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Canadian firm inks deal to acquire almost 5,000 acres of mining lands in Guyana Aurora gold miners down tools, demand 10% pay hike

Devika Lekaran points to the floodwaters that killed her poultry and young sheep.

Cop under Surinamese man fatally stabs close arrest for his 4 children, Rain wipes out millions in discharging 5 others in firearm killing spree cash crops at Black Bush Polder

‘Tens of billions wasted on GuySuCo in last few years’ - Low

An inundated rice field

…urges Govt. to mobilise entity to fill construction demands - Mustapha says relief, compensation coming

Ram slams President, Finance Minister over delay in release of census data

Kaieteur News

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Monday December 29, 2025

Aurora gold miners down tools, demand 10% pay hike A proposed 6 per cent increase in wages by Aurora Gold Mines (AGM) owned by Chinese stateowned Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd., and discontent among workers about working conditions resulted in a brief work stoppage on Sunday.

Workers are requesting at least 10 per cent increase in their wages, citing the increase in the gold operations. The Aurora Gold Project, located in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), is wholly owned by AGM and remains Guyana’s only large-scale gold mine currently in production. It holds estimated reserves of 184 tonnes (approximately six million ounces) of gold.

AGM confirmed the incident but noted it was a, “brief work stoppage”, at the mills round pad area. It said the stand-down took place between 07:18 hrs. and 08:10 hrs. and involved employees from the mills department. “The matter related to discussions on a proposed wage adjustment.

Employees expressed their position during the period of the stand down,” AGM said.

AGM Inc. said engagement followed between its human resources department and union representatives, including direct communication with the union’s general secretary, after which employees agreed to return to

work. Mill operations resumed at 08:18 hrs, and operations continue as normal.

Notably, a formal meeting between management and union representatives is scheduled for Tuesday, December 30, to continue negotiations.

AGM also said it remains committed to respectful dialogue, workplace stability, and constructive engagement with employees and their representatives as discussions continue.

Notably, the Chinese company took over the operations back in

2020.

AGM Inc., earned RMB1.4789 billion (over US$200 million) from the Aurora Gold Mine during the first half of 2025. The company’s interim report valued the mine’s total assets at RMB4.5287 billion and disclosed that it produced

2,039 kilograms (over 71,000 ounces) of gold between January a n d J u n e . A u r o r a ’s o u t p u t contributed to the 41,186 kilograms of gold produced across its global operations, marking a 16 per cent increase over the same period last year.

Kaieteur News

Monday December 29, 2025

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Ram slams President, Finance Minister over delay in release of census data Intolerable and inexcusable. Those two words best describe the years-long delay in the publication of the 2022 national census data which remains pending without a clear timeline for publication- a failure that falls squarely at the feet of President Irfaan Ali and Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh.

This is according to chartered accountant and attorney, Christopher Ram. In his most recent column published Sunday by Stabroek News, the lawyer referenced comments reported by the newspaper where the minister said he was “still awaiting a clear update” on the long-delayed 2022 Population and Housing Census, that he was unsure what caused the delay, and that he intended to raise the matter with the chief statistician “very soon.”

Ram pointed out the issue may have been excusable were it routine, and tolerable if the delay was brief. To this end, he noted that as finance minister, Dr. Singh carries the responsibility of presenting annual budgets exceeding one trillion dollars, allocating resources across ministries, departments, agencies, regions, and sectors; a task which demands the most current and reliable demographic and socio-economic data available.

“It cannot responsibly and properly be discharged by guesswork, political preference, or incremental increases carried over from t h e p r e v i o u s y e a r. A population and housing census is precisely the dataset that anchors such decisions. For the senior minister responsible for finance to accept - assuming his account is accurate - a state of affairs in which that foundational data is unavailable, unexplained, and unmanaged is not merely regrettable. It borders on incredible,” the lawyer argued.

Furthermore, he said the explanation is not merely puzzling in a political sense but difficult to reconcile with the statutory framework governing official statistics in Guyana.

Ram pointed out that the Statistics Act does not contemplate an open-ended census process, nor does it permit foundational national data to drift indefinitely

President Irfaan Ali without explanation or accountability.

Shifting his attention to the Bureau of Statistics, the Chartered Accountant highlighted that the body is governed by a board chaired by the finance secretary – who operationally reports direct to the minister - with the chief statistician as vicechair, and comprising senior public officials.

Notably, oversight of the bureau therefore sits squarely within the financial and administrative architecture of the state.

“Delays of this magnitude cannot occur unseen, unexplained, or unmanaged at that level. Nor does responsibility end with Dr. Singh,” Ram said.

The Lawyer reasoned that President Ali in an unprecedented, unexplained move which is yet to be clearly understood has not allocated finance to its own minister.

To t h i s e n d , h e contended, “Under our constitutional framework, Finance is retained within the Office of the President, and responsibility for Statistics has been allocated to no other minister. In such circumstances, prolonged non-delivery cannot be treated as an operational mishap. It becomes an executive failure that points directly to Dr. Singh and indirectly to President Ali.” Further deepening the worry over the census data is the fact that the public has been fed with a mixture of excuses and promises offered by the minister, according to Ram. The lawyer also pointed out that this is no longer a single lapse, but a pattern, as years have passed and another beckons, with the board of the Bureau of Statistics also close to expiring. To this end, he said, “A governing body chaired

by the finance secretary, with the chief statistician as vicechair, and populated by senior public officials, will have completed its term without delivering the most important statutory function of the decade. Boards are appointed to govern, to supervise, and to ensure

Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh delivery. When a board’s term expires without results, responsibility gives way to accountability – not excuses.”

With just a few more days before the year ends, Ram urged that the responsibility for the census cannot be deferred any

Chartered Accountant and Attorney-at-Law, Christopher Ram

further but must be owned and acted upon as he underscored the crucial role of the data to the country.

“What makes this failure even more troubling is that the statistics act does not contemplate a single, isolated census. It provides for several distinct censuses

and large-scale statistical exercises - including population and housing, labour force, household expenditure and other socioeconomic surveys - each separate in scope, but all essential to decisionmaking, public Continued on page 8

Kaieteur News

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Monday December 29, 2025

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

Publisher: GLENN LALL - Tel: 624-6456 Editor-in-Chief: Nigel Williams Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

EDITORIAL

Guyanese must take a stand Some combination of harmful ingredients has gone to the heads of Guyanese. Ruling politicians are power drunk, listen only to themselves, runover those daring to disagree.

Opposition politicians are slowed by some other kind of ingredient. Some Guyanese have transformed into the flat out mad, while others have been overtaken by foolishness.

Men go into a bar to relax, only for some madness to swamp their heads, which prompts them to unholster weapons and fire a few rounds into the air. They don’t do that so casually even in Texas. But in this new, wild and wide-open frontier that is Guyana, almost everybody is a law unto himself. Leaders shout down citizens; citizens intimidate and savage their peers, with the result of many forced to run for cover, settle for silence. Meanwhile, the hordes of the incoming rub their hands together, smirk in smug contentment, help themselves to our lucrative opportunities, dump upon Guyanese, and count their cash.

In sharp contrast to Guyanese, outsiders keep their cool, feet grounded. They do not get carried away (in “never see come to see fashion”), drive themselves mad (like Midas) with the glitter of new money, but simply shake their heads, and carry on with ringing their cash registers. This is what Guyanese should be focused on: be aware, dedicate their energies towards knowing what is going on around them, being more responsible and vigilant citizens, and looking out for their fellow citizens.

If our fellow citizens have only a fraction of the commonsense, the smarts, and the wisdom that we at this paper think that they have, then they would take aim at how outsiders take advantage of us, instead of targeting their fellow Guyanese, and being a danger to others. It is time that we all grow up, that the attitudes in this country change, and that our changed conversations reflect such improvements at the individual level. In theory, we are supposed to be on top of the world, our conduct must so reflect. When we cannot have civil conversations, even collect our garbage consistently, then we are closer to the dregs of the sewer than the heights of what passes for a civilized people.

What we are insisting is that the many cross sections of the Guyanese population must arrive at a swift understanding of the enormous gifts that have been put into their hands, and that they have to get serious about the responsibilities that come with them. To paraphrase a wellknown saying: to those that have been given much, much is expected. We must live up to the lucrative trusts handed to us. This means communications that lead to consensus.

This is what Guyanese with too much energy for their own good should get a grip on, and realise that they waste time in shooting off guns, shooting off their mouths, and shooting down those who dare to point to the company and holler: ExxonMobil is trouble, ExxonMobil is untrustworthy, ExxonMobil is self-serving and predatory.

This is what Guyanese will get by just looking at the company’s revealing record, and all of the gaps that it does not want Guyanese to see. Look at how ExxonMobil managed the Exxon Valdez misery to the advantage of its treasury. The PPPC Government knows this, so do members of the Opposition. Yet both have been too warm and embracing of the same ExxonMobil that has been so unjust to Guyanese, so outrageous in its contract concoctions, so unfair and horrendous in the sum of its hemorrhaging activities.

No Guyanese with an ounce of pride inside of them would want to have anything to do with ExxonMobil. Not work for it, not drum up figures to defend it, and not craft speeches to sing praises about how much good this American corporate power has done for Guyana. For every barrel of oil that ExxonMobil gives to Guyana as its paltry share, ExxonMobil snatches up, sneaks out, and walks away with a bank vault stuffed with our inheritance. Instead of Guyanese going crazy at each other, they should go crazy over what ExxonMobil is doing to them, all of us. We either grow-up, or we grind ourselves into the dustpan of history.

Govt. spending authority during a prolonged parliamentary recess DEAR EDITOR, On December 21 and 23, I wrote to highlight concerns about year-end public spending practices and the growing number of highvalue procurements appearing to fall outside the 2025 estimates of expenditure as presented to parliament. Those letters addressed the risks associated with compressed year-end procurement and the importance of transparency in the use of public funds. Since then, additional facts have emerged that raise a distinct and more fundamental oversight question.

Tender evaluations dated mid-December 2025 have been published for significant projects, including works under the Ministry of Home Affairs, while new requests for proposals have been issued by the Ministry of Housing and the Central Housing and Planning Authority. Yet, as of this writing, there are no

corresponding contract award notices publicly posted, nor is there a gazetted s u p p l e m e n t a r y appropriation or warrant identifying the budget authority under which these commitments are to be financed. This situation must be considered alongside a critical institutional reality: the 13th Parliament has held only one sitting to date and has not met since November 3. There is no constitutional or procedural impediment preventing parliament from being convened to transact the people’s business, including the consideration of supplementary estimates or other financial authorisations. Legislative activity does not depend on the turn of the calendar year.

