Monday May 04, 2020
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Kaieteur News
ELECTIONS 2020, DAY 63
Recount to start Wednesday Tabulation of votes will be video streamed but not vote counts - GECOM CHAIRPERSON By Kemol King The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has decided that the national recount will commence on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. While much of GECOM’s work in preparation for the recount has been finalised, the matter of the live stream continues to be a sore spot for the Commission. Due to staunch advocacy by many political stakeholders for the project to be streamed live, the Chair has made several concessions. She has agreed to a video and live stream of the tabulation of the votes, but only an audio stream of the counting of the
ballots, Commissioners told Kaieteur News in telephone interviews. She rejected a video stream of the count of the ballots on the condition that she did not want to expose the identities of the GECOM staffers. Commissioners did not appear sure of how an audio stream of the count would work. The Chair is expected to make a ruling on this today. Kaieteur News understands that Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield also expressed some concerns about the live streaming of the process. The Chair ’s only additional concession on this matter is that she wanted to
also articulate to the public that the ballot boxes were not tampered with, perhaps, by publishing photos of them at the time of their opening during the recount, according to Commissioner Vincent Alexander. Commissioner Sase Gunraj, however, continues to advocate for a complete audio and video stream of the entire process. “Live streaming will inject the necessary credibility and transparency into this process, that we have nothing to hide. As a commissioner, and part of the Guyana Elections Commission, I have nothing to hide… GECOM has
ExxonMobil planning for slow market recovery
For the time being, there remains a lot of uncertainty on the timing of recovery for the oil industry. But ExxonMobil’s Chairman and Chief Executive officer (CEO), Darren Woods says the American oil giant is planning for a slow revival as it takes time to restart businesses and for consumers’ confidence to grow. The official made these and other statements during his company’s recently held 2020 first quarter earnings call. Woods said that hopefully, market recovery happens faster than expected but for the full year, estimates range from a loss of four million to 12 million barrels per day. Woods said he expects it to be on the higher end of the range. Woods also shared his take on the announced production cuts of OPEC+ totaling about 13 million barrels per day. Woods said that these are indeed significant. He noted however that it is still insufficient to offset the loss in demand for oil. The CEO said, “...Bottom line here, it’s going to be a very challenging summer with a pretty sloppy market as we move into the back half of the year.” Taking this into consideration, Woods said that ExxonMobil has adjusted its plans to a low price and margin environment through year-end. He said, “Our price projections tend to be at the low end of third-party estimates. But once again, I hope we’re surprised with a quick recovery, which we have not ruled out particularly given our ongoing experience in China.” While it is still early days, Woods said that there are some reasons to be cautiously optimistic as signs of demand and economic activity are beginning to pick up in China with April sales in three of its key businesses back in line and slightly above the same period last year. Woods told participants during the earnings call that it is too early to tell if this initial rebound will be sustained, or if it reflects the broader economy, or if it is even relevant to other economies around the world, given the range of government responses and policies. Nonetheless, the CEO said he finds it somewhat encouraging as it supports what he knows will be true in the medium to long
ExxonMobil CEO, Darren Woods term. In this regard, Woods said, “Economies will recover. However in the short term, we need to compensate for the significant loss in demand and revenue, which is why we announced a 15% reduction in cash Operational Expenditure (OpEx) and a 30% reduction in Capital Expenditure ( CaEx) for 2020.” The ExxonMobil official was keen to note that spending will be maintained on activities that are critical to the integrity of the company’s operations, the safety of its people and the protection of the environment. He said too that the company is focusing on capturing additional efficiencies and lower market prices, deferring less critical spend and prioritizing quick payout items. As the year progresses, he said that ExxonMobil expects to see further reductions to achieve its projected targets. He said, “We set an aggressive objective, reduce spend without compromising the project advantages or returns. Any inefficiency had to be offset with market savings or other efficiencies. I’m very pleased with the work we have done to date.” To date, ExxonMobil has been able to identify opportunities to reduce CapEx by 30% down to US$23 billion and more than offset deferral costs while preserving returns and project advantages.
nothing, ought to have nothing to hide in this process and as a consequence, that [transparency] is something that we should focus on,” Gunraj said. While he understands the Chair’s concerns about concealing the identities of the staffers, he doesn’t entirely agree. He posited that his bottom line is to ensure that all measures should be implemented where possible to make the process transparent. He added that any person who is opposed to having the complete live stream done may have something to hide. “The process belongs to people and the people should have access to it,” Gunraj said. The Chair is expected to make her final deliberations on the matter of live streaming, today. Alexander said that she would put her articulation in writing. Commenting on the matter of live streaming, Alexander said that Justice Singh considered the proposal for live stream based on advocacy for it in public discourse, and explained that she is attempting to “lower the tempo of aggression directed at her.” The Commissioner expressed his view on the “troubling arguments” being
Commissioners Vincent Alexander [left] and Sase Gunraj made by other Commissioner(s). “We know that the recount is being done under Section 22 of the [Election Laws (Amendment) Act] and Article 162 of the Constitution.” Those provisions speak to GECOM’s authority to do as it sees fit to ensure fairness and impartiality, and to GECOM’s authority to remove difficulties that may arise in the application of the legislation that governs the electoral process. He explained that some Commissioner(s) are advocating for the use of those provisions to give effect to the live stream, while they argue against the use of those provisions GECOM has already decided to use to determine the extent of the recount. Here, he is referring to the argument between
Commissioners about the extent of the count, whereby Opposition nominated Commissioners generally argue that it should be a numerical count, while Government nominated Commissioners generally argue that there should be a more comprehensive examination of the ballot box to reconcile all of its contents. The Chair has settled on the latter. Alexander expressed that, if Commissioners are so adamant that a live stream of the count would increase its transparency, it would only make sense if they agreed with advocacy for an examination of the ballot boxes on similar grounds. O t h e r w i s e , Commissioners indicated that the role of the CARICOM team was clarified; that there is no longer reference to a Continued on page 8
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Monday May 04, 2020
Kaieteur News
Kaieteur News Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: SHARMAIN GRAINGER Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210
EDITORIAL
The case for live streaming We have said it before, and now say it again: let live streaming be. Let it take place before the watching local and distant world and add luster to the continuing impenetrable darkness that has been the only ingredient in Elections 2020. Let the mysteries be laid bare and be solved. Let this recount-long waited on, so much depended uponbe conducted in the most open and most scrupulous manner to give this nation something on which to go forward. It is why we at this publication appeal to the APNU+AFC leadership and decision makers to do the honourable and principled thing and agree to standing down from any further objections to a full live streaming of the entire recount. We reach out to the APNU+AFC only, since it is the one group that is against the credibility-inducing, and confidence-confirming live streaming of what takes place from the first moment that the leaders and managers at GECOM signal the start of the still unfinalized recount apparatus and mechanics. We are restrained from making any similar exhortation to those from the other political parties, since they have all indicated their full support for live streaming. We say this: if there is nothing to fear, then why the hesitancy and dogged obstinacy? We say that if the APNU+AFC coalition is all for a principled process, as it insists, then why the inexplicable hedging and stonewalling? Why engage in what raises so many questions and concerns about authenticity of intentions, cleanliness of commitment, and completeness of adherence to the democratic ideals so glaringly missing here, and now made more mandatory by the force of circumstances? There should be no further association with what has failed and harmed and left naked before a bewildered world. To continue to object to live streaming is to keep things under the kind of close control that does not comfort anyone. It comforts neither adversaries nor observers nor many citizens wondering what deceptions may have been readied behind the scenes and now wait in the wings to be inserted and embedded into a process that has been rife with controversies from the inception. No matter how kindly we attempt to look at this live streaming objection, we keep coming back to the same unhealthy, unsteady, and unconstructive place. To resist and object is to add more darkness to what is of the thickest darkness, a kind of perverse and sinister darkness. If nothing else, the days, without exception, since March 2, have been cursed with the mischievous and provocative, the heavy-handed and the unbelievable. When the credible was called for, there was only the laughable, as in the antics of the Returning Officer for Region 4. When the trusted and principled should have been the order of the day, there have been evasion and avoidance. The president himself, a man much trusted by many, has suffered, has attracted some of the tarnishing that is inevitable when things deteriorate to this extent, when the road has been potholed and mined every step along the way. The nation’s leader could do without such a scorching development, the nation itself is infinitely better off without that which has besmirched anyone and anything near to what has transpired. Live streaming would bring picture after picture before the public. It speaks for itself with its own revealing lights, its own technological presentations. For all these reasons, we say let there be the light of live streaming of the recount, so that we Guyanese can put this thing to rest and move on to face all the hard tests that stand ahead. These are gruelling tests made so much more demanding by the COVID-19 virus, a full-fledged pandemic that, leaves us even more vulnerable, much more unprepared, and unequipped to deal with the challenges before us. As for the presence of phones, it is our position that though there is value, there is also the potential to create the confusions that lead to the customary chaos so prevalent, where every move and development would be subject to endless misinterpretation and second-guessing. Give us live streaming and then let us count, tally and judge.
Appeal to GECOM, President, and Opposition Leader DEAR EDITOR, The electoral impasse in Guyana has gone past two months with no officially declared winner so Caricom has stepped forward with a noble effort to bring about a workable resolution to the crisis. I have a suggested credible sequence of events to bring final resolution. I appeal to GECOM, the President and Opposition Leader to cooperate to bring resolution. Firstly, I wish to publicly thank Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Chair of Caricom, and her colleagues for her (their) timely intervention (over six weeks ago) to help save electoral democracy in Guyana by sending a five member high level team to observe the recounting of ballots of the March 2 elections. The process was abandoned around March 15 as a result of court action (injunction) that came to an end around March 23. Since that time, GECOM has agreed to the Caricom’s audit (observer) team. The team’s size has been reduced to three with the same objective in mind to oversee the recounting process to bring finality to the real outcome and an officially declared winner.
