Kaieteur News

Guyana's oil minister yet to hold a single press conference Three years in…

to address critical matters

While civil s o c i e t y groups and thepoliticalOppositionhave continuously underscored the need for transparency and accountability to be the hallmarks of the multibillion dollar oil and gas sector, Minister of Natural Resources,VickramBharrat, continuestostaymilesaway from a press conference podium.

For three years, Guyanesehavebeenwaiting for such a forum, for the deliveryofinsights,updates, and explanations about the nation's oil and gas dealings directly from the person entrusted with the management of this pivotal sector.

Instead, the man who is charged with the day-to-day management of the sector has kept quiet, leaving the heavy lifting to be done by Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo who said he is only charged with oversight on policy

Guyana, which boasts one of the fastest-growing

economies globally, owes muchofitsrecentprosperity totheboominoilwithinthe massive Stabroek Block operatedbyanExxonMobilledconsortium.

With this newfound

w e a l t h c o m e s a responsibility to keep citizens informed and involved.

Minister Bharrat's press conference is therefore not justexpected.

Industry stakeholders sayitisimperativetoensure citizens are informed about thegovernment'shandlingof keycriticalissues.

While Vice President, Dr BharratJagdeo,explores a number of issues within the oil and gas sector in his weekly press conferences, hisbroadmandatemeanshe cannot delve deep into specific issues relating to thesector

Moreover, from his own admission, Dr Jagdeo has saidhisinsightsarebasedon reports from the Ministry of NaturalResources. Industry observers therefore believe that the Natural Resources Minister as well as its Petroleum Unit has a duty to inform the nation on t h e i r d a y - t o - d a y management of the sector overthelastthreeyears.

Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat

1

Relinquishment Clauses and Contract Administration:Overthe past years, there have been ambiguities surrounding oil companies' adherence to relinquishment clauses in their exploration contracts Relinquishment,asitpertainstothe oil sector, is a provision that allows for a company to return a portion of an oil block after an agreed time of conducting exploration works Such a provision is considered fundamental to ensuring that oil companies are not sitting idly on portions of blockswhichcouldbereturnedto the State and later utilized by

authorities via an auction. Bharrat's Ministry has yet to say how it is handlingrelinquishmentofportions ofoilblocks.

3Clarity on enforcement of Petroleum Activities

2

Report on progress of Local Content Act: Instituted in 2021, the Local Content Act has been operational for close to two years now Areportonitsperformance,its impact, and future prospects, is due forParliament.

TheMinistryhasnotablyputout numbers on the performance of the Act, which had been called into question.

But the Ministry gave no explanation/response.

Act: With the recent passing of the Petroleum Activities Act and the forthcoming auction of 14 oil blocks, eight of which received offers, there is an undeniable public interest in understanding the government's roadmap for regulation Concerns loom about the administration of new blocks, especially in light of past challenges and the fact, the nation faces a shortage of technical skillsfortheoilindustry

4Introduction to the PetroleumUnit:Anentity as significant as the

Petroleum Unit, managing a multibillion-dollar industry, has not been formally introduced to the public. Industry stakeholders have said this lackofintroductionraisesquestions about transparency and the government's commitment to open governance.

5A d d re s s i n g t h e Petroleum Management ProgrammeWebsite:The current state of the website is far fromsatisfactory

With outdated data, missing information,andaquestionableuser interface,ithardlyseemsfittingfora country with Guyana's burgeoning economicstatus.

Teachers complain about heat affecting classrooms

OnMonday,duringa meeting at State House, President Irfaan Ali listened to teachers fromacrossthecountryasthey voicedtheirconcernsaboutthe stifling heat in classrooms, exacerbatedbyclimatechange.

Accompanied by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, and Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton,PresidentAliinvited teachers to discuss their challenges.

Teachers highlighted the escalating heat in classrooms, making it arduous to teach effectively

In response, they appealed to the Government of Guyana (GoG) for electric fans to alleviate the discomfort. One teacher from Kato, Region Nine, explained, 'with climate change, the place is very hot, and then we and our students havetowalkveryfar.'

Imran Ally, Principal of SkeldonSecondarySchooland an Executive of the Guyana

Teacher's Union (GTU), echoed these concerns, emphasizing the adverse impact of heat on both students and teachers. To address this issue, he recommended insulating classroom walls and ceilingsandinstallingfans.

...ask President for fans or insulated walls

A section of the gathering at State House

From left: Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, President Irfaan Ali and Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand.

Twoweeks later…

Govt. still to conclude probe into Exxon's US$214M audit fiasco

Two weeks after it announced an investigation into the “unauthorized engagement” by staff of the Ministry of Natural Resources Petroleum Unit with U S oil giant ExxonMobil over the company's US$214M questionable expenses, the government is yet to give an update on the status of the probe.

Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo had announced that a thoroughinvestigationwould be conducted to identify the individuals responsible for engaging the oil company in reducing US$214 million in questionablecostsflaggedby a British auditor to US$3 million During a press conference at Freedom

House on September 21, the chiefpolicymakerfortheoil sector told reporters that the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) would then provide a report to Cabinet for review which would be used to determine the appropriate disciplinary action.

On Monday, this newspaper reached out to subject Minister, Vickram Bharrat for an update on the investigation. The minister would only say that it is ongoing. He also offered no timeline for the completion

of the investigation In keeping with its advisory role, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) wrote the ministry on August 8, 2023 advising that it had no objection to the US$214M first flagged by IHS Markit and they should proceed to closingtheUS$1.6Bauditof Exxon's expenses, incurred between1999and2017.

Jagdeohadexplainedthat theministrydidnotadhereto this recommendation and engaged in discussions with Exxon to reduce these sums. The Vice President said the

Head of State, Dr IrfaanAli was appraised of the developments and there was an agreement for a full investigation. He said too that the ministry now has to communicate to Exxon that basedontheadviceofGRA, the disputed sums will remain at US$214M Importantly, Jagdeo said Exxon would not be pulled intotheinvestigation.

Jagdeo said, “We don't knowwhattheysentandIam not interested in what they sent because that could be usedinarbitrationshouldwe gothere.Iammoreinterested in who authorized this and why.”

Dangerousprecedent

In the meantime,

Thief tormenting residents of Mahaicony villages

Residentsofseveralvillagesonthe East Coast of Demerara continue to cower in fear, as a very violent village thief continues to wreak havoc in several villages in the Mahaicony district. And they have accused police ranks who are connected with the alleged suspect of shielding him from lawenforcement.

According to villagers, the alleged thief strangely somehow continues to walk the community, even though severalreportshavebeenmadeagainst himattwopolicestationsinthedistrict. Recent interviews with residents saw villagers suggesting that he is shielded since he has relatives, and a few associates at two East Coast Demerara PoliceStationsaswell.Theyareofthe opinion that he is being informed of impendingarrests,andisthereforeable tooftenmakegoodhisescape.

These conclusions were apparently drawn from the fact that he has been taken into custody at both police stationsforseveraloffencesoflarceny, robbery, and break and enter, but was always released shortly after.While he has served at least two brief jail terms, residents are of the opinion that he is a menace, and should be locked away altogether

The young man who is in his early twenties seemingly has no fixed place of abode, but frequents nightspots, and smallshopsinthevillagesofCatherine, Calcutta, Little Abary, Recess, and a fewothers,whichareallvillagesinthe Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara District.

Just recently police in the area had made three attempts to capture him at nightspots in Calcutta Village, but according to residents, he somehow mysteriously managed to elude the ranks just minutes before he was

pounced upon. Residents of Calcutta and Catherine villages told this publication that they are overwhelmed with his continuous attacks on businesses and individuals in the area and one very angry businessman yesterday vowed that he would take matters into his own hands, if he is not capturedbythepolice.

Just recently police at the Mahaicony Police Station following a tip off, made attempts to arrest the suspectwhilehewashangingaroundat Burma Road junction, but he ran between patrons at a popular bar close by bar, sending patrons scattering as shotswerefiredafterhimbythepolice. Hemadehisescapedashingthroughthe yard of a soldier in the village, who related to the police the direction in whichhehadrun.

A short while after he surfaced brandishing a cutlass, and threatening to harm the soldier Villagers gathered in dismay, but everyone seemed to be afraidoftheyoungman.

Abusinessman in Calcutta Village, insympathyallowedhimtoworkathis bar for a short period, only to face embarrassment, as he reportedly soon after broke into a variety store in Catherine Village belonging to an amputated businessman. Police are presentlyhuntinghim,inrelationtothis incident.Itisreported,thebusinessman and a few friends had used the time of his employment to counsel him, and triedtoeffectpositivechange,buttono avail.Villagers from CatherineVillage on Saturday indicated the he is hardly seenduringtheday,butappearsmostly atnights,andlurksaroundthevillage.

Villagers from Champange Village in the same area have been reportedly robbedrepeatedly,astheyheadedhome withgroceries.Thisveryremotevillage

has no shops; hence residents have to use bicycles to travel almost two miles togethouseholdsupplies.Villagersare oftheopinionthatthesuspectisbehind these incidents as well.An intoxicated male has been beaten in the head at dusk,androbbedasheattemptedtoget home, and villagers are associating the youngmanwiththisincident.

It has been reported too that not so long ago the suspect allegedly broke intothehomeofachurchgoingwoman, and attempted to rape her teenaged granddaughter Itwasthescreamsofthe younggirlthathadalertedoccupantsof the home, but he allegedly made his escapebypushinghergrandfatherwho triedtoapprehendhim,intoaclusterof flowerplants.

Hewasalsofingeredinthetheftofa motorcycle of a resident from reportedly resides in the Goodfaith/Novararea.

And sources said he seemed to be working with accomplices, as a motorbike fitting that description was allegedly left for safe keeping, in the yard of a woman with whom he is closelyassociated.VillagersinCalcutta informed that he spearheads and recruitsyoungermentobethieves,and itissaidthathimselfandtwoteenagers broke into the 'Gents Boutique' owned by a young businessman, at Burma Road Junction From several interviews,residentsarefrustratedwith the inability of police in the area to capture him, and many are wondering why he is not in custody, after being fingered in numerous criminal offences.

Theyarecallingonthepoliceinthe area, and the Neighbouring Policing Grouptojoinforcesinhiscapture,and incarceration, so peace and tranquility canreturntothearea.

Guyana'sfirstoilaudithasset adangerousprecedentforthe US$40Binreviewsstilltobe completed.

These expenses relate to the five sanctioned projects in the prolific Stabroek Block, where over 11 billion barrels of oil have been discovered.

Notably, a consortium was hired by the People's Progressive Party (PPP) administrationtoundertakea s e c o n d a u d i t o f ExxonMobil's expenses incurred between 2018 and 2020. That review is still to be finalized. The auditors were tasked with verifying the costs racked up by the company,amountingtosome US$7 3 billion The five sanctioned projects in the Stabroek Block carry a price tag of about US$40 billion which Guyana must scrutinise to make sure it is

not being over charged Economic Advisor to the Opposition Leader, Elson Low recently told Kaieteur Newsthatwiththereduction of the costs from US$214 million to US$3 million, Guyanesearenowlefttofear what may be the outcome of the audits yet to be undertaken.

He said with the British auditor flagging over US$200 million in costs as questionable from the US$1.6 billion exploration costs, Guyana could expect inflated costs amounting to billions of US-dollars from future audits More importantly, Low noted that failure by the government to contestthosecostsortoallow a reduction from the oil companies can deprive the country of much-needed revenue to boost the quality oflivesforitscitizens.

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat

...victimsaccusedpoliceranksassociatedwithsuspectofshieldinghim

Publisher:GLENNLALL-TEL:624-6456

Editor:NIGELWILLIAMS

Tel:225-8465,225-8491. Fax:225-8473,226-8210

Power of the people

Guyaneseshowedtheworldthattheyhavethepowerto take matters in their own hands, when they did so with cricket. Sections of Guyana’s population made clear that theyhaveitinsidetoignorethedictatesofgovernmentwhen thecauseiscompellingenough.

Cricket was found to be such a cause, with them being away from the demands of the day, and celebrating in the streets. The Guyana Government was insistent from the start: Monday,September25thisnotanationalholidayinobservation of the anticipated triumph of the Guyana Amazon Warriors Variousagenciesofthegovernmentmadethatsamestanceclear: no holiday This was whether the GuyanaAmazon Warriors won, lost, or drew Though unsaid, this may have had some relationshiptothethenupcomingYoumanNabinationalholiday, alreadyfixedforThursday,September28th

OnSunday,September24th,theGuyanaAmazonWarriors became the 2023 CPLchampions On that victorious Sunday night, cellphones and other electronic gadgets started zinging with messages about the following day, Monday, September 25th, being declared a National Holiday, with official looking messages Vice President Jagdeo’s Facebook page reportedly calledthosemessagesforwhattheywere:Fakenews Nobody paid attention, nobody cared, nobody attached much value to anything that the government said The thrill of victory was simplytoooverpowering,withGuyaneseuninhibitedlyjoyful

EarlyMonday,September24th,citystreetsanditsfeeder road from different directions were all noticeably less congested, with more free moving around the usual chokepoints, including along the East Bank and East Coast Demerara,andfromacrosstheDemeraraRiver. Guyanese had ignored all the notices to the contrary from governing authorities, and exercised the power in their hands. Whateverthegovernmentsaidwasgivenshortthrift.