Against this backdrop, public statements by senior officials that frame substantive legislative reform as a 2026 undertaking reasonably raise the question of whether parliament is expected to play any

meaningful role in authorising or scrutinising expenditure in the closing d a y s o f 2 0 2 5 , notwithstanding that nothing prevents it from meeting now. This is not a repetition of concerns about year-end spending. It is a question of p r o c e s s , l e g a l i t y, a n d accountability: How is expenditure authority being lawfully created and disclosed during an extended period in which parliament has not been convened and therefore cannot approve s u p p l e m e n t a r y appropriations?

The constitution and the financial management and accountability act require that public expenditure be authorised by parliament or, in limited circumstances, by warrant subject to subsequent parliamentary scrutiny. Where procurement activity continues during a prolonged parliamentary hiatus, the public is entitled to clarity

on: • the specific estimates lines, virements, or warrants being relied upon; • the sequence between tender evaluation, award, and financial authorisation; and • when and how parliament will be afforded the opportunity to review and regularise such expenditure.

These are not academic questions. They go to the heart of parliamentary oversight and the protection of the taxpayer.

As parliament prepares for the new fiscal year and, h o p e f u l l y, t h e e a r l y resumption of legislative business, these matters will require careful examination to ensure that procurement practices remain aligned with constitutional principles, fiscal law, and the fundamental role of the legislature in authorising the use of public funds.

Yours faithfully, Sherod Duncan, M.P

End this culture of lawlessness and allow Guyana’s constitution to work!

DEAR EDITOR, The Guyana Constitution must be allowed to function.

Its relevance and application should be actively discussed, enabling the ventilation of diverse views to strengthen our political system. Yet, at this critical moment, the National Assembly is not sitting, committees remain unestablished, and the leader of the opposition has not been elected. This paralysis undermines the very foundations of governance and threatens the principle that no branch of government is superior to another.

As citizens and workers, we must understand that the constitution—and any changes to it—remains dead at its core unless activated by the people. Article 119(A) of the Constitution explicitly mandates the establishment of a Parliamentary Standing C o m m i t t e e f o r Constitutional Reform, charged with reviewing the effectiveness of the constitution and making proposals for reform.

This committee has broad authority, including co-opting experts and engaging the citizenry across the country. Yet, for more than a decade, there has been

no meaningful action, no consultation, no visible leadership from those entrusted with this responsibility.

It is clear that the constitution itself has not failed. The failure lies with the individuals tasked with upholding it. Title one guarantees the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, aligning with international declarations. Yet, political leaders consistently disregard these protections, and the society has yet to see those responsible held accountable. Constitutional condemnation is politically expedient, but true progress comes from ensuring compliance with the constitution today, not waiting for abstract changes.

This nation can only thrive, and its people coexist in peace, where accountability is real and enforced. Citizens must demand that every elected official respect the rules, uphold the law, and protect the rights of all.

This starts with the government, the clerk, and the Speaker of the National Assembly taking immediate action: convene sittings, establish committees, and

elect the leader of the opposition without delay.

The legislative branch must function fully, in lockstep with the executive and judiciary, as co-equal pillars of governance. This culture of lawlessness must end—now. We are stuck at a dangerous crossroads, where might appears to replace right, and lawlessness is replacing the rule of law.

Executive power cannot continue to ignore legislative authority and the will of the people.

Today, the executive is using its parliamentary majority to disregard the legislature, sidelining the citizens’ interests, and flouting the constitution. If this conduct is allowed to continue unchecked, how can we expect this nation to move forward in harmony?

Youth and citizens alike must immerse themselves in these discussions to chart the country’s direction.

Some argue that marginalisation stems from exclusion from executive power, but the constitution already protects every group and individual, regardless of political affiliation, race, class, gender, creed, or governmental position. Yet, these protections are

continually ignored.

If the political class shows no respect for rights and the rule of law, no arrangement—whether executive power-sharing, shared governance, or a government of national unity—can cure their contempt for citizens or institutions.

This contempt has become cancerous, spreading through society and threatening lives, livelihoods, the well-being of all, and the stability of the nation. Politics is about people and their development; it is not about violating laws, breaking rules, and transgressing rights. The time for talk is over. The National Assembly must sit—now. Committees must function—without delay. The leader of the opposition must be e l e c t e d — i m m e d i a t e l y.

Respect for the constitution is not optional, it is mandatory, and it starts with those who are sworn to uphold it.

The people are watching, and they will no longer tolerate leaders who ignore the law, sideline institutions, and trample the rights of citizens. Enough is enough.

Lincoln Lewis

Monday December 29, 2025

Kaieteur News

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The deceptions of 2025: Exposing the PPP’s selective amnesia on the Commonwealth report DEAR EDITOR, The recent missive in your (Dec 24th) edition, proffered by pro—PPP a d v o c a t e M r. N i k h a i l S a n k a r, r e g a r d i n g t h e Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) report, is a “masterclass in political gaslighting.”

The writer accuses the presumptive leader of the opposition (LOO) of “cherry-picking,” his use of elections reports, yet proceeds to harvest an entire orchard of selective facts to serve a pro-government narrative. It is time to address the report in its entirety, rather than the “snippets” currently being weaponised to sanitise the 2025 general elections.

The writer’s attempt to use the COG’s praise of a “peaceful” polling day as a blanket exoneration of the entire electoral process is intellectually dishonest.

While the COG did c o m m e n d G E C O M ’s technical staff, the report simultaneously sounded an alarm that the writer chose to silence: the “undue advantage of incumbency.”

The Commonwealth observers were clear—the playing field was not level. It clearly stated: “The findings of our observer group also underscore that more remains to be done to secure equity, full inclusivity and restore public confidence” The persistent challenges, which affected public

confidence and equity, including uneven access to campaign resources, media bias that favoured the governing party, weak regulation of campaign finance, and ongoing partisan divides, blurring of lines between official government business (launching hospitals, roads, and bridges) and PPP/C campaign activities created a distorted environment that no amount of “professional counting” can rectify.

Furthermore, the writer’s dismissal of concerns regarding the voters’ list is a gross oversimplification.

The COG report explicitly noted the “significant trust deficit” regarding the inflated official list of

electors.

To suggest that the report “shreds” these concerns is a lie; the report actually calls for mechanisms to enhance the “credibility and integrity” of the list for future processes.

Most egregious is the silence on the noncertification of the election results. If the process was as “diligent” and “transparent” as the writer claims, why does the cloud of noncertification continue to hang over the final declaration?

Transparency is not a part-time requirement; it applies from the first ballot cast to the final legal certification.

The Guyanese public

It’s about time for a showdown DEAR EDITOR, A can of worms (and snakes) has been opened.

Indeed, the time has come for a ‘one-to-one’ showdown to begin, where ‘corruption’ matters are concerned in Guyana. The ‘ting’ has gone out of control, and personally, I sense the stealthy move by the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) to emasculate the judiciary, so that a veneer of ‘legality’ can spread over the shenanigans within the party.

So now, we have the reactionary “Mustapha flaying Mohamed over posts-saying that he built his Bloomfield house with mortgage, his own money.”

In his state of exposure and embarrassment, the agriculture minister Zulfikar Mustapha mouthed, and with supposed ‘profound concern’ “… several Facebook posts (video), laced with nasty propaganda, made under the name Team Mohamed’s, by Mr. Azruddin Mohamed, who was sanctioned by the United States of America, regarding his son and me.”

According to the now ‘even more reviled’ Minister,

Azruddin Mohamed is clearly attempting to insinuate that the Bloomfield property (of the Minister) was acquired through corrupt means…” and instead “The assertions made are completely untrue, fallacious, and devoid of merit, and could only have been contrived to harm his reputation, expose him to hatred, contempt, ridicule and damage his image as a minister of the People P r o g r e s s i v e P a r t y ’s government.”

Well, as a Guyanese, attuned to happenings in Guyana, I ask that public pressure be brought upon Mustapaha. He is declaring that “…. the construction of the said house at Bloomfield, Berbice, was funded and financed exclusively through a mortgage obtained from Demerara Bank Limited and personal savings accumulated through lawful employment.

He noted that he “… has been up to date with his declarations with the Integrity Commission, and he wishes to assure his supporters and the general public that all his assets were acquired through lawful

means (and) he can account for every asset he owns.” I will not belabor readers with details about the minister’s son, Javed Mustapha, regarding being ‘corrupt’ but suffice to say it is the same kind of accusations that are levelled at the PPP/C hierarchy.

My part then is very simple and it needs a concerted and sustained effort. I mean ‘things will happen’ if a third of the honest and hard-working people of Guyana seriously protest (in constructive ways), and demand that all the ‘overnight-got-rich’ PPP/C’s associates show a paper trail of their total assets. Guyanese need to have a detailed report of ‘who’ got ‘what’ and became ‘what’ and ‘when’ all off this happened. It is sickening that this minister, just one of the lot, is now trying to offer some weird and contorted explanation, only ‘after the fact of exposure.

The minister needs to show the track record since he is claiming that the embarrassing “… allegations made therein were false, misleading and designed to harm the

reputation of him and his son’s image (and since) he has invested in his son’s education, and his entrepreneurial path has been nothing short of maintaining a high standard o f a c c o u n t a b i l i t y, transparency, integrity, and professionalism.”

The people have a constitutional right to know, and not only for the Agri Boss, but for every single minister of the government.

Let me add that contrary to what the government is trying to foist on the people, more and more of the citizenry are beginning to be sympathetic towards the Mohameds; he seems to be gathering momentum, and with the sordid history of the entire pre-WIN opposition, and the PPP/C, people are looking for a solid alternative.

I call on this minister to quit the pettifogging and come transparent (if you want to dispel doubts) instead of saying that “Mr. Mohamed’s hypocrisy is glaring and must not be countenanced.” I, on behalf of so many, am challenging you. “Show me the money, Continued on page 9

deserves the full picture, not a sanitised PPP brochure.

When a report cites “media bias favoring the governing party” and “weak campaign finance regulation,” it is describing a system that is fundamentally skewed.

To the letter writer: you cannot herald the COG as the ultimate authority on “transparency” while simultaneously ignoring their specific warnings about your party’s misuse of state

resources. That is not an analysis; it is a cover-up.

Democracy thrives on the whole truth, and as you rightly stated “election lies are a cancer to the health of any democratic society,” yet you engaged in the very acts that you are chastising others for, resorting to the use of convenient snippets in desperation to bury the reality of a flawed process.

