and Asha, his daughters. In 1 9 7 4 , Wa l t e r R o d n e y returned to Guyana to take up an appointment as professor of history at the University of Guyana. The academic board had appointed him, but the University Council, rescinded that appointment. Subsequent to his return to Guyana, Rodney spent much time educating the masses in public meetings, which he saw as a forum for both education as well as agitation. On the morning of June 13, 1980, he took the children to school and returned home where he and his wife discussed a recent invitation for him to work at the university in Zimbabwe. He had in the past ignored many such invitations from other universities. On this
occasion, he was particularly keen and actually decided to go to Zimbabwe. Later the evening, he was dead. Dr. Walter Rodney died while seated in the left front passenger seat of a Mazda Capella motor car bearing registration number PBB 2349, which had been driven by his brother Donald Rodney. At the time, the motor vehicle was in a stationary position at/in the vicinity of John Street and Hadfield Street, in Georgetown. Donald Rodney was in the motor car seated in the driver's seat. He himself received relatively minor injuries. Dr. Rodney was a man of large and significant stature both in Guyana and beyond at the time of his death. He could only have been killed in what the Commission of Inquiry found to be a State organised assassination with the knowledge of Cde. Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham who was the Prime Minister of Guyana during that period.
& To b a g o a n d M r s . Jacqueline SamuelsBrowne of Jamaica; as Commissioners of an inquiry to submit a report of the death Dr. Rodney. The commissioners in their quest for the truth of some 36 years ago started their work on April 28, 2014. The original deadline for the report was due on November 30, 2015. However, there was a delay that arose from the General Elections held on May 11, 2015. This caused the Commissioners to bring the hearings to a halt on March 27, 2015, and resuming until July 27, 2015. According to the report, “the Commission did not hear from all the witnesses scheduled to testify as the Government (APNU+AFC) brought the Inquiry to a
Dr. Walter Rodney
premature end.” The Commissioners, in their report have “unearthed as wealth of evidence relating to the circumstances surrounding Rodney's death.” They also highlight the fact that there is a need for the improvement of the
police investigative machinery, especially in serious crimes such as murder. The report also exposed the fact that there is a weakness of the record keeping of both the army and the police. It was never formally presented to the public.
PAGE 12
Saturday June 13, 2020
Kaieteur News
Family offers $100,000 Blood Bank receives 5000 Units in 6 months reward to find missing man
D
espite the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of Emergency Measures, the National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS) has been able to collect 5000 units of blood in the first quarter of 2020. This, however, still puts the bank at a shortage of 8000 units to meet its 2020 projected target of 13000. According to NBTS's Director, Dr. Pedro Lewis, the bank experienced a severe shortage of blood after the restrictions were put in place. As a result of this the National Blood Transfusion N B T S h e l d s e v e r a l Services (NBTS), Director, spontaneous blood drives Dr. Pedro Lewis using a mobile unit which aided in the collection of scheduled between March to 1000 units of blood. date has been cancelled, Dr. Lewis explained to these he explained usually this publication that all of the account for the bulk of the transfusion services drives Bank's yearly collection. He
added that he is optimistic that NBTS can still meet its 2020 target. The Director noted that things have begun to return to normalcy since the Blood Bank has been receiving requests for onsite blood drives at some businesses. On June 10th & 11th a blood drive was held at Camp Stephenson which saw a collection of 37 & 27 units of blood respectively. Additionally, a church recently held a drive at the NBTS's office. In observance of World Blood Donor's Day on tomorrow, the bank will be catering treats including cake and beverages for their regular donors at their office on Monday June 15th since the institution cannot host its usual celebration an honoring ceremony due to the current pandemic.
T
he family of a missing 29-yearold fisherman and farmer is offering a reward of GYD$100,000 to anyone who might know his whereabouts. Lalbachan Bhagwandat aka Jagan of 11 North Section Polder Canal Number Two, West Bank Demerara (WBD) went missing on April 17 at around 22:30 hrs. The man's family said that everyone was at their aunt's home when Bhagwandat started having strange delusions of someone wanting to kill him. He then reportedly ran out of the house into the backlands and disappeared. Bhagwandat's father and brother ran out behind him but he was nowhere to be seen. His sister related that he had recently started having strange delusions and felt unsafe in his home prior to the night he went missing. Since then Bhagwandat's family along with close friends have continuously held search parties with no success. Searches were made at the backlands, Conservancy Dam and neighbouring villages such
Missing: Lalbachan Bhagwandat
as Wales, Utivlugt, Zeeburg, Parika, etc. Checks were even made as far as Bartica and also on the East Bank of Demerara at various villages but still no sign of the missing man. Police also told Kaieteur yesterday that they are still making regular checks and are still unable obtain information about where he might be. Bhagwandat was last seen wearing a dark-blue
jersey with black trousers and a black grey striped tope. He is also described to be covered with multiple tattoos on the arms, neck, back and abdomen. Anyone who may have seen Bhagwandat or knows where he is can contact family members on 630-5006/601-4291. Contact can also be made with the Wales Police Station on 267-2222 or Kaieteur News at 225-8473.
Kaieteur News
Saturday June 13, 2020
PAGE 13
Granger falsely claims Coalition's - Makes no mention allegations caused recount of Mingo's fraud P
resident David Granger yesterday falsely claimed that the 'anomalies' the Coalition claims to have riddled the March 2 elections were what led to the decision for a National Recount, when it was in fact complaints against the Region Four tabulation by Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, in favour o f the coalitio n , th at preempted the recount. “There is abundant evidence,” Granger told New York-based radio host Mark Benschop in an interview last night, “that certain persons or parties or agents or elements tried to manipulate the outcome by committing some errors, well not errors, deliberately committing certain actions in order to get an outcome in their favour. And this is why we had to have our recount. Because there are instances of persons who have died or migrated, there are votes recorded in their names.
