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High Court to hear case against GECOM over

unverified election results Major Hindu organisations

cancel Phagwah celebrations - as Pandits’ Council calls for peace

Fight to govern oil rich Guyana exposes deep seated issues with ethnic voting, and perhaps early signs of oil curse – Local and Int’l Commentators

Police ranks Six File implicating months injured in Berbice later… cops in gang rape protests recovering - Force calls on public to respect officers

cover up still with DPP

I will wait on Court ruling - says GECOM Chair

…As Chief Justice issues stern warning to Commission

Monday March 09, 2020

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Kaieteur News

High Court to hear case against GECOM over unverified election results

From left: PPP/C lawyer’s Trinidad based Attorney, Douglas Mendes S.C and Anil Nandlall.

The High Court is scheduled to sit on Tuesday to hear arguments in the case filed against Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) over the verification of vote counts for Region Four.

Chief Justice (Ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire ruled yesterday that the High Court has jurisdiction to hear the case, thus rejecting any attempts by GECOM‘s legal team to have the case tossed out at a preliminary stage.

Ruling on the point of jurisdiction, the Chief Justice took into consideration the issues raised by attorneys representing both GECOM and Reaz Holladar, the applicant in the matter.

The preliminary points were raised during emergency sittings of the High Court over the weekend.

At the initial stage of the hearings, GECOM’s Attorney Neil Boston.SC raised an objection to the manner in which the application was filed. He contended that there is specific illegality, which addresses the result or the outcome of the elections.

According to Boston, such issues are to be raised in an election petition and not by way of judicial review.

But in her ruling, yesterday Justice GeorgeWiltshire said that the court can exercise supervisory jurisdiction outside the election petition.

Given her ruling, the Chief Justice will now delve into hearing the details of the case, which involves several absolute orders against GECOM. The Chief Justice will begin hearing the case on Tuesday, March 10.

She will thereafter have to decide whether to direct the Returning Officer for Region Four, Clairmont Mingo, to go

the Returning Officer (R.O) Clairmont Mingo, Election District Number Four in Guyana and GECOM Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, comply with and ensure the compliance of the process set out by the provision letter and spirit of Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act, Cap 1:03, Laws of Guyana.

From left GECOM lawyers: Neil Boston S.C and Attorney-at -Law, Roysdale Forde The oral application for judicial review was made on Thursday at the High Court.

The move came after Region Four R.O attempted to declare the results for Region Four against an agreement between the PPP/C and GECOM for a further verification.

Chief Justice George – Wiltshire committed that she will try to work assiduously

to address the matter even as Senior Counsels, Neil Boston and Douglas Mendes addressed the court on the preliminary issue of jurisdiction.

Justice George appealed to the lawyers for their cooperation even as she noted that the “nation is waiting” on the outcome of the matter.

At the initial stage of the

hearing, Boston had raised the objection to the manner in which the application was filed. He contended that there is specific illegality, which addresses the result or the outcome of the elections.

The lawyer stressed that such issues are to be raised in an election petition and not by way of judicial review.

Boston continued that an Continued on page 7

“Backtrack” services in Upper Corentyne resume Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire back to the verification process he started in the presence of international and local observers.

Orders were granted earlier last week by Justice Navindra Singh, after an application for injunctions to block GECOM from finalising the elections process under the current circumstances, was successfully made by Reaz Holladar, a citizen.

Holladar’s application is, among other things, seeking orders to prevent incumbent David Granger from being sworn as President for a second term on the grounds of electoral fraud.

The injunction sought restrains officials of GECOM from declaring the results of the 2020 elections, unless the electoral process as prescribed by law in Section 84 of the Representation of the Peoples Act is compiled with.

Section 84 of the Act sets out inter alia the procedure for tabulation of the elections results.

According to the injunction, the PPP/C is seeking orders against GECOM that no declaration must be made until and unless

Boat operations at the Number 78 Village “backtrack” (GuyanaSuriname) route have resumed as of yesterday morning. This was confirmed by one of the proprietors of the speedboat service operating this route.

Faiyaz Mursalin, of Golden Gloves Speedboat Services told Kaieteur News that as of yesterday morning, operations at their location in Number 78 Village commenced, but Suriname closed off theirs yesterday.

He added that there was a reasonable number of persons who accessed the services yesterday from Guyana.

Mursalin explained that based on the letter that was sent by the Ministry of Public Health and approved by the Public Security Ministry to shut down operations at the backtrack from the 29th February- March 7th, they have resumed their services.

The Ministry in the letter had stated that the decision was made due to Coronavirus concerns.

One person asked why the backtrack was only closed for seven days if the Ministry was really concerned about the Coronavirus being a threat to Guyana.

Speedboat operators were informed by police and other officials that no crossings would be allowed until further notice.

Minister of Health, Volda Lawrence, on February 18 wrote the Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, requesting that the “backtrack” from Suriname be

closed.

“Given the increase in the number of cases in Germany and France, I am requesting that the backtrack entry to travelers from Suriname be closed during the period February 29 through March 7, 2020”.

The request was approved by the Minister of Public Security and forwarded to the Commissioner of Police, Leslie James, for actions.

The Moleson Creek Ferry Operations were not closed.

Some of the operators yesterday.

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Monday March 09, 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

Pausing and recalibrating and engaging We are perched on a knife’s edge of disturbed and distressed humanity. No court ruling is going to ease that, as it wrestles against any sensible containment. As a society of varied communities, of different peoples, this rails against the scant outposts of good sense and clean thinking. There has to be the greatest determination to stand unflinchingly and unswervingly against the mobs that mass in public. Nothing good comes out of those presences.

Political lines-meaning racial lines-are drawn taut and tense like never before. All the chatter about democracy and process give way to the raw realities of community and city. All the statesmanlike and grizzled maturity required at the highest levels, and across the board, are largely conspicuous by glaring absence, by deafening silence. Now is not the time for this country to split at the seams.

It is the time, though, to stop shouting at each other futilely. Now is the time to pause and take stock, and realise that we are going about our business of governance, of neighbourly relations, and the pursuit of social stability in the worst possible way. There is the endless screaming at each other, with none hearing anything but the accumulated malice and prejudice. It is loud and bulky, a real burden on this nation. Nothing is achieved, nothing can be managed, and not a single thing worked out amidst such political passions.

It is imperative that there is pausing (at every level) through a concentrated effort at restraining the passions that stir and surge, then threaten to splash across friend and foe alike. There are too few of the former, and too many of the latter. Instead of the massed ranks of proud and passionate partisans, this country right now needs more friendly faces from within its own children, as many as it could summon to its side during these times of crisis.

Too many on both sides are rearing to go for the jugular.

In the manner exhibited-loudly and recklessly, there may only be the headless stumbling around here.

What good would that serve? What kind of conversation could be had then? If we are not dedicated to finding our way out of the thick darkness, out of the deep tangle, then to what fate have we resigned ourselves, condemned ourselves? It is fine and fair to expound on SoPs and what and how things should be. But we cannot do so in the middle of a Category 5 hurricane cum avalanche of disputes. And if and when we succeed in lurching past that electoral hurdle, then to what and to where?

Who is going to govern whom? Who will be allowed to, in this unapproachable, uncontrollable bushfire of a political, social, and racial environment? That is the dilemma and the unresolved (perhaps, insoluble) mystery in the sum of accumulated fears. At this demanding hour, the nation is naked, weak, and prone to every artifice and every manipulation. Our country is all of these things on the inside, while an endangering outside lurks beyond our map.

Thus, there is searching for and calling for practical leaders, leaders fully familiar with what current circumstances demand in all their harsh nuances, leaders conditioning themselves to respond to the palpable challenges of the moment. Let this first truth be faced and now: SoPs and processes to be complied with completely are means to governance ends, rulership ends. Then there is this second truth: nobody, but nobody, desires the other side of what those ends could mean, what losing brings. It is about the dominance not desired, about submission not forthcoming from any losing side. None of these postures, thinking, visions is going to seep away anytime soon.

Repeat: at any time.

It is where we are prior to court decision. It had better be faced honesty and quickly, realistically, too. It is more than about the apparatus of elections processes. It is about who will be in charge of whom. There had better be readiness for everyone in the rainbow of groups to be at the seat overseeing the wealth and welfare of this grievously, if not gravely, wounded society. It is this way and no other way, for there is none.

Oh my Guyana! Please, let us save Guyana DEAR EDITOR, Since the 1950’s, Guyana has suffered from racial insecurities. By the time of independence, the two major races have gathered around their own political party.

After 54 years of independence and 50 years being a republic, here we are today using violence against each other, racial slurs and threats.

Oh people of Guyana, we need to stop this madness. Oh leaders of the people in Guyana, it’s time for you to demonstrate your worth as leaders.

I, as many Guyanese strongly condemn the violence, intimidation, racial slurs and threats by supporters of the two major political parties. It is wrong and hateful for schoolchildren, villagers and the security forces to be attacked.

I called on the leaders of APNU/AFC and PPP/C to go to location to stop them immediately when they occur.

I call on church leaders and other local leaders to advocate for peace and calm in our villages and towns.

I call on the political leaders that whoever wins this election to reach out to the other urgently to reform GECOM and make the necessary CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM that both the PPP/C and APNU/AFC promised but never fulfilled.

Guyana needs to move with urgency from “winner take all” in the elections. At this time, we need a NEGOTIATED NATIONAL GOVERNMENT to save this country.

I call on all Guyanese to

work assiduously to save Guyana.

I call on civil society and religious bodies that regardless of your political preferences to take our Constitution and our GECOM system into our hands and really make them work for all of us and the people of Guyana. Why not?

We own both.

After 50+ years as a nation, we need to grow up.

LET’S TAKE WISE AND MEANINGFUL ACTION. WAZIR BAKSH Social Worker and Religious leader

I believe the situation is still salvageable DEAR EDITOR, No government installed based on an electoral result that includes the unverified District 4 tabulation will be recognised as legitimate. Even to the dense, this much must be clear. There will be everincreasing sanctions, both personal and national from the major players in the affairs of nations, the US, the UK, and the EU. Two questions arise, who would be willing to endure such sanctions and why?

The Executive is more than the President; David Granger seems willing to face whatever comes his way in his quest to retain the crown, do the others who will be asked to serve with him fully understand the calamity he is

bringing down on their heads? Do those now clearly identified as complicit within the GECOM machinery think they are safe from sanction?

Personal sanctions once applied, leave a stain that is never lifted, much like a criminal conviction, it haunts well past redemption. One can live with travel bans and without a bank account but a life without respect from your peers, your countrymen and any new acquaintance are debilitating to the soul. No one will do business with Guyana or in Guyana for fear of being caught in the sanctions net; businessmen do not flock to sanctioned shores.

Which brings us to the why; why would anyone

willingly become an international pariah? I do not buy the ‘oil’ theories, I know the first oil monies were not deposited in the New York Federal Reserve and that may have been a move in anticipation of sanctions as the USA is well known for freezing assets, but how would Guyana receive future oil revenues? Talk by APNU/ AFC loyalists of nationalising the oil fields and hiring Chinese companies to manage them is utter nonsense and better suited to the rum shops from whence they emanated. Which brings me to the subject of Messrs.

Ramjattan and Nagamootoo, both of whom have strong familial ties to the United States. Have they considered

the consequence to those family members and their financial well-being? I am a great admirer of President Trump and one of the reasons is that he is not known for half-measures.

Editor, it would seem some persons have decided it has to be Granger APNU/AFC or bust, my caution to them is to explore fully what ‘bust’ entails, for the actions are taken now have consequences for the rest of their life. At this point, national sanctions or embargoes are too much for me to contemplate as I believe the situation is still salvageable should persons involved find reason.

Respectfully, Robin Singh

The High Court ruling will assist us in understanding where we go from here DEAR EDITOR, I agree wholeheartedly with all the demands for transparency, credibility, accountability, fairness and obedience to the law in every aspect of the election cycle. I, most certainly, do not support i n t i m i d a tion, threats, violence and terror and do not accept that the demand for the former justifies the employment of the latter.

It is very unfortunate that many of those, local and foreign, claiming to champion democratic ideals and values are silent regarding aggression and violence.

There are clearly many experts regarding the verification of statements of poll (SOP) and their tabulation in District (Region) 4, all of whom are convinced that the process was abused and violated by the Returning Officer and is, therefore, illegal and void.

I confess that I am not to be counted among those experts as I have some difficulty in understanding the concept in this particular

instance, which presumably, as a first and critical step, involves the authentication of the SOPs in the possession of the Returning Officer of District 4.

I am aware and have the experience, that GECOM requires every Presiding Officer (PO) to produce several original SOPs – for display on the outside of the polling station and for dispatch, in separate, sealed envelopes, to the Deputy Returning Officer, Returning Officer, Chief Elections Officer and Chair and Commissioners of the Guyana Elections Commission.

Counting agents for political parties present at the count and production of SOPs are permitted to affix their signatures to indicate that they have witnessed, and certify, the count; they also receive a carbon (not original) copy of the SOP. Political parties and observers should only have digital and carbon copies of SOPs and they cannot,

lawfully, remove the original SOP placed at the polling station.

I understand, also, that GECOM had, during the design and production process, embedded security features into the SOPs which, presumably, are not known to political parties and observers.

Under these circumstances, it is unclear to me, how a ‘verification’ exercise involving observers and political parties; including political parties which had few, if any, counting agents, can authenticate, certify or verify the SOPs in the possession of the Returning Officer; only GECOM can do so and that is the rationale for original SOPs to be delivered separately to the several officers at GECOM. It would be of tremendous benefit if the very observers, political parties and experts, would let the rest of us know, for the sake of transparency, accountability and fairness, the extent of their participation and involvement

in similar verification processes in the other 9 districts as well as the cooperation of the relevant Returning Officers.

