Kaieteur News

Kaieteur News

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Sunday May 16, 2021

Kaieteur News Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL - Tel: 624-6456 Editor: Sharmain Grainger Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

EDITORIAL

A year and a half old oil-producing nation

A

year and a half after this country’s much hailed ‘First Oil’ moment, numerous Guyanese still wonder if this grand prize is a mirage and when it is ever going to convert to meaning and substance for them. Massive money numbers are thrown around by political leaders, but there is a noticeable absence of meaning for citizens in the kind of quality of living experienced. There is surely much remedial work to be completed before we can think of progressing. This is traceable to the 19-month political, electoral and leadership quagmire, including five months of a transparent attempt to rig the results of an election, that prevailed, as well as the now over a year-old pandemic that shows no sign of abating. In addition, to those must be added the accumulations of all the years of squandering, through the extravagant pilfering by one political group and inner circle after another. Having said this, and acknowledged so, we still put this before our fellow citizens, to make them think. The foreign companies keep coming, and they are making a financial killing from the inception. Reportedly, hundreds of them are interested in doing business here. They only stir to do so, when they are assured of rich profits; otherwise, there is merely lukewarm reaction, if any at all. They are mostly Americans, who first skim the cream (all of it) and then carry away the milk, which is their just reward for the democratic inspirations that they laboured so intensively to deliver here. Second, while the Americans and Europeans, the new waves of the 21st century model of voracious colonisers, reap the rich crops, many Guyanese are still straddling the lines of stifling poverty, chronic crime insecurity, acute political venality, and individual, family and communal dependency. Third, this is most evidenced in two realities: quality jobs and quality of life standards. It would be interesting in the thousands of jobs promised by the government, how much of such represents a net change on the upside with employment, given all these commercial arrivals, and the related flurry of investments, projects, and activities. Fourth, our local blue chips are careful to position themselves sensibly, and operate quietly under the radar, so as to evade unwanted attention; but they are in the hunt, and they are picking up lucrative partnerships and business opportunities. It is local content harvesting for the top notch, old-line firms and names, and seemingly automatically. The ordinary Guyanese man and woman, eternally expectant, are left on the margins, as usual; and with disappointments and yearnings the norm. Moreover, we have heard about several billion-dollar (U.S.) projects and borrowings, for factories and plants and housing and much more. Yet we are still to hear anything of one squatting area regularised, one depressed area (or slum) that has been rehabilitated. Or one place earmarked for prioritisation as a model of where some of the fruits of all this borrowing and activity and visions are materialising. Instead of such political and leadership idealism taking hold, there is a new and unprecedented set of circumstances now at work in Guyana. First, there have been the discoveries of billions of barrels of oil and oil equivalents, and the fevered excitements they trigger. Next, there is this sudden and unfamiliar availability of billions of U.S. dollars in free-flowing funding, which prompts borrowing of those many easy billions. The combination of the two (billions of barrels and billions in available loans) has served to unleash market forces of a kind and variety never encountered here before. There is the traditional corruption by agents of the state, elected and selected, but nowadays, in the heyday of oil, there is this costly new strain involving much siphoning off in premarket and other underhanded contractual dealings. The fingerprints and modus operandi of known political players are there for those who care to dig deep. It is why they

Use oil revenues to create a social welfare state DEAR EDITOR, The World Bank, in its 2020 report “A Pivotal Moment for Guyana: Realising the Opportunities” (written with Guyana’s oil wealth in mind), counsels that Guyana must establish a s a p r i o r i t y a “comprehensive social protection system.” The current system, the Bank tells us, in case we did not notice, requires major reforms to expand coverage and enhance its impact. Such talk normally evokes the more complex idea of the social welfare state. A more complex idea, if as here we understand “social welfare” not to simply mean social assistance (as in the US), but to mean the ideology or the philosophy that all citizens should be guaranteed as a right an acceptable minimum livelihood regardless of how they fare in the market place. So understood, the social

welfare state ensures that, for instance, single mothers can upkeep their families, malnourishment of children must not result from low household income and the young in rural Guyana can afford to leave home and attend college. The Guyana social welfare state therefore should be set up to ultimately achieve several goals: (i) elimination of the causes and consequences of poverty, (ii) fostering of social inclusion and social cohesion (all must be able to participate in society and economy), (iii) the building of national identity and pride (derived from the collective selfworth that we care for all in our land), and (iv) leveraging the social welfare system as investment in promoting sustained national economic growth (to illustrate: a wellnourished child is likely to develop into a more

hide and break dance unsuccessfully. Moreover, we have been hearing that hundreds of foreign companies are interested in coming here to do business, which is to be expected. But from our perspective, this is not so much about exploration and production, as much as it is about a full-fledged occupation, an upstream and downstream oil grab. In the convulsions of deal making, what we have is an army of capitalist mercenaries, whose only loyalty is to money. Guyanese should not be surprised if a former U.S.

productive adult than a malnourished child). So, what would it take to convert Guyana into such a social welfare state (similar to other resource-rich countries such as Norway, Denmark, and Kuwait)? Several factors are required to various extents, such as: (i) a national consensus and political culture that embrace the idea that—whether as a moral obligation, a core right of citizens, a constitutional duty, or compliance with international human rights conventions—every citizen must be guaranteed three things (to borrow from the English historian, Asa Briggs): a sociallyacceptable minimum standard of living, inclusive of a minimum income; social protection to help overcome emergencies and adversities (such as a job loss); and the provision of welfare at the best level possible. This

commitment must be ingrained into the psyche of the nation and must be sacrosanct regardless of changes of government; (ii) Lots of money. A social welfare state is expensive, but our oil wealth now makes it possible. In this regard, it must be embedded into our national consciousness that, one, oil and the wealth it creates belong to the people and not to the government of the day. Two, an oil-funded social welfare state is a distributive process: i.e., from oil companies through government to the people. It therefore avoids the political and economic obstacles inherent in a redistributive process, one that taxes welloff citizens to give to poor; and (iii) mechanisms to buffer against revenue fluctuations and to save for future generations (a nod here to our Natural (Continued on page 59)

Secretary of State does not wing over to lobby for the big names. Somebody has to call things as they really are, and we have been doing so more than everybody else. Our peers prefer to go along to get along, if not hoping also that some sweet incentivising will be coming along their way, too. It could be from an appreciative government, or a pleased foreign entity. To all this, the ordinary Guyanese is unconscious, from all this, he is the one left out: always hoping, still waiting.

Sunday May 16, 2021

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Kaieteur News

Preserve our environment DEAR EDITOR, Fifty, Sixty, Eighty, A hundred, Two hundred years ago, the “developed countries” sacrificed the environment and nature at the “altar of development.” Nature must make way for development, they said. Then we started to cry

about global warming, the ozone layer, etc. Part of that sacrifice was the human sacrifice as various people were enslaved, indentured and impoverished to make that happen. Today, the rest of the world, with Guyanese politicians in the lead, is

asserting their right to destroy nature at the altar of development. Forest deals are coming, mining deals are ongoing, oil exploitation deals have and are being made. And the Government gives Exxon the RIGHT TO FLARE or PAY-TO-FLARE. And the

impoverished classes sink lower. Flare, cut, burn away nature. What a legacy we leave for our children of these Guyana lands 50 years from now, compliments of our generation’s politicians blinded by greed and corruption.

We will carve a headstone in to last for 200 years. Upon this stone will inscribed the names of Granger, Ali, Jagdeo, Trotman, Harmon, Edghill and others in a list of those who, in the name of development, led the destruction of our Children’s future for their

short terms gains. Let the future know that not only plutonium bombs made massive destruction, but those who refused to learn from history and became worse with sustained destruction. Flare on. Sincerely, Dr. Yog Mahadeo

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Sunday May 16, 2021

Kaieteur News

The Greatest Victory of all Times DEAR EDITOR, May 9, 2021 marks the 76th Anniversary of the victory over Hitlerite fascism in Europe and the end of the Second World War. That victory came at a very great cost to the peoples of the World, particularly the people of Europe. The amount of persons who died has never been correctly known. A conservative estimate puts it at almost sixty million people. The Soviet people, particularly the Russian people, faced the brunt of the aggression and lost some twenty-seven million souls. It was a bloody and destructive war. Apart from those who died, the destruction and the sufferings were just terrible. Millions of people were displaced. Some starved to death as happened in the hero city of Leningrad, which was under siege for more than 900 days. Cities such as Minsk, Warsaw and Berlin were

almost totally destroyed; very few buildings were left standing. The victory of May 9, 1945 not only came at a very high price, it had a powerful impact on International relations. Democracy was saved in Europe from the vicious fascist dictatorship. That victory moreover laid the foundation from the end of Colonial domination. India and China were the first to put an end to their Colonial and semi-colonial status. That was followed by sweeping victories in Africa, first Ghana in 1957 and Nigeria in 1960 and later the Caribbean. New International Institutions arose to try to see that such wars would never happen again. The United Nations is the most important of these. Over the years, despite problems and setbacks, it has done a great job in trying to keep our world safe. It has

succeeded over the past 76 years to do so. At this very moment, we are struggling to end the Coronavirus that has spread throughout the world. The role of the World Health Organisation (WHO), an arm of the UN is very central to our efforts. C l e a r l y, h u m a n k i n d owes a lot to the Allied forces that defeated the fascist. However, we must acknowledge the leading role of the Russian and other Soviet peoples in breaking the back of the fascist. The heroism of these people, their sacrifices must never be forgotten. This is important since there are very few people who are alive today that experienced that horrible war. The world leaders of today have all been born after these horrific events or were infants. Naturally, memories are fading. The lesson of those

times seem to have been forgotten. Many of the pledges made after that war are now being forgotten or just lost over time. A this very moment we see news coming out of Israel where Palestinian people who lived in East Jerusalem are being forcibly removed from their homes where they lived all their lives, to accommodate Jewish settlers. Israel a state created in 1948 has become an Apartheid state and is using fascist methods against the native Palestinian people. The Gaza Strip and the West Bank are really just open prisons, reminiscent of fascism in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. At the global level, we see the dangerous spread of weapons of mass destruction. We are cynically being told that these weapons are keeping the peace! How crazy can the world become! The fact is these weapons have created an atmosphere

of terror. It is a drive for world domination. On the one hand and on the other those states that are determined not to be dominated have acquired these weapons or are trying to acquire these deadly weapons as protection. This is obvious madness and the “peace” we have is due to the balance of terror! Not real peace. As memories fade, greed has grown. Today the arms manufacturers are making trillions of dollars. A casual glance at the military spending of the top ten countries in the world show how much of the world’s resources are being wasted on these weapons. These corporations have very strong links at the highest levels of governments and are incentivised to instigate wars, local and regional wars, while keeping a large part of the world frightened. The arms race goes on! To keep up this madness the peoples of the world are conditioned by the mass media to believe that such weapons are in our interest. How cynical can we get? For instance, before the collapse of the Soviet Union we were told that communism was the problem. Added to this is the deliberate attempt to minimise the importance of that war for our world. In the drive to demonise Russia, war Memorials honouring the heroic feats of the Red Army Soldiers are being pulled down in Europe. These acts are criminal and are minimising the importance of

that victory. Thus downplaying the horrors of war. Well, ‘communism’ in Eastern Europe has collapsed. Russia and the former socialist countries of Europe are all capitalist states now. Yet the arms race has become more intense than ever before. Clearly, the problem was never communism. As President Dwight Eisen, however warned us as far back as 1960, we must beware of the growing power of “the Military Industrial Complex” which was influencing every aspect of life. His warning apparently has not been heeded. The Military Industrial Complex has succeeded to spread its influence throughout the world. New enemies are constantly being created to justify more military spending. However, it is not too late for the peace-loving and democratic forces throughout the world to make their voices heard. We must stop this madness, this waste of scarce resources, this drive that is pushing the world towards a nuclear disaster, threatening all life on earth. We must demand Nuclear Disarmament now while we pursue total disarmament. That would be the greatest tribute, the best way to honour the lives of the millions that were lost to defeat fascism and to uphold freedom and democracy in our world. Yours faithfully Donald Ramotar

T N U L B . . . T B N U T L N T B . U . L . L T B . N . U . N U T L N B . U . T . L N T U N B . N U . L U L LUNT. B . T . . T T N N B U B . U . L . L T B . B . . N . . . T U T L N N T U U L N L B U . B . . L . . . T B T . . N . N T U L N LU B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . NT LUNT...B NT...BLU N U L B . . B . U . . T L . N T B . . U N . L N T B U N . . L . U T L B . . N B . . . T U . L N T B U . . L . Exxon is facing a serious UN T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . challenge against its T B U . . L N . T B U . . L . company’sN excesses Tthe B U UN .BLUNatenvironmental . . L . T B . . . highest T U . L N . T B U . . L N . level while we here bend T B U . . L N . T B U . . L . over backwards toN facilitate T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . the breach of our own T and regulations. B . . L LU ...BLUNlaws . T B . . N . T U L N T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B U . . L N . T B BBLU T...BLUN BLUNT... ...BLU . T . N . N T T U L U L N L B U T...BLU U B . L . N . B T . . . N T U N N N L U U U B L . L B T LUNT.. UNT...B BL B Sunday May 16, 2021

Kaieteur News

Guyana’s regulatory framework for environmental protection against the oil industry continues to be a three-card shuffle.

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Sunday May 16, 2021

Kaieteur News

Brazil demands 25% Local Content in building …says vessel must also be designed FPSO using Petrobras’ long term strategy One of the Brazilian’s FPSOs in the Stabroek Block.

Neighbouring Brazilian oil and gas giant Petrobras, has signed a US$2.3 billion contract with Keppel Shipyard in Singapore, to build a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel— the seventh unit to be installed in the Búzios field, in the Santos Basin.

The contract was inked on Monday last between the two parties. Under the provisions of the arrangements entered into by the Brazilian State Oil Company, Petrobras, a requirement enshrined in the public pre-qualification document says the contract foresees compliance with Local Content of 25 percent, with services to be executed in Brazil, through a partnership or subcontracting of national companies. Announcing the contract, Keppel Offshore and Marine (O&M), Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chris Ong, remarked that the development aligns, “with the transformation plans which we had announced, where not all of the work will be done at our yards.” He said too, “we are excited to partner with industry leaders like Hyundai Heavy Industries Company Ltd. (HHI) and DORIS Engenharia in Brazil, harnessing our complementary strengths and enabling Keppel O&M to expand our turn-key offerings across the value chain.” He noted too that at the same time, “we are able to utilise our global network of operations and bring a sizeable amount of the work to Brazil, generating thousands of job opportunities for the local eco-system.” Additionally, the Brazilian state company in putting together its request for an FPSO indicated that the supply of the FPSO must result from the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracting modality and from Petrobras’ strategy of developing new projects for its own platforms.

This is to be done, incorporating the lessons learned from the FPSOs already installed, including contracting and construction aspects. According to a Petrobras’ statement on Monday, the vessel boasts a processing capacity of 180 thousand barrels of oil per day and 7.2 million cubic metres of gas per day with the platform scheduled for delivery in 2024. In a separate statement on Monday, Keppel O&M said, the value of the contract is estimated to be around $2.3 billion. The builder said that Keppel O&M would fabricate the topside modules for the vessel, weighing 43,000 metric tonnes (MT) at its shipyards in Singapore, China and Brazil, as well as undertake the integration and commissioning works of the FPSO. Keppel’s partner, HHI, will provide the 85,000 metres hull and the living quarters for 240 persons. Upon completion, the FPSO will transit to the Buzios field, where Keppel O&M will carry out the final phase of offshore commissioning works. The project foresees the interconnection of 13 wells to the FPSO, six of them producers and seven injectors, through a subsea infrastructure composed of rigid production and injection pipelines and flexible service pipelines. The Búzios field, discovered in 2010, is the largest deepwater oil field in the world. The field should reach the end of the decade with daily production above 2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, becoming the Petrobras’ asset with the highest production.

Apology – IRI project not funded by USAID Kaieteur News hereby issues an apology in relation to an article published under the caption “IRI-led electoral reform should be suspended; CARICOM should get the job – GHRA.” A portion of the article as replicated after a statement disseminated by the GHRA stated that International Republican Institute (IRI)’s electoral project is funded by USAID. However, Kaieteur News understands that this information is false. As such, the newspaper apologises for any inconvenience caused.

Sunday May 16, 2021

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Kaieteur News

Defective Exxon gas compressor repaired, on its way to Guyana …as company reports continued flaring, production at 110,000 barrels daily ExxonMobil Guyana, the lead operator in the Stabroek Block, has announced that the repairs and upgrades to the third stage discharge silencer—a key component of the flash gas compression system for the Liza Destiny, is completed and is being shipped back to Guyana for reinstallation. The defective compressor had be removed following a gas leak on April 11 and had to be shipped to Houston, Texas, where it was repaired by MAN Energy Solutions. Announcing the update on Friday, the company said that, “current plans are for the equipment to be back in country and reassembled for safe start-up in June.” ExxonMobil Guyana’s Production Manager, Mike Ryan, reportedly visited the MAN workshop in Houston this past week to meet with the leadership team, technical experts and repair personnel, and to “have a firsthand look at the progress of repairs.” The company has since reported that while repairs are ongoing, operations at the Liza Destiny continue safely producing between 100 and 110 thousand barrels of oil per day, with a flare level below 15 million cubic feet per day. The company in a statement announcing the development said it “remains fully committed to resolving these technical challenges as

quickly as possible, and remains engaged with relevant government agencies to ensure operations are executed safely taking environmental, technical and economic factors into consideration.” The development by ExxonMobil comes on the heels of a decision taken recently by local authorities to fine the US oil major over its flaring violations in the Stabroek Block as a result of the defective equipment. The Environmental Protection Agency, this past week announced that the Permit for the Liza I operations was this past Monday amended by the parties involved to allow for ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), to pay US$30 for every tonne of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2e) – a term for describing different greenhouse gases in a common unit – burnt after May 13, 2021. Kaieteur News understands that EEPGL agreed to the changes which include, revised terms and conditions relating to emissions reporting requirements, technical considerations for flaring, timelines for flaring events and an obligation on the company to pay for the emission of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2e) as a result

of flaring in excess of these timelines. The modified Permit was signed between the two parties on Thursday last. Since start up in December 2019, Kaieteur News would have followed and reported on ExxonMobil’s continually malfunctioning gas compressor system. On December 20, 2020, it had announced that the gas compressor issue was fixed. However, during that oneyear period, it had already flared 12.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day, equivalent to the removal of 1.6M acres of forest. On January 29, 2021, the gas compressor broke down for a third time, forcing ExxonMobil this time around to send the faulty equipment to Germany for repairs and upgrades. A detailed assessment of the compressor subsequently revealed that an axial vibration of the compressor rotor is what led to other mechanical disruptions. The equipment was back in Guyana by the second week of March where it was installed on the Liza Destiny vessel. Tests during installation were being carried out. But before that could be completed, the gas compressor, which was supposedly repaired and upgraded, malfunctioned for the fourth time, forcing the operator to curtail production at the time.

Dem boys seh...

Don’t cry fuh de mangroves Dem Boys nah mentally lazy – dem boys gat inquisitive minds. As Guyanese would say, dem boys ‘fass’ and like ‘mind’ other people business. So, dem boys wan know what ever happen to dat matter with de people wah use expensive car fuh thief goat. De police arrest de owner of de car yet? Dem boys wan know how much of dem environmentalist and nature lovers resign as yet from dem government-appointed positions. Or is it dem too swamped fuh mek a decision now. Don’t cry fuh de mangroves! Life goes on in Guyana after all de noise. De government know dis, dat is why dem nah bother too much with criticism. A hunter was telling he friend about de time he found heself tracking a huge tiger. “Say,

old chap, did I ever tell you about the time I was attacked by a Bengal tiger?” de hunter asked. “I dare say I’ve not heard that one,” de friend reply. De hunter start fuh tell de story as to how de cat lead he into a mangrove swamp. De hunter tell he friend that after a few hours in de swamp he got a clear sight of de tiger. He say he raise he rifle just as de tiger leap from de shadows, teeth and claws bared. ‘Rrrraaaaaarrrrrr!!!!’ “I messed my pants.” ”Of course you had to mess your pants,” replied de hunter’s friend, “You were being attacked by a fierce tiger!” ”No. Right now when I just went, ‘Rrrraaaaaarrrrr!!!!!’” Talk half and don’t lose sleep over de mangroves.