There are persons who were not properly identified who voted.” It was President David Granger who, following the Mingo declaration of Friday, March 13, 2020, said that he did not want to be sworn in on the basis of declarations which, due to Mingo's fraud, did not command the confidence of the international community and this was after strong messages from the international community, the United States government in particular, that they would not accept a swearing-in based on the Mingo figures. “There are cases,” the President continued in last night's interview, “in which persons from one district see their votes turning up in another district. There are cases of persons who have voted without certificates of employment. There are cases in which votes from one polling station turned up in another station. There are
cases in which ballot boxes have turned up without poll books. There are too many anomalies to be ignored. That is the reason for the recount. That is the reason why CARICOM is here.” The first CARICOM team came to Guyana in fact on the weekend of March 14, long before the coalition raised any of the claims mentioned by Granger. That team would eventually leave after Granger's list candidate, Ulita Moore, filed a challenge to the legality of the recount on March 17, and this after the President had spent two days claiming to be seeking legal advice on the recount. Moore was represented by another Granger candidate, Roysdale Forde. It was this extended legal procedure, including. “That is the reason,” Granger told Benschop, “why we have had to wait a hundred days to get a report. We will continue to wait. We
are patient because the democracy mustn't be rushed. The people must be satisfied that the outcome is not fraudulent and all Guyanese, regardless of who they voted for, will be satisfied with the outcome.” The Coalition had not made a single claim of irregularities occurring during the Election Day process until the recount began. Before that, Coalition campaign co-chair Joseph Harmon had said that the party had hoped Granger would be sworn in on the basis of the declarations in place at the time. However, the international observers and other political parties had protested the repeated instances of fraud proliferated by Mingo when he made declarations on two
instances. Both were proven by the recount to have been based on fraudulent tabulations. In his address last night, although he spoke about manipulations of the vote prior to the beginning of the recount, he made no mention of Clairmont Mingo, either directly or directly. Indeed, senior members of the Coalition have avoided referring to Mingo, even when asked directly. The President had only previously mentioned reports of, but did not confirm that he believed there were irregularities which corrupted the elections, until last night's interview. All the while, his Coalition had been making numeropis allegations of fraud from the onset of the recount, none of which it has
been substantiated. He had, in a June 6 statement, only stated “Everyone is aware of numerous reports of irregularities including unstamped ballots, deceased and migrant voters and missing poll books. Those irregularities appear to have been committed intentionally, not a c c i d e n t a l l y, a n d demonstrate a pattern of manipulation of the electoral process.” Last night is the first time that President has fully embraced the Coalition's claims of widespread fraud in the electoral process. This is a significant departure from his previous commitment to respect the will of GECOM and to stand by the outcome of the recount.
Saturday June 13, 2020
Kaieteur News
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Not enough passengers for second Man loses eye after falling repatriation flights to take off from motorbike T
wo Caribbean Airlines flights scheduled to return stranded Guyanese form Barbados and Trinidad have failed to take off on Thursday. Director of the Guyana Civil Aviations Authority (GCAA) Egbert Field justified that the flights did not take off because of insufficient passengers. Field said that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines are not operating as per normal. In order for a flight to leave the airport, Field says that it will have to be chartered. The GCAA director asserted that if the chartered flight cost is not met then it won't take off. In the case of these two Caribbean airlines flights, Field explained that some passengers did meet requirements by submitting their repatriation forms and negative novel coronavirus test results. However, there is still a great majority who failed to do so. As a result the airline decided to post-pone its flights until all passengers are able to so. If it had decided to take off with only those who had met the requirements then it would not have been able to achieve
A stranded Guyanese in Florida pleading with authorities to be repatriated the overall charter price for the two flights. These decisions, however, have caused some amount of concern among the passengers met requirements and are currently on standby. Speaking with Kaieteur News was stranded
Guyanese professional cricketer, Steve Ramdass. Ramdass, who is currently in Trinidad, said that he deeply worried at the fact that those on standby might have to redo their Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests for COVID-19. He explained that they were told by the relevant authorities of Guyana that test results will be deemed invalid if they are more than 48 hours old. The cricketer said that they were told by the Consulate based in Trinidad that the flights were cancelled on Thursday but were never informed as to when the airline will be ready again. If the rescheduled date
surpasses 48 hours then he will have to do another test which cost some TT$1600 (GYD$50,000). “Some will not be able to pay for another test because they already sacrificed themselves to find money to pay for the initial test� said Ramdass. This publication understands that some passengers had to contribute money together just to pay for those who could not afford to do the tests. H a l l e Wi l s o n w h o travelled to Trinidad back in March for vacation is one such person. Wilson told this Media house that she has been stranded for more than three months and has ran out cash. She managed to secure US$398 for her ticket but could raise enough to pay for her PCR test. Other stranded Guyanese learnt of her plight and each contributed TT$100 towards her TT$1600 test cost. With news that flights will not be taking off, Wilson is now worried that she won't have money to redo a PCR test should flights not leave within 48 hours. Also echoing the same s e n t i m e n t s i s Va s t i Ragnaught who is also stranded in Trinidad. She pleads with authorities to accept the same test results if flights do not leave in the next three days. She iterated that there are those who will not have money to pay for a second test and as a result can be denied entry. She said that if denied entry, the stranded will be left to suffer without finances to maintain themselves in a foreign country.
Injured Calvin Daniels being airlifted to the city hospital
A
3 8 - y e a r- o l d m i n e r o f Bagotville West Bank Demerara has lost an eye after he fell of his motorcycle at Tiger Creek Trail Cuyuni Region Seven. Police said that the miner, Calvin Daniels was in company of a colleague when the incident occurred at around 08:30 hrs on Wednesday last. This publication learnt that two men were proceeding at a fast rate east along the trail on separate motorcycle. According to miner's colleague, who was some distance behind, Daniels reportedly lost control of his bike and fell onto the surface
of the trail. His colleague then rushed to his assistance and found him in an unconscious state. With assistance from persons who w e r e p a s s i n g b y, t h e colleague transported the injured man to the Bartica Regional Hospital. There it was discovered that Daniels had lost an eye and his condition was labeled as critical. The miner was immediately air-lifted to city and admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital. Up to late yesterday, Daniels is said to be recovering and in a stable condition. His colleague was taken into custody and is assisting police with the necessary investigations.
Kaieteur News
Saturday June 13, 2020
PAGE 15
Eyes of the world on... From page 3 confidence in the elections as well.” Even when the mission Arthur led went from polling station to polling station, there had not been any concerns about fraudulent elections. “Everyone complimented how well it was organised,” he said, “and how everything was in good order. I contested elections in Barbados and I also have to tell you that the arrangements for your elections were far more scrupulous than those in Barbados.” Describing the systems in place, Arthur explained, "the notion that people [voted] who were not entitled to vote, I think, is strange because the voting took place in the presence of everyone who had an interest.” The Coalition was able to field an agent at all 2,339 polling station across the country, according to PNCR executive, Aubrey Norton. However, it has refused to explain how its agents were purportedly not able to identify the irregularities it
claimed occurred, on Election Day. “At the end of the process, and again this is very important,” Arthur said, “in Barbados when the votes are not counted in the polling station, they are taken to someplace else. In Guyana, the votes are counted at the polling station itself, and the results were certified by everyone who was in the polling station, including the representatives of the party.” The Mission Chief said that he left the experience satisfied that the people of Guyana could rely on the numbers contained in the statements of poll. Those numbers have thus far been vindicated by the statements of recount. The Commonwealth Observer Mission had also met with the leadership of all of the parties, including the leadership of the Coalition Government, President David Granger and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo. “I did not hear of these kinds of things [claims of irregularities] in advance,” Arthur said.