It is clear to all that there are considerable discrepancies between the figures announced by GECOM and the PPP/C which is indicative of a conspiracy to commit massive electoral fraud.

What is not clear is how the proposed and demanded verification exercise (in District 4 only) w o u l d address that issue except to intimidate GECOM into accepting ‘fake’ SOPs into their count or to frustrate, and ultimately abandon, the declaration of the results of the election.

The escalating incidences of riots, violence and terrorism are, in my view, an integral part of the strategy to hold the nation hostage and the impending ruling by the High Court will assist us in understanding where we go from here.

Sincerely, Oscar Dolphin

Monday March 09, 2020

Double/triple Standards DEAR EDITOR, Let’s cut the nonsense out immediately. Let’s return to the 2011 general and regional elections. APNU and others requested that the GECOM conduct a verification of the polls. This was not done.

I don’t mind the injunctive actions being taken by the PPP and their supporters but they must

operate in a civil manner at all times and not attempt to bully the GECOM or the government in this matter. The Law is for the observance of all persons in this land.

The foreign observers must understand that the Representation of the Peoples Act does not require the GECOM to verify any SOPs. Therefore, the GECOM must go ahead and make the

necessary proclamation and put a swift end to the imbroglio. Jagdeo and his PPP supporters cannot have their cake and eat it. The Law might be an ass in some instances.

However, in the extant case, the Law is very much clear for all to see who wish to see.

Long live Guyana. Long live commonsense.

Regards, Cyril Walker

The Brazilian who jumped from the helicopter on March 4, 2020 DEAR EDITOR, I find it strange that no media house or journalist has followed up the case of the Brazilian national, wearing a red t-shirt who tried to escape from a helicopter registered to ASL bearing registration # 8R – GJS on March 4, 2020. According to at least three local media outlets, Diego Da Conceicao Sa, the given name of the man who remains in police custody, was the lone passenger in the helicopter. It was reported based on the security footage captured, that he attempted to jump out of the helicopter after the pilot decided not to

take him to Ogle because he was not properly documented.

What I find concerning is that he was allowed to board the helicopter from an interior location without the required documentation. Usually all passengers are required to show their identification, flight itinerary and lawful permission to travel either within or between countries.

It therefore means that the pilot, immigration and other responsible persons knew he was not properly documented before he boarded the flight.

Why did the pilot take a

decision to land the helicopter at the Ruimzeight Foreshore around 11:30am Wednesday, March 4, 2020 instead of returning with the undocumented Brazilian national to the port of disembarkation? I would also like to know if the pilot informed the relevant immigration, airport and Air Services officials that he was making an emergency or unsanctioned landing at an unauthorised area.

Hopefully, our journalists are following up the investigations.

Sincerely, R. Small

President can only be sworn in after GECOM Chairperson advises Chancellor of the Judiciary DEAR EDITOR, By now, it is clear that the main objection of the opposition parties to GECOM is that the organisation has announced election results by a mysterious spreadsheet rather than completing verification of the Statement of Polls (SOPs) which it had started to do but which it truncated.

The PPP/C has taken the matter to court to seek redress claiming it has won the election when all the SOPs are properly verified. The PPP/C has copies of original

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SOPs, which were garnered by their party agents during the day of the poll.

Should the PPP/C lose the election petition, GECOM’s CEO Mr. Keith Lowenfield will then procedurally advise the Chair which party has won.

She in turn will inform the GECOM commissioners for them to sanctify the decision that the Coalition has won.

Obviously, the three government commissioners will vote to sanctify with opposition commissioners voting against. This would require the Chairman to make

the casting vote.

Her vote would reveal on which side she stands.

Should she vote with the opposition then GECOM would be compelled to go back and verify to include the SOPs, which were left out when the process was truncated.

Should she vote with the (Continued on page 6)

The imbroglio surrounding the 2020 Elections is starkly revealing DEAR EDITOR, It is revealing the naked grab for power by the APNU+AFC based on the promise of black gold, gushing forth from the Atlantic. It is also revealing the weaknesses of the WPA in its role as an insignificant political entity in the government.

The WPA is politically weak, since it has failed to garner significant electoral support since the return to “free and fair elections” in 1992.

“Free and fair elections” in the Guyana context meant a return to racial voting blocks, a historical legacy and reality mirroring the social development of Guyana with the entry of black slaves and Indian indentured servants. There is no escaping that history, and despite being products of it, we should not remain prisoners of it.

The anomaly is that the indigenous Indian population is discarded in the process, being relevant only at elections, to facilitate the rule of Indians or Blacks, against their self-interest, or for marginal gains, if any.

In order to survive in a polarised multi-racial environment that leaves very little room for survival, the WPA has had to align itself with the PPP or the PNC, arguing that its choice was dependent upon the best interest of the nation.

In effec t , i t w a s claiming to be the conscience of the nation, a very troubled conscience, with elements of paranoia and schizophrenia at critical junctures, especially at election times.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the oil

dollars would play a significant role in the 2020 elections, with its promise of untold wealth flowing into the pockets of those who would hold governmental p o w e r, presiding over the stewardship of billions of dollars. Similar to the promise of independence that of the creation of a new class of rulers, the immense fortune of oil dollars make real the actual creation of a new class or breed of persons in control of the fabled El Dorado made real. The genie that would come out of the Aladdin lamp would serve its master extremely well, fully armed to enforce its master commands.

G u y a n a ’s historical development would ensure that.

One bizarre reality of the oil dollars is that it would minimise the dependency to maintain a p r o d u c t i v e e c o n o m y in terms of labour, giving the government a free hand in terms of the need to provide employment for a large section of the labour force.

In face of racial discrimination, there would be a tendency for migration for the disempowered sector, more so if discrimination is blatant.

Like the Trump administration in the USA, it would become official policy with solid support of one political/racial group against the other. In Guyana, it would not have the shroud of ideology and class, but would be outright racial.

Guyana has to face its historical legacy. There is oil dollars enough for all. Spilling blood over oil is not a good choice. We will run out of blood, long before we run out of oil. We have spilt blood at critical times, at it has left a bitter legacy. It still runs in our blood.

As Eusi Kwayana has said, “This confounded nonsense must stop.”

The WPA must not allow itself to become a prisoner of history, but must continue to lead the way forward. It must ensure that the integrity of the electoral process is not compromised. It must come out with a statement that ensures that the independence of the Elections Commission is not compromised. It must do so in the midst of swirling rumours that there are attempts to swear in a president without the certification of the Elections Commission that the votes have been counted and the results are representative of the will of the people.

Yours truly, Rohit Kanhai

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Monday March 09, 2020

Kaieteur News

Granger and others must go DEAR EDITOR, Mr. Granger, Mr. Ramjattan and the 40 or so other leaders of the APNU and the AFC Coalition must Apologise Profusely to our Nation and Go. I have come from seeing Mr. Timothy Jonas speaking about what Mr. Granger, Mr. Imran Khan and the (40 or so) other leaders and leading people in the APNU/AFC Coalition would face in going back to their people to tell

them, “We told you wrong; we did not win, we lost.”

That the APNU-AFC Coalition lost is the truth, a truth that they knew as they misled their people, and that truth cannot be varnished, must not be varnished. It is true that Granger, Ramjattan and the other leaders and leading people are in an untenable position but it is of their own making. Their backs are against the wall – they put themselves and our whole

nation there. To evidence their remorse to their supporters and to us all, fellow citizens of Guyana, and to set a stage for reaching out and reaching across, Granger and those who brought us to the brink of civil war, who required a dozen or so persons in GECOM to criminally, flagrantly and barefacedly to rework and declare bogus results in their favour and who by now would have been hiding, misplacing

and destroying relevant documents, they (Granger, Ramjattan and the other 40 or so involved leaders and leading people) must apologise profusely to their followers and all of us. They must go, must resign, walk away and no longer impose themselves on people whose fears and insecurities they have been exploiting.

Samuel A. A. Hinds Former Prime Minister and Former President

District 4 Regional and General Results is Questionable; Protocol was not Followed DEAR EDITOR, I was extremely astonished to see Ms. Volda Lawrence’s signature on the GECOM published District 4 Regional re s u l t s o n t h e GECOM website. In no other regional results has this occurred.

The ROs name, signature, date and stamp are the only officials on the other documents.

In addition, due to the breach in the e l e c t o r a l process in Region 4, it is imperative that a revote be taken at the Region 4 polling stations associated with the incomplete statement of polls to ascertain with surety a credible final count of the

pending ballots.

Specifically, the absence of t h e o b s e r v e r s ’ presence over the last few days brings into question the integrity of the boxes associated with missing data.

In the absence of such a focused revote, there will always be some degree of doubt associated with the final results due to the previous removal of these pending boxes associated with finalising the establishment of the statement of polls to complete the electoral process.

Sincerely, Mr. Jamil Changlee Chairman The Cooperative Republicans of Guyana

President can only be...

From page 5 government commissioners then the Coalition has rightfully won the

elections.

The Chairman would procedurally inform the Chancellor of the judiciary of the results and that would then empower her to swear in the next president.

It stands to reason that unless the GECOM Chair dutifully informs the judiciary no swearing in of the p r e s i d e nt can constitutionally take place.

Sultan Mohamed

Monday March 09, 2020

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Kaieteur News

Guyanese come to aid of mom seeking to High Court to hear...

From page 3 the vote verification process for raise funds for 4-year-old son’s heart surgery elections petition has to be filed Region 4 was stopped and delayed - but still a long way from target Persons have responded to assistance.”

Four-year-old Junior Kentolall appeals from a distraught mother who is seeking to raise funds to was diagnosed with rheumatic heart cover the cost for heart surgery for disease two years ago.

Rheumatic heat disease is a her four-year-old son.

Since making her situation condition in which the heart public two Mondays ago, Ms. valves have been permanently Rewinna David has received calls damaged by rheumatic fever.

This condition also causes from several foreign nationals who internal damage to are willing to donate other organs. substantially to get According to a four-year-old Junior Ms. David can doctor, the child has Kentolall the be contacted on to undergo surgery to assistances that he replace the damaged needed for his telephone heart valves. wellbeing. number (+592) The physician So far, Ms. stated that with every David has received 692-8838 passing day, some monetary Kentolall’s condition assistance, but not enough to commence surgery and tends to worsen.

Due to his diagnosis, Kentolall travel.

Ms. David has also activated a is unable to play and act like a normal Citizen’s Bank account for persons four-year-old.

He suffers severe pain in his to make donations into. The account lower abdomen and has number is 218963959.

The corrective surgery for the headaches. The child is also child has to be done in Colombia unable to breathe freely due to and it costs USD$42,800. Travelling t h e r e s p i r a t o r y i s s u e s t h a t and hotel accommodation will push started after his diagnosis.

“I am single mother with three this cost up.

“At first, I did not have the children and because I have to be at account number but now I have one the hospital with Kentolall most of so, anyone who is willing to donate the time, my other children are can put money directly into the beginning to feel left out because account. I really need the they are all very small.”

Kentolall at home According to Ms. David, Kentolall was discharged from the Georgetown Public Hospital on the March 4, 2020 but is scheduled to return to the hospital on March 19, 2020 for a checkup.

Ms. David can be contacted on telephone number (+592) 692-8838.

within 28 days after the results of the elections have been declared by GECOM. Citing related-case laws, Boston argued that the process could not be challenged before completion of the Elections.

“The Election is still in process so if the Election is in process, you can’t come with an intermediate action to challenge it.

“There is not a two-step stage, it’s only one and that stage is only after the results have been declared then the issue of an Election petition,” said Boston.

He argued too that the method provides that the Chief Elections Officer will have to produce certain elections documents in accordance with the National Assembly (Validity of Elections) Act. In short, Boston held that the court has no jurisdiction to entertain such an application.

Senior Counsel Mendes countered Boston‘s arguments, stating that the points raised by Boston are not relevant to the reliefs sought by the PPP/C. “The arguments do not apply, since the process of the elections has not yet been completed. The final declaration has not been made

by GECOM.” According to Mendes, the Opposition party is only seeking transparency and fairness in the electoral procedure, irrespective of which Party is declared the winner.

The lawyer told the court that

on several occasions. According to Mendes, only 421of 879 Statement of Polls (SoPs) were completed when the R.O took a decision to declare Region’s Four results. He said that the PPP/C agents objected to the declaration.

He stated too that there was a deviation from the verifying procedure using figures from a spreadsheet, instead, and in place of SoPs. He said that the process revealed major discrepancies when compared to the SoPs in possession of the various political parties as well as international and local elections observers.

The Trinidadian lawyer cited Section 86 (1) of the Representation of the Peoples Act and the procedures which it sets out.

Mendes also cited the case of Joseph Hamilton v Guyana Elections Commission & Others— a matter, which was heard by Justice Desiree Bernard at the Caribbean Court of Justice, CCJ. Mendes held that the case is geared towards a proper election and that the court has a responsibility to guard against fraud.

As such, he said that reliefs being sought by the PPP include a decree that the Returning Officer’s declaration was in breach of the Representation of the Peoples Act, and is unconstitutional, illegal, unlawful, null, void and of no effect.

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Kaieteur News

Monday March 09, 2020

I will wait on Court ruling, says GECOM Chair

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) will wait on the ruling of the Court on whether verification of election results is required by law, before it makes any decision.

This is according to GECOM Chair, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, in a letter of response to People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo.

The Opposition leader had sought to make demands of GECOM, for the verification of the elections results, or for a final recount as was requested by the PPP. Jagdeo also demanded in his letter that Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield refrain from delivering any report to the Commission, and from publicly declaring the results of the election. Jagdeo has stated that he made these requests without attempting to prejudice the ongoing court proceedings.