Thiswasforcricketcelebrationsoveralong-awaitedvictory of substance and prestige The CPL certainly qualifies, and regardlessofwhetheritwasatrulynationalteaminthefullest senseoftheword(allGuyanese) Itwastimeforararecricket celebration, hence the unofficial, unannounced quasi, semi holidayenjoyedbysome Definitely,governmentofficeswere opened,andthecommercialsectorkeptturningover,butthey werenotwiththeusualhighenergy

Thisbegsthequestion:ifGuyanesecanfeelthisempowered for a cricket victory, then what about the bigger things in Guyaneselife?Whatabout,andwherearethey,withthebiggest developmentinGuyana’shistory,whichisthisgreatoilwealth thatisthepropertyofthepeople,theirrichestasset? Howcan theybesocomplacent,soacceptingandservile,whentheirown economicprospects,andthatoftheiroffspringdowntheline,are allsubjecttoimmensecorporateplundering,andworsepolitical bungling by one government after another? What about the powerthattheytookintotheirhandsforcricket? Whynotmore ofthat,asfiercelyconcentratedintoeverythingthathastodowith theoilpatrimonythatistheirs?

Theforebearsoftoday’sGuyanesedreamtaboutoil,had hoped for a taste of the wealth from the oil that they had believed was part of this country’s rich natural resources endowments. Their dreams and hopes went unfulfilled as theydepartedforthegreatbeyond. Butfortheirchildrenand grandchildren the dream is real, and the reality is here. But they have a handicap: oil dreams have turned out to be nightmarish, with greedy foreign oil companies and conspiring Guyanese politicians combining to dash the hopes of the Guyanese people, especially the masses at the bottom.Since Guyanese can show theirpower for a cricket holiday,thereshouldhavelongbeenagreaterexerciseofthat constitutional power for their own prosperity There is nothingbiggerthantheprosperitythatisduetoGuyanese,and whentheyareeitherbeingmisledordeceivedoverit,thenthe powerintheirhandsfortheirbirthrightshouldbeatitshighest andbrightestpitch Thepowerofthepeople,asmanifestedfor cricket, should peak for their economic destiny, the individual andnationalprosperitythatmustcomefromthisoilwealth The wisest and strongest use of the people’s power conquers all stubbornness,overpowerswhoeverstandsintheway

In a true democracy the Minister of Natural Resources

stepped aside to allow for an unencumbered investigation

DEAREDITOR, A lynch pin of a functional democracy is captured in the simple a d v a n c e m e n t o f transparency Our President and his Cabinet, and if my English was imperfect I may have said, the President and his cabal boast of leading an administrationcharacterized by transparency For now, allowmetorefertoonlyone current issue that is, the magic like that of mandrake of US$214 million to US$3

million. The government top braze promised an investigationintowhatmany of us believed is merely the tip of the iceberg in the dealings in the oil and gas sector all the while denying citizensofGuyanatoreceive the full benefits of our God givenresources.

Ihopethatiforwhenthe namesofthecommissionare announced it will be after meaningful and I repeat meaningful consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, and that those

persons identified will be citizens of rectitude and not subservient to the PPP/C establishment.

The time has come for Guyanesetowakeup.

Thetimehascomeforus to notethatwe areencircled byagovernmentreminiscent of the effective propaganda ofJosephGoebbels,Hitler’s Ministers of propaganda of the1940s.

AndtheotherJoseph,US Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy of the 1950s whose techniques simply

was repeat something often enough and the masses will soon accept fictions as fact. Finally, in a true democracy the Minister and or senior persons in the Ministry of Natural Resources would have stepped aside to allow for an unencumbered investigation of this movement to US$214 milliontoUS$3million.

Sincerely Hamilton

Green

Former

Prime

Minister A n d M a y o r o f Georgetown

Milton Jagannath has completely misread my letter

DEAREDITOR, Mr Milton Jagannath in aletterintheStabroekNews, 1st October, 2023, has completely misread my letter on the subject of e n s l a v e m e n t a n d indentureship.

He refers to “Mr Nascimento’s claim of ‘multiple egregious c o m p a r i s o n s o f indentureship equaling slavery’, as, “troubling”. I said no such thing. Those were not my words, I was quoting,in fact, from a presentation made by Mr Eric Phillips at the

University of Guyana’s launch of the International Centre for Migration and DiasporaStudies.

Mr Jagannathgoesonto say that, “there was no comparison of indentured labour and slavey conceptually or in a general sense” which he says my statementinferred. His quarrel is, therefore, with Mr Phillips, not with me.

Mr Jagannath, however, goes on to say that writers who have suggested that the experience of indentured Indians in Guyana were

analogous or similar to slaveryarebeingincorrectly accused of “equating indentured labour and slavery”. “Similar”hesays, doesnotmeansameorequal.

Well, Roget’s Thesaurus ofSynonymsandAntonyms, in fact, identifies the word “similar”, when used as an adjective, as meaning “resembling; alike; somethinglike;comparable; analogous”, and when,as a verb, “lookalike; resemble; bear resemblance”. Hence theconfusion.

Thepurposeofmyletter was to emphasize that these

comparisons are odious and have no practical value for those of us who are descendants of either one or the other and should not be used to emphasize further ethnic division in our country

The same point that Mr Jagannath makes when he concludes his letter by asking, “does anyone believeaformerslaveandan indenturedIndianeversatin the cane field and argued about who suffered more or less?”

Yourssincerely, KitNascimento

Let’s get rid of the self-hate and place our pride in our own talent

DEAREDITOR

You can talk until the cows come home but if you donothaveunityasapeople, otherswouldn’trespectyou. Don’t get me wrong, they will come to your shores when invited and smile and be very warm and sociable. They will give you a good musical or other artistic performance, take your millions and leave. You are not there when they give an assessment to those closest to them of what they really thinkofusasGuyanese.

Guyanese people are no different to our Caribbean (Not SA) counterparts; we alllovemusic.

Welovetopartyandhave fun. But there is something thatismissingwhenitcomes toCaribbeansubculture.

We,deepdowninside,do not genuinely believe in our own artistic product. We

spendmillionsonCaribbean and other entertainers from aroundtheworld.

We fill our stadium and other massive venues and behave as if those foreign artistes are gods to be worshipped, while right there in Guyana we have entertainers as good as Machel Montana, Kes, Majah Hype and those we give our millions to but our self hate and disbelief in what we have and can promote, market and build upon as our own unique brandsfinduschokedbyour dislikeanddisrespectforour localtalent.

I find Chow Pow and Kunchi more funny than MajahHypebutwehavenot madethemintointernational celebrities that we can say wegivetotheCaribbeanand the world as Guyanese Jamaica has reggae and

dancehall Trinidad, Barbados and other islands have soca and calypso America has hip hop, rap, R&B, heavy metal, country andwestern,soulandwecan goon.Whatdowehave?We have Natural Black, Eddy Grant and a few others that we can hypocritically claim but we never built them. Theirsuccessisattributedto Jamaica and the UK respectively

Today, we are being cussed by the very people thatweworshipandgiveour millions to. They are saying wehavenothingtoshowcase to the world in the area of entertainment. The truth is, we cannot find a solution untilweremovetheselfhate anddisrespectforselvesasa nation Just recently, a young overseas-based Lindener started an award show to promote our local

entertainers and other notableGuyanese.

The hate he is receiving from our own people, you would think that they just foundoutheisJimJones. I conclude by saying that we cannotbeforeignmindedand betrulypatriotic

We have to find a way to makeourlocalartistesbecome internationally renowned like theBurnaBoysofthisworld That will be my biggest challengein2025.Icanseea thriving film and music industry that will rival Hollywood, Nollywood and Bollywood. We have the wealth.

Let’s get rid of the self hate and place our pride in ourown.Itishardbutwecan doit.

Sincerelyyours

NormanBrowne Social and Political Activist

would have

Seek the root causes and improve the process

DEAREDITOR, In a recent letter in the press from the Minister of Education it was stated that theshifttothedistributionof the school grant instead of usingcentralizedpurchasing ofschoolsupplieswasdueto a poor procurement process that resulted in supplies arrivinglatetotheschools.

Unfortunately, the subject Ministerdidnotaddressfixing the root cause of the problem withtheprocurementprocess, buthasinsteadchosentotake the inefficient approach of having the Teachers spend their time doing the purchasing It would be in everyone’s best interest to havetherealproblemresolved Isittiming,isitasupplierissue,is italackofcoordination,etc ?

Truly fixing the problems faced by the government will leadtoamarkedimprovement in the services they provide Wemustavoidcreatingwork around that can result in increased cost, lower productivity and increased frustrationforthoseinvolved

The current issues with GPLisanotherproblemthat is a clear example of where therootcauseoftheproblem has not been addressed Forecasting of demand for electricity is clearly part of the reason for the outages. The new hotels and the

increasing investment in infrastructuresurelywillresult in additional demand that will havetobeapartoftheoverall national development plan A thorough strategic plan accounts for the impact on all stakeholders, including suppliers who provide key inputstosupporttheforecasted economic growth Using the terminology and not truly utilizingtheprocesswhichit speaks to is a disservice not only to those who try to appear as though they know what they are doing when theyreallydonot,butitisalso adisservicetothenation The leadershipoftheGPLshould bemoreforthcomingonhow they plan to prevent theses outages from reoccurring. They should also be clear as to why this was overlooked andwhathaschangedintheir forecasting process to correct the root cause of the problem.

The labour shortage that hasresultedduetheaggressive development plan being pursued by the current administration is yet another exampleofwheretheplanning process has a significant gap, andthelistgoeson Spending large sums of money beyond what the country can absorb duetolimitationsinresources (human, power, etc ) does notresultinaneffectiveand

Guyana:Apetridishcultureofcorruption

DEAREDITOR

efficientuseofthosefunds.

Going forward, we must set realistic targets and expectationsasagovernment

While working at a multinational corporation which was pursuing very aggressive growth, we use to always remind ourselves that our growth is limited by how fastwecangrowthetalentthat supports the corporation There are many very talented Guyanese that are helping other nations in their development efforts The government would be wise totapintothattalentpoolin supportoftheirendeavours.

CRG once again extends an offer of assistance to the Governmenttohelpmovethe nation’s development forward CRG also encourages the current administration to relook at their planning process and avoidusingbandaidsolutions, when corrective and preventative measures can be implemented that fix the root causes of the problems We must shift our thinking from thatofathirdworldapproach toonethatismoreinlinewith the first world trajectory that thecountryispursuing.

Bestregards,

Mr.JamilChanglee Chairman

T h e C o o p e r a t i v e RepublicansofGuyana

There has been no answer to Su-Gate

DEAREDITOR

I t h a s b e c o m e commonplacetothepointof being outright comical and pointless to listen to the weekly press conferences of the vice president who clamours to be addressed as ‘Doctor’, having been the recipient of an honorary degreefromanunknownand unregistered university in India.Heissoobsessedwith beingcalledaDr andhaving itaffixedinfrontofhisname shows that he is a fake who cannot be trusted It is worthwhile noting that the formerUSpresidentsBarack ObamaandBillClinton,and many Secretaries of State and National Security

Advisor including Condoleezza Rice, have been awarded honorary doctorates yet none of them has used it in front of their names like what the Vice Presidentcontinuestodo.

The Mr SU Gate has heldmanyimportanttitlesas well as fake ones such as Champion of the Earth, but withgarbagespreadallover Georgetown during his tenure,somecontendthathe is the Champion of Dirt. It has been known for a very longtimethatwhenitcomes to governance, it is his way orthehighway

There has been no answertowhatwasrevealed in SU’s interview with Vice

In scientific research, a petri dish, named after the German Physician Julius Petri, is monumental in the study of cultured organisms and is comprised of a flat glassplatewhereculturesare embedded and can be inspectedwiththenakedeye or with the use of a microscope.Guyanaappears to be well on its way of becoming a petri dish of corruption that is now propelled by large amounts of state funds at their disposal with advent of the oil and gas industry The proverbial and predictable “Dutch Disease or Dutch Curse, ” coined by economists to describe the effects the gas discovery in theNorthSeaofNetherlands that had wreaked havoc on its economy in the 60s, has now taken over the Guyanese economy prompting a “surge in commodity prices, foreign aid, investments and r e m i t t a n c e s ” (Ianchovichina, Elena Onder, Harun “Dutch disease:An economic illness easy to catch, difficult to cure” Brookings, October 3 1 s t 2 0 1 7 , https://wwwbrookings edu/ articles/dutch-disease-aneconomic-illness-easy-tocatch-difficult-tocure/#: :text=Economists% 20have%20long%20known %20that,it%20is%20to%20 catch%20it)

whoisinchargeoftheOil& Gassector,appearstobelost when the disappearance of this huge sum of state funds came to the fore by the media By ExxonMobil’s own admission, these kinds of audits “usually result in few, if any, costs being dismissed, signaling the robustness of its accounting activities. ”(OilNOW. “Exxon says has responded to draft audit report, awaits word from Guyana gov’t” OilNOW, September 22nd 2 0 2 3 , https://oilnowgy/featured/e xxon-says-has-respondedto-draft-audit-report-awaitsword-from-guyana-govt/)

The fact that Guyana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has increased more than 400 percent since 2019 makes it fertile ground for malfeasance This administration’s history of corruption predates oil production when Guyana’s economy operated primarily on a sugar, rice, bauxite and gold. The corruption now appears to be matching the growthofthecountry’sGDP intheOil&Gasera.Weare seeing Guyana’s petri dish culture of corruption vehemently orchestrated by the manner in which infrastructure projects are b e i n g a w a r d e d t o contractors.It’ssimplyapay to play environment as seen in the Vice News report involving, the Vice President.