In fact, Granger only explicitly registered his position on the claims of irregularities last night, during a radio interview. Before then, he had stayed largely quiet while the members of his Coalition cast aspersions on the process. Arthur said yesterday that if Granger does not agree with what his colleagues are doing, then it would be the time to show strong leadership. But G r a n g e r, h o u r s l a t e r, confirmed not that he disagreed with the claims being made, but that the positions being taken by the Coalition, including by APNU+AFC campaign cochair Joseph Harmon, were his own. Arthur posited though, that his memory of the process indicated that the Coalition, a political institution, had “the majority of people in control of GECOM”. “And it would seem to me that it will be an astonishing thing for political institutions to have control of the process by
which an election is being put in place,” Arthur said, “for that party to so have the election arranged, to lose the elections by having the process controverted by having dead people and other people made to vote.” If he were associated with the Coalition, Arthur told Kaieteur Radio, he would not want to say that, “a mysterious force came in and took other the process that we were fully in control of… and caused it to be so manipulated to our disadvantage.” People who would allow that to happen to themselves, he would suggest, are foolish people. “And I don't want to accuse Mr. Granger or Harmon of being dangerous,” Arthur said, “I am very circumspect in these matters. But I would rather not attribute to malice, that which can best be explained by ignorance.” 'Accept the results and move on’ As a former Prime M i n i s t e r, A r t h u r h a s contested elections in his home country of Barbados. He urged the loser of the
Guyana elections to “accept these results and go onto a prosperous future.” “I happened to have been there, so I do not speak from the perspective of hearsay. I had the privilege of leading my party into five elections, and three of those my party won. When my party won, I accepted with gratitude and grace and when my party lost, I accepted the will of the people. I felt that I was going so in a long tradition of Caribbean leaders. The men who led political parties in the country had taken their defeat despite having a tremendous standing in the country. We have had Caribbean leaders who had to gracefully accept defeat,” Arthur stated. In Guyana's regard, he said that he does not think Guyana should depart from such a tradition of gracefully accepting defeat. “It is about accepting the will of the people. There is no graceful way to lose the public; you have to say it to your friends, colleagues, family. It can be very painful, but you have to remember that it is not a personal
rejection and that the people have expressed their will; and the people are not condemning you by not voting for you, but they are saying that we want someone else to govern us.” Asked whether the Community would welcome the Coalition in future, Arthur affirmed as he said that “there's a generosity of spirit among Caribbean people; that we live and let live.” The experiences of the Caribbean with past events of tragedy demonstrate the region's ability to handle adversity well, Arthur believes. He said “I think the strength will prevail, and that the people of Guyana will rise above this too. And you know it is, in all of this, there's an aspect we're not speaking about. But it will be good if the children of Africa and the children of India could live in another country as one.” (The full interview with Owen Arthur will be broadcast today at 11 AM on Kaieteur Radio, 99.1 and 99.5 FM)
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Saturday June 13, 2020
Kaieteur News
GNBS warns consumers of uncertified electrical products
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The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) is moving to eradicate the sale and use of substandard electrical appliances and electronic equipment. GNBS Public Relations Officer, (PRO) Lloyd David explained that the Bureau has been working raise awareness among consumers about the dangers of purchasing and utilising substandard electrical merchandise. Consumers are asked to look for the Underwriter Laboratory (UL) certification – a stamp, which means the product has been approved for general use after it underwent stringent test requirements. It is a quality mark used by Underwriter Laboratories. The Ministry of Public Infrastructure and the Ministry of Business have been warning the local consumer
base to not purchase items that have not been certified. According to the GNBS, there are certain uncertified electrical products can be fire hazards. He noted that at the start of the year, the GNBS commenced the monitoring of a number of electrical equipment and fittings based on the requirements of thirty-one mandatory national standards. These electrical products include Decorative Lighting Products, Lamp Holders, Armoured Cables, Panel Board, Knife Switches, Conduit, Tubing, and Cable Fittings, Surge Protective Devices, Molded-Case Circuit Breakers, Molded-Case Switches, and Circuit-Breaker Enclosures, Cord Sets and Power- Supply Cords, Thermoset- Insulated Wires and
- says it poses risk of fires Cables, Attachment Plugs and Receptacles, Dry-Type General Purpose and Power Transformers. David noted that importers and dealers of these products are now required to take the necessary steps to ensure that they acquire the relevant standards and aggressively take steps to ensure their products meet the respective requirements. According to the GNBS official, products monitored by the Bureau will be flagged for examination at the time of importation and inspectors will be visiting sale outlets across the country to examine products, which are offered for sale to ensure com-
pliance. He noted that importers and dealers will have to take the necessary corrective actions when substandard products are encountered. “Importers and dealers are reminded,” David said, “to facilitate periodic inspections by GNBS inspectors at their premises including warehouses and workshops. Records relating to the operation of the premises should also be available for checks by Inspectors of the Bureau. All records, such as copies of invoices, customs documentation, bills of sale, etc. must be properly kept and should be easily retrievable.”
Prison authorities notified of fugitive Paul Goriah's capture in Suriname Prison officials here have been notified about the capture of Guyanese, Paul Goriah, in Suriname, an escapee who was among 13 inmates who dug their way out of the Lusignan Prison on July 24, 2018. This was confirmed yesterday by Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels. However, Samuels said that he had no details regarding when the prisoner will be returned to Guyana. According to a report out of Suriname, police arrested Goriah and two other
Guyanese earlier this week. They had allegedly attempted to rob a family last Wednesday in Nickerie. According to reports, one of the suspects entered the victims' home and struck a woman on the head with a hammer. The intruders fled after the victim's screams alerted her roommates. Goriah and another suspect were nabbed on Thursday, while a third man was nabbed yesterday. Upon his arrest, he allegedly gave his name as Kevin Smith. Goriah, formerly of Grove
Squatting Area, East Bank Demerara, was remanded with three others in 2015 for the murder of remigrant agriculturist, Anthony Breedy, who was found dead in his Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara home. H e h a d p r e v i o u sly served jail time for break and enter and larceny and trafficking narcotics. On July 24, 2016, Goriah and 12 other inmates crawled to freedom from the Lusignan Prison holding area, after digging a five-foot long tunnel inside a makeshift latrine.
