Kaieteur News

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Alleged Ponzi Saturday Edition schemers now NEWS slapped with money laundering charges AIETEUR

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Guyana’s largest selling daily & New York’s most popular weekly

October 17, 2020 - Vol. 14 No. 40

Online: www.kaieteurnews.com

Price $80

Online readership yesterday 111,505

Guyana, other EITI members must disclose true owners of p.

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all oil, mining blocks by year end Lands and Nigel Hinds resigns from Survey spends NICIL Board over treatment $21M on meals of Success squatters from 2016-2020 p.

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Corpse found in Pastor drowns in Parika backdam creek near farm Two in custody for Chaos as Housing robbing and disarming Ministry hosts GuySuCo security guard public exercise p.

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- police shoot innocent squatters while leading search party - House lot distribution put on hold

Spring tide floods Parika

- other coastal communities at risk Investigation 19p.

OPEC sees Guyana 16p. launched into among countries key “slap exchange” between police to recovery of global officer, civilian oil supply, after COVID p.

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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?

Kaieteur News

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Saturday October 17, 2020

Spring tide floods Parika - other coastal communities at risk

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arika yesterday suffered flooding as the Spring tide caused water from the river to seep onto the roads, displacing several vendors

and other businesspeople, with water inundating the central traffic junction of the area. Kaieteur News was told that persons living on the Parika beach area near

The main road leading from the Parika Ferry Stelling - Credit: Kevin Somwaru (Deopaul)

the stelling saw their homes flooded.

A c c o r d i n g t o government, the worst is yet to come, with other areas along the coast in danger of being flooded out over the next few days.

The Ministry of Public Works is warning certain areas to take precautions, namely the Pomeroon River Banks; San Souci to Sarah and Maria's Pleasure to Meerzorg; Good Success; Zeelandia and Moorfarm; Wakenaam Island, Cane Field/Retrieve; Endeavour/Blenheim; Cane Garden – Leguan Island;

Windsor Forest to DeWillem (West Coast Demerara); Zeelugt; Parika Market Area; Salem to Sparta (East Bank Essequibo); Water Street, Georgetown; Helena #1 and #2, Mahaica; Belvedere to Cottage, Mahaicony; Wellington P a r k / Ta r l o g i e ; Lonsdale/Glasgow (East Bank Berbice); and Sheet Anchor, Canje River.

The highest tide is expected today around between 4:30pm and 5:08pm, reaching a height of 3.36 metres. Government expects the high tides to last until October 19.

Saturday October 17, 2020

Kaieteur News

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Alleged Ponzi schemers now slapped with money laundering charges A

lleged Ponzi s c h e m e operators, Yuri Garcia-Dominguez and his wife, Ateeka Ishmael, of 242 Tract 'A' Coldingen, East Coast Demerara, are now slapped with two charges under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act. This is the first time the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU), an arm of the Guyana Police Force, has instituted charges under the AML/CFT Act. The AML/CFT Act, Chapter 10:11, prohibits businesses from operating as financial Institutions without the necessary registration for regulation and supervision by the Regulatory Authorities, the Financial Intelligence Unit

(FIU) and Guyana Securities Council.

Garcia-Dominguez, a Cuban national who was granted citizenship in June, and his wife, are accused of running a Ponzi scheme operation, in which millions of dollars were swindled out of the pockets of hundreds of Guyanese.

Already facing 80 plus fraud charges, the couple was yesterday appeared in the Vigilance Magistrate's Court before Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore, with their attorney, Dexter Todd.

They were not required to plead to operating a pyramid scheme in breach of the Consumer Affairs Act, No. 13 of 2011, and carrying on a business without registering with the Guyana Securities Council, in breach

of the Securities Industries Act. Cap 73:04.

The couple denied the charges and were both released on $25,000, each on each charge; the matter was adjourned to November 2, 2020.

The duo is currently before three different courts facing charges which allege that they obtain monies under false pretense. They were recently released on $30M bail after spending over a month in prison on remand.

According to reports, Garcia-Dominguez and Ishmael are officials of the Accelerated Capital Firm (ACF) Inc. and they allegedly lured hundreds of Guyanese claiming that by investing with their company, they would get a 40% return on investment.

Alleged Ponzi scheme operators, Yuri Garcia-Dominguez and his wife, Ateeka Ishmael

Lands and Surveys spends $21M on meals from 2016-2020

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he Guyana Lands and S u r v e y s Commission (GLSC) spared no expense when it came to providing meals for staffers at their head office; documents seen by Kaieteur News revealed that the Commission spent more than $21 million on meals from 2016 to 2020, a mere five-year period.

Staffers at the Commission racked up the b i l l f r o m f o u r establishments: Clausia's Deli, Silver Rose Restaurant, Hot and Spicy Restaurant, and Maggie's, with the latter carrying the weight of the whopping figure.

For the year 2016, the Commission spent $845,146 on meals from Maggie's then in 2017, it spent $2,404,114. In 2018, they spent $4,429,597 then in 2019 $8,436,863 and finally for 2020 so far, $2,764,124. This brings the total to $16,155,282.

At Clausia's Deli, no purchases were made in 2016 or 2017 but in 2018, $40,000 was expended.

Then in 2019, $2,042,188 was spent and finally for 2020, $345,000 bringing the total to $2,764,124.

At the Silver Rose Restaurant, the

Commission spent a total of $715,374 with purchases only being made in 2018 and 2019.

At Hot and Spicy, they spent a total of $2,571,132 with the lion's share of $2,096,132 being spent so far for 2020.

That breakdown brought the total expended by the Commission to $21,868,976.

Kaieteur News understands that the big orders were made for Board meetings and

remainders were just random orders for staffers within a six-month period each year.

Additionally, it should be noted that there is no stipulation that the Commission is responsible for the provision of meals for the estimated 30 staffers attached there.

The investors were also encouraged to enlist additional investors on a 10% commission basis.

ACF Inc. is not registered with the Guyana Securities

Council to conduct financial business either as an investment advisor and/or a broker.

Earlier this month, Garcia-Dominguez announced at a press conference that all 17,000, persons who invested with the company will be repaid from Monday, last. The company had also planned on ceasing all operations in Guyana until a licence is granted for them to operate.

At a press briefing on Thursday, Todd said that ranks from SOCU, went to his clients home with a search warrant to search and seize monies, electronics, and financial documents that would help with their money-laundering investigations.

The seizure of the electronics, Todd claimed, has put a halt to the repayment process, resulting in only 27 out of the 17,000 investors being repaid. The lawyer added that the ranks did not discover any cash.

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

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

EDITORIAL

A failure of public policy at Success

I

Saturday October 17, 2020

Kaieteur News

n the Bible, the righteous and volatile God of the Old Testament devised various creative methods of dealing with the sinful – striking them with lightening, turning them to salt, sending plague and pestilence upon them. These were largely for individual or community sins.

The ultimately genocidal ‘Act of God’, however, was deliberate flooding, wiping out all of the world’s inhabitants except for, as the Scripture tells us, the few righteous people in Noah’s ark and the several animals that they carried on to it.

In the past week, the squatters at Success have had to pay for their sins of occupying State land by the flooding of the place, which they illegally occupy, not by God, but by another powerful capital G entity, GuySuCo. After putting out a press release stating that the persons occupying the lands had destroyed “billions” in crops and research, and giving a short notice for the squatters to leave the land, the state-owned, state-run company then proceeded to flood the place not for any clear, urgent agricultural purpose but in order for the squatters to leave.

In brief, not an act of God but an act of Gov. For Guyanese who lived through the trauma of the Great Flood of 2005, the deluge that covered the East Coast for weeks and caused untold amounts of damage to lives, livelihoods and property, the State engaging in the deliberate flooding on an inhabited space – whatever the rationale – should be seen as unconscionable.

This tactic, used as a tool for dislocation of a civilian population, would be unethical in war, not merely due to the direct distress it puts on that population but also due to the inhumane conditions the flooding of an area actively occupied by people poses, particularly with regard to the spread of disease.

In normal circumstances, as we discovered in 2005, flood-amplified illnesses such as leptospirosis result in a clear public health danger. In the era of COVID-19, a fairly large group of persons in the most densely populated region in the country having their immune systems compromised by the deliberate and completely unavoidable action of a state company is not only cruel but arguably outright psychopathic.

To be clear, a precedent cannot be set of persons simply squatting upon land and occupying it, disregarding any semblance of law and order.

A too-soft hand on this sort of behaviour is the recipe for anarchy and chaos.

The government should neither capitulate to landgrabbers nor should it be held at ransom by them. However, a worse precedent is set when the state response to land-grabbing is Old Testament methodology.

The technical legality of the power to flood the lands being squatted upon does not equate to the moral or ethical right to do so.

No doubt someone high in public office saw this as a more elegant, more creative solution than the sort of confrontation we have seen before, armed police in conflict with squatters and the breaking down of living structures, streamed live on social media.

That person was wrong.

The administration has otherwise breathed new life into a housing drive that had become stagnated, moribund under its predecessor – inhumane action has no place in the treatment of any citizen country, particularly when it comes to what should be fundamental right – the right to housing – in this place where land is so bountiful and the population so relatively small.

As the situation currently stands, the situation at Success, in how government is dealing with the squatters, represents an abject failure in public policy.

