Kaieteur News

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AIETEUR NEWS

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Robbery at Chinese supermarket … Friday Edition

Former Deputy Commissioner’s son remains in custody

October 16, 2020 -Vol. 22 No.40

Online: www.kaieteurnews.com Price $80

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Online readership yesterday, 111,338

Award of Canje, Kaieteur blocks must face - Ramon p.3

independent

Gaskin

forensic probe

Prosecution closes Cops caught on The Bigger Picture case in Gary camera trying to drive Best’s dangerous away after hitting driving trial down pedal cyclist p.19

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UNDP offers to help Guyana with electoral reform p.

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issues new Man jailed 60 GNBS requirements years for GPHC’s in wake of ‘tyre dispatcher murder ban’ reversal p.

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GuySuCo floods Success lands to p.

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‘flush-out’ squatters Senegal's President and his brother gave away two gas blocks, getting billions in US dollars for themselves.

Guyanese - why are you allowing our leaders to do the same here?

We thank the PPP/C government for the removal of the VAT on electricity and water and for the free water for pensioners. We thank the PPP/C for the $25,000 COVID-19 cash grant and the small increase in old-age pensions.

When we did an approximation of all these relief measures, the average monthly savings does not exceed G$10,000. Though citizens are thankful, they should not be so carried away as to lose sight of the bigger picture.

And it is regarding this bigger picture that we call, again, on President Irfaan Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo to come clean.

The Canje and Kaieteur blocks have been given away in secret deals to middlemen. We call on Dr. Ali and Mr. Jagdeo to come clean about these secret deals.

It is nice to give needy Guyanese about G$10,000 but those billions of US dollars that belong to Guyana could make all Guyanese self-sufficient and better-off.

Guyanese get

chicken feed, while crooked leaders get to keep the billions in US dollars from their giveaway of the whole chicken farm.

Guyanese must decide whether they are happy with this state of affairs and will stay quiet or whether they will seethe with rage at being cheated by leaders from both sides of the political divide.

Citizens should not settle for handouts. They must call for their just share of the country’s patrimony.

They must demand accountability and transparency. More importantly, they must press for the billions to which they are entitled.

Guyanese must remember that it was only after persistent efforts of the press and individuals that the Coalition agreed to release the hideous 2016 Contract which Trotman signed in secret.

T h e y m u s t remember too that it was determination that finally exposed the Signing Bonus which the Coalition hid away from the people of the country. We are better and wiser now. And more determined.

Kaieteur News

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Friday October 16, 2020

GuySuCo floods Success lands to 'flush-out' squatters

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ands occupied by squatters at Success, East Coast of Demerara (ECD) are now heavily flooded following a decision earlier this week by the Guyana Sugar Corporation Incorporated (GuySuCo) to do so.

In light of the flooding, several squatters have vacated the lands, claiming that it was a move by GuySuCo to get rid of them.

However, a significant number of them have decided to stay put, insisting that the water will not hamper their existence.

When contacted yesterday, a GuySuCo official, who was in charge of releasing the water, said that the lands are being prepared for the planting of sugar cane.

The official explained that the objective was never to remove the squatters and, as far as he knows, it was just to prepare the lands for use.

The official said he was only fulfilling what was required of him.

It was reported that a number of squatters sought to attack those who were apart of the flooding exercise but ranks of the police force

Sections of the flooded Success lands.

(Photo Credit: R. D. Productions) quickly intervened.

Also speaking on the matter was acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sasenarine Singh, who told the Department of Public Information (DPI) yesterday that GuySuCo is mandated by the government to prepare the lands for cultivation. It was stated that the government hopes to restart operations at the Enmore Sugar Factory as early as 2022 and assiduous

moves are being made to meet that deadline.

“GuySuCo is not a housing agency. We are an agricultural agency and our exclusive business is in the cultivation and production of sugar and value-added sugar related products, and that is all we are trying to do in a legal and a legitimate way,” the CEO told DPI. Singh nevertheless empathized with the squatters who have been

affected, adding that steps were taken by the Housing Ministry to assist them in legally obtaining lands. He, moreover, urged them to relocate.

The corporation had issued a notice to squatters occupying the East Coast lands which included Success, Vryheid’s Lust and Chateau Margot, warning them that the lands were a part of GuySuCo’s Cane Breeding and Research

Station at the Enmore/La Bonne Intention Estate.

GuySuCo also stated that the lands are being used to cultivate new cane varieties for the industry.

They claimed that over 17 years of priceless research work worth over $2 billion were destroyed by the illegal occupants, as many of them burned lands to clear it and construct their homes.

GuySuCo has been trying to get the squatters out

of the area since September of this year. The first instance was during a visit to the Success area by GuySuCo and the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) officials.

This resulted in a standoff between the officials and the squatters that required police intervention then too.

Following that protest action, several others (Continued on page 3)

Kaieteur News

Friday October 16, 2020

PAGE 03

Award of Canje, Kaieteur blocks

must face independent forensic probe - Ramon Gaskin Map showing the Kaieteur and Canje blocks, in proximity to the Stabroek block.

Activist, Ramon Gaskin

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ward of Canje, Kaieteur blocks must face independent forensic probe – Ramon Gaskin Ramon Gaskin said that the suspicious awards of the Canje and Kaieteur oil blocks leading up to the 2015 general and regional elections, must face the scrutiny of independent forensic experts in an official investigation. He said that an expert team would allow Guyana to identify all those who are guilty of corrupt practices so that they may be prosecuted.

The activist addressed the matter during last Tuesday’s edition of Kaieteur Radio’s Petroleum 101.

“I really do believe that the matter is of such importance to this country, and the losses we have suffered as a result of this improper way of doing business, that we have to bring in forensic people,” Gaskin told Kaieteur Radio.

He said that the blocks should never have been awarded to anyone just before the 2015 elections, and that former Minister of Natural Resources, Robert Persaud, and former President Donald Ramotar should come clean about what really happened and who benefitted from these awards.

Gaskin believes that the awards were not legally done, as to receive such licences, companies are suppose to satisfy the government of their capabilities, assets and finances to acquire and develop the blocks.

He called on persons who have information about these transactions to come forward and allow themselves to be interrogated.

“We need proper people to do that work,” Gaskin said. “We need serious investigative and forensic people.”

He does not believe that the current

Irfaan Ali regime would open an investigation into anything done under the former Ramotar administration because they are all from the same party, the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C).

“They don’t operate like that,” he explained. “The PPP does not operate like that. In simple language, ‘them is they people’.”

Ramotar had recommended an independent investigation into the controversy, in a letter, in 2018. Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo also said that he would support an independent probe into the matter, while in Opposition last year. However, the Vice President now in power is yet to address the matter.

The two blocks are now collectively estimated to hold 7.1 billion oilequivalent barrels. The circumstances under which they were awarded likely forfeited hundreds of millions, even billions, of dollars in signing bonuses.

A Kaieteur News review of major corruption red flags in extractives deals, as listed by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), has shown that several apply to the Canje, Kaieteur situation. Global Witness also noted in a report it released earlier this year that there are worrying red flags, and recommended a probe. NRGI also has said that the red flags are tools that should be used to inquire further into what really happened.

GuySuCo floods Success lands to ....

From page 2 erupted over the following weeks as squatters maintained that unless they were given lands, they were not moving.

A housing drive was held by the Housing Ministry subsequently to enable the

squatters to legally obtain their own lands, but many of them contended that even though it was a good initiative, they would not be receiving these lands urgently and would still be without a place to live if they moved.

Kaieteur News

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Friday October 16, 2020

Kaieteur News Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana.

Publisher: GLENN LALL - Tel: 624-6456 Editor: Sharmain Grainger Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

EDITORIAL

Racism and children What kind of children are we rearing here? What burdens do we - family, community, and society - heap upon them? Do we know what we are doing to our children, and even if and when we do, do we care, given the jarring consequences on wider society in time to come?

In an article in the New York Times dated August 12, 2019, titled, “The impact of racism on children’s health,” the American Academy of Paediatrics came out with a policy statement, which asserted that the negative impacts start from as early as the womb. To repeat for our readers, who care: the fallout starts from the womb. Given the passions (and resulting anxieties and traumas) that surge uninterrupted in this society, what are we doing to each new generation of our children in Guyana? From only empirical observations and developments, it is clear that we are foisting huge handicaps on our offspring and on this society, which struggles futilely to progress beyond what has crippled.

“Racism is a significant social determinant of health clearly prevalent in our society now,” said Dr. Maria Trent, a professor of paediatrics at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, who was one of the co-authors of the statement. As places of prestige go, there is none better than Johns Hopkins. And as political presences go in Guyana, there are few higher than that of prime minister, who during the elections, said publicly that our racial problem must be faced head-on. Clearly, racism is a huge problem, and in Guyana there is none bigger, and which we are being informed starts from the earliest of ages, reaches everywhere. Yet we do nothing.

Racism has an impact on children and families who are targeted, the doctor noted, and also on those witnessing it. “We call it a socially transmitted disease: It’s taught, it’s passed down, but the impacts on children and families are significant from a health perspective,” said Dr. Trent.

This translates to stress and the emotional and psychological impairments that come quickly and enduringly.

It is not a good way for the young to begin their life’s journey anywhere, it certainly has not been conducive to the positive in our social arena, which has been plagued and weighed down with the reciprocal memories, widespread indoctrinations that start from the cradle and continue all the way to the grave. It should not come as any surprise that we are so warped in our outlooks and bent in our ways, not when the ground has been laid and the poisons sowed so fluidly and so early in the long and dark Guyanese context.

The experiences that shape parents also resonate in their children’s lives, Dr. Trent said; parents and caregivers who reported they had been treated unfairly were more likely to have children with behavioural issues such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, among other ills and woes that can linger for a lifetime.

Dr. AdiahaI A. Spinks-Franklin, a developmentalbehavioural paediatrician and associate professor of paediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine said that racial awareness in children follows a set of milestones. At age 3, children recognize human variations, including skin colour, but without assigning value to them. “A 4-year-old recognizes basic racial stereotypes,” she said. “Parents need to be aware of what their children are watching and provide diverse books and stories with strong positive models.” In Guyana, those “strong positive models” must come from the words, postures, attitudes, and emotions of parents. The tolerated, included, and appreciated, must be laid in stone in the home, and early.

If not, then we might as well be dead here, for the quality of life that is substituted and struggled with vainly.

By age seven, the doctor said, children develop racial permanency, “where you recognize the body you’re born in is the body you have, your skin colour isn’t going to change drastically.” Around nine, they become more aware of what place their own cultural group holds in society. It is that tendency to identification that leads down a bad road.

Everyone else is of the other, with little opportunity for turning back.