In response, Singh informed Jagdeo of her decision to wait, as the matter is now sub judice.

Additionally, GECOM sought to make it known that it will not flout the law or act in contempt of the judiciary.

The Election agency had cause to make such a statement after news circulated of Lowenfield notifying the Commission that he was prepared to submit his final report on the 2020 General and Regional Elections, despite the matter of the lack of verification of the Region Four results rearing its head in the ongoing High Court case.

In the High Court yesterday, lawyer for the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C)

… As Chief Justice issues stern warning to Commission

GECOM Chair, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh

GECOM’s Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield

Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire

Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes raised concerns over alleged attempts by Lowenfield to flout the court orders. The Trinidadian Attorney produced a letter by Chief Election Officer, Keith Lowenfield, which suggested that he is prepared to announce the results of the General E,lections even in the face of the ongoing High Court proceedings.

Mendes stated that Lowenfield on his own could be liable for contempt of court.

Additionally, the lawyer made a request for the Court to put measures in place to prevent the production of the final report on the election by Lowenfield, before the electoral commission.

“We are asking that the report be revoked and not play any part in the proceedings,” Mendes said.

However, GECOM’s lawyer, Senior Counsel Neil Boston produced the written statement quoted in this article by GECOM’s Public Relations Officer Yolanda Ward, which noted that GECOM intends to abide by the law.

Boston said that the letter sent by Lowenfield to Commission’s Chair Claudette Singh was not meant to be contemptuous of the extant court proceedings.

Following a strict reprimand from the Chief Justice, Boston gave the Court assurance that GECOM would abide by the court’s decisions.

“We’ll hold you to that, Mr. Boston,” was the Chief Justice’s response.

In the statement, GECOM said, “The recent action of the Chief Election Officer indicating to the Chairperson and Commissioners that his report in relation to the final declaration was not intended to disregard the Court proceedings, but rather apprising the Chairperson of the completion

of the document and that she may convene a meeting at her convenience.”

Of this, the Opposition nominated commissioners had responded that they would not attend such a meeting.

“We consider this invitation to meet as a flagrant attempt to breach the Order of Court and a naked attempt by the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, to suborn us to breach an Order of Court and exposing us to liability for contempt of court,” the Commissioners said in a statement.

In any case, the presence of those commissioners would not have been entirely necessary, as the three Government nominated Commissioners and the Chair, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, would be a quorum.

Nevertheless, GECOM said that the meeting has not been scheduled.

Though Lowenfield has not made a final declaration or participated in the meeting pursuant to making same, all of the results for the districts that participated in the General and Regional Elections have now been published by GECOM. In its statement, the body said that it remains resolute in the fulfillment of its constitutional and statutory obligation.

Of its obligation, it noted that it is Continued on page 9

Monday March 09, 2020

PAGE 9

Kaieteur News

Fireworks explosion…

Soldiers recovering, but emotional scars remain over loss of colleague “We are going to recover; but not fully” were the words of some of the seven other soldiers that were injured in the February 22 fireworks explosion that left one of their comrades dead.

Thirty-two-year Corporal Sean Rose died less than 24hrs after sustaining extensive injuries from the blast.

Also injured were Cpl. T r e v o r J o s eph, 35; Cpl Terrence Neil, 26; Cpl. Andrew Cornette, 34; Staff Sgt. Otto Row, 35; Cpl. Victor Lowe, 25; Cpl Delroy Baird, 28; along with Cpl. Diah Gordon, 29.

They have all been discharged from hospital, In an interview, Cpl Terrence Neil stated that he no longer suffers physical pain but the memories of the event will forever haunt him.

“It is the worst thing that has ever happened to me,” he told Kaieteur News, “It is something no one should have to endure. It leaves behind scars, and

Dead Sean Rose lifelong ones, I must say.”

Not withholding his emotions, Cpl. Neil stated that due to the amount of times they have spent together he and his colleagues have bonded even more, and the passing of Cpl Rose will forever be a ‘big deal,’ When contacted Cpl Baird stated that although he was not badly injured, he is however being hunted with the memories

of the event.

“All I can say is that I will never get over what happened. We all trained together and we were all scheduled to go home to our families the following weekend, No one imagined such a thing would have ever happened to us.”

The soldiers all stated that not only will scars be on their bodies but the memories of the event are

I will wait on the Court...

From page 8 GECOM’s intention to abide by all legal and procedural requirements to conclude its work, despite it being cognizant of the events that have followed the close of polls of March 2, 2020, and which have resulted from Opposition to the manner in which the results were tabulated and declared.

GECOM said that the mandatory injunction

granted against the Commission, which prevents it from making further declarations, “impeded the finalisation of the Commission’s work.”

The injunction is currently the only thing standing in the way of the progression of the Commission toward facilitating the declaration of the final results and the swearing in of a new

president.

The meeting of the Commission would facilitate a notice being sent to the Chancellor ( a g ) o f t h e J u d i c i a r y, Yo n e t t e Cummings-Edwards, to swear in as President, David Granger who is leading the Coalition and which has been given the lead, following the controversial declaration of the Region Four results.

also with them.

After they were discharged from the city hospital the ranks were given substantial time off to be with their families.

After the incident the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) partnered with the University of Guyana (UG) to provide the ranks with psychological care.

The explosion occurred at the Coast Guard Base wharf in Ruimveldt, while a twentyone member team was offloading fireworks from a pontoon onto a nearby truck.

The pyrotechnics were to be used for the 50th Republic Anniversary Fireworks display that evening.

But while the ranks were unloading the fireworks, spontaneous combustion occurred, resulting in the massive explosion.

The ranks were forced to jump into the Demerara River, as the explosion sent debris flying several metres into the air. The soldiers were said to have all been trained to handle the explosives.

An injured rank after the explosion

PAGE 10

Monday March 09, 2020

Kaieteur News

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

Granger’s second term: Citing Machiavelli Since Machiavelli wrote that it may be easier for a prince to acquire power than to maintain it, several global figures have referred to Machiavelli’s reflection. I know Lenin once did.

If Granger is sworn in for a second term without the transparent tabulation and verification of Region Four’s statements of poll (SOPs), I am consciously using the term, “impossible” to describe what would be his inability to maintain power.

What impassible and impossible pathways lie ahead? First, the Americans

have boxed themselves in.

They have defined a policy that as a superpower, they cannot retract easily. The Americans’ adumbration is if there isn’t transparent verification of those SOPs, they will regard the Granger presidency as unconstitutional.

If the Americans do not react against such a government, its officials know it will lose leverage with other small states that behave the way GECOM and its political backers did.

No superpower will want to take that chance. It cannot.

Autocratic leaders that the Americans denounce as dictators will ignore them.

Secondly, the EU and Canada will follow the US and apply sanctions. I am contending that the Americans will use sanctions. If that happens, it will virtually bring the process of governance to a halt.

Guyana is a quintessential western hemisphere country whose economy is virtually inseparable from the west.

Guyana’s trade and its financial nerve centre are located in the West.

Thirdly, this is not the era of Burnham in CARICOM where CARICOM did not know what took place with elections in Guyana, had to listen to Burnham and was unsure of what to do and thus did nothing.

It is unfortunate for GECOM and those who may be pulling the strings of GECOM that the Region Four verification controversy took place right in front of the eyes of one of Barbados’s longest serving Prime Minister, Owner Arthur, and former Jamaican Prime Minister, Bruce Golding.

CARICOM then will not have the space to manoeuvre.

It will not allow the Guyana situation to just pass into nothingness.

Fourthly, the OAS is in a far more uncomfortable position than CARICOM. Given what happened in Venezuela and the OAS’s sanctions, given what is now taking place in Guyana, and given the pellucid announcement that the final GECOM count was not a true reflection, the OAS will act against the Granger presidency.

On Saturday, the OAS resent former Jamaican Prime Minister to Guyana, Bruce Golding; he is here at the moment. Also yesterday, the OAS dispatched the head of its governance department to Guyana.

Fifthly, visa cancellations and denials may be the first

set of sanctions to come.

Gerry Gouveia shared a panel with me on Kaieteur Radio Saturday night and he intoned that the visa sanctions also will take into its net family members and relatives of the leaders. Visa restrictions may bite hard.

Canada and the EU may follow the US. There is just about a combined million Guyanese in North America, UK and in Caricom areas. Guyana is figuratively an extension of the US and Canada. Which Guyanese does not have family member and relatives that they closely interact with in Canada and the US? A large number of Government officials in modern Guyana go to Canada and the US more than once a year for family reunion.

Can the Granger government implode over visa restrictions? Will highranking members of the government remain faithful if they cannot go to the US and Canada to see ailing parents and loving children?

Sixthly, the domestic pressure scene. Will the business community hang up their gloves? I refer to that radio programme with Gouveia. From his two-hour delivery, it doesn’t look like it will be business as usual.

Finally, the opposition PPP! What will it do if Granger is sworn in? This is where I fear we are heading in the direction of a volcano. I was

Frederick Kissoon an advisor working closely with the Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of Grenada when the revolution imploded.

My job was not public. I was never in the public eyes.

My presence was restricted only to select meeting with the minister and prime minister when I presented my research. I learnt valuable lessons from the collapse of that government.

When one group swore to their followers that they will fight their opponents and they will not let them down, they leave no room for the exit.

They leave no space to back down.

The PPP leadership must have told itself that it won and the victory was denied. They should have asked themselves, “What if the party never won?”

Therefore, to erase that possibility, they have to fight for survival. I am afraid that is what we can logically expect.

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

Monday March 09, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 11

PAGE 12

Kaieteur News

Monday March 09, 2020

Europe’s Coronavirus Outbreak Worsens, With Italy locking down much of the north, its economic engine (New York Times) Italy’s government is taking the extraordinary step of locking down entire sections of the country’s north, restricting movement for a quarter of the population in a sweeping effort to fight the coronavirus not seen outside of China.

“We are facing an emergency, a national emergency,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in announcing the government decree in a news conference after 2 a.m.

The move is tantamount

to sacrificing the Italian economy in the short term to save it from the ravages of the virus in the long term. The measures will turn stretches of Italy’s wealthy north — including the economic and cultural capital of Milan and landmark tourist destinations such as Venice — into quarantined red zones until at least April 3. They will prevent the free movement of roughly 16 million people.

Funerals and cultural events are all banned under the measures. The decree

required distance of one meter, including in sporting events, bars and supermarkets The Italian outbreak, already the worst in Europe and the worst outside of Asia, has inflicted serious damage on one of the Continent’s most fragile economies and triggered the closing of Italy’s schools.

Italy’s cases more than doubled this week from about 2,500 infections on Wednesday to more than 5,800 on Saturday, according to Italian authorities and the

World Health Organization.

Deaths rose by 36 to 233. · Unlock more free articles.

Create an account or log in Nicola Zingaretti, the leader of Italy’s governing coalition’s Democratic Party, announced that he was now a patient. “Well, it’s arrived,” he said in a Facebook video from his home. He said he would follow all the protocols suggested by the authorities, who have urged infected people to self-

quarantine.

France is also now one of the main centers of the epidemic in Europe. Health authorities on Saturday reported two more deaths, both in northern France, and 103 new infections, since Friday. France now has a total of 949 cases, including a member of the French Parliament.

France, Germany and other countries have imposed limits on the export of protective medical equipment, some of which is badly needed but in short supply.

In Spain, about 470 people have the virus, and fatalities reached 10 on Saturday. Barcelona officials have called off a marathon scheduled for March 15, but a big street rally on Sunday in Madrid for International Women’s Day will go ahead as planned.

The smallest E.U. nation, Malta, reported its first confirmed case on Saturday: a 12-year-old girl recently returned from a vacation in northern Italy. Her condition was described as good.

Arrested two teenagers in connection with a racially aggravated assault, days after a 23-year-old student from Singapore said he was attacked by a group of men, one of whom shouted “I don’t want your coronavirus in my country.”

New York State declares an emergency, and cases rise to 89.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo declared a state of emergency in New York on Saturday as the state’s number of confirmed cases rose, reaching 89 by the evening.

Eleven are in New York City, the latest of which is an Uber driver.

The declaration of emergency will allow the state to speed up the purchasing of supplies and the hiring of workers to assist local health departments that have been handling the monitoring of thousands of quarantined patients, Mr. Cuomo said.

“Somebody has to go knock on their door, once a day,” he said during a midday briefing in the state Capitol.

“This is labor intensive.”

The epicenter of the cases in New York continued to be just north of the city, in Westchester County, where the total reached 70. These cases were mostly, if not all, related to a cluster in Westchester that first came to the authorities’ attention after a New Rochelle resident, a 50year-old lawyer, was confirmed as New York’s second coronavirus patient.

But there were also signs of wider spread, including a pair of cases in Saratoga

County, north of the state capital of Albany — the first such confirmed cases outside of the New York City region.

The Uber driver, 33, walked into St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in the Far Rockaway section of Queens on Tuesday and reported flulike symptoms. He went home and returned later when his symptoms worsened, an official said.

He tested positive on Friday night, prompting more than 40 doctors, nurses and other workers at the hospital where he has been isolated to go into self-quarantine and seek testing, officials said on Saturday.

A spokesman for Uber said the driver was licensed to drop off passengers in the city, but not to pick them up in the five boroughs or city airports.

An attendee of a conservative conference where President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke last week has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the host of the conference.

The American Conservative Union, which hosts the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, said the attendee was exposed to the virus before the four-day event and tested positive for it on Saturday.