I also applaud the caretaker President and the caretaker Opposition Leader for their gentleman agreement to accept Caricom (Ms. Mottley) as a mediator of the recounting process. I hope there would be no further obstacles to completing the recounting process so that a winner can be declared and the country can have a government as per the will of the electorate. The world is watching us. Guyana is already a laughing stock with Guyanese being ridiculed in the diaspora over remarks that Guyanese don’t know what is a majority, how to count, certifying SOPs, counting 460K ballots over nine weeks, etc. A lot of blame has been cast, some unjustifiably, on the President and the Coalition for putting a wrench on the wheels of the recount. The ruling administration now has a chance to correct that unjustified sinister image and show the world that it is totally in favour of the recount and is prepared to accept the outcome. President Granger has been reputed internationally to be an honourable man and I am confident he wants to bring the process to a quick end. I hold no brief for any political party, least of all the PPP that has been very unkind to those of us who
partook in the struggle for the restoration of democracy in the homeland. As someone who has travelled around the world reporting on and analyzing elections and as a pollster and commentator on Guyana’s politics, I cannot help but to comment on what transpired in Guyana since the March 2 elections. I have noticed the shameless efforts being made to undermine electoral democracy at GECOM with attempted fraudulent use of SOP numbers. I am extremely embarrassed to talk about Guyana with non-Guyanese friends and media operatives pertaining to the elections. Here is my recommendation to the President, Opposition Leader, and GECOM to help bring this situation closer to normalcy so as to entrench electoral democracy and bring an early end to the process: 1. GECOM and the Caricom team should, as per the High Court court’s ruling around March 9, complete the certification and re-tabulation of SOPs for Region 4 immediately; this would put the nation at ease that the law is being followed and remove doubt of any further court action. 2. GECOM should make a tentative announcement of the results. 3. Proceed with a full audit of all regions, as per the agreement between
government and opposition with Caricom. 4. No claim to government formation or any demand for a President to be sworn in must be made until the audit is completed; hopefully, the process will be completed in three to four weeks. 5. Proceed with the official declaration of results. 6. Swear in the winner as President to proceed with formation of government. The above is a recommended sequence to put the country at ease, save the nation from further tension and the subject of global ridicule, and allow normalcy to return to the homeland. Separately, I appeal to the government to grant the request of the Carter Center and any observer groups to come to Guyana, as long as they are prepared to adhere to Covid-19 rules so as to monitor the recount. Also, it is not helpful to call for sanctions against anyone while a legal process is being undertaken. I urge activists calling for sanctions to please hold their hands while the President, aided by his confidante Joe Harmon and team, are cooperating to bring an end to the electoral impasse. Give the GECOM legal process a chance to work for a final outcome. Yours truly, Dr. Vishnu Bisram
Lincoln Lewis’ credibility is over DEAR EDITOR, I am not going to use space to argue with Lincoln Lewis over the rigged election of 2020. Lewis has become one of the most shameless defenders of what has taken place the past two months. He has the egregious distinction of defending election fraudulence with more vehemence and nastiness than many leaders in APNU and AFC who obviously know better. I have asserted in my column today that after this crisis is over a plethora of Guyanese who have achieved prominence over the past three or four decades would have lost all credibility, Lewis is one. The more he writes the more you see his drift in yesterday’s life where he will survive as an ephemeral footnote. Anyone who feels and thinks that the APNU+AFC will administer Guyana as if it won the election is a basic fool. Even if the APNU+AFC stay in office, its era is over. It will never be able to govern. My task here is not to debate Lewis. From the time Lewis wrote a nasty
column about foreigners coming to take over Guyana and he plagiarized the speeches of Trump and the former racist Italian Minister, Salvini, I was finished with such an outdated, unmodern, undemocratic mind. I did assert in my response that such comments supporting xenophobia and racism should not have been carried by the Kaieteur News. Such views as what Lewis penned should not be exposed to young minds. I wasn’t surprised when the UG unions threatened to pull out of the TUC over h i s u g l y, n a k e d a n d sickening support for employer’s dictatorship at UG. I was happy they made that feeling public in the newspapers. From there on, it was clear that this gentleman had no further role to play in the future of Guyana. I hope after the election impasse is over, decent trade unionists will seek to bring democratic leadership to the TUC. Mr. Lewis is nearing his eighties (he should tell us his age; I keep repeating mine in this newspaper and when I am on Kaieteur
Radio) and it is time the TUC has young men and women to lead in what will obviously be turbulent waters in the coming years. I want to leave readers with a few notes and to ask them to juxtapose my societal role with that of Lewis’. Lewis in his letter on me (yesterday in KN) openly claimed that he chose and chooses APNU+AFC over the PPP. I chose none of the two. I voted for Lenox Shuman. Both of these entities have congenital faults, which do not auger for a happy future. Having written this, I see no connection with that thought of mine and the election results. Humans have a right to vote and have their voted counted. Lewis, Claudette Singh, Keith Lowenfield, Roxane Myers and their APNU+AFC masters have no right to determine how this nation should vote and have no right to discard the wishes of more than half of this electorate. I have seen the credible results of this election. The APNU+AFC lost by 17,000 votes. No one in the entire world should be allowed to remove those
results. The PPP won. I didn’t vote for them. I will see how they perform. When they discriminate, I will speak out. When they misbehave, I will speak out. But it is not for anyone in this world to stop the election results. There are three leaders who I believe are ideologically racist – Johnson in the UK, Bolsonaro in Brazil and Trump in the US. But they were voted in. That is the way of the world. That way in Guyana, Myers, Lowenfild, Singh, Lewis and APNU+AFC are trying to take away from Guyanese. Guyanese should never, never allow it. And I don’t think they will allow it. Here now is the exposing of the character bankruptcy of Lewis. He wrote that I criticized Coretta McDonald for being an APNU+ACF candidate. Anyone reading my article on Saturday about Lewis and Mc Donald will see graphically my condemnation of GAWU and Komal Chand b e i n g p a r t o f t h e P P P. Lewis accused me in his repugnant style of (Continued on page 6)
Monday May 04, 2020
The President putting his stamp of command on things DEAR EDITOR, I read of the President making his move and putting his stamp of authority within the reputed stormy confines of his party. Unlike the opposition leader, his party and its people are not at Mr. Granger’s beck and call or his to beat into submission since he has to watch over his shoulder constantly and ward off antagonist almost as much. N o w, a f t e r t h e l o n g e s t deliberation, he has made no bones about letting everyone know - be they internal challengers, general hardliners, or calculating pretenders - as where he stands and where they stand. It is that he is the leader, he is in charge, and he is in full command. A couple of senior men have been rechannelled and find themselves slightly on the periphery of internal power dynamics. That the President has moved against a longstanding squaddie speaks volumes. The same can be said with respect to another veteran from way back, who did indicate that his priorities have changed. Now that rhyme may serve as a sweet cover story to the ears of those who find comfort in giving credence to such sanitized and cosmeticized public offerings. I don’t. A man of that standing does not give up a lifetime of devoted involvement in party politics, due to
circumstances less than endangering, or for the minutiae of dual citizenship, just like that, and particularly at this hour. I am not persuaded. I think that the big man came out on top in whatever clash(es) may have unfolded within the confines of Congress Place. Taken together, the word is-at least, that which a number of outsiders would like to believe, myself included-is that the President is keen and committed to getting this electoral impasse over and done within the cleanest and most credible manner possible. I am all for that and wish him well; I am only that, to be very clear I think, at the same time, the party leader is sending several strong messages to other Machiavellian visionaries with the PNC. The first is: don’t mess with me; the second is: be on your Ps and Qs and be careful with steps and positions; and, last, it is that there are no untouchables. Thus, I sense the longdelayed crack of the whip, the removal of the dissident, and his repositioning for possible further moves on his large board, should circumstances so warrant. As I ponder the developments involving some others, including a rising star within the party also sent out, I consider that more of a strategic arrangement with a
rebound in the making at the appropriate time. War games, they may not be; but definitely, there is a strong scent of chess about some of these personnel rearranging. I saw that as necessary, as a few had bulked up beyond healthy weight limits and overreached dangerously. They tilted the scales of discretion too far into unfavourable and unplayable territory. Now they have been made examples, both internally and externally. I am hoping to read of more such developments, as there is a platoon of the hardheaded and stonehearted, who have been around since day 1 and have outlived their contributions and any utility that they once may have had. In spite of all the technological development and their omniscient capabilities, there was still insistence and dependence on the old Dark Age political practices that yielded so much rewarding electoral fruit in the last century. As today’s realities can attest, those days are gone. So, they must now get with the modern-day programmes that prevail relative to elections or get going. I think that the President did just that with some of his own beloved folk. May better, cleaner times come, as we go deeper into May. Sincerely, GHK Lall
Call me a pessimist but there is nothing in GECOM recount plan to inspire optimism DEAR EDITOR, The wiles of Mingo’s fraudulent Region 4 declaration while GECOM’s Chair hid or was restrained in a room in Ashmin’s building is well documented. Even a court ruling could not get Mingo to use his SOPs in his second declaration at GECOM HQ. Lowenfield by virtue of being CEO has SOPs to show what Mingo’s declarations were yet he had tabulated results using what Mingo presented. Had it not been for threats of sanctions and non-recognition by the
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international community, we would have had a Government that cannot prove it won the elections by releasing its SOPs, ruling over us in the name of democracy. The irony or ludicrousness of GECOM’s Chair and CEO plan to have the APNU/AFC declared the winner is mired in their continued reluctance to publish the go to instrument of proof (SOPs) since the counting of ballots at the place of poll started in 1992. It is clear as day! The hierarchy at GECOM was
prepared to rig the elections for the incumbent Government. Also documented is the agreement between the President and the opposition leader for a recount of the votes, the recount was stymied for a while by the Government through a candidate on the incumbent’s list and a barrage of APNU lawyers. This effort was negated by the appeal court which made it public knowledge that by virtue of Article 162(1) GECOM Chair has the power to “issue such (Continued on page 6)
Too many cunning and deceitful manoeuvring DEAR EDITOR, Many Guyanese at home and broad are quite skeptical of the Recount Plan, which is prepared by GECOM and soon to be Gazetted. This Plan again leaves loopholes for fraudulent overtures and it once again, it seems that some at GECOM are not interested in delivering a free, fair, transparent and credible elections. It would seem that at every opportunity they have deliberately failed to make the timely and appropriate decision to ensure these vital qualities. The GECOM’s Chairperson, being a retired Judge must know fully well the qualities, which are required to ensure transparent and credible recounting of the votes casted over two months ago. During this long and disgraceful period, she had witnessed and heard all the concerns voiced by all the stakeholders including the local and overseas observers and should have been convinced of the need for the recount to be imbued with those acceptable qualities. The ‘decency and integrity’ of the Coalition has taken another nosedive when they did not support the live stream of the recounting process when all the other political parties did. Why are they opposed to this measure if they are honest and want transparency? Will the
security of the persons involved in the recounting be compromised when the Statements of Recount will have the names of the relevant persons? Why is the security of the ‘big’ players such as Lowenfiend, Myers, Mingo and Singh not a major concern? The mumbled and stupid response by Patterson has done nothing to once again erase the now indelible and growing perception that the rigging of the 2020 Elections in favour of the Coalition is drawing closer. Transparency at all levels is a must and I will totally agree with Commissioner Sase Gunraj when he unequivocally stated that, fraud festers where there is something to hide’. This is fully supported by ANUG’s Timothy Jonas. Jonas and Nandlall had further stated that Claudette Singh’s use of Section 90 of the Act to refuse live-streaming is inapplicable. This yet another ploy by the GECOM’s Chair to support the Coalition in their quest to rig. Her ‘flip flopping’ in favour of the Coalition has now become her unique trademark! Another treacherous display of trying to rig the recount is the fact the Carter Center has not been getting the caretaker Government’s approval to fly in for the recount. Why is the Coalition deathly afraid of the Carter Center? The answer is simple. This organization will not
condone any form of rigging or attempts to do so since they had observed what took place during the tabulation of the Region 4 votes at the Ashmin’s Mall. Indeed, the Carter Center has ‘earned the respect of Guyanese citizens and political parties for decades. This should be extended to include the world at large. It must be recalled that it was the Carter Center that observed the 1992 Elections which was won by the PPP and the PNC hardliners were grossly disappointed and had vowed that this will not be repeated. Therefore, this deliberate exclusion will ensure that the electoral fraud by GECOM will go on smoothly since most likely the EU observers will not be here as well. The CARICOM Team is not adequate to say the least and will not be able to thwart or observe all the tricks involved in the recount. The ABCE countries should no doubt question this deliberate exclusion. In conclusion, there will be many more tricks and twists in this recount and all will be the handiwork of the GECOM trio, Singh, Lowenfield and Myers. The recount will be rigged! I have seen too many cunning and deceitful manoeuvring to believe otherwise. I wish that I am wrong! Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf
Do not participate in this Recount DEAR EDITOR, In my humble opinion, what GECOM is offering is not a credible RECOUNT. It is an opportunity to sow confusion and corrupt the original voting results to make it completely unusable and therefore force another election. All political parties, all accredited observers and Caricom should withdraw from participation unless the
following conditions are met: 1. Count only one region at a time. 2. Have present, the polling officers from each polling station to open their box and to answer any queries that may come up during the recount; including declaration if the box has been tampered. If there is evidence that any box was tampered, stop the recount.
