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OGGN seeks Bajan PM’s intervention in waking up CARICOM to Guyana’s oil and gas inadequacies The Guyanese led Oil & Gas Governance Network (OGGN) has written to influential Barbadian leader, Prime Minister Mia Mottley, seeking her intervention in heightening Caribbean leaders’ concern over oil and gas operations in Guyana. The US-based group is adamant that given the limited capacity of regulatory bodies to exercise oversight in the local oil and gas sector, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) should be paying more interest, given the environmental threat that ExxonMobil’s oil operations pose to the entire bloc. OGGN said that Guyana’s massive offshore oil reserves have introduced new and existing issues relating to fossil fuel exploration and their relationship to climate heating. The body noted that in the lead up to the Paris Agreement of 2016, Guyana and CARICOM had argued for a sustainable path and called to end industrial activities that would push temperature increase beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius. However, the oil reserves in Guyana have brought on a more urgent concern for CARICOM, OGGN said. The non-governmental organization (NGO) noted that the subsea drilling for exploration and extraction wells in Guyana extends two miles, beneath a mile of water with 158 wells expected to be drilled by 2030. Researchers, they claimed, have expressed w o r r y t h a t E x x o n ’s operations may lack the appropriate preparation or planning to head off a
Barbados’ Prime Minister, Mia Mottley deepwater blowout and major oil spill. While various experts and researchers within the oil and gas arena have repeated concerns on Exxon’s operations, OGGN said that there seem to be little advances in avoidance, control and mitigation methods
convening CARICOM leaders and experts in assessing the scale, intensity and risks posed to the entire Caribbean by the reckless pace of oil exploration and production taking place in G u y a n a ’s E x c l u s i v e Economic Zone (EEZ).” OGGN noted too that for the past four years,
for oil spills in the following decade. The NGO pointed out that based on documents reviewed by Robert Bea, one of the world’s foremost forensic engineers’, he has expressed concern that Exxon has not kept the risks of a blowout or oil spill as low as “reasonably practicable”. OGGN has thus urged the Barbadian PM to rally CARICOM leaders in assessing the danger behind Exxon’s operation. “We urge you to take the lead in
Guyanese and global citizens have detailed the one-sided nature of the 2016 Petroleum Agreement signed by the Government of Guyana, but are unable to get the necessary responses. They said that during the recent International Energy Conference and Expo, which Mottley had also attended, there was an absence of opportunities for interaction between the oil companies, their contractors and civil society; following a pattern that Exxon and its Environmental Impact Assessment contractor, do
not answer questions from civil society but engage only with high levels in government. “Honourable Prime Minister, we appeal to you, cognizant of your special relationship with the Government of Guyana. We hope that you will urge the governments of CARICOM to evaluate the scale, intensity and risks posed to the entire Caribbean by the ongoing high velocity oil exploration and production in Guyana’s EEZ.” The NGO related that so far, a map prepared by ERM, the consultancy firm doing Exxon’s Environmental Impact Assessments in Guyana has shown that northwestern currents of the Guyana territorial sea would push even a small oil spill to the southern Jamaican coast. “Even a small oil spill would despoil the Caribbean Sea and threaten the livelihoods of fishers and the tourism industry, not to mention the harms to marine life and ecosystems,” OGGN insisted. They said that its hopes is that an assessment of, “the deeply inequitable and neocolonial arrangements” between the Government of Guyana and petroleum companies will also be assessed in which the public wealth of Guyana is privatised and negative environmental harms to both Guyana and the Caribbean are socialised. The OGGN letter was signed by activists Alfred Bhulai, Janette Bulkan, Dennis Henry, Jerry Jaillal, Darshanand Khusial, Mike Persaud, Joe Persaud, Ganga Ramdas and Charles Sugrim.
Tuesday March 29, 2022
Clifton Hicken to act as Top Cop - PNC/R tells Govt. to rescind appointment
D
e p u t y Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken has commenced duties as Guyana’s acting Top Cop following his appointment by President Irfaan Ali on Monday. Hicken assumes the office as former Commissioner of Police (ag), Nigel Hoppie on Sunday last proceeded on pre-retirement leave. The move to appoint Hicken is however not sitting well with the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R), the largest political party in the A Partnership of National Unity + Alliance For Change coalition, which has demanded that government rescind the appointment. The party has accused government of politicising the Guyana Police Force and not following legal requirements pertaining to appointments. “The party, therefore, would like to use this opportunity to remind the government of Article 211 (1) of the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana which states that “the Commissioner of Police and every Deputy Commissioner of Police shall be appointed by the President acting after meaningful consultation with the Leader of the Opposition and the Chairperson of the Police Service Commission, after the Chairperson has consulted with the other members of the Commission.’’ “In the temporary absence of a Leader of the Opposition and the Police Service Commission, any a p p o i n t m e n t o f Commissioner of Police or Deputy Commissioners of Police is plainly
Acting Police Chief, Clifton Hicken unconstitutional,” the PNC/R said in a statement. The party reminded the government that the Public Service rules clearly outline that acting appointments must go to the most senior officer. Based on the current structure and line of statutory succession, Deputy Police Commissioner, Paul Williams remains the next in line, the party noted. Hicken, whose appointment will become effective on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, was previously acting as Deputy Commissioner Operations. PNC/R said that to promote Hicken to the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police or to have him act in the office is a blatant violation of the Constitution, and will be challenged in a court of law. “We hereby use this development to again call on the government to desist from the wanton politicisation of the Guyana Police Force.” As such, the PNC/R said that it is demanding that the government rescind the appointment and allow for a process of full transparency, legality, and meritocracy within the Guyana Police Force.)
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Without proper systems, explosive development of oil resources not in Guyana’s best interest - someone needs to defend country before it is too late - T&T Expert With the blessings of the government, American oil giant, ExxonMobil, is hellbent on monetizing its 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources to the benefit of its shareholders via a suite of development projects. In fact, the company hopes to have as many as five floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels operating offshore Guyana by 2026. But is this explosion of development in Guyana’s interest? In the eyes of Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Strategist, Anthony Paul, the answer is an emphatic “NO!” The industry specialist was quick to highlight two examples to cement his argument. In one case, he showed how an oil producing country was able to save significantly by having the right depletion guidelines in place while
another lost out substantially in the absence of rules. In relation to the former, Paul noted the case of Ghana. He said, “This African country had two adjacent fields. Field A had a FPSO working round the clock, extracting the oil. Now, when it came to Field B, there were plans to bring in a second oil ship. But the country’s authorities told the oil companies, “No, let us wait and use the Field A FPSO on Field B instead of having to increase costs and shorten the lifespan of the sector.” From this example, Paul said the question Guyana needs to ask itself is: What is the right pace of depletion for the Stabroek Block so that it benefits the citizenry and there is no value leakage? And more importantly, what is the right order of depletion for the various fields? Also, how can this be done in a way that
maximizes benefits for future generations? He said the answers to these questions allow for the proper formulation of rules to which citizens can hold the oil companies accountable. Turning his attention to his next case, Paul was keen to note that Trinidad holds some key lessons that Guyana should not ignore. He said that as a result of not having a proper policy in place for the development of natural gas, Trinidad and Tobago possibly left billions of US dollars in gas resources behind in the ground which it cannot go back and remove. This is due to the fact that the CARICOM State allowed companies to dictate the pace of development. Expounding further, Paul said, “In T&T, companies take out the gas from the ground at high pressure, put it in high pressure pipelines,
Man gets 23 years for killing Regent Multiplex owner Kurt ‘Banana’ Erskine, 41, formerly of Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara, was on Monday sentenced to 23 years in prison for killing the proprietor of the Regent Multiplex Mall, Ganesh Ramlall called ‘Boyo’. Erskine had denied the charge which stated that on July 5, 2015, he murdered Ramlall during the course or furtherance of a robbery at La Jalousie, West Coast Demerara. On March 10, 2022, after a two-hour deliberation, a 12-member jury returned with a verdict that Erskine was guilty of manslaughter – the lesser count of murder. Erskine was tried before Justice Simone MorrisRamlall in the Demerara High Court. Special prosecutors Konyo Sandiford and Narissa Leander represented the State, while Erskine was represented by attorney-atlaw, Lyndon Amsterdam. Before sentencing, a probation report on E r s k i n e ’s b e h a l f w a s presented to the court in which he stated that he was sorry for his senseless act. An impact statement from the victim’s wife was read to
From left: Fazeel ‘Javed’ Bacchus and murdered Multiplex owner, Ganesh Ramlall called ‘Boyo’.
From left: Kurt ‘Banana’ Erskine and Lennox ‘Soldier Man’ Roberts. the court by the woman. Prosecutor Sandiford
asked the court to send a (Continued on page 16)
and send it to shore. But once the pressure in the reservoir drops below a certain limit, the oil companies close up and move to another reservoir. By operating in this way, they leave a lot of gas in the ground.” Paul continued, “…In reality, we should have had a policy in place which demanded that all the gas be produced. We didn’t have that and the oil companies knew that if we had forced them to do that, they would have had to put systems in place to ensure that is done. That would have meant spending more money. And more money means fewer profits for their shareholders…” With the foregoing example in mind, Paul stressed that a country essentially loses significantly without a proper depletion policy. He said that Guyana needs to understand that managing
Energy Strategist, Anthony Paul these resources is technical business and would therefore require strong capacity to manage it and negotiate with the oil companies in the best interest of the country. “You must have this big picture in mind and someone has to be looking at it
because if you leave it to the companies, they will manage it in a way that yields the best results for them. These companies do what is best for their shareholders, always. So someone needs to defend Guyana’s case before it is too late,” the T&T Expert concluded.