Paul Goriah
Saturday June 13, 2020
Kaieteur News
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Saturday June 13, 2020
Seahawks coach says team interested in Kaepernick AFP - Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll says he has been contacted about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, hinting the player who began kneeling protests might have a future in the league. Carroll told reporters Thursday that he regrets not signing Kaepernick when he met with the Seahawks in 2017 but indicated that someone seeks information about the former San Francisco 49ers star. “I got a phone call today asking and inquiring about the situation,” Carroll said. “I know somebody is interested so we’ll see what happens with that.” Kaepernick, 32, began kneeling during the pre-game
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Kaieteur News
Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick last played in the league in 2016. (Getty Images North America/AFP/File / Carmen Mandato) US national anthems in 2016 to protest racial injustice and police violence against African-Americans.
He opted to become a free agent in early 2017 but found no teams interested in signing him. US President Donald Trump made the kneeling protest a major issue in September 2017, saying any players who knelt during the anthem were “sons of bitches” who should be fired for disrespecting the flag and the US military. Kaepernick settled a collusion grievance against the NFL with an undisclosed deal in February 2019 and Kaepernick staged a workout last November at which seven NFL teams had scouts in attendance. Interest in his situation has grown in recent weeks with the killing of George
Saturday June 13, 2020 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) You have always tried to build up your health using traditional methods, and you take great care of yourself. But this morning you might feel a little curious.
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Today you'll have the strange feeling that something is floating in the air. The time is right to try to understand the different needs of your family circle.
TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) Sometimes, it's amazing to see how your relationships can spin so easily out of control, Taurus. Today you may have to deal with a lot of tension within your group.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) As the dawn of another quiet and peaceful day appears, you will be in the best disposition to observe and appreciate the lightness of things.
GEMINI (May 21–June 20) You sometimes have difficulty making up your mind. You don't always know exactly what you want. Today, you'll be at peace with yourself.
SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) You will find a clean page on the agenda today, Sagittarius. You should try to think only about yourself. This will allow you to meditate about your life and be at peace with yourself.
CANCER(June21–July22) Sometimes we all feel a little lost, Cancer. We often want to move mountains and use all our energy and enthusiasm to try to do so. But a few moments later we could feel that all efforts have been in vain. LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) You have a natural ability to accomplish a great deal rather easily, Leo. But today you may feel snowed under with projects. Things around you might be moving quickly, and perhaps you're having difficulty dealing with it all. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Your day has finally come, Virgo. You have your own vision of life and you like sharing it with others. You're far from thinking that you're any sort of new messiah, but you feel the need to talk to children or young people about your views.
CAPRI(Dec.22–Jan.19) You will wake up today on cloud nine, Capricorn. Your morale is at a peak. You will feel totally free and be able to clearly perceive the essentials of life. AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) The astral energy will have you reminiscing all day long over childhood memories. These memories will take you to the houses and places where you were raised and where your personality and character were formed. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) You love interacting with people others might consider eccentric. You can't help it. You're simply attracted to them. You will probably encounter one of these people today, Pisces.
Floyd and the worldwide protests that followed. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell declared “Black Lives Matter” in a video last week and said Thursday the NFL is open to working with Kaepernick in battling systemic racism. Kaepernick hasn’t played in the NFL since the 2016 campaign and would likely continue being an outspoken social justice advocate if he signs with a team while also working to restore his NFL skills. Carroll said he didn’t sign Kaepernick when they spoke in 2017 because he saw him as a starting quarterback and the Seahawks had that j o b f i l l e d w i t h R u s s e ll Wilson. “We all held him in great regard as a player,” Carroll said. “I think we knew Kap as well as anybody could have known a player. Just because of the depth of the competition we had against him. “We had great meetings... we spent half a day together. He was awesome. “The fact that it didn’t work out for us, I figured he’d wind up starting somewhere for sure and it just didn’t happen. I regret that that didn’t happen in some fashion. I wish we had contributed to it because the guy deserved to play.”
Windies seek 1st series win... From page 23 Marshall and Benjamin captured two wickets each. In the Fifth and final Test, West Indies won by eight wickets at Kennington Oval in London after England were bowled out for 205 with Ambrose (3-31), Harper (3-50) and Marshall (3-64) bowling well. West Indies in reply made 183 with Dujon making 64 before Benjamin grabbed 4-51 as England were sent packing for 202. Set 226 to win, Greenidge and Haynes each made 77 as West Indies registered another emphatic win leaving England without a victory in 19 Tests. West Indies beat Australia 3-1 in Australia and beat England 2-1 in the West Indies in 1990 before beating Australia 2-1 in the 1992/93 series. When Australia won the 1995 series in Jamaica it ended an era of dominance during which West Indies played for 15 years without losing a single Test series during those glory days and West Indies have never been the same again.
NFL pledges $250 million to fight racism (Reuters) - The National Football League on Thursday announced a 10year, $250 million fund to combat systemic racism following widespread U.S. protests over racial bias and law enforcement brutality. The NFL, where 70% of the players are black, said it would work with the league’s 32 teams to support programmes that address criminal justice reform, police reform and economic and educational advancement in light of “historic injustices faced by AfricanAmericans.” The league said it would also leverage its media properties, including the NFL Network, to raise
awareness and promote education of social justice issues. In 2016, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem to call attention to racial inequality and police brutality. The protest set off a firestorm of controversy with politicians, including the U.S. president, saying Kaepernick’s gesture was unpatriotic. In a video posted online last week, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL was wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier but did not mention Kaepernick by name.
GCAA announcement... From page 20 busy preparing their machines with high optimism of the November meet 2020 being contested and their morale have been given an added boost with the news from the GCAA. Allie further revealed that, “I’ve received positive responses (from the club) stating that the November meet is on and that will follow
an Endurance and Drag Race meet.” Head of the GMR&SC, Rameez Mohamed, had disclosed to Kaieteur Sport last month that the club plans on hosting an endurance meet as early as two weeks following the announcement of end of the partial lockdown in Guyana, which is anticipated by many to be anytime in the near future.