News Reporter Isobel Yeung,exceptforplacingthe blameonthereporterwhohe claimed had an agenda. In conclusion the honcho and de facto president is abrasive, arrogant, and boorish to the point that no one,notevensomemembers of the cabinet and senior party officials have confidence, trust, or believe him, but they would not say so publicly for fear of reprisals.

Thisisthetypeoffearhe has orchestrated against senior party officials and membersofthecabinet.

Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine NewYork

The disappearance of US$214 million from the ExxonMobil cost audit is an early warning sign that the culture of corruption is now being fueled by the oil and gas industry As reports indicate,theauditperformed by HIS-Markit, which covered the pre-production timeframe from 1999 to 2017 has identified that ExxonMobil overcharged theGuyaneseGovernmentin the amount of US$214 million The figure was endorsed by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA),but miraculously, wasreducedtoUS$3million with allegations of US$211 million being pocketed by someone in the government. The Second Vice President,

The President has admirably announced an investigation into the disappearance of the US$211 million albeit, no timeline has been given to indicate when the investigationwillcommence o r c o n c l u d e T h e investigators should also

consider what role ExxonMobil played in the plot to make the US$211 million disappear as this run contrary to US laws If history serves as a predictor of the outcomes of the investigation,itwillperhaps conclude in the same fate of the Vice News reports –nothing came of it with the government hoping that the people of Guyana’s memory will be short to forget this episode while they continue business as usual The unaccounted US$211million could have better served the Guyanesepopulacebyputting GUY$55,000 (using an exchange rate of $205) in the pocketsofeveryman,woman and child in the nation It is encouraged that each family can do the calculation and amass the impact of this singularcorruptact Now with their backs against the wall and the threat of this act being used as a springboard for the opposition in 2025, the Government of Guyana has to release the audit to the public as an act of transparency After all, this f i g u r e r e p r e s e n t s approximately 13% of the overall cost of US$1 67 billionfortheperiodof1999 to 2017 at the preproduction stage. If we can’t get this stage of auditing executed transparent and corruptionfree, I quiver for our nation when I imagine what other audits in the future which entails the tens of billions (USD) at play As the American inventor and engineer, Charles Kettering stated, “a problem well stated is a problem halfsolved.”

ThankYou, Collin Haynes, MPH, MBA

“Abook on Guyanese ironies,” Starring Freddie Kissoon

DEAREDITOR, First a little prefatory note:onlytheKaieteurNews p u b l i s h e s l e t t e r s indiscriminately, giving equalopportunitiestoall.

“A book on Guyanese ironies is needed” is what Freddie Kissoon suggested onSeptember23,2023.And how coincidental, that right afterhepositedthat,hemade himselfaprimecandidateto be highly featured in such a book. The “Scandalous headline on Charrandass Persaud,” by the very man who really wants this book on Guyanese ironies, wrote of the ‘scandalous’ pertaining to Charrandass, yet the very article that he referenced (“Stabroek News’ “Charrandass PersaudsummonedbyLegal Practitioners’ Committee.”) is bereft of anything scandalous. If one were to readthearticle,he/shewould end up ‘gasping for breath,’ ‘trying to grasp’ what was scandaloustherein.Headline and content; it was simply informationwithoutaslant. Now concerning, not the

ironic, but contradictory, FreddieKissoon,hedidaPR job for Charrandass Persaud thathasamiasmicreektoit. Sparing the minutiae, he is

basing Charrandass’s nobility as being his “… long-standingfriendforover 35 years ” Talk about fallaciousreasoning!

Then Freddie Kissoon goesontowritethat“…the nasty hypocrisy and ugly double-standards in this country should teach us to stick with our friends rather than make them permanent victims…” So here is my question? What is there to refute‘recordedevidence’of Charrandass’s repugnant behaviour, language and attitude? How can that be extenuated? Why was the matter held ensconced and not made public with alacrity?Irepeatthatweare talking‘hard-core’evidence.

Juxtaposing this against the Jagdeo marriage controversy, Freddie Kissoon was confronted with ‘hear-say’ and yet boasted that “I have written four times, I repeat, four

times that I am convinced thatinmost,ifnotamajority of countries in the world, given the statements issued by Ms. Singh against the President, the Head of State couldnothavepreservedhis career.”

No wonder the Bharrat Jagdeo/Varshanie Singh issuediedahurrieddeath.

Editor, here is another ‘biggie’ for the readers.

FreddieKissoon’s“Thenonexistent legacy of Cheddi Jagan’on Jul 18, 2008 that “In Guyana, it is my belief that the greatness of Cheddi Jagan has been exaggerated both by Jagan himself in his autobiography,‘TheWeston Trial’ and by his protégés.” He details that, “I also believe that there is a conspiracy in Guyana and the Diaspora to preserve a pictureofJaganasaheroasa reaction to the facts that are slowly tumbling out that he wasanextremelyflawedand incompetent political activist.”Likewow

He gets more elaborate andaddsthat“Thosewho (Continuedonpage16)

Whose City Is Georgetown?

DEAREDITOR

Where does the northern boundary end?

DoestheanswerliewiththeMayorandCity Councilanditshistoriclaws?

Whodecidesonwhatisorisnottaxable?

Is it the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Council City Engineer, the President, the First Lady???

Doesthecityincludethe‘SeaWall’andit

RethinkCricket-CPLfailed onthebiggerissues

DEAREDITOR, The link in brackets ( https://m.facebook.com/stor yphp?story fbid=pfbid02b

1z3BdhSnrYjGbEhxsUKGj

NUvySeCpNTKfRB1nCA

K6tkTSbDdgVTkwD4Vy6 RtBbxl&id=100055504101 638&sfnsn=wa&mibextid= VhDh1V)) is loaded with ‘Topics for Cricket Talks,’ and I intend to make a few commentsregardingit. Itreads:“Guyanesemust now demand that Naim Chan is being hired as a commentator during CPL T20 Them bleddy CPL commentatorsbehavinglike theyarebeingpaidbyTKR. Whovexvex.”

First, let me state emphaticallythat“Sportis a Great Divider.” So, it is rather unintelligent to ‘mouth off’ that cricket unitesorcanuniteGuyana.I saw many pieces of footage of actual fights, right after the win by the Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) over the Trinidad and Tobago Knight Riders (TKR).

Georgetown,March25-30, 1989,KapilDevbowledViv Richards for 5. The end result was a ‘thumping slap’ on an East Indian for celebrating this dismissal, and that slap was from a former fast bowler, who played two matches for Guyana, and is infamously remembered a lone feat, bowlingtheNewZealander, Terry Jarvis, for a duck at Bourda, in the 1971/72 series between West Indies andNewZeeland.Ineednot enumerate myriads of such incidents.However,thisone irkedmetothebones.

Editor, unnecessarily, our callow politicians, even one who is a Minister of Government, and who has verbalised his aspirations to become President, did an infantilethingonFacebook; he intimated that if Clairmont Mingo were the scorer,TKRwillwin.Imean whyscratchthesesores?

Ihavetoaskwhoselects the CPL panel. No regional tournament should be without Naim Chan He outstripstheentireregionof commentators when it comes to live coverage.The Trinidadian trio was silent and manifested hurt as the TKR were sliding to defeat.

The match by the way peteredoutintoadullresult, where the winners, the GAW, without a fuss, strolled to their first CPL title. Understandably their supporterswereecstatic.But play was basically, at best, quiteordinary.Yetitbrought totheforeafewthings.

First, on the point on live coverage, one commentator was bawling needlessly That kind of shouting was incongruent withwhatwastranspiringon theday

That would have been suitedfor9/11inNewYork.

structures?

Pleasecheckthelawsforthelegalrights andtheinformationofitscitizenship–from firsttolast.

Hold meetings at the Bandstand where our Police Band played since they were in BritishGuiana.

Regards CitizenCare

These fights are symptomaticofwhatinheres in our local and regional cricket.

It is ‘territory for territory’and‘raceforrace.’ Whentheterritoryembraces amixture,wechooseourilk within and support ‘our own.’Letmeillustrate.

In the 1st Test, of the India tour of West Indies,

Heisjustoneofthefew who are so inclined. One ‘parked-up’ Minister seems to be enjoying too much money and time, and he is quite an exponent of this kindofthingto.Iiteratefora millionth times that cricket ‘ d i v i d e s G u y a n a unhealingly.’

My second comment buttresses the first, but it devolves to the aspect of cricket commentary and especially the absence of non-Guyanese.

I mean there was nothing exciting about the final, as Guyana cruised to victory. Understandably, their supporters were almost uncontrollablyecstatic.

B u t a r e t h e commentators governedby the‘party’orthelivegame?

I hope that Guyana can haveabigsayinwhocovers the CPLin the future. I also hopethatwewillre-examine if cricket really unites anyone.

Regards

GaylordRiley

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Heatwave& Exxon'sflaring

For months we have warned in these pages of the devastating impact of the unchecked flaring of gas by US oil giant, ExxonMobil in the Stabroek Block and how it has contributed to the climatic problems we are facing at present.

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Guyana has been experiencing severe heat for a prolonged period. Yesterday teachers meeting with President Irfaan Ali painted graphic picture of how learners are struggling in ill-equipped classrooms.

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And while Guyanese children are suffering the children of oil executives are going to private schools where the air conditioning is so 'loud', the students have been instructed to wear a jacket to school.

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Guyana's anti-corruption credentials to be tested ...as OAS group prepares to conduct review this month

Guyana will be undergoing its sixth-round of on-site review this month through the Follow-Up Mechanism for the Implementation of the InterAmerican Convention against Corruption (MESICIC).

The review is in keeping with Guyana's treaty obligations under the Organisation of American States' Inter- American Convention Against Corruption(IACAC).

MESICIC is the AnticorruptionMechanismofthe OAS, and it brings together 33ofthe34MemberStatesto review their legal frameworks and institutions inlightoftheInter-American Convention against Corruption (IACAC) The MESICIC Experts from within the member states, with assistance from the TechnicalSecretariat,review domestic laws and institutions to determine if they accord with the

provisionsoftheConvention and if they are effective at preventing and combating corruption. As part of this review process, the experts visit the country being reviewed, where they meet with government officials a n d c i v i l s o c i e t y organizations to gather more information to compile their report of that round of review

This report typically contains recommendations fortheStatetostrengthenits anti-corruption architecture to prevent and combat corruption. Guyana ratified the IACAC in 2000 and as such has an Expert on the MESICICwhichmeetstwice yearly Accordingtoarelease from the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, experts from the Republic of Suriname andtheRepublicofTrinidad and Tobago have been selected by MESICIC to conduct the review of Guyana, and will be conducting the requisite

consultations and meetings which form the “on-site review” from the 2nd to the 5th of October, 2023 in Georgetown, Guyana. The experts conducting this sixth round of review will be supportedbystaffoftheOAS TechnicalSecretariat.

The ministry said the nationalexerciserequiresthe involvement of civil society actors, private sector organisations, and public sectorandstateagencies.The following state agencies are expectedtoparticipateinthis nationalreview:

1 . M i n i s t r y o f ParliamentaryAffairs andGovernance

2 Ministry of Public Service

3 Guyana Revenue Authority(GRA).

4. Financial Intelligence Unit

5.AuditOfficeofGuyana

6.MinistryofFinance

7 Public Procurement Commission

8. National Procurement andTender

AdministrationBoard

9 Special Organized CrimeUnit

10 Attorney General's Chambers

11.IntegrityCommission

12.BankofGuyana

13. Ministry of Foreign Affairsand

I n t e r n a t i o n a l Cooperation

14. Ministry of Home Affairs

15. Director of Public Prosecutions

The following civil society organizations have also been invited to participateandmake presentations:

1 Private Sector Commission

2. Georgetown Chamber ofCommerce andIndustry(GCCI).

3 G u y a n a B a r Association

4.GuyanaAssociationof Women Lawyers(GAWL).

5.GuyanaPublicService Union.

6. Institute of Chartered Accountantsof Guyana(ICAG).

7 Federation of IndependentTrade UnionsofGuyana.

8. Transparency Institute ofGuyana (TIGI).

9 Guyana Bankers' Association

10 Guyana Gold & DiamondMiners Association

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira

1 1 G u y a n a ManufacturingandServices Association

12 Guyana-America

Chamberof Commerce

13.Guyana-UKChamber ofCommerce

14 Guyana-Canada

Chamberof Commerce

15.CivilSocietyForum

16.Article13

The press release started that the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance has compiled andsubmittedGuyana'smost recent report under the Inter American Convention Against Corruption in May, 2023 Furthermore, the Ministry chairs the National Coordinating Committee (NCC)ontheUnitedNations Convention Against

Corruption (UNCAC) and the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (IACAC) comprised of 17 agencies involved with the anticorruption framework of Guyana.Thisbodycontinues to play a pivotal role in training these agencies and preparing the compilation of these State party reports under Guyana's treaty obligations at the regional and international levels, includingthoseatthelevelof the MESICIC. The Ministry of ParliamentaryAffairs and Governance is the Government of Guyana's lead agency on anticorruption treaty reporting, and in that regard, is the coordinating agency of this MESICIC Sixth Round OnSitereview.