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Kaieteur News
Kaieteur News Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL-TEL: 624-6456 Editor: Sharmain Grainger Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210
EDITORIAL
America is getting a mouthful and earful from Guyanese Article 13 keeps raising the bar on Guyana Government practices, sharing a litany of its failures. The constitutionaldriven name and number chosen by this civil society group could eventually turn out to be what is most dreaded by leaders, which is, their being exposed before the right people. What was placed in the laps of foreign presences, one officially resident, and the other formally visiting, speak so much about what is wrong in Guyana. It is of which the PPP/C Government and its leaders have given the tiniest of spaces to gain traction, of what it does not wish for Guyana to hear or know. A US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State came and listened. She could not have been overjoyed at what was uttered. Another female American, one who had a most influential role in Guyanas last elections, was also there, and she needed no repetition for enlightenment, since she is already familiar with the full story of what passes for governance locally. We say this, because only so much could be said in the 60 minutes allocated to the Article 13 group, which it did use wisely and courageously. Courageously because using the avenues made available, guaranteed, by constitutional provisions for freedom of speech marks those doing so for special attention and action. Neither is ever healthy in what is supposed to be this democracy of ours. It seems that the more groups like Article 13, and citizens of this country, speak about widespread state and leadership corruptions, the more there is to say on this scourge that is killing us, destroying the promises of Guyana. And the more that freedom of speech facilities are employed in Guyana, the more PPP/C Government leaders come up with devious manipulations to suppress such speech by targeting the messengers. Government leaders from the top down say that they are for democracys freedoms, that they are all for constitutional reforms, and that they are for inclusion and oneness. The real story is that these same leaders are only about and all for total control, which clashes powerfully with claims of inclusion and this imaginary oneness. From within the halls and across the functions of the National Assembly, there is this fundamentalist approach to control. It is either for us and with us, or being against us, and it does not matter what the issue is, how small or large. Alongside that are these glaring practices, which point to control of public appointments, control of public committees, and control of the budgetary process (refer to “Article 13 raises concerns with US on threat to freedom of speech, other national issues” - KN March 27). As we said in our caption for this writing, the Americans got a mouthful from Guyanese, and an earful of what they already know all too well. For what we have here is not democracy, but creeping tyranny, with oil discoveries making it worse. It should be recognisable to Americans, who know more about the real happenings of Guyana than citizens of this country do. Americans have long been familiar with the sordid ways of leaders around the world, and though no saints themselves, they know crawling slavery and leadership tyrannies when they see them. It has been the great misfortune of Guyanese to have suffered these dictatorial tendencies, and this totalitarian fate under one government leader after another. Political party doesnt matter, and the times are almost always the same. In the aftermath of the dispute-plagued 2020 elections, and the long-delayed resolution of the results, Americans had hoped that a new kind of leadership mentality and practice would have emerged. Those hopes soon broke apart with what leaders in the PPP/C Government put into action. Similarly, an increasing number of Guyanese had harboured hopes that governance in Guyana would be different, taken to a higher ground. Except that nothing of the sort occurred, ever dawned in the heads of government leaders who already had well-laid plans on how to rob this country, and shout down those objecting. Now that we have this fabulous oil wealth, clean governance and the freedoms that go with that are of still more paramount importance. Americans have now heard, the pressure is being ratcheted up.
President Ali must address nation, explain his position on “no renegotiation” announced in Dubai DEAR EDITOR, In a panel interview at the Global Business Forum – LATAM (Latin America)- in Dubailast week, President Ali did a good job selling Guyana as an investment destination. In Dubai-not in Guyana- he also announced his “sellout” position on renegotiation of current oil contracts, echoing what the VP said previously that the PPP Government will not renegotiate the contracts (seehttp://www.oggn.org/wpcontent/uploads/2022/03/ IrfaanAliRenegsOnRenegotiation Promise20220323.mp4). I feel this is a reckless decision that may yet prove interesting for the PPP in 2025. KN has released a conversation where the PPP Presidential Candidate is on record as criticizing the current contract saying it’s acceptable only to the PNC. The PPP had promised in their 2020 Manifesto and election campaign that everything is up for “review and renegotiation.” That was the “mega jackpot, mother of all promises.” Did they deliberatelydeceive the nation just to get elected? The CNN Interviewer John Defterio asked President Ali:”…You had Exxon Mobil, Hess and the consortium there that brought those fields on board and everybody has this kind of Monday morning quarter backing as we say in the States. We could have done better with the Production Sharing Agreement. But let’s put this to rest if you will. You have an agreement. You’re going to have more
exploration in the county. You have great deposits. Uh, how how do you summarize where we are today? President Ali said: “Well you have really said it. We have an agreement. You have to honour that agreement. But we have made it very clear that there needs to be improvement on future agreements and we are going to make those improvements on future agreements. We inherited an agreement ah but you have to respect that agreement and in future agreements there will be improvements. But uhm one of the important things now is to have more investment in exploration. Now we have made it very clear that we are supporting great investment not only in exploration but development. Hm. And Exxon has been pushing a lot of their investment in Guyana. We’re looking to move up to 1.2 million barrels per day, ah very within the next 3, 4 years, 5 years. Um that of course is going to help us to accelerate development in other areas….” Nation, the KN, SN, Mr. Glenn Lall, many Civil Society groups including the Oil and Gas Governance Network (www.OGGN.org), Article 13, TIGI, “Our Wealth, Our Country,” and others have been calling for renegotiation of current oil contracts that give Guyana a gross income of 14.5% of total sales which includes a measly 2% royalty, while Exxon and friends get 85.5% of all oil income. As one Pastor in the protest line puts
in – imagine you have a coconut farm. You allow a person to come on your farm to pick 100 coconuts for you. The person gives you 15 coconuts and takes 85 coconuts. Which of you will agree to a deal like this? Is this a fair deal? Whose coconut farm is this? Yours or the picker? Now suppose you want to make brooms to use. That picker tells you that you have to buy the coconut tree branches from him. Would you be OK with that deal or would you be enraged and chase him off the farm? That’s what will happen with the gas-to-shore project. We have to buy our own gas from the oil companies!”We are tenants in our own land.” Nation, can you believe the PNC signed a contract like that, and the PPP says they have to honor that, rather than ask for renegotiation, as is allowed by those same bad contracts? Instead of asking for renegotiation, the PPP Government is on the same side with Exxon defending a bad PNC contract versus Glenn Lall representing the people of Guyana. Is this a betrayal of the people? Treasonous? Why did the PPP Government not launch a Commission of Enquiry into how the contract was signed? If both major parties are refusing to change the oil and gas contracts, they should worry that they are inviting the emergence of a new Third Force. We fought against rig-
ging and fought hard for the PPP to win believing they will keep their promise to renegotiate the oil contracts. This revelation by the President that the contract is OK seems to open the door for Concerned Guyanese to start now to build a new Third Force. Does the nation sit by and allow politicians to give away the national patrimony, and the rich get richer while the poor get poorer and are catching hell every day? Unless Guyana gets more income from oil, poor people will be destitute forever until they die. Nation, would you vote for those usual suspects who come to you and tell you not to “split the vote?” Or would you think about changing the current system where the two major parties have kept us destitute although we are the richest nation in CARICOM with the most natural resources? Think about it! Neither the PNC nor PPP owns Guyana. They are trustees. They also do not own your votes. Your vote is sacred and belongs to you. We can vote them in and vote them out. They work for us! So, when they tell you don’t vote for a Third Force, you will split the vote, reject such a racist notion and run them out of town for insulting you. It’s our wealth and our country. If both parties refuse to renegotiate for a better deal, let’s take back Guyana! Wake Up Guyanese! Sincerely, Dr. Jerry Jailall
RUM AND NOISE CULTURE IS DESTROYING HINDU YOUTHS DEAR EDITOR, I write in response to recent letters in the media by the President of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha Dr. Vindyha Persaud and two of her Pandits. My comments on the Hindu weddings were based on my years of closeup observations of Hindu wedding houses where it was all about rum and noise for 3 to 7 days starting from 1 pm to 3 am next day. I merely reported my observations. How did my factual letter offend Hindus and bring shame on Hindus? Is it not the Hindus who are desecrating their religion? That rum and noise, accompanied by chopping up, has been a crisis of Hindus and it is borne out by no other than Dr. Vindhya herself
who in her letter stated that she had written law enforcement agencies on several occasions to deny Hindus permission to operate “alcohol bars” at Hindu wedding houses. Dr. Vindyha and her two Pandits also stated that Pandits were directed not to officiate at weddings with “alcohol bars.” That must be a joke. Do they not know that the rum noise starts after the Pandit leaves the premises? In fact, while the Pandit is conducting the wedding ceremony, there are people drinking in the backyard and out of cars on the road. It is the same with Jhandis and other services. Last year, I attended a Hindu religious event and attendees were
drinking rum in the backyard. They were passing rum around in the minibus that was taking us to the stelling. I stopped the bus and walked to the stelling. Is it my actions that bring Hinduism into disrepute or is it the action of Hindus? One of the Pandits wrote that I had a similar letter in the media in 2000. I actually first wrote about Hindus and rum around 1989/1990 when I observed that on the West Demerara in the afternoons, the playfields were filled with Afro youths doing sports while the rum shops were filled with Indo youths doing rum. The secretary of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha responded with a one sentence letter that those
Hindus in the rum shops were not true Hindus. I can safely say that I first raised my concerns about Hindus and rum over 30 years ago. And back then, there were not so many rum shops because the Maha Sabha had gotten the government to freeze new rum shop licences from the mid 1970’s to 1992. Unfortunately, after 1992 rum shop licences were literally shared out in Indian villages while Indian youths were actively discouraged from enlisting in the GDF and Police Force. In the years that followed, the rum and noise culture was birthed and it has since been destroying Hindu youths. I refer Dr. Vindhya and her 2 Pandits to the (Continued on page 5)
Tuesday March 29, 2022