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Athletes can take a knee at Commonwealth Games, says chief AFP - Athletes competing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, will be allowed to take a knee to support the ‘Black Lives Matter’ (BLM) movement, according to the Games chief executive David Grevemberg. The American denied that his organisation was “opening Pandora’s Box” adding the ‘Friendly Games’ had a history of allowing freedom of expression. Australian legend Cathy Freeman wrapped herself in the Australian Aboriginal flag after winning 400 and 200 metres gold at the 1994 Games. International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said earlier this week
athletes must explore ways they can express themselves “in a dignified way” at the rescheduled Tokyo Games next year. Protests have erupted across the globe since the killing of African-American George Floyd on May 25 when a police officer, who has been charged with s e c o n d - d e g r e e m u r d e r, knelt on his neck for several minutes. “People say are we opening Pandora’s box but no, we are respecting people’s rights to voice opinions,” said Grevemberg. “BLM is challenging all institutions right now to really look introspectively at we can do to be more fair, more free, have better
equality and better systems of justice that look after people. Sport is no different.” “We have a lot of questions like ‘why are you politicising sport?’ said Grevemberg, who has been in charge since 2014 “Actually, we are humanising the conversation, giving people an opportunity for freedom of expression and association. “The convergence of human rights and sport has been a big question for some time and we are not responding to a trend. “We are actually continuing a conversation we started some time ago.” The Games will run from July 28 to August 8, 2022.
Letter to the Sports Editor
Selectors must pick Windies teams on merit Dear Sir, Please permit me space in your newspaper to add my voice to the omission of Veerasammy Permaul from the West Indies senior team. It is indeed a very sad affair when you give all your effort; bowl your heart out for country and having exceptional performances and you simply can’t make a West Indies team. Permaul has over 223 wickets in the last five years. He is part of the Guyana team that won the championship for 5 years and his performance was instrumental in winning these championships. Mr. Editor it was reported that the chief selector said that conditions didn’t permit them to include Permaul in the team. Let’s start with the Rose Bowl, Moen Alli a right arm spinner has the most wickets at the Rose Bowl 17
wickets from two matches with a best of 5 for 67 and a left arm spinner, R. A. Jadega has five wickets from one test with a best of 3 for 52, then we move to Old Trafford where the late Jim Laker took 27 wickets with a best of 19 for 90. We also have Lance Gibbs who played 3 matches with 23 wickets with a best of 6 for 98, also there is Monty Panesar a left arm finger spinner who has 25 wickets with a best of 6 for 37 from 3 matches. There is Shane Warne with 21 wickets from 3 matches with best bowling 5 for 48 and Moen Ali 3 matches 16 wickets with a best 6 for 69. How can the chief selector tell us that conditions didn’t permit them to select Permaul when evidence is there to prove that spinners have done well at these venues over the years, when we speak it must be based on research, apparently none
was done just empty statements. Permaul non selection has hurt the entire Guyanese cricket fraternity, he merits selection, he is in form, what more must he do to gain selection. This is insularity to the highest extent. What must be going through the minds of young cricketers in Guyana when performance can’t gain you selection, what else can gain you selection when the most consistent bowler in West Indies domestic cricket can’t even make a second eleven; its mind boggling. To say you went for the incumbent is no excuse, the selectors have picked Jomel Warrican who failed against Afghanistan, apparently performance is not a criterion for selection. We need selectors who pick players on merit or West Indies cricket will never improve. Yours in Sport, S. Ahmad.
GCAA announcement gives motor racing a boost By Calvin Chapman The Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club’s (GMR&SC) International race meet that revs off each November at the South Dakota circuit, Timehri, is one of the most subscribed and anticipated race meets in the region and the coronavirus pandemic had threatened to have the event cancelled in 2020. However, as the world begins to move forward with a few major governing sport bodies resuming play and outlining plans to resume
activities in the near future, the GMR&SC’s premier event have been given a major boost after the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) announced a phased reopening of the international airports from next month. The November race meet that usually serves as the final leg of the Caribbean Radicals Cup, boasts a heavy diet of regional and international competitors. Last year, local racing fans were given a real treat, as they witnessed British F4 Champion and possible future F1 star; Zane
Maloney, showcase his superior skills at South Dakota. The president of the Team Caribbean American Motorsports (CAMS), Afraz Allie, in an invited comment with Kaieteur Sport shared that Team CAMS are aware of the coronavirus threat but they eager to get back on the track and the airports reopening is a positive sign for everyone. Only last month, Allie had shared with this publication that CAMS competitors were (Continued on page 19)
As many as 80% of venues secured for next year’s Games: Tokyo 2020 TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo 2020 organisers announced yesterday that 80% of the venues required to run a successful Olympics have been secured ahead of next year’s rearranged Games. In the original plan for the Olympics, which were due to start next month, there were 43 venues, including eight new sites built for the Games. The National Stadium, set to host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, is one of the venues that has been successfully secured for 2021. In March, the Japanese government and the International Olympic Committee made the unprecedented decision to postpone the Tokyo Olympics until 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, organisers have battled against an array of problems stemming from the postponement, including rising costs, athlete safety and securing the venues. Yesterday, Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto announced that the majority of venues had been secured. “We are hoping to use the same venues for the same sports next year,” he said. “Adjustments still remain,
Yoshiro Mori, President of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Organising Committee, attends an Executive Board Meeting in Tokyo, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo, June 12, 2020. (Kyodo/via REUTERS) but we are able to use 80% of the facilities that were originally supposed to be used last year, they can be used again.” Muto added that the Athlete’s Village and Tokyo Big Sight, the planned media centre, were among the venues yet to be fully secured. “Regarding Tokyo Big Sight, to be used as the IPC (International Press Centre) and MPC (Main Press Centre), it is also Tokyoowned but many reservations have already been made by other users for next year,” he
explained. “Therefore, we are working together with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) in coordinating the schedule.” The Athlete’s Village promises to be the most complicated venue to lock down as many of the apartments in the newly-built complex have already been sold to private buyers for use after the Games. TMG are negotiating with the 11 construction companies involved in the village’s build and sale.