The tragedy of the Kaieteur and Canje Blocks: The untold story DEAR EDITOR, As the quest to unearth the lineage of the owners of the Canje and Kaieteur Blocks continues, top politicians within the PPP/C and APNU+AFC, having knowledge of this deal and the machinations of the ownership, continue to hold their peace. The justification for their continued silence is left for public speculation.

Finally!

The two charlatans (PPP/C and APNU+AFC) seem to find something, outside of the prying eyes of the public to secretly agree on. One could safely assume that the secrecy maintained on the ownership of the Kaieteur and Canje Blocks is mired in beneficial reasons for top brass in the duo (PPP/C, APNU+AFC). This is the quintessential example of what shared governance or power sharing will bring to the people of this country -

secrecy and plundering of the people’s resources by politicians on both sides of the divide, forming an unholy union for their personal aggrandizement.

I do hope that this scenario is not too difficult for the average Guyanese to envision, particularly the supporters of APNU+AFC who seemed more prone to accepting their leaders chant for shared governance.

Back to the oil blocks…

When it was discovered that the Kaieteur and Canje Blocks, both adjacent to the Stabroek Block, were signed away by president Ramotar days before it was officially announced that Exxon had found oil in commercial quantity in the Stabroek Block; it became apparent that something was not right about this deal. Why did the president sign away these blocks to individuals or companies with relatively low

finances and no experience in extraction of oil anywhere, knowing of the difficulty that Kaieteur and Canje presents, being in deep water? Why no background check which would have revealed that one of the companies was not even incorporated at the time of acquiring the property?

The rush to acquire these blocks by these individuals added to the president’s willingness to sign away them without due diligence is a clear indication that Exxon had struck oil before it was announced and all the participants in this deal were aware.

It was expedient to delay the announcement of Exxon’s first find since that would have derisked the area and attracted attention to this sinister deal - the norm is that oil blocks are auctioned in derisked areas.

In fact, since Exxon farmed in at 35 percent and is deemed

the “operator” in both blocks during the APNU+AFC reign, they could have been the instigator in the orchestration of this deal, given that they were already in possession of more blocks than Guyana’s petroleum prospecting and production license allowed compliments of Janet Jagan.

Exxon don’t play!

They had found oil, they have the seismic plan of these two blocks and know the potential of these two blocks.

They had to find a way to get their hands on these blocks for the future endeavours of Exxon in the cheapest possible way and in the process, they had managed to “kill two birds with one stone” - tying politicians on both sides of the divide to a common cause - fleecing the people of their birthrights.

Hence the silence and secrecy!

Your respectfully, Rudolph Singh

The Success Cane Lands Squatting Dilemma: Illegality vs Compassion DEAR EDITOR, I am not a politician, not a lawyer, nor a teacher but rather, I consider myself as a humanitarian worker, with several decades of rich experience in this noble field. But despite my passion for humanitarianism, I am equally aware of the legal framework in which I operate. No value is absolute; and there are limits to our expression, activities, and knowledge. It is against this background, that I pen this letter.

The flooding of the squatter-occupied cane lands at Success by GUYSUCO has generated mixed and some harsh reactions in Guyana and in the diaspora. My impression is that both GUYSUCO and the government’s CH&PA felt that they have exhausted avenues to remove the squatters who illegally occupied those lands. After several meetings, persuasions, and promises that included the promise of grant of house lots to squatters, GUYSUCO’s apparent lack of success has left them with no other option but to flood the portion of the Success cane lands that have been illegally occupied by squatters.

This measure has been viewed unfavourably, particularly on humanitarian/compassionate grounds. While critics point, for example, to the squatters’ poverty, hopelessness, and health risks, they ignore or minimize the destruction (amounting to

hundreds of millions of dollars) that the squatters have created to the cane fields where different experimental varieties of the cane crop are being nurtured.

Some of these critics are associated with opposition forces, including trade unions, and they claim loftily among other things, that the squatters have been robbed of their dignity and selfworth by GUYSUCO’s action.

This type of commentary is remarkably interesting. It will be recalled that within the

first year of their governance, the PNC/R dispossessed over 7,000 workers (with a combined family of 35,000 members) of their jobs and livelihood.

They inflicted untold suffering upon the dismissed workers and their families who were plunged into poverty, despair, anomie, and social upheaval. A couple of workers even committed suicide.

While the PPP/C government is offering house lots to some of these squatters, the PNC/ R government never offered

any relief to those 7,000 workers and their families and their communities. Furthermore, these critics never spoke of stripping the dignity and selfworth of sugar workers and their families!

To politicize this issue and fan the flames of resistance, will not help the cause of the squatters. Why did some squatters leave the area while others remain intransigent? It was compelling to watch a video in which one of the critics was engaged in a bitter (Continued on page 22)

A STRANGER TO THE TRUTH DEAR EDITOR, I crave your indulgence to comment, in your Letters to the Editor column, on Kissoon’s Kaieteur News column of October 16, 2020.

While much of what Kissoon wrote in that column is slanderous, I have opted to respond here since I am convinced that the exposure of Kissoon mirroring himself will serve the public much better than engaging in a protracted process to protest his attempt at vilification, since I am convinced that no sane or objective person will entertain his diatribe, once he is exposed.

Kissoon’s column of October 16, 2020 is characterized by one thing: his downright misrepresentation of the facts and as a consequence his duplicity. I now join an endless band of persons who have in terms accused and proven Kissoon to be a good

author of Nancy stories. It is unfortunate that he veils that under the titles of academic and columnist thus besmirching and bringing both occupations into disrepute.

To the chase. Kissoon contends that, “this same chairman would have been sitting with the PMs”. At no time during the PMs’ visit did I sit or have any contact with them. Kissoon’s contention is therefore built on an untruth and cannot be the basis for the conclusion that I am ‘two faced’.

How could a self-proclaimed academic and journalist be so fallacious in his representations to the public?

Yet he accuses me of duplicity based an outright made up story.

Kissoon’s second Nancy story is that I proposed an election result that had been thrown out by the court.

Lowenfield’s first report predated any ruling by any court on the results of the elections, therefore Kissoon’s information is once again erroneous and his conclusion/ accusation baseless.

Kissoon’s best representation of his duplicity is his proposition that “looking back maybe Boodhoo should not have conceded that Alexander was right in 2011.”

For his information, Boodhoo did not concede that Alexander was right. Given the exposure of what Boodhoo had done, the entire Commission ruled that he was wrong.

Even if Kissoon had proven me wrong, does one wrong justify another? That’s Kissoon’s logic.

In all that he has said, he is a downright illogical and a stranger to the truth.

Vincent Alexander

Saturday October 17, 2020

Congratulations are extended to the PPP for recognizing the oomph factor DEAR EDITOR, The first thing I must say is that there is more of them, and so much so that there is scant evidence of the equivalent across the minefield or in the record.

Specifically, there are more Black faces with the PPP than there is in quantitative parity with Indians in the layers of the PNC. I share a few positions.

Congratulations are extended to the PPP for recognizing the oomph factor, and other pluses, that come from having a diverse field, well populated by Black Guyanese, or those who appear to be, in its ranks. As strategy and operational output, it cannot be bettered, and positives are tendered for the PPP’s actions.

Having said this, I now seek to go at this from another direction and the ground up.

I pinpoint the subtleties not spoken of, the realities not addressed, and both of which contribute significantly to the solid Black presence in the PPP/C. I approach this with heavier emphasis on what I believe are individual Black perspectives, while doing the same, but to a considerably lesser degree as such applies to Indo-Guyanese. Both speak eloquently to the raw and inarguable conditions of Guyana, in all of its racial and environmental implications.

There are those Black Guyanese, who identify readily with the PPP, due to familial loyalties that go back decades.

They have paid harshly, with no turning back possible.

Then there are the newer faces, which besides the public ones, are largely unknown,

save for among their communities and those so privileged.

This is a blessing that is incalculable in the personal comfort and security that it affords in wider Guyana.

To put differently, and more roughly what I am saying is this: a), Black Guyanese identifying with the PPP are not subject to the feared exposure factor; b) this is because they are given the equivalent of a ‘street pass’ when things turn for the worse; and c) this is because they are reflexively identified as being of ‘one’s own’ or a ‘comrade’ or a fellow racial traveller, however distant, however unfamiliar. The thinking of the streets and alleys is that they are ours, let them through. As said, that is priceless and an incentive all by itself to cross the floor, since there is no personal physical cost.

Taking this across the divide, Indo Guyanese have no such security, be it psychological or actual. Certainly, like Afro Guyanese, they are looked upon as racial traitors, but only with more scarring vehemence for crossing an unreturnable Rubicon.

But, and it is a big but for this is where all roads terminate: the Indian Guyanese that dares to associate openly with the PNC does not have the protective mark on head or hand (think hair texture and skin tone) that affords the same passage in times of severe distress that is part and parcel of the Afro Guyanese experience.

The latest instance of this distinguishing feature was what took place at Cotton Tree where ample evidence resides of who was spared and who was not.

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Kaieteur News

I sum up more starkly: for the Black Guyanese PPP supporter, genuine or otherwise (and I attach the former), there is neither immediate fear nor existential threat nor extended exposure.

For the Indian Guyanese PNC supporter, he or she lives with sharp ostracism in community and heavy dread in every other area farther away.

The automatic association, almost without exception, is that there comes a PPP man.

It is just the way it is. That is reality. That has been deterrent, no matter how welcoming the PNC may have been, and it has not. That is present and future.