Sincerely, Hemdutt Kumar

When Workers Speak, We Must Listen DEAR EDITOR, As a trade unionist, I write out of genuine concern following the recent work stoppage by employees at Aurora Gold Mines (AGM), especially when placed alongside the troubling issue that arose only weeks ago involving workers at Gold Mountain, a subcontractor operating within the same mining space.

These events are connected. They tell a story many workers know too well, a story of concerns raised quietly at first, then repeatedly, and too often without meaningful response. When workers finally down tools, it is not because they want conflict, but because they feel they have run out of options.

The situation at Gold Mountain should have been treated as a warning sign. Instead, it appears that the lessons were not fully taken on board, and now we are seeing frustration surface more broadly at AGM itself. This is unfortunate, but not surprising.

Mining is not easy work. It is physically demanding, often dangerous, and takes workers away from their families for long hours. When those sacrifices are met with wages that struggle to meet today’s cost of living, or when workers feel unsafe or disrespected, morale suffers. No worker wants to feel invisible in the very industry they help sustain.

This moment calls for understanding, not blame. It calls for listening, truly listening to the men and women who power this industry. Respectful dialogue, fair pay, and safe working conditions are not unreasonable demands; they are the foundation of industrial peace.

I urge the management of Aurora Gold Mines, its subcontractors, and the Ministry of Labour to approach this situation with empathy and urgency. Addressing workers’ concerns early and honestly can prevent unrest and build trust where it has been strained.

Guyana’s development must include the wellbeing of its workers. When workers feel valued and heard, everyone benefits — the company, the community, and the country.

Yours sincerely, Lorenzo Joseph, Trade Unionist

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Kaieteur News

Monday December 29, 2025

Monday Thursday December November 29,24, 2025 2022

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Kaieteur News

Monday December 29, 2025

75 homes to be handed over Surinamese man fatally stabs his at Yarrowkabra early 2026 4 children, 5 others in killing spree Minister of Housing Collin Croal on Saturday announced that 75 homes will be handed over in early 2026 under the Yarrowkabra Homestead Programme, along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.

More than 250 homes are under construction in the initial phase of the project.

“Right now…25 [houses] are already completed, and another 50 will be handed over within two weeks,” Minister Croal stated during a Facebook broadcast.

The Yarrowkabra Homestead Programme is a targeted housing initiative to empower single mothers and women-led households through home ownership and income generation.

The programme differs from traditional

housing schemes by offering completed homes alongside income-earning opportunities, including shade houses to support household livelihoods.

It was introduced under the PPP/C G o v e r n m e n t ’s 2 0 2 0 – 2 0 2 5 h o u s i n g expansion drive and is being further developed as part of the administration’s next five-year economic and social transformation agenda.

The initiative is intended to reduce barriers to home ownership, particularly for single mothers, while promoting selfsufficiency and long-term security of tenure.

Minister Croal said the homestead model will be expanded to other areas as demand increases. (DPI)

(AFP) A man stabbed to death nine people, including five children, overnight in Suriname’s capital Paramaribo, police said Sunday, adding the suspect was wounded and arrested.

The man appeared to be suffering from mental health issues, and four of his own children were among the fatalities in the attack, which took place around his home, according to local media reports.

The suspect had an argument with his wife over the phone before stabbing one of the victims, his 11-year-old daughter, 44 times in the kitchen of their home, local media reported.

“A man killed four adults and five children with a sharp object at a residence in Hadji Iding Soemitaweg,” the local police said in a statement.

“A sixth child and an adult were seriously injured and were transported” to the hospital, according to the statement.

Officers who arrived on the scene had to open fire on the suspect, as “he attacked police with a sharp object,” the statement said.

The man sustained a gunshot wound to the leg and is hospitalised under police supervision, police said without identifying him.

“Further details regarding the true circumstances of this tragic attack will follow,” the statement concluded.

According to the local press, which visited the scene of the attack and spoke to the m a n ’s n e i g h b o u r s i n H a d j i I d i n g Soemitaweg, a neighbourhood in the Commewijne district, the suspect had mental health issues.

Suriname’s President Jennifer GeerlingsSimons issued a statement in response to the killings on her Facebook page.

“At a time when family and friends should stand together and support one another, we are faced with the harsh reality that there is another side to the world,” she wrote.

“A father who takes the lives of his own children and, in the process, kills his neighbours as well. I wish all those in mourning much strength, courage, and comfort in this unimaginably difficult time.”

Ram slams President, Finance Minister...

From page 3 administration, and management applying evidence-based governance. The act also gives the bureau latitude, with ministerial approval, to undertake additional censuses and surveys as circumstances require. In other words, the population and housing census is not the sole output of the statistical system, but the cornerstone upon which the others rest.”

Planning on social and physical infrastructure, skills requirements and availability, poverty measurement, household consumption analysis and intercensal estimates all depend, directly or indirectly, on the population baseline. As such the failure to publish the 2022 census casts a shadow on the entire system of official statistics and weakens the informational foundation on which policy decisions are

made and national finances are allocated, Ram noted.

Regarding the consequences of the prolonged inaction, the lawyer said, “In the political sphere, the absence of inconvenient data may be tolerable, even advantageous. It allows narrative to substitute for evidence, delays scrutiny, and permits claims of progress to go largely untested. In management, however, the same absence is dangerous. Decisions made without reliable baseline data distort priorities, misallocate resources, and entrench inefficiencies.”

Ram said if the 2022 population and housing census is to retain any value, the president and the senior minister responsible for finance must act decisively: appoint a new board without delay, with a clear and public mandate to bring the exercise to publication within a fixed timeframe.

Kaieteur News

Monday December 29, 2025

PAGE 09

Why no one expects an investigation

W

h e n t h e subject is whether any government, particularly the current one, would ever investigate allegations of corruption involving high officialdom, the public has little expectations.

A foreign news agency once made serious allegations touching on high officialdom. The reaction?

Dismissed. No investigation.

No inquiry. The public watched this with the weary familiarity of people who know exactly how the matter would end.

This reluctance to investigate those at the top is not a quirk of one administration. It is a national tradition. Guyanese governments, regardless of party, have perfected the art of investigating corruption in a way that never inconveniences anyone important. There is lots of talk about transparency, followed by little or no concrete action.

But it was not always this way. Once upon a time there were moments when allegations against top

political officials were investigated. Under Forbes Burnham, an Ombudsman’s report pronounced upon allegations concerning the diversion of materials from a sea defence project.

Burnham acted on the findings. There were consequences. The state, at least briefly, appeared to care. Of course, the action was widely seen as selective.

Some were disciplined; others emerged mysteriously untouched. Still, the principle mattered: an allegation should lead to scrutiny.

Then there was Cheddi Jagan. During his tenure, when a WPA leader got wind of information that a minister’s son had received a car from a businessman, the President intervened. It was contended that the vehicle was purchased, not gifted.

Fine. Return it anyway, Cheddi Jagan reportedly said. The symbolism was everything. Appearances mattered. Public trust mattered.

We are also told that when another minister built a house—modest by today’s

standards, Cheddi Jagan questioned him about the source of funds. Imagine that h a p p e n i n g t o d a y. T h e question alone would be considered subversive, possibly treasonous, and certainly “antidevelopment.”

Fast forward to the present. The idea that today a senior official today might be asked to explain the sudden appearance of assets allegedly wildly inconsistent with known income strains credulity. Public confidence in any such investigation is, generously speaking, very low. Realistically, it is subterranean.

About twenty years ago, it was the United States government that forced the government of Guyana to launch a commission of inquiry into the involvement of a government minister alleged to have had links with death squads.

Given this background, it is no wonder that people are now looking, sadly, towards the United States to do what we will not do ourselves.

This reliance on the US, to solve our own problems,

Dem Boys Seh...

Yuh does hear and see all kinds of things in hire cars A man jump in a hire car one afternoon, late-late and sweating. The driver take off like fire in dry grass. Next thing you know, the hire car blast straight through a red light.

Didn’t even peep left or right.

The passenger holler, “Bai! Wah you doing? That was a red light!”

The driver cool-cool, one hand on the wheel, say, “Don’t study it, boss. Me cousin does do that all the time.”

The passenger shake but he hush. Two corners later, same thing. Another red light.

Gone clean through.

Now the passenger nearly climb the roof.

“Yuh mad or wah? Yuh gon get we kill!”

The driver just wave he hand like he brushing fly. “Relax, man. Me cousin does do that all the time.”

So the passenger gripping seat and praying. Then they reach a green light.

Clear green. Nobody coming. The driver mash brake hard, stop dead, creep inch by inch, before moving off slowly.

The passenger vex till he throat dry.

“Hold on! Wah foolishness that? The light was green!”

The driver nod serious-serious, shrug he shoulder and say, “Yeah… but me cousin…

he mighta been coming.”

But de best dem boys hear was de time that three drunk fellas flag down a taxi latenight.

Is wobble, stumble and confidence all mix up.

The driver take one look at them red eye and say to he self, “These boys ain’t ready for road.”

So he jump in, start the engine, let it roar two seconds. Then switch it off quiet-quiet.

He turn round and say serious-serious, “Alright, gents. We reach.”

First drunk dig in he pocket, drop the money and say nothing.

Second drunk grin big-big and say, “Thanks, boss.”

Before the driver could even smile,PRAAP! Third drunk cuff the driver hard across he shoulder.

The driver nearly faint. He say to he self, “Lord, this one know I play smart.”

So he ask cautious-like, “Bai… wah that for?”

The drunk screw up he face and say vex, “Next time slow down, man.Yuh nearly kill all of we!”

Talk half. Leff half.

intensified after the U.S. imposed sanctions on three Guyanese persons, including a middle-level public official.

The tool used by the United States was the Global Magnitsky Act, a formidable piece of U.S. legislation that a l l o w s Wa s h i n g t o n t o sanction foreign individuals involved in significant corruption or serious human rights abuses. Under it, the U.S. can freeze U.S.-based assets and revoke visas. It applies to foreign officials at all levels, their facilitators, and those who materially benefit from corruption.

Crucially, no domestic conviction is required. The standard is not a criminal judgment in Guyana but a determination by U.S. authorities.

It means that even wealthy foreign nationals, politicians, or their relatives—if found to have

acquired assets grossly disproportionate to lawful income or to have benefited from corrupt conduct—can be sanctioned, even if their home country does absolutely nothing.

But before we outsource our conscience entirely, reality intrudes. The U.S. is selective. Its extraterritorial laws are not applied evenly across the globe. The Magnitsky Act is typically reserved for large-scale corruption that intersects with U.S. national interests.

Petty, localised looting—our artisanal, homegrown corruption—is unlikely to make the cut.