Team structure, English conditions, precluded Permaul’s selection - Roger Harper Sports Max - Cricket West Indies Chief Selector Roger Harper is suggesting that the s t r u c t u r e o f t h e We s t Indies team now in England for a three-Test series starting next month, and the expected playing conditions there, precluded the selection of Guyanese spinner Veerasammy Permaul. Permaul, the 30-yearold slow left-arm orthodox spinner from Guyana, snared 50 wickets during the We s t Indies Championships that ended in March at an excellent average of 12.98. Speaking with Sportsmax.TV shortly after the season ended, he said he felt that the success he enjoyed would have put him closer to s e l e c t i o n t o t h e We s t Indies senior squad. “Playing for the West Indies is always my goal every season I play,” he said, “but I wasn’t finding f a v o u r w i t h t h e We s t Indies selectors. I don’t
know how close I am to making the West Indies team, I would think after an excellent season like this one I am not far from playing for the West Indies again.” However, according to Harper, a fellow Guyanese, Permaul’s success did not get him close enough. “If you look at the structure of the team; the Test squad and the reserves, you realize that there are not many spinners in the party,” Harper said while speaking on the Mason and Guest talk show in Barbados on Tuesday. “In England, we looked at the conditions you are likely to face there and the sort of bowlers we will need in the squad and (Rahkeem) Cornwall was selected as a spinner in the squad from his performance in his last Test match. “Looking at the reserves we thought we would look at a replacement for the positions in the Test team…the panel went for the incumbent who was on the last tour.”
The decision to exclude Permaul did not go down well with Hilbert Foster, President of the Berbice Cricket Board in Guyana. Permaul plays his domestic cricket in Berbice. “The BCB would like to condemn in the strongest possible way the sick treatment being handed out to this outstanding son of Berbice and would like for an explanation to been given on his non-selection,” Foster said. “Has a decision been t a k e n t h a t P e r m a u l ’s career is over at just 30 years old? Is there another unknown factor for his non-selection? Is he indisciplined? Is he considered just a regional bowler or is he too old? “We deserve to know as the BCB is, without doubt, the hardest working cricket board in the Caribbean and we would not sit back and watch our cricketers being treated like a second class when they deserve better.”
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Owens says NFL should apologize to Kaepernick LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NFL great Terrell Owens on Thursday said the league should apologize to Colin Kaepernick for refusing to support his kneeling protests against racial inequality during the 2016 season. Kaepernick, who at the time was the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, was the first to take a knee during the pre-game playing of the national anthem to call attention to racial injustice and police brutality. The gesture gained momentum among players that year but also ignited a firestorm of controversy, especially after U.S. President Donald Trump slammed the protests as unpatriotic. Kaepernick has been unsigned since that season. “We’re standing here on behalf of Colin,” Owens told reporters while surrounded
by a group of protesters during a march in Los Angeles on Thursday. “Those players want an apology from the commissioner (Roger Goodell) on behalf of the NFL and himself, because he was part of taking that direct order from the president of the United States not to re-sign this guy,” he said. “That in itself is systemic racism ... it was a direct order from the president of the United States to those white owners not to re-sign Colin Kaepernick, who is a black quarterback.” The NFL did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside of regular business hours. The Hall of Famer wide receiver, who retired after the 2010 season, said he would also love to see Kaepernick back on the field.
“This guy was stripped and robbed of his livelihood at the direct order of the president of the United States,” he said. In addition to Trump calling Kaepernick’s protest unpatriotic, in 2017 Vice President Mike Pence walked out of an NFL game when some of the players knelt on the sidelines. In a video posted online last week, Goodell said the NFL was wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier but did not mention Kaepernick by name. The issue has returned to the fore in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis who died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. On Thursday, the NFL announced a 10-year, $250 million fund to combat systemic racism.
Former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens uses a bullhorn as he leads a protest in support of Colin Kaepernick and against police brutality and racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Inglewood, California, U.S., June 11, 2020. (REUTERS/Mike Blake)
Pandemic means no podium Rossi tipped to conclude new Yamaha deal this month ceremonies for Formula One LONDON (Reuters) Formula One drivers can forget about podium celebrations this season under new rules to protect them from the COVID-19 pandemic. The pre-race drivers’ parade will also be scrapped, but the fans won’t be there anyway, and there will be no standing together for the national anthem or trophies handed over directly by local dignitaries. “The practices we have had in the past just can’t be done,” Formula One’s motorsport managing director Ross Brawn told the http:// www.formula1.com website yesterday. “The podium procedure
can’t happen, but we’re looking at doing something on the grid after the race. One option would be to line the cars up on the track and the drivers will stand in front of cars. “We can’t present the trophies, as you can’t have someone in close proximity presenting a trophy, but we have worked it out, we have plans and procedures, we’re looking at how we can present it on TV.” The delayed season is due to start in Austria on July 5 behind closed doors. The sport has yet to publish a full calendar but said on Friday — when the cancellation of races in Azerbaijan, Singapore and Japan was announced — that
it hoped to put on 15-18 races. Teams will be kept separate from each other in ‘bubbles’ at the circuits, staying in isolation and with no contact with the surrounding community. “The drivers’ parade won’t happen as we can’t put 20 drivers on the back of a truck and take it round the track,” said Brawn. “Instead we will interview each one of them in front of the garage. There’s plenty of ways we can engage without compromising health and safety. “This is the new norm. How long will this carry on? We don’t know, but this will be the new norm for the rest of the year for sure.”
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton celebrates in the podium after winning the Mexican Grand Prix at the Hermanos Rodriguez Circuit, Mexico City. (REUTERS/Carlos Jasso/File Photo)
Motorsport - Having been replaced at the factory Yamaha team by Fabio Quartararo for 2021, seventime premier class champion Rossi is faced with a choice between a switch to the satellite Petronas SRT squad and retirement at the end of the year. Rossi recently admitted that MotoGP’s coronavirusenforced hiatus had made him more relaxed about the prospect of potentially hanging up his leathers. However, Salucci expects talks with Yamaha to accelerate in the coming weeks now Rossi has reached the conclusion that he wants to extend his career. “Vale has the attitude of someone who wants to do everything but quit,” Salucci said in an interview with Sky Italia. “He’s a driving force, he’s a guy who keeps the other guys going too, he always has a great desire, he amazes us all. Our intention is most likely to go on in 2021. “When Vale moves [teams] he always creates movement, expectations, tension. It’s not an official team, but we will have a factory bike. “They are very well structured, Yamaha is there to support us and we have a good relationship with them. Most likely we will have Franco [Morbidelli] as a teammate, which should be a good experience. “It’s not all defined yet but at the end of the month, we should be there.” He added: “We’re at the
Franco Morbidelli, Petronas Yamaha SRT Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images step before [discussing the composition of the team], we’ll talk about it next week with Yamaha to see how to move forward, but we didn’t talk about the team so much because Vale wanted to think a little bit about whether to continue or not. “We’ll definitely go ahead and then we’ll talk about the details with Yamaha over the next 10 days.” Should Rossi make the switch to the Petronas team in 2021, he’ll most likely be partnered by VR46 Academy protege Morbidelli, Quartararo’s current teammate. Team boss Razlan Razali previously made it clear that he was targeting putting pen to paper on a fresh deal with Morbidelli before the season
gets underway in July. “We have done some track sessions at Misano in recent weeks, Vale and Franco have been riding together, there is a great feeling between them because there is a real friendship,” said Salucci of the prospect of a Rossi-Morbidelli partnership. “They are two intelligent riders and I hope this thing continues, the friendship, because Franco is a fantastic guy. He’s had a difficult past and he deserves everything he’s got.”