Does not augur well DEAR EDITOR, The process is a work in progress and is incompleted. Therefore all key personnel who were present and observed the process from its inception should be allowed to return to ensure a satisfactory completion/ conclusion. However, if due to
COVID -19 their physical presence is not possible, their continued participation can, I am sure, be done virtually. Being denied the opportunity to see to its finality what they were invited to do somehow does not augur well. Shamshun Mohamed
3. Live stream the recount. 4. No GECOM personnel that was part of the Mingo declaration to be allowed to participate. Stand together. Stand firm. In unity, there is strength. Do not participate and give credibility to this recount unless these conditions are satisfied. With regards, Sase Shewnarain
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Time and tide wait for no man DEAR EDITOR, “A fundamental issue to be resolved, therefore, is how to develop for the postelection situation a system of governance which will enjoy acceptance across political divisions” posits Rashleigh Jackson, I would counter that the PNC would be better served in producing leaders who believe in, understand and are willing to work in parliamentary democracy in the future. Guyanese need a strong multi-party system to provide the checks and balances required in a democratic society; the PNC so far has only provided us with wolves in sheep’s clothing; Dictatorsin-waiting. The PPPC and all the other parties have made great strides and concerted efforts to be inclusive to Guyanese of all religions, races and economic classes while the PNC has appealed in the main to one race and one religion,
going so far as to have various Christian denominations declare them ‘anointed to lead’. I know some would be tempted to dismiss Mr. Jackson who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Presidents Burnham and Hoyte as a man whose time has passed, but I believe that the PNC is still trapped in a ‘time warp’ and the thinking of the Burnham era, it is reflected in the choice of David Granger as Presidential candidate and in the refusal to accept democracy is a credible form of government. Only men from olden times will object to the use of cell phones and livestreams during a recount. I envisage that counting in all polling stations will be done with cameras present, recording, and streaming by the time the next elections roll around. Time and Tide wait for no man. The PPPC lost the
elections in 2015 and completed the transition six days after the results were declared; it is not that democratic change in administration does not “enjoy acceptance across the political divisions” instead it is the intransigence of a few who refuse to walk away from the power, perks, and fruits of corruption coupled with their great fear of a life of incarceration when those deeds are fully exposed and prosecuted in courts of law. Jackson and his generation need to allow new ideas and leadership to permeate the PNC. Guyana will be a better place for both their absence and the new thinking that is poised to replace them. In closing Mr. Jackson, it is neither us nor our system of governance that needs to change; it is you and your party. Respectfully, Robin Singh
The Guyanese people remain hostage because of Mingo’s action Dear Editor, Democracy is the right of citizen to pick their leaders. Guyana went to the polls on March 2 to pick a President. More than 2 months later, our electoral body, GECOM, after spending more than $8 billion to ensure a free, fair and transparent election was undermined by a Returning Officer, Mingo, determined to declare fantasy numbers. The money spent, the presence of international and local observers, the diplomatic corps and a Court Order didn’t stop him. The will of the Guyanese people remain hostage to his actions and the inability of GECOM to sensibly resolve chaos caused by his actions. It is universally accepted even by Mr. Granger that the declared results for Region 4 are “problematic” and do not withstand scrutiny. The tabulation process of the statements of polls for Region 4 was not a smooth one. It was so flawed that every observer and even the political leaders of the two main parties agreed that a recount must take place. This recount was agreed upon for more than a month ago but APNU and its Commissioners have raised every possible hurdle and employed every delay tactic possible to not have that recount take place.
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Kaieteur News
The current chapter of delay is promoted by Vincent Alexander who, now all of a sudden, suffering from n rare bout of transparency, seeks to have an electoral audit undertaken instead of a recount. GECOM wants to audit itself is the new mantra. This desire ignores Section 89(2) of the Representation of the Peoples Act (RPA) that expressly states “the returning officer shall not open the sealed packets containing tendered ballots, the marked copies of the official list of electors ... or counterfoils of used ballot papers.” Whilst it is true that the recount is under GECOM exercising its constitutional (Art. 162) and statutory powers and not the RPA the edict of RPA should not be easily ignored. What happens if a polling clerk made an error and did not cross off all the names who voted or was having lunch and missed a name? How is this to be resolved? Do we trust Mingo and his gringos to resolve it? Do we expect Lowenfield and Myers to get an attack of morality and resolve it fairly? The RPA codified the restriction because it was recognised that to do otherwise in a recount would be chaotic and take far too long. The opening of the “packets” is usually under
the authority of a Court in an Election Petition. These restrictions should not be easily ignored. We must recognise that Alexander is only insisting on it because of the confusion it will likely cause and the length of time it will take. Alexander also sought to rely on Section 90 of the same RPA to deny live streaming of the recount. He affords himself the luxury to rely on the RPA when it suits him and ignore it otherwise. To engage in anything except a recount of the ballots allows Alexander and his APNU cohorts to raise all manner of issues relating to the OLE and voters with no dispute resolution protocol in place then the recount process would be rendered paralyzed. But, I’m glad to hear all the APNU supporters follow Alexander in his commitment to transparency and fairness. They can all of course publish their SOPs for Region 4 and also vote at GECOM to do the same ... let the world see. They could allow the Carter Center and all other observers into Guyana and allow them to bear witness. They can also stop holding the nation hostage by proceeding to do an audit in violation of the RPA and count the votes of its citizens. Yours faithfully, Sanjeev Datadin
The quicker you concede, the faster you can rebuild the party to return to government DEAR EDITOR, I voted for the Coalition. But now I have deep regrets given the behaviour of my outgoing President and his colleagues in the caretaker A P N U + A F C administration. By their words and actions, the Coalition lost the election, and it was not even close. It has refused to concede defeat when the whole world knows it lost. If I had any doubt that my party lost the election it was removed based on its behaviour alone after March 3 at the Ashmin building, at GECOM headquarters in Kingston, in the courts, and at GECOM meetings. Why would a party that has won the elections oppose all requests to do the right things? The Coalition has engaged in obstacles in every step of the way to bring the process to a closure and to allow a winner to be declared. And I am afraid the same will be done as an attempt is made to do a recount starting sometime this week. Will my party allow the
process to proceed smoothly and for a proper recount to be completed? Will my party engage in shenanigans and crookedness that was on display during the certification process of the SOPs? Although my fellow Christian men and women of the cloth are silent on the issue of electoral fraud, as a person of the church, I cannot support or close my eyes to bullying and barefaced fraud. I will not be silent when I see a party which I supported and voted for encourage or instruct supporters at GECOM to engage in electoral fraud. I will speak out against my party for violating moral tenets and church ethics and bulldozing its way into office through dishonesty. It is against church teachings to cheat and engage in fraud. I will speak out against it and I urge my fellow church leaders and members of the Christian faith to do the same. My fellow Christian brethren, reflect on what has happened at GECOM and in the courts since the election. Examine your
conscience! Are you not troubled by the fraud that is being perpetrated on the nation? Our silence amounts to condoning fraud. Those who don’t rise and speak against evil are silent participants. And worse, you are silent at a time when God has sent a virus that threatens mankind. Our flocks are under a health threat. What kind of government would we have that is the result of fraud? My Coalition government, I ask as a supporter, why are you putting the nation through this distressing episode? Have you no shame to embarrass your supporters? This is your last chance to allow democracy to prevail and to rehabilitate the image of our party. Allow an expedited transparent recount, don’t tamper with ballot boxes and containers, and last but not least, accept the outcome. We need a strong opposition. The quicker you concede, the faster the party I support can rebuild to return to government in the shortest time possible. Yours truly, Bro. Joshua Emmanuel
Call me a pessimist but there... From page 5 instructions and take such action as appear to if necessary and expedient to ensure impartiality, fairness and compliance with” the election process. Armed with this knowledge - looking back - the public’s perception is that if the Chair was impartial, when Mingo obfuscated from the declaration process, it was within her remit to publish the SOPs for Region 4 and challenge any complainant amongst the contesting parties to address any grievance by comparison of their SOPS and declare the results expeditiously. The truth be told! As the recount is about to be expedited. The opposition would have liked to get the Chair and CEO out of the picture but they are stuck
with them because there is nothing above them in the Representation of the People’s Act. Given the Chair’s complicity or lack of resolve in expediting her duties, when Mingo derailed the transparency of the process, one would have expected the Chair, if she were serious about being impartial about the recount, to make the recount procedure as transparent and simplistic as possible. That did not happen. The Chair’s reluctance to have the recount live streamed is seen as an attack on transparency. Recounting 4 regions simultaneously elevates complexity and chaos. SOPs in the possession of GECOM and all parties were verified by thousands of agents from all
the contesting parties and GECOM staff at all the polling stations across the country. The Chair’s decision not to set aside the declared results, which is mingled with Mingo’s contortion, or replace them by GECOM SOPs before the recount because in her opinion, “there is nothing to replace them”, is in essence telling the Guyanese people that the SOPS for elections 2020 are not credible. Singh’s curtailing of transparency, in my opinion is inviting chaos and her refusal to set aside controversial results, over the recount, is a clear indication that a dictatorship and sanctions are coming to Guyana. I am changing my surname! Rudolph Singh
Lincoln Lewis’ credibility is... From page 4 s u p p o r t i n g a G AWU candidate as part of my support for the PPP. Who in and outside of Guyana believes Frederick Kissoon acts on behalf of the PPP? I haven’t spoken to any PPP leaders except Anil Nandlall for the past ten
years up to Monday, May 4. I am so glad Lewis continues to write his depravities so he could continue to expose himself. Finally, he tells me he is the elected generalsecretary of the TUC. Well I am sure he is. But judging from how
he sees election, as a process to be rigged to stay in power, I am sure his elections mirrored the one that he and APNU+AFC are rigging at the moment. In other words, Lewis and Mingo are the two sides of the same coin. Frederick Kissoon
Monday May 04, 2020
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Kaieteur News
Lopsided Exxon deal shackles Guyana Many essential workers to flawed Local Content Policy With partial lockdown…
struggle to commute to and from work
GCCI President Nicholas Boyer Guyanese have been under a partial lockdown and stay at home order for approximately four weeks. That order has been extended by another month. While essential workers are permitted to work 24 hours, those without their own mode of transportation are finding it challenging to commute to work or to their homes. This is because public transportation operators have to adhere to the 6:00 A.M to 6:00 P.M. curfew. One woman related that she works at a 24-hour pharmacy and she cannot afford to travel by taxi every day. It’s costing her almost as much as she earns. Another essential worker explained that he has to work shifts and he has to travel from the East Coast of Demerara to Georgetown daily. “When I am on the afternoon shift, I don’t leave work until 10 o’ clock. Before (the lockdown), I could go to the park and catch a bus but now I have to wait on a drop or call a taxi and even they can’t work as per normal,” he said. Taxi drivers have also been complaining about being stopped by police ranks and asked to provide proof that they are going to pick up an essential worker. Toney Seelall, a taxi driver attached to a base on the West Bank Demerara (WBD) recalled being turned back by ranks at the Demerara Harbour Bridge even after indicating that he was on his
way to pick up a passenger who works at a media entity. A female caller on Kaieteur Radio’s daily programme “Have your say on Kaieteur”, recently raised concerns about Berbice vendors who need to leave their homes before 6:00 A.M. to transport produce to Georgetown. “We have to catch the market before it done, some of us do wholesale business, but if we leave here at 6:00 A.M, what time are we getting in town? We understand the situation and the police are doing their jobs.” Meanwhile, President of the Georgetown Chambers of Commerce (GCCI), Nicholas Boyer said that the Chamber will be asking its medium and large scale business owners to provide transportation for their employees. This proposal will be made to non-essential businesses as part of the GGCI’s preparations to approach the government for a phased reopening of businesses, which do not fall under the essential category. “ We a r e l o o k i n g a t businesses like Banks (DIH) which has the resources and also stand a great risk when their employees use public transportation,” he said. Boyer added that, “the risk factor is huge with such large scale operations. One infection can be devastating and can spread quickly. So it’s not only about the safety and convenience of the employees but also the business.”
Habits are not the product of one decision — They’re the result of repeated choices that eventually become automatic responses. How can you know your true spiritual condition? By the company you keep and the choices you make. When you’re free to go, where do you choose to go? Whose company do you prefer?