So no, the United States will not solve Guyana’s problems. It shouldn’t.

Waiting for Washington to police our integrity is like waiting for your ex to remind you of your anniversary: technically possible, emotionally misguided.

The uncomfortable truth is this: we have to solve our own problems. That means exposing suspected corruption early. It means demanding, at the very least, a binding code of conduct for senior officialdom. And it means mandatory investigations whenever reasonable cause exists to inquire into illicit wealth accumulation.

Until then, public confidence will remain what it is now: a faint memory, occasionally mentioned at conferences, like a long-lost relative everyone pretends to have met.

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

It’s about time for a...

From page 5 when and where it came from?” Document your defence!

Editor, in terms of “Best Practices” and “Global Standards and Verification” the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) requires every member state to establish legal frameworks for public official asset declarations.

I know for certain that the UN Financial Disclosure Programme randomly selects participants for verification, requiring them to provide third-party documentation (e.g., bank statements, property titles) to prove the accuracy of their claims.

The public will not agitate for ‘word-byword’ report, but at least allow for Guyanese to view these disclosures, as in many systems, high-level officials (like ministers) provide detailed, confidential reports to an ethics commissioner, while a less detailed summary

is made available to the public. I repeat, ‘lay your cards on the table.’

Set the precedent. The issue of corruption is so serious, that all of Guyana need an external and independent inquiry, no different from that of the Adrianna Younge investigation. By the way, many of the government ministers are not using the Medicare that they are championing for the people.

Also, we need to know whose children were delivered outside of Guyana for the express purpose of ‘birthright citizenship.’

In an upcoming letter, I will address how legally the Mohameds have every right to fight and overcome the extradition request.

The PPP/C, in collusion with the US, is most obsequious, and this kind of nonsense also demands serious confrontation.

Yours truly, Presscott Mann

Kaieteur News

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Monday December 29, 2025

More by-pass roads on govt’s agenda VPAC to launch housing for Regions 3, 4 next year - Croal assistance programme in 2026 Commute in the coming years will be smoother with the massive investment in infrastructure development by the government of Guyana (GoG).

Minister of Housing, Collin Croal over the weekend highlighted plans to continue the ongoing connectivity of regions and communities through the construction of additional highways, particularly in Regions Three and Four.

In a live address, the Minister explained that the Craig to Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara bypass road is taking shape, with another 50 kilometeres likely to commence shortly, that will connect Land of Canaan to Soesdyke.

Over in Region Three, Croal revealed that in two weeks’ time, bids will be invited for a road that connects Leonora and Canal Number One which will allow for shorter commute, around eight minutes, once completed.

“The highways will be part of our economic growth…thousands of roads to be upgraded whether on the coastland, the urban and the hinterland. One can look forward to continued investment over this period,” the minister said.

To this end, he noted that works have also commenced on the Schoonord to Parika road project, with the construction of bridges currently ongoing by the Ministry of Public Works.

Bids for the road construction have already

Minister of Housing, Collin Croal been invited and will be evaluated for the project to commence in 2026.

Additionally, Croal said the Schoonord to Wales, West Bank Demerara road alignment is ongoing which will then continue to connect from Wales to Sand Hills.

The minister pointed out that Wales will be a major economic hub with the Gasto-Energy (GTE) project ongoing and other investment for the energy sector.

Also in Region Three, the minister pointed to the Parika to Goshen Road project which will connect to other regions. According to him, “The Parika to Goshen Road will therefore complete, if you are travelling from Lethem onwards, you are travelling through Region 10, you can even come through Bartica and connect to Region Three or you can come the other way, so the opening up of highways, one can certainly

look forward to this continuation.”

He added that the investment in new roads will assist in opening up more housing lands for distribution.

This year the Ministry of Housing received one of the largest chunks of the $1.382 trillion budget. The National Assembly approved the sum of $112.6 billion to fund the ministry and later approved another $12 billion in supplementary funding to support its expanded work pr

The Vigilant Political Action Committee (VPAC) is set to introduce a housing assistance programme, aimed at helping Guyanese families better understand and navigate the housing application process in the new year.

The small party expressed concern over the challenges faced by citizens in accessing housing, pointing out that despite billions of dollars being allocated towards housing initiatives, many families are still left unsure of how to benefit from these resources.

In a statement issued on Sunday, VPAC said, “For years, billions have been allocated toward housing, yet too many families are still left wondering how, or if they will ever benefit. To address this gap, VPAC will step in to guide citizens through the process, ensuring that eligible families can complete applications correctly, access support fairly, and move forward with dignity and security.”

The party acknowledged the difficulties people face when trying to apply for housing, often being told that their requests cannot proceed due to incomplete forms or missing requirements. “If that is the case, then people deserve clear, practical help to get it right. No family should lose a genuine opportunity for housing simply because the system is d

Cop under close arrest for discharging firearm A police sergeant landed himself in hot water, when he was placed under close arrest for discharging a loaded firearm at No. 78 Village, Corriverton, Berbice.

In a statement on Sunday, police said the incident occurred on Friday and “on Saturday

December 27, 2025 about 12:20 hrs, acting on information received, the sergeant was contacted, informed of the allegation and taken into custody. He was placed under close arrest as part of the ongoing investigation,” the police statement read.

Leader of VPAC, Dominic Bess

ifficult to understand or poorly explained,” VPAC stated.

To tackle these challenges, the programme will provide step-by-step guidance to applicants. VPAC explained, “Through this programme, VPAC will walk applicants through the process. We will help families understand how the system works, determine whether they may qualify, assist with gathering required documents, and ensure that applications are properly prepared. We will also explain mortgage preapproval, what it means, why it matters, and what is required, so applications can be assessed fairly and on their merits.”

The programme is designed to ensure that access to housing assistance is not dependent on personal connections or familiarity with the system. “When people qualify and their applications and mortgage documents are properly prepared, they deserve a fair opportunity to move forward,” VPAC added.

“This programme is about fairness, dignity, and responsibility, giving families the tools, they need to help themselves while strengthening trust in the process.”

VPAC concluded by stressing that accessing housing support should be straightforward and humane, stating, “No one should have to suffer quietly just to access what they already qualify for.”

Monday December 29, 2025

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

PAGE 12

Monday December 29, 2025

Canadian firm inks deal to acquire almost 5,000 acres of mining lands in Guyana

Highlighted area shows mining lands to be acquired by Canadian firm Alerio Gold Corp. has entered into a binding letter of intent to acquire a 100 per cent interest in the Aurora NW gold project in Guyana.

The letter of intent, dated December 3, 2025, provides

the Canadian firm with an option to acquire full ownership of the Aurora NW property, which comprises four Prospecting Permits Medium Scale (PPMS) under Guyana’s Mining Act.

The permits cover a total area of 4,799 acres, or 1,942 hectares, in the Cuyuni–Mazaruni district, Region Seven.

The Aurora NW property is located within the Cuyuni

greenstone belt of the Guiana Shield, an area considered prospective for gold mineralisation. It lies approximately three kilometres from the Aurora Gold Mine concessions and

about seven kilometres from the Aurora mine itself, the largest active gold mine in Guyana, which is owned and operated by Zijin Mining Group Corporation.

Alerio Gold is a mineral exploration and development company in the business of acquiring, and exploring gold properties, with a focus in Guyana, South America. The company currently has 100per-cent interest in two properties located in Guyana.

According to Alerio, the geological setting of the area includes metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks intruded by granitic and tonalitic bodies, and affected by strong deformation and greenschist-facies metamorphism.

Under the terms of the letter of intent (LOI), Alerio will have the option to acquire a 100 per cent interest in the property over a three-year period. The consideration includes US$50,000 in cash, of which US$10,000 is payable upon

signing the LOI and the balance upon execution of the definitive agreement, along with an additional US$50,000 payable six months after the effective date.

The transaction also includes the issuance of two million common shares to the vendor on the effective date.

In addition, a net smelter royalty (NSR) will be granted based on annual production levels as defined under the Guyana Mining Act and its applicable regulations, comprising a 1.5% NSR on large-scale production, and a 5.0% NSR on both medium-scale and small-scale production. The company retains the right to repurchase the NSR for a total of US$500,000, calculated at US$125,000 per permit across four permits.

The company said it is also negotiating potential additional acquisitions in neighbouring areas and is preparing a geological work programme for the first half of 2026.

Monday December 29, 2025

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

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Monday December 29, 2025

Rain wipes out millions in cash crops at Black Bush Polder

By Shermon Hawker and Shania Williams Scores of rice and cash crop farmers are counting losses amounting to millions of dollars following continual, heavy rainfall that has left hundreds of acres of farmlands inundated.

Kaieteur News visited the area on Sunday, where several pump systems were activated to remove the floodwaters. Many farmers, however, told this publication that the flooding was not solely caused by the downpour over the weekend, but rather a combination of factors.

While acknowledging the downpour as a natural phenomenon, improper or inadequate drainage arrangements to mitigate the effects of flooding is a view the farmers hold, noting that they did not experience an accumulated full day’s rainfall.

Another factor too, is that some residents draining massive amounts of water from their property which spills over to the lower or adjacent areas and cause flooding.

This caused major damages to crops over the last two days.

One affected rice farmer, Krishana Beerbusham, told this newspaper that he lost three acres of cash crop. He also cultivates 130 acres of rice, all of which were lost to the flooding. He blamed this on poor management.

- Mustapha says relief, compensation coming

Devika Lekaran lost poultry and a couple of baby sheep

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha meeting with affected farmers on Sunday “So far, we didn’t have a full day of rainfall, and this is the flood we have- a major flood. And the reason for this is because of poor drainage systems. The people that monitoring and managing the system can’t handle the system.”

Frustrated by his losses, the farmer related that he attempted to engage the authorities for assistance, but was denied blatantly, allegedly on grounds of

his membership with We Invest in Nationhood (WIN); he represents the political party as a councillor at the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region 6.

Beerbusham said that he attended the meeting conducted by Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha. He disclosed that he sought the minister’s assistance with a pump from the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority

(NDIA). He also explained that he already had two tractors and two borrowed pumps positioned to provide relief to at least 40 acres belonging to fellow farmers affected within the area.

According to him, the minister approved his request on the spot and instructed officials to facilitate same, as well as to supply fuel. He added that as soon as he left the meeting to attend to flood-related

Cholaram Beerbusham summed up his losses to $2M

Desmond Ramgadoo stands in one of his flooded farmlands

matters, the chairwoman for the Black Bush Polder Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) then highlighted to Minister Mustapha that he was associated with WIN. “She said that I am a WIN person, and that I am supporting (Azruddin) Mohamed, and they cannot assist me…. she even made a post and posted it on Facebook, saying this: that I am a WIN representative and a councillor, and she don’t think they should assist me.

