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Lowenfield has no NEWS authority to give opinion on credibility of elections - Jagdeo AIETEUR

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Sunday Edition June 14, 2020

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Recount shows:

PPP-233,336 Coalition-217,920 - but Lowenfield's report gives coalition lead of - 68,383 The nation awaits a declaration

T

he Chief Elections Officer (CEO) has acted outside of the Gazetted Order of 4th May

2020.

Section 12 of that Order requires the CEO to submit a report on the tabulation of the recount of the votes in the 10 Districts together with a summary of the observation reports for each electoral district.

He is not required to pronounce on these observations, more so since the recount is not an investigative exercise.

The conclusions drawn by the CEO in his report submitted to the Commission yesterday are in excess of what he is required to do under the Order.

They are groundless since no investigation has been conducted or concluded into the allegations which have been recorded in the observation reports and for which no credible evidence has ever been provided.

The departure from his mandate in the CEO's report will lend further credence to the view that the Secretariat of GECOM has been gravely compromised.

The full Commission is now required to deliberate on the report of the tabulations of the recount to determine whether these tabulations should form the basis of a declaration under Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act. The nation awaits this declaration.

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Teacher who was involved in distribution of hampers for GTU tests positive for Covid-19 p.

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- was in contact with colleagues from several regions

Collapsed dams…polluted rivers…

Chinese company buying Guyana Goldfields has horrifying environmental track record p.

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- Papua New Guinea refused to renew licence three months ago

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Kaieteur News

Sunday June 14, 2020

Kaieteur News

Sunday June 14, 2020

Recount shows:

PPP-233,336 Coalition-217,920

217,920

C

hief Elections Officer (CEO) K e i t h Lowenfield yesterday in his report to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), claimed that 55% of the 2,339 ballot boxes used in the March 2 elections were so affected by instances of irregularities, voter impersonation and unreconciled documents, that the total results for each district could not be ascertained to be derived from a fair and impartial election.

If these boxes were extracted from the process, as suggested by Lowenfield, the remaining boxes would account for a total of a little over 183,000 votes with the l i o n ’s s h a r e g o i n g t o APNU+AFC (125,010), the bulk of the remained going to the PPP (56,627) and the remainder to the smaller parties.

The revised tabulation produced by Lowenfield reverses the outcome of the recount, giving the coalition a lead exceeding 68,000 votes, despite the fact that the total numerical results of the recount placed the PPP/C squarely in the lead, 233,336 to the Coalition 217,920.

These details were included in the report Lowenfield was required to submit, on the results of the recount, to the Commission, pursuant to the gazetted order for the National Recount. Yesterday, the 13th, was the stipulated deadline for Lowenfield to submit the report to GECOM, as gazetted in the order for the recount.

It states in Paragraph 12 that, “The matrices for the recount of the ten (10) Electoral Districts shall then be tabulated by the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) and shall be submitted in a report, together with a summary of the observation reports for each District, to the Commission on or before the 13th day of June, 2020.”

While the order did not require Lowenfield to pronounce on the validity of any party’s allegations or on the credibility of the

elections, he did.

UNSUBSTANTIATED CLAIMS During the 35 day recount, the coalition accumulated thousands of claims of electoral fraud against the PPP/C. Many of these claims failed to stand up to scrutiny and were eventually found out to be false. Lowenfield stated in his report that GECOM found the coalition’s claims to be “of substance”.

Kaieteur News had investigated a list of 172 names sent by the Immigration Department to GECOM, along with a letter claiming that those persons were not in the jurisdiction on election day. Twenty-six of those persons have since come forward refuting the placement of their names on that list, and revealing the information to be inaccurate.

When this was raised with Commissioner Vincent Alexander, he said that the information would be treated as accurate until those persons formally wrote to GECOM, providing proof that they were in Guyana on election day. It is unclear whether any of those persons have done so.

The coalition also made claims of dead voters and published one death certificate in the state newspaper of Chitnandani Ramdass, a Region Two woman who died on June 5, 2015, who they alleged to have been ticked off as having voted at the March 2020 polls. An official copy of the Maria’s Hall Nursery School OLE, provided by the PPP/C, showed that the woman’s name was not ticked off as having voted.

The APNU+AFC also claimed to have in their possession ‘countless’ death certificates, but to date, the party has not published any.

A SUMMARY OF LOWENFIELD’S TABULATION In his report Lowenfield stated that, “anomalies and/or irregularities are breaches or polling procedures outlined in the Representation of the People Act (ROPA), Cap. 1:03, and the official manual for Presiding Officers and other

P o l l i n g D a y O ff i c i a l s (Revised 2019).” The CEO tabulated 168 instances of anomalies across the ten districts, affecting seven percent of all ballot boxes.

In his report Lowenfield stated, “Voter impersonation refers to instances where votes were cast in the names of deceased persons or in names of electors who were not themselves personally present to cast their ballots on 2nd March 2020.”

The CEO tabulated 947 instances of voter impersonation affecting 41% of all ballot boxes. He posited that there were 141 additional ballot boxes which were affected by both instances of irregularities and voter impersonation.

This accounted for six percent of all ballot boxes.

Lowenfield also stated that GECOM could not reconcile all statutory documents in 27 ballot boxes, all coming from Region Four. This affected one percent of all ballot boxes. In totality, instances of irregularities, voter impersonation and unreconciled documents affected, according to the CEO, 1,283 or 55% of all ballot boxes.

The national recount showed that the PPP/C won with 233,336 votes over the APNU+AFC’s 217,920 votes. This represents a margin of victory of 15,416 votes. However, Lowefield produced a revision of the results, extracting the ballot boxes affected by irregularities, voter impersonation and unreconciled documents.

His revision placed the coalition in the lead with 125,010 votes. That represents a 68,383-vote lead over the PPP/C’s 56,627 votes in Lowenfield’s revised figures.

In doing so, Lowenfield suggested removing 269,619 valid votes, most of which would be taken from the PPP/C. While his revision would take 176,709 votes from the PPP/C, it would only take 92,910 from the coalition.

BREAKDOWN OF LOWENFIELD’S REPORT BY REGION In Region One, the Official List had 18,592

233,336

A P N U + A F C

- but Lowenfield's report gives coalition lead of - 68,383

By Shikema Dey, Kemol King and Mikaila Prince

PAGE 03

eligible electors.

Lowenfield’s report states that the recount of the 99 boxes showed that 12,111 and 12,060 votes were tabulated for the general and regional elections, respectively.

Graph showing the Chief Elections Officer’s revision of the recount results to place the Coalition in the lead

P P P / C

125,010

Lowenfield stated that 93 irregularities and/or instances of voter impersonation were recorded, and spread across 33 ballot boxes, affecting 35 percent of all votes cast in the

A P N U + A F C

56,627 P P P / C

general election. He stated that 20 percent were impacted by irregularities, 13 percent by voter impersonation and two percent by both.

With respect to (continued on page 8)

Hope of non-partisan political future is in the hands of young Guyanese - Owen Arthur

D

espite the current political impasse in Guyana, former Prime Minister (PM)of Barbados Owen Arthur believes the nation's hope for a non- partisan political future lies in the hands of the younger generation.

Speaking to Kaieteur Radio on the topic, the former PM noted that during the course of Guyana's 2020 Regional and General elections, he was able to

carrying any political baggage,” Arthur said. The Former PM was Head of the Commonwealth Observer Team, for the March2, 2020 Polls.

He was outspoken against accusations of fraud and widespread rigging on Election Day. The head of the Commonwealth Observer Team to Guyana's elections said, claims of widespread 'fraud' in the process will have implications for two

“

The young people in these minor parties had a view that is so refreshing…I believe some of those young people may be able to move away from the tribalism and form alliances that will allow them to build a better Guyana...

- Owen Arthur

observe and interact with some of the young people in politics and was able to view the nation's future through their eyes.

“The young people in these minor parties had a view that is so refreshing that I believe that Guyana is going to get away from this hardened partisan politics. I believe some of those young people may be able to move away from the tribalism and form alliances that will allow them to build a better Guyana.

“I saw a future for Guyana that is very different from its past when I spoke with them, because they were not

”

consultants who worked to help GECOM develop its electoral systems.

“The Commonwealth not only observed the Guyanese elections,” Arthur said, “but it had provided technical assistance to GECOM in the form of two experts, high qualified people from other countries in the Commonwealth, experts in electoral matters who helped to define and develop and perfect the electoral process that was implemented on election day. These men's reputations now stand to be buffeted by allegations that the system that they helped to define and develop was

Former Prime Minister of Barbados Owen Arthur characterized and tainted by massive fraud.”

Arthur told this paper that the two men have been working with the GECOM Secretariat for about a year leading up to the polls and that their reputations were without question in the Commonwealth. He said that all senior political stakeholders w h o h a d engaged with the consultants in the lead up to the elections had expressed satisfaction with their work.

PM Arthur says that he was privileged to lead a team of professional people and that the elections day activities were conducted without any significant hurdles. He said that he was privileged even to observe a counting activity first hand.

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Sunday June 14, 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: 225-8491, 225-8458, 225-8465 Fax: 225-8473 or 226-8210

Editorial

Masterpiece theater If anyone ever said that elections in Guyana are dull and boring, that persons should have his or her head examined. If it were not for the tensions and seriousness, elections here would be a fun filled occasion, a macabre masterpiece theater production of the first order. For all intents and purposes, what we have had here, what we have now ended up with after the drawn-out quarrels and agonies is a draw. In view of Saturday’s development out of the GECOM Secretariat, the chairwoman just got a lastminute reprieve. In fact, she may have been the beneficiary of a full pardon, compliments of the Chief Elections Officer of the secretariat, who just submitted his report to the commission.

CEO Lowenfield’s main point is best summed up in four small, simple words: not fair, not credible. That would be the entire elections process of 2020, which walks the whole gamut from what is assessed to have happened in the trenches on voting day, March 2, to how the clerical and counting and oversight tasks were completed in the many polling places throughout the ten administrative regions of Guyana, and to what is now captured and embedded in his report to the chair.

We may disagree with the conclusion of the GECOM CEO, even question his own integrity and credibility, and argue for and against what is now surfacing and making furious rounds throughout Guyana. All of that might be comforting to the spirit (and the cause favored), but it does not in any way amend or impact what is the CEO’s position, as incorporated in his full report to the commission. Our positions and that of onlookers and interested players, be they local or foreign, do not matter in the grand scheme of things, in any analysis, and with regard to any consideration of what has now been placed before the six politically appointed commissioners and the chair.

For what has to be before them must be the underlying facts and circumstances from near and far, as examined, reviewed, and evaluated by the secretariat’s staff. If not, the CEO would be remiss in his responsibilities to the commission and be dismissed outright as not having a leg to stand on in terms of the covering comments issued in his name. Whether he overreached or not is not the issue.

What is relevant and material and consequential is the foundation of supporting facts on which his report could conclude that the general elections were not fair, not credible.

To be sure, there has to be a barrage of situations and numbers from the electoral fields to bolster his calling the elections in the way that he did. At the very least, we would expect, and so should the whole nation, an array of statistics, persuasive proofs, and strong evidentiary chains that go deeper than media headlines and surrounding details have been able to relay to a transfixed Guyanese citizenry.

Whatever Mr. Lowenfield has based his position of the elections being neither fair nor credible cannot be either frivolous or specious or ludicrous.

As should be expected, politicians and their experts, who strenuously and furiously disagree with Mr. Lowenfield’s take will resort to the legal to point out that he has no standing (neither duty nor authority) to make the kind of pronouncement that he did. Indeed, that contention has some merit, but we are hard pressed to figure out how the chairwoman could go against what the chief of the process overseers in the GECOM Secretariat has articulated in his position as a “resource expert.” He ought to be more than familiar with the workings and the groundings of the last elections now appearing to be trapped in stalemate territory.

Prior to this development from CEO Lowenfield, it was understood and accepted across the board of the chairwoman, as it was said by the head of the Commonwealth Observer Mission and former Bajan Prime Minister, Owen Arthur, that “she is aware that the eyes of the world are upon her” (KN June 13). In view of what is the headline from the CEO’s report, the eyes and ears and emotions of political Guyana are all focused intently on Chairwoman, Retired Justice Claudette Singh. And none more than those of the coalition, which has its back to the wall, and the most

Kaieteur M@ilbox Send your letters to Kaieteur News 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown or email us kaieteurnews@yahoo.com

The CEO of GECOM has shown a clear bias DEAR EDITOR, It bothers me how we can have a person in such a high position that undermines everything we stand for as a democracy. A position as important as the CEO of the Guyana Election’s Commission should be one that is as neutral as it comes, such that the integrity of this most important electoral body is not put at stake. Let us go back to months ago when the votes were being tabulated. Nine of the ten districts were tabulated uneventfully, then came District 4. All the opposition parties and the world saw Clairmont Mingo’s blatant attempt to rig the District 4 count. This very CEO would have seen the original SOPs that were produced (the recount showed that they were almost identical to the SORs). This very CEO would have known that the numbers that Mingo presented were ficticious, this very CEO would have known that the makeshift screen produced to display the second set of figures would have sufficed to hide the second attempt at rigging the District 4 tabulation. This very CEO was in haste to prepare the final report which would have paved the way for the incumbent to return to office. This very CEO was part of the several cases that were subsequently filed, including a junior APNUactivist’s bid to block the recount from going

ahead. All else failed and the recount started.

As the plan unravelled, this very CEO would have read in the media that several persons whom the incumbent accused of having migrated but yet voted were actually in the country and voted. This very CEO would know that the matters raised as allegations must be raised in an elections petition. This very CEO through his mechanism would have trained thousands of workers and spent billions of dollars on the electoral process. This very CEO was and is the head of this Machine.

This very CEO now questions the performance of ALL his staff, ALL political agents, ALL international observers to the extent that he is unable to ascertain if elections were fair and credible. If such was the extent of ‘fraud’ under the nose of the CEO, I am asking that he do the right thing. Resign with immediate effect. The fate of our country cannot stand on the shoulder of an individual who has shown clear political bias, one who is sacrificing the integrity of the GECOM, one who cannot run a proper election and most of all, one whose action can stymie the democracy that sets Guyana apart from dictatorial and pariah states.

Yours truly Marti De Souza

territory to regain.

One can only imagine the reactions of coalition leaders and supporters, should the chairwoman give short thrift or dismiss out of hand, the assertion from the head of the people who man the ramparts and run the world that is GECOM. To put in the kindest and coolest way, it would be that the deck is stacked against it, the party cannot get its share of fair consideration that is owed and, therefore, it is then in a wellplaced position to reject whatever declaration, if any, is issued

by GECOM. That such a declaration is not based on the evidence of wrongdoing and many shortcomings. That it is lacking in substance and merit, and that when it (the coalition) is cheated, it is still made to pay the steepest price. And with the coalition adopting the only position that it could take-in

effect, seize-then the social outlook would have just deteriorated from terrible to disastrous.

It is our hope here at this publication, that all the supporting facts and figures, and the associated narratives, would be given their due regard, through serious weighing.

Since, it is now the norm to expect that the Commission itself would be automatically deadlocked straight down party lines at 3:3, the ball really belongs to the chair. It is her decision to make, her declaration to deliver. As the man from Bridgetown said, “the eyes of the rest of the world are upon her.” We trust that wherever she ends up, such is based on the greatest prudence, the deepest wisdom, and the strongest character towards what passes eye test, smell test, and every other test. Guyana now waits with bated breath.

Sunday June 14, 2020

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Kaieteur News

Kaieteur M@ilbox

Kaieteur M@ilbox

The law does not allow for the Chief I STAND WITH OUR FIRST EVER Election Officer to pronounce upon FEMALE VICE-CHANCELLOR OF the credibility of elections THE UNIVERSITY OF GUYANA

DEAR EDITOR, It has been reported that Keith Lowenfield, the Chief Election Officer of GECOM, has taken the liberty to pronounce on the credibility of the March 2020 General and Regional Election. The requirement and specified duties of Lowenfield to submit this report is contained in paragraph 12 of the Order upon which the recount was legally premised. Paragraph 12 states, “The matrices for the recount of the (10) Electoral Districts shall be submitted in a report, together with a summary of the observation reports for each District, to the Commission.”

The matrices referred to in paragraph 12 is the tabulation of votes for each Electoral District (see Paragraphs 10 and 11 of the Order).

The Order contains no requirement for Lowenfield to tender his opinion on anything in this report, let alone pronounce on the credibility of the election. Lowenfield’s opinion

on the credibility of the election is unlawful, ultra vires and quite frankly irrelevant.

Simply for the sake of being comprehensive, the Supreme Law of Guyana (the Constitution) is crystal clear that the determination of the credibility of an election, inter alia, is the “exclusive jurisdiction” of the High Court and this, pursuant to the Validity of Elections Act CAP 1:04, is advanced through a petition.

This was recently re-confirmed by the Court of Appeal decision in the Ulita Moore matter in which Lowenfield was a party to the proceedings so it may or may not be surprising that he is unfamiliar with this point. Nonetheless, as we bring this entire national trauma to an end, the Elections Commission is required to hold an election on the day so proclaimed by the President (see Art. 61) even in circumstances where there is a state of emergency (Continued on page 6)

Now is the time for religious leaders to speak out against the undermining of democracy DEAR EDITOR, Every religion teaches us that we should lead a life of honesty, decency and with integrity. Every religion teaches us that we should uphold truth and condemn falsehood. However, for the last three months Guyanese have witnessed how some rogue elements have tried very hard to suppressed the will of the Guyanese people and trample upon their democratic rights for selfish, greedy, partisan reasons and yet the religious leaders have

remained quiet. Isn’t the thwarting of the will of the people an evil that must be condemned? Isn’t the stealing of an election a dishonest, indecent act that would never be committed by persons of integrity? Why then are the religious leaders silent and have refused to speak out against this great evil that threatens to destroy this nation?

The silence of religious leaders is deafening and their failure to speak out against this attack against the demo-

cratic rights of all Guyanese can only be considered a tacit approval for this evil.

The religious leaders love to preach on the pulpit about doing the right thing and speak out against evil and if possible to confront it. Now more than ever it is time for them to do the right thing and speak out against and condemn this evil. The Guyanese people are counting on them to do the right and courageous thing.

Yours truly, Shazad Sookram

DEAR EDITOR, It is my pleasure to congratulate Professor Paloma Mohammed-Martin, Ph.D., A.A. on her appointment as the 11th Vice-Chancellor, and more specifically, as the first woman Vice-Chancellor ever contracted by the University of Guyana. What a unique moment in history! A lady of class and elegance, a woman who has dedicated her life to serving this nation and in turn has transformed tens of thousands of University level students in Guyana and other countries. At this juncture, I also wish to state that while I may agree with my friend Hon. Bishop Juan A. Edghill in some aspects of what is happening in reality in Guyana, I disagree with the fact that he mentioned the name of the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana. This to me was very painful for a lady of such class and dignified personality.

My understanding is that her appointment was pending since 2019 and it is not by the selection of the Government acting/caretaker-mode but by a point system based on merit for which she topped all the other applicants. Her appointment coincidentally occurred at the same moment. Very much the way my retirement

The Chairwoman of Kudos to Kaieteur News for GECOM should preserve its Walter Rodney coverage EDITOR, the democracy in Guyana DEAR Thank you, Kaieteur News for excellent coverage of the

DEAR EDITOR, I am a student of the Queen’s College, and I take an interest into the election process. On June 13th, the Chief Elections Officer submitted his report, in which he disputed the credibility of an election which he supervised. His report does not bode well for the future of democracy in Guyana.

However, democracy in Guyana can be saved by the actions by Madam Chairwoman Singh. Therefore, it is my plea to the famed Iron Lady. Please, do the right thing and preserve democracy in our lovely country Guyana.

Yours truthfully, Nathaniel Parker

40th death anniversary of Dr. Walter Rodney. I read three articles by three different reporters. All now his message is still relevant. People power rules!

The people of Guyana won and completed the recount of the votes in the ballot boxes. Kudos to your newspaper and its excellent up-to-date reports on all issues.

Yours truly Don Gomes, M.S.

from RK’s Guyana Security Services coincides with the transition of a new Government and many people believe that I have been promised some ministerial position by the government of Guyana which is not the case. It is all just a mere incident in destiny or faith as you may have it.

So, I believe that the Hon. Bishop Juan A. Edghill owes an apology to this lady whom I have always held in high esteem as a patriot and professional. One who educates and serves people without a political thought or idea and bereft of ethnic proprieties.

She is a true Guyanese in her makeup, her desire, and her penchant to serve.

I do believe that several other appointments are questionable but definitely not this one. Therefore, Hon. Bishop Juan A. Edghill, let us applaud her, let us not humiliate and distance her. She needs her energies and resources at this important position when Guyana is

transitioning to become one of the wealthiest countries in the world whereby we will have more universities and/ or campuses established. Let us embrace her - symbolically - pray for her, and honor her.

It is a fact that wherever women administrate and manage, there is always less corruption and better administration; be it institutions of learning, management, or be it as Heads of States.Please let this young woman enjoy her time in service to the University of Guyana and the peoples of Guyana. Let us see what revolutionary ideas she will bring to education in Guyana. Let us witness the wonders and the powers of a woman’s contribution to education.

My friend and brother, Hon. Bishop Juan A. Edghill, instead of berating her, I beseech you to let us pray for her success and her prosperity to make Guyana a better place for us and our children.

Yours truly, Hajji Dr. Roshan Khan Snr.

PAGE 6

Sunday June 14, 2020

Kaieteur News

Kaieteur M@ilbox Perhaps it’s time for unconventional of Education to be on par with education to shine standard education of the world that capitalism pro-

DEAR EDITOR, Education has come a long way in Guyana contributing to national development.

However, there is still some division between those who have the opportunity to study and those less fortunate children who lack opportunities and support to pursue it for upward mobility.

This system of education that produces some social inequality is promoted by conventional ideology for capital and market products.

Guyanese Indigenous people and other poor rural population because of their geographic location, cultural and social differences have always been at a disadvantage in obtaining formal learning, despite governments’ efforts to deliver quality education to them.

In 2020 came COVID-19 and the Ministry of Educa-

tion began closing schools to contain the spread of the virus. This activity interrupted the academic learning in the classrooms for all children in Guyana and these days all are at home.

For Indigenous children in the interior, a few lucky ones are receiving academic lessons work at home, while the rest are in the farms with their parents. The majority lack access to online learning provided by the Ministry of Education, although some try to listen to the radio if they have solar energy or batteries to power the device at home.

For parents, teachers, the Ministry of Education and modern society, it is crucial for children to receive academic education and perform well at the core subjects to obtain the benchmarks rated by the system; a pivotal achievement for the Ministry

The law does not allow...

From page 5 or an outbreak of a war (see Art. 70) and make a declaration of a winner even in circumstances where there is a tie by the drawing of lots (see Art. 177 of the Constitution).

It has been over three months of this election saga and the country is ready to move on so the desperation of a few persons to remain in power should not hold hostage the lives of everyone else over a mere election. It is time for the APNUAFC to get over it and get on with life.

Yours truly, Charles S. Ramson

motes.

But let’s be real.

The same education based on ‘meritocracy’ fails most of Indigenous and other poor children with its rigid and selective system centered on education of the head and intellect and limited space for critical analysis. Given this understanding, it is hoped that COVID-19 serves to revolutionize education. As the meritocracy system slows down during time of closure of schools, perhaps it’s time for unconventional education to shine.

Given that conventional education comes to “educate” indigenous people, it should also consider that they have a unique worldview of education.

With the closure of schools parents are teaching the children to plant and grow local food from the farms, apart from teaching them the local language and customs from the elders. Additionally our children are learning to live sustainably with the environment and the proper use of lands while learning the importance of the natural resources etc.

Furthermore, there is a lot of richness in popular knowledge to learn from in rural and indigenous communities in Guyana. Some examples are the local season for fishing and hunting.

There are also concepts of mathematics and sciences these communities generate.

The circular shapes of the cassava bread when baked can teach shapes and the carbohydrate and other nutritious values it contains.

There are many more examples of popular education to teach the children.

This shows that conventional education is not the only way of schooling a child.

Unconventional learning is also valuable and it should not be perceived as a secondclass education.

Having this aspect of education is vital for coping with disappointments when children academic performance is low at school. So while schools are closed and meritocracy learning slows down during this pandemic, it is time for unconventional education to shine for those students not having access to academic lesson at homes, until schools reopen in September.

Yours truly Medino Abraham

Kaieteur M@ilbox We need to truly see each other as One People at this critical juncture DEAR EDITOR, I was chatting with my friend Dubya the other night when, with a heavy sigh, he remarked that GECOM will have to annul the elections result and order new elections. I responded by saying that not everyone would agree with that assessment.

He replied with the following analogy: If two guys are at a table gambling for $10,000 and after disputing the winning hand a look at the cards is demanded, whereupon it is discovered that something was wrong with the winning hand, the game has got to be replayed as a man is not going to hand over his 10 grand just so.

I then suggested that the situation might play out differently if there were others standing behind the players observing the game and they thought that the win was ok.

Dubya did not agree with this and pointed out that the observers are not playing in the game and their opinions cannot count. I thereupon made the point that not anyone and everyone is allowed in a casino or gambling den – for those admitted would be either members or invited persons – and the observers of the Guyana elections were all invited to observe our elections.

Dubya’s analogy is quite spot-on, however, for it illustrates very clearly that whoever loses the elections will feel, perhaps rightly, very aggrieved. One Party would reason, if it lost the vote, that it won the count whilst the other would reason, if the vote went against it, that it should not have lost when many instances of clear fraud favored the count for its opponent. I think, however, that there are many reasons why, in the case of Guyana, we ought not to be compelled to view the recount in terms of a clash of opponents out of which will emerge a winner and an inevitable loser.

Our motto is “One People One Nation One Destiny”. It is an aspirational motto that was first proclaimed to the world in May 1966.

Aspirational it was then and still is now, because in 1966 it was acknowledged that Guyana was a country of six races, which is still correct if the Mixed Race Guyanese is substituted for the European.

In reality though, it would be nitpicking not to agree that all six races do live together for

all practical purposes as One People except in the months running up to every General Elections, when the two majority races representing roughly 32% and 42% of the population respectively enter into competition for power.

As such we do not have a racism problem.

The Afro-Guyanese does not consider himself genetically superior to the IndoGuyanese, there is no evidence that the IndoGuyanese considers himself genetically superior to his Afro-Guyanese counterpart.