By Kiana Wilburg The very moment before Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman affixed his signature to that Exxon deal; did he really understand the value he would be leaving behind? Did he really review the contract page by page, for clauses that would leave local businesses at a disadvantage? Was he properly advised? These are the questions that surface when one examines the real reason why Guyana would not be able to get the kind of Local Content Policy that receives an A+ grade from industry experts. It all goes back to the deal Guyana has with ExxonMobil and its partners, Hess Corporation and CNOOC/ NEXEN. That deal was recently examined by one of the world’s most revered Energy Lawyers, J. Jay Park, Q. C, during an online discussion on Guyana’s fiscal regime for the petroleum sector. Upon examining the local content provisions in the Exxon contract, Park said he would give it an F grade since the Operator has enough room to avoid giving first preference to Guyanese products and services. In simpler terms, Park said that a local businessman can provide goods but the contractor, which is ExxonMobil, can simply say, “I can find it some other part of the world and get it at a lesser price.” The lawyer continued, “And let’s say you do match or better all the prices in the entire solar system, the contractor can then say, ‘Sorry, I have found a better quality someplace else.’ Then you might say you can also find equal quality and sooner too. But even then, the contractor can say ‘Sorry, I need 10 times as much as what you have and I can get that at another source’.” In other words, the Managing Partner of Petroleum Regimes Advisory and Park Energy Law said that
International Energy Lawyer, J. Jay Park, Q.C
Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman
Energy Department, Dr. Mark Bynoe holding a copy of Guyana’s Local Content Policy. the Stabroek Block deal is not a local preference clause. He said, “It is basically a clause that says ‘Yea, we will buy Guyanese goods that are competitive with everything
else in the world and with every possible factor that can be used.” The lawyer alluded to the fact that it would be virtually impossible for Guyanese
businessmen to compete with the rest of the world for contracts in their own backyard. PERFECT HARMONY Any Local Content Policy that Guyana pursues is inevitably shackled to being in perfect harmony with the poor provisions in the ExxonMobil deal. The proverbial writings were already on the wall when Energy Department Head, Dr. Mark Bynoe had told the nation that due to “legal constraints” in Guyana’s Production Sharing Agreements (PSA), it was difficult to have certain provisions in the document. This was just another way of saying that Guyana cannot get the policy it deserves, because the deal that was signed with ExxonMobil does not give the country and its people the leverage to do so. The provisions in the deal have actually reduced the power of the people and State. Kaieteur News had reported that those provisions which could not be used called for the full disclosure of plans oil companies and their subcontractors submit to the government regarding their use of local goods, skills and services. Since those provisions were thrown into the waste basket, the policy now allows for the responsible Minister to release only a summary of the information received. This is essentially what all of Guyana would have to accept as Dr. Bynoe had clarified that since the contract does not call for full disclosure, the policy cannot do otherwise. There has to be perfect harmony.
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Kaieteur News
Carter Center observers blocked from flight arriving today - Despite Govt. disapproval US State Dept. and OAS want observers here The US Embassy has said that the National COVID-19 Task Force, headed by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo has refused approval for the Carter Center Observer Team to return for the recount of the March 2 ballots. The decision comes even as the ABCE diplomats along with the Private Sector Commission (PSC) called for the team’s presence. The Carter Center Observer Mission had tweeted that they have been trying to acquire a flight to observe the recount of the March 2 ballots but have not been granted permission by the incumbent Coalition. In a statement yesterday, the US Embassy stated that they requested by diplomatic note, assistance in obtaining permission for flights on May 4, 2020 and May 30, 2020. The Embassy stated that it sent a copy of the diplomatic note to the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, accompanied by a request to advance the issue to the COVID-19 Task Force. “We received the usual professional courtesies from all parties, as is characteristic of Guyana’s diplomats and civil servants,” the release said. The Embassy noted that the diplomatic note referenced the observer’s intentions to comply with the COVID-19 testing and quarantine measures. However, they were informed on Saturday that the flight for today (May 4) was approved for U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents and those who wish to return to or transit to their homes, but not the observer team. “The U.S. Embassy was informed on Saturday, May 2 that the incoming May 4 flight had been approved by the Task Force, but not the arrival of the observers,” the statement said. The US Embassy indicated that they have
From left: Carter Center team member, Carlos Valenzuela; Former Prime Minister of Senegal and Co-leader of the Carter Center team, Dr. Aminata Touré; Chair of the Carter Center’s Board of Trustees, Jason Carter, Carter Center team member, Brett. sought reconsideration of this matter with President David Granger “in recognition that the observer missions illustrate the commitment of the incumbent and the international community to a free, fair and transparent recount process.” GECOM COMMISSIONERS WEIGHIN Meanwhile, following the conclusion of a Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) meeting yesterday, Commissioners Vincent Alexander and Sase Gunraj gave their comments on the issue. According to Opposition Commissioner, Sase Gunraj, “a delay in granting approval can sometimes be considered as a constructive refusal of permission to have the Carter Center and I believe, International Republican Institute (IRI), that wish to come.” Commissioner Gunraj did point out that since the elections is not completed, the observers still possess their accreditation, which means there is no need to reinvite them. He noted that the GECOM Chair will send a notice to the observers and the Task Force
updating them on the recount process. G o v e r n m e n t Commissioner, Vincent Alexander, however, stated that there are many sides of the story out in the public domain. He said, “This accusation that they have not been granted permission is not a reflection of what has occurred because the source to which they must have applied for permission would not have been applied to.” CALLS FOR THE CARTER CENTER OBSERVER MISSION TO RETURN Acting Assistant Secretary for the US Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Michael Kozak, Organisation for American States (OAS) Secretary for
Strengthening Democracy Francisco Guerrero along with United Nations Representative in Guyana, Mikkio Tanka, European Union Ambassador, Fernando Ponz Canto and Guyana’s Canadian High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee in separate tweets yesterday all issued calls on the incumbent to approve the flight for the Carter Center Observer Mission to return to Guyana. In his tweet, Michael Kozak said “The United States calls on the Government of #Guyana to approve entry for @CarterCenter and @IRIGlobal in order to ensure a transparent electoral recount.” According to him, “a credible recount requires robust international participation.”
Recount to start... From page 3 “CARICOM High Level team” but a “CARICOM scrutinising team”. This was necessary, explained Alexander, to make it pellucid that the team’s role is not a supervisory one. Alexander stressed also that the team’s role makes it separate from the observers. Alexander explained that the role of the observers remains the same; that they will only observe. The party representatives, he said, will have the privilege of seeking clarification from work stations and making objections. In these cases, the Chief Elections Officer and the Commission may be asked to express their views. When there is a dispute, he explained, there will be a clear line of command. The dispute will be addressed by the supervisor, and if it is not
resolved there, it will move up the line from District Coordinator to Chief Elections Officer to the Commission. Though some political stakeholders had advocated for a sequential count of one region at a time, the Chair has not budged on that matter, Commissioners said. It remains that the regions will be counted simultaneously, starting with Regions One, Two, Three and Four. Two workstations will count Region One; two will count Region Two; three will count Region Three; and three will count Region Four. The Order for the recount is expected to be gazetted today after some minor adjustments are incorporated. GECOM meets at 9:30 this morning to finalise decisions on live streaming, as well as the order.
In Francisco Guerrero’s tweet, he stressed that “All international organizations accredited to observe the elections in Guyana should be allowed to observe the recount.” “A transparent conclusion to the election is fundamental to rebuild public trust,” he noted while stating that the OAS observer team will continue to observe on the ground. UN representative Mikkio Tanka in her tweet said “The @UN hopes for the timely return of the Carter Center @CarterGuyanaEOM to #Guyana to fully participate in the observation of the national recount and to help bring speedy and credible closure to the 2 March #GuyanaElections,” High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee’s tweet expressed similar sentiments. “I hope Guyana will allow them to return to complete their task. @CarterCenter has earned the respect of Guyanese citizens & political parties for decades.
@CarterGuyanaEOM” The Private Sector Commission also issued a call for the Carter Center Observer Mission to be present. In a release, the PSC noted that they are aware of the valuable contribution of the Carter Center to democracy and free and fair elections in Guyana for more than 20 years. “The Carter Center is an accredited observer to the March 2020 election which remains incomplete until the declaration of the results,” the PSC said. Further, they pointed out that the foreign observers were invited by the President to participate in the 2020 elections “by virtue of Section 3. (1) of the Representation of the Peoples Act after consultation with the Chairman of the Elections Commission. They stressed that, “it is now the duty of both the President and the Chairman to facilitate the early return of the foreign observers by issuing such instructions and directions as are necessary.”
Kind hearted citizens... From page 2 visit the family and send me photos of their situation.” He added that, “when I saw their situation, I knew I had to do something, so I asked for their permission and they agreed so I posted the photos and a live video on social media literally in tears asking for help for this family.” Ramlall further stated that the very day he and a few others were able to put together a hamper for the family. A few other individuals then said they were willing to assist to build a home for the La Roses. “In less than a week, the construction of the home began,” Ramlall said. The new home will soon be painted and furnished. Others are assisting in setting up a farm. “I take no credit, but give gratitude to all those who contributed to this cause. Today, because of the kindness of these folks, a family now can sleep comfortably.” When asked why he undertook this initiative, Ramlall said, “This is the Guyana, I want my children to grow up in, where there is love for mankind; where kindness is a habit. I believe kindness has a ripple effect. I teach my children to be kind to everyone; in fact, my daughter went from wanting to be a doctor to being a humanitarian.”
Monday May 04, 2020
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Kaieteur News
The Carter Center should be granted permission to return The final script has not yet been written in the ongoing saga of Guyana’s 2020 General and Regional Elections. The latest twist in the tale, as at yesterday at 16:00 hours was that the government had not granted permission to the Carter Center representatives to return for the recount. It should be recalled that it was the Government of Guyana which invited the Carter Center to observe the 2020 General and Regional Elections. The Center did not
come on their own accord. The Center, which was founded by former United States President Jimmy Carter had indicated that it was willing to return for the recount. In its departure statement on 20th March 2020, the Center said, “The Carter Center remains committed to its mandate to observe the entirety of the electoral process and remains on standby to return to Guyana.” It is now being denied such an opportunity. The United States
Embassy has reportedly escalated the request for the Center’s return. It has asked for a review by President David Granger. He is likely to grant it because he is the person who agreed to a recount and who had invited the Caricom team to scrutinize the process. The government has always seemed willing to play a “good guy”, “bad guy” role when dealing with contentious issues. The good guys always end up cleaning up the mess that the
Dem Boys Seh
Soldier Bai will get swear-in by Mingo A man name Bernie Madoff pulled off de biggest Ponzi scheme in de world. He con he investors of more than 65 Billion US dollars. He now spending de next 150 years in de jail. He had a sidekick in de Caribbean name Allan Stanford, this was de same man who love cricket and lots of ladies by he side. He had he own Ponzi scheme too. He rob nuff of dem cricketer of de dough he promise dem. He spending de next 110 years behind iron bars. De whole world know that Madoff and Stanford are
both considered international gangsters. But, dem boys seh, nuttin’ Madoff and Stanford do can compare to de cockishness wah gon tek place this week. It will mek dem Ponzi schemers look like small-time pickpockets. Dem boys seh de die cast. De mischief gon be as clear as a sunny day. It gon be a second round of barefaced trickery, cheating and scampishness when de recount start. De stage set fuh de biggest heist in de world. A whole election gon get thief, fuh de second time.
Dem boys gat a name fuh it. Dem call it “transparent rigging”. Dem boys seh de riggers don’t want livestreaming nor cellphone at de recount. Dem want a secret operation. Well, dem boys seh, since dem wan do things in secret, den dem should save demselves all de trouble and swear-in Soulja Bai. Dem can ask Claw-dette and Mingo fuh do de honours. Who knows de A, B, C and E countries maybe just bluffing. Talk half and wait fuh de kuhfuffle and de sanctions.