Unless we recognize these unerring truths and are resolved to do something to improve our lot, then we are doomed to keep repeating the racial devastations of the past.

Guyana’s opposition today lacks substance, is feeble and uninspiring Dear Editor, I wish I could say otherwise, for what I share is painful in its many realities, the extent of its implications for this society. Still, for those very reasons, what I have to say must be said. We have no opposition in this country; absolutely none that is honorable enough to overcome existing challenges. The essence of Guyana’s opposition today is its glaring lack of substance, its feeble, uninspiring pro forma presence. Oil did that to it.

We have been blessed with the best of natural endowments; we have been cursed and condemned with the worst of leaders, bar none but a few. Straight and true, they are not. As obvious examples, I tender regulations dismantled, institutional sentinels demolished, and dirty money campaign financiers rewarded.

It is the palpability of how politics transcend clean governance here; how campaign and inauguration promises are fulfilled. On all this, the opposition is merely about frail repartees; it is in lockstep with the government, inseparable

from its burgeoning perversities.

The PNC opposition is never closer to the PPP government than with G u y a n a ’s o i l w e a l t h .

Collaboration (in the dirtiest sense of the word) is better, more rewarding, than the hard struggles embodied in confrontation. With oil and its parceling out, at high levels, the opposition has hit the jackpot. It has located the perfect insider dealer across the table on the government side.

For a handsome percentage of the action, the opposition leadership has exposed itself, made itself weak, but is now loaded up with silver for its willingness to betray constituent and country. Oil has a history of doing that to men, especially pivotal leaders; just like the nectars of wine and women, and chemicals and gold. Oil is doing so again right here in this nakedly corrupt town, this den of thieves standing in stewardship over our oil mother lodes.

Editor, these are the parts that are not put in any political science textbooks, or political manifestoes, or civics classes. I associate

my unsparing evaluations of the opposition with the early p a i n s o f d e m o c r a c y ’s childbirth; it promises to be a long labor. These are among the things that I have gathered in this country to my profound regret. We are rich in talk and all the many shallow deceits and hypocrisies, and because of which we are so awfully poor in morals, ethics, integrity, principles, and honor. For emphasis, I had to use those many words representing an extravagance of redundancy.

The effort is worthwhile.

What is revealed by the absences and pretenses by the opposition on the burning issues of the day confirms that we have nothing, and nothing to recommend us.

We have none to stand for us, none to battle for us. The poorer in this society fool themselves in thinking that straws can be salvaged.

Citizens have been here before in uninterrupted leadership treacheries, but never like this. Today, with oil as the opulent quicksilver catalyst, the PPP government and PNC opposition have bonded inseparably to deceive and defeat us. It is why I submit, why I insist

that there is no opposition in Guyana today; not even a sliver of a shadow.

Unlike the reactions of a disillusioned partner, my rage is not that of the virago.

It is of the coldly clinical, and cruelly so. Candor demands this. The way that I read this is that the opposition committed so much of everything at its disposal for electoral triumph that it has absolutely nothing left. It is a spent force, but with one telling element still robustly intact. When the selfish interests of its inner circle are involved, it knows when to listen, recognize a bargain alliance, negotiate and barter, and take the plunge.

The splashes created by the opposition’s sellout of Guyanese on their oil gives a good shivering soaking.

Again, I make it official, what nobody dares to say.

There is no opposition here.

Whatever there once was has been subverted by crooked PPP leaders, who recognize their own kind across the aisle. There! I have now put everyone out their misery, especially poor expectant citizens.

Yours truly, GHK Lall

The means by which government is dealing with Success squatters are abhorrent Dear Editor, From the outset let it be made clear, I am not condoning or encouraging squatting but what I find abhorrent is the means by which the government is seeking to deal with the squatting of citizens in Success, East Coast Demerara. These are the children of Guyana that successive governments have failed. I visited the area on Monday afternoon to get a firsthand understanding of what is happening.

It was overwhelming to witness the evidence of how cruel political operatives could be in their pursuit of getting their own way.

These residents are being stripped of their dignity.

Some told me they were living there more than a decade. I was advised by those residents that after the 2015 election they attempted to squat on lands, including an area along Enmore public road, and were advised by officials of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to go into the cane fields at Success. The PPP/C

has one policy when in government and another when in opposition on the same issue.

I saw the access bridges that were broken down by the police and the flooded areas that are occupied by the residents who are now forced to live under worse conditions. The flooding is creating further public health hazards. This is not a case where lands are being flooded to prevent occupation; this is a case where people are already on the lands, in their homes and are being flooded, resulting in damage to clothes, household possessions, gardens and livestock. The emotional, health and financial costs to these citizens we must shoulder should we remain silent.

Whereas I do not condone taking land that does not belong to you this was encouraged by the current government. Those in Success are from the vulnerable class of people.

Many are squatting because they cannot do better. Most squatters of this nature are

not covetous land grabbers as those in Kingelly, West Coast Berbice. These are generally impoverished people with no means to acquire land, or are not being served properly by successive governments who have a responsibility to feed, clothe and house the nation through development projects and programmes.

These are the working class people of Guyana.

They are working hard but cannot afford to own a piece of land in 83,000 square miles. It is unconscionable and unacceptable in their state of impoverishment and need the government would seek to flood their lands, affecting men, women and children, increasing the risk of skin disease, diarrhea and vector borne diseases such as the deadly leptospirosis.

Flooding land in an area of pit latrine will create fecal over spilling. It is also interrupting any little thing these people can do to make a living. Society must condemn this, especially in these times. The Ministry of Health is being called on to

address the needs of these people lest we have a public health outbreak.

The PPP/C prided itself as a working class party; Cheddie Jagan would never have flooded lands where people occupy. Never in the history of Guyana has any government, outside of the Donald Ramotar and Bharrat Jagdeo governments, deliberately embarked on creating a public health crisis as a tool of management. We saw what happened in Georgetown. Here in 2020, new President Irfaan Ali has embarked on a similar pathway as his predecessors.

What manner of men are these? What manner of government conscious of health care deficiencies and needs would flood out lands where thousands of people are living? This is our Guyana once again.

Further, we must ask the question- how much difference would Success make to the proposed sugar manufacturing which can only survive anyhow with government subsidies?

(Continued on page 6)

Friday October 16, 2020

PAGE 5

Kaieteur News

Why did the Granger government not take steps to address the security concerns of Africans?

In his riposte to Ravi Dev, Tacuma Ogunseye makes the highly refutable claim that since 1992 ”African dominance in the coercive arms of the state” was ”ineffectual” in guaranteeing African security (SN, October 14,2020).

Tacuma seems to forget that while the disciplined forces remain the almost exclusive preserve of Africans, as he conceded, it was former President Granger who reintroduced the 1500 man People Militia, of primarily African recruits, while rebuilding the other services to full capacity and stacking key positions in his government with former “squaddies”.

Until fundamental changes are made in the disciplined forces, Indian (and all Guyanese) security

will remain a concern because with the option of using them always available in or out of power, the PNC cannot be counted on to renounce its penchant for violence as a means to maintain political power, even before Dr. Walter Rodney was assassinated by them. Ogunseye is no stranger to the issue of security. He has been implicated by Freddie Kissoon in the role of the Buxton “freedom fighters” at a time when w e saw the security

forces being challenged beyond its capabilities and he called upon his “kith and kin” in 2011.Ogunseye is rightly concerned about the security of Africans. But we are left to wonder, why did the Granger government, of which Ogunseye was a consistent apologist, not take steps to address the security concerns of Africans? The

fact remains that there is a real concern among Guyanese regarding the disciplined forces. The army, despite its limited success in protecting our national sovereignty, has a checkered legacy in domestic politics (seizing ballot boxes, kick down the door banditry, swearing loyalty to the Burnham dictatorship, Rodney killing, etc) even though we appreciate the fact that to date they have not intervened directly and independently into the political process.

In 1965, when then President David Granger enlisted as a 2nd Lieutenant, the British Government had commissioned an ICJ study that recommended that the disciplined forces should reflect the composition of the population for obvious reasons. Burnham shelved

The new government should immediately move the retirement age to 65 Dear Editor, The new government should immediately move the retirement age from 55 years to 65.

Those persons who reached 45 years at this point and will accumulate the required 33 years of service in 10 years can be allowed to retire at 55.

The provision is that once they retire, they cannot

and must not be rehired in any other areas of the public service on a contract basis.

An expanding economy and an impending shortage in skilled labour force makes this a necessity at this time.

It also minimizes the cost to government when in many instances, persons are allowed to retire, collect their pension and then

immediately rehired, in many instances in the same position they had just retired from.

Yours truly, Harrish Singh

their recommendations.

Professor George Danns, who gave public support to Granger days before the election, had previously documented the role of an expanding, and abusive disciplined force used to e nsure PNC’s power and domination in Guyana. In 2004, a Report of the Disciplined Forces Commission submitted to Parliament, of which Granger was a commissioner, recommended “streamlining”, “professionalizing”,

“decentralizing” and “balancing” the forces.

Guyanese remember all too well Desmond Hoyte’s references to ”slow fiah, mo fiah” and his ”kith and kin” comments at the Square of the Revolution. We have witnessed more recently, during the West Berbice protests, several incidents where police and army officers stood by as innocent victims were robbed and beaten.It is even more egregious for Ogunseye to argue that “the coercive arms of the Guyanese state” were ”neutralized” by ”the

influence of the US and Western powers, the United Nations, and international and regional treaties and conventions”. This is conjecture. The coalition leaders were confident that they had the full support of the disciplined forces up to the 11th hour when plans were being made to swear in David Granger during the 2020 elections. Had there been street protests against the flagrant rigging, Brigadier (rtd) David Granger would have leaned on the disciplined forces for support.

The coalition gambled, and squandered a real opportunity to repeat their 2015 electoral victory in 2020.

They miscalculated, hoping that the US and the international community would have backed an illegal coalition regime, whose leaders were emboldened by the fact that they could rely on kit and kin support while holding 70% of the population at bay.

If there is one thing that Tacuma should support it is the fact that it is unfair for Africans to disproportionately and unfairly bear the brunt of

defending the citizens of Guyana from both foreign and local enemies. There is a greater role for Indians and Amerindians and others to play in defending our nation, given all the challenges Guyana may face in the future.

Balance in the disciplined forces implies that a “targeted-outcome” should be established rather than a quota system to identify our best and brightest servicemen.

If the two major political parties had genuinely

confronted the Ethnic Security Dilemma, Guyanese would have been exposed to a more honest and democratic political culture. Aside from the creation of a more professional, decentralized and balanced disciplined forces, the government should establish an assessment of its policies through Ethnic Impact Statements to promote equity, diversity and fairness in all state institutions and initiatives. In our multiethnic society, the Amerindians and Indians must play an integral and inclusive role in our national defense.