Guyana thus has racial (as against racist) perspectives that operate healthily for 4½ years then dangerously for 6 electioneering months and healthily again for the 4½ years to follow.

The real reason for this silly, and oftentimes deadly, cycle is competition for the power to control limited resources based on the premise that only a leadership of one’s own race would give one a fair share of the available pie.

It is true that some significant patronage is extended to persons of the same race as the leadership – of either major Party when in power – but that patronage has never reached significantly beyond the friends, extended families and high-up Party affiliates of the leadership.

There are literally tens of thousands of impoverished Indo and Afro-Guyanese persons throughout the land who have never ever tasted or seen their forebears directly taste the benefits of having in power a leadership of their own race.

Today Guyana is at a critical junction of history. We absolutely need to be One People of One Nation ‘nownow-now’ as many Guyanese would say informally in conversation. We need to be One People as we present as a country before the Interna-

tional Court of Justice in a few weeks’ time asserting the right to own all 83,000 square miles of Guyana territory – that is if we seriously want to remain as One Nation rather than one-thirds Guyana, and God forbid, two-thirds Venezuela.

We ought to get firmly into the mindset of truly embracing One Destiny. As an oilproducing nation, there is now absolutely no reason why 780,000 persons living in such a large, fertile and resource-rich geographical area should be squabbling over control of resources. Since December our country has earned over USD90M from oil alone – and that is despite our second oil lifting being impacted by a dramatic dip in oil prices. Guyana will be one of only a handful of countries that will record a positive rate of growth in 2020. European economic powerhouse Germany is projected to record a growth of -10.6% with both the USA and Canada also in minus numbers and not doing much better! Guyanese now have every reason and incentive to stay together as One People without the predictable 4½ hiatuses.

I will not disclose my opinion as to what our GECOM Chair, a widely experienced retired Justice of Appeal, ought to decide. The decision will be her own solely, as the Commission’s setup is such that there will inevitably be a deadlock between the 6 Commissioners who equally represent the 2 main political parties. Going forward though, we do need to reform both our electoral system and Constitution without delay, so that Indian and African Guyanese will no longer feel any compelling desperation to see a Party representative of their own race in the office of President of the Co-Operative Republic of Guyana.

Yours truly, Ronald Bostwick

An Ode to Walter Rodney II Our beloved brother You sought to hightlight the destructive nature of classicism and racism Time has shown your wisdom We salute you great brother Unselfishness was your creed You shared your knowledge with love, fearlessness and your blood to Guyana and the World Your gift of humanity and sacrifice will motivate us always Courage undefeatable, working people united is your motto, and you have ingrained it in our souls As we honour your deeds by our actions Your works and legacy live with and among us always Your invaluable contribution to our positive psyche is your everlasting and fruitful gift to the world and our inspiration.

Nigel Hinds

Sunday June 14, 2020

Kaieteur News

Kaieteur M@ilbox

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PAGE 8

Sunday June 14, 2020

Kaieteur News

PPP-233,336 - Coalition-217,920 From page 3 allegations of voter impersonation, Lowenfield stated that one party, referring to the Coalition, alleged that there were 10 instances of deceased persons who appear to have voted and 19 instances where electors who are alleged to be out of the jurisdiction have voted.

The CEO’s summation of these instances led him to conclude that the results for Region One do not meet the stands of fair and credible elections.

However, he also asserted that, if the ballot boxes affected by irregularities and/or voter impersonation are “extracted” from the process, the total would be 2,506 votes for APNU+AFC, 5,298 votes for PPP/C, 93 votes for LJP, 17 votes for PRP, and three voters for URP. Lowenfield’s revision of the recount results decreased the PPP/C’s margin of victory in Region one, from 4,093 votes to 2,792 votes.

In Region Two, the Official List had 37,979 eligible electors. Lowenfield’s report states that the recount of the 135 boxes showed that 26,621 and 26,491 votes were tabulated for the general and regional elections, respectively.

Lowenfield stated that 338 irregularities and/or instances of voter impersonation were recorded, and spread across 86 ballot boxes, affecting 75 percent of all votes cast in the general election.

He stated that three percent were impacted by irregularities, 55 percent by voter impersonation and 17 percent by both.

With respect to allegations of voter impersonation, Lowenfield stated that one party, referring to the Coalition, alleged that there were 12 instances of deceased persons who appear to have voted and 19 instances where electors who are alleged to be out of the jurisdiction have

voted.

The CEO’s summation of these instances led him to conclude that the results for Region One do not meet the stands of fair and credible elections.

However, he also asserted that, if the ballot boxes affected by irregularities and/or voter impersonation are “extracted” from the process, the total would be 35 votes for ANUG, 2,787 votes for APNU+AFC, 48 votes for CG, 62 votes for LJP, 3,737 votes for PPP/C, 22 votes for PRP, three votes for TCI, and 14 votes for URP. Lowenfield’s revision of the recount results decreased the PPP/C’s margin of victory in Region Two, from 11,445 votes to 950 votes.

In Region Three, the Official List had 100,758 eligible electors. Lowenfield’s report states that the recount of the 355 boxes showed that 72,592 and 72,457votes were tabulated for the general and regional elections, respectively.

Lowenfield stated that 1,041 irregularities and/or instances of voter impersonation were recorded, and spread across 212 ballot boxes, affecting 68 percent of all votes cast in the general election. He stated that four percent were impacted by irregularities, 61 percent by voter impersonation and four percent by both.

With respect to allegations of voter impersonation, Lowenfield stated that one party, referring to the Coalition, alleged that there were six instances of deceased persons who appear to have voted and 971 instances where electors who are alleged to be out of the jurisdiction have voted.

The CEO’s summation of these instances led him to conclude that the results for Region One do not meet the stands of fair and credible elections.

However, he also asserted

GECOM’s CEO Keith Lowenfield (CEO) that, if the ballot boxes affected by irregularities and/or voter impersonation are “extracted” from the process, the total would be 85 votes for ANUG, 10,503 votes for APNU+AFC, 80 votes for CG, 12,556 votes for PPP/C, 39 votes for PRP, 18 votes for TCI, 12 votes for TNM, and 13 votes for URP. Lowenfield’s revision of the recount results decreased the PPP/C’s margin of victory in Region Three, from 24,043 votes to 2,053 votes.

In Region Four, the Official List had 285,617 eligible electors. Lowenfield’s report states that the recount of the 879 boxes showed that 202,077 and 201,575 votes were tabulated for the general and regional elections, respectively.

Lowenfield stated that irregularities, instances of voter impersonation and/or unreconciled ballot boxes were recorded, and spread across 466 ballot boxes, affecting 55 percent of all votes cast in the general election. He stated that seven point two percent were impacted by irregularities, 39.2 percent by voter impersonation, three point four percent by both, and five point seven percent by unreconciled ballot boxes.

With respect to allegations of voter impersonation, Lowenfield stated that one party, referring to the Coalition, alleged that there were 16 instances of deceased persons who appear to have voted and 1,690 instances where electors who are alleged to be out of the jurisdiction have voted.

The CEO’s summation of these instances led him to conclude that the results for Region One do not meet the stands of fair and credible elections.

However, he also asserted that, if the ballot boxes affected by irregularities and/or voter impersonation are “extracted” from the process, the total would be 632 votes for ANUG, 71,479 for APNU+AFC, 458 votes for

CG, 306 votes for LJP, 16,696 votes for PPP/C, 162 votes for PRP, 202 votes for TCI, 66 votes for TNM, and 37 votes for URP. Lowenfield’s revision of the recount results increases the Coalition’s margin of victory in Region Four, from 36,021 votes to 54,783 votes.

In Region Five, the Official List had 44,663 eligible electors.

Lowenfield’s report states that the recount of the 158 boxes showed that 33,120 and 33,004 votes were tabulated for the general and regional elections, respectively.

Lowenfield stated that 406 irregularities and/or instances of voter impersonation were recorded, and spread across 69 ballot boxes, affecting 51 percent of all votes cast in the general election. He stated that 5 percent were impacted by irregularities, 42 percent by voter impersonation and three percent by both.

The CEO’s summation of these instances led him to conclude that the results for Region Five do not meet the stands of fair and credible elections.

However, he also asserted that, if the ballot boxes affected by irregularities and/or voter impersonation are “extracted” from the process, the total will be 16,383 votes cast with a distribution of 51 votes for ANUG, 8,864 votes for APNU+AFC, 39 votes for CG, 7,378 votes for PPP/C, 26 votes for PRP, 12 votes for TCI, six votes for TNM, and 7 votes for URP.

for the APNU+AFC; 47 votes for CG; 5,021 votes for the PPP/C; 33 for PRP; 17 votes for TCI; three for TNM, and 11 votes for URP. Lowenfield’s revision of the recount results decreased the PPP/C’s margin of victory in Region Six, from 23,047 votes to 4,416.

In Region Seven, the Official List had 14,887 eligible electors.

Lowenfield’s report states that the recount of the 82 boxes showed that 9,592 and 9,529 votes were tabulated for the general and regional elections, respectively.

Lowenfield stated that 540 irregularities and/or instances of voter impersonation were recorded, and spread across 46 ballot boxes, affecting 71 percent of all votes cast in the general election. He stated that two percent were impacted by irregularities, 29 percent by voter impersonation and three percent by both.

The CEO’s summation of these instances led him to conclude that the results for Region Seven do not meet the stands of fair and credible elections.

Lowenfield’s revision of the recount results decreased the PPP/C’s margin of victory in Region Six, from 3,824 votes to 1,486.

In Region Six, the Official List had 99,123 eligible electors. Lowenfield’s report states that the recount of the 378 boxes showed that 64,567 and 64,434 votes were tabulated for the general and regional elections, respectively.

Lowenfield stated that 1128 irregularities and/or instances of voter impersonation were recorded, and spread across 274 ballot boxes, affecting 77 percent of all votes cast in the general election.

He stated that 20 percent were impacted by irregularities, 74 percent by voter impersonation and three percent by both.

The CEO’s summation of these instances led him to conclude that the results for Region Six do not meet the stands of fair and credible elections.

However, he also asserted that, if the ballot boxes affected by irregularities and/or voter impersonation are “extracted” from the process, the total would be 14,615 votes cast with a distribution of 46 votes for ANUG; 9,437 votes

While the PPP/C did not win District Eight in the recount, the CEO’s revised figures placed it in the lead with a margin of victory of 1,501 votes.

In Region Eight, the Official List had 7,431 eligible electors. Lowenfield’s report states that the recount of the 55 boxes showed that 4,665 and 4,644 votes were tabulated for the general and regional elections, respectively.

These, he said spread across 23 ballot boxes, affecting a total of 54% of votes; 24% of votes were affected by anomalies, 11% by voter impersonation and 18% of votes affected by both anomalies and voter impersonation.

The CEO’s summation of these instances led him to conclude that the results for Region Eight do not meet the stands of fair and credible elections.

However, he also asserted that, if the ballot boxes affected by irregularities and/or voter impersonation are “extracted” from the process, the total would be 2,158 votes cast “with a distribution of 820 votes for APNU+AFC, 306 votes for LJP, 1,028 votes for PPP/C, and 4 votes for TNM. While the PPP/C did not win District Eight in the re-

However, he also asserted that, if the ballot boxes affected by irregularities and/or voter impersonation are “extracted” from the process, the total would be 13,805 votes cast with a distribution of 19 votes cast for ANUG; 1,501 votes for the APNU+AFC; 27 votes for CG; 1,094 of votes for the PPP/C; 185of votes for LJP; and three votes for URP.

count, the CEO’s revised figures placed it in the lead with a margin of victory of 208 votes.

In Region Nine, the Official List had 17,771 eligible electors. Lowenfield’s report states that the recount of the 73 boxes showed that 12,261 and 12,228 votes were tabulated for the general and regional elections, respectively.

These, he said spread across 52 ballot boxes, affecting a total of 80% of votes; 17% of votes were affected by anomalies, 14% by voter impersonation and 49% of votes affected by both anomalies and voter impersonation.

Additionally, Lowenfield noted another procedural error, two rejected ballots for want of official mark or “unstamped ballots.”

The CEO’s summation of these instances led him to conclude that the results for Region Nine do not meet the standards of fair and credible elections. However, he also asserted that, if the ballot boxes affected by irregularities and/or voter impersonation are “extracted” from the process, the total will be 2,432 votes cast with a distribution of 677 votes for APNU+AFC, 44 votes for LJP, 1,707 votes for PPP/C, and 4 votes for URP. Lowenfield’s revision of the recount results decreased the PPP/C’s margin of victory in Region Nine, from 2,183 votes to 1,030 votes.

In Region Ten, the Official List had 33,808 eligible electors. Lowenfield’s report states that the recount of the 125 boxes showed that 22,747 and 22,733 votes were tabulated for the general and regional elections, respectively.

These, he said spread across 22 ballot boxes, affecting a total of 17% of votes; 5% of votes were affected by anomalies, 11% by voter impersonation and 1% of votes affected by both anomalies and voter impersonation.

The CEO’s summation of these instances led him to conclude that the results for Region Nine do not meet the standards of fair and credible elections.

However, he also asserted that, if the ballot boxes affected by irregularities and/or voter impersonation are “extracted” from the process, the total will be 18,874 votes cast with a distribution of 142 votes for ANUG, 16,436 votes for APNU+AFC, 86 votes for CG, 2,112 votes for PPP/C, 30 votes for PRP, 31 votes for TCI, 14 votes for TNM, and 23 votes for URP. Lowenfield’s revision of the recount results increased the Coalition’s margin of victory in Region Ten, from 16,007 votes to 14,320 votes. The Commission is now expected to deliberate on the report and declare a result by June 16, this Tuesday.

Sunday June 14, 2020

PAGE 9

Kaieteur News

“Lowenfield has no authority to give opinion on credibility of elections” – Jagdeo

GECOM’s CEO Keith Lowenfield (CEO)

T

he Opposition People’s Progres sive Party (PPP) yesterday said that Chief Elections Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Keith Lowenfield had “no authority” to note his personal opinions in the report on the National Recount.

Yesterday, around noon, Lowenfield submitted Matrices for the recount of the 10 Electoral Districts and a Summary of the Observation Reports for each district to the GECOM Chair, Ret’d Justice Claudette Singh, along with required attachments, pursuant to the gazetted order made

by GECOM, under which the national recount of ballots, were done.

In its statement, the PPP highlighted the relevant portions of the May 29 addendum to the initial gazetted order which said “The matrices for the recount of the ten (10) Electoral Districts shall then be tabulated by the Chief Elec-

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo tion Officer and be submitted in a report, together with a summary of the observation reports for each District, to the Commission on or before 13th day of June 2020.”

“It is clear from the above that Lowenfield has no power or authority or any mandate to offer a view, opinion or judgement of any type, either in the Observation Report or the Matrices to be tabulated,” the PPP said, adding that Lowenfield’s singular duty “was to summarize the various Observation Reports and to aggregate the totals in the Matrices.”

In his summary of each District, Lowenfield stated that “The summation of anomalies and instances of voter impersonation identified in District Nine clearly does not appear to satisfy the criteria of impartiality, fairness, and compliance with provisions of the Constitution and the ROPA Cap 1:03. Consequently, on the basis of the votes counted and the infor-

mation furnished from the recount, it cannot be ascertained that the results for District Ten, Upper Demerara/ Berbice, meet the standard of fair and credible elections.”

This, according to the Opposition was “clear and blatant violation of the Gazetted order.”

“In a clear and blatant violation of the Order, Lowenfield arrogated unto himself the role of an investigator, judge and executioner and made conclusive findings, in respect of the wild, reckless and baseless allegations made by APNU+AFC and rendered a judgment on them, concluding that they were established, without doing any investigations, hearing no one affected and applying principles only known to himself.”

The party accused Lowenfield of acting “ultra vires”, “, in excess of and without authority, in violation of natural justice, in abrogation of the separation of powers doctrine, unlawfully, unconstitutionally and the pronouncements that he has made are certainly null, void and of no effect.” The PPP said that “his pronouncements and tabulations bear a striking resemblance to the contentions and calculations of the APNU+AFC have not gone unnoticed. He would make an excellent witness for the APNU+AFC at the trial of an Election Petition.”

Additionally, the party said that Lowenfield has committed “Misfeasance” as the CEO of an election process under his purview.

“In so doing, he has also thrown under the bus thousands of Guyanese, who have worked diligently in the electoral machinery, all because

Dem boys seh...

De mathematician seh HAP -New win HAP-New Dem boys now see Soulja Bai in de true light. Dem boys did feel dat he was being misled and confused over de elections. Dem did believe dat dem scamps around he did lie to he about de count. But now dem believe dat Soulja Bai know de truth all along.

Dem boys expect he fuh stand up and tek he licks like a man. He should accept, bless and move on… and tek L’il Joe with he. Dem two are like peas in a pod.

Dem boys hearing how de Coalition talking one thing

but dem doing another. Dem dun start fuh clear out dem things. One big one at N-CEEN done pack he bags. Some of dem Ministers busy packing. Some of dem moving with box in car trunk; others moving with Canter trucks.

Dem boys thought was only dem family pictures dem had to move. But it look like some of dem had half of dem house in dem office. Some of dem might need truck and dragline soon.

But dem gat some people who desperate. Dem consult

Nigel de Mathematician and he tell dem dat de Coalition win. He seh how de Coalition get 217,920 votes and de PPPC get 233, 336. Nigel de Mathematician seh technically de HAP-New votes mo dan de PPP. He seh dat 2+1+7+9+2+0= 21; And 2+3+3+3+3+6 = 20.

And since 21 is greater than 20, it means that de HAPNew win de elections Talk half and don’t breathe out until de declaration.

he wants to satisfy the agenda of his political masters at Congress Place,” the PPP noted.The CEO, the Opposition said, has also rendered the entire Commission complicit in and culpable of spending approximately $8B

of taxpayers’ dollars in holding elections that were not credible.

“This is the same Lowenfield, who had prepared a Report on Mingo’s fraudulent declarations and was ready to submit it to the

Commission.” The PPP called on the seven-member Commission of GECOM to “ignore” every aspect of the CEO’s report, “other than the General Elections Recount Totals and the Regional Elections Recount Totals.”

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Kaieteur News

Sunday June 14, 2020

Kaieteur News

Sunday June 14, 2020

PAGE 11

Collapsed dams‌ polluted rivers‌

Chinese company buying Guyana Goldfields has horrifying environmental track record - Papua New Guinea refused to renew licence three months ago

By Kiana Wilburg

Papua New Guinea, James Marape

C

anadian mining c o m p a n y, G u y a n a Goldfields Inc. recently hit the jackpot. It was able to entice one of China's top producers of gold and other metals into a relatively short bidding round for its assets.

And the Chinese statecompany's offer of C$323 million was simply too superior for an initial suitor, Canadian mining company, Silvercorp metals to top.

Guyana Goldfields subsequently inked a binding agreement with Zijin and now stands to benefit from a whopping US$30 million loan facility to finance the ongoing operations of the Aurora gold mine and other liquidity needs.

But who exactly is this company that will be entering Guyana's mining industry by way of this new arrangement? What skeletons, if any, hide in its closet? Is there any reason for the under-staffed and under-resourced Environmental Protection A g e n c y ( E PA ) t o b e concerned?

To paraphrase an old movie quote: Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Extensive research by Kaieteur News on the track record of Zijin shows that there is sufficient reason for Guyana's authorities to be wary of Guyana Goldfields' new partner.

Numerous international reports note that on July 3 and July 16, 2010, acid waste had escaped the company's

An aerial view of the Aurora Goldmine

copper plant in China's Fujian province and contaminated the Ting River.

The accident was said to be the size of the BP deep-water oil spill, one of the largest in the history of the petroleum

tons of fish, enough to feed 72,000 residents for a year.

As a result of the spill, 210,000 residents of the area were without potable water and there were notable increases in cancer cases.

In 2010, Reuters also reported that a dam at a tin mine run by a Zijin subsidiary collapsed during heavy rains, burying a nearby village in the Guangdong province. The landslide of waste from the mine left 28 people dead or missing... industry.

The copper plant manager, deputy manager and head of environment were detained and subsequently sent to jail because the company waited nine days before revealing the incident.

In 2011, a court in the southeastern Fujian province ordered the Zijin Mining Group to pay a criminal fine of USD $4.6 million for the 2.4 million gallon toxic spill that contaminated the local river and poisoned 2,000 metric

The toxic spill by the Zijin Mining Group polluted Ting River, killing 2,000 metric tons of fish (Source AsiaNews.it.)

(https://steelguru.com/steel/ zijin-mining-fined-usd-5million-for-toxic-spill-atcopper-mine/203663) COLLAPSED DAMS In 2010, Reuters also reported that a dam at a tin mine run by a Zijin subsidiary collapsed during heavy rains, burying a nearby village in the Guangdong province. The landslide of waste from the mine left 28 people dead or missing.

Reuters noted that Zijin had run into trouble with

collapsed dams before. Late in 2006, a tailings dam breach at Zijin's Shuiyindong mine in Guizhou province dumped cyanide-laced residue into a stream, and forced the mine to close for months.

Kaieteur News also found that a mining boom, thanks to the Chinese economy's insatiable demand for metals, left the countryside studded with unsafe tailings dams that liquefy under pounding rains. In the worst such accident, 276 people were killed when a tailings dam at an iron mine gave way in Shanxi Province in September, 2008. A similar collapse the previous month in the same province killed 43 people, but was covered up ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

NO RENEWAL The purchase of Guyana

Goldfields is integral to Zijin's search for more gold after it lost a key licence in Papua New Guinea about three months ago.

International news agency, Reuters in an April 29 news article, reported that Papua New Guinea said it would not renew a 20-year mining lease with Zijin at its Porgera gold mine, citing environmental damage and social unrest even as gold prices have soared to more than seven-year highs. (See l i n k : https://www.reuters.com/art icle/us-barrick-gold-pngchina/zijin-says-papua-newguinea-ending-gold-minelease-may-hurt-bilateralties-idUSKBN22B2C0) Dongxing Securities Co., Ltd., a Chinese investment bank and brokerage firm had said that without the Porgera mine, Zijin's 2020 gold production is expected to decline by 37

t o n s , o r 9 . 3 % . (https://www.caixinglobal.c om/2020-04-29/chinaszijin-mining-seeks-goldelsewhere-after-losingpapua-new-guinea-mine101548312.html).

Following the move to not renew the lease, Zijin warned the administration of Papua New Guinea that it should be mindful of taking such a course of action as it could damage bilateral relations. It is important to note that China has been one of Papua New Guinea's largest creditors over the years.

T h e p r e v i o u s administration for Papua New Guinea was warned in 2015 about the horrible track record of the Chinese statecompany but did nothing.

The new government led by Prime Minister, James Marape is now adamant about taking action to protect his people.

PAGE 12

Kaieteur News

Sunday June 14, 2020

Arian Dahlia Richmond

Sunday June 14, 2020

Kaieteur News

This week’s beauty is the captivating Arian Dahlia Richmond.

This vibrant and humble Guyanese beauty enjoys travelling, reading, and helping others. One of her favourite quotes says, “It is not the length of life, but depth of life.”

Her exquisiteness was captured by KeyNote Photography.

PAGE 13

Kaieteur News

PAGE 14

Sunday June 14, 2020

From Assistant Superintendent of Police to Deputy Head Master…

A young version of 'Sir' David Sookram

'Sir' David Sookram

By Romario Blair

“Despite whatever challenges we may have, we must always set our goals and work towards them if we are to truly elevate our academic ability.” Those are the words of David Sookram, a son of the soil who went from being an Assistant Superintendent of Police, to one of the most outstanding Deputy Head Master (DHM) in secondary education.

By living up to the (quote mentioned above) 'Sir' Sookram, as he is popularly called, has played a vital role in building the name of the Anna Regina Secondary in the late 1990s.

Today, the Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary School is one of the most recognized secondary schools in the country.

Many, who are acquainted with this remarkable gentleman, will no doubt agree that he stands for discipline and professionalism. His 10 years in the teaching profession has yielded outstanding results, especially in the Business Department at the Anna Regina Secondary School, which has been found to be an outstanding learning institution.

In the late 90's, twice the His loving wife and children

is a “Special Person” Business Department of the school, under Sookram's leader, secured top spots at national exams.

His outstanding contributions as an educator have no doubt made him eligible to be bestowed with this publication's 'Special Person' of the week title.

THE JOURNEY BEGINS His dream of becoming a

father use to emphasize the importance of education even though he wasn't fortunate to go to high school. He was forced to leave school since age nine, being the eldest son, he and his eldest sister, along with my grandmother, had to work to take care of the younger siblings. My father, because of his perseverance, began to work with the Ministry of Public Works…

“

As a teacher it's important that you teach your students the research techniques. I use to photocopy the syllabus… Looking at all the past exams, when examiners are setting questions it's often based on the objectives in the syllabus. I use to implore and demand that students read the different topics and make their own notes.

teacher did not exactly come on a silver platter, as it took Sookram years to realize it.

During an exclusive Interview, he explained that fortunately for him, his parents, Edward and Philomena Iris Sookram, always placed an emphasis on education.

He explained, “My

”

he started out humble before he finally got promoted.”

He added, “I admire my father that despite that challenge, he persisted in elevating himself in life…

He did a course at London University, but he was tied up with work and never was able to complete it. I'm happy that all eight of my

siblings were privileged to a secondary education, most of whom are, or were in the teaching provision.”

Determined to imitate his father's perseverance, Sookram endeavoured to elevate himself academically. The journey up the academic ladder did not kick off on a great start, since Sookram was forced to join the police force just after secondary school in a bid to be financially independent.

“I took a page out of my father's book to be a hard working person and to have goals, and to work towards achieving those goals. But just after high school I joined the police force with only a few subjects. Even as a police constable then, I was still eager to improve my education,” he said.

A DREAM COMES ALIVE Despite being a police constable, the urge to qualify himself academically propelled Sookram forward.

Moreover, between the years 1977 and 1980, he attended the Government Technical Institute. There he perused a Diploma in Commerce.

Studying, he said, was not as easy as he thought.

“It was challenging, because I applied to go to the Government Technical Institute and was still stationed at the Albertown Police Station. I was accepted to attend a course in Commerce and I attended classes there from 5pm to 9pm for three years. Still in the police force, I wrote my General Certificate in Education [GCE] done by a London University, that is the equivalent to today's CXC. I continued studying my GCE and got six subjects inclusive Math and English… and that was the break,” Sookram confided.