The age of retirement DEAR EDITOR, There is an interesting development reported in SN of March 23 of the Government of Trinidad & Tobago having discussions with the National Union of Government and Federated Workers and the Public Service Association about raising the retirement age from 60 to 65 years. It would appear that the substantive concern is what is described as the increasing disparity between contribution income and benefit expenditure as revealed in the most recent Actuarial Report on that countrys National Insurance Scheme (NIS). One expects that it is recognisable that Guyanas NIS must have been suffering a similar deficit experience despite the absence of any publication of a comparable Actuarial Report. For the gap should be quite obvious between the retirement age of 55 years for public servants, and the eligibility age of 60 years for payments a critical contribution gap of five years. It is not as if this colonial retirement age (55 years) issue has not been raised with several administrations since the institution of the NIS in 1969, even though the related Union/s appear indifferent to: increasing the working life of the public servant; the fact that several Public Sector agencies observe a pensionable age of sixty years, including: Office of the Auditor General; GGMC, GRA, Guyoil, GWI, Guyana Sugar Corporation, and more. b) that all Caricom countries observe a retirement of 60 years and over, for colleague public servants; critically the inability of our NIS to raise the current level of pension payments. It does not appear that either the respective Administrations or the Unions have thought of the substantial institutional memory that is lost to related Ministries/Agencies on departures at age 55, particularly at a time when there is a plethora of organisational changes due to external interventions. On the contrary, there appears to be the preference for (short term) Contracted Employees who enjoy bountiful gratuity every six months. In the milieu, is this most fundamental subversion of the principle and procedure of human resources management, whereby these employees enjoy the same salary increases as permanent and pensionable Public Servants. (It would be illogical for their contracts to include such a provision). So that once again, the submission is being made that
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it is not too late for working life in the Guyana Public Service to be extended to sixty (60) years all the more comparable with our Caribbean counterparts who are in turn looking to Guyana for leadership in so many other areas, (none of which can be fulfilled without the appropriate human development). But there is another important component of the developmental process that has been inhumanely ignored Performance Evaluation an exercise that was institutionalised to be conducted at least annually. Outcomes of such a structured exercise include: The identification of performers at best, satisfactory, and unsatisfactory levels respectively, and their being rewarded accordingly with
increments a terminology (like the process) hardly known to decision-makers and employees, over the last two decades at least. So that there is very little information released about promotions (based on performance). The releases are restricted to appointments so that in the current context of human development is inherent the very contradictory non-recognition of any employees contribution. However productive the latter might be, he/she is accorded the same percentage increase on salary as the most delinquent counterpart. All of this makes the maintenance of salary scales a derisibly flawed exercise, since everyone remains at the same point in
the applicable scale, after the imposition of increases, so often debatable. Who then amongst the faithful public servants can go home at the end of any working day (or year) and declare proudly to a family of having been rewarded for being better than the rest an emptiness not reconcilable with the fundamental spirituality of Human Development, with which one should retire, preferably at age 60 years. (It is perhaps now better understood why Personnel Officers in the Public Service cannot be upgraded to Human Resources Managers/Officers). Regards, E.B. John Human Resources Management and Organisational Development Advisor
RUM AND NOISE... From page 4 incident in 2021 in Crabwood Creek where rum and noise youths beat a Pandit to death. The killers were all in their late 20’s. They were angry that the Pandit would report noise violence in his village and they responded by regularly parking their cars in front of the Pandit’s home, consume rum, unleash noise barrages, curse the Pandit and his teenage daughters, issue threats to rape the girls, threats to burn the house, and threats to kill the Pandit. Hindu youths are being destroyed by rum and noise and Dr. Vindyha and her two Pandits must campaign daily in their communities to curb and reverse the destruction. Have the Pandits walk the
dams and streets of the villages and talk with the groups of youths doing rum and drugs. The Pandits should do this daily. I do. In early 2021, I walked all the villages on the West Coast Demerara and stopped and engaged Hindu youths as to why they were doing rum or coke, why they didn’t learn to read and write, go to Mandirs, join the GDF, join the Police, do sports, etc. Just don’t have the Pandits do weddings and Jhandis for a fee. Urge them to go out daily and counsel the youth. Go where the youths are. If the Pandits are afraid to venture on the sea dams and back streets, I can accompany them for free. Yours sincerely, Malcolm Harripaul AA
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The silence of the Home Affairs Minister and the Top Cop DEAR EDITOR, This is to voice my outrage at the behaviour meted out to a policewoman by someone to whom she was not even mandated to guard. It was his father that she was protecting and in the performance of her duties what did she get in return? I am shocked that his father who
Tuesday March 29, 2022
Kaieteur News
is a man who once held many positions of Jurisprudence in our country, is silent. What about the Minister of Home Affairs and Police Commissioner? Have this suddenly become a political incident as a result of race? And what of the Minister of Social Services? She picks and chooses what she wants to be irate
about? This is a shame and disgrace for ALL of Guyana. HOW CAN A MAN SPIT ON A WOMAN? I am still shaking my head in disgust as I wait for the inundation of indignation in the letter/media. Shame on all who ignores this because of race. Sincerely, N. Sahadeo
Guyana is a very happy place DEAR EDITOR, I wish to commend the government, for having the foresight to lift the COVID-19 restrictions so that we could have had a ball for Phagwah. I also commend the President for keeping that big celebration where the rich and famous and the mighty and powerful wined and dined at the ordinary tax payers’ expense – tax payers who barely eke out a living and do their PAYE and will never be invited to such a function.
I also want to commend the government for keeping that big celebration at the stadium. The celebration was so huge that persons were walking over each other. COVID suddenly came to an end and it was time for mirth and merriment. I saw the broad smiles on the faces of all of those who were there. I am very confident that those smiles will take all of those persons to the next Phagwah, notwithstanding the rising
prices for food, vegetables, cooking gas, rice and everything else. Notwithstanding the low prices of paddy and the struggles of everyday. I don’t think this will matter. Those broad smiles that I saw at the stadium will counter any inflation, any shortage of money. These people are so happy, they are just waiting for Phagwah next year. Sincerely, Lalta Ramchand
A Visit to Town DEAR EDITOR, When I used to attend school, we used to go on trips to town (Georgetown), as we called it. We would go to places like the Museum, The Lighthouse, The Botanical Gardens, Banks breweries etc. I do not know if they do these tours anymore but Id like to suggest, especially to children of PPP hardcore sup-
porters, that they be asked to be taken on a tour of Georgetown. I suggest that they go through Middle Street, by Thomas Street to see that skyscraper; and go by the Magistrates Court in Croal Street and see the other skyscraper. These buildings are all owned by friends and supporters of the PPP government. That is what you, as a child, have to aspire
to. Please do not let your tour guide take you into Bel Air, where you may pass the building where Cheddi Jagan lived, because you will not be inspired. Cheddi gave his life for this country and the ordinary man. Those values have long disappeared and it is now champagne and caviar, towers and skyscrapers. Sincerely, Derek Ramlochan
The Government and the PSC are One DEAR EDITOR, I have noted the Private Sector Commission (PSC) nominee on the National Resource Fund board is Mr. Ramesh Dookhoo. I am of the firm view that as far as the PPP is concerned, this country is made up of about 100 or 200 persons - not 700,000 - 100 or 200 persons
that belong to a group of individuals we can call friends, family, and cronies of the government. Mr. Dookhoo fortunately or unfortunately falls into that 100 or 200 persons. All appointments, all positions, all commissions everything is within that 100 or 200 persons, their families,
their friends and their cronies. The remainder of the population of this country does not count for anything. T he job of the remainder of the population is to work and pay taxes so that this elite group can continue to enjoy themselves. Regards, Ganga Ramdar
T N U L B . . . T B N U T L N T B . U . L . L T B . N . U . N U T L N B . U . T . L N T U N B . N U . L U L LUNT. B . T . . T T N N B U B . U . L . L T B . B . . N . . . T U T L N N T U U L N L B U . B . . L . . . T B T . . N . N T U L N LU B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . NT LUNT...B NT...BLU N U L B . . B . U . . T L . N T B . . U N . L N T B U N . . L . U T L B . . N B . . . T U . L N T B U . . L . UN T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L B U UN .BLUNT. . . L . T B . . N . T U . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . LU ...BLUNT LUNT...B NT...BL T B U . . L N . T B BLU T...BLUN BLUNT... UNT...B . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B BBLU T...BLUN BLUNT... ...BLU . T . N . N T T U L U L N L B U T...BLU U B . L . N . B T . . . N T U N N N L U U U B L . L B T LUNT.. UNT...B BL B Tuesday March 29, 2022
Kaieteur News
After telling the nation “it’s up to you” as it relates to adherence to COVID-19 measures, the Health Minister is now concerned that both testing and vaccination rates have declined. In fact, the Minister is worried that Guyana could be faced with a “problematic” situation if citizens continue to refuse to be vaccinated for their own safety.
Mr. Minister, you and your government were elected to properly manage the affairs of this country towards the betterment of ALL Guyanese.
As such, please refrain from guesswork and employ the services of visionaries who can properly guide the way forward.
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Tuesday March 29, 2022
Sophia “village bully” had attacked man with toy gun - police The gun used by a “village bully” on March 16, last, to attack a 20-year-old Mawanza Clarke, a resident of D Field Sophia, Georgetown, was a toy, police have revealed. Clarke was attacked while riding home from work by a suspect identified as “Omari”. The attack was captured on a surveillance camera mounted on a nearby
building. In the footage, Clarke is seen fighting off his attacker who had pointed what appeared to be a silver gun to his head. Clarke had managed to relieve the suspect of the weapon and beaten him before running to the Turkeyen Police Station where he made a report and lodged the weapon. Kaieteur News while trying to get an update on the
matter was told by Police Commander of the Georgetown Police Division, Simon McBean, that the attacker did not use a real gun. “It was not a gun issue, two men had a fight and a toy gun was used,” said McBean. As the investigation continues, Clarke and his elder brother, Anthony
The comment made by a Sophia resident about the suspect Clarke, are still worried about their safety. Omari, the suspect, had threatened to kill them following an argument, which he had with
Anthony some two weeks prior to his attack on Clarke’s attack on March 16. Anthony, during an interview with newspaper, said that he and his brothers were conversing in their yard when the suspect was riding pass on a bicycle. He reportedly observed the man watching him in an aggressive manner and had asked his brothers, ‘Why he watching me suh?’ He claimed that the suspect overheard his remark and turned back to confront him. This resulted in a heated argument. As things became more heated, one of Anthony’s brother intervened and the suspect was chased from their yard. However, before leaving, he had threatened to kill Anthony. Some eight minutes later, the suspect, in the company of 12 men, returned armed with a knife and ice pick. According to reports, he attempted to stab Anthony to death but he managed to escape with only his right index finger almost being severed by the knife. The matter was reported to police and the suspect was
arrested but was later released on station bail. Two weeks later, on March 16, he attacked Anthony’s younger brother with what police now say was a toy gun. Mawanza Clarke said that at the time of the attack, he did not know it was a toy gun and thought that the suspect was actually going to kill him, so he threw caution to the wind and decided to fight for survival. The suspect was arrested for that offence too but although this media house sought some clarity as to whether any charges were laid against him or if he was released on bail again, this was not provided. However, other Sophia residents have since come forward making claims that the suspect in question is a menace in their community and would sometimes participate in criminal activities. One man, Vernel, commented on an article of the attack, which was posted on Facebook, saying: “Omari again! That same guy alone with two others break into my house and carry away my television and two birds.”