“bad guys’ created. We saw this happening when the COIVID-19 Task Force initially demanded that the members of the Caribbean Community be quarantined for 14 days upon arrival in Guyana. The President intervened and overrode this directive. The same is expected in the case of the request for the return of the Carter Center. But even if the President denies the permission, it does not mean that the Carter Center cannot complete its observation of the elections. There are independent persons, from Guyana, the Caribbean and Latin America, who can be asked to stand-in for the team. The Carter Center once had an office in Guyana and it would have had a network of contacts who it can request to observe the recount on its behalf. There are still at least two former Chairmen of the Guyana Elections Commission who are resident and present in Guyana, at the moment who can be asked to fill in for those who have been denied
entry. There are high-level former Prime Ministers and former President and former Foreign Ministers from the Caribbean and Latin America who can be asked to do the same. It should be recalled that the Commonwealth Observer Mission was headed by former Barbadian Prime Minister Owen Arthur and the OAS Observer Mission was headed by former Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding. When the Carter Center first came to Guyana in the run-up to the 1990 elections, former Prime Minister of Belize, George Price was part of its team. In 2015, former Foreign Minister of Barbados Dame Billie Miller was part of the Carter Center’s Observer Misison. In 2001, former Barbados Prime Minister Erskine Sandiford was part of the team which observed those elections for the Carter Center. It would be an embarrassment to the COVID-19 Task Force and to
the Government were it to deny entry into the country of distinguished personnel from the Caribbean and beyond. The present denial by the government of permission for the Carter Center is likely to be interpreted as it having something to hide or planning to do something which it does not wish the outside world to see. The Carter Center is not a partisan organization. It is a highly-respected international organization which has observed elections all around the world. It has an excellent track-record in this regard. A government which has nothing to hide would encourage the return of the Carter Center. (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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Monday May 04, 2020
Kaieteur News
THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN
The crisis has sapped the mental energy of the APNU+AFC leadership The mind is bottomless. It is capable of genius, mystifying explanations, complex logic, mesmerizing heights of thinking. Sadly, the mental energy of those in control of the APNU+AFC leadership has evaporated. After this crisis is over, the credibility of so many people will disappear (see my reply to Lincoln Lewis in today’s edition of the letters’ section), never to be regained because the election depravities would have left a permanent taste of revulsion in the young generation of Guyana. David Granger obviously will suffer an inordinate
amount of declining respect. He is the head of the APNU/ AFC outfit. He is the custodian of the strategies and plans that the APNU+AFC have invented to confront the crescendo of criticisms over the two months of barefaced tampering with the election results. It gets worse for Granger with the coming of each day. The banalities, stupidities and inanities descending from the heads of the APNU+AFC leadership are destroying the mental faculties of that collective leadership. The longer the election
mess continues, the more is the reason of those who are concerned about the mental health of the mandarins inside the PNC and AFC to be worried. I don’t believe anyone in the current leadership of both the PNC and AFC have any experience in how to handle a huge crisis as what the PNC and AFC are caught in. What happens then is that with each passing day, nerves are frayed, the equivalent to writer ’s block becomes morbid, and the capacity to reason sensibly is stultified. No diaspora supporter of the PNC armed with their fancy university degree from
Berbice River boat accident victims suffered multiple injuries - PM report Romario Denhart
Marvin Kissoon (Captain of the vessel that was charged for possession of narcotics. Post Mortem examinations which were conducted on the bodies of the four men whose bodies were fished out of the Berbice River last week revealed that they sustained multiple injuries prior to drowning. The autopsies were conducted by government Pathologist Nehaul Singh. Kidman Lindie died from drowning compounded by multiple injuries while Julian Mckenzie and Godfrey Denhart report showed that they died from multiple injuries as well. Denhart’s son, Romario Denhart died from a fractured spine.
The bodies were handed over to the relatives for burial. According to reports, the four men were in a boat in the vicinity of Friendship Village, some 50 miles up the Berbice River when another vessel with five men crashed into theirs. The collision reportedly caused both boats to capsize with the occupants inside. However, Denhart, his son, Mckenzie and Lindie reportedly never surfaced. The men in the other boat managed to re-enter their vessel and they left the location without assisting or searching for the missing
Godfrey Denhart - VICTIM
men. Police later arrested the captain for that vessel Marvin Kissoon. He led investigators to the other men who were with him at the time of the collision. The police also confiscated a quantity of cannabis. The men were charged with possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking. Kaieteur News was informed that the police were awaiting the post mortem results of the dead men to seek further advice in the matter.
Julian Mckenzie - VICTIM
esteemed universities could believe what their leaders told the world on Saturday. Here it is – they cannot and will not support live streaming of the recount because the GECOM employees doing the counting may not want their identities to be revealed to the public. I have absolutely no respect for Claudette Singh and hold inflexibly to two beliefs; one is that she is one of the most unacceptable humans this world has produced and two, this country has a moral duty to sacred values to have a judicial inquiry into her conduct with a view of prosecuting her if the evidence points in that direction. But even Singh came up with a presentable pretext in rejecting a transparent recount. She cited the law. The leaders of PNC/AFC cited a fiction that they pulled out of thin air. Commonsense should instruct these autocrats that if you are going to use the GECOM counters as your plan to foil the live streaming process, then you produce their requests for rejecting the live streaming. The PNC+AFC boy scouts not only did not think of that but the analogy used was overloaded with asininities.
I have been using the term, asininities quite often since Mingo started the first act of asininity to describe the stratagems the PNC and AFC have been using to tamper with the results. Since Mingo’s overripe mangoes fell to the ground. I honestly feel it is an appropriate description. I ask readers to reflect on the analogy of David Patterson and tell me if this is not a manifestation of asininities. Patterson asked if it is not wrong to go to people’s work place and film them. How could one liken the re-counting of the votes in a national election by a constitutional body with the full support of the contesting parties and international observers, friendly countries and the nation as a whole with cameramen barging into people’s work place and filming them? How could any sensible human liken live streaming of the national election tabulation of a country with intrusion of the privacy of employees? I just hope the educated people who support the PNC and AFC and who endorse the rigged 2020 poll so their party can remain in power do not accept those asininities that
Frederick Kissoon Patterson submitted. Surely, Forbes Burnham must be turning in his grave and wondering what idiots he left to carry on his nefarious acts of rigging elections. There is of course an explanation for everything in life as the medieval philosopher of the Holy Roman Empire, St. Aquinas, once insisted. The reason the PNC and AFC do not want live streaming is because plans are already laid down to confuse the recount. This columnist is insisting that logical deduction based on two months of rigging tells me that the recount will show a defeat for the PNC and AFC will not be accepted. Why then make the loss so obvious by showing it live on people’s phones so the world can see? The PNC and AFC will not concede election loss. (The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper)
Items stolen from Lethem’s quarantine facility returned – SUSPECT HELD Police have arrested a suspect in connection with the theft of several items from a building that is to be used as a COVID-19 quarantine facility in Lethem (Region Nine). Region Nine’s Regional Executive Officer (REO), Carl Parker, said two refrigerators, two gas stoves, two 30-lb gas cylinders, one washer and dryer, and a ceiling fan were initially reported stolen. The washer, ceiling fan and one of the gas stoves were recovered. Police have detained a suspect, who claims to have no knowledge of the theft. REO Parker explained that given Brazil’s rapid increase in novel coronavirus cases, officials decided to renovate the old malaria eradication building and use it as a quarantine facility. Lethem lies on the Takutu River, which forms the border with Brazil. Parker noted that to date, Lethem has not recorded any case of COVID-19. However,
he assured that the Lethem COVID-19 Committee are closely monitoring the situation. He appealed to residents to cease from illegally crossing the border and commended neighbouring villages for working together to limit traffic through their villages and to prevent illegal crossings. Aishalton, Annai and St. Ignatius are among those villages. According to REO Parker, there are approximately 300 Venezuelans in Lethem who have been identified as the more vulnerable population in the region to novel coronavirus. “Due to the absence of permanent jobs and residency, our Spanish neighbours are constantly on the road seeking any means necessary to provide for themselves and their families,” he said. The REO said the Lethem COVID-19 Committee is working with the Chairman of the National Toshaos’
Region Nine, Regional Executive Officer, Carl Parker Council (NTC), Nicholas Frederick, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Customs, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and other establishments to mitigate the illegal crossing issues. Parker thanked the police and army for their diligence and hard work as they grapple with enforcing curfew and illegal activities. He urged all residents to adhere to the Ministry of Public Health’s safety guidelines.
Monday May 04, 2020
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Kaieteur News
GUYANESE HORROR FICTION KAMARANG…
Another Visit from a Dead Lover He couldn’t sleep. His wife was already in dreamland…tables turned on the man who liked to joke about sleeping peacefully, because he had a clear conscience. But I cleared my conscience eighteen years ago... So why this persistent image of her; all day, seeming to smell her on himself, to the point where he’d tried to remember if he had accidentally brushed against any of the female staff; the smell even in his car, along with this sense of agitation and urgency. All through the hectic day, this thought of Loretta Hamilton intruded; through the little speech he’d made at the retirement send-off for one of the secretaries; during the firing of an office assistant; even during a visit
by a group of Chinese technicians… He’d come home and done a little weeding in the garden, just to clear his head and take off a little energy so he would sleep soundly… And he had dropped off into a doze, only to have her follow him there; not the dismembered Loretta of a few nights back, but the one he had seen that day in Vergenoegen. They were
standing on her front porch, though, she with a frown of anxiety, twisting those long, elegant fingers together. In his dream he had thought: but isn’t she supposed to be dead? He hadn’t asked her, that would have been impolite. But she had sensed his thought, and her agitation had grown, and she had seemed about to say something, when he woke. He stared at the top of the mosquito net, envying his wife, snoring softly nearby. What is it, Loretta? Why are you tormenting me? And who the hell are you talking to, Lionel Jones? Your son… What? Your son! Now this is stupid, this is really, really stupid, Lionel; you did this same nonsense the other night. But he was seeing that
anxious face, and his heart was thumping, and he got out of bed. He pushed Michael’s bedroom door, and there was Michael, lying cross-wise on the bed, in deep, untroubled sleep. Light on, net up, two open books on his bed. He should wake the boy up... No, let him sleep…Michael would wake eventually and put his net down. See, Loretta? Nothing
wrong…now please leave me alone… And here he was, assistant general secretary in a major company, and a Christian to boot, talking to a dead woman he’d dreamed of. Still, as he closed the door, he sensed his dream woman’s agitation, sensed her saying that all was not right, and now he was thinking that maybe if he opened his mind, just opened his mind, for once, but he wasn’t brought up that way, those things were of the Devil; the dead didn’t communicate with the living. Open your mind to those things and maybe anything could slip through... What was that book Michael had…You Forever? He’d flipped a few pages and there was something on astral travelling…of one’s spirit roaming while one slept; it had bothered him that Michael
was reading that sort of stuff. But what about dreams? The Bible was full of dreams in which… In which angels visited the sleeping. Angels, not the dead… And the Bible warned about indulging spirits… He wished his mother was here. She would have clouted some common-sense into his head, and read some scripture. He could almost see her stern countenance,
almost hear her: Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God… With a sigh, he went back to his sleeping wife, who was cold at him for some reason, while another woman, long dead, tormented him for no reason he could discern. * Michael awoke from deep sleep, blinking from the sudden glare of the bedroom bulb. At first, he thought that it was near dawn, somewhere around five, and he stifled a groan at the thought of having to go to work. Yet he sensed that something was different about this dawn. For one thing, his mosquito net wasn’t down, he was lying crossway on his bed, and what was his light doing on, anyway? He propped himself up in bed. Now he heard music outside his bedroom. It was an instrumental version of My Favourite Things. And that, too, was strange, because that was the theme for the programme Music to Remember, and Music to Remember came over at— He stretched towards the ledge by his bed for his watch. He squinted at the time in disbelief. Nine o’clock? Nine P.M? … And now some of his fuzziness cleared and he remembered. It was nine P.M. He’d already worked for the day. But he had come home early, because he’d felt so awfully tired… Now bits of the day came back to him. He had awoken this morning with the drained feeling that had bothered him last week; dragged up from deep sleep by his mother’s insistent rapping at his door. He had gone through the rest of the day in a fog of exhaustion. He had left work around three, caught a car home, bolted down his dinner, tumbled into bed… And had apparently slept for six whole hours. Michael yawned, then smiled ruefully as he thought of his bitter-sweet meeting with Lucille. It all seemed so unreal, as if it had happened to someone else. Had they really talked about a dead boy named Leon? Had she really wept on his shoulder? Made love to him in her lamp-lit room? He touched his chest, his fingers lingering over a spot where she had bitten him deep. Now he realised that he was ravenous, too. He went downstairs to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Two loaves of bread, a nice slab of Dutch-head cheese, an open pack of C&F salami. He’d have to eat the salami cold; warming it up would only alert
Cover design and illustrations by Harold Bascom his mother that he was raiding the fridge. He made four salami and cheese sandwiches, mixed a mug of Ovaltine, and was heading back to the bedroom, when something on the kitchen table caught his attention. It was a copy of the Citizen. The large black headline at the top seemed to jump out at him. SKELETONS OF MISSING WOMEN FOUNDAT KAMARANG… He stared at the paper for a moment, then picked it up and returned to his room. He sat on the bed, reading as he ate. He read the story twice. His tiredness was gone. The story had a dreamy, sinister ring, an element of something vaguely familiar. He thought of Lucille, sitting on her bed, eyes filled with tears. I would never hurt you, Michael... And despite his dread, he now felt a yearning to see her; whatever, whoever she was. He’d seen her only last night, but now he missed her awfully. The light was off in his parents’ room. So was the radio. Just for an hour. It would be just like those times when he felt restless and went for a midnight run. …Running … that was something he hadn’t done in ages…but he could see Lucille tonight, and then get back to working out, and his studies… But now he heard a stirring in his parents’ bedroom. Heard his father clear his throat. Now the door opened, and he heard his dad’s heavy tread, heading towards the inner stairs. The footsteps stopped momentarily, and his father, as
was his habit, tapped his hands once on the banister, then headed downstairs. After a few minutes, Michael thought he heard the toilet flush. Shortly after, his father came back upstairs. The tap of palms on the banister, and Michael waited for him to go back to bed. Instead, to his consternation, he heard his father head for the living room…heard him sit in his favourite chair by one of the windows. His dad, like himself, was a late-night reader. He recalled seeing him, a few days ago, with a Louis L’Amour novel … Down the Long Hills or something like that. He threw himself on the bed in resignation. He’d just have to wait another night. It was for the good, really. He couldn’t let this thing control him. Exams were a few months away and he— He caught a whiff of her smell on his pillow. He had brought this scent home with him last night on his fingers, on his lips, on his clothes. He pressed his face to the pillow. Just for an hour…. No! One hour… But that would mean that he would have to wait until dad went back inside. He knew the old man’s reading habits. He would be at it for maybe an hour and a half, nod off, the book would maybe drop to the floor, and he’d wake and go to bed. So, what to do in the meantime? Well, he could comb his hair. His afro was in a mess… He found his afro comb and went to work. He looked at himself critically after. Not bad…but he felt itchy…needed a bath. He Continued on page 16
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Monday May 04, 2020
Kaieteur News
...Another Visit from a Dead Lover
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From page 15 could spray on some cologne…no, that might alert the old man. Underarm deodorant would have to suffice... Only thirty minutes had passed when he was finished. But now the sound of his dad’s occasional shifting in the chair had ceased. He walked cautiously to the door, drew the blind aside. His father was already in dreamland; feet on sofa, head back, book on the floor. His father was asleep, and he was sneaking out to meet a girl who the old porkknocker said wanted to kill him; he himself knew that this thing with Lucille would not end well, wake up dad, wake up man, help me, help me, let us talk, alright dad? I am so sorry, dad, I am coming to talk to you… Instead, dressed in a pair of Buffalo jeans, a white teeshirt and windbreaker, and with the spare keys in his pocket, he sneaked past his tired father, down the stairs, into the night. * Tonight, though, as he stepped into the doorway, he was gripped by the feeling that something was different. It was so intense that he paused at the foot of the stairs, trying to figure out what was wrong. Usually, he would hear the tinkling of glass, and the women’s shrill laughter from the stairs. Tonight, though, there was just a strange tension, and something in his heart told him he had made a mistake in coming.