With six GCE passes in hand, Sookram was finally accepted at the University of Guyana, where he pursued a degree majoring in Sociology and minoring in Management.

In fact he reportedly had the distinction of becoming, arguably, the first local Assistant Superintendent of Police to obtain a degree on the force.

But it was this level of qualification that helped him to truly realize his dream of joining the teaching profession. He recalled being easily accepted into

the education system as an untrained graduate master.

When asked how he coped with the transition from the police force, to the education system, Sookram said, “One of the thing we learned in the disciplinary service is to be adaptable in any situation, and I consider myself somewhat adaptable to any situation. I'm a person who try to learn quickly… if I have to deal with something I study it carefully before attempting it.”

With his qualifications and the perfect vacancy available, he was eventually appointed Head of the Business Department of the Anna Regina Multilateral in 1997. Under his stewardship the department gained attention nationally, when it excelled at two Caribbean Examination Council [CXC] exams.

TACTICAL TECHNIQUE According to Sookram, one key thing that he learnt from the education system is that there are multiple ways to unlock a student's true potential. “One of the strategies I used as head of the business department, was the instilling of a competitive spirit within my students.

For me the Business Department had to stand out as the best. I had a high benchmark; if I send 30 students to write an exam I wanted 30 students to pass. I use to tell my students, don't make a school's name frighten or intimidate you…all of you are equals, it's just a matter of studying, not just reading the book, but studying.”

Sookram pointed out that constructive studying habits, involves more than merely covering study material. For students to grasp the concept of a topic, he said, “there

must be digging into all angles” of a specific topic.

“As a teacher it's important that you teach your students the research techniques. I use to photocopy the syllabus… Looking at all the past exams, when examiners are setting questions it's often based on the objectives in the syllabus.

I use to implore and demand that students read the different topics and make their own notes,” said Sookram. As such his appeal to his students was “Don't take the text book whole sale and copy. It's a matter of reading, understanding and making notes. Once a student understands a topic, it lives with them for the rest of their lives.”

Many will no doubt agree that dealing with adolescents today is one of the most difficult tasks. The late 90's was no different, according to Sookram. But unlike today, more intense corporal punishment was permitted for indiscipline behaviour, he noted.

“Being in the classroom was one of the best feelings ever. But there were times when disciplinary actions needed to be taken. I was a 'no nonsense' teacher. I don't tolerate you breaking my rules. Boys stick with boys and girls with girls. If I find you pair off, you will get lashes… and then there were those boys who wanted to mix the liquor in soda and think they will get by the gate but from the moment I see you at the gate it was immediate turn back,” Sookram shared. In 2005, 'Sir' Sookram was appointed Deputy Head Master of the Anna Regina Secondary School just two years ahead of his retirement in 2007.

REFLECTION Now in his late sixties, he (continued on page 43)

Kaieteur News

Sunday June 14, 2020

PAGE 15

When fantasy becomes reality

A

fter the PNC lost t h e 1 9 9 2 elections – a loss which then party leader, Desmond Hoyte, conceded publicly – one of its leaders had a bout of emotional debilitation. The PNC was forced to dispatch another leader to help this person deal with the traumatic effects of the loss of the elections.

Dealing with loss, whether personal or political, carries the risk of emotional trauma.

Sometimes, the symptoms are not visibly manifested but at other times the victim displays classical symptoms of emotional trauma.

On the morning after the elections of 2nd March 2020, word seeped out to a supporter of the APNU+AFC that the PPP/C had won the elections. This young lady appeared in a social media post. Her social media post showed the full range of emotions associated with trauma. Initially, she was calm. Then suddenly she

broke down in tears and then, almost immediately, threw an angry tantrum, composed herself for a few seconds, then began lashing out at persons, then resorted to threats. Outburst which runs the gamut of human emotions is a classical symptom of trauma.

A second symptom of emotional trauma is irrational thinking, or what yesterday's Kaieteur News editorial referred to as cognitive dissonance. A person who is emotionally traumatized often cannot think straight. The person's judgment becomes impaired; logic is thrown out of the window and thoughts become sources of agony.

The emotionally traumatized person is irrational. He or she trips over their words and are contradictory. He or she is susceptible to making bizarre statements which demonstrate how far divorced they are from reality. Their arguments lack conviction and are

incoherent. The person becomes an object of a m u s e m e n t a n d entertainment.

We are seeing quite a few such characters at the moment. They are holding stage in the theatre of the absurd. Nothing that is said makes any sense anymore.

If during a test match, one side sets the other side a target of 300 runs to win the match and that target is reached, it does not require any officiator to pronounce who is the winner. The presentation ceremony does not require any official declaration of the results.

The third symptom of emotional trauma is flights of fantasy. Fiction becomes fact. Imagination becomes reality. The fantasy can assume a life of its own.

Illusion leads to delusion.

The imagining ghosts rising from the grave and voting or, persons bypassing the most rigorous of systems and voting or one in every five voters being fake, are all symptomatic of flights of

fantasy associated with emotional trauma. The big lie is another. Here the most outrageous story is told and is repeated so often that the gullible actually begin to believe it because of the psychological effect of the repetition. This is called the illusory truth effect.

The fourth symptom of emotional trauma is the lashing out at persons. When you can lash out at international statesmen, when you can find no friends to support your twisted logic and are forced to resort to vitriolic attacks on others, you know that emotional trauma has stepped in and is consuming your thinking.

Psychologists explain this as being employed when your goal is thwarted and you are forced to seek affirmation by attacking

others to show that you are right and they are wrong. At times, it can involve anger and frustration, leading to destructive behaviour and absurdities.

The fifth symptom of emotional trauma is the refusal to accept responsibility for your action. Here the victim seeks to make others scapegoats rather than stand up and take his licks like a man. Excuses move from explanations to justifications.

Acceptance, like denial, of personal responsibility is learned behaviour. Many persons have not developed the habit of accepting that they are wrong. One of the most difficult traits is to admit you were wrong or concede to some shortcoming. The person who refuses to accept

responsibility lives in denial, blaming others and avoiding solutions. Emotional trauma can affect someone for the rest of his or her life. The emotionally traumatized n e e d h e l p , n o t condemnation. Spotting the signs and signals associated with emotional trauma is helpful if help is to be sought.

Sometimes these signs are obvious. But at other times, the trauma is seething below the surface. Who knows right now a traumatized person may be sitting right next to you.

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

Kaieteur News

PAGE 16

Sunday June 14, 2020

Another knee on the Caribbean's neck

By Sir Ronald Sanders

T

he failure of the world's richest nations to respond adequately to the abrupt and rapid decline in the economies of developing countries, including the Caribbean, is resulting in huge increases in unemployment and poverty, and could, ultimately, erode democracy and the rule of law.

As a new World Bank report issued on June 8 rightly states: “A major natural disaster on the heels

of the COVID-19 pandemic would be economically devastating for some countries in the Caribbean region”. Yet, the G20 countries have engaged in public relations exercises that point to their “pledges” to inject up to US$8 trillion into the global economy.

But there is no evidence of this money being delivered, or that it is accessible by every country that needs it.

The G20 has also failed to be responsive to the issue of suspending debt payments and rescheduling them on realistic terms that would

allow countries to use scarce funds to help keep their economies afloat, and prevent a large number of their people from collapsing into abject poverty. Instead, several G20 countries in the creditors' organisation, called 'The Paris Club' are insisting on debt payments by countries whose revenues have dropped so precipitously that they can barely meet basic domestic obligations. What is worse is that the Paris Club is refusing to authorise the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide

funding to these debtor countries under emergency facilities.

When the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on economies around the world became patently obvious, the heads of the World Bank and the IMF called for official creditors to suspend debt repayments by the world's very poor countries and those eligible for support from the International Development Association.

But despite appeals to recognise that some Caribbean countries, regarded as 'middle and

high-income', also needed urgent attention, the main policy makers of the two institutions did not budge on changing their criteria.

Since then, it has become clear that COVID-19 will deliver a debt blow to these countries from which there will be no short or mediumterm recovery. They simply cannot pay the debts now.

Against this backdrop, t h e Wa s h i n g t o n - b a s e d journal, 'Latin American Dialogue', published on June 10, asked me to respond to the question of how prepared are Caribbean countries for this year's hurricane season in the context of the COVID19 pandemic? I provided this answer.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has decimated Caribbean economies many of which lost at least 20% of their GDP in the first quarter of 2020 and are forecast to experience a further 10% decline by the end of August.

Unemployment has reached unprecedented high levels and government revenues have drastically declined while expenditures h a v e i n c r e a s e d extraordinarily to contain the coronavirus and treat its victims, including through purchase of medical supplies and construction of facilities for infectious diseases.

Debt levels have also risen, and many governments are unable to service repayments which, even before the pandemic, were absorbing as much as 48 cents of every dollar.

Consequently, government

Sir Ronald Sanders spending on hurricane preparations has been diverted to mount programmes to feed the poor and to support the unemployed.

Payments for insurance of properties against hurricanes have lapsed through unemployment and business closures, rendering communities unable to rebuild easily in the wake of destruction by storms.

Many Caribbean countries are denied access to concessional financing from the International Financial Institutions on the sole criterion that they are classified as middle and high-income countries, even though they share many of the structural limitations of less developed countries.

The Paris Club is also opposing suspension or rescheduling of debt payments on the same basis.

Therefore, there is little more that Caribbean countries can do to prepare for dangerous storms this year. Regrettably, the G20, which could help, have remained wedded to policies that fail to recognise the dire circumstances of Caribbean countries, abandoning them to a fearsome hurricane season that could damage them even more severely”.

The picture could not be any clearer. COVID-19 is devastating Caribbean (continued on page 44)

Sunday June 14, 2020

PAGE 17

Kaieteur News

---Hinds’ Sight by Dr. David Hinds---

Remembering Walter Rodney 40 years after that fateful night Y

esterday, June 13, marked the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Walter Rodney. As is customary his many admirers, academic and political colleagues and comrades across the world remember and eulogize him as a remarkable human being who was a product of a defining historical moment and who in turn helped, in no small way, to define that moment.

In a mere two decades of adulthood, Rodney contributed more than his fair share to the advancement of the historical cause of human equality and justice. He was an educator by profession, but his lasting contribution was his activism which brought together scholarship and advocacy in the service of the quest for social and political justice for the least among us.

Rodney was Guyanese by birth, but his activism cut across geographical and cultural borders. His impact on socio-political thought and perspectives in Africa, Guyana, the wider Caribbean, the so-called Third World, and the Black World places him in the front row of activists whose imprint on 20th century global motion cannot be denied.

In that regard, Walter Rodney was one of Guyana’s most precious gifts to itself and the wider world. Born in 1942, his life began in a Guyana that was making its last strides toward its longsought political independence from forced bondage.

He was a child of independence who would become embroiled in the struggle to define that independence.

And his life would be prematurely cut down by the deformities of that struggle. It is a crime that Guyana, to this day, has not fully come to grips with.

So, here we are, 40 years after that fateful Friday night when horror struck like lightening in the middle of Georgetown, remembering our brother in still very bleak times.

For those of us who were brave enough to join in Rodney’s dangerous quest at a time when the struggle for justice was a dangerous undertaking, the memory is personal and political. Over the years I have written and said so much about Rodney and the Rodney phenomenon that my mind feels empty on this anniversary. Yet, the moment before us in Guyana and the wider world makes me think of Rodney. Where is Rodney, I ask.

Over the years, some poli-

ticians and others who claim admiration for Rodney have used the public media to validate their narrow partisan narratives or to attempt to embarrass those with whom they disagree.

Because of the breadth of his intervention and the sheer weight of his importance there is always the temptation to want to impose him on every historical moment. But experience has taught that such practice runs the real risk of turning a seminal figure into a political football.

As I prepared to write this column, I randomly asked several younger Guyanese what they knew about Rodney. Unsurprisingly, all of them listed the phrase “he must be turning in his grave.”

This is a sad commentary on what we have done to our precious gift. My advice to the younger Guyanese is to discover the essential Walter Rodney for yourselves. I end today’s column with a quote from the WPA’s 40th anniversary tribute to him.

“Walter Rodney returned to Guyana from Tanzania in 1974 to work and teach at the University of Guyana, but his right to work was denied by the regime which terminated his employment before he took up his position. He had returned to Guyana from Tanzania, as Eusi Kwayana once wrote, after informing himself of the situation on the ground.

The political situation on the ground in Guyana was that the party in power had declared itself paramount to the State and in the process had closed all doors to a democratic change of government.

Rodney had long warned of the danger of this tendency among the newly independent countries in the so-called Third World. He viewed this post-independence authoritarian order as inimical to the liberation of the working classes and the dispossessed in the societies and as an affront to the logic of independence. I t was this reality in Guyana that prompted him to remain in the country despite the denial of his right to work.

As he observed at the time ‘Partly I wish to remain as a matter of personal preference, to be here with my family and friends, and partly because my situation is not unique. It is part of a very widespread economic victimization, which has developed in Guyana’.”

He soon concluded, in sync with the newly formed WPA, that the way forward for Guyana in the short term

was the struggle for the removal of the authoritarian regime via the building of a multi-ethnic movement of the working peoples of the country.

He set to work with his colleagues in the WPA by inserting himself in the work that was already started by the constituent organizations of the party.

He brought to the nascent movement his formidable intellect and charisma but above all, the fact that he was not involved in the ethnic politics of the previous decade meant he could appeal to the working people across ethnic lines. Further, his radical perspective was attractive to young people in an age of radicalism.

It was not surprising then that he emerged as the leading figure not only within the WPA but in the wider movement.

In the decades since his assassination WPA has noted the tendency to construct the Rodney years as a one-man operation. Rodney would be uncomfortable with that construction.

While he recognized the burden that history had placed on his shoulders, he was bitterly opposed to the notion of the maximum leader.

He was careful to always stress that he was part of a collective and that ultimately it was the working people who would have to liberate themselves. Hence the Rodneyite praxis of self-activity and self-emancipation.

There are two major characteristics of Rodney’s praxis that are worth referencing on this anniversary.

First, his was a broad praxis that reflected the convergence of race, ethnicity, class, and nation. To isolate his thoughts on, and activism in relation to any one of those without reference to the others amounts to a falsification of history and a denial of his full worth.

His Marxism must be seen as inseparable from his Black Nationalism, his anti-imperialism, and his Caribbean nationalism. Although an advocate and activist in the global Black Power movement, Rodney did not see the philosophy of the movement as a contradiction of the multiethnic struggle in Guyana.

This brings us to the second characteristic—Rodney was a Concretist. He never sought to impose aspects of his praxis where they were not necessary.

When in Jamaica he engaged the Black Power imperative within the context of the growing social class divi-

sions. While in Africa he employed the class analysis in a society that was relatively homogeneous. And in an ethnically divided Guyana, struggling against an authoritarian order, he privileged a working-class multiracialism.

In Rodney’s thinking and that of the WPA, the struggle for social and economic equality

could only be attained through the multiracial power of the working people. “ (The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

More of Dr. Hinds’ writings and commentaries can be found on his YouTube Chan-

Dr David Hinds nel Hinds’ Sight: Dr. David Hinds’ Guyana-Caribbean Politics and on his website www.guyanacaribbeanpolitics.news.

Send comments to dhinds6106@aol.com

PAGE 18

Sunday June 14, 2020

Kaieteur News

The abduction of Anita Persaud

By Michael Jordan Anita Persaud stepped out of her parents’ home at Good Faith, Mahaicony, at around 18:15 hrs on Sunday, August 19, 2001. The pretty 18-year-old was dressed in a pair of white pants and a green blouse.

At the time, only her father, Ramesh Persaud, and a friend were at home, but the men were reportedly fixing an outboard engine in the backyard. Mr. Persaud, a fisherman, would later say that he assumed that Anita was going to meet her mother at a wedding house, two properties away from his.

But when his wife came home later that night, she told her husband that Anita had asked to go to the cinema, located a corner away from her home.

Thinking that Anita was indeed at the cinema and knowing that she had her own keys to the house, the family retired to bed.

When the parents awoke the following morning, they observed that Anita’s bedroom door was shut. They assumed that she was still sleeping, so no one bothered to check on her. But when 09:00 hrs came and Anita failed to surface, her mother decided to check in the bedroom. She was surprised to find it empty.

The wedding had continued into the next day, and the parents decided to ask some of the guests whether their daughter had passed by. But none of them had seen Anita.

However, the Persauds’ eldest son told his mother that one of his friends had reportedly seen his sister walking on the Mahaicony Public Road with a boy the night before. Mrs. Persaud eventually made a report at the Mahaicony Police Station.

The police enquired whether the teen had a boyfriend. Mrs. Persaud explained that Anita was planning to get married in 2002. She believed that the police suspected that the teen might have run off with her fiancé. But that theory did not appear to be plausible, since the fiancé was living overseas.

Mrs. Persaud was returning home from the police station when she observed a familiar object on the road. It

was a shoe. In fact, the shoe looked like one that Anita w o r e .

Mrs. Persaud picked up the shoe and took it home. She was talking with her husband about Anita’s possible whereabouts when she remembered the shoe. She then returned to the police station with it.

But yet, the police and everyone else still seemed to believe that the missing girl had run away with a lover.

Anita’s mother then travelled to her sister ’s home at Corentyne, Berbice, in the hope that Anita might have gone there. To her disappointment, the sister had no information about Anita.

On Tuesday, August 21, 2001, Mrs. Persaud sent her eldest son to question the friend who claimed to have seen Anita walking with a boy. But shortly after, Mrs. Persaud’s son came running towards

her. Breathless, the son pointed to the canal in front of the family’s home. ”Body…floating…” he eventually gasped.

The family members immediately rushed to the canal. Lying face down in the water with a rope around her neck, and clad only in her white pants, was Anita Persaud.

During an autopsy, a pathologist reportedly found traces of mud in the victim’s lungs.

This suggested that Anita was still alive when she was dumped in the canal.

Shortly after the post mortem, police detained four suspects.

Among them were two brothers who were convicted twice for rape, only to be freed on appeal. But the suspects were all released after they were reportedly able to account for their whereabouts on the night that Anita was slain.

The police also detained Anita’s parents and the friend who was reportedly repairing the boat engine with Mr. Persaud when his daughter left home. While Mrs. Persaud was released the following day, her husband and his friend were kept in custody for three days before being released.To the family’s frustration, no one else has ever been arrested.But what do the parents believe happened on that fateful night?

Their theory is that a gang abducted Anita, took her out of the area, then brought her back and dumped her, still

alive, in the canal near her home. But what is left unanswered is why would this ‘gang’ have taken the risk of transporting their victim back to the scene from where she was abducted?

As for the young man who had claimed to have seen Anita walking with a boy on the night she was killed, he reportedly later told the family that he had made the story up as a joke.

At Mrs. Persaud’s request, Anita was buried near a tree in the family’s backyard. ”She hadn’t a chance to live a full life, because some selfish person or persons took her away from us,” Mr. Persaud told Kaieteur News, some years ago. ”The thought that these persons have not been brought to justice rips at our hearts each day. That is what we have been feeling and may have to live with for the rest of our lives. But I know that there is a God, and whoever killed our daughter will come to justice some day.”

If you have any information about this or any other unusual case, please contact Kaieteur News at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown office. Our numbers are 592225-8458, 592-225-8465, 592-225-8482 and 592-2258491. You need not disclose your identity. You can also contact Michael Jordan at his email address: kamarangnight@gmail.com

Sunday June 14, 2020

PAGE 19

Kaieteur News

==THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN==

The PNC has its knee of the neck of African Guyanese Last year before anti-police brutalities erupted across the US over George Floyd’s death at the hands of white policemen, France was going through the vortex of weekly violent protest over the neoliberal policies President Macron that intrigued the world.

Humans prefer peaceful protest but inevitably anger over hurtful rights violations and power abuse boil over as in France. The history of civilization is one of humans protesting for changes whose successes have given us greater freedoms over the past hundreds of years. Once society exists, there will be protest.

The demonstrations raging on in the US with the Black Lives Matter movement as its chief protagonist will hopefully lead to greater freedoms for African-Americans and non-White humans who inhabit the territory known in the world as the USA. The story of the dehumanization of African- Americans is a blot on the history of civilization.

The examples are just incredible and unbelievable.

Because of the rage in the US with the picture of the policeman’s knee on George Floyd’s neck becoming a symbol of struggle, David

Hinds has penned a column referring to the existence of a knee on African-Guyanese.

He is using the legitimacy of Black struggle in the US to justify human rights violations in Guyana including the denial of the sacred right to vote and the people who are perpetuating these brutality in Guyana are not non-Black on Black Guyanese. It is Black leadership in a Black party.

If there is any knee on any section of the African race in any part of the world it is in a country called Guyana where the culprit is a Black party named the PNC. Let us argue this out. I went to the Food Maxx supermarket in Giftland Mall on Wednesday, only to be told it is closed while the owners erect barricades in anticipation of riots over the election results.

Weeks before the Bank of Nova Scotia boarded up. Now the US Embassy has issued a security update specifically related to the declaration of the election recount. I was in the Massy Supermarket across the road from where I live in Turkeyen, two young ladies with fear in their eyes said to me and my wife; “Mr. Kissoon, wuh yuh think gon happen, we gun get violence?” At the supermarket,

the fast-food outlet, the gas station, young people would engage me with the trepidation of PNC unleashing violence when the results are released.

This is what you call the PNC’s knee on the neck of Black Guyanese. This is the kind of knee David Hinds should denounce. What this kind of knee is? It is the PNC using and abusing African Guyanese of Georgetown and in East Coast and East Bank villages, inciting them to take to the streets not to protest overt wrongs in society but in a demonstration of bullyism to reject the legitimate results of an election that only the PNC and their sycophantic writers say were illegal.

We have Hinds, Lincoln Lewis and Henry Jeffrey and other questionable kinds wanting the 2020 election to be scrapped not because the UN, the Commonwealth, Caricom, the OAS, the EU, the African continent, the great countries in Asia, the law makers of the US condemn the elections are fraudulent but because the losers, APNU+AFC say so.

The world loses the value of the priceless system of one-person, one-vote because once the loser says it

doesn’t accept the outcome, the result is done away with.

So the Labour Party in Britain that suffered its worst defeat since the 1930s should not accept a Boris Johnson victory. All Hilary Clinton had to do was to say that Trump rigged the election, and Trump’s victory had to be dissolved. If one accepts the ranting of Hinds, Jeffrey and Lewis, this is what the election process in the world would come to.

Guyana stands today on the fear that a Black party that controls Black Guyanese, will incite them to create unrest in the coming days when the

recount shows that the APNU+AFC lost. Isn’t this the abuse of African people?

These people will be urged to take to the street in protest not for valid reasons but because a group of men and women want power at all cost and do not believe in free and fair elections. What is unforgivable is that these people will be sending out African youths to face the presence of the security forces and decent business people will be forced to protect life and property. Surely Black Lives Matter in Guyana and Black leaders who use innocent African youths for depraved, illegal

Frederick Kissoon purposes should not be part of modern Guyana.

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

PAGE 20

Sunday June 14, 2020

Kaieteur News

Guyanese were badly affected by outbursts of politicians

A

s we await the de cision of GECOM on the results of the March 2, General and Regional Elections, the sensibilities of thousands of Guyanese were badly affected by outbursts from two regional politicians, one in the islands and the other right here at home in recent days.

The first amazing outburst came from the mouth of Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and incoming Chair of Caricom, Mr. Ralph G o n s a l v e s .

He charged during a radio interview last week that the Caricom monitoring team and GECOM should pay no real attention to claims of systematic fraud that the PPP per-

petuated on the Guyanese people under the guise of free and fair elections.

Left to Gonsalves, who himself has been accused domestically and internationally of rigging the last three elections at home, these two entities should simply go by the numbers from the recount process and declare the PPP as the winner.

“And anybody who then wants to challenge anything afterwards can go to court, but you have to declare the winner in accordance with the recount,” said the man who clearly favours the PPP. Gonsalves becomes rotating Caricom Chair on July 1, taking over from PM Mia Mottley of Barbados.

The second utterance came from none other than the most ‘holy bishop’ in Guyana, former PPP Junior Finance Minister, Juan E d g h i l l .

Edghill went on a verbal rampage threatening the security of tenure of some civil servants and suggesting that decisions and awards made after the December 2018 no confidence motion would be disregarded by any incoming PPP administration. He promised sleepless nights for these categories of state workers.

“Whoever are involved in that and whoever are beneficiaries of such skullduggery, you gonna have sleepless nights starting tonight because you are hearing from

the PPP/C by way of this programme. Don’t believe that you are going to walk away and smile and say you have a legal contract. You know fully well you should not have been going in that direction and you will have to face the consequences.”

As expected, the Administration of President David Granger was quick out of the blocks to take on both of these human beings in clear and direct terms.

For Gonsalves, the Coalition said that “the APNUAFC is therefore concerned that as the Incoming Chair of the CARICOM, Dr. Gonsalves, has chosen to pronounce on a process that is still ongoing, and proposes to direct a constitutional body in another CARICOM Member State, in the execution of its duties. Further, the CARICOM Scrutineering Team has not yet submitted a report of its findings to GECOM, as it is mandated to do in keeping with the gazetted Order. Given these circumstances, it is most unfortunate that Dr. Gonsalves, who is himself currently embroiled in an Elections Petition in his own country, has taken a public position that is prejudicial to the integrity of the process and its eventual outc o m e . ” The Coalition also reminded all and sundry that the ongoing recount process is

important and significant for democracy in Guyana and the wider region, as it noted the importance of regional leaders refraining from making irresponsible and damaging utterances at this time. One of the Caricom team members is in fact from St. Vincent and therefore, the PM’s statement remains of concern as to how such could affect his role.

Meanwhile, the People’s National Congress (PNC), one of the main parties in the Coalition, also took on Dr. Gonsalves. The Party urged GECOM to ignore Dr. Gonsalves’ statements and to continue its works without undue influences.

“The PNCR views this statement as a direct interference into the affairs of a sovereign nation, and more particularly the work of an independent constitutional agency, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Further, Mr. Gonsalves’s direct appeal to influence the CARICOM Observation Team, whose report will form part of documents for GECOM’s consideration, is a blatant attack on the integrity of the CARICOM team, highly prejudicial, and serves only to undermine CARICOM’s efforts at being professional in arriving at a final credible p r o c e s s . ” Not forgetting Edghill’s social media attack, the Coalition condemned his out-

burst noting that the PPP is preparing for a mass witch hunt of state workers if it is declared the winner of the e l e c t i o n s .