That is Guyana. To emphasize, Black Guyanese PPP supporters get to eat their cake and have it also, in what is an absolute win-win situation for them.

The PPP usually seize and exploit.

There is another thing: it is readily acknowledged that there are more Indian haves and many more have nots among Blacks in Guyana.

Because of the latter, it gets crowded in times of PNC triumphs when the Black Guyanese look for racial reward, and with competing Indians viewed as usurpers. On the other side because more Indians have, they can stand aside, which reduces competition. Black Guyanese aspirants can flourish, if only for themselves.

They come and go.

Sincerely, GHK Lall

Termination of employment on the grounds of redundancy DEAR EDITOR, Under the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act, Chapter 99:08, (Section 12) an employer may terminate the employment of employees as part of the reduction of the workforce on the grounds of operational requirements including:- modernization, automation or mechanization; - closure, sale or other disposition of part or whole of the business or re-organization for efficiency; - impossibility or impracticability to continue business on account of shortage of materials, mechanical breakdown, force majeure or natural disaster; - reduced operations on account of difficult economic and market conditions.

The employer is required, before terminating employment for redundancy reasons, to inform and consult the recognized trade union, the employees or their representatives and the Chief Labour Officer as soon as possible, but not later than one month from the date of the existence of the circumstances giving rise to contemplated redundancy action. In informing these persons, the employer is required to provide all the relevant details, the reasons, circumstances, the affected employees, and follow the procedures and time lines set by Section 15 of this Law. Termination Notice Under Section 7 of the Termination of Employment

and Severance Pay Act, a contract of employment, without term limit, may at any time be terminated:- by mutual consent of the parties; - by either party for good and sufficient cause; or by notice to the other party; and on any ground of redundancy which relates to operational requirements (Section12); Where a contract of employment is being terminated for reasons of redundancy or by notice to the other party in keeping with Section 12 of this Act, requires: - Two weeks’ notice is required where the employee has less than one year’s service; and one month for one year or more service.

- An employee is also required to give corresponding notice to the employer where the employee terminates his employment contract.

- The parties can agree to longer periods of termination notice.

- An Employer can waive the right to receive such notice.

Payment in lieu of Notice (Section 16) In lieu of giving the required notice, the employer or employee is required to pay to the other party a sum equal to the remuneration and benefits accrued for the relevant period of notice.

Certificate of Termination (Section 17) The employer is required to provide an employee with

a statement of Termination upon the request of the employee.

Severance Pay (Section 21) On termination by reason of redundancy or by reason of severance of employment, an employee with one year or more years of continuous employment with an employer, is entitled to be paid a severance or redundancy allowance equivalent to: - One week’s wages for the first five years’ service; - Two weeks’ wages for the sixth to the tenth year; and - Three weeks’ wages in excess of 10 years subject to a maximum of fifty-two weeks.

Severance or redundancy allowance is not applicable where the employee, unreasonably refuses to accept another job offer by the employer at no less favourable conditions than those enjoyed prior to termination.

Prosecution by Chief Labour Officer (Section 22) The Chief Labour Officer may institute or cause to be instituted any prosecution for the purpose of enforcing this Act. Any Officer of the Department of Labour may appear as prosecutor for and on behalf of the Chief Labour Officer.

Sincerely, Samuel J. Goolsarran

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Kaieteur News

Saturday October 17, 2020

US investment welcomed by Guyanese Americans DEAR EDITOR, Thank you for your frontpage news report on American investment bank DFC initiative in Guyana (Oct. 14 and 15). This is great news for Guyanese Americans as well as I am sure the people of Guyana. Such investment must help the poor and lower class especially the hinterland and rural communities.

American investment in Guyana is most welcomed by Guyanese Americans. They long wanted such investment in the homeland to bring the two countries closer so as to protect democracy and security interests of both countries.

Every Guyanese I conversed with over the last several days supports the move by the DFC to promote American investment in Guyana.

This is the first official US investment initiative in Guyana since the 1960s. Guyanese Americans tell me that they intend to take advantage of the initiative and are seeking to team up with American companies as well as local investors in Guyana to explore business opportunities. They are grateful to Mike Pompeo, Ambassador Sarah Lynch,

and DFC CEO Adam Boehler for this initiative and for President Ali to embrace it.

Such planned investments, if come to fruition, would create massive numbers of jobs and incalculable wealth boosting GDP. It is hoped that investments would be directed to underserved rural and hinterland communities that have been neglected since independence. The focus should be on assisting the poorer and middle classes rather than exclusively on the wealthy businesses or those who have political connection.

It must be clarified that the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), to distinguish it from the World Bank International Finance Corporation (IFC) that is a grouping of 184 member countries, is a US government finance company and not an investment company. Contrary to what Guyanese may feel, DFC does not directly undertake investment in a project in a country. But it encourages and funds private investment for projects in poor countries like Guyana through grants and loans. Private companies, primarily but

not exclusively American owned, apply for grants and or loans, mostly latter, to fund investments in developing countries. The company is flush with funds from the US Congress — US$60B for loans, not just for Guyana but for other countries as well. If more funds are needed, Congress will make it available.

The agency was created in December 2019. It is involved in only a few loan investment projects so far and the results are not known. The agency insures American companies’ investments of up to 50% were they unable to recoup.

Guyana has been targeted for American investment in line with the commitment made by Secretary Pompeo in his visit to Guyana earlier this month. Suriname, where the Secretary also visited, is also on the agenda of the DFC as part of the Growth of Americas Investment Initiative that is the brain child of Pompeo.

Guyana signed the initiative earlier this month. The DFC project is undertaken to counter the investment influence of the Chinese who have been spreading their US$3 trillion surplus in investments around the globe over the last

two decades. The DFC replaces the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the Development Credit Authority (DCA), both of which used to finance American investment in developing countries to counter communist threat. Those of us who study development economics, like Ramesh Gampat, Tarron Khemraj, among others, would be familiar with the role and intention of IFC, DFC, OPIC, and DCA. DFC is new and literature on it is slowly available; its achievement is not rated as yet. The ultimate objective of DFC is security related through private investment that would lead to economic growth. Guyana is the second poorest country in the hemisphere. It, along with several others in the region, has been slowly ebbing out of US influence laden with Chinese investment. The US wishes to redirect influence and re-assert hegemony to secure its economic and security interests in the region. And as such, the Americas Investment Initiative through the DFC was launched a few months ago.

Through the new DFC,

loans will be given to American companies to invest in Guyana. Inevitably, these companies would team up with local Guyanese companies. The potential investment could add up to the equivalent of some G$42 T (US$200B). Would that really happen? The CEO of the DFC and the State Department under which the corporation falls, as well as US AID, is serious about investments in Guyana. The US believes that through investment, democracy will be strengthened and protected in Guyana unlike what happened between December 2019 and August 1, 2020 when Guyana descended into extra constitutional rule.

Since the DFC is a foreign aid agency, the CEO has to be approved by the US Senate as per US law. Adam Boehler was confirmed for the position last December. His trip to Guyana to promote investment may be his first for a developing country since COVID, signalling the importance and priority given to Guyana and other countries in the region by the US administration.

Guyana stands to benefit

from this Americas Investment initiative; the big bucks are available in America, not the Caribbean or Europe or China. Enormous low interest loan is available in Washington for projects waiting for the requests. The financial terms are very generous.

Missing are the American investors, the areas to be invested, local partners willing to take risks, and economists to evaluate the potential projects. A task force or a think tank should be quickly established to identify potential areas of investments (gas and oil line to bring fuel to the shore, refinery, petrochemical products, power generation, urea production, methanol, oil and gas institute, construction, among others) and to court American companies to set up operations in Guyana. The think tank or task force should have as members potential investors as representatives of the private sector, government (Central Bank and or Ministry of Finance), economists and business persons from the diaspora (US-based), as well as diaspora specialists.

Yours truly, Dr. Vishnu Bisram

The reason why Hindus celebrate Navratri and its significance DEAR EDITOR, Navratri is the grand Hindu festival inherited from our ancestors who arrived from different parts of India over a hundred and fifty years ago and it is celebrated for nine days (technically, nine nights).

There are four Navratri celebrated four times per year: Vasanta Navratri – celebrated in the month of Chaitra (March-April); Ashad Navratri- during the month of Ashada (June-July); Sharad Navratri – during the month of Ashwin (SeptemberOctober); Pausha/Magha Navratri – in Paush month (December-January-8 days only). In Guyana and other parts of the Caribbean and in Suriname also, only Vasanta and Sharad Navratri are mostly observed.

For Vasanta Navratri, in Guyana, Hindus are accustomed to giving homage to the deity, Mata Durga, the first three nights for strength,

courage and protection. Mata Lakshmi is worshipped the next three nights for health, wealth and prosperity.

The last three nights are dedicated to Mata Sarasvati, paying obeisance for education, fine arts in music and dancing and literature.

For Sharad Navratri, the festival celebrates the nine incarnations of Goddess Durga (Fort) and each night is dedicated to a specific form of the Goddess. It is referred to also as “Durga Puja” because many devotees would conduct this Puja (religious ceremony) specifically during this auspicious period. Her nine manifestations are: Shailputri, B r a h m a c h a r i n i , Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandmata, Katyayani, Kalyatri, Mahagouri and Siddidhatri. Hinduism is a “way of life,” comprising of various philosophies. There are three sub-parts of Hinduism, referred to as

Vaishnavism (Lord Vishnu), Shaivism (Lord Shiva) and Shaktism. Goddess Durga is the primary deity in Shaktism.