The PPP/C has become anti-union

It is a fundamental principlethatunionsserveas t h e l e g i t i m a t e representatives of the workers they represent, advocating for their rights, benefits, and interests

However, yesterday, the government launched what can only be seen as an attempt to undermine the rightsoftheteachers’union.

The government’s decision to engage in direct consultations with teachers, bypassing the Guyana Teachers’ Union, is both unethical and detrimental to the principles of collective bargaining. This approach not only undermines the authority of the union but also threatens the rights and well-being of the teachers it represents. Teachers must notbeluredintoattendingor participating in these socalled‘consultations.’

The participation of teachers in these talks appears to be intended to driveawedgebetweenthem andtheirunion.Attheendof the consultations, the President was reported to havesaidhenowhadabetter idea of the issues relating to teachers’welfare and would betakingareporttoCabinet. He has made no mention of meeting with the Guyana Teachers’ Union This approachisaviolationofthe principle of collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of n e g o t i a t i o n a n d communication between

labor unions or employee representatives and employers (in this instance, the government) Such negotiations typically cover a wide range of topics, including wages, working hours, benefits, workplace conditions, and other employment-relatedissues.

The President’s discussionswithteacherson issues such as anomalies in salaries, housing, and allowances send a troubling message. These are matters thatshouldbediscussedand negotiated between the government and the legitimaterepresentativesof the teachers – the Guyana

Teachers’ Union By engaging directly with individual teachers, the governmentisbypassingthe u n i o n ’s r o l e a n d undermining the very essence of collective bargaining.

This unethical approach not only erodes the union’s authority but also puts teachers at a disadvantage. When negotiations are carried out through collective bargaining, teachershavethestrengthof unity and the backing of a w e l l - e s t a b l i s h e d organization to advocate for their interests However, when they are forced to engagewiththegovernment individually or in select small groups, they are vulnerable to influence and intimidation, making it challenging to assert their

rightseffectively

The involvement of the President in these consultations raises questions about the government’s intentions

The Ministry of Education should be the appropriate body responsible for negotiating matters related to teachers’ salaries and benefits. The fact that the President has taken it upon himself to lead these discussions creates the impression of centralized decision-makingandthecult of personality, reminiscent ofauthoritarianregimes.For years public servants have been victims of the same approach. Each year, the government imposes salary increases on public servants without any reference to their union. Now, teachers appear to be headed for the sametreatment.Theyshould not find pleasure in this –since this approach has the hallmarkofdrivingawedge between them and their unionandtheyshouldnotbe contributing to such a state ofaffairs.

In a democracy, decisions affecting the livelihoods of workers should be made through a transparent and inclusive process. By sidelining the GuyanaTeachers’Unionand engaging in direct consultations, the government is setting a dangerousprecedent.Itrisks notonlyalienatingtheunion but also compromising the

DEM BOYS SEH

De teachers had a fashion parade yesterday

T h e t e a c h e r s ’ consultations held yesterday resembled nothing short of a fashion parade The educators, usuallyseenintheirmodest attire, stepped into the limelight like never before, showing off their sartorial prowess and setting an example that may forever change the landscape of schoolfashion.

The teachers, usually the unsung heroes of our education system, t r a n s f o r m e d i n t o resplendent fashion icons forthisspecialmeetingwith the President. Gone were thedaysofdrab,uninspired outfits; instead, we were treatedtoadazzlingdisplay of style and panache. It seems the message was

clear: if you’re going to meet the President, you betterdresslikeyoubelong.

For many students, teachers are more than just educators; they are role models.It’snosurprisethat theseimpressionableyoung minds look up to their teachers not only for knowledgebutalsoforstyle inspiration.

The teachers, with their outfits that oozed

c o n f i d e n c e a n d

sophistication, had unwittingly become trendsetters. From tailored suits to elegant dresses, the teachers’wardrobes were a testament to the fact that education and fashion are not mutually exclusive Theyprovedthatyoucanbe aparagonofknowledgeand

rights of teachers to fair and equitablenegotiations.

Collective bargaining is not merely a process; it is a fundamental right that protects the interests of workers It ensures that decisions are made collectively, taking into account the input of all stakeholders.Bypassingthis process undermines the principlesofdemocracyand accountability upon which any functioning society shouldbebuilt.

If the government can disregard the legitimate representativesofteachersin this manner, it sets a troublingprecedentforother laborunionsinthecountry It

sends a message that

collective bargaining

agreements can be circumvented whenever the governmentseesfit,eroding the trust between labor unions and the state. All trade unions in Guyana should join condemning the

government for this approach It speaks to contempt for the teachers’ union. Today it is the GTU, tomorrow it will be some other union. Unions cannot be dissed in such a manner Unionsexistforareason–to protect the rights and interests of their members.

The Guyana Teachers’ Union is the legitimate representative of teachers in

ensuring that their concerns are heard and addressed. To undermine the union’s authority is to further weaken labor rights in the country

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this n e w s p a p e r a n d i t s affiliates.)

still turn heads with your attire.

It wasn’t just the outfits that left a lasting impression, it was the overall demeanor of the teachers.Theywalkedwith a newfound air of selfassuredness, as if they ownedtheworld.Perhapsit wastherealizationthatthey were not just educators but also influencers, setting an example for the younger generation.

But it’s not just about the clothes, it’s about the ripple effect this newfound fashion consciousness may have on students The message was clear: take pride in your appearance, for it reflects your selfworthandconfidence.

TalkHalf!LeffHalf!

GHK LALL

THE DAVID PATTERSON AFFAIR

In this matter involving Mr David Patterson, I feel sorry for the acting

CommissionerofPolice,Mr Clifton Hicken In my estimation,hehasbeenputin an awkward place, left holding a nasty and tricky bag, and moved to clean up aftersomeheavy-dutypeople inthiscountry

ThefactsofMr.Patterson are that he was a minister of government, he is a current Opposition Member of Parliament, and he is part of the cohort of Guyanese who arelawmakersinthisland.

I would venture to conclude that such a Guyanese is due a bit more courtesy that the rank-andfile citizen. He may not measure up as a Very ImportantPerson(VIP)inthe PPP Government's way of thinking, but he is not an ordinary citizen Mr Patterson's background is all of that and then some more. There is this fluid matter of himdirectingsomeliquidsat an unobjecting wall, on the

onehand;andthereis,onthe other, an objection lodged over his being in a less than presentable sartorial state, which allegedly contributed to his own raucous objection on being called out for desecratingapassivefence.

T h o s e a r e t h e circumstances that landed Mr Patterson, MP, in the blindfolded territory of what passes for law and order and justiceinthissociety.

From my perspective, Mr. Patterson earned his entrance ticket on the hallowedgroundsofthelaw But when he finds himself graced with the special isolationandsegregationand attention of a 'no-fly' or 'no travel' list that that is taking things too far, and introducing the nasty and cloudy in an issue that seemingly stems from urine and now YOU CAN'T FLY

I t t a k e s a m i n d extraordinarilygiftedindirty tricks to generate such an abomination From the bottomless black bag of the

PPPemerges this glimpse of a blacklist that targets some Guyanese.

My thinking is that such attitudes and behaviors do not give His Excellency's 'OneGuyana'akickupstairs, and a long jump to glory Since I spotlight the PPP's black bag of tricks and its blacklist of people, then it would be fit and proper for me to direct attention to a certainhueofpeoplewhoare honored for inclusion. I wonderhowsomeoneofmy, ah, er, outlook and pigment figureinthisblacklistinPPP thinking.

Thinking of this, I am excludingthreegreatsonsof this soil from this David Patterson no fly zone, travel caper To their credit, I believethatPresidentAliand Prime Minister Phillips are outsidethesemischiefs.They mayswiftlyknow,orsuspect, bytheprocessofelimination that most people inside their elbows and high offices are incapable of any such characteristically revolting

action. Butbothalsoknown that there are a few, one or two, in the middle of their offices, who are quite at home with the ugly and the malevolent, as occurred in l'affairePatterson.

Ifofficeistoobroad,then trytheCabinet,whichshould makethingssimpler

Thethirdfinecitizenand afaithfulofficerofthelawin GuyanatowhomIgiveapass is the Top Cop (ag), Mr. Hicken.

Somebodymadeacallto cooperating officials in the travel system to put the kibosh on Mr Patterson's movements,anditwasdone. Only a few people have the guile, and the ways and means,toattemptsuchalow trickintheimpositionofthis travelrestriction.

The problem is that Mr Hicken has to take it on the chin for his misbehaving political brethren, and out of hismouthcamethatapology Itlookedalittleontheforced, uncomfortable, side to me, and with a couple artificial

i n g r e d i e n t s obvious The problem is that the

acting Top Cop's apology fell on rocky ground: no graceful reception, no helpful traction. Though I don't agree with Mr Patterson often, on this one I am with him.NowthatMr.Hickenhas fallen on his sword, there is onehangingovertheheadof Dr. Anil Nandlall, chief constitutional authority in thislaw-abidingrealm. This freedom of movement violation, clear and present and dangerous, is a minefield. I wonder if it is the precedent for other perversities from the rich minds of the PPPdirty tricks battalion.

Though all of this is at work [is, not may be], Guyanese should not get carriedaway

Thefixisalreadyin,andI can predict the outcomes already after Counsel Hughes'slegaltoils.Withthe right people in the right

judicial place and with the rightframeofmind,thisboils downtothisthingravy Some magisterialjawboningforthe records from the high benches. Atoken sum to be rid of a nuisance matter that left some egg on the face of the PPP Government, which Mr Hicken ran to the rescue and did his remedial works. AndnobigpaydayforDavid Patterson.

Itiscalledtheconfluence oflawlessnessandevenmore political unlawfulness Indeed, Guyana is a land of men, and not the majesty of the law Hear, hear, Dr Nandlall.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the a u t h o r a n d d o n o t necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaperanditsaffiliates.)

Relative re-arrested in connection with Rose Hall double murder

Police ranks over the weekend have rearrestedarelativeforthe murder of Rose Hall woman, Melissa Arokium and her 8-yearold son, Anthony Arokium, which occurredbackinAugust.

KaieteurNewsunderstandsthat on Sunday, policemen re-arrested the suspect, who was among the four suspects that were initially arrested when the bloodied bodies of Melissa and Anthony were discovered in their Rose Hall Town,BerbicehomeonAugust23, 2023 Other relatives have revealed that subsequent to the release of the suspect, he had broken into the house where the bodieswerediscovered.

OnAugust24,Melissaandher son were discovered by her youngest brother, Nicholas Arokium inside her home at Rose Hall with gapping chop wounds to theirheads,facesandupperpartof theirbodies.Anthonywasfoundon the bed in the bedroom, face up whileMelissawasfoundfacedown withthewoundstothebackofher neck; she was lying in a pool of blood.

On the day the bodies were

discovered,Melissa'solderbrother, wholivedinasectionofthehouse and her neighbour who lives opposite, a cousin and Melissa's boyfriend were all arrested. They wereallreleasedonbailafterbeing heldfor72hours.Relativesbelieve that the perpetrator (s) may have been inside the house and had entered while Melissa was out purchasingitemsfromthemarket.

Meanwhile, Melissa's 37-yearoldboyfriendhadtoldreportershe lastsawthewomanthedaybefore she and her son were found dead andtheytalkedabit.

He disclosed that she was crying and she informed him of a disagreement she had with her older brother He noted too that Melissadidnotdetailthenatureof thedisagreement.

He told reporters that on Wednesday (August 23) at around 04:53h, Melissa messaged him as she would usually do and he responded The boyfriend said Melissa told him she was okay when he enquired. Before he left for work at around 07:00h, he called her as is customary, but she didnotanswer “Icalledherbefore I came to work but I didn't get

TrafficChiefclamps downonpoliceofficers withtintedvehicles

Police Traffic Chief, Senior Superintendent, Mahendra Singh just recently admonished police officers with personal vehicles, to ensure they remain within compliance of the limits surrounding the requisite tint permit.

He emphasised that to enforce theselawsatapubliclevel,officers who have tinted vehicles, will definitely have to operate within the confines of the traffic laws, so that their campaign in this regard, can be effective at any 'clamp down',atapubliclevel.

Singh was at the time addressingtrafficranksonSunday during a muster and inspection exercise.

He also urged ranks to always conduct themselves appropriately and professionally, so as to make their job of enforcing traffic laws, more effective. This publication was informed that the recent addressoftheTrafficChief,comes as a part of the Force's strategic plan to ensure safer roadways in andaroundGuyana.

Over the years citizens have raisedconcernsaboutpoliceranks operating tinted vehicles without therequisitepermits.Asmandated bytheForce,adriverstoppedbya police officer for this reason, can be directed to the nearest police station,atwhichitisexpectedthat

through last call was 7:00 I calledlike3or4times,”hesaid.