Some of the stragglers glanced up as he entered the hallway. He sensed a wariness in their stares, and that, too, was different. Desmond the barman was passing a bowl of ice to the prostitute called Marilyn. He glanced up at Michael. For a moment, he just stood there, holding the bowl and staring at Michael, with a pasted-on smile on his face. Then he passed the bowl to the prostitute, who was babbling away at the barman. She collected the bowl, turned, and saw Michael. She averted her eyes, then hurried over to a table near the punchbox. The prostitute had been acting weird around him since that embarrassing night with her friend, Abby. He turned back to the bar. “Yuh visiting late tonight,” the barman said. Again, he sensed that the man wasn’t pleased to see him. “Just passing through,” he said. He ordered a beer, though he didn’t really feel like drinking. He stole a glance at the corner near the bar, wondering if she was there. “She upstairs in she room,” the barman said. “Ain’t come down for the night.” He looked at Michael as if he wanted to say something more. Instead, he headed for the freezer, then returned with Michael’s beer. Michael waited for him to break into his usual banter. But the man just sat on his stool, sipping his beer
and scowling. The barman’s manner made him feel uncomfortable, so he shifted away and stood bracing the rail. He scanned the crowd, picking out a few familiar faces: a thin, middle-aged prostitute he’d seen a few times; a chubby, bearded man who was an ex-government Minister. There was no sign of the pork-knocker. A drunk who had been slow-dancing by himself was now peering into the punch-box. He pressed a few buttons, then resumed dancing as Helen Shapiro’s husky voice singing Somewhere Beyond The Sea filled the old brothel. Michael smiled, remembering that first time. She had gone over to the punch-box and selected this song. Then she had returned and just sat there, that wistful, far-away look in her eyes, a half-smile at the edge of her lips….and why was he standing here when she was upstairs? He took one last sip at his beer, put the half-empty bottle down on the counter, and saw that the barman was staring at him. “You really dig that woman, nuh?” Michael stared at him, saying nothing, but the barman nodded in drunken understanding. “I know how yuh feel.” He glanced towards the corridor, then leaned forward, dropping his voice. “But buddy, take a tip from a old whore-monger: you n e e d … t o stop…coming…here.” Staring at the barman, Michael felt an aura of malevolence around him. It was so intense that he glanced around. He caught Marilyn staring at him from her table. She averted her gaze and made a pretence of refilling her glass. He turned back to the bar. “Why you telling me this?” He realised that he, too, was almost whispering. “Because…” Again, that furtive glance towards the corridor. “Because you just need to, friend.” “Why?” But now the barman picked up a rag, and began to wipe the counter; keeping his eyes riveted there. Michael looked at him, then, with a sigh of frustration, shifted away from the bar. And though every instinct told him to leave, he found himself walking down the corridor, the barman’s warning, and Helen Shapiro, echoing in his head… * DESMOND THE BARMAN watched the boy disappear down the corridor. He sighed in frustration. He really should have told the boy what they
were saying about him and the girl, and her freaky aunt. And now some of the girls were no longer coming around, and those who still came, no longer wanted to stay the night. Just when things had seemed to be picking up. A damn shame! He had wanted to prove that this place wasn’t blighted. She was going to give him another two pennyweights at the end of the month. He didn’t want it. He just wanted her gone. That aunt or grandmother or whatever, too. He’d had some really messed-up nightmares lately, and he was not the only one. I can’t sleep here anymore. From tomorrow, I shutting up at midnight, sending everybody home, and bunking somewhere else. And after the month ends, I am collecting that two pennyweight and I am out of here. Tonight was really the last straw. At around eight-fifteen he had heard a scream that seemed to come from that top flat. Or had he? He thought he had, and something had drawn him up those dark, creaking stairs; his torchlight and his damn chopper left underneath the counter. And even before he reached her door he heard heavy breathing. It sounded like the deep, ragged breathing of a woman who was either in pain or being wellromanced. But he knew that no man was with her. Mingling with that breathing was a thin, cracking voice, and he knew that he was hearing the woman with the twisted foot, and all the hairs on his body stood on end. He was thinking, to hell with this nonsense, and was turning to leave, when he stepped on a loose board. The breathing stopped. The silence was more frightening, so he had called out: “Everything alright in there?” After moments of silence, a voice that sounded nothing like the girl’s answered: “Everything...is...alright.” He was no coward, but he was glad to leave it at that. (Taken from the supernatural novel Kamarang by Michael Jordan. Book design and illustrations by Harold Bascom.) Copies of the illustrated edition of Kamarang are on sale at Austin’s Book Store, and on Amazon (Kindle and paperback) The author can also be contacted for autographed copies on +592 645 2447 or by email: kmarangnight@gmail.com)
Monday May 04, 2020
Kaieteur News
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Kaieteur News
NFL: League on track for full season starting on September 10
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew (15) throws a pass under pressure from Houston Texans outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus (59) in the third quarter during an NFL International Series game at Wembley Stadium. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo)
Monday May 04, 2020 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Today you might find that a long-term dream finally comes true. Perhaps a publication you respect wants to pay you for your writing, photography, or graphic design.
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Some rather depressing information could come your way, Libra, but it might not be as bad as it seems. Check the facts before making drastic decisions based on a partial picture.
TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) Some strange and rather gloomy dreams could come your way tonight, Taurus. They could, if you let them, catapult you into a rather depressed mood during the day.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Gloom over money matters might catch up with you at some point today, Scorpio. A little caution might be in order, especially regarding impulse buying or purchasing luxuries.
GEMINI (May 21–June 20) A lack of communication with an unhappy family member could have you feeling a little downhearted. You might wonder if you've done something to offend this person. CANCER(June21–July22) Professional, creative, or financial advancement could be on your mind today. You might try to visualize the next steps and anticipate tasks that take more effort and concentration than you're used to. LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) You might decide to spend a large part of the day working on a project that requires a lot of mental energy. Plans to spend some time with either a close friend or lover might not turn out to be quite what you'd hoped. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) A friend who is in a gloomy state of mind may reach out to you today, Virgo, and likely need some cheering up. Do the best you can: actively listen and lend them your compassion.
SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Today you might find yourself feeling a little low, but it doesn't seem as if there's any real reason for it. You may just have had a bad night and need some extra sleep. CAPRI(Dec.22–Jan.19) Old memories, traumas, and phobias from the past could affect your mood today, Capricorn. You might feel depressed without really knowing why. AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) A friend might be feeling a little depressed today and need some cheering up. First: listen to what's bothering them without minimizing their feelings or lecturing them on how to fix it. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Pivotal career matters may need to be thought through today, Pisces. A lot could be at stake at work or in your home in the coming weeks. Whatever tasks you need to tend to could require a lot of effort and concentration.
(Reuters) - The National Football League (NFL), the only major American sporting league so far largely unaffected by the coronavirus outbreak, says it is on course to begin its season on time in September. “We plan announcing late next week the full regular season schedule that begins with Kickoff on September 10 and culminates with the Super Bowl in Tampa February 7, 2021,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an email to Reuters. Each team is expected to play 16 regular season games
as per usual, though the league is evaluating contingency plans should this prove untenable, multiple media outlets have reported. It is yet to be announced whether fans will be allowed to attend games. While other major sporting leagues, including the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB), have shut down due to the coronavirus, the NFL has been able to buy time before making any major
decisions. Its season ended in early February, shortly before evidence of a major coronavirus outbreak in the United States became widely known. Some areas of the U.S. are now starting to emerge from lockdown as rules are relaxed even as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rises in some states. Last week’s NFL draft attracted record U.S. television ratings in a country starved of live sporting action.
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Monday May 04, 2020
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Duplantis, Lavillenie settle for tie in garden pole vault challenge
General view of “The ultimate garden clash” with France’s Renaud Lavillenie, Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis and Sam Kendricks of the US following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in various locations in this screengrab taken from a YouTube video, May 3, 2020. (World Athletics/Handout via Reuters) (Reuters) - Former Olympic pole vault champion Renaud Lavillenie of France and Sweden’s world record holder Mondo Duplantis shared the spoils in the Ultimate Garden Clash, despite competing in locations 8,000km apart during the COVID-19 lockdown. Along with American Sam
Kendricks, the trio attempted to vault 5m as many times as they could in 30 minutes in a format they devised together, connected via a live video link streamed to fans on the social media channels of World Athletics. Kendricks attempted the challenge in Oxford, Mississippi, Duplantis was based in Lafayette, Louisiana
while Lavillenie competed in his back garden in ClermontFerrand, France. Duplantis took an early lead before Lavillenie caught up while Kendricks tried to pace himself. By the end of 30 minutes, Lavillenie and Duplantis had both cleared the height 36 times while Kendricks only managed 26. “I’m done, I don’t want to
France’s Renaud Lavillenie in action during “The ultimate garden clash” from his home, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Clermont-Ferrand, France, in this screengrab taken from a YouTube video, May 3, 2020. (World Athletics/Handout via Reuters) take any risks. I’ll share the gold with Mondo,” Lavillenie said. “I was really missing the feeling I get competing. “It’s crazy but even doing this in my garden, I get the same feeling I’d get at a major championships. It was very exciting and I’m very happy to be a part of it. I’m not going to do it every week, but I’m happy to do it once a year.”
Duplantis, who set the world record mark of 6.18m earlier this year, wanted to go on for three more minutes to break the tie but eventually decided to settle for the shared victory with the twotimes Olympic medallist. “It was really fun being out there competing against those guys,” Duplantis said. “I had really missed
competing. I didn’t think it was going to end in a tie, but that’s sports.” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe lauded the initiative and said he hoped there would be more such events during the lockdown. The global governing body said they were exploring the possibility of holding similar events in the future.