She is another form of Goddess Parvati and came to be known as Durga after she destroyed the demon Mahishasura. Navratri is one of the most important Hindu festivals observed in the Hindu calendar and it falls in the month of Ashwin.

This year the festival is being observed from October 17 to October 25. The nine (Nav)- day/night(Ratri) is dedicated to the Universal Mother, Mata Durga, the Goddess of a feminine form of energy, strength, wisdom, prosperity, protection and the destroyer of demonic powers.

Upon the culmination of the nine-day period, on the tenth day, Dussehra is celebrated, which is also believed to be the day that Lord Rama defeated the demon King Ravana of Lanka in a battle between the forces of good

and evil, with Vijay Dashami ( the destruction of the demon King Mahishasura) and Durga visarjan (immersion of the idol).

Included in the custom is the Kanya Puja which is done on Maha Ashtma (the eight night of the festival).

On this night, nine little girls, ages two to nine would sit and represent the nine manifestations of Durga Ma. Devotees would honour them with gifts and also feed them.

During this nine days/nights period, devotees would fast, abstain from meat eating and alcoholic consumption, the interior and exterior of the homes would be thoroughly cleansed, new clothing would be purchased and an extra effort would be made to attend services at the Mandirs each night. The atmosphere and environment is filled with joy, devotion and happiness throughout the country and people celebrate the festival with great spirituality.

The manifestation of Durga Ma is related in this simple story form so that children in particular, can follow and understand why Hindus celebrate Navratri and its significance. Long ago, there was a wicked demon King- Mahishasura.

He wanted to be powerful and rule the three worlds.

Therefore, he performed severe penance to please Lord Brahma.

When Lord Brahma was pleased and appeared before him, Mahishasura asked a boon - to be immortal - that is to never die and to take the form of any human or animal.

But Lord Brahma said “Mahisha- all that is born must die.

That is the universal law.

You cannot escape that.”

Mahishasura thought for a while and said, “If I must die, my Lord, it should be in the hands of a woman.” Lord Brahma agreed and granted him the boon and returned to his abode. Mahishasura thought - How can a woman kill a man?

That is impossible. I am now the most powerful person in the whole universe.

Mahishasura immediately ordered his army to attack the humans on the earth and the Gods/Devas in the Devaloka (heaven). Mahishasura and his men became a menace they started bullying and destroying the Devaloka and no one could touch him. The King of Devas-Indra, went to

the Trimurtis-Brahma, Vishnu and Siva and explained the situation to them. The three Gods created a powerful woman with several hands (transformed Mata Parvati, as she herself was Adishakti, the supreme power). Lord Shiva offered his trishul to Her. Vishnu, his Sudarsana chakra, Lord Indra his Vajrayudha - or thunderbolt.

They named her Durga.

Durga- now, a powerful Goddess armed with inner strength, courage and wisdom with arms gifted by the powerful Devas set out on a lion to destroy Mahishasura.

Mahishasura’s heart skipped a beat when he heard the thunder of Goddess Durga’s arrival. Still, he asked, “A mere female trying to attack me?”

Durga Ma responded “I not an ordinary female, Mahisha. I am here to fulfil your desire to be killed by a woman” He immediately realised it was a danger sign for him and changed himself into a buffalo and charged the Goddess with all his might.

Ma Durga with her inborn power and acquired weapons killed Mahishasura after a long battle. The day Goddess Durga killed the wicked demon Mahishasura is celebrated as Vijayadashami.

This day is also celebrated as a victory of Good over Evil.

(To be continued).

Respectfully, Jai Lall

T N U L B . . .

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L B T LUNT.. UNT...B BL B Saturday October 17, 2020

Kaieteur News

Vice President Jagdeo speaks about telecom applications pouring in.

We challenge him – pour out the truth about those Canje and Kaieteur Blocks.

We are exposing truths – contradict us. Better yet – sue us!

Stop talking about sugar and infrastructure – start talking about the Canje and Kaieteur Blocks.

What is he afraid of?

Who got the billions?

PAGE 07

Kaieteur News

PAGE 08

Saturday October 17, 2020

Guyana, other EITI members must disclose true owners of all oil, mining blocks by year end

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efore the end of 2020, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has categorically stated that Guyana and other nations which subscribe to its standards, must disclose the identities of the real owners—also known as beneficial owners—of the companies which have obtained rights to extract oil, gas and minerals.

Once the People's Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government honours this requirement, the nation would no longer be in the dark about all the individuals who were able to pocket millions of dollars in profits following the suspicious award of the Canje Block to industry unknowns.

The international body said it has decided to crack

down on this global problem since hidden identities in the extractive sectors only help to feed corruption and tax evasion.

It also added that people who live in resource-rich countries are at particular risk of losing out when facing this problem as extractive assets are too often misallocated for corrupt reasons.

The EITI further noted that its Standard requires public officials, also known as Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), to be transparent about their ownership in oil, gas and mining companies. The international watchdog said that this information, once provided by its members, will be publicly available and will be published in EITI Reports and/or public registries.

Once published, EITI

said law enforcers, civil society and others have a responsibility to scrutinize the information, and take action to hold to account those who misuse anonymous companies. It should be noted that countries which fail to

keen to point out that e x p e r i e n c e h a s unfortunately also shown that in many cases, in particular where governance is weak, rights to extract oil and minerals may be given to companies that do not have any competence.

honour the requirements of the international body could face expulsion.

Cost of hidden ownership While it is acknowledged that oil, gas and mining projects can yield great profits both to extractive c o m p a n i e s a n d governments, the EITI was

The international body said it has found that such companies may be given access to lucrative extractive projects because their owners are politically connected, or because their owners are willing to engage in questionable deals aimed at generating quick profits for a few rather than benefits

for wider society. The international body said that suspicion or confirmed wrongdoing can lead to devaluation of other extractive assets, and deter overall investment in countries rich in natural resources.

EITI said, too, that anonymous companies make it harder to curb money laundering and corruption as it enables wrongdoers to hide behind a chain of companies often registered in multiple jurisdictions.

Further to this, EITI stated that developing countries lose US$1 trillion each year as a result of corrupt or illegal deals, many of which involve anonymous companies.

In 2013 for example, the Africa Progress Panel found that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the period 2010-

2012 lost at least US$ 1.36 billion from five mining deals hidden behind a structure of complex and secret company ownership.

According to DRC's EITI Reports, this is about the same as the country's average annual revenue from oil, gas and mining in the same time period. EITI is of the belief that the disclosure of beneficial ownership will help lower the risk of such financial misconduct happening in other territories.

It also posited that beneficial ownership transparency can help countries improve the investment climate, reduce reputational and financial risks, prevent corruption and illicit financial flows, improve the rule of law, increase trust and accountability, and enhance revenue collection.

Two in custody for robbing and disarming GuySuCo security guard - police shoot innocent squatters while leading search party

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wo persons are now in police custody for allegedly robbing and disarming a security officer of the Guyana Sugar Corporation Incorporated (GuySuCo) who was placed in charge of an irrigation pump currently being used to disperse water to flood the Success squatting area on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD).

Police sources told Kaieteur News that around 15:30hrs on Thursday afternoon, while guarding the pump located in the Success backdam, the two suspects allegedly attacked the GuySuCo guard with a cutlass, relieving him of his cell phone, all of his money and the shotgun he was armed with.

Police reports state that the guard said the men hurled him to the ground and placed the cutlass to his neck while threatening him. Upon taking the gun, they also took the extra ammunition, which

he was carrying in his pockets.

Following the attack, the suspects then took the gun and discharged rounds at the drainage pump, leaving it with severe damage. They then made their escape on a motorcycle.

The police were immediately contacted and soon flocked the scene, which led to a search party being carried out to find the suspects.

It was stated that after a long sweep of the area, the two men were caught and detained by police late Thursday night. According to the police, the two suspects were found to be residents within the Success squatter settlement currently being flooded.

A d d i t i o n a l l y, o t h e r reports surfaced stating that police ranks while on their search for the suspects shot a number of squatters in the area with rubber pellets.

A live footage video on social media shows a few

A group of squatters at the Success area

residents showing their injuries.

In the footage, one of the residents claimed that there was no need for anyone to be shot because there was no disruption of peace. A 15-

year-old boy said that he and others were standing nearby and the police ranks fired rubber pellets at them then started chasing behind another group of persons, firing at them too. The teen

could be seen showing a bruise on his back.

Another woman shared that she received lacerations to her hands and leg, and claimed that an elderly woman who she knew was

rushed to the hospital after being shot multiple times.

Other residents stated that they had to run to secure themselves and their children, describing the (continued on page 19)

Saturday October 17, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 09

Right is right and wrong is wrong!

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know an elderly woman who 25 years ago bought a property in the city. She was a person of limited means but felt that if she bought the house that when she retired, she could sell the property for a profit and use the money to take care of her in her golden years.

The property which she bought was in a part of Georgetown where property values were expected to appreciate with time.

In fact, the sum that she paid was far higher than the original cost of construction.

She figured that within 25 years, the property value in the area would more than double.

She did not cater for squatting. Persons came and squatted on the parapets opposite where she lived.