The gas compressor during one if its sojourns for a repair.

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Sunday May 16, 2021

Kaieteur News

Housing Ministry moves closer to amending Condominium Act Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal.

Stakeholder consultations to streamline the amendment of the Condominium (Regulation and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act are slated to begin by the first week of June 2021. This is according to Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, who made the announcement during an update of housing projects, on Friday. Minister Croal stated that the Attorney General’s

Chambers is in the process of completing the draft amendment. “The first draft we’re expecting by the new week and then it goes through the consultative process with our key stakeholders, for example, the banks, insurance companies and other relevant institutions that will have to give their input,” Minister Croal said.Feedback garnered from (Continued on page 15 )

Sunday May 16, 2021

Kaieteur News

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BLUNTNESS ON INDECENCY! In case you haven’t heard, please be informed that as part of our continued effort to channel positive changes in our country, our publisher, Mr. Glenn Lall, has dedicated our Page Seven to be “BLUNT” about on-going indecency in our land that should matter, not only to us at this publication, but the entire nation. MONDAY Just when you thought you would have learnt all there is to know about the evils contained in the Stabroek Block deal, further studies unearth more stomach-sickening provisions. Two key points learnt recently is that Guyana does not get a full two percent royalty on all oil produced and sold. And while the contract says this royalty cannot be recovered, more loopholes actually allow this to happen right before our eyes. Kaieteur News will show clearly in coming weeks, how this is happening. In the meantime, it does make you wonder how the Ali administration can sit back and watch its people robbed blindly by a foreign entity. How can a government be so insistent on not bringing an end to the rape of our resources? Who really runs this country? ExxonMobil or the PPP/ C? TUESDAY A healthy economy will

no doubt boost development. But this cannot be achieved and sustained without a healthy population. Therefore, if our population continues to decline, our economy will follow suit. For this reason, Government must pay attention to the COVID-19 statistics released on a daily basis by its Health Ministry and be brave and bold enough to take drastic action, where necessary, to safeguard our population. WEDNESDAY The recent revelations about Superior Concrete Inc. and its foreign directors’ disrespect for the State of Guyana are a bad sign. The expulsion of one director, and hopefully soon of the other, should send a muchneeded message to expats here that this country will not tolerate blatant disregard and indecency. This should still be a wakeup call to the Leadership that without self-respect and robust enforcement of our laws, people will try to walk all over us. THURSDAY

In Proverbs, a biblical book of wisdom, it is stated that “where there is no vision the people perish.” Moreover, in a point in time when a wrong decision could mean the loss of lives, this notion must be taken seriously by our leaders. As COVID-19 rages, our nation needs to see leaders in action who see the people not only as taxpayers and consumers but as indispensable assets that must be protected at all cost. The Government of the day, therefore, must aim to factor-in the importance of the people – both old and young – as it makes crucial decisions to move the country forward in these trying times. FRIDAY The two disrespectful foreign nationals have been given marching orders. That is a small step towards the solving the much bigger problem – our systems remain too lax and too open for abuse. Opportunistic illnesses only happen with a compromised immune system. We

need to inoculate ourselves against corruption, compromise and the disrespect that comes along with them. SATURDAY One day after our Health Minister announced that the wearing of mask was necessary even in office spaces, US officials have advised that

vaccinated persons can once again go mask-less. In fact, the US Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has noted that physical distancing can also cease for the fully vaccinated. But exactly what is the protocol that we should be

adhering to here? We at this publication call upon the Minister to embrace caution in advising the nation on the way forward, as we would not want to see more persons becoming infected should we opt to relax measures so soon after vaccination.

Sunday May 16, 2021

Kaieteur News

T&T declares a State of Emergency to combat COVID-19 The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), Dr. Keith Rowley, yesterday announced a State of Emergency to combat the fight against COVID-19. The Prime Minister made the announcement at a press conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St. Ann. The PM explained that the curfew will be implemented with effect from today at 9pm to 5am in the country. Dr. Rowley said, “It was to ensure people have fewer opportunities to congregate and spread COVID-19, if you don’t have to be out for exempted reasons, you stay home under the force of law.” He added that people who are sick with the virus are not able to access health care and are dying for oxygen.

The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Keith Rowley. Dr. Rowley said, “If you don’t have to be out for exempted reasons, you are to stay home under the force of law. I’m sorry but it has come to coffins and faces of dead people for us to realise that we are in and always has been (Continued on page 57)

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Sunday May 16, 2021

Kaieteur News

Man admits to murder of bus driver

O

ne of the three suspects arrested for murdering a minibus driver at his home on Tuesday has admitted to the crime. This information was relayed to this newspaper by investigators. They did not divulge much more detail but added that the three men are expected to face a murder charge on Monday. Police believe that they were the ones who had murdered Marcus Julius Thomas, 39 of Kuru Kururu Sandpit, Linden/Soesdyke Highway. Kaieteur News had reported on Friday that they are his inlaws and had attempted to murder him three times in the past. Crime Chief, Wendell Blanhum, had said too that one of them had previously chopped Thomas and a report

was made to the police but the individual was never arrested because he always managed to elude police. One of the most recent attempts on Thomas life before he was eventually murdered was back in August 2020 when he was chopped to his abdomen and forehead. In the attack on Tuesday around 18:30 hrs., the suspects allegedly kicked open his door and attacked him. He was reportedly stabbed several times about his body. Thomas neighbours had recalled hearing rumbling and loud noises coming from his home. They even saw when his killers fled and recalled that he stumbled out of his house calling out for help but collapsed soon after in his yard where he remained motionless.

Sunday May 16, 2021

Housing Ministry moves ... From page 10 the stakeholder forum will play an integral role in development of the legislation. By September, Croal anticipates that the Bill will be presented to Parliament for consideration. The amendment of the Act will pave the way for owners of condominiums and duplexes to access titles for their land. Additionally, commercial banks would also be able to accept the properties as collateral and offer loans to the homeowners for expansion and insurance companies will also be allowed to issue policies for protection. Currently the Act caters for the regulation and division of properties into parts that are to be owned individually and parts that are to be owned in common, to make provision for the use and management of such properties and to make provision for the assignment of certain properties owned by the Government. During the budget debates earlier this year, failure to amend the Condominium Act to include duplexes has resulted in further suffering for Guyanese who purchased such properties

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Kaieteur News under the former government since insurance, title, or collateral value cannot be derived from such properties. Croal noted that dozens of duplexes built by the Granger administration lacked the legislative support they need. “The fact is, Mr. Speaker, even when the Coalition had one big idea for housing, even that they could not get right! Their big idea? … Let’s introduce duplexes! And they proceeded to have contractors construct duplexes but did not think to have the Condominium Act amended to include this type of house,” Minister Croal had explained in his budget speech. He added, “The result is, those citizens who invested their hard-earned dollars into those houses cannot get insurance or titles and even more worrying is that banks are not amenable to holding duplexes as collateral. As such, he underscored that Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, will be bringing legislation to amend the Condominium Act to allow banks to accept titles for those houses, as it is with other homeowners.

Guyana reaches out to Diaspora for ‘New Era of Engagement’ The Guyana Govern ment will on Mon day kick off an official outreach to Guyanese living overseas, for what it calls “A New Era of Engagement for the Guyanese Diaspora.” The activity, which will take the form of a Virtual Diaspora Conference, will be spearheaded by Foreign Secretary, Robert Persaud, out of the Conference Room of Ramphal House, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive and Charlotte Street, Georgetown. The activity, according to the organisers, is in keeping with the promise made by President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, “to aggressively pursue the involvement of the Diaspora in national development.” As such, the conference seeks to provide a platform of exchange between the Government and the Diaspora. Persaud, Guyana’s Foreign Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes

that the Diaspora cannot be excluded from any development plans for the country, concerning its emerging Oil and Gas sector. This, Persaud opined, is given the enormous potential that exists in the Diaspora and not domiciled in-country. He gave the views during a recent a panel discussion on ‘Labour and Migration’ in Guyana which was hosted by the American Chambers of Commerce in Guyana (AmCham). At the time, he had underscored that, several countries across the world have turned to their respective Diaspora populations, for not only political purposes, but also economic development. The Foreign Secretary had divulged at the time, that Guyana is currently pursuing a ‘Migration Policy’ for the country that would guide the inflows of the domestic labour market and deal with inherent issues of citizenship.

Pressing the incorporation of members of the Diaspora as a priority in national developmental plans, Persaud underscored that the Diaspora is teeming with not only skills currently in demand in the country but with capital support that could be honed for domestic investments. According to Persaud, the anticipated boom in the emerging oil industry in Guyana is also being seen as a boom for those in the Diaspora looking to invest or contribute. Building on the promulgation of a migration policy, he noted a commitment to best incorporate migrant labour into the domestic economy, in order to not only ensure humane treatment of migrants but to ensure the domestic population is not affected by xenophobic tendencies. According to Persaud, there must also be the acknowledgement of the

skills gap locally and how best to source this from the Diaspora and elsewhere. The Foreign Secretary’s position was voiced following the initial announcement of the virtual Diaspora conference, which is expected to see the participation of President, Irfaan Ali, as a featured guest. Persaud said key agencies like the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) would participate.According to the Foreign Secretary, the conference is seen as one part of forging ahead with the government’s plan of engaging and involving the Diaspora to support its national development priorities. He had noted that, with the work done in recent months, the recently reintegrated Diaspora Unit was able to detect interest in the Diaspora and will use the conference to start the level of engagement needed.

SUNDAY

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Woman bites cop for attempting to arrest son

A screen grab of the attack on the officer

According to a video that surfaced on social media, a woman was seen biting a police sergeant as he was trying to detain her son yesterday. The incident happened at the intersection of Goed Fortuin Road and La Grange

Old Road. A vehicle driven by an unknown male and occupied by passengers including his mother and sister was exiting Goed Fortuin village, heading to the Harbour Bridge when it was stopped (Continued on page 63)

Sunday May 16, 2021

Dear Reader, in light of the economic impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, our publisher, with you in mind, has taken the decision to extend our weekly review of some of our major stories in their entirety. SUNDAY GUYANA’S ROYALTY IS FOR OIL SOLD BUT EXXON RECOVERS COSTS ON EVERYTHING PRODUCED Much has been said about the quantum of the Royalty that is received for crude being produced from the Stabroek Block, with stakeholders promulgating that the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) gives Guyana a two percent royalty along with a 50/50 split on profits. This equation has led many to believe that Guyana’s take from the oil produced in the Stabroek Block is 14.5 percent on everything. This, since a 75 percent cap has been placed on cost recovery for any given month and as such with a two percent royalty paid over first –75 percent cost recovery would mean that the 25 percent remaining is to be divided in half. As such, profit at half of 25 percent would equate to 12.5 percent, together with the two percent royalty representing Guyana’s take. Royalty is traditionally a payment that a licensee makes to a licensor in exchange for the use of their licensed asset, and as such is paid over before any other deductions are calculated, such as personal, corporation and other taxes. Despite this being the prevailing position adumbrated by industry and government officials; this is not the case for Guyana and its oil. Under the provisions of the PSA with Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL)— ExxonMobil Guyana—and its partners, Royalty is calculated at two percent of oil that is produced and sold. As such, royalty is not calculated against the total production for each month. Cost recovery on the other hand, is calculated against the total production for the month—minus what is required for the petroleum operations, such as crude stored in pipelines and gas used to power the Liza Destiny. What this equates to, in the event of, for example 100 barrels being produced and sold, royalty for that month

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would be calculated to be equivalent to two barrels for Guyana. Should 150 barrels be produced but only 100 barrels sold, it would mean royalty for that month is calculated against the amount sold—100 barrels—and not the amount that was produced which could have resulted in royalty being three barrels. Juxtaposed against the calculations for cost oil to be deducted for the period, under the PSA, it would mean that if 150 barrels is produced but only 100 sold, royalty is calculated against the 100 barrels, while cost oil would be calculated against 150 barrels produced for the period. As such, while royalty for that month would be two barrels, calculated against what was sold, the deductions in cost oil for that month would be 75 percent of 150 barrels produced and not the 100 sold. This would result in a total deduction for cost recovery, for that month, to equate to 112.5 barrels. Simply put, in a month where 150 barrels were produced but 100 sold, Guyana collects two barrels for royalty on what was sold, but the country pays over to the oil operators, 112.5 barrels, since the recovery is being calculated against the 150 barrels that was produced. Similarly, in a month where 100 barrels is produced and sold, it would mean two barrels for Guyana and 75 towards cost oil, since the calculation is against the total amount produced. This would mean that 75 barrels for cost and two barrels for royalty are deducted from the total amount produced and sold, leaving 23 barrels as profit oil. This divided in half would leave 11.5 barrels for the two partners—the EEPGL led consortium which includes China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) and Hess Corporation along with the Guyana Government. This means, instead of the 14.5 percent take for Guyana, in a month where 100 barrels represent the total production for the month and all is sold, the country would instead be getting 11.5 barrels in profit along with two barrels royalty, or 13.5 percent. This would result in Guyana’s take being one percent less than is being peddled and with more than nine billion equivalent of already proven resources in the Stabroek Block; it would mean Guyana stands to lose out on 90 million barrels of oil. This obtains, since crude sold at the current market price, would amount to US$5.850 billion more, which

is handed to ExxonMobil and their partners in cost recovery. Guyana received its first royalty payment in May 2020 of US$4.9 million followed by its second payment in July of some US$3,698,152. A third payment was collected in November that year, bringing to total for the year to US$12.9 million. It would mean that this represents two percent of oil produced and sold from December 2019 to the end of the reconciliation period for which the payments represents. As such, would mean that some US$645 million worth of crude was sold for the period. WORLD STANDING AT THE EDGE OF THE CLIFF WITH CLIMATE CHANGE - WE CAN NO LONGER AFFORD BIG FOSSIL FUEL PROJECTS ANYWHERE – UN SECRETARYGENERAL When it comes to climate change, the world is standing at the edge of the abyss. In fact, the world is still heading for a disastrous temperature rise of 2.4 degrees by the end of the century. With such a state of affairs, it is clear that the world cannot afford big fossil fuel projects anywhere or it may very well push nations over the dangerous precipice upon which it stands. This rude awakening was recently presented by Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. António Guterres, at the recent convening of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue. During that engagement, the Secretary General sought to give leaders his assessment of where the world stands six months ahead of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26). Guterres was keen to note that last year was yet another

unprecedented period of extreme weather and climate disasters. The UN Official said that Carbon Dioxide concentrations again rose to a new high – 148 percent above pre-industrial levels. This he said is the highest level for 3 million years. Guterres stated too that last year was already 1.2 degrees Celsius hotter than preindustrial times – dangerously close to the 1.5degree limit set by the scientific community. With this mind, he said, “Under current commitments, including the recent ones, we are still heading for a disastrous temperature rise of 2.4 degrees by the end of the century. We stand indeed at the edge of the abyss. But if we work together, we can avert the worst impacts of climate disruption and use the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic to steer us on a cleaner, greener path.” To address climate change, Guterres said it is clear too that nations need an equal balance between mitigation and adaptation and both backed by finance and technological support to developing countries. This he asserted will allow both developed and developing countries to fully mobilise to reach global net zero emissions by mid-century and build resilience to changes to come. On mitigation, the Secretary General said he sees encouraging signs from some major economies. In this regard, he noted that countries representing 73 percent of emissions have committed to net zero emissions by 2050. While all this is well and good, he stressed that all countries – especially in the G20 – need to close the mitigation gap further by COP26. The Secretary General

said, “The bottom line is that, by 2030, we must cut global emissions by 45 percent compared to 2010 levels to get to net zero emissions by 2050. Sometimes it’s complicated to compare things, as the reference year changes from pledge to pledge, but the net result is that we will keep hope of 1.5 degrees alive. A top priority must be to end coal use by 2030 in OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries and by 2040 across the globe.” Guterres categorically stated that the move from polluting to renewable energy must be a just transition, involving local governments, unions and the private sector to support affected communities and people, generating green jobs. He said it therefore means that the world can no longer afford big fossil fuel infrastructure anywhere as such investments simply deepen the climate change predicament. MONDAY ILLEGAL FOREIGN CONCRETE FACTORY LINKED TO EXXON – DIRECTOR DISCARDS CONTRAVENTION ORDER A foreign-controlled company, Superior Concrete Inc., whose officers are Ian Charles Jones, Richard Austin Shamlin and Maxwell Christopher Snow, has proceeded to build a concrete batching facility in Houston without any regulatory permission. Kaieteur News has confirmed this with the Mayor and City Council, Central Housing and Planning Authority and the Environmental Protection Agency.

To make matters worse, when the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) visited the site to serve a Contravention Order last week, this Order was discarded by Jones. The document demanded that the foreign officers show which regulatory body gave them the power or the permission to go ahead with their operations. The land in question is a development adjacent to South Ruimveldt. Kaieteur News was able to obtain a copy of the transport for the plot in use and observed that it is part of Houston Estates. The land is also partly owned by Michael Vieira, who is the Chairman of Houston Estates. KN understands that Vieira has no part of the operation but has leased the lands to Andrew Mekdeci. Vieira has indicated to concerned landowners that he does not know the owners of Superior Concrete Inc. and he has no arrangement with them. He has also stated that his lease to Mekdeci specifies that the land is to be used only for legal and lawful purposes. The relationship between Mekdeci and Superior Concrete Inc. is unknown. However, it was observed by this publication during a site visit that machinery operating on the site is branded MMC, a company owned and controlled by Andrew and Marise Mekdeci. What this newspaper also learnt is that Ian Charles Jones is listed on the popular business networking website, LinkedIn, as the “Project Manager for the construction of a high specification ExxonMobil headquarters building in Guyana” for the period November 2019 to September 2020. Furthermore, industry players have expressed (Continued on page 26)

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From page 25 concern that the factory is being set up to supply concrete for the construction of ExxonMobil’s new headquarters in Ogle, ECD, especially for its piling efforts. With the foreign-owned company evading the applicable laws and regulations and operating in a rogue manner, there are growing concern that it is representative of yet another strong blow to local content development and respect for the rule of law. Moreover, stakeholders posit that local, legitimate concrete operations will be placed at a disadvantage. Another point of note is that under company law, Superior Concrete Inc. can be classified as a “local company,” despite having all foreign officers. This state of affairs has given rise to questions surrounding the ability of foreign investors to easily extend their tentacles into the local market while hiding under the cloak of weak laws. One crucial question being asked by local stakeholders is whether the foreign officers of Superior Concrete Inc. are conducting business in Guyana on a visitor ’s visa, which contravenes the limitations of this visa classification, or have these companies been adequately vetted and been issued work permits to their foreign employees? If the latter is not correct, local stakeholders told Kaieteur News that it would be an apparent breach of the local laws. They also note that it is an issue which should engage the attention of the relevant authorities. In the meantime, Kaieteur News understands that residents in the area are preparing to petition the authorities about the illegal operations. Other stakeholders have also filed legal proceedings seeking a resolution. Kaieteur News will continue to follow this story. OILAND GAS MORE EXPENSIVE THAN RENEWABLES – UN SECRETARYGENERAL – URGES GLOBAL BANKING SYSTEM TO FUND MORE CLIMATE RESILIENT PROJECTS Between fossil fuels and renewables, Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. António Guterres, recently said there is no doubt now that the latter is a way more cost effective option, thereby reinforcing the soundness of calls to transition to cleaner energy sources. Given the need to make

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radical changes to lower global temperature, Guterres is urging the global banking system to fund more climate resilient projects. The official made these and other statements at the recent convening of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue. There, the Secretary General said, “We need the shareholders of multilateral development banks and development financial institutions to work with the management of these banks on funding a lowcarbon, climate-resilient development that is aligned with the 1.5-degree goal.” Further to this, Guterres said he welcomes countries that have pledged to end fossil fuel finance and subsidies. He stressed nonetheless that the time has come to put a price on carbon and to shift taxation from income to carbon. The Secretary General said, “I remain deeply worried about the lack of progress on adaptation. Already people are dying in big numbers, farms are failing, millions face displacement. And there is a false dichotomy that says adaptation finance can only increase at the expense of mitigation finance.The fact is that we need both.” With reduced fiscal space, high debts and mounting climate impacts, the UN official said developing countries need mitigation and adaptation finance in equal measure. In spite of this stark reality, the Secretary General highlighted that adaptation finance to developing countries is a mere 21 percent of climate finance. This represents US$16.8 billion. Guterres pointed out that actual annual adaptation costs in the developing world alone are estimated at US$70 billion, and these could rise to US$300 billion by 2030. With this in mind, Guterres said, “I reiterate my call to donors and multilateral development banks to ensure that at least 50 percent of climate finance is for adaption and resilience. And I ask them to make concrete proposals so small island developing States and the least developed countries can access climate finance more easily than today.” Guterres stressed that this is a matter of urgency and trust while adding that developed countries must honour their long-standing promise to provide US$100 billion annually for climate action in developing countries. He also called for developed countries to make substantial climate finance pledges for the coming five years. With six months to go for the hosting of the 26th UN

in lending and borrowing nations from holding their governments accountable for secret debts. More specifically, it highlighted that whereas only one of 37 China’s Export-Import (Exim) bank contracts prior to 2014 contains a confidentiality clause, all of the China Exim bank’s contracts after 2014 include confidentiality clauses. This shows that while confidentiality clauses were always implemented, China has become more rampant in its usage over the years. Thirdly, the report magnified the use of cancellation, acceleration and stabilisation clauses in Chinese contracts, which potentially allows the lender to influence the debtors’ domestic and foreign policies. “Even if these terms were unenforceable in court, the mix of confidentiality, seniority and policy influence could limit the sovereign debtor’s crisis management options and complicate debt renegotiation,” it affirmed. According to the analysis, Chinese contracts are creatively designed to manage credit risks and overcome enforcement hurdles from sovereign nations making China a muscular and commercially savvy lender to the developing world.

Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), the UN Secretary General urged world leaders to make the time left count. He said, “I encourage all ministers to start working on an ambitious and balanced political deal that supports developing countries. And I ask all stakeholders to make sure that their plans and initiatives are ambitious, credible and verifiable. There must be no doubt on the environmental integrity of our actions – from Article 6 negotiations to private sector net zero commitments.” Guterres concluded, “We have a small and narrow window of opportunity to do the right thing. But our future is in our hands and in your hands, dear friends. Let us use the pandemic recovery and COP26 to promote a safe and sustainable future for all nations and people.” TUESDAY CHINA FLAGGED FOR USING CONTRACT CLAUSES TO PREVENT DEBT RENEGOTIATION WITH COUNTRIES China, one of the world’s largest creditors, has been flagged for using contract clauses that prevent countries they saddle with debt from seeking renegotiation and more specifically outside intervention. This damning revelation was made in a report titled, “How China Lends; A Rare Look into 100 Debt Contracts with Foreign Governments,” compiled by the Center for Global Development (CGD) in collaboration with other key organisations. The report noted that it is the first systematic analysis of the legal terms of China’s foreign lending. This is because very few contracts between Chinese lenders and their government borrowers have ever been published or studied. It said that 100 contracts between China’s state-owned entities and government borrowers in 24 developing countries within Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Oceania were analysed, and then compared to other contracts those countries inked with other bilateral, multilateral and commercial creditors. Further to that, it said that as these contracts were analysed three main insights emerged. It first pointed out that Chinese lenders seek an advantage over other creditors, using collateral arrangements such as lendercontrolled revenue accounts and “no Paris Club” clauses

NEW STABROEK BLOCK OILFIELDS BRING GREATER RISK OF DISEASE TRANSMISSION - EIAAPPLICATION

which inherently prevent collective debt restructuring through the Paris Club Agreement. The Paris Club, which was founded in 1956, comprises a group of officials from major creditor countries and, with the agreement, it seeks to find coordinated and sustainable solutions to repayment difficulties being faced by debtor countries. Interestingly, out of the 100 contracts that were carefully assessed, three-quarter of them contained these no Paris Club clauses. In addition, it was also keen to note that such a clause also prevents countries from even

comparing their debt. The CGD report went on to highlight that the contracts also contain unusual confidentiality clauses, barring borrowing nations from revealing the terms or even the existence of the debt. “All of the post-2014 contracts with Chinese stateowned entities in our sample contain or reference farreaching confidentiality clauses. Most of these commit the debtor not to disclose any of the contract terms or related information unless required by law,” it outlined, adding that such a clause prevents the citizens

The heightened activities in the Stabroek Block, with the development of up to four oil field developments in the country’s exclusive economic shelf, will also see increased human, marine and other types of traffic onshore and offshore. This could also potentially lead to an increase of communicable disease transmission, in addition to impacting emergency and health services in Guyana. These, in addition to traditional environmental concerns associated with the offshore development of oilfields, were listed among the concerns expressed by ExxonMobil’s subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), as it seeks approval for the Yellowtail and Redtail developments. The company, in its application to proceed with its developments, noted that most of the project’s activities will be located offshore in the project area and would have no direct impacts on communities in Guyana. It noted however that the (Continued on page 27)

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From page 26 introduction of limited levels of foreign specialised labour, could potentially have community health and wellbeing impacts and that the development could potentially impact community health and wellbeing in the project, due to onshore traffic, social interaction, or as a result of non-routine, unplanned events such as a spill. According to ExxonMobil, the increased demand for limited emergency and health services in Guyana, and “a slight increased risk of communicable disease transmission could potentially result from Project activities and influence community health and wellbeing.” Flaring and Environmental Concerns Additionally, ExxonMobil said that building on the previous Stabroek Projects, Yellowtail will be designed to demonstrate continuous improvement in environmental performance. According to the Company, EEPGL routinely strives to make improvements in environmental performance through emissions controls, technology enhancements and process improvements. As such, it was noted that in 2020, the Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel—Liza Destiny—experienced unanticipated technical challenges and unplanned gas flaring during its startup and commissioning process. The company said, it has since conducted comprehensive root cause analyses of these issues, and evaluated potential improvements to gas handling systems, “sparing philosophy, and execution procedures.” EEPGL said too, it “plans to take significant steps to incorporate the lessons learned from the commissioning of the Liza Destiny into future projects, including Yellowtail.” According to EEPGL, it recognises and respects that the government and people of Guyana expect the company to operate in a manner that minimises environmental impacts to air, water and land, and protects the health of people and animals. As such, “EEPGL continues to apply the learnings of Liza Phase 1 and has undertaken additional studies to obtain an even more c o m p r e h e n s i v e understanding of potential impacts of effluent discharges to water; the feasibility of

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alternative handling of produced water; and cradle to grave waste management in Guyana, including the application of certain international standards and best practices.” The company said, to this end, “…additional studies are ongoing or planned with regard to flare minimisation, emergency response, and environmental compliance monitoring and verification.” The company said, “the learnings from these and other environmental studies will inform the design and implementation of the Yellowtail Project, increasing environmental performance and economic value.” As it relates to other potential environmental impacts, the company noted that air emissions resulting from the Project have the potential to affect ambient air quality in the Project area on a localised basis and to contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It said, these impacts can be potentially had through emissions from construction equipment and back-up diesel fired power generation, emissions from operational point sources, non-routine, temporary flaring, pilot flare, plant emissions, fugitive emissions from construction or operations and nonroutine, unplanned events such as an oil spill. In the event of such issues arising, ExxonMobil said the likely impacts include “localised, increased concentrations of criteria pollutants in ambient air could contribute to health concerns in exposed humans and wildlife.” This is in addition to the fact that combustion of hydrocarbons from project activities would contribute to GHG emissions. GUYANESE GET 1 MONTH TO CONSIDER ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT FROM NEW OIL FIELDS …AS EXXONMOBIL SUBMITS PLAN TO DRILL UP TO 55 MORE WELLS IN STABROEK BLOCK The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has received an application from ExxonMobil subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), to drill up to 55 more oil wells in the Stabroek Block and citizens have been given 28 days to consider the environmental impacts from the project. According to a public notice published by the EPA over the weekend, EEPGL is looking to go ahead with the development of the Yellowtail

and Redtail oilfields in the Stabroek Block—a venture that will be utilising a number of offshore and onshore apparatus with the likelihood of potential adverse environmental impacts, hence the public review. If green-lighted, the ExxonMobil-led project is looking to produce some six million barrels of oil each month, at a production rate of some 250,000 barrels daily, utilising a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel similar to the Liza Destiny. According to the EPA, the proposed project will be implemented in multiple stages including wells drilling and completions, mobilisation and installation of subsea equipment, installation of a FPSO, production operations, offloading of crude, decommissioning and use of support vessels and helicopters throughout the stages. Additionally, it was noted that the proposed project will be undertaken in the marine offshore environment within Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and would also utilise land-based support activities such as marine shore bases, fabrication facilities, warehouses, and storage yards. It was noted that as a result of the intended developmental activities, possible effects on the environment may include impacts to marine water quality, air quality, marine fauna, socio-economic resources, among others. As such, in keeping with the Environmental Protection Act, “the EPA has determined that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required

to be conducted before any decision to approve or reject the proposed project is taken, since this development may significantly impact the environment.” The notice said that members of the public are as such invited, within 28 days of the notice, to make written submissions setting out “those questions and matters which they require to be answered or considered in the EIA.” The operator in its application for the EIA consideration, noted that the Yellowtail Project along with the Stabroek Projects, “will contribute positively, directly and indirectly to economic growth in Guyana, including increased national revenues, which will result in increased government investments in public services and infrastructure; local procurement of selected goods and services; increased direct and indirect local employment opportunities; and increased Project and worker spending with beneficial “multiplier” impacts throughout the Project life.” According to ExxonMobil, the Yellowtail Project—located within Stabroek Block on Guyana’s Continental Shelf—is in the eastern portion of the Stabroek Block, approximately 200 km from Georgetown and southeast of the Stabroek Projects. The US oil major said, plans include drilling, using floating drill-ships, to produce oil from approximately 45 to 55 wells with production slated to begin at year end in 2025, with an expected field life of at least 20 years. According to ExxonMobil, the FPSO to be

used for the new field developments will be an industrial floating complex that continuously separates produced water and associated gas from the oil. The anticipated production rate for the FPSO ranges between approximately 34,977 cubic metres (m3) or 220,000 barrels and 39,747 m3 or 250,000 barrels of oil per day and will be capable of storing approximately 317,974 m3 or two million barrels of oil. According to the company, oil tankers will be scheduled to offload the oil from the FPSO, making the oil available for export to the international market. The FPSO, according to ExxonMobil, will also process, dehydrate, compress and re-inject associated gases produced from the reservoir. The company said that as the Yellowtail and Redtail reservoir pressures deplete over time, “this gas reinjection will help maintain the reservoir pressure and allow the most optimum production of hydrocarbons to continue over time.” According to ExxonMobil, some of the gas will be used as fuel on the FPSO, while “under very unique operational circumstances, some gas may need to be temporarily flared on a non-routine basis.” Additionally, the FPSO will be used to treat produced water and sea water for cooling and injection into the reservoir for additional pressure maintenance. According to ExxonMobil, while much of the construction installation activity will be offshore, the Project will also utilise onshore infrastructure,

including but not limited to shore bases, warehouses, storage and pipe yards, fabrication facilities, fuel supply facilities and waste management facilities in Guyana. Such infrastructure, it said, will be used to support the drilling, installation, production operations and decommissioning stages. The company said too that additional logistical support may be provided by others outside of Guyana, as determined by the Project and that helicopters required for crew changes are to be operated out of the Eugene F. Correia International Airport as is currently being done for exploration drilling and for the Liza Development. WEDNESDAY ILLEGAL CONCRETE FACTORY…GOVT. GIVES DISRESPECTFUL FOREIGNER SEVEN DAYS TO LEAVE GUYANA– CH&PA ISSUES THIRD CEASE ORDER FOR CONSTRUCTION The Government has instructed Ian Charles Jones, a Director of foreigncontrolled company, Superior Concrete Inc., to leave these shores within seven days following his disrespectful actions towards enforcement officers of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA). The officers recently sought to issue an Order for his company to cease the illegal construction of a concrete factory at Houston Estates. The unlawful operation was first reported by this news entity on Saturday last. Kaieteur News had exposed (Continued on page 28)

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From page 27 that the company was setting up the concrete batching facility at Houston Estates without any regulatory permissions. When CH&PA officers issued the first Contravention Order for all works to come to a halt, Jones destroyed the document then discarded same in the presence of officers. In a subsequent article published on Monday, Kaieteur News exposed that Jones, who was moving full speed ahead with the concrete factory, was the Project Manager for the construction of a high specification ExxonMobil headquarters in Guyana for the period November 2019 to September 2020. Following the foregoing, Minister of Housing, Collin Croal, in the company of Sherwyn Greaves, Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) and staff of the CH&PA’s Enforcement Department visited the illegal operation with the intent of serving another cease order, but the team of Government officials and regulatory officers were treated with disrespect. This time, it was by Richard Austin Shamlin, another foreign Director of Superior Concrete Inc. Shamlin approached the team and told them to leave the premises as it is private property. He said too that he had no interest in engaging them on what they came for. In spite of the gross disrespect, the Minister and his team followed through with their plan to issue the order. It was received by another Superior Concrete Inc. foreign Director, Maxwell Snow. Speaking to members of the media while at the site, the Housing Minister disclosed that he had received a number of complaints from residents of the area about the said operations and took the opportunity to see firsthand what was taking place. Croal was keen to note that he carried out his own investigations prior to the visit and those inquiries revealed that the company had made no application for the construction of the batching facility to CH&PA. He said too that when the first Order was issued on May 5, last, by CH&PA Officials, they met with a “very hostile environment.” “In fact, the person (Ian Charles Jones) who collected it, (destroyed it and) threw it away in front of our enforcement team. So that was the first Order. A second one was served on them on May 8, last, but they (the enforcement officers) saw no

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one at the site and so they pasted it very visibly on the facility. But what concerns us is that there was an investment of this nature without first seeking approval. No application was done,” the Minister said. Croal also expressed alarm that the Director treated a notice from one of the Government’s regulatory agencies as though it were a piece of garbage. The Government official said legal action would be considered for this sort of contempt for CH&PA enforcement officers. CH&PA’s CEO, Sherwyn Greaves, also condemned the disrespectful actions of the British Director. He noted that none of the company officials would be addressed at this time as the illegal use of the land is engaging the attention of the court. That action was undertaken by other landowners in Houston Estates. Greaves said, “Disrespect to staff I will not tolerate. There is a process that everyone has to follow and one of the key things in the process of seeking approval is the engagement of the residents. I am sure they are appalled this was taking place without their consent and we

are angry with the actions of the Directors. We will follow up in the next few days to make sure that the Contravention Order is followed.” In addition to there being no approval granted by CH&PA, Greaves confirmed with the media that no green light was provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In fact, the agency was never even approached. City Mayor, Ubraj Narine, also expressed his disgust with the illegal operations Tuesday during a press conference as he confirmed that no approval was ever given by the Georgetown Mayor and City Council for the construction at Houston Estates. He disclosed that the Council will also file an injunction against Superior Concrete Inc. to cease its operations. Tuesday evening, Kaieteur News learned that Jones’ work permit – which allowed him to work in Guyana from January 17, 2020 to January 16, 2022 – was terminated with immediate effect. He has up to May 12, 2021, to depart Guyana. It is likely that Shamlin, the foreign director who disrespected the

Minister and his team Tuesday, may face similar action too. The illegal operation that was being led by Snow, Jones and Shamlin was taking place on land adjacent to South Ruimveldt. Kaieteur News was able to obtain a copy of the transport for the plot in use and observed that it is partly owned by Michael Vieira, who is the Chairman of Houston Estates. KN understands that Vieira has no part of the illegal operation but had leased the lands to Andrew Mekdeci. Vieira has indicated to concerned landowners that he does not know the owners of Superior Concrete Inc. and he has no arrangement with them. He has also stated that his lease to Mekdeci specifies that the land is to be used only for legal and lawful purposes. In a statement to the press last night, Mekdeci denied having any involvement in this illegal operation, stating that “I will not flout the laws of Guyana.” He admitted however that his company was contracted to provide equipment and construction materials to the foreign controlled company while adding – it was observed by

this publication during a site visit that machinery operating on the site is branded MMC, a company owned and controlled by Andrew and Marise Mekdeci. In light of this declaration, Kaieteur News sent an email last night, asking Andrew Mekdeci to answer the following questions: “1. Please state whether or not you or any company or person associated directly or indirectly with you has leased or licenced the lands in question to Superior Concrete; 2. Please state if that lease or licence is current; 3. Please state whether or not you have either (a) given Superior Concrete permission to install a cement batching plant or (b) informed Superior Concrete that the subject lands have a restriction prohibiting industrial use; 4. Since you have become aware of the cease work orders being issued by CHPA and the M&CC, have you either (a) written to Superior Concrete to terminate the lease or licence or (b) written them to stop the use of and remove the concrete plant.” Up to press time, no response was provided to these questions, which were emailed to Ajay Baksh of

Perception Inc., a Public Relations and Advertising firm that sent the statement on Mekdeci’s behalf. Kaieteur News will continue to follow this story. THURSDAY ILLEGAL CONCRETE FACTORY…SECOND DISRESPECTFUL FOREIGNER GIVEN 24HRS TO LEAVE GUYANA Richard Austin Shamlin, a foreign Director of Superior Concrete Inc, has one day to leave Guyana or face deportation. This action that was handed down by government authorities comes in wake of Shamlin’s company being exposed by the media for illegally setting up a concrete factory at Houston Estates. Kaieteur News would have reported Wednesday that Shamlin had disrespected Housing Minister, Collin Croal, in the company of other officials on Wednesday during a visit to the rogue operations. Subsequent checks by local authorities Wednesday found that Shamlin was (Continued on page 29)

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From page 28 granted a working permit which had a one month lifespan but it was not renewed. As a result of overstaying his time, he was instructed by Immigration Services to leave these shores today or be deported. The government has also instructed Shamlin’s colleague, Ian Charles Jones, who also serves as a Director of the foreign-controlled company, Superior Concrete Inc., to leave these shores within seven days following his disrespectful actions towards enforcement officers of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA). The officers recently sought to issue an Order for the company to cease the illegal construction of the factory. Instead of respecting the Order, Jones destroyed it and threw it away in the presence of the CH&PA officers. The unlawful operation was first reported by this news entity on Saturday last. Kaieteur News had exposed that the company was setting up the concrete batching facility at Houston Estates without any regulatory permissions. In a subsequent article published on Monday, Kaieteur News exposed that Jones, who was moving full speed ahead with the concrete factory, was the Project Manager for the construction of a high specification ExxonMobil headquarters in Guyana for the period November 2019 to September 2020. Following the foregoing, Croal, the Minister of Housing, in the company of Sherwyn Greaves, Chief Executive Officer of the CH&PA and staff of the C H & PA’s E n f o r c e m e n t Department visited the illegal operation with the intent of serving another cease order, but the team of government officials and regulatory officers were treated with disrespect. Shamlin had approached the team and told them to leave the premises as it is private property. He said too that he had no interest in engaging them on what they came for. In spite of the gross disrespect, the Minister and his team followed through with their plan to issue the order. It was received by another Superior Concrete Inc. foreign Director, Maxwell Snow. The illegal operation that was being led by Snow, Jones and Shamlin was taking place on land adjacent to South Ruimveldt. Kaieteur News was able to obtain a copy of the transport for the plot in use and observed that

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it is partly owned by Michael Vieira, who is the Chairman of Houston Estates. Kaieteur News understands that Vieira has no part of the illegal operation but had leased the lands to Andrew Mekdeci. Vieira has indicated to concerned landowners that he does not know the owners of Superior Concrete Inc. and he has no arrangement with them. He has also stated that his lease to Mekdeci specifies that the land is to be used only for legal and lawful purposes. In a statement to the Press on Tuesday night, Mekdeci denied having any involvement in this illegal operation, stating that “I will not flout the laws of Guyana.” He admitted however that his company was contracted to provide equipment and construction materials to the foreign controlled company while adding – it was observed by this publication during a site visit that machinery operating on the site is branded MMC, a company owned and controlled by Andrew and Marise Mekdeci. In light of this declaration, Kaieteur News had sent an email on Tuesday night asking Andrew Mekdeci to answer the following questions: “1. Please state whether or not you or any company or person associated directly or indirectly with you has leased or licensed the lands in question to Superior Concrete; 2. Please state if that lease or licence is current; 3. Please state whether or not you have either (a) given Superior Concrete permission to install a cement batching plant or (b) informed Superior Concrete that the subject lands have a restriction prohibiting industrial use; 4. Since you have become aware of the cease work orders being issued by CHPA and the M&CC, have you either (a) written to Superior Concrete to terminate the lease or licence or (b) written them to stop the use of and remove the concrete plant?” Up to Press time, no response was provided to these questions, which were emailed to Ajay Baksh of Perception Inc., a Public Relations and Advertising firm that sent the statement on Mekdeci’s behalf. Kaieteur News will continue to follow this story. 3 SHIPS ALONE IN STABROEK BLOCK WILL GIVE DUTCH COMPANY PROFITS FOR THE NEXT 30 YEARS Dutch floater specialist, SBM Offshore, Wednesday updated shareholders and

reported that its lease and operate turnkey projects for its four Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels, will see the company with cash flow visibility up to 2050 facilitating dividend payments. Three of the four vessels that are buoying the company’s financial performance belong to the Guyana Stabroek Block operations, namely the Liza Destiny, Unity and Prosperity—Unity and Prosperity are currently under construction. This publication understands that the Liza Unity is set to arrive next month with Saipem’s Constellation vessel currently in the Stabroek Block finishing up the subsea systems, in order to hook up to the FPSO when moored. According to the information shared with shareholders by SBM Offshore’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bruno Chabas, the financial results over the first quarter of 2021 “are in line with our expectation.” This obtained, despite the continuing challenging environment due to the pandemic, Chabas said, even as he reported that, “our operating performance was strong and our major projects under construction are progressing as expected.” According to the CEO, “our increased dividend represents a cash yield of more than five percent” and that, “this dividend is underpinned by the infrastructure platform of our lease and operate backlog which now brings cash flow visibility up to 2050.” As such, the company’s 2021 projected revenue is maintained at around US$2.6 billion of which around US$1.6 billion is expected from the Lease and Operate segment and around US$1 billion from the Turnkey segment. He explained that “our core business is going through a significant growth phase with four major FPSO projects under construction.” According to Chabas, “world-class deep water projects continue to rank among the most attractive investments available to our clients.” He said that the company’s Fast4Ward and emission ZERO FPSO programmes, provide industry-leading cost and carbon efficient solutions to help clients maximise value from these investments. The Guyana vessels are being designed using this suite of technologies. According to Chabas,

“we believe that SBM Offshore has a significant role to play in satisfying the world’s future energy demand using our experience and technology both to offer low emission production solutions and new solutions for the energy transition.” It was explained that SBM Offshore’s Turnkey division currently has four major projects under construction. Providing an update on the ongoing projects, the company noted that on the Liza Destiny, further work is being done on elements of the flash gas compression system which is expected to be delivered during the month of July 2021. Add i t i o n a l l y, the company said plans initiated in 2020 are progressing to install a redesigned third stage flash gas compression system at the end of this year. SBM Offshore said it is continuing to work closely with the client and with the equipment manufacturer in order to expedite resolution of the situation. Wi t h r e g a r d s t h e second vessel—the Liza Unity—SBM Offshore disclosed that following the completion of the topside lifting campaign during Q1 2021, work is further progressing on integration and commissioning stages. “The project continues to target first oil in 2022 in line with client planning,” it noted. As it relates to the F P S O P r o s p e r i t y, S B M Offshore reported that the

topsides fabrication started in the yards in Singapore and that the project is progressing according to schedule with a planned completion in 2024. Accordingly, it was reported that in order to further develop local capabilities, Guyanese companies were awarded contracts and started the fabrication of FPSO components in Guyana. Additionally, the company said Guyanese engineers have been hired and integrated into the project execution team. According to the company too, under the Company’s Fast4Ward® programme, the total number of hulls ordered to date stands at six, two of which are allocated to FPSOs Liza Unity

and Prosperity with another two supporting ongoing tendering activity. FRIDAY CHINA’S WORRYING CONFIDENTIALITY CLAUSE FOUND IN US$43M CONTRACT WITH GUYANA A worrisome Confidentiality Clause used by Chinese state lending agencies, that was flagged by the Center for Global Development (CGD) has been found in at least one contract, that for a US$43M January 2017 loan contract inked between Guyana and the China Export-Import (Exim) Bank for an East Coast (Continued on page 30)

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From page 29 Demerara (ECD) Road Expansion project. In Thursday’s edition, Kaieteur News would have covered this clause and its serious implications within an article titled, “China ramped up use of loan contract confidentiality clauses after 2014 – report highlights.” In the article, it was first noted that the damning revelation about the clause was made in a recent CGD report titled, “How China Lends: A Rare Look into 100 Debt Contracts with Foreign Governments”the first systematic analysis of China’s lending, which assessed 100 loan contracts between China and governments in 24 developing countries within Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Oceania and compared them to other contracts those very countries inked with other bilateral, multilateral and commercial creditors. Secondly, it highlighted that China’s state-owned lending entities would have ramped up the use of confidentiality clauses in their loan contracts after 2014, showing a greater shift towards secrecy and the CGD report also cited the clause as “unusual” and “binding.” This prompted independent research being conducted by this publication, during which the exact clause was spotted in one of Guyana’s contracts. The US$43M contract seen by this newspaper was signed by former Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, and China Exim Bank official, Gao Ning, and it stipulated that the project was to be carried out by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (now Ministry of Public Works) with its supplier being China Railway First Group Company Limited. As it relates to the goods, technologies and services purchased using the proceeds of the loan, the contract mandates that the purchases are made from China preferentially and for t h e t e c h n i c a l s tandards used, preference should also be given to China. It also pronounced that Guyana is required to pay a 2 percent interest rate on the loan per annum with a repayment period of 140 months, or 11 years 8 months. With the receipt of the funds, the project aimed to expand the highway road between Better Hope and Belfield Village on the ECD and enhance the mobility and accessibility of commuters to and from Georgetown. It was also outlined that the project would positively impact

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the accident rate and vehicular maintenance. This publication even reported that the project was also deemed one of the costliest infrastructural projects after the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Project and the Marriott Hotel. In the CGD report, it is highlighted that while assessing the 100 loan contracts it found that China was using a confidentiality clause, which said that, “The Borrower shall keep all the terms, conditions and the standard of fees hereunder or in connection with this Agreement strictly confidential. Without the prior written consent of the Lender, the Borrower shall not disclose any information hereunder or in connection with this Agreement to any third party unless required by applicable law.” In the report, it was indicated that such a clause is “unusual” since it bars borrowers from revealing the terms or even the existence of the debt. Further adding to that point, the organisation made the case that while many other creditors may use confidentiality clauses, China’s is unusual since it imposes strict confidentiality obligations on the borrower, whereas other lenders use confidentiality clauses that impose such obligations primarily on the lender. Such an example, according to the CGD would be the Loan Market Association’s confidentiality agreement, which says that “Each Finance Party [defined as lenders] agrees to keep all Confidential Information [enumerated items] confidential and not to disclose it to anyone, save to the extent permitted by Clause 36.2 (Disclosure of Confidential Information) [and Clause 36.3 (Disclosure to numbering service providers)], and to ensure that all Confidential Information is protected with security measures and a degree of care that would apply to its own confidential information.” To that end, the CGD asserted that with the mix of confidentiality, seniority and policy influence in China’s lending contracts, sovereign debtor’s crisis management options can be limited and debt renegotiations can also become complicated. Most importantly, it called attention to the fact that with such heavy confidentiality obligations, citizens in lending and borrowing countries alike cannot hold their governments

accountable for what are essentially secret debts. GOVT. AMENDS LIZA PHASE 1 PERMIT; NOW DEMANDS US$30 ON EVERY TONNE OF CARBON DIOXIDE FLARED The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Thursday that it amended the Liza Phase One Permit to have ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), pay US$30 for every tonne of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2e) – a term for describing different greenhouse gases in a common unit – burnt after Thursday, May 13, 2021.It is significant to note that ExxonMobil was projected to exceed flaring 14 billion standard cubic feet of gas by May 13, 2021 in its Liza Phase One Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). In light of this, the EPA said it engaged EEPGL to amend the Liza Phase One Permit. Kaieteur News understands that EEPGL agreed to the changes which include: revised terms and conditions relating to emissions reporting requirements, technical considerations for flaring, timelines for flaring events and an obligation on the company to pay for the emission of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2e) as a result of flaring in excess of these timelines. The modified Permit was signed between the two parties Thursday. Extensive research conducted by Kaieteur News shows that gas flaring contributes to climate change, which has serious implications for the human security and wellbeing globally. In fact, the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, outlined in one of its studies, that gas flaring is actually a major source of greenhouse gases, which accelerates global warming. It was noted that flaring releases Carbon Dioxide and Methane, the two major greenhouse gases. Of these two, Methane is actually more harmful than Carbon Dioxide. It is also more prevalent in flares that burn at lower efficiency. Of the greenhouse gases researched so far, Kaieteur News understands that the global warming potential of a kilogramme of Methane is estimated to be 21 times that of a kilogramme of Carbon Dioxide when the effects are considered. The University of Ibadan

study also noted that flaring contributes to local and regional environmental problems, such as acid rain with attendant impact on agriculture, forests and other physical infrastructure. The acid rain results in environmental degradation, which includes soil and water contamination and roof erosion. Furthermore, there have been over 250 identified toxins released from flaring including carcinogens such as benzopyrene, benzene, carbon disulphide (CS2), carbonyl sulphide (COS) and toluene; metals such as mercury, arsenic and chromium; sour gas with Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) and Sulfur Dioxide (SO2); Nitrogen oxides (NOx); Carbon dioxide (CO2); and methane (CH4) which contributes to the greenhouse gases. GAS COMPRESSOR ISSUES Since start up in December 2019, Kaieteur News would have followed and reported on ExxonMobil’s continually malfunctioning gas compressor system. On December 20, 2020 it had announced that the gas compressor issue was fixed. But during that one-year period, it had already flared 12.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day, equivalent to the removal of 1.6M acres of forest. In simpler terms, this means that Exxon flared toxic Natural gas that could have been offset by a forest the size of Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam). h t t p s : / / www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/ 2020/12/22/exxons-flaringthis-year-equivalent-to-theremoval-of-1-6m-acres-offorest/). But the issues didn’t stop there as the system malfunctioned for a second time on January 13, 2021. The company did not reveal the cause but said that it was fixed within a matter of hours,

or so it thought. https:// www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/ 2021/03/07/exxonmobil-hadflared-early-january-claims-itlasted-less-than-hours/). On January 29, 2021, the gas compressor broke down for a third time, forcing ExxonMobil this time around to send the faulty equipment to Germany for repairs and upgrades. A detailed assessment of the compressor subsequently revealed that an axial vibration of the compressor rotor is what led to other mechanical disruptions. The equipment was back in Guyana by the second week of March where it was installed on the Liza Destiny vessel. Tests during installation were being carried out. (https:// www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/ 2021/03/14/exxons-repairedcompressor-back-in-guyana/ ). But before that could be completed, the gas compressor, which was supposedly repaired and upgraded, malfunctioned for the fourth time. It was subsequently removed and is now in Houston, USA where it is being torn down and looked at, with the expectation that it will be restored within the next three months. ExxonMobil has said that an order was made for a new compressor, which is due to arrive by year-end. SATURDAY EXXON WILL NOW BE PRODUCING MORE OIL, FASTER THAN PLANNED ExxonMobil in recent years had maintained that its projected estimated oil production from the Stabroek Block would be just about 750,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2026, but this has since been revised upwards. As such, it would mean that the US oil major has brought forward its production levels schedule in Guyana, with an aim to now

be producing more oil, faster than initially planned. This is since the submissions for the company’s fourth oilfield development in the block— Yellowtail—will see production numbers now being pegged at about 800,000 bpd at the end of 2025 when that field is expected to see first oil at a nameplate capacity of 250,000 barrels per day (bpd). The Liza Destiny, currently producing in the Stabroek Block has a nameplate capacity of 120,000 bpd while the Liza Unity, which is slated to arrive in Guyana, next month is billed at 220,000. This would bring Guyana’s total production capacity to 330,000 bpd by the end of the year. With the coming on stream of the Payara development, using the Prosperity, Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, production in country would be boosted by another 220,000 bpd. This would bring the country’s capacity to 550,000 bpd when that comes online in 2024. With the Yellowtail development now disclosed at a capacity of 250,000 bpd and first oil set for the end of 2025, it would bring the country’s daily production capacity 800,000. The Liza Destiny— pending re-installation of its repaired flash gas compressor—will be running at above nameplate capacity at 130,000 bpd or 10,000 bpd more, which collectively would account for likely 810,000 bpd being produced at the end of 2025, by the ExxonMobil led consortium. The revelations come on the heels of similarly revealing information with regards production capacity when Hess Corporation’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Greg Hill, during the (Continued on page 31)

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From page 30 company’s first quarter earnings call for shareholders disclosed that all of the FPSOs in the Stabroek Block would be running above nameplate capacity. He was at the time speaking to planned activities this year, to push the Liza Destiny FPSO, beyond its nameplate capacity of 120,000 barrels per day through “Debottlenecking.” Hill told shareholders the exercise can be expected on each of the FPSO’s operating in Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and posited, “…you can assume that there would be a debottlenecking potential on all those ships.” He explained the debottlenecking exercise to say, “what typically happens, is you’ll bring these facilities up to their nameplate and then you’ll gather a lot of dynamic data and you really need that data, so you need fluids running through the facility at full capacity to determine where are my pinch points, where are my bottle necks and what can I do to increase that capacity.” He suggested, “that’s why you typically see these debottlenecking projects, occur years after that operating experience on the vessel because the key piece of data that you need to have on that vessel is the dynamic data of how’s that vessel really operating.” According to Hill, “I think you can expect every one of those [FPSO] will get debottlenecked above their nameplate in the future.” The Hess Corp. COO insisted at the time, that with the debottlenecking exercise, “there’s nothing remarkable, there’s piping changes etcetera, just to eliminate [and] reduce deflection, flowing through the facility on the topsides.” CHINA’S CONTRACT CLAUSES IN CONFLICT WITH DEBT RELIEF COMMITMENTS MADE UNDER G20 FRAMEWORK At least two contract clauses used by China’s State lending entities are in conflict with a debt relief commitment, which the country made under the G20 common framework last year. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit nations in 2020, it was observed that it had ravaging effects globally and particularly left poor and indebted countries at a grave disadvantage. In light of that, the G20- a group of the world’s major economies (which includes governments

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and central bank governors) sought to bring debt relief by introducing the debt suspension initiative, which China, the United States (US), India and many other lender nations signed on to. It required governments to coordinate debt relief terms for countries, utilising Paris Club conventions. It must be noted that the Paris Club is a group comprised of officials from major creditor countries and, it seeks to find coordinated and sustainable solutions to repayment difficulties being faced by debtor countries. China’s commitment to debt relief now falls under great scrutiny, since it has been found that many of its contracts contain “no Paris Club” clauses, which inherently prevent collective debt restructuring through the Paris Club Agreement, binding these countries to the debt contract and leave no room for renegotiation. A recent report led by the Centre for Global Development (CGD) in collaboration with AidData, a US-based development finance research lab, made that damning revelation. The report titled: “How China Lends; A Rare Look into 100 Debt Contracts with Foreign Governments”, was compiled following an analysis of 100 debt contracts worth $36.6 billion signed from 2000 to 2020, between China’s stateowned lending entities and government borrowers in 24 developing countries within Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Oceania. The contracts were compared to other contracts, which those very countries inked with other bilateral, multilateral and commercial creditors and it was posited that China’s lending terms are very worrying. The report highlighted that in the 100 contracts assessed; three-quarters of them contained the “no Paris Club” clause, which even prevents the debtor countries from comparing their debt. Scott Morris, a co-author of the report and senior member of the CGD was keen to point out China’s contradiction with its G20 commitment as he spoke to Quartz Africa, an African news agency recently. He was quoted as saying, “It really was a major step forward to see China step up and make this commitment…Now the problem is, what we observe in these debt contracts is very clear and explicit language constraining the borrowing countries from seeking that kind of co-operation from the creditors.” Furthermore, Morris

called attention to China’s rampant use of confidentiality clauses in its debt contracts, which he cited as another contradiction to its debt relief commitment. Kaieteur News would have extensively reported on this clause and its implications, where it was noted that while confidentiality clauses are often used by creditors, China’s was flagged as “unusual” in the CGD report. It was explained that during the assessment, it was found that confidentiality clauses used by other creditors impose confidentiality obligations on the lender, whereas, in China’s debt contracts, those heavy restrictions are placed on the borrower. The report would have also exposed that all of China’s contracts after 2014 contained the confidentiality clause, which says, “The Borrower shall keep all the terms, conditions and the standard of fees hereunder or in connection with this

Agreement strictly confidential. Without the prior written consent of the Lender, the Borrower shall not disclose any information hereunder or in connection with this Agreement to any third party unless required by applicable law.” Morris affirmed that the clause creates problems for the G20 framework and hampers it from being executed effectively. The reason being is that the debt relief is being done through collaborative efforts with G20 members, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – seeing the two institutions setting aside funds to aid countries in their debt relief. Morris explained that debtor countries are first required to present to the World Bank and the IMF, critical information about their debts before they receive relief, which they cannot do if China mandates strict confidentiality in the debt contracts signed.

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==THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN==

Using the ‘F’ word to Forbes Burnham is one of my proudest moments Since Burnham’s death in 1985 (I truly and deeply feel in my heart he ordered the assassination of Walter Rodney), there have been literally hundreds of letters in all the newspapers here that have made reference to his vision and chastising people who only see Burnham as a bad leader. The latest was weeks ago in the letter section of this newspaper in which yet another person exclaims that there are those who will discredit Burnham and give him no praise for the positive aspects of policies. I have read many such viewpoints from people who praise Burnham but never a word on his bad side and his terrible side was truly frightening. I have done several thousands of columns over a 32-year period and maybe hundreds have analysed Burnham the visionary and Burnham the despot. It is not possible to deny the positive post-colonial directions of Burnham that many of his contemporaries in the Third World after decolonisation hadn’t the sagacity to contemplate much less implement. To enumerate this glowing record will fill several columns. Also filling dozens of columns would be my evaluation of his narcissistic personality, innately flawed character and semi-fascist rule. Forbes

Burnham was not as complex as his admirers think. If someone is going to write a book about him, they must look at the 1970s when Walter Rodney exposed him to African Guyanese who admired him intensely and the world who thought he was a Third World phenomenon. Burnham was afraid of Rodney because Rodney replaced him as the post-colonial hero. This aspect of Burnham’s rule will never be touched by Burnham’s aficionados because it puts their hero in a fading light. However, history records this low moment in Burnham’s socalled greatness with the judicial commission of inquiry into Rodney’s death. Several witnesses testified that Rodney had penetrated the security forces. At the time, Joseph Harmon was the army’s chief of intelligence so he had to know about Rodney’s activities and reported this to Burnham. The Burnhamites will continue to rant against those who criticise Burnham and see no good in him. But they shamelessly refuse to acknowledge the demonic side of Burnham. It has to be an underdeveloped mind that cannot see that Burnham’s philosophy of power was unmodern, undemocratic and dangerous. He believed he was a special leader and he

put himself above the society. So narcissistic was Burnham that he believed he could capture the imagination of the person who he was talking to and trying to convince. Rodney had to die because Burnham knew he would have toppled him one day. I recall Burnham’s attitude to me. Once Burnham knew that I didn’t like him, he singled me out for persecution and brought my wife under his diabolical radar. I won the President Medal and a number of awards as UG’s top student. I got a visit from Vincent Britton, one of the top PNC ideologues in the Ministry of National Development. He said that Burnham would like to see me. Vincent was nice and likeable but I told him to tell Burnham to F… off. I knew what Burnham wanted. He would have sweet-talked me, give me a fancy job and that was the end of my passion to fight wrongs. And the biggest wrong in Guyana was Burnham. Burnham was livid. I couldn’t get a job as a teacher or as anything in Guyana. I went to Vincent Teekah whom I had known as a 16-year-old youth knocking around the PPP. Teekah looked at me with emotionally drained eyes just stopping short of telling me there was nothing he could

do. I left Guyana for studies at MacMaster University and the University of Toronto and returned to my beloved country after serving the Maurice Bishop Government in Grenada. The next day at my mother’s home, Burnham sent to call me. My 1984 response was the same as my 1978 reaction. I told the emissary to tell Burnham to F…. off. He showed his Draculean mentality again. I couldn’t get a job at UG and my wife, as a chemical engineer, couldn’t

find a job too. I look back at my youthful radicalism and have no regrets. Maybe it would have been an intellectually gratifying moment to sit next to Burnham and see if I could have detected Freudian underpinnings. I am sorry my mom never lived to see her university graduate son work to give her a few pennies all because of Burnham’s psychotic rule. But now as I reach old age, I say unrepentantly, I am filled with pride in sending two cussing

Frederick Kissoon messages to Burnham. He was the personification of evil. (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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Coronavirus: Guyanese cannot take their masks off as yet By Dr. Zulfikar Bux Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Vanderbilt Medical Center The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US has recently issued an advisory indicating that vaccinated persons can be together without wearing masks. This has caused many here in Guyana to question whether it is okay to move around without a mask. Unfortunately, this advisory is

specific to the US and does not apply to us here in Guyana. Today, I will explain why such a decision came about and also explain why it’s not applicable in Guyana. The science behind the decision The US would have seen a significant drop in infections since it initiated its vaccination campaign. Approximately 36 percent of its population is now fully vaccinated and while these numbers are insufficient for

herd immunity, they’re sufficient to allow those fully vaccinated to be around each other without masks. t those fully vaccinated, pose a very low risk of transmitting COVID-19 to each other. It is also thought that the decision to incentivise those vaccinated to not wear a mask would encourage others to get vaccinated. US vaccination rates are better than Guyana As previously stated, approximately 36 percent of the US population is fully vacci-

nated. In Guyana, just about one percent of the population is fully vaccinated. This stark difference in numbers highlights where we are at in Guyana and why we cannot move around without masks at this stage. The fact is, there aren’t enough Guyanese fully vaccinated to put a dent in the number of infections much less to allow us to move around without a mask. At least one third of the population needs to be fully vaccinated to give the country a semblance of stability and to possibly facilitate those vaccinated to move about without masks. Awareness of variants circulating in US The system in the US has

allowed for rigorous detection of variants of the coronavirus in order to efficiently determine their susceptibility to vaccines. Unfortunately, in Guyana, we are not able to test for variants and their susceptibility to vaccines. The US was therefore able to make its decision based on evidence showing the effectiveness of its vaccines against the variants currently circulating in its environs. Without similar evidence, it will be risky for Guyana to make such a decision at this stage and we will have to wait on our vaccination numbers to increase and counter our infection rates sufficiently before even thinking along the lines of removing our masks. The situation here is not under control The reality is Guyana’s infection and death rates are still rising. While the healthcare sys-

Dr. Zulfikar Bux tem is coping, it is stretched to the limit and we are “walking on thin ice.” If we aren’t careful and continue to be irresponsible, the threat of the system becoming overwhelmed is likelier than it has ever been before. It is easier to become infected with the virus now than it has ever been before; mask wearing for all is still our best bet at this point. Please continue to wear your masks and help promote the vaccination against COVID-19 campaign. If all of us do this well, there will come a time when we can start to take our mask off in Guyana; we’re just not there yet!

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Lessons from a Lashpreneur ! …Caring For Your Natural Eyelashes By Latoya Zephyr Why Should You Look After Your Natural Eyelashes?It’s important to look after your natural eyelashes, especially when you wear false eyelashes on a day to day basis or you have lash extensions. But how do I care for them we hear you ask! That is why we have some tips on how to take care of your natural eyelashes! Most women strive for thick, long black eyelashes and want to keep them looking as healthy as possible. There is many products out there on the market claiming to strengthen and lengthen your lashes such as serum. However, sadly a lot of these products don’t actually work that well, if at all especially if you are not already taking good care of them. You can easily look after and maintain those beautiful lashes of yours on a tight budget, even using some house hold products you are likely to already have! The Basics… Eyelash Care It is very important to keep those lashes healthy, this can be done very easily and you might not even be aware that you are already doing it! By cleaning your face daily (preferably both morning and evening) you are cleaning your eyes lids and lashes. This is great for your eyelashes as you are removing any excess makeup products from them such as mascara or eyelash glue. If you don’t clean your lashes you could end up with a build-up of bacteria, dirt or product. This will result in your lashes becoming brittle and not so healthy. Another reason for cleaning your eyelashes is if you are going to the gym or getting sweaty. Your eyelashes stop sweat from dripping in your eyes, if they are not cleaned you will get a build of sweat (eww, we know). A great way to clean your lashes is to use such as baby shampoo as this is super soft and gentle! If that is not your thing, we suggest you use some makeup remover such as micellar cleansing water. Another fabulous way to take care of your eyelashes is applying a small amount of Vaseline or petroleum jelly on to the

lashes. This will lock in moisture and help with the health of them. You should apply this every other week and takes seconds to apply but makes a world of difference. Removing Eye Makeup Back from a night out and can’t wait to jump in your warm bed? It’s so important you always take off your makeup and never sleep in it,After a long day we understand you might be in a hurry to get those falsies off and that eye makeup. However, you must take care when removing anything from your eye area. Toughing on your lashes will result in you pulling your eyelashes out and could cause ingrown eyelashes. Instead of using baby wipes or makeup wipes opt for a more natural product or micellar water. A great natural alternative is coconut oil, it can be picked up at most pharmacies, grocery stores or drug stores and can be super cheap for a big tub of the stuff and gets eye makeup off in an instant! Never, Ever Share Eye Products! We know it can be tempting if you have forgot to apply your mascara that morning and your friend offers to lend you their mascara but DON’T! You never know if they have an eye infection and they may not be aware yet they have one either. It is also extremely unhygienic and is just going to pass on the bacteria to your eyes. It is also important that

if you are getting your makeup done by a makeup artist,they use disposable mascara wands with their mascara. Many MUAs may be tempted to not bother with this but you could really regret it the next day. Eye makeup brushes should also be cleaned along with any eyeshadow used. Look Carefully at Ingredients You want to keep any eye creams, serums or products as organic and natural as possible. This is why we suggest products such as coconut oil. If the products you are using are packed with chemicals it could cause a reaction or damage your eyelashes. If you are using eyelash adhesive / glue then you should always do a patch test when using a different brand. This is because some people are allergic to the latex that is in many eyelash glues. However, not to worry there are also many alternatives out there with lash glues that are latex free! A top tip we can give you is to never buy any lash adhesive that is not from a well-established company or has not carried out certified testing. Avoid buying any lash adhesive of places such as eBay. There is plenty of fake Duo Glue out there on the market and you never know what dodgy products they have added in there which can completely damage your natural lashes. To keep safe we recommend you shop for the authentic products.

Guyana Talent Search airs tonight on E1 The management team at the Ministry of Culture, Youth, And Sport will be airing the semifinals part-one of its Guyana Talent Search

Competition which is conducting virtual auditions. The show airs tonight at 7PM on E1. Sitting in for the first time as a judge is Guyanese songbird, Poonam Singh who is joined by the beloved Joel Gansham and Guyana’s

Music Princess, Timeka Marshall. Crowing off the list of top-notch judges is Akelo ‘DJ Akelo’ Elliott. Be sure to catch this week’s episode to see Guyanese showcase their enthralling talent pieces.

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9 Proven Health Benefits of Ginger Ginger is a flowering plant that originated in Southeast Asia. It’s among the healthiest (and most delicious) spices on the planet. It belongs to the Zingiberaceae family, and it’s closely related to turmeric, cardamom, and galangal. The rhizome (underground part of the stem) is the part commonly used as a spice. It’s often called ginger root or, simply, ginger. Ginger can be used fresh, dried, powdered, or as an oil or juice. It’s a very common ingredient in recipes. It’s sometimes added to processed foods and cosmetics. Here are 11 health benefits of ginger that are supported by scientific research. 1. Contains gingerol, which has powerful medicinal properties Ginger has a very long history of use in various forms of traditional and alternative medicine. It’s been used to aid digestion, reduce nausea, and help fight the flu and common cold, to name a few of its purposes. The unique fragrance and flavor of ginger come from its natural oils, the most important of which is gingerol. Gingerol is the main bioactive compound in ginger. It’s responsible for much of ginger’s medicinal properties. Gingerol has powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, according to research. For instance, it may help reduce oxidative stress, which is the result of having an excess amount of free radicals in the body. SUMMARY Ginger is high in gingerol, a substance with powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. 2. Can treat many forms of nausea, especially morning sickness Ginger appears to be highly effective against nausea. It may help relieve nausea and vomiting for people undergoing certain types of surgery. Ginger may also help chemotherapyrelated nausea, but larger human studies are needed. However, it may be the most effective when it comes to pregnancy-related nausea, such as morning sickness. According to a review of 12 studies that included a total of 1,278 pregnant women, 1.1– 1.5 grams of ginger can significantly reduce symptoms of nausea.

However, this review concluded that ginger had no effect on vomiting episodes. Although ginger is considered safe, talk with your doctor before taking large amounts if you’re pregnant. It’s recommended that pregnant women who are close to labor or who’ve had miscarriages avoid ginger. Ginger is contraindicated with a history of vaginal bleeding and clotting disorders as well. SUMMARY Just 1–1.5 grams of ginger can help prevent various types of nausea, including chemotherapy-related nausea, nausea after surgery, and morning sickness. 3. May help with weight loss Ginger may play a role in weight loss, according to studies conducted in humans and animals. A 2019 literature review concluded that ginger supplementation significantly reduced body weight, the waist-hip ratio, and the hip ratio in people with overweight or obesity. A 2016 study of 80 women with obesity found that ginger could also help reduce body mass index (BMI) and blood insulin levels. High blood insulin levels are associated with obesity. Study participants received relatively high daily doses — 2 grams — of ginger powder for 12 weeks. A 2019 literature review of functional foods also concluded that ginger had a very positive effect on obesity and weight loss. However, additional studies are needed. The evidence in favor of ginger’s role in helping prevent obesity is stronger in animal studies. Rats and mice who consumed ginger water or ginger extract consistently saw decreases in their body weight, even in instances where they’d also been fed high fat diets. Ginger’s ability to influence weight loss may be related to certain mechanisms, such as its potential to help increase the number of calories burned or reduce inflammation SUMMARY According to studies in animals and humans, ginger may help improve weightrelated measurements. These include body weight and the waist-hip ratio. 4. Can help with osteoarthritis Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common health problem. It involves degeneration of the joints in the body, leading to symptoms such as joint pain and stiffness.

One literature review found that people who used ginger to treat their OA saw significant reductions in pain and disability. Only mild side effects, such as a dissatisfaction with the taste of ginger, were observed. However, the taste of ginger, along with stomach upset, still prompted nearly 22% of the study participants to drop out. Study participants received between 500 milligrams (mg) and 1 gram of ginger each day for anywhere from 3 to 12 weeks. A majority of them had been diagnosed with OA of the knee. Another study from 2011 found that a combination of topical ginger, mastic, cinnamon, and sesame oil can help reduce pain and stiffness in people with OA of the knee. SUMMARY There are some studies showing ginger to be effective at reducing symptoms of osteoarthritis, especially osteoarthritis of the knee. 5. May drastically lower blood sugars and improve heart disease risk factors This area of research is relatively new, but ginger may have powerful anti-diabetic properties. In a 2015 study of 41 participants with type 2 diabetes, 2 grams of ginger powder per day lowered fasting blood sugar by 12%. It also dramatically improved hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), a marker for longterm blood sugar levels. HbA1c was reduced by 10% over a period of 12 weeks. There was also a 28% reduction in the Apolipoprotein B/ Apolipoprotein A-I ratio and a 23% reduction in malondialdehyde (MDA), which is a byproduct of oxidative stress. A high ApoB/ApoA-I ratio and high MDA levels are both major risk factors of heart disease. However, keep in mind that this was just one small study. The results are incredibly impressive, but they need to be confirmed in larger studies before any recommendations can be made. In somewhat encouraging news, a 2019 literature review also concluded that ginger significantly reduced HbA1c in people with type 2 diabetes. However, it also found that ginger had no effect on fasting blood sugar. SUMMARY Ginger has been shown to lower blood sugar levels and improve various heart disease risk factors in people with type 2 diabetes.

6. Can help treat chronic indigestion Chronic indigestion is characterized by recurrent pain and discomfort in the upper part of the stomach. It’s believed that delayed emptying of the stomach is a major driver of indigestion. Interestingly, ginger has been shown to speed up emptying of the stomach. People with functional dyspepsia, which is indigestion with no known cause, were given either ginger capsules or a placebo in a small 2011 study. One hour later, they were all given soup. It took 12.3 minutes for the stomach to empty in people who received ginger. It took 16.1 minutes in those who received the placebo. These effects have also been seen in people without indigestion. In a 2008 study by some members of the same research team, 24 healthy individuals were given ginger capsules or a placebo. They were all given soup an hour later. Consuming ginger as opposed to a placebo significantly accelerated emptying of the stomach. It took 13.1 minutes for people who received ginger and 26.7 minutes for people who received the placebo. SUMMARY Ginger appears to speed up emptying of the stomach, which can be beneficial for people with indigestion and related stomach discomfort. 7. May significantly reduce menstrual pain Dysmenorrhea refers to pain felt during the menstrual cycle. One of the traditional uses of ginger is for pain relief, including menstrual pain. In a 2009 study, 150 women were instructed to take either ginger or a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) for the first 3 days of their menstrual period. The three groups received four daily doses of either ginger powder (250 mg), mefenamic acid (250 mg), or ibuprofen (400 mg). Ginger managed to reduce pain as effectively as the two

NSAIDs. More recent studies have also concluded that ginger is more effective than a placebo and equally as effective as drugs such as mefenamic acid and acetaminophen/caffeine/ ibuprofen (Novafen). While these findings are promising, higher quality studies with larger numbers of study participants are still needed. SUMMARY Ginger appears to be very effective against menstrual pain when taken at the beginning of the menstrual period. 8. May help lower cholesterol levels High levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol are linked to an increased risk of heart disease. The foods you eat can have a strong influence on LDL levels. In a 2018 study of 60 p e o p l e with hyperlipidemia, the 30 people who received 5 grams of ginger-pasted powder each day saw their LDL (bad) cholesterol levels drop by 17.4% over a 3-month period. While the drop in LDL is impressive, it’s important to consider that study participants received very high doses of ginger. Many cited a bad taste in the mouth as their reason for dropping out of an OA study where they received doses of 500 mg– 1 gram of ginger. The doses taken during the hyperlipidemia study are 5–10 times higher. It’s likely that most people may have difficulty taking a 5gram dose for long enough to see results. In an older study from 2008, people who received 3 grams of ginger powder (in capsule form) each day also saw significant reductions in most cholesterol markers. Their LDL (bad) cholesterol levels dropped by 10% over 45 days. These findings are supported by a study in rats with hypothyroidism or diabetes. Ginger extract

lowered LDL (bad) cholesterol to a similar extent as the cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin. Study subjects from all 3 studies also experienced drops in total cholesterol. Participants in the 2008 study, as well as the lab rats, also saw reductions in their blood triglycerides. SUMMARY There’s some evidence, in both humans and animals, that ginger can lead to significant reductions in LDL (bad) cholesterol, total cholesterol, and blood triglyceride levels. 9. Contains a substance that may help prevent cancer Ginger has been studied as an alternative remedy for several forms of cancer. The anti-cancer properties are attributed to gingerol, which is found in large amounts in raw ginger. A form known as [6]-gingerol is viewed as especially powerful. In a 28-day study of individuals at normal risk for colorectal cancer, 2 grams of ginger extract per day significantly reduced proinflammatory signaling molecules in the colon. However, a follow-up study in individuals at a high risk for colorectal cancer didn’t produce the same results. There’s some evidence, albeit limited, that ginger may be effective against other gastrointestinal cancers such as pancreatic cancer and liver cancer. It may be effective against breast cancer and ovarian cancer as well. In general, more research is needed. SUMMARY Ginger contains the substance gingerol, which appears to have protective effects against cancer. However, more studies are needed.

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A look at alleged Ponzi scheme matters before the court The Court Journal

By Renay Sambach This week I will share with you two matters that involve defendants accused of running Ponzi schemes. According to Wikipedia, a Ponzi scheme is “a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. The scheme leads victims to believe that profits are coming from legitimate business activity, and they remain unaware that other investors are the source of funds.” Most persons might be aware of Yuri GarciaDominguez and his wife, Ateeka Ishmael, of 242 Tract ‘A’ Coldingen, East Coast Demerara, who are accused of bilking over 17,000 Guyanese of US$20M (over G$4B). A recent alleged Ponzi scheme matter that is now making headlines is one involving a 33-year-old nursing assistant, Keziah Jeuel Roberts, of Lot 88 Eping Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown, who was slapped with 19 fraud charges. The charges were brought against the defendants by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), an arm of the Guyana Police Force (GPF). According to Chapter 195 of the Criminal Law Offences Act, ‘OBTAINING M O N E Y B Y FA L S E PRETENSE,’ “Everyone who, by any false pretense, obtains from any other person any chattel, money, or valuable security, with intent to defraud, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to imprisonment for three years: provided that if, on the trial of any person indicted for that misdemeanour, it is proved that he obtained the property in question in any manner amounting in law to larceny, he shall not by reason thereof be entitled to be acquitted of the misdemeanour, and no one tried for the misdemeanour shall be liable to be afterward prosecuted for larceny upon the same facts.” KEZIAH ROBERTS Roberts has, so far been slapped with 19 fraud charges and was placed on bail for all of them. On April 30, 2021, she appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Senior Magistrate, Leron Daly, who read 13 of the charges to her. The two other

charges were read to her by Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan. Senior Magistrate Daly was unable to read all 15 charges, after two of the charges were not in her district. However, since the Chief Magistrate is permitted to hear cases from any district, she heard the two remaining charges. Roberts denied the charges that were read to her and she was placed on a total of $460,000 bail. She is expected to make her next court appearance on May 21, 2021 for the aforementioned charges. A c c o r d i n g t o information, Roberts reportedly registered a business under the name ‘Kapital Kare Investment’ and posted a business flyer on her Facebook page reportedly enticing persons to invest in her business. It is alleged that Roberts asked persons to invest the sum of $40,000 and in return, they will receive the sum of $180,000 within 21 days of their investment. Several persons reportedly invested varying sums of monies but never received their capital or returns as promised. The matter was then reported to SOCU and an investigation was launched. A wanted bulletin was later issued for Roberts who later surrendered and was charged. On April 16, 2021, Roberts made her first court appearance and was slapped with four similar fraud charges. Those charges allege that on January 5, 2021 at Georgetown, with intent to defraud, Roberts obtained the sum of $80,000 from Lynn Melvin, by pretending that she was in the position to invest the said sum of money and deliver to Melvin the sum of $360,000 within 21 days. The latter charge alleges that on January 8, 2021, at Georgetown, with intent to defraud, she obtained the sum of $80,000 from Melissa Rupai by pretending that she was in the position to invest the said sum of money and deliver to Rupai the sum of $360,000 within 21 days. Additionally, it is further allege that on January 8, 2021 at Georgetown, with intent to defraud, she obtained the sum of $80,000 from Devika Hiralal, by pretending that she was in the position to invest the said

Charged: Keziah Jeuel Roberts. sum of money and deliver to Hiralal the sum of $360,000 within 21 days. She was then placed on $50,000 bail for each charge. The fourth charge alleges that on January 19, at Tu r k e y e n , E a s t C o a s t Demerara, with intent to defraud, she obtained the sum of $40,000 from Saskia, by pretending that she was in the position to invest the said sum of money and deliver $120,000 to Saskia within 21 days. She was placed on bail and those matters were adjourned to May 21, 2021. YURI AND ATEEKA Alleged Ponzi scheme operators, GarciaDominguez and his wife, not only faced multiple fraud charges but were also slapped with two charges under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act. It should be noted that, that was the first time SOCU has instituted charges under the AML/CFT Act. The AML/CFT Act, Chapter 10:11, prohibits businesses from operating as Financial Institutions without the necessary registration for regulation and supervision by the Regulatory Authorities, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and Guyana Securities Council. Garcia-Dominguez is a Cuban national who was granted citizenship in June 2020. He and his wife are accused of bilking thousands of Guyanese of millions. The couple is in court facing 80 plus fraud charges. They were not required to plead to operating a Ponzi scheme in breach of the Consumer Affairs Act, No.

13 of 2011 and carrying on a business without registering with the Guyana Securities Council in breach of the Securities Industries Act. Cap 73:04. The duo is currently before three different courts facing charges, which allege that they obtain monies under false pretense. They were released on $30M bail after spending over a month in prison on remand. According to reports, Garcia-Dominguez and Ishmael are officials of the Accelerated Capital Firm (ACF) Inc. and they allegedly lured thousands of Guyanese claiming that by investing with their company, they would get a 40 percent return on investment. The investors were also encouraged to enlist additional investors on a 10 percent commission basis. ACF Inc. is not registered with the Guyana Securities Council to conduct financial business either as an investment advisor and/or as a broker. The “investors” included businessmen and church members, with a number of religious leaders accused of playing roles in recruiting unsuspecting Guyanese. In December 2020, the company had offered to repay its investors in digital money, known as crypto currency. Crypto currency is a digital method designed to work as a medium of

Alleged Ponzi scheme operators, Yuri Garcia-Dominguez and his wife, Ateeka Ishmael. exchange, wherein an individual can do online transactions – the most popular crypto currency is bit coins. H o w e v e r, A t t o r n e y General (AG), Anil Nandlall, had told Kaieteur News that the proposed crypto currency repayment method by the principals of ACF is not a legal tender in Guyana. The Bank of Guyana (BoG) had also stated that Guyana does not use crypto currency. According to police, Garcia-Dominguez and Ishmael allegedly lured persons by claiming that by investing with their company, they would get, at least, 40 percent return. The investors were told that the money would be

invested in the trade of foreign currency and was also encouraged to enlist additional investors on a 10 percent commission basis. According to reports, the company had never advertised its business in the mainstream media, and the company is not registered with the Guyana Securities Council to conduct financial business, as either an investment advisor and/or as a broker. After complaints were made by investors of not receiving their money/returns, the new government launched an investigation into the alleged Ponzi scheme. This led to the couple’s eventual arrests and a slew of charges.

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The milkmaid and her pail

Sunday May 16, 2021

Junior page

Paper Bowl Cherry Blossom Tree Craft Spring Tree Craft Supplies: o Paper Bowls o Green Paint o Green Yarn o Brown Cardstock o Brown Yarn o Mini Pom Poms (White, Pink and Purple) o White School Glue The Moral Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. One day, Molly the milkmaid had filled her pails with milk. Her job was to milk the cows, and then bring the milk to the market to sell. Molly loved to think about what to spend her money on. As she filled the pails with milk and went to market, she again thought of all the things she wanted to buy. As she walked along the road, she thought of buying a cake and a basket full of fresh strawberries.

A little further down the road, she spotted a chicken. She thought, “With the money I get from today, I’m going to buy a chicken of my own. That chicken will lay eggs, then I will be able to sell milk and eggs and get more money!” She continued, “With more money, I will be able to buy a fancy dress and make all the other milkmaids jealous.” Out of excitement, Molly started skipping, forgetting about the milk in her pails. Soon, the milk

started spilling over the edges, covering Molly. Drenched, Molly said to herself, “Oh no! I will never have enough money to buy a chicken now.” She went home with her empty pails. “Oh, my goodness! What happened to you?” Molly’s mother asked.“I was too busy dreaming about all the things I wanted to buy that I forgot about the pails,” she answered. “Oh, Molly, my dear. How many times do I need to say, ‘Don’t count your chickens until they hatch?’”

How To Make A Yarn and Paper Bowl Spring Tree Craft

1 Paint the underside of a paper bowl green. 2 When the paint has dried apply a thin layer of white school glue. 3 Cut some lengths of green yarnand stick them into the glue. We used three different shades of green. 4 Cut a rectangular tree trunk from brown cardstock and glue on lengths of brown

yarn. (Leave the top yarn free as it will be hidden behind the paper bowl.) 5 Glue the tree trunk onto the back of the paper bowl tree top. 6 To make your spring tree blossom, glue on white, pink and purple mini pom poms. You can leave your Paper Bowl Spring Tree Craft as it is or mount it onto backing cardstock.

FUN WITH POETRY

Inkies Fill in the blank squares so that each row and each column contain all of the digits 1 thru 3.The heavy lines surround areas (called cages) that contain groups of numbers that can be combined (in any order) to produce the result shown in the clue, either using addition (+) or subtraction (-) as shown in the clue. For example, 12+ means you can add the values together to produce 12.© 2013 KrazyDad.com Numbers in cages may repeat, as long as they are not in the same row or column.

Helping Out It makes me feel so good When I make people happy, That I always try to do something To help someone daily. I help my Mommy clean the house, And even wash the dishes, I help my brother with his homework, And brush my fathers shoes. I sometimes help the old folks next door To shop and clean their place, I share my lunch with one of my friends, It puts such a smile on her face. So try this out and you will find People will see you as a treasure, But most of all the feeling you get Will make you want to help forever.

by Uncle Roy

by Uncle Roy

Kaieteur News

Sunday May 16, 2021

TEEN TIME Adopt the Principles to keep your Life on the Right Path You can be most effective in your efforts to make a successful start to your life by determining the right principles to govern your actions, and trying to embody these in your daily activities. This week we shall mention some of these that you should do well to adopt and use in your daily living. Throughout history it has been found that for human beings to live in harmony, develop in orderly societies, and even survive, they need to abide with certain natural laws that are just as real and unchanging as laws such as gravity are in the physical world. These natural laws, or principles, can be likened to lighthouses which direct ships to safety, and we would be as a ship adrift in a sea enveloped in a dense fog if we did not have these as the very foundation of our own life and in our society.

The reality of such principles or natural laws becomes obvious to you when you think deeply and examine what is happening to you and others in the

present time. You will see the need to follow them in all your actions, and the degree to which you recognise and use them as your guides will determine whether you experience survival and stability or disintegration

The finished puzzle should be filled with Xs and Os. Horizontally and vertically, there should never be a continuous run of the same symbol longer than 2. There are an equal number of Xs and Os in each row and column. All rows are unique. All columns are unique, too.

and destruction. These principles are universal, as they are embodied in the teachings of every major religion as well as every system which you follow to

decide what is right from wrong. They are selfevident and a part of the conscience of every human being, regardless of their beliefs, culture, or geographical location. Principles are g u i d e lin e s f o r h u m a n conduct that are proven to

have enduring, permanent value. This latter can be clearly understood when you try to imagine life without any one. The more closely your own habits and conduct are aligned to them, the more accurate and functional your life will be. Acting positively and consciously in line with correct principles will impact your personal and interpersonal effectiveness far more than any amount of other effort spent on trying to change your attitude and behaviour. Those that will prove to best guide your life are:Fairness, Honesty; Integrity, Human Dignity, Growth, Tolerance, Respect for nature, and Loyalty. We s h a l l b e developing each of these in next weeks issue, so please look out for this, while spending the next few days in thinking about what you now know about these principles and how they can improve your life.

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POETS’ CORNER

Today Today brings me joy, my whole heart sings, As if it has been given wings, As a new day so new and bright Is spread before my wondering sight! Today will bring me peace in quiet prayer, As I lift my heart and, everywhere, See Gods wondrous works appear, And feel His presence calm and clear. Today with faith I make my way, Sure of His blessings all the day, Content to trust the staff and rod Of an all-wise, all-loving God. Today I have wealth much more than gold, Than hands may touch or heart may hold, Because I know that God will feed, By satisfying all that I may need.

When you become aware of any bad deed by any relative or friend, you have the responsibility to deal with it directly with the person, and not for gossiping about it with others. TELL IT TO UNCLE ROY Uncle Roy is again appealing to our readers to make a contribution to this column by either giving a feedback on what is published, asking for some help with some personal problem, offering some advice to fellow teenagers, or sharing the news of what is happening in his/her community. Please send your contribution toroypaul2002@yahoo.com

Solutions to last week’s

Jigsaw Sudoku Puzzles

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Flaring penalty so low Guyana effectively grants Exxon a licence to pollute - CIEL President By Kiana Wilburg The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently disclosed that after May 13, 2021, ExxonMobils subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), will be charged US$30 for every tonne of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2e) released via flaring aboard the Liza Destiny vessel. This decision is reflected in the modified Liza Phase One Environmental Permit that was signed by ExxonMobil Guyana officials and the EPA. Upon noting the foregoing, several industry stakeholders, both locally and internationally, told Kaieteur News that some Guyanese may perceive the US$30 penalty as a good move. The truth however, is that such a tax will in no way, disincentivise the oil giant from flaring. In fact, President for the Centre of International Environmental Law, Carroll Muffett, categorically stated

that the penalty is so low when compared to other market values that Guyana has essentially given the oil giant a licence to pollute its air space with over 250 toxic chemicals. In an invited comment, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the nonprofit organisation that uses the power of law to protect the environment said, “Whether revising the permit in this way is actually permissible is an important question, but one better directed to a Guyanese attorney. Even assuming that the permit revision was permissible however, this seems to be yet another instance in which Exxon has secured an uncommonly sweet deal from the Government of Guyana.” The CIEL President highlighted that earlier this year, President Joe Bidens administration pegged the social cost of carbon pollution in the United States at US$51 per tonne. In the European Union, Muffett said the

benchmark cost for carbon emissions is more than 55 Euros (USD $67) per tonne. Taking this into account, Muffett said, “This permit revision (by the EPA) lets Exxon go on emitting greenhouse gases for less than half the price it would pay in the European Union, even assuming it were permitted to flare gas there. Setting the penalty so low is effectively granting Exxon a licence to pollute.” Muffett said this is particularly troubling given the sustained and massive scale of the flaring in Guyana. In this regard, he reminded that ExxonMobils subsidiary has flared 14 billion standard cubic feet of gas already from the Stabroek Block. Muffett said this is equivalent to burning almost 2.7 million barrels of oil. He added, “Thats nearly 1.5 times the oil all of Guyana burns for electricity in a year. And from a climate perspective, it has the same impact as burning huge swaths of Guyanas forests to the

ground.” But by far the most troubling aspect of this matter he said is that the flaring appears to be driven by repeated and serious failures of critical equipmentfailures that continue despite ExxonMobils repeated assurances to the Government and people of Guyana that the equipment is fully functional, fully operational and safe. Muffett in this regard, was making reference to the four times the Liza Destinys gas compressor system would have malfunctioned. It is now in the USA undergoing repairs. Muffett said this state of affairs raises serious and pressing questions about the safety of the companys ongoing operations in Guyanas waters. Additionally, the CIEL President said if ExxonMobil cannot demonstrate its gas compressor system is safe and functional after18 months of trying, the people of Guyana would be reasonable to ask how the safety and

functionality of other critical equipment can be guaranteed. “And beyond just asking that question, they have a right to an answer,” the CIEL President. Additionally, as reported in a separate article in todays lead story (“Govt. penalises ExxonMobil on flaring but country ultimately has to pay,” pg 3), even the already low penalty will essentially be ineffective since the Stabilisation Clause in the

CIEL President, Carroll Muffett. Stabroek Block Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) ensures that the oil giant is compensated for any new tax or levy that is imposed after the deal was sealed in 2016.

T&T declares a State of Emergency ... From page 13 in a very difficult place.” He further disclosed at the press conference that the country is now dealing with twenty-one deaths in one day, meaning almost one person dying every hour, which is a very frightening situation for T&T. “The more we are allowing ourselves to be infected, that population of infected people will generate a larger population of sick people and

will generate a larger population of dead people,” Dr. Rowley added. Meanwhile, the Principal Medical Officer at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Maryam Abdool-Richards, gave an update on the number of beds in the parallel health care system. “At this rate, we are out of hospital beds and if you require care, you will not be receiving the best level of care,” she said.

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Sunday May 16, 2021

Sunday May 16, 2021

Kaieteur News

==CONSUMER CONCERNS==

BE SAFE AND PROTECTED! BE VACCINATED!

By Pat Dial n this offering, we will revisit the Covid-19 Pandemic because it is the worst health crisis the country has experienced within living memory, because of the danger of death to which the unvaccinated are ignorantly exposing themselves and because the unvaccinated are delaying Herd Immunity and the return of social and economic normalcy. Guyana has so far executed a world class Covid19 Programme. If we compare our programme with those of the developed countries as well as those of other developing countries, our achievement is outstanding. However, we cannot congratulate ourselves until Herd Immunity has been achieved and the country returns to social and economic normalcy. We will not recount all the elements, which have made the Guyana Pandemic programme the success it has so far been. One of the major elements is Management. The Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, did not delegate this task but took personal control of it and appointed a team of able and dedicated young doctors and nurses to help to execute it and among these were Dr. Ertenisa Hamilton who assumed direct on the ground control and Dr. Lall who is in-

I

volved in the vaccination aspect. Though vaccination of the population is the most important measurable facet of the programme, there are other ancillary activities which are imperative and these include recruitment and training of staff; provision of suitable hospitalisation facilities; provision of suitable equipment; provision of adequate supplies of medications; testing; oxygen; special cold storage facilities; obtaining supplies of vaccines which required both diplomatic and commercial skills; and meeting the challenges of inoculating a widely scattered comparatively small Interior population traversing difficult terrain of mountains, forests and rivers; and importantly, to keep the population informed on a daily basis. When Dr. Ertenisa Hamilton was asked about the daunting task of vaccinating the Interior Regions, she reiterated that her office was informed by the principle of delivery of universal health care across the entire country. “We cannot serve our country,” she said, “if we serve it in a manner in which those who are easily accessible receive more Covid-19 services than those who are not easily accessible . . . We are committed to ensuring that every Guyanese receive equitable, accessible and acceptable service in all

Use oil revenues to create a social ... From page 4 Resources Fund). What should be the key features of our social welfare state? (a) It must include both targeted and universal coverage. Because oil revenues belong to all citizens, social welfare should be extended to all, even to high-earners. Universal provision is morally and politically justified. For more effectiveness, however, the plight of particular groups deserves targeted interventions. The obvious groups include the poor, children, the elderly, hinterland residents, and single mothers. According to the World Bank, the current system is badly targeted. The nation will have to balance universalism and effective directed coverage. (b) It must include both conditional and unconditional provision. This issue was hotly debated two years ago when the WPA floated its cash transfer to households proposal. Should the government restrict citizens, especially the poor, to use their cash and other social provision in specified ways? Much empirical evidence has accumulated across the globe to provide guidance. (c) The system must be built on a range of policies,

laws, institutions, and instruments. The policies and laws are essential to codify a nationally agreed commitment to the goal of creating a social welfare state. Institutions would have to be purposebuilt. Instruments should include social security (such as more care for the elderly and the disabled), social insurance (such as an expanded NIS), social assistance (such as cash to low-income families, and school-feeding programmes), social protection (for adversities such as job loss, or the death of a breadwinner), subsidies (in several oil-rich countries, the price of fuel is slashed), tax breaks, and free to affordable social services (such as access to training and to recreational facilities). In conclusion, it bears repeating that a social welfare state is not merely about assistance for the poor (or for those unwilling to work). It is informed by a philosophy that says all citizens must share in the national patrimony and prosperity, no citizen must be excluded or left behind, and the ultimate goal of national development is a guaranteed good life for all now and into the future. Yours faithfully Sherwood Lowe

Covid-19 services and also in the general provision of healthcare.” Dr. Frank Anthony and his team showed remarkable foresight when, early in the Pandemic, they approached Covax, a UN-associated body, and secured a commitment for supply of vaccines for 20% of the population and also sourced supplies from India, China and Russia. Today, most countries in the world are suffering from

vaccine shortage and several would not receive vaccines for several months from now. Guyana is one of the very few developing countries, which has enough of a supply of vaccines to achieve Herd Immunity before year-end. Dr. Anthony, Dr. Hamilton, Dr. Lall and their team of young professional nurses have crafted an outstanding programme to confront the Pandemic including a very fine vaccination

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programme and by now Herd Immunity should have been clearly in sight. But this has been frustrated by an outlandish misinformation campaign against the vaccine by use of the social media and rumour. Dr. Anthony and others in the Medical Profession have been appealing to those who have allowed themselves to be misled, to protect themselves, their families and their community by taking the vac-

cine. Dr. Anthony, in patient disappointment, recently remarked, “Availability of vaccines is not the issue it is making sure that people come and get their vaccination . . . Unfortunately, we have seen in some communities there has been vaccine hesitancy because of all kinds of myths.” Consumer advocates are less polite than Dr. Anthony is and would point (Continued on page 60)

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Kaieteur News

GNBS’ Business Development Department streamlined to better meet business needs

==GNBS IN FOCUS== With the advancement of our economy due to the oil and gas sector in Guyana, there has been a significant increase in the demand for technical assistance and training towards the implementation of management system standards. In response, the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) has taken some criti-

cal steps to align the services of its Business Development Department to meet stakeholders’ needs. The purpose of the Business Development Department is to provide technical support in the areas of Management System Standards and key management tools that aid businesses efficiency. It also helps to improve busi-

ness competitiveness by building employee competency through training and raising awareness of businesses’ demonstrated ability to implement internationally recognised management system standards. Additionally, businesses that have attained conformance are likely to have improved products, services

and processes to better serve their customers locally and overseas. Every Officer of the GNBS Business Development Department has the performance of local businesses at the forefront of his/her mind, and is eager to support and find standard related solutions for business growth and longevity.

The department is comprised of a cadre of Technical Officers who are very knowledgeable, competent and reliable when it comes to standards implementation. Regarding services, the department provides technical assistance to businesses that are desirous of implementing management system standards. These standards include the ISO 9001:2015 - Quality Management System Requirements, the ISO 22000:2018 Food Safety Management System Requirements, the ISO 17025:2017 – General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories and the GYS 170:2009 – General requirements for the operation of a laboratory. Conformance to these standards streamlines business operations and results in a smooth flow from beginning to end because processes are better defined to meet planned outcomes. Once onboard, technical assistance would be provided to businesses over a 6-12 months period toward documentation and implementation. It includes coaching of the implementation team to build competence to maintain the management system even after the technical assistance would have ended. For training, the department focuses heavily on capacity building for businesses and individuals. Our training programmes are aimed toward improving the competence of persons in establishing, implementing and maintaining key management system standards and requirements. Companies and busi-

nesses can now take advantage of the GNBS new and customised training programmes, which include training on the Quality Management System Principles, Risk Management, Procedure Writing, Determining Internal & External Issues, Control of Documented Information and ISO 9001:2015 Mandatory Documents and Records. For stakeholders considering Accreditation to international standards, the Business Development Department also provides technical support to Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) responsible for testing, inspection and certification activities in Guyana. The Department offers training on standards applicable to their line of activity and help CABs to implement the relevant standards that can lead to them being accredited. Why choose the services of the GNBS? The GNBS is the National Standards Body and the custodian for standards that support quality. Therefore, who better to provide you with the technical support you need towards the implementation of standards? So, do not hesitate! For all your technical assistance and training needs, engage the GNBS Business Development Department. As the National Standards Body, our team can better to provide you with the technical support you need to make your business grow. For further information, please contact the GNBS on telephone numbers: 2190064/65/66 Ext 240. You can also visit the GNBS Facebook and Instagram pages for regular updates.

BE SAFE AND PROTECTED!... From page59 out that not being vaccinated and as a result, infecting other persons, is criminal. In the unlikely event of the vaccinated being infected, the attack would scarcely be fatal, but if the unvaccinated experience a severe attack, that person could be near to death’s door. It is of the highest national importance that the population be vaccinated against the Covid-19 Pandemic since it will protect citizens, their families and society from suffering and untimely death. It would also guard against citizens being victims to variants of the virus and sudden spikes, which have wreaked such havoc in several countries and help to achieve Herd Immunity, which would lift the lockdowns and return society to social and economic

normalcy. The Guyana Consumers Association (GCA) is therefore calling upon the major National Stakeholders the Parliamentary political parties, the Labour Movement, the Private Sector, the Medical Profession and the University of Guyana to jointly reject the misrepresentations against the vaccines and appeal to the nation to take advantage of the Covid-19 vaccination programme and protect themselves and families, achieve Herd Immunity and return Guyana to social and economic normalcy. GCA will be formally writing these national stakeholders on the issue. (The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

Sunday May 16, 2021

Three more deaths, 180 new cases of COVID-19 Three more women have died from COVID-19 complications even as the Ministry of Health (MoH) reported yesterday that 180 additional people have been infected with the virus. Additionally, the Ministry refuted claims that one woman in Berbice died after taking the vaccine to prevent the disease. According to the MoH, the latest deaths include an 80-year-old woman and a 72year-old woman, who are both from Region Four

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(Demerara-Mahaica) and who both died on May 14. The other woman, who succumbed, was a 40-year-old woman from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), who died on May 13. The release said that the patients were admitted with COVID-19 like symptoms but died while receiving care at the ministrys medical institutions. They were tested for COVID19 upon admission and their results, subsequently, showed that they were positive. The three deaths take the

total death toll for Guyana to 338. The MoH noted nonetheless along with the deaths and new cases, an additional 52 people have now recovered after being infected with the virus. Meanwhile, in a statement denouncing the misinformation being pedaled in relation to the COVID-19 vaccines by persons, particularly in Berbice, Region Six, the Ministry said that it categorically rejected as mischievous and unsubstantiated claims on social media that a resident of

Region Six died on May 13 after taking the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. According to its records, the Ministry stated, the 40year-old woman was administered her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on April 17 at the Skeldon Hospital and was due to return for her second on May 19, 2021. The

MoH rejects claim that Berbice woman died after receiving vaccine Ministry clarified that there is no evidence that her death is linked to the COVID-19 vaccine. The MoH yesterday appealed to everyone 18 years and older to visit a vaccina-

tion site in their community and get vaccinated against the deadly COVID-19 disease. The Ministry also reiterated that the COVID-19 vaccines being administered are safe and effective.

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Kaieteur News WANTED Sailor cook and watch man to work on @ water dredge Tel#226-0772/ 225-9304

FOR RENT Business spot/ bond space Sandy Babb St Kitty. $1500US neg. Contact 653-2774 CAR RENTAL AIDAN'S CAR RENTAL & TOW TRUCK SERVICE:PICKUP,9-11 SEAT MINI BUS, GOOD FOR AIRPORT & FAMILY OUTINGS, CHEAPEST RATE#698-7807.

2 Bedroom unfurnished apt Sandy Babb St Kitty $60,000 Contact 653-2774 Space to rent 5000 SQ FT located @ 76 First Avenue, Bartica Contact #650-0402/ 260-4115 1 & 2 bedroom apartment $40,000 & $50,000 one month rent with one month security, Herstelling Tel#696-1680 Stacey Henry

Mason and Carpenter wanted Contact 657-5800/ 666-2887/ 602-9469 Urgent: 1 experience kitchen assistant/ domestic live- in available 25-45yrs Tel#6956550/ 656-9313 Farm workers in a cash crop farm in Timehri living accomendation provided Tel#661-1585/ 617-2032 Cook/ Baker, Kitchen Assistant , Pitmen and Hauler operator for inteior location. Applicants must be experienced. Call 231-2250 Land Dredge workers with chain saw experience Call 6392219

SERVICES Visa Application: U.S.A, Canada & UK; Graphics design, advertisements, Wedding arch rentals. Tel: 626-7040 Drawing of Building or house plan (Architectual) and also Estimate Call 2160671, 692-8464, whatsapp 622-0267 Repairs and servicing, refridgerator, treadmill, washing machine, stove, pressure pump, filtration system dryer, deepfryer etc 694-9733

FOR SALE 1- Caterpillar backhoe 3.5M Downpayment $2.5M Cantact 650-0402/ 632-9929 2 year old 52 Banga boat with 452 lb sein 160hp and 140hp Yamaha Contact 649-1512 Pure breed German Shepherd pups 8 weeks old Call or whatsapp 648-0111 Sea view four bedroom three toilet home for sale 613-7964/ 675-1510 PROPERTY FOR SALE

BUILDING CONTRACTOR HOUSE PLANS ESTIMATE BUILDERS CONSTRUCTION CALL 649-7114 guybuildersco@outlook.com

One unfinished house and business at Kaneville E.B.D price $10M. Contact 699-7546, 600-4292

CXC spanish tutoring available online and face to face classes, at an afforable package 633-8311

Developer in US selling custom built vacation homes in berbice $25 million CBG proerties. 001-346-818-0822

Smart Meats check us out @ Keisha's Building, Daily chicken pie, potato pie & more

Lot 2461 Tuchen Housing scheme 3 bedroom house for sale Tel#682-1069 TO LET 2 bedroom unfurnished apartment in Eccles New Scheme and rooms in Albertown 2253234/ 628-1183

FOR RENT 3 and 2 bedroom apartment, newly renovated, at 266 New Market street Contact Prem 651-1630

WANTED

Ransom (Concrete mixers), Scaffolding, Power washer, compactors, hire truck service etc, free delivery. Telephone: 610-5360. Email:dmdscaffolding@yahoo.com

Male factory worker apply in person at RP Enterprise area K' Leressouvnir E.C.D Tel#220-2818

Furnish apt one bedroom,two bedroom, three bedroom, providence and diamond Tel#672-1906, 682-6238, 216-2299

Wanted one cook perferably from the West Bank Demerara. Call Sophie 679-2612 Assistant cook must know to make pastry, roti, puri Call 6093643

1 Cafeteria to rent 2748 old road Land of Canaan Tel#668-0306/ 676-0506 great for starting new business

One (1) welder to do grill work Call 625-5763

One live-in babysitter needed Contact Owen on 636-2310 or 622-4576

VACANCY Maid to cook and clean for the East Bank area Call 615-9132 Female cleaner for office Call 642-9823 Male cleaner for workshop Call 642-9823 Auto Electrical apprentice Age 19-25yrs apply in person Lot 120 forth street Albertown G/Town or Call 610-0340 One clerk for Eccles office English & Mathematics, grade 1 or 2 Email application to techserigy@yahoo.com Receptionist supervisor room attendant 30-50 yrs 233 South Road Lacytown Tel#225-2304 One truck Driver - full time Apply at lens 136 Sheriff Street C/ Ville Tel#227-2486 One porter apply at Len's 136 Sheriff Street, C/ Ville Tel#2272486 Farmers / farm workers Contact: 621-4992 or 227-5289 Location Canal No:2 West Bank Demerara CXC Mathematics and English required 173 Sheriff street, Campbellville, Georgetown Tel#227-5286-9, E m a i l survival.humanresources@gmail.com Requirements: Valid Drivers License (With Motor Lorry) 173 Sheriff street, Campbellville, Georgetown Tel: 227-5286-9, Email: survival.humanresources@gmail.com Experience labourers to work on cash crop farm Salary $5,000 - $6,000 per day Tel#695-6139/ 679-7552/ 6397420 Vacancy for cashiers to work at superbet Tel#691-7123 PEN PAL Male seek non-racial single independent female Contact 698-6391

Sunday May 16, 2021

Sunday May 16, 2021

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Illegal Ruimveldt Concrete Factory… GRA seizes all duty-free equipment Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Godfrey Statia, has confirmed with Kaieteur News that all duty-free equipment brought in by Superior Concrete Inc., the foreign controlled company that was setting up an illegal concrete batching facility at Houston Estates, has been seized. Statia said too that there is an ongoing assessment of the said case to understand the extent to which the nations tax laws have been broken by the company.

This newspaper was also able to ascertain from other GRA officials that the losses to the State regarding the said equipment total more than $40M. Following Kaieteur News reporting on the matter, two Superior Concrete Inc. officials, Ian Charles Jones and Richard Austin Shamlin, were told to leave these shores after it was found that they were working in Guyana on expired work permits. Both individuals were also highly disrespectful to Government offi-

cials who tried on three occasions to bring an end to the rogue operations. The illegal operation that was being led by the foreign controlled company was taking place on land adjacent to South Ruimveldt. Kaieteur News was able to obtain a copy of the transport for the plot in use and observed that it is partly owned by Michael Vieira, who is the Chairman of Houston Estates. KN had reported that Vieira had no part of the ille-

Woman bites cop for attempting to arrest son From page 16 by a police officer. According to the video, the driver for the vehicle was about to be detained by the sergeant when an argument issued. The driver was being held by his pants and was being told that he needs to be arrested. The man refused to cooperate with the officer

and could be heard telling the officer, “Loose me, loose me.” The argument subsequently escalated and the drivers mother tried to free him from the grip of the sergeant. The woman tugged on the arm of the sergeant but was unsuccessful in releasing her son, after which she

is seen leaning over between the two men. Persons at the scene, including the person recording the video, could be heard exclaiming that she “bite the sergeant.” Her relatives eventually constrained her. Up to press time, it was unclear what action would be taken against the woman.

gal operation but only leased the lands to Andrew Mekdeci. In a statement to the press on May 11, 2021, Mekdeci denied having any involvement in this illegal operation, stating that, “I will not flout the laws of Guyana.” He admitted however that his company was contracted to provide equipment and construction materials to the foreign controlled company while adding it was observed by this publication during a site visit that machinery operating

on the site is branded MMC, a company owned and controlled by Andrew and Marise Mekdeci. In light of this declaration, Kaieteur News sent an email on May 11, asking Andrew Mekdeci to answer questions related to the licensing of the company and other issues. So far, no response was provided to these questions, which were emailed to Ajay Baksh of Perception Inc., a Public Relations and Advertising firm that sent the statement on Mekdecis behalf.

GRA Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia.

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Sunday May 16, 2021

Kaieteur News

Judge gives DPP 30 days to proceed with ‘Two Colours’ indictment

High Court Judge, Navindra Singh, has ordered the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar AliHack, SC, to present the indictment of the State against Lennox Wayne within 30

days from last Friday, when a ruling was given refusing his application for a permanent stay of the murder charge. Wayne called ‘Two Colours,’ is charged with the murder of Ashmini Harriram, the 19-year-old Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, cosmetologist who was shot and killed on July 10, 2014. Wayne and his former coaccused, Melroy Doris, had faced a trial in the High Court but were remanded to prison after the jury failed to meet a verdict for the murder charge. Last March, Doris appeared before Justice, Brassington Reynolds, and pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. He was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for the crime after the Court considered the time he already spent in pre-trial custody among other factors. However, Wayne chose

not to go that route and filed civil proceedings against the State claiming a breach of right to a fair hearing. Through his attorney, Nigel Hughes, Wayne asked the High Court for several orders, including an order for a permanent stay of the murder charge and a declaration that his rights, guaranteed by the provisions of Article 144 of the Constitution of Guyana, have been infringed. According to an affidavit to support his claim, the murder accused asked the Court to consider inter alia that he had been incarcerated for the crime since October 2014. Wayne and Doris had faced a previous trial in the High Court for the murder back in 2017. The proceedings ended in a hung jury verdict and trial Judge, Jo Ann Barlow, informed the two accused that they “will have to remain in custody and undergo another trial during another session of the Demerara Criminal Assizes.” Ever since then they have been behind bars. In his application to stay the murder charge, detailed, among other

Lennox Wayne called “Two Colours.”

Judge, Navindra Singh.

things, the unnecessary delays in bringing his case to an end. However, in a ruling handed down on Friday, the High Court Judge, found that Wayne’s constitutional right to a fair trial within a reasonable time has not been infringed. Addressing the claims of delay in trial, Justice Singh pointed out that inter alia the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the suspension of jury trials in March 2020 and the fact that the DPP averred that she was prepared to proceed with the

trial in January 2021. Further, the Court found that Wayne in indicating his

55th Independence Anniversary nationwide cleanup campaign launched

T

he Ministry of Pub lic Works held a virtual meeting with stakeholders to initiate a national buy-in for the physical enhancement of communities, as part of the 55th Independence Anniversary Programme. During the consultation yesterday, the participants were told that the intention is to do more than the norm and to seek the participation of local authorities, community based groups, private sector bodies, religious organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and citizens in general, to improve the aesthetics of our communities. Various proposals were endorsed and some of these include: cleaning of parapet and drains, cleaning of shorelines, sea and river defences,

flagging and decorating of light poles, erection of motivational banners, painting of community bridges, cleaning and painting of community open spaces, painting of pedestrian crossings, enhancement of bus stops and surroundings among others. Two novel ideas were a ‘Best Village’ Competition at the Regional level and the erection of decorative frames, where selfies can be taken to showcase Guyana’s Independence on social media platforms. The use of bumper stickers already produced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Communications Taskforce, with messages of patriotism will also be encouraged. Apart from these, local communities and organisations can engage with others for the beautifi-

cation of Guyana. Stakeholders raised concerns about the maintenance and emphasised aggressive public education and enforcement by statutory bodies. The Ministry of Public Works as part of its road and sea defence maintenance programmes will be engaging dozens of small contractors in this cleanup exercise. Representatives of the Private Sector pledged to support the initiative at the local level. Minister Edghill called upon all those present to serve as cells to create a wider movement for the improvement of our aesthetics and the beautification of Guyana. Persons who are interested in being part of this initiative can contact the Ministry of Public Works for more information on 231-8127 or 231-8128. (DPI news)

Russian Sputnik V vaccines spoiled in Region Nine A small amount of the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines was spoiled after a health team was left in Gunns Village, Region Nine. This was revealed by Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony. The Minister explained that a team of health workers was forced to stay in the village for three days due to an aircraft delay. Dr. Anthony said that there was no dry ice to keep the vaccines at their required tempera-

ture since flights were delayed. He explained that the Russian Sputnik V vaccines have to be stored at -18 to -20 degrees, once the vaccines are taken out of the freezers and containers stored, the dry ice keeps them cold for three days, after the three days without sufficient temperature the vaccines will go bad. The Minister highlighted that the vaccination rate in Region Nine is just over 33%.

willingness to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and actively engaging in discussions about such a plea with the DPP, effectively waived any period of delay prior to such indication. The DPP had issued a previous statement clarifying that the accused has the option of pleading guilty to the lesser crime. The statement stipulated that “on several occasions, Wayne has indicated that his wish was to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter; the last indication was made in November 2020.” “At the time that the DPP was prepared to proceed with

the trial in January 2021, [Wayne’s] indication of willingness to plead guilty to the lesser included offence of manslaughter and therefore forego a trial is diametrically opposed to his claim that his right to a trial within a reasonable time has been infringed, particularly when he shortly thereafter instituted this motion.” Justice Singh added that “as long as a fair trial is possible it is in the public interest that cases should be tried.” In those circumstances, the Judge refused Wayne’s application for a permanent stay of prosecution.

Coalition Govt. had requested loan increase from India to fund bypass road - Patterson Former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, revealed yesterday that the APNU+AFC Coalition administration had requested a loan increase from India to fund its bypass road plans. He made this revelation after he pointed out that the US$50M loan for the bypass road linking the East Coast of Demerara with the East Bank Demerara was approved since 2017. Kaieteur News had reported on Friday that the loan agreement was signed by the then Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, but erroneously stated that it was only approved when the current administration took office. As he pointed out the error, Patterson related that the Coalition had spent US$1.3M from the US$50M loan on consultancy services for its bypass road plans. He stated that the consultancy was awarded to RITES, an Indian company. The company was mandated provide a design for a modern superhighway that can serve Guyana for the next 50 years, ensure that space for future expansion is available and to design a highway, which was environmentally sustainable. A final report was submitted in 2019 with a design that was in agreement with the Coalitions vision. In order to make the plan a reality, the Coalition had to request a loan increase from the Indian Government. Patterson said that the plan was to construct 25.42Km road from Ogle on the East Coast Demerara to Diamond on the East Bank Demerara at an estimated cost of US$177M. The estimated cost, detailed Patterson was being

Former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson. reviewed too. He said that the then Ministry of Public Infrastructure had hired an independent geotechnical engineer “whose job was to review the proposed subsurface design with a view of achieving some cost savings.” The highway, according to Patterson, would have included a modern roundabout at the intersection of the highway and the embankment, concrete drains, footpaths, 16 bridges one of them specially designed 85 culverts plus other modern amenities associated with a superhighway. “Street lighting along the entire highway would have been included along with traffic lights, bus stops and other such safety measures as well,” stated Patterson. Part of the plan he continued was for the highway to be connected to four different communities, South Ruimveldt, Eccles, Mocha Arcadia and Diamond. The connector roads, related Patterson, would have been

funded by other sources. The current Government argued that that the Coalition had pushed up the cost of the bypass road to US$208M when India had only committed to lending US$50M. Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, had stated as well that the Coalitions plan contained too many connector roads. Patterson however said that the drive behind the Coalitions “superhighway” plans was because of Guyanas projected growth. “Because of the projected growth in the country, you have to plan to accommodate this projected growth,” Patterson said. The former Minister based his reason on the fact that Guyana is an oil-producing nation and said that the country needs a highway, which would not only serve as an alternative route to the East Bank Demerara Road but one that could serve as an economic driver.

Sunday May 16, 2021

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Kaieteur News

Venezuelan gang member found with illegal firearm in Guyana Joint Services river patrol ranks on Thursday caught a Venezuelan gang member with an illegal firearm in Guyanas waters. The man was intercepted by the ranks between 11:00 and 15:55 hrs. while in a boat, in the vicinity of San Martin on Guyanas Shore, Cuyuni River, Region Seven. According to a police report, a Glock 19 Pistol along with two magazines containing 22 live rounds of ammunition were found in a red haversack he was carrying. The man was detained and taken to the Eteringbang Police Station. Police reported too that the Venezuelan national is a

Guerrilla member. The Guerrilla (warfare) or guerrilleros as they are more commonly known is a Venezuelan gang that has been operating in the Cuyuni district a few years now. Their base is located on Venezuelas shore alongside the Cuyuni River just a few miles away from the Venezuelan village, San Martin de Turumbang. The gang is involved in fuel smuggling and would collect a tax from miners and businessmen who use the river to transport their fuel. Kaieteur News understands that the tax is paid in gold at a rate of 0.2 grams on each barrel of fuel transported.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday May 16, 2021

Sunday May 16, 2021

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Kaieteur News

Djokovic plays twice as Nadal cruises into Rome final ROME (AP) — Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal had starkly different days at the Italian Open on Saturday. Djokovic regained his cool after throwing his racket off the court in a grueling, rain-delayed quarterfinal victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas by 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, then was to play his semifinal later against local favorite Lorenzo Sonego in the second match of the day for both players. “I haven’t played too many matches this year, so I don’t feel too exhausted,” Djokovic said. “I’m pumped to get another win today.” Nadal, meanwhile, kept his time on court to a minimum by ending the surprising clay-

court run of big-serving American Reilly Opelka by 64, 6-4 in the semifinals. The 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Opelka hadn’t dropped a set this week and threatened early against Nadal with a series of huge forehands. But Nadal saved four break points in the fourth game of the match then broke in the next game to take control and move within one victory of a record-extending 10th title at the Foro Italico. The women’s final will feature French Open champion Iga Swiatek against 2019 Rome champion Karolina Pliskova. Swiatek also had to play twice on Saturday. First, she eliminated two-time Rome

champion Elina Svitolina 6-2, 7-5 then she beat 17-year-old Coco Gauff 7-6 (3), 6-3. Pliskova reached her third consecutive Rome final by outlasting Petra Martic 6-1, 36, 6-2. Djokovic fought back from breaks of his serve in each of the final two sets to reach his eighth consecutive semifinal in Rome, where he has lifted the trophy five times, most recently last September when the tournament was moved to later in the year because of the coronavirus pandemic. “I’m just really, really glad to overcome this challenge,” Djokovic said. “It’s probably the toughest match of the

year for me so far.” Sonego was backed by a loud crowd when he rallied past seventh-ranked Andrey Rublev 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach his first Masters semifinal. Their match was washed out Friday. Fans were allowed to fill 25% of capacity as part of the Italian government’s reopening plan. It was Sonego’s second consecutive win over a top10 player, after also eliminating No. 4 Dominic Thiem. The Italian routed Djokovic 6-2, 6-1 in their only previous meeting, in Vienna last year. The Djokovic-Tsitsipas match began on Friday but was suspended overnight

with Tsitsipas leading 2-1 with a break in the second set — with play having already been interrupted for 3½ hours due to the intermittent rain. “It kind of felt like we played two matches,” Djokovic said. “Completely different conditions today; ball bouncing a bit more, coming to you. Yesterday it was really slow and muddy on the court.” Djokovic also went the distance to beat Tsitsipas in five sets in last year’s French Open semifinals. This year’s French Open starts in two weeks and Djokovic, who has had a difficult start to the clay-court season, appeared frustrated at times with his game.

Facing a break point early in the third set, Djokovic attempted a difficult drop shot that landed on top of the net cord and agonizingly bounced back into his side of the court — handing Tsitsipas a 2-1 lead. Djokovic reacted by throwing his racket angrily into the advertising boards lining the side of the court, which drew a code violation warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. Djokovic’s temper was also an issue during his second-round match this week against Taylor Fritz, when he fumed at the umpire for not stopping play soon enough due to rain.

...‘Improved ...Briton John leads seniors From page 73 would be crowned apart batting Mario Washington will re- from the respective winners $35,000 and Aaron of the stage. performances ceive Newton (We Stand United Meanwhile, President of

Sunday May 16, 2021 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Your energy might turn toward beautifying your home. Perhaps you've decided to repaint or go in a completely new direction in your decorating taste.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) You're naturally a kind, compassionate person. Today your feelings are likely to be focused not only on those close to you but also on all the world's population.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) A number of loving communications may come your way from people who live in distant states or exotic lands. You're feeling especially affectionate now, Taurus, particularly regarding those closest to you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) With today's planetary aspects, Scorpio, you're likely to feel a rush of love. This includes love for family, friends, partner, and all life forms. The reality of spiritual advancement through love is all around you.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) A small amount of money might come your way today, Gemini. It could be a gift, dividend, or bonus. You may want to squander it on gifts for yourself.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) You're feeling especially loving and passionate, and likely to want to pursue a romantic encounter with the special person in your life.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) You should feel and look great today. Your charm and social skills are at a high level, and your joviality and gift for conversation should make you a welcome guest at any social event.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Today is a great time to form or strengthen romantic relationships. If you aren't involved, chances are you will meet someone. If you are, expect your relationship to develop a new spiritual bond.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Your psychic abilities and imagination are operating at a very high level, Leo. You face other people with a profound, spiritual love. They will return it!

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) This is an ideal day to begin a creative venture. You've had many ideas and creative urges. Today it's time to choose one and take the first step to making your vision a reality.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Some friends associated with a group you admire might take you to some kind of rally. This could be a lot of fun for you. You could make some new friends. You're naturally inclined toward humanitarian concern.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Your naturally loving nature gets a boost today, Pisces. You could look especially attractive, so don't be surprised if you draw admiring looks from strangers. Romantic novels and movies could seem appealing now,

From page 27 taken his form with the bat to a debut season of English County cricket for Worcestershire. With best scores of 46 and 61, Joseph has shown plenty of ability to be handy with the bat when the team needs it. In four matches to date, Joseph has scored 128 runs and claimed 10 wickets. “Whatever I could contribute to the team I am happy to do, so it’s good that I have been getting a few scores but for me, I think it’s also about being consistent doing it,” Joseph told the Antigua Observer. “I have always enjoyed batting but it was just down to me being a bit more focused on it so I think for me it’s just about staying focused, being consistent in any aspect of the game.”

...Boxer makes leap From page 70 vision, a good storyline and executive it could become a lucrative business and that is one of my goals,” stated Stewart. The movie will be released on You tube under the page ‘GT Reality’ on May 20 and people are being encouraged to subscribe to the page so they can watch it since because it is a low budget movie the producers are hoping they can make ‘something’ from it. “We are asking everyone to subsribe to the page so that we can we be paid by ‘You tube’ from views of the subscribers. By watching the Movie, it will help us who put in the hard work and improvisation and a lot of mental work into this project,” Stewart concluded.

Cycle Club) placing third and will pocket $25,000. Riding well to end fourth overall was 13 year-old Alex Leung (We Stand United Cycle Club). Today’s final stage will pedal off from Kara Kara in the Bauxite Mining Town of Linden from 07:30hrs to finish outside of Banks DIH, Thirst Park when the senior and veteran overall winners

the GCF, Linden Dowridge has disclosed that due to the covid-19 pandemic and the need to follow all protocols and guidelines, no presentation would take place today. Rather, cyclists would be receiving their prizes at the National Sports Commission Office, Homestretch Avenue, tomorrow.

Kaieteur News

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Sunday May 16, 2021

Arrival Day Softball Cup on today The K and P Pharmacy and Diagnostic Centre Arrival Day softball cup will be played today at Good Banana Land ground in Canje with several teams battling for supremacy. The tournament, which

was scheduled to be held on May 5, but was postponed due to inclement weather, will be hosted in collaboration with WeCare Community Services and Promotions and Grill Masters Softball Team of

East Canje Berbice. According to the organizers the one day limited overs knock-out competition will be played under strict covid guidelines and spectators will not be allowed in the venue.

The organizers said that the day’s event is being put together to commemorate Arrival Day in Guyana. The competition will be played by a limited number of teams and they will be vying for trophies and cash incentives.

The tournament is being sponsored by the Halall Guy, are Office Express, Hanoman’s Dental, Mr. Murselene Bacchus SC, attorney at law, Raja Extreme Trucking Service, Ishwar Singh (GuyBiz) and

F u r n i t u r e Wo r l d a n d Terminate Pest Control, AVR Sawmill, Dordy’s and T and R Construction and Inspiration Plumbing and Environmental Services. Action gets underway at 09:00hrs.

Kaieteur News

Sunday May 16, 2021

PAGE 69

‘Improved batting performances down to focus’ - Joseph SportsMax - West Indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph has credited increased mental focus on his batting with improved

performances at the crease. Over the past several months, the bowler has made the headlines for positing solid totals at the

crease, as much as if not more than multiple wicket hauls. Against New Zealand, in December of last year, Joseph

recorded his highest total of 86, which was his maiden half-century. The Antiguan then went on to add another after scoring 82 in

February this year against Bangladesh. Fast forward a few months later and the player has (Continued on page 67)

Kaieteur News

PAGE 70

Sunday May 16, 2021

Boxer makes leap into the Film Industry as screen writer - Laured Stewart’s ‘Whatever it takes’ to be released May 20 By Sean Devers Guyanese Pugilist Laured ‘the Lion’ Stewart is set to fight on the Gary St Clair Superhero fight night PromotionsPro/Am Boxing Card which is tentatively scheduled for the Providence Stadium in September. The 27-year-old Super We l t e r w e i g h t h a s a professional career of four fights between 2013 and 2020 when he lost to Jalen Renaud in the USA just

before Covid-19 became a global pandemic. Stewart, who resides in San Diego, also represented Guyana in the shotput and discus and Hockey and was Captain of the Queenstown Secondary School’s cricket team. T h e M u l t i - Ta l e n t e d Athlete has ventured into the film Industry as a screen writer and actor with his first Movie…’Whatever it takes’,set to be released on

You Tube under the Page ‘GT Reality’ onMay 28, 2021. Stewart, who grew up in Albertown in Georgetown and attended St Gabriel’s Primary and Queenstown secondary schools, left Guyana in 2013 and explained what inspired him to delve into this non-sport vocation. “One day I was sitting and thinking why Guyana has so few Movies. We

watch African Movies, Indian Movies, Jamaican Movies, Trinidadian Movies…. Why can’t we watch our own stuff…Why can’t other people watch our stuff? It was right there that I got the premonition that I should start writing and that’s where it all started, right there,” revealed Stewart.He explained the concept of the Movie which described as low budget film. “This Movie is intended to showcase some of the problems that are plaguing us as a society. So the first two things that we looked to highlight was domestic violence in the home and people who run along with the idea we have to do whatever it takes to make my marriage work. Gang Violence in the Country and drugs and corruption which has no winner…regardless of how bad you think you are it has no winner,” informed the American Guyanese. The Boxer said that he wanted the actors to be Guyanese so some of them are living in Guyana and the others are Guyanese living in America, all who have social media platforms. According to Stewart since this is a low Budget Movie they used their own Cameras while most of the funding came from within the group.But why would a

professional boxer, who have not yet retired want to get into an Entertainment Industry which has nothing to do with sport, was the big question. “I don’t like to cap myself off…As I said I represented Guyana in Boxing as both Professional and Amateur, but I also represented Guyana in Shot Put and Discus and

Laured Stewart is also screen writer out of the ring.

Cup I was the reserve Goal Keeper and lots of people don’t know that. When Guyana beat Argentina for the first time in history in Uruguay I was there… So I don’t like label myself or cap myself off…so I like to allow God to use me in whatever field he sees fit so I don’t have any borders,” posited Stewart. He feels his new venture

Stewart scores to body of Jalen Renaud at the Palladium, Worcester in his only loss last year in his last fight.

Hockey… both Junior and Senior. When Guyana won bronze at the Pan American

could be a lucrative one, but support is needed. “Once we have the (Continued on page 65)

Kaieteur News

Sunday May 16, 2021

PAGE 71

West Indies men’s high-performance camp starts in St. Lucia ahead of SA test series

Veerasammy Permaul

- Smith and Permaul included ST JOHN’S, Antigua —The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Selection Panel has named a 30-man squad for a three week highperformance red-ball training camp in St Lucia, starting today, Sunday May 16, in preparation for the upcoming Test Series against South Africa. The camp provides an opportunity for established Test and developing players alike to sharpen and enhance their red-ball skills in a highperformance environment after a month-long break after the Sri Lanka Series. The camp will include two ‘best v best’ inter-squad matches, as the West Indies look ahead to their final series in the ICC World Test Championship with two Test Matches against the Proteas in June. Most players attending have been involved in recent West Indies Test squads and high-performance camps. A few players, however, will be receiving their first international training experience since the beginning of the pandemic including Guyanese fast bowler Nial Smith, Jamaican top-order batsman Paul

Palmer, Vincentian legspinning all-rounder Keron Cottoy and St. Kitts & Nevis’ left-hand batter, Kieran Powell. Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite and fast bowlers Kemar Roach and Alzarri Joseph will not be attending as they are currently competing in the English County Championship and will return to the West Indies for the Test Series if selected. Current world #1 ranked allrounder Jason Holder is being rested due to his workload across all formats of the game and will arrive in St Lucia at the end of the month. The squad will arrive in St. Lucia and complete the quarantine protocols established by the Ministry of Health for the bio-secure environment, before they start training led by Head Coach, Phil Simmons and his team management unit. Coach Simmons said: “This camp is very important for our preparation for the upcoming Test Series against South Africa and for the rest of our busy and exciting summer. We will continue the work which we begun last year in England, to

further develop our Test team into a force to be reckoned with in world cricket. We welcome the good news of a rise to sixth in the I C C Te s t R a n k i n g s , however, this is just the beginning of our journey and we know we have lots of hard work ahead of us.” C W I ’s D i r e c t o r o f Cricket, Jimmy Adams, is looking forward to the camp as CWI continues its investment in and focus on building a high-performance environment: “The pandemic has made it necessary to assemble larger squads during the pretour phase to allow our preparation to be facilitated within one bio-secure bubble. This has turned into a positive for us by creating a much-needed level of focus and intensity leading into tours while also allowing for players to make a case for selection if they perform well in the warm-up games. Given the lack of regional 4day cricket so far this year, these camps have taken on even greater importance in our test match preparations.” Cricket West Indies (CWI), in partnership with

the St. Lucia National Cricket Association, have been working closely with the Government and Ministry of Health to create a safe bio-secure bubble for the players and staff. Everyone entering the biosecure bubble will undergo two COVID-19 PCR tests prior to their arrival in St. Lucia and throughout the duration of their stay. The Daren Sammy Cricket Stadium (DSCG) will host both Test matches against South Africa, the first bilateral cricket that they have played in the Caribbean since 2010, with the first Test to be played from June 12-16 and the second from June 1822. CWI HIGHPERFORMANCE TRAINING SQUAD: 1. Jermaine Blackwood 2. Nkrumah Bonner 3. Darren Bravo 4. Shamarh Brooks 5. John Campbell 6. Roston Chase 7. Rahkeem Cornwall 8. Keron Cottoy 9. Joshua Da Silva 10. Shannon Gabriel 11. Keon Harding 12. Jahmar Hamilton 13. Kavem Hodge

14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

Chemar Holder Shai Hope Kyle Mayers Obed McCoy Preston McSween Marquino Mindley Shayne Moseley Paul Palmer Veerasammy Permaul Anderson Phillip Kieran Powell Raymon Reifer Jayden Seales Nial Smith Oshane Thomas Hayden Walsh Jr. Jomel Warrican TEAM MANAGEMENT UNIT Head Coach – Phil Simmons Team Manager – Rawl

Lewis Assistant Coach – Roddy Estwick Batting Coach – Andre Coley Fielding Coach – Rayon Griffith Physiotherapist – Denis Byam Physiotherapist – Lyndon Knights Strength & Conditioning Coach – Ronald Rogers Massage Therapist – Zephyrinus Nicholas Massage Therapist – Kurlyn Smith-Nicholas Mental Skills Coach – Donald La Guerre Media & Content Officer – Dario Barthley

Kaieteur News

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Sunday May 16, 2021

Boxer makes leap into the Film Industry as screen writer - Laured Stewart’s ‘Whatever it takes’ to be released May 20 By Sean Devers Guyanese Pugilist Laured ‘the Lion’ Stewart is set to fight on the Gary St Clair Superhero fight night PromotionsPro/Am Boxing Card which is tentatively scheduled for the Providence Stadium in September. The 27-year-old Super We l t e r w e i g h t h a s a professional career of four fights between 2013 and 2020 when he lost to Jalen Renaud in the USA just

before Covid-19 became a global pandemic. Stewart, who resides in San Diego, also represented Guyana in the shotput and discus and Hockey and was Captain of the Queenstown Secondary School’s cricket team. T h e M u l t i - Ta l e n t e d Athlete has ventured into the film Industry as a screen writer and actor with his first Movie…’Whatever it takes’,set to be released on

You Tube under the Page ‘GT Reality’ onMay 28, 2021. Stewart, who grew up in Albertown in Georgetown and attended St Gabriel’s Primary and Queenstown secondary schools, left Guyana in 2013 and explained what inspired him to delve into this non-sport vocation. “One day I was sitting and thinking why Guyana has so few Movies. We

watch African Movies, Indian Movies, Jamaican Movies, Trinidadian Movies…. Why can’t we watch our own stuff…Why can’t other people watch our stuff? It was right there that I got the premonition that I should start writing and that’s where it all started, right there,” revealed Stewart.He explained the concept of the Movie which described as low budget film. “This Movie is intended to showcase some of the problems that are plaguing us as a society. So the first two things that we looked to highlight was domestic violence in the home and people who run along with the idea we have to do whatever it takes to make my marriage work. Gang Violence in the Country and drugs and corruption which has no winner…regardless of how bad you think you are it has no winner,” informed the American Guyanese. The Boxer said that he wanted the actors to be Guyanese so some of them are living in Guyana and the others are Guyanese living in America, all who have social media platforms. According to Stewart since this is a low Budget Movie they used their own Cameras while most of the funding came from within the group.But why would a

professional boxer, who have not yet retired want to get into an Entertainment Industry which has nothing to do with sport, was the big question. “I don’t like to cap myself off…As I said I represented Guyana in Boxing as both Professional and Amateur, but I also represented Guyana in Shot Put and Discus and

Laured Stewart is also screen writer out of the ring.

Cup I was the reserve Goal Keeper and lots of people don’t know that. When Guyana beat Argentina for the first time in history in Uruguay I was there… So I don’t like label myself or cap myself off…so I like to allow God to use me in whatever field he sees fit so I don’t have any borders,” posited Stewart. He feels his new venture

Stewart scores to body of Jalen Renaud at the Palladium, Worcester in his only loss last year in his last fight.

Hockey… both Junior and Senior. When Guyana won bronze at the Pan American

could be a lucrative one, but support is needed. “Once we have the (Continued on page 67)

Kaieteur News

Sunday May 16, 2021

PAGE 73

MCY&S/GCF Independence Three Stage Road Race

Briton John leads seniors going into today’s final stage; Alex Mendes is top veteran so far; David Hicks takes junior crown; Susan Hamilton is queen of the road By Franklin Wilson

A

fter a hiatus of four years, Guyana’s most prestigious multiple stage road race, the Independence Three-Stage race made an impressive return yesterday with the first of the three stages completed in contrasting styles. The event is organised by the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) with full sponsorship form the Government of Guyana though the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport. The National Covid-19 Task Force gave the thumbs up for the race with all protocols being followed by the Federation. Excellent work by Traffic Ranks of the Guyana Police Force in Berbice, East Coast and the City has combined to ensure a smooth race so far. Yesterday morning in overcast conditions, interspersed with light rainfall and in some instances muddy and slippery roadways in the first stage, the cyclists, numbering 48 (male and female, old and young) exhibited admirable determination and excellent camaraderie in a competitive mode to earn the spoils which will serve them in good stead going into today’s final stage from Linden to the City. Briton John (United We Stand Cycle Club) won the first stage from Corriverton Police Station to Main Street, New Amsterdam (45miles) but the second stage (Rosignol to Carifesta Avenue – 58 miles) went to USA based Raynauth ‘Obeah Man’ Jeffrey (Team Foundation) who won an exciting sprint home from J a m a u l J o h n ( Te a m Foundation), Paul De Nobrega (Team Evolution), Briton John, Alex Mendes and Christopher Griffith (Team Evolution) in that order. The first stage was won by Briton John in 1:44:37 followed by Adealie Hodge of Continental Cycle Club in 1:44:44, Paul De Nobrega 1:44:47, Jamual John 1:44:49, Christopher

Griffith 1:45:04, Mario Washington (Flying Ace Cycle Club) 1:45:08, Curtis Dey (Team Evolution) 1:45:08. The first to third place finishers from each stage in the senior category will be rewarded with $15,000, $12,000 and $10,000, respectively while the overall prizes for the top six positions are as follows; $70,000, $60,000, $50,000, $40,000, $35,000 and $25,000. There are also a total of 26 sprint prizes to be won at $1500, each. The top four veterans overall would be rewarded as follows; $50,000, $35,000, $25,000 and $15,000. Going into the final stage, the veteran’s class is being led by Alex Mendes (Roraima Bikers Club), Stephen Fernandes (Team Evolution), Paul Choo WeeNam (Team Alanis) with four riders battling for the fourth spot, Seguan Hubbard, Kwame Ridley, Jaikarran Sukhai and Ralph Williams. Up to press time, the only confirmed times were those of the first stage for the seniors, the GCF up to press time was working on the tabulations for all the categories in order for competitors in the senior and veteran categories to be aware before the start of the final stage. However, Kaieteur Sport was able to verify that the overall leader is Briton John. The female and junior segments of the race have been completed with Linden Bauxite Flyers Cycle Club’s Susan Hamilton who has been riding for just over one year now, winning the top prize of $50,000 from Berbicians Shenika Teixeira and 13 year-old debutant Aneisha Crandon. Teixeira will pocket $35,000, while Crandon will receive $25,000. The females rode the entire first stage but the second stage for them commenced at the Mahaica Bridge and concluded at Carifesta Avenue. Their times would be confirmed for tomorrow’s edition. The junior competitors who were only required to ride the first two stages did

excellent also with David Hicks (We Stand United Cycle Club) who rebounded to win the second stage handsomely taking the overall prize of $50,000 ahead of first stage winner, (Continued on page 65)

David Hicks about to win the 2nd leg of the junior race which propelled him to the overall title title.. (Franklin (Franklin Wilson photo)