Yours truly, Baytoram Ramharack

PAGE 6

Friday October 16, 2020

Kaieteur News

In a new Guyana, Guyanese will want to see that all politicians adhere to the rule of law Dear Editor, Venezuela has the largest reserves of oil in the world (300 Billion barrels).Since 1928, Venezuela has been infected with the oil ‘Dutch Disease’ in its financial, political, economic, and social spheres.

In essence, the economy is mismanaged.

The strategies of different governments were not sufficiently focused on using most of the oil revenues to grow a diversified, open and sustainable economy with competitive businesses in the non-oil sectors.

There is a very heavy dependence on oil exports for government revenue. Crude oil exports have always been a very large percentage of all exports (in 2019, it was 85%).

There is heavy borrowing from the forward sales of crude oil to fund projects.

Public spending is unrestrained and extravagant. Foreign debt and the debt-to-GDP ratio are high. Capital budgets for infrastructural projects are

badly implemented. Sufficient earnings from local and foreign investments are not re-invested into the national economy. The flight of capital to foreign destinations is high.

Local and foreign investments are highly skewed towards the oilrelated sectors. Significant fluctuations in foreign exchange rates negatively affect the competitiveness of the non-oil economic sectors.

The local private sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Production (GDP) decreases, especially in manufacturing and agriculture.

Most businesses are unable to identify and successfully pursue export activities. There are no effective export promotion institutions that support businesses to sustainably assemble and produce a diversity of value-added products and services for export markets. Venezuela is heavily dependent on all kinds of imports, especially food

...The means by which government is dealing with Success squatters From page 4 GuySuCo workers themselves should condemn what is happening to their fellow citizens in Success. Just how the government wants to care for sugar workers whom they see as vulnerable, the resi-

dents in Success too are deserving and in need.

The treatment being meted out to them is unjust and inhumane and must be corrected.

Yours truly, Lincoln Lewis

and raw materials that could be produced in the country.

Consequently, democracy is threatened and undermined by unequal ethnic and class competition that fosters political instability, violent conflicts and violations of the rule of law. Grand and petty corruption is rampant. All types of crime are increasing.

The rich, the upper middle class and many politicians waste resources on lavish lifestyles and consume a lot of foreign goods. Immigration is not managed properly.

Between 1950 and 2020, the Venezuelan population increased by 460% from 5 million persons to 28 million, because of waves of immigrants from Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East.

During the 1974-1979 government of socialdemocrat Carlos Andres Perez, who nationalized the oil industry in 1976, and during the 1999-2013 government of socialist Hugo Chavez, there were very high oil prices. The increased revenues were used to mainly finance infrastructure projects and social welfare programs to reduce poverty, and to expand health and education services. Some of those revenues were invested to support a limited diversification of the economy that included an auto-assembly sector, and some manufacturing and agricultural businesses. But these were short-lived successes because, when the high oil prices ended, poverty

and inequality returned with a vengeance for the majority of Venezuelans.

The situation now under the government of President Nicolas Maduro is even worse with low oil prices and the imposition of sanctions by the USA. There are shortages of some types of food. The inflation rate is very high. Many workers, farmers and the poor are selling household belongings to buy food. There is a fuel shortage. Many working people cannot afford to buy gasoline and cooking gas, and they are using firewood to do their cooking.

Corruption is even more widespread in the government and the security services.

Many rural communities cannot survive because they are heavily dependent on public funds which are significantly decreasing.

Venezuela has one of the highest crime rates in the world.

Millions of Venezuelans have left the country to escape growing poverty and significant declines in health and education services. Maybe 50% of the 45,000 Venezuelan Guyanese diaspora have migrated back to Guyana and to the Caribbean and North America.

In a new Guyana, free of the ‘Dutch Disease’, we Guyanese will want to see that all politicians adhere to the rule of law and practice inclusive governance in an accountable and transparent way.

We want our politicians to lead the way and stand up against grand and petty corruption, extravagance and the wastage of public resources. The government must ensure that all capital projects are efficiently and

effectively completed, free of corruption.

The priority must be supporting the private sector to create diverse job and business opportunities especially for the youth who are the overwhelming majority of the population.

The education system must focus on producing graduates for the future productive sectors of the economy.

The seven Guyanese ethnic communities (Indigenous, Africans, Indians, Mixed, Portuguese, Chinese and European) would work together to build strong professional and nonpartisan government institutions that would successfully manage a significant reduction in poverty, a low crime rate, better public security, fair and equal competition, and less dependence of some communities and businesses on government revenues for survival. The main objective must be increased incomes for all Guyanese and equal pay for equal work for Guyanese employees compared to foreign employees.

The government would not borrow from the future sales of oil to finance projects.

Over the next 25 years, through a diversified export economy, dependence on revenue from crude oil exports will decrease. Incentives and regulations will be implemented to discourage capital flight and encourage the re-investment of local and foreign earnings into the economy. The foreign debt, the debt-to-GDP ratio and the inflation rate would be kept low, and the exchange rate would remain stable.

The oil funds would be carefully used for a national

development plan to restructure the economy in priority areas: [1] new infrastructure projects in electric power (hydro, solar and wind), roads, highways, ports, railways and broadband;[2] Research and Development (R&D) to improve productivity and the competitiveness of businesses through better management, mechanization and technology; [3] diversified growth of a competitive local private sector in the non-oil sectors, including the agricultural, manufacturing, construction, engineering, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and tourism sectors; [4] reduction of rural and hinterland poverty through the diversification and modernization of agriculture for the export of more processed foods, and for replacing some food imports with quality local products; [5]support for more resourcebased manufacturing using raw materials from the agricultural, forestry and mining sectors to manufacture products for export markets and for the local construction and housing industries; and[6] creation of effective export promotion institutions that will support the private sector to export diversified valueadded products and services for current and new markets.

Finally, our new Guyana will have a dynamic and wellmanaged immigration policy to encourage brain circulation from the Guyanese diaspora, and to attract foreign employees with specific skills.

Yours truly, Geoffrey Da Silva Former Ambassador to Venezuela

Friday October 16, 2020

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

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Friday October 16, 2020

UNDP offers to help Guyana Prosecution closes case in Gary Best’s dangerous driving trial with electoral reform

T

T

he United N a t i o n s Development Programme (UNDP) has offered assistance to Guyana on the issue of electoral reform.

A c c o r d i n g t o information issued by the Ministry of Legal Affairs, UNDP’s resident representative, Jairo Valverde, met with Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, on Wednesday where support for Guyana’s electoral systems, among other things was discussed.

According to the Ministry, Valverde spoke of a plethora of technical support that the UNDP can offer on a myriad of governance issues including but not limited to the strengthening of democracy, justice reform and electoral reform.

Valverde indicated that the UNDP has in excess of

UNDP Resident Representative, Jairo Valverde (left), and Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, on Wednesday (Photo Credit: Attorney General’s Chambers) eight thousand (8,000) technical persons deployed across the world assisting various governments in electoral reform and other key areas that require technical support in

governance.

As such, he offered to provide technical assistance and support to implement the recommendations for improvement and change (Continued on page 22)

he prosecution has closed its case in the dangerous driving trial of former Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Chief of Staff, Gary Best. Best of 108 Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara, was charged earlier this year for causing death by dangerous driving in which national cyclist, Jude Bentley, was killed.

The trial is being conducted virtually by Magistrate Rondell Weever in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

During the continuation of the matter yesterday, attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes, who is representing Best, cross-examined the witnesses who testified against his client.

After the witnesses were crossed-examined the prosecution indicated that they would like to close their case.

On the next hearing of the matter both the prosecutor and defense have to submit their written submissions.

On Best’s first court appearance, he was released on $500,000 bail.

He was not required to plea to the indictable charge which stated that “on February 8, 2020, at Clive Lloyd Drive, Georgetown, he drove motor vehicle PRR 8182 in a manner dangerous to the public thereby causing the death of Bentley”.

The trial for that charge commenced on Tuesday, October 6, 2020, in the

Dead: National Cyclist, Jude Bentley.

Former GDF Chief of Staff, Gary Best.

Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

During the trial, seven witnesses testified – four police officers and three civilians.

The People’s National Congress (PNC) executive member was also charged for driving under the influence of alcohol.

He denied the charge, which stated that “on February 8, 2020 at Clive Lloyd Drive, Georgetown, he drove motor vehicle PRR 8182 while his blood alcohol level was at 0.85 micrograms.”

He was granted self-bail on that charge and released on his own recognizance.

Best was asked to lodge his passport and to report to the Traffic Headquarters once per month at 9am to the Officer-in-Charge until the completion of the matter, as conditions attached to bail.

On a previous hearing of the matter, the court learnt

that Best served his country for nearly 35 years and that he also served as a presidential advisor, a member of the Legal Aid Clinic and is the recipient of a Medal of Service.

Kaieteur News had reported that the accident which resulted in the death of Bentley occurred at around 5am on February 8, 2020. It was reported too that Bentley was struck by a black Land Cruiser which was being driven by Best.

Reports indicate that Best and Bentley were heading in an easterly direction when the former slammed into the cyclist, taking down a utility pole located on a median at the same time.

According to the facts of the charge, a breathalyzer test was conducted on Best moments after the accident and it revealed that he was over the legal limit of alcohol which is 0.35.

Kaieteur News

Friday October 16, 2020

PAGE 09

China is our best hope!

B

y the end of the m o n t h o f October, a mere two weeks away, another 20 persons may die from the novel coronavirus.

This is based on the large number of cases which has been registered over the past two weeks.

On the last day of September there were 2,894 positive cases. Two weeks into the new month, the number of cases increased to 3,589.

This means that in the first 14 days of the month 694 persons tested positive for the virus. This should give you an idea of why there will continue to be more deaths before the month is ended.

The government knows it too. In fact from the moment they took the decision to not shut the country down after they assumed office, they knew that this decision would literally have deadly consequences.

They know that more tests would mean more positive cases and more deaths. But they also ought to have known that with the reopening of the economy, the death rate would increase.

This is why in recent days the government has become so defensive.

They are drumming into people’s head that the hardships associated with a lockdown would be unbearable at this time. They know better.

They know that while a lockdown will create hardships, this is not as worse a fate than the grief which will visit dozens of families because they have lost a loved one to the virus

because the government refuses to tighten social restrictions.

The government is also claiming that it attempting to balance safety with the need t o p r o t e c t p e o p l e ’s livelihoods.

In other words, it is attempting to balance the economic and health considerations of the pandemic.