1 new COVID-19 case, 2 patients in ICU The Ministry of Health reported on Monday that one new COVID-19 infection was recorded within the last assessed 24-hour period. The new case, which was detected in Region Three, has brought the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 63,235. The Ministry in its latest dashboard reported that two patients are in the COVID19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU), six persons are in institutional isolation, eight are quarantined institutionally and 74 are in home isolation. Additionally, six persons have recovered from the virus within the last 24-hour period, taking the total number of recoveries to 61,927. With a decline in cases over the past weeks, Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony said in his daily COVID-19 update on Monday that since the restrictions were lifted, the Ministry has noticed a
decline in people coming to take their vaccine and testing for the virus. On March 14, last, President Irfaan Ali had approved the lifting of all COVID-19 restrictions on social distancing, activities and announced that the mask wearing was not mandatory. Since then, health authorities have recorded 88 new cases with one COVID-19 fatality. “From the Ministry’s point of view, we have seen a decline in people coming for testing, we have also noticed a decline in vaccination and that can be a little bit problematic because we still need more people to be vaccinated. First dose for most regions are relatively high; second dose, we still have a challenge and booster doses, we still have a far way to go,” the Minister explained. Though the restrictions are lifted, the Minister is still encouraging persons to get (Continued on page 16)
Tuesday March 29, 2022
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Kaieteur News
Nothing improper about someone performing the functions of Commissioner of Police The Constitution of Guyana provides that for someone to be appointed as Commissioner of Police, there must be consultations between the President and the Leader of the Opposition, and between the President and the Chairperson of the Police Service Commission after the Chairman would have consulted with his or her Commission. Agreement is not required, only consultations. The Constitution also provides that someone may be appointed to act as Commissioner of the office, if the office is vacant or the Commissioner is unable to perform his functions for whatever reason. Again agreement is not required, only consultations. The previous substantive Commissioner of Police was Mr. Leslie James. Since his retirement, no substantive Commissioner of Police has been appointed. James is reported to have proceeded on preretirement leave in August 2020 and his leave was supposed to end at the end of April 2021. It is therefore, only in April 2021, or whichever date Commissioner’s James retirement took effect that a vacancy would have existed in the office of the Commissioner. In his absence, Nigel Hoppie was appointed to perform the duties of Commissioner of Police. Hoppie could not have been immediately appointed in August 2020 as acting Commissioner or Commissioner because it was not until April 2021 that a vacancy existed in the office of Commissioner. Hoppie could not have
subsequently been appointed as acting Commissioner of Police or Commissioner of Police because of the problems with the appointment of a Police Service Commission. A distinction must be made between a person performing the duties of Commissioner of Police and someone acting as Commissioner of Police. Until such time as there is vacancy in the office of Commissioner of Police, no substantive Commissioner or acting Commissioner can be appointed. At present, the situation is compounded because even an acting appointment cannot be made since this involves consultations with both the Leader of the Opposition and the Chairperson of the Police Service Commission. At present, there is no Leader of Opposition and no Chairperson of the Police Service Commission. In the absence of either, a substantive or an acting appointment being made, the Guyana Police Force cannot be left headless. The Constitution or Laws of Guyana would not contemplate a situation in which someone cannot be allowed to perform the functions of the Commissioner of Police. As such, someone can always be appointed to perform the duties of Commissioner. That person is neither the substantive Commissioner nor the acting C o m m i s s i o n e r, even though it is commonplace for the media and even politicians to refer to that person as acting Commissioner of Police. It is proper that a person be appointed to perform the
functions of Commissioner of Police until such time as a Commissioner or acting Commissioner is appointed. The Guyana Police Force cannot be left without a head. After Seeelall Persaud was sent on leave, David Ramnarine performed the functions of Commissioner. The media immediately began to refer to him as acting Commissioner but legally he was merely performing the functions of C o m m i s s i o n e r. I t w a s afterwards that he was appointed as acting Commissioner of Police following formal c o n s u l t a t i o n s between President David Granger and then Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, and the President and the Chairman of the Police Service Commission. There is therefore no controversy brewing about Mr. Clifton Hicken’s appointment. He can be asked to perform the functions of Commissioner of Police until such time as he is appointed either as acting Commissioner of Police or Commissioner of Police. It is inconceivable that the Constitution and the law would allow for a situation to exist in which the Police Force would not have someone to head its operations. As such, there is nothing improper about the appointment of someone to perform the functions of Commissioner. That person, however, cannot be legally be deemed as the acting Commissioner. Such an appointment, if necessary, must await formal consultations, which will be done as soon as Parliament settles the business of the nominees to the Police Service Commission and
Dem Boys Seh…
Dream on!
De PNC gat to mek yuh laugh. Dem now providing stress-relief to de nation. Dem tekking serious business and mekking joke. Imagine dem keep a General Council recently. Dis is de second highest decision making body after Kangress. And one man tell de General Council about wat de party gan do when dem get back in office. He nah even get de parliament wuk yet and he thoughts done telegraph to being de guvament-in-waiting. He gat a lot of waiting
fuh do. Dem boys believe dat he nor he party gan see political power again fuh a lang, lang time. He mind deh in de wrong place. He gat to refocus. He party divided into factions and instead of talking unity, de man talking bout plans fuh when de party get into guvament. Dream on brother! It is good to dream! It is de closest thing de party can come to getting back in office in a lang time. Is only in yuh dreams dat gan happen. One CARICOM leader talk how he tell another leader
dat if yuh know yuh lose, yuh should step down with dignity. Otherwise de country nah gat uses fuh yuh later on. De later on gan arrive soon. And all dem wah bin spreading narrative bout jumbie and migrant people voting gan realise wah dah CARICOM leader did mean. When de people nah gat no more uses fuh yuh, yuh political fortunes gan duck. Is time fuh sit back in yuh rocking chair and dream bout wat could have been. Talk half. Leff half.
overcomes the imbroglio surrounding the appointment of a Leader of the Opposition. (The views expressed in
this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
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Tuesday March 29, 2022
THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN
Sitting politicians cannot be public servants. It is insane
T
here isn’t a day that passes in this psychologically disheveled nation that a person or an organisation doesn’t trumpet the independent mind and the independent stance. Then, as the days, months and years unfold, things happen and you wonder if Guyana has any independent minds at all. Once you say, you are not politically biased and you take an objective, holistic look at the society, then your stance and views have to be, as you say, objective. Going back several years now, I have been critical and disgusted at this selfrighteous claim of independent thinking. My attitude stems from one determinant only – if you are open-minded and impartial then your voice and pen have to be seen and heard over a wide range of situations, not solely on state behaviour and
ruling politicians. Ruling politicians are people who must be constantly surveyed for commonsensical reason – power is too colossal and penetrating not to be constantly monitored by society. I think no nation can survive if there are no civil society voices and independent newspapers. But a society becomes crooked when in pursuit of defaulting power-holders, it turns a blind eye to voices of critical thought that lack credibility. What happens then is that the moral compass is lost. This is what is happening in the US. In its dislike for the Democratic Party, Republicans have embraced right-wing extremists who have the most sickening theories about the Democratic Party and through a gradual process, these bizarre rumours become part of mainstream discourse. The
US has now seen the action of the wife of a Supreme Court jurist that embraces these weird theories about the Democratic Party and the US government. The subject I am about to express my thoughts on, I have written about several times on this page during the past year. It is about the anomaly of ruling politicians when they lose power and still want to be part of the public sector. In those previous columns, my arguments have been three-fold. One – it is not an accepted arrangement in any country in any part of the world. No ruling party will retain a practising hierarchical member of the opposition in a sensitive public service job. It just doesn’t happen in the real world. Two – there is bound to be a huge area of distrust on the part of the ruling organisation when a national
figure, high up in an opposition party, heads a very important public service institution. And three – it is morally incumbent on political appointees to do the ethically right thing and resign when a new government comes in. My friend, Dr. Mark Kirton, who held a political appointment as advisor told me that he resigned immediately on the change of government in 2020. I will quote from yesterday’s Stabroek News’ editorial and hope that the quote brings some response from some people and organisations. Here are the words: “Targeting of public servants who discharge their functions professionally and are not inclined to be directed by politicians has been a wellestablished malignancy here. The recent example of at the Environmental Protection Agency is a case in point and the PPP/C administration must not be allowed to get away with (it).” After the Ali presidency came into being, there were
p o l i t i c a l appointees from the APNU+AFC serving in sensitive public sector institutions. One person was a chief negotiator for his party, in the Frederick Kissoon renegotiation of the Cummingsburg The priceless principle of Accord, and sat as one of the p o l i t i c a l a p p o i n t e e s chief policy-makers for his resigning on loss of power is party at a time when he held a a universal one. I ask the public sector occupation. question here and I am If after the change of desperately hoping for some government, these people feedback. had removed their political Wa s i t n o r m a l f o r status, then their retention, someone to retain their including the situation at the prominent position in the EPA that Stabroek News has public service while he/she mentioned five times before, still served in the leadership was a definite consideration of the opposition party? and one could have taken If your answer is yes, objection to their removal. then should ruling parties O p p o s i t i o n L e a d e r , retain top opposition figures Desmond Hoyte gave his in the leadership of sensitive approval of Dr. Nanda public sector bodies as a Gopaul to be permanent matter of policy? secretary in the Office of the Finally, name a country President during the reign of on Planet Earth where that President Jagdeo because happened. Dr. Gopaul had officially (The views expressed in declared that he was no this article are those of the longer interested in any form a u t h o r a n d d o n o t of politics and had disbanded necessarily reflect the the political party he headed. opinions of this newspaper.)