They built permanent structures.

They turned an upscale area into a virtual ghetto.

They have made the community unsightly and unhygienic. When they defecate, they throw the stuff into the main drainage canal behind their house.

The elderly lady now wants to move on with her life. The problem is that the squatters have caused the property values in her area to sink to rock bottom. She tried to sell but nobody is interested. She went as low as the price which she paid for the property 25 years ago.

But nobody wants to live where there are squatters.

The old lady's house has become valueless.

On top of that she is facing all the problems associated with squatting.

Her life could not have been worse.

Squatters have been encouraged for too long in Guyana. They are destroying this country and they are pushing decent hardworking property owners into insolvency.

These persons cannot even find tenants who want to live near the squatters. As such, one of the main sources of repaying mortgages has been foreclosed.

Squatting has become a form of land-grabbing.

People feel that if they squat, they eventually have to be regularized and they are not aware of the problems and harm which their squatting is causing to others.

Every time an election is concluded, there is a mad grab for land. When the PPP/C lost the 2015 elections, their supporters and others moved in to occupy lands aback villages on the East Coast. They were forced to retreat after the APNU+AFC refused to countenance their illegal actions.

Again, this year after the APNU+AFC lost the elections, there was a mad attempt at land-grabbing.

The PPP/C government is not doing anything that was not done in the past by the APNU+AFC. If it was wrong in 2015,

how can it be right in 2020?

But do not tell that to those who are begging people to squat.

A few years ago, one of the highest incidence of electricity theft was taking place in a large squatting area which has since been regularized.

There are persons squatting in hope that they will force the authorities to regularize their illegal activity. How different this is from stealing from someone and hoping that they will accept that they had a right to deprive you of what is yours.

Yesterday, President Irfaan Ali drew the line in the sand.

He said that he is not opposed to those persons who are squatting owning their own homes.

But he says that there is a right way to do something and there is a wrong way. He wants people to do the right thing rather than doing things the wrong way since his administration wants to have sustainable communities.

He also mentioned that if a squatter spends G$5M, he cannot use that home as security for a loan. But what the President did not mention was that the squatter also cannot lawfully sell his property since he has no title to that which he is occupying and that which he has built on the land on which he is squatting.

Squatters therefore are not only hurting other

Dem gat luck boys seh... and bad luck Dem

I

n de midst of a p a n d e m i c , thousands of people turn up at de National Stadium for a propaganda event organized by the government. Dem wan show people how dem sharing out title fuh house lots. It's all supposed to be windowdressing.

Dem bin hoping for a trickle of persons. It turned out to be a downpour. People pack like sardines outside waiting fuh see if Mother Luck gan shine pon dem and dem gan get through with some land.

Dem boys would not be surprised if more than half of

dem wah turn up already own property.

A lot of persons deh pon a hustle and deh gat plenty people who trying fuh hustle land in the country. Some people believe in tracing luck. Dem bin hoping dat de Ministry of Housing would have surprised dem with a house lot.

All this mek dem boys remember a story about a Trinidadian and Bajan and a Guyanese.

All three of dem apply fuh jobs at an office.

The manager hires all three and tells the Trinidadian, "Ok, you take care of the inventory". He

tells the Bajan guy, "You take care of accounting" and tells the Guyanese guy, "You take care of supplies."

The manager comes back after an hour and sees the Trinidadian and Bajan working, but he can't find the Guyanese anywhere. So all of them start looking for him.

After hours of searching, they still can't find him so they give up and turn to go home for the evening when suddenly, the Guyanese guy jumps out of nowhere and screams "SUPPLIES!!!!

Talk half and hope dat when yuh trace luck is nat bad luck.

property owners; they are hurting themselves. They are spending money on a property which has no legal resale value. That should be

Real Time with Sophie

enough incentive for people not to squat.

(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

Saturday October 17, 2020

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

Where are Dawn Cush, Karen Abrams and Melissa Ifill?

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t is extremely disturbing the type of attitudes the fivemonth election rigging produced. One trait that was ubiquitous was the racial preference that was deeply hidden and came onto the surface masquerading under countless tags.

Lincoln Lewis from beginning to end argued for an APNU+AFC victory flipping from one interpretation to the other, some of which contradicted each other.

Briefly, Lewis urged that Claudette Singh be left to do her job and she will do a professional job. He urged faith in the courts' decisions.

When Singh did decide to do the right thing and when the

courts did the legal thing, Lewis eventually called on President Granger to investigate Singh and GECOM for improprieties.

Lewis never revealed his true self – as a Black Guyanese, he saw the election as a contest between Indians and Africans and he accepted that if rigging will keep the black president in power then so be it.

Guyanese knew the reason why Lewis behaved the way he did. What they do not know is why he chose to not reveal his inner thoughts publicly. What was he afraid of?

The same conclusion applies to Eusi Kwayana. At times, Kwayana descended to a comical level, I never

believed he ever would. I felt sadness in me about this aspect of Kwayana's politics.

It was comical in that he kept asserting that he was not in possession of the facts to conclude the election was being rigged and in the very same breath, he was regurgitating facts about the election that suited his purpose.

Why he didn't have the courage at his age to say, “I want to see the APNU+AFC retain power.”

D r. D a v i d H i n d s operated in identical fashion.

Here is an example of the mystery that connects Lewis, Kwayana and Dr. Hinds. Hinds posited that the election result was not of importance given the zero

sum battle between Indians and Africans.

He asserted that Guyanese get down to the crucial issues and forget about the election result.

Then Dr. Hinds became serpentine.

He said that if there has to be a result, then declare it for the APNU. What was his reason? He explained that a PPP government would be less independent in Guyana's foreign policy. It was an asinine excuse for masking his true colours.

What was the essence of his instinct – declare the result for APNU because it is a Black government and I am a Black man. But like Lewis, and Kwayana, Dr. Hinds refused to say it publicly.

Then there were these three women who hid their true feelings under a feminist tag which in the process was a vulgarization of feminism.

It was an ugly and pernicious distortion of what feminism stands for. The women are Karen Abrams of StemGuyana; Dr. Melissa Ifill, c u r r e n t l y U G Vi c e –Chancellor; and Director of t h e C o n s u m e r A ff a i r s Commission, Dawn HolderCush (she was fired on Thursday).

In April, during the time the GECOM chairperson,

Claudette Singh, was actively involved in GECOM's unprofessional conduct, the three women condemned in the Chronicle, the criticism by many in the

Frederick Kissoon s o c i e t yl e v e l l e d a t t h e unprofessional descent of Singh. These women gave plaudits to Singh which she did not deserve.

Dr. Ifill noted that she was proud of Singh for taking the right decisions in GECOM (which were both illegal and improper). Dr. Ifill labelled the criticism against Singh as misogynistic.

Holder-Cush noted that Singh was a brilliant woman with class and integrity.

Abrams extolled the competence of Singh (see my column of May 10, 2020 in which I offered a pungent

rebuttal of the crass, asinine defence of Singh from these three so-called feminists).

These three so-called feminists have gone silent s i n c e G E C O M commissioner, Desmond Trotman, and Opposition Leader, Joe Harmon, last week levelled accusations of criminal misconduct by Singh that are openly libelous.

Trotman accused her of being engaged in the persecution of GECOM staffers who have been charged for election rigging.

He accused her of giving the police documents. Harmon has called on her to resign.

Now why have HolderCush, Dr. Ifill, and the stem lady, Abrams, stemmed their voices in the face of the onslaught on Singh by Trotman and Harmon? Race comes into play in everything in this country.

You see in April, the persons Holder-Cush, Dr. Ifill and the stem lady were replying specifically to were Indian people who were condemning Singh. Singh is generally regarded among Afro-Guyanese as being Black.

Are we going to see the protection of Singh and Guyanese women in general from the trio? No, because Singh allowed an Indian government to come to power and her latest attackers are from African party leaders. The trio would never publicly justify their silence, which is based on the race instinct.

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

Saturday October 17, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 11

Kaieteur News

PAGE 12

Saturday October 17, 2020

CARICOM SG says investment in statistics critical “Investment in statistics to enable the implementation of the Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics (RSDS) is critical,” said CARICOM Secretary-General,

Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, even as he urged both governments and international development partners to continue to support the RSDS. In a message to mark

Caribbean Statistics Day, which was observed on Thursday, October 15, LaRocque said that it is clear that the RSDS, with its strategic visioning for the improvement of statistics

over the next 10 years, takes on added significance.

This year, Caribbean Statistics Day was observed under the theme: 'Connecting the World with data we can trust'.

With this being the focus, LaRocque called to mind that the strategic framework of the RSDS was endorsed in July 2018 by the Conference of Heads of Government at its Thirty Ninth Regular Meeting.

The Secretary-General said that already the Implementation and Communication Plans for the Strategic Framework have been prepared as well as the drafts of the Resource Mobilisation and Monitoring and Evaluation Frameworks that are to be considered by the Standing Committee of Caribbean Statisticians (SCCS) next month.

In his message, the Ambassador noted that statistical data drive a myriad of decisions that impact the lives of the people of CARICOM and worldwide. Statistics as a science of learning provides an essential service, through making available data for

decision-making in the face o f u n c e r t a i n t y, s a i d LaRocque.

In light of the novel coronavirus global pandemic, the SecretaryGeneral said that statistics is required to track the status of the pandemic and its economic and social impact.