“The statements by Juan Edghill reflect the real PPP/C and their true position. And these statements made by him, have a tendency to, and have created anxiety among hard working public servants whose loyalty is not to a political party, but to the government of the day.

That is the contract in which they signed. But Edghill who seems to be the voice of PPP/C to address certain ethnic issues, is adding fuel to an already charged political environment. Bharrat Jagdeo and Irfaan Ali and the leadership of the party must recognise that Edghill is doing them a disservice.

If this is his way of making known his displeasure of being bypassed [for] the position of prime ministerial candidate in the PPP, Edghill must choose some other pulpit to vent his frustration.

The APNU-AFC coalition wishes to give all public servants the assurance that they will be fully protected and Edghill’s threat will remain but an empty promise by an angry man.”

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this n e w s p a p e r . )

Digicel donates over $1M in essential supplies to children’s homes In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic Digicel Guyana has made timely donations to several children’s homes.

The Orphanages receiving donations were The Shaheed Boys Orphanage, Prabhu Sharan Orphanage and Hope Children’s Home. A donation was also made to the Kingston community emergency food drive. Representatives from these homes expressed gratitude to Digicel for their continued support.

Digicel Guyana’s Chief Executive Officer, Gregory Dean, said: “It has always been our mandate to support youths whenever we can, and more importantly in this time of COVID-19.

“We have also always enjoyed a good relationship with our neighbours in Kingston and are happy to help them with their drive to support persons in the community.

“Digicel remains committed to assisting in the fight against the COVID-19 virus and will continue to provide support in this national effort

as necessary.”

Since their entry into the market, Digicel has supported many charities including the reconstruction of the Mahaica Children’s Home, supporting the Guyana Special Olympics, contributions to The Hararuni Girls Home and has made several strides in the development of youth through sports.

Some of these include donation of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) gears to frontline workers, zero-rated calls to the Ministry of Public Health’s hotlines, access to the Ministry of Education, PAHO, WHO and the Ministry of Public Health websites also remains free.

Digicel encourages customers to stay safe and remain indoors to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus and to only use information from trusted sites like PAHO, WHO, and local Government websites.

The company has also introduced several measures that will allow customers to stay connected during this time. Some of these measures

Digicel’s Gregory Dean include, Free Night Talk from 9pm - 6am, removal of Credit U transfer charges, and TopUp bill payments by Postpaid customers. Digicel’s Customer care agents can be reached by dialling 100, or through Digicel’s Live Chat (available on the website or MyDigicel app) and their various social media platforms.

Customers are encouraged to utilise Live Chat as their first means of contact.

Visit Digicel Guyana h t t p s : / / www.digicelgroup.com/gy/ en/mobile.html for more information.

Sunday June 14, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 21

PAGE 22

Sunday June 14, 2020

Kaieteur News

A defining decade in Guyana’s political history (A review of David Granger’ British regiments in British Guiana.) avid Granger’s British regiments in British Guiana recalls the often overlooked presence of British regiments in the colony of British Guiana during the tumultuous pre-Independence period from 1953 to 1966. It is an enlightening and educative publication.

A British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) report announced, publicly, the departure of the first regiment to British Guiana, in 1953, stating: Naval and military forces are on their way to British Guiana in response to what the UK Government says is a threat to the administration of the British colony. Troop ships set off to the South American country earlier today.

A statement issued by the Colonial Office stated that in view of developments in British Guiana it had been necessary to send forces with the “utmost dispatch” to preserve the peace. Officials blamed “communists and their associates” for creating

D

the problems, adding that some of those behind the unrest were in “ministerial positions”.

‘Operation Windsor ’, which witnessed the arrival of the British troops in October 1953, supposedly, was to ensure public order following the suspension of the Colony’s Constitution, the removal of the elected members of the Council of Ministers and the imposition of emergency rule.

The suspension of the Constitution and the arrival of British troops was triggered

by Cold War fears that the six ministers – members of the original People’s Progressive Party (PPP) who had been elected in April – were pursuing policies and actions which were inimical to British interests in the colony.

The troops anticipated local hostility. They were greeted, instead, with an atmosphere of gloom, with deserted streets and many citizens choosing to remain indoors.

The country’s national poet, Martin Carter wrote a poem, “This is the dark time my love” which became a powerful commentary on the

suspension of the Constitution and the dispatch of troops to the Colony.

Carter refers, metaphorically, to the troops as “brown

heads in awful shame”. The troops’ presence is portrayed as an attempt to destroy the dreams and aspirations of the young government. Carter de-

beetles [that] crawl about.”

The sad mood which their arrival represented is symbolized by the imagery of “red flowers [which] bend their

scribes the troops as “strange invaders” who are “watching you sleep and aiming at your dream.”

The troops who came were not made to feel welcome by some local political parties, initially. They did not encounter major hostilities, however.

Photographs now available show the troops as being ob-

jects of curiosity by the public, including school children.

Seventeen other battalions would follow in succeeding years. Their presence became a permanent feature right through to political Independence, especially after the country descended into civil violence in the early 1960s.

Political perceptions of the presence of the troops had changed by then and they were no longer viewed as intruders. Some who chanted “Limey go home!” in 1953 changed their tune when the then Premier wrote to the Governor requesting that the troops remain to quell unrest in 1963. The troops had moved from being perceived as invaders in 1953 to being protectors of public order ten years later.

The last regiment was still in British Guiana on the night of Independence – 25th May 1966. The 18 battalions would have spent, collectively, 13 years in the Colony. Many young soldiers who arrived as bachelor returned to Britain as married men, others leaving their DNA behind.

The story of their presence and the context in which they came makes for interesting reading. British regiments in British Guiana represents more than a token recognition of the troops’ presence. It situates the regiments’

deployment in the context of the raging Cold War, British anguish about its evanescent empire and the volatile local political environment.

David Granger is a keen scholar. The book benefits from his typically thorough research in writing this concise but commendable account of the British regiments deployed to British Guiana.

Granger provides sufficient context to allow for a richer understanding of the factors which led to the troops’ introduction and retention in Guyana over their thirteenyear deployment. The immediate pre-Independence years, 1962-1966, were a much darker period than when they first arrived in 1953 to enforce the suspension of the Constitution.

The book’s strengths are its explanatory and descriptive content.

The book provides useful information about the regiments, including their background, the problems with housing them upon arrival and some of the internal security operations in which they involved.

The book is recommended for general and well as academic reading. The book could have benefitted from first-hand accounts of the troops’ experiences in the Colony. It has neglected, also, to assess the effectiveness of the British presence during the thirteen-year deployment.

The British military presence, despite its limited size and duration, did provide some amount of stability. The death and destruction wrought during the ‘Disturbances’, however, would call into question the regiments’ success in maintaining public order.

David Granger, with this eloquent publication reminds us of the presence of foreign troops during a turbulent period in his country’s history.

It highlights how perceptions of outsiders can be altered by shifting political interests.

David Granger wrote British regiments in British Guiana while in private life twelve years ago before entering public office.

The book, nevertheless, is part of a relevant record that recalls a defining decade in Guyana’s political history – one which brought the contrasting emotions of both happiness and hope and disappointment and distrust.

Readers cannot help but pause and ponder on what would have been the country’s fate had the events of October 1953 not occurred.

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

Sunday June 14, 2020

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Coronavirus: Studies are showing face mask use may be the game changer - Becoming too relaxed, may be to our detriment

By Dr Zulfikar Bux Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine

T

he “everyone wears a mask campaign” was initiated in Guyana in late March 2020.

While it had initially caught on, I’m noticing a recent relaxed approach to mask use by many.

This is a dangerous trend; we need to keep up the mask use campaign else we may have a surge of infections from this deadly virus. Recent evidence from studies show that mask use may be the best preventative option as societies begin to open up. Today I will provide more evidence why we all need to wear masks and help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

THIS VIRUS IS STILLAROUND Last week, I wrote that we had not seen any new cases for a few days; unfortunately, we have seen a small rise in cases since then. Many of us are becoming too relaxed with our actions and think the worse is over. Be reminded that this is far from the fact and we need to remain vigilant and practice preventative measures as much as possible. There are many states

in the US that became too relaxed with their approach and are now seeing an increase in cases.

This virus feeds on our weaknesses and pounces on populations that are too relaxed with preventative measures. Our current weather is making it more conducive for the virus to spread. If we become too relaxed, it may lead to a second surge in infections that can be more devastating.

THEMAIN ROUTE OF SPREAD Recent studies are confirming that airborne spread is the main route for the coronavirus infection.

The coronavirus is spread in airborne droplets that get expelled especially when people talk, sneeze or cough.

A study published two days

ago in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal showed that the airborne transmission route is highly virulent and dominant for the spread of COVID-19.

Our current cold and rainy weather will only make it worse as research suggest the virus thrives in such climates.

The best way to minimize the virus being in the air while we are opening up is for us all to wear a mask.

THE GAME CHANGER The same PNAS study revealed that the difference with and without mandated face covering represents the determinant in shaping the trends of the pandemic. It showed a positive association between the implementation

of facemask use and a significant reduction in infections in the epicenters of the disease (Wuhan, New York and Italy).

The study also concluded that other mitigation measures, such as social distancing implemented in the United States, are insufficient by themselves in protecting the public. Another study published in the Royal Society Journals found that 100 per cent mask adoption combined with on/off lockdowns prevented any further disease resurgence for the 18 months required for a possible vaccine.

They even found that routine face mask use by 50 per cent or more of the population reduced the COVID-19 spread and flattened future disease waves and allowed

less-stringent lockdowns.

They suggested that – while the sooner the better – a policy of total face mask adoption can still prevent a second wave even if it is not instigated until 120 days after an epidemic begins.

THE URGE TO REOPEN VS A SECOND WAVE We are battling the finer points of being able to thrive while staying alive.

The coronavirus has taken away our ability to freely maneuver these expected norms. While some of us are choosing the reckless and more relaxed option, there is evidence now showing that we can be able to find a balance until there is a cure for this disease.

We cannot become too relaxed; the fight is not over

Dr. Zulfikar Bux until a cure is found. If we get too relaxed, we may have a second wave that devastates our country. Let us prevent this devastation by proudly wearing our mask and practice the other preventative measures against this deadly virus.

Thank you to my old pal Roger Luckham for sharing some of the data in this article with me.

PAGE 24

SUNDAY GECOM TO TABULATE BALLOT BOXES WITH MISSING STATUTORY DOCUMENTS The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) took a decision to tabulate the 29 ballot boxes from East Coast of Demerara Polling Stations with missing statutory documents.

“It was noted that the Commission does not intend to disenfranchise any elector.

However, the Commission will continue to investigate the matter,” GECOM’s Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward relayed to the media earlier today.

The issue came to the fore on Friday after it was reported that 29 ballot boxes from the lower East Coast area would not be tabulated because key statutory documents were missing. The Coalition counting agents suggested “recount of votes not validated due to absence of statutory documents” be placed on the observation reports.

Of those 29 boxes, 28 were counted and tabulated but the tabulation supervisor was told to highlight the figures during the livestream of the tabulation exercise, pending the Commission’s decision on the way forward.

ALMOST 7,000 VOTES IN LIMBO DUE TO MISSING DOCUMENTS – DRO SAYS HE ACTED ON MINGO’S INSTRUCTIONS The governing Coalition, APNU+AFC, has demanded that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) discard 29 ballot boxes, threatening thousands of votes cast by electors from the East Coast of Demerara.

The Coalition’s demand came after it was discovered that statutory documents

Sunday June 14, 2020

Kaieteur News

such as the counterfoils, Official List of Electors (OLE), poll books, folios, spoiled ballots, damaged ballots, and proxies were found to be missing upon examination of the boxes during the national recount.

In a correspondence to the Chair of GECOM, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, dated at June 6, Executive of the APNU+AFC, Joseph Harmon, submitted a list of the 29 ballots boxes in which documents were absent from, and according to Harmon, were discovered missing between during June 4 to 5.

With the aim of providing clarity, however, former Deputy Returning Officer (DRO), Paul Jaisingh, who was operating at the Chateau Margot Primary School, says that he was instructed not to include those statutory documents.

“Please be informed that instructions were given by Miss Carlyn Duncan (clerk to the Returning Officer Mr. Clairmont Mingo-District Four) to include only unused, valid and rejected ballots in the ballot boxes. This was communicated to the respective Presiding Officers who complied. As a result the other documents were placed in the bag provided,” Jaisingh wrote in an email to the GECOM Chair.

He noted that those instructions were given on Election Day, only a few hours before the close of the poll.

More importantly, he was keen to highlight that the instructions were imposed upon other DROs, who according to him, could confirm the same.

PRESIDENT GRANGER REFUSES TO COMMIT TO RECOUNT DECLARATION – SAYS ELECTORAL PROCESS WAS ‘INTENTIONALLY MANIPULATED’ One day after Kaieteur

News specifically asked incumbent President David Granger if he would commit to the outcome of the National Recount of votes cast at the March 2 poll, he released a statement avoiding a direct answer, but claiming that the electoral process was “ i n t e n t i o n a l l y manipulated”.

Against increasing calls by his party spokespersons including P r i m e M i n i s t e r, M o s e s Nagamootoo, and Campaign Manager, Joseph Harmon, that the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections were not credible, Kaieteur News sent the President, via his press liaison, a number of questions regarding previous statements on his commitment to the recount process.

At his last press engagement on May 17, the President stated that he will accept “any” declarations made by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) at the conclusion of the recount.

However, in a statement on Wednesday, his party danced: “Any results emanating from this process cannot be considered credible because of the high incidence of fraud.”

It was against this backdrop that President Granger was asked if he still stands on his pronouncement that he will accept “any” declaration made by GECOM or has that position changed in light of what the party has said.

In his statement Saturday June 6, this is what President Granger said: “I will abide by the declarations of the Elections Commission as I have abided by the rulings of the Court.”

This is not a departure from his previous pronouncement that he will abide by “any” declaration.

Kaieteur News also asked if he gave sanction for Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and his Coalition partner

Joseph Harmon to pronounce on the credibility of the elections and if not, under what authority were they doing so.

Both Harmon and Nagamootoo have outrightly stated that the Elections were not credible despite Granger stating emphatically that it was he who had the ultimate authority to speak on behalf of the Coalition.

An answer to that question was not provided; however, the President “encouraged everyone to await the completion of the four stages – the current recount, the reports of the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) and the CARICOM observers, the review by the Elections Commission and the declaration of the final results by the Chairman of the Commission.”

MONDAY PPP WINS RECOUNT The opposition People’s Progressive Party Sunday held a statistically unbreakable lead at close of recount Sunday, staying ahead of the Coalition incumbent by some 13,069 votes with just 14 boxes left to be tabulated. This effectively gives the PPP a win in the recount of votes and, implicitly, the 2020 General Elections.

The close of day tabulation showed the PPP with a total of 230,328 votes while the APNU+AFC had 217,529 votes. Taking into account the total valid number of votes, 475589, recorded as cast in the previous declarations, the total tabulated votes so far, 456628, leaves around probably 18961 votes left to be counted.

For the coalition to catch

up the PPP, it would have to win over two-thirds and even then the remainder, presuming the PPP and the other parties won zero votes, would not be enough to assure it an extra seat in the national assembly.

GECOM has so far had two previous tabulations.

The first, declared on March 5, showed the PPP gaining a total of 229,581 votes and the APNU+AFC 237,391 votes, a clear coalition win. However, this was nullified when the Chief Justice ruled that Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo had not adhered to the law when he tabulated the votes from that region.

Despite the Chief Justices’ orders, Mingo would go on to repeat his tabulation on March 15 in a process that did not clearly show how he got numbers indicating roughly the same figures from the first declaration, which amounted to a total score of 236,990 for the coalition and 229,483 for the PPP. Mingo’s declarations led to threats of sanction from the international community, leading incumbent President David Granger to invite a CARICOM team to oversee a recount. However, before the recount could start, a candidate on Granger’s list, Ullita Moore, represented by another Granger candidate, Roysdale Forde, had unsuccessfully challenged that on the grounds that it was ‘illegal’.

CONSERVATIONIST SAYS EXXONMOBIL BEINGTREATED WITH KID GLOVES – EPA HEAD INSISTS REGULATORY BODY HAS NO SACRED COWS As a result of mechanical issues being experienced with a gas compressor for the Liza Destiny oil vessel,

ExxonMobil has been engaging in the flaring of gas which releases toxic chemicals into the atmosphere.

But Conservationist Annette Arjoon-Martins has expressed concern that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has allowed ExxonMobil to continue operations as per normal, rather than asking the oil giant to pause its operations until the technical glitches are fixed.

During an exclusive interview with Kaieteur News recently, ArjoonMartins said the EPA was n o t s o l e n i e nt when it cracked down on other onshore companies such as Troy Resources and Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) for environmental breaches.

The Conservationist recalled that last month, EPA Head, Dr. Vincent Adams had told the media that DDL would be fined $1.6 million dollars for spilling over 30,000 liters of Bunker C fuel. He had said, too, that it would stand the cost of an environmental impact assessment that would be done. ArjoonMartins questioned why the same was not done to ExxonMobil which has been burning associated gas for six months. The advocate for the protection of the environment said that the EPA is perhaps being lenient with the American company as she noted that there are well documented cases where the agency was strict with other companies when they are found to be polluting the environment.

She said, “ExxonMobil needs to atone for this reckless pollution of the environment.”

But Dr. Adams told Kaieteur News that he does (Continued on page 25)

Sunday June 14, 2020

From page 24 not agree with the criticism leveled by the Conservationist, while adding that the EPA is not in the business of shutting down businesses once they show willingness to corporate and meet certain standards.

GECOM FAILS TO PROVIDE STATEMENT IT CLAIMS WAS SIGNED BY DROS – AS NEW EVIDENCE EMERGES CONFIRMING THAT COMMISSION STAFF GAVE INSTRUCTIONS TO REMOVE DOCUMENTS The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is yet to produce a statement it claims was signed by a group of Region Four Deputy Returning Officers, refuting allegations made by another Region Four DRO, Paul Jaisingh that it was GECOM who had ordered that critical documents not be placed in the ballot boxes on Election Night.

Jaisingh had said, in a letter to GECOM, that he had received instructions from Carlyn Duncan, Clerk to the Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo to exclude certain statutory documents from their ballot boxes when they completed the count on Election night.

Jaisingh had said in his email to the Chair of GECOM, Justice Claudette Singh, that Duncan gave instructions “to include only unused, valid and rejected ballots in the ballot boxes,” and that “this was communicated to the respective Presiding Officers who complied.”

Jaisingh added “As a result, the other documents were placed in the bag provided. This instruction was given on Election Day a few hours before the close of the poll. Other Deputy Returning Officers affected by this decision can confirm the same.”

In response, the Commission had sent out a press release claiming that “A group of Deputy Returning Officers (DROs) who were responsible for clusters of Polling Stations on the East Coast of Demerara, Region 4 has submitted a signed statement to the Secretariat of the Guyana Elections Commission refuting allegations that the Clerk to Region 4 Returning Officer, Ms. Carolyn Duncan instructed them to advise the Presiding Officers to not include the official documents in the ballot boxes at the close of poll. This statement refutes an article being circulated on social media which emanated from an e-mail sent to the

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Kaieteur News

Guyana Elections Commission by another DRO, Mr. Paul Jaisingh.”

TUESDAY MINGO CONJURED 15,000+ GHOST VOTERS The National Recount of votes has proven that Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo rigged that district’s tabulation process and, in doing so, conjured more than 15,000 ghost voters in his unsuccessful bid to secure the APNU+AFC Coalition a fraudulent victory in this year’s General Election.

Mingo’s General Election declaration of Friday, March 13, 2020 gave the Coalition 136,057 votes, while the recount showed the correct figure to be 116,941 votes, indicating that the Returning Officer fraudulently inflated the Coalition’s Region Four total by 19,116 votes.

His declaration also gave the PPP/C 77,231 votes, when the party’s rightful total – according to recount figures – is 80,920 votes, indicating that Mingo exacted a deflation of 3,689 votes on the party.

The votes taken from the PPP/C were not enough to offset the votes given to the Coalition, hence, about 15,427 ghost votes were added by Mingo to the total number of valid votes cast. While the recount showed that 202,077 valid votes were cast in the Region Four General Election, Mingo’s declaration had taken the total up to 217, 425.

The results of the national recount tabulation show that the People’s Progressive Party has won the recount with a grand total of 233,336 votes against the APNU+AFC Coalition’s 217,920 votes; Mingo had caused the victory to sway in the other direction, giving APNU+AFC 236,990 votes to the PPP/C’s 229,489 votes.

ALL POLITICAL PARTIES ACCEPT PPP VICTORY EXCEPT COALITION – HIGHLIGHTS PLANS FOR WAY FORWARD With the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections recount concluded, seeing the Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) emerging the victors with an unassailable lead, the other political players who contested in the elections have accepted the results and are in the process of moving forward, sharing different views on their plans to bring change in Guyana.

That is with the exception of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition who continue to maintain that the Guyana

Elections Commission (GECOM) cannot deliver credible elections results using ‘illegal and fraudulent’ votes.

The results of the tabulation show that the PPP has won the recount with a grand total of 233,336 votes against the APNU+AFC Coalition’s 217,920 votes.

While the tabulation of the votes has been completed, no declaration has been made, and the very last District, Region Four, is yet to be certified.

The Coalition, in a statement by Campaign CoChair Joseph Harmon stated “Tabulation is not Validation: once only valid votes are counted.” If this is done, he noted, the Coalition will emerge victorious.

Throughout the process, the party has made claims of dead and migrant voters and systematic electoral fraud, all of which are unsubstantiated.

This paper Monday made

multiple attempts to make contact with several senior members of the incumbent administration, including Harmon, to offer their views on the way forward but none were answered.

MILLIONS MORE TO SLIP INTO EXTREME POVERTY DUE TO COVID-19 – WORST RECESSION SINCE WORLD WAR II LOOMS – WORLD BANK According to the latest World Bank forecasts, documented in its June 2020 Global Economic Prospects report, the effects of the coronavirus pandemic along with shutdown measures to contain its spread have plunged the global economy into a severe contraction. In this regard, the financial institution noted that the global economy is expected to shrink by 5.2% this year. It said that this would represent

the deepest recession since the Second World War, with the largest fraction of economies experiencing declines in per capita output since 1870.

The bank said that economic activity among advanced economies is anticipated to shrink 7% in 2020 as domestic demand and supply, trade, and finance have been severely disrupted. It was noted that Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDEs) are expected to shrink by 2.5% this year, and would represent that group’s first contraction in at least sixty years. With respect to per capita incomes, the bank said that these are expected to decline by 3.6% and will tip millions of people into extreme poverty this year.

Further to this, the World Bank said that the blow is hitting hardest in countries where the pandemic has been the most severe and where

there is heavy reliance on global trade, tourism, commodity exports, and external financing. While the magnitude of disruption will vary from region to region, the World Bank said that all EMDEs have vulnerabilities that are magnified by external shocks.

WEDNESDAY REGION 4 RECOUNT CERTIFIED – COALITION REFUSES TO SIGN ON Contesting parties, except for the governing coalition- A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), Tuesday signed on to the certification of the recount results for Region Four. Region Four, the most crucial district, has been marred with controversy following the General and Regional Elections of March 2, 2020. A New United Guyana (Continued on page 32)

Kaieteur News

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Sunday June 14, 2020

Our 'Frontline Worker of the Week' is…

Dr. Sonya Lord

Dr. Sonya Lord

By Malisa Playter-Harry

W

orking on the frontlines during a pandemic has shown Guyana and its people just how much medical professionals are committed and selfless as they carry out their duties daily.

Acknowledging these workers for their dedication during the time of a global health crisis, is sometimes all they need to stay motivated and encouraged to carry on.

Health care workers around the world have led the way during the Coronavirus pandemic and from the sleepless nights to the sacrificing of family time, their efforts have not gone unnoticed.

Many of these workers who worked for years in their respective fields exceed their own expectations when caring for patients with the virus that has killed some 418,294 persons.

There are an estimated 7,410,510 confirmed cases of the diseases worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation. In Guyana alone, there are 159 confirmed cases with 12 deaths at the time of writing this article.

When the infectious disease started to travel the globe by storm, health professionals across the world, including Guyana, were not prepared for the impact, but months on and these resilient and admirable workers have proven to be the true heroes. In Berbice, leading a team is one of those heroes, Dr. Sonya Lord. Dr. Lord is head of the COVID-19 Rapid Response Unit in Region Six.

Ready to wage war against COVID-19

The doctor and a patient

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Dr. Lord who has been practicing medicine for the past six years was born in Georgetown and spent a part of her young life in South Cummingsburg and another part at Onverwagt, West Coast Berbice. She attended the Number 29 Primary School and thereafter attended the St Gabriel's Primary School in Georgetown.

She subsequently attended St. Agnes Primary School, also in Georgetown in the 90's. She wrote exams and gained a place at the Richard Ishmael Secondary School but instead attended the Marian Academy (1998-2003). After this she went on to sixth form at Queen's College (2003-2005).

The doctor stated that during her time at the Marian Academy “I was allowed to do a little bit of everything, but I was generally an art student”. Following her success in her CSEC and CAPE examinations, she decided that she needed a job and was off to work with the Guyana Elections Commission as a Registration Clerk 1 for two years from October 2005-2007.

“From that point I applied for a scholarship to study in Cuba and left in January 2008 up to 2013 and came back and did internship in Essequibo at the Suddie Hospital.

The experience in Cuba was eyeopening because it was a different culture, I thought it would be challenging but it wasn't,” she shared. incite She revealed that after her stint at the Suddie Hospital, she was sent to the New Amsterdam (NA) Hospital. But what is interesting to note, Medicine was not her first choice as a profession since her studies was centred on the Arts.

However, as time elapsed, she recalled having an interest in medical shows on television and that sparked her desire to pursue medicine --a decision she has not regretted to date. After serving at the NA Hospital, she took a break and with a Chevening Scholarship decided to further her studies in

2018. She earned her a master's degree at the University College London, the third largest University in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Lord said she returned to Guyana after studies in September 2019. It was months after that return that she was asked by the Medical Superintendent of the NA Hospital if she would be interested in being a part of a group of volunteer medical professionals to make up a COVID-19 response

instit ution a n d t h e patient i s suspected to have contracted the virus, the rapid response team is called in as soon as possible. “I am normally on those visits with other doctors,” she said.