“This attendee had no interaction with the president or the vice president and never attended the events in the main hall,” the group said in a statement. “The Trump administration is aware of the situation, and we will continue regular communication with all appropriate government officials.”

The attendee has been quarantined in New Jersey, the statement said.

Mr. Trump said on Saturday that he was not worried that the infections seemed to be getting closer to the White House.

“No, I’m not concerned at all, no,” he told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he was spending the weekend.

Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, said in a statement that there was “no indication that either President Trump or Vice President Pence met with or were in close proximity to the attendee.”

Others who spoke at the conference included Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia.

Also in attendance were Continued on page 20

Monday March 09, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 13

Six months later…

Almost five months after, still no leads in murder of Bourda woman File implicating cops in gang rape cover up still with DPP

On October 11, 2019, Makada Oudkerk found the bound body of her 67-yearold mother, Marva Oudkerk, inside her Lot 241 Bourda Street, Georgetown home.

Someone had wrapped a mosquito net tightly wrapped around her neck.

It is believed that the woman was murdered between 16:30hrs on Wednesday, October 9, and 18:30hrs Thursday October 10, last by robbers.

But police are yet to make an arrest in the case that have left many persons distraught especially Marva’s only child, Makada Oudkerk.

This is despite Ms. Oudkerk offering US$2000 for information that could lead to the apprehending of her mother’s killer.

Ms. Oudkerk told Kaieteur News that the only update she has received from the police is that a security camera in the area showed that someone was in her mother’s yard at the time of the incident.

However due to the poor camera footage, it is impossible to determine the intruder’s identity.

Picture of Marva Oudkerk (right) and her only daughter in happier times.

Ms. Makada is pleading with investigators to do everything possible to ensure that her mother’s case is solved.

“My mother loved living alone, she enjoyed her own company and everybody around her area was aware of that. I was the one that

discovered her body and it is something I will never get over.”

The killers had gained entry into the house by removing several floor boards. An undisclosed amount of cash and jewellery were also missing from the slain woman’s bedroom.

Home of Marva Oudkerk where her body was discovered.

Concern is being raised regarding the state of an ongoing investigation into the alleged cover-up of a series of gang-rape incidents, reportedly committed by a policeman’s relative and others.

This is because some nine months since the investigation began, there is no indication that any of the alleged culprits will be charged.

The file has been with the office of the Director of Public Prosecution for some six months. What is said to be a detained file reportedly implicates a retired policewoman, one of her female colleagues, and a policeman.

The report is said to include statements from a handwriting expert, who concluded that the retired female lance corporal forged the signatures of three of the victims.

The same rank is also accused of altering the young women’s statements to suggest that they had not identified their attackers.

The victims had positively identified their attackers.

Two of the policewomen were attached to

the Forces’ Sexual Offences Units.

Kaieteur News understands that some of the police ranks who were involved in aspects of the investigation claimed that their statements were switched.

The police expert reportedly verified that the handwriting in the altered statements matched samples of the female lance corporal’s handwriting.

A policeman who is related to one of the suspects is also accused of paying one of the victims $200,000 to settle the matter.

The female lance corporal from the Sex Crimes Unit is said to have acted as the gobetween in handing over the ‘hush money’.

It is also alleged that one of the implicated policemen made a false statement in which he gave one of the suspects an alibi.

However, that statement contradicted another that the same rank entered into the station diary.

Commissioner of Police, Leslie James, had Continued on page 14

PAGE 14

Kaieteur News

Monday March 09, 2020

Mazaruni escapee spotted at Itaballi

Prison authorities are hoping that they can recapture Mazaruni Prison escapee Christopher Punch, who escaped two Saturdays ago.

Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels said that authorities received word that the 29-year-old was seen at Itaballi, the logging and mining community located on

A section of Itaballi

the bank of the Essequibo River.

The area is upriver from the Mazaruni Prison. Punch is serving a nine-year sentence for simple larceny

and attempted larceny of motorcycles in Linden. Some Mazaruni escapees have managed to reach as far as Puruni and Sharima, and even to Linden.

Those with money may buy clothing and blend into the communities. Samuels said that there is always a risk of prisoners escaping while working outdoors.

“There is always a risk of escape, since the jungle is near.” However, some escapees without knowledge of the terrain end up “going around in circles” in the jungle, and remaining in close proximity of the prison.

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 while he and six others were sent to the prison dairy farm to tend to the livestock.

He was said to have asked a prison warder permission to 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,

Christopher Punch 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.

According to information received, Punch was charged in April last year for the theft of four motorcycles between February 28 and March 1, 2019.

File implicating cops...

From page 13 said last July that the media will be informed of the findings of this and other investigations.

All of the implicated ranks have been transferred.

The victims, all in their teens, claim that the policeman’s son and two others, gang-raped and robbed them earlier last year, after they were duped into going on dates with one gang member who drives a car.

The teens said that although the matter was investigated and the suspects apprehended, only one of the alleged rapists was charged.

They have suggested that policewomen who help in sex crime investigations, and who took their statements, were involved in the cover-up.

Kaieteur News was told that persons close to the alleged rapists gave one victim’s family some $200,000 to avoid prosecution.

It is reported that the alleged serial rapists, including the policeman’s relatives, moved around on a motorcycle and a car.

They allegedly contacted their victims via social media.

The gang would reportedly then arrange to meet the unsuspecting young women. If a young woman responded, one of the gang members would take her for a ‘date’ in a car.

Unknown to the teen, two accomplices of their ‘date’ would be hiding in the car trunk.

The ‘date’ would take the teen to a secluded area, where his accomplices would emerge from the car trunk.

The men would then take turns raping the teen, before relieving her of her cellphone and other valuables.

All the attacks are said to have occurred at secluded areas on East Bank Demerara.

From reports reaching Kaieteur News, the gang slipped up when they contacted another teen, who is a friend of one of the victims.

The young woman allegedly notified the police, who allegedly instructed the intended victim to meet her ‘date’ at a particular location while the ranks lay in wait.

The ‘date’ and his accomplices were arrested when they all turned up at the location.

It is alleged that the investigation took a disturbing turn when the police ranks realised that one of the suspects was the son of a police rank.

While the victims allegedly identified all of the suspects, and also provided statements, only one of the men was charged.

Kaieteur News was unable to ascertain whether he is still on remand.

Habits are not the product of one decision — They’re the result of repeated choices that eventually become automatic responses. How can you know your true spiritual condition? By the company you keep and the choices you make. When you’re free to go, where do you choose to go? Whose company do you prefer?

Monday March 09, 2020

PAGE 19

Kaieteur News

GUYANESE HORROR FICTION KAMARANG…

WATCHING HER STARE INTO MIRRORS

By Michael Jordan The crowd was sparse when he entered the Ritz at around seven-twenty. He hesitated briefly at the top of the stars. He saw no sign of Jason Marcus. No sign of Lucille, either. The tall man with the Kangol cap stood nursing a beer by the steprail. He nodded as his eyes caught Michael’s. Desmond the barman was talking to a middle-aged woman who Michael had seen a few times behind the bar. He looked up, and Michael sensed a wariness in the man’s eyes, an insincerity in his smile.

“You early tonight, youthman.”

“Yeah,” Michael said.

Automatically, his eyes shifted again to the corner near the bar.

“She up in she room.”

Was he that obvious?

“Well, what you getting, partner?” the barman asked, and before Michael could answer, the barman turned to the woman besides him.

“Give the customer a beer.”

And why not. He needed to relax. He felt tense. He knew that part of it was the guilt that he felt at skipping his studies. He’d tried, but images of the girl had kept jumping into his thoughts. He’d finally shut his books, taken a bath, put on his wind-breaker and slipped out of the house while his parents listened to the seven o’clock news in the bedroom.

Guilt surged through him as he thought of his parents.

He decided that he’d wait for Lucille to come downstairs, rather than yield to the temptation of going to her bedroom. Then he’d just sit with her for an hour or two.

Someone placed a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around, heart racing, expecting to see Jason Marcus. Instead, he saw a scruffy and intoxicated man, who stumbled backwards as Michael glared at him.

The man blinked at Michael, then said; “Oh shucks, sorry meh brother. Ah take you fuh somebody else… sorry…”

Michael glared at the drunk until the man sidled away towards the punch-box.

He turned back to the bar to see Desmond watching him.

“You thought was Jason Marcus sneaking up on you, right?”

“Nah…” The barman shrugged his shoulders. “You ain’t gotta worry about him no more.”

The barman fumbled for something beneath the

counter, mumbling, “I sure I put that thing right here…”

Eventually, his hand came from beneath the counter with a rolled up copy of the Evening Citizen. He unrolled it, then handed it to Michael.

“Read this,” he said, pointing to a small, boxed story.

Last Post for Colourful Ex-solder

by Albert Alstrom Popular ex-soldier and street fighter Jason Marcus, 55, was killed on the spot last Saturday after being run over by a car on Regent Street.

A friend told the Citizen that they were sitting in a beer garden at around noon when Marcus suddenly cried out that something had stung him.

The friend said that a screaming Marcus, with hands to his face, rushed out of the beer garden into the busy Regent Street traffic. He was hit by a passing car.

Marcus was among the contingent of soldiers that was at Ankoko during the Venezuela-Guyana territorial dispute. He was also with the Guyana Defence Force contingent that evicted the Suriname military that had set up an illegal camp near the disputed New River Triangle area.

He leaves to mourn a wife and several children. * Michael re-read the story.

He felt relief, guilt, and a sense of disbelief that the strapping man, who had seemed so indestructible, had died so stupidly. He looked up to give the barman the newspaper. Again, he

caught the man staring at him in a way he couldn’t discern.

“He wasn’t really a bad sort,” the barman said, taking the paper. “He had some mental problems…lost a squaddie at Ankko, and I think that tripped him out. And he just couldn’t hold he liquor.” ** WHEN THE GIRL who was now calling herself Lucille finally came downstairs and she and the boy went to their corner, Vibert Sealey borrowed the barman’s newspaper. He read the story about Jason Marcus, returned the paper, bought another beer.

There was a film of ice on the bottle, and the beer itself was cold, but that wasn’t the reason for the sudden chill he felt inside. ** She was wearing a red blouse and a skirt of a similar colour. Tonight, somehow, she seemed different; somehow less pale. She raised her head slightly, and he watched as the pendant swung on the gold chain that he’d given her. He stared at her for a moment, then glanced at his watch. He stifled a sigh. Eight-thirty already.

It had been so easy, when the girl hadn’t been around, to think about staying just a few hours. But now he wondered how he could ever have imagined coming here and not going to her room. It felt so good, so right, sitting in this corner, gazing at her, while an old tune named Let Them Talk came from the punch-box.

Yet he kept recalling his

quarrel with his father, and with that memory was the sinking feeling that his father ’s fears would be justified.

She squeezed his hand, smiling at him. “You need to relax.” She smiled again, that secret smile that touched her eyes. “I have a surprise for you tonight.”

“What’s that?”

She was still smiling at him, her eyes burning into his, when suddenly her hand tightened around his. She stared at something behind him. He turned, tense and ready to leap from his seat, but all he saw was the tall man with the Kangol peering into the punch-box. Michael turned back to the girl. He could detect none of the wariness that he thought he’d seen in her eyes a moment ago. Again, it struck him that she seemed younger than when he’d first known her, and somehow, more vulnerable. For a moment, he thought of telling her about Jason Marcus. But why spoil her night?

“You were telling me about your surprise,” he said.

Again, a tiny smile of suppressed amusement. “It’s upstairs.”

And though he thought of his angry, sad, disappointed

Cover design and illustrations by Harold Bascom father, and though something in him seemed to scream a warning, he followed her. ** She entered her room, then rapped softly on the southern wall. A few minutes later, someone rapped on the girl’s door. She opened it, and a tiny, limping woman peered inside. She was carrying a tray, and Michael caught the smell of wood-smoke and saw that the woman was carrying a tray with cassava bread, and

two steaming bowls. The woman looked past Lucille at Michael and said something in a soft, fluting dialect. Lucille laughed, shook her head, and answered in the dialect. The old woman gave a little bow to Lucille, handed her the tray, then seemed to stare longingly at the meal before making a strange, sniffing sound and shuffling outside.

Smiling, Lucille headed to the bed with the tray, and Continued on page 20

PAGE 20

Monday March 09, 2020

Kaieteur News

Europe’s Coronavirus Outbreak Worsens, With Italy...

From page 12 Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and adviser, and Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son.

The American Conservative Union has said that the event draws thousands.

The group’s chairman, Matt Schlapp, said he had had “incidental interaction with the person,” and added, “I feel bad for my friend who is in the hospital.””We’ve talked to him,” he said. “He sounds very good.”

At the conference, which draws thousands, Mr. Trump gave his administration good grades for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, while his acting chief of staff at the time, Mick Mulvaney, said in a separate speech that journalists were hyping the coronavirus because “they think this will bring down the president.”

Mr. Mulvaney also minimized concerns over the virus.

“The flu kills people,” he said. “This is not Ebola. It’s not SARS, it’s not MERS. It’s not a death sentence; it’s not the same as the Ebola crisis.”

Washington State raised its count of cases to more than 100 on Saturday and added two more deaths, bringing the state’s toll to 16 and the nation’s to 19.

New cases were also announced in Florida, Arizona, Oregon and other states, but most caseloads remain in the single digits.

Still, the U.S. has recorded more than 420 cases.

The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert R. Redfield, urged local officials not to give up on fighting the virus’s spread in their communities.

In an interview on Friday night, he pointed to the success countries like China and Singapore had with “aggressive travel restrictions, aggressive containment strategies, early

diagnosis, isolation, contract tracing, expanded testing in people coming in with flu-like illness in their hospitals.”