In the efforts to manage and overcome the pandemic, epidemiological data underpin the information base on the spread of the virus.

LaRocque noted that the collection, compilation and dissemination of basic statistics include the number of confirmed cases, the daily number of new cases and the pattern over time; the number of deaths, recoveries, active cases and the number of tests conducted.

“These are just a few of the data elements that are collected by the National Statistics Systems of countries to ascertain the magnitude of the impact of the virus on the population and on the economy and to drive the decisions for solutions to mitigate that impact,” LaRocque added.

He noted, globally, statistical methods and analyses are employed to assist the clinical trials that are being undertaken to obtain a vaccine.

CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque “To maintain that trust, requires the necessary investment in statistics which in turn would lead to guiding evidence-based decisions geared towards an improved quality of life for the peoples of our Region and he world,” said LaRocque.

Nevertheless, he commended the statisticians of CARICOM, including those at the Secretariat, for their tremendous efforts in p r o d u c i n g a n d disseminating high quality statistics to assist its quest to o v e r c o m e m a n y development challenges.

Saturday October 17, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 13

Guyana, Suriname examining financing, - Strategic platform set specs for Corentyne Bridge for launch in November M

inister of F o r e i g n Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, has shared that the Guyana and Suriname governments are currently examining the financing and specs of the anticipated Corentyne Bridge.

Following his press c o n f e r e n c e y e s t e r d a y, Minister Todd shared that the two governments have established a technical team which will study the prerequisite activities for the designing, financing and procurement of services for the construction of the bridge that will link the two CARICOM countries.

Efforts at enhancing transportation infrastructure cooperation and integration links between Guyana and Suriname are pivotal to the deepening of investment, trade, tourism and cultural relations between the two countries, Todd said.

Minister Todd could not definitely state whether the prestigious project would be funded by the Guyana government, but added that, “We want to do so but we have to explore the possibilities. It could be private initiative or it could be a public-private initiative.�

Todd's statement comes on heels of the official visit of three Surinamese ministers. On Thursday, Surinamese Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation of Suriname, Albert Ramdin met with Minister Todd. The Ministers were accompanied in the meeting by the Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill; the Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony; Surinamese Minister of P u b l i c Wo r k s , R i a d Nurmohamed; and Surinamese Minister of Public Health, Amar Ramadhin.

During that meeting, the ministers agreed on the principles, strategies and modes by which the foundations for greater and mutually beneficial cooperation could be realized in the fields of agriculture, health, sustainable development, the promotion of bi-national tourism, joint marketing of goods and agricultural produce and sports and culture.

They also discussed

to and from each country; and seek ways and means of arresting trans-border illegal activities.

While both sides of the Guyana and Suriname border remain closed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministers agreed that the issues affecting the resumption of the MV Canawaima Ferry Service need to be urgently and

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hugh Todd and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation of Suriname, Albert Ramdin ways and means by which there could be capacitybuilding exchanges in the areas of oil and gas.

With regard to the overall cooperation in health, the ministers applauded the good working relationship between the health sectors of the two countries and pledged to pursue several in itiatives th at w o u ld enhance their collaboration and mutual assistance in the sector.

The two Foreign Ministers agreed on a set of proposals to be submitted to

their Head of States for the optimal use of the Strategic Dialogue and Cooperation Platform (SDCP) that will be established in November 2020.

Behind this backdrop, they agreed that the thematic working groups under the SDCP will be directed to pursue realistic action programmes as well as find ways and means of removing several identified impediments to smooth and efficient legal cross border trade; the movement of vehicle transporting persons

jointly addressed in anticipation of the resumption of the movement of goods and people between South Drain and Moleson Creek.

The ministers noted the critical role that the Canawaima Ferry Service plays in people-to-people contact, bilateral tourism and trade between Guyana and Suriname. To this end,

the bodies responsible for the Canawaima Ferry Service will be directed to immediately commence discussions and activities to ensure that the MV Canawaima is available for operations as soon as the Ministers of Health of Guyana and Suriname declare that it is safe to do so.

The two sides discussed (continued on page 15)

Saturday October 17, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 14

Lands must be distributed in legal, organised manner - Attorney General tells Belle West farmers (DPI) Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Hon. Mohabir Anil Nandlall, has said the Government is seeking to ensure that every Guyanese who receives State lands, whether sold or leased, follows a legitimate and organised procedure so that everyone receives equal benefits.

The AG said these are the principles which govern the divestment of public properties in any democratic country.

He was at the time speaking to members of the Farmers Advancement Cooperative Society during a community meeting at Belle West, West Bank Demerara on Thursday. Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Zulfikar Mustapha also attended the meeting.

The engagement with the farmers came days after they had received notices from the National Industrial and Commercial Investments

Ms. Joy Beharry, a farmer, at the engagement.

(Marceano Naraine/DPI photo)

Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affirms, Mohabir Anil Nandlall.

(Marceano Naraine/DPI photo) Limited (NICIL) to quit utilising its portion of lands at the First Western Quarter of Belle East and other property in surrounding communities on the West Bank.

The Attorney General

made it clear the PPP/C Government is not taking away livelihoods from its citizens: “State land is not owned by any Government minister; it belongs to the people of the country. When a Government is elected, it

has a duty to ensure that public or State lands are governed responsibly that is [if] a decision is made to sell or lease, it is the best possible decision.”

He noted that the lands must be advertised, and persons must be invited to

apply, followed by the lands being surveyed, “so that your lease capture accurately the physical demarcation or else it will be chaos.”

He said the leases were terminated in accordance with the exit clauses

stipulated on the document.

This was done to “wipe the slate clean.” Going forward, a governing infrastructure will be established to supervise the occupation of the land.

“The decision is to create (continued on page 17)

Saturday October 17, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 15

Nigel Hinds resigns from NICIL Board over treatment of Success squatters

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ccountant Nigel Hinds has resigned from the National Industrial & Commercial Investments Ltd. (NICIL) Board with immediate effect over what he claims to be the continued inhumane treatment being meted out to the squatters at Success, East Coast Demerara O n l y y e s t e r d a y, Kaieteur News had reported that the Guyana Sugar Corporation Incorporated (GuySuCo) decided to flood a large section of lands on the East Coast being occupied by the squatters.

Guyana, Suriname examining...

From page 13 the importance and relevance of exchanging views and positions on matters on the regional, hemispheric and global agendas with the intention of coordinating their positions, interventions, sponsorship of initiatives and resolutions in order to jointly form strategic alliances with other States where possible and mutually beneficial.

They took special note of the similarities of the positions of the two countries on matters such as climate change mitigation and compensation for the sustainable use and conservation of their large forests; environmental protection; and the classification of States as Middle Income Countries (MIC) on the basis of limited criteria and its implications for accessing grants and concessional funding to meet developmental needs.

While a majority opted to vacate the lands on the premise that it was a calculated move by GuySuCo to force them to leave, a significant number still remain, insisting that the flood will not “hamper their existence.”

Things escalated after actions by law enforcement officers resulted in a number of squatters being shot and injured with rubber pellets.

These “inhumane actions” taken by GuySuCo and the onslaught on Guyanese is what Hinds stated he wanted to disassociate himself from.

According to reports, in his resignation letter to NICIL Chair, Paul Cheong, Hinds pointed out that the lands at Success are owned by NICIL and not GuySuCo. Furthermore, Hinds stated that the actions taken by the police resulting in injuries on the residents of Success “are crude, cruel and callous actions”, ones that cast a gloom over Guyana.

Hinds also noted that his continued presence on NICIL's Board would insinuate that he throws his support behind the actions taken.

Kaieteur News made

contact with a GuySuCo official, who was in charge of releasing the water who stated that the lands are being prepped for a new crop.

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. Further, he added that he was only fulfilling what was required of him.

Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GuySuCo, Sasenarine Singh, who revealed 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.

Nigel Hinds

Saturday October 17, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 16

OPEC sees Guyana among countries key to recovery of global oil supply, after COVID

T

he Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sees Guyana among five countries that will lead the medium-term recovery of the global oil supply, as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic has cut down travel and other industries heavily reliant on fossil fuels, drastically reducing demand and supply. The fall in supply, the organization said, amounted to 3.3M barrels per day.

In its report 2020 World Oil Outlook – which looks at the industry up to 2045 – the 13-member OPEC stated that it expects meaningful medium term growth (to 2025) in the oil production of

Brazil (+1.7M barrels per day), the United States (+1.4M barrels per day), Norway (+0.8M barrels per day), Guyana (+0.7M barrels per day) and Kazakhstan (+0.5M barrels per day).

Guyana is expected to produce 750,000 barrels of oil per day off of ExxonMobil's development plans in the Stabroek Block alone – the 6.6M acre block currently has more than 8 billion discovered oilequivalent barrels. Exxon said that its 18 discoveries so far have established potential for at least five Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels in the block by 2026.

Guyana and Kazakhstan also edge out the other

countries in terms of longterm supply growth (beyond 2025), alongside Canada and Qatar. OPEC's projections show Guyana nearing 1M barrels per day by 2030, then steadily producing 1M barrels per day through to 2045.

Rystad Energy projects that ExxonMobil will be able to place one FPSO vessel offshore Guyana, every year for the next 10 years. In addition to the Stabroek Block, ExxonMobil operates

the Canje and Kaieteur Blocks.

The two blocks are collectively estimated to hold 7.2 billion oilequivalent barrels.