Themansaidhewenttoworkat theAlbionEstate.However,heleft workearlybecausehedidnothear from her He said after leaving work at 13:45h he went to an insurance company at Rose Hall but it was closed After leaving there, he ventured to Melissa's house where he said he saw the police.Itwasthenhewasinformed that the woman and her son had died.

Melissa's older brother had reportedly left for work at the Estatearound4:00amonthedayof the murders and had returned around 11:00 am, had a bath and wentoutback.

He said he was subsequently contacted while on the road by his brother Nicholas informing him of hissisterandnephew'sdeaths.

He had explained that in order to access his section of the house, he did not have to venture through Melissa's section and so he reportedly did not check on them whenhereturnedhomefromwork. Melissa's neighbor who was arrested, had reportedly attacked Melissa earlier this year, relatives

Dead, Melissa Arokium and her 8-year-old son, Anthony Arokium

told reporters. She did not report

he police

Meanwhile, Kaieteur News

understands that Melissa's gold jewellery that was worn daily, is missing.

Pres. Ali tells Guyanese to return to generators …as constant blackouts plague the land

Guyana's current trajectory of growth hasnotonlyresultedin a high demand for labour but for power and energy and President IrfaanAlihasurgedGuyanesewho are consuming high volume of electricity to self-generate during peakhours.

ThiswasrevealedbyAliduring his appeal to the nation over the concernsraisedabouttheincessant power outages experienced by citizens in various parts of the country Inalivebroadcastairedon Saturday, the Head of State explained that the government is dealing with some challenges as regards to addressing the nation's electricityneeds.

a 'gazetted officer', inspect the vehicle.

The Certifying Officer at that station is required to test the tint withthe'requiredmeter'.

It is expected that the Certifying Officer test the vehicle to decide if it's above the allowed tint level. If found in violation of this law, it is expected that the driver be instructed to remove the tint, and normally will be sent away, after being warned However, should the matter be taken to the courts of law, the driver will be charged, and the

The President said: “We have been experiencing power outages; prolonged power outages ….We are dealing with trying to increase capacity to deal with the growth and demand. As I said before the growth and development of our country is not only impacting the supply of labour and material in powertoo.Thereisgreaterdemand for power; greater demand for energy.”

AlirevealedtheGuyanaPower and Light (GPL)—the national electricity supplier is grappling with the situation as they look to find solutions to the problem. He revealed that GPL is actually

generating below the level of demand.

Ali explained, “As of August 2020, when we came into office, GPL had a reliable generating capacity of 120 megawatts; the demand at that time was 11 5 megawatts so we had very little roomforfluctuation.Afterwecame into office, we added an additional 10 units. However, due to our decision to subsidize the cost for electricity, a number of large companies that were selfgenerating returned to the grid and that drove up the demand for power to 185 megawatts. So the company is now generating below

thedemand.”

The Head of State explained further that the current black outs are experienced during the peak demands hours which are between 1:00pmand3:00pmeverydayand 6:00pmto10:00pminthenight.

“So these are the current circumstanceswearefacedwith… Iwantthepopulationtounderstand the magnitude of the problem but wearegoingtofixit!”thePresident assured. To this end, he noted that his government is working assiduously to ensure that another 30 megawatts will be available by mid-December Attheinterim,the (Continuedonpage17)

Police Traffic Chief, Senior Superintendent, Mahendra Singh

President Irfaan Ali during his address to the nation on electricity woes on Saturday

US company submits proposal for bunkering marine gas oil for Exxon's operations

Edison Chouest, a prominent US offshore services provider, has submitted a comprehensive p r o p o s a l t o t h e Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlining its plan to support ExxonMobil Guyana Limited in bunkering marine gas oil to support its multi-billion dollaroperations.

The project summary detailedthecriticalactivities that will unfold in offshore Guyana waters and the Demerara River Kaieteur News understands that Edison Chouest's vessels will follow EEPGL's directivestoreceivespecific quantitiesofdieselfuelfrom suppliers SOL and Guyana

Shore Base Incorporated, both strategically positioned on the Demerara River Subsequently, the vessels will undertake the crucial task of transferring precise amounts of diesel fuel to various offshore locations, including floating drilling rigs and FPSOs (Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessels) leased by Exxon to facilitate their operationsinGuyana.

Itisessentialtonotethat the locations of the floating drilling rigs are dynamic, changing as they shift between different drill sites withintheGuyanaExclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), always with the necessary approvals from Guyanese

authorities Similarly, FPSOs are strategically moored in approved locations within the Guyana EEZ, meticulously complying with the regulations laid out by the appropriate Guyanese authorities.

The proposal also dived deep into the intricate procedures for fuel oil transfer while placing paramount emphasis on safety precautions It comprehensively outlined the fuel oil transfer system, encompassing loading, offloading, and transferring operationswithinthevessel. Thedocumentalsospecified therolesandresponsibilities of personnel during fuel oil

Berbice woman shot, fiancé in custody

Thirty-two-year-old Ashmin Mohadeo of Williamsburg Corentyne Berbice, is hospitalised in a critical condition after she was reportedly shot on Sunday night.

Police have arrested Mahadeo's 29-year-old fiancé According to the police, the woman was shot around 07:40 hours Her fiancé of New Amsterdam Berbicetoldthepolicethathe andAshminsharedacommon law relationship for the past seven years. He said that she had an appointment to have hernailsdoneandhewentto herresidence.

It was reported that he further disclosed that while packing up their vehicle,

Ashmin was at the vehicle while he was heading back insidethehouse,some40feet away when he heard a loud explosion.

Upon looking around he observed Ashmin lying in frontofthegate.Themansaid he immediately raised an alarm and that Ashmin was picked up and taken to the PortMourantPublicHospital where she was seen and medically examined by a doctor She was later transferred totheNewAmsterdamPublic Hospital. Her condition is listedasstablebutinacritical state.ThePolicesaidthatthe areawascanvassedforCCTV footage and one was seen in the vicinity and to be extracted.

transfer operations, with a particular focus on the personinchargeandtransfer personnel.

Furthermore, the proposal underscored the importance of emergency shutdown procedures and the critical role of communication in maintaining safety during these operations It also

delves into topping off operations, transfer completion protocols, and the precise handling of accidental oil discharges, all while making explicit references to the shipboard oil pollution emergency plan.

It was noted that the projectsignifiesasignificant stride towards enhancing

fuel supply operations withintheregionandfurther supporting EEPGL's ambitious initiatives in the Guyana EEZ. Currently, the EPA is meticulously reviewing Edison Chouest's proposal, marking a pivotal milestone in the company's continued dedication to bolsteringoffshoreactivities inGuyana'swaters.

Shot, Ashmin Mohadeo

Venezuelan national stabbed to death at Tuschen

A nine-year-old girl on Sunday had a tragic and traumatic end to her birth night celebrations after she returnedfromanoutingwith her mother and younger sister to find her father, a Venezuelan National, brutally murdered along a road at Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo(EBE).

Kaieteur News was told by relatives that the dead man identified as 29-yearold Alejandro Máximo Farrera was murdered around 23:30 hrs by two men.

The suspects are still on the run but Kaieteur News understands that they could behisowncountrymen.

Relativessaidthatheisa father of two and his eldest daughterwascelebratingher birthdayonSunday Laterin theeveninghiswifedecided totakethegirlsforabirthday outing.

When it was time for them to return home she called Farrera to pick them upattheheadoftheirstreet. Farrera reportedly left immediately for the location and it was while waiting for them to arrive that the two

suspectspouncedonhim.

Eyewitnesses reportedly recalledthattherewasabrief argument between Farrera and the men before they killedhim.

One of them allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed him four times before they both escaped with his bicycle Police suspect that it could be a robbery

Family members said that they were told that Farrerafelltothegroundand bledtodeathbeforehelp

(Continuedonpage17)

Man gets two years for robbing woman of her gold jewellery

Twenty-threeyear-old Keron Wright was on Monday sentenced to two years imprisonment after robbing Sandita Doodnauth of her gold chain and gold ring.

The accused appeared before the Georgetown Magistrates' Courts before Magistrate Rondell Weever, wherethechargewasreadto him. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years imprisonment The court heard that on September 13, 2023, at Croal Street Stabroek, Georgetown, WrightrobbedDoodnauthof her gold chain valued $35,000andgoldringvalued $30,000, both totaling the sum of $65,000 The complainant said that she was walking on Croal Street when she observed, Wright was following her She stoppedforawhile,allowing himtopass,buthestoppedas well. She then kept walking in the said direction and when she attempted to enter a store, Wright came up behind her and pulled the gold chain out of her bosom and then ran away in a

However,

westerly direction The suspectthenreturnedashort while, demanding that Doodnauthshouldgivehim, her gold ring. He reportedly placed his hands into her bosom again to get the ring andthenranaway

o n S e p t e m b e r 2 9 , Doodnauth saw Wright walking north along the Stabroek Market and she pointed him out to police ranks He was then subsequently arrested and charged.

Sod turned for $178M Magistrate's Court at Anna Regina

Attorney General, Anil Nandlall and top members of the judiciary on Monday turned the sod for the construction of a $178M Magistrate's Court at Ann Regina,RegionTwo.

Nandlall was joined by Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag), Justice Yonette Cummings and Chief Justice (ag), Roxane George. This ambitiousprojectisslatedfor completionwithinaspanof9 to 12 months, with an estimated budget of $178,232,102,theMinistryof Legal Affairs said in a press release. Also attending the ceremony were the appointed Magistrates for Region Two, Ms.EstherSamandMs.Faith McGustyrespectively

In a brief address, Nandlall noted that, historically, the Magistrate's Court in Anna Regina had been housed within theAnna Regina Police Station, and this project would provide it with a long-awaited new home.

He also highlighted the ongoing construction of various Magistrates' Courts throughout the country, drawing attention to the completed construction of brand-new court buildings in Suddie and Charity Notably, a substantial edifice is under

construction in Suddie to accommodate the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority, while living quarters and offices have already been established in Onderneeming to house prosecutorsfromtheDirector of Public Prosecutions Chambers who handle cases ontheEssequiboCoast.These developments reflect the sweeping transformations underway, not only in the r e a l m o f j u s t i c e administrationinRegionTwo but also in various sectors throughout the region, the AG's Chambers said in the release.

Justice CummingsEdwards expressed gratitude totheCentralGovernmentfor its continued support of the judiciary and pledged additional resources to the Magistracy to expedite case processing in the region Additionally, she assured the appointment of a Land Court JudgefortheEssequiboCoast inthenearfuture.

Both the Regional Chairman and the Mayor of Anna Regina conveyed their appreciation for the project, expressing optimism that it would streamline the administrationofjusticeinthe region, ushering in a new era ofefficiency

Scenes from the sod turning on Monday

Jailed: Keron Wright

Murdered: Alejandro Máximo, Farrera

Two men wanted for questioning in relation to Farrera's death.

Three injured after fuel boat explodes at Port Kaituma

Threepersonsarereportedlyinjuredafterafuelboat explodedatPortKaituma,NorthWestDistrict(NWD), RegionOneonMonday Kaieteur News understandsthatthefirestartedaround noononMonday

Accordingtoaresidentinthearea,LexBarker,the explosionresultedinthreeboatsbeingdestroyedandthree mensustainingseconddegreeburns.

Brazil backs ICJ process to resolve border controversy

B

razilMinisterof

Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira has expressed his country's support for the current International Court of Justice process to resolve the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela.

Vieira indicated that Brazil adheres to the peaceful settlement of boundariesandunderscored that his country has great respect for the ICJ and

awaits the final verdict of the Court which it believes is the best solution, in a c c o r d a n c e w i t h internationallaw,especially since the matter was referred by the United NationsSecretary-General.

The ambassador made the comments during a meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hugh Hilton Todd who briefed him on the recent developmentsonthe (Continuedonpage16)

Brazil Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira

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Govt. finalizing €55M funding to transform

Hope Canal into water reservoir – Min. Croal

The government is in the process of finalising funding to establish the Hope Canal as a water reservoir, providing a sustainable water source for the East Coast of Demerara (ECD).

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This is according to Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, who stated that the feasibility study for the Hope Canal has already been completed, and the next step is to secure the funding. “So, this is a done deal. Within the Hope Canal, we will be able to provide a constant supply of water to the Upper East Coast…this is something we are shifting to,” he said.

The Hope Canal was built by the PPP/C Government before 2015 to facilitate drainage from the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) into the Atlantic Ocean. Recognising the pressing challenges posed by climate change and the growing demand for clean drinking water, especially along the coast, last year the government initiated a feasibility study to assess the potential of utilising and treating the water captured at the Hope Canal facility for domestic consumption.

Minister Croal said a similar initiative is being considered in other areas including Watooka in Linden, Region 10, and Bartica, Region Seven. “We have challenges too with the waterways [ in those areas] it is important that we find a freshwater source or supply,” he underscored. In the meantime, the

government is actively enhancing access to treated water in numerous communities along the coastal belt. In October 2022, contracts worth $8.5 billion were signed for the construction of new water treatment plants. These plants are set to be established in Onderneeming in Region Two, as well as in Parika, Wales, and Lust en Rust in Region Three. Additionally, existing water treatment facilities located in Vergenoegen, Fellowship, Pouderoyen, Eccles, Covent Garden, Grove, Better Hope, Mon Repos, Friendship, Cotton Tree, New Amsterdam, and Port Mourant are slated for rehabilitation. (DPI)

Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal

“A book on Guyanese ironies,” Starring...