Tuesday March 29, 2022
Kaieteur News
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Tuesday March 29, 2022
Inmate succumbs GRA grilled on bidding process following brawl for disposal of seized vehicles at Lusignan Prison By Rehanna Ramsay
Fatally stabbed, Mahash Rajpaul. By Allyiah Allicock Police in Region Four ‘C’ are now investigating the death of Mahash Rajpaul, a prisoner who died on Monday afternoon following an altercation with another inmate at the Lusignan Prison. Rajpaul, according to reports, was remanded to the Lusignan Prison for a murder back in 2017. According to police reports, at 14:50 hrs on Monday, Rajpaul died after suffering a stab wound to his chest, following a brief altercation with a remanded inmate, Rajkumar Singh, in Holding Bay One at the Georgetown Prison ‘B’ location. It was reported to the police that around 14:00 hrs, Singh had an argument with Rajpaul, who accused him of walking on his ‘bed space’. This escalated things, and a fight ensued between the two
and the man was reportedly stabbed. An alarm was raised by inmates in Bay One, resulting in a swift response by the officers on duty. The police reported that Rajpaul was removed and first aid response was provided to him. He was then taken to the prison infirmary where he was examined by the prison doctor. While being stabilised to be transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation in the Melanie Fire Station ambulance, the injured man reportedly succumbed. Police noted that a search was conducted in Bay One where an improvised weapon was found and handed over. The man’s attacker has since been interviewed by the police and has been transferred to the Camp Street Prison and isolated. (Continued on page 16)
A team from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), who were brought before the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday, faced a series of questions on the bidding procedure used to dispose of seized or want of entry vehicles. Want of entry vehicles are those high-end luxury automobiles such as Land Cruisers, Lexus, Hummers, BMWs that come into the country and are seized by the Revenue Authority because of the failure of the importer to pay the hefty tariff those types of vehicles attract. The vehicles are disposed by GRA through a method of sealed bids. The process involves the said vehicles being placed in the Official Gazette and subsequently advertised if claims were not made for the mandated claim period. During the hearing on Monday, the PAC took a closer look at how GRA discards the seized vehicles. The team led by GRA’s Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia responded to a number of queries in relation to the automobiles categorised as seized or want of entry vehicles. PAC member and Public Wo r k s M i n i s t e r, J u a n Edghill was the first to highlight his concerns about the bidding process, which
was also underlined in the 2017 Auditor General’s (AG) Report. Edghill pointed to an instance where a seized vehicle was not sold to the highest bidder. His question was premised on the fact that the AG’s report pointed to a loss of revenue amounting to $14.4 million. The AG report outlined that two vehicles were removed after publication for which 194 bids were received by intended purchasers, resulting in an estimated loss of revenue of $14.4 million. In regard to this, Edghill queried, “Could the Commissioner General Indicate what were the circumstances that led to the successful bidder not fulfilling their obligations…one of the vehicles was not sold to any of the successful bidders, could you say what led to that?” In response, Jason Moore, Head of Law Enforcement at GRA told the committee that in some cases, the highest bidders could not be contacted. “Permit me to highlight that 36 want of entry [vehicles] were gazetted and advertised for disposal. Of the 36 want of entry vehicles, which were gazetted for disposal to the highest bidder; 15 were disposed to the highest bidders, nine of those which were disposed to other individuals because
GRA’s Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia. the highest bidder could not have been contacted. Six were disposed and assigned to various government agencies. Three were returned to the tax payers after they paid the required taxes and three remained with us for disposal,” Moore said in a breakdown of the vehicles that were discarded. He stressed that, “There are cases where the vehicles do not go to the highest bidder because… the person could not be reached or the person is reluctant to come forward.” M e a n w h i l e , Commissioner General Statia noted instances where the GRA vehicles eventually go to the taxpayer that it was seized from “because the ultimate goal of the authority to prevent loss of revenue.” He explained that there are cases when persons who import the vehicles make requests for the vehicles to be removed from the list after it is advertised for sale. Statia noted that those persons eventually come up with taxes owed for clearing the vehicles off of the wharf. He explained that he usually grants those requests
since it is not within the GRA’s mandate to deprive people of their vehicles. According to Statia, while the transaction is sometimes seen as though it results in loss of revenue, the authority has been doing everything within its power to ensure that this does not occur. “I think a mountain is being made out of a molehill here because the want of entry vehicles does not account even a percentage of the total revenues collected each year,” Statia said. Statia has in the past repeatedly defended the GRA with regard to the disposal of want of entry vehicles. In a previous statement, Statia noted that want of entry vehicles or seizures are done, at all times, in a fair, impartial and transparent manner with the Internal and State Auditors playing their respective roles.” C o n s e q u e n t l y, h e declared that the GRA welcomes any audit by the Auditor General who audits such transactions on a yearly basis, and report his findings to the Public Accounts Committee.
Kaieteur News
Tuesday March 29, 2022
PAGE 13
UG, GL&SC ink agreement for training of Land Administrators - initiative being supported by FAO
Chief Technical Advisor for Sustainable Land Development and Management, Mr. Javier Prieto R-L: University of Guyana’s Vice-Chancellor, XI, Prof. Paloma Mohamed Martin, Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer, Lands and Surveys Commission, Mr. Enrique Monize and FAO Country Representative, Dr. Gillian Smith, signing the Letter of Agreement.
T
he University of Guyana (UG), on We d n e s d a y, March 16, 2022, inked a Letter of Agreement (LoA) with the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which will see a number of officers from the GLSC and other sister agencies being trained in the area of sustainable land administration and management. In a release, UG revealed that the initiative, which is part of the Sustainable Land Development and Management Project, is
being supported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) – a United Nations (UN) agency. The agreement will see the University of Guyana through its Department of Geography, Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences offering a Diploma in Land Administration and Management (LAM) for the s e c o n d t i m e . Tw e n t y students are being fully funded through the LoA and an additional six will benefit from a full tuition waiver b e i n g o ff e r e d b y t h e University. The LoA was signed during a simple ceremony at
the Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Center for Behavioural Sciences and Research Building (CeBRES), Turkeyen Campus. T h e D i p l o m a programme aims to foster the growth and development of local land surveyors who are employed at the GLSC as well as officers from other government agencies who have an interest in land administration and management. Students enrolled in this programme will participate in a full 18-month curriculum and upon completion, they will graduate with a Diploma in Land Administration and Management. University of Guyana’s
Thirty-eight mothers are now equipped with skills in cosmetology to gain employment or become entrepreneurs in the field.
38 adolescent mothers graduate from MoE’s reintegration prog.
Thirty-eight mothers are now equipped with skills in cosmetology to gain employment or become entrepreneurs in the field. According to a Ministry of Education release, this was made possible through the Re-integration of Adolescent Mothers into the Education System programme executed by the Ministry. The programme was coordinated by the Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) Unit of the Ministry and the Carnegie School of Home Economics in
Georgetown, and Kevin’s Reflections in Region 10. The programme benefited young mothers from Regions Three, Four and 10. Following a symposium on resilience last Wednesday, the young mothers were given start-up kits and care packages at the graduation ceremony. The young women were congratulated on completing the programme successfully and were encouraged to position themselves to take advantage of future opportunities.
Vice-Chancellor, XI, Prof. Paloma Mohamed Martin, in giving brief opening remarks, thanked the Faculty of Earth of Environmental Sciences, the FAO, and the GLSC for their commitment and dedication to seeing the programme being implemented successfully. “I want to thank you for having the insight and foresight for recognising the importance of a programme like this and having the energy to develop it over a year ago… this is actually the second round of offering the programme to the GLSC,” the Vice-Chancellor expressed. According to the ViceChancellor, the first cohort of students expressed satisfaction with the delivery of the programme. The VC noted: “The feedback that we have gotten from the first cohort is that it has been excellent as the students were from practical practising entities in government and so it is providing tremendous support to the Government of Guyana and the entities it works through in supporting these development objectives.” UG will support six additional students to the programme from governmental departments in dire need of the necessary upskilling in land administration. The University will also begin to offer a modernised degree in surveying in the new academic year. The feature address was d e l i v e r e d b y Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer, Lands and Surveys Commission, Enrique Monize. In his remarks, Mr. Monize noted that when he returned to the GLSC in
2020, he saw the need for more training and another land administration programme in order to build the capacity of the agency. “We have been using land surveying students to conduct land processing in the Commission. So, this is an opportunity to build capacity within our organisation in this vital area,” the Commissioner noted. Monize expressed that the necessary training in land management and administration in Guyana is essential for the officers. “Land management is also a process but this deals with the resources of the land and to ensure the resources of the land are put to good use, be it farming or mineral extractions. There are a lot of activities in terms of housing development in the country. So, land management coupled with land administration could make a good programme for the Lands and Surveys Commission.” The Commissioner shared his profound satisfaction in the level of improvement the Commission has seen in their staff from the first cohort of students and because of this, the Commission found it necessary to support the programme again. FA O C o u n t r y Representative, Dr. Gillian Smith said, “This programme seeks to provide capacity building that is certified in the field of land administration by the University of Guyana for 20 students from GLSC and other government entities.” She revealed that the value of the project is G$20.6 million and urged
the beneficiaries to take full advantage of the opportunities to develop themselves. Chief Technical Advisor for Sustainable Land Development and Management, Mr. Javier Prieto expressed thanks to the Government of the Kingdom of Norway for its continued support and funding towards sustainable land preservation in Guyana and for making the programme possible for the development and training for proper land administration and management in Guyana. Tw o p r o s p e c t i v e students: Ms. Nadanie Singh and Mr. Lumuel Wickham provided an overview of their expectations of what they hope to achieve during and after completing their Diploma in the Land Administration and Management programme. The programme will begin on March 28, 2022, and the persons who were selected to participate in the programme have already registered. However, if there is a need for queries, persons can make contact with the Head of the Department of the Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ms. Linda Johnson-Bhola v i a e m a i l a t head.geography@uog.edu.g y or via telephone at +592 602 0960. Also present at the signing ceremony were; the Dean of the Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Dr. Temitope Oyedotun; Deputy Commissioner of GLSC, Mr. Michael Hutson, and o t h e r o ff i c e r s o f t h e Commission. The ceremony was chaired by Ms. Andrea Mohammed.
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Kaieteur News
Tuesday March 29, 2022
Tuesday March 29, 2022
Kaieteur News
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Tuesday March 29, 2022
Kaieteur News
AFC National Conference for June
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Members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Alliance For Change (AFC) will hold the political partys National Conference on June this year. In a release, the party said its executive met virtually on Sunday for their first quarterly meeting of 2022 where the matter was decided.