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Behind closed doors, Mouratoglou experiments with new type of tennis Biot (France) (AFP) Patrick Mouratoglou has a vision for tennis and the coronavirus pandemic has given him a chance for a test run today in an event which does away with a code of conduct, a crowd, the media, traditions, authority and even some rules. “June 13th will be remembered as the day that revolutionised tennis, forever,” declares the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) website. Behind the brashness lies some concern. “We know that some will tear us apart,” one of Mouratoglou’s entourage said on the eve of the event. Frenchman Mouratoglou who is coach of one of the greatest players, Serena Williams and mentor to two potential greats, Coco Gauff and Stefanos Tsitsipas, says he wants to attract a younger audience to tennis through
Serena Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou hopes to reinvent tennis with a men’s event on June 13-14 (AFP Photo/William WEST) their screens. The UTS will take place behind closed doors at Mouratoglou’s academy on the French Riviera.
It has a window because professional tennis has been paralysed since mid-March due to COVID-19 with Roland Garros postponed and
Karsten Warholm runs fastest 300m hurdles in history at Impossible Games
Wimbledon cancelled. This weekend’s opening tournament, branded UTS1 has attracted four of the men’s top 10 and, in keeping with the pop-culture approach, they have received all nicknames: Dominic Thiem is ‘The Dominator’, Stefanos Tsitsipas ‘The Greek God’, Matteo Berrettini ‘The Hammer’ and David Goffin is ‘The Wall’. - ‘Private exhibitions’ In part because of hygiene rules, the media presence will be tightly controlled, there will be no
press conferences and no crowd. Fans can only watch via the UTS website for a fee of 10-12 euros ($11-$13), depending on where in the world they are. The format has been designed to combine two modern trends: e-sport and binge viewing. Players will be encouraged to show their emotions. Coaching will be part of the show. Players will receive “UTS cards” from a deck which they can use for a brief advantage. The cards include scoring triple for a point or requiring your opponent to win a point in three shots or fewer. The familiar scoring system is abandoned in favour of collecting the most points in a ten-minute quarter. This format “removes the scoring and it’s deliberate,” according to Mouratoglou, who says the existing system “is a big problem” in attracting a young audience. But he adds in established tournaments “of course you have to keep scoring as it is.” He says he is not competing with the existing tours but complementing it. “I’m not saying we should change tennis, but bring in a second, more modern, league for a different clientele.” He hopes the UTS with its weekend events can become
a parallel year-round circuit. “If it’s a success, everyone will agree to sit around the table and find solutions because this success will be the success of tennis in general,” Mouratoglou said. Initially, he is aiming for 50,000 subscriptions. The ATP, which runs men’s professional tennis, is supportive but wary, telling AFP players are free to take part in “private exhibitions” but warning them “to protect their health and safety”and “to comply with the guidelines of the anticorruption programme.” The International Federation (ITF) said its “priority” is to continue its work with the ATP, the WTA and the Grand Slam tournaments “to follow the evolution of the worldwide impact of Covid-19 and prepare the restart of the professional tours in the best possible conditions.” While Mouratoglou is already planning UTS2 and UTS3, Richard ‘The Virtuoso’ Gasquet made clear how he sees the event. “It’s a great training. There’s not a guy in the world who’s going to tell you tomorrow we’re doing five sets. So it’s the perfect format to resume”, the Frenchman told AFP
England may join Windies in potential BLM protest - Anderson
Karsten Warholm has run the fastest 300m hurdles in history. NBC Sports - Karsten Warholm ran the fastest 300m hurdles in history in a solo race in a largely empty stadium, clocking 33.78 seconds at the Impossible Games in Oslo on Thursday. Warholm, the two-time reigning world 400m hurdles champion, took seven tenths of a second off an 18-year-old record in a rarely contested event. He did so at the closest thing resembling an international track and field meet in three months, since the coronavirus pandemic. The Impossible Games, a repurposed version of an annual Diamond League meet in Oslo, had few spectators (mostly cutouts, including
renderings of Michael Jordan and Homer Simpson), limited events and small fields. Another repurposed meet is due for July 9, featuring Allyson Felix and Noah Lyles racing from their training bases against athletes in different countries. The regular Diamond League calendar is scheduled to resume in August. In other events Thursday, a Norwegian team in Oslo beat a Kenyan team in Nairobi in a 2000m. The Norwegians, led by brothers Filip, Henrik and Jakob Ingebrigtsen, easily prevailed. The Kenyans, with the last two 1500m world champions Timothy
Cheruiyot and Elijah Manangoi, had to run in the rain. Mondo Duplantis, the pole vault world-record holder who flew from Louisiana to compete, beat former worldrecord holder Renaud Lavillenie, who previously taped his own attempts from his French home. Duplantis cleared 5.86 meters, four months after raising the overall world record to 6.17 and then 6.18 meters at indoor meets. Norwegian Therese Johaug, the world’s best cross-country skier, lowered her 10,000m personal best by 40 seconds to 31:40.67, which is 15 seconds shy of the Olympic standard.
LONDON (Reuters) England will consider a joint anti-racism protest with West Indies during the three-test series between the sides next month, pace bowler James Anderson has said. Visiting West Indies skipper Jason Holder has said it would be a team decision for them whether to protest the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis last month after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. “It’s been a very thoughtprovoking few weeks for everyone,” Anderson told the British media on Thursday. “It’s made me do a lot of thinking. We will have conversations about what we can do as players to make a stand, definitely. I expect that to be a conversation we have.” The International Cricket Council usually does not allow gestures supporting “political, religious or racial activities” but has decided to take a “common sense approach” for any potential Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest by the players.