According to the doctor, the experience being a part of a team of fearless and hardworking professionals has taught her “to have the proper mindset, you need to think yes you are at greater risk but once you have a proper mindset and use necessary protective gear you stand a better chance at reducing the risk of contracting it and trying to do everything properly as you are supposed to.”

She added that she was surprised that she was not fearful of dealing with patients who may possibly have the infectious disease since she had never worked through a pandemic before.

“

We have people not coming forward and reporting because they fear stigma, discrimination and isolation and so we assure that at no point in time would we, as health care professionals, discriminate and we also appeal to the public to do the same.

team.

This was part of the region's, and by extension the country's, preparation for the possible infiltration of the disease. After careful consideration she decided to be a part of the team and was placed as head of the Rapid Response Unit.

ON THE FRONTLINE As head of the unit, the doctor explained that when there is a call “we go out and do surveillance and evaluate patients. I am also in charge of the quarantine and isolation sites with my team, we continue monitoring these patients for the required quarantine days.

We also do the testing and swabbing, and we also do contact tracing.” She revealed too that now that schools will be reopening, members of the unit, including herself, are tasked with going out to schools to help in sensitization and education.

“We are trying to get the teachers prepared by teaching them how to react to situations when they arise,” she noted.

Dr. Lord further mentioned that once a patient is screened at any

”

In fact she, with pride, divulged “I haven't been scared so far, I am handling it way better than I thought because I get up every day and say 'this is a job I need to do.' It's not only to protect myself but to protect my family and residents of the region and we try to do it as best as we can and we try to plead with others to actually practice and follow the same measures that they should to reduce the spread of the disease.” it ting un The tes ourant M at Port

HELPING TO MAKE A CHANGE For Dr. Lord, working during a pandemic has given her an opportunity to make an impact in the lives of people who may be struggling to cope with the virus.

She said that one of the things she realised is that people have not been practicing hand hygiene as is required even before the pandemic and as such efforts to fight the disease have allowed for the incorporating of these very basic health guidelines into the everyday life of Guyanese. She added that the experience has “showed me that in life you can adapt to situations much faster than you think, especially with the curfew and quarantine. You can actually work on your own and minimize your time being in the office and most of all it shows you the value of time and family; people, I feel, more appreciate those things now.”

Some of the challenges experienced on the job weren't many but she noticed that it is difficult to change the mindset of the people since they are accustomed to one practice (going out, socializing, etc). “It is hard to get people to conform to social distancing and other requirements, but people have started to get it g r a d u a l l y. ” D r. L o r d a l s o mentioned that there is a fear or of the disease itself which leads to stigmatization.

As a result, she said, “we have people not coming forward and reporting because they fear stigma, discrimination and isolation and so we assure that at no point in time would we, as health care professionals, discriminate and we (continued on page 49)

Kaieteur News

Sunday June 14, 2020

PAGE 27

105 year old Palms resident miraculously recovers from COVID-19 5 last and due to rigorous screening of residents and staff, there have been no new cases since May 23.

Last month, the Ministries of Social Protection and Public Health partnered in a bid to contain an outbreak of the disease at

105-year-old, Zorie De Mattos, beats COVID-19

By Rehanna Ramsay

A

105-year-old resident of the Palms Geriatric Home has made a miraculous recovery from the deadly COVID-19 disease.

Zorie De Mattos is among 12 elderly residents who were diagnosed with the disease early last month.

Two of them have since succumbed to complications as a result of the disease.

However, De Mattos who was born on January 1, 1915 made a miraculous recovery under the hands of caregivers at the facility. She is one of three residents who recuperated and will soon be re-integrated with the other residents at the institution.

Kaieteur news understands that the woman was placed in an isolation unit along with other elderly residents following her diagnosis. A nurse, Doneth Mingo, attached to the facility noted that the woman initially had mild to moderate symptoms of the virus before she recovered.

“She had a fever and some pains and we ensured

that she drank a lot of fluids and got her dose of Vitamin C. She never had any other major health complaints.

She tested negative twice and so she has made a full recovery,” Mingo explained.

Nurse Mingo has been working with the COVID-19 patients at the Palms for the past two weeks.

She noted that several of the patients under her care have shown a promise of recovery. She described the p a t i e n t s ' r e c o v e r y, particularly De Mattos, as nothing short of a miracle given the fact that the probability of elderly persons surviving the disease is slim.

“Ms. De Mattos is just one of several that have shown positive results to the treatment. By next week, possibly all of the others will be in full recovery,” she said.

Kaieteur News understands that the seven residents who are recovering are being monitored in accordance with the strict control measures implemented by the Ministry of Public Health.

The first case at the Palms was recorded on May

the Palms Elderly Care home.

The agency has since been working diligently in collaboration with the Public Health Ministry in implementing new stricter protocols to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19

virus within the care home.

As a result of the new precautionary measures, the facility has banned all visitors entering the compound. According to a release “All staffers at the institution have been equipped with protective

equipment to perform their duties.”

“Those residents who have tested positive for the virus have been separated from other residents and are being cared for in a separate area of the home,” the statement added.

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Sunday June 14, 2020

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From page 25 (ANUG), Change Guyana (CG), the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/ C), People’s Republic Party (PRP), The Citizenship Initiative (TCI), The New Movement (TNM) as well as the United Republican Party (URP), all signed onto the certification of the recount.

Applauses were heard and there were bittersweet reactions from stakeholders to this development which followed a 35-day recount process conducted at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), East Coast of Demerara.

The APNU+AFC refused to sign on to the certification, as they have with eight other electoral districts. Of note, the party representatives have belatedly claimed that massive voters’ irregularities occurred during the elections process. These claims, however, have been found wanting when investigated by this and other publications. These findings were detailed in numerous articles during the recount process.

The close of day tabulation showed the PPP/C with a total of 233,336 votes while the APNU+AFC had 217,920 votes. These figures effectively gave the PPP/C a win in the recount of votes in the 2020 elections. In contrast with the previous two Region Four declarations announced

Sunday June 14, 2020

Kaieteur News

by the Region Four Returning Officer (RO), Clairmont Mingo, the certification shows a clear picture of rigging committed in favour of the coalition of Poll (SOP).

ALMOST 90 PERCENT OF THE WORLD WILL BE WORSE OFF BY YEAR END – IMF’S MANAGING DIRECTOR In early January, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had predicted that 160 countries would finish the year with larger economies and positive per capita income growth. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IMF’s Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, recently noted that those positive predictions have been shattered.

According to the IMF’s latest assessment, Georgieva said that 170 countries— which represent almost 90 percent of the world—will be worse off with lower per capita income by the end of 2020. The official said that such a tremendous reversal of fortunes has never been seen before.

In response to these unprecedented times, the IMF Managing Director noted that massive fiscal measures totalling US$9 trillion have been unleashed globally.

Thanks to this massive injection of liquidity in economies, she noted that some emerging markets were

able to go back to the markets and issue bonds with competitive yields.

Unfortunately, for countries in debt distress, affected by fragility and conflict or with bad underlying conditions, the crisis is terrible the Managing Director said. But even as some economies still struggle to grapple with the effects of the pandemic, others which are doing better for the time being had floated ideas on how to reopen their borders and even initiated steps to recovery.

The IMF Managing Director acknowledged that indeed now is the moment to think carefully about what comes next. She said, “We must choose what kind of recovery we want. There are those who talk about building back better.

STOPATTACKING GECOM CHAIR – JAGDEO URGES ALL Leader of the Opposition, People’s Progressive Part/ Civic (PPP/C), Bharrat Jagdeo, has made a call to both supporters of the PPP/C and the A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition to refrain from attacking the Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Ret’d Justice Claudette Singh.

“I’ve noticed very harsh comments by supporters of the APNU+AFC and PPP/C

directed at the Chairperson of GECOM, Justice Claudette Singh. I wish to urge our supporters and well-wishers to refrain from ad hominem attacks against Justice Singh,” Jagdeo said in a statement Tuesday.

According to the opposition leader, “The last few months have been a difficult period where the Chair has had to contend with key elements within the Secretariat and the three APNU+AFC Commissioners, who are bent on undermining every effort aimed at producing a credible result which reflects the will of the electorate.”

He lauded the GECOM Chair for her commitment to see that the national recount of ballots cast at the March 2 General and Regional election was concluded without a hitch.

“The fact that she was present at the Arthur Chung Convention Center throughout the entire process is testimony to her commitment to ensuring its completion in keeping with the undertaking that she had given to the court,” Jadgeo noted, adding that “The recount could not have been completed without her leadership and steadfastness.”

DR. PALOMAMOHAMED IS UG’S FIRST FEMALE VICE CHANCELLOR Dr. Paloma MohamedMartins A.A. has been named the 11th Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana (UG).

According to a UG release issued Tuesday, Dr. Mohamed-Martin was selected after a year-long search for a suitable candidate to fill the post.

The release went on to note that the “University of Guyana’s Council is happy to announce that Dr. Mohamed-

Martin is the Candidate who led the field of other stellar contenders and secured the Council’s endorsement.”

Dr. Mohamed-Martin is the first woman to be named Vice Chancellor in the 57-year history of the national university.

According to information released by UG, Dr. Mohamed-Martin was educated at UG, Harvard University and the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine.

Her doctoral specialization is social and behavioral change — specifically how communicative and cultural aspects of life are implicated in change.

Her pioneering research on social media has been attracting international attention. As an academic, Professor Mohamed has produced and co-produced over 22 films and documentaries. She has also written and edited 11 books and numerous journal articles and has received some of Guyana’s and the Caribbean’s most distinguished recognitions for her work.

She has been Director of The Centre for Communication Studies and Dean of The Faculty of Social Sciences and Deputy Vice C h a n c e l l o r – PA C E (Philanthropy, Alumni and Civic Engagement) at UG where she teaches communication research and health behaviour.

THURSDAY PROBE AND EXPEL COMPROMISED FACTION IN GECOM TO RESTORE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE –ANUG URGES IN COMPLAINT TO GECOM CHAIR A New and United

Guyana (ANUG) has written the Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), ret’d Justice Claudette Singh, asking for an investigation into the GECOM Secretariat, for the purpose of identifying elements the party says founded a wayward faction working conspiratorially to aid the governing Coalition, APNU+AFC. Among the issues it pointed out were the variances between the numbers produced by Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo during the Region Four tabulation, and the numbers coming out of the recount, for a series of ballot boxes.

In a June 7 letter, ANUG’s Executive Member Kian Jabour penned the letter in which the party’s observations were noted.

Jabour noted that the discrepancies were not solely authored by Mingo, but that he is part of this “faction” which compromises GECOM and threatens the future viability of the Elections Commission.

Jabour also noted the events surrounding the East Coast Demerara (ECD) ballot boxes which did not carry the necessary statutory documents. He said that, while the Secretariat denies knowledge of the whereabouts of the documents or how they may have been misplaced, Presiding Officers have produced copies of electronic correspondence showing that instructions came from the Secretariat to exclude those documents and deliver them to the Secretariat, a departure from the statutory procedure. ANUG is of the view that this particularly warrants an investigation, as it points to rogue elements undermining GECOM’s (Continued on page 33)

Sunday June 14, 2020

From page 32 viability. One Presiding Officer, Wendy Ann had spoken out about the matter, explaining that she had received instructions to leave the documents out of the bags, at the close of poll. A Deputy Returning Officer, Paul Jaisingh, wrote to Justice Singh, stating that the directive had come from Clerk to the Region Four Returning Officer, Carlyn Duncan. In response, the GECOM Secretariat had claimed that a group of DROs wrote to the Secretariat refuting Jaisingh’s letter, but refused to produce the correspondence it claims noted the refutation, despite numerous calls for its release by members of the media.

OIL-RICH PAPUA NEW GUINEA GETS US$363M FROM IMF FOR COVID-19 – BUT LOSES MORE ANNUALLY TO CORRUPTION Papua New Guinea has made billions of dollars on its oil and gas resources since the 1990s. But instead of saving that money for a rainy or for unprecedented circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic, those entrusted to protect the people’s wealth, allowed a selected few to embezzle it.

According to global watchdog, Transparency International, the cost of corruption to the nation was estimated to be above US$1.4 billion in 2015. And in 2016, former Prime Minister Mekere Morauta cited estimates of more than US$429 million being lost to corruption annually.

As a result of this wanton abuse on the national coffers, Papua New Guinea was left with no choice but to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for emergency funding to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Just a few days ago, the Executive Board of the IMF announced that it approved a disbursement to Papua New Guinea under the Rapid Credit Facility to the tune of US$363.6 million to help cover urgent balance of payments needs.

IMF officials noted that the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting the country’s economy hard, through export losses and the impact of measures to mitigate transmission of the virus.

Kaieteur News understands that the crisis erupted as the government was beginning to implement wide-ranging reforms under a StaffMonitored Programme (SMP). (A SMP is an informal agreement between country authorities and Fund staff to monitor the implementation of the authorities’ economic

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programme. SMPs do not entail financial assistance or endorsement by the IMF Executive Board.)

PROTECTION OF STATE ASSETS AMONG KEY ISSUES IN PPP MEETING WITH TOP COP A high-level team from the Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Wednesday met with Police Commissioner, Leslie James to discuss issues of “national importance”, key among them being the protection of State assets while the party awaits their anticipated transition into office.

The top brass team comprised Presidential Candidate Dr. Irfaan Ali, Prime Ministerial Candidate Mark Phillips, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and Former Attorney-General Anil Nandlall.

Irfaan Ali, who spoke to reporters outside of the Police Headquarters in Eve Leary after the meeting, stated that the party requested from the Commissioner, police presence at each government building, citing that same was done back in 2015 when the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition won the elections.

“You would recall that in 2015 that there were police officers stationed at every ministry and department while the transition was taking place…

So, we have asked him to ensure that he looks at this and ensure that systems are in place to secure State assets and documents and the Commissioner assured us that systems will be put in place to do justice,” Ali said.

POST DECLARATION VIOLENCE & RACIAL HOSTILITY The PPP also sought assurance from the Commissioner that systems would be in place, in the event of violence after the declaration of the March 2, 2020 election is made.

According to Ali, there have been threats on social media of unrest and a string of racially charged statements made by people “who are bent on creating mischief in our society and dividing our people along racial lines.”

FRIDAY INCOMING CARICOM CHAIR TELLS ELECTION LOSER “TAKE YOUR LICKS LIKE A MAN” … PNCR CALLS ON CARICOM TO DISTANCE ITSELF FROM HIS COMMENTS CARICOM will not stand idly by and watch the results

of the recount be set aside.

So the loser of the elections must take his “licks like a man”. This is according to Prime Minister of St. Vincent & the Grenadines and incoming CARICOM Chair, Ralph Gonsalves. After he made this and other comments on a radio show, NBC Radio – “Your Morning Cup” in his country, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition and its leading constituent, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) both responded in condemnation, calling his comments prejudicial. The PNCR, in particular said that unless current CARICOM Chair and Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, makes a statement, distancing the regional union from Gonsalves’ statement, it would be viewed as an attempt by CARICOM to scuttle the electoral process.

Following the final tabulation of votes of the National Recount on June 8, which placed the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/ C) in the lead, there have been several outcries by the Coalition, insisting that the final recount was invalid and that it cannot be used to declare the winner. Due to this, the Coalition has also refused to sign the District Certificates, all except for Region One. The Coalition has accumulated thousands of allegations of electoral fraud, levelled against the PPP/C. It has asserted that these allegations point to an undermining of the electoral process, and a non-credible election. However, the Coalition’s claims have largely been unsubstantiated, and many were proven to be false.

Gonsalves, mentioned that he is a friend of the President, David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and that he, in his honest opinion, thinks that the recount process was

carried out effectively and should definitely be used to declare the long anticipated winner.

But the Coalition says that many of the ballot boxes are tainted by irregularities, mainly in strongholds of the PPP/C. It argues that when those boxes are discarded, the remaining votes show it is the winner.

A CARICOM Ambassador, Noel Lynch, had told the Permanent Council of the Organisation of American States (OAS) that irregularities did not occur in the process by which the Guyanese electorate cast their votes, but in the count of votes.

PAPUANEW GUINEA GOES AFTER ITS FAIR SHARE FROM OIL COMPANIES THROUGH AMENDED LEGISLATION After years of being saddled with deals that gave the lion’s share of the

nation’s wealth to oil companies, the relatively new administration of Papua New Guinea seems determined to charter a new course for its people. One of the most evident moves in this regard relates to the passage of amended legislation that increases the country’s share of the profits to be had from the exploitation of its oil and mineral resources.

Following the passage of the amended laws on Wednesday, Prime Minister James Marape took to his Facebook Page and wrote, “When laws that lead to economic independence are passed, I know Parliament is doing its job, for government is not only about building infrastructures (so far mostly from borrowed money).”

He added, “…To our investors, as I said in the past we will not break legit contracts or agreements or license, be it exploration or development. I can assure our investors that we know they

must make money for their shareholders too so we will not be greedy but we just asking for a fair share, if they want to harvest our resources.”

Marape also noted that his administration will also be promulgating an organic law that will ensure it migrates to a production sharing regime that will become effective in 2025.

TURNING TO IMF Kaieteur News would have reported Thursday that Papua New Guinea had made billions of dollars on its oil and gas resources since the 1990s. But instead of saving that money for a rainy or for u n p r e c e d e n t e d circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic, those entrusted to protect the people’s wealth, allowed a selected few to embezzle it.

According to global watchdog, Transparency International, the cost of corruption to the nation was (Continued on page 34)

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From page 33 estimated to be above US$1.4 billion in 2015. And in 2016, former Prime Minister Mekere Morauta cited estimates of more than US$429 million being lost to corruption annually.

GUYANACOLLECTS US$35M FOR SECOND OIL LIFT BY SHELL – NATURAL RESOURCE FUND NOW HOLDS US$94.9M The Ministry of Finance announced Thursday that US$35,063,582.06 was received for the second lift of one million barrels of oil from the Stabroek Block by Shell Western Supply and Trading Limited (SWSTL). The Ministry noted that this payment was deposited into the Natural Resources Fund which now has a total holdings of US$94, 921,803.00.

In March, Finance Minister Winston Jordan had disclosed to this news agency that Guyana had received almost US$55M for the first million barrels of oil which was sold to SWSTL. It was in mid-February that local authorities witnessed the transfer of Guyana’s first million-barrel lift of crude onto the oil tanker Cap Philippe which was chartered by Shell. It had bought, in total, Guyana’s first three million barrels of crude from the Liza Phase One Project. Shell has one more lift to make.

Energy Department Head, Dr. Mark Bynoe, had told this newspaper in a previous interview that Guyana is entitled to at least five million barrels of oil for 2020.

According to the Energy Department, the subsidiary of Shell, which is the thirdlargest company in the world based on 2018 revenues, won the bid for three lifts on account of a number of factors. These included a competitive pricing that limits the Government’s exposure to market uncertainty; the

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Kaieteur News

size, scale and global reach of its trading operations; the company’s high level of integration between Upstream, Trading and Downstream; Shell’s strong foothold in the Latin American markets and the size and scale of their shipping and storage operations in the region, allowing for multiple options on the Liza crude commercialization; and the range of new grades Shell recently introduced into the market.

The Department also took into consideration Shell’s willingness to share critical refinery information which it asserts Guyana needs, in order to understand the Liza crude behaviour.

SATURDAY GRANGER FALSELY CLAIMS THAT COALITION’S ALLEGATIONS CAUSED RECOUNT – MAKES NO MENTION OF MINGO’S FRAUD President David Granger Friday 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 of the coalition, that preempted the recount.

“There is abundant evidence,” Granger told New York-based radio host Mark Benschop in an interview Friday 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 Friday 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.”

EYES OF THE WORLD ON CLAUDETTE SINGH – FORMER BAJAN PM Former 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 Friday 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 (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 wait for her to give a factual account of the basis upon which she made the decision.

“GUYANA CAN’T WITHSTAND THE FIRE OF THE ENTIRE GLOBAL COMMUNITY” – OWEN ARTHUR “What is happening right now is quite frankly holding up Guyana improperly so too and is being made an international laughing stock.”

Guyana 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 Friday 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 Commonwealth 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 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. 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).”

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The Miserly Father - Panchatantra Stories for Kids Once upon a time, there lived a Brahmin named Shiva.

He was very lazy and full of miserliness. He would wake up daily early morning. Next, he would head to the temple streets. He would beg all day and come back with the flour which people used to give him. He had a big fat earthen pot full of flour hanging from the ceiling.

He would look at it with pride and became very happy every time he poured more corn flour in it. He would lay down on his bed and admire the pot every night.

One day, after his long day of begging, he came back home and poured the corn flour into the pot. He noticed that the pot had become nearly full. He became very happy. As he fell asleep, he saw a dream. In his dream, there was famine in his village. People were hungry.

He sold his pot full of corn flour at a high price. He had enough money to buy a couple of she-goats. He saw that she-goats gave birth to a

number of kids.

Now he was the owner of a big herd. He further saw, he sold all of his goats to buy a herd of cows. He saw he had become very rich and a big merchant. Later, he saw that he was dealing in buffaloes and horses. People were coming into his dream from all over the world to buy his horses. “I will own a big stable for my horses...” he murmured.

He sold his horses and bought buckets full of gold.

He had gold biscuits ornaments and even gold plates and spoons. In his dream only he started murmuring “I will buy a big house with this gold. It will have four floors. It will have marble all over. Seeing the riches, One Brahmin will offer his beautiful daughter’s hand in marriage. I will marry her and I will have a beautiful son. I will name him Bahubali Sharma. He will grow up to be a handsome little boy.

When he will be one year old, I will play all of the

games with my son. I will play hide and seek with him.

One day I will go and hide inside the stable. I will then call out my son. He will walk on his all fours and will look for me. As soon as he comes looking for him, I will call him out” Bahubali, I’m here”.

So he will come running, but he will head in the wrong direction toward the horses. I will shout for my wife to come and lift him up and take him away from the horses.

But, she is too busy with the household chores. She will not listen and ignore my calls.

I will get very angry with her.

So I will kick her.

And Shiva then laying on his bed and in his dream raised his leg and kicked. His kick hit the above-suspended pot. Alas!! The pot broke and all of his corn flour fell on the floor. He immediately woke up from his dream. He was all covered in white flour and looked like a white ghost on a dark night.MORAL: Don’t let your dreams control your emotions.

Fill in the blank squares so that each row and each column contain all of the digits 1 thru 3. The heavy lines indicate areas (called cages) that contain groups of numbers that can be combined (in any order) to produce the result shown in the cage, with the indicated math operation. For example, 12× means you can multiply the values together to produce 12.

Numbers in cages may repeat, as long as they are not in the same row or column.

One thing at a time Sometimes I find, when doing something, That I try to do another, Like when I am at homework, I want to play with my brother.

I even know when I am at school, Doing some work for my teacher, I stop to chat with some friend, And then cannot finish ever.

So I now see that whatever I am doing, I must put my whole mind to it; This is the only way I can do my best, And so make the most of any effort.

This is also true of everything else,

by Uncle Roy That I have to do each day, Whether eating, bathing, or any work at home, It is one thing at a time always.

Sunday June 14, 2020

Junior page Dad will love this homemade

BY MARY CATHERINE Father's Day gift!

Materials Large craft sticks (the kind that look like tongue depressors) White glue or a hot glue gun A few nuts and bolts Acrylic paint (we used dark blue)

Directions 1.Paint 4 large craft sticks.

Engineer chose a dark blue acrylic paint. Tempera paint would work well, too, but the coverage might not be the same.

2.Glue the sticks together to create a frame. We glued our sticks together to create a squarish frame.

If a more rectangular frame is what you want, don’t overlap the sticks as much as we did!

3.Choose a few nuts and bolts to add to the frame. Be sure not to overload it with too many, though! If Dad isn’t into building, choose something different to decorate the frame with.

4.Glue the hardware to the frame.

We used regular white glue, but a hot glue gun would work just as well (and would dry faster).

5.Add something to the frame (see ideas below).

Back it with a piece of cardboard.

6.Be sure to write the year on the back of the frame!

7.Add a strip of magnetic tape to the back if you want to feature it on the fridge.

Ideas for What to Frame ·Child’s picture ·Child’s hand print(s) ·A note or a poem ·A picture of Dad with the kid(s)

Kaieteur News

Sunday June 14, 2020

TEEN TIME

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Make the most of your study time

Many times we find that, no matter how hard we study, we do not see much improvement in our work.

This may be because we do not concentrate enough because of the many distractions and discomforts we may be experiencing when we do study, especially at home.

Most of us would benefit from having a quiet place set aside for studying.

If you share a room, or if space is limited in your home, then you need to improvise to get the most from our efforts. Perhaps the kitchen, which would most likely not be used in the evening, or a part of the living room which is away from others, can be proclaimed as your study area for an hour or two every evening.

If possible, use a desk or table with plenty of space on which to spread your work. Keep supplies such as pencils, pens and paper

handy so you do not have to get up constantly and disturb your trend of thought. This

will succeed at it. Also, it should be understood that having the television or radio

environment for studying.

What about the times you find that you are not in

It’s okay, my friend

by Bibi Fazeela Khan Life is a test, it’s not easy at all, Sometimes we slip, and sometimes we fall; But it is okay, my friend, to err is naturally human, So look to the future, and do the best you can.

Sometimes we see the need to reach out a helping hand, Sometimes we want to, but we just can’t; When “Sorry” isn’t quite enough to say, Then it’s okay to just get on your knees and pray.

would entail preparing yourself before you start working, so as to make sure you have everything you need during your study session to work successfully.

Multitasking is one of the greatest obstacles to studying, but unfortunately something indulged by most students. Focusing on any work makes it possible to get your best done. Try to work on one topic at a time and the chances are greatest that you

on generally works against concentration. This is just as true for the cell phone, so please tell your friends to desist from calling you during your study periods.

Make sure that you have adequate lighting that does not throw a glare.

Good lighting would reduce study fatigue and protect your eyes as well. Try to keep the place well ventilated as a cool room provides a better

the mood for studying?

Remember that your studies are leading up to achieving your ambitions, and you should view studying at home as an exercise in selfdiscipline as well as helping you to take in even more than at school when you can be distracted by others. Be businesslike about your studies. If you make regular studying a habit, then you will grow to enjoy it and learn more as you do so.