This defensiveness is probably the best clue that the government expects more deaths in the days and weeks ahead.

It has taken the government more than two months and still it cannot get the testing right. It has now reduced the time for tests results down to less than an hour. This is good news f i n a l l y. B u t w i t h t h e reopening of the airport, the capacity of the National Reference Laboratory is going to be sorely tested.

Testing machines which have been ordered are reportedly lost in transit or coming on a slow train from the Far East. The status of the gene testing machines has not yet been announced nor whether the cartridges to operate these machines have been sourced.

The virus’ spread is now affecting all Regions. And yet, there is no testing capacity within the Regions.

Imagine someone in a remote community in Region Nine has to travel miles and days to be tested and then having to wait a few more days while the test results are sent to Georgetown.

By the time the test results are obtained that person’s health may have seriously deteriorated because of the lack of a

diagnosis.

No regional strategies have been unveiled. This is so vital to containing the spread of the disease that its absence is a shocking case of negligence.

This pandemic cannot be contained without regional strategies. Ask China.

They are still the amazing example of how the spread of the virus was suppressed.

China remains Guyana’s best hope for bringing the pandemic under control.

Guyana should not be asking the Chinese for ventilators.

The chance of surviving after being placed on a ventilator is nothing to shout about.

China is now the best hope for an early vaccine.

Even if the Americans beat them to it, there is no guarantee that any American, or for that matter British vaccine, is going to reach Guyana before next March.

By that time more than 600 G u y an es e w o u ld h av e expired from the virus.

Guyana cannot wait therefore on the Americans or the British vaccines.

China is our best shot. Their Phase three tests are advanced and they are now a frontrunner to produce a vaccine.

Close to half a million persons have already taken one of the vaccines being developed in China and close to another 100,000 more were expected to be inoculated this week as part of the ongoing trials.

News report quote Chinese officials as saying that a vaccine should be available either early November or December which is far earlier than other countries with the exception of Russia.

Dem boys seh...

If yuh good enough, yuh nah gat problem finding wuk De rule is dat once you deh pun de list of candidates fuh de Opposition, yuh should resign once de new government come in.

Once your employment is not by the Public Service Commission, then you are liable to be terminated at the whim of de government since you do not have what dem boys does call security of tenure.

Some people now wake up from dem slumber. Dem now realizing dat dem bin put dem name on de List of Candidates fuh de Opposition party and therefore dem should not expect to be retained by the new government. Dem gat some others who deh pun contract and de contract provide fuh dem termination with notice. Dem should not vex if dat happen. Dat is de risk yuh does tek when yuh ah wan contract employee.

Dem boys wan know about some of dem

people wah get dem wuk through lines. Dem boys know about wan person who nah apply fuh wuk. She was sent to a certain place and given a big wuk for which she was woefully unsuited. If yuh can’t do de wuk yuh should walk.

Dem boys nah interested in dem wah shedding crocodile tears or dem cheerleaders pun de side wah claiming witch-hunting and victimization. Dem boys always believe dat if you good enough and if yuh professional enough, regardless of de government, yuh gan either be retained or yuh gan find wuk. If dem wah feel dem victimized are as good as dem supporters feel, dem should have no problem in finding new wuk.

Talk half and remember if yuh running fuh political office, yuh can’t call yuh self wan public servant!

Without a vaccine by the end of this year, the country’s health system is likely to be overwhelmed. And so too will be plots in the cemetery.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

Kaieteur News

PAGE 10

Friday October 16, 2020

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

Audwin Rutherford and the AFC: People create their own untergang

M

r. B a s i l Blackman, an enduring PNC stalwart and a confidante of David Granger, has resigned from the PNC executive.

Executive member of the AFC, Audwin Rutherford (AR), has departed from the party itself.

I d o n ’ t k n o w M r.

Blackman but I am a friend of Rutherford. Both men have a certain characteristic that links them in terms of temperament. They chose not to serve destiny when destiny was calling them.

Both men chose to resign

after their party spent five years in power then lost the election.

When you listen to their emanations after their exit, it makes you wonder what exactly they were doing from 2015 and where they were living. I will expand on the politics of Rutherford because I know him well. I will leave the Blackman thing for another column. I regard AR as one of the better minds inside the AFC. For the entire tenure of the AFC, beginning in late 2015, I have been critical of the direction of the AFC and the

philosophical betray that took over the souls of six of its leading generals (hereafter referred to as 6G.) In all that time, I would discuss the failings and depravities of the AFC with AR and on every occasion, without exception, he and I were on the same wavelength. I never understood why at least five of them in the second tier leadership, including AR, never confronted 6G and told them that they were heading down the self-destructive chasm.

I could only think of

three reasons: 1 - People, like AR, felt that given the relentlessness of opposition politics they should not rock the boat; 2 - They were too weak in character to challenge the 6G. They feared being ostracized or humiliated; 3 - Whatever they wanted from the government, they felt would eventually come their way.

Although one of the three reasons above or all three together holds the answer, A R ’s p o s t - e l e c t i o n frustration cannot be sympathized with. An analogy is in order. If the police, the newspapers and society have been warning citizens not to be alone on the Georgetown seawall after 2A.M. then do you expect sympathy when you are robbed? Did you not know that was coming?

There was literally an ocean of moral turpitudes in the AFC after it came to power in 2015. I discussed these Herculean stables with AR for over five years after 2015. He knew the 6G were no better than the leaders of the PPP, the criticism of whom brought the AFC to power. Even before the AFC ministers were sworn in, 6G called a friend of theirs who never lifted a finger to help the AFC from 2005 when it was born right up to 2015, and offered her a ministerial

portfolio.

I am tired writing of this particular manifestation of ugly degeneracy but its importance lies in the inherent immorality of the AFC. AR knew that when he attended the statutory meetings of the executive committee, the decisions were irrelevant because 6G decided any and everything in the AFC. AR knew the AFC executives were never told what the final outcome of the dialogue between the PNC and AFC to renew the Cummingsburg Accord was.

The AFC and PNC announced that some details had to remain secret.

AR knew that there was never internal democracy inside the AFC and its leader was in fact far more ethically flawed than the very PPP that AR campaigned to defeat.

AR knew that corruption was rampant in the APNU+AFC government.

A bigwig’s son was selling a certain piece of paper, the end result of which was prodigious sums going to his father.

Then came the dénouement. The 6G which had now become 5G (because Dominic Gaskin had withdrawn) selected its 9MPs in a game of charade.

First, the selection was done through a zoom meeting with the executives. When 5G

Frederick Kissoon realized that the nine selectees included persons it d i d n ’t w a n t t o g o t o parliament, it scrapped the choices and ordered that executives submit a list in a few days’ time. During that time, 5G lobbied for its own list and got it. The results were stalwarts were omitted and some sycophants of 5G made it.

I end with the question that I will ask when I look at the Blackman resignation – where was AR and others like him when things were going so badly that a school boy could have seen that the APNU+AFC would have lost the 2020 election? I wish AR the best of luck in whatever he does in the future. Politics in Guyana is a cat and mouse game with Dracula, and Dracula always wins.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

APNU+AFC to present Observation Reports in election petitions -says it will not rely on SOPs

T

h e m a i n parliamentary opposition, the A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), will only present the Observation Reports which were produced from the National Recount in its two election petitions. Also, the party will not rely on its Statement of Polls (SOPs)—which remain hidden. Sharing this and other details was APNU+AFC Member of Parliament (MP) and Attorney-at-Law, Roysdale Forde S.C. During the party’s virtual press conference yesterday, Forde reminded that the Coalition is challenging the issues related to the final election declaration. This declaration showed a clear victory for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), but the APNU+AFC maintains that the party’s success was fraudulently gained.

Consequently, the party

expects the Court to determine and declare that the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) is not entitled to base his report required by Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act on data generated from the Recount purported to be carried out under Order No. 60 of 2020; the Election Report based on Certificates of District Tabulation from the National Recount is illegal, null and void; and lastly that the declaration of the President by the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) based on the Election Report, which was premised on Certificates of District Tabulation from the National Recount, is illegal, null and void as these documents were fabricated to facilitate the unconstitutional recount.

Acting Chief Justice (CJ), Roxanne GeorgeWi l t s h i r e , a n n o u n c e d October 22, 2020 as the date for a case management

APNU+AFC MP and Attorney-at-Law, Roysdale Forde S.C. hearing, and Forde anticipates that it will commence in a few weeks’ time. Forde added that he expects both election petitions will be heard and ruled upon within six to eight months.

He went on to suggest that close attention be paid to the Statement of Recount (SOR), the Certificate of District Tabulation, the Observation Reports and other documents which were generated out of the exercise.

With this the Attorney-atLaw contended, “In my opinion, we do not need to rely evidentially on those (Continued on page 19)

Friday October 16, 2020

Kaieteur News

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Friday October 16, 2020

Despite airports’ reopening… Ministry official says no

additional COVID-19 isolation facilities needed The Ministry of Health (MOH) has assured that there will be no need for additional facilities to isolate COVID-19 patients in light of the recent reopening of the c o u n t r y ’s a i r p o r t s t o commercial traffic.

Concerns have been raised regarding the airports’ reopening and the chances of Guyana having an influx of COVID-19 cases. Among the concerns too was whether the Ministry had the capacity to offer additional institutional isolation care to

infected incoming passengers. Also highlighted was the number of patients currently in home isolation.

That number currently exceeds 800. But a Ministry spokesman told Kaieteur News yesterday that there will be no need for additional institutional isolation provisions since adequate measures are in place to monitor those coming in.

The official also assured that there is currently sufficient management of isolation spaces.

It was also announced earlier that there is a protocol in place whereby incoming passengers are required to take a second Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test in Guyana if a first test that was taken in their country of origin has exceeded 72 hours. Passengers are required to take a PCR test in their country of origin at least seven days leading up to their flight.

Once the passenger arrives in Guyana with a PCR test that exceeds 72

hours, a second PCR test will be conducted at the airport and will receive the results in a reasonable time. Persons who test positive will be isolated at the Liliendaal Infectious Disease Hospital also known as the Ocean View COVID-19 hospital, according to the spokesman.

He stated that the Ocean View Hospital currently can house a number of isolation patients but since most incoming passengers are producing PCR test results that were conducted 72 hours and under- before their

flight, the chances of a high influx of cases, which will require isolation, is unlikely.

However, the spokesman said that if there is a trend in incoming COVID-19 cases, efficient accommodations will be made available to address the situation.

Currently, institutional isolation is being offered at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and the Ocean View Hospital.

According to a GPHC official, most of the patients at the Ocean View Hospital

are patients who had previously required critical care in the GPHC’s COVID19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) but have started to recover.