England’s James Anderson bowling after the match England v Australia at Headingley, Leeds. (Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith) Earlier this week, former England batsman Michael Carberry said cricket was “rife with racism”. Anderson, test cricket’s most successful pace bowler, said he could not remember experiencing racism but felt players could help tackle the issue. “I wasn’t in New Zealand when (team mate) Jofra Archer
was racially abused. But it made me think... ‘Have I turned a blind eye to things?’” “We need to actively make this game for everyone,” Anderson said. “Is there more I can do as a player to help the situation? Can I be more active? As players and a game we need to be more active.”
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Windies seek 1st series win in England in 32 years Marshall was outstanding on 1988 tour By Sean Devers West Indies head into next month’s three Test series against England, which will be played behind closed doors in a bio-secure environment at the Ageas Bowl in Lancashire and Old Trafford, where there are hotels at both venues. The first Test is set from July 8-12 at Ageas Bowl, while the other two are scheduled for Old Trafford from July 16-20 and July 2428 respectively and is the first cricket to be played since the outbreak of the corona virus. We s t I n d i e s w i l l Quarantine and train for three weeks at Old Trafford before moving to Ageas Bowl for the opening Test. Jason Holder’s men are in for a tough series as they hope to achieve an improble series win with a depleted batting line up missing Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetymer, who along with Kemo Paul have opted not to take the chance of going into an uncertain environment as they put safety first. With no cricket since March when the Regional First Class tournament was called off with two rounds to go due the COVID-19, the Caribbean side travelled with 11 reserves in a 25-man squad and will not have any practice games prior to the first Test. Winning a series in England for the West Indies
Gordon Greenidge guides one through point © Getty Images
will be as tough as a turtle trying to climb Mount Everest since the players will have at stay in their hotel and will not be allowed to hang out in the evenings after a hard day’s play to unwind mentally. With the host desperate to regain the Wisden Trophy which they lost in the Caribbean last year, the tourists will be under tremendous pressure, technically, psychologically and physically to be the first West Indies team to win a series in England in 32 years. If this team can draw a game, it will be a great accomplishment but if there is no rain I predict a three-nil defeat. I hope I am proven wrong. Their batting will be the biggest problem and without Bravo and Hetmyer, a lot will depend on Kraigg Braithwaite, Shai Hope, Jermaine Blackwood, Shane Dowrich, Roston Chase and the Skipper to contribute with the bat. Their strength is the bowling with Kemar Roach spearheading the bowling attack with support from J a s o n H o l d e r, A l z a r r i Joseph, Raymon Reifer and off-spinner Rakeem Cornwall. Let’s rewind to 1988 when West Indies last won a series in the UK. Although the key players were aging, they had not lost a single Test since 1980
when they were robbed in New Zealand. Clive Lloyd threatened to end the tour prematurely and Mikey Holding kicked out the stumps in disgust as another caught behind shout was turned down. Colin Croft, who ran into the Umpire Fredrick Goodall but said it was not intentional, told me he did not believe the Umpires were cheating. “We were bowling so fast that the Umpires were not seeing the ball. It was that bad,” the Guyanese pacer said. The team looked less intimidating than their past teams of the 1980’s but they were still a potent force and still the number one team in World. The West Indies were in transition from the invincible team of the mid80s. Both their batting and bowling attack suggested that Viv Richards’ side was not as dominant as they had been. Both Gordon Greenidge and Viv were in their late 30s, while Carl Hooper and Gus Logie were now trying to establish themselves at this level. The bowling attack was spearheaded by Courtney Walsh and the late great Malcom Marshall, but Curtly Ambrose had only played three Tests, while Winston Benjamin had only played four and Patrick Patterson 11. They arrived in England
Malcolm Marshall © Hampshire County Cricket Club on the back of four drawn series in Pakistan, New Zealand and India. West Indies also drew the home series against Pakistan but despite this they were the odds on favourites to easily win the series. After the first Test was drawn due to rain, West Indies easily dismantled England, who changed four Captains that summer, in the other four games to win 4-0. In the first Test in Nottingham, England opted to bat and Graham Gooch and Broad added 125 for the first wicket but once the openers were separated Marshall bagged 6-69 and Ambrose 4-53 as England were dismissed for 245. West Indies responded with 448 with Hooper making 84, Richards 80, Marshall 72 and Desmond Haynes 60 but rain, which prevented England from batting until the fourth day and 146 from Gooch provided England with their first draw against West Indies since 1981. England’s Skipper Mike
Jason Holder reacts in the field © Associated Press
Gatting was dropped for the second Test at Lords with spinner John Emburey leading the host who had West Indies on the ropes at 54-5 before Logie (81) and Jeff Dujon (53) rallied their team to 209. Marshall showed his experienced with 6-32 as England fell for 165 before Greenidge made a century and Logie finished unbeaten on 95 leaving England 442 to win and West Indies won by 134 runs. Marshall had 4-60 and match figures of 10-92. In the third Test in Old Trafford, Gatting returned as captain as West Indies won by an innings and 156 runs after England batted first and made 135 with Marshall, A m b r o s e , Wa l s h a n d Benjamin taking four wickets each.
Roger Harper top scored with 74 and Dujon made 67 as West Indies reached 384. England were blown away for 93 with Marshall continuing a wonderful series with 7-22. In the fourth Test at Headingly England made seven changes and dropped Emburey and reinstated Gatting who declined the job and did not play for the remainder of the summer. West Indies won the fourth Test by 10 wickets as Ambrose (4-58) and Marshall (3-55) conspired to dismiss the host for 201. Harper again top scored with 56 after Haynes made 54 in West Indies’ 275. England made 138 in their second innings as Ambrose took 3-40 and Walsh had 3-8. (Continued on page 19)
Michael Holding kicks the stumps in anger © Getty Images.
Guyanese spinner Veerasammy Permaul. (Sports Max)
rt Spo
Athletes will be free to take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement without sanction at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. (Pool/AFP/Rolf Vennenbernd)
Team structure, English conditions, precluded Athletes can take a knee at - Roger says Permaul’s selection Harper Commonwealth Games -chief The GMRSC plans on having at least three race meets before the end of the year.
GCAA announcement gives motor racing a boost The November races have been given a boost after the GCAA announced the phased reopening of local airports from next month.
Windies seek 1st series win in England in 32 years
Marshall was outstanding - on 1988 tour
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