The farmer said he is yet to receive the assistance he was assured.

Beerbusham summed up his Continued on page 16

Monday December 29, 2025

Kaieteur News

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PAGE 16

Kaieteur News

Monday December 29, 2025

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(CMC) – Immigration leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives in the United States have condemned President Donald Trump’s proposed rule that would punish Caribbean and other immigrant families for lawfully accessing health care and food assistance, among other benefits.

The legislative leaders submitted a formal regulatory comment to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) opposing the Trump administration’s proposed “Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility” rule, warning that the proposal unlawfully rewrites longstanding immigration law and would deter Caribbean and other immigrant families from accessing basic health, nutrition, and housing assistance they are legally entitled to receive.

The comment was submitted by Congressman Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee; Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement; Congressman Robert Scott, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce; Senator Dick Durbin, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Senator Alex Padilla,

Congressman Jamie Raskin Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration; and Senators Bernie Sanders and Ron Wyden.

The lawmakers said the proposed rule would circumvent the US Congress to alter the meaning of “public charge, a term that for more than 135 years has applied only to individuals who are primarily dependent on the government for subsistence.”

They warned that if an immigrant is determined likely to become a public charge, it can affect their eligibility to enter the United States.

“The Trump administration’s proposal

would penalise immigrants for using supplemental benefits like health care, nutrition, or housing assistance that Congress deliberately made available to immigrant populations to support working families,” the legislators wrote.

“DHS is seeking to circumvent Congress by administratively altering the 135-yearold meaning of the term ‘public charge’ in violation of congressional intent,” they added. “Congress has deliberately rejected the very changes that DHS now seeks to implement administratively in complete defiance of our will and intent.”

The members noted that the US Congress has repeatedly revisited immigration law without ever redefining “public charge” to include the use of non-cash benefits.

They argued that federal agencies have long recognised that programs such as Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and housing assistance are supplemental benefits that promote public health, food security, and housing stability to help working families remain selfsufficient.

“DHS’s proposal would ignite widespread fear and confusion in immigrant communities, leading families to forgo medical care, nutrition

assistance, and housing support even when they qualify under federal law,” the lawmakers said.

“DHS itself expressly concedes in the proposed rule that the policy could lead to worse health outcomes, increased poverty, housing instability, and greater use of emergency rooms for basic care—harms that would extend well beyond immigrant households to communities nationwide,” they added.

The leaders said Congress has “consistently made decisions about immigrants’ access to public benefits through eligibility rules, not by barring people from adjusting their immigration status for using those benefits.”

They said that recent legislation, including the 2025 reconciliation law, “deliberately preserved access to key programs for certain immigrant populations.”

For these reasons, the members urged the Trump administration to “abandon the rule and maintain the 2022 regulations that reflect congressional intent, protect public health, and ensure that families are not punished for using lawful, life-sustaining assistance.”

Several New York City agencies have also condemned the proposed rule.

Rain wipes out millions in cash crops at Black...

From page 14 loss in the millions. The 30year-old is the primary breadwinner for his wife and five children, two of which are in high school and two at the primary level.

Devika Lekaran, of Lot 59 Mibicuri (North), Black Bush Polder also suffered losses as a result of the flood. The 58year-old widow who lives alone, lost several ducks and chickens she reared, as they perished due to the flooded pens. She also lost three lambs. The woman also cultivates pumpkins, but her plants perished after they were submerged for lengthy periods.

Mainly dependent on her produce for survival, Lekaran regards the situation as worrying.

“I get $22,000 a month public assistance, (that) money nah do for me. I have to pay for my light, have to pay for my water, and what left, that is what I use….”

Desmond Ramgadoo, 53, rice and cash crop farmer also of Mibicuri North, expressed frustration over what is considered a recurring trend in the community with regard to flooding causing economic distress. He told this publication that the situation is primarily due to “poor drainage.”

He lost all his crops which were cultivated within three gardens, each spanning 2.5 acres.

G u y a p e r s a u d Diyasindoo, another farmer in the area, is particularly concerned about what compensation he will receive for the loss of his one and threequarter acres of ochro destroyed, because of “negligence.” He too, pointed to an ineffective drainage strategy, and also made claims of victimisation for his political alignment.

His losses were totalled as over $1.5 million.

Tuleram, another former, suffered losses in excess of $2 million on his 20-acre farm.

Some farmers were reluctant to publicise their views, citing potential victimisation for seemingly bashing the authorities.

Meanwhile, during his visit to the area on Sunday, the agriculture minister said affected farmers will soon receive additional support and compensation from the government.

According to the minister, the government will facilitate the installation of additional drainage pumps and other relief mechanisms to assist affected farmers.

Minister Mustapha high-

lighted the severity of the flooding, explaining that over six inches of rain had fallen within 48 hours, leading to water accumulation in the area. “ The regional vice chairman reported that Black Bush was under water because of heavy rainfall. We have over six inches of rainfall fell over 48 hours and because of that, the heavy amount of rainfall, the water would have accumulated,” he said.

He said immediate interventions were set in motion.

These include adjustments to the drainage system, where water from the coasthead would be controlled and excess water would be locked off to speed up the drainage of both cultivated and residential areas. He promised the installation of more pumps in critical locations, such as Number 43, Adventure, and Eversham. Small pumps will also be distributed to individual farms to help farmers drain their plots more efficiently.

“I instructed the engineer to bring in another four or five machines so that we can help people to implore their farmlands and pump the water out.

Also, we will help them to get some these small pumps that we would have built at the National Drainage and Irriga-

tion Authority (NDIA).We’ll loan those pumps to them and help them to see how they could get the water out as possible, “the minister said.

He said while rice farmers were not expected to suffer major damages, many cash crop farmers have reported significant flooding of their crops.

The minister added that while Black Bush Polder is prone to heavy rainfall during this time of year, he expressed hope that the drainage efforts would minimise the losses to farmers.

Regarding financial assistance and compensation, the minister confirmed that farmers affected by the flooding will be eligible for insurance support stating “ Guyana as a whole, because of the unpredictable climate that we have, that farmers are very vulnerable. And now we are seeing that the help that we have put in place will be activated very shortly. And farmers who ever lose crops, rice crops, will be compensated,” Mustapha explained. He further disclosed that a partnership between United Phosphorus Limited (UPL) and Mutual Life Insurance Company will provide coverage for farmers’ losses.

Kaieteur News

Monday December 29, 2025

PAGE 17

CIBC Jamaica profit plunges 88 per cent amid Hurricane (Jamaica Gleaner) CIBC Caribbean Bank Jamaica Ltd made $45.9 million profit for its October 2025 year end or four-fifths less than a year earlier, as the bank grappled with the impact of Hurricane Melissa.

It also forecasts that the credit quality of its borrowers could worsen threefold, but, even if that materialised, it would still remain well below the regulated ceiling for problem loans set by the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ).

“It is generally understood that the full impact from Hurricane Melissa will become more apparent over the next several quarters, and we will continue to closely monitor the situation and update expected credit losses during the future provisioning cycles,” the financial statement said.

Earnings per s hare dropped to $0.05 from $0.54.

T h e p r o f i t , h o w e v e r, translated into a

comprehensive loss of $113 million when including remeasurement losses on retirement benefit plans.

The Jamaica operation is a subsidiary of CIBC Caribbean Bank Limited, which in turn is controlled by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

The decline in earnings came amid a rise in operating income to $11.3 billion or 4.4 per cent higher than $10.8 billion a year earlier.

The bank’s performance was weighed down by a 62 per cent increase in credit loss expenses to $555.4 million from $343.6 million, reflecting higher provisions for potential defaults.

The bank evaluated expected credit losses under accounting standards, considering the hurricane’s impact on its loan portfolio and existing assumptions.

“The bank will be offering financial support arrangements to affected clients,” according to the financial statements.

The bank assesses its

customers on an Early Warning List. During the year, vulnerable customer profiles more than tripled to $1.84 billion worth of loans from $528.9 million in 2024.

The Early Warning List represents 1.5 per cent of total loans.

“Early Warning List characteristics include borrowers exhibiting a significant decline in revenue, income, or cash flow or where the Bank has doubts as to the continuing viability of the business,” the bank said in its financial statements. “Early Warning List customers are often, but not always, also delinquent.”

Non-performing loans (NPLs) which are a key metric of credit quality also remain manageable for the bank. NPLs which are unserviced loans for 90 days or more, jumped 51 per cent to $1.43 billion from $947.4 million, representing 1.2 per cent of the bank’s $119.8 billion loan book.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in western Jamaica

PM: Trinidad and Tobago has become ‘lawless dump’ (Trinidad Newsday) PRIME MINISTER Kamla Persad-Bissessar has described Trinidad and Tobago as “a lawless dump,” but pledged to clean it up for the benefit of lawabiding citizens.

Responding to questions from Newsday about whether government was killing two birds with one stone by doubling traffic fines to improve road safety while also raising revenue for the country, Persad-Bissessar said all the measures were presented in the national budget and the Finance Bill.

She said, “The country has no order, it’s become a lawless dump and it’s because of the entitled attitudes of some citizens who believe they can do whatever they want while inconveniencing others without consequences. And these entitled citizens span across all demographics and sectors of society.” Persad-Bissessar said her objective is to “improve the lives of law-abiding citizens who go out everyday and try to live a good and decent life. These people have been taken advantage of for too long.”

She said citizens are free to live as foolhardy as they want, including “free to drive recklessly, smoke ganja, drink rum, gamble, misbehave, mash up the place, play loud music and live however they want.”

However, she warned that all personal choices have consequences that must be faced.

She claimed the PNM does not have the best interest of their supporters.

“They seem to harbour no great ambitions

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar speaks to media outside the Red House, Port of Spain. FILE PHOTO for their supporters or citizens. I was shocked when the first thing their leader spoke of in the budget was the price of rum. Is that what she believes is important to PNM supporters and citizens instead of healthcare, education, security and sustainable jobs?

“The PNM has supported giving ganja to young people instead of laptops, encouraged rum drinking and gambling, defended Venezuelan human traffickers and drug smugglers, fought against citizens defending themselves in their own homes. They believe citizens want to be grass cutters and street sweepers instead of having sustainable jobs where they can afford a decent home and life.

“PNM MPs don’t support those negative things for their own children and families but support it for citizens.”

