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AIETEUR

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March 02, 2020 - Vol. 13 No. 09

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ExxonMobil expects to more than double its investment returns from Stabroek deal - Wall Street Journal report UNSPOILED BEAUTY e from n e c s il u q n a r At h interior. s lu 's a n a y u G

Global p.3 Witness exposes…

Congo oil project threatens swamp lands critical to global climate stability “Trustee prisoner” Four-year-old escapes from desperately needs heart surgery Mazaruni Junior Kentolall

Cops narrowly miss nabbing suspect in Cuban butcher's murder

ExxonMobil to recover millions in decommissioning costs 20 years Modify all Production Sharing in advance Agreements quickly- Industry Expert p.8

Monday March 02, 2020

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Kaieteur News

Global Witness exposes…

Congo oil project threatens swamplands critical to global climate stability

By Kemol King A project awarded to a private company to drill for oil in the Ngoki Block of the Republic of Congo threatens some swamplands that are of grave environmental importance to the stability of the world’s climate.

This is just one of a series of revelations from the most recent report done by Global Witness, an international anti-corruption watchdog which seeks to expose exploitation in extractive industries around the world.

The report titled ‘What Lies Beneath’ demonstrates how the destruction of wetlands in the much sought after Congolese oil block could result in the release of billions of tonnes of carbon into the environment.

The sequestration or storage of carbon in vegetation is vital to maintaining temperatures that are habitable for humanity. That’s why there is a global rush to fight deforestation.

For the Republic of Congo, the Cuvette Centrale is a region of global importance. Years ago, scientists discovered the existence of the world’s largest tropical peatlands (a type of wetlands) in the area, according to Global Witness.

The peatlands are estimated to be storing 30 billion tonnes of carbon, “equivalent to three years’ worth of global fossil fuel emissions”. This is why Global Witness describes the Cuvette area as one of the biggest carbon time bombs on the planet.

Global Witness said that the full exploitation of the region would mean much of the peatlands will be drained to build roads and infrastructure.

If it were to be destroyed, that would mean a worrying increase in the pace of global warming.

“The Congo Basin peatlands are crucial to the global effort to combat

Global Witness

climate change… It is critical in terms of biodiversity and the global climate, forming part of the world’s second largest tropical rainforest.”

Global Witness stated.

“The Ngoki project [awarded to Petroleum Exploration and Production Africa (PEPA)] is characterised by … the potential to inflict irreversible environmental harm,” said Colin Robertson of Global Witness.

Yet, the Congo government is keen on having the area exploited for oil as soon as it can, even though the claim of reserves there is

ExxonMobil expects to more...

From page 3 competitive terms,” Exxon spokesman Casey Norton told the Wall Street Journal; “It was done at a time where there was significant technical and financial risk.”

The Journal quotes interviews it had with several key personalities, who all say that Guyana could have gotten a better deal with a lengthier negotiation. Jonathan Gant, senior campaigner at Global Witness, is also quoted, saying “The Guyanese people deserve accountability and transparency into how this deal was negotiated and in whose interest.”

Gant’s urgency is due to an investigation Global Witness led which found that Guyana could lose as much as US$55B from the poorly negotiated deal, even as ExxonMobil and its partners continue to boast about the returns the deal will bring them.

Former petroleum advisor to President David Granger told the

Journal, like Global Witness said, that Guyana had immense bargaining power, and that it gave that away.

Crucial to his comments are other statements in the WSJ report that tell of Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman ignoring advice from multiple experts who advised Guyana secure 10-15 percent in royalty payments. The Journal also reported that, while Trotman was advised to get a team of 10 or 20 negotiators, the deal was signed with just one.

While Trotman agrees that the deal could have been better negotiated, he told the Journal that he has been unfairly villainised, and that he hopes oil money will “soothe hard feelings”.

“I’m a man of great faith and I believe it’s going to be a true blessing for Guyana… I expect it will bring us closer together,” Trotman is quoted as saying.

described by Global Witness as “seemingly hollow”.

“Total and Shell both rejected offers to invest in the Ngoki oil project, after viewing a seismic survey.”

Global Witness also said that oil experts have cast doubt on the credibility of claims that the Ngoki oil block holds more than 300 million barrels of oil.

That means the project’s financiers wouldn’t just hurt the environment, but they may also be left empty handed.

Furthermore, an environmental

impact study touted by the Congolese government to justify its claim that the project will have minimal environmental impact, was dismissed by Global Witness as being unfit for purpose, since the study “almost entirely predates the peatlands’ discovery and contains no analysis of the risk to peatlands from drilling”.

Despite all the concerns related to the global significance of the Cuvette region, Global Witness said that the governments of both the Republic of Congo and the neighbouring Democratic Republic

of Congo have signed various exploration deals with oil majors, with the former starting an ongoing bidding round in 2019.

This investigation by Global Witness was undertaken in collaboration with the European Investigative Collaboration (EIC) network of journalists, Der Spiegel and Mediapart.

In future publications on this issue, Kaieteur News will explore the various corruption risks identified

by Global Witness, involving the Congolese Government and the company awarded the project.

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Monday March 02, 2020

Kaieteur News

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

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

EDITORIAL

Choosing for the future-just go out and vote Today is that long awaited day fought for and struggled for, where eligible Guyanese voters will step forward and show that of which they are made. Voters, after all the agitations and spiritual disturbances, can remain as before, or they can stand for a future that is governed in cleanliness, fairness, and wholesomeness. Will this hour of decision, this moment of destiny be different?

We had better be, if we are going to give this country a chance to capitalize honestly and constructively on its bounty. If we are going to give ourselves the opportunity to claim our long delayed place in the sun, where we rightly belong, but have always been thwarted from experiencing.

However citizens vote today, the future of oil, the future of this society, the future of our own relationship with each other will be laid out for decades to come, for the generations that follow.

Today, we at Kaieteur News reach out to brethren across this cherished nation of ours to encourage and insist that we make a powerful effort, like never before, to find the wisdom, the common sense, and the vision that we hold our individual and collective destinies in our hands, and that we must not flinch, we must not fear, and we must not do any other than what is best for family and country.

Matters boil down to that simplest of exercises: affixing an ‘X’ in the space reserved for such a life-altering, lifeenhancing decision. We can go the regular old way, and that is the right of every citizen, the precious nature of the choice allowed in any free society. In so doing, we would have committed to the old standards and the old results, which have always led to nothing other than the usual same old squabbling and fighting that drag all into the gutter of the sorriest of existences.

Or we could dare to venture into unknown territory, frightening in its newness, yet promising as to what and how we could be. From all the reports and indications, all the evidence, there appears to be few in our midst, who have committed to such an unprecedented course of action.

The loyalties and fidelities are too strong, while the imaginations of what could be personally rewarding may be just too much to be denied.

So what will it be today? How will we-you and me, voting citizens all-approach ballot box and prove to be?

The next 48 to 72 hours should furnish the answers, as to whether the electorate of this country decided to stay the course with what has hurt; or whether its members have somehow found the stirrings to step from the traditional and then having so found have actually responded by going another way.

Before this most decisive and vital of week would have run its course, the nation will know which way has been chosen, which way we will go. Depending upon the sum of the choices made, we could be sailing into the future on a lake of oil with a clear course charted, and that all such could mean for the poor, repeatedly disappointed peoples of this land. Or it could be that such trust was placed in arrangements and stewards, who will pilot us to some place on a darkened sea of negligence and irresponsibility, and of the routine abandonments and the normal treacheries that never fail to rear its ugly political head.

We have made much noise; many were the sounds and furies of the last year and more. Today will tell whether the volumes of voice and ink were that of frauds and hypocrites of the most self-deceiving sort, or whether we do mean something that breaks away from the cords of the cradle.

Guyanese, all of us, need the deep nature and the thorough commonsense to be willing to embark first, and then progress towards a different present today, and a more encouraging future beyond today. Let us take full advantage of this national holiday declared to allow for free, fair, and peaceful elections. Let us do our duty, if only to give ourselves an honest chance to a constructive future.

Whatever the preference, just go out and vote honestly.

Voting Day – respect process, all participants margins for weakness are the greatest good of the and outcome painfully thin; the usual greatest many. It starts with nature’s largesse; or from our obligations today, voting

DEAR EDITOR, Today, Monday, March 2nd marks the point from which we assemble for the way forward.

The visions that I see of this are of a way that is unlike any other time prior in our post-colonial, post-Republic, and post-electoral histories.

I sense this Guyana of ours standing on the doorstep of a brave new world: of challenge, of seeking for and finding ourselves, and of finally being able to live with ourselves.

From the rear, near my little inconsequential corner, I commit to continue my own small offerings, which I trust, in time, will be found to be energizing and uplifting.

I say that no longer must we be content with what is enfeebling, what is emasculating, and what is dehumanizing, be such from the new ones who come to help us, sometimes exploit us, in maximizing the returns from

those on the inside, who have flourished from an endless era of what is corrupt and unprincipled.

These would be the political people, who tell us, and impress us with, how much they know of what is better for us.

Whenever we listen, if we were to listen to them at all, I insist that the sterling values of what is decent, what respects and dignifies, what can take someplace be of impeccable character and be prodigious in the proofs of powerful performance. It must be otherwise.

I do not think for one moment that the lengthy litany of lies and vulgarities could be allowed to continue.

Because if it does, then the record book of Guyana would repeat all the terrible curses of the past. Our political environment and social habitat would be frozen in an even worst space. The

tolerance for treachery and failure from our leaders just about vanished.

All the contestants have promised us the glowing, if not the spectacularly glittering.

I do not believe that most of them have it within to deliver on those promises; but we are past that stage of contemplation now. Where we are is with that which is within our own grasp, our own thinking and outlook on the way life in Guyana could be looking ahead. I have some hopes, there are these dreams; I commit to what I trust could lead us out of the hazes and hates, past the passions and poisons, and into a certain kind of light.

The oil from beneath the riverbed has in its power the strength to light a whole new world for us.

But we must demonstrate that we are worthy recipients of this fabled gift, that we will make the best uses of it for

day; and then tomorrow, counting day and reporting day. It is mandatory that we respect the rare blessing sent our way.

This means that it cannot be about us alone, but about every other Guyanese citizen, who are active and owed participants of the national patrimony. We must become so magnanimous in victory that our benevolences extend to those who come from neighbouring territories seeking a new start, having first taken care of our own.

We must respect the process of today, Monday March 2nd, and the related ensuing components that are so integral to a conclusive outcome.

I exhort further the following: respect for all other participants in this process, whether of like mind and from within our fold; or those firmly entrenched on any (Continued on page 5)

On Free & Fair Elections and Int’l Observers DEAR EDITOR, I applaud your editorial (KN March 1) wherein your paper has taken the principled position to be neutral in the elections and not to endorse any party.

I also salute your paper for carrying commentaries related to all parties and the election commission as well as for publishing opinion polls. We must have free and fair and credible elections. Like your paper, the diplomatic community and international observers must also be neutral and take steps to guarantee us free and fair elections. Will the

elections be free and fair?

Observers are invited to monitor the elections in order to certify its credibility – whether preparations (list, etc.) allow for a genuinely free and fair election (FFE) and whether the outcome is a true reflection of the will of voters. Since the 1990s, observers came to Guyana that had or have a history of fraudulent elections.

Refusing observers is tantamount to accepting that government or the elections commission had/has plans to rig the elections. Thus, the President and Gecom have

Eliminate worries and anxiety DEAR EDITOR, Already our beloved country is on edge over who will win and if there will be violence, the main parties have promised a win and we know that this cannot be, unless the Commission acts decisively and transparently to defuse this situation there will continue to be fear mongering and possibly worst.

I am kindly requesting that the commission considers the following: 1- At the end of every polling station closing and counts are verified by all parties and the commission, that when station results are completed that they be communicated to your GECOM ICT Room, by the appropriate encoded devices, in this day and age this is not hard to do and can be set up within a day for all polling station with the right staff.

2- That the incoming results are posted on your Gecom website and in your communications room, and these are updated every 30 minutes, by polling station name and numbers.

3- That on completion of all results that a preliminary result is there for all to see so any claims/objections can be reasonable dealt with.

If these simple steps are followed, you will have eliminated much worries, anxiety, and stress which accompany our elections. When the actual ballot boxes arrive you can verify these results and declare a winner, and not have the country in suspense, waiting for work that should have been done on day one with proper planning.

Regards, Mr. Roy Beepat

invited observers to monitor the electoral process.

But their presence does not mean the election will be free and fair.

Elections since 1992 were marred by malfeasance and some outright fraud. Election officials were known to and still take sides. That is why Guyana needs observers to ensure FFE. Observers are invited to monitor Guyana’s elections from a number of organization not the least being the Carter Center, International Republican Institute, Caricom, UNASUR, Commonwealth, European Union, OAS, UN, among others. Observers do not prevent fraud. Rather they document and report irregularities.

Is it possible for observers to certify an election whose results is fraudulent?

Kenya’s elections of 2017 was certified by observers including by former Secretary of State John Kerry only to have it thrown out by the court because of fraud embarrassing the international observers. So foreigners monitoring an election is not a cure for fraud. Nevertheless, their presence is critical to combat fraud and every effort must be made to deter fraud which has become institutionalized in Guyana.

International observers are limited in their presence for the Guyana elections.

There are 1,000 observers and 2,300 polling stations.

They can’t be everywhere to deter fraud. In addition, they have not been present during the registration process and have not monitored

the list of voters to check on the existence of voters. Neither house to house check nor scientific testing of the registrants was carried out for accuracy of the list. Some 200K (out of 662K) voters are on the list even though they migrated or died. Others could potentially impersonate and vote for them as indeed happened in previous elections.

The observers and polling agents will have to look for individuals attempting to impersonate other voters – look at faces carefully, especially in the afternoon hours, and be certain that the person presenting himself or herself matches the photo on the roster. The agents have to examine fingers carefully for traces of ink although it is possible that watered down ink could be use and as such easily washable.