Man gets 23 years for... From page 3 strong message and also highlighted Erskine’s lack of remorse by maintaining his innocence. In handing down her ruling, Justice Morris-Ramlall considered the seriousness of the offence and the impact on the victim’s family, among other factors. She also took into consideration that Ramlall was shot eight times during the robbery. While Erskine was not at the scene, he was a primary participant. As such, the judge sentenced Erskine to 23 years behind bars and ordered that the prison authorities deduct the years he spent on remand from his sentence. Erskine’s co-accused, Fazeel ‘Javed’ Bacchus, 27, of Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara, in February pleaded guilty to the lesser
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High on the agenda of priority issues discussed at the meeting was AFCs National Conference, which was deferred last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The members of the National Executive Committee agreed that the conference would be held on Saturday, June 11, 2022.
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count of manslaughter. On February 28, 2022, Bacchus was sentenced to six and a half years for his involvement in the death of the mall owner. However, he was already released since he has spent his time on remand. He also testified on behalf of the State in Erskine’s trial. Moreover, another co-accused, Lennox ‘Soldier Man’ Roberts, 32, of 2279 Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo, was sentenced on March 7, 2022 to 12 years in prison for his role in the death of Ramlall. According to reports, Ramlall was shot eight times about the body after bandits attacked his home. The 48-year-old businessman is reported to have just returned home from a barbecue, when he was accosted by the bandits who shot him to the head and chest before relieving him of jewellery and a wallet before escaping.
A hybrid system, where regional delegates would gather at a central internet ready location and join the online platform, will be employed. The AFCs National Conference is the highest decision making forum of the party at which delegates vote for executive members including
the Leader, Chairman, the Deputy Chairman, General Secretary and Treasurer. In addition, the election of 10 members, each representing the 10 regions of Guyana, and four members, who represent the Diaspora who are part of NEC are also elected at the National Conference.
1 new COVID-19 case... From page 8 vaccinated. “Those who would have received their second dose, we want them to come back and get their booster dose so that we can make sure that people are protected; without vaccine, they’re going to have challenges and end up in the hospital,” he related.
The Health Minister noted in his interview that, to date, approximately 437,900 first doses has been administered to the adult population, making that 85.4 percent of that population and for second dose 336,228 doses were administered to persons making that approximately 65.5 percent of the population.
Inmate succumbs... From page 12 Kaieteur News had reported that on October 2, 2017, Rajpaul had allegedly struck his drinking buddy, Bhagwan Ramadhar, 44, of Lot 50 Industry Front, East Coast Demerara, killing him on the spot. The victim, who was deported from the United States of America several years ago, had been imbibing with his neighbour in the bottom flat of his home when he was killed. The two men were de-
scribed as alcoholics who did odd jobs around the village. According to reports, the two men were intoxicated and got into a heated argument which resulted in the suspect picking up a piece of wood and hitting the victim several times in the head and face. The investigating ranks recovered the murder weapon next to the victim’s bloodied body and Rajpaul was later arrested for the crime. Following Rajpaul’s death, police stated that an investigation is underway.
Kaieteur News
Tuesday March 29, 2022
PAGE 17
5 companies vying to rent tents, tables and chairs to Parliament
T
he office of the N a t i o n a l Procurement and Tender Administration B o a r d ( N P TA B ) o n Thursday received five bids from companies interested in renting tents, tables and chairs for upcoming Sittings of the National Assembly, venued at the Arthur Chung
Conference Center (ACCC) at Liliendaal, Georgetown. The procuring entity for this project is the Parliament of Guyana. The companies vying for the contract are Star Party Rental, QA Civil Works, Alabama Trading, Puran Brothers Disposal Inc., and Anew Party Store.
Parliament of Guyana Rental of tents, tables and chairs for sitting of the National Assembly at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.
Sessions of the National Assembly were moved to the ACCC following the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic. This newspaper was informed that since the conference centre is not outfitted with space for media operatives to dine, a decision was taken to have the facilities rented to better
accommodate them. Kaieteur News had reported that the Parliament office is presently renting tents from Rent-A-Tent, as a contract was awarded by the NPTAB for this service. However, a reliable source said that the contract with the local business has come to an end. As such, the Parliament
Rental of building.
office is seeking new contractors to supply the chairs, tables and tents. This publication was told too that the provision of rental services is provided for in Parliament’s Budget. The source was, however, unable to say how much money was allocated to this provision.
Bids were also opened on Thursday for the rehabilitation of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority head office building located on Regent Street, a project which is estimated to cost $13 million. Below are the companies and their bids:
Acquisitions and supply of buoys.
Ministry of Public Works Construction of beacons (concrete-small) at Upper Essequibo River. Supply and delivery of thermoplastic road marking material and accessory. Guyana Defence Force Construction of guardroom Base Camp Seweyo, Soesdyke Highway.
Civil Defence Commission Supervision service for the construction of multipurpose building and bond. Bureau of Statistics Supply and delivery of computer equipment devices and accessories.
Ministry of Health Supply and delivery of indent supplies.
(Continued on page 18)
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Kaieteur News
Tuesday March 29, 2022
5 companies vying to rent tents, tables and chairs to Parliament... From page 17
Guyana Marketing Corporation Supply and delivery of Lot 1: boat engine and carrier (24ft by 6ft by 3ft) and Lot 2: boat engine and carrier (38ft by 8ft by 4ft).
Guyana Water Incorporated Installation of HDPE transmission mains from Shelterbelt to Water Street along Church Street, Georgetown.
Ministry of Home Affairs Guyana Prison Service, Lot 1- supply and delivery of desktop computers and Lot 2- supply and delivery of multipurpose printers, cameras and biometric system.
Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) Design, supply, installation and commissioning of solar photovoltaic systems at 13 Government buildings in the Hinterland.
Fabrication and installation of stainless-steel door at Herstelling, East Bank Demerara.
Supply and delivery of field equipment and office supplies for the GEA. Construction of pump station at A-Line sluice, Region Three.
National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) Rehabilitation of NDIA head office building, Regent Street.
Kaieteur News
Tuesday March 29, 2022
PAGE 19
President predicts Region 5 will be “livestock capital of CARICOM” By Malisa Playter-Harry
A
t the launch of the Black Belly Sheep Project on Sunday in the MMA Compound at Onverwagt, West Coast Berbice, Region Five, President Irfaan Ali announced that an initial investment of US$3 million will see Barbados supplying the country with 1000 Black Belly Sheep within the next two weeks. President Ali made the announcement shortly after predicting that Region Five can and will be the “livestock capital of CARICOM”. The President, who recently returned from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said that while he was there, 90 percent of the conversation with the private sector and the leadership of that country were not centred on the oil and gas industry but rather agricultural diversity, food security and production. To this end, he noted that the Black Belly Sheep project is “not just a one-off project” but instead a vision of being “selfsufficient locally, supply regionally and eventually expand the supply chain internationally.” “And for that, we are bringing in the relevant players, the global players to work side by side. This sector must be built differently, the agricultural sector is a sector with great dignity...” he said on Sunday. Ali underscored that the
project itself, transcends “just building a farm” since the project must have more women and youth involved. “We want 20 percent of those farms to be led by women and 35 percent of the farms must have youth involvement, that is, young people below the age of 35. This is part of building the future, this is part of empowerment, these are real targets and real approach in involvement of people…,” he noted. Over 4,500 jobs are expected to be formed as the new venture expands over the next few years with a target production of 7,900 tonnes by the end of five years but to achieve such, it requires the government, farmers and international partners to invest US$175 million. “That is our projection in terms of investment that is needed to take us there,” said the President. Furthermore, the land requirement is set at 25,000 hectares since the venture will not only be for Region Five but for other communities throughout the country. Additionally, the Head-of-State, in his detailed presentation on Sunday, highlighted that as it relates to the operating expenditure for the entire country to achieve the target by year four, an estimated US$24 million will be necessary and beyond year four, US$30 million will be utilised.
The gathering at the launch of the Black Belly Sheep Project on Sunday
The expected earnings projected to be US$43 million annually. Already a total of 78 farmers in Region Five have come on board the project. Among those farmers, several have jointly committed to providing 1,325 hectares of land. Other farmers who were present at Sunday’s launch have also signalled their interest in the project. Additionally, the Headof-State revealed that sheep farmers will collaborate with the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) “to ensure that all data for the sheep and the farm will be provided for proper monitoring; so on every single farm, there will be an electronic monitoring system. Every farm will have a database and the farmers must update their database daily and that database from the individual farm will be linked to a national database so that we will have real time data to help support you from GLDA.” IMPORTS Noting that currently, the four major markets in CARICOM include: Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, he said that T&T alone imported 2,600 tonnes of mutton and mutton products valued at US$17 million; Jamaica imported 2,600 metric tonnes with a market of US$12.6 million, Bahamas imported 900
President Irfaan Ali interacts with a farmer metric tonnes with a market of US$6.9 million and Barbados imported 1000 metric tonnes with a market of US$6.8 million. “Every country in CARICOM and the value of the import in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and you will see that there is continuous growth, except for the period of COVID and now the supply chain issues, those are the constraints to the existing market. CARICOM import of mutton, from 2016 to 2019, the market has grown from US$36 million to close to US$48 million; that’s a US$12 million growth. This is to show the opportunities so that you will know in this project, there are great opportunities. This is a project that is supported by scientific research, market research and strong negotiations on the trade side,” President Ali told the dozens of farmers that were present. He said that his government is open to
working with all the farmers to develop a consistent system if the industry should succeed, while pointing out that for the industry to take shape as it should, there must be similarity in technology and similarity of system. “…we have to build a mechanism that will support a singular system so that will be part of what we will be doing in terms of research, technology, capitol, the market system, the reproduction system, the feeding system, the pasture, all of these will undergo tremendous change with investment from the government,” so that the output from farmers is at a high standard. He pledged support by providing the necessary machines and equipment to bring the fields and pastures up to standards. Added to that, there will be investment in technology and the equipment to help in the processing aspect. “This is part of the input from the
government in supporting the development, it is not only bringing in the 1000 breeding stock and then leaving it there because we are also looking at other large-scale suppliers (such as UAE),” he noted. CONSTRAINTS According to Ali, because of the “insufficient and unreliable” data for mutton and high valued lamb, his government is “now investing in the (Agriculture) Ministry having the human resource capacity so we can have real time data, as accurate data as possible. It is only since we started this research and the work to develop these sectors that we are seeing the weaknesses. D a t a w a s n ’ t there…inadequate breeding stock which we are working to improve, limited production of high value lamb and mutton products.” The next two years, he said, will be spent on ramping up production, bearing in mind that the sector will experience an infantry phase during that period where the revenue expected will not be at its peak. “We now have to start from nothing, building up the production,” he added. Ali also pointed out that there are inadequate climate smart housing facilities for the sheep production but that it is not the fault of the farmers. He said the government will invest in educational and training programmes as well as technology for farmers to benefit. Adding to that, he spoke of plans to invest in improving access to feed, pasture management, vets, among other things. At the launch, farmers were given the opportunity to raise several issues that have been affecting them and were provided with on the spot solutions by the Headof-State.