Based on reports from the Ministry, on Tuesday only 15 persons were being housed at the Ocean View Hospital.

The Ministry, it was revealed, is also actively procuring equipment as works on the facility continues which will eventually provide accommodation for a significantly large number of patients, if needed.

Another death as Ministry records 31 new COVID-19 cases The Ministry of Health yesterday announced that there has been yet another death resulting from COVID-19 complications. This death has moved the country’s death toll to 107.

The latest fatality is that of a 46-year-old female from Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) who died while receiving care at a medical facility, the Ministry revealed in an update yesterday.

In that update the Ministry noted that contact was made with the relatives and other persons to facilitate contact tracing and rapid assistance to those who may have been exposed to the now deceased person.

Also the Ministry revealed that there have been 31 new cases of the coronavirus disease.

According to the Ministry’s daily dashboard, of the new cases, 18 are in Region Four; six in Region Two; one in Region Seven and five in Region Nine.

Additionally, the Ministry reported that there are 16 persons in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit, 115 in institutional isolation and 860 in home isolation. An additional 57 persons are in institutional quarantine.

To date 2,522 persons have recovered. A total of 16,451 tests have been conducted to date.

The Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard for October 15, 2020.

Kaieteur News

Friday October 16, 2020

PAGE 13

Illegal mining operation destroyed in New River Basin An aerial view of the area.

A

Joint Operation conducted earlier this week by the Guyana Defence Force in collaboration with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC),

The entrance to a tunnel.

unearthed a massive tunnel mining operation in the New River Basin, some 50 miles east of Masakanari (Guns Village), South Rupununi.

In a release the GDF said that the team located the camp and discovered three tunnels, one of

which was abandoned, while the remainder were deemed active. The team also discovered several pieces of equipment including a satellite dish. No one was found at the camp, the release noted.

It added, “due to the remoteness

of the location, seizure of the equipment was not feasible, so they were subsequently destroyed.�

Investigators believe that the persons who were conducting mining operations may have been utilising an illegal airstrip in Brazil,

located some two miles south of the Guyana/Brazil border.

The New River Basin is designated a Rare Earth Mineral Reserve and, as such, mining is strictly prohibited in that area, the release stated.

PAGE 14

Kaieteur News

Friday October 16, 2020

Kaieteur News

Friday October 16, 2020

PAGE 15

100 students benefit from Superbet-donated Kindle tablets

Some of the parents who received the Kindle tablets on behalf of their children.

B

et placing company, Superbet, concluded the distribution of 100 Kindle Fire tablets to Guyanese students.

In a release, Guiana Holding Inc., the company that runs the Superbet brand, stated that the company recognised the degree to which the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted access to education for children, particularly with regard to accessing virtual and

online classes.

“As a result,” the company stated, “Superbet embarked on a project to distribute 100 Kindle Tablets towards students across Guyana. The process required an application to be completed and sent along with relevant documents which resulted in hundreds of applications being received, out of which 100 were randomly pulled from a raffle drum to receive the Kindle.”

The successful families were then chosen to uplift their devices, with the company staggering the distribution in groups and over the past two weeks beginning from the 1st of this month, a measure taken to avoid a large gathering. All other COVID-19 protocols were observed including the washing of hands, sanitizing, temperature checks and social distancing.

In his remarks, General M a n a g e r, M r. S h r i k a n t

Kisoensingh, stated that Superbet is committed to its corporate social responsibility and sees education as a necessity which every student should enjoy.

“We believe,” Mr. Kisoensingh said, “that education is the passport to the future and hope that this gesture assists the students in a meaningful manner along their journey.”

He added that this project was a gesture towards the Guyanese

people during these unprecedented times in an effort to assist the education sector with much needed resources.

The company, in its release, said that the Kindle Distribution Project was part of its corporate social responsibility efforts which included other donations and sponsorship, viewable on the company’s website at www.superbet.gy or on its official social media accounts.

PAGE 16

Kaieteur News

Friday October 16, 2020

Kaieteur News

Friday October 16, 2020

PAGE 17

Former Deputy Commissioner’s son remains in custody Robbery at Chinese supermarket …

P

olice sources have confirmed that the son of a former D e p u t y P o l i c e Commissioner remains in custody for Tuesday’s robbery of the Egou Chinese Supermarket located at Melanie Damishana, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

The in custody was the security guard on duty at supermarket at the time of the robbery.

Neigbours were alerted to gunshots at the supermarket around 19:30hrs Tuesday while others recalled four gunmen entering the building. Not long after a nearby police station received a distress call of an ongoing armed robbery at the supermarket.

The men reportedly stormed into the supermarket, stole the now detained security guard’s 12gauge shotgun, attacked a male Chinese national, Zhi Lu Lin, and dealt him one blow to the head with a handgun.

The men demanded cash and shot another Chinese national, Zhi Shan Lin, during the course of the robbery Police had responded quickly and almost foiled the bandits’ plan. However, the bandits managed to escape before police arrived but not before ripping out a few security cameras along with its DVR and stealing some cash.

A police report revealed that each of the bandits wore

a face mask and it was determined that they had stolen $1,400,000 in cash.

The men also carted off a Samsung S8 cellphone and a quantity of Digicel phone cards.

Kaieteur News reported that ranks were told of a suspicious grey Toyota Allion motorcar which sped off from in front of the building in the direction of Berbice.

Police gave chase but then received a 911 distress call informing that one of the gunmen was still in the building.

They returned immediately with back-up and surrounded the building.

There was a brief standoff between police and the bandits.

Tear gas was dispersed in an attempt to flush-out the bandit.

However, when police entered and cleared the supermarket no one was found.

Information was later received by ranks of a report lodged at the Vigilance Police Station. It was revealed that a university student, while driving his car, was confronted by four masked men carrying a shotgun.

He took evasive action and sped off. He recalled hearing a gunshot fire behind him as he was driving away. Fortunately, no bullet hit his car.

R a n k s b e g a n investigating, and based on

Scenes from the Egou Supermarket Tuesday night.

the information received, they arrested the security guard. He is believed to be the alleged mastermind behind the crime and was later identified as the son of a former deputy police commissioner.

Investigators learnt that the bandits had at least three hand guns. One of the bandits, it was revealed, had walked pass the security guard, entered the supermarket and purchased two bottles of Guinness.

That bandit exited and called in the others who were waiting outside. During their escape, Kaieteur News was told by a source that one of the bandits was approached by the security guard. The bandit then proceeded to (Continued on page 22)

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PAGE 19

Cops caught on camera trying to drive away after hitting down pedal cyclist

A

video yesterday surfaced on Facebook and subsequently went viral after it revealed that three police ranks in a pick-up attempted to drive away after hitting down a pedal cyclist.

It is unclear as to where the incident occurred but the video was recorded a little after 07:00hrs.

Kaieteur News reached out to the relative police authorities to ascertain the location but up to press time they too were without a clue.

Nevertheless, investigations into the matter are ongoing.

Not recorded in the video was how the accident occurred but what is clear is that the ranks had attempted to drive away.

They were forced to abort their plan, however,

after residents of the area, including the individual who recorded the video, confronted them.

A man (the pedal cyclist) without shirt appeared as if he was in pain and a bicycle was seen lying on the road with the ranks standing nearby and looking at him.

One of the policemen looked up to the man recording the video and indicated with his hand to stop recording.

The man replied angrily, “don’t tell me to stop videoing.”

The rank in turn told him “nah, ah only shaking yuh off.” The man responded “me ain’t want you shake me off.”

This somewhat aggravated the rank who began uttering foul language

A screen Grab from the live video

APNU+AFC to present...

From page 10 Statement of Polls… It is irrelevant to the process that the Elections Commission has already put in place and it would be irrelevant in terms of the elections petitions that would have been filed by this Coalition.”

Giving support to Forde assertions was MP and Attorney-atLaw, Amanza Walton-Desir, who argued that it is not the merit that is in dispute, but the anomalies and irregularities which the Coalition claimed were unearthed during the recount exercise.

Nonetheless, the APNU+AFC looks forward to the early commencement of hearings and is eager to present its compelling case in court. In fact the party is confident that the elections petitions will succeed in vitiating the March 2nd General and Regional Elections.

and vulgar slangs to the man.

The man retaliated in the same fashion and scolded the officers for attempting to flee the scene after the accident.

The other rank joined in and started cursing the man as he continued to video them. One of the ranks identified as the driver of the pick-up, shouted that the pedal cyclist rode into the vehicle.

Once again the man scolded the ranks, pointing out that even if the pedal

cyclist was at fault it is completely wrong for them to drive away and leave an injured man on the road without rendering assistance.

He also called them disrespectful for the way they behaved as well as for their use of indecent language towards him.

During the verbal combat, the ranks even warned the man that they had marked his face and “worse will happen to him.”

The back and forth attracted the attention of another pedal cyclist who stopped to assess the scene.

Other residents also backed up the man videoing in scolding the ranks for their wrong doing.

The ranks were seen picking up the bicycle and giving it back to the man they hit down. They also kicked his slippers towards his feet.

The man videoing then advised the policemen to take the injured man to the

hospital since he could have sustained severe injuries.

Other persons also rushed to the scene to investigate. The pedal cyclist was heard telling them that he did not want to go to the hospital.

He told them that he was okay and had only hit his testicles.

The verbal confrontation continued a few minutes more and ended after the pedal cyclist rode away and the cops drove off.

Kaieteur News

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Friday October 16, 2020

Frontline workers will be first to get COVID-19 vaccine “other at-risk groups will be prioritised - Health Minister Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, has said Government will ensure its frontline workers are first to benefit from the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available.

Currently, the Ministry is in discussion with several countries that are actively pursuing a vaccine. “We have had initial discussions with the Government of India. Through those discussions we know that India will be working to

produce at least one billion doses of vaccines sometime early next year. Once the trial goes through to the phase three trial, that shows it is working, then they [India] will produce one billion doses of vaccines,” Minister Anthony said during Thursday’s COVID-19 update.

In a Department of Public Information report, it was revealed that discussions were also held with Argentina. That country

is working on producing 250 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, some of which will be made available to countries in South America.

In early September, President Irfaan Ali and A rg e n t i n a ’s P r e s i d e n t Alberto Fernandez had discussed regional collaboration and support in the fight against COVID-19.

Since then, Minister Anthony has held follow-up meetings with both the Argentine Health Minister

a n d t h a t c o u n t r y ’s Ambassador to Guyana.

“So we will see how those discussions progress.

We h a v e a l s o h a d discussions with the Ambassador here from Russia and as you know, they have one vaccine that right now is in clinical trials in Russia. So, we will see what comes out of the clinical trials and whether we can be able to utilise such vaccines here,” the Minister said.