One of the problems with monitoring voting process is the observers can’t be present at every polling station (given limited number) and at the computing office to prevent skullduggery or outright fraud.

The various teams of observers don’t cooperate with one another. An observer is not positioned at a polling station during the entire voting process (6 AM to 6 PM).

Observers visit a polling station to check if all is well – has enough ballots and whether people are able to cast ballots, etc.

Then they move on. At the time of a visit at a polling place, all would be well because staff and the party agents would not want to (Continued on page 6)

Monday March 02, 2020

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Kaieteur News

The decline of sugar production and the equalising of opportunity DEAR EDITOR, The European Union (EU) had given the (African, Caribbean and Pacific) ACP states, as former colonies of the European powers, preferential market access under the EU-ACP Lomé (1975) and Cotonou (2000) preferential trade arrangements for the importation of sugar, rice and bananas, inter alia, into the EU markets.

This to a large extent has characterised the monocrop exports of the ACP states and created their dependence on the EU preferential markets.

In Guyana’s case it was sugar. Then came the creation of the WTO multilateral framework in 1995 and the case against the EU preferential prices to the ACP states was bought by Australia, Brazil and Thailand (2003); the WTO ruled that this was a violation of the General Agreements on Tariff and Trade (GATT). This pressured the EU to institute a new WTO compatible agreement with the Caribbean region -The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) which was signed in 2008.

The problem the ACP states face, including Guyana, is that their structural vulnerabilities is as a direct result of their monocrop export dependence on the EU markets, which dates back to mercantile system under colonial rule. In effect, they did not effectively insert their economies in trade liberalisation.

With the EPA, the Caribbean states are now required to give EU products market access to their economies while their preferential market to the EU phases out in 2033. The EPA must translate to 90 percent fully liberalised bilateral trade between the EU and the ACP to become a WTO compatible agreement.

In 2007, seven interim agreements between the EU and the ACP grouping were negotiated and the Caribbean EPA was signed in 2008 (CARICOM Secretariat; Dawson 2013, p.2 Heron; EU).

With a signed EPA, the region was able to off-set the European Development Fund (EDF) for trade capacity building in technical

Voting Day – respect ...

From page 4 other side and for whatever reason. Respect for the counters and deliberators and adjudicators. Respect for the results.

For when we succeed in adhering to these modern and civilized practices, this I submit could mark the first day of a brand-new beginning, one that is electrifying and energizing, one that inspires in each and every Guyanese that he or she is a master of this universe of ours.

I persist in recommending that we embrace the heavy responsibilities that are also part of our rights. Let us show the world and each other that we are up to the tasks at hand; they start with how we conduct ourselves this week, and in the long succeeding aftermath.

For too long, the world has mocked us and dismissed us. This we did bring upon ourselves in the unthinking frenzies of domestic politics.

The time for that is over. I think the time has to begin for

us to anticipate quality governance of an unprecedented nature; it must be the order of the day. It must be so pure that the dirty ones calculating how they will arrange the plums will be sent running for cover without finding any place to hide.

I tender that the days of troubled governance must end, and now. May March present us with the birth of a Great Guyanese era. It starts with reciprocal respect. And with being responsible to the highest degree possible.

Sincerely, GHK Lall

between 2002 and 2004 to below 250,000 tonnes in subsequent years.

In 2003, production fell to its lowest since 1940, with only 186,000 tonnes being produced.

The industry’s cost of production rose much higher than the market price for sugar, totalling over $50B in losses between 2010 and 2014 (Guyana Chronicle, September 17, 2019). Most of the Islands countries have transformed their plantation lands into golf fields and massive hotels for the tourism industry, of which trade in services is covered under the EPA. These statistics show that Guyana is not the only country that has had to rightsize the sugar industry with attendant losses to thousands of farm workers.

It must be reiterated that the closure of sugar estates was inevitable and also the closure of four sugar estates preceded this administration for the same reason – sugar was not profitable with the loss of the EU preferential prices and our own dependence on a monocrop export market. · All is not loss – equalDEAR EDITOR, izing opportunity with condiThe back track route between Guyana and Suriname is tional cash transfers closed due to a potential Coronavirus risk. Brazil which has Our people share a unique declared at least two confirmed cases as a result of the dreaded culture that was shaped by disease. the incidences of colonialism, Is our border with that country closed? slavery and indentureship Shamshun Mohamed which institutionalised centuries of plantation life as a primary means of survival.

To a large extent, the communities close to sugar DEAR EDITOR, I hereby disclaim the letter to the Editor published in the estates have continued Kaieteur News on March 1, 2020 titled ‘As we head to the working the plantation fields polls, we have decisions to make’. This letter was in no way in primary production; and we authored by or associated with me.

Sincerest regard, Dr. Navindranauth Rambaran Surgeon Chairman, Medical Council of Guyana

assistance in hard and soft infrastructure to facilitate competitive trade, globally (Fontagne et al 2010, p.1).

Guyana has received, during 2006-2013 GYD 34 billion for the restructuring the sugar industry for competitive trade on the world market, given the phasing out of the preferential trade arrangements.

This background is given to point out that there exist external factors for the decline of the sugar industry and that this was known since in the early 2000s by the government of the day. · Guyana is not the only country with job loss in the sugar industry The EPA liberalised agricultural export- rice, sugar and bananas in Europe market, in phased reduction of 10, 15 and 25 years. The Caribbean countries have however struggled to engage with the international trading system because of their economic vulnerability (export concentration and production instability) which

is difficult to change in the short run.

In Trinidad and Tobago and Saint Kitts and Nevis, the restructured sugar industry production cost remained high and ultimately shut down, leaving thousands of farm workers without livelihood. In Barbados there was a mismatch between processing capacity and cane supply which saw a dysfunctional industry restructuring with redundant workers who were not absorbed into the service sector (Richardson, et al.

2013). In Saint Lucia, Dominica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines the liberalisation of the EU banana MFN market access have impacted devastatingly on the market share of banana and they have been unable to compete in open markets (Bishop, 2011). Only Guyana managed to remain in production of sugar albeit at lower production levels for exports.

Sugar production fell from an average 320,000 tonnes

Is our border with Brazil closed?

DISCLAIMER

have not diversified nor modernised the sugar industry in the era of competitive trade and globalised market.

Needless to say, we were hard hit with open trade as with other sugar producing states in the ACP- Guyana is no exception.

This economic means of survival has accommodated generations to work the plantation fields as the main income earner, in estate areas which is an inherent practise with unequal opportunities.

Our young boys were conditioned to follow the path of their fathers and grandfathers to seek estate jobs; and our young women were conditioned to support this economic structure by becoming housewives.

What this has done and what has been happening is the fostering of an intergenerational transmission of poverty when sugar became unprofitable and jobs were lost.

The world has changed drastically from the mercantile system and job opportunities in Agriculture as a science and other areas in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) are available for our young people and their generations to come. We have allowed the plantation fields to take away from the innovative and creative abilities of thousands of persons who passed this on to their generations.

They were not given an equal opportunity to study and work in the formal sector.

The APNU+AFC Manifesto (Continued on page 6)

PAGE 6

“Trustee prisoner” escapes from Mazaruni A manhunt has been launched for 29-year-old Christopher Punch, who escaped from the Mazaruni prison last Saturday.

According to a police report, Punch, of Lot 28 El Dorado Village, West Coast Berbice, who was a trustee at the prison, made his escape from the correctional facility while he was attending to livestock at the back of the prison.

At around 14:00 hrs, Punch and six other inmates were taken to the prison dairy farm to tend to the livestock.

He was said to have asked a prison warder permission to

Monday March 02, 2020

Kaieteur News

urinate in some nearby bushes. He then headed to the area.

Some hours later, the prison warder was rounding up the other inmates and realised that Punch was missing.

He is said to be dark brown in complexion, slim, tall with a tattoo of clasped hands and a scripture from the Bible on his left arm, hair on chest and scars on his upper back.

Punch was serving a nineyear sentence for simple larceny and attempted larceny of motorcycles in Linden.

According to information

Prison escapee Christopher Punch received, Punch was charged in April last year for the theft of four motorcycles between February 28 and March 1, 2019.

The decline of sugar production...

From page 5 Conditional Cash Transfer is intended on equalising the opportunity for citizens who are affected in such conditions: · Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) based on a feasibility or pilot study including, but not limited to, Nutritional Support; Housing Support; Public Transport and a Single-Parent Support Programme; vouchers for day-care and eldercare services and adult remedial classes and training;

increased stipends for students attending Technical Institutes, Nursing Schools, School of Home Economics, Guyana School of Agriculture; · Cash transfers through the Public Education Assistance Service (PEAS) and, · Cash Transfers for the purchase of essential items.

This is a redistribution policy for equalizing opportunity - that an extra dollar of income means more to the poor (better welfare, increases utility) than for the

rich. In effect, an extra dollar of income is worth more to a poor person than a rich person through redistribution policies such as social safety nets including conditional cash transfers that could reduce inequality.

If we value democracy and we value social welfare, we will place a heavy value on equality which correlates with the decrease in crime, increase health and happiness in a population.

Regards, Dianna Rajcumar

On Free & Fair Elections and Int’l ...

From page 4 violate the sanctity of the voting process in the presence of observers. As soon as the observers leave, and unlikely to return, skullduggery is employed – boxes are stuffed, agents thrown out of stations, multiple voting, etc.

Guyana had a history of provocateurs starting fires (arson) or fights or some kind of violence in the vicinity of a polling place to create distraction or to intimidate voters discouraging them to cast ballots. This tactic was employed at every election. During the mayhem, polling places are rushed. Ballot boxes are raided and stuffed.

Another tactic is to threaten

or intimidate polling agents to force them out of stations. In every election, polling agents were ejected and boxes stuffed. There was also multiple voting. Thus, one never got a true reflection of the voter support for the two main parties in Guyana.

Counting of ballots and statements of polls were also problematic. Fake statements were introduced in the last election. And there were problems with spoilt or rejected ballots and even failed recounts. There can be improper tallies; numbers may be placed under an incorrect party column. Recount should be undertaken to verify results, each region,

and nationally although Returning Officers and high officials were known to disappear to avoid requests for recounts.

Observers are most important to this election. In order to enhance the integrity of the electoral process, they are urged to take note of the above concerns to deter fraud and like the media help to guarantee a free and fair election.

Regrettably, only one side will win. I wish if an outcome was possible in which both sides win - share power for all the people to be a part of the government.

Yours truly, Dr Vishnu Bisram

Monday March 02, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 7

PAGE 8

Monday March 02, 2020

Kaieteur News

ExxonMobil to recover millions in decommissioning costs 20 years in advance When oil projects are nearing the end of their lifecycle, an exercise called decommissioning is activated. This allows for the safe removal of all pipes and other infrastructure that were put in place for the extraction of the resource.

Since this exercise runs into millions of dollars, oil producing countries establish a fund so that the operator can make deposits to handle those expenses when the time comes. This is standard industry practice.

But Guyana’s Production

Modify all Production Sharing Agreements quickly - Industry Expert Sharing Agreements (PSA) with ExxonMobil and other operators do not require any advanced funding for this expensive exercise. What it does allow however, is for the company to begin recovering costs for the decommissioning more than 20 years before it is required to fund the said exercise During an exclusive interview with Kaieteur Radio on its programme, Guyana’s Oil and You, University of

Houston Instructor, Tom Mitro said this arrangement Guyana has in place is quite unusual.

The industry expert said, “Decommissioning is an exercise that costs millions of dollars. It is a large amount of money the companies are required to spend in a time when the oil is no longer pumping and therefore, no money is being generated.

And there is a risk in that period.”

Mitro said that often times, when oil fields are in their last days, big companies are known for selling out the projects to smaller companies which do not have a strong financial backing as they do.

And it happens all over the world he said. Mitro noted that in many instances, the smaller company files for bankruptcy and the country is left with the bill.

The industry expert said, “As a result of this, most

agreements and regulations in the world ensure there is an advanced funding mechanism in place because they don’t want to rely on companies that will look to take short cuts or file for bankruptcy.”

He added, “But in Guyana, you do not require any pre-funding for decommissioning. You allow the companies to take oil to recover future costs, so they take the oil in advance, 20 or 30 years in advance without having to put out the cash.

This is pretty unique. I have not seen this anywhere else.”

Mitro said that unusual provision is highly beneficial to the company.

He said, “Companies always look at something called net present value which is basically any money you get now is worth more to you now than money you will get in the future or any money you can defer spending now is better for you in the future and that drives the decisions

University of Houston Instructor, Tom Mitro they make. My rough estimate of the benefit is that the companies make US$100M more in net present value and that is a fairly significant amount.”

The University of Houston Instructor said he would advise Guyana to put regulations in place to protect itself along with making modifications to Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) which require a pre-funding arrangement.

Monday March 02, 2020

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Kaieteur News

A callous and uncaring decision The decision of the authorities to close the ‘backtrack’ route between Guyana and Suriname will be seen by many as a callous and, uncaring decision. It has caught many persons by surprise and left them stranded on both sides of the border Yesterday’s Stabroek News reported that the decision was being implemented as a result of the increase in the corona virus from Germany and France. How more ridiculous can the government get? Do they really expect that persons from Ger-

many and France are going to use the ‘backtrack’ route to get to Guyana?

The route was reportedly closed on Saturday last and will only last for one week.

This could hardly make the closure a response to a health threat. Closing the border crossing for one week, is not going to stop any health threat, more so since there have been no reported cases of the corona virus in neighbouring Suriname.

There has been no closure of the border with Brazil which has had a reported case of

corona virus. There has been no restrictions on persons travelling from China to Guyana even though China is the country where the virus is believed to have originated.

Persons from that country are being allowed into the country through the airports. So why close the border with Suriname?

There is no health threat from Suriname? If this were the case then all travel to that neighboring republic should have been discontinued.

This decision will affect the hundreds of Guyanese –

of all races – who travel to work in Suriname and usually return home for the weekend.