From page 06 write about the positive legacy of Dr. Jagan, people like Dr. Randy Persaud et all. … need to cast off their emotional attachment to Jagan and dispassionately examine the growing body of research material that exposes his infamous, myopic and narrowminded approach to politics.”

My questions: Which party is he, Freddie Kissoon, now waxing lyrical about? Will he dare criticize Jagan in the Chronicle, to which he has been harnessed? And how about his panegyrics for Randy Persuad? Can he risk opposing him?

Very soon Freddie Kissoon will have to address his ‘turn-around’ and say that his epiphany was the 2020

elections rigging attempts; this is a joke. Leading up to 1992, Guyana was in throes of a regime that normalised rigging. If we had a day or five months of rigging attempts, that cannot be compared to what Burnham and Hoyte did for decades.

Here is a good closure for consumption and hopefully will irritate Freddie Kissoon into a defence for his duplicity. In ‘Letters not published’ (Stabroek News June 24, 2010), Randy Persuad, way back then, queried why “… several letters to the editor of mine were not published. I have also noted that the vast majority of letters published in the newspaper are, broadly speaking, critical of the current PPP administration, and

that many are inflammatory or outright anti-government. I have also noted that some letter writers get their pieces published the very next day, and that these same writers are published as a matter of routine. I can name them if you so desire.”

This is like so silly, and Freddie, like Randy, did comment on this issue recently, . Well, how about the many letters of many people, writing in praise of the Opposition, or accusatory of the Administration, are not being published in the Guyana Chronicle or Guyana Times?

I rest my case and await the “Man of Ironies; naaw, Contradictions” to refute me.

Yours truly, Prescott Mann

Brazil backs ICJ process to resolve border...

From page 15 Guyana/Venezuela Border controversy.

course of the land boundary between Guyana and Venezuela.

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According to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs release, Minister Todd reiterated Guyana’s commitment to a peaceful resolution of the controversy in accordance with international law and underscored that the current ICJ process represents a mutually agreed mechanism for a peaceful, just, binding and permanent settlement of the controversy over the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award and the

Minister Todd also emphasised the position as articulated by President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, that Guyana is irrevocably committed to the settlement process at the ICJ and is available to meet with Venezuela on any subject of interest to the two countries – other than the controversy over the 1899 Arbitral Award.

Todd further debunked the false narrative being

propagated by Venezuela and reaffirmed that there is no intention by Guyana or any other State to establish a military base in Guyana’s territory.

Minister Vieira emphasized the importance of the peaceful co-existence of countries in the region if the region is to advance its integ ration agenda.

The two Foreign Ministers also discussed ideas to advance the bilateral relations between Guyana and Brazil, and colla boration at the multilateral level.

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Pres. Ali announces special housing

loans for teachers

President Irfaan Ali announced on Monday that specialarrangementswillbe made to facilitate housing loansforteachers.

The President was at the time engaging with headteachers and teachers representing eleven education districts at State House on Main Street, Georgetown. He stated that within two weeks, an activity will be organised during which banks will be invited to approve loans, on the spot for teachers who have already been allocated apieceofland.

“WhatIcanasktheCEO todoformenowistocheck intheentireschoolsystemto see all the teachers who wouldhavehadanallocation made to them for a piece of land but they don't have the bank loan or the bank is givingthemahardtime.“We will get the list of teachers; we will tell you all that you have to walk with…so we get everything preapproved,”hesaid.

President Ali noted that he reached out to the banks to work along with teachers to prequalify and approve them for loans for up to $15

million with an interest rate of3.75percent.Theteachers will have the option to choose one of the designs fromthedifferentcategories offered by the Ministry of Housing and Water in order tofasttracktheprocess.

“If you want to use that design you can save that cost…wewilltrytoexpedite the approval [for the plans] attheNDC[Neighbourhood Democratic Council] level,” thepresidentfurtherstated.

For teachers who have begun construction on their allocated lands, President Ali stated that construction materials, including steel and cement, will be provided, while teachers who submitted applications before 2019 will also be engaged.

The engagement provided teachers with an opportunity to discuss the state of the education system, addressing both the challenges and the positive interventions that are in effect.

Importantly, it also focused on how the government can develop a holistic strategy to improve teachers'welfare.Amongthe

Pres. Ali tells Guyanese...

Frompage12 President appealed to the highvolumeuserstostayoff thegridduringpeakhours.

“Wearearrangingtohave an additional 30 megawatts in place by mid -December Attheinterim,weencourage the high-volume consumers togobackonself-generation duringthepeakhours.

These are just some temporary solutions to the current problem,” he said adding that the government willseektoimposeaminimal taxtoencouragelargeenergy consumers to return to selfgenerating during peak hours.

Currently, he noted that t h e g o v e r n m e n t i s subsidizing electricity generation by over US$100

35issuesraisedbyeducators were overcrowding at schools, the need for additional teaching staff, improved infrastructure, including better living quarters for teachers and other essential teaching resourcesneededtoimprove learning.

PresidentAli announced that in November of this year, 2,300 teachers will be graduating and will be integratedintotheeducation system Regarding infrastructure issues, President Ali stated that the government is conducting a c o m p r e h e n s i v e infrastructure audit of all schools,educationfacilities, and recreation facilities nationwide to determine what the needs are. “So, we willhaveagapanalysisasto what has to be done and prioritisewherewearegoing to definitely address those

issues,”hesaid. Hefurtherassuredthatin every overcrowded school, addressing the issue would be a top priority, with plans to provide extensions in the new budget cycle Fans, whiteboards, and other necessary supplies will be provided to schools, while internetaccessissueswillbe promptly tackled by the National Data Management Authority(NDMA). Meanwhile, all teachers'

quarters and dorms in the hinterlandthatareinneedof upgradeswillbeaddressed.

President Ali stated that all the issues raised by the teachers have been documented, and in the coming weeks, these concernswillbepresentedto the Cabinet. Proposals will beformulated,andstepswill b e t a k e n t o w a r d implementation.

“Now that I have a full understanding directly from

youastowhatyourpriorities are, I am in a better position to come up with a holistic approach as to how we will deal with the welfare of students and teachers together,” he underscored. Joining President Ali were MinisterofEducation,Priya Manickchand, Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, SeniorFinanceMinister,Dr Ashni Singh and senior officers within the Ministry ofEducation.(DPI)

millionwithVATremovedon electricity and the price for fuel moving from US$41 to US$91 per barrel between 2020and2023.

Thecorporatetaxonfuel is being absorbed by the government.

As a long-term solution, the President said the proposed Wales Gas-toEnergy project will add a capacity of 300mw to the system and with the Amaila FallsHydroPowerprojecton streamasanticipatedin2013, there will be an additional 165mwofpoweravailable.

Additionally,Alisaidthat withinthecomingweeks,the government will seek new expressionsofinterestforthe Amaila Falls Hydro Power Project.

Venezuelannational stabbedtodeath...

Frompage14 arrived.However,whatismoreheart-rendingforthefamily members is that his wife and daughters returned to find him dead. They said that his family was at the time unaware of what had transpired and were expecting to be greeted with hugsandkisseswhentheyarrivedtowherehewaswaitingfor them. Unfortunately, his daughter was greeted with the horrificsightofherdeadfatherlyinginapoolofblood. Investigationsareongoing.

President Irfaan Ali on Monday

Defiant Trump turns up at $250m New York fraud trial to blast ‘scam’

(BBC NEWS) Former PresidentDonaldTrumphas attacked a judge and prosecutor in a day of courtroom drama as he attended the opening of a fraudtrialthatcouldthreaten hisbusinessempire.

Onenteringtheroomon Monday dressed in a blue suit,MrTrump-whoturned up voluntarily - looked ahead as he walked past the prosecutor who brought the case.

State’s attorney general Letitia James, sitting in the front row, averted her gaze. Theirpathsdidnotcrossfor the rest of opening statementsasbothsideslaid outtheircase.MrTrump,the TrumpOrganization,several executives and two of his children-DonaldJrandEric - are the defendants in the civil trial in New York Superior Court. They are accused of fraud, falsification of business records, issuing false financial statements and conspiracy

As the trial got under way, the former president occasionally glanced in the direction of Judge Arthur Engoronasheaddressedthe c o u r t M o m e n t s beforehand, in a tirade outside court that echoed across the chamber, Mr Trumphadcalledthejudgea “rogueadjudicator”.

MsJameswasnotspared either in his remarks to reporters at the top of the courtroom steps “It’s a scam,it’sasham.Justsoyou know, my financial s t a t e m e n t s a r e phenomenal,” Mr Trump added. “There was no crime -thecrimewasagainstme.” Giventheformerpresident’s

personal attacks, observers expectedatenseatmosphere in the cramped confines of the court. But the three key figures in the legal drama had minimal direct interactions.

While prosecutors set outtheircase,MrTrumpfor the most part sat still, occasionally whispering to his legal team. Ms James kept her eyes on the lawyer unveiling a visual p r e s e n t a t i o n t h a t accompanied her team’s openingstatements.

Proceedings began with herteamaccusingMrTrump and his co-defendants of i n t e n t i o n a l l y a n d persistently committing fraud, which reaped Mr Trump over $100m (£82.7m). Last week Judge Engoron ruled against Mr Trump in a central claim of the lawsuit, finding that he had overvalued his properties by hundreds of millionsofdollarsinorderto getfavourablebankloans.

Mr Trump’s lawyers took the stand shortly afterwards, attacking the NewYorkattorneygeneral’s arguments.AlinaHabbasaid Ms James’ goal as attorney general was to “go to work, getTrumpandgohome”.

She claimed that Mr Trump did not inflate the value of his assetsincluding his Mar-a-Lago resortinFlorida.Realestate wasmalleable,shesaid,and his properties were “Mona Lisas” - Mar-a-Lago would sell for at least a billion dollars, she argued But before lunch, proceedings turned increasingly fractious Mr Trump’s attorney, Chris Kise, argued with Judge Engoron about

issues including whether expert opinion counted as testimony

And Ms Habba’s attacks on Ms James drew Judge Engoron’s ire. The judge said he had already dismissed claims that the suit was politically motivated.

The afternoon in court proved calmer, with former Trump accountant Donald Bendertestifyingasthefirst witness called by the attorney general’s office Mr Bender said he had worked on Trump’s tax returns and completed accounting work for Mr Trump’scorporateentities.

Hetestifiedinacriminal trial against the Trump Organization in Manhattan last year, claiming the company sought to evade taxes on bonuses and other luxurybenefits.

Trump:‘It’sascam,it’sa sham’

His two-hour testimony onMonday-largelyfocused ontechnicalquestionsabout his work for the Trump Organization - capped off the first day of the threemonth long trial. The case will be decided by Judge Engoron,notajury Noneof the defendants will face jail time if convicted, because this is a civil case not a criminalone.

Ms James is seeking $250m (£207m) and sanctions that could prevent the Trumps from doing business in the state of New York. There is even the possibility that Mr Trump could lose some of the properties that have become asignaturepartofhisbrand. The stakes could not be higher

Former US President, Donald Trump appeared in court on Monday on a fraud charge

Medvedev books China Open semi-final with familiar foe Zverev

BEIJING, (Reuters) - Second seed Daniil Medvedev overcame a mid-match wobble to beat Ugo Humbert 6-4 3-6 6-1 yesterday and move into the China Open semi-finals, where he will face Alexander Zverev in their fifth meeting this season.

Medvedev has been a model of consistency on hardcourts this year with titles in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai and Miami and though the Russian world number three was not at his dominant best he battled past Humbert for his 41st win of 2023 on the surface.

“I’m happy that I managed to raise my level in important moments, except a game in the second set,” Medvedev said. “It’s great that I managed to

still find in this tough match these moments of consistency, which is enough to win.

“That’s what you have to do. I’m happy to be in the semi-finals. When you come to the tournament, you always want to go as far as possible. Happy to still be here tomorrow.

“The further we go, the tougher the matches, the tougher the opponents. That’s normal.”

Chengdu champion Zverev, who is rediscovering his best form after a serious ankle injury last year, extended his winning run to seven matches with a 6-1 67(5) 6-3 win over Chile’s Nicolas Jarry.

The 10th-ranked German has lost three times to

Medvedev this year but flipped the script in their last meeting in Cincinnati.

“It seems like we have to play each other every tournament this year. It’s the fifth time we’re going to play each other,” Zverev said. “Every time we play, it’s a battle.

“I’m looking forward to what’s to come. He’s playing great tennis. I hope I can bring my A game.”

Later yesterday, top seed Carlos Alcaraz and Italian Jannik Sinner set up yet another instalment in their blossoming rivalry with quarterfinal wins over Casper Ruud and Grigor Dimitrov respectively.