Additionally, Minister Anthony said Guyana can utilise the COVAX Facility for payment. The Facility is a global initiative that brings together governments and manufacturers to ensure eventual COVID-19 vaccines reach those in greatest need.

“They realise that many countries around the world might not be able to pay for these vaccines, so they have created a financial mechanism where they will work with researchers trying to discover these vaccines, take it through the phase three trial and then work with manufacturers. We have been assured that whatever the cost of the vaccines, through COVAX, that GAVI will cover a substantial portion of those cost for Guyana,” the Minister said.

GAVI is a global vaccine alliance which brings together public and private sectors with the shared goal of creating equal access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony. world’s poorest countries.

GAVI’s support usually goes to the world’s poorest countries, based on national income.In 2011, Guyana was among four countries in the Americas which began the process of graduating out of GAVI when its gross national income surpassed US$1,500 per capita, the t h r e s h o l d f o r G AV I eligibility. However, support for immunisation programmes continued as the country remained eligible for GAVI support.

GNBS issues new requirements in wake of ‘tyre ban’ reversal

I

n light of the reversal of the ban on importing used passenger car tyres, the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) has issued an advisory to importers, highlighting specific requirements that must be complied with.

The new requirements state that all new and used tyres that are imported must comply with the requirements of the Guyana Standard Specification for pneumatic passenger car tyres GYS 67:2017 (Second Edition).

Also, all tyres being imported are required to be examined by the GNBS at the time of importation to determine

whether or not they comply with requirements based on the National Standard.

The GNBS strongly advised that all noncomplying tyres will be seized and/or destroyed by the GNBS. The Bureau is therefore urging importers to become familiar with all of the stipulated requirements in the aforementioned standard, which can be purchased from the GNBS. The reversal on the ban of importing used passenger car tyres has been effective since October 1, and was among several budgetary provisions in the National Budget of 2020.

21

PAGE 22

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A feud between a Guyanese family and a Venezuelan family at Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara, has left two persons nursing chop wounds. Residents of the area are concerned that the dispute could lead to more causalities or even leave some one dead.

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into the neigbourhood.

According to information reaching this publication, on Monday a dispute erupted between the Venezuelans and their Guyanese neighbours and soon turned bloody.

This newspaper learnt that the Venezuelan woman got drunk that afternoon and got into a misunderstanding with her three brothers-in-law.

They began beating her and she reportedly ran over to the neighbour’s yard to seek refuge but they told her and the brother-in-laws to “get out”.

The men, Kaieteur News was told, became annoyed and cursed their neighbours.

A heated argument erupted between the two families which included name calling and threats from both sides.

Later that day, around 19:30hrs, 17-year-old Navindra Bharat, a member of the Guyanese family, was attacked by the three Venezuelan brothers while sitting at a culvert with his friends.

According to a police report, one of the Venezuelan brothers dealt Bharat several lashes to his body with a bicycle chain and another chopped him to his head with a cutlass.

However, Bharat managed to escape but collapsed in

front of his yard. He was rushed to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where he was treated and referred to the West Demerara Regional Hospital. He was later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was treated and eventually sent away.

Kaieteur News was informed that on Wednesday afternoon, the feud escalated again.

This media house learnt that two of Bharat’s sisters were walking down the road when the Venezuelan woman armed herself with a piece of wood and attempted to lash the sisters. However, the sisters ran home but the woman

chased after them.

A fight then ensued between the Venezuelan woman and one of Bharat’s sisters.

In an attempt to separate the women, one of the Venezuelan brothers got involved.

Upon seeing this, Bharat’s brother armed himself with a cutlass and ran to his sister’s aid.

He dealt the Venezuelan man a chop to his hand and almost severed it.

The Venezuelan man was rushed to a hospital where he is currently receiving treatment. The matter was reported and an investigation has been launched into the chopping incidents.

Former Deputy Commissioner’s...

From page 17 relieve the security guard of his fire arm.

This newspaper had reported that the security guard had confronted the bandits but they had overpowered him.

However, investigators found it strange that the security guard did not attempt to raise an alarm during the course of the robbery but rather decided to confront the men while they were leaving.

Information reaching this newspaper suggests that in his defense, the security guard related that he was not aware of what was going on since he had nodded off with earphones plugged in his ears. When he realized that there was a robbery, he said he tried to detain the men but one of them placed a gun to his face and threatened to shoot. He was forced to give up his weapon and the men fled.Sources said that it is alleged that the security guard was heard speaking of a robbery of the supermarket before it happened.

...UNDP offers to help Guyana with From page 8 that would be made to the electoral process after the conclusion of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) established by President Irfaan Ali to examine and investigate the events following the 2nd March, 2020, elections in Guyana.

In return, the AG highlighted a number of projects that Government will be unfolding, a component of which is to make Guyana the arbitration center for CARICOM and Latin America as well as Constitutional Reform to fortify Guyana’s democratic process.

He noted that the UNDP Guyana office has made strides in all sectors and gave its support, especially in the legal sector.

In relation to constitutional reform, which has gar-

nered much attention as a result of the events that unfolded after the 2nd March, 2020 election and preceding the no-confidence motion in 2018, Nandlall emphasized that while constitutional reform i s v e r y d e s i r able and needed, constitutional compliance is equally important.

“One can have the best Constitution in the world, but if politicians blatantly refuse to comply with it then society becomes dysfunctional,” the Attorney General added.

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ECB confirms plans to undertake first tour of Pakistan in 15 years ESPNcricinfo - The ECB has confirmed it is in talks with the PCB about a short tour to Pakistan in late January or early February.

The tour, first revealed as a possibility by ESPNcricinfo on October 8, is likely to consist of three T20Is and would be England’s first visit to Pakistan since late 2005.

While England are not currently scheduled to tour Pakistan until late 2022, the PCB issued this invitation in the hope that England may have around a week between their tour of Sri Lanka, which is currently planned for January, and their Test and limited-overs series against India, which are due to take place from late January and into March.

The ECB appear keen to make the tour happen. Not only are they grateful for Pakistan’s recently concluded tour of England - Pakistan’s players were obliged to spend several weeks in lockdown due to Covid-19 protocols - but they are mindful of the powerful message such a tour would send to a country which was starved of top-flight cricket for many years due to security concerns.

“After discussions with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), we can confirm the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has received an invitation in respect of a short white-ball tour to Pakistan during the early part of 2021,” the ECB said in a statement

released on October 15. “We welcome the fact that international cricket is returning to Pakistan and are committed to doing what we can to help this develop further.

“As with any proposed tour that takes place at this time, the safety and welfare of our players and staff is paramount. As such, there are a number of factors that need to be taken into consideration, including the proposed protocols in relation to Covid-19 biosecure bubbles, the proposed levels of security around the team, as well as the feasibility of undertaking this tour against the backdrop of an already busy schedule of international cricket for the

Friday October 16, 2020 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Don't be surprised if the oldfashioned, practical solution doesn't make the grade today. Probably the new devices and special electronic shortcuts will be the most impressive thing going.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) You may be able to zip through chores like lightning today, Taurus. There's an added swiftness to your step that helps in every one of your endeavors.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) You're likely to go to extremes today on many levels. The problem is that you may encounter opposition everywhere you turn.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) Grab hold of the day's boisterous energy and run with it. This is a good time to kick up your heels and have fun.

You might find that people are a bit more high-strung than usual, so you may need to use your ability to go with the flow.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) You might be frustrated by the fact that people are doing things hastily today.

You might have to accept the fast-paced energy of the day just so you can keep up.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) People may come into conflict with you today. More than likely, the issue at hand will have to do with others being a bit too focused on themselves, while you're more concerned with the collective.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Jump-start the day with a smile, Libra. Your generosity and sincerity won't go unnoticed on a day like this. People will probably need more attention than usual, so take the time to attend to the emotions of those you love SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) There could be an unexpected tension coming out of nowhere today, Scorpio.

More than likely your emotions will be running at a high level.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Your slow and steady approach might be met with a bit of opposition today.

People could be demanding of your time and energy.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) This is a terrific day for you, Capricorn, and you will find that the fast pace of the day suits you well for what you need to get done.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Do your best to keep up today, Aquarius. Things might move quickly. You may be raising your hand and waiting politely for someone to call on you.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) This is a good time to take control of the situation, Pisces. You've done your preparation and now it's time to put it to good use.

You're about to face your enemy eye to eye. Have confidence in your training.

England men’s team.

“We will be liaising with the PCB, and as well as other partners over the coming weeks to work through these considerations, before a final decision will be taken in due course.”

Quite a few pieces of the jigsaw will have to come together before the tour can be confirmed. For a start, the ECB are likely to need to prioritise their obligations which are already scheduled - the Sri Lanka Test series was originally meant to be played in March 2020 - and there is still some doubt over where the games against India will be played.

While it looks overwhelmingly likely the fixtures will be played in the UAE due to prevalence of Covid-19 in India, the BCCI are yet to officially acknowledge this. Due to the political tensions between the countries and current health requirements, it may also prove problematic to travel directly between Pakistan and India in the limited time available.

Recent reports from security consultants suggests that confidence in this regard have risen considerably. While security for the tour would no doubt be extremely tight, there has been an acceptance within the ECB for some time that the tour in 2022 was viable. The PCB will also need to satisfy the ECB’s medical team that their plans for a bio-bubble are adequate.

As has become standard in recent years, players uncomfortable with going on the tour are likely to be allowed to skip it without consequence. If the tour does take place, it may be considered something of a coup for Wasim Khan, the chief executive of the PCB. British-born Khan has come in for criticism from some aspects of Pakistan’s media

...Investigatory chamber of Frrom page 30 coach at the Centre Technique National in Croix-desBouquets.

The chairwoman of the investigatory chamber has additionally imposed a provisional ban on Yvette Félix from taking part in any football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level for a period of 90 days.

The decisions taken by the chairwoman of the investigatory chamber have been duly notified to Yves JeanBart and Yvette Félix. (FIFA)

Moeen Ali hammers a blow down the ground Getty Images since he was appointed to the role almost two years ago.

But he has forged a strong relationship with Tom Harrison, his counterpart at the ECB, and has worked

hard to assuage the security concerns touring teams had until recently. If this tour goes ahead, one of the key aims of his time with the PCB will have been achieved.

Friday October 16, 2020

Kaieteur News

BCB interface with Ministers Nandalal and Bharrat who has been named as Honorary Patron

Incoming BCB Patron, Minister Vickram Bharrat with Executive Members of the BCB. A Berbice Cricket Board delegation led by its President Hilbert Foster on Tuesday last met with two senior Government Ministers in what was described as highly successful meetings at their Georgetown offices.