It will affect the dozen of traders who will be stuck on the other side with their goods. It will affect the livelihoods of the fishermen who work on vessels registered in Suriname. It will affect Surinamese who come over to buy spare parts. How can any country treat its nationals like this?The decision will result in personal income and economic losses. It will affect the economy since it is known that traders frequent the

‘backtrack’ route, including using it for exports. More than 30% of the goods in Berbice originate in Suriname and many Guyanese export goods to the neighbouring Republic, including perishables.

The decision to close the ‘backtrack’ route smacks of ignorance. The majority of the persons who traverse the ‘backtrack’ route are not Guyanese resident in Suriname. They are resident in Guyana and to they travel back and forth each week to work in the neighbouring Republic.

The Guyanese who are resident in Nickerie and Parimaribo do not travel across the Corentyne River very often. They only do so during family emergencies.

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

PAGE 10

Kaieteur News

Monday March 02, 2020

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

ONLY INCLUSIVE POWER, NOT OIL ALONE, WILL BIRTH A FUTURE No occupation brings the human being face to face with the relentless progression of time than a daily commentator, whether print media or television.

Each time you go in front the camera or strike the keyboard, you record the new day, the new date and you realize that it was an entire year past by and it looked just like yesterday.

Thirty one years ago, I started writing columns, and time just went by. Where did

those years go? I am 41 years in marriage; my kid is grown up and just back from the UK with her Masters; I have suddenly found myself in my late sixties, and the Guyana I knew in those thirty years is not the Guyana I know today.

I typed in the date of this column and it is like if a bolt of lightning woke me up to the fact that I was talking to my kid in London just yesterday but in fact she is back.

As I struck the keyboard it has dawned on me that 2015

is long gone. The formation that toppled the PPP in 2015 has completed five years in power. I just can’t believe five years went by so quickly As I type this piece, circling inside my mind is the forceful consciousness, the flashing awareness that Guyana is getting older as a country but nothing is changing. In other words, time is leaving Guyana behind.

All, with few exceptions, major media houses in the

world have written on a nascent rich country emerging from prodigious oil discovery. That country is my land of birth, Guyana. But will oil bring a future?

Rewind the tape nine years ago to 2011 and bring it up to 2015. The roads not taken in 2011 and 2015 this entire nation must now walk on after March 3 and stay there stuck in cement on that pathway. It is the direction of inclusive governance we missed from 2011 onwards right up to this date.

In 2011, a government was formed by a party that did not win a majority of votes cast in the general election. It was the time for that administration to acknowledge that it didn’t have both, a moral and philosophical mandate, to make rules, laws, edicts and policies for the entire nation.

The decent thing to do was to try the approach however, elusive, never attempted before – inclusive politics. The 2011 regime didn’t walk that road. That

leadership did not put itself inside the mind of the other half and try to understand how the other half saw it.

The other half didn’t want the 2011 dispensation to rule without bringing it on board.

In the 2015, the election results gave the winner 50.3 percent while the loser collected 49. 7percent. To call that that victory a narrow margin, may be far from an accurate description. That was an infinitesimally close finish.

The term that I use in these columns is one I picked up from cricket commentaries; “a coat of varnish.”

The 2015 dispensation did not attempt to understand how the other half felt. The other half was not brought into the scheme of things. The other half resented the “coat of varnish” approach to power after 2015.

So here we are today. You have to be a bloody, raging idiot to think that on March 3 or maybe March 4 or knowing what Guyana is, maybe March 7 the president won’t be either

Frederick Kissoon from the PPP or the leader of the PNC. But here I am guessing that if either one wins it will take one of two shapes - a 51 versus 49 percent or a minority government.

Once that kind of power is acquired, then inclusive governance that we missed out on from 2011 has to come into play. I am contending that even if there is a 52 percent versus 48 percent result that is not a decisive margin of victory in a plural society like Guyana is. Even with 52 versus 48, inclusive governance has to be pursued.

Almost the entire nation sees the oil revenues as the beginning foundation of a sound, workable future.

Count me out of that scenario.

There were three high points of economic blossoming – Burnham- 1970 to 1978; Hoyte - 1987 to 1992; and Jagdeo - 2006 to 2011. In all three configurations the divided society saw one half that was left out of powersharing disparaging the government of the day.

Oil money is coming but will oil money erase the culture of ethnic suspicion, ethnic anger, winner-take-all politics, incestuous politics, preferential spending? My answer is no. Guyana’s future lies in power-sharing.

Monday March 02, 2020

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Monday March 02, 2020

Monday March 02, 2020

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Kaieteur News

In two months‌78 foreign nationals on immigration charges In less than two months ,78 foreign nationals appeared before a city magistrate to answer to immigration charges.

The immigrants were charged for entering Guyana illegally, overstaying and exiting the country without presenting themselves to an immigration officer. Those charged were Haitians, Cubans, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans.

They all made their court appearance in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts between January 13, 2020 and February 26, 2020.

For that period 51 Haitians, 20 Cubans, four Sri Lankans and three Bangladeshis appeared before a Magistrate.

In most cases the defendants charged for illegal exit were caught accessing the Takatu Bridge, located in Lethem, away from the legal checkpoint.

In their explanations they said that they were unaware that they must stamp out of Guyana before leaving to visit Brazil.

Those charged for illegal entry were caught en route to Lethem, From there the immigrants were escorted to Georgetown and taken to the Criminal Investigation Department, Headquarters, Eve Leary.

And the immigrants charged for overstaying have been in Guyana since March 17, 2018 and were only apprehended by the police on January 24, 2020.

After the defendants admitted to the charge that was read to them, the Magistrate imposed a fine of not more than $40,000, or in default imprisonment for not more than 6 months.

The Magistrate also ordered that the defendants be escorted to the nearest port of exit after they paid their fines or were released from prison. The Immigration Department provided interpreters for the cases.

The most recent case was that of four Sri Lankan men who were charged for entering Guyana illegally.

A businessman paid their $40,000 fines.. The man also offered to buy return tickets for the defendants.

They were the only immigrants who were able to secure representation from the legal aid clinic. The men pleaded guilty to the charge which stated that between January 18, 2020 and February 22, 2020 at Springlands Corentyne, Berbice they entered Guyana by sea and disembarked without the consent of an immigration officer.

Some of the immigrants entering the courtyard.

Weeks before the Sri Lankans appeared in court, three Bangladesh nationals were arraigned before the Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, after they were charged for entering Guyana illegally.

They were sentenced to three months imprisonment after they admitted to the charge which stated that on January 25, 2020, at Springlands Corentyne, Berbice, they entered Guyana by sea and disembarked

without the consent of an Immigration Officer.

According to information, the immigrants were apprehended in Lethem.

When their passports were examined, it was revealed that the defendants had not

presented themselves to an immigration officer.

It was confirmed that they entered Guyana legally via the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) and were granted permission to stay for a specific period.

PAGE 14

Local Content Policy should develop dual purpose workers - Chatham House Associate Fellow In developing key policies for t h e o i l a n d g a s i n d u s t r y, Guyana’s authorities must keep in mind that petroleum resources are not infinite, and therefore, care should be taken to prepare workers and businesses to serve other industries.

This salient piece of advice was recently offered by Chatham House Associate Fellow, Dr. Valerie Marcel during her first appearance on Kaieteur Radio’s Programme, Guyana’s Oil and You. During her interview, she was asked to speak on the importance of a Local Content Policy containing provisions which seek to create value beyond the oil industry.

Dr. Marcel said, “...Guyana is in that unusually positive situation of having a discovery that has the barrel per capita at a very high level.

That can make Guyana dream of the kind of local content that Trinidad, Norway or the UK has had but the difference is that Guyana is starting in the midst of an energy transition so there is a new timeline factor that didn’t

Monday March 02, 2020

Kaieteur News

Chatham House Associate Fellow, Dr. Valerie Marcel exist before.”

In this regard, the Chatham House Associate Fellow alluded to the fact that when Trinidad started the development of its

resources, no one thought or conceived the end of such an oil industry, where the country’s reserves are not as high as before and where the global economy is moving away from fossil fuel to renewable energy such as solar and hydro power.

Dr. Marcel said, “Guyana has to think well about what kinds of local skills and services and goods it will supply to the oil sector only and where it can leverage that demand from the oil sector to create supply that is useful in other sectors. If you can develop skills in welding and electricity that is useful for oil but also other sectors, that is a much greater long-term skill and wealth for Guyana.”

Dr. Marcel said it would be in Guyana’s best interest to go this route as it serves to limit the country’s dependence on the oil resource, the price of which is constantly fluctuating.

With the aforementioned in mind, Dr. Marcel completely agreed that Guyana should have a Local Content Policy that seeks to bridge gaps and create opportunities for dual use.

Cops narrowly miss nabbing suspect in Cuban butcher’s murder By just mere minutes, police failed to nab one of the main suspects behind the February 20, 2020 murder of a Cuban national who was shot dead while making his way to work.

According to a source close to the investigation, police received word of the suspect’s location and were on route.

When they arrived, the suspect was nowhere to be found.

But this, according to the sources, will not deter the investigations as an extensive search is ongoing for the suspect and his accomplice.

Regional Commander, Assistant Commissioner Edgar Thomas had disclosed to Kaieteur News that police obtained CCTV footage of the murder which positively identifies the suspects involved.

One of the suspects is a known character who was said to have committed a string of bike robberies in the past.

Cuban national, 35-year-old Ofredis Duarte Campos, of 321 East Street, Georgetown was shot dead during an early morning attempted robbery while heading to his place of work, at the Rosignol butchery located on Church Street, Georgetown.

Reports indicate that Campos was walking along Cummings Street,

35-year-old Ofredis Duarte Campos between Middle and Quamina Streets, when two men on a red and white XR motorcycle attacked him.

It was said that Campos put up a fight and one of the robbers shot the Cuban right wrist, upper chest and below his chin. The shooters then rode off empty-handed.

Monday March 02, 2020

PAGE 19

Kaieteur News

GUYANESE HORROR FICTION KAMARANG…

SEALEY AND THE GIRL WITH CHANGING NAMES

By Michael Jordan The boy came in around midnight, bringing the smell of the girl with him. In the fluttering flambeau light, his eyes lifted to Sealey, who was smoking in his hammock.

“Night Mr. Sealey.”

Sealey pressed his cigarette out against a post.

He lit another at the flambeau, then turned back to Leon. “So how the young rooster?”

Leon responded with a tired, dreamy smile. “Okay Mr. Sealey.” He stepped further into the pork-knocker’s logie, stumbling slightly in the gloom.

From his hammock, Jerry Mentore laughed. “Ha...like she wear you out, chap.”

The boy smiled again. He shifted to his hammock next to Sealey’s. He removed his boots, then his jersey. A strong, unmistakable feminine odour wafted over them.

Jerry Mentore sniffed the air loudly. “Hay…go bathe, man.” He leaned to the floor, then flung a boot at Bap Reggie, who was snoring in his hammock.

The snores ceased abruptly. Bap Reggie stirred, grumbling a curse.

“Wake up, Chap,” Mentore said loudly. “Leon come back.”

Bap Reggie scrambled up, immediately awake. His grin was wide in the darkness. He began to cheer, Jerry Mentore joining in.

“Ahh raaight…the man with all the luck...”

“The young rooster…”

They were all grinning like schoolboys.

“What she name?”

The boy held up his hands, laughing.

“What she name?” pressed Mentore.

“Carmelita.” He said the name slowly.

“Car-mel-ita. Sounds Brazilian. She’s Brazilian?”

“How much fuh a nightsleep?” Leon?” asked Bap Reggie.

The boy gave Bap Reggie a sideways, mischievous glance. “But what this old man want with night sleep?”

Laughter…Bap Reggie, unabashed, joining in.

“But serious, Leon,” Mentore said. “How much?”

“I dunno,” Leon said, smiling.

Mentore shifted impatiently, almost tumbling from his hammock. “How you mean you doan know? Yuh been with the woman, or yuh ain been with the woman?”

The boy nodded. Again that tired, dreamy smile.

“So how much?”

“I tell you I don’t know.”

The boy was smiling, eyes half-closed. Now he yawned, and stretched himself out in his hammock.

And then, like a flash of light, understanding came to Sealey.

“Leon, you still got the two pennyweights I gave you?”

Leon’s eyes fluttered open. He stared at Sealey, surprised.

“Yes Mr. Sealey.”

Mentore was glancing

from Sealey to Leon.

“Wait a minute. You mean you didn’t pay?”

Leon said nothing, but the dreamy smile had returned. He pushed a hand into his trouser pocket. It came out with a wad of paper.

Sealey watched him unfold it; saw the dull-glittering metal inside. He stared at the gold, feeling a pang of jealousy, mingling with a sense of foreboding. Leon let them stare at the gold for a moment, then stretched out again in his hammock.

Mentore emitted a sigh.

“Lucky son of a…”

Hay, wha ’bout introducing me tomorrow…eh Leon?”

But Leon was already asleep. * Vibert Sealey stared at the ceiling, his senses tuned to the Kamarang night.

Somewhere overhead, he heard a passing night-bird’s

mournful cry. Distant music from the direction of the Jaguar’s Den disco. Alvin Benn had switched to oldies.

The Drifters’ Strangers on the Shore… Suddenly he felt lonely. Bap Reggie was snoring in his hammock. Jerry Mentore had gone back to the Jaguar’s Den. Maybe he should have gone, too. Sat with old friends, gotten drunk and talked nonsense till the sun came up over the mountains.

Why…oh why…must I go

on like this…

Should I be a lonely… stranger on thu-uh shore Memories…memories…

It was on a night just like this that he had met her. He had been just a boy back then.

But he had thought that he was a man because he had spent three years in the bush.

He had been through the dreaded Itanami Falls. Seen a man’s shoulder swiped open by a jaguar at Three Miles.

He’d had his share of women…who won’t, moving with Jocelyn Walker?

And all of this had made him think he was prepared for life. Josephine taught him different.