Alcaraz beat Ruud 6-4 6-2 in straight sets to seal a spot in the semi-final, while Sinner

Tuesday October 03, 2023

ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19)

Share your skills today, Aries. You will find that as you engage in the role of teacher, you learn more than if you just hold onto your knowledge without sharing it.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20)

Don't underestimate the power of other people today, Taurus. They may seem flighty and scatterbrained on the outside, but underneath you will find that they have a great deal of wisdom to share.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20)

Remember that there's a benevolent force out there that loves you, Gemini. No matter what, there's always a shoulder to cry on, even if it isn't a tangible one. Even in your darkest moments.

CANCER (June 21–July 22)

Don't hesitate to say the obvious today, Cancer, even if it sounds corny. Many times people hesitate to say what they really feel because they think it's obvious to everyone.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22)

Look to older figures for advice today, Leo. Seek counsel with a parent or grandparent on issues you feel strongly about. Relationships with older people are likely to go especially well.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Se pt. 22)

Consider composing a bit of poetry today, Virgo. Use this as an exercise to condense your ocean of emotions into a very few words.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22)

Just because your emotions are reserved or somber today doesn't mean you shouldn't share them with others, Libra. Work through difficulties.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21)

You may need to jump to many different people and situations today, Scorpio, yet something is holding you back. Listen to this inner voice that's asking you to be conservative at this time.

SAGIT (Nov.22–Dec.21)

ou feel like you have a stone strapped to your back, Sagittarius. The farther you walk with this load, the slower you go, and the more hunched over you will be by the time you reach your destination.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) = It

Feel free to break ties with certain people now, Capricorn. You may be overextending your emotional bank account by investing too much of yourself in others' lives.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18)

Less is more should be your motto for today, Aquarius. The more you cut back in certain areas of your life, the more room you open up to bring in new and exciting things.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20)

You may be asked to slow down today, Pisces. Whether this comes in the form of a speeding ticket or a scrape on the knee when you trip.

had to dig deep and overcome illness to clinch a 6-4 3-6 6-2 win over Bulgaria’s Dimitrov.

“A very tough evening, the level was really high,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “I didn’t feel very good, maybe I ate something wrong. At one point I also threw up a little, but I’m happy with how I handled the situation.”

SWIATEK AND GAUFF SOAR

In the women’s tournament, world number two Iga Swiatek powered into the second round on her Beijing debut with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo.

The Pole was particularly effective at the net, winning 15 out of 17 points, and next meets Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva.

“Today I felt really confident and comfortable because I’ve been practising that a lot,” Swiatek said. “I’m pretty proud of my performance at the net because, technically, I feel like my volley has changed. I’m really happy with that.

“I think against some players it’s necessary to go to the net and today that was that kind of a match.”

U.S. Open winner Coco Gauff roared to victory in her

first match as a Grand Slam champion, as the American downed Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5 6-3.

Fresh from her triumph in Ningbo last week, world number seven Ons Jabeur eased past 19-year-old Osaka champion Ashlyn Krueger 6-3 6-4.

“It was a great match,” said Jabeur. “I played the next generation. She’s a really good player. She’s going to be one of the top players in the future.”

The Tunisian, who is looking to qualify for the seasonending WTA Finals, plays Marta Kostyuk in the second round.

From page 25 made to fight hard and they lost seven wickets in pursuit of the target of 147 despite a solid knock from Devon Clements (47 off 74 balls). The spin duo of Farrukh (2-35) and Irfan Rabbani (2-19) kept the match alive until the end.

Naeem Khan trumped Aftab Qaiser’s terrific allround performance to help UAE outwit Canada by three wickets after an exciting playoff contest. Aftab (68 off 82 balls) and Badar-e-Munir (54 off 53 balls) added 102 for fourth wicket as Canada amassed 250 for eight in the allotted 45 overs despite fine spin bowling from Naeem (343) and Biju Nair (2-36).

The off-spin of Aftab brought UAE down from 59 for no loss to 69 for four. Staring defeat when sixth wicket went down at 133, they were revived by the 85-run seventh-wicket partnership between Naeem and Azhar Gul. Naeem got UAE over the line, scoring 48 off 64 balls, and he was adjudged Man of the Match.

Najeeb Amar’s stunning all-round effort for Hong Kong highlighted the other playoff, as his unbeaten century followed by a five-wicket haul crushed Nepal by eight wickets. He remained undefeated on 126 off 83 balls, striking three sixes and 17 fours, dominating the 176-run second wicket stand with Ankur Vasishta (70 off 73 balls) as their team raced to the target of 224 with more than 17 overs to spare.

Earlier, Najeeb returned highly impressive figures of five for 30 with his left-arm spin which restricted Nepal to 223 for six after being strongly placed at 171 for one. Opener Rabin Joshi (76 off 110 balls) was the top scorer for Nepal once more with Suman Udaya (57 off 79 balls) and Ram Naresh Yadav (41 off 48 balls) also chipping in with notable contributions.

West Indies O40s storm...

North Korean soccer players clash with referee after losing to Japan

HANGZHOU, China, (Reuters) - North Korea

soccercoachSinYongNam defended his players after several clashed with match officials on the pitch after their 2-1 defeat to Japan in the Asian Games quarterfinals in Hangzhou on Sunday

North Korea captain Jang Kuk Chol and team mate Kim Kyong Sok remonstrated heatedly with referee Rustam Lutfullin after the final whistle, pursuing the Uzbek in the middle of the pitch as he triedtobackaway

With the confrontation drawing in the assistant refereesandseveralsecurity staff, the North Korean coachalsorantohisplayers totrytodefusethesituation.

The North Korean players were earlier furious when Lutfullin awarded a penalty to Japan after goalkeeper Kang Juh Yok charged out and clipped the feet of Jun Nishikawa with anoutstretchedarm.

Waving his arms and shaking his head, an angry Kangarguedwiththereferee before Yuta Matsumura slottedhomefromthespotin the80thminutetoseeJapan through at the Xiaoshan SportsCentreStadium.

“I admit that our players werealittlebitover-excited in the match but it is football,” Sin said at the p o s t - m a t c h p r e s s conference.

“ B u t t h e r e a r e confrontations in football matches I think our behaviourisacceptable.”

Japan coach Go Oiwa declined to comment on the incidentwhenasked.

“This match was as we expected,”hesaidthrougha translator

“There are some things (we are) not happy about in the match but basically we canacceptthat.”

Kotaro Uchino scored thefirstgoalforJapanwitha helpful deflection off a North Korea player in the 50thminutebeforeKimKuk Bomlevelledthematchwith a stunning, long-range strike.

Japan moved into a semi-final with Hong Kong who pulled off a 1-0 upset offormerwinnersIran

Defending champions

South Korea cruised into the last four with a comfortable 2-0 victory overhostsChina Theywill face Uzbekistan following the CentralAsians’2-1 win over SaudiArabia earlier in theday

Springerdominates...

Frompage23 times of 55.78s and 56.09s, respectively

In the women’s 200m, Springer continued her dominance by winning convincingly in 24 42 seconds. Once again, Smith secured second place with a timeof24.55seconds,while Adamsfinishedthird.

On the men’s side, Noelex Holder, fresh off his 100mvictory,returnedtothe track to claim victory in the men’s 200m with a time of 21.07seconds,justnarrowly missing his personal best of 21.04s.

Simeon Adams of the Guyana Defence Force delivered a stellar performance in the men’s 400m, clocking an impressive 49.19 seconds to secure victory Joshua Lam and Youth Commonwealth Games400msilvermedalist Malachi Austin shared the second-place podium with identical times of 49 56 seconds.

Adams showcased his versatility in the men’s 800m,finishingsecondwith a time of 2:00.70, narrowly trailing behind Nicholas

Daw’s winning time of 2:00 41, while Javon Roberts took third place in 2:00.80.

In the women’s events, McPherson emerged on top in the 800m, crossing the finish line in two minutes and 37.65 seconds. She was followedbyJelilicaWritein second place with a time of 2:40.19, and Delicia Tinnis inthirdwith2:51.95.Joanna Archer excelled in the women’s 1500m, clinching victory with a time of 5:41 99, outpacing Tinnis (5:48.31) and Kezra Murray (5:48.69).

The men’s field events saw Eron Leitch emerge as thewinnerofthetriplejump with a leap of 14.50 meters, whileLeslainBairdwonthe men’sjavelinwithathrowof 69.94metres.

Noelex Holder

GDF retains Andrew ‘Six Head’ Lewis Novice’s C/ship - Julian Clarke cops Best Boxer award

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) boxing gym successfully defended their title on Sunday at the 2023 Andrew ‘Six Head’ Lewis Novice’schampionship.The GDF team demonstrated their mettle by amassing a total of 22 points and securing the coveted championship title The electrifyingevent,heldatthe National Gymnasium, locatedonMandelaAvenue, featured a total of 11 pulsating finals, with fierce competition between the GDF gym, Republican (REP) gym, and Police

(POL) boxing gym. Team GDF emerged triumphant, claiming an impressive sevenvictories. Thesmallbutpassionate crowdwastreatedtoaseries of high-intensity matchups. Amongthehighlightsofthe championship was the crowningofJulianClarkeas the Best Boxer, much to the delightofhisfans.

IntheFeatherweight5154kg class, Melroy

McPherson (GDF) displayed his skill and determinationashedefeated NevilleFrancewithasteady left jab and a powerful left-

right combination. France, unable to withstand McPherson’s onslaught, eventually abandoned the contestjust2minutesand34 seconds into the second round.

Over in the Lightweight 57-60kg division, Oswald Jewn triumphed over Lennox Harvey (POL) in a hard-fought battle. Joseph Gardener showcased his talent by besting Ronnel Captain (GDF) to claim the Junior Welterweight 6063kgtitle.ElliotSinclairhad an excellent tournament, earning victory in the

Welterweight 63-67kg division final against his gymmateDamonFrance.

The GDF’s dominance continued as Christopher Henry and Sherwin Gravesande secured v i c t o r i e s i n t h e Middleweight and Light Heavyweight divisions, respectively Henry displayed his skill by defeating Osias Prince in a mere 2 minutes and 28 seconds into the second round. Gravesande’s solid left-hook knocked Malachi Clarketothecanvasearlyin thesecondround,ultimately

setting the stage for his victory as Clarke struggled to recover. Gravesande emerged as the victor at the end of the three rounds, securing the title on points. ThelankyZidhanWrayalso d e l i v e r e d a s o l i d performance, earning the Super Heavyweight title with a stellar performance againstRayonHarry

In a notable turn of events, the Republican boxing gym made a resurgence, clinching two gold medals at this year’s championship Andre Thompson claimed victory

in the Flyweight division, while Timothy Fraser emerged victorious in the Middleweightcategory ClarkeofthePolicegym was a standout performer, not only winning the Best Boxer award but also earning recognition for his exceptional skills Coach Terrence Poole of the GDF receivedtheBestCoachand Best Gym award, and the Police Boxing gym, despite finishing as runners-up, put upastrongfightandsecured six points. Jermaine Craig was honoured with the Best Referee/Judgeaward.

Springer dominates at AAG Senior Championship ...Holdercompletessprintdouble

ByRawleToney

The National Track and Field Centre in Edinburgh, West Demerara, witnessed an extraordinary display of athletic prowess over the weekend as the Tianna Springer show took centre stage at the Athletics Association of Guyana’s S e n i o r N a t i o n a l Championship.

Springer, already a household name in Guyana at the age of 16, left an indelible mark on the competition, dominating the field throughout the threeday event and emerging as theseniornationalchampion in both the women’s 200m and400m.

In addition to her impressive victories, she also showcased her versatility by securing a third-place finish in the highly competitive 100m race.

Ontheopeningdayofthe championships, Springer,

though not primarily known forherabilitiesinthe100m, ran13.04secondstosecurea commendablethirdplace.

KelizaSmithclaimedthe topspotwithatimeof11.66 seconds, while Cassy Small secured second place in 11.93seconds.

However, it was in the 400m event that Springer truly shone, reaffirming her status as the best in the Caribbean and the reigning South American Games 400m champion, as well as th i s y ear ’s Yo u t h

Commonwealth Games

400mgoldmedalist.

Despite not delivering her personal best performance, Springer won thewomen’s400m,crossing the finish line in 55 31 seconds.

Keliza Smith and Youth

Commonwealth Games

400m bronze medalist

Narrisa McPherson took secondandthirdplaceswith

(Continuedonpage22)

Referee Jermaine Craig (center) lifts Republican boxer Timothy Fraser upon winning the Middleweight (71-75kg) title.

Hullman Bovell (POL) punishes Darius Harris of the GDF, during Sunday Night’s showdown.

Tianna Springer ruled supreme at the AAG senior Championships, winning the women’s 400m, 200m and finished third in the 100m.

Joanna Archer won the women’s 1500m.

LindenMayor’sCupU-21SchoolsBasketballplayoffs... Linden Technical Institute whip Mackenzie High 50-34 in opener

Byvirtueoftheir,50-34, victory on Friday last, Linden Technical Institute has forced the defeated Mackenzie High in a mustwinsituationwhentheyface Christianburg Wismar

Secondary ‘Multi’ on Wednesday in the second game of the three team playoffs being contested at theRetrieveHardCourt.