CIBC Bank Jamaica branch in New Kingston, Jamaica on October 28, 2025, three days before the bank’s fiscal year-end, resulting in “physical damage to branches and “temporary disruption to the bank’s operations”. Branches in the Eastern region reopened by October 31, while full resumption of all branch operations occurred by November 12.

The bank conducted a preliminary damage assessment shortly after the hurricane and determined

“no material damage” to its network. No provisions for asset write-downs, repairs or restoration were required as of October 31, and insurance claims are not expected to materialise as damages fell below policy deductibles.

Earlier this month, the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), which regulates the banking sector, signalled that NPLs across the industry could double from pre-Melissa levels of $42.9 billion. NPLs were already hovering near

25-year highs, because of, in part, capital market uncertainty, and will rise towards $86 billion, based on forecasts.

Looking at the CIBC Jamaica’s balance sheet, total assets grew 9.6 per cent to $201.4 billion from $183.7 billion, driven by a rise in loans and advances.

Customer deposits expanded 15.5 per cent to $165.3 billion. Overall capital stood at $19.6 billion compared to $19.7 billion a year earlier.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 18

Monday December 29, 2025

Israel kills over 700 relatives of Palestinian journalists in Gaza: Report The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate says Israel is using collective punishment to crush reporting of its genocidal war in Gaza.

(Al-Jazeera) Israel has killed at least 706 family members of Palestinian journalists since the start of its genocidal war in Gaza in October 2023, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.

The syndicate’s Freedoms Committee said in a report released late on Saturday that Israeli forces are systematically targeting the families of journalists as part of what it called a war aimed at silencing Palestinian reporting.

The report said the attacks represent a deliberate strategy rather than deaths as a result of war.

Israeli violence against journalists has “evolved to take on a more dangerous and brutal dimension, represented by targeting the families and relatives of journalists, in a clear attempt to turn journalistic work into an existential burden for which sons, wives, fathers, and mothers pay the price”, the union said.

Muhammad al-Lahham, head of the Freedoms Committee, said the pattern of attacks from 2023 to 2025 exposes Israel’s intent to

crush independent reporting in Gaza.

Targeting journalists’ families, he said, “reveals that the Israeli occupation is waging a comprehensive war on the truth, making no distinction between the camera and the child, nor between the pen and the home”.

“The blood of the journalists’ families will remain a living witness to the crime of trying to silence the Palestinian voice,” alLahham added.

Witnesses to family killings The committee said Israeli forces killed 436 relatives of journalists in 2023, 203 in 2024 and at least 67 this year. The deaths continued even after many families were forcibly displaced and sought shelter in tents and makeshift camps, it said.

The syndicate cited a recent case near Khan Younis, where the bodies of journalist Hiba alAbadla, her mother and about 15 members of the al-Astal family were recovered nearly two years after Israeli aircraft bombed their

home west of the city.

“Hundreds of children, women and the elderly were killed because of a family member’s professional connection to journalism, in flagrant violation of all humanitarian and legal norms,” the committee said.

According to the findings, Israeli attacks have repeatedly struck journalists’ homes, places of displacement and areas known to house media workers and their relatives. In some cases, entire families have been wiped out, leaving journalists alive to bear witness to their annihilation.

The committee described this as a “qualitative shift” in Israel’s behaviour, moving from individual targeting to collective punishment.

By turning families into targets, it said, Israel aims to intimidate society itself and “dry up the environment that nurtures the media”.

Almost 300 journalists killed Beyond the death toll, the syndicate warned of severe psychological harm. Journalists

People mourn next to the body of freelance Palestinian journalist Mahmoud Wadi, who was killed in an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza Strip on December 2, 2025 [Haseeb Alwazeer/Reuter] who survived after losing children, partners or parents now face trauma, family breakdowns and crushing guilt, and many have been forced to flee or suspend their work under the weight of Israel’s continuing violence.

Over the past year, Israel killed several journalists in Gaza in targeted assassinations – most notably Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif – falsely claiming that they are members of Hamas.

They are among nearly 300 journalists and media workers killed in Gaza during the war over 26 months – an average of about 12 journalists a month – according to Shireen.ps, a monitoring website

named after Al Jazeera’s veteran correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh. who was killed in the occupied West Bank in 2022.

Media freedom groups have condemned the Israeli attacks on journalists, but the killings have proceeded with impunity. Israel has never arrested or charged any of its soldiers for killing journalists.

While the targeting of the news media has intensified during the war in Gaza, Israel has killed dozens of Arab journalists over the past two decades. In December, a report by Reporters Without Borders found that Israel killed more journalists in 2025 than any other country.

U.S.-backed airstrikes in Nigeria hit two ISIS-linked camps, government says Residents inspect the damage after U.S. forces had launched a strike against Islamic State militants in Nigeria at the request of Nigeria’s government, as U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social on December 25, in Offa, Kwara State, Nigeria, December 26, 2025. REUTERS/Abdullahi Dare Akogun

(Reuters) - U.S.-backed air strikes in Nigeria hit two Islamic State-linked camps in the Bauni forest of Sokoto State, targeting foreign fighters infiltrating from the Sahel, the Nigerian government said. The strikes carried out on Thursday were approved by President Bola Tinubu and launched from maritime platforms domiciled in the Gulf of Guinea, after extensive intelligence gathering, operational planning, and reconnaissance, the information ministry said in a statement on Friday.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social on Thursday that U.S. forces had launched a strike against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria at the request of Nigeria’s government. He said the group had been targeting Christians in the region. “A total of 16 GPS-guided precision munitions were deployed using MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial platforms, successfully neutralising the targeted ISIS elements attempting to penetrate Nigeria from the Sahel corridor,” the Nigerian government statement said.

Intelligence indicated the camps were being used by foreign ISIS elements working with local affiliates to plan large-scale attacks inside Nigeria, it added. No civilian casualties were reported, although debris fell in two towns in Sokoto and Kwara states. Trump described the operation as “numerous perfect strikes” and warned there would be “more to come.” The operation marks a rare joint action between Abuja and Washington and underscores growing security cooperation as Islamist violence spreads south from the Sahel.

Sokoto State authorities confirmed the strikes and urged residents to remain calm. “The ongoing operations are geared towards securing the state and ensuring the protection of lives and property,” the state government said. Nigeria has battled Islamist insurgents for more than a decade, but the presence of foreign fighters linked to ISIS signals an escalation in the threat. The Nigerian government said it remains “fully committed to the protection of lives and property” and vowed further action against transnational extremist networks.

Monday December 29, 2025

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‘Tens of billions wasted on GuySuCo in last few years’ - Low ...urges Govt. to mobilise entity to fill construction demands General Services Inc. and US-based Sucro Limited to construct a white sugar refinery for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).

He was asked why not have “an intermediary private sector firm be part of that arrangement.”

Economist Elson Low

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ocal economist, Elson Low said the wasted tens of billions of dollars pumped into the ailing Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) over the last few years by the PPP/C government, could have instead been used to meet the construction demands of the entity.

Speaking to Kaieteur News on Sunday, Low said the fact that the government cannot effectively manage an industry that has thousands of skilled workers that are in high demand, is a clear example of the limitations it possesses.

“This latest admission that the government will move away from direct investment into the industry, after tens of billions were expended investing only these past few years, makes it clear those investments were wasted. Rather than recognising the demands of the changing labor market and reforming GuySuCo to capitalise on this, the focus remains only on sugar,” he stressed.

The economist pointed to the Guyana Skilled Labour Assessment Study, which was published last year, which highlighted that thousands of truck drivers and construction workers would be needed within the next few years as the economy continues to expand. He said that study echoed previous studies as well as researches he carried out, pointing out that for every oil and gas worker employed spinoff industries would generate employment.

“The oil and gas boom in

Texas, which has led that state’s economy to expand sharply, is a perfect example for the government to draw from. GuySuCo, as the largest hub of skilled workers, was perfectly positioned to fill this gap through diversification into sectors such as transportation and logistics and construction. If the government had invested in construction equipment not only would GuySuCo workers be better paid, the state would see a financial return,” Low added.

He said recently, some of the lowest production totals in sugar were being recorded, highlighting the possibility that the government will gradually phase GuySuCo out of existence and its workers will be abandoned in this process of a privatisation push.

Hence, he advises, “Instead, a renewed focus on meeting the labor demands of the economy, with investments in trucking and construction equipment, as well as training for workers, should be the priority for the corporation. If the government wants to build tens of thousands of homes, as an example, mobilise GuySuCo to aid that national mission.”

L a s t w e e k , Vi c e President Bharrat Jagdeo maintained that the sugar industry in Guyana has the potential to be profitable, but made it clear that the government does not want to invest in it.

Jagdeo was asked about the joint venture between GAICO Construction and

Jagdeo said the government was hoping to get the private sector to invest in sugar.

“We believe there is a lot of potential still in sugar to m a k e m o n e y. T h e government doesn’t want to do the investment. It’s a simple thing. You have a

proposal now you’re happy about the proposal, and they will do it,” he said.

Reasoning that the government wants more private sector consortia involvement, Jagdeo referenced “…the other Guyanese consortium that is building the shore thing at

Vreed-en-Hoop.”

“These Guyanese firms, that’s what we want to step up. The president made it clear we are working for our people, Guyanese private sector, Guyanese families across the country, wherever they live, that’s why we’re elected” Jagdeo stated.

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Local football heavyweights take centre stage in GFF Super 16 Semi-Finals tonight Regarded as the standard-bearers of Guyana’s domestic football, four of the country’s most accomplished clubs will converge at the National Training Centre, Providence, for the semi-finals of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Super 16 Cup. From 6:30 pm, the Guyana Defence Force

(GDF FC) will lock horns with Western Tigers, before Elite League champions Slingerz FC clash with the Guyana Police Force (GPF FC) at 9:00 pm in a heavyweight double-header that pits pedigree against ambition, and structure against flair.

All four teams arrive with authority, having swept

aside their quarter-final opponents to reinforce why they remain the benchmark of local football.

Unlike several clubs forced to navigate an additional qualifying round, Slingerz FC, GPF FC, Western Tigers and GDF FC were granted byes into the last eight, a nod to their consistency, stature and

Monday December 29, 2025 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Today you're likely to find your routine too boring for words, Aries, and may have a sudden powerful urge to cut loose and play some serious hooky.

TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) Yo u c o u l d b e f e e l i n g especially sensual and passionate today, Taurus, and you'll want to get together with a love interest. However, other responsibilities could get in your way.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) You may feel a bit of d i s a p p o i n t m e n t t o d a y, Gemini. You might tend to view whatever snags you've hit on the path to accomplishing your goals as personal failures, and if you let it, this idea could persist with you throughout the day.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) A rather disheartening phone call could come to you today, Cancer. This might bring news of a setback in one of your projects that is only temporary but nonetheless frustrating.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) After the rush of energy over the past few days, Leo, today you may feel a powerful letdown. Not every day can be filled with adventure and excitement.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) After the rush of energy over the past few days, Leo, today you may feel a powerful letdown. Not every day can be filled with adventure and excitement. For now, you just need to take care of the routine matters that are a byproduct of life on Earth.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Today you might realize that you need to make a certain purchase, Libra. Perhaps your home or car requires some important repairs, or maybe some new equipment is necessary for your work.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) The weight of too many responsibilities, perhaps involving family, a job, or group affiliation, could be very much on your mind today, Scorpio. You may feel like Atlas, carrying the world on your shoulders! You're tired.

SAGIT (Nov. 22–Dec. 21) You may have your ups and downs today, Sagittarius. You could get at least one phone call of the "good news, bad news" variety, and this could have your moods swinging back and forth like a pendulum.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Normally you tend to be a very spiritually oriented person, Capricorn, but today you might find metaphysical concepts of all kinds rather baffling. You may find nagging little doubts creeping in.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18) Today you might learn something about a friend that could be rather disconcerting, Aquarius. There could be a dark side to this person that you weren't previously aware of.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Outside responsibilities might temporarily interfere with your love life, Pisces. You may feel a strong desire to get together with a love partner early in the evening, but circumstances may necessitate your working odd hours.

recent success.

We s t e r n Ti g e r s announced themselves emphatically, dismantling newcomers Zeelugt 6–0 in a ruthless display of pace, movement and finishing.

GPF FC were equally assured, easing past Santos 2–0 with a controlled and disciplined performance that reflected their tactical maturity and defensive organisation.

Perhaps the loudest statement came from GDF FC, who obliterated Mahaica Determinators 7–0, while Slingerz FC brushed aside Monedderlust 4–0 in their quarter-final outing.

Tonight’s semi-finals, however, promise a different intensity.

GDF FC’s physicality, organisation and directness

will be tested by a fearless and energetic Western Tigers side, while the encounter between Slingerz FC and GPF FC sets up a compelling contrast between attacking flair and defensive

Monday

Tuesday

discipline.

Though the tournament has so far been played before modest crowds, the magnitude of these matchups should be enough to reignite spectator interest.

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Monday December 29, 2025

CWI CEO Dehring says 2026 a packed Year for cricket Cricket West Indies (CWI) CEO Chris Dehring said recently on the Mason and Guests show, that 2026 will be packed year for cricket in the Caribbean, citing several areas which will see heavy emphasis being placed on, with overall development being paramount going forward.

T h e Wi n d i e s C E O speaking on the December 23 episode of the show hosted by Andrew Mason, pointed out that he happy to see such youth tournaments like the U-13 hosted recently between the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA); take

place within the innersanctums of cricket in the Caribbean.

The CWI Boss believed that much more cricket is needed at this level, citing programmes in Primary Schools such as the one which fell off in Jamaica, as important aspect of development for the youths.

Captains Sahid Gajnabi of Guyana and Z’adari Scantlebury of Barbados both said they’ve learnt much from the recently concluded U-13 40-Over tournament.

Both players spoke a bit on their learning curve following the Bajans clawing their way from 2-0

to win 3-2, citing both teams took much from the series while forging friendships along the way.

However, one concerning factor coming from both young skippers was their lack of attention with regard to the West Indies senior team and their current state.

Gajnabi and Scantlebury confessed that due to the lackluster performances of the West Indies team, they have both become disengaged as it relates to watching matches.

The youngsters said they basically turn off games after becoming uninterested due to the losing nature of the team or simply because of the overall below-par action being exhibited during matches or series.

Despite the West Indies being on a mixed pivot, a conducive environment for learning from the challenges of the senior side is still needed; especially by what is dubbed as the future of cricket here in the Caribbean.

Switching back to the CWI CEO, the 2026 Breakout League is currently awaiting a window which will help facilitate a strong tournament.

He noted plans to host the tournament next month turned out to be a bit challenging due to the extremely busy calendar, filled with tours and series.

Dehring said player availability is also key in hosting a quality tournament, adding that managing resources and deploying such at the right time or for the right tournament, is a key part of the logistics.

With looming series against Sri Lankan, New Zealand and Pakistan billed for next year, Dehring spoke lightly on the Regional Super50 likely being hosted around April or thereabouts.

The move according to the CWI Head is geared towards resource management, as international series play a role in adding to the resources for the fiscal year; thus allowing CWI to further facilitate other regional tournaments and similar endeavors.

When asked by Show host Andrew Mason on the financial state of West Indies cricket, Dehring pointed out that the CWI has naturally never been financially solid, due to demographics, lack of a regional television deal among other things that play against Caribbean cricket.

One crucial point made

by Dehring was the changing times in the world of cricket, which according to the ICC is something that all nations will need to adjust to going forward with tons of changes to the overall product currently on the horizon.

He noted that CWI has been pushing resources into the Under-19 levels, adding that it’s not just about winning but seeing how the youngsters adapt to pressure while identifying raw talent for the future.

Other topics discussed were the upcoming 2027 Pan American Games will see cricket taking to the stage, with qualifications for the tournament being held in 2026, which according to Dehring will be a part of a historic year for the West Indies.

Monday December 29, 2025

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Mahrez sends Algeria into Africa Cup of Nations last-16 RABAT, (Reuters) - Riyad Mahrez scored a first half penalty as Algeria sealed their place in the knockout rounds of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations with a 1-0 victory over Burkina Faso in their Group E clash in Rabat on Sunday.

Algeria have six points and will win the group as they cannot be overhauled by either Burkina Faso (3 points) or Sudan (3) following the third round of fixtures in the pool due to the head-to-head rule.

The Burkinabe meet Sudan in their final clash on Wednesday, while Algeria take on bottom side Equatorial Guinea, who are eliminated.

Algeria were awarded a penalty just past the 20-minute mark when Rayan Ait Nouri was felled in the box by Ismahila Ouedraogo, and Mahrez made no mistake as he sent

Herve Koffi in the Burkina Faso goal the wrong way.

Mahrez extended his record as Algeria’s all-time leading scorer at the Cup of Nations with his ninth goal and is also the leading scorer in this edition so far having netted twice in the opening 3-0 win over Sudan.

The Burkinabe came close to an equaliser just before halftime when Pierre Kabore’s close-range header came back off the post and Algeria were able to scramble the ball to safety. Koffi was busy in the Burkina Faso goal and saved from Mohamed Amoura, before Ibrahim Maza forced another good stop and then scuffed a shot wide of the target.

Luca Zidane, son of France great Zinedine, showed good reactions to keep out a Lassina Traore header late on as Burkina Faso came close to an equaliser.

Flying Ace Cycle Club salutes sponsors, officials after packed year of Cycling As the Flying Ace Cycle Club (FACC) prepares to close the curtains on another successful year of cycling during the Christmas season, Vice President Linden Dowridge has expressed heartfelt gratitude to the many officials, institutions and corporate sponsors who helped make the club’s 2025 calendar a resounding success.

In a letter addressed to this publication, Dowridge highlighted the crucial role played by government representatives, the National Sports Commission (NSC), the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) and a wide cross-section of corporate partners in ensuring that the local cycling fraternity enjoyed a full slate of competitive events throughout the year.

“On behalf of the Flying Ace Cycle Club, I would like to extend warm holiday greetings and sincere thanks to our dear partners within the sports landscape who aided and contributed to the success of the club,” Dowridge stated.

According to the Vice President, the club successfully hosted all of its annual cycling meets for the year, a feat he credited largely to consistent sponsorship and institutional support. He noted that without such backing, cycling activities could easily have become dormant.

Some of the events that was made possible during the 2025 season were: Benjamin Memorial Road Race -Berbice, Good Comfort Road Race – Berbice, Ballot Box Master’s Road race – Berbice, Cheddi Jagan Memorial Road Races – Berbice, One Guyana Road race – Essequibo Coast, Regan Rodrigues Memorial Road Race, National Sports Commission’s Independence Road Race, Farm Supplies Road race, Queensway Security Road Race Classic, P&P insurance Classic (National Park), Percy Boyce Memorial Cycle Race, Mr. Humphrey and Fowler Road Race and The NT Computec Cycling Classic.

Reflecting on the season of goodwill, Dowridge added, “The holiday season gives us a chance to recognize just how deeply we appreciate your angelic gesture of sponsorship and your general support to cycling. Because of your generous support, the cycling fraternity remains enthusiastic as

Algeria’s Ibrahim Maza in action with Burkina Faso’s Steeve Yago. (REUTERS/Stringer)

Three teams advance in Candy Boss and Di Antics 8-A-Side KO Football competition

Flying Ace VP, Linden Dowridge happy with 2025 events. we look ahead.”

With 2025 now behind them, the Flying Ace Cycle Club is already setting its sights on the future, expressing optimism for increased sponsorship and an even stronger programme of events heading into the 2026 season.

The club also extended special thanks to several government and sporting officials, including Advisor to the President Mr. Neil Kumar; Minister of Sport, Hon. Charles Ramson Jr.; Junior Minister of Sport, Hon. Steven Jacobs; President of the Guyana Olympic Association, Mr. Godfrey Munroe; Director of Sport, Mr. Steve Ninvalle; NSC Commissioner Cristy Campbell; and members of the NSC staff.

In addition, the FACC acknowledged a long list of corporate sponsors and supporters whose contributions made the year’s activities possible. These included Ricks & Sari Agro Industries Ltd, Farm Supplies Ltd, Banks DIH (New Amsterdam), Queensway Security, Raj Motorcycle and General Store, Bentley Cycle Store, Demerara Distillers Limited, Universal Auto, Crawford Trucking Service, and numerous other businesses, families and individuals from across Guyana and overseas.

As the year draws to a close, the Flying Ace Cycle Club’s message is clear: strong partnerships remain the backbone of local cycling, and with continued support, the sport is poised for an even brighter future in the season ahead.

Paradise FC

T

he competition, which is being played at the Scott Church Ground in New Amsterdam, saw wins for Paradise FC and Golden Grove, while Buxton Stars gained a walk over.

Paradise FC of West Coast Berbice outhustled Ithaca FC of West Bank Berbice to win 4-1 in their encounter.

Played in soggy conditions, the game opened with a goalless first half as both teams tried desperately to find their footing.