That was the time of the Tumatumari gold shout, when men were finding nuggets as big as eggs.

Jocelyn Walker’s crew had done well, too.

The celebrations began on the trail, as they headed out of

Tumatumari by truck; everybody half drunk and they hadn’t even reached Bartica.

Jocelyn Walker was talking about a pleasure-girl that was waiting for him in Georgetown. His friend, Rudy Wilson, a short, quiet, big shouldered miner from Bartica, was talking of the things he would do for his grandmother and sister, and of a girl he wanted to marry, when the truck suddenly veered off the trail.

Sealey and Walker had managed to jump free just as the truck plunged down the Tumatumari gorge, taking Rudy Wilson and ten other miners with it.

The memory of the truck slipping on the red loam and tottering over the gorge, and the screams of the trapped men remained in his head, even after the funerals.

He had wanted to get away from Bartica after they had pooled their money and given something to Wilson’s grandmother.

Instead, the two days they had planned staying had stretched to a week. He had expected the men to be subdued. Instead, the liquor had flowed more than ever.

The laughter and cursing were louder. He sensed that they were all trying to drown out the memory of those screams. He joined them too, drinking to forget, but somehow drunkenness had refused to come.

If they had left earlier, he might never have met her.

Cover design and illustrations by Harold Bascom They had started drinking at the Diamond of Joy, then they had moved to Flash Nelson’s place, then to Chiefie’s Shop in First Avenue. Around midnight, they had moved to a new open-air dancehall built at the edge of the riverside. There was a huge full moon, like the one now over Kamarang. The juke-box was blaring out an Eddie Hooper tune. Jocelyn Walker had an arm around a prostitute they called the Black Pearl and was singing ‘Where are your friends now “Oh yeah…where are they…”

And he had thought of Rudy Wilson and was about

to drink again when he saw her coming down the walkway.

God, the things he still remembered. How small and girlish she had looked. Her lips pouting and haughtylooking, but with a trace of sadness. The mole just above her left breast. The way she would squeeze her thighs together, as a signal that she wanted to make love. The playful way she would catch a tendril of her reddish-brown hair in her mouth, when it blew loose in the Bartica seawall breeze.

He had danced with her.

She had seemed to sense his loneliness and had sat and Continued on page 20

PAGE 20

Monday March 02, 2020

Kaieteur News

47 years after…Now genetic genealogy identifies suspect in girl’s rape and murder

Naomi Sanders (Vallejo Police Dept.)

Robert Dale Edwards (Vallejo Police Dept.)

Over four decades after a woman was sexually assaulted and killed, a suspect has finally been identified through the new, but growing, investigative tool of genetic genealogy.

Naomi Sanders was found sexually assaulted and strangled to death on Feb. 27, 1973 inside her apartment in Vallejo, California, about 30 miles outside San Francisco.

Sanders, 57, lived alone and was the onsite manager for the apartment complex, the Vallejo Police Department said.

But the years ticked by without progress in her case.

In 2014, forensic testing was completed on the clothes Sanders was wearing when she was killed, and analysts found a semen stain, said police.

A DNA profile was developed from the stain and entered into the law enforcement database Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) — but there was no match, police said.

MORE: Suspect in mother, son double murder identified through genealogy databases

Detectives said they continued to run the DNA profile against new people when they were added to CODIS, still without a match.

In 2016, detectives tried familial DNA technology, which allowed them to search the California DNA database and wider DNA databases in other states for people related to the unknown suspect, police said. Again, they didn’t get a hit.

Police said the break in the case finally came when authorities started to look into genetic genealogy in 2018.

Sealey and the girl with changing...

From page 19 listened to him talk about the accident; listening to him as if he was the only man there.

That beauty, those eyes with the hint of sadness, her hard life—father dead, mother an alcoholic—had brought out a protectiveness in him.

They had tried to warn him, even before they realised how badly he had fallen.

Boy, you don’t know that woman. She goin to carry you to the mountain top and then drop you down, and you gun break up in lil pieces like flippin’ humpty dumpty, and nothing could put yuh back together again…

That warning had bothered him. He had sometimes sensed that hardness in her; at other times, something wild and unpredictable. The intensity of her lovemaking excited him. But it scared him too; made him wonder if he could ever be enough for her.

Sometimes she stared at him as if he was the only man in the world. Sometimes she behaved as if he didn’t exist.

Sometimes he seemed to catch a secret, mocking smile at the edge of her lips.

But he had told himself that they were jealous. They didn’t know her the way he did. He had taken her from Bartica, when he could no longer stand to see her being touched by other men. He had rented a house in Georgetown, running around like a jackass, trying to stock it with everything she asked for. He eventually left her at home to return to the bush.

For once, he had been reluctant to leave the city.

It was a miner at Tumatumari who started the trouble. The man had just come in from Georgetown. He said he had seen her drinking with a half-Portuguese chap at the Ritz. Sealey had put the man in a lock…almost broken his neck. He hadn’t known

his own strength back then.

But he couldn’t work after that. He caught the first truck out and returned to Georgetown… to a house that was empty as a hall cleared for a dance: The furniture he had bought at Fogarty’s…gone.

The new doublebed…gone.

The De Luxe fridge…gone.

The cabinet with the fancy Pyrex ware…gone…

Even his clothes were missing; his shoes, his hats—even back then, he had loved hats.

All that was left was a cup, a plate, a sponge by the sink, and a pair of her red panties on the bathroom rail.

Thinking of it now, he realised that he had nearly gone mad, the way he had searched for her. At Bartica, he heard something about her spending money on a tall, half-Portuguese man named Johnny Perreira. But she wasn’t there. She wasn’t anywhere that they said she was.

It was at the Ritz that he finally found Perreira; this tall, light-skinned man, wearing his suit, his hat, and a cloud of red rage was in Sealey’s head, and he had Perreira by the fuk’in throat, just squeezing, just squeezing, just squeezing…

He did not see the knife.

All he knew was that suddenly his hands and legs were heavy, all his anger was draining away, and he was slipping to the ground in tangled slow-motion.

And the red mist cleared and now he saw the knife handle sticking out of his side.

Stabbed…stabbed…dying over a whore…

It was three weeks before he could leave the hospital.

Afterwards, he knocked around town, drinking out the little money he had, feeling sorry for himself, until Jocelyn Walker came from the bush and straightened him out.

Welcome, boy, Walker had

said.

Welcome to the world of foolish pork-knockers…

It was when he had finally stopped his mad search that he had finally found her. Or rather, she found him.

He was going home from a drinking session in Lombard Street, when a woman in the darkness said: “Vibert?”

She was wearing a flowered dress like the one he had first seen her in. It looked old, rumpled, too big for her.

She, too, looked worn and older. There was no sign of the jewels he had made for her; even the gold tooth she’d once flashed was gone.

But there was still enough of the girl he had known to make his heart turn over.

She asked for something to eat, and he bought her a meal and drink at a Chinese restaurant. As she took the first spoonful, a tear slid down her cheek. He had given her money to return to Bartica.

She had looked at him…that sad, soft-eyed look that had melted him before and made him stupid.

That was the last time he had ever seen her. Months after, he thought of her, wondering at the look he thought he had seen in those slanted eyes, wondering if she had meant it this time.

Where was she now?

Had she married? Was she still alive?

Even after all those years, he still hadn’t forgotten her. And the thought of what might have been, had he given her that second chance, was still a wound in his heart that hurt most on nights like this. …and when sleep finally came to Vibert Sealey, he found that she had followed him there. He was a boy again, still aching at the loss of her. There were tears at the back of his throat and he was travelling on a strange, wide jungle river in his mad, endless search. Hundreds of

water dogs swam alongside the leaky corial in which he sat. A soft-glowing orange sun was setting in the east.

The squint-eyed Amerindian boatman was smiling at him. He reminded Sealey of Tony Perez, his old friend from Kamarang.

“You sure you want to find her, boy?” the boatman said, when they were halfway across. “She will build you up, then break you into little pieces. Little, little, pieces,” he said again, dipping his paddle, which Sealey now saw was a man’s leg, into the water.

Suddenly it was twilight, and he was walking along a thin jungle trail. A huge bird beat its wings overhead. It flew past him, then stopped in the middle of the trail. It waited until he was close, then it flew down the track, stopping again to stare at him. It knew where she was.

He could see the amusement in its red eyes.

You sure you want to find her, boy? It said with its eyes.

You know where she is now?

She’s with Johnny Perreira…red-skinned Johnny Perreira…

Suddenly the bird gave an alarmed squawk and flew into the bushes. Three veiled women were coming toward Sealey. They made no sound.

He could not see their feet.

“You know where I can find Josephine?” he asked, deepening his voice, pretending to be brave.

They said nothing, but they shook with silent laughter. As they passed him on the trail, the woman nearest to him reached out and grabbed at his crotch.

She was in a troolie hut at the end of the trail. His Josephine. She lay naked on a bed of skins. She was smiling, eyes half-closed, a tendril of her reddish-brown hair caught playfully between her lips; her hips undulating in a strange, boneless rhythm.

Suddenly he was naked,

and she was pulling him down onto the skins. He was about to kiss her when he saw that she wasn’t Josephine, she wasn’t Josephine at all. She was Leon’s girl, he couldn’t kiss Leon’s girl, but he kissed her and drew her close. He tried to enter her, but she pushed him back. She placed a hand on her full, black crotch. She reached out, brushed sticky-wet fingers to his lips; the smell of her pungent even in his dream.

“You can’t leave me now,” she said, her voice filled with a fierce tenderness. She stroked his face again. “You will always come back to me…”

She opened her thighs again. He hovered above her for a moment … and then he fell…

She entwined him. She writhed beneath him like a limbed serpent, her movements carrying them from the blanket of skins to the hut’s entrance and into the forest. Strange stars stared down at them. She stared up at him, and writhed, and smiled with cold amusement in her eyes.

Who are you? he tried to ask. What do you want from me?

But she just kept on writhing, and smiling with cold amusement into his eyes.

Taken from the Guyanese supernatural novel Kamarang by Michael Jordan. Book design and illustrations by Harold Bascom.)

Copies of the illustrated edition of Kamarang are on sale at Austin’s Book Store.

KAMARANG is also available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback.

The author can also be contacted for autographed copies on +592 645 2447 or by email: kmarangnight@gmail.com)

Through genetic genealogy, an unknown killer’s DNA left at a crime scene can be identified through his or her family members, who voluntarily submit their DNA to a genealogy database. This allows police to create a much larger family tree than using law enforcement databases like CODIS. Genetic genealogy first came to light as an investigative tool in April 2018 when the suspected “Golden State Killer” was arrested through the technique. Since then, over 100 suspects have been identified through the technology, according to Parabon NanoLabs Chief Genetic Genealogist CeCe Moore, who worked on the Sanders case.

After working through the family tree of Sanders’ unknown killer in April 2019, analysts were able to zero-in on two persons of interest, authorities said.

MORE: Possible serial killer was behind teen’s 1976 rape, murder: Police Detectives went to Louisiana in 2019 where they collected a discarded item from one of those persons of interest, police said. They tested the DNA from that item, but didn’t get a match, so they eliminated the man as a suspect, police said.

That left police with the second person of interest — who was dead and had been cremated, they said.

Authorities contacted one of his sons and collected his DNA, which determined that Sanders’ suspected killer was Robert Dale Edwards, the Vallejo police announced Thursday.

Edwards was a 22-yearold living in Vallejo at the time of the crime, police said.

Detectives learned that Edwards’ father was a coworker of Sanders, police said.

He had a criminal history, including attempted murder, assault and domestic violence, police said.

Edwards died in 1993 of a drug overdose, police said.

Sanders’ family released a statement through the police department, saying so many relatives over the last 46 years “have also passed, and, unfortunately, they cannot be afforded the truth as to what happened.”

“Those of us who do remember the stories of Naomi’s life and untimely death can now feel closure thanks to the determination and teamwork of the Vallejo Police Department and partnering law enforcement agencies,” the family said.

“May Naomi now rest in peace,” her family said.

Monday March 02, 2020

Kaieteur News

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Monday March 02, 2020

Kaieteur News

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A resident of Hauraruni Village, Linden/ Soesdyke Highway was on Saturday evening added to the list of road fatalities for the year 2020.

Dead is pedal cyclist, 51year-old Gordon Watson.

According to reports, the accident occurred on the Hauraruni Public Road at around 19:47 hrs between Watson and a motorcar.

Kaieteur News was informed that the car PRR 9696, was proceeding on the eastern side of the public road and Watson was also proceeding

in the same direction.

Sources close to the investigation revealed that the driver of the car; a 53-yearold Berbician alleged that the pedal cyclist suddenly swerved into his path.

According to him, he attempted to apply his breaks but Watson struck the side of his car and fell.

He was picked up in an unconscious state and rushed to the Diamond Diagnostics Centre where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Watson was said to have been wearing protective gear

at the time of the accident as a broken piece of his helmet was left at the scene.

According to Regional Commander Superintendent Kurleigh Simon, a breathalyzer test was conducted on the driver of the car and he was found to be below the legally prescribed limit.

He has since been taken into police custody where he is assisting with investigations. Watson’s body remains at the Diamond Diagnostics Centre mortuary awaiting an autopsy.

Cop was drinking with victim minutes..

From page 16 According to the release, the miner allegedly armed himself with a cutlass and began to attack Gomes.

“He was warned repeatedly by a Police Sergeant who was armed with a service pistol, but he continued…the rank reportedly discharged a round and the victim (Gomes) was struck instead.”

The body is at the Lyken Funeral Home awaiting an autopsy.

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Information (DPI) reportedly on Friday that Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence travelled to Mahdia to meet with Gomes’ relatives and the staff of the Mahdia Hospital.

The DPI release stated that after he was shot in the shoulder, Gomes was rushed to the hospital and doctors and staff “followed procedures to stabilize the patient.”

It was determined that Gomes required surgery and a medical evacuation was requested.