Other companies have made few discoveries in other blocks, but have not yet definitively pronounced on whether they will seek to produce.

“Further expansions are likely [for Guyana], given recent discoveries and prolific wells.” OPEC's

report said. “However, until the country has absorbed its new-found oil income politically and economically – and on top of the current uncertain outlook given the COVID-19 pandemic – we

are reluctant to project higher growth in the Reference Case.”

Most other non-OPEC countries, it said, will see their output stagnate or decline.

Corpse found in Parika backdam

T

he lifeless body of a 21-year-old male was found in the Moroshi backdam with a wound on his neck.

Police sources from the area stated that he was found by farmers who would usually use the canal to go to their farms. The deceased is whose name was given as Timmol Harris was also a farmer in the area.

It was reported that the dead man's body was found sometime around 07:00 am on Tuesday after last being seen on Sunday by his sister.

While his relative expressed shock at his death, it was disclosed that Harris would usually call his mother complaining that he was receiving death threats from certain workers on the farm where he works.

Further, the relatives shared that on Sunday when he was last seen, Harris called his sister and told her that he was once again threatened and that time they said that they would “mark his face”.

Kaieteur News understands that the police are currently conducting a thorough investigation.

Upon the relatives reporting the coworkers to the police, a total of nine persons have

Deceased: Timmol Harris been arrested thus far and are in police custody assisting with investigations.

A post-mortem examination has since been conducted and it revealed that Harris died from a chop wound to his upper neck.

Reports suggested that Harris was chopped then dumped in the canal. The dead man's relatives are disheartened by his passing, especially since he would have been celebrating his 22nd birthday this coming Thursday.

Kaieteur News

Saturday October 17, 2020

PAGE 17

Pastor drowns in creek near farm

A

53-year-old pastor/farmer appears to have drowned in a creek near his farm some distance away from Number 1 Canal Road, West Bank Demerara.

The deceased has been identified as Maurice Wilson of Vauxhall, Canal Number 2 Polder, West Bank Demerara.

Wilson's lifeless body was discovered floating face downwards in a creek to the western side of his farm by a search party at about 19:15hrs on Thursday. He is estimated to have drowned between 06:00hrs and 18:00hrs that same day.

According to a police

Dead: Maurice Wilson

Lands must be...

From page 14 an authority govern[ed] by a board that will look after the affairs of what used to be the Wales estate.

This authority will help you to deal with the overall management of the land, to ensure that it is properly drained and irrigated, so that individual occupants will be able to benefit from the communal service.”

Meanwhile, several farmers raised concerns about investments which they had already made.

While noting her frustration after receiving her termination letter, Ms. Joy Beharry said she is thankful for the Government's move to regularise the lands.

However, she, like many others, have already cultivated land which will be harvested after one year.

In this regard, the

Minister of Agriculture advised the farmers not to expand beyond their current production while the Ministry seeks other alternatives.

“What I am suggesting, since NICIL has already served the letter, let us create a team to conduct an occupation survey and let's see what is there; how many persons and the portion of land they occupy, and from there, NICIL can make a decision going forward. But the letter issued by NICIL still stands, until the survey is completed,” Minister Mustapha said.

Like the AG, Minister Mustapha maintained that the letter issued is not to take income away from Guyanese, but it must be observed.

This, they reiterated, is in the best long-term interest of every occupant on the land.

report, Wilson – who suffered from epilepsy – and his wife, Shundell Wilson, left home on Thursday morning.

Mrs. Wilson followed him up to L'Oire Back Dam, Canal Number 1, and the farmer continued his journey on foot by himself while she returned home.

Later that day, around 18:40hrs, the deceased's wife became worried about her husband's wellbeing since he did not return from the backdam. The woman contacted a family friend who immediately dispatched a search party, which found the man's body face downwards in the creek near his farm. The

family was contacted and the body was removed from the water. The police were then summoned to the scene.

According to the police, the body was observed with no marks of violence visible on the exposed areas. The

deceased was then taken to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, where he was examined by the doctor on duty and officially pronounced dead. The investigations into the incident are ongoing.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 18

Saturday October 17, 2020

Chaos as Housing Ministry hosts public exercise - House lot distribution put on hold

A

distribution, information and application exercise held by the Ministry of Housing and Water led to scores of people flocking the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, yesterday , with some under the impression that the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) was sharing out house lots.

The activity, which is first of its kind since the new government took office, was slated to start at 10:00 am but citizens formed long lines along the corridors bordering the East Bank Highway and the Guyana National Stadium from as early as 8:00 am.

Despite obvious arrangement in place to help

the public conduct their business in a manner that was in keeping with the guidelines that safeguard against the spread of COVID -19, there were clusters and crowds of people everywhere making enquiries about the process and availability of lands.

Many persons looked to seize the opportunity to meet with housing officials to enquire about their lands.

However, some of the eager participants were left sorely disappointed as they misunderstood the title distribution exercise to mean that the Housing Department was meeting with the public to allocate lands.

In fact, in a previous interview, Minister of

An overhead shot of the long line outside the stadium circulated on social media yesterday.

Housing and Water, Colin Croal had emphasized that the activity was for no such purpose.

He had explained that the benefactors of the drive were those applicants who had finished paying for their lands over a period of time and the Housing Department was ready to hand them their titles or transport documents

which will prove their ownership of the properties.

Minister Croal had said that there are about 500 persons in the system that will be handed their title documents during the twoday exercise slated for Friday, October 16 and Saturday, October 17, 2020.

“We will also allow officials from the CH&PA to meet with the public, for those who wish to make applications and so on. Some commercial banks, insurance companies and so forth will always be out there with us to help give persons the information they need on mortgage financing and so forth …but there will be no allocation of house lots at this exercise as we have explained before that has been put on hold,” he had said.

Minister Croal was present at the exercise yesterday, along with other senior government official including President Irfaan Ali and Minister within the Housing Ministry Susan Rodrigues.

Croal had expressed the hope, during the previous interview that the activity would be conducted in a manner, which is in keeping with the COVID-19 health and safety guidelines, but as hundreds poured into the stadium yesterday, it was evident that was not going to happen even police barricades provided some of the reinforcement needed to help contain the anxious crowd.

Earlier this week, the CH&PA published several advertisements in the daily newspapers notifying persons who had completed the payment for their land that the titles were available to be handed over.

The advertisement under the caption “DREAM REALISED” indicated the exercise was for title distribution, application and information. There was no mention of land allocation.

In the meantime, C H & PA h a s b e e n emphasizing to the public that there are currently no lands readily available for

distribution.

In a recent interview with the media, Minister Rodrigues had explained that the new administration has inherited several issues that must be resolved concerning the allocation and infrastructure of house lots.

“Because persons were issued letters to inaccessible lands, under the previous administration, the Housing Ministry will now have to put the allocation of house lots on hold; while the necessary groundwork is done to allow persons to be properly allocated so they can begin building their homes,” Minister Rodrigues had said.

“Let me say, that house lots do not exist. There are just muddy plots of land that do not have any i n f r a s t r u c t u r e … To compound this, many of the areas that have been allocated, the transaction, the transfer of those land has not been made to CH&PA. So, that is contributing to the (continued on page 19)

Saturday October 17, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 19

Investigation launched into “slap exchange” between police officer, civilian

A

n investigation h a s b e e n launched into the exchange of slaps between a police officer and a civilian in Campbellville Housing Scheme, on Wednesday.

This publication understands that two police officers who were on motorcycle patrol had s t o p p e d the man and conducted a search on his vehicle but found nothing.

However, the police officers proceeded to follow the man into Campbellville Housing Scheme, where they stopped the car again and told the man to get out of the vehicle.

According to a resident, she was outside talking to her niece when she saw the police officers following the man

then they stopped his car and “drag him out of the vehicle.”

Based on a video seen by this publication, the police officers' motorcycles were parked on the street while they were engaged in a verbal exchange with the man who was removing clothes from the trunk of his car that was also parked on the street.

The man then walked away while saying, “I want y'all video what going on here.” He then t u r n ed and shoved the police officer and said, “Don't touch me bai”; the police officer then slapped the man to his face.

The man then started walking at a fast rate towards another car that was parked a short

distance away while the police officer reached into his bullet proof vest and armed himself with his gun.

The man then walked to the front of a nearby yard and the police officer walked behind him.

While the officer and the man were arguing, the other police officer started to record the incident on his phone while standing between his colleague and the man.

It was then that two women stepped in and in an attempt to part the police officer and the man; one woman held onto the man and carried him into a yard while the other stood by the gate talking to the police officers.

In the video, residents can be heard arguing with

maintained that the lands are being used to plant new cane species in light of plans to reopen the Enmore and La Bonne Intention estates, also claiming that the squatters' occupation of the lands caused them to lose about 17 years of research work worth $2 billion since they burnt the fields to clear land and

A screenshot from the video showing the police officer and the man being separated

Chaos as Housing Ministry...

From page 18 backlog and unless we properly acquire those lands, do the infrastructural work which we are mandated to do and then properly allocate them, that's the only way we erect their structures. can start to roll out our Claims are being made programme,” she explained. that the robbery and Minister Rodrigues destruction of the irrigation noted that the Ministry is pump were to halt the flooding of the settlements; many squatters have insisted that they will not be moving under any circumstances except if relocation is being offered by the government.

Two in custody for robbing and...