MotoGP News: Eager F1 ace Hamilton had to be restrained during Rossi ride swap
Lewis Hamilton (right) rides his Yamaha MotoGP YZR-M1 behind legend, Valentino Rossi on his MotoGP YZR-M1 Monster Energy bike last December. (motorsport.com) Autosport - Yamaha MotoGP boss Massimo Meregalli revealed it had to “stop” an eager Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton from going out on track too early during his ride swap last year. Following the conclusion of the 2019 MotoGP and F1 seasons, Monster Energy - a major sponsor of both Hamilton and Yamaha organised a ride swap between Hamilton and Valentino Rossi in December in Valencia. Hamilton got to ride a MotoGP bike for the first time, while Rossi drove the 2017 Mercedes which carried Hamilton to that year’s F1
title. In an interview with Autosport, Meregalli recalled how eager Hamilton was to get going - to the point where he had to be stopped from going out on track too early due to the dangerously low circuit temperatures. “Well, it was a nice day,” Meregalli said of the ride swap event. “They thought it was just a promotional opportunity, but it wasn’t like that. “Vale was put in the position to do some good practice shifts at the wheel of the Mercedes. “He [Hamilton] showed
up to the circuit very early and we had to stop him because he wanted to get on the bike at 9am, but it was cold. “Then we had to change all the programme, because Vale arrived a little late and they wanted Lewis to get on the track as soon as possible, but we told him that in Valencia in December before 11am was not possible. “Having lost those two hours, then he tried to run as much as possible.” A keen biker and lifelong MotoGP fan, H a m i l t o n ’s t r a c k d a y experience prior to that day was limited, with his most recent outing coming at the
Lewis Hamilton (left) and Valentino Rossi during their ride swap series last December. end of 2018 at Jerez on a Ya m a h a R 1 w i t h Wo r l d Superbike duo Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark. Hamilton suffered a small crash during that particular outing, and reportedly had a small off during his MotoGP run. But his performance on the bike impressed Yamaha
bosses then, with Meregalli admitting that day did nothing to “hurt him”. “He had ridden a motorcycle only eight times before getting on a MotoGP bike, so in my opinion what he did didn’t hurt him,” Meregalli added. “Then it is clear that we tried to put [the bike] in the
best conditions, with a wet [engine] map and with tyres that were not the ones we normally use, also because we could not use them by regulation. “It was windy, it was cold, so the conditions were not ideal, but he stopped only when we showed him the chequered flag.”
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Kaieteur News
Game of Thrones star ECB and CWI hold ‘positive’ talks Hafthor Julius Bjornsson sets on rescheduling West Indies tour new deadlift world record
Bjornsson celebrated the record like a boss (Picture Youtube) (MetroUK) Game of Thrones star Hafthor Julius Bjornsson has set a new world record by deadlifting 501kg (1,105lbs) at his gym in Iceland. The Icelandic strongman, who played the Mountain in the smash-hit HBO series, broke the previous record held by Brit Eddie Hall. It has taken four years for someone to beat Hall’s effort, with Bjornsson lifting just 1kg more than his rival. The coronavirus pandemic meant Bjornsson had to attempt the world record at his gym and seek official recognition for the lift as it was out of competition. Magnus Ver Magnusson officiated the deadlift after two successful warm-ups at 420kg and 460kg. Bjornsson, who has one World’s Strongest Man title, was elated after he managed to break the record. He said: ‘I’m absolutely speechless, so happy and thankful.
Blessed. Everything went according to plans, I’m over the moon. ‘I believe today I could’ve done more, but what’s the point? I’m happy with this.’ The world record attempt attracted controversy and Bjornsson is now eager to settle his rivalry with Hall in a boxing match. ‘Wow… something new and big,’ Bjornsson said when asked what was next. ‘Core Sports just offered me a seven figure contract, which is the biggest contract of my life. I’ve signed it already. ‘Eddie Hall has been running his mouth for two weeks now and I now that he got the same deal. ‘So Eddie, I just knocked out your record, and now I’m ready to knock you out in the ring. ‘Time to put your fists where your big mouth is and sign the Core Sports contract. ‘I’m ready. Are you ready, Eddie?’
Motivation key to focus in COVID-19 lockdown, says Gabriel PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel says motivation is key to remaining focussed during the current lockdown caused by the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic. “It can be frustrating, preparing and training and not knowing when you will be playing again,” he told the Express newspaper here. “Everyone wants to go out and play. For me, some days are different. Some days you are upbeat for training and other days, you have to find some way to motivate yourself to put in the work and effort. “My family keeps me motivated and [strength and conditioning coach] Ronald (Rogers) also keeps me on track, and I know that at some point in time the work will pay off so it is just to keep at it and be persistent.” The 32-year-old has not
played a competitive match in nearly eight months as he recovers from ankle surgery last November. He was hoping to be available in the late stages of the domestic first class championship but the coronavirus outbreak forced the cancellation of the last two rounds of the 10-round competition. Gabriel, who has snatched 133 wickets from 45 Tests, said the absence of competitive matches would afford him even more time to become fitter. “I have also been doing some band-work and some stuff in the pool as well and some resistance training, and I am also doing some work with Ronald at the moment,” he explained. “It is not really a setback. Although I wanted to play [first-class championship], I now have some more time so I will not have to rush myself back to play. It gives me more
time to recover and more time to ensure I am fit and ready for the next opportunity, whenever that comes.” He continued: “Right now, I am just trying to keep myself ready and try to give myself the best opportunity to perform, so I’m just trying to stay ready mentally and physically. “The opportunity will come to play cricket again, whether it is for West Indies or club cricket so you just have to be prepared for that call.” Gabriel has emerged as one of the linchpins of the West Indies pace attack in recent times, forming a formidable combination with captain Jason Holder and Kemar Roach. The Trinidadian is currently ranked 19th in the ICC charts to be one of three Caribbean speedsters in the world top 20 along with Holder (3rd) and Roach (11th).
ESPNcricinfo Representatives from England and West Indies, including Test captains Joe Root and Jason Holder, have been involved in “positive ongoing discussions” about rescheduling their forthcoming series, the ECB has said. West Indies were due to arrive in the UK this month ahead of a three-Test tour, but that has now been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The English season is currently on hold, with no cricket planned before July 1 and the ECB working on contingency plans to try and fulfil its international fixtures once lockdown restrictions are lifted. CWI chief executive Johnny Grave has previously outlined how the series could be moved to July. That would have involved a clash with the Hundred, but the ECB has subsequently put back the launch of its new tournament until 2021. Any moves to put on Tests behind closed doors will need the approval of the UK government, however. Meetings with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport were held during the week, with the ECB
understood to be taking a lead role in assessing the viability of “bio-secure” venues for the resumption of professional sport. On the cricketing side, Root and England’s coach, Chris Silverwood, took part in a video conference with their West Indies counterparts, Holder and Phil Simmons. “Positive ongoing discussions with the ECB and CWI continued on Friday,” an ECB spokesperson said. “Both boards were represented including captains, coaches, administrators and the chief medical officers from the respective boards. “Discussions were wideranging including dialogue around revised schedules and COVID-19 medical and biosecurity planning. “Meetings will be ongoing over the next few months to reach an outcome of when international cricket could potentially return. This is a long and detailed process and is very much in the early stages of planning. The guidance from the government will emphasise what we can do.” CWI has also kept the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) in the
loop on the England tour. CWI and WIPA had a call on Wednesday and both parties committed to have more discussions on the possibility of the tour going ahead. Speaking in a recent interview with Caribbean TV channel CNC3, Holder said that all sides were involved in a “waiting game” but hopeful of a positive outcome despite ongoing worries about the coronavirus. “We’re still sitting back and waiting. I just think it’s a situation where we’re all monitoring the situation over in England, particularly in Europe as well,” Holder said. “I’ve seen a few things in other sports where they’ve pushed the schedules back and not having fans … but it’s a waiting game. We can only sit tight and hope and pray we resume some type of normalcy in the not-too-distant future. “This thing has been really, really serious, as we all know, and has claimed quite a few lives throughout the world, and that’s the last thing any of us would really want. I think we’ve got to play the safety card first before we can even think about resuming our normal lives.”
Michael Jordan turned down $100M to appear at an event for 2 hours, Former Agent says People - Michael Jordan has largely kept himself out of the spotlight since his retirement, even when offered appearance opportunities with immense payouts. The NBA legend — considered the best basketball player of all time — once turned down a startling sum of money when he was asked to appear at a two-hour event, his former agent revealed this week. On Wednesday, David Falk, 70, appeared on WFAN’s Boomer and Gio, where he shared an example of how particular Jordan was about signing onto projects, regardless of the price tag. “I brought him a deal three years ago for $100 million. All he had to do was, other than giving his name and likeness, make a one two-hour appearance to announce the deal and he turned it down,” Falk explained. “God bless him,” he continued, going on to praise Jordan for putting so much thought into the projects he
Michael Jordan turned down $100 Million to appear at an event for 2 hours, former agent says. chooses to be involved in. “He’s been so successful, it gives him an opportunity to do whatever the hell he wants or not to do things he doesn’t want. I really admire that. He’s very, very selective in the things he wants to be involved in,” Falk added. The famed athlete
recently made his way back into the public eye with The Last Dance, ESPN’S documentary on Jordan‘s final season with the Chicago Bulls. The 10-part series takes a look at the Bulls’ historic 19971998 season — the team’s last season with legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson — which was filled with uncertainty and drama but culminated with the team winning its sixth championship of the 1990s. Though Jordan, 57, is undoubtedly the focus of the series, it also features behindthe-scenes looks at other key figures of the iconic team, including Scottie Pippen, sharpshooter Steve Kerr and bad-boy Dennis Rodman, who famously dated Baywatch star Carmen Electra during the 1997-1998 season. The documentary’s first two episodes aired on April 19, with two new episodes of the series continuing to air every Sunday at 9 p.m. EST on ESPN until the finale on May 17.
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Monday May 04, 2020
Kaieteur News
Tallawahs set for hurt if Jamaica feels they disrespected Gayle SportsMax The Tallawahs management last week rejected Chris Gayle’s attack on them over his exit from the CPL franchise but the Jamaica-based entity is doomed to failure if the fans don’t buy their story. Gayle labelled Assistant Coach Ramnaresh Sarwan a “snake”, “vindictive” and “despicable” as he ripped into retired Guyana and West Indies batsman and the “politics” he said triggered his departure from the Tallawahs. On the ropes after Gayle’s verbal blows, the Tallawahs issued a terse press release that was too tame to be taken seriously, then stiff jabs by Andre Russell and Sarwan’s Gayle rebuttal 24 hours later hurled the issue into more confusion. The Tallawahs top brass says omitting Gayle from the Tallawahs 2020 CPL roster was made purely on business and cricketing reasoning but the “business” reasoning seems seriously flawed. Sabina Park attendance is critical to the franchise’s commercial success and we’ve already seen how unattractive a Gayle-less Tallawahs is to Jamaican fans. Not to mention the possibility of a calculated match boycott in solidarity over any perceived disrespect of a local star, as we’ve seen before in Caribbean cricket. In April 1992, Barbadians pointedly shunned the historic one-off Test at Kensington Oval against South Africa because an anticipated debut was not given to local boy Anderson Cummins, who at that time enjoyed probably a mere 5% of the immense popularity Chris Gayle commands in Jamaica.