“However, clearance was not given for an aircraft to fly into the region due to the topography and location of the Mahdia airstrip. Unfortunately, Gomes succumbed to his injury,” The release added that on hearing of his demise, “family members and other residents broke some of the hospital

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windows and verbally accosted the staff.”

“During her meeting with the relatives, Minister Lawrence clarified the reason why the medivac was unable to respond.

She explained that by the time clearance was given for the medivac to occur, pilots were unavailable to fly in. As is customary, two pilots are needed for a medical evacuation to take place at nights.

“We cannot have a tired pilot flying, that is a risk,” the Health Minister explained.

She was supported by Army Officer, Dr. Nigel Langhorne, who is the point person to the MoPH, in situations like this.

She also explained to the relatives that they were never denied the right to see the patient but that “it was a critical case and the medical staff

needed to be allowed to do their job.”

The Minister also met with the Mahdia Hospital staffers to commended them for carrying out their duties despite the unfortunate incident.

“Permanent Secretary, MoPH Colette Adams, who accompanied the minister, noted that the ministry has already been identifying any gaps in the service provided by the health facility and is seeking to address them.

Among these is the construction of a new hospital where an operating theatre can be housed to deal with emergency cases. This should reduce the need for medical evacuations.

The DPI also stated that Minister Lawrence assured the relatives that a full investigation will be conducted.

Guyanese poet shares faith...

From page 15 different places. I would get inspired by a word I heard from the pulpit or while reading a scripture, listening to music in the car…”

Yet, Edwards said she didn’t muster the courage to publish until a year ago.

When she finally gave into “the convictions” to work on the book, it was compiled from notes she kept years before.

The book captures the writer’s experience with God. Every passage contains words of encouragement and testimonies from which readers can draw strength.

In pieces like “In the Deepest Part of Me” the writer shares insight of “how God is fighting for all of us when we place our faith in Christ.”Dairy with the Lord shares inspirational poems that recognize the power of the salvation and how it instigates and leads us through troubled waters.

The author notes it is in accepting Christ as our savior that “we are saved, sheltered and strengthened even at our darkest hour.”

“I hope that it helps draw people closer to God; to experience the greatness of our father,” she said.

Monday March 02, 2020

Kaieteur News

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Monday March 02, 2020

Monday March 02, 2020

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Kaieteur News

Gatherings banned, travel restricted as coronavirus cases grow worldwide WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas rolled out bans on big gatherings and stricter travel restrictions as cases of the new coronavirus spread around the world.

The United States on Saturday reported its first death from the disease, a man in his 50s in Washington state, where officials said two of the state’s three cases have links to a nursing home with dozens of residents showing disease symptoms.

Although most Americans face a low risk from the virus, more U.S. deaths could be imminent following the nation’s first, CNN quoted Vice President Mike Pence as saying.

“We know there will be more cases,” Pence told CNN’s Jake Tapper in a clip released on Saturday, echoing President Donald Trump’s earlier comments that additional cases in America were “likely.”

Travelers from Italy and South Korea would face additional screening, Trump and top officials told a White House news briefing, warning Americans against traveling to coronavirus-affected regions in both countries.

Pence said an entry ban on travelers from Iran would be expanded to include any foreign nationals who have visited Iran in the last 14 days.

The United States may also restrict travel on its southern border with Mexico, officials said. However, they encouraged Americans to travel around the country, including states that have recorded some of its more than 60 cases.

The outbreak is disrupting flight demand and many airlines have suspended or modified services in re-

A man wearing a face mask is seen at a checkpoint for registration with a body temperature yesterday. REUTERS Stringer. sponse. After Saturday’s press conference, the White House held a call with airlines to discuss new travel restrictions.American Airlines Inc said late on Saturday it was suspending all U.S. flights to Milan.

Ecuador on Saturday reported its first case, in a woman who had traveled from Madrid, while Mexico reported four cases, all in people who had visited Italy.

Brazilian officials confirmed that country’s second case, a patient in São Paulo who recently visited Italy.

As governments worldwide stepped up efforts to halt the spread of the virus, France announced a temporary ban on public gatherings with more than 5,000 people in confined spaces. It reported 16 new cases for a total of 73, and canceled a halfmarathon of 40,000 runners scheduled for yesterday.

Switzerland said it is banning events expected to draw more than 1,000 people.

More than 700 tourists remain quarantined at a hotel

in the Canary Islands, after several Italian guests there tested positive for coronavirus.

Schools and universities in Italy, which is experiencing Europe’s worst outbreak of the disease, will stay closed for a second consecutive week in three northern re-

gions. The country has reported more than 1,100 cases and 29 deaths.

Analysts have warned that the outbreak looks set to shunt Italy’s fragile economy into its fourth recession in 12 years, with many businesses in the wealthy north close to a standstill and hotels report-

ing a wave of cancellations.

Iraq reported five new cases of the disease, bringing its total to 13, and Qatar reported its first Saturday, leaving Saudi Arabia as the only Gulf state not to have signaled any coronavirus cases.

The majority of infections in other Gulf countries have been linked to visits to Iran or involve people who have come into contact with people who had been there.

Armenia reported its first infection yesterday, in a citizen returning from neighbouring Iran.Tehran has ordered schools shut until Tuesday and extended the closure of universities and a ban on concerts and sports events for a week. Authorities have also banned visits to hospitals and nursing homes as the country’s case load hit nearly 600.One Iranian lawmaker, elected in Feb. 21 polls, has died from the disease along with more than 40 other Iranians, and several highranking officials have tested positive for the virus.

Azerbaijan said on Satur-

day it had closed its border with Iran for two weeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Two Azerbaijanis who traveled to Iran have tested positive for the disease and quarantined.

Mainland China reported 573 new confirmed coronavirus cases yesterday, up from 427 the previous day, national health officials said yesterday in China. The number of deaths stood at 35, down from 47 the previous day, taking the toll in mainland China to 2,870.

The epidemic, which began in China, has killed almost 3,000 people worldwide, the ministry said.Thailand reported its first death from the virus yesterday, while in Australia, a former passenger on the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined off Japan died in the western city of Perth.Churches closed in South Korea as many held online services instead, with authorities looking to rein in public gatherings, as 376 new infections took the tally to 3,526 cases.

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Kaieteur News

Real Madrid defeat Barcelona in..

From page 27 crashed into Arthur Melo before fellow Spain full-backs Dani Carvajal and Jordi Alba were both booked after a disagreement.

Madrid had the better of the play and regularly broke at speed through Vinicius down the left but constantly they failed to make the final pass, with Isco once left with his head in his hands after Marcelo opted not to pull the ball back.

- Slow Barca Barcelona’s passing was slow and their lack of urgency obvious. At one point Messi bent to tie his bootlaces and re-spotted the ball before taking a corner.

But the visitors also created chances as Antoine Griezmann drove over from Alba’s cutback and then Madrid had Courtois to thank

for two excellent saves.

First, Arthur held off Toni Kroos to go clear but his finish was blocked by teh foot of Courtois and then the Belgian palmed away Messi’s shot after he had skipped in behind Madrid’s defence.

Ramos was lucky to get away with an error that allowed Nelson Semedo to break past him while Alba risked a second yellow when he checked Valverde but referee Mateu Lahoz was unmoved.Barcelona were sloppy after half-time and Madrid should have capitalised. Instead, Isco’s header beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen but not Pique on the line and Karim Benzema volleyed over after a sloppy pass from Arturo Vidal.

Vidal was replaced by Martin Braithwaite, Barca’s emergency signing, and he

sprinted in behind Marcelo twice in his first minute.

But Madrid remained in the ascendancy and in the 71st minute they took the lead.Benzema came short and pointed right to encourage Vinicius to run in behind.

Kroos found him and Vinicius’s shot deflected off the sliding Pique to beat Ter Stegen at his near post.

The game opened up as Barcelona chased an equaliser. Marcelo celebrated when Messi’s surge through was stopped by Raphael Varane. Pique headed Messi’s cross over at the near post. Messi picked up a yellow card for a frustrated slide on Casemiro.In injury time, Ter Stegen ventured up for a late free-kick but it was Madrid that struck again.

Mariano sped past Semedo and finished from the angle.

Monday March 02, 2020 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) here could be a bit of confusion in your world today, Aries. Trying to make sense of what's going on might not be the easiest task.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Today is a day to roll with the punches, Libra. Don't take anything too seriously, and refrain from making any major decisions.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) You're asked to spring into action today, Taurus, so don't resist it. Be aware of the fact that things may not be as they seem.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) This could very well be one of those days in which you forget to put on your shoes before heading out the door, Scorpio.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) It might be hard to get to the root of a matter today, Gemini. Instead of getting stressed about it, take a long nap sometime this afternoon.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) The information coming at you today may be clouded and delusional, Sagittarius.

Take it with a grain of salt.

Someone could try to pull the wool over your eyes.

Check the bus schedule twice before hopping on board.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) Enjoy a spirited day in which you indulge in everything your heart desires, Cancer. Your imagination could take you to a whole new realm in which you play the starring role.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) You may be feeling especially concerned with others today, Leo. Your thoughts are with the less fortunate.

Perhaps you should consider teaming up with a local church or other community organization to help your immediate community.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Today is an active day for you in which you would do well working with groups of others, Virgo. Your imagination is especially active and you might find yourself playing out scenes from your dreams.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Your fantasy world will be especially active today, Capricorn, and you should feel free to take off into dreamland.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Things might not feel like they're fitting into place today, Aquarius, so don't try to press the issue. You may sense a strong desire to escape into fantasyland and never come back.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Your physical vitality is extra strong today, Pisces, although your thoughts may be a little clouded.

Someone could strongly object to an action of yours, but realize that their motivation may be a bit skewed.

Monday March 02, 2020

New Zealand make solid start chasing 132 for India series sweep AFP - New Zealand were cruising towards victory in the second Test against India today as they reached lunch on day three at 46 without loss, chasing 132 to win.

They need a further 86 runs to take the match and sweep the twomatch series after taking the first Test by 10 wickets.

To m B l u n d e l l , w h o was dropped on 10, was n o t o u t 2 3 w i t h To m Latham on 16.

India, who had a sevenrun first-innings lead, resumed day at 90 for six in their second innings and added 34 runs in 10 overs before the innings folded.

Trent Boult finished with four for 28 and Tim Southee took three for 36.

Hanuma Vihari was first to fall in Southee’s second over when he turned a legside delivery too fine and was caught by

New Zealand’s TomBlundell, who was dropped on 10, plays a cut shot against India on day three.

(AFP / Peter Parks)

wicketkeeper BJ Watling diving to his left.

Five balls later and with no addition to the score, India’s other overnight batsman Rishabh Pant was caught behind off a Boult delivery that swung away.

Ravindra Jadeja sneaked a single after being dropped by Watling off Southee, but the New Zealand swing bowler had Mohammed Shami pull his next ball straight to Blundell at deep midwicket.

Jasprit Bumrah was the last to fall, run out when trying to give the strike to Jadeja who was unbeaten on 16.

Golden Grove, Tucville...

From page 33 under-18 football tournament is sponsored by Beepats and coordinated by Petra Organisation.

The competing schools are Bishops’ High, South Ruimveldt, New Central, Cummings Lodge, Carmel, Golden Grove, St. Stanislaus College, Christ Church, St. John’s College, Marian Academy, Charlestown, East Ruimveldt, St. Joseph, Canje, C h r i s t i a n b u rg / Wi s m a r, Annandale, President’s College, Golden Grove, Ann’s Grove, Uitvlugt, Vergenoegen and Friendship.

The first prize of $400,000 will go towards a school project, while the second, third and fourth-placed sides will pocket $200,000, $100,000 and $50,000 respectively towards a school initiative.

(Calvin Chapman)

Monday March 02, 2020

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Kaieteur News

Mathews stars as Sri Lanka whitewash West Indies 3-0 Pallekele (Sri Lanka) (AFP) - Angelo Mathews held his nerve with the ball to help Sri Lanka clinch a tense sixrun win over West Indies in the third one-day international and sweep the series 3-0 yesterday.

Mathews claimed four wickets and denied West Indies 13 runs in the last over, restricting the tourists to 301 for nine in their chase of 308 in Pallekele.

Fabian Allen smashed 37 off 15 balls to close in on the West Indies target but fell to Mathews while going for a six in the second ball of the 50th over.

Kusal Mendis top-scored with 55 in Sri Lanka’s 307 all out after electing to bat first and then took a crucial catch at deep mid-wicket to send back Allen.

Valiant knocks from Shai Hope (72), Sunil Ambris (60), Nicholas Pooran (50) and skipper Kieron Pollard (49) also kept West Indies in the hunt till the last over.

Mathews returned figures of 4-59 in his 10 overs of medium-pace bowling.

Earlier, West Indies paceman Alzarri Joseph claimed four wickets as Sri Lanka were bowled out in 50 overs.

Avishka Fernando and skipper Dimuth Karunaratne gave the hosts a brisk start with a 60-run opening stand before the West Indies struck.

Joseph got Fernando caught behind for 29 and spinner Roston Chase caught and bowled Karunaratne for 44.

Kieron Pollard holds very little back, Sri Lanka v West Indies, 3rd ODI, Pallekele, March 1, 2020 © AFP

Kusal Perera, who made 44, and Mendis then rebuilt the innings during their 89run stand to take the attack to the opposition.

The in-form Mendis, who hit a century in his team’s 161run thrashing of West Indies on Wednesday, completed his 17th ODI fifty before falling to Joseph.

Fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell bowled Mathews for 12, but the rest of the batsmen kept up the charge.

Dhananjaya De Silva, who completed his fifty in just 45 balls with a boundary off Jason Holder, and Thisara Perera put on 64 runs for the sixth wicket.Joseph broke the stand with the wicket of De Silva and sent Perera back to the pavilion for 38, but the damage had already been done.The two teams will now play two Twenty20 internationals on Wednesday and Friday in Pallekele.

Fabian Allen nearly took West Indies over the line with a late cameo.