Dr. Redfield said it was not too late for those measures to be effective in the U.S. “We still have a real opportunity to contain, control, the spread of this virus,” he said.

The Associated Press reported that C.D.C. officials wanted to recommend that elderly and physically fragile Americans be advised not to fly on commercial airlines because of the new coronavirus, but the White House overruled them.

California, which, after Washington State, has the country’s most confirmed cases, announced one new case in Madera County that health officials said was tied to the Grand Princess cruise ship.

Oregon health officials said four more people had tested positive, bringing the total number of people being treated there to six. In

A store employee on Friday in Milan, the largest city in the Lombardy area of Italy. Credit...Matteo Corner/EPA, via Shutterstock (Italy crisis) Georgia, three people in three separate counties were confirmed to have the virus, doubling the state’s positive cases.

Officials in Arizona announced that two people who lived in the same household of a previously confirmed case also tested

WATCHING HER STARE INTO...

From page 19 Michael felt water spring to his mouth as he caught the smell of pepper-pot and smoked meat. The girl stripped to her underwear and sat on the bed. She gave him one of the steaming, meatfilled bowls. Smiling, she dipped a hand in her bowl. She plucked out a fattylooking morsel and placed it in his mouth.

He had never tasted any meat like that before; so, succulent that he bit his tongue in his eagerness. She fed him another piece, then broke a piece of cassava bread and began to attack her bowl. He followed suit, eating and thinking that he had often boasted that no one could make a tastier pepper pot than his great-grandmother. Now here he was, devouring this meal that made grandmother’s seem ordinary; tears streaming down his face as he bit into a piece of bird-pepper.

Besides him, the girl was making murmuring sounds. At one point, she give a cry of delight as her fingers closed around a small morsel like the one she had fed him.

He tried to slow down, wanting to make the meal last as long as he could, but too soon he was staring at his empty bowl. She caught his forlorn look and laughed. She stared into her own bowl, which held one last piece. She tore it in two and fed him, then ate the other piece.

He finished, then licked his fingers.

“Wow,” he said.

“You liked it?”

Feeling like he’d betrayed his dead great-grandmother he said: “It’s by far the best pepper-pot I ever ate.” What meat is this…labba?”

She shook her head, smiling.

“Deer…wild hog?”

Again, that suppressed laughter.

“You could say it was wild. It had to be hunted and caught.”

“Monkey,” he said, joining in the joke.

He joined in her laughter, looking at her and thinking again how much younger she looked. Finally, she composed herself. “I will tell my aunt how much you enjoy her cooking.” She laughed again. “Auntie ate her share

and she wanted more. You saw how she stared at ours?”

She held his hands. “You need to wash up and then I have another surprise for you.”

She led him to a table with a large basin. She washed her hands in the basin, and he followed suit. The water appeared to contain some sort of scented perfume that reminded him of the girl’s smell. They dried their hands on a towel on the table.

When the girl came back to the bed she was holding a small earthenware bottle. She uncorked it, and a strong, fermented odour came to him. Sitting with knees beneath her, she put the bottle to her lips and tilted her head back for a moment. She lowered the bottle and he saw that some sort of colourless liquid had trickled down the edges of her mouth. Smiling, she gave him the bottle. Again, he smelt the strong, fermented odour.

“What’s it?” he said, in what he hoped was a casual tone. He suddenly felt extremely immature; out of his depth. The girl sitting on the bed with her hair loose and in unselfconscious nakedness suddenly seemed light years ahead of him in maturity.

“It’s cassiri. I made it.”

“Oh,” he said. He tried to recall whether this was the Amerindian wine that was made with cassava that was chewed and spat into a pot. The thought that the wine might have been made from Lucille’s juices caused a stirring within him. He raised the bottle to his lips. The taste was not unlike the homemade wines that his mother made at Christmas. He swallowed, and felt the liquid burning a warm path to his stomach. He took another sip, and another, before passing the bottle back.

His lips felt numb. The warmth in his stomach seemed to have travelled to his groin.

The girl re-corked the bottle, then put it on the table. She switched off the light and returned to the bed. He felt lightheaded and strangely reckless.

She laughed in his face; her voice seeming to come from a distance. He gave a startled yelp as she gave him a

sudden nip on the chest, then felt her encircle him; felt himself sinking… ** He had been sleeping, and now he was awake, and the bedroom light was on and the girl was not in the bed. He felt light-headed, and strangely listless, and he was wondering where the girl had gone to, when he saw her standing by the mirror. She was too preoccupied to notice that he had awoken. He thought of calling to her, but didn’t because his limbs and tongue felt heavy, and because a little voice within him told him not to.

She stood close to the mirror, as if short-sighted. She ran her hands through her hair. She caressed her face, touched her breasts. Now, she bent to stare at her thighs, examining them in that same short—sighted, careful manner.

Suddenly she straightened and stared into the mirror again. Her body shook, and he was puzzled until he realized that she was laughing. He watched her, feeling suddenly cold. He wanted to cover with the sheet but that little voice told him to remain still.

Around him was a heavy silence as if he and the girl were the only people left in the world.

She turned to him suddenly, and instinctively, he shut his eyes, breathing shallowly like someone asleep. He felt a throbbing in the centre of his forehead, as if someone was watching him. Eventually, he heard a click, and the light that was seeping beneath his eyelids receded. He sensed her standing beside the bed. Then her lips touched him, bringing him to life despite the vague unease he felt.

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

The illustrated edition of Kamarang is on sale at Austin’s Book Store, and on Amazon (Kindle and paperback) The author can also be contacted for autographed copies on +592 645 2447 or by email: kamarangnight@gmail.com

positive for the virus, bringing the state’s total to five, and Florida reported its eighth case. Florida also announced the East Coast’s first deaths on Friday, those of two people who had traveled internationally.

On Friday night Starbucks reported that one of its employees in downtown Seattle had tested positive. The company said the store has been closed for cleaning.

Also in the Seattle area, two Microsoft employees were being treated for the coronavirus, a company spokesman said on Friday.

Microsoft did not close its campus, but it had already advised employees to work from home if possible.

“I’m ready to get the hell off this ship,” Cookie Clark said by telephone on Saturday from her cabin on the Grand Princess, as it waited 50 miles off the coast of California. “Floating around is getting very stressful.”

Vice President Mike Pence said Friday that the ship, with more than 3,500 people on board, would come ashore at a noncommercial port but did not say when or where.

E a r l y S a t u r d a y, a critically ill passenger was evacuated from the ship by Coast Guard cutter, in a case unrelated to coronavirus, the cruise ship company said in a statement.

The Coast Guard delivered protective equipment, including gloves and face masks to the ship by helicopter on Friday evening.

Ms. Clark, 76, and her husband, Joe Clark, 81, of Oakdale, Calif., said they had been watching the news constantly and were angry when they heard President Trump say on Friday that he preferred the ship did not dock in the United States because that would push up the number of American cases.

“As American citizens we have a right to be back on U.S. soil,” Mr. Clark said.

Ms. Clark, a retired realtor, said she was appalled. “We’re just numbers to him,” she said. On Saturday, executives

from Princess Cruises said that the authorities had not yet told them where or when the Grand Princess would dock.

Jan Swartz, the president of Princess Cruises, told reporters in a conference call that she was disappointed the federal government had announced test results of passengers and crew on Friday before informing the company of them.

Out of 46 people tested for the virus 21 people tested positive, most of them crew members.

Grant Tarling, the chief medical officer of the company, said the Centers for Disease Control had not informed the cruise company how many other people on the ship, which is carrying more than 3,000 people, would be tested.

Dr. Tarling said the company believed that the virus was brought aboard the ship by a passenger from Placer County, who had boarded the ship on Feb. 11 and disembarked on Feb. 21.

Outbreak on Nile tourism boat suggests broader danger.

Egypt’s health minister announced 33 new infections on a quarantined Nile cruise boat on Sunday, including foreign tourists and Egyptian crew members, bringing to 45 the number onboard who have tested positive.

The boat, which local media said was named A Sara, is docked at Luxor near the famous Valley of the Kings, one of the M i d d l e E a s t ’s m o s t popular tourist attractions.

A vacationing TaiwaneseAmerican woman who took a trip on the boat in late January tested positive in Taiwan weeks later, drawing the World Health Organization to retrace her travels.

The long gap between infection and detection on the cruiser raises the possibility that the coronavirus could have been transmitted to several groups of tourists, foreign and domestic, during the month of February.

Monday March 09, 2020

PAGE 21

Kaieteur News

US Firm hired to revise Guyana’s petroleum laws has 40-year relationship with ExxonMobil - World Bank criticised for financing role Well-known British newspaper, The Guardian, reported yesterday that US Law firm, Hunton Andrew Kurth, which Guyana will use to revise its archaic petroleum legislation, has a solid relationship with ExxonMobil, which spans 40 years.

The Guardian noted that the US$1.2M bill will be financed by the World Bank, the same financial institution which pledged not to fund activities related to the fossil fuel industry. The daily newspaper noted that Hunton Andrews Kurth has acted for ExxonMobil for 40 years, while noting that it has worked on multiple cases for the oil giant, some of which were in relation to climate impacts, such as an action by native Americans in the Alaskan village of Kivalina who argued that the

climate crisis was threatening their way of life.

Heike Mainhardt, a Senior Advisor on Multilateral Financial Institutions at Urgewald who spoke with The Guardian noted that the World Bank claims its loan is part of efforts to help Guyana in the good governance of its resources.

The Senior Advisor at the highly respected non-profit environmental and human rights organisation based in Germany said, “...This is ‘good governance’ for the oil companies, not for the people of Guyana or the global climate. The World Bank is causing a conflict of interest, in effect undermining good governance.”

It was also noted by The Guardian that the World Bank has already faced criticism over its involvement

in the oil sector. The news agency said that the World Bank garnered praise from environmental campaign groups in 2017 when it pledged to stop investment in “upstream oil and gas”.

However, the Guardian previously reported it had earmarked millions of dollars to improve governance in the oil and gas sector in Guyana.

The Guardian said that Hunton Andrews Kurth declined to comment, citing client confidentiality concerns. It also noted that Guyana’s Department of Public Information did not respond to requests for comment. As for ExxonMobil, it told The Guardian that it was “committed to the highest standards of business conduct” and that “any reports speculating or alleging the appearance of

Major Hindu organisations cancel Phagwah celebrations - as Pandits’ Council calls for peace

In light of the tension in Guyana, the Hindu Dharmic Sabha has cancelled their annual Holi Utsav planned for Phagwah Day at Everest Ground.

The Dharmic Sahba is the second religious council, which has canceled their annual Phagwah celebrations.

Late last week, Yog Mahadeo of the Arya Samaj and also the founder of Inspired Inc. noted the cancellation of the annual event planned for the Guyana National Stadium.

This is the first time that the popular event is being cancelled.

In addition, Pujya Swami

Aksharanandaji of the Saraswati Vidya Niketan on the West Coast of Demerara has confirmed that over 108 mandirs across the country will not be celebrating the festival on Monday, while several organisations, including the Pandits Council have also cancelled their (Continued on page 22)

anything improper are baseless and without merit.”

NOT THE FIRST TIME Apart from the report by the Guardian, Kaieteur News has highlighted that the World Bank loan was also used to hire another ExxonMobil contact, Dr. Michael Warner, to put the finishing touches on Guyana’s Local Content

Policy.

Kaieteur News had exposed the ties between the UK Consultant and ExxonMobil, but the Energy Department and the World Bank still gave the official their blessings via the award of the $22M contract.

By the time Dr. Warner was done with Guyana’s Local Content Policy, he

removed several provisions which were initially put in place by Trinidadian Expert, Anthony Paul to give Guyanese the advantage in the sector, and included among other things, a confidentiality clause to prevent the local content plans and reports of oil companies from being made available for public scrutiny.

PAGE 22

Monday March 09, 2020

Kaieteur News

Motorcyclist dies in hit and run accident A 25-year-old motorcyclist from Rose Hall Town, Berbice is now dead after he was struck down by a vehicle along the Letterkenny Public Road.

Dead is Shawn Smith of Lot 17 Fingal Street, Rose Hall Town. Reports are that Smith was riding along the

Letterkenny Public Road when he was reportedly struck by a truck that was exiting a street.

An eyewitness suggested that the truck driver may not have realised that he had hit someone and therefore did not stop.

The accident reportedly

occurred sometime around 23:00 hrs on Saturday.

Smith was taken to the Port Mourant Public Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries whilst receiving medical attention.

The damaged motorcycle CK 2517 was lodged at the Whim Police Station.

Shawn Smith

Fight to govern oil rich Guyana exposes deep...

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From page 15 what they can) or more competitive (with political groups vying for their turn to do so).

Strong institutions and a society that demands more of its politicians can help counter this. It should be said, the last APNU government did not capture wealth for its own benefit,” Dr. Marcel said, while adding that the real test for Guyana is what happens now.

University of Houston

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I n s t r u c t o r, To m M i t r o , sought to preface his contribution to the debate by first noting that he has no authority on Guyana’s history or its politics. That said, he noted for those unfamiliar with the term that the oil curse has several components.

Mitro who has more than 40 years in the industry said that one aspect of the oil curse on which most analysts agree is that virtually overnight, the power and influence of the central government and the individuals in office increases exponentially, almost exclusively to the Executive branch. This he said is all with the aim of ensuring they can influence and control access to oil funds.

The University of Houston Instructor said, “The main reason for the centralisation of power is due to the revenues gener-

ated from oil, i.e. royalties, taxes, and production sharing, all going to the account of central government who owns the mineral rights. It is the concentration of funds at the central level that often leads to attempts to obtain greater power over how these funds are distributed...”