ThejumpstartbyGroup A’s top team Linden Technical Institute with that win over Group B’s top school Mackenzie High means, that a loss would eliminate any hopes

Mackenzie High has come Wednesday

Neil Marks (Jr.) was the spearheadalongwithMinian Vincentastheybothnotched up 13 points with back up from Akan Alleyne for the winning Linden Technical Institute side as Jamain McCalman with 11 and Shemol Jackson with seven were the best shots for MackenzieHighSchool.

This means that

MackenzieHighfaceGroup C winners Christianburg

Wismar Secondary ‘Multi’ Wednesday and defeat for Mackenzie High, would automaticallymeanthefinal game between the ‘Multi;

unit and Linden Technical Institute Friday will be the deciderofthistournament.

However, Mackenzie HighSchoolwithawincane still emerge winners, dependent on Linden Technical Institute losing also Christianburg Wismar Secondary thus forcing the FIBA Classification Clause todeterminethetopteam.

This tournament was

GCBSeniorInter-County50-Overtournament… Double-header today, as senior Inter-County 50-Over action continues

Linden Mayor’s Cup U21 Schools basketball action.

Senior Inter-County 50-Over action continues across the country with Essequibo playing Demerara while Berbice tackle the GCB Select XI as part of today’s exciting Double-header

Essequibowillbekeenonmakingfurther useoftheirfortuneatBourdawhentheyplay the home team. Captain Anthony Adams, Ricardo Adams, Kemol Savory, Malcolm HubbardandQuentinSampsonallplayedbig roleswithbat/ballonSundayandwillbekeen oncontinuingtheirform.

Demeraragotofftoashakystartbutwith Akshaya Persaud, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Qumar Torrington, Sherfane Rutherford all peakingfromthelastgame,theycouldeasily upsettheiropponents.

After a horrendous loss to Essequibo on Sunday, the GCB Select XI will be keen on regainingsomeconfidencecometodaywhen theyplaythestar-studdedBerbiceatEnmore Ground.

Berbice,despitehavingalowscoreinthe first match will want more from their stars like, Rampertab Ramnauth, Anthony Bramble, Kevlon Anderson, Kevin Sinclair, Romario Shepherd who can easily get their teamto300.

spinner Kevin Sinclair, who snagged 7 wickets in his team’s huge win recently and CPLChampionspinnerGudakeshMotie.

Pacers Shepherd, Clinton Pestano and ShamarJosephwillalsoprovidethejetfuelin thefast-bowlingdepartment.

organized in observance of Education Month through theDepartmentofEducation ofRegion10.

It was done through the Brusches basketball Foundation and the Kings Basketball Cub in conjunction with the Linden MayorandTownCouncil.

Trophies, replicas and medals are at stake for the variouswinners.

Matthews Magic as West Indies Women win historic 2nd T20I

SYDNEY, Australia -

Hayley Matthews led the West Indies Women’s cricket team to a recordbreaking victory by orchestratingthehighestrun chase in women’s T20 international history Matthews, who scored a stunning132runsoffjust64 balls,stoodoutasoneofthe mostmemorableperformers in the history of the game. The sensational innings helpedtheWestIndieschase down an imposing target, leading to a seven-wicket win.

The West Indies

Women’s team set a new benchmark with a score of 213-3,securingthewinwith just one ball left, bringing theseriestoatieat1-1.Fans at North Sydney Oval witnessed a treat, as a combined total of 425 runs were scored in a single day, making it a match for the

ages.

However, it wasn’t just Matthews’ batting prowess that stood out. Earlier in the day, she showcased her bowling skills by clinching three wickets. Her all-round brilliance was recognized, earningherthePlayerofthe Match accolade for an incredible seventh consecutivetime.

But Matthews didn’t carry the day alone A significant contribution was made by Stafanie Taylor, who partnered with Matthews to set another record. Their partnership of 174runslaidthefoundation for the historic win. Taylor playedapivotalrole,scoring a brisk 59 off 41 balls, complementing Matthews’ fiery knock. In the postmatch media conference, Matthews said “Today was quiteincredible,Ican’tquite find the words for it as yet.

Staf and I started really having a look at a chance of chasing it probably needing around105from55/54balls. I think at that moment with the momentum we had, we only spoke about going as hard as we can from both ends. Kudos to Staf as well, she played an amazing knock at the other end and tooksomuchpressureoffof me and kept the boundaries flowing.”

Earlier in the day Australia posted 212/6 from their 20 voers. Ellyse Perry top-scored for them with 70 whilePheobeLitchfieldtied scoringthefastestT20Ihalfcentury,shemade52notout. Matthews had the best bowlingfigureswith4-0-363andShamiliaConnell4-035-2.Theseriesmovestothe Allan Border Field in Brisbanewhereit’sawinner takeallinthethirdandfinal T20International.

Whilethebattingfailed,TheGCBXIwill have to contend with the likes of opposition captain Veerasammy Permaul and off-

Althoughtheirpreviousmatchendedina loss, Captain Junior Sinclair, the 2023 CPL breakoutplayer,grabbed3wicketsinthelast match while speedster Isai Thorne finished with4victims,andastheymanagedtogather abitofconfidenceaheadofthisencounter

Spain’s women’s team players Putellas, Rodríguez and Paredes appear before a judge in Rubiales probe

MADRID (AP) —Twotime Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas and two of her teammates on Spain’s women’s national team appeared before a judge yesterdayaswitnessesinthe investigation of former soccer federation president Luis Rubiales for kissing a playeronthelips.

Putellas, Irene Paredes and Misa Rodríguez all answered questions from the judge in Madrid Rodríguez appeared in court in the Spanish capital, while Putellas and Paredes testified via video fromBarcelona.

S p a n i s h s t a t e prosecutors have accused Rubiales of sexual assault and coercion for kissing Jenni Hermoso on the lips without her consent during the awards ceremony after the Women’s World Cup final inAugust.

Spanish media, citing court sources, said the three players told the judge that Rubiales and other federation members tried to convince players to downplay the kiss The court has not officially released details of the

testimony.

Some federation officialsandformernational teamcoachJorgeVilda,who was replaced not long after winningtheWomen’sWorld Cup inAustralia, have been summoned as investigated parties.

They are set to appear before the judge next week. Vilda was among those accused of trying to convince Hermoso to back Rubialesafterthekiss.

Rubiales eventually resigned and the players ended their boycott of the national team after being

given some guarantees of change within the federation. Some federation officials have already been firedasaresult.

Hermoso is also expected to testify at some point.

According to a sexual consentlawpassedlastyear, Rubialescouldfaceafineor a prison sentence of one to four years if found guilty of sexual assault. The new law eliminated the difference b e t w e e n “ s e x u a l harassment” and “sexual assault,” sanctioning any unconsentedsexualact.

All-rounder Kevin Sinclair grabbed 7 wickets in the last game for Berbice.

Spain’s women’s national soccer team playerAlexia Putellas attends a press conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, ahead of the UEFANations League soccer match against Sweden, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. (Bjorn Larsson Rosvall/TT NewsAgency viaAP)

Over $1M in cash and prizes handed out at final of Price Is Right Supermarket

Upper Corentyne Cricket Association (UCCA) T20 cricket competition

BySamuelWhyte

The final of the Upper

Corentyne Cricket Association (UCCA) Price

Is Right Supermarket T20 cricket competition was played on Sunday at the No69Vikingsground.

Although the game did not live up to its pre-match billing,itwas No72Cutand Load that prevailed defeating Dukestown Warriors by 4 wickets in a lowscoringaffair

Thewell-keptvenuewas packed to capacity with Crown Vibes Sound

Company also providing musical entertainment

Dukestown Warriors won the toss and elected to bat and never showed much fight and were bowled out for 92 in 18 overs. Akeem Bowlers 27 and Errol Byass 17 were the main contributors.

Bowling for No72 Cut and Load, Mukesh Edwards picked up 4-23 while Davendra Jaggernauth grabbed3-10.Therewasone each for Davendra Chatterpaul, Deoprakash RamdatandJameelAssad.

In reply No72 Cut and Load lost wickets regularly, butreached96-6in18overs, with Romesh Omapersaud 35, Vijai Persaud 17 not out andJameelAssad12thetop scorers.

Bowling for Dukestown Warriorstherewas2wickets for Errol Byass, while Jermain Reid, Wayne Garnett, Kevin Clarke and BudramSukdeotook1each.

The Warriors had only themselves to blame as their fielding was ragged. They dropped all the catches that wenttohandandmissedtwo runouts.Allthewicketsthat fell were either bowled or LBW

The presentation ceremony was fitting an international arena and saw millions in cash and other incentives including trophies,medals,boots,bats, padsetchandedover

The teams were all presented with uniforms for the games and the competition being rated by farasthebiggestT20cricket competitionintheCounty Sponsorandownerofthe Price is Right Supermarket, Mr Danesh Narine Roopnarine AKA Boyco must be complimented. The owner of Price is Right Supermarkets at No 79 Public Road, Corriverton and the Skeldon Market, the companyisaregularsponsor of cricket and other community activities in the area.

Winners No72 Cut and

Load was presented with $400,000andatrophywhile each player was presented withamedal.

Dukestown Warriors received $200,000 and trophy and medals. Man of the Match Mukesh Edwards waspresentedwith$100,000 andatrophycomplimentsof N e u r o s u r g e o n D r AmarnauthDukhi.

Healsoreceivedapairof boots for being the best b o w l e r R o m e s h Omapersaud received a bat and a pair of boots for the batsman with the most runs inthefinal.

ThirdplacewenttoNo70 ASpartanswhodefeatedNo 69 Red Rose in a five over

affair Spartans made 50-3 withRedRosebeingheldto 26 Both team received $50,000andabat.

AronYakoobofSpartans waspresentedwithbootsfor beingapromisingplayer

The female five over encounter between Crabwood Creek and No 65 waswonbyCWC.

Theywerealsopresented with cash and other incentives.

Mr Roopnarine thanked theUCCAfororganizingthe competition and the teams forparticipating.

He congratulated the finalists and had special words of commendation for CutandLoadforwinningthe

competition. H e p l e d g e d h i s Company’s continued support. He said that it’s a way of showing support and giving back to the communityfromwherethey garneredtheirsupport.

The competition which beganinMarch2020wasfor teams in the Upper Corentyne area It was stopped due to the Covid 19 Pandemic.

Some27teamstookpart.

The UCCA is being led by businessman Dennis D’Andrade.

The competition was coordinated by former National wicketkeeper batsmanSydneyJackman.

West Indies O40s storm into final whilst Abdul Razzaq’s epic knock takes Pakistan to final of MCW Over40s Cricket Global Cup

KARACHI: Skipper

Abdul Razzaq’s epic knock of195inthesemifinalstook Pakistan into the final of the inaugural MCW Over40 Cricket Global Cup 2023, setting up a date with West Indies in the title clash on Monday, while Hong Kong and United Arab Emirates (UAE), who emerged triumphant in playoffs, will contest the plate final on Sunday

In the semifinals, Pakistan overwhelmed Australia by a staggering margin of 252 runs here at National Bank Stadium and West Indies overpowered United States of America (USA) by three wickets at NBPSportsComplex.Inthe

playoffs, United Arab Emirates (UAE) edged out Canada by three wickets at Southend Club and Hong Kong outgunned Nepal by eight wickets at Moin Khan Academy

Australia and USA, the losing semifinalists, will be pitted against each other in the classification match to decide third position here at NBP Sports Complex while Canada and Nepal will be featuring in the game to decideseventhpositionhere atSouthendClub.Boththese matches will be held on Sunday.

The awesome power hitting of Abdul Razzaq, known for tearing apart the best of bowling attacks on

his day, was the highlight of the semifinal at National Bank Stadium. Opening the innings, he hammered as many as 11 sixes besides 22 fours in his 112-ball 195, adding299forfirstwicketin 36 overs with fellow opener AmjadAli,whoalsoscoreda century, smashing a six and 12 fours in his 103 off 102 balls.Awhirlwind23-ball67 from Tassawar Abbas took Pakistan to an amazing total of 400 for six in the allotted 45overs.

The Australians didn’t seem to have any realistic hope of getting to the target of 401 although they had l i f t e d t h e i r g a m e considerably after an uncertain start in the

tournament. Left-armAbdul Qadir’s five-wicket haul prevented any heroics from their batsmen and they were bowled out for 148 in 27.5 overs.Intheothersemifinal, West Indies was indebted to off-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo, who grabbed six wickets in his spell of sevenovers,whichbrokethe back of USA batting and allowed his teammates the luxury of chasing down a modesttotal.USAlookedin sight of a competitive total afteranotherwonderfulhalfcentury from captain Muhammad Farrukh but they collapsed from 98 for two to 146 all out in 37.1 overs.WestIndieswere (Continuedonpage21)

Mahendra Nagamootoo receives his MOM award from the US Consul General in Karachi.

Sponsor Mr. Danesh Narine Deonarine AKA Boyco, owner of Price is Right Supermarkets, presents the cheque for $400,000, trophy and medals to the No72 Cut and Load team.

Dr. Amarnauth Dukhi presents the man of the match award to Mukesh Edwards for his 4-wickets in the match.

2023Andrew Lewis Novice champions, GDF boxing gym.

Hayley Matthews celebrates her century with Stafanie Taylor. (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)