Real Madrid defeat Barcelona in Clasico to regain top spot in La Liga AFP - Real Madrid won the Clasico and might have saved their season as they ended their slump in the best way possible yesterday by beating Barcelona 2-0 and returning to the top of La Liga.

Vinicius Junior’s deflected finish and a stoppage-time goal from Mariano Diaz decided a frenzied contest at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Madrid found new life after a Champions League defeat by Manchester City had left them on the brink of crisis.

“It’s been a tough week,” said Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane. “We talked about how we had an opportunity this weekend and we took it.”

Victory put them one point clear at the top of the table and shifts focus back to Quique Setien’s Barcelona, who were outfought and, at times, outplayed.

“The reality is we lost a lot of confidence with the ball,” said Setien. “We entered a nervous spell and that’s when the goal came.”

Lionel Messi’s rasping shot was saved by Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the first half but it was the Argentine’s opposing captain, Sergio Ramos, who was thrashing his arms in celebration after the final whistle.

His reaction was an indication of the importance of this victory, not only for the effect it has on the standings but on the dynamic of the title race, which had seemed to be switching firmly in favour of Barca.

- Opportunity missed Cristiano Ronaldo, now of Juventus, was watching from an executive box and Madrid could have done with him during a period in which they had won only one of their last

five games.

Zidane said on Saturday this match would not decide who lifted the trophy in May but a Barca win and a fivepoint gap might well have been difficult to close.

Yet from the start Barcelona seemed keener to kill the game than win it, playing for time in the hope of keeping the contest tight, when they might have been better off attacking their opponents’ fragility.

“The Madrid we faced in the first half was one of the worst Madrids I have faced at the Bernabeu,” said Gerard Pique.

“I don’t say it as a criticism, we also have our problems, but we’ve missed an opportunity.”

There was more tension than creativity in the early stages as Fede Valverde (Continued on page 26)

Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro challenges Barcelona’s Lionel Messi. (AFP / Gabriel Bouys)

PAGE 28

Monday March 02, 2020

Kaieteur News

Windies dumped from T20 World Cup after England defeat

Nat Sciver plays a ramp shot. (Getty Images) SYDNEY, Australia, CMC – West Indies missed out on the semi-finals of the Women’s Twenty20 World Cup for the first time in six tournaments when they suffered a 46-run defeat to England in a lopsided contest here yesterday.

Needing a victory to remain in the tournament, West Indies once again struggled with the bat, failing to chase down 144 at Sydney Showground Stadium and crashing to their second defeat in three games to remain third in Group B on two points.

Lee-Ann Kirby, batting at number seven, top-scored

with 20 but no other batsman passed 15, as left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, with three for seven and 20-yearold leg-spinner Sarah Glenn, with two for 16, undermined the innings with brilliant spells.

At one stage, the Windies were well-placed at 41 for one but once once captain Stafanie Taylor retired hurt on 15 in the eighth over, the innings went into terminal decline with the next nine wickets going down for 55 runs.

Player-of-the-Match Natalie Sciver had earlier topscored with 57 as England rattled up 143 for five off their 20 overs after choosing to

bat.

Danni Wyatt chipped in with 29 while Amy Jones finished on 23 not out, allowing the 2018 losing finalists to gather 80 runs from the last 10 overs and finish strongly.

With the victory, England moved to the top of the group on six points from their full complement of four matches to clinch their spot in the semi-finals, along with unbeaten South Africa who won their third straight with a 17-run verdict over Pakistan in the other Group B game on Sunday.

West Indies struck in the first over when seamer Shakera Selman hit the dangerous Tammy Beaumont with the fourth delivery of the match with a single run on the board but Sciver arrived to anchor two critical partnerships which helped England recover.

First, she posted exactly 50 for the second wicket with Wyatt who struck two fours off 27 balls, before adding a further 39 for the third with captain Heather Knight (17).

Off-spinner Anisa Mohammed claimed Wyatt in the ninth over, swatting a full toss to long on and Knight followed in the 14th over, run

Promoter Arum confirms third meeting between Fury and Wilder this summer

Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury will meet again (Isaac Brekken/AP) PA Sport - Promoter Bob Arum says Deontay Wilder will fight Tyson Fury for a third time this summer.Fury stopped Wilder in the seventh round of their WBC heavyweight title last weekend after the pair drew their first bout in 2018.

Wilder had 30 days to call a rematch and Arum, Fury’s US promoter, says he has been “formally notified” by the American’s team that they intend to do so.Arum told Ringside

Reporter Live: “Wilder’s representatives formally notified us last night that they have accepted the rematch.“It’s going to happen in the summer, before the Olympics.”The Olympics start in Tokyo on July 24.Wilder’s decision is set to put a Fury-Anthony Joshua showdown on the backburner, with the latter set to defend his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles against Kubrat Pulev at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in June.

out by Selman’s direct hit at the non-striker’s end attempting a quick single.

Fran Wilson picked out Britney Cooper at mid-wicket with leg-spinner Afy Fletcher in the 16th over but Sciver combined with Jones in a 33run, stand to revive the innings.

Sciver, let off twice during her knock, struck six fours off 56 balls.

Needing a batting effort the likes of which had eluded them in recent years, West Indies stumbled at the start when Deandra Dottin (9) continued her abysmal run by

pulling Ecclestone to midwicket at the end of the third over with 12 runs on the board.Taylor joined Hayley Matthews (12) and looked to be repairing the damage in a 29-run, second wicket stand when tragedy struck.

After taking a sharp single, Taylor pulled up and was eventually stretchered off, leaving the Caribbean side without their best batsman.

Matthews, well short of runs in the tournament, was then bowled by Glenn in the next over and when Shemaine Campbelle (1) and Chedean

Nation (0) both perished with the score on 42, the Windies had lost three wickets for no runs in the space of 17 deliveries.

The slump derailed the run chase and Kirby’s 15-ball cameo, with a four and two sixes, only served to delay the inevitable.

Scores: ENGLAND WOMEN 143 for five off 20 overs (Natalie Sciver 57, Danni Wyatt 29, Amy Jones 23 not out).

WEST INDIES WOMEN 97 off 17.1 overs (Lee-Ann Kirby 20; Sophie Ecclestone 3-7, Sarah Glenn 2-16).

Red Force narrowly miss out in nerve-jangler BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – What appeared to be an unavoidable defeat for Trinidad and Tobago Red Force almost ended in a victory but Leeward Islands Hurricanes held on grimly for a draw in tense moments late on the final day of their sixth round game here yesterday.

In pursuit of 192 for victory at Warner Park, Hurricanes were seemingly cruising towards an inevitable victory at 166 for four with Test all-rounder Rahkeem Cornwall (48) and captain Terrance Warde (27) involved in a 65-run fifth wicket stand.

But left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein (4-40) and leg-spinner Imran Khan (3-44) combined to wreck the Hurricanes middle and lower order as five wickets fell for 17 runs in the space of 35 balls to leave the innings tottering on 183 for nine.It was then left to Devon Thomas, who had earlier retired hurt at 57 for three, to return and in combination with last man Sheno Berridge, carry the hosts to safety.

Red Force had earlier folded for 155 in their second innings after resuming the morning on 94 for six, with Cornwall finishing with career-best figures of eight for 51 with his aggressive offspin.

Joshua DaSilva, unbeaten overnight on 45, finished on 79 not out to hold the innings together in a knock lasting 168 balls in just over 3-¼ hours with seven fours and a six.

He put on 26 with Akeal Hosein (3) for the seventh wicket and 31 for the ninth wicket with Uthman Muhammad (14).

Hurricanes then suffered a double blow in pursuit of their target when openers Kieran Powell and Montcin Hodge both fell for five with 19 runs on the board before Thomas put on 27 with Amir

Leg-spinner Imran Khan.

Jangoo (10) for the third wicket to halt the slide.

When Thomas limped off 11 runs into a promising fourth wicket stand with Hamilton, Warde arrived to extend the partnership to 55 and inject further hope into the Hurricanes chase.

Fast bowler Anderson Phillip hit Hamilton in front to break the stand but Cornwall resisted, belting three fours and sixes in a 44-ball cameo.

Warde’s dismissal, however, signalled another shift in the momentum as Red Force narrowly missed out key points.

Scores: T&T RED FORCE 287 (Terrance Hinds 89 not out, Isaiah Rajah 41, Joshua DaSilva 37, Khary Pierre 35, Jason Mohammed 30; Jeremiah Louis 3-62, Nino Henry 2-43) and 155 (Joshua DaSilva 79, Imran Khan 29; Rahkeem Cornwall 8-51).

LEEWARD ISLANDS HURRICANES 251 (Amir Jangoo 90, Nino Henry 34, Jeremiah Louis 29; Imran Khan 4-67, Uthman Muhammad 2-51) and 183 for nine (Rahkeem Cornwall 48,

Jahmar Hamilton 38, Devon Thomas 34 not out; Akeal Hosein 4-40, Imran Khan 344).

In the other match: BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Barbados Pride defeated Windward Islands Volcanoes by 127 runs on the final day of their sixth round match in the Regional FourDay Championship at Kensington Oval here yesterday.

Scores: BARBADOS PRIDE 417 (Kyle Mayers 140, Kevin Stoute 46, Kemar Roach 41, Justin Greaves 38, Shayne Moseley 36, Shamarh Brooks 33; Josh Thomas 383, Ryan John 3-107) and 239 for four decl. (Kyle Mayers 62 not out, Shayne Moseley 60, Justin Greaves 53 not out, Kraigg Brathwaite 49; Kavem Hodge 2-44).

WINDWARD ISLANDS VOLCANOES 258 (Kavem Hodge 53, Andre Fletcher 52, Preston McSween 47; Chemar Holder 5-73) and 271 (Keron Cottoy 103 not out, Alick Athanaze 33; Kemar Roach 6-84, Keon Harding 365).

Monday March 02, 2020

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Kaieteur News

Man City win third Carabao Cup in a row BBC Sport - Manchester City secured their third League Cup win in succession - and their fourth in five years - with victory over Aston Villa at Wembley yesterday.

Pep Guardiola’s side won an historic treble of domestic trophies last season with the Premier League and FA Cup, and they thoroughly deserved their triumph despite a spirited effort from Aston Villa.

Manchester City looked like they would stroll to victory when Sergio Aguero’s strike and Rodri’s header from a corner that was hotly contested by Villa put them in complete control inside 30 minutes.

Villa, while strictly second best, offered themselves a lifeline when Mbwana Samatta headed in from Anwar El Ghazi’s cross four minutes before the interval.

City continued to dominate as they sought a third goal and Villa were agonisingly close to forcing extra time when Bjorn Engels saw his header from a corner turned on to the woodwork superbly by keeper Claudio Bravo.

It was their last chance and City closed out the win their superiority merited.

Manchester City may be about to lose their Premier League title to Liverpool, who are 22 points clear at the top of the table, but no-one can argue against their claims to the first piece of domestic silverware this season.

They were in control of most of this game apart from a frantic closing spell where the much-maligned 36-yearold Chilean keeper Bravo produced that stunning save from Engels to break Villa hearts.If there is any frustration - and there will not be much - for Guardiola and his players, it is that they should have had this game done and dusted without any need for late moments of anxiety.

Aguero once again proved he is the man for all occasions with his predatory strike, while 19-year-old Phil Foden demonstrated his rich promise with a fine performance, which even contained a piece of audacious ball-juggling in the second half.

John Stones slipped unfortunately for Villa’s goal but he also contributed some vital defensive headers when City finally had to survive some concerted pressure in the closing minutes.

Fernandinho continues to be a towering presence and it was a win achieved with Kevin de Bruyne on the bench for the first hour.

It has been an outstanding week for City as they followed up Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 first-leg win away to Real Madrid by lifting the EFL Cup. Villa can take heart in defeat Aston Villa’s players and staff gathered in a huddle after the final whistle for a rallying call for the battles ahead which will be needed as they lie in the Premier League rel-

Manchester City added the League Cup to the Community Shied they won earlier in the season. (Reuters) egation zone.They will feel they were served up an injustice with the corner that led to Rodri’s goal but they can take some solace from the manner in which they stuck to their task, showed resilience and almost forced this EFL Cup final into extra time.

There was frustration for Villa’s star man Jack Grealish, who could not exert any serious influence and, of course, there will be the pain of defeat.It is a fact that Villa’s main priority this season is Premier League survival and they demonstrated enough here to give them encouragement that they can achieve that mission, starting at Leicester City on 9 March.

Bekele breaks Farah’s London half-marathon record AFP - London (AFP) Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele broke Mo Farah’s course record as he won the London half-marathon yesterday in a time of one hour and 22 seconds.Bekele took 1min 18sec off the record set in 2019 by British distance great Farah, who missed this year’s edition with an achilles injury.

Britain’s Christopher Thompson finished second, with Jake Smith third.

Yesterday’s event served as a warm-up event for the full London Marathon on April 26. That race is set to see Bekele go up against Eliud Kipchoge, the reigning Olympic champion from Kenya, as the two fastest marathon runners of all time meet in the British capital.

“The new course record is a great bonus. I wasn’t focused on time today, I just wanted to win,” Bekele, three times an Olympic gold medallist on the track, told the BBC. “I’m on schedule in my preparation for the London

Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele (AFP Photo/John MacDougall)

Marathon in April.

“There’s no question about the crowds in London being great. They were cheering all around the course and it felt like a great place to be.”

Farah decided to concentrate on the marathon having

won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres at both the London and Rio Games, but a relative lack of success on the road has seen him turn his attention back to the track ahead of this year’s Olympics in Tokyo.

Claudio Bravo tipped Bjorn Engels’ header on to the post moments from time. (Getty Images)

MotoGP cancels season-opening Qatar race due to coronavirus LONDON (Reuters) - Next weekend’s season-opening MotoGP race in Qatar has been canceled because of travel restrictions on passengers from Italy and elsewhere due to the coronavirus epidemic, MotoGP said yesterday.The floodlit night race was scheduled for the Losail circuit on March 8.

The joint statement by MotoGP, the governing FIM and teams’ association IRTA said that as of Sunday all passengers arriving in Doha on direct flights from Italy, or who had been in Italy in the past two weeks, faced a minimum of 14 days in quarantine.

“Italy clearly plays a vital role in the championship and in the MotoGP class — both on track and off — and therefore the decision has been taken to cancel premier class competition,” it said.

The Moto2 and Moto3 categories will still race due to those teams and riders already being in Qatar for three days of testing last week.

Ducati and Aprilia are Italy-based teams while Italian riders include Yamaha’s MotoGP great Valentino Rossi. The 22-strong grid features six Italian riders, with engineers and mechanics across the paddock.

The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has risen to 34, the Civil Protection Agency said on Sunday, with the cumulative number of confirmed cases

totaling some 1,694 in the worst such contagion in Europe.

The second round on the MotoGP calendar is scheduled for Thailand on March 22, but that too has been the subject of some uncertainty.

Formula One, whose season starts in Australia on March 15, has already canceled the Chinese Grand Prix scheduled for Shanghai on April 19.

Ethiopia’s Legese wins coronavirus...

From page 32 Salpeter, who runs for Israel, won the women’s race in a record time of 2:17.45, 50 seconds ahead of Birhane Dibaba with her fellow Ethiopian Sutume Asefa Kebede a distant third two minutes back.

Sarah Chepchirchir owned the previous women’s record of 2:19:47 from the 2017 race.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Saturday that the country was still planning to go ahead with host-

ing the Olympics in Tokyo in July and August despite the coronavirus outbreak.

In addition to cancelling the mass race yesterday, organizers said they had restricted the number of volunteers and provided surgical masks and hand sanitizers for event staff and competitors.

The Olympic marathons have been moved to the northern island of Hokkaido to avoid the searing heat of the Tokyo summer.

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Monday March 02, 2020

Kaieteur News

Factbox: Sports events hit by the coronavirus epidemic (Reuters) - The following is a list of international sports events hit by the outbreak of the new coronavirus: ATHLETICS * The World Athletics Indoor Championships, scheduled for Nanjing from March 13-15, were postponed until next year. World Athletics is working with organizers on a date to host the biennial event in 2021. * A mixed relay Olympic triathlon qualification event to be held in the Chinese city of Chengdu in May was moved to Valencia in Spain, the International Triathlon Union said.Three Asian Cup events, one in Taiwan and two in China, scheduled for March and April have been postponed.

RUGBY * The Irish Rugby Football Union has postponed the country’s Six Nations fixture against Italy due to the virus outbreak in northern Italy.

The game was scheduled to take place in Dublin on March 7.

SOCCER * Five Italian Serie A matches which had been scheduled to go ahead behind closed doors on Feb. 29March 1, including the key clash between Juventus and Inter Milan, have been postponed to May 13, Italy’s soccer league said.

The Coppa Italia final, due to be played May 13, was moved to May 20. * The Swiss soccer league (SFL) has called off matches scheduled from Feb. 28March 1 after the government banned large events expected to draw more than 1,000 people.

Tyrone Green of the Lions in action during the Rugby Union Super Rugby - Sunwolves v Lions match at the Singapore National Stadium. (REUTERS/Feline Lim/File Photo) *Asian Champions League matches involving Chinese clubs Guangzhou Evergrande, Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai SIPG were postponed.

Guangzhou and the Shanghai clubs will join the competition in April, with their group matches due to be played in May. * China’s 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Maldives at home and Guam away in March will be moved to Buriram, Thailand. The game will be played behind closed doors, as requested by the Thai government.

* Vietnam said it would not allow sports events to be hosted in February, meaning home AFC Cup group stage matches for Ho Chi Minh City and Than Quang Ninh will be switched to away fixtures. * The Chinese Football Association said domestic games at all levels would be postponed. * The AFC said preliminary stage matches of the East Zone of the AFC Cup 2020 had been postponed by two months to recommence on April 7 due to travel curbs. * The AFC said it was looking at alternative dates for the women’s Olympic quali-

Rampertab Ramnauth is the best...

From page 33 should be an automatic selection for the Guyana team.

Regional U-19 competition should be played in August and with good performances in the Inter-County U-19 tournament, he could follow in the footsteps of fellow Port Mourant batsman Roopnarine Ramgobin, the only player to represent the West Indies at U-15 and U-19 levels in the same year.

“I know education is the key to success and I am writing seven CXC subjects next year, but I still want play for Guyana and then West Indies in Test Cricket. So I have to focus on cricket and studies… I go to school and then go to practice from Monday to Fridays, then when I go home I do my studying in the nights,” informed Rampertab who says his favorite subject is maths.

“I don’t go to lessons but

don’t watch TV unless it showing cricket and I enjoy studying my school work and reading…. don’t really play other sports,” says Rampertab who loves the cover drive.

Rampertab says his favourite batsman is Indian right-hander Virat Kholi because of his talent, technique and his professional attitude to his cricket and training.

“I do pitch practice two days a week, do short sprints, fielding and catching and training on the other days,” said Rampertab who says the hardest part of cricket is the training.

“My most memorable match is last January when I made 265 against Number 73 in the U-15 competition. I hit 28 fours and 17 sixes and was LBW in the 41st over. But I prefer two innings cricket and don’t like T20 cricket,” says Rampertab who loves fish

broth.

Asked how many runs he would want to score in the U15 tournament in Antigua, Rampertab said he does not set goals and just wants to make the most runs he can and do his best to help Guyana win this year.

“My father, my family, Berbice Cricket Board President Mr F o s t e r a n d m y Coach Leslie Solomon are among the main people who have helped and supported me with my cricket,” concluded Rampertab who says he can also bowl parttime leg-spin.

As Berbice continue to churn out talented young batsmen like Shimron Hetmyer and Kevlon Anderson, Rampertab Ramnauth, who turns 15 in December, is the best U-15 batsman in Guyana and is certainly another emerging talent to keep an eye on.

fying playoff between China and South Korea which is scheduled to be played on March 6 and 11. * South Korea’s professional soccer league has postponed the start of its new season. The league also asked its four teams in the AFC Champions League to hold games behind closed doors. * Japan’s J League postponed seven Levian Cup matches scheduled for Feb. 26 and all domestic games until the first half of March.

FORMULA ONE * The Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai set for April 19 has been postponed by the governing body FIA and Formula One.Authorities will weigh up potential alternative dates later this year.

FORMULA E * The all-electric Formula E motor racing series abandoned plans for a race in Sanya, on China’s Hainan island, on March 21.

TENNIS * The International Tennis Federation moved the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Group I event featuring China, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea

and Uzbekistan out of the Chinese city of Dongguan to Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana) in Kazakhstan.But the Feb. 48 event was later postponed after Kazakhstan declined to serve as substitute hosts. * China forfeited a Davis Cup tie because its men’s team were unable to travel to Romania for the March 6-7 playoff. * The women’s Xi’an Open tennis tournament, scheduled for April 13-19, was canceled and the WTA said it was monitoring the situation with several events scheduled to take place in China in the second half of the season.

TABLE TENNIS * The world championship to be held in Busan, South Korea, from March 2229 have been pushed back provisionally to June 21-28.

BADMINTON * The 2020 German Open, which was to be held in Muelheim an der Ruhr from March 3-8 and is an Olympic qualifier, has been canceled, the Badminton World Federation said.The 2020 Polish Open, another Olympic qualifier scheduled to be held in Krakow from March 26 to 29 has been postponed and will now fall outside the Olympic qualification period, the Polish Badminton Association said. * The Feb. 25-March 1 China Masters tournament in Hainan was postponed after several players withdrew.

The BWF said it hoped the flagship Badminton Asia Championships could still go ahead in Wuhan from April 21-26. * The Vietnam International Challenge has been put back from March to June by the Badminton World Federation and will no longer serve as a qualifying event for the Tokyo Olympics. The tournament was due to take place from March 24 to 29.

SPEED SKATING * The International Skating Union (ISU) has indefinitely postponed next month’s short track speed skating world championships in South Korea.The governing body said the March 1315 event in Seoul could not be staged on the planned

D’Andrade wins Asja Boys 60th anniversary 5km race Guyanese Lionel D’Andrade continued to impact positively in Trinidad and Tobago as he romped to victory in the Asja Boys 60th anniversary 5km race which was held yesterday.

D’Andrade who is being sponsored by Builders Lumber Yard, clocked 17 minutes and 29 seconds to win the event ahead of second placed Kyle Younglao of Trinidad and Tobago in 17:34 and Shayne Barran who finished third in 18:22.

450 athletes finished the race. D’Andrade next assignment is on March 5.

dates and the “uncertain worldwide development” of the virus and logistical issues had made it difficult to announce new dates or relocate it.

BOXING * The International Olympic Committee announced Jordan as hosts of the boxing qualifiers for Asia and Oceania after an event in Wuhan was canceled. They will now take place in Amman from March 3 to 11.

GOLF * The women’s LPGA golf tour canceled the March 5-8 Blue Bay tournament to be held on Hainan.

The tour also canceled the Honda LPGA Thailand event in Pattaya and the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore. * The Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship in Pattaya, Thailand, has been rescheduled for Oct. 7-10. * The PGA Tour SeriesChina postponed two qualifying tournaments and delayed the start of its 2020 campaign by two months, cutting the number of regular-season tournaments to 10 from 14. * The European Tour said the Maybank Championship (April 16-19 in Kuala Lumpur) and the Volvo China Open (April 23-26 in Shenzhen) had been postponed.

HOCKEY * Pro League matches between China and Australia, scheduled for March 14-15 in Changzhou, will not be played.

RUGBY SEVENS * The Singapore and Hong Kong legs of the World Rugby Sevens Series have been postponed from April to October.

VOLLEYBALL * A beach volleyball tournament, due to be held from April 22 to 26 in Yangzhou, has been postponed until after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

WEIGHTLIFTING * The Asian weightlifting championships has been relocated from Kazakhstan to neighboring Uzbekistan. The competition, scheduled for April 16-25, will be hosted in Tashkent.

CYCLING * The final two stages of the UAE Tour were canceled after two Italian participants tested positive for coronavirus.Tests on 167 people at the event proved negative for coronavirus after they were feared to have been exposed to the infected cases.

TRIATHLON * The opening round of the 2020 World Triathlon Series scheduled to be held in Abu Dhabi from March 5-7 has been postponed.

Monday March 02, 2020

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Kaieteur News

‘Lady Jags’ storm into ¼ finals after blanking Cayman Islands

Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship The ‘Lady Jags’ continued to carve out their names in the history books when they trounced the Cayman Islands last evening 2-0 in the Dominican Republic to book a place in the quarter finals of the Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship.

The win for the Guyanese have earned them a date with Haiti on Wednesday, the Haitians smashing their way past Barbados yesterday; the scoreline in the USA vs Grenada clash was similar in favour of the Americans, while Trinidad and Tobago squeezed past Puerto Rico 54 on kicks from the penalty mark after the two nations battled to an exciting 3-3 regulation and extra time stalemate.

The ‘Lady Jags’ making four changes to their starting team came out purposeful against the higher ranked Caymanians (16th) in Concacaf and though they were quiet at the start, as the match matured, so did the Guyanese (ranked 23rd) which dominated proceedings.

The opening goal would come in the 24th minute when Shanice Alfred tapped in a rebound off the upright. The Cayman Islands never really

threatened the Guyanese in the final third; the ladies in yellow and white moving the ball around as they asserted themselves and took command of proceedings.

On resumption, Cayman Islands looked a bit energetic as they took the challenge to Guyana but that energy soon subsided. In the 55th minute, Nailah Rowe’s long range shot was not gathered cleanly

by Cayman Islands goalkeeper Satiah Miller and the loose ball was pounced upon by the alert Aubrey Narine and tapped into the back of the open nets to double the advantage for Guyana, while it was Narine’s third goal of the tournament.

It was virtually done and dusted from that juncture and even though the ‘Lady Jags’ opponents made some changes, they never were able to get their own way against the Guyanese which recorded their 7th win in 8-matches, the loss to Mexico being their only blemish.

Fresh legs were introduced by Head Coach Ivan Johnson in the 76th minute when Tiandi Smith came in for Tori DeNobrega; Jade Vuyfhuis made way for Syndey Puddicombe in the 82nd minute with Shamya

Scorer of Guyana’s opening goal against the Cayman Islands Shanice Alfred (left) and Nailah Rowe.

Daniel inserted for Samantha Banfield in the 89th minute.

With just two days to recover and focus on their quarter final match against Haiti on Wednesday, Coach Johnson and his support staff would no doubt be working on upsetting the Haiti side which is ranked 4th in Concacaf.

Starting X1: 1 Anessa O Brien, 11 Jenea Knight, 2 Anaya Johnson, 4 Brianne Desa, 13 Shanice Alfred, 5 Jade Vuyfhuis C, 12 Tori

Looknauth, Sergeant, Bharat guide Herstelling A to comfortable win

From left Ricky Sergeant, Richie Looknauth and Anand Bharat.

Richie Looknauth struck a fine half century while Ricky Sergeant and Anand Bharat shared seven wickets between them as Herstelling A defeated Eccles All Star by 107 runs when the East Bank Demerara Cricket Association T20 tournament continued yesterday at Joe Vieira Park.

Herstelling A decision to bat paid dividends as they rattled up 198 for nine.

Looknauth struck three fours and seven sixes

in a top score of 72, while Ryan Shun made 35 with three fours and two sixes and Anand Bharat contributed 22 including two fours and two sixes.

Eccles All Star were bowled out for 91 in 13.1 overs, in reply. Sachin Singh hit three fours and two sixes in scoring 38 while Corwin Austin made 21 with one four and two sixes.

Sergeant bagged 4-10 from 2.1 overs, while Bharat claimed 3-29 from four overs.