The delegations comprised of Albert Smith, Robby Saywack, Angela Haniff, Dr. Cecil Beharry and Public Relations Officer Simon Naidu who informed that over the next couple of months, the BCB would be involved in several outreach meetings with senior government officials to update them on the progress of Berbice cricket and seek to develop areas of cooperation that would benefit the Ancient County.

The delegation met with Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandalal and Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat. Foster updated both Ministers on the rapid development of Berbice cricket over the last two years and the plans of his executive for 2021. The BCB, he noted has not stopped working despite the ongoing covid-19 pandemic and continues to

make a positive difference in the lives of the less fortunate while putting in place its plans for the restart of the cricket season.

Both Ministers hailed the work of the BCB and committed themselves to playing a role in the future.

The delegation was informed by the Attorney General of the current status of the Cricket Administration Bill that was passed in the National Assembly with support from both political parties after lengthy consultations with cricket stakeholders.

The Attorney General stated that the Government has no favourite in the race but rather wants democracy returned to the national game.

The BCB also sought and received advice on how to proceed on having motions which were passed at their last Annual General Meetings added to the Cricket Bill.

These motions include expanding the life of the BCB from one year to two years, inclusion of two more members and the replacement of executives who might resign during a term. Attorney General Nandalal accepted an

invitation from Foster to visit the county for a meeting with clubs and also committed to assisting the BCB Developmental programme in the future.

Minister Bharrat hailed the outstanding work of both Berbice Cricket Board and the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club. He stated that as a Berbician, the development of youths in the county was very close to his heart.

Minister Bharrat readily agreed to accept the role as Honorary Patron of the BCB and would be sworn in on the 14th of November at a special ceremony at the St. Francis Community Developers.

The incoming Patron agreed to the establishment of a Patron Fund which would benefit young cricketers and clubs. The Minister also promised to work along with the BCB to make sure that its planned 2021 semiprofessional league becomes successful. The BCB executive expressed gratitude to the Minister for his warm welcome and acceptance of the role as Patron. Both Government Ministers received several publications of the BCB Magazine.

Rossi tests positive for COVID-19, to miss header after testing positive for the virus.

Aragon MotoGP Yamaha confirmed Rossi followed all the Reuters - Nine-times world champion Valentino Rossi has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss this weekend’s Aragon MotoGP. Rossi, who travelled back to his to his home in Tavullia, Italy after last weekend’s French Grand Prix, confirmed on Thursday he woke up with slight fever and underwent two tests for COVID-19.

“The ‘quick PCR test’ result was negative, just like the test I underwent on Tuesday. But the second one, of which the result was sent to me this afternoon, was unfortunately positive,” Rossi, 41, said on Twitter. “I’m so disappointed that I will have to miss the race at Aragon.”

The Italian becomes the first MotoGP rider to test positive for the coronavirus, although paddock members have previously tested positive for COVID-19. Moto2 rider Jorge Martin was also forced to sit out of last month’s Misano double-

health and safety protocols throughout the week and will now self-isolate, with his medical condition closely monitored by the team’s medical staff. Rossi, 13th in the championship standings with 58 points, said he is unlikely to return for the second round at Aragon on Oct. 25.

“I’d like to be optimistic and confident, but I expect the second round in Aragon to be a ‘no go’ for me as well,” he said. “I will now follow the medical advice, and I just hope I will be feeling well soon.” Rossi has failed to finish in each of the last three races, crashing out on the opening lap of last weekend’s French Grand Prix. Yamaha have made no mention of fielding a replacement for the upcoming races but this could open door for test rider Jorge Lorenzo, a three-times world champion, to make a return this season.

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KL Rahul, Chris Gayle fifties mark Kings XI Punjab’s last-ball win ESPNcricinfo - Two men who had been part of the Royal Challengers

Bangalore’s most recent successful year combined to put on a 93-run stand that was

the bedrock of a win that turned from a stroll to a lastgasp win for the Kings XI

Punjab.

Both KL Rahul (61* off 49) and Chris Gayle (53 off 45) had been part of the Royal Challengers in 2016 when they reached the final, and the two came together after another ex-Royal Challengers man in Mayank Agarwal had given Kings XI a flying start with a 25-ball 45.

Just like they have in several matches in IPL 2020, Kings XI looked in complete control of their chase, having motored to 161 for 1 in 17 overs, with just 11 needed in 18 balls. Somehow, they contrived to bring that equation down to two runs off the last over, which incredibly enough, turned into one to win off the last ball.

While visions of how Kings XI had botched winning positions swirled, Nicholas Pooran walked out to face his first ball and calmly stepped out to turn a loopy Yuzvendra Chahal delivery into a full toss that was toeended for a straight six.

The short boundaries at Sharjah would have got a vote of thanks from the Kings XI team with the ball just about clearing the outstretched arms of the long-on fielder.

Kings XI now have two wins in the tournament, both against the Royal Challengers. In the first innings, the Kings XI bowlers had done well to keep the Royal Challengers to 171 for 6. They were helped by the team’s rather strange tactic of pushing AB de Villiers down to No. 6. This on a ground

where he had just played what captain Virat Kohli described as a ‘superhuman’ innings in the Royal Challengers last game at this venue, against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

By the time de Villiers eventually walked out, 16 overs had been bowled. The second wicket had fallen in the seventh over, when de Villiers is usually expected to walk out, but the Royal Challengers wanted to keep a left-right combination going with Kohli at the crease. Out came Washington Sundar at No.4, and even when he was out in the 11th over, it was Shivam Dube who came in at No.5.

The rejigged batting order, might have cost the Royal Challengers some runs, and given how the match panned out, perhaps two points as well.

Royal Challengers’ intent at the start - Aaron Finch was walking down the track almost every ball, even against Mohammed Shami’s pace. He didn’t always connect cleanly but the thinking was clear - to cut out on the swing, and at the same time protect himself from the incoming ball that has caused him trouble.

Devdutt Padikkal used his twirling bat and wrists to good effect too, although he fell to Arshdeep Singh in the fifth over. When Kohli came out to bat, he hit three fours in his first seven balls. There seemed to be a real intent to go hard from the start, and not have to rely on the sort of miraculous innings that de Villiers had pulled off in their

last game at this venue, against the Knight Riders. It all seemed to be working out to plan until Finch fell, to leave the team 62 for 2 in 6.3 overs, and everyone expected de Villiers to be walking out…

The strange case of de Villiers’ batting position Instead, it was Sundar who came in at No.4. Sundar has shown his batting chops in domestic cricket, but he hasn’t yet batted enough in the IPL. He couldn’t get going, caught off M Ashwin for 13 off 14, but there was still no de Villiers. Dube was in next, and the Royal Challengers decision to pair up a left-hander with Kohli to negate the two legspinners Kings XI had in Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi backfired. It allowed Kings XI to bowl Glenn Maxwell for four overs, which yielded only 28 runs.

Ashwin and Gayle were the two planned changes for Kings XI, with a third forced change in Deepak Hooda coming in for an injured Mandeep. Ashwin, who had taken 3 for 21 in the first match against the Royal Challengers, did an excellent job again, with 2 for 23 in four overs.

That the Royal Challengers eventually got to where they did was thanks to Chris Morris smashing 25 off 8 balls in the last two overs.

Kings XI Punjab 177 for 2 (Rahul 61*, Gayle 53, Agarwal 45) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 171 for 6 (Kohli 48, Ashwin 2-23) by eight wickets.

Giro d’Italia: Ineos’ Jhonatan Narvaez wins stage 12 in rain BBCsport - Ineos Grenadiers’ Jhonatan Narvaez won stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia in treacherous conditions. The Ecuadorian, 23, was the best of a breakaway group ahead of the peloton, in which Joao Almeida retained the leader’s pink jersey.

Rain fell across most of the 170km stage, which started and finished in Cesenatico, causing several punctures. Mark Padun chased Narvaez until about 22km to go before needing to change his bike. Friday’s 192km stage is a sprinter’s run from Cervia to Monselice.

Narvaez’s was a sweet victory for British team Ineos, who have lost their lead riders in both Grand Tours this season, Egan Bernal midway through the Tour de France and Geraint Thomas early in the Giro with a fractured pelvis.

The team have focused on stage wins since, taking two through powerhouse timetrial specialist Filippo Ganna and now Narvaez.

The whole field was split into several groups as the stage dragged on through several long category three and four climbs around the hills of Emilia Romagna where famous Italian Tour de France and Giro champion Marco Pantani grew up.

In the general classification, DeceuninckQuick Step protected Almeida, while other teams lost several domestiques.

But most of the main contenders who remain in this race of attrition did not lose significant time, including Sunweb’s Wilco Kelderman, only 34 seconds down, and Trek-Segafredo’s Vincenzo Nibali at one minute one second.

Pre-race favourites Thomas, Simon Yates of

Narvaez won the Coppi e Bartali race in Italy last month.

Michelton-Scott and Steven Kruijswijk of Jumbo-Visma have all abandoned.

Yates and Kruijswijk quit after contracting the coronavirus, prompting their teams to withdraw from the race, leading to questions over whether the Giro should continue to its conclusion in Milan on 25 October.

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Fitness issues delay naming of T20 squad for NZ

B

ridgetown, Barbados, CMC – Player fitness has created headaches for West Indies selectors and have forced a delay in the announcement of the Twenty20 squad for the tour of New Zealand.

While remaining coy on the matter, convenor of selectors, Roger Harper, confirmed the development, noting that authorities were in the process of attempting to resolve the issues before naming the squad.

West Indies are expected to depart month end for the

Andre Russell and company training. tour of New Zealand which comprises three Twenty20 Internationals and two Tests and runs from November 27 to December 15. “As far as the Test squad is concerned,

the players are fit,” Harper said in an interview on StarCom Radio’s Mason and Guest cricket show here Tuesday.

“There are some issues

that we’re looking at in relation to fitness and a couple other things. There are some issues that we’re trying to sort out so that’s why the squad hasn’t been announced yet.”

Fitness issues in the oneday squad emerged earlier this year when marquee lefthanders Shimron Hetmyer and Evin Lewis both failed fitness tests, and were excluded for the tour of Sri Lanka in February.

H e t m y e r w a s subsequently re-tested and included for the T20 phase while Trinidadian Lewis remained sidelined. Cricket

West Indies’ director of cricket, Jimmy Adams, at the time stressed that fitness for selection was “nonnegotiable”, contending it was just as important as the performance element.

“It is non-negotiable, it goes hand in hand. One of the examples I use is that the whole issue of a player being fit is to reduce injuries and this is one of the areas we have struggled with in the past,” said the former West Indies captain.