However, five goals were scored in the second half as Paradise dominated things in the second segment. Paradise had goals from Keywan Mingo in the 41st minute, before

Aubrey Joseph found the back of the net twice in the 45th and 51st minutes. In between Deon Moriah slotted home in the 48 minute.

Ithaca got their consolation goal off the boot of Gerick Gittens in the 56th minute.

Earlier, Golden Grove had squeezed past Genesis 2–1 in a closely contested game.

Buxton Stars advanced to the next round after gaining a walkover from Mahaicony.

The competition, which has at stake $2Min cash trophies and other incentives, is continuing.

Semi-finals are set for January 9, 2026, with the grand final set for January 10.

(Samuel Whyte) th

Kaieteur News

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Monday December 29, 2025

Road Warriors send strong message as West R/veldt Secondary keeps title in sight - K&S 3rd Annual President’s Futsal C/Ships to decide finalists tomorrow

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ew Central High, West Minster Secondary, We s t R u i m v e l d t Secondary and Dolphin Secondary have advanced to the semifinals of the inaugural Schoolboys’ Futsal championship, while Sparta Boss, Bent Street ‘A’, Road Warriors and Bomb Squad will battle for a place in the final of the Men’s Senior division at the 3rd Annual President’s Futsal Tournament.

The semifinals tip off tomorrow inside the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, with a $3 million championship prize on the line in the senior category and a $750,000 in kind for the school’s champion, this year’s championships is poised for a fantastic culmination on January 2.

Organisers Kashif and Shanghai wrapped up an actionpacked quarterfinal round on Saturday night, delivering highscoring encounters and standout individual performances across both divisions.

Schoolboys’ Division New Central High were the first team to secure a semifinal berth, producing a commanding 3–0 victory over Annandale Secondary.

Goals from Dander Michael (9’), Caedon White (15’) and Peter Khan

Sparta Boss edge Stabroek Ballers 5-2 to meet Bent Street in Tuesday’s President’s Futsal Cup semifinals.

(27’) sealed a dominant display.

West Minster Secondary followed with a solid 3–1 win against Hope Secondary. An own goal in the 15th minute handed West Minster the early advantage, before Ezekiel Caesar (23’) and

Nickille Watson (28’) extended the lead. Quashaun Campbell pulled one back for Hope in the 25th m i n u t e , b u t We s t M i n s t e r comfortably closed out the contest.

West Ruimveldt Secondary delivered the most emphatic

performance of the round, dismantling St John’s College 6–0.

Jeremiah Griffith continued his scintillating form, netting four goals to move atop the tournament’s scoring charts.

Griffith struck in the 2nd, 15th, 16th and 23rd minutes, while Donovan Welcome (11’) and Dellon Philadelphia added to the rout in front of a lively crowd.

Dolphin Secondary completed the semifinal lineup with a polished 4–0 victory over VYC Academy.

Goals from Christenson Daudinot, Tyler Abrams, Seon Grant and Christian Sam ensured a comfortable passage into the final four.

Men’s Senior Division Bomb Squad booked their place in the semifinals with a thrilling 6–4 win over Team Cruel. Kayo Fernandez led the charge with a brilliant hat-trick (4’, 6’, 25’), supported by goals from Felipe Borges (3’), Reshawn Ritch (8’) and Julio Caesar (12’). Despite a valiant hat-trick effort from Tyrice Dennis, Team Cruel fell short, bowing out in the quarterfinal phase.

Later on, crowd favourites Road Warriors produced a ruthless display, crushing Team Family

11–1. Wendrecky De Souza opened the scoring in the fifth minute before Arckson added a brace in the seventh and ninth.

Goals continued to flow from Doinathas Pereira, Daniel Da Silva, Matheus De Souza, Wesley Ferreira and a four-goal haul from Matheus Henrique, underlining Road Warriors’ title credentials at this year’s championship.

Bent Street ‘A’ also advanced after a convincing 6–3 victory over Kingston. Michael Oie and Beveney McGarrell both registered braces, while Sean Taylor and Tyler Lyle added further goals to keep Bent Street firmly in championship contention.

Rounding out the semifinalists were Sparta Boss, who edged Stabroek Ballers 5–2 in an entertaining encounter. Curtez Kellman opened the scoring early before goals from Jobe Caesar and Omari Glasgow put Sparta in control. Late strikes from Daren Niles and Ryan Hackett sealed the win after a brief Stabroek resurgence.

Semifinal action in both the Schoolboys’ and Men’s Senior divisions continues on Tuesday, December 30, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Kyrgios beats Sabalenka in ‘Battle of the Sexes’ showdown DUBAI, (Reuters) Nick Kyrgios beat Aryna Sabalenka 63 63 on Sunday in a “Battle of the Sexes” exhibition match billed as a modern take on Billie Jean King’s famous win over Bobby Riggs over 50 years ago, but one that ignited controversy over its relevance and meaning.

The clash between fourtimes Grand Slam champion Sabalenka and former world number 13 Kyrgios was billed as entertainment but critics warned that it risked reducing women’s tennis to a sideshow and trivialising its progress toward equality.

The match that gave the event its name was the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” when women’s tennis pioneer King beat 55-year-old former Grand Slam winner

Riggs, who had said that the standard of women’s tennis could never match that of the men’s game.

King told the BBC that although this year’s clash carried the same tagline, it lacked the stakes of her showdown with Riggs, a contest she described as a fight for social change in a vastly different cultural era.

“I don’t think many people would have put their hand up to be in this position, especially in my position,” Kyrgios said.

“Obviously, Aryna was up for the challenge. The scoreline was closer than it was. I was under the pump there ... and then anything happens once the crowd gets behind it. I was nervous.”

Playing in front of a sold-

out crowd at Dubai’s CocaCola Arena, Kyrgios negotiated the slightly smaller “equaliser” court on women’s world number one Sabalenka’s side to secure victory after an entertaining contest played under modified rules.

With a one-serve-perpoint rule in effect, both players faltered on their deliveries in crucial moments before Kyrgios broke for a 4-3 lead and went on to take the opening set.

The maverick Australian was drenched in sweat and appeared out of breath in the second set after going 1-3 down, while his opponent danced to the music during a strategic timeout, but he persevered to make it 3-3 after Sabalenka sent a shot long.

Unlike Riggs, who had long retired from the men’s tour when he took on fellow American King, Kyrgios is an active player on the ATP Tour even though his recent seasons have been blighted by a succession of wrist and knee injuries.

The former Wimbledon runner-up, a major draw on and off the court with his natural talent and charisma, managed only five professional singles matches in 2025.

‘GREAT OPPORTUNITY’ “It was a really tough match,” Kyrgios added.

“She’s a hell of a competitor and such a great champion. Obviously, she’s a multiple Grand Slam champion. And I didn’t really know what to expect.

“As I said before this whole event, whatever role I was to play, it was another great opportunity to go out here.

She broke my serve numerous times. And honestly, I had to strap it because she was putting the pressure on; hitting amazing shots. I would love to play her again and showcase her talent and also what I have left in the tank.

Ultimately, it was a really hard-fought battle and there were breaks back and forth.

“Seeing someone as great as Aryna out here, and myself, it truly is a spectacle and I think this is a great moving stepping stone forward for the sport of tennis.”

Kyrgios, who shortened the points with cheeky drop

shots and used variations on his serve to good effect, pulled away and sealed the victory on serve before sharing a warm embrace with Belarusian Sabalenka at the net.

“I think I put on a great fight,” Sabalenka said.

“He was struggling. He got really tight. I’m happy to see that the guy is getting tight and (after) taking away one of my serves. I think it was a great level.

“I made a lot of great shots, moved a lot to the net ... great drop shots, Nick, great serving. I really enjoyed the show and I feel like the next time when I play him, I already know the tactics. I know his strengths, his weaknesses, and it’s going to be a better match for sure.”

Monday December 29, 2025

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One Guyana/K&S/ President’s Futsal Championship

Environmental and Technical Solutions Inc. and Survival Supermarket in support

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s the business end of the tournament continues with teams battling for places in the championship match that will be contested on January 2, 2026, corporate Guyana continues to lend valuable support to the Third One Guyana / Kashif & Shanghai / P r e s i d e n t ’s F u t s a l Championship.

Coming on board recently were Environmental and Technical Solutions Inc. (ETSI) and Survival Supermarket.

Ms. Seema Ramsoondar, the Finance and Administrative Manager of ETSI handed over her company’s sponsorship cheque to Kashif Muhammad, Co-Director of the Kashif & Shanghai Organisation, which is coordinating the tournament in association with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.

T h i s y e a r ’ s championship has seen the addition of a 20-team Schoolboy’s tournament to supplement the 8-team female and 48-team male tournaments which ETSI’s Ramsoondar noted was quite commendable.

She noted that the youths are the future for any sport

and including schools now speaks to the vison that is on display for this aspect of the sport. “We are very pleased to see young people being involved in this manner and given the opportunity to not only showcase their skills but to have a big platform to do so, which this tournament offers them. We trust that this is the beginning of bigger things to come and thus our support for this championship.”

S i m i l a r l y, S e n i o r Supervisor of Survival Supermarket, Ms. Ramjit, complimented the organisers for pulling the tournament off once again and taking it a step further by inviting schools to compete.

She noted that Survival Supermarket, which recently opened a new branch at Litle Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara, has been a corporate supporter of this tournament and is pleased to continue this partnership.

“We are positive that the positives vibes that comes with this yearend spectacle will continue as hundreds of Guyanese come back home for the holidays and looks forward to attending these matches. With the addition of the schoolboys, it’s an added incentive for them to come out and support and even

Miss Ramjit, Senior Supervisor Survival Supermarket hands over sponsorship to Kashif Muhammad.

players who will go on to become nationals stars in this version of the game. We wish you all the best.”

Muhammad thanked both entities on behalf of his Co-Director Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major and the organisations for their valuable contributions which he shared will ensure the success of all three tournaments.

ETSI’s Finance and Administrative Manager, Ms. Seema Ramsoondar hands over cheque to Kashif Muhammad in the presence of Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major.

Road Warriors send strong message as rts West R/veldt Secondary keeps title in sight o p S Recent action! Here’s a snippet of Saturday night’s quarterfinals action in the inaugural Schoolboy’s segment of the Kashif and Shanghai President’s Futsal Championship.

- K&S 3rd Annual President’s Futsal C/Ships to decide finalists tomorrow

CWI CEO Chris Dehring

CWI CEO Dehring says 2026 a packed Year for cricket

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios and Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka after their match. (Christopher Pike/Pool via REUTERS)

Kyrgios beats Sabalenka in ‘Battle of the Sexes’ showdown

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