Chris Gayle Gayle was visibly hurt in his YouTube outburst as he lashed the Tallawahs and Sarwan. It was, to me, an unprofessional display by a giant in modern-day cricket but the new age of communicating with fans probably made it easy for him to go that route. His rant though, not only badly tainted his ex-West Indies teammate Sarwan but also soiled Chris Gayle and cricket’s image. The Jamaica Tallawahs were – based on Gayle’s account – hugely at fault for not communicating with him honestly that they weren’t interested in retaining him for the 2020 season and absolutely nothing in the Tallawahs’ press release refuted Gayle’s charge that CEO Jeff Miller and Owner Krish Persaud failed to inform
him that he was not in their plans for the upcoming season. Gayle, now 40 years old, felt betrayed by an organization that gave him their word and went back on it. Gayle made only a passing mention of this, but it’s also instructive that Miller chose to speak directly with Gayle instead of the standard route of going through his agent. It is very easy for me to deduce that the Tallawahs’ request – according to Gayle – to take not one or two but three pay cuts, may have been a strategy to frustrate him away from the franchise since they were not brave enough to confront the bighitting superstar-about releasing him from the deal. I understood fully the Tallawahs being “disappointed” over the way Gayle went public and I agree
with their position to “much rather have had these discussions in private” but that is under normal circumstances and clearly Gayle did not consider the circumstances normal. He felt he was dealing with a group that he could no longer trust. Did this Jamaican franchise ever consider that Gayle would have needed time to pursue other options if he knew he wasn’t with them? It was on deadline day that Gayle said he was called, not by the Tallawahs, but by a CPL official who did not see his name on the list! Because of Gayle’s monumental record as a T20 batting star and crowd puller, the St Lucia Zouks snapped him up immediately. Gayle could have been left out-ofcontract for the 2020 season because of the Tallawahs’ non-communication. I am not interested at this point in addressing Gayle’s scathing and toxic references to his “former” friend Sarwan, nor the rebuttal coming from the 39-year-old Guyanese that he had no part in “the decision or the decisionmaking process” in not retaining Gayle. A lot was said in the narrative from both men and at this stage, it’s one man’s word against the other. Both very wounded by actions of the other. Cricket lost in that exchange. I became aware very early in my career as a broadcast journalist that while fans worship sporting heroes because of the unbridled joy they generate, these successful men and women on the field of play are human beings like us. They have imperfections, character weaknesses and
limitations that adoring fans will hastily gloss over in standing behind them in times of controversy. The Jamaica Tallawahs may have been in a position regarding Gayle as some Big Bash and IPL franchises had reached, where his stocks had declined over time, so Gayle being at a crossroad in franchise T20 cricket is not new. He had not been a part of Australia’s Big Bash since 2016 and his IPL standing had been shaken ahead of the 2018 season. Gayle’s career had been highlighted by some tremendous seasons with Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore, including 2012 when he topped the IPL’s batting charts with 733 runs at an awesome 61.80 average and 2013 when he averaged 59.0. But after two moderate seasons, 2016 and 2017, when he averaged a mere 22.7 and 22.2, RCB were no longer interested and he almost went unsold ahead of the 2018 IPL campaign. The King’s XI Punjab bought him and he showed in 2019 he still had shots to fire with a 40.83 average. As a privately owned franchise, The Jamaica Tallawahs has to make its own decisions. Under Chris Gayle’s leadership last year, the team played very poorly and finished last with eight defeats in their 10 games. He averaged a moderate 24.30 and his 243-run tally was No.2 on the Tallawahs batting list behind the New Zealander Glen Phillips (374). By Gayle’s own admission, there was turmoil in the camp as referenced in his caustic YouTube address
admitting that he “flipped” in a “very heated meeting” ahead of the last CPL game that “almost got physical”, clear signs there of a dysfunctional team setting. The scale of the clash with Gayle suggesting players were “making fun of the Universe Boss” and mocking him “in front of the younger players” could be interpreted as team damage that’s irreparable. So, If the Jamaica Tallawahs managers believe that going forward without Gayle is a step toward rebuilding, it is their right, but it should have been done professionally, certainly more skillfully given what Gayle represents to Jamaican cricket fans. The current world leader in T20 cricket Andre Russell has also jumped in, accusing the Tallawahs of poor communication while angrily announcing he is quitting the franchise after the upcoming season scheduled to start in August. The CPL has been sold to the Caribbean public as an event with huge economic benefits potentially to the territories, but the truth is that team owners have been struggling over the years and the Tallawahs are heading for even tougher times. This is not to suggest that the Tallawahs franchise cannot flourish without Gayle because he would have to go at some point, but Gayle’s absence has negatively affected CPL attendance at Sabina Park in the past and that effect would be escalated if the fan perception is that the T20 batting Phenom was disrespected by the Tallawahs owners and management.
Froome fears Tour de France may struggle to keep fans away AFP - Chris Froome fears Tour de France organisers could struggle to prevent fans gathering to watch the race even if it is not open to the public because of the coronavirus. The Tour de France has been rescheduled for August 29 from its original June 27 start date, but there are still concerns about how to organise the event amid the pandemic. The French government says no mass gatherings can take place before September,
but has clarified the Tour could still go ahead on its new dates if the opening stages are managed correctly. However, Team Ineos rider Froome, a four-time Tour de France winner, believes it will be hard to control whether crowds turn up. “For sure we can put the race on without people standing on the roads and fans in that sense,” Froome told former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen on an Instagram Live chat. “I mean, we can put on the
race and it can be broadcast on television. “You’re not going to get the same scenes as you would get going through these tunnels of just people everywhere and all the rest of it. “Maybe that’s the version of race we need to see this year. I don’t know. “In theory, we can put the race on but I think the bigger question is would the organisers be able to keep people from actually coming out and gathering in large
crowds? I think that’s the bigger question.” Froome, 34, missed last year’s Tour de France after suffering serious injuries in a crash. He has been hitting the gym every day during lockdown to try and replicate what he would be doing this time of the year in preparation for the Tour. “Some days I’m even doing up to six hours sitting on the stationary trainer - big days,” he said. “Obviously I’m coming off the back of a big injury now as well. “A lot of the training I’ve been doing up until this point has been indoors already, so it’s almost prepared me in a way for this whole lockdown period.”
Chris Froome is concerned about the Tour de France potentially going behind closed doors. (AFP / Giuseppe Cacace)
Kaieteur News
Monday May 04, 2020
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GFF President Wayne Forde shares info on a few pertinent questions even in these challenging times Question- With Concacaf signaling its intention to establish a Caribbean Professional League, by setting up of a study group, how would this influence the GFF’s work to improve structure and Management of local Clubs? Wa y n e F o r d e - A sustainable Caribbean Professional League that is modeled from the unique circumstances of the Caribbean Football reality, would be the realization of a shared vision of the CFU Member Association family. I wish therefore, to commend President Montagliani for following through on his commitment and to assure my colleagues, that as a member of the Concacaf Competitions Committee – I will do my utmost to contribute to the work of the sub-group. As it relates to Guyana’s Football – let me be clear, the GFF focus is on investing in the professional management of the game and NOT on developing of a professional League. We simply do not have the fundamental building blocks at this time, for a sustainable professional League. Any professional football model – that has to be heavily bankrolled by the GFF, will not be sustainable. In addition, to this model being unsustainable, it will also consume vast amounts of finances and other critical resources that are badly needed for the cultivation of a sustainable model for Yo u t h D e v e l o p m e n t Programmes, Coaching Education, Referees development, Capacity Building, National Team programmes, Infrastructure development projects etc. these are the fundamental priorities that the GFF must remained focused on for the next four to eight years. Until then, the National football machinery must remain focused on helping Regional Associations and Clubs to get better at organising football competitions at a consistently good standard, developing a better registration and data management systems, developing a marketing, CSR and PR platform and facilitating technical
Wayne Forde President GFF development of their Coaches, officials and most importantly – their players. We have to remind ourselves that globally, professional football is played by professional Clubs, with the financial resources to fund their operations. In Guyana and like most of the CFU region – we do not have professional Clubs. This is mainly because of the scale of Guyana’s economy at this moment in time. T h e Tr i n i d a d professional league is a good example of what is required to create the semblance of a professional football League. Despite Trinidad’s relatively strong economy and corporate community– the League exists ONLY because of a Government grant that is used to pay the players as part of a social programme geared towards crime reduction. This is not the Guyana reality. At the core, the GFF role is to build management capacity at the Club and Association level, by providing training programmes for Club management, competition management, Marketing, Coaching, providing football equipment and supporting infrastructure development projects. This is what we have been doing at an unprecedented rate over the past four years. However, this alone is not sufficient and will not have a lasting impact unless the elected Leaders at the Club and Regional Associations, e m b r a c e s t h e i r Constitutional obligations with commitment and dedication. The GFF will be establishing a membership department in the very near future, which will allow us to be closer to our members and work with them to develop solutions to the challenges
they are or might be facing to implement their programmes. Question -What additional steps will the GFF be taking to improve the competitiveness and quality of the Elite Leagues and Association Leagues? Wayne Forde - The investment that is presently being made in Coaching education will continue to influence the quality of the players we are producing as is evident in our youth National teams international performances. However, what is critical but difficult – is to replicate the quality of Coaching that is taking place in the National teams programme, across Guyana. The Academy Training Centre (ATC) programme will help with this, but in order to really see the returns on these investments, we have to do more in educating the Coaches in every Club across Guyana – from the hinterland to the Coast land. Beyond the technical development programmes, infrastructure development, having the right tools and equipment – we need the Coaches and administrators to be more committed to lifting the standard of football within their respective operational jurisdiction. “The game itself is the best teacher” with that being said, is it extremely important to have football played consistently at all levels across the country. This is where the GFF will be focusing its attention and resources over the next four years. We will be working tirelessly to strengthen our existing partnerships and establish new partnerships to support a vibrant annual competition calendar. Question - We have seen many new programmes and changes during the period of your tenure as President of the GFF, has this contributed to the structure of local football and what will the future of Guyana look like in four years? Wayne Forde - I believe the evidence firmly supports a bright future for the game. While we continue to grapple with some inherent challenges at both the National and Regional levels, the body of work of
my administration has laid a solid foundation for the future of the Sport. The restoration of the GFF’s image within Guyana and throughout the Regional and Global community is in particular a personal source of pride. I believe the fraternity’s departure from the wasteland of political turmoil, to a more progressive footballoriented posture, is a marked accomplishment that should never be taken for granted. Politics is inevitable in football but it must remain as a seasonal phenomenon as we had witnessed in the run up to my reelection in November.
Wayne Forde (left) and Concacaf Rep Marco Leal
The future of Guyana’s football is inextricably connected to the future of our Country and while COVID 19 has reminded us all of the simple things we took for granted, I remain extremely optimistic that Guyana will emerge out of this crisis as one of the strongest economies within the region. In more specific terms, on the National front; our goals for the future are; the completion of GFF National Training Center at Providence, completion of the GFF Football Complex at Durban Park, improving football facilities across the country, making football equipment more affordable
and accessible, increasing the number of qualified Coaches and being able to fully execute our National Football Calendar among others. Finally, much of this will not be possible without the support of the entire football fraternity, Corporate Guyana and the Government of Guyana. On the international front, we would like a second appearance at the Concacaf Gold Cup, I would like to see our youth teams advancing beyond the group stage of regional competitions consistently and the Golden Jaguars qualifying for the 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP.
World Athletics fund to assist professional athletes World Athletics, together with the International Athletics Foundation (IAF), late last month launched a US$500,000 fund to support professional athletes experiencing financial hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic. World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, who also chairs the IAF, said the fund would be used to assist athletes who have lost most of their income in the last few months due to the suspension of international competition while the world combats the global health emergency. Established in 1986 to support charitable causes involving athletics, the International Athletics Foundation, under the Honorary Presidency of Prince Albert II of Monaco, has allocated resources from its budgets for 2020 and 2021 to assist athletes in need through this process. Coe will chair an expert multi-regional working group to assess the applications for assistance, which will be submitted through World Athletics’ six Area Associations. Head of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), Aubrey Hutson, welcomed this initiative and vowed that his body will do all that is possible to ensure that Guyanese athletes get to benefit as much as possible from the fund. Hutson further highlighted that, “Quite a few of our athletes who are out of college and
Aubrey Hutson President of AAG have taken up athletics as a career, we consider them as professionals as well. I’ve already began contacting a few athletes in relation with this World Athletics funding and we (the AAG) are trying to see how we can assist them. We are trying to ascertain how the coronavirus has affected them and their plans they would’ve have for 2020.” “To this end we will put forward our report to World Athletics to see what can be done for our athletes but before that, we are trying to broaden our base to get in contact with as many athletes because the last thing we want is to make a submission then leave somebody out.”
Joe Root and Jason Holder have been involved in discussions about West Indies’ tour. (Getty Images)
rt o p S
Motivation key to focus in COVID-19 lockdown, says Gabriel
ECB and CWI hold ‘positive’ talks on rescheduling West Indies tour
Fast bowler Shannon Gabriel.
Game of Thrones star Hafthor Julius Bjornsson sets new deadlift world record
Hafthor Julius Bjornsson powers to the 501kg record like a boss. (Picture Youtube video grab) Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd., 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown. Tel: 225-8458, 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/226-8210.