Fitness apart, selectors may have to do without the services of champion offspinner Sunil Narine who

was last week reported by umpires in the IPL for having a suspect action. He has not played for Kolkata Knight Riders since.

Narine last represented West Indies last year August, marking the first time he had appeared for the regional side in two years. The upcoming tour of New Zealand will see the Test squad accompanied by members of the T20 unit plus reserves departing first, with any players currently competing in the Indian Premier League expected to follow after fulfilling their franchise commitments.

Bulls-eye on Fowler-Reid in championship final

B

r i s b a n e , Australia, CMC – Jamaican superstar Jhaniele Fowler-Reid is bracing for a tough defensive challenge when her West Coast Fever clash with M e l b o u r n e Vi x e n s i n Sunday’s final of Australia’s S u p e r N e t b a l l Championship.

The 31-year-old goal shooter has been on fire this season, pouring in 910 goals to be the leading scorer in the league and impressively propel Fever to the title g a m e . H o w e v e r, t h e Sunshine Girl is well aware

that she will be the target and pundits are already hyping a b a t t l e w i t h Vi x e n s goalkeeper Emily Mannix, as one of the keys to the outcome of the final at the Nissan Arena here.

“I’m expecting Emily to come with her A-game. I’ll go with my A-game as well and go and smash it,” a confident Fowler-Reid said.

“I know I’m always coming up against some of the most amazing defenders. I know they’re going to throw things at me and that I have to hold my end up and just do my best.

“I’m pretty confident I’ll

go out there and will do as I’ve been doing for the past season.” Fowler-Reid was good enough to score a record 70 goals in round 12 when Fever beat New South Wales Swifts 80-71.

Up against Mannix in r o u n d f i v e , h o w e v e r, Fowler-Reid was held to 47 goals. Fowler-Reid rebounded to net 59 from 62 attempts when the two teams met again in round 10, with Mannix missing through injury.

Fowler-Reid’s goals powered Fever to third place in the final standings on 34 points with eight wins, five

losses and a draw while Vixens topped the standings with 46 points, on the back of 11 wins and two defeats and a draw.

In the semi-finals nearly two weeks ago, Fever edged Swifts 67-62 with FowlerReid producing a near perfect performance with 55 from 56 attempts, while Vixens dominated Sunshine

Coast Lightning 63-47.

Sunday’s game marks Fever’s second trip to the final in three years, the first appearance ending in a narrow three-goal defeat to Lightning in 2018. And the memories from that defeat still remain fresh for FowlerReid, who was the leading scorer and Most Valuable Player during that season.

“Personally, in my head, you want to make amends for losing by three goals to the Lightning,” she said. “What I learned is to lead from the front and continue to lead when we’re up against a very good team, and continue to push on and not make silly errors. “I’ve learned just to keep my composure and finish the game off.”

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Friday October 16, 2020

TTFA membership pins hope on Appeals Court to overrule Gobin - Impasse with FIFA T&T Guardian t is a bitter-sweet moment for T&T football where support seems to be split unequally in two. Now, h o w e v e r, t h e s p o r t ’s membership will have the opportunity to make things right, if this saying can be a reality at this point in time.

Justice Carol Gobin’s ruling to accept T&T Football Association president William Wallace and his team of Joseph Sam Phillip, Susan JosephWarrick, and Clynt Taylor as the legitimate administrators of T&T football instead of

I

t h e F I FA - a p p o i n t e d Normalisation Committee has been embraced by some as a triumph in certain quarters, but being seen as detrimental in others.

F o l l o w i n g Tu e s d a y night’s ruling, T&T’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, referencing a Greek lesson from his alma mater Bishop High School many years ago, said, “Another such victory and we shall be utterly ruined,” Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, 2000 years ago.

He noted: “Thank God I was taught some Greek History and Latin at Bishop

Justice Carol Gobin High School. Otherwise, I would have never been able to understand that adventure.

I think we all now need to study the 2000-year events of the Pyrrhic wars to figure out how it all might end. The success that comes at such a

William Wallace high price and at other people’s expense sometimes results in the price of the “victory” proving too costly to have been worth it.”

Clearly disappointed by the ruling of the court, the Prime Minister ended by saying: “So now United TTFA has “won” and FIFA has lost. The matter is settled in the local court. We are now free of the “colonial” FIFA. We, boys and girls, men and women, are free to play by ourselves and against ourselves because nobody will be allowed to play with or against us. Oh. That’s it! I finally understand it. That means we can never lose and will always win because we will only be playing by ourselves.”

The Prime Minister was not standing alone with his discourse and was joined by Brent Sancho, the acting T&T Pro League chairman who will be among the deciding members, and Jameson Rigues, a vice president at the T&T Super League Board.

O n We d n e s d a y, Guardian Media Sports made several attempts to contact Wallace yesterday but were unsuccessful.

However, both Rigues and Sancho are hoping for Justice Gobin’s ruling to be overturned when the Court of Appeal adjudicates on the matter on Monday.

FIFA agreed to appeal a ruling by Gobin for the local court to be the jurisdiction to settle the case but later refused to file a defence.

According to both

Brent Sancho

Dr Keith Rowley

administrators, while they understand the reasons for such a ruling, an overturning of it by the Appellate judges will put T&T in a better position to negotiate with the FIFA, the sport’s world governing body, who, on September 24, suspended the TTFA for a violation of their Statutes.

An opportunity for sympathy by the FIFA is expected to come soon, f o l l o w i n g Wa l l a c e ’ s decision to allow the membership to decide on the way forward for the sport, once his group gets favour from Gobin.

Rigues said: “The membership can write to the FIFA seeking clarity on what is needed for the country to be spared extended suspension or even expected expulsion.

This situation is hurting the country and if Wallace and his team are serious about giving the membership the opportunity to make the decision, then an opportunity exists for us to seek sympathy,” Rigues explained.

TTFA’s suspension came with conditions that re-entry into the FIFA fold would require dropping a court battle in the High Court and b r i n g i n g i t s ( T T FA ) Constitution in line with FIFA’s. On September 22 at Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) called by Wallace and the United TTFA, the membership voted (21 For, 8 Against and 3 Abstentions) to withdraw the matter from the courts

but the United TTFA missed F I FA’s S e p t e m b e r 2 3 deadline which resulted in T&T being suspended on September 24 until further notice.

H o w e v e r, T T FA constitutional expert Osmond Downer, Wallace and his lawyer Matthew Gayle said they are unsure of what the FIFA is requesting s i n c e t h e T T FA’ s constitution had been updated in 2015, and was approved by FIFA. It is being speculated that this change in the TTFA Statutes hinges on amending the Act of Parliament which is responsible for the incorporation of the TTFA. Downer said for this to be a reality, Wallace will first have to summon his Board of Directors to a meeting and the Board will call an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). Though Sancho questioned if the Wallace-led administration would allow the membership to make such a decision, he believes it would be an opportunity for the membership to lobby the Government for any necessary changes, a call that was supported by Rigues.

“I believe FIFA will change its position based on the fact that a ruling has been made against them, now they may want to be more severe against the TTFA. But there is the opportunity to sympathise if the membership writes to them. There is also a need to get that ruling out of the court,” Sancho explained.

Investigatory chamber of independent Ethics Committee concludes investigation into Yves Jean-Bart and sanctions another Haitian football official The investigatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee has concluded its investigation proceedings against Yves Jean-Bart, President of the Haitian Football

Association, and submitted its final report together with the investigation files to the adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee.

The investigatory

chamber has further expanded the scope of the aforementioned investigation and opened formal proceedings against Yvette Félix, an assistant (Continued on page 26)

Kaieteur News

Friday October 16, 2020

Phantom claim Champion of Champions dominoes title Phantom edged Executive by one game to win the final of the Champion of Champions dominoes competition which concluded on Sunday last at R and R Sports Club, Meadowbrook.

Phantom, Executive and Quiet Storm contested the final and shared the lead at several stages before Phantom and Executive went ahead in the latter stages.

The final sitting was keenly contested and Phantom prevailed with 76 games while Executive finished on 75. Quiet Storm who drew the bye to the final managed 69. Rawl Cameron and Lyall Gittens marked 16 and 15 games respectively for the winners while Trevor Smith and Selwyn Prescott scored 16 and 15 in that order for the runner-up side.

Kanhai Samaroo and Paul Samaroo scored 16 apiece for Quiet Storm.

Executive won the semi final encounter with 82 games

PAGE 35

Payless Allstars overcome Savage XI

The victorious Phantom team with their winning hardware. ahead of Phantom on 77 and C7 on 70. Prescott made 16 and Rawl Peters 14 for Executive, while Gittens and Cameron chalked 16 each for Phantom. Barbara Lee top scored for C7 with 16 games while Anand Marks contributed 14.

The winning team collected a trophy and $120,000, Executive pocketed a trophy and $60,000 and Quiet Storm received a trophy and $40,000. Lee was given a trophy and $5,000 for being

the best female player.

The competition was sponsored by Trophy Stall, Merriman’s Funeral Home, Bardon Construction Services, Big Boss Trucking Service and Dearaj Singh Sawmill of Parika.

Meanwhile, the Georgetown Dominoes Association will be hosting a fund raising competition starting at 13:30hrs tomorrow at Turning Point. Entrance fee is $12,000 and teams can contact Wiltshire on 659 8672 for registration.

Captain of Payless Allstars Zameer Hassan (right) accepts the winning trophy from Jonathan Yearwood.

P

ayless Allstars defeated Savage XI by 53 runs when the teams collided in a 15 overs softball fixture on Sunday last at the Georgetown Cricket Club Ground, Bourda. Batting first, Payless Allstars managed 112-6.

Gary Singh made 22 while Puran John contributed 19. Vivakanand Ramsaywack claimed 3-14. Savage XI were bowled out for

59 in reply. Rawl Reid and Troy Ramsaywack made 11 each while Vishnu Geedwan snared 3-6, Devindra Deosaran 2-3 and Zameer Hassan 2-13.

The game which was held in observation of GCC member Raj Jai 50th birth anniversary was sponsored by Stars Party Rentals, Payless Variety Store, Perfect Print and Guyana Committee of Services.

The BCB Executive with Attorney General Anil Nandalal.

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Spo

BCB interface with Ministers Nandalal and Bharrat who has been named as Honorary Patron Chris Gayle swats one down the ground ©BCCI

KL Rahul brings up another milestone ©BCCI

TTFA membership pins hope on Appeals Court to overrule Gobin - Impasse with FIFA

Fitness issues delay naming of T20 squad for NZ KL Rahul, Chris Gayle fifties mark Kings XI Punjab’s last-ball win

Phantom claim Champion of Champions dominoes title Rossi tests positive for COVID-19, to miss Aragon MotoGP

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