Mitro said that many young democracies, especially those that have experienced ethnic or regional divisions in the past, may not have established sufficient judiciary and legislative branch checks and balances or press freedoms to be able to offset or mitigate that enhanced Executive power that has resulted from the discovery of oil.

The University of Houston Instructor asserted that there have been many examples in petroleum dependent countries (Angola, Nigeria, Congo,

Major Hindu organisations...

From page 11 celebrations. Furthermore, the Guyana Pandits’ Coucil and its affiliates have joined the support in the overwhelming calls for normalcy and peace to prevail in the country.

In a statement, the council said that, “we sincerely urge all stakeholders involved in this process to ensure that there is a strict adherence

to our constitution and laws, and to do so in an inclusive and transparent manner.”

The Pandits’ Council added that they strongly oppose and condemn any attempt to stroke tensions to the point of violence and destabilisation in Guyana.

“Our scriptures say that non-violence is the greatest dharma or form of righteousness, we urge all

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The Pandits’ Council calls on all stakeholders, leaders and their supporters, to act in a responsible manner with dignity and honesty so that normalcy can prevail,” they concluded.

Police ranks injured in Berbice protests...

From page 16 them and unleashed a merciless beating on the ranks before retreating.

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Ve n e z u e l a , E q u a t o r i a l Guinea and many Middle East states) where this has happened. In those cases, he noted that unchecked and enhanced Executive power caused by incoming oil revenues led to excesses, such as corruption or human rights violations.

Mitro noted, “And this endeavour to obtain or retain executive power has led in many cases to attempts to influence or rig elections, wasteful spending on projects in their home districts, dividing the political opposition by playing on regional or ethnic differences, or, in extreme cases, civil wars or coups d’état .”

Upon providing this preliminary explanation of some of the characteristics of the oil curse, the University of Houston Instructor said, “I certainly hope this phenomenon has not taken hold (of Guyana).”

To be continue...

Six, Superintendent Yonette Stephens and Senior Superintendent Calvin Brutus and also the Force’s Welfare Officer, Deputy Superintendent Jewel Hayles-Sullivan. During the visit, the ranks were assured by Deputy Commissioner Graham of the Administration’s fullest support in ensuring their complete recovery. This includes them receiving all of the necessary counseling required.

Monday March 09, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 23

PAGE 24

Monday March 09, 2020

Kaieteur News

Bahrain F1 race to be held without fans due to...

General view of Bahrain Seef district in Manama, Bahrain, June 20, 2019.

(REUTERS/ Hamad I Mohammed)

From page 25 process that you go through,” the circuit spokesman said of the Italian

teams.

Formula One has discussed arranging a special charter for Italians working in

Formula One to avoid transit through airports in countries affected by the virus.

Organizers will refund

Monday March 09, 2019 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Take action to create a fanciful dream world today, Aries.

Indeed, many of the activities of the day will be touched with an air of otherworldliness.

TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) A strong desire to bring more of the fantasy realm into your own reality spurs your actions today. You could discover that there is an intense desire to bring a sense of the obscure to the normal, everyday realm.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) This is an intense day for you during which the disharmony in different realms of your life crops up and spurs you on to action, Gemini. Others may be ridiculously stubborn today.

CANCER(June21–July22) You may find it difficult to take action on any practical matter today, Cancer. If you find this is the case, don't bother pressuring yourself into making it happen.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Take action on well-laid plans today, Leo. Stay levelheaded, and seek pleasure by taking things steadily one step at a time. Watch out for a forceful, willful, fanciful mindset that will somehow cause conflict with your plans.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Action is the key word for you today, so put on some comfortable shoes and have a good time. Infuse a bit of non sequitur playfulness in your dealings with others. Find ways to escape reality for a little while.

Take the original scenario and add a twist of the bizarre.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Live your creative fantasies today, Libra, but watch out for the reality police at the border. You may experience a bit of conflict with a stubborn person or in a situation that isn't very well planned.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Today is one of those days in which you might be kicking yourself for not telling the truth on an earlier occasion, Scorpio. The words that seemed so harmless then may come back to haunt you now.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Today is a very high-energy day in which you have the physical stamina to accomplish quite a bit, Sagittarius.

Take care, however, that you have all the necessary facts before you venture out for your day's activities.

CAPRI(Dec.22–Jan.19) Plan your moves carefully today, and have patience with the people around you.

If you're working with others, be sure they're on the same page with your goals.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Your actions may be touched by a very fanciful frame of mind today. Be careful about indulging in recreational substances that take you out of reality for a while.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) You're being called upon to take action in many areas today, Pisces. People may be tugging at you to be with them and participate in their world of fun and excitement.

fans who had bought tickets, whose sales were suspended last week.

Bahrain’s biggest global sporting event reported a three-day crowd of 97,000 in 2019, a record for the event, with 34,000 on the Sunday.

That attendance is small compared to other races, with 202,146 the average Formula One three-day crowd in 2019.

Tourism is an important contributor to Bahrain’s economy, which in recent years has been in deficit and sought bailouts from its wealthier Gulf Arab neighbors, and the race brings global exposure with millions of viewers.

Concerns over rapid spread of the coronavirus, which has killed 145 people and infected 5,823 others in Iran, has led to a raft of major events including concerts being canceled in the Gulf region.

Formula One has two races in the Middle East, with Abu Dhabi hosting the closing race in November.

MotoGP’s seasonopening race in Qatar this weekend was called off, with only the Moto2 and Moto3 support categories racing because riders were already there for a previous test.

BCB questions omission...

From page 31 stopping of our two West Indies female players from playing the Superbet Female inter county tournament.

Last Saturday, we submitted our fourteen member squad to the GCB and also clearly stated that the two players Shemaine Campbelle and Sheneta Grimmond would join the team once they return from playing for the West Indies in the World Cup. This was done on the advice of a senior employee of the GCB, after I personally sought clarification on the players. The advice was that the players were on West Indies duties and that the policy over the decades was that they can play.

The BCB was in regular contact with the players, who indicated their willingness to play as they were totally dedicated to Berbice Cricket. To our great shock, our Manager Ms Angela Haniff on the eve of the match received a phone call from an employee of your board informing her that the two West Indies players cannot play. No reason was given for the strange decision. The BCB is shocked that the GCB would stop two of Guyana best female players from playing in the only tournament that it hosts for females. Surely, Campbelle and Grimmond would improve the standard of the

tournament and also attract more spectators to the venue.

We also find it very alarming that the GCB employee, who conveyed the shocking message, is a player/Manager of the Demerara team, our opponents in the crucial final match. It is the views of the BCB that the players were stopped from playing to prevent us from winning the title.

The girls were not on a personal vacation or having fun but they were representing the West Indies at the highest level. Surely, the Guyana Board would not refuse to consider the selection of Romario Sheperd, Shimron Hetmeyer after they return home from West Indies duties.

We would also like to know if the presence of our best players, once they are available, would not be a boost for the tournament and the sponsor. I would be very surprised if any sponsor would object to the presence of two West Indies players in their tournament.

As a matter of concern, we would be copying this letter to the President of Cricket West Indies, WIPA, members of the media and the sponsor, Superbet.

Hilbert Foster MS. President BCB. A response from the GCB is imminent.

Monday March 09, 2020

PAGE 25

Kaieteur News

Japan’s sumo wrestlers Sun’s Australian coach Cotterell face off for spring tournament cuts ties with banned swimmer in front of empty seats

Mongolian-born grand sumo champion Yokozuna Hakuho performs the New Year’s ring-entering rite at the annual celebration for the New Year at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, Japan January 7, 2020. (REUTERS/Issei Kato) TOKYO (Reuters) Japan’s sumo wrestlers faced off for the spring grand tournament yesterday in front of empty seats in Osaka, western Japan, with fans asked to stay away to help limit the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku said it would be difficult for

wrestlers to prepare mentally for the tournament without spectators but that they would nevertheless compete to the utmost of their ability during matches.

“All of the wrestlers will hear fans cheering in their hearts and do their best to meet expectations,” he said.

“I hope the power of sumo

will bring courage and emotionally move people not only in Japan but across the world,” Hakkaku said.

Other sports events such as baseball, soccer and rugby have also been affected by the coronavirus outbreak, to which Japan dramatically escalated its response by closing schools and cancelling mass events.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Sun Yang’s coach Denis Cotterell has cut ties with the Chinese Olympic champion following the swimmer ’s eight-year ban for doping, Australian media reported yesterday.

Cotterell told News Ltd media he would not back Sun’s appeal to the Swiss federal court as he sought to overturn the decision by the Court of Arbitration (CAS) for Sport last week.

“I have terminated my contract with (the) Chinese Swimming Association,” Cotterell said in comments published by News Ltd. Asked if he supported Sun’s appeal, Cotterell replied: “No.” The 28-year-old Sun is the reigning world and Olympic champion in 200 meters freestyle and won two gold medals at the 2012 London Games and another at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

The Switzerland-based CAS last week upheld an appeal from the World Anti-Doping Agency against a decision by swimming body FINA to clear Sun of wrongdoing for his conduct during a 2018 test, when members of his entourage destroyed vials containing samples of his blood.

Cotterell had defended Sun after his first three-month ban for doping in 2014 and described the swimmer ’s critics as “hypocrites” at the world championships in Gwangju last year.

“If you think for a second I would be (coaching) someone that is a cheat, then people don’t know me,” Cotterell told

Chinese swimmer Sun Yang poses after a public hearing of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). (REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo) Australian media last year during the world championships where Sun was shunned at the medal podium by rival swimmers.

Sun has maintained his innocence and said in a statement on Friday that he had retained a lawyer to appeal to the Swiss federal court.

Boca pip River to Argentine title with late Tevez screamer

Bahrain F1 race to be held without fans due to coronavirus DUBAI (Reuters) - The Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix will go ahead on March 22 without fans due to the coronavirus crisis, a blow to the Gulf Arab state’s important tourism sector.

Bahrain, which is hosting the second round of the Formula One season at the Sakhir circuit outside Manama, has reported 83 cases of the virus, mostly linked to people who had traveled to Iran.

“Bahrain has made the decision to hold this year’s (race) as a participants-only event,” organizers said yesterday.

“Convening a major sporting event, which is open to the public and allows thousands of international travelers and local fans to interact in close proximity would not be the right thing to do at the present time,” they added.

“To ensure that neither the sport, nor its global supporter base, is unduly

impacted, the race weekend itself will still go ahead as a televised event.”

Bahrain is the second F1 race casualty of the virus. The Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai scheduled for April 19 has already been postponed.

Racing without fans will be a first for the sport, although former commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone once mooted the idea of a ‘VIP grand prix’ at France’s Le Castellet circuit with only invited guests.

A Bahrain International Circuit spokesman said accredited media would attend as usual.

Concerts featuring DJ’s Afrojack and Don Diablo over the race weekend have been canceled.

“We know how disappointed many will be by this news...but safety has to remain our utmost priority,” the circuit said.

Bahrain has suspended flights to some destinations

over concerns of the rapidly spreading virus.

It has also asked people entering the country who have recently visited Italy, South Korea, Egypt and Lebanon to isolate themselves for two weeks.

ITALIAN TEAMS Italy has ordered a virtual lockdown across a swathe of its wealthy north, including financial capital Milan, in a drastic attempt to try to contain a rapidly growing outbreak of coronavirus.

The Maranello base of Formula One’s oldest and most successful team Ferrari is within the affected area.

Ferrari and Red Bullowned AlphaTauri, who are based in Faenza, will still race in Bahrain because they will be coming from Australia which hosts the opening race in Melbourne next weekend.

“Depending on where they flew through on the way from Melbourne, there is a (Continued on page 24)

Boca Juniors’ Carlos Tevez in action with Gimnasia y Esgrima’s Perez Garcia. (REUTERS/ Agustin Marcarian) BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - A dramatic late goal from Carlos Tevez gave Boca Juniors the Argentine league title on Saturday, as the Buenos Aires club overcame Gimnasia 1-0 to pip their arch rivals River Plate on an breathtaking last day of the season.

River led the Superliga from Boca by a point going into their final round of games and could have guaranteed the title with a victory.

However, they could only scrape a 1-1 draw away at Atletico Tucuman.

At the same time, Boca needed to win at home to Gimnasia and hope River tripped up.

They got the three points they required to leapfrog their rivals when Tevez rifled home from 20 meters out with 18 minutes remaining.

It was Boca’s third league title in four years and robbed River of their first league flag since 2014.

The win was a revenge of sorts for Boca, who lost to River in the Copa Libertadores final in 2018 and semi-final last year.

It was a terrible blow for coach Marcelo Gallardo, who was hoping to win his first league title. The league is one of the few trophies the former River midfielder has yet to win in a victorious career as coach.

To add a further layer of intrigue to the occasion, Boca’s dramatic win came against a side coached by Diego Maradona, the Boca fan and former player who has publicly fought with another Boca idol and now the club’s vice-president, Juan Roman Riquelme.

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Monday March 09, 2020

Kaieteur News

Millington, Gajnabi lead Berbice to GCB Superbet senior female inter county title - E’bo beat Select U-19

Plaffiana Millington accepts her prize from Rayon Griffith.

By Zaheer Mohamed Off-spinner Plaffiana Millington grabbed four wickets, while Shabika Gajnabi struck a fine half century as Berbice defeated Demerara by seven wickets to win the Guyana Cricket Board Superbet Senior Female Inter County 50-over competition which concluded yesterday.

Both teams entered the final round with two wins in as many matches, however, a collective effort by the Berbicians saw them taking the title.

Opting to bat at Bourda, Demerara lost Mandy Mangru bowled by Dian Prahalad for six with the score on 19 before Lashuana Toussaint and Latoya Smith took the score to 30. Toussaint then became Millington first victim when she was bowled for 10 while Kavita Yadram was run out for five leaving

the score at 43-3.

Demerara then lost Akaze Thompson, bowled by Prahalad for three and Keisha Fraser, lbw to Millington for one, before Latoya Smith and Heema Singh added 37 for the sixth wicket. Left arm seamer Erva Giddings ended their resistance when she trapped Smith lbw for 49; her innings included six fours and came off 78 balls.

Singh departed for seven as Demerara were bowled out for 104 in 41.4 overs.

Millington captured 4-14, Dian Prahalad had 3-28 and Giddings 2-19.

Berbice lost Marian Samaroo (00) early in the chase before Katana Mentore and Shabika Gajnabi put on 35 for the second wicket.

Thompson accounted for Mentore (14) before Mangru removed Sherika Campbell (04) to leave Berbice at 50-3.

Nathalie Chaitram collects her player of the match prize from Sonia Charran of Superbet.

The victorious Berbice team with GCB Secretary Anand Sanasie (right) and representatives of the sponsors.

But any hopes of a Demerara victory soon faded as Shabika Gajnabi and Tremayne Smartt took Berbice home without further hiccups as they put on an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 55; Berbice ended on 105-3 in 21 overs.

Gajnabi struck three fours and one six in an unbeaten 52 which came off 52 balls, while

Smartt made 24 with three fours.

Millington was named player of the match.

At Enmore, Essequibo beat the Select U19 by four wickets. Batting first, the Select U19 were bowled out for 60 in 20.4 overs. They never recovered after being reduced to 32-4; Sarah Amin top scored with 10, while Lisa

Charles scored eight. Nathaly Chaitram bagged 4-6 from four overs, Cyana Retemiah claimed 2-11, Khemwattie Tulshi 2-16 and Kumarie Persaud 2-17.

Essequibo responded with 61-6 in 21.3 overs. They recovered well after being placed on 28-5; Tulshi and Jahnavi Tularam (05) added 28 for the sixth wicket before

Tularam was removed by Navena Ramnauth. Tulshi and Retemiah saw Essequibo to victory with Tulshi finishing on 13 and Retemiah of Wakenaam, who also won a national schools’ cycling champion girl title, ended on two not out. Ramnauth captured 4-14 and Shenika Edwards 2-2. Chaitram was voted player of the match.

Ronaldinho under investigation for more crimes: prosecutor (Reuters) - Ronaldinho Gaucho, the former Brazil and Barcelona soccer star being held in a Paraguayan jail for using a falsified passport, is being investigated for additional crimes, the prosecutor leading the case said yesterday.

Osmar Legal did not clarify what the crimes were but told Brazilian news site Globoesporte “there are indications that other crimes were committed” by Ronaldinho and his brother and business manager, Roberto Assis.

Ronaldinho’s lawyer did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Ronaldinho, the exBarcelona, Paris St Germain, AC Milan and Gremio forward, and Roberto were remanded in custody on Saturday after being caught trying to enter Paraguay using doctored passports.

A judge ruled them a flight risk and said they must remain in jail while the investigation takes place.

Under Paraguayan law,

Ronaldinho and his brother Roberto de Asis handcuffed and escorted by police at the Supreme Court of Paraguay. (REUTERS/Jorge Adorno/File Photo) officials have six months to complete their enquiry.

The pair spent Friday and Saturday night in a jail cell in a maximum security facility.

They were given soap, pillows and mosquito repellent and were led into court on Saturday in handcuffs.

Sunday was visiting day at the prison and Globoesporte said the brothers remained inside their cell to avoid the attention of

families and children visiting the other inmates.

Ronaldinho, who was last year named a tourist ambassador by Brazil’s farright government, was invited to Paraguay by a local casino owner and arrived on Wednesday to take part in a soccer clinic for children and a book launch.

He was greeted at the airport in Asuncion by throngs of fans.

Although he last played

professionally in 2015, Ronaldinho, who also represented Brazilian clubs Atletico Mineiro, Flamengo and Fluminense, is still hugely popular with global football fans for his skills and showmanship.

The 39-year-old was named FIFA world player of the year in 2004 and 2005 and won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 and the Champions League with Barcelona in 2006.

Monday March 09, 2020

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Kaieteur News

United complete double over City with 2-0 home win MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Manchester United completed their first home and away Premier League double over Manchester City since the Alex Ferguson era with goals from Anthony Martial and Scott McTominay giving them a 2-0 victory at Old Trafford yesterday.

United’s triumph over second-placed City leaves runaway leaders Liverpool, who have a 25-point advantage, even closer to the title but not even that bittersweet element of the win could dampen the celebrations in the Stretford End. Liverpool now require only two more wins to guarantee lifting their first league title for 30 years and may not even need those six points if City fail to beat Arsenal and Burnley in their upcoming games before the Merseyside derby.

United may have had to defend for large parts of the second half but they were disciplined throughout and allowed City few clear chances after taking the lead in the 30th minute through Martial after a clever free-kick from Bruno Fernandes.

Manchester United’s Anthony Martial scores their first goal against Manchester City at Old Trafford. (Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine) The arrival of Portuguese midfielder Fernandes in late January has transformed United’s season and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s improving side are now unbeaten in their last 10 games in all competitions.

The creativity and verve of Fernandes has been key to that upturn in form, but there have been improvements across the field as United

have moved up to fifth, still three points off the fourth Champions League spot currently held by Chelsea.

But no-one in Manchester needs reminding that fifth place may be enough to face the continental elite next term, if City’s two-year UEFA ban from Europe is upheld despite their appeal.

SHAKY START United were shaky in the

opening stages, sitting deep and allowing City space to move the ball around midfield, but after adjusting they began to take advantage of the absence of the injured Kevin De Bruyne from the City midfield.

United’s opening goal was straight off the training ground with Fernandes surprising City’s defence with a sharply-taken chipped free-

kick over the top to Martial whose volley sneaked under the arm of the diving Ederson.

It was a goal which delighted Norwegian Solskjaer who has been pushing Martial to gain more of a predator’s instinct and it was one of several signs of a good understanding between the Frenchman and Fernandes.

“Anthony and Bruno have hit it off. It is a privilege to be a manager of a squad with this attitude. You can’t ask for more. They are going to improve as players as well,” said Solskjaer.

City had a Sergio Aguero effort ruled out for offside after the break but with Bernardo Silva unusually ineffective, the champions lacked their trademark midfield dominance.

Raheem Sterling was unable to connect with a low ball across the face of the goal from Riyad Mahrez in one of the few clear openings City created.

RAUCOUS JOY At the other end, the speedy Dan James broke clear after a wonderful through ball from the outstanding Aaron Wan-Bissaka but opted to blast at Ederson when he

could have squared the ball to a team mate.

But the game was to end in raucous joy for the United faithful as substitute McTominay made sure of the points by driving the ball into the unguarded net from 25 metres after a woeful throwout from Ederson straight to the midfielder.

“That was such a sweet moment. It’s such a beautiful feeling to score like that in front of the fans. But we can’t get too carried away and need to keep pushing for the Champions League,” said the Scotland international.

“We will take confidence from that but in the coming weeks we have got to keep the run going,” he said.

Guardiola defended his team’s performance but Bernardo Silva was more frank in his assessment.

“A very bad day for us, it is always a special game even though we are not going for the title. It is a special game for our fans and us and we need to do better. It is not acceptable to play this way and lose like this,” he said.

The last time United completed the league double over City was in the 2009/10 season.

Pride suffer title blow with heavy defeat TAROUBA, Trinidad, CMC – A ruthless Trinidad and Tobago Red Force dealt a heavy blow to Barbados Pride’s title quest with a crushing 147-run victory here yesterday.

Chasing an improbable 330 to win on the final day of the seventh round match at the Brian Lara Stadium, the championship leaders folded meekly for 182 in their second innings, to spoil an excellent fivegame winning streak.

Pride were dismantled by paceman Uthman Muhammad who claimed four for 28, including three of the first four wickets to fall, as the visitors slumped to 43 for four in quick time.

Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein continued his wicket-taking form with three for 44 while legspinning captain Imran Khan chipped in with two for 46.

In-form left-hander Kyle Mayers resisted with a top score of 40 while out-ofform captain Kraigg Brathwaite managed 36, tail-ender Chemar Holder 34 not out, and all-rounder Kevin Stoute, 33, but Pride failed to string together partnerships of real substance to avoid their second defeat of the

Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein … claimed the vital wicket of Kyle Mayers. season.

Red Force, with a single win to their credit and two defeats and as many stalemates in their last four outings, started the day requiring a clinical effort in order to get the better of their bitter rivals.

Resuming on 343 for nine, they added a further seven runs before last man Anderson Phillip perished

for 16, just 13 balls into the morning session.

Left with the better part of three sessions to pull off victory, Red Force made little mistake as Uthman Muhammad and Phillip tore Pride’s top order to shreds with destructive new-ball spells.

Uthman trapped Shayne Moseley lbw for five in the fourth over with

11 runs on the board as the left-hander hit across a full length delivery and then r e m o v e d Te s t b a t s m a n Shamar Brooks for 10 in his next over to a catch by wicketkeeper Joshua DaSilva moving smartly to his right.

Three balls later in the next over, Phillip hit Justin Greaves in front for one and when Uthman got

Shane Dowrich to flash at a short wide ball and nick a catch to DaSilva for five, Pride were sliding towards a heavy defeat.

They recovered through a 53-run fifth wicket stand between Mayers and Brathwaite, reviving hopes of salvaging a draw.

Mayers struck halfdozen fours and a six in a breezy 45-ball innings while Brathwaite counted four fours and a six off 89 balls in nearly 2-¼ hours at the crease.

They seemed to be taking Pride safely to lunch without further loss when Mayers perished in the fourth over before the break, holing out in the deep off a slog-sweep at Hosein.

When Cephas Cooper completed a brilliant running catch in the deep to dismiss Brathwaite in the fifth over following the resumption off Hosein, Pride lost four wickets for 21 runs and the last wicket stand of 52 between Stoute and Holder only delayed the inevitable.

Scores: RED FORCE 239 (Joshua DaSilva 77, Kyle Hope 40, Isaiah Rajah 33; Kyle Mayers 3-39, Chemar Holder 4-68, Kevin Stoute 3-30, Kyle

Mayers 3-39) and 350 (Jason Mohammed 115 not out, Kyle Hope 67, Akeal Hosein 55; Ashley Nurse 4-72).

PRIDE 260 (Shane Dowrich 96, Ashley Nurse 81; Anderson Phillip 6-59) and 182 (Kyle Mayers 40, Kraigg Brathwaite 36, Kevin Stoute 33; Uthman Muhammad 4-28, Akeal Hosein 3-44).

And in the other match at St George’s, Grenada, Wi n d w a r d Islands Vo l c a n o e s defeated Jamaica Scorpions by two wickets on the final day of their seventh round match in the Regional Four-Day Championship at the N a t i o n a l S t a d i u m here yesterday.

S c o r e s : SCORPIONS 381 (Nkrumah Bonner 135, Paul Palmer 114 not out, Jermaine Blackwood 68, Paul Palmer 65 not out; Preston McSween 6-64) and 60 (Ryan John 4-26, Kenneth Dember 3-9, Preston McSween 3-23).

VOLCANOES 217 (Devon Smith 72, Keron Cottoy 48, Andre Fletcher 33; Marquino Mindley 4-48, Jamie Merchant 3-46) and 225 for eight (Andre Fletcher 71, Sunil Ambris 56, Keron Cottoy 24; Jamie Merchant 2-39, Patrick Harty 2-53). (CMC)

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Monday March 09, 2020

Kaieteur News

CWI’s Regional First-Class tourney

Fifties for Johnson & Bramble, but Jaguars/ Hurricanes match ends in a draw

By Sean Devers It was a battle for survival for five-times defending Champions Guyana Jaguars yesterday at Providence as their seventh round CWI’s Regional First-Class tournament against Leewards Hurricanes ended in draw, leaving the Jaguars hard pressed to win an unprecedented sixth consecutive title this year.

Hurricanes began the day on 355-7 replying to the 261 made by the host and were dismissed for 378-9 (innings closed) after the injured Sheeno Berridge could not bat.

Rahkeem Cornwall was 19 with a six and a four when he ran out of partners as left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul had 4-102 from 45 overs to take his tally for the season to 49 wickets, while Raymon Reifer had 3-79.

The Jaguars, needing 117 to avoid an innings defeat, declared at 228-8 setting the Hurricanes 111 to win from 12 overs.

Skipper Leon Johnson who made 63 from 144 balls and 188 minutes with 10 fours, shared in a couple of half-century partnerships.

The 32-year-old Johnson, who has played nine Tests, added 73 for the fourth wicket with Chris Barnwell who made 40 from 61 balls and 75 minutes with three fours and another 97 for the fifth wicket

with Anthony Bramble who scored 69 from 105 balls, 126 minutes with eight boundaries.

Cornwall had 3-97 to take his tally to 33, while 22-yearold Keacy Carty took 3-30 for the hurricanes who were 33-1 from 12 overs in their second innings when the match was called off. Kieran Powell was not out on 12, while Ross Powell was unbeaten on five.

Monchin Hodge (11) was the batsman dismissed to give fast bowler Nial Smith his 20th scalp in his debut season.

Jaguars began their second innings in horrendous fashion when Tevin Imlach was taken at short-leg for a second ball duck as he pushed forward to Cornwall with just a single on the board.