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Kaieteur News
Tuesday March 29, 2022
Tuesday March 29, 2022
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Kaieteur News
Wellman aiming for glory in debut Adams guides Mahdia Movements Family overseas tourney Local softball team Wellman recently wrapped up preparations for the upcoming Florida Cup with a couple of wins. The Florida Cup marks their debut in an overseas competition. Wellman will compete in the over-50 division and will be looking to go all the way and with the likes of Wayne Jones, Jagdesh Persaud, Lakeram Singh, Mohamed Rafeek and Peter Persaud in their lineup, the team have the firepower to excel. The squad reads; Wellman- Wayne Jones, Lakeram Singh, Lloyd Ruplall, Khemraj Sumair, Peter Persaud, Mohamed Rafeek,
to mammoth win
Wellman team will be making their debut in an overseas competition in the Orlando Cup. Anil Beharry, Clive Canterbury, Dennis Mangru, Ricky Deonarain, Jagdesh Persaud,
Roger Mattar, Michael Balkarran, Saheed Adam and Seenarine Ramkumar.
Tuesday March 29 , 2022 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Expanding your horizons is definitely on the agenda today, Aries. Travel, education, creativity – they're all coming to the forefront of your concerns. Romance should also be going well. TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) Are you working at home now or perhaps considering it, Taurus? If so, remember that you'll probably enjoy the comfort and freedom it provides. GEMINI (May 21–June 20) A social event in your neighborhood could connect you with people who share your spiritual and intellectual inclinations, Gemini. CANCER (June 21–July 22) A project that you're working on, perhaps job related, perhaps personal, is likely to require more creative skill than you usually need, Cancer. LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) If you're artistic by nature, Leo, expect a rush of inspiration to hit today, along with an irresistible compulsion to start a new project and work until you can see at least some results. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Something wonderful could happen to you today at home, Virgo. A lover could declare eternal devotion, spiritual revelations could come thick and fast, or great news regarding career or money matters could be just over the horizon.
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Developments over the past few days could have you feeling very excited and particularly optimistic about your love life, Libra. Communications with your beloved could take the form of romantic songs or poetry. SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) This is a great day to deal with legal matters of any kind, Scorpio, including plans for a wedding, if one is in the offing! SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) A keen ability on your part to blend the worlds of intellect and intuition could well surface today, Sagittarius. CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Relationships of all kinds become stronger and more enduring today, Capricorn. Successes boost the strength of business partnerships; love relationships advance to the next level of commitment. AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) An interest in health and nutrition could come to the surface for you, Aquarius. New discoveries regarding the benefits of certain nutrients. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Have you been thinking about taking a course in one of the arts, Pisces? Whether your preference is painting, music, drama, dance, or creative writing, if you commit now, you'll probably continue with it.
The tournament will commence on March 31 and conclude on April 2.
A splendid performance by all-rounder Ricardo Adams guided Mahdia Movements Family to a 215-run win over KB All Star when the teams collided in a 30-over fixture recently at Tuschen. Batting first, Mahdia Movements Family posted a commendable 299-6. Openers R. Dookie and Ryan Adams handed them a steady start with attacking batting. Dookie struck seven fours and six sixes in a top score of 88, while Ryan Adams made 48 with five fours and three sixes. Ricardo Adams sustained the scoring rate as he smashed three fours and six sixes in scoring 59, while Ronaldo Schouten made 30 which included two fours and two sixes. Ragkumar Singh contributed 20; Andrew Gibson 17 not out and Raydon Austin 13 not out. C. Persaud took 2-34 and K. Lindo 2-90.
Ricardo Adams Ricardo Adams put KB All Sstar early on the back foot with a few quick wickets. They never recovered and were bowled out for 84 in 20.3 overs. Adams bagged 5-10 from five fours while Singh captured 3-16 and Austin 223.
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Tuesday March 29, 2022
Kaieteur News
West Indies out to defy expectations once again They face the overwhelming World Cup favourites Australia in the semi-final tomorrow ESPNcricinfo - Of all the things we were not expecting at this Women’s World Cup England to lose their first three games and qualify for the semi-finals, South Africa
to win four matches under pressure in the final over, New Zealand to crash out at home - West Indies beating Australia must now be on top of the list.
And who can blame us? In 14 ODI meetings between the two teams, West Indies have only won one and that was nine years ago. While Australia marched
into the final four unbeaten and mostly unchallenged, West Indies can consider themselves fortunate to be here after they were left to rely on other results to push them through. And of the inconsistent batting performances West Indies have put on at this World Cup, their blow-out against Australia - when they were dismissed for 131 and beaten inside 33 overs - was the worst. But those are just numbers and if you look at the West Indies campaign it hasn’t really about that. It’s about heart. “The girls are still in good spirits. We always have that never say die attitude,” Deandra Dottin said after their washout against South Africa, which took their fate out of their hands. “We had a good start to the tournament and it’s just about taking the positives from there.” West Indies beat hosts New Zealand and defending champions England in their first two matches, in the process also notching up their first wins in New Zealand and taking the early lead. But they could not sustain their performances and went on to collapse against India, Australia and Bangladesh. “We’ve played good cricket but just at certain stages when it comes to the batting, we didn’t put good runs on the board,” Dottin said after the South Africa match. And that’s putting it lightly. West Indies only have one player, Hayley Matthews, who has scored more than 200 runs in the tournament (the other three semifinalists all have at least two) and four other contributions of fifty-plus in an innings.
By contrast, Australia have two centuries and eight fifties among their line-up; England have one century and seven fifties and South Africa have nine fifties. Their middle-order has been particularly problematic with Shemaine Campbelle holding things together but apart from Chedean Nation’s 49* against England and Stafanie Taylor’s fifty against Australia there’s been little else. Based on those performances, it’s not surprising that the odds were stacked against West Indies progressing to the final four, even before the weather intervened in their games against Pakistan, which they lost, and South Africa, which didn’t see any play. West Indies knew they still had a chance to get through but didn’t really seem to think they would. Taylor said she “went on vacation for three days,” after the South Africa game. But the team gathered together to watch South Africa play India and could not contain themselves when India lost in the final over, opening the door for them to progress. “Us waiting on those results was pretty nerve wracking,” Matthews said.” We knew we were in a tight spot and results had to go our way. The result was pretty nerve wracking but then it was just pure ecstasy at the end.” The only poker face in the room was Taylor, who has become a meme after she sat to one side with her arms folded while her team-mates celebrated around her. Was she more subdued because she’d realised their next opponents are the table-toppers? Or is it just the way she is? “Everyone was making a
lot of noise and I am not one of those people who get all excited and jumpy-jumpy like that,” Taylor said. “You have to have somebody there who turns out to be the calm one and it turned out to be me.” But Taylor admitted she was emotional in her own way. “I didn’t even sleep last night,” she said. “I’m just overwhelmed and in disbelief that we made it to the semifinals.” She’s not the only one. In fact, Matthews is pretty sure everyone felt that way. “Noone had us in their semi-final spots. To be able to come here and exceed expectations, even just reaching the semifinals, has been amazing, being able to beat some of the bigger teams was massive on our list and we were able to do that. I’m just really happy that we were able to get to the semi-finals.” She later tweeted that a year ago “we were so far off something like this & completely written off.” In the last year, West Indies have lost home and away series to South Africa but beaten Pakistan home and away. They did not qualify automatically for the World Cup and participated in the aborted qualifiers in Zimbabwe. Matthews is correct when she says that they were off being considered among the top four women’s ODI teams going around but here they are. On the brink of something even more special if they become the only team to beat Australia at this event and advance to the final. We might not expect it, but we know what happens to expectations.
Tuesday March 29, 2022
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Kaieteur News
Gaico Construction Grand Prix Chess Tourney…
Unbeaten Drayton crowned champion The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) concluded its first over the board tournament last weekend with FIDE Master, Anthony Drayton, playing unbeaten in the eight-round battle. The chess tournament was the first of several tournaments which will determine the team for the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad games to be held in Chennai, India from July 28 to August 10, 2022. Drayton, one of Guyana’s top ranked players, secured 7.5 points against his counterparts with his half point resulting in his one draw against second place winner, Adrian Roopnarine. Roopnarine ended with 6 points after he lost to veteran player Loris Nathoo and also drew with third place winner, Davion Mars. Mars gained 5.5 points after also drawing with Ethan Lee and Nathoo. His only loss was against Drayton. Nathoo came in fourth with 5.5 points as well, and suffered his only loss to the champion. Keron Sandiford copped the best junior prize with 5.5 points after losing to Drayton and Mars and drawing with Lee. Chelsea Juma was presented with the best female prize while Pooja Lam received the best junior female prize. Trophies and cash prizes were presented to the top three finishers and medals were given to the 4th to 10th place finishers who were Nathoo, Sandiford, Lee, Oluwadare Oyeyipo, Jaden Taylor, Juma and 12-year old Arysh
Anthony Drayton (right) receives the Senior Championship spoils from President of the GCF, Marcia Lee.
The top performers of the tournament took a photo op after they received their prizes. Raghunauth, respectively. Female player Jessica Callender was unable to continue the competition due to an incident which occurred on the way to the final day of play. Anand Raghunauth, Vice President and FIDE Arbiter, at the award ceremony, thanked the committee members of the GCF for their contributions over the past months and encouraged the talented young Guyanese chess players to continue to train in the game of chess as well as to be involved in the other aspects of the federation. Drayton and Mars are currently involved in the training of new members of the GCF and he hopes that more young people can come on board to work towards creating a viable chess community in Guyana. The GCF wishes to express thanks to the partici-
pants and its sponsor, Gaico Construction and everyone who assisted in making the tourney a success. Special thanks to FIDE Arbiter and head of Development of Chess, John Lee, who ensured that the games were streamed live on the GCF’s webpage guyanachess.org and you-tube, keeping viewers at home up to date with the progress of the games. The GCF for the first time, has broadcasted live games utilizing electronic chess boards supported by programmes which allow games to be streamed over the internet in real time. This venture will continue to be a vibrant aspect of future chess tournaments and the federation hopes to acquire more electronic boards in order to improve and develop its mandate in taking chess to higher levels in Guyana.