From page 8 action as inhumane.

The authorities, for several weeks, have been trying to get all of the squatters to vacate the lands, since they belong to GuySuCo and the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL). GuySuCo also

the police and a man said, “Aye you ga put away that gun, bai.” However, the argument between the armed police officer and the man continued while they were some distance away from each other.

The man eventually made his way close to the police officer and slapped him.

Kaieteur News contacted Divisional Commander, Simon McBean who stated that he is aware of the incident and that an investigation into the matter has been launched.

currently targeting the preparation of lands.

“The basic infrastructure, such as water, electricity and roads to create access to those plots of land will have to be installed.

We have to identify areas that are currently controlled

by CH&PA and begin infrastructure in those

areas. [Therefore] to deliver on our promise, we have to now look for additional areas, the land we have to first acquire and t h e n c a r r y o u t infrastructural work before we can allocate those lands and we will remain steadfast to that commitment,” she had emphasised.

PAGE 20

Kaieteur News

Saturday October 17, 2020

Saturday October 17, 2020

Kaieteur News

Two more added to Guyana's COVID-19 death toll

T

he Ministry of H e a l t h announced yesterday that two more persons have died as a result of the novel coronavirus, taking the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the country to 109.

The deceased are a 48year-old male from Region One (Barima-Waini) and a 71-year-old female from Region Four (DemeraraMahaica). The Ministry

reported that both persons died while receiving treatment at their respective medical facilities. The newly recorded deaths were not reflected in the Ministry's dashboard yesterday.

The Ministry also revealed 52 new COVID-19 cases in their daily dashboard update, which brings the total number of confirmed cases to 3,672.

It also stated that 13

persons are currently in the Intensive Care Unit at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, 112 persons are in institutional isolation, 850 persons are in approved home isolation and 56 persons are in institutional quarantine. A total of 2,590 persons have recovered from the virus to date.

The number of persons tested for COVID-19 to date is 16,561 and of this number, 12,889 tested negative.

PAGE 21

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Saturday October 17, 2020

Kaieteur News

The Success Cane Lands...

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From page 4 dispute over an ancestral land claim. He along with supporters, who brandished cutlasses, was fiercely defending his right to what he claims is his ancestral property right.

He didWANTED not want anyone to trespass or to occupy his property. The point is that people and organizations have the right to protect their property (a fundamental right guaranteed in the constitution) and any encroachment should be vigorously defended. GUYSUCO is similarly exercising its rights to reclaim its private property, having exhausted all reasonable steps in the process. Was flooding the right method?

Having given the squatters a few options, and given the intransigence of some squatters, as well as GUYSUCO’s need to reclaim the lands for immediate cultivation, the authorities were confronted with a dilemma.

Why would anyone or any organization allow illegality to continue and even flourish?

LEGAL NOTICE

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To tolerate this level of illegality is likened unto a man who stole money from his victim and gets his lawyer to plead for his acquittal on grounds that his mother was sick and that he had no choice but to steal to pay for medication. Should the judge free him of this crime on the grounds of poverty or compassion? The law must prevail. He should be sentenced accordingly though compassion could be a mitigating factor.

But in forcefully removing squatters who have no alternative shelter to which they could go, the specter of a humanitarian problem has arisen.

While humanitarian consideration may guide some government’s policies, humanitarian objectives cannot be the over-riding factor in the choice of policy options.

Nevertheless, while I concede that some measure of compassion (squatters will receive a portion of the 300 house lots to be given out now) was exercised, a little more could

One clerk for Eccles office English & Mathematics, grade 1 or 2 Email application to techserigy@yahoo.com One Housekeeper to work on the E.C.D Contact 5025041/ 663-6530.

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2020-HC-DEM-CIV - FD-S41 IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE FAMILY, DIVORCE AND M AT R I M O N I A L JURISDICTION FAMILY DIVISION Petition No. FD-S41 Between:(DILLON) JOAN SEYMOUN nee KAM Petitioner -v(DILLON)LESTER KENNETH Respondent TO: LESTER KENNETH LESTER KENNETH (Address Unknown) TAKE NOTICE that on the 13th day of August, 2020 a Petition for Divorce was filed against you

by JOAN SEYMOUN DILLON nee KAM, the Petitioner in the Family DIvision of High Court in Georgetown, Demerara.

AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that as part of an Order made on the 18th day of September, 2020, the Petitioner was directed to effect service of her Petition on you by publication of this Notice in two (2) consecutive Saturday issues in a Newspaper of the general circulation.

AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that if you desire you may appear or attend in person or by your duly authorized agent or Attorney-at-Law at the

have been done in respect to those squatters who have no place to go. The authorities and NGOs could help to find temporary shelter until squatters could get their own property. With the PPP/C government’s promise to make available 50,000 house lots in five years and the construction of 500+ turnkey homes, the future of housing the Guyanese people seems bright.

Dr. Tara Singh

LEGAL NOTICE Registry of Family Division of the High Court at Georgetown, Demerara where you will be issued with a certified copy of the Petition together with related documents.

AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that if you desire to Defend this Divorce, then upon receipt of the certified copy of the Petition, you must file an Acknowledgement of Service, Notice of Intention to Defend (Forms are available at the Registry), Answer and/or Cross Petition in the Registry of the Family Division of the High Court at Georgetown, Demerara within 28 (twenty-eight) days from the date of the second and final publication of this Notice.

TAKE NOTICE that the divorce is fixed.for Directions Hearing on Monday the 16th day of November, 2020 at 9:00 am before the Honourable Madam Justice Simone Morris Ramlall in Court Room six (6) of the High Court at Georgetown.

IN DEFAULT of your filing an Acknowledgement of Service/Notice of Intention to Defend Answer and/or Cross Petition the Court may proceed in your absence and may make any Order it considers appropriate, including granting the Divorce.

The Registry of the Family Division of the High Court is located at the Law Courts [Georgetown, Demerara]. The office is open to the public between 8:00am and 3:30pm Mondays to Thursdays and 8:00am to 2:30pm on Fridays except on public holidays and on such other days ‘as the Registry is closed. Dated the 25th day of September, 2020 .

Saturday October 17, 2020

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Saturday October 17, 2020

Saturday October 17, 2020

PAGE 25

Kaieteur News

ATP roundup: Shapovalov tops Wawrinka at St. Petersburg F

ield Level Media - Second-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov knocked off fifth-seeded Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5 on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Open in Russia.

Shapovalov recorded seven aces while knocking off the Swiss player in one hour and 41 minutes.

He will next face third-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev, who registered a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Brit Cameron Norrie.

Sixth-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic defeated fourthseeded Russian Karen Khachanov, 6-1, 7-6 (1) to land a semifinal berth. Raonic will face seventh-seeded Borna Corna after the Croatian scored a 7-6 (3), 6-3 win over American Reilly Opelka.

Top-seeded Alexander Zverev lost the second set before regaining his focus while producing a 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 win over South Africa’s Lloyd Harris to reach the semifinals in Cologne, Germany.

The German delivered four of his eight aces in the final set to advance.

Zverev next faces Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina,

who recorded a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Austria’s Dennis Novak.

Second-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut and thirdseeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the semifinals. Bautista Agut prevailed 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-0 over sixthseeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in his quarterfinal match, while Auger-Aliassime was a 6-3, 6-0 winner over Moldova’s Radu Albot.

Forte Village Sardegna Open Marco Cecchinato dominated the final two sets to notch a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over fourth-seeded Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain to claim a semifinal spot at Santa Margherita di Pula, Sardinia.The Italian wild card won 74.5 percent of his first-serve

points while posting the upset. Cecchinato next faces Serbian lucky loser Danilo Petrovic, who recorded a 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over Argentina’s Federico Delbonis.

Italy wild card Lorenzo Musetti rolled to a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann to land a semifinal berth. Musetti

faces Serbia’s Laslo Djere, who defeated Czech Jiri Vesely 6-4, 6-4.

Saturday October 17, 2020, 2020 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Answers may not be crystal clear today, Aries. They probably won't be laid out in a neat and organized manner. Get out in the open air and join friends for a long bike ride.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) Your head should be quite clear today, Taurus, and your witty comments will be met with appreciation and laughter. Your smile will delight everyone you encounter.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Don't worry about probing too deeply today, Gemini.

Trust people more than you normally would. You will find that things go much more smoothly if you approach them from a neutral or positive and not accusatory position.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) You might consider taking a short trip today, Cancer.

Perhaps you need to get out of the house and go across town.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Your mind might be stimulated today, Leo, so stay alert and open to new information. If you feel tired, take a short nap.

VIRGO(Aug.23–Sept.22) Communication is flowing smoothly today, Virgo, so take advantage of this and get the word out. It's important for you to make connections with other people now.

Denis Shapovalov

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Don't let fear of failure or fear of success hold you back, Libra. Even though you may feel a natural tendency to want to shrink into the background and take the easiest route, you might be sacrificing your true purpose when you do.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Powerful thoughts are running through your brain. You will find that this information can be transforming, Scorpio.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Information coming your way today might be unreliable, Sagittarius. It could be hard for you to take a solid hold on the messages you get. Keep in mind that there are important answers waiting to be heard.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Be careful about being manipulated by another person today, Capricorn. It's possible that someone is putting words in your mouth in order to get you to act a certain way.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Information you receive today may get you stirred up, Aquarius. