Kaieteur News

Terrence Thomas Jermaine La Rose

Over $100M in salaries overpaid to Public Servants over four year period

The Ministry of Home Affairs is still to recover $104,201 million in the overpayment of salaries and relateddeductionsof$95,256 million for 2020, according to the 2021 Audit Office of Guyanareport.

According to the report, efforts are being made to recover the overpayment of $204, 201million of new salariesanddeductions.

The overpayment for the period 2016 to 2019, the Ministry was able to recover $92,569 million of the net salaries and $96,677 million of the deductions and efforts are ongoing to recover the remainingsumsoverpaid.

Similarly,netsalariesand deductions of $2.146 million and $1 521 million, respectively, are still to be recovered for the years 2016 to2019.

Under the Ministry of Health, the overpayment of salariesfor2021amountedto approximately $22 88 million which was made to sixformeremployees.

Two persons have agreed to repay $9.01 million and four have been escalated to theSolicitorGeneralforlegal assistance to recover the sum

of$13.87million.

The AG report noted that Ministry is currently conducting research to engage other former employees in an effort to recover additional sums overpaid.

The Ministry has also taken several actions to reduce/prevent instances of overpayment which include the assignment of a senior officer to initiate weekly contact with supervisors to ascertain staff attendance, and instructions to supervisors to report resignations and job abandonments via available technology to facilitatefaster reportingandaction.

In relation to the overpayment for the period 2015 to 2020, the Ministry has written to the Solicitor General for legal assistance to recover $3.6million of the $8.221million overpaid and research is on going to facilitate recovery of the additionaloverpaidsums.

In 2020 report, the AG reported that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) is yet to recoup millions of dollars overpaid to former ranks as wellasfundsremittedintheir names to the National

- AG report

Insurance Scheme, (NIS) the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA)andotheragencies.

Theranksinquestionhad resigned or were fired from theGPF

According to the AG report for the year 2020, the GPFwhichhasforyearsbeen plagued with issues relating to the overpayment of salaries, is now looking to go after those ranks and other persons who were overpaid and have not returned the money

The report noted too that some 176 officers who severedemploymentwiththe GPFforvariousreasonswere paid on 14 instances totalling $1 308million The AG Reportalsopointedtorelated deductions of $91,423,

Auditor General, Deodat Sharma

$84,498 and $164,298 which were also overpaid to GRA, NIS and other deduction agencies.

Similarly, for the years 2010to2012,2017,2018and 2019 the Force is still to

recover outstanding amounts totalling $12 396million, which were overpaid in salariesanddeduction.These overpayments were as a result of directives to payroll changes not being forwarded in a timely manner to the Central Accounting Unit of theForce.

The Force reportedly explained that efforts are ongoing to recover the o v e r p a y m e n t s a n d committed to a policy that will see Divisional Branch C o m m a n d e r s b e i n g surchargedfortheirfailingto i n f o r m t h e C e n t r a l Accounting Unit of the Departureofstaff.

The Audit Office recommended that the Ministry continues its efforts to recover the overpaid sums and to ensure systems are put in place for payroll change

directives to be forwarded in a timely manner to minimise overpayments.

Earlier this year, during a sittingofthePublicAccounts Committee (PAC), the Committee examined the Auditor General's 2016 findings on then Ministry of Public Security, which outlined that the GPF is still to recover some $2 264 million in overpaid salaries between2010and2012.

Back then, the Audit O f f i c e h a d a l s o recommended a number of measures designed at improving systems at the GPF, which would have helped with overpayments. But according to the Ministry, only 67 per cent of these recommendations were implementedasof2016,with 33 per cent partially implemented.

In Kaieteur News, November 6, 2022 edition, an article titled, 'Women Charged for Embezzling Money from Employers'madereferencetoMs.PriyaLall.

While the article mentioned that Ms. Lall was charged back in 2018 for allegedly embezzling money from her employer,thearticlefailedtomentionthatthechargesagainst herweredismissedonApril18,2019.

As such, the newspaper clarifies that all charges were cleared against Ms Lall and apologises for any embarrassmentthearticlemayhavecaused.

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EDITORIAL

Some millions wise, a billions foolish

ItiseitherthatGuyanesedon’thavesense,orthatthey are going to get some sense in quick order When

thereisthisgreatgapofdollarsinwhatwearegetting versuswhatwearegivingaway,thenitisjustamatteroftime before the nation’s accounting books will be as lopsided as the2016oilcontract.

This is what comes across in the clearest terms in the caption,‘GuyanawaivedUS$1Bintaxestooilcompaniesin 2021, while earning only US$633M’ (KN November 10). Theshortofthatuglymoneystoryisthatforevery63cents thatGuyanacollectsintaxesfromoilcompanies,itgivesup ahundredcents(onedollar). Tomakemattersworse,thatis notinGuyanadollars,butinAmericanones.

Ifthisisnotbeingwiseforsomemillions,butdumband foolishforabillion,thennothingelsecouldbe. Since,this PPP/CGovernmentlovestowaveplentyofflashynumbers around about oil fund deposits, always climbing economic statistics, and fantastic Gross Domestic Product figures, it would be interesting to hear what it has to say about that US$1Binwaiverstotheforeignoilcompanies.

The very least that the Government should look at is to come out to the point where tax waivers granted versus tax receipts are equal. To make this paper’s position clear, we arenotforthatbalancingoftaxexemptionsandtaxreceipts. It is too generous to the foreigners, and it is too costly and drainingtoournationaltreasury

Our position is that tax collections from oil companies mustalwaysbeaheadofwhatwearegiving. Itmustnotbe somesmallmargin,buttothetuneofhundredsofmillionsof Americandollars.

Toputthissimply,Guyanacannotaffordallthesesweet taxincentives,notevenclose. Whatarewegettinginreturn forwhatwegiveupintaxdollars? Andthisiswithafocuson thetaxationandtaxwaivingforcompaniesoperatinginour trillion-dollar oil sector A huge number of Guyanese are payingtheirtaxes,andmakingdowithwhatisleft. Itmust bethesamestandardappliedbylocalAuthoritieswheretax waiversareconcernedforoilcompanies.

The same hardline that is meted out Guyanese citizens and Guyanese companies must be the regime lived with by oil companies. It is doubtful that local companies are the recipientsoftaxwaiversanywhereneartotheamountsdoled outalmostasifinafreeforall(comeandgetit)taxculture. Weareallfortheencouragementoftaxwaivers,butitcannot besomuch.

Butwemustgetwhatputsuswayaheadintheearnings column,wheretaxcollectionsareconcerned. Aseveryone, local and foreign, should know by now, the issue of taxes paidbyoilcompaniesisaseriousconcernforus,andonethat unleashesconsiderableanger Thisisnevermoresothanin thecaseoftheExxonMobil-ledconsortiumoperatinginour offshoreoilfields.

It is unconscionable that ExxonMobil, Hess Corp, and CNOOCarepayingzerotaxesontheircombinedprofitsper the 2016 oil contract signed by the previous APNU+AFC CoalitionGovernment.

This is unpardonable, and the longer that it remains in thisstatethathemorrhagesGuyana’sprosperityandpeople, the more impatience and intolerance there is with what the PPP/C Government is doing today in approving more and more projects, without doing something substantial with taxes. Guyana’soilpointmanandLeadNegotiator,Bharat Jagdeo, must find ways to squeeze taxes that are fair and reasonableoutofExxonMobilanditspartners.

The Vice President must stop all of his pussyfooting aroundthehardissueoftaxes,whichisabone-in-the-throat obstacleandirritant,andcompelthepeopleatExxonMobil toseethelightonthisone,andcometotermswithus,aspart ofabiggerrenegotiationpackage.

WeknowaboutthenewProductionSharingAgreement andthe10%taxesgoingforward.

Though we have a problem with that lowball starting figure,the10%taxesmustapplytotheStabroekBlockand ExxonMobilbeginningrightnow

Why the reluctance of Govt’s. to increase retirement age?

DEAREDITOR,

Thewritercouldnothelp being self-conscious of the exceptionally senior age at which he functioned as an Executive Director in the sugar industry the country’s largest employer, andoffeelingluckyasnotto be so buffeted as the newly appointed Chairman of GECOM But then the former had a recognisable performance record in his field of specialisation – not unlike many who have survived to be respected seniors in their respective competency areas, but who have been overlooked, with preference being given to selected newcomers to critical levels of decision-

the former Canadian owned the National Insurance entitlements be calculated atmaking. Bauxite (Rusal) and Scheme. We are convinced a maximum of 43 and one-What has become an Electricity(GPL)companies that a higher retirement age thirdserviceyears;established practice that stillmanagearetirementage for the Public Servants 66. T h a t p u b l i ca l l o w s f o r t h e of65years. would be mutually beneficial servants who are currentlyaccommodation of parvenus

At para 315 the Report to the State, the public below 55 years of age, beinto the public service commentedasfollows: employees, and the National allowed the option to retiresystemforexample,isuseof “315T h e h i g h e r InsuranceScheme.” on attaining 60 years or anythe contract mechanism, in retirement age of 65 years (Note: The Report time before 65 or onsome cases for interminable would provide for higher advertedtothefactthatthere attaining65yearsofage;periods. pensions under the Pension is no stipulated retirement 67. That no personIt is against this Act for public officers who age for our Parliamentarians retiring from the Publicbackground that one would also continue to andMinisters.) Service before attaining thewonders about the explicit contribute to the National Accordingly the Report age of 65 years should bereluctance, both of past and Insurance Scheme (NIS) made the following employed on contract in ancurrent administrations, to until the age of 60 years Recommendations: established Public Serviceraisetheretirementageinthe when NIS pensions would be “64. That the retirement position;public service from the 55 paid. age for new entrants into the More than two yearsyears established in the

This would further Public Service, and those after, implementation of thecolonialera. increase the finances of the currently in the Public above does not appear to

In this connection the NIS Scheme by the extended Service who are below 50 have attracted any2016 COI Report on the contributions from the years of age, be retired on attention.In any casePublic Service of Guyana employer and the employees attaining 65 years of age, ‘gratuity’ has become muchdrew attention to the for an additional period of with the option of retiring on more desirable thanfollowing, which is five years, thus contributing attaining60years; ‘pension’.tabularisedforconvenience: to the continuing viability of 65. T h a t p e n s i o n E.B.JohnOf comparative interest,

Response to GHK Lall, Dr. Bisram is a wonder worker, deserving of a Diplomatic position

DEAREDITOR, andtochampiontheinterests issue, with a degree in bio- Bisram in several ThisisinreferencetoMr ofhisnationanditsdiaspora. medicalnaturalsciences,Dr committees to plan and GHK Lall (KN November I remember well his B i s r a m d i s p l a y e d implement seminars and 5).Ifthereisonepersonwho advocacy for free and fair knowledge of Covid 19, the conferences on the is most qualified and elections in Guyana going causes and threats that it Guyanese, Trinibagonian, deserving to serve as a back to presentations in posed. Caribbean, and Indian Diplomat (such as High Trinidadsince1981. And he was not afraid to diasporas I recall the Commissioner of Guyana to Whenmostothersturned challengetheGovernmentof initiative to host a panel India), that individual is Dr their backs on Guyana, he Trinidad and Tobago on the discussion under the banner Vishnu Bisram, the was battling the dictatorship issue when other scientists of ICDN to commemorate illustrious son of Guyana since1968.

were fearful of the the 100th birth anniversary who is internationally And it would be recalled Government Reading his ofDr CheddiJagan,founder known. He is not only thatwhentherulingPNCdid column on Covid19, shed of the Peoples Progressive academically qualified to notwanttoaccepttheresults lighttohelpmeandothersto PartyandaformerPresident serve in such a prestigious ofthe2020generalelections, understand better the nature ofGuyana post but has also displayed Dr Bisram, through his of this virus and the Dr Vishnu Bisram has his expertise through his writings, put pressure on the precautions that should be more than thirty years of writings in several media in Granger Government to taken And when the experience as a pollster America, Canada, Guyana, accept the results and step vaccination was out in early conductingpollsinTrinidad, Trinidad, and the wider down. It eventually caved 2021andmanywerehesitant Guyana,andelsewhere. Caribbean Today, as in under the weight of to take it, again Dr Bisram I have had the privilege exemplifiedbyhiscountless pressure from Bisram and was using his writings to of working with him on the writings, he exhibits a others.Hisactivismandthat appeal to them to take the field collecting data on readiness to protect the of some others led to a vaccinestoprotectlives. numerous occasions Dr Guyanese Constitution change in administration in Separately,Ihavehadthe Bisramrepresentsagroup whenever it is challenged August 2020 On another pleasureofworkingwithDr

Universal cash grant the way to go, affordable

DEAREDITOR, the idea was wholly exhausted.

the first 2 years, with only 12.5% to a 50:50 share of to re energize, homes to It is an uncomfortable unaffordableanyway. Norway, the country those attaining 18 years of profitoil,aftercostrecovery renovate, stubborn debts to truth that the ‘haves’ view The good professor was most cited as providing the ageinYear2beingeligibleto is satisfied in respect of the payoff. the ‘have nots’ with a thinking ahead of time, for copybook on how to run an receive payment in Year 2. ExxonMobil Agreement, Young adults will have socially conditioned disdain the amount then earned by NRF, only started theirs With oil production and a successful outcome to tertiary tuition and exam - not a Guyanese thing but a Guyana from oil lifts was some 26 years after increasing rapidly, the upcoming auction of 14 fees, or the deposit on that human reality The ‘have still only about USD120M, commencing oil production, ExxonMobil alone oilblocks.Theblockswillbe first car to pay for Half a nots’areassumedtonothave which has since soared to by which time the standard expecting to have FPSOs subjecttoarevisedPSAthat million dollars will allow becauseofnotbeingcapable around USD1.24Bn today of living of the average producing 1 2M bpd by ups the royalty to 10% and manytoapproachtheCHPA of self restraint and and growing, with Norwegianhasbeenuplifted 2027, up from the current also introduces the payment with serious intent. Others generally being not projections for accelerated verysignificantly 365,000bpdproducedtoday, oftaxbyoilcompanies. will simply save the money deserving without growth as more FPSOs are We were well advised to thegrantcouldbedistributed The affluent ‘haves’ as a useful backup to be consideringaccidentofbirth put into production. In fact, start ours much sooner - but annually from Year 3. A would leave their grant accessed when inevitably as a factor other than to the coming online of who does the fund benefit system based on a formula money untouched in bank needed. justify the ‘not deserving’ Yellowtailin2025willmake currently? programmed into the NRF accountsor perhaps spend it The exchange rate will limb. Guyana the world’s largest According to the World machinery will not be onaholiday The‘havenots’ however need to be very

The first Guyanese per capita producer (Oil Population Review 2022, subjecttopoliticalwhim,for whom it is claimed would carefully managed as the ‘have’ to propose a cash N o w , 1 6 A u g u s t Guyana’spopulationason7 the people will know in waste the money will not do economy thus reinvigorated grant to all Guyanese 2022).GuyanahasaNational November2022isestimated advancehowmuchtoexpect so in notable numbers will bring cash volume households, was renowned ResourcesFund(NRF). to be 809,041 with 533,450 in what year going forward Whilst a tiny minority will challenges in the short term. Economist, Professor Clive The purpose of an NRF, personsover18yearsofage. irrespective of the political indeedspenditallondrinks, However, one looks at it, a Thomasin2018. the more generic term being If each Guyanese citizen leadershipatanygiventime. whoring and drugs within a universal cash grant scheme The idea was dismissed SovereignWealthFund,isto over 18 years old were to Guyana’s NRF will only month, the overwhelming will be well received by all outright by almost every preserve the wealth derived receive a grant of continue to grow bigger, majority who are currently Guyanese and with other Guyanese ‘have’, from current exploitation of GYD500,000, that would despite the demands of a under siege financially profound gratitude by the including the collective an exhaustible national cost USD1,288,526,570 or rapidly growing population would be much more majority It would make us voice of the then resource, by investing in just under USD1.3Bn which duetoanabatementofgood prudent. all proud to be Guyanese. It Government.Commentators stocks and assets usually would surely be affordable reasons to emigrate, They will express their would add tangible and saidthatpeoplewouldwaste abroad, so that by this come the end of the first returning nationals and an relief by splurging on emotional cement to ‘One the money, political parties diversification future Quarter of 2023 - the likely influxofforeignworkers,as whatever is their chosen Guyana’. Most of all for would manipulate cash generations will yet benefit timeitwouldtakeanywayto only Guyanese will be personal indulgence, with practical purposes, it would grantstowinvotes-andthat long after the resource is put the administrative eligible for cash grants say $50,000 of it, then do beaffordabletodayandmore machineryinplacetodeliver Moreover, the NRF will be something sensible with the than affordable going nationwide. boosted massively by the remainderto mark theirfirst forward.

ResponsetoGHKLall,Dr.Bisramis...

Frompage4 selfless service they have ofactivistswhohaveworked been rendering to their forthecauseoftheGuyanese homeland and the Guyanese diaspora voluntarily and not communities abroad It dependent on external would be an appropriate donation orthegovernment reward for him. Dr Vishnu or a party to meet their own Bisram may not be a party expenses.Isawhiminaction card holder of any party, but on so many occasions in his past contributions to the GuyanaandTrinidad.Andit Guyanese nation and her was related to me he did diaspora and his willingness sameinUSAandIndia.This and readiness to serve the isasacrificethatisveryrare people of his country inWestIndiansociety. remains unmatched. The

B y t h e G u y a n a Government should have no Government appointing Dr hesitation in appointing this Bisram, Guyana’s High son of Guyana for the Commissioner to India, it p o s i t i o n o f H i g h would be a symbolic Commissioner of Guyana to acknowledgement of India.

enormous sacrifice made by Yourstruly, those individuals and the DoolarchandHanoman

Thefirstpayoutcouldbe combined impact of our cashgrantdrawdown. Yourstruly, adisbursementpaidtocover eventual upgrade from Citizens have businesses RonaldBostwick

DEAREDITOR, locked up and placed in a senior officers in addition to CCTV cameras at the I r e f e r t o t h e room or cell, or deprived of political cover.I give a few location that ‘Paper Shorts’ unprecedented action of the their liberty even for one examples. No one has been exitedwasalsowipedclean. police in locking up an minute. held accountable for the No explanation has been Attorneyforadvisingaclient The Attorney General killing of young Ryan forthcoming from the owner againstthewishesofthesaid calls this water under the Persaud in the Essequibo ofthatestablishment.Avery police officer. Now this is bridge. Well, he is surely rivers. Word is, he was shot senior Ministry of Finance unprecedented. divorced from reality and by the ‘Prince’ - who was official killed a young

I do not believe this living in an unreal world. joy-sailing in the Essequibo teacher, Nathaniel Ledra,in happened to any Lawyer This is a pattern where River. anaccidentontheCorentyne during the worst of the certain people believe the No one has been held highway and nothing has Burnham regime. It is not law does not apply to them accountableforthekillingof come out of it. The big wig that much worse things did and where certain police ‘PaperShorts’.Amurderthat from the Ministry had just not happen during officersbelievethattheycan happened in broad night left a party Was he Burnham’sreign,butIdonot do anything because there light Like the elections breathalyzed?Ayoung believeanyLawyerwasever are pliant and malleable commission computer, the (Continuedonpage6)

Nandlall mixing politics with law, especially when certain people above the law

ATTORNEYGENERALNANDLALLHASPARTISAN INTERPRETATIONOFWHATCONSULTATIONMEANS,HOWITWORKS

Nandlallmixingpoliticswithlaw...

Frompage5 that he called and released man was killed a few nights Ms. Clarke, he is merely ago on the Logwood Public suggestingthatLawyersnow RoadbyaspeedingMinistry practice at his pleasure. The vehicle and nothing will problem for Mr Nandlall is comeoutofit. that he is mixing up politics

DEAREDITOR, Attorney General, who an opportunity that was undesirable). names based on the basisforthedeterminationof As the representative of spoke for more than half of promised; and the tenor of Such an act, in this submission of the list of his or her identity and the International Decade for the time allocated for the comments in the media instance, is the casting of registered deaths, to eligibility as a particular the People of African consultations, was given the emanating from the votesinthenamesofpersons GECOM,bytheRegistrarof voter/elector/registrant. Descent Assembly-Guyana floor to wrap up My a f o r e m e n t i o n e d who are either not present, Births and Deaths or the T h e p r o p o s e d (IDPADA-G), I attended the subsequent attempt to have GovernmentMinisters,Istill such as those overseas, or submission of Death amendment (the use of recent consultation on the the commitment honored feel compelled, on behalf of dead. Such acts, at the 2020 Certificates during the electronic fingerprint proposedamendmentstothe was greeted with the those who I represent and in elections, were respectively Objections process. In this identification at the place of RepresentationofthePeople response that time had fulfillment of my civic verified by the relevant regard, it should be noted poll) seeks to ensure that Act and the National expired. responsibility, to use this authority or instrument, that there is no routine only eligible voters are RegistrationAct. Inotedthatinwrapping- mediumtocommunicateour n a m e l y t h e C h i e f mechanism for the removal allowedtovote.Itaddresses At that forum, I made an up,theMinistersencouraged t h o u g h t s , o n t h e Immigration Officer and the of the names of the the known mischief (the initial presentation and was thosepresenttomakewritten amendments, which I was presentation of Death thousands of Guyanese who casting of votes for a dead given the undertaking that I submissions in the instance not given the opportunity to Certificates. dieoverseas. person or any other person, would be allowed a further where they had further present at the consultation. I I have also taken into In the aforementioned excluding a proxy voter, on intervention, before the contributionstomake. note the Attorney General‘s consideration that the Chief circumstance, I am thelistwhodoesnotpresent consultationconcluded.That Though not optimistic commenttotheeffectthathe Justice‘sruling,inrelationto recommending that the himselforherselftovote).It commitment was not about the seriousness of that had been following my the deletion of names from p r o v i s i o n s o f t h e also provides for the honored. My raised hand invitation, given my public comments on the the National Register of RepresentationofthePeople adherence to the popular was ignored before the experience of being denied reformprocess. Registrants and the Voters Act, which provide for the interpretation of the Chief As a precursor to List, has forbidden the elector ‘to hand his or her Justice‘sruling. presenting my substantive remedy, which was identification paper to the Whywouldanyone,who thought, I wish to indicate previously used, to wit the poll clerk’, be amended to has an interest in free, fair that my contribution is retirement of the Register of providefortheelectortoalso and compliant elections, not premised on the practice of Registrants and the creation have his or her fingerprints, embracethisproposal? Legislators to propose laws of a new register based on a electronically, matched with Yourstruly oramendmentswiththeaim fresh registration process. those of the named elector VincentAlexander ofcurbingaknownmischief The only remedy still which was captured at the Chairperson, (wrongdoing or act that is available is the removal of time of registration, as the IDPADA-G

The point I’m making, with the law, and in the PPP Editor, is that law and order they don’t mix - it’s like oil has broken down and the and water For the PPP all PoliceForceisdemoralized. that matters is free and fair The Government is playing elections.Afterthatitisopen politics with everything, season. including the Police Force. Regards, So, when Mr Nandlall says DerekRamlochan

Mr. Kissoon’s analysis is woefully shallow

DEAREDITOR, misguided notions peddled manoeuvering behind the Mr Kissoon’s analysis is Please permit me to by Freddie Kissoon in his scenes to prevent the woefully shallow: the address your readership to desultory column [Kaieteur APNU/AFC from stealing ChineseareanAsianpeople, correct some of the News 9 November 2022], the2020 theirpalateisaccustomedto ‘Cobeer Persaud and the electionsinGuyana.One curry and other spices of Lawyersthatwillprotestfor may disagree with specific Asia. him.’ programmesofaRepublican Logically, they would be First, Mr Kissoon administration. more at home in local hallucinates, ‘The But Freddie Kissoon, Guyaneserestaurant. Republican Party poses a withoutofferinganyproof,is White Europeans, clear and present danger to misguided to say that the Americans and Canadians theUSandtheworld.’ Republican Party is a clear havedifferenttastesandwill TheRepublicanPartyisa andpresentdangertotheUS gravitate to a watering hole noble party: Abraham andtheworld. that caters to their tastes. Lincoln, a Republican Second, Mr Kissoon From his writing it appears President, freed Black exposes his racism when he that Mr Kissoon has not Americanswhowereslaves. rails against ‘White beeneducatedintheconcept RichardNixon,aRepublican Europeans, Americans or of “consumer sovereignty” President, broke with years Canadians’becausetheylive andhecloakshiseducational of dogma to initiate an ingatedcommunities,dine deficit in a resort to an opening with China and and shop at certain abominable racial attack on paving the way for China to establishments. ‘White Europeans, beintegratedintothewider He contrasts the ‘White’ Americans and Canadians.’ world. withthe‘Chinese’andcome He must be condemned. I Ronald Regan, a to the fallacious conclusion trustthatyouwillpublishmy Republican President, was that Chinese ‘should be the letter because Freddie instrumentalinthedemiseof mostwelcomed K i s s o o n p e d d l e s Soviet communism. George foreigners in Guyana.’ I m i s i n f o r m a t i o n Bush Sr , a Republican have nothing against the m a s q u e r a d i n g a s President, kicked Saddam Chinese; Mr Kissoon ought scholarship. Hussein out of Kuwait to know that crime is FreddieKissoonisaclear GeorgeBushJr.,ledthefight rampant in Guyana and and present danger to to combat AIDS in Africa. living in a gated community Guyanesesociety! And yes, Donald Trump, a is an act of ‘self Sincerely, RepublicanPresident,whose preservation.’

RogerAlly

administration was As for the dining habits, FortLauderdale

Minister shouldn’t have been shutout at Belladrum

DEAREDITOR, ifyoudo,damnifyoudon’t, Maybenotunreasonable,but Itisaclearcaseofdamn in the Belladrum standoff why shutout the Minister involving the Minister of from meeting and listening Public Service (News Room to the residents of the Nov9).. community and formulating

It was the same stance acourseofaction? localofficialstookinanother Talk of marginalization community of wanting and discrimination ring assistance to be filtered hollow throughthelocalauthorities.

DHB failed to return

$446M to consolidated fund

Th e A u d i t o r General (AG) in his 2021 Report has highlighted that

Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) which falls under the Ministry of Public Works, has failed to refund $446 million to the consolidated fund in keeping with Section 43 of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act 2003 (FMAA), which stipulates that all unspent balances must be returned to the Government coffers at the endofthefiscalyear

AccordingtotheReport, thesumof$890millionwas initially budgeted to the M i n i s t r y f o r t h e rehabilitation of pontoons and retractor spans A supplementary provision in the sum of $623,209,000 was later approved by the National Assembly, bringing the total funds available to $1.513 billion for the Demerara Harbour Bridge.

TheAGreportnotedthat a c c o r d i n g t o t h e Appropriation Account, the entire sum of $1.513 billion was expended. However, an examination of the Ministry's records revealed that the sum of $1 028 billion was released to the

Demerara Harbour Bridge, which means that the Ministry kept $485 million ofthetotal$1.513billion.

The Report stated that from the $1.028 billion that was released to the DHB, only $581,883,000 was expended, leaving $446 million from the $1.028 billionunspent.

The Audit Office found that the unspent amount which is $446 million, was kept by the DHB, instead of being refunded to the Consolidated Fund which is in keeping with Section 43 of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act 2003.

The Audit Office listed that the $581,883,000 was e x p e n d e d o n t h e

rehabilitation of 20 pontoons which cost $ 2 2 1 , 6 7 5 , 0 0 0 , rehabilitation of retractor s p a n w h i c h c o s t $188,059,000, bank charges w h i c h a m o u n t t o $164,453,000, withholding tax which amount to $7,686,000, and cheque books which amount to $10,000.

Further, according to the Auditor General, as of December31,2021,thesum of $485 million that was remaining from the $1.513 billion that was given to the Ministry for the Demerara Harbor Bridge was retained by the Ministry, instead of being refunded to the Consolidated Fund, contrarytoSection43ofthe

FMA Act. As a result, the Appropriation Account of the Ministry was overstated by $485 million, the AG explained.

The $485 million which the Ministry did not refund to the Consolidated Fund, according to theAG Report, who made checks on May 30 this year, revealed that the money was paid to the Demerara Harbour Bridge. Due to the findings, the AG highlighted that the agency is subject to a separate financial reporting and audit.

The Public Works Ministry, according to the Report, responded that it a c k n o w l e d g e d t h e observations made by the AuditOffice.

Man who took woman on date to Marriott for dinner, escapes without paying bill

Police on Thursday arrested a man at Leonora, WestCoastDemerara(WCD) after he allegedly took a woman on a date at Marriott Hotel on Wednesday evening and left without paying a $56,000bill.

The suspect has been identified as Oswin Randy Archer of Third Avenue Bartica, and according to Commander of the Region Three, Mahendra Siwnarine, his ranks had arrested him in theafternoon.

He was kept in custody at the Leonora Police Station andlaterhandedovertoranks at the Brickdam Police Station in Georgetown where a report was lodged According to information received Archer allegedly invited the woman out and ordered wine, beer, soup, threemealsandatakeout.

Aphotoofthebillshowed that he reportedly ordered two Banks beer, eight Guinness,sixglassesofwine, one chicken and vegetable broth, one Caesar salad chicken and three baked Rosemary chicken, totaling $51,576.

After feasting, he reportedly ordered a takeout andwentoutsidetocallataxi. He reportedly sent the driver to uplift the takeout and disappeared. Staff decided to query who will pay and when theycouldnotfindArcherthe policewerecalledin.

Thewomanandthedriver had to foot the bill in order to avoidsleepinginthelock-ups thatevening.

Realising that something was amiss, they decided to makeareportattheBrickdam PoliceStation.

Details of what had

transpired were published on Facebook and it went viral. Other alleged victims began postingstoriesaboutArcher

In 2018, Archer was charged for a similar incident involving Palm Court on MainStreet.

The charge had alleged that on March 6 2018 at Main Street, Georgetown, he incurred debt at Palm Court by obtaining credit of $21,000 by purchasing Hennessey shots, Guinness, chicken nuggets and wings etc for which he refused to pay

He was also charged for notpayingataxidriverhehad hired to take him to several locations across the country He had told the court back then that he had made arrangements to pay Palm Court Restaurant and Bar but was unaware of the other accusationsagainsthim.

Oswin Randy Archer

ALI BLUNDERED BIG TIME!

As U S Ministry is receiving in appropriating our sea space. thrown up a new candidate, involving Guyana, Brazil imperialism relation to these key Local Politicians need to onewhoislikelytotakeafar and Suriname. And given awaits with neighboringstates keep abreast with different position from his Lua’s likely leadership of

bated breath to There has not even been developmentsinthatcountry predecessor when it comes rainforestcountries,heisnot see whether President-elect an indication that persons so that they do not make the to the environment.Already going to want to be seen as of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula have been identified and are wrong calculations and there is talk that he is likely part of any continental da Silva, will recreate the waiting approval from the choice. They must know touniterainforestcountries. projectinvolvingthetrading than two years noUnion of South American neighboring states. While it who is saying what, when Guyana therefore finds of energy generated from ambassador has beenNations (UNASUR), or doestaketimeforapprovals andwhere. itself in a dilemma. Given fossilfuels. appointedtoVenezuela.attempt to reinvigorate to be had from the host Sadly, Guyana does not the narrowness of Lula’s All of this could have (The views expressed inMERCOSUR and IBSA, nations, there has been no have an Ambassador to that victoryatthepolls,heisnot been avoided if Guyana had this article are those of theGuyana’s foreign policy indication that there is a country But in Washington likelytohavethetimeduring itsmaninBrasilia.Andwith author and do notsadly appears to be like a delay in such approvals thereisbothanAmbassador hisfirsttermtodealwiththe thesituationstilluncertainin necessarily reflect therudderlessship. More than 26 months after and Deputy Head of Ali administration’s pipe Venezuela, it is all the more opinionsofthisnewspaper.)This is no fault of the the Irfaan Ali Government Mission. Could one of them dreams of an energy arc worrying that after more present leadership in the assumed office, Guyana not have been deployed Foreign Ministry which is remains without substantive insteadtoCaracas? headed by a most capable appointmentstothetwokey Brazil is a major player individual Instead the neighboring states of Brazil on the continent. What it problems reside at the level and Venezuela This is does has geopolitical of the political leadership inexcusable. implications. So who is in where decision-making is Second line Diplomats charge in Brasilia? Who is concentrated in the hands of cannotbeexpectedtodothe engaging with the Brazilian twoindividuals. workwhichisrequiredofan Government? Who is As a consequence, there Ambassador It is under the monitoring the feeding back hasbeenaseriousneglectof handoftheAmbassadorthat Takuba Lodge about diplomatic appointments dispatches are made to the developmentsinBrasilia. These in turn have triggered homecountries.Thewestern Earlier this year, the blunders and the inability to countries usually file Irfaan Ali Government read the smoke signals dispatches on every signed an energy security emanating from the main important political and agreement with Brazil and capitals of the world. It is economic development in Suriname. well known that one of the their host countries, as well This agreement was illprincipal tasks of High as notes on their meetings advised.NotonlyshouldAli Commissioners and with important government not have been signing any Ambassadors is to provide figures majoragreementwithBrazil the Foreign Ministry with This gives the in an election year but he regular reports on political Diplomat’s home country a ought to have been advised andeconomictrendsintheir fair assessment of what is thattheincumbentPresident hostcountry takingplaceinthehoststate. of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, Thesereportsallowfora Thus, the political wasbehindinthepollsatthe fair assessment of directorate of the home time. It was a poor decision developments in countries country is able to make byAlitosignthatagreement where the country has a strategic decisions based on and even to host Bolsonaro diplomaticpresenceandthus theinformationreceived. inGuyana. are used to inform foreign The absence of a That agreement involves policy choices. The absence diplomatic presence in key Guyana trading either of substantive Ambassadors states can be costly Guyana natural gas or electricity to Brazil and Venezuela has a territorial dispute with generatedfromnaturalgas–raises concern as to the sort Venezuela.That country has a fossil fuel. But the recent of briefings the Foreign beenknowntoissuedecrees election in Brazil has now

Dem boys seh...

Suicide is no longer a crime but having weed is!

De Government table two Bills in de The man’s clothes was stink and dutty National Assembly One of dem involves andtherewaspinklipstickonhecollar.He prohibitingjailtimefuhpossessionanduse hadanempty bottleofrumstickingoutof of small amounts of marijuana De hispocket.Heopenedhisnewspaperandhe Government nah legalizing de weed as beganreading. someofdemRastabinhoping.Butyuhnah A few minutes later he turned to the gan get jail if yuh get find guilty of having Priest and said, “Tell me Father, what yuh smallamounts. thinkdoescausearthritis?”

But while de Government nah The Priest tell he, “My son, it’s caused decriminalize weed dem decriminalizing by sinful behaviour, spending time with suicide. Was a crime fuh kill yuhself. But prostitutes, abusing alcohol and drugs, an dem boys always wanted to know what unclean body and mind, and disrespect for differenceitmek.Whenyuhdead,yuhcan’t others.” getconvict.

“Damn,” replied the drunk before

Nowsuicideisnatacrimebutisacrime returningtoreadinghenewspaper stillfuhsmokeorgatweed.DeGovernment Thinking about what he said, the Priest call dat compromise but de dreadlocks nah tapped the man on the shoulder and pleasedatall. apologizedforbeingtoostern.Tryingtobe

Dem did hoping that weed would have understanding, he ask de man how long he beendecriminalized. hashadarthritis.

Itmekdemboysrememberdestoryof Demananswered,“Idon’thaveit.Ijust demanwahbinsmellingofrumandweed. readherethatthePopesuffersfromit.” HesitdownnexttoaPriestindebus.

Talkhalf.Leffhalf!

SONIA PARAG INCIDENT: IRFAN ALI VERSUS FORBES BURNHAM

There continues to be front of all others in the I n q u i r y i n t o t h e inroads into African Guyana’s 83, 000 persons that belong to Caribbean Forbes assassination of Walter Guyanese constituencies square miles with the Guyana who find Forbes Burnham and Dr Rupert Rodney tells the story of includingthesecurityforces assassination of Burnham a brilliant person. Roopnaraine. The other is h o w s o o n a f t e r astheCommissionwastold. Rodney opportunity to do but wasBut why was he brilliant? from the US Barack Independence the Burnham Attheturnofthe1970,a In August 2020, a new too autocratic and narcissistKit Nascimento was on the Obama. magic began to ebb. No moment presented itself for presidentemerged,Dr.Irfan tounderstand.Gildarie Freddie Kissoon All three were not as longer necessary to win Burnham to really be great Ali. The next year, 2021, The prevention ofShowandhesaidthatForbes greataspeoplethoughtthey people with massive use of by healing the ethnic Guyana’s economy Minister Parag fromwas an incredible speaker. were but the brilliance, the Latin, Shakespeare and wounds and embracing vast resembled the beginning of contributingresourcestotheIndeedhewas. absolute magic in the use of Dickens, Burnham settled constituencies that were the 1970s there was people of Belladrum is aOnce you have a language made people downtorule. either on the side of the income to spend; substitute manifestation of politicalShakespearean reach in embraced them. Then all But Burnham’s use of opposition,PPPorthatwere sugarforoil. fear of the PNC. Could theoratorical delivery, you will three acquired state power power was devoid of astute notsupportiveofBurnham. But Ali since 2021 has continuous acceptance ofmesmerizeandconvertyour All three were failures in intellectualism and The huge increase in astutely avoided the pitfalls the president’s reaching outlisteners.Threesuchpersons government. Space would philosophical fulcrums sugar price on the market of Forbes Burnham.Ali has toAfrican Guyanese peoplecome to mind As a not allow for an elongation Guyana became sovereign was the opportunity The now a Bible of historical see the eventual irrelevanceGuyanese, I would list two onRoopnaraineandObama. in 1966 and by 1974, state had enormous instructions, a Bhagavad ofthePNC?from Guyana that were in The Commission of Rodney began to make resources to build an ethnic Gita of historical political

I would say that it is aconsensus thus creating for lessons and a Koran of plausible political theoryBurnham, an ever lasting historical warnings to guide The Sonia Parag drama willlegacy him.And he is internalizing be repeated because thereBurnham chose to use the mistakes of Forbes have been similar dramassugar money based on his Burnhamfast. elsewhere in Africannarcissist instincts and Enter Sonia Parag. The districts. There was Lindenautocratic mentality of PublicServiceMinisterwas and there another display inwhich the most egregious prevented from offering a MochaArcadia.misdirection was the service for the people of

But it is pregnant withimposition of the Sugar Beladrum because her disastrous consequencesLevy in which sugar funds presence in Belladrum is AfricanGuyaneseknowthatwere used in areas that had partoftheroadwaysthatAli there are oil revenues to goimmenseethnicsensitivities has gone into avoiding the around.Theyhaveseencashcreation of National potholes of Burnham’s grantstodiversedimensionsService which became highways. of the society Africancompulsory for UG There has been a villagers have benefitedstudents; expansion of the relentless projection of the from the incessant visits bytraditional security system president in vast territories the president Africanto include the People’s ofAfricanpresence.Ineach Guyanese are going toMilitiaandGuyanaNational instance, he has promised embrace government’sService; the birth of the theadventofdevelopmental policies where oil revenuesparamountcy of the party resources. benefit them. It is a logicaletc.

Minister Parag’s visit to thinking on the part of anyBythetimetheeconomy Beladrum was part of Ali’s community anywhere in theran into trouble at the learning curve. Does this world. A repetition of thebeginning of the 1980, new horizon make Ali a Parag incident spellsBurnham had become a genius?Itdoesnot. disasterforthePNC.hatedfigurebarelyescaping It makes him a sensible

(The views expressed inthe violent overthrow of his leaderwhounderstandshow this article are those of thegovernment by Walter to go about attempting to author and do notRodney in 1979. By mid s o l v e p r o t r a c t e d necessarily reflect the1980,Burnham’scredibility sociological problems that opinionsofthisnewspaper.)vanishedinthevastforestof B u r n h a m h a d t h e

FrederickKissoon

on 'right government' 'Commander-in-Chief' Routledge

By GHK Lall

New Commonwealth grants available for ocean projects

The Commonwealth Secretariat has announced the first call for proposals under the newly established Commonwealth Blue

CharterProjectIncubator

New technical support and funding is being made available to Governments to support projects that promote ocean protection and marine development, while tackling climate change, the Commonwealth Secretariat said in a Press Release. This includes small grants worth between £5000 and £50,000 targeting a range of activities that support ocean policy and projectdevelopment,suchas training, capacity-building, knowledge exchanges and rapid climate risk or vulnerability assessments, ideally carried out in collaboration with a nongovernmentpartner

Speaking at the United

Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), the Commonwealth Secretary General, Patricia Scotland, urged all member countries to apply, “With 49 out of 56 member countries bordering theocean,including25small island developing states, the Commonwealthaccountsfor more than one third of the ocean under national jurisdiction.

The Commonwealth Blue Charter Project Incubator is a critical step forward in supporting these countries in the delivery of their ocean commitments, including those under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 as well as their Nationally Determined Contributions.

“I strongly encourage member Governments to take advantage of this call for applications and submit robustproposalsthatsupport

Labourer remanded to prison for reputed wife's murder

Mahendra Paltoo, a 35year old labourer was on Thursday charged and remanded to prison for the murder of his reputed wife when he appeared at the Whim Magistrates' Court before Magistrate Renita Singh.

Paltoo also called 'Ajay' of 171 Bloomfield, New Housing was charged with committing murder contrary to Common Law on Oma DeviVirasamy on November 7, 2022 at Bloomfield, Corentyne, Berbice

He was not required to plead to the indictable charge and was remanded to prison until December 12, 2022 for disclosure. Before he was escorted by Police, Paltoo remarked “home sweet home”.

The labourer reportedly told Police that on the day in question, he had just collected a bottle of Absolut Vodka from his neighbours when Virasammy accused him of being unfaithful. An argumentensuedbetweenthe two and according to Paltoo, Virasammy pushed him. He then armed himself with a cutlass and chopped her severaltimesaboutherbody

Despite being chopped, she was not taken to the hospital and hours later she died.

However, before his arrest Paltoo provided a different account of what transpired. At that time, he

toldPolicethatVirasamywas 'making up the bed' for their baby to sleep when she 'slipped and fell' on a cutlass that was hidden between the twomattresses,causingherto sustaininjuries.

A p o s t m o r t e m examination done on Virasammy's body revealed thatshediedfromacutartery of the foot compounded by shockandhaemorrhage.

T h i s n e w s p a p e r understands that the woman was 5 months pregnant at the time of her death. She was buriedonThursday

the development of sustainable blue economies, while addressing one of the greatest global challenges of ourtime–climatechange.”

Dr Nicholas HardmanMountford, Head of Oceans and Natural Resources at the Commonwealth Secretariat, added, “The Blue Charter Project Incubator provides a v e h i c l e f o r a l l C o m m o n w e a l t h governments to pilot innovative solutions addressing their most urgent national priorities for ocean sustainability and resilience, learn from each other's experiences and build capacityforimplementation.

“With ocean action and marine conservation (SDG14) being the least funded among all the Sustainable Development Goals, this is an important contribution that recognises the role of our ocean as the world's largest carbon sink andahometothemajorityof Earth'slivingspecies.”

To apply, countries must be a member of at least one of the 10 Commonwealth Blue Charter Action Groups orindicatetheircommitment to join. The Commonwealth BlueCharterisanagreement by all 56 Commonwealth nations to work actively together to address some of

the world's most pressing oceanchallenges.

It is implemented through ten country led action groups focusing on key thematic areas: coral reef restoration, mangrove ecosystems and livelihoods, marine plastic pollution, marine protected areas, ocean acidification, ocean climate action, ocean observation, sustainable aquaculture, sustainable b l u e e c o n o m y a n d sustainablecoastalfisheries.

Dr Jeff Ardron, who leads the Commonwealth Blue Charter programme at t h e C o m m o n w e a l t h Secretariat, said: “The Blue

Charter Project Incubator is a 'one stop shop' for countries and their partners working on ocean issues. It supports the full lifecycle of project development, from new ideas through to proven approaches, and everything i n b e t w e e n ” T h e Commonwealth Blue

Charter Project Incubator is supported by an initial contribution from the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation, with additional support from Bloomberg Philanthropies' Vibrant Oceans Initiative. T h e d e a d l i n e f o r submissions is on the 10th January2023.

Mahendra Paltoo

Man gets $20,000 bail for allegedly stealing pressure washer

Twenty-year-old, Kester Evans, who was arrested on Monday for allegedly

stealing a pressure washer, last month, was on Thursday granted bail in the sum of

$20,000 after being charged withsimplelarceny Evans, a labourer from

Bagotstown, East Bank Demerara (EBD) made his first court appearance before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Diamond/ Golden Grove Magistrate's Court,toanswertothecharge ofsimplelarceny

It is alleged that between October 21 and October 22

last, he stole a pressure washer valued $60,000, property of Andrew Freeman.

Evans pleaded not guilty tothechargeandwasgranted bail to the sum of $20,000. The matter has been adjourned to November 28, 2022.

Kester Evans

Govt. and stakeholders discuss Venezuelans influx

Guyana on Wednesday held discussion with key stakeholders on the influx of Venezuelan migrants to Guyana.

Minister of Foreign Affairs,HughToddconvened the meeting of the Multiagency Coordinating Committee.

According to a Press Release from the Ministry present at the meeting were keystakeholders,therelevant government agencies, and international partners such as t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The meeting received reports from the agencies on the ongoing efforts that are being undertaken to address the situation of the migrants fromVenezuela.

Todd at the meeting underscored the importance of data gathering and information sharing among the agencies to allow for a coordinated approach to address the issues faced by themigrantsinGuyana.

He reminded the meeting that such collaboration will greatly assist in the maximization of the resources available to the Committee to carry out its functions.

Government of Guyana late last year had expressed concern about the influx of Venezuelan migrants at Port of Kaituma- a local border community to Venezuela Last year reports surfaced wheredozensofAmerindians including children who entered Guyanese territory from a neighbouring village in Venezuela were found in poorhealthandwithoutfood.

The Government had said then that it remains mindful of its humanitarian obligations to migrants and has been actively engaged in sustained efforts to deliver foodandmedicalreliefacross the regions where migration into Guyana is taking place. “Further, the Government remains committed to the humane management of the migrant situation stemming from the economic and social instability in neighbouring

Venezuela, with the active support of local stakeholders and our international partners.”

Guyana and Venezuela share a porous border stretching over 789 km, with two formal border posts alongtheroute.

Ve n e z u e l a n s a n d returning Guyanese fleeing the economic hardship in Caracas with their families are crossing back into Guyana at random points, often without going through formal registration. Guyana is described as a destination country, with mainly families settling in communities in Regions1,2and7,andadults travelling alone to the urban centres such as Georgetown andBartica.

There have been 13,246 official migrant entries from April 2018- December 2019 (of which 30 per cent are children) but this figure is officially recognized as less thanactualnumbers.

Based on UN estimates the forecast was to see 31,000newmigrantsentering Guyana by the end of 2020 which represents an additional 4% of Guyana's total population of 750,000, with these migrants mainly settling in border hinterland areas. Once registered, the official position of the Government is that migrants are entitled to have access to services such as health care andeducation.

Registration points and settlement locations for migrants are mainly in the indigenous border Regions 1, 7 and the peri-urban areas of Regions 2 and 3 of Guyana.

Throughnationalsurveysthat measure social and physical wellbeing, these areas have the poorest socio-economic data, with Region 1 having the greatest number of the communities hosting

migrants, identified as the worst Region nationally for social, health and well- being indicators for children Nationally, health, education andsocioeconomicindicators for the host communities in these border and peri-urban areas are at the bottommost when compared with other areasinGuyana.

Women and girl children especially are at significant risk of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) as the places that migrantshavebeensettlingin tend to be the gold mining areas where these risks and threatsarealreadyprevalent.

Also with limited employment options available in these areas, female migrants are more vulnerable especially if they don't speak English.

Scores of Venezuelan migrants were last year found in Guyana in poor health and undernourished

US$900M contract approved to build Wales power plant

...Indian firm lands US$22.1M deal to supervise project

President Irfaan Ali, o n T h u r s d a y announced that the Government of Guyana (GoG) via Cabinet has approved a contract to a foreign joint venture that bid US$900M to construct the 300 megawatts Power Plant and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL)facilityatWales,West CoastDemerara(WCD).

TheWalesGas-to-Ener (GTE) project wi encompass three major aspects, that is, the pipelinetotransportthe gas to Wales, the NGL facility that will treat and separate the gas, and the power plant to generate the electricity Notably, so far, Guyanese have been told that pipeline aspect, which being pursued by US oil major ExxonMobil, will cost around US$1.3 billion and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, was hopeful that the

Government's aspect would costaroundUS$700M. In September 2022, Kaieteur News had reported that five international firms had submitted bids for the construction of the two components of the GTE project. The companies' bids

Inc in joint venture with CH4 Inc. –US$898,764,244.

President Ali announced that Cabinet on Thursday issued a no objection to CH4-Lindsaycajointventure to build the Government aspect of the GTE project under an Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) Contract. According to CH4 Group website, the company is based in Puerto Rico but has an established presence in several other countries – while Lindsayca is a company based in Texas, United States of America (USA).

Ali explained that Cabinet's no-objection will now allow negotiations to proceed to conclude an EPC contract. He noted too that Power China, the second

highest bidder, was ranked number two and may be engaged if negotiations fail to conclude a contract with the joint-venture by the end of November. “Contract negotiations will now start with the expectation that a contract will be executed before the end of November Key considerations in the evaluation took account of the expected date of delivery of the 300 MW power plant byDecember2024.Bothtopranked companies confirmed this deadline The EPC Contract will be supervised by a global supervision firm. The selected supervision firm is Engineers India Limited,” President Ali said. In addition to Engineers

Inc. in joint venture with Stantec and TGM (Canada) had submitted bids to supervise the project. Engineers India Limited had placed a bid of US$23, 331, 860 for the job, but the contract WHICH WAS AWARDED ON November 1, 2022 was peggedatUS$22,143,190.

CB

The Ministry had e x p l a i n e d i n i t s advertisement that the main objectiveofthisConsultancy is for the Consultant to assist the Government of Guyana (Continued on page 22)

India Limited, Worley (T&T), Stratergy (USA), SGS Panama Control Services Inc., Novus Guyana Inc., Massy Wood Guyana Inc.,

&Associates

- Pres. Ali

An artist's impression of the Natural Gas Plant (Source: EEPGL)

President Irfaan Ali

Mining Surveyors feared dead after boat sinks at Imbamadai

Two mining surveyors are now feared dead after a metal boat owned by the Guyana Geology and Mines C o m i s s i o n ( G G M C ) reportedly sank on Thursday in the Mazaruni River at Imbaimadai,RegionSeven.

The missing men have been identified as Terrence Thomas, 29, of Lot 140 Meadow Brook Gardens, Georgetown and Jermain La Rose, 34, of Lot 34 Canvas City Wismar, Linden, 10, former employees of GGMC Accordingtopolicetheboat mishap took place around 04:00hrs.

Police reported that the Mines Officer in charge of the GGMC Station at Imbaimadai Landing, Romell Ramlakhan, told them that the men flew in on Wednesday to Imbaimadai. When they arrived he was doing some work at Kamarang and had only met them when he returned to

Imbaimadai later that afternoon. They reportedly told him that they had come to do some work and requested lodgings at the GGMC station there Ramlakhan, said that he noticed that the men were preparing to travel around 03:00hrs the following morning and insisted that they wait for daylight Thomas and La Rose refused

to wait and said that they wanted to leave early because they had a long journey

He reportedly dropped them to Imbaimadai landing on an ATV to board a boat and returned but did not know that they were actually going to use the GGMC boat fortheirtrip.

The men had reportedly arranged to make the trip with an unlicensed captain, Roman Reece who normally

captains for GGMC, without Ramlakhan's permission Reece,toldPolicethatheand the men boarded the boat with a bow man around 4:00hrs to head to Kako Village, Upper Mazaruni RegionSeven.

Onboard they had some 40 gallons of fuel and ten signs to be erected on a mining claim they were goingtosurvey

Some two minutes into the journey, the boat began

taking in water and La Rose and Thomas reportedly jumped overboard. The boat eventually sank but Reece and his bowman were able hold onto some fuel tanks and swam to shore but La Rose and Thomas could not befound.

Police at Imbaimadai were informed subsequently after and a search party was formed to look for the men. However, up to press time they were not found. The

Deceased, 21-year-old Aftar Wazidally

Corentyne man succumbs to injuries received in car accident

Aftar Wazidally,

the 21 year old S c o t t s b u r g Village, Corentyne resident who was injured in a vehicular accident on October22,2022hasdied.

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) in a statement said Wazidally died on Monday, November 7, 2022 at about 13:30h at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

The deceased, who was the driver of motorcar PWW 5659 on October 22, was reportedly driving at a fast rate, north along the western drive lane on the No. 75 Public Road when he overtook three other vehicles

and subsequently lost control ofhiscar

Wazidally crashed into another car driven by a 21year-old woman, who was driving south along the eastern drive lane of the Public Road. The accident occurredatabout07:45h.

An injuredWazidally and the female driver of the other motorcar were initially taken to the Skeldon Public Hospital where they were e x a m i n e d a n d t h e n transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital wheretheywereadmittedfor treatment.

W a z i d a l l y w a s subsequently transferred to theGPHCfortreatment.

unlicensed boat captain is in custody assisting with investigation.

Jermaine La Rose

Terrence Thomas

Twoinjured,vehiclesdamagedas runawayhorsegallopsonSaffonStreet

Atleasttwopersonswere

injured on Thursday after a runaway horse caused a four-vehicle accident at the junction of Sussex and Saffon Street,Charlestown.

The injured, a woman and a little girl, were the passengers of a Toyota Raum motorcar that had crashed into a parked vehicle after the horse collided with it Eyewitnessessaidtheaccidenttook place around 16:00hrs and recounted seeing the horse running out of Sussex Street and directly

into flowing traffic on Saffon Street, slamming its harness into multiplevehicles.

The horse was reportedly seen standing at a feed shop on Saffon Street with its cart attached just momentsbeforeitranoff.

An eyewitness claimed that the animal galloped off into the traffic immediately after a metal pin which connected its harness to the cartfelloff.

“Like when the pin drop, it frighten the horse and he run off”, the eyewitness told Kaieteur News.

Oneofthedriversinvolvedrecalled that he was driving south along Sussex when he saw the horse runningtowardshim.

Hereportedlyswervedoutofits path but the harness which was still attachedtothestillstruckpartofhis car

The horse reportedly continued running towards Saffon Street where the harness struck another car breaking its mirror off before eventually colliding with the ToyotoRaum.

According to eyewitnesses, the

Scene of the accident

impact floored the horse and the driver lost control of the Raum and it crashed into a parked vehicle in the vicinity of Hong Wei Chinese Supermarkert. The horse managed tomakeitbacktoitsfeetbutbefore it could take off again publicspirited citizens rushed over and grabbedit.

They guided the animal to the corner of the road and tied him to a bridgebeforeassistingthevictims.

Kaieteur News arrived on the scene shortly after and observed that two passengers in the Raum

wereinjured.

Alittle girl who was reportedly seatedinthebackseatwasbleeding from her nose and ears while a woman who was still in the car sitting in the front passenger seat and holding onto a baby was also bleeding.

An ambulance was called and police arrived to conduct the necessaryinvestigations.

The baby, the little girl and the woman were taken away to the Georgetown Public Hospital for medicalattention.

GNBS Certifies first Home Care Medical Laboratory on the Essequibo Coast

Th e G u y a n a National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) on Thursday certified the Home Care Medical Laboratory of Columbia, Essequibo Coast under its Laboratory CertificationProgramme.

This new laboratory now earns a place on the list of certified laboratories in Guyana after it successfully demonstrated conformance to the requirements of the Guyana Standard (GYS 170:2009) General requirements for the operation of a laboratory, GNBS said in a media release.

The certificate, which is valid for two years, was formally handed over to the L a b o r a t o r y ' s C h i e f Executive Officer, Mahesh Itwaru, by Technical Officer within the Certification Services Department of the G N B S , L a t c h m a n Mootoosammi, during a brief presentation ceremony attheLaboratory'slocation.

An elated Laboratory Manager,MarinaItwarusaid it has been the vision of both she and her husband (Mahesh Itwaru) to bring certified healthcare services to the citizens of the EssequiboCoast.

T h e L a b o r a t o r y Manager thanked the GNBS Team and the Laboratory's Quality Manager, Mr Lendon Wilson, for the certification and support provided.

M e a n w h i l e , Mootoosammi extended congratulations to the management and staff of the laboratory for being the first on the Essequibo Coast to achieve certification to the National Laboratory Standard.

The Technical Officer encouraged the laboratory personnel to maintain the requirements of the

Certification and advised that surveillance audits will be conducted to ensure continuedconformance.

Thespecialoccasionwas

attended by several representatives of the Essequibo business community including the President of the Essequibo Chamber of Commerce, SueanSewnarayan.

The Chamber President expressed her delight at the progressofbusinessesonthe Essequibo Coast and congratulated the owners for achieving certification of their testing facility Sewnarayn said she is thankful that the residents of Essequibo do not have to expend time and sums of money to travel to Georgetown to access certified laboratory testing services.

The Laboratory's scope of testing services provided under the Certification is Haematology, Biochemistry, Urology,andSerology

Through its Laboratory Certification Programme, the GNBS monitors the operations of laboratories involved in testing, measurement and/ or

calibration activities to ensure that they are satisfying the requirements outlined in the National Standard.

Laboratories, which conform to the requirements ofthisstandard,areprovided

with formal recognition to attest that they have implemented an effective laboratory management system, which aids their provision of accurate and reliableresultstocustomers.

There are now twenty-

five (25) clinical and testing laboratories certified by the GNBS The Bureau encourages more uncertified laboratories to pursue certification under its Laboratory Certification Programme.

(R-L) Head of Corporate Communications at GNBS, Mr. Lloyd David, Technical Officer at GNBS, Mr. Latchman Mootoosammi, Laboratory Manager, Mrs. Marina Itwaru, Chief Executive Officer of the Home Care Laboratory, Mr. Mahesh Itwaru, and a staff of the laboratory poses for a photo as the Certification sticker is pasted to the wall of the facility

The Runaway horse

Republic Bank, SSYDR launch entrepreneurial development programme

Specialists in

Sustained Youth Development and Research (SSYDR) Inc. and RepublicBank(Guyana)Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding to launch SSYDR Entrepreneurial Development Programme (SEDP) on November 3, 2022.

SEDP will allow 100 SSYDR youth who were trained in its interactive seven module Work Ready/ JobReadinesscurriculum,to now access training in Entrepreneurship with the hope of becoming successful business owners, the bank saidinapressrelease.

This initiative will be executed over eight months and will involve training, one-day business challenge, business plan preparations and presentations, grant distribution and business coaching.

The youths during the work ready/ job readiness

trainingwouldhavecovered, Personal Development, I n t e r p e r s o n a l Communication, Work Habits and Conduct, Leadership and Teamwork, Safety and Health at Work, Employer and Employee Rights and Responsibilities, andFinancialFitness.

Upon completion of the Entrepreneurship/Be Your Own Boss Training, they will be able to d e v e l o p t h e i r o w n business idea, identify the characteristics and traits of a successful business owner, a s s e s s t h e i r o w n characteristics, attitudes and skills related to being business owners, conduct simple market research, understandtheimportanceof differentiating from competitors, compile a marketingplan,registertheir businesses, keep basic financial records and develop their own business planamongotherkeyskills.

SSYDR over the six years of its formation has worked with approximately 3000 young persons from regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10. Of the 100 youth accessing this training, 50 participants with the best proposals will access a grant t o p u r c h a s e equipment/supplies towards a business startup. Twentyfive of the 50 youth will access equipment/startup worth GYD250,000.00 and another 25 will access G Y D 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 0 0 i n equipment/startup.

SEDPwas madepossible through the generosity of Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited, as part of its social investment programme the Power to Make a Difference (PMAD) Republic Bank t h r o u g h i t s P M A D programme remains committed to making a d i f f e r e n c e i n t h e communities in which it serves.

Griffith-France,

Magda

Founder/Executive Director, SSYDR signs the MOU in the presence of Venus Frith, General ManagerCredit, RBGL and representatives from SSYDR

‘Never stop learning’

...NCERD Director encourages special needs officers

The Special Education Needs (SEN) unit of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) on Thursday hosted its annual conference under the theme 'Come out of your comfort zone and enter your learning zone.'

Director of NCERD, Quenita Walrond Lewis, delivered brief remarks at the event, encouraging the Special Education Needs (SEN) officers to 'never stop learning.' According to the Director, it is important for theSENofficerstokeepupto datewithallthatishappening within their field as this enhances their abilities in fulfillingtheirduties.

“What we understood about the world ten years ago or fifty years ago is definitely different from what we understand about the world today […] always remain at the forefront of your practice, always remain current whatever is new i research, and in e d u c a t i o n a l technologythatserves the SEN space,” Walrondisquotedina press release by the Ministry of Education assaying.

Furthermore, she encouraged the team 'never stay static, never you have come as far as you can in your professional journey [ ] never stop learning.'

In closing, the Director thanked the SEN officers for their hard work and dedication, noting their departmentplaysasignificant role in helping NCERD to fulfill its mandate. “The SEN unitisanintegralpartofwhat we do here at NCERD because we are always striving to improve the quality of education in the entire system […] here at NCERD, one of our principle remits is to keep empowering educators with what is new, the best innovative practice and how to adopt that in a

culturally, relevant and sensitive way so that we can create a better impact on student outcome, on teacher experience and even the education of the public at large.”

NationalSENofficer,Ms. Savvie Hopkinson, in her remarks,calledontheofficers to 'Come out of your Comfort Zone & Enter your Learning Zone.” “We have over the years become comfortable and familiar with the vocabulary of our profession, and we have studied and retained lots of information. We have seen recurring situations and met recurring problems and have become comfortable in responding to them They no longer challengeus.”

She further told the officers that “the place you havecometoislikeenteringa round about where you y

i elded to traffic before entering. But thereisnostopsign,andthere is no place to park. You must enter and proceed further in the same direction or go in other directions. You must move forward and that means entering the Learning Zone.” Ms OmawattieRamdin, Head of the Curriculum Unit and Ms. Samantha Hutson, Project Officer, One Life Too Project, also delivered brief remarks at the annual conference. The conference served as a platform for SEN officers to highlight and discuss their achievements andchallengesfortheyear

A section of the gathering at the conference

National SEN Officer, Ms. Savvie Hopkinson

DPP slaps murder charge on husband who sets wife on fire

Ajay Persaud, the man accused of setting his wife on fire during a row over a bird cage was on Thursday rechargedwithmurder

According to Police, Persaud popularly known as Nicholas appeared virtually (a court appearance via ZOOM) at the Wales Magistrate's Court.Hewaschargedwiththemurder of 20-year-old Analee Gonsalves, a mother of two that took place on August 23 last. The charge was read to him by Magistrate Faith McGusty and hewasnotrequiredtoplead.Persaudis scheduled to make his next court appearanceontheNovember24,2022. Persaud was initially charged with attempted murder on October 13 last some two days after his arrest Gonsalves was still alive at the time. However, 12 hours after he was sent to prison on remand for the offence, Gonsalves succumbed to third degrees burns at the Georgetown Public HospitalCorporation.

After learning about her death, the case file was updated and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali Hack SC. advised that Persaud be recharged with murder According to reports, Persaud is accused of using methylated spirits to setthewomanalight.

Policehadmovedtohunthimdown after Gonsalves had finally decided to tell police the truth about what had happened to her that day Kaieteur News was the first to break the story when the incident had occurred but it was reported that he had allegedly dousedherwithhotporridge.

Investigations were stalled after Gonsalves refused to give Police a statement.

One month had passed and Gonsalves probably after realising that shemightnotrecoverfromherinjuries, decided to make a recorded statement. In that statement, she revealed that her husband had bathed her with methylated spirits and then set her alight in an argument over wet boxers, andabirdinacage.

She had stated too that the reason for her not remaining silent was because she wanted to protect the lives of her two babies – a toddler and a 1month-old child. Gonsalves alleged that Persaud via a phone call, had threatened to kill himself and her two babies if she ever decided to tell Police

the truth. Her plan, she claimed was to recover fully, rescue her children, and thenreportthematter Thedeadwoman hadalsoallegedthathermother-in-law had coerced her into saying that the whole thing was an accident and had concocted a tale that Gonsalves was burnt by an exploding pot of porridge. Gonsalves also alleged that the woman had lied to the Doctors claiming to be hermother

After receiving the statement, Police started to look for Persaud and eventually captured him hiding out in Berbice. Police had also included in the case file that Gonsalves Mother in-Law had tried to cover-up for her son's alleged crime but according to Police, the DPP advised that no charge be brought againsther.

Meanwhile, Gonsalves Parents are trying to complete her dying wish to have her babies handed over to them. At the end of her statement againstPersaudshe had said “A want

machildrendem,whenahgohome,ah want ma children dem. Ah want ma mother to get control ova ma children dem.”SpeakingwithKaieteurNewson Thursday, Gonsalves Grandmother disclosed that they have already approached the Welfare Department at the Child Care and Protection Agency requesting custody, of her babies. “We have not approached her in laws directly as yet but the Social Worker thatwesee,tellwethatshegaschedule a meeting with both families to discuss custody of the children,” the Grandmothersaid.

Suspected Car Thief remanded to prison

Christopher Persaud aka 'Mohan' and 'Yankee', of Craig, East Bank Demerara (EBD) was on Thursday remanded to prison for allegedly stealing a Premio motorcar valued at $2.4M from a bodywork shop at Grove, EBD between November8and9,2022.

Persaud was charged under Section 164 of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act, Chapter 8:01 The offence being simple larceny made against Anesa Yusuf, a 22 year old cashier of Diamond Housing Scheme,

EBD. He appeared at the Diamond/ Golden Grove Magistrates' Court before Magistrate Judy Latchman where he pleaded not guilty andwasremanded.

Reports are that on Wednesday, Persaud was found near the car with its keys in his pocket at Second Street, Craig, EBD. He was arrested and escorted to the Grove Police Station by Police. The vehicle was also takentothePoliceStation.

Thematterwasadjourned to December 5, 2022 for the disclosureofstatements.

Remanded to prison, Christopher Persaud.

Recharged with murder, Ajay Persaud Dead: Analee Gonsalves

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Russia withdrawing, Ukrainian official fears ‘city of death’

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia said it began withdrawing troops from the strategic Ukrainian city of Kherson on Thursday, in a potential turning point in the grinding war, but a Ukrainian official warned that Russian land mines could render it a “city of death.”

Kyiv acknowledged Moscow’s forces had no choice but to flee Kherson but remained cautious, fearing an ambush.

With Ukrainian officials tight-lipped about their assessments of the situation and Reporters not present, it was difficult to know what was happening in the industrial port city, from which tens of thousands have fled in recent weeks and where remaining residents are afraid to leave their homes.

A forced pullout from Kherson — the only provincial capital Moscow had captured — would mark one of Russia’s worst setbacks, recalling their forces’ abandonment of attempts to take the national capital, Kyiv, in the early days of the war. Recapturing Kherson could provide Ukraine a launching pad for supplies and troops to try and win back other lost territory in the south, including Crimea, which Moscow illegally seized in 2014.

Already, Ukrainian forces seem to be scoring more battlefield successes in the region. The armed forces Commander-in-Chief, Valeriy Zaluzhny, said that since Oct.

1 Kyiv’s forces have advanced 36.5 kms (22.7 miles) and retaken 41 settlements in the Kherson region — which the Kremlin has illegally annexed. That included 12 just on Wednesday.

As Russian troops withdraw, Ukrainian Presidential Adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, warned they had laid mines throughout Kherson, saying they wanted to turn it into a “city of death” and would shell it from the positions across the Dnieper River where they are consolidating forces.

From these new positions, the Kremlin could try to escalate the conflict — which U.S. assessments showed may have already left tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of soldiers dead or wounded.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported Thursday a “maneuver of units of the Russian group” to the Dnieper River’s eastern bank, also known as its left bank. The defense minister on Wednesday ordered a troop withdrawal from the city and nearby areas after his top general in Ukraine reported that the loss of supply routes had made defense “futile.”

Some Western observers, including the highestranking U.S. military officer, believe the Kremlin’s forces have been forced to pull out but that a full withdrawal could take time.

On Thursday, Ukrainian

officials appeared to soften their skepticism. Zaluzhny said that “the enemy had no other choice but to resort to fleeing,” because Kyiv’s army has destroyed supply systems and disrupted Russia’s military command in the area. Still, he said the Ukrainian military could not confirm that Russian forces were indeed withdrawing.

Alexander Khara, of the Kyiv-based think tank, Center for Defense Strategies, echoed those concerns, saying he remains fearful that Russian forces could destroy a dam upriver from Kherson and flood approaches to the city.

The former Ukrainian Diplomat also warned of booby traps and other possible dangers retreating Russians left behind.

“I would be surprised if the Russians had not set up something, some surprises for Ukraine,” Khara said.

Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at international affairs think-tank Chatham House, said the cautious response from Ukraine explains “why, until Ukrainians are in the city, they don’t want to declare that they have it (in) control.”

A resident said Kherson was deserted Thursday and that explosions could be heard from around Antonivskyi Bridge — a key Dnieper River crossing that Ukrainian forces have repeatedly bombarded.

“Life in the city seems to

have stopped. Everyone has disappeared somewhere and no one knows what will happen next,” said Konstantin, who insisted that his last name be withheld for security reasons.

Russian flags have disappeared from the city’s administrative buildings, and there is no sign of the Russian military personnel who earlier moved into the apartments of evacuated residents, he said.

Ukrainian officials have been cautious throughout the war in declaring any victories against a Russian force that at least initially outgunned and outmanned them.

British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak was careful in his assessment.

He spoke Thursday to Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and his office said they agreed “it was right to continue to exercise caution until the Ukrainian flag was raised over the city.”

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a day earlier that he believed a retreat was underway, but that Russia had amassed 20,000 to 30,000 troops in Kherson and that a full withdrawal could take several weeks.

One analyst noted that the Ukrainian army has been systematically destroying bridges and roads, making a quick transfer of Russian troops across the river impossible.

US$900M contract approved to build Wales power...

From page 16 through the Gas to Energy Task Force in the design re-

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view, construction, supervision and general project management of the development of the integrated plants, and contract administration throughout the project implementation process and thereafter during the defects liability period. The estimated duration of the project is 42 months from the date of Contract signing and at least 12 months thereafter for defects liability from a date to be determined.

The Ministry said that Consultants will be selected in accordance with the policies and procedures set out by the National Procurement Act (2003).

Ali, the GTE project is expected to deliver power at less than half of the current costs. He said too that the project generation costs, payment for the pipeline, operations and maintenance (O&M), and capital cost recovery, shall total less than US$5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

people which included a representative of Exxon – unanimously ranked CH4/ Lindsayca as number one, and Power China as number two to construct the NGL facility and power plant.

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Ali explained that prior to the conclusion of the construction, an international firm will be selected to operate the project to international standards and best practices.

He added that Exxon is expected to deliver the completed pipeline to the power plant by the fourth quarter of 2024, to achieve commissioning and testing of the power plant by the end of 2024.

According to President

During a recent Press Conference, Vice President Jagdeo had revealed that the Government had hired two international firms, Stantec from Canada and Whirley from the United Kingdom (UK) to evaluate the bids received from the contractors for the construction of the power plant and the NGL facility.

He stated that the decision was made by the Government to hire the two firms to evaluate the technical aspect of the bid due to the fact that the Government does not have the expertise to do so.

Notably, during President Ali’s announcement on Thursday he revealed that based on the reports that were submitted by the two firms –an evaluation team of three

While the Irfaan Ali Government is moving ahead with the GTE, a recent United Nations (UN) report warned Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) countries against pursing natural gas projects.

The report noted that pursuing natural gas projects in the Region is costlier than transitioning to renewable energy.

It states that an expansion of renewable energy sources instead of continuing a fossil fuel path, even with what has been promoted as ‘clean’ natural gas, would be by far the best choice for the Region in terms of costs, jobs, and Green House Gas (GHG) emission reductions. The report stated too, that investing in renewable energy largely outweighs economic, social and climate benefits of natural gas for energy generation.

The University of and many missteps observing the features being the University of Guyana’s theCaribbean. what we publish,” the VC Guyana Press encountered by students studied, administer Vice Chancellor, Prof The Vice Chancellor noted. (UGP) recently undertaking field based questionnaires, and conduct Paloma Mohamed - Martin, expressedthattheUniversity Dean of the Faculty of

launched the first work. interviews, undertake field commended the Author on of Guyana is an engine of Earth and Environmental of its kind ‘A Guide to the Mrs Johnson Bhola measurements and address her excellent work and for growth and direction for the Sciences, Dr. Temitope Principles and Practices of providedadetailedoverview challenges that might be working along with the UG entirecountry Oyedotun, provided a the Geography School ofthebook.Inheroverview, encountered while Press to have the book “Ug’s 2040 Blueprint profound and encouraging Based Assessment’ now she outlined the three conductingthefieldwork. published, noting that it will allows us to be a model for vote of thanks while UG’s providing Caribbean sectionsinwhichthebookis Stage3:Dataanalysis transcend through seasons the nation, and this is not Public Relations Officer, Secondary Education dividedinto.Theseare: andDiscussion and times in the area of only for how we behave but Ms Krest Cummings Council (CSEC) and other Section1:Getting For this stage, students geography for Guyana and for what we produce and chairedtheprogramme. studentsanopportunitytobe StartedwiththeSBA will learn how to organise, exposed to step by step This section introduces present, and communicate guidelines in producing the readers to getting their thedatacollectedinstage2. high quality research SBAs done and outlines the Here they will learn about projects. aim and objectives, the different illustrations

The book which was coursework requirements, (tables, graphs, charts, launched at the George general guidelines, and photographs) that can be Walcott Lecture Theatre, reasons for conducting the used to present the data Turkeyen Campus is SBA. collectedinthefieldandhow intended to be used as an Section2:Explaining thesecanbeintegratedinthe updated resource material thefourstagesofthe discussion, how to avoid and a self-study guide that SBApreparation plagiarism, and citing and detailsinaveryclear-cutand Stage 1: Planning and referencing the information straightforward manner, the Preparation obtainedfromtextbooksand requirements for the

Atthisstage,thestudents other secondary sources as Caribbean Secondary learntoprepareastructureto well. Education Certificate guide them as they prepare Stage4:Preparing (CSEC) students to forfieldwork. theSBAReport successfully complete the This stage sets the tone This stage provides SBA and to optimize the for all that needs to be done details about the format of scores/marks earned for it. fromthebeginningtotheend theSBAReport. Thebookisalsodesignedto oftheSBAandthisincludes This information is assist the teachers of the choosing a topic, selecting a provided in the syllabus and subject to provide the title,formulatingtheaimsor students are urged to go necessary guidance to the research questions, through this document students. identifying the study carefully and use the

Author, Mrs Linda location,identifyingthedata guidelines provided to Johnson-Bhola, UG’s Head collection techniques, ensure that all of the of Department for designingthedatacollection information provided in the Geography and Lecturer in instruments, and selecting report preparation is the Faculty of Earth and t h e a p p r o p r i a t e followed.

Environmental Sciences tools/equipmenttouse. SectionThree:Presenting (FEES),saidthattheideaof Stage2:DataCollection SBASamples preparingthebookcameasa This stage prepares the The final section of the result of her years of students to learn how to book presents two samples involvement teaching apply the various methods ofSBA. Geography at the secondary and techniques outlined in There is also a glossary school, university, thepreviousstage. ofsomekeytermsusedinthe examining SBAs, and They will learn to do book. observing the difficulties field sketching from In giving brief remarks,

Man held with unlicensed gun, cocaine leads Cops to arrest another person

Two men were on T h u r s d a y arrestedbyPolice

following an intelligence-led exercise at Enterprise, East Coast Demerara(ECD).

Police reported that at about 06:45h a 21-year-old resident of Enterprise Squatting area was arrested after he was found in possession of an unlicensed firearm and two grams of a ‘cream coloured rock substance’ suspected to be cocaine.

Ranks of the Vigilance

After being informed of man provided informationPolice Station led the the offence, cautioned, which led to the arrest ofexercise which led to the arrested and escorted to the anotherEnterpriseresident.arrest of the man who was Vigilance Police Station by Investigations arealso caught with a 25 the ranks, the 21-year-old ongoing.berrettapistolinhiscrotch.

Unbeaten half century from Hamilton leads Leewards to comfortable win over Windies Academy

SportsMaxWicketkeeper-batsman Jahmar Hamilton’s run-a-ball half century lifted the Leewards Islands to a 4wicket win over the West Indies Academy in the CG INSURANCE SUPER50 CUP at North Sound on Wednesday.

Batting first, resilient lower order batting from Joshua James, who scored an in innings high 73 from 77, led the Windies Academy to 211 all-out after a few problems at

the top order. Middle order batsman Ackeem Auguste also made an important contribution. Auguste added 44 from 53 deliveries after coming to the crease with the team struggling at 78 for 5.

Importantly, together James and Auguste added 78 for the 8th wicket. Spinner Kofi James was the leading bowler for the Leewards, after claiming figures of 4 for 39.

Friday November 11, 2022

ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19)

There's an important lesson to learn today, Aries, so don't shy away from the classroom. It's important to control your attitude now or it's likely to control you. It could be that your ego is a bit too inflated

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20)

Consider the romantic relationships in your life right now, Taurus. It's important to remember that regardless of how hot and steamy a partnership is at first,

GEMINI (May 21–June 20)

Today is your day to become a hero, Gemini. You don't have to be dressed in fancy tights and a cape to make an important difference in someone's life.

CANCER (June 21–July 22)

There's a great deal of fun to be had today, Cancer. Money isn't always necessary to make this happen, however. In fact, money isn't a great way to keep score.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22)

Remember that the important thing isn't necessarily what you're doing but the people you're with, Leo. There's a great deal of passion in the air today that you can latch onto and put to good use.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Se pt. 22)

You could learn a tough lesson today, Virgo. More than likely, the harder the message hits you, the more important it was for you to hear. It's important that you accept failure gracefully.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22)

There's a great deal of fuel to keep your fire raging today, Libra. Powerful situations are apt to come your way in which you're asked to take decisive action. Don't shy away from added responsibility.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Remember that one wrong move today could cause you to have a headache for a good long while, Scorpio. Don't take uncalculated risks. There's dynamism and confidence in the air.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) It's a long road to becoming exactly the person you want to be, Sagittarius. You can't change who you are. Input from every person you know and lessons from every bump in the road.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) You should always leave a loved one with loving words, Capricorn. Each time you exit a room, consider that you're never going to enter that room again. Perhaps you'll never see those people again.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18)

Just when you think you have absolutely no energy left, you're able to kick into a higher gear. Push beyond your limits today, Aquarius. You'll find that you can achieve a great deal.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Regardless of how you feel today, Pisces, it's important to own up to your mistakes. Keep in mind that you're responsible for your actions. No matter how much you might want to shrink away,

Ross Powell in the second over. Neither really carried on from good starts though, and the team also lost Terance Ward, for 12, when he was dismissed lbw by Nyeem Young. Hamiltons appearance at the crease, however, settled things and Leewards coasted to 213 for 6 with 23 balls remaining. The batsman was just 9 runs short o a 7th first class hundred. Joshua Bishop led the way with the ball for the West Indies Academy after picking up 2 for 29.

From page 27 softball cricket, Ramson commented. John, in his remarks, thanked Ramson for his support and looking forward to his promise to assist with the steady promotion of softball cricket. An enthusiastic John also informed the Minister that this is first time they have the girls coming out which will bring a new dimension to the highly anticipated event.

A plethora of high-profile and veteran softball players will be on show at the Prime Ministers Softball Cup from Friday in Georgetown, Guyana. In 1993 at a Softball Inter-County tournament, Bobby Parasnauth and Ramesh Narine represented Demerara and Essequibo respectively. Stalwart softball batsman Wayne Jones turned out for Demerara too in that fixture at Hampton Court venue in Region Two, Essequibo Coast. They are still playing the game professionally. Parasnauth will lead Regal in the Masters Category while Narine and Jones will exhibit their skills for Regal Legends.

Apart from Parasnauth, Jones and Narine, other cricketers who have been around for decades as well including Ejaz Mohamed, Richard Latif, Chien Gittens, Rickey Persaud, Samuel Kingston, Ryan Singh, Mahendra Hardyal, Troy Gobin, Hemnarine Chattergoon, Aftab Shamsudeen, Richard Persaud, Ricky Deonarine, Mohendra Arjune just to name a few. They are all set to appear at the Primes Softball Cup.

As highly anticipated, excitement galore. Regal Legends are the defending champion in the Legends category while Fisherman Masters copped the top prize last year in the Masters Division and Ariel All-Stars will begin their defence in the Opening Category. This will be the first opportunity for the girls.

Meanwhile, the Honourable Prime Minister Mark Phillips is expected to grace the occasion on the opening day and also on Sunday as well as Minister Ramson.

GSCL Inc President Ian John optimistic despite rainy conditions...

Jahmar Hamilton

In response, Kieran Powell and Keacey Carty put 44 on the board for the third

wicket, as they looked to recover from the early loss of

Hales and Buttler let loose as England reach final in style

boundary to compound India’s misery, and England had a place in the final secured with four overs to sparewhentheircaptainsent Mohammed Shami for six to wrapupanoutstandingwin.

Hales’ comeback complete

It has been a long road back for Hales, who was banned after testing positive for a recreational drug in 2019.

Having replaced the injured Jonny Bairstow for this tournament, Hales has been sensational inAustralia and on Thursday turned in one of the all-time great performancestomakeupfor losttime.

He became the third England player, after Jos Butler, and Eoin Morgan, to register2,000T20Iruns.

Genesis Marine

Guyana Inc backs GSCL Inc PM T20 Cup

SportsMax - Alex Hales and Jos Buttler delivered an exceptional batting display as England cruised into the T20 World Cup final with a 10-wicketdefeatofIndia.

Hales (86 not out) and Buttler (80 not out) put on a T20 World Cup record partnership of 170 on Thursday to claim an emphaticvictoryandteeupa showdownwithPakistan.

England elected to field firstattheAdelaideOvaland had India tied up at 75-3 inside 11 2 overs, Adil Rashid (1-20) clinching the key wicket of in form SuryakumarYadav(14).

India dug deep as Virat Kohli, who had previously scored five centuries in Adelaide, became the first player to hit 4,000 T20I runs andHardikPandyaexploded at the other end to guide

themto168-6.

Kohli was dismissed just after making 50, caught brilliantly by Rashid from the bowling of Chris Jordan, who took 3-43 on his return inMarkWood’sabsence.

Hardik picked up the slack in the final few overs, with his wonderful 63 from 33 deliveries coming to an end when he stood on his own wickets from the last ball of the innings. Yet any India momentum was swiftly halted as Buttler and Hales bludgeoned their way to 63 by the end of the powerplay

Halesthenfoundanother gear, rattling to a 28-ball 50, and India had no answer to England’son-songopeners.

Buttler, having smacked a huge six down the ground, was dropped by Yadav, with the ball trickling to the

Buttler brilliance sets up MCGrematch

While Kohli and Hardik let loose late on, Buttler’s captaincy must be lauded, with England having limited their opponents for much of theirinnings

Buttler, now onto 19 T20I half centuries, then delivered with the bat, fittingly finishing the job withasublimeshot

After falling short in the semi finals against New Zealand last year, England will face Pakistan in Melbourne, 30 years on from a World Cup final between the nations at the samevenue

Scores: England 170 for 0 (Hales 86*, Buttler 80*) beat India 168 for 6 (Hardik 63, Kohli 50, Jordan 3-43) by10wickets.

Genesis

Country manager Dameon Sears, said they are pleased to be part of the tournament and are hoping for successful one. GSCLInc IanJohnthankedtheentityfortheirsupport.

The competition will continue tomorrow and conclude on Sunday at the National Stadium,Providence.

There will be three male categories: Legends (8 teams), Masters (10 teams) and Open (8 teams). Four female sides are also slated to compete. The tournament is in collaboration with the Office of the Prime MinisterandMinistryofCulture,Youthsand Sports.

Fisherman Masters name team for GSCL Inc PM T20 Cup

Defending two time GSCL Inc Prime Minister’s T20 Cup Master’s champion Fisherman are ready to defend their title when the tournament commences todayinGeorgetown.

F i s h e r m a n h a v e shortlistedtheirsquadforthe event which will conclude on Sunday at the National stadium.

Manager/player Zameer Hassan said their team is confident of retaining their titleandtheplayersareeager togo.

He added that the team have won 27 games in a succession, but they are not going to take any team for granted.

The team reads; Bhim George, Pooran Singh, Dennis Mangroo, Zameer Hassan, Stanley Mohabir, Doodnauth Ramdeen, D u b r a j S i n g h , Tr o y

Ramsaywack, Davanan Khanan, Wazir Majeed, Rawl Reid, Danny Thomas, Zaki Salim, Desmond Harris, Fazeer Khan and CharranShahadeo. Hassan has expressed

gratitude to their sponsors Legends Resto and Lounge, Rockaway Group of Companies, Payless Variety Store, P Singh and Son, Satrohan Sookdeo and PerfectPrint.

Marine Guyana Inc has supported the GSCLInc PM T20 Cup which issettocommencetodayinGeorgetown.

Over 2 million dollars are up for grabs at thisannualtournamentwhichwillbeitssixth yearinsuccession.

Genesis Marines Country Manager Dameon Sears (right) hands over sponsorship cheque to GSCL representative Amrita Bahadur.

Pooran Singh (L) and Zameer Hassan

Deep in trouble: Hardik Pandya is hit-wicket while playing the flick. (Getty Images)

BCB obtains sponsorships for cricket tournaments for secondary and primary schools in Region Five

-hailsMPJafferallysrole

The Berbice Cricket Board as part of its county wide cricket developmental programme intends to host cricket tournaments at the school level. The proposed tournaments are to be played attheprimaryandsecondary l e v e l s i n f o u r s u b associations before the champions from each area move on to play for the o v e r a l l B e r b i c e championship.

BCB President Hilbert Foster stated that the sub associations would be West B e r b i c e , N e w Amsterdam/Canje, Lower Corentyne and Upper Corentyne. A total of twenty three secondary and over fifty primary schools would be involved in the county wide tournaments The

board has already obtained pledges of support for a s e c o n d a r y s c h o o l tournament in the Upper Corentyne area and on Sunday last with the assistance of government Member of Parliament Faizal Jafferally cemented two major sponsorships for bothlevels.

Mr Sudesh Persaud of Latchman Construction and Landscaping would be sponsoring a 30overs inter s e c o n d a r y s c h o o l tournament for six schools. Amongtheschoolswouldbe Rosignol, Fort Wellington andBelladrum.MrBeesham Ram of Caribbean Motor Spares and Mr Dhanpaul Sukhra would stand the cost of hosting a primary school ten overs tournament for

fourteen schools Ithaca, Blairmont, Rosignol, Cotton Tree, NO 8, No 5, Woodley Park, Hopetown, Bath, Latchmansingh and No 29.

Foster disclosed that the main objective of the primary school tournament is for it to serve as a nursery fortheunder13systeminthe county The board also intends to organise coaching sessions in the schools for a selected group of the most promising primary school students The BCB has already obtained funds for a county wide secondary school coaching programme from the National Milling Company(NAMILCO).

The BCB President expressed thanks to the three sponsorsforcomingforward to support Berbice cricket

MVPFutsalTournament…

and hailed the contribution of Mr Jafferally, who he described as a true friend of Berbicecricket.

Foster who was first electedin2018statedthathis a d m i n i s t r a t i o n w a s determinedtomakesurethat the rich legacy of John Trim, Rohan Kanhai and Basil Butcher is kept alive. The BCB has already started the distribution of cricket gears, balls and uniforms to secondary schools in preparation for the tournaments.

Mr Jafferally in brief remarks stated that he was

Teams receive Group stage incentives

delightedtoofferanyformof assistance to Berbice cricket as he was very happy with the direction it was heading under the current leadership.

The three sponsors also stated that they were delighted to support the development of the game at theschoollevel.

GSCL Inc President Ian John optimistic despite rainy conditions as Prime Ministers Cup set to bowl off today

President of the Georgetown Softball CricketLeagueInc.

Ian John remains upbeat of a prompt start to the 2022 Prime Ministers T20 Softball Cup today despiterain

With a series of matches slated for the Capital city, the persistent early morning showers left theoutfields soggy

The three day softball extravaganza will be run for under the auspices of t h e G S C L I n c . i n collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports

“WeattheGSCLIncare very optimistic of a prompt start tomorrow morning; yes it is raining, but we are just keeping our fingers crossed that it will come to an end very soon,” John mentioned.

The categories for the males: Legends (Over 50), Masters (Over 40) and Round Arm Open (ALL Ages), while four ladies sides are scheduled to participate

we can get all the games bowling off on time,” John declared.

Apart from Guyana teams are also expected from New York, Florida andCanada

John recently met with The Honourable Minister Of Culture, Youths and SportsCharlesRamson. Ramson said he was happy to be associated with the tournament and that he is confident that the t h r e e d a y s o f t b a l l extravaganza will be a h u g e s u c c e s s a n d congratulated them of hostingtheshowpiece.

“I am indeed happy to be associated with the softball tournament; I want to wish all the teams success and our Prime Ministers name is there so I expect exciting cricket throughout the three days,”Ramsondeclared

The Petra organized MVP Sports Futsal Tournament, which recently haditsMensDivisionGroup stage completed, awarded the respective finishers with theirincentives.

At a simple handover at the tournament venue, the National Gymnasium, the top team from the three Groups received $50,000

each while the second place finishers carted off with $30,000each.

The third place holders were the recipients of $20,000 each while the fourth place finishers had to settlefor$10,000each.

Stabroek Ballers won Group A with seven points while Bent Street (5) finished second, Sparta (4)

were third and BV Team Cruel(0)endedlast.

In Group B, Gold is Money was the top team with seven points and a superior goal difference while Future Stars (7) were second, Tiger Bay copped third with three points while Mocha Family ended withoutapoint.

Group C was won by

Back Circle with seven p o i n t s a h e a d o f Campbellville (6), Sophia (3) and Vengy FC, in that order

The competition is set to continue tomorrow with the quarterfinal stage in the Mens Division and the final four matches of the Group stage in the Womens Division.

The winning male t e a m w i l l c o l l e c t $600,000 for each category while the girls victorious combination will take home $200,000 Other attractive prizes are upforgrabs

J o h n s t a t e d t h e groundsmen at every venue are working extremely hard to get things ready for the commencement.

“Yes, the conditions are little dicey but as I said I am very confident that

A number of matches w i l l b e p l a y e d simultaneously at various venues in Georgetown then all finals to take place at the National Stadium, Providence, East Bank, Demerara with things culminating Sunday under lights

Ramson also echoed similar sentiments to the four participating female teams and welcoming the foreignplayersfeaturing.

“We want to see the continued growth of softball cricket; we, the Government of Guyana, would ensure the game of softball cricket keeps getting better and better while this will encourage peopleofallagestolove

Petras Jackie Boodie presented the respective teams with their incentives on Thursday at the National Gymnasium.

BCB President Hilbert Foster, MP Faizal Jafferally and Sudesh Persaud launches secondary school tournament while other BCB executives look on.

Hundreds benefit from RHTYSC Cricket Teams organised medical clinic with USA Medical group

The cricket teams of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club recently organised a massive medical outreach programme at the St Francis Community Developers Training Center in Rose Hall Town. The programmewasorganisedin conjunction with the USA based Guyana Medical Mission headed by Dr James Cort and the Friends/Roots ofRoseHallTownNGO.

A team of over twenty five doctors, registered nurses and pharmacists worked from 7am to 7pm to look after the hundreds of residents who turned up at the invitation of the cricket teams. The major problems that were treated by the medical team were diabetes, high blood pressure, eye care,footcare,strokeandthe common cold. Dozens of residentsreceivedspectacles or reading glasses after

having their eyes tested by a team of specialists while everypersonattheclinicwas provided with the necessary supply of medicines for their sickness The medicines were obtained from the USA with the support of the Friends and Roots of Rose Hall Town headed by Mr ClementManns.

RHTYSC Secretary Hilbert Foster hailed the medical clinic as a resounding success and expressed gratitude to the two co-organizers for their support. The RHTYSC he stated is committed to making a positive difference in the lives of the less fortunate, elderly and youths. He stated that the club first hosted the American medical workers in 2019 but the covid 19 pandemic caused the clinic to be pushed back in 2020 and 2021.The medical clinic

was organised by the Poonai Pharmacy under 13, Farfan and Mendes under 15, Bakewell Under 17 and second division, Pepsi under 19, Metro female and Namilco Thunderbolt under 21andfirstdivision.

The teams would like to express thanks to Poonai Pharmacy, Balram Shane GeneralStore,IshwarSingh, Banks Dih Ltd, Guyana Beverage Company, Shemaine Campbelle and Shabika Gajnabi for their support to make the medical clinicasuccess.

Meanwhile, the teams have also started to make preparationstohostthe32nd edition of the RHTYSC Annual Christmas Charity programme and the eight edition of the popular Christmas Village The village would be held in the compound of the Rose Hall Town Primary School from

Qayyim Academy introduced to archery

On Saturday last, the sport of archery was introduced to Qayyim Academy,whichislocatedin Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara, by Archery Guyana.

With the goal of becoming the next school to register an Archery Club, Principal of the School, Bibi Romena Constantine Mohamed, had reached out to the federation, which was finallydoneonSaturdaylast.

Discussions were held between the Principal and Head Coach, Nicholas Hing, on the sport and its various forms, with the ultimate goal ofOlympicrecurvearchery

With the help of Archery Guyanas archer/instructor Saeed Karim, Hing gave the scores of excited children a l o n g w i t h t h e i r Headmistress, the chance to try out for the first time how tousethebowandarrow

Students take aim during their introductory archery session.

the 22nd to 24th of December The village w o u l d i n v o l v e t h e transformation of the school compound into a dreamland for children with thousands of fairy lights, inflatable Christmascharacters,20feet Christmas tree, children games, the nativity scene, bouncy castles and trampolines among other

attractions.

The main objectives of thevillagearetopromotethe traditions of Christmas, to provide clean and safe fun for families, to attract tourists to the township of Rose Hall Town and to promote the club Say No to Drugs and Yes to Education programme The teams under the 32nd annual

C h r i s t m a s C h a r i t y programme would assist thousands of less fortunate families with food hampers, toys, breakfasts, educational materials and special packages during the period of 5th to 24th of December The teams would also host a concert at the St Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Churchonthe14th.

EleganceJewelleryandPawnShop supportsPrimeMinistersSoftballCup

Elegance Jewellery and Pawn Shop has thrown their support for this years Prime Ministers Softball Cup which gets cracking today in Georgetown.

T h e u n d i s c l o s e d sponsor-cheque was handed over yesterday at Regal Stationery and Computer CentreinCampbellville.

The three day softball extravaganza will be hosted by the Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL) Inc and in collaborationwiththeOffice ofthePrimeMinisterandthe Ministry of Culture, Youth andSports.

Twenty six teams are slated to participate in three male categories and a femaleone

President of the GSCL Inc. Ian John was on hand to receive the cheque and he immediately expressed his gratitudetoRichieManiram, General Manager of the Elegance Jewellery and PawnShopbusinessentity

Johnstatedthattheyhave been with the Cup since its inauguration in 2017 and once again proud to have themonboard.

Muniram also took the opportunity to say that

Elegance Jewellery and Pawn Shop is indeed delighted to make a contribution once more and wished the mega softball tournamentgreatsuccess.

He further related that Elegance Jewellery and Pawn Shop will continue to offer their support because the game always brings a lot ofunityandcamaraderie.

Patients were attended by a team of pharmacists and medical staff

President of the GSCL Inc. Ian John, left, receives the sponsorship cheque from General Manager Richie Muniram.

The 2022 National I n d o o r A r c h e r y Championships which shot offonMonday,November7, at the National Gymnasium was with lots of keen competition.

Archery is growing locally since the tournament is being contested by more clubs this year following a string of new clubs becoming affiliates of ArcheryGuyana.

The Archery Guild and ProArchers Guyana along with School of the Nations Nations Archery Club have increased the numbers for a more exciting tournament. The ranking rounds for the Barebow Division were completed on Monday with the Men U18, Women U18 and Women all vying for the top spots while the Men leaped into action on Tuesday evening

On Thursday, the R e c u r v e D i v i s i o n commenced, while today, the elimination matches for the Men &Women barebow, Men U18 & Women U18 Barebow and Men Recurve willtakeplace.

The finals for all Divisions will be on Saturday from 1:00pm Belowaretherankingscores from the first 2 days of competition:

By Rawle Toney

The Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) has shortlisted the countrys male and female players for the Inter Guiana Games (IGG) against Suriname and French Guiana.

The November 25 27 IGG will make a return for the first time since it was last h o s t e d i n 2 0 1 7 i n Paramaribo, and this time around, the three countries will compete in the disciplines of Cycling, Athletics (Track and Field), Tennis, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Football, Swimming, Squash, BasketballandBadminton.

Abdullah Zico Hamid wasnamedastheheadcoach for the womens side, with assistance coming from Junior Niles and Ann Gordon, while Willon Cameron will lead the women’s side along with Courtney Taylor as his assistant. The womens team will come from Shania Sears (Kwakwani),NatalyaClarke (Kwakwani), Sherel Leacock (Kwakwani), Malia Samuels (Kwakwani), Rehaicia Romain (Linden), Talya Gray (Linden), K a s s i d y Wo o l f o r d (Plaisance),AlimahEastman (G/town), Renee Liverpool (Berbice), Sharay Johnson (G/Town), Grace Somrah (West Demerara) and Shanil James (G/Town). Chrisleyan Richards (G/Town), Angel Rajaram (G/Town), Ronessa Romalho (G/Town) and

Kristy Thomas (Bartica) are thereserves.

Meanwhile, the Mens team will comprise Kimol Grimmond (Pure Masters Academy), Carmelo ManSon-Hing (St Roses), Kelon Phillips (Kwakwani), Travis Lewis (Kwakwani), Jushawn Bayley (Guyana School of Agriculture), R o n n e l C a m p b e l l (Kwakwani), Kurvin Mars (MTI), Charles William (NATI), Shannon Wilson (MTI), Ezekiel Saul (Presidents College), Jether Harris (UG) and Domitre Rankin(ChristChurch).

President of the GABF, Michael Singh, said the team will be encamped nearing the games, but in the interim, they’re working closely with the respective coaches at the Cliff AndersonSportsHall.

Basketball is one of the IGGs marquee events, particularly between

SurinameandGuyana

Catering to student athletesattheU-20level,the Inter-Guiana Games first tookplacein1967.

F o r m e r N a t i o n a l

Football player, QT Donald was sent to Suriname by former President Forbes Burnham

t o w o r k w i t h t h e Surinamese on Guyanas behalf, to outline the games that were formed as a means of fostering b i l a t e r a l r e l a t i o n s , through sports between the two countries

Football (basketball started in 1972) was the first sport that was played between Guyana and SurinameattheInter-Guiana Games. The two countries battled for the Forbes Burnham/Johan Pengel Trophy

Johan Adolf Pengel, in 1967, served as Prime MinisterofSuriname.

Kimol Grimmond, who was member of Guyanas bronze-winning 3x3 team at the inaugural Caribbean Games, will be part of the countrys IGG basketball team.

TrophyStallonceagainprovidessupport forProject“CricketGearforyoung andpromisingcricketersinGuyana”

Another young cricketer hasbenefitedfromthisnoble project. This time it is 15 years old Khishun Khedaroo of No 35 Village, Corentyne, Berbice Khedaroo is a student of JC Chandisingh Secondary School and recently joined Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club Cricket Team. He was the recipient of one box, one thigh pad and one arm guard, compliments of TrophyStall,BourdaMarket with branches at Port Mourant, City Mall and South Road. This is a joint initiative by Kishan Das of USA and Anil Beharry, Executive Member of the GuyanaCricketBoard.

At a simple ceremony held recently at the Port Mourant Branch, young Khedaroo said, “I am crazy about cricket and I am thankful for this help and promise to do my best to realize my dream of representing the West Indies one day ” In response, C h i t r a B e d e s s i e , a representative of Trophy Stall, stated that, “Ramesh Sunich, the owner of the company is happy to be part of this project and given the opportunity to help this kid.” “He is also pleased with the work of the initiative and its level of accountability and mileage sponsors have benefited from, ” she continued. The project says thanks to Ramesh Sunich of Trophy Stall. Total cricket relateditemscollectedsofar: $270,000 in cash, two trophies, twelve cricket boots, nineteen pairs of batting pads, twenty five bats, fifteen pairs of batting gloves, twenty thigh pads, one pair of wicket keeping pad, three arm guards, two boxes, six cricket bags and three helmets. In addition to theabove,$600,000worthin gear was donated by Sheik Mohamed, former National wicketkeeper/batsman.

To date, forty three young players from all three counties of Guyana have already benefited from three juniorgearbag,twotrophies, three arm guards, seventeen bats, two boxes, three helmets, twelve pairs of cricket shoes, ten pairs of batting pads, one thigh pad, one bat rubber and twelve pairs of batting gloves. In addition, two clubs in the Pomeroon area benefited from two used bats Pomeroon, Leguan and Wa k e n a a m C r i c k e t Committees and CottonTree Die Hard also received one box of red cricket balls each while RHCCCC received two boxes, fifteen white cricket shirts, one pair of junior batting pads, one pair ofwicketkeepingglovesand asetofstumpsandbails.The EssequiboCricketBoardand the Town of Lethem also benefited Cricket related items, used or new, is distributed free of cost to young and promising cricketers in Guyana. Skills, discipline and education are important characteristics of the recipients. Talent spotting is being done across the country and club leaders also assist to identify same. Progressive and well managed clubs will also

benefit.

We take this opportunity to thank Javed and Imran of West Indian Sports Complex, Option Group of USA, Hilbert Foster, Bish Panday of P and P Insurance Brokers,SeanDevers,Trevis Simon, Årïêl J. Tïlkú,Aaron Beharry, Leanna Bachan and Imran Saccoor, Devon Ramnauth, Teddy Singh, Romash Munna, Ravi Etwaroo, Kelvin Brijlall, Ravin Harkishun, Surendra Harkishun, Allan Mangru, Dennis Mangru, Vishal Mahabir, Sherman Austin, Huburn Evans, Rajendra Sadeo, Ramesh Sunich of Trophy Stall, Sheik Mohamed of Star Sports Awards and Trophies and Ajay Gainda of Cricket Equipment Guyana, Gajanand Singh, Peter Ramkissoon, Rabindranath Saywack, Roshan Gaffoor, Ameer Rahaman, Chin Singh, Denesh Chandrapaul, Dr Cecil Beharry, Davo Naraine of UK and Latch Mohabir and family. Thanks to the media for the role they areplayinginpromotingthis venture. Distribution will continue. Anyone interested to contribute can contact Anil Beharry on 623 6875 or Kishan Das on 1 718 664 0896.

Golden performance for Guyana at Inaugural Pan Continental Curling Championship

Afteracoupleofinactive years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Guyana Curling Federation returned to competition this past week, with Guyana defeating India to win the Pan Continental Curling Championship in Calgary, Alberta,Canada.

The victory now ensures that Guyana will be amongst the elite eight countries competing in the Pan Continental A Division next year where they will go against superpowers Canada, United States, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Chinese Taipei. Teams that finish in the Top 5 in the A Division next year will earn a berth in the 2024 World Mens Curling Championship at a

team quickly found their stridereelingofffivestraight round-robinvictoriesagainst developing countries Saudi Arabia (15-3), Qatar (11-3), Kenya (15-1), Nigeria (143), and a hard-fought victory over a talented Indian team (6-5).

The final two games of the preliminary round went against the Guyanese side losing to Kazakhstan (11-3) and pre tournament favouritesHongKong(8-5).

Guyanas5-2recordafter the round-robin placed them fourth amongst the eight teams in the division and earned them a rematch against undefeated Hong Konginthesemi-finals.

Also of note, Guyana played the final three games of the competition with only

pointleadatthehalf. Holding the lead going into the final end, the Guyanese men were able to maintain the advantage and claim victory 8-5 to earn the historic first gold medal for Guyana and South America in international curling

R e f l e c t e d o n t h e achievement afterwards, Husainnoted,“Thisisahuge win for our country Now everyone knows about Guyana and that we can curl at a high level ” He continued, “I cant quite believe what we have accomplished, and Im especially proud of how we dug in as a team as three playersforthefinalgames.It was just meant to be ” Looking ahead, Husain said the promotion to the A

venue still to be decided and will allow countries to earn valuable points towards Olympic qualification in 2026inMilanCortina.

The inaugural Pan Continental Curling Championship brought together the best mens and womens teams from the Pacific-Asia and Americas zone divided into two divisions. The Guyanese team comprised captain Rayad Husain (Brampton, Canada), Jason Perreira (Minneapolis, USA), Baul Persaud (King City, Canada), and newcomer Khemraj Goberdhan (Mississauga, Canada) Canadian Paul Madgett (Nanton, Canada) served as theteamscoach.

Despitetheinactivity,the

three players as Goberdhan went down with an injury after a fall in the game against India. Hong Kong held a one-point lead going intothefinalendofthesemifinal and with less than 10 secondsleftontheclock.

The Hong Kong skipper, Jason Chang, faced four Guyanese stones but was unable to clear enough of them and left Guyana with two points which were enough to claim the 7-6 victory and a berth into the Gold Medal Game against India. The Gold Medal Game began in favour of the Indian side until skip Rayad Husain made an angle raise takeout in the 3rd end to scoretwoandmoveahead21. From there, Guyana took control opening up a four

Division,whichprovidesthe countrywithachancetotake on some of the worlds best teams in 2023, will see them havingtoworkonadvancing their curling. Guyanas next international competition will be the World Mixed Doubles Qualification Event in Dumfries, Scotland from D e c e m b e r 2 7 RepresentingGuyanawillbe the sibling tandem of Rayad Husain and Farzana Hussain and will be playing in one of four groups which include A u s t r i a , F i n l a n d , Kazakhstan, Nigeria, and Slovenia.

Four countries out of a totalof26willqualifyforthe 2023 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in April in Gangneung, South Korea.

Chitra Bedessie (left) with Khishun Khedaroo at the presentation.

Guyana’s Captain, Rayad Husain in action during the Pan Continental Curling Championship.

Former boxing champion Hardy finding success with The Coach Desk App

By Rawle Toney

Many know him as the Candy Man a tactical and skilful boxer, who shot to stardom on the local scenes by putting his opponents to the canvas compliments of his sweet hands in the WelterweightDivision.

In his 16 professional bouts Simeon Hardy, who hails from Sophia, would capture the WBC CABOFE title, coming out victorious 14 times, winning 11 by TKO and was defeated twice.

H o w e v e r , a f t e r relocating to the US (Brooklyn, New York) in 2012, Hardy pushed himself in other areas, including music, becoming a fitness andboxingcoach.

The former National Welterweight Champions latest venture though, The Coach Desk App, is gaining much attention and making its rounds around the media spectrumintheUS.

“The idea was birthed during a time where everyonewasreachingoutto me looking for boxing trainers in 2020 while they were away in different parts of the country during unprecedented times,” HardytoldKaieteurNews.

He added, “With all the boxing gyms closed, people couldn’t find trainers unless it was by word of mouth, referralsorseeingatrainerat a park working with others like myself and stopping for acontactcard.”

As an independent trainer,Hardybelieves,“The inability for us to put

ourselvesonthemapwithout a physical location affects the process of getting new leads. This was a problem and solving this issue was myinitialgoal.”

How does it work?

Simple; download the app (The Coach Desk). Follow the signup instructions and connect with professional boxing coaches and trainers inyourvicinity

He noted that clients will

see the price for booking a specific trainer and the packagesbeingoffered.

Hardy said the Uber concept is the new way of connecting people for serviceifdonecorrectly

“After thinking through getting independent trainers to be found on the map, integrating a vetting system fortrainerswasthenextstep, just like (Yelp) customers canwritereviewsabouttheir

SPL/EBDCA T10 set to conclude tomorrow at Farm

The

Eccles will play Farm at 09:30hrs and North Soesdyke will face Herstelling at 12:00hrs, which will be followed by the final. In last weekend games at Farm, Sandpipers won the toss and batted first, scoring 97-8; Andy Lall- 39 as Quazim Yusuf took and Buddan Baksh 2-15. Herstelling B replied with 88-9. A. Deokie tookandA.Lall2-11.

At YMCA, Meadow Bank took first strike and made 81-6. Y Persaud made 32 and B. Jaikarran 23. D. Williams had 3-26 and R. Sargeant 2-0-2-08. Herstelling A in replymade83-7.M.Dhanpaulmade24and A. Bharat 20. D. Persaud claimed 4-12.

Silver Bullet made 73-4, batting first; KaysiaSchultztook2-18.Ecclesresponded with 75-2 in 8 overs. Marcus Watkins scored30notoutandKelvinSingh25.Jerry Benjaminhad2-8.

Ruimveldt made 80-7, taking first strike Ershad Ali scored 37 North Soesdyke replied with 82 6 Shamar Yearwood scored 28 and Ryan Shivmangal 26 Nicholas Bollers claimed 3 16 Demolition scored 102-4, batting first. Damien Vantull made 43, Q. Joseph 21 and C. Austin 20. North Soesdyke responded with103-6.

Andrew Lyght made 45 and Shamar Yearwood 25. D Sam took 2-21. The winningteamwillreceive$500,000,runner up$100,000,Bestbatsmanandbestbowler $50,000each.

experiences after visiting different restaurants or businesses, this type of model can boost a Trainer’s rating if the service is phenomenal. So I designed a section where clients can leave a review after their sessions,”Hardyexplained.

This idea, Hardy related, is to help boxing trainers earn in life after boxing by doing what they’re passionateabout.

“I’ve bootstrapped to develop both versions of the app and now it’s valued at US$2.5M in a market size estimated at US$187.58B in 2021andisexpectedtoreach US$366.34Bin2030.

To get things going Hardy highlighted that he distributed fliers and placed stickers in busy areas, pointing out, “It only took days before I received my first booking from a stranger whohasbecomeaconsistent client with many others to

follow.”

With things back to normal credible boxing coaches can be challenging, accordingtoHardy

“Friendlyboxingtrainers with clean backgrounds, knowledgeable with experience in the sport to teach the proper form and techniques is better than booking at a brand name gym with non qualified boxing coaches to learn

from.”

On October 29, 2010, Simeon Hardy burst onto the local boxing scene and announced his presence with a knock-out victory over Patrick Barton at the Cliff AndersonSportsHall.

Hardy would win his next eight fights by putting his opponents on the canvas. So sweet were his punches, the alias Candy Man was bestowedonhim.

Soesdyke Premier League /East Bank Demerara Cricket Association T10 tournament is set to conclude tomorrow at Farm.

Former National and WBC CABOFE Welterweight Champion Simeon Hardy.

Jos

Buttler and Alex Hales took