He knows us by our number and name, He knows we’re imperfect, and that’s no shame; He judges the sincerity of our prayers, Grants us our needs, and removes our cares.

It matters not what THEY say, May times they just want to ruin your day; Gossip and slander is their only way, But what goes around comes around, what may.

So, it’s okay, my friend, don’t be afraid to try, The goals you seek will be attained by and by; The falls you suffer should be taken with a smile, They only make it sweeter as you run the last mile.

Focus on one job at a time will always guarantee that you get your best work done every time.

Solutions to last week’s

Consecutive Sudoku

FUTOSHIKI

Colour the picture

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Ansa Mcal presents grand Stag-errific Father’s Day Promotion For Father’s Day, the management team for the Stag beer that is distributed at Ansa Mcal Trading Limited, has launched the most awesome “stag-errific” promotion that you don’t want to miss out on. To enter, all you have to do is purchase a six pack of Stag, write your name, address and telephone number at the back of your bill, and place it into entry boxes that are available at outlets in Georgetown, East Bank Demerara, East Berbice, East Coast Demerara, Essequibo coast, Bartica and Linden.

The prizes up for grabs include a bar-b-que grill, cool-

ers filled with stag, two cases of stag and one 125 Honda Motorcycle. The promotion

runs until month-end. The drawing date is set for July 4, 2020.

Fireside Grill-N-Chill presents special Father’s Day Menu Every Father’s Day presents a special opportunity to show that incredible being in your life just how much they matter to you. And what better way to do this by nourishing their stomachs with meals so well prepared, it touches the soul. To help you achieve this goal, the Fireside GrillN-Chill is offering a special Father’s Day Menu. It includes 16oz Butter Basted Rib-eye steak, honey glazed baby back ribs with whiskey marinade, brown sugar bourbon T-bone steak, seafood trio (an 8oz lobster tail, prawns or scallops), surf and turf (lobster, lamb chops and prawns). The irresistibly tasty sides include: macaroni salad, creamed spinach, sweet potato salad and so much more. There is also a complimentary beer with every purchase. To make your orders call: 623-3473 or 681-9306.

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Kaieteur News

WINE OF THE WEEK

Folonari Chianti: A juicy, fragrant Italian Treasure The Folonari Chianti is a wine vinified in stainless steel to emphasize fresh, crisp flavors of these grapes. A Tuscan treasure and 100% Italian, this wine is made using grapes sourced from Italy’s most well-known wine producing area, the Chianti region. With juicy flavors and fragrant aromas, this wine is fresh, fruity, full and harmonious, with blackberry and raspberry notes and toasted almond notes on the finish.

As for the history of the company, Folonari, it was founded in 1825 by Francesco Folonari. The company and vineyards first grew in Valmonica in the Veneto region of Italy. In the later half of the 19th century, Francesco and his sons moved to Brescia in the verdant alpine foothills between Lake Iseo and Lake Garda, establishing one of Italy’s finest winemaking facilities and securing a worldwide reputation for quality.From the very beginning, the Folonari family wanted to create wines accessible to everyday tables. They pioneered the production and distribution of wine in bottles, which made it easier for people to enjoy consistently highquality wine whenever the mood struck. A bottle from the Folonari winery made on one day was certain to be just as excellent as a bottle produced the next, or in a few weeks, or in a few months. This philosophy of bringing exceptional wines to everyday occasions continues to guide Folonari today.

Famous for its foodfriendly, approachable wines and their storied history, Chianti is perhaps the bestknown wine region of Italy.

This appellation within Tuscany has it all: sweeping views of rolling hills, endless vineyards, the warm Mediterranean sun, hearty cuisine and a rich artistic heritage.

Chianti includes seven

subzones: Chianti Colli Fiorentini, Rufina, Montalbano, Colli Senesi, Colline Pisane, Colli Aretini and Montespertoli, with area beyond whose wines can be labeled simply as Chianti.

However the best quality comes from Chianti Classico, in the heart of the Chianti zone, which is no longer a subzone of the region at all but has been recognized on its own since 1996. The Classico region today is delimited by the confines of the original Chianti zone protected since the 1700s.

Chianti wines are made primarily of Sangiovese, with other varieties comprising up to 25-30% of the blend. Generally, local varieties are used,

including Canaiolo, Colorino and Mammolo, but international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah are allowed as long as they are grown within the same zone.

Basic, value-driven Chianti is simple and fruit-forward and makes a great companion to any casual dinner. At its apex, Chianti is full bodied but with good acidity, firm tannins, and notes of tart red fruit, dried herbs, fennel, balsamic and tobacco. Chianti Riserva, typically the top bottling of a producer, can benefit handsomely from a decade or two of cellaring. (https:// www.wine.com/product/ folonari-chianti-2017/ 517170#)

ENETWORKS ALL SET TO AIR “I MAY DESTROY YOU” SERIES TONIGHT Ansa McAL offers grand Father’s Day Wine and Steak Special This Father’s Day, Ansa McAL Trading Limited is offering a deal you don’t want to pass up on. For just $6500 you can get a combo pack of one bottle of Folonari Chianti wine and two cuts of Creekstone farms premium steak for your dad. There are also premium delivery offers. To place your call and find out more call: 608-ANSA (2672).

For all the television fanatics in search of the next big hit, the Enetworks team has selected another promising series that you wouldn’t want to miss. It’s called, “I May Destroy You,” a sexual consent drama from rising British star Michaela Coel.

Kaieteur Entertainment understands that it can be viewed on HBO at 10:30pm.

The series, which was pre-

viously known as January 22nd, explores the question of sexual consent in contemporary life and how, in the new landscape of dating and relationships, we make the distinction between liberation and exploitation. It was created by Chewing Gum creator and Black Earth Rising star Coel.It also stars Weruche Opia (Inside No9), Paapa Essiedu (Kiri) Aml Ameen

(Yardie), Adam James (Belgravia), Sarah Niles (Catastrophe) and Ann Akin (Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams), Harriet Webb (Plebs), Ellie James (Giri/ Haji), Franc Ashman (Peep Show), Karan Gill (Flesh & Blood), Natalie Walter (Horrible Histories) and newcomer Samson Ajewole. Make sure you mark your calendars for this one of a kind drama.

Sunday June 14, 2020

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Kaieteur News

Herbal remedies and Health benefits of Neem Neem Tree, also known as ‘Azadirachta indica’ is a tree native to India. In Sanskrit, neem is arista, which means something that is perfect, imperishable and complete. Not only its leaves, but the tree’s seeds, roots and bark also contain important compounds that have many medicinal and beauty properties.

The tree is supposed to denote ‘good health’ in our Ayurveda.

Neem is best known for its anti-aging properties. Due to its antioxidant properties, neem protects the skin from harmful UV rays, pollution and other environmental factors.

The vitamins and fatty acids in neem improve and maintain the elasticity of the skin, reduce wrinkles and fine lines. This make you and your skin look rejuvenated and youthful.

Neem is also beneficial in fighting against fungal infection. Its anti-fungal and antibacterial properties keep the harmful bacteria and fungi at bay. Thus, it protects the skin and keeps the skin related diseases away.

Ayurveda, which follows the natural ways for treatment and medicine, has been using extracts of neem tree as a key ingredient, for good health and well being. Here are some of the herbal remedies, health benefits and magical properties of neem…

1. Neem Herbal Remedy and Benefit: One tree pharmacy Not only in Ayurvedic medicines, neem tree extracts have been a part of many home remedies that Indians have been following since time immemorial. We use neem to treat hair and skin issues.

2. Neem Herbal Remedy and Benefit : Anti-fungal and anti-bacterial Neem leaves are used to treat fungal and bacterial infections. They are used to treat warts as well as chicken pox. Either the paste is applied on the affected area or the person is made to bathe in neem water. It can also treat foot fungi.

3. Neem Herbal Remedy and Benefit : Insecticide You can keep neem soaked cotton near your windows or burn neem leaves to ward off insects. It is extremely effective and is used to fight mosquito menace.

4. Neem Herbal Remedy and Benefit : Increases immunity Many Ayurveda experts recommend daily intake of neem capsules. Neem tea is also widely prescribed to reduce fever, especially the malaria one. Since neem tastes

bitter, the tea acquires a similar taste but works magically.

5. Neem Herbal Remedy and Benefit : Nature’s toothbrush Chewing neem twigs for dental hygiene and care is an age-old Indian tradition. In Indian households, people used to brush their teeth using twigs of neem.

And these days you find neem-based toothpaste to ensure good dental health.

Due to its antibacterial, antiinflammatory and antifungal properties, it keeps away all sorts of dental infections and diseases.

6. Neem Herbal Remedy and Benefit : Strong and long hair Neem also helps in strengthening hair quality and promotes growth of hair.

Neem paste is also used as a

without leaving any ugly scars. It also prevents septic infections. Neem is commonly used to heal wounds because of its antiseptic properties.

Apply a little amount of neem oil onto the wounds and on scars, daily.

Neem Oil contains the necessary fatty acids, which also promote wound healing and make your skin healthy.

9.Neem Herbal Remedy and Benefit : Acne relief Neem also has anti-inflammatory property that reduces acne. The neem oil is believed to relieve skin dryness, skin itchiness and redness. It also prevents pimples and skin blemishes.

10. Neem Herbal Remedy and Benefit This is not it. Neem is also used in organic farming. The popular neem seed cake,

hair conditioner. Due to its antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties, neem is an excellent way to curb dandruff. This makes hair follicles stronger, thus encouraging hair growth too. It provides the required nourishment and conditioning to the roots, making them stronger and shinier.

7. Neem Herbal Remedy and Benefit : Treat skin disorder There are many formulations in Ayurveda that are used to treat skin issues. It is because it has a detoxifying property. It is used to treat sczema and other skin infections.

8. Neem Herbal Remedy and Benefit : Healer Neem can heal wounds

which is basically a neem seed residue which is left after oil extraction, is extremely beneficial for enriching the soil.

It also brings down nitrogen loss and works as a nematicide.

OTHER BENEFITS Neem is also an excellent source of moisturizer for the skin. By applying neem oil, the fatty acids and vitamins in it moisturize and condition your skin, making it clearer and youthful. The vitamin E in neem oil repairs the damaged skin and also limits the effect of environment changes that can lead to skin damage.

You will commonly find neem used in products such as bath powders, shampoos, skin lotion, toothpaste and many companies have even

started marketing neem leaf capsule for better immunity.

With the dengue menace

round the corner, it also works as a brilliant source to repel insects. (https://

neemfoundation.org/herbalremedies-20-health-benefitsof-neem/)

Kaieteur News

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Sunday June 14, 2020

STORY WITHIN THE

A knee on the backs of all Guyanese, too!

By Leonard Gildarie

W

ell, well, well.

It is another day in our country. Crossroads may be an apt coined word for what we are seeing.

Today makes 105 days since the March 2nd elections. Yesterday, Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, according to the media, delivered his highly anticipated report to the Guyana Elections Commission.

A highly charged, divisive national recount of the March 2nd elections has been completed at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

Guyana watched in disbelief at the unfolding drama, from media being left outside, to the video live streaming not being allowed of the proceedings.

The international community has come in for criticisms, starting with the Carter Center, then Caribbean leaders. The representatives of the western countries have also been criticized for their stance.

They have called for a recognition of the elections results. With the vote recount, it was the strident call for the credible process to be recognized and accepted that was being transmitted.

Today, we are not in a good place. According to my calculations, it has been over 540 days since that critical no-confidence motion in the National Assembly halted Guyana.

That is about 18 months or one and half years since

the vote.

I have never been a lazy person when it comes to work. I like to be in the thick of things. In fact, I have been accused of being a workaholic, and many other things.

I literally jump out of bed every day, worried that I will miss something. The last 18 months have wasted the lives of over 700,000 of our people.

It has exposed our insecurities and fears and drove a bigger wedge in our people. To say we are divided would not explain the situation. Social media has brought a level of ugliness and anger to the fore.

To complex matters would be the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seriously dropped the ball on information for the people.

The country has done well in keeping figures down es p ecially tak in g in to account the wide open borders. I am going to make some calls here that will not make the populace happy.

The declaration by GECOM next week will come. It will happen. The recognition and acceptance of it, I project, will not.

The Coalition says it is deeply convinced that things went wrong on Elections Day. That votes were stuffed in the ballot boxes and records to corroborate were missing. The Coalition is no longer pursuing that it won.

Rather, it is saying that there is enough evidence to conclude that the elections were flawed and filled with fraud.

The international and local community, via their

Leonard Gildarie observers, have deemed March 2nd as a day when elections were above board.

The coalition insist that this is not so.

Based on the posture of President David Granger and the mutterings of the coalition, it can be concluded that there will be no acceptance of the recount results which have placed the Opposition's People's Progressive Party/Civic as the winner.

I want to come back to 18 months since that historic noconfidence motion.

We have been tossed like a rag doll in a canoe in the middle of storm. Our bodies and minds have been overwhelmed and we have become numb.

Our region is angry with us. When former regional leaders speak, especially with the seeming endorsements of other prominent ones, we have to pay attention.

CARICOM is in a dilemma. Its headquarters is in Guyana.

It will be in uncharted waters. Owen Arthur, former leader of Barbados is clear. If there is a non-acceptance of the results, there will be repercussions, maybe even suspension from international bodies.

Let me say I abhor any attempts from foreign countries to dictate what happens here.

We need advice. We need the counsel. However, we cannot throw decades of relation to the wayside.

There is a mad rush for power by all and sundry. The kitty jar appears broke. So it cannot be for that reason.

In the meantime, the people of Guyana are on the grounds, on their bellies, with the knees of the politicians on their backs.

We have no winners.

In the meantime, our resources are being taken away, drilled out, mined out, whatever you will.

I am going for a long drive today. I need it.

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

Kaieteur News

Sunday June 14, 2020

PAGE 43

'Sir' David Sookram is a “Special Person” From page 14 is still reflecting on the experiences of the past, both in the disciplinary forces, and the teaching profession.

Sookram, together with his wife, Kamlawattie Bephia, raised five children in their Maria's Lodge home, on the Essequbio Coast.

Today this living legend remains an iconic figure for his children, three of whom have followed in his footsteps. “When I think of my past experience, the steps I took to get where I wanted, it stirs up a lot of emotion because it wasn't an easy road. I don't want my kids experience the same things that I experienced in life and I'm happy that most of them are already teachers,” he added.

Over the years the teaching profession has seen remarkable transformation, especially with the annual addition of newly trained professionals and Sookram believes there now exists an even greater opportunity for students to be effectively schooled.

“Teachers now are more equipped as opposed to back in the day, especially when it comes to dealing with the

Addressing students at a school sports event

curriculum. In my time there wasn't much trained teachers. Now there are a lot of trained teachers and that's a plus for the teaching profession. There is now more expanded teaching education, especially in rural areas. In my time it was only the Cyril Potter College of

David Sookram, the Assistant Superintendent of Police

Education (CPCE) in Georgetown. Teachers had to leave and go study in the capital. Now there's CPCE on the Essequbio Coast which allows teachers to study at the college and still teach at their respective schools,” he pointed out.

According to the retired DHM, there is still room for improvement in the education sector on the Essequbio Coast. The addition of a University of Guyana Campus, he believes, will be a golden achievement for education on the Essequbio Coast for quite a number of reasons.

He noted too that “establishing a campus on the Essequbio Coast will be beneficial for Essequibians, persons in the Pomeroon and even the Essequibo Islands.

Having a university campus for persons in Anna Regina will create employment for

lecturers, cooks due to the dormitory and by extension improve education standard,” said Sookram.

For most teachers today, the experiences of teachers of old can be deemed inspirational. While it's important for each teacher to expand his or her own academic horizon, it is equally important that the true potential of students be unlocked.

“Teachers today must put the education of students first. Don't short change the students; in other words if you have to teach the children on a topic, cover every corner of it because it sure will be an essential piece on exam day,” said Sookram. It fact his appeal to teachers of today is “Try to encourage as much class participation because it is critical, don't leave everything on the students.”

His first day in the teaching profession back in 1997

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Sunday June 14, 2020

New COVID-19 Guidelines for Visitors Entering U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

By Attorney Gail S. Seeram

T

o protect the workforce and the public from exposure to coronavirus (COVID-19), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will now require all applicants, petitioners and visitors over the age of two to wear face coverings while in a USCIS office until further notice.

You may be directed to briefly remove your face covering to confirm identity or take your photograph.

USCIS reserves the right to deny entry to individuals who do not wear a face covering.

Face coverings are not a replacement for social distancing. Follow USCIS signs or instructions to maintain social distancing during screening and while in USCIS space. To limit the

number of people in the waiting room, applicants w i t h s c h e d u l e d appointments may only be accompanied by: · An attorney; · An interpreter (in some cases, interpreters will need to be available by phone); · A parent, legal guardian or a trusted adult, if the applicant being interviewed is a minor; · Immediate family members listed as

dependents on the application or interview notice; and · An individual assisting a disabled person.

At this time, USCIS cannot allow guests at naturalization (or citizenship oath) ceremonies.

Ceremonies will be limited to the candidates who are scheduled to be naturalized and individuals providing assistance to disabled persons. Face coverings are

required during the naturalization ceremony, even if it is held outside of a USCIS space.

If you are feeling sick, please do not come go to the USCIS office. Follow the instructions on your appointment notice to reschedule your appointment for when you are healthy. There is no penalty for rescheduling your appointment if you are sick. You will not be allowed to enter the USCIS office if you: · Are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19; · Have had close contact within the last 14 days with a person known or suspected to have COVID-19; · Have been instructed by a healthcare provider or public health authority to isolate or self-quarantine within the last 14 days; or · Refuse to wear a face covering or mask in accordance with USCIS policy.

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

Gail S. Seeram newspaper.)

Attorney Gail Seeram, LL.M., J.D., BBA Call | text 407-292-7730 WhatsApp 407-3531363 E m a i l : Gail@GailLaw.com L i v e c h a t : www.GailLaw.com Download FREE App: Gail Law NOTE: Immigration Law Offices of Gail S. Seeram offers a free consultation to discuss related fees for a process and explain options.

Our office will NOT tell you how to complete the legal process on your own. If you seek legal representation, then legal fees will be due to our office.

Copyright ©Law Offices of Gail S. Seeram, 2020. All Rights Reserved.

Another knee on the Caribbean's neck From page 16 countries, categorised as 'high-income' as much as it is hurting low- and middleincome ones, adding to their debt burdens and threatening a far-reaching sovereign debt crisis.

COVID-19 has worsened the problem: countries are facing high health-care costs; collapsing revenues; no capacity to service debts, and a struggle to keep their economies afloat.

There is an urgent need for a stop to sovereign debt payments to official and private creditors, to give Caribbean countries a chance to cope with yet another shock to which they did not contribute, but that now puts another knee at their necks.

If the G20 allocated a mere 0.5%, or US$40 billion, of its pledged global injection of US$8 trillion to

Caribbean countries to pay off Paris Club debt and for new soft loans, the region will have a fighting chance.

This problem will not go away by ignoring it, and Caribbean governments and private sectors must ensure it is not ignored by rich governments and the international bodies they control. The Caribbean is not owed a living, but it is owed the right to live.

(The writer is Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organisation of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and at Massey College in the University of To r o n t o .

The views expressed are entirely his own.)

Responses and previous C o m m e n t a r i e s : www.sirronaldsanders.com

Kaieteur News

Sunday June 14, 2020

ng ... i t es res r te u In reat C

D

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r e t a s l a i g h o p n o Dros mela

rosophila melanogaster is a species of fly (the taxonomic order Diptera) in the family Drosophilidae. The species is known generally as the common fruit fly or vinegar fly.

Starting with Charles W. Woodworth's proposal of the use of this species as a model organism, D. melanogaster continues to be widely used for biological research in g e n e t i c s , p h y s i o l o g y, microbial pathogenesis, and life history evolution. As of 2017, Six Nobel prizes had been awarded for research using Drosophila.

D. melanogaster is typically used in research owing to its rapid life cycle, relatively simple genetics with only four pairs of chromosomes, and large number of offspring per generation. It was originally an African species, with all non-African lineages having a common origin.

Its geographic range includes all continents, including islands. This fly species is a common pest in homes, restaurants, and other places where food is served.

Flies belonging to the family Tephritidae are also called "fruit flies". This can cause confusion, especially

in the Mediterranean, Australia, and South Africa, where the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata is an economic pest.

Wild type fruit flies are yellow-brown, with brickred eyes and transverse black rings across the abdomen.

The brick-red colour of the eyes of the wild type fly is due to two pigments.

Xanthommatin, which is brown and is derived from tryptophan, and drosopterins, which are red and are derived from guanosine triphosphate.

They exhibit sexual dimorphism; females are about 2.5 mm (0.10 in) long; males are slightly smaller with darker backs.

Males are easily distinguished from females based on colour differences, with a distinct black patch at the abdomen, less noticeable in recently emerged flies, and the sex combs (a row of dark bristles on the tarsus of the first leg). Furthermore, males have a cluster of spiky hairs (claspers) surrounding the reproducing parts used to attach to the female during mating.

Under optimal growth conditions at 25 °C (77 °F), the D. melanogaster lifespan is about 50 days from egg to death. The developmental

period for D. melanogaster varies with temperature, as with many ectothermic species. The shortest development time (egg to adult), 7 days, is achieved at 28 °C (82 °F). Development times increase at higher temperatures (11 days at 30 °C or 86 °F) due to heat stress.

Under ideal conditions, the development time at 25 °C (77 °F) is 8.5 days, at 18 °C (64 °F) it takes 19 days and at 12 °C (54 °F) it takes over 50 days. Under crowded conditions, development time increases, while the emerging flies are smaller. Females lay some 400 eggs (embryos), about five at a time, into rotting fruit or other suitable material such as decaying mushrooms and sap fluxes.

D. melanogaster is a holometabolous insect, so it undergoes a full metamorphosis. Their life cycle is broken down into 4 stages: embryo, larva, pupa, adult. The eggs, which are about 0.5 mm long, hatch after 12–15 hours (at 25 °C or 77 °F). The resulting larvae grow for about 4 days (at 25 °C) while moulting twice (into second- and third-instar larvae), at about 24 and 48 h after hatching.

During this time, they feed

on the micro-organisms that decompose the fruit, as well as on the sugar of the fruit itself. The mother puts faeces on the egg sacs to establish the same microbial composition in the larvae's guts that has worked positively for herself. Then the larvae encapsulate in the puparium and undergo a 4day-long metamorphosis (at 25 °C), after which the adults emerge.

The female fruit fly prefers a shorter duration when it comes to sex. Males, though, prefer it to last longer. Males perform a sequence of five behavioural patterns to court females.

First, males orient themselves while playing a courtship song by horizontally extending and vibrating their wings.

Soon after, the male positions himself at the rear of the female's abdomen in a low posture to tap and lick the female genitalia. Finally, the male curls his abdomen and attempts copulation.

Females can reject males by moving away, kicking, and

extruding their ovipositor.

Copulation lasts around 15–20 minutes, during which males transfer a few hundred, very long (1.76 mm) sperm cells in seminal fluid to the female. Females store the sperm in a tubular receptacle and in two mushroom-shaped spermathecae; sperm from multiple matings compete for fertilization.

A last male precedence is believed to exist; the last male to mate with a female sires about 80% of her offspring. This precedence was found to occur through both displacement and incapacitation. The displacement is attributed to sperm handling by the female fly as multiple matings are conducted and is most significant during the

first 1–2 days after copulation. Displacement from the seminal receptacle is more significant than displacement from the s p e r m a t h e c a e .

Incapacitation of first male sperm by second male sperm becomes significant 2–7 days after copulation.

The seminal fluid of the second male is believed to be responsible for this incapacitation mechanism (without removal of first male sperm) which takes effect before fertilization occurs.

T h e d e l a y i n effectiveness of the incapacitation mechanism is believed to be a protective mechanism that prevents a male fly from incapacitating his own sperm should he (continued on page 47)

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Kaieteur News

Sunday June 14, 2020

Sunday June 14, 2020

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Kaieteur News

Teacher who was involved in distribution of hampers for GTU tests positive for Covid-19 -was in contact with colleagues from several regions

GTU’s President Mark Lyte he Guyana Teacher’s Union (GTU) is again expressing its objections to the July-August timeline for exams and the reopening of schools in June for revision and preparation.This union is even more concerned after learning that a primary school teacher recently tested positive for the novel Coronavirus.President of GTU, Mark Lyte said on Thursday that this teacher might have infected others.

She is said to be related to an infected person currently in isolation.

When the Union confirmed who the teacherwas, they recounted that it was the same person who was actively

T

involved in a hamper packing and distribution exercise in Georgetown.

Kaieteur News understands that the woman had travelled two weeks ago from the North West District to uplift hampers for her district.

Sources noted that she had been in close contact with other teachers from Georgetown and other regions across Guyana.

With this seemingly frightening situation, Lyte now wants these teachers to get tested immediately.

The GTU president also told Kaieteur News that it is also rumored that there might be two more infected teachers from the same Region One district.

He also listed this as an example of how an infected person can unknowingly spread the virus to other persons.He continued that they can spread the infection to those, whose immune system might not be strong enough or to withstand such a disease. Lyte even suggested that students sitting exams might be related to infected persons and may not want to come forward.

“Suppose they turn up at school asymptomatic and innocently infect teachers and fellow classmates”, added the GTU president.

Advisory to parents of the Santa Rosa Primary School

Drosophila melanogaster From page 45 mate with the same female fly repetitively. Sensory neurons in the uterus of female D. melanogaster respond to a male protein, sex peptide, which is found in semen. This protein makes the female reluctant to copulate for about 10 days after insemination.

The signal pathway leading to this change in behaviour has been determined. The signal is sent to a brain region that is a homolog of the hypothalamus and the hypo-

thalamus then controls sexual behaviour and desire.

Also, females exhibit mate choice copying. When virgin females are shown other females copulating with a certain type of male, they tend to copulate more with this type of male afterwards than naive females (which have not observed the copulation of others). This behaviour is sensitive to environmental conditions, and females copulate less in bad weather conditions.

“Yes, social-distancing will be observed but it is a great risk”.With this being said Lyte iterated his union’s stance that the Covid-19 pan-

demic in Guyana is still fluid and strongly objects to the Education Ministry’s decision.Organizations such as the Amerindian People’s

Association also suggested that the Education Ministry should delay reopening of schools, since many children were not prepared.

Prime Ministerial Candidate of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Brigadier Mark Phillips also told (Continued on page 50)

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Sunday June 14, 2020

Kaieteur News

Bandits jailed 4 years for $13M theft

Inside the court

- ‘Ducky’ committed to stand trial for attempted murder

Jailed: Patrick Smith

Jailed: Lynton Trotman

Revelana Smith

Repeat offenders Patrick Smith and Lynton Trotman have been sentenced to four years each in connection with the theft of $13, 100, 000 from Bassant’s Trading, which they had broken into last year.

Sentencing was handed down virtually by Senior Magistrate Leron Daly in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

The Magistrate ruled that sufficient evidence was presented to the court against Smith, 27, of 146 Curtis Street, Albouystown Georgetown, and Trotman, 25, of 28 Guyhoc Park, Georgetown, The joint charge stated that between January 10, 2019 and January 11, 2019 at King Street Georgetown, they broke and entered Bassant’s Trading and stole $13.1 M, property of Bissoondyal Deosingh.Both men have several pending matters of similar nature before the court. According to reports, on January 10, 2019 the owner of Bassant’s Trading left the cash in a safe on the second floor of the building secured.

The following day it was discovered by the owner that the safe was tampered with and the cash and some documents were missing.

Police viewed Close-Circuit Television (CCTV) footage and later arrested the suspects. Trotman was allegedly found with $410,000 in his possession. A sum of $2 million and the documents were recovered.

A third suspect, Elton King, allegedly admitted to dropping off and picking up the two accused in his vehicle, along with another man after they committed the act.

King allegedly received $1.3 million as his share.

When King was questioned, he denied knowing the two accused and having any involvement in the robbery.

Based on advice received from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) no charge will be made out against King, but he will be used as a witness for the prosecution.

Woman allegedly attempts to murder common law husband’s girlfriend “They can write and say what they want, I’m coming out of here and I don’t care.”

These were the words of 25year-old Revelana Smith on her first court appearance for attempting to murder the girlfriend of her common-law husband.

However, one year after being charged Smith was on Thursday committed to stand trial for the offence. This ruling was handed down by Senior Magistrate Leron Daly, in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.In handing down her ruling, Senior Magistrate Daly noted that the evidence presented during the Preliminary Inquiry (PI) was satisfactory and sufficient. Smith is scheduled to go before a judge and jury on the next sitting of the Demerara Assizes.

The alleged victim in Smith’s case is said to be a policewoman.

The accused, called ‘Ducky’, was not required to plead to the indictable offence which stated that on March 26, 2019, at Pike Street Kitty, Georgetown; she wounded Renetta Bharrat with intent to commit murder.

Smith, of 88 William Street, Kitty, Georgetown, is a mother of a seven-year-old and the child’s father is now in a relationship with the victim.

According to reports, on the day in question, Bharrat went to meet her boyfriend in Kitty and was confronted by Smith, who had turned up in a taxi.

The accused was allegedly armed with a cutlass and

chopped Bharrat several times before making good her escape.

Bharrat was admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

After the incident Smith allegedly went into hiding but was eventually apprehended in Sophia. According to the medical report for Bharrat, her right index finger was partially severed. She received several chops about her body, including a wound to the head.

However, Smith’s attorney Adrian Thompson, had contended that the victim’s right arm was injured and that the wound is not life threatening. He suggested that the charge should be for wounding, but noted that since the victim is a member of the police force the charge was made up for attempted murder.

In July 2019, Smith was sentenced to serve nine months in prison after she was found guilty of assaulting another inmate. That incident occurred in April, 2019, at the East La Penitence Police Station lock-ups.

Smith and Savita Persaud, 33, of Station Street, Kitty, Georgetown, were crossedcharged for wounding each other.

CONSUMER CONCERNS PHASED LIFTING OF LOCKDOWN LITTLE RISK TO GUYANA PAT DIAL Over the last several months, Guyanese Society had been distracted by two issues- the political problems and the Covid19 Pandemic.

Both issues have had very demoralizing and negative effects on the Society, especially on the Economy and the standard of living and both seem to be unrelentingly spiraling downwards. The leaders of the Society, whether they belong to the Private Sector, the Political segment, the religious bodies or the main NGO’s seem to have been overcome by a hypnotic inactivity in the face of the enormity of the problems.

The political problems seem to be moving towards an equilibrium as the public are gradually beginning to see the objective Truth and are freeing themselves from the tangle of fake news and propaganda. They are emerging out of their ennui and are once again being themselves desiring to live creative lives.

In respect of the Covid19 pandemic, the authorities have been taking purposeful action whenever they do but this has been somewhat mechanistic and imitative of what is done in the Developed World. These would include the now universal precautions of bodily distancing, wearing of masks, regularly washing hands, sanitization of surroundings. All these precautions are directed to avoiding the virus coming into contact with the body, either by touch or airborne.

The other very major precaution is the lockdown of the country and the economy and the methodology of this has varied from country to country.

In Guyana the lockdown has affected social and economic life - funerals and weddings only attended by essential persons; restaurants and places of public entertainment closed; supermarkets and drugstores open for part of the day; public transport functions; industries mostly closed or disrupted; Government offices mostly unfunctional; and so on. All of this has resulted in the

country and its citizens becoming poorer and poorer and much suffering among the population.

In evaluating the lockdown and what movement could be taken, the equation “Life versus Livlihood” continuously has to be kept in mind.In Guyana, the time has come for us to seriously begin to review the lockdown and we will do this with the equation “Life versus Livlihood” in mind. Indeed, every country is faced with the dilemma of deciding how much weight to give to the sides of the equation.

Historically, the Covid19 pandemic is rather mild- there have been less than a million deaths in the last half-a-year - as compared with pandemics of the past such as the Black Death of Medaeval times, Cholera of the 19th century and Spanish Flu of the 20th century which killed tens of millions of people.

Why Covid19 has generated such fear is because of the sudden and painful deaths with which sufferers are visited and the fact that no cures or vaccines have so far been discovered. It should not be forgotten that it is likely that the universal precautions taken have successfully been able to limit the pandemic and to prevent it from being the terrible killer like Spanish Flu and other past pandemics.

Another positive and optimistic fact to remind ourselves is that epidemics like Sars, Bird Flu, MERS, all respiratory diseases like Covid19 as well as Ebola and AIDS are most virulent and dangerous in the first six months. Thereafter, they begin to recede and in three or four years they become sporadic.

This characteristic of a limited time for the disease to be at its most dangerous virulence is after all, the assumption and raison d’etre for quarantines since it is known that within two weeks an infected person would be rid of the infection.

In Guyana Covid19 has not been the scourge as it has been in, say, Brazil where thousands have died. In the last 6 months, about 500 per-

sons were infected and most of them have recovered or are recovering and there have been 11 deaths at time of writing, far less than deaths caused by traffic accidents or tobacco related diseases.

In view of the positive trends outlined above, it is time that the authorities now stress on the “livlihood “ side of the equation since there would be little risk in now lifting the lockdown. At present, the economy is in a tailspin recession, there is widespread want, social life is all but destroyed and the quality of life has deteriorated. We should not await a cataclysmic economic collapse but should lift the lockdown in a phased and creative manner. The Committee of the Guyana Consumers Association would like to propose the following:(A) Georgetown and its environs are the epicentre of the pandemic and most deaths and infected persons occur here. Infected persons and deaths from the disease are rare in the other parts of the country.

(B) The lockdown should be lifted now in other parts of the country. The internal airways would begin to fly again, farmers, miners, small shops and other commercial and industrial enterprises, Governmental offices, the Courts and the schools would again get to work. it must be emphasized that the safety measures such as wearing masks, sanitization, regular hand-washing, bodily distancing and so on must be enforced and insisted upon by the health authorities, the police and other relevant authority, especially in the more populated areas. Careful and vigilant surveillance must be maintained in the districts bordering Brazil.

(C) The economic and social life of Georgetown should be freed up at the discretion of the Authorities but it should be done in a creative and phased way and the lockdown should be ended by mid-September. In all of this the Covid19 safety measures should be enforced and maintained for at least half-a-year after the lifting of the lockdown.

Fourteen stranded Guyanese repatriated from St. Maarten Fourteen Guyanese have been returned from St. Maarten via Trans Guyana Airways. The flight which came in at around 16:00 hours yesterday also took six nationals to the Dutch/ French territory.Guyanese who are stranded in St. Maarten in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic had appealed to the Foreign Ministry for assistance to come home.Many of them had reportedly travelled there on business or on vacation.

Some are said to be in dire straits, having reportedly run out of funds.

Some of the Guyanese had contacted the Guyana Consulate for assistance in returning home. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged that officials are aware of the situation.

Although all international flights are grounded, a flight was chartered for Guyanese who were stranded in Barbados and Suriname. Trans Guyana Airways was hired to conduct some of the flights.

In March, scores of Guyanese were left stranded as au-

thorities hare gave mere hours’ notice to close the borders and the country’s airports as part of the measures to fight COVID-19 measures.There have been increasing calls for Government to intervene to bring the persons back.

However, there has been deep worry over the facilities and cost in Guyana.The National COVID-19 Task Force has since granted approval for the return of the 300 persons, who were strictly subjected to a number of conditions.

During a special meeting to consider the applications of Guyanese stranded overseas as a result of COVID-19 emergency measures, the Task Force said that within the controlled re-entry policy, Guyanese nationals in Trinidad and Tobago, New York, New Jersey, Florida and other states will be repatriated.

It was disclosed that approved persons would have been registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and under home quarantine for seven days even if they test negative.

Sunday June 14, 2020

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Kaieteur News

STANDARDS IN FOCUS LABELLING OF HOUSEHOLD CHEMICALS ACCORDING TO STANDARD CRUCIAL TO SAFETY

SERVICES

FOR SALE

Visa Forms Preparer.

Tel#626-7040, Publish your Death Annoucements & In Memoriams online. Email: dthmemo@gmail.com

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PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, G R A D U AT I O N , W E D D I N G S , ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620

1500 lb 5 inch palatine, 1 winch. Tel#667-8921/220-7655 Price Negotiable

FOR RENT WANTED 1 maid to cook and clean for East Bank area. #615-9132 Security Guard to work in Bel Air/Cummings Lodge. 5565yrs. #623-7609/225-4818 Driver for route 42 minibus. #646-8748

TAXI SERVICE GR TAXI SERVICE. CALL: 219-5000; 227-1982 & 2257878 (24HRS)

One cleaner & One cook wanted to work in interior, cook must have food handler certificate. Contact#658-7732 Live-in Domestic, Georgetown. Boys & Girls for the interior. Tel# 684-7960 1 Live in domestic and girls to work in the interior. Tel#6847960

CAR RENTAL PROGRESSIVE CAR RENTAL: CARS & SUV’S CALL:656-0087/6435 1 2 2 , E MAIL:PROAUTORENTAL @YAHOO.COM AIDAN’S CAR RENTAL & TOW TRUCK SERVICE:PICKUP,9-11 SEAT MINI BUS, GOOD FOR AIRPORT & FAMILY OUTINGS, CHEAPEST RATE#698-7807.

VEHICLE FOR SALE 1 Suzuki Escudo.Excellent condition, Low Mileage (50,000Km).$3.4M Neg.Call #649-0956.

Toyota Vanguard 2009, Suzuki Escudo 2007, Subaku Forester 2010, All in excellent condition. Tel# 675-1373 PEN PAL Male seeks female (18-35) to live with or marry. Call: 6430067

The labelling of household chemicals by manufacturers and distributors offers guidance to consumers and are crucial for their safety.

Labelling requirements for such products are outlined in the National Standards Specification for Labelling of commodities – part 13: Labelling of Household Chemicals (GYS 9-13:2003) The standard specifies requirements for the labelling of household chemicals sold

Wanted Taxi Drivers. Tel#2253234 Truck Driver & Security. Tel# 218-5105/218-1156 1 General Domestic. Call: 6153379 Live-in Family. Husband Driving, Wife- Sales, Separate living quarter, Central Georgetown. Tel#227-1830/ 1813 1 Diesel Mechanic to work in the interior, interested persons. Tel#625-5136 MonFri 8am-4pm Wanted- Security Officers: Great Career Prospects, Excellent salary and promotion opportunities.

Apply online: https://siagsecurity.gy HEALTH Herbal Remedies- Diabetes, Hypertension, Hyplori, Gall & Kidney Stones, Respitory illness, PCOS etc. Contact Sparman# 676-5924 TO LET Self contain rooms for working couple/single person $35,000 monthly. Light & Water, Lodge. Call #623-0076, 2 months security

PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, G R A D U AT I O N , W E D D I N G S , ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 3 bedroom unfurnished apt in Eccles, 1st Scheme Gingerlilly Ave. Parking available.

Contact# 233-0044

in Guyana, whether locally made or imported and gives a series of warning labels corresponding to the designated classes of dangerous goods.

Most household chemicals may be classified as corrosive, explosive, flammable and poisonous. These chemicals include air freshener, detergent, disinfectants, drain cleaners, conditioners and some insecticides. If not properly labelled, these chemicals may be misused.

Among its many functions, labels offercomplete information regarding the product. they mainly include ingredients of the product, its usage, and caution in use, cares to be taken while using it, date of manufacturing, batch number, etc.

This National labelling standard provides general requirements, which relate to how the labels should be displayed and it states that all required information shall be readily visible, clear and in legible English. It also advises

that no words, illustrations or symbols referring to the safety, nature, origin, quality or performance of the product that is likely to give an erroneous impression of the product shall be used.

Labels conforming to the requirements of the standard should include the descriptive name of the product, the correct statement of net contents in Metric units, a cautionary statement including ‘KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN’ and ‘READ DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE USE’. Labels should also include warning symbols, name and identifiable address of manufacturer, distributor or packer; the country of origin; and the name of each active ingredient in descending order of percentages. Further, first-aid instructions including precautionary measures, instructions in case of contact or exposure, antidotes and instructions in case of a fire, spill or leakmust also be stated.

Additional requirements stipulated in the standard relate to aerosols, which should carry the following statement: ‘This container is pressurized, keep away from heat including direct sunlight’. Do not puncture burn or incinerate even when empty’.

The standard requires that draft or designs of labels be submitted to the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) for advice on whether they comply with the requirements of this standard. GNBS is required to approve such labels before printing and use.

Importers, distributors and packers of household chemicals are urged to purchase a copy of this compulsory National labelling standard and label their products accordingly to ensure safe handling, storage and use by consumers. For further information, please contact the GNBS on telephone numbers: 219-0062, 219-0065, and 219-0066 or visit the GNBS website: www.gnbsgy.org

Our 'Frontline Worker of the Week' is…

10 K Sq ft, 25 Public Rd, Agricola. US 3K Neg (Long Term Avail). Tel or Whatsapp #647-572-3378/289-980-2711 One bedroom apartment on James St, Albouystown. Price $30,000. #691-1918 2 bedroom apartment in Eccles, rooms in Albertown. #225-3234 Businessplace. Any kind of business. Alexander St.Kitty.

602-5076/225-0701 One Apartment for rent at Mon Repos EBD, Market Street. Tel# 220-7330/614-0005

Dr. Lord with her team

One Bedroom Apartment to rent, Houston, need working couple, no kids. Tel#627-0251/ 664-2861 One (2) bedroom apartment located at 11 Hadfield St, Lodge. Call: 622-4722 VACANCY Domestic. Contact# 223-5273/ 223-5274 One Live-in/Night Babysitter.

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From page 26 also appeal to the public to do the same.” According to Dr. Lord, “I know people who have tested positive and went back into society but are being discriminated and so that is something that we have to continue to work on.”

She disclosed that since the establishing of the screening and testing unit at the Port Mourant Hospital about a week ago, there have only been three persons screened but while there is “slow traffic” she is hopeful that it is because people are not experiencing symptoms associated with the virus and not that they are fearful of showing up and being screened and possibly tested.

INSPIRATION TO VOLUNTEER

To decide to volunteer one's service during a health crisis could sometimes be a tough decision but not since the outbreak that has killed thousands worldwide and infected thousands more.

“I have worked as a physician for the past six years and then I took a break and went and did my masters in 2018 then I came back last September so while out there I have learnt to open my mind to the social sciences aspect of medicine and health in general. So, because I am now part of a global health community, I now understand what it entails, what is needed to actually work in a pandemic or epidemic,” said Dr. Lord.

The doctor added that with the skills she achieved, she has an appreciation that

she could be an asset to the team to help curb the disease in the region.

She believes that “this is everyone's fight, so we have to work together to ensure that Region Six is safe.”

The testing site at Port Mourant is in operation from Monday-Friday from 09:00 15:00 hrs with a team of five nurses and two doctors.

Dr. Lord is urging persons “to stay home, always wear your masks when heading out, practice proper hand hygiene, cough etiquette and social distancing guidelines”.

For her selfless commitment to helping to keep Region Six safe from COVID-19, today we at Kaieteur News salute Dr. Lord by naming her our 'Frontline Worker of the Week'.

PAGE 50

Book Review…

Book: Everything You Wanted to Know About the Afterlife - But Were Afraid to Ask Author: Hollister Rand Critic: Glenville Ashby, PhD Hollister Rand’s ‘Everything You Wanted to Know About the Afterlife’ is a detailed discourse on age-old questions. Insightful and nuanced, it is a work of therapy, offering consolation to the grieving. As an epistemological study, it is provocative and highly debatable.

This is understandable, after all, the author herself states, “After a lifetime of meeting with spirits, I’ve come to understand that the afterlife is far more expansive and exquisite than our brains can grasp.”On her ambitious undertaking, Rand pens, “This book is intended to be a comfortable and comforting discussion about death and dying - a difficult and, some might say, “taboo” subject.

Consider this book to be a conversation with a friend who happens to be a medium, with questions that challenge the fear of the unknown and answers that speak to the heart of loss.”

Rand is celebrated globally.

She has “served spirits in love by providing messages via a variety of platforms,” that include “gallery-style presentations [with] an audience of more than five hundred people in a room…and more personal group settings called “spirit circles,” that comprise “no more than ten sitters, providing the opportunity for each person in the group to receive a personal message.”

Interestingly, some quarters have always challenged mediumship as an apostasy.

And there are other detractors: atheists,

Sunday June 14, 2020

Kaieteur News

The Afterlife - The Ageless Enquiry

psychologists and sceptics.

After all, the author’s claims may seem outlandish. “Jesus Christ isn’t the only divine being I’ve seen and communicated with. Mother Mary, devas, Egyptian gods, and the goddess Diana are just a few of the others I’ve encountered,” she notes.

“There are times when I’m simply awed.”

But the unforgiving resistance to spiritualism has, overtime, lost its zeal. As religion stumbles, many are embracing spiritual beliefs and practices once considered heterodox. Today, many believe that psychic abilities are natural. Rand offers that much, stating, “Psychics, mediums, and channelers aren’t the only ones who use energy centers for “reading” the landscape of life or connecting with spirits. Everyone does!

Intuition or gut feeling is not only your personal protection system but a guide on your spiritual journey.”

In many ways, Rand’s eschatological views are not really at odds with religious orthodoxy. There’s a divergence, though. Rand adopts less of a binary view of the human experience. In the dynamics of the afterlife, there is contrition, healing, counsel, guidance, and authentic living. The spirit evolves toward heightened awareness, toward boundless love.But with echoes of Swedenborgianism, we are cautioned against an overly idealized picture of ‘the great beyond.’Indeed, lurking is the riff-raff of the afterlife, denizens weighed down by destructive emotions. They are unable to shake free from their own wiles, their own foibles. They are ghosts, the phantasmagorical beings we

sometimes encounter. They are ‘pretas’ in Buddhist lore, needy and maleficent, to be avoided or, through prayer and counsel, ‘released’ to the light. Commenting on the tumultuous state in which ghosts find themselves, Rand writes reassuringly, “It is important to note that no ghost has to remain “stuck,” and no one has to continually suffer pain after death, whether emotional or

experienced life in a physical body like ours. The angels I’ve met do not speak of lives on Earth; some guides, on the other hand, do. And guides for whom Earth was never home, and who may be from different dimensions and universes than ours, in my experience, are aligned with people devoted to channeling wisdom from the highest frequencies of existence.”

physical. The pathway to love and light is always clear, and helpful mediums and spirits can lead the way. In essence, a ghost can become a spirit.”

In like vein, Rand distinguishes between guides and angels, writing, “Although [both] are spirits, one of the differences is that not all [angels] have

Throughout, Rand explains how spirits use symbols to convey their messages. Of equal interest is spirits’ telepathic mode of communication. “Spirits aren’t limited by distance, and they can be present in more than one place at a time. In other words, a spirit can provide information to me in California while standing next to the sitter in Minnesota.”

Rand demystifies the afterlife.

In fact, death is a misnomer.

Rather, there is continuance, a seamless transition into an accessible sphere; not unlike migration, in our terms. And she explains in some detail what to expect when the inevitable comes.

”As people move closer to death, especially if there’s been a health crisis, they can become aware of loved ones in spirit who have already passed. This serves a twofold purpose: first, loved ones in spirit can help the person dying to be at peace with the process; and second, it is a personal invitation to take the next step in life. In essence, the presence of spirits is much more than a visit - it is a welcoming reunion.”

And of those who commit suicide, she offers reassurance to their loved ones. She writes, “The same thing that happens to anyone who dies: other spirits welcome, love, and help them experience and face their pain and the pain they have caused others.

Dying from suicide or dying from cancer doesn’t come with tickets to different places in the afterlife - one way of dying isn’t more spiritually acceptable than another. And no way of dying separates us from love.”

Rand speaks of the grace that is afforded us at the point of death. “[W]e may think that perhaps that person doesn’t want to die and is fighting to stay alive, [but] spirits will often correct our versions of their deaths to let us know that the experience wasn’t how it looked, and that their passing was far easier than we envision.”Spirits, according to Rand might demonstrate how they passed as a way of identifying themselves and not as a statement on their present condition. She explains, “If a spirit wants to provide evidence that he died of a heart attack, I may feel a sharp and sudden pain in my

own heart.

A popping sound in my head signals that the spirit died from damage due to a brain aneurysm.” She reminds us, though, that, “Love is not only the constant of communication but the very reason for it.”

Maybe, Rand will be chastened for her Romantic taste for the exotic and mystical, and for her generally Polyannaish view of the afterlife. But undeniable is her ability to offer insightful responses to just about every enquiry on this intriguing subject - Do spirits have to eat? Does romantic love exist in the afterlife? Can spirit intervene on our behalf? Is it true that spirits visit us in dreams? What are the signs that a spirit is present? Can spirits hear our thoughts?

And so much more.

Rand’s message is one of inspiration and hope. Very much Jungian, she explores the infinite terrain of the unconscious self, and the power to discern, interpret and redefine reality. Indeed, it is a roadmap to conscious living at the hour of death, and beyond.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this n e w s p a p e r. ) F e e d b a c k : glenvilleashby@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter@glenvilleashby © Copyright 2020 Hollister Rand Publicity contact: devra@dancingwordgroup.com ISBN: 9781-58270-0 Pp. 288 Available at Amazon Ratings: Recommended

Carpha completes 3,336 tests, no new covid19 case NEWSDAY - The number of samples submitted to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (Carpha) increased by 308 from 3,538 to 3,846 between Friday afternoon yesterday morning.The Ministry of Health update said 3,336 unique patient tests were completed and the other statistics remained the same. This means that the number of positive samples remain at 117, deaths remain at eight, and the number of people discharged remain at 109.

It also said there were no positive patients in hospital or at step down facilities even though there have been reports of one positive person returning to TT from Venezuela on Friday night.

Teacher who was involved in distribution...

From page 47 Kaieteur News that the Ministry should have first consulted with the GTU before making plans for the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).

Refuting Phillips’s claim, the Ministry had stated that officials had discussed with the Union its plans on reopening of schools and the timelines for the respective exams.

According to the Ministry, the GTU was assured that the well-being of students or teachers would not be compromised.

Ministry officials also said that the National Covid19 Task Force (NCTF) had granted permission for plans to have the exams.

However, Lyte alleged that during these meetings, the Union made proposals for re-opening which were never adhered to.“Yes we did meet, but they (the Education Ministry) only wanted to force information on us. It was

never their intention to consider our proposals.”He said that his union proposed that exams be held in October and students be granted amnesty for the April-July terms. Lyte said that his union even explained that Guyana is still recording COVID-19 cases.The Union has called on teachers to stay at home for their own safety and the wellbeing of their students.

Teachers in the city had turned up at schools on June 8, while others in Moruca and Port Kaituma refused to report for work.

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Simmons wants massive effort from batsmen in England contest MANCHESTER, England, CMC – Head coach Phil Simmons yesterday underscored the importance of West Indies posting large totals, if they were to be competitive in next month’s three-Test series against England.

Speaking in a media conference via Zoom, Simmons said if the Caribbean side’s “world class” bowling attack were to be afforded the chance to take 20 wickets consistently, the batting needed to fire on all cylinders.

“I think that’s the important part of this tour,” Simmons said from quarantine at Old Trafford here.

“There’s a lot of pressure on the batsmen to perform because the bowling unit has

been carrying the Test team for a while now and it’s something that we are harping on a lot.

“Not to put extra pressure because there’s enough pressure playing a Test match, but we need to get that total of 400, 450 in order to give this bowling unit, which I think is a top class bowling unit – the fast bowlers especially – a chance in these three Test matches.”

West Indies have struggled to post 400 runs in an innings in recent times, passing the mark just once in their last 16 innings. On that occasion, they raised 415 in the second innings of the opening Test against England in Bridgetown last year, laying the foundation for a

commanding 381-run victory.

Nine times during the same period dating back to the tour of Bangladesh in 2018, West Indies have managed less than 250 in an innings. They have lost eight of their last 15 Tests since inside the last two years and won six.

West Indies’ task was made even more difficult with the withdrawal of experienced Darren Bravo who averages 37 from 54 Tests and rising star Hetmyer, who was instrumental in the historic series win over England last year.

Both batsmen expressed concern about their safety on the tour amid the COVID-19 pandemic and declined selection.

However, Simmons said

Sunday June 14, 2020 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Your generosity and altruism will be put to the test over the next few days, Aries.

You'll probably help the underprivileged.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) Today's aspects will influence you to interact naturally with your circle of friends, Taurus. You're tired of hiding your feelings. You want to act in the way your instincts guide you.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) You've felt the need to create over the past several days.

This attitude is certainly due to the planetary positions, but it could also underlie your desire to change your professional and private lives.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) When you feel that your friends are trying to change your everyday life, you shouldn't try to resist it so stubbornly.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) You're defining new strategies concerning your private life. You could be feeling like a completely different person today. You're no longer afraid of society, and you enjoy meeting people.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Over the last few weeks you've been working hard so you don't have to worry about your finances, Sagittarius. Try to forget your problems, and especially avoid focusing on and talking about money today.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) Unfortunately, today's planetary energy will place you in a rather uncomfortable situation, Cancer. You'll be the one having to smooth things over with your group of friends. Try not to impose your point of view.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Even though the times are favorable for relaxation, you won't be able to fully enjoy this period, Capricorn. You'll instead try to adjust your agenda so you can lead a more balanced life.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Even though the times are favorable for relaxation, you won't be able to fully enjoy this period, Leo. You'll instead try to adjust your agenda so you can lead a more balanced life.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Today's celestial configuration will be favorable to changes in your relationships. Your professional and private lives will be influenced by how well you deal with these relationships.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Today you'll question yourself about your private life, Aquarius. Indeed, you have to change your behavior.

You're used to making decisions just for yourself.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Today you should have a lot of vitality. Recently, you may have decided to take more matters into your own hands.

Your relationships will only benefit from this decision.

The conflicts you've had to deal with were generally based on a lack of understanding.

Much will depend on West Indies’ batsmen during the England series. while they would be missed, it was critical other batsmen assumed responsibility in their absence.

“We know and we understand the quality of

these two individuals and we know what we will be missing but in situations like this, we have to work hard with the guys who are here and just make sure that the work we’re doing is putting them in a position to be able to fill those two shoes for the series,” Simmons pointed out.

“Hopefully whoever fills their shoes for the series can go on and be as great as they want to be. We’ve just got to work hard with whom we have here and try to get two players

to fill those boots.”

The series, which bowls off July 8 at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, will be the first of its kind to be played in a “bio-secure” environment amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has already resulted in 294 000 infections and over 41 500 deaths in the United Kingdom.

With cricket halted globally since March, both teams will enter the series without match practice and Simmons believes this will create a more even contest.

“I think it’s a plus because England haven’t come from a tour or two tours recently and we’ve just been playing cricket at home,” he explained.

“In a normal situation we would have been coming from camps and England would have been halfway through their season and the series would’ve been going right now.

“So I think that’s a plus for us because it evens out things a little bit due to the fact they have not been playing competitive cricket for a while also.”

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Late Goretzka goal gives Djokovic, Thiem and Zverev win opening Adria Tour singles Bayern 2-1 win over Gladbach BELGRADE (Reuters) World number one Novak Djokovic, Austrian Dominic Thiem and Germany’s Alexander Zverev won their opening Adria Tour matches in contrasting fashion as the two-day charity event got underway yesterday.

The tournament, organised by Djokovic while international tennis remains suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has adopted a more streamlined format than what is seen on the main tours.

Sets are slashed to best of seven games, with eight players competing in two pools on a round-robin basis.

Djokovic made light work of his 4-1 4-1 win over compatriot Viktor Troicki in Group A while Thiem was leading against Damir Dzumhur 2-0 in the opening set when the Bosnian retired with a thigh injury.

During his clash with Troicki which at times resembled a training session more than it did a competitive match, Djokovic exchanged a few shots with a young boy from his academy and was delighted with the festive atmosphere.

“I really enjoyed myself out there,” Djokovic said in a courtside interview in front of a capacity 4,000 crowd who thronged the Serb’s tennis complex by the Danube river.

“Viktor started well but he

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, Germany’s Alexander Zverev, Austria’s Dominic Thiem and Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic pose for a picture before the match, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). (REUTERS/Marko Djurica) seemed to have lost his momentum after the opening few games and in this format the match can be over pretty quickly.

“Once again I want to thank every player who turned up and all the fans who flocked in, their presence has made this weekend a memorable one.’

The afternoon session’s opening clash in Group B was the most entertaining as Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov beat home favourite Dusan Lajovic 4-3 3-4 4-3, with all three sets decided by tiebreaks.

Zverev looked out of sorts in the opening set against Filip Krajinovic but recovered to produce his best shots in the third set for a 0-4 4-3 4-3 victory.

In the evening session, Djokovic clashes with Krajinovic and Zverev takes on Troicki in Group A while Thiem plays Lajovic and Dimitrov locks horns with Nikola Milojeic, who was drafted in as a replacement for Dzumhur, in Group B. The group winners, to be decided after today’s roundrobin matches, will meet in the final.

Bayern Munich’s Leon Goretzka celebrates scoring their second goal against Borussia Moenchengladbach with teammates, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). (Christof Stache/Pool via REUTERS) BERLIN (Reuters) - Leon Goretzka’s 86th minute goal gave Bayern Munich a 2-1 victory over visitors Borussia Moenchengladbach yesterday, meaning they need just one win in their last three matches to secure the Bundesliga title.

Goretzka tapped in Benjamin Pavard’s cutback to send Bayern seven points clear at the top of the table from Borussia Dortmund, who won 1-0 at Fortuna

Duesseldorf.

Bayern took the lead in the 26th minute when Gladbach keeper Yann Sommer, having made a sensational save only seconds earlier, passed the ball out into the path of Bayern’s Joshua Zirkzee, who fired home.

The visitors, themselves in the hunt for a Champions League spot, went into the break level when France international Pavard scored

an own goal as he attempted to clear a Patrick Herrmann cutback.

Sommer made amends with a fine save of a Serge Gnabry effort but was helpless a little later when Goretzka showed up with far too much space in the box to snatch the winner.

Bayern, who could seal the title on Tuesday at Werder Bremen, are on 73 points, with Dortmund on 66.

Gladbach remain fourth on 56.

Google, NFL latest to call for Juneteenth commemorations NEW YORK (Reuters) Google and the National Football League have joined a growing list of U.S. private sector organizations choosing to commemorate June 19th, the date marking the emancipation of the last remaining slaves at the end of the U.S. Civil War. Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, has instructed employees to cancel unnecessary meetings on “Juneteenth,” according to a staff memo seen by Reuters. Meanwhile, the NFL has decided to recognize the date as a league holiday and will close the league office.

The date is celebrated as African Americans’ Independence Day, and this year marks the 155th anniversary of the end of slavery in the United States

A 3D printed Google logo is seen in this illustration taken April 12, 2020.

(REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration) in 1865.

Google and the NFL are the latest high-profile names from the private sector to recognize Juneteenth amid a nationwide outcry over racism in the United States sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody in

Minneapolis. Others include Nike Inc, Vox Media, The New York Times and several techsector heavyweights such as Twitter Inc. “We encourage all Googlers to use this day to create space for learning and reflection, so please don’t schedule any unnecessary meetings,” the Google memo said. “Now, more than ever, it’s important for us to find moments of connection as a community.”

Google confirmed the memo, sent late Thursday.

The memo applies only to Google staff, not everyone in the wider Alphabet organization.

A spokesperson for the NFL confirmed that the company would recognize Juneteenth as a company holiday and that league offices would be closed.

Google told Reuters it recognized Juneteenth is an important day, but rather than making it a holiday it wanted to give workers the space to use the day mindfully, including if they choose by watching a conversation the company’s diversity team will host with musician Alicia Keys. The company said it expected it to be a quiet day, noting several meetings had come off calendars after the memo.

Google stopped short of making Juneteenth a full company holiday, unlike Silicon Valley peers Twitter, Lyft Inc, and Square Inc, which each announced the new policies this past week.

Sources inside Google,

who were not authorized to speak to the media, said all their meetings have been canceled and some employees who wanted the day off have been told they can use sick days rather than vacation days.

Google last year drew criticism from users for not honoring Juneteenth with a “doodle,” or an altered version of the company’s homepage logo, after artist Davian Chester offered a suggestion that went viral on social media of black hands breaking apart handcuffs.

Chester said this week that he has not heard in recent days from Google, which commemorates many other holidays and anniversaries around the world with a special logo. “I believe they still aren’t going to do anything for Juneteenth but we will see,” Chester said.

Google didn’t have immediate comment.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s memo said he would like staff to “reflect on

The NFL logo is pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York November 30, 2017.

(REUTERS/Carlo Allegri) our past but, more importantly, consider how each one of us can continue to show up and band together to work toward a better future.”

Goodell said the historical event “weighs even more heavily today in the current climate.”

Sunday June 14, 2020

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Kaieteur News

Haaland’s stoppage-time goal gives Dortmund win at Fortuna

Juve into Coppa Italia final despite Ronaldo penalty miss

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 21 Serie A goals this season but hit the post from the penalty spot.

Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Braut Haaland scores their first goal, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). (REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler/Pool DFL) BERLIN (Reuters) Borussia Dortmund substitute Erling Haaland headed a stoppage-time winner to snatch a 1-0 victory at Fortuna Duesseldorf yesterday but their title hopes grew slimmer as Bayern Munich kept up their winning run. The Norwegian teenager, who was brought in on the hour, scored with the last play of the game to lift secondplaced Dortmund to 66 points from 31 games.

Leaders Bayern Munich are on 73 after beating Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1 and need only one more win from their last three games to secure an eighth straight title.

Dortmund never hit top form and survived several scares before Raphael Guerreiro volleyed home just past the hour. The effort, however, was cancelled out by a VAR review for handball after the ball was deflected onto Guerreiro’s shoulder.

Despite the return of defender Mats Hummels the Dortmund backline was far from solid.

Fortuna, in the relegation playoff spot, almost took the lead after twice hitting the post through substitute Steven Skrzybski — first in the 82nd minute with a low shot and eight minutes later again after he broke clear.

But Haaland, back from a

knee injury, bagged his 11th goal in 12 league games and made sure of a last-gasp win when he rose high to connect with Manuel Akanji’s cross.

The win maintained Dortmund’s four-point gap over third-placed RB Leipzig, who won 2-0 at Hoffenheim on Friday.

Werder Bremen enjoyed a big win in the battle to avoid the drop, beating bottom club Paderborn 5-1 away with two goals from Davy Klaassen to join Fortuna on 28 points.

Paderborn have 20.

Promoted Union Berlin’s 2-1 win at Cologne lifted them to 13th on 35 with another Bundesliga season all but assured.

FIDE online tourney for differently abled persons on next Sunday The inaugural International Chess Federation (FIDE) online Chess Cup for differently-abled under-20 players gets underway in exactly one week and it is an open individual tournament for junior players between the ages of eight and 19-years as of December 31, 2019. Players must fall under any of the following three categories: visuallyimpaired, hearing-impaired, or physicallydisabled. The event is to be played as an Open Swiss System tournament of five (5) rounds on the Hosting Internet Platform (HIP) chosen by FIDE DIS. The event will, in all aspects, adhere to the FIDE Laws of Chess and the FIDE General Regulations for Competitions, except in those aspects where the contrary is explicitly announced by the Chief Arbiter.

Time control is 10 minutes plus 5 seconds increments per move starting from move one (10’ + 5" increment). DIS will determine, in consultation with HIP, which player ratings

will be used in the tournament. The final ranking order of the players would be determined by the number of points scored.

If, at the end of the tournament, two or more players are tied for any place, the following tie-break criterion would be applied in the listed order: sum of the progressive scores, Median Buchholz (ignoring the best and worst score).

There would be no default time, and no penalty would be imposed on a player if s/he is late for any of his/her games; his/her clock would simply keep running until the flag falls.

The prizes would be allocated as follows: the first-place finisher and the best among girls will each receive a three-hour teaching session with Grand Master Thomas Luther.

For the top three places overall and the top three among girls, they will each receive a ‘special package chess gift’ but all participants will receive a chess gift.

The registration deadline for this event is tomorrow.

BBC Sport - Thirteentime winners Juventus reached the Coppa Italia final on the away goals rule at AC Milan’s expense as Italy’s football season restarted.

After drawing 1-1 in Milan on 13 February, Juve could not find the net in a semi-final second leg played behind closed doors in Turin.

Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty awarded for handball before Milan’s Ante Rebic was sent off.

It followed the Croatia forward’s 16th-minute foul on Danilo. Juventus, under former Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri, will meet either Inter Milan or Napoli in

Wednesday’s final in Rome.

Napoli take a 1-0 lead into yesterday’s second leg.

After both teams emerged separately from the tunnel before the game, there was a minute’s silence in memory of those who have died during the coronavirus pandemic, followed by applause for medical workers.

With no fans present, at times the game sounded like a training session but the hosts were presented with a great chance to take the lead on the night when they were awarded a penalty after a video assistant referee (VAR) review for handball.

However, Ronaldo’s effort

hit the post and moments later Rebic was dismissed for an ugly challenge on former Manchester City full-back Danilo. Juventus did most of the pressing, Blaise Matuidi forcing a good save from Gianluigi Donnarumma, while Paulo Dybala also forced the keeper into a fine save towards the end.

AC Milan, 27 points behind Juventus in the Serie A table, missed their injured forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Football was suspended in Italy on 9 March but Serie A returns on 20 June with leaders Juve one point clear of Lazio with 12 games remaining.

Italian federation hopes to allow fans in stadiums in July ROME (Reuters) - The head of Italy’s football federation (FIGC) hopes that stadiums can be opened to at least some fans next month if the rate of coronavirus infections continues to drop in the country.

The Italian season restarted after a threemonth hiatus on Friday with a Coppa Italia semi-final second leg between Juventus and AC Milan, while Napoli were hosting Inter Milan in the other tie later on Saturday with the final on Wednesday. Serie A will then restart on June 20. At present, all matches are being played without spectators.

“Yesterday, we took the last step towards dispelling any doubts about the completion

of the championships,” FIGC president Gabriele Gravina said in an interview with Radio Deejay yesterday.

“I’m happy but there is still one piece missing, which is the participation of the fans and I hope they can return very quickly. I hope it will be the beginning of July — the first week or mid-July at the latest,” “This will mean that our country has thrown off those final restrictions and that we’ve come out of this particularly dark moment for our country.”

Serbia is already permitting fans to watch matches and Poland will allow stadiums to be filled up to 25% capacity from June 19.

Napoli players warm up before the match versus Inter Milan at Stadio San Paolo, Naples, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). (REUTERS/Ciro De Luca)

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Sunday June 14, 2020

Kaieteur News

‘$3 million ECB loan a ‘helping hand’, not condition to tour England’ ESPNcricinfo - Cricket West Indies (CWI) President Ricky Skerritt has quashed speculation linking the West Indies tour of England to a US$3 million loan to CWI by the ECB in May, a loan that eventually became the subject of an ICC ethics inquiry.

Skerritt also denied that the loan ensured CWI’s backing for Colin Graves - the outgoing ECB head - for the ICC chairman’s position, elections for which are due by July.

Skerritt said instead the loan was a “helping hand” given the direness of CWI’s financial situation, one exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Skerritt said CWI was transparent with ICC about the need for a shortterm loan, and ECB’s involvement.

He said it seemed to him that the issue was being “blown up” for “political” purposes only, mostly by “mischievous persons who have little genuine care for the wellbeing” of cricket.

Skerritt said the only precondition set for the tour was for the safety and security of his players and once that was assured, the tour would go ahead as it was part of the ICC FTP agreement and the World Test Championship “It was just a matter of when the tour would take place and if the ECB could assure the CWI medical experts that the health risk

Ricky Skerritt is the new CWI president. (CWI) would be minimal to ensure the safety of our players and staff.”

Skerritt told ESPNcricnfo on Friday.

“Money had nothing to do with our final decision to make this tour. Holding out a hand for a pay-off is not the way CWI does business.”

CWI had approached the ICC this April “seeking an advance” of $3 million - an advance that would be taken against the annual distribution the ICC gives member countries twice a year - in January and July.

The ICC, it is understood, asked CWI to provide an external audit of future cash flow considering it was going to make the payment three months in advance, a forecast CWI could not provide quickly or with any certainty, given the circumstances of the pandemic were outside its

control.

Additional pressure on CWI came from pending player match-fee payments, accrued since January this year, as well as the need to pay its staff. The pandemic worsened the situation, as it scuppered the finalisation of the board’s global broadcast partnerships for their home series against New Zealand and South Africa.

“We needed cash urgently,” said Skerritt. “The communication [with ICC] was beginning to look like it would take quite long to be approved and CWI had no other reliable source of cash at that time.”

It was then Skerritt approached the ECB. “CWI asked ECB if they could make the advance instead, with the ICC providing the security,” he said.

“ECB agreed on the basis that ICC would then pay the advance back directly in July.

ICC Finance officials were always fully aware of the transparent arrangements and soon became a legal party to the loan agreement.”

‘No intentional violation’ ICC Ethics Officer Not everyone was convinced at the ICC, however, and an informal inquiry asked its Ethics Officer to probe any potential impropriety. Both the probe and the Ethics Officer’s clean chit were not made public.

However according to the Indo-Asian News Service, the enquiry was set up at the behest of ICC chairman Shashank Manohar who is reported to have asked the question internally of whether it was related to the upcoming elections to the ICC chairman’s post. According to the IANS, the Ethics Officer received the request on April 30.

The Ethics Officer concluded there was no “intentional violation” committed by either of the two boards. He said that it was “clear beyond any doubt” that the CWI and ECB arrangement was “in accordance with their pressing and necessary business and cricket” reasons.

“I attest that I do not believe the loan was made or received in the context of, or in relation with the matter of the forthcoming election for a new ICC Chairperson,” the officer stated.

‘This is all political’ “The negative result of the ICC ethics investigation was predictable,” Skerritt said. “The investigation upset me personally because of the risk to my own integrity, especially when it began to look like I was a collateral damage.

And it was extremely unfair to Colin [Graves], who was responding to CWI’s request to expedite an

West Indies will tour England for three behindclosed-doors Tests in July. (Getty Images) advance which ICC would likely have given anyhow.

The loan funds were meant for our working capital to keep CWI going for the period between then and when we are due to get the next ICC distribution money from the ICC in mid-July.”

According to Skerritt this was not the first time CWI had borrowed money from another Full Member country.

When he took charge in 2019 Skerritt said CWI had been saddled with a US$6 million loan it had taken in 2016 from the ICC and a similar US$2million advance in 2018 from the Bangladesh Cricket

Board.

“I was not [CWI] president at the time when we borrowed money from Bangladesh, and I have no idea if it was followed by an ICC ethics investigation then as well.”

“There are too many people in and around cricket who are more concerned about politics than about cricket,” he added.

“That’s what this is about.

It is being blown up for political purposes only, mostly by mischievous persons who have little genuine care for the wellbeing of cricket.”

Van Niekerk ‘100% ready’ for Shahid Afridi tests positive for Covid-19 return after two-year injury absence Paris, France (AFP) — South African 400m world record holder Wayde van Niekerk says he is “100 per cent ready” to hit the track again after two years spent on the sidelines with injury.

The Olympic and two-time former world 400m champion damaged knee ligaments in October 2017 while playing in a celebrity touch rugby match that preceded a South AfricaNew Zealand Test in Cape Town.

His recovery included time at medical facilities in the United States and Qatar and there were several setbacks, including bruising of the knee.

“There were days when I couldn’t walk,” Van Niekerk told the Paris edition of the Diamond League Call Room, in an interview set to

air on social media yesterday.

The Cape Town native has slowly come back to the track, his most recent outing a victory in the Free State Provincial Championships 400m race in Bloemfontein in March, his fourth such lowkey race.

Van Niekerk said he had learned to differentiate between “bad pain when I am on the brink of injuring myself, and pain where I just need a day or two of rest and recovery”.

“I had to listen to my body more and I thank my coaches for listening to me when I am in that situation.”

Van Niekerk, who ran the world record of 43.03 seconds when winning 400m gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, added: “My body is feeling good.

“I have had time to allow my knee to get used to that ‘on your marks’ feeling.”

His recent outings had given him a “massive confidence boost to know that I still have my speed”.

“Now I just need to puzzle everything back together again to run the 400m successfully.”

The coronavirus pandemic has played havoc with the track and field season, with a number of elite Diamond League meets cancelled. The Tokyo Olympics were also postponed a year to 2021.

But Van Niekerk argued that it was perhaps easier for him to accept the thought of not competing.

“I have been in a two-year lockdown hibernation vibe anyway with my injury!”

ESPNcricinfo - Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has tested positive for Covid-19. Afridi, 40, revealed on Twitter yesterday that he had been experiencing severe body ache for a few days, and that the tests had come out positive.

Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan chief selector and head coach, sent across his best wishes to his former teammate, suggesting that he had contracted the virus while he was conducting his charitable work.

“My prayers are with him,” Misbah said. “All well wishes are with him that he gets out of this soon.

“I think he was doing a lot of work in the area of Balochistan and the northern areas just to help the people. Throughout the Covid situation he was helping the poor and doing a very good job. Well wishes are with him to get well soon.” Since the Covid-19 outbreak, Afridi has travelled extensively to remote parts of the country to provide essentials to the

Shahid Afridi is mobbed by his fans in Karachi. (AFP via Getty Images) underprivileged as part of his charity, the Shahid Afridi Foundation. Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were broadly the areas of focus for his relief work, and that involved delivering ration from house to house. During the work, Afridi came in close contact with the beneficiaries, who often showed their gratitude by hugging and kissing the former allrounder.

Afridi had earlier also bought the bat put up for auction by Bangladesh’s

Mushfiqur Rahim, to raise funds in the fight against the pandemic.

Afridi became the third cricketer from Pakistan, and the second international after former opener Taufeeq Umar, to have contracted the virus. Zafar Sarfraz, the former first-class cricketer who died of the disease, was the first.

Afridi, who quit international cricket in 2017, continues to ply his trade in domestic T20 leagues.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 57

Windies coach Simmons puts his faith in domino theory

L

ONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Dominoes may be an unusual way to get ready for cricket but West Indies coach Phil Simmons believes the traditional Caribbean past time will help his squad’s morale ahead of their behind-closed-doors Test series with England.

The West Indies arrived in Manchester on Tuesday and will now spend several weeks at Old Trafford ahead o f t h e f i r s t Te s t a t Southampton starting on July 8 before returning to Lancashire’s headquarters for the final two matches.

The three-Test series will mark the return of international cricket following the coronavirus shutdown.

But with COVID-19 still very much a reality in Britain, where the virus has killed more than 40,000 people, players won’t be able to go out and about as they would normally after training or a match day.

Simmons, while acknowledging the seriousness of the pandemic, said the likes of West Indies captain Jason Holder would ensure the squad remained in

Shane Dowrich in the nets at Emirates Old Trafford. (CWI)

buoyant mood at a trying time. “ T h e r e ’s a l w a y s dominoes — as you can imagine if you’ve been to the Caribbean that is a highly explosive form of entertainment,” Simmons told a conference call yesterday. “ We h a v e a g o l f simulation centre, we have cards, a few things the guys are enjoying. When you have characters like Jason Holder everyone is always laughing and enjoying themselves.”

Simmons, himself a former West Indies allrounder, added: “The biggest challenge is boredom, but

saying that in this scenario — because of doing nothing, no cricket being play for the last however many months — that will take a while to come into play.

“The guys are hungry, they want to play and practice.”

The West Indies hold the Wisden Trophy after beating England in the Caribbean last year but it is more than three decades since they last won a series on English soil.

In Britain, the BBC are currently screening highlights of classic E n g l a n d - We s t I n d i e s matches, most recently the 1984 Test at Lord’s where

California Horse Racing Board approves new rule restricting whip use during races

Y

ahoo Sports The California Horse Racing Board approved a new rule on Thursday that will limit the amount of times a jockey can strike a horse during a race, according to the Associated Press.

Under the new rule, which was approved by a 4-2 vote, jockeys can’t strike a horse more than six times during a race. After that, they can only do so in an underhand position. The rule also allows no more than two strikes in succession using whips that meet new board standards, which are designed to soften the blow, per the report.

Though some were against the change, and wanted to instead wait for a proposed national rule to be implemented, board chairman Gregory Ferraro didn’t see a point in waiting any longer.

“This board has a mandate from the governor

to make reforms in racing that contribute to the welfare of the horse,” Ferraro said, via the Associated Press.

“We’ve been talking about this crop rule for two years. I think it’s time to stop procrastinating and pass a rule … We’re never going to please the jocks. They don’t want to do anything but keep the status quo. We appreciate their argument. But it’s not going to fly in the face of the public demand that we quit hitting these horses.”

Violators of the new rule will face a maximum fine of $1,000 and a suspension of at least three days, per the report. If it’s determined that the use of the whip was “necessary for the safety of the horse or rider,” however, there will be no penalty.

The Jockeys’ Guild was against the rule change, though pushed back against Ferraro’s statement that they wanted to stick to the status quo. They also believe that the rule change is based more

on public perception than anything, which can lead to more accidents on the track.

“We’re concerned that it’s not going to work, and that there’s going to be real safety issues when a jockey is unable to perform his or her job,” said Shane Gusman, the attorney for the Jockeys’ guild, via the Associated Press.

“What will happen is you’re going to get an accident, and either a jockey is going to get hurt or a horse is going to go down. You’re going to end racing in California. It’s just going to happen if you go down this road of trying to regulate perception rather than reality.”

Jason Holder discusses his batting with coach Phil Simmons, Lucknow, November 26, 2019 © CWI Media/Philip Spooner

Gordon Greenidge scored an unbeaten double century in a stunning win after home captain David Gower had set the tourists the then seemingly impossible task of scoring 342 in under a day.

West Indies’ era as the dominant force in world cricket has sometimes seemed a burden to present-

day players in weaker sides but Simmons hopes a proud history will help inspire Holder’s men.

“I saw (on television) the Test at Lord’s where Gordon scored a double (hundred) on the last day,” he said.

“I’m not too sure how close some of the younger players are (to the past) but

we’re trying to bring that back, get younger guys to understand where we’ve come from in terms of being top of the world for such a long time.

“Sometimes when you know the whole West Indies saga is coming from, it gives you more impetus to be pushing forward to get the team back on top.”

rt Spo

Windies coach Simmons puts his faith in domino theory

Phil Simmons gives catching practice © IDI via Getty Images

FIDE online tourney for differently Juve into Coppa Italia final abled persons on next Sunday despite Ronaldo penalty miss FIDE to host online tourney for differently-abled persons for the first time.

Juventus are 27 points clear of AC Milan in the Serie A table. (IPA)

Simmons wants Van Niekerk ‘100% massive effort ready’ for return from batsmen in after two-year England contest injury absence

Shahid Afridi tests positive for Covid-19

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