Tagenarine Chanderpaul who laboured for 40 balls for his four, was put out of his misery when he was LBW to an arm ball from the burly Cornwall to leave the score 212. It was soon 24-3 when the Antiguan off-spinner trapped Vishaul Singh for 17.

The consistent Barnwell and his Captain embarked on ‘Operation Rebuild’ with Johnson audaciously pulling Terrence Ward for four before Barnwell smashed Kian Pemberton down the ground for four more.

Ward was whipped to the mid-wicket boundary by Johnson and by Lunch the

Anthony Bramble made 69 yesterday at Providence. home team were on 72-3.

After the interval, Johnson edged Pemberton to the third man boundary before Barnwell was caught behind off Pemberton at 97-4 playing a loose drive after taking is runs tally to 424 for the season.

Bramble ‘took the bull by the horn’ with an ultraaggressive approach and charged down at Cornwall and swatted him past cover for four much to delight of 13 spectators in the Red Stand on a sun kissed day.

Johnson reached his 39th first-Class fifty from 110 balls, 147 minutes with eight fours and celebrated with boundary off Ward and by Tea the Jaguars were 181-4.

After the break Bramble pulled Cornwall for four and Johnson swivelled and hammered Pemberton for a boundary before the lefthanded handed Johnson fanned at a wide ball that bounced from Medium pacer Carty and touched a catch to the Keeper at 194-5.

This was the 45th time the Johnson has passed fifty but he has only converted six of those half-centuries into hundreds as the conversion and strike rate of the Jaguars batsmen continues to be worry.

Bramble was soon caught behind off Carty at 207-6, Sinclair (8) was bowled ‘through the gate’ by a perfect off-break from Ward at 225-7 and when Permaul (2) fell to Carty, the declaration was made.

The next round is a day/ night match set for Providence from 14:00hrs next Thursday when the Jaguars face-off with Barbados Pride who lost to T&T at the Brian Lara Academy yesterday.

Scores: JAGUARS 261 (Vishaul Singh 90, Raymon Reifer 43, Leon Johnson 35; Jeremiah Louis 4-49, Rahkeem Cornwall 4-95) and 228 for eight decl. (Anthony Bramble 69, Leon Johnson 63, Chris Barnwell 40; Keacy Carty 330, Rahkeem Cornwall 3-97).

HURRICANES 378 for nine decl. (Montcin Hodge 98, Amir Jangoo 90, Jahmar Hamilton 67; Veerasammy Permaul 4-102, Raymon Reifer 3-79) and 33 for one.

Leon Johnson made 63 yesterday but again failed to convert it into a century.

Early Season Classic

Archibald anxious to compete this weekend

By Calvin Chapman Guyana’s National men’s long jump record holder; Emmanuel Archibald, who is currently a student-athlete at the University of the West Indies’ Mona Campus in Jamaica, in an interview with Kaieteur Sport, has signaled his excitement to compete in Guyana this weekend when the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) hosts the Early Season Classic at the National Track and Field Center (NTFC), Leonora.

In an invited comment with this publication last week, the head of the AAG, Aubrey Hutson had explained that his body was putting everything in place to have the event run off as scheduled despite the current political situation in Guyana.

Archibald holds the national long jump record of 8.12m, a distance that he made at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association’s (JAAA) All Comers meet in May 2019 but the former Basketball player will have to go 10cm better if he is achieve his goal of qualifying for the Tokyo Games.

Since the revamp of the Olympic Standards, the new qualifying mark for the men’s long jump at the Summer Olympics is 8.22m and Archibald is confident of making that leap and shared with Kaieteur Sport that he

is fully fit and ready to compete.

The athlete posited that, “Last year was really good for me in the first and middle periods of the season but at the back end I really didn’t perform so well especially with some substandard performances at the Pan American Games in Peru, but I have overcome some difficulties and I am confident that I can reset this my record and make that 8.22m standard for the Olympics.” Archibald will be competing at the UWI Pelican Track and Field Invitational this Wednesday at the UWI/Usain Bolt Track Stadium in Mona, Jamaica where he will be pitted against some of the top athletes in the region.

However, the Guyanese is anticipating this weekend’s meet at the NTFC more, since it has been a while since he competed in Guyana.

The Early Season Classic that is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday will also serve as the final round of qualification for the Guyanese hopefuls looking to make the team for 49th Caribbean Free Trade Games (CARIFTA) that will be held in Bermuda this Easter weekend. So far, a total of 12 Guyanese have qualified for the junior games that see in excess of 20 nations participating yearly.

Monday March 09, 2020

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Kaieteur News

Australia crush India to lift fifth Women’s T20 World Cup

Both Healy and Mooney rode their luck as they gave their team a dominating start ©Getty Images MELBOURNE (Reuters) Opening batswomen Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney scored glittering halfcenturies as a ruthless Australia crushed India by 85 runs to win a record-extending fifth Women’s Twenty20 World Cup in front of a heaving Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday.

Player of the match Healy blasted a 39-ball 75 and pillaged five sixes from India’s hapless bowlers, w h i l e M o o n e y, n a m e d player of the tournament, finished with an unbeaten 78 from 54 balls, driving the defending champions to an imposing total of 184 for four.

Having dropped both the Australian openers when

they were on single figures in a dismal fielding display, a shellshocked India later crumbled under the floodlights to be out for 99 after 19.1 overs.

Fast bowler Megan Schutt took four wickets and sealed the win when tail-ender Poonam Yadav slogged high and into the safe hands of Ash Gardner.

The catch sent home fans in the crowd of 86,174, a record for a women’s sporting event in Australia, into a frenzy on International Women’s Day. Blighted by injuries, Australia had to grind through a slew of do-or-die matches to reach the decider after losing their tournament opener to India.

The Australia team joined Katy Perry on stage after the final. (Getty Images) Yet shorn of talismanic all-rounder Ellyse Perry and front-line fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck, Meg Lanning’s side produced their best performance of the tournament in the match that counted.

“I’m just really proud of the group and staff. We’ve had everything thrown at us through this tournament,” skipper Lanning said at the trophy ceremony.

“There were definitely some tough times there but we stuck together as a group. “ I t ’s b e e n m a s s i v e ,

86,000 people at the MCG I never thought I’d see that.”

For India, who lost the one-day World Cup final to England at Lord’s three years ago, their wait for a maiden global trophy in women’s cricket will go on.

They will rue a nervous start at the MCG, when opening bowler Deepti Sharma sent down three full tosses and was plundered for 14 runs in the first over.

The 16-year-old opener Shafali Verma’s dream tournament ended in huge

disappointment, when she dropped Healy at cover on nine runs and was later caught behind for two by the wicketkeeper-batsman.

Inconsolable, the schoolgirl from Haryana wept off-field as she was comforted by team mates.

Rajeshwari Gayakwad put down a caught and bowled chance that would have dismissed Mooney for eight.

The Australian openers went on to produce a 115-run stand that set the platform for victory.

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur was caught cheaply for four slogging all-rounder Jess Jonassen as India slumped to 30 for four on the way to a harrowing defeat.

“Today was unfortunate for us,” said Kaur.

“I still have a lot of faith in my team ... We just need to keep trusting ourselves.”

Scores: Australia 184 for 4 (Mooney 78*, Healy 75, Sharma 2-38) beat India 99 all out (Sharma 33, Schutt 418, Jonassen 3-20) by 85 runs.

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Monday March 09, 2020

Kaieteur News

Kaieteur Sport raps with GFF President Wayne Forde on the recent historic performance of the U-20 Lady Jags at the Concacaf C/Ship and the way forward

The Under-20 ‘Lady Jags’ ended their historic sojourn in the Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship with a 0-3 defeat to Haiti.

KS: What does the performance of the U20 Lady Jags mean for GFF and Guyana?

Wayne Forde: Let me begin by first saying how delighted I am to once again offer on behalf of all of Guyana, Congratulations to the Players, Staff and members of the GFF International Support Group (ISG), on their history making performance.

Competing against the likes of Mexico and Haiti has elevated Guyana’s international profile for Women Football but more importantly, it provided a clear performance bench mark for the GFF Technical Staff both at home and abroad. We have been fortunate enough to experience firsthand, the quality of players we must develop over the next four

Wayne Forde GFF President years in order to surpass what we were able to accomplish over these past two weeks.

KS: What the investment would have been like for the

GFF to prepare players in Guyana and Canada at the same time?

Wayne Forde: Preparing teams properly for

international competitions is very challenging but I have made a firm commitment to never again enter Guyana into an international tournament at any level unprepared. This campaign required an investment of approximately USD 45,000, which included travel and preparation.

The parents of the international players, the Coaching Staff and the members of the ISG contributed significant time and resources to the extensive preparatory work that went into the international players. Much of what we were able to achieve would not have been possible without them. We are very fortunate to have Mr. Paul Beresford and Coach Ivan Joseph volunteering their services for Guyana’s Football.

South Africa stretch West Indies in warm-up match Cape Town, South Africa - West Indies Over-50s had their first knock in Cape Town ahead of the Over 50s Cricket World Cup when they took on hosts South Africa yesterday, Sunday March 8, 2020, in their first official warm-up match.

Prior to the start of the 35-overs per-side match the teams agreed to treat the game as a true warm-up match with both sides batting their full quota of overs despite the amount of runs scored and the number of wickets taken.

The match was played at the picturesque Rondebosch Oval in Cape Town on a pitch with true bounce with a slow outfield.

West Indies Over-50s batted first and got to 150-7 from their 35 overs, while South Africa replied with 1594.

Scores: WI O-50s – 150-7 (35) Mark Audain 36 Rajendra Sadeo 34 Ishwar Maraj 28 Warne Rippon 3-0-14-2 Alan Dawson 5-0-10-1 South Africa O-50s 159-4 (35) Louis Koen 52 retired Warne Rippon 35 retired Zamin Amin 7-1-19-1 Kenny Girdharry 6-0-30-1 West Indies O-50 will take on fellow debutants, India today, Monday March 9, in their second warm-up match before officially opening the tournament two days later against New Zealand O-50s in a Group A match.

West Indies O-50s Itinerary Wednesday March 11 vs New Zealand Friday March 13 vs Australia Sunday March 15 vs

Former Guyana U-19 batsman Rejendra Sadeo top scored for Windies yesterday in South Africa.

Canada Monday March 16 vs Zimbabwe Wednesday March 18 vs

Sri Lanka Friday March 20 Semifinal Tuesday March 24 Final

KS: As would have obtained in the past, we go play and when we return, that’s it; what systems would be put into place to ensure continuity of the programmes which would no doubt feed into the Senior Lady Jags scenario?

Wayne Forde: There are many well thought out National team strategies that I believe will allow the GFF to produce very competitive teams consistently. The only conditions that could limit our quest to become the #1 Football Nation in the Region in the next four years are; (1) The lack of quality infrastructure across Guyana, especially school grounds. (2) Depletion of the high caliber of Technical Staff within our employ and (3 ) l a c k o f financial and other critical material resources.

My administration is doing all that we can within our power to mitigate these limiting conditions, for example; we have completed Guyana’s first international F I FA approved artificial turf where our local National teams are training on a d a i l y b a s i s . We h a v e commenced the construction of the dorms which will facilitate frequent encampment of teams at a vastly reduced cost.

We have introduced the Academy Training Centre (ATC) programme which continues to deliver quality youth players to the National Te a m programme. Once we are able to maintain the institutional discipline that has produced the recent successes coupled with invaluable support of the Government and Corporate Guyana – the future of both the male and female programmes are secured.

KS: How proud are you at the GFF level of the Team’s

performance, 7 wins and 2 losses in 9 outings; a historical one in nature?

Wayne Forde: I have to admit that success will always be a source of pride but beyond that, and perhaps more importantly, it is also a validation of the hard work, sacrifices and investment that have gone into the programme.

KS: With Haiti having a solid system in place for female development, what is the GFF contemplating to put in place to have more consistency when it comes to the female segment of the game?

Wayne Forde: The GFF is aiming to have more females playing football in 2020.

We h a v e a c o m m u n i t y based programme that will be coordinated through the Guyana National Women’s Football Association (GNWFA), a Club segment that will be coordinated by the Regional Member Associations, a primary and secondary school programme and an Elite Club Female programme that will be coordinated by the GFF. We are actively securing the critical partnerships that will enable us to launch these programmes in the coming weeks and months.

The implementation of a sustainable National Female football programme is much bigger than the identification of talent – instead, it has more to do with equitable access to football, social/life skills development and women empowerment.

I would like to thank our sponsors/investment partners and the Government of Guyana for their continued support and investment in the lives of the many young Boys and Girls who are driven by the passion to play Football.

Kaieteur News

Monday March 09, 2020

BCB questions omission of its players from Superbet tourney

Sheneta Grimmond

Shemaine Campbelle

The Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) has written to the Administrator of the Guyana Cricket Board questioning the omission of two of its players from the recently played Superbet sponsored female cricket tournament.

The pair, Shemaine Campbelle and Sheneta Grimmond, was recently on

West Indies duties and the BCB had indicated that they would join the side on their return. However, they were denied and the BCB is asking why. Below is the full text of the BCB missive.

Dear Madam, The Berbice Cricket Board would like to register its profound disgust over the (Continued on page 24)

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Meg Lanning of Australia and team mates celebrate with the ICC T20 Trophy after winning the ICC Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup Final match between India and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 08, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Getty Images)

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P. 28

Early Season Classic

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Emmanuel Archibald (left) in a close finish ahead of Daniel Williams during last year’s Senior Championships at the NTFC.

Millington, Gajnabi lead Berbice to GCB Superbet senior female - E’bo beat inter county title Select U-19 Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd., 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown. Tel: 225-8458, 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/226-8210.