Guillermo Escarraga storms to victory in Genuine Auto Spares Golf Tournament Guillermo Escarraga turned in a splendid performance to return to winners’ row following a hiatus from the podium. He shot the lowest net score (64) this year. After going low for a net-32 on the front-9 he kept his calm with a matching net32 on the back-9, carding an overall unmatched net score of 64. With that Escarraga bested a strong field which included a resurgent performance from second place
finisher Aasrodeen Shaw, who carded a respectable net score of 66 - Shaw’s score would have won on most days but Saturday belonged to Escarraga. The third and fourth place finishers are Miguel Oveido and Bholawram Deo respectively. Other prizes were awarded for - Longest drive- Brian Hackett, Closest to the FlagWilliam Walker, Best Net Front 9- Bholawram Deo, Net-31, Best Net Back 9- Guillermo
Escarraga, Net-32. The full list of winners are -1st- Guillermo Escarraga HC-21, gross 85, net 64; 2ndAasrodeen Shaw HC-12, gross 78, net 66; 3rd- Miguel Oveido HC-19, gross 88, net 69; 4th- Bholawram Deo HC20, gross 89, Net 69. Genuine Auto Spears Managing Director Amrit Prashad gave the closing remarks thanking the Lusignan Golf club for hosting a fantastic tournament.
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Tuesday March 29, 2022
Kaieteur News
History making!
Amsterdam is the first Guyanese Amateur Boxer to earn money for a Medal By Sean Devers Fighting in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on Sunday Evening, 29-year-old Desmond Amsterdam created history for Guyana when he beat Samuel Eldric Rodriguez Sella of Paraguay to qualify for the semi-finals in the Middleweight division of the American Boxing Confederation (AMBC) Elite Continental Championship. An Officer in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Amsterdam who has fought in four International bouts since making his International debut on March 12, 2016 when he was knocked out by Juan Carrillo in Buenos Aires, is now US$2500 richer even if he losses in Wednesday’s semi-final. In September last
year the International Boxing Association offered prize money of up to $100,000 for the first time in the history of amateur men’s world championships which was held in Belgrade, Serbia, from Oct. 24, 2021. Olympian Keevin Allicock and Amsterdam participated in this tournament but failed to reach the podium rounds. Amsterdam, a former Caribbean Middleweight Champion, made history by becoming the first Guyanese Boxer to benefit from this decision by AIBA. In his corner on Wednesday will be National Coach Terrence Poole who is also his Coach for the Army and with $2500 for bronze already assured, Amsterdam will be aiming the gold or silver medal. Trinidad and Tobago’s Nigel
Paul, became the first Caribbean pugilist to benefit from that decision when won bronze and the US$ in the Super Heavyweight division at the November 2021 International Boxing Association (formerly known as AIBA) World Championships in Russia. Light Welterweight Colin Lewis reportedly dominated his fight on Friday…even giving his Puerto Rican opponent a standing 8-count in the second round but was not given the victory while the other member of trio, Lightweight Jamal Eastman lost on Sunday afternoon to Elin Jhon Sinisterra Orobio. Amsterdam joins 36-year-old Middleweight Dillion Prince of Trinidad & Tobago and a boxer from Barbados as the only Caribbean pugilists to win so far.
Desmond Amsterdam (right) made local history with his win.
Regal depart for Florida Cup, to compete in Over-40 and Over-50 divisions Regal will be looking for double success in Florida. As Unnis Yusuf
Regal will be looking to add to their extensive trophy cabinet when the Florida Softball Cup bowls off next weekend in the USA. Regal will be competing in the over-40 and over-50 divisions. Both teams (over-40 and over-50) departed Guyana this morning after fine-tuning preparations for the tournament which will commence on March 31 and conclude on April 2. Regal have dominated the over-50 category and they will be hard to beat since most of their players have also plied their trade overseas and know what to expect there. Opener Unnis Yusuf has been dominant in this category, winning the most valuable player awards in New York and in the Georgetown
Softball Cricket League Inc Prime Minister’s T20 Cup last year. He is the only player to have achieved the feat so far and will once again spearhead the batting. With the likes of Eric Thomas, Ramesh Deonarine, Rudolph Baker and Eion Abel included, the team batting will be hard to contain. These players have not only won matches for their team consistently, but they have done so without many hiccups. Their bowling attack which includes Laurie Singh, skipper Mahendra Hardyal, David Harper and Parsram Persaud are capable of restricting opposition batting. The over-40 side will be led by Wesley Parasnauth and includes Patrick Rooplall, Chien Gittens, Sheldon Perch,
Tyrone Sanasie and Lennox Mark. This team like their over-50 counterparts appear a balanced unit. Teams - Regal over-40, Wesley Parasnauth (Captain), Patrick Rooplall, Chien Gittens, Khemchandra Dindyal, Surujdeo Ramdeen, Mohamed Ayume, Lakeram Roopnarine, Balram Roopnaraine, Tyrone Sanasie, Balram Paul, Krishan Balgobin, Sheldon Perch, Samuel Kingston and Lenox Mark. Regal over-50- Mahendra Hardyal (Captain), Uniss Yusuf, Ramesh Deonarine, Eric Thomas, David Harper, Rudolph Baker, Mohendra Arjune, Eoin Abel, Fazleem Mohamed, Parsram Persaud, Laurie singh, Lyndon Lyght and Clive Grimmond.
Kaieteur News
Tuesday March 29, 2022
PAGE 25
2022 Courts Caribbean Classic…
Guyana tackle T&T in decider tonight Jamaal Shabazz and his charges face a confident Soca Warriors team in the final match.
- Jaguars defeat Tridents 5-0
Omari Glasgow chases a loose ball during training.
Guyana’s Senior Men’s Football Team, the Golden Jaguars, skillfully cleared the first hurdle of the 2022 Courts Caribbean Classic when they sank Barbados Tridents 5 – 0 on Sunday night at the Hasely Crawford Stadium. Like the host nation, Tr i n i d a d a n d To b a g o , Guyana also escaped the encounter against Barbados with a clean sheet.
T h e S o c a Wa r r i o r s demolished the Tridents 9 – 0 on Friday in the first encounter of the friendly tournament to lead the lot on superior goal difference. Tonight the tournament wraps up when T&T meet Guyana from 19:00 hours at the same venue. In Sunday’s match, 12 minutes was all it took for Guyana to draw first blood when Quincy Adams found
the back of the net. After his successful strike, Pernell Schultz joined the party to double Guyana’s lead in the 37 minute. As the half time whistle approached, Omari Glasgow announced himself with a goal in the 41st minute. That strike poised the match 3 – 0 at the break with Guyana firmly in control of ball possession. When play resumed, it was much of the same until a comedic tackle from the B ajan d ef en ce cau s ed Guyana to be rewarded with a penalty. It was effectively converted by Neil Danns in the 49th minute who came on as a second half substitute for
Schultz. In the 61st minute, Glasgow accounted for Guyana’s fifth goal and also completed his international brace, shortly after being dealt a yellow card. There were ample substitutions by both sides in a match that saw both coaches testing a few combinations. After the game, head coach of the victorious side, Jamaal Shabazz, was quite pleased with the team’s performance. “That win against Barbados is a good confidence booster. All the different stakeholders in Guyana’s football must feel
good when we win a game like this. Of course we have to focus our attention on battling a Trinidad and Tobago team that is on fire and it will be interesting to see how our defence handles their attack,” he said. The coach added: “They’ve got a lot of pace and a lot of firepower but Trinidad and Tobago will have to defend for periods in the game as well because our guys are showing good confidence to put the ball down and play. Given the political tensions between the two countries and the leadership at this stage, we know a
game like this has a lot of national pride at stake and we are going to put our best foot forward and try to come up with a result. Jaguars for life!” “I’m happy for the players, the team, the GFF and the country,” Shabazz noted. Meanwhile, tonight’s much anticipated match between the undefeated sides, Guyana and T&T, decides who takes the spoils. All matches are being live streamed on www.youtube.com. The link is also still available for those who wish to view G u y a n a ’s m a t c h w i t h Barbados.
“Very proud of Amsterdam’s achievement” says GBA Head O
n Sunday Evening in Ecuador, Guyanese Desmond Amsterdam created history when he qualified for the semi-finals of the American Boxing Confederation (AMBC) Elite Continental Championship and became the first Guyana amateur Boxer to earn financially by winning a Bronze medal. This feat prompted President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) Steve Ninvalle to say he was very proud of Amsterdam’s achievement and was also high in praise for the entire team. With US$ already in the bank for qualifying for the semis, Amsterdam aims to win his next two fights to take the Gold Medal and more US$. “We are extremely happy that Desmond Amsterdam could have pushed himself to be on the medals table and it will be the first time that we have a Guyanese who will be able to earn as an amateur financially from it, so in that part he has created history. Amsterdam is one of the better boxers in the Caribbean and is a
Director of Sport Steve Ninvalle former Caribbean Champion and now pushed himself to being an elite Bronze medallist…and that’s up to now. It’s my hope and expectation that he will go on to better than Bronze Medal. He is a semi-finals and I hope he goes on to win a silver or gold
medal,” said Ninvalle, who was returned as GBA President in December 2021. “Looking at the fight I was very impressed that coming off almost two years of inactivity he would be able to defeat his opponent from Paraguay. So Guyana is assured of a Medal…it’s been some time since we have not gotten a medal outside of the Caribbean region so it brings back some excitement to the sport. We have just started back with a bang, we have our under16 competitions going twice a month as well as the Nursery is doing well and our seniors are also doing well,” added the Director of Sports. Guyana is also hoping to host the Caribbean Boxing Championships later this year. “It’s a really good initiative because you can remain in the amateur ranks and still make a living…so, you stand a chance of making a tidy sum if you are up and winnings or if you continue to win,” said Ninvalle, vice-president of the AMBC. (Sean Devers)
Desmond Amsterdam