DeNobrega, 8 Serena McDonald, 7 Nailah Rowe, 15 Samantha Banfield, 9 Aubrey Narine.

Substitutes: 20 Raven Edwards-Doedall, 3 Jessica Myers, 10 Kiana Khedoo, 14

Hailey David, 18 Sydney Puddicombe, 6 Tiandi Smith, 19 Horicia Adams, 16 Shamya Daniel.

In other results yesterday, Haiti hammered Barbados 120, Mexico battered Grenada

Aubrey Narine 12-1, Trinidad and Tobago and Puerto Rico drew 3-3 but the Trinis won 5-4 on penalties.

Nadal beats Fritz to win title in Acapulco (Reuters) - Rafael Nadal captured his third Mexican Open title on Saturday, continuing his good form with a 6-3 6-2 triumph in the final over Taylor Fritz.

Nadal survived 10 aces from Fritz and broke his service three times to outperform the 22-year-old American.

“I couldn’t be happier. I played a great event from the beginning to the end,” Nadal told reporters.

“Acapulco was the first big title that I won in my career, so to be able to stay here after 15 years is amazing. I can’t thank enough the people who make me feel at home every single time.”

The Spanish world No. 2, who first won the title in 2005 and took it again in 2013, stormed through the draw without dropping a set and improved to 20-2 in the event overall.Fritz had reached the final by rallying from a set and 2-4 behind against John Isner but he could mount no such comeback against Nadal.

Fritz, playing his first final at an ATP 500 event, became the only American besides Sam Querrey in 2017 to reach the Acapulco final.

“He’s one of the best players to ever play the game and he showed me why that is tonight,” Fritz said of Nadal.

Britain’s seventh seed Heather Watson needed 10

Spain’s Rafael Nadal celebrates with the trophy after winning his final match against Taylor Fritz of the U.S. (REUTERS/Henry Romero) championship points to overcome Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez 6-4 6-7(8) 61 in the women’s final.

Watson saw her first five championship points slip away in the second-set tiebreak before regaining her composure to lose just one game in the final set.

Victory ensured Watson’s first WTA title since she won the Monterrey Open in 2016, and her fourth overall, and she will re-enter the top 50 of the WTA rankings today.

“It’s been a few years, so I’m just really, really happy I came through that match,” said Watson.It was a breakthrough week for the 17-yearold Fernandez, who reached her first WTA quarter-final, semi-final, and final after starting as a qualifier.

“I think it’s her mental toughness that really stands out,” Watson said. “I think she’s going to have a great career ahead of her and rise up the rankings very quickly if she keeps playing like this.”

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Monday March 02, 2020

Kaieteur News

NBA roundup: Westbrook scores 41 as Rockets edge Celtics in OT Russell Westbrook scored a game-high 41 points, and James Harden found redemption from a poor shooting night with two free throws with 24.3 seconds left in overtime as the Houston Rockets capped a season sweep of the host Boston Celtics with a 111-110 win Saturday.

Harden scored 21 points on just 7-of-24 shooting and committed five turnovers. But his free throws, just his second and third of the game, gave Houston the lead. The Celtics’ Jaylen Brown sank the buzzer-beating 3-pointer that forced overtime, corralling a loose ball after Jayson Tatum missed two free throws, the second one intentionally, with 5.1 seconds left and Boston trailing 104-101.

Westbrook and Harden combined for 12 rebounds and 13 assists, while Robert Covington chipped in16 points and 16 rebounds for

Houston, which followed 6for-22 3-point shooting in the first half with 7-for-15 shooting from behind the arc in the third to erase a 17-point deficit. P.J. Tucker added 13 rebounds.

Tatum paired 32 points with 13 rebounds for Boston, while Brown added 22 points.

Marcus Smart scored 26 for the Celtics, who received 15 rebounds and three blocks from Daniel Theis.

Memphis Grizzlies 105 Los Angeles Lakers 88 Ja Morant recorded 27 points and matched his career high of 14 assists, and host Memphis snapped a fivegame losing streak while ending Los Angeles’ seven-game win string.

Dillon Brooks scored 24 points, and Jonas Valanciunas added 22 points and 20 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who salvaged the final of four meetings against the

Lakers this season. It was the second straight 20-rebound effort for Valanciunas.

LeBron James had 19 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for Los Angeles, which saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end. Anthony Davis had 15 points and nine rebounds, and the 88 points are a season low for the Lakers.

Atlanta Hawks 129 - Portland Trail Blazers 117 Trae Young led a balanced attack with his 26th doubledouble of the season and paced Atlanta to a win over visiting Portland.

Young had 25 points — including 10-for-10 from the line — and 15 assists and was one of six Atlanta players who scored in double figures. The Hawks also got 24 points and 10 rebounds from John Collins, his 19th doubledouble.

Portland was led by C.J.

Alvin Kallicharran becomes 3rd Ambassador for the WI Over 50s team There are very few cricketers who can be classified as truly complete batsmen, that is, they are equally comfortable and proficient against both pace and spin. Batting maestro, Alvin Kallicharran, is one such batsman who has conquered some of the best bowlers around the world having accumulated over 49,000 runs in Tests, ODIs, First Class & List A matches.

In fact, Kalli has accumulated an impressive aggregate of 49,211 runs; falling agonizingly short of the 50,000 runs’ club by a mere 789 runs. Only 16 batsmen worldwide are members of this prestigious club. Two West Indians, Gordon Greenidge at #10 and Viv Richards at #11 are members of this 50,000 runs club.

Sachin Tendulkar is the 16th member of this club having been inducted in 2013.

Kallicharran also has scored over 100 centuries during this period and has chalked up runs against all test playing countries and most countries around the world during his illustrious career.

When asked to be an ambassador to the West Indeis Over-50 team, he said: “I am especially pleased to learn that WI will be fielding a team to the 2nd Over50s World Cup in South Africa. When I was requested to be an Ambassador for the WI team, I readily agreed to endorse and promote their participation in this noble and worthwhile tournament.

Being able to maintain your fitness level at a high standard and still be able to

McCollum with 35 points. The Trail Blazers also got 21 points and 13 rebounds from Hassan Whiteside and 15 points from Gary Trent Jr. New York Knicks 125 Chicago Bulls 115 Mitchell Robinson scored 23 points, Julius Randle added 22 points and both players snagged 10 rebounds, helping host New York snap a sixgame losing streak with a victory against Chicago.

New York opened a fivegame homestand with its first win at Madison Square Garden since Feb. 6. The Knicks are just 9-20 at home this season.

Chicago lost for the 10th time in 11 games despite a game-high 26 points by Zach LaVine. The Bulls finished 18 in February to fall a seasonlow 20 games under .500.

In other results: Miami Heat 116 - Brooklyn Nets 113 Indiana Pacers 113 Cleveland Cavaliers 104 San Antonio Spurs 114 Orlando Magic 113 Golden State Warriors 115 - Phoenix Suns 99 (Field Level Media)

Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook (0) drives past Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) during the second quarter at TD Garden.

(Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)

Ethiopia’s Legese wins coronavirusimpacted Tokyo Marathon

Kallicharran (centre) in Guyana in 2015 during a Coaching stint. compete at that level on the world stage cannot be more overstated. During our World reign in the late 70s and 80s, fitness was our watchword.

Dennis Waite had us run 5 miles every day just as a warm up before we went through our normal drills. This practice has been rigorously embedded into our mindset so much so that most of us during that era still continue with that regimentation. I am confident in the ability of Raj and his administrative team to select the best team available and urge the cricketing public and the business community to support our West Indies team with the same vigor and vitality that was displayed to our team during that era.

Our standard of cricket during that period was so high that the bench strength for West Indies was second to none. I am happy to see that some of the guys who failed to make the senior West

Indies team at that time are part of this Over 50s squad.

It is encouraging to see that these cricketers are still active in the game and now have an opportunity to participate in a World Cup with their peers.

Most of the cricketers can consider themselves unlucky since there were so many quality cricketers vying for places at the international level. Looking at the selected squad I do recognize some of those players who did excellently at the Regional level. I do have quite a bit of experience playing cricket in South Africa and will ensure that I share some of that knowledge with the team. Best of luck guys.”Kallicharran was recently awarded the British Empire Medal in the 2019 New Year’s Honours List of the Queen for services to cricket and charity and just had his first book published and launched – Color Blind. Copies of his book can be obtained on Amazon.

Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese crosses the finish line at the Tokyo Marathon 2020.

(REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha)

TOKYO (Reuters) - Ethiopian Birhanu Legese won the Tokyo Marathon for the second year in a row yesterday, racing to victory in two hours, four minutes and 15 seconds along often empty streets in the Japanese capital.

Locals were strongly discouraged from lining the route because of the coronavirus outbreak, and the race was restricted to a few hundred elite athletes, without the usual retinue of more than 30,000 amateur runners to limit the

risk of infection.

Japan has recorded more than 940 cases of coronavirus, including 705 from the Diamond Princess cruise liner which was quarantined near Tokyo this month. There have been 11 deaths, including six from the cruise ship.

Legese, wearing Nike’s much-discussed carbonplated shoes, hit the front before the 40 kilometre mark, winning by more than half a minute but missing out on Wilson Kipsang’s 2017

record of 2:03.58.

Somali-born Belgian Bashir Abdi (2:04.49) pipped Ethiopian Sisay Lemma (2:04.51) to second place in a race for the line.

Japan’s Suguru Osako finished fourth in 2:05.29, improving his own national record by 21 seconds and locking up Japan’s third and final spot in the men’s field for the Tokyo Olympics later this year.

Lonah Korlima Chemtai (Continued on page 27)

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Kaieteur News

Monday March 02, 2020

Rampertab Ramnauth is the best U-15 batsman in Guyana Says he does not like T20 Cricket

By Sean Devers n December 4, 2005 in the Corentyne Village of Port Mourant, West Indies Under-15 batsmen Rampertab Ramnauth made a quiet entry into this world.

Rampertab was born to Roopnarine Ramnauth and Lilowtie Lacchminarine and is one of nine siblings, five of whom are girls.

Rampertab gravitated to cricket like a duck to water after his interest for the national sport was sparked by his father who played club cricket for Port Mourant; a club that produced Test players John Trim, Ivan Madray, Rohan Kanhai, Basil Butcher, Joe Soloman, Alvin Kallicharran and Mahendra Nagamootoo.

The talented left-hander attended the Tain Primary school and Port Mourant Secondary and is now a fourth form student of RVC, preparing to write CXC exams next year.

Rampertab joined Port

O

Rampertab Ramnauth gathers leg-side runs Mourant as an eight-year-old and made his Inter-County Under-15 debut as a 12-yearold after making 51 against Rose Hall Canje in his debut U-15 game for PM in 2016.

Last year he became the youngest player to participate in the CWI franchise league (Guyana’s highest domestic tournament) when he was picked in the Upper

Corentyne Squad at the age of 13 after returning from the West Indies under-16 team last year August.

A key member of the Guyana team which will participate in this year’s Regional U-15 tournament slated for April in Antigua, this is his third U-17 tournament after being a standby for Guyana last year.

Last year when Guyana

Milo schools’ football tournament

Golden Grove, Tucville and New Central win yesterday

T

he sixth day of play in the 2020 Milo schools’ football tournament kicked off yesterday at the Ministry

and 67th minutes to lead East Coast boys; Golden Grove Secondary to a close 3-2 win over St. John’s College.

Shem Joris (10) and David

Simeon Benn scored a brace.

In the feature match, Garfield Caesar scored the second hat-trick for the day to lead New Central High in

Action in the 2020 Milo Schools football tournament. of Education (MOE) ground where three goals proved enough for the three teams that came out victorious in each match played at the Carifesta Avenue venue.

In the opening match, Calvin Richmond netted a hat-trick in the 26th, 52nd

Xavier (38) scored one goal each for the losers.

In match two, Tucville Secondary tutored The Bishops’ High with three unanswered goals during the dominating victory. Shawn Lewis netted a solitary strike in the 19th minute, while

a 3-1 triumph over Queenstown Secondary with his goals coming in the 42nd, 60th and 61st minutes.

Garfield Caesar netted for Queenstown in the 49th minute.

The 2020 Milo schools’ (Continued on page 26)

Ramnauth misses a cut at a wide from John Persad at Bourda. lost by .1 of a point to U-15 Champions T&T, Rampertab had scores of 114, 0, 57, 8 and 92 which led to his Windies U-16 selection along with fellow Guyanese Mavindra Dindyal and fast bowler Isiah Thorne.

In last year’s U-15 InterCounty tourney, Rampertab scored a brilliant 141 for Berbice against Essequibo at Lusignan.

He was among seven batsmen with half-centuries in the just concluded U-17 Inter-County tournament scoring the most runs (136), while fighting above his weight class; to use a Boxing terminology.

His runs were more than t h e t o u r n a m e n t ’s b e s t batsman, Dindyal and fellow Berbician Mahendra Gopilall; the other two

batsmen reach 100 runs from their three matches.

Ramnauth (78), Gopilall (58 & 54), Zeynul Ramsammy (50), Shemar Yearwood (54), Dindyal (50), Jaden Campbell (58) and Aryan Persaud (51*) were the batsmen with halfcenturies.The Regional U17 tournament is set for June in Trinidad and Rampertab (Continued on page 30 )

D’Andrade wins t r Asja Boys 60th o Sp anniversary Windies dumped from 5km race T20 World Cup after England defeat p.28

p.26

Fast bowler Shakera Selman reacts in frustration during Sunday’s Women’s Twenty20 World Cup match against England.

Lionel D’Andrade in action.

Mathews stars as Sri Lanka whitewash West Indies 3-0

p.

25

Shai Hope goes full throttle, Sri Lanka v West Indies, 3rd ODI, Pallekele, March 1, 2020 © AFP

That’s out: Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews celebrates his team’s victory (AFP Photo/ Lakruwan Wanniarachchi)

Concacaf Women’s p.29 Under-20 Championship

‘Lady Jags’ storm into ¼ finals after blanking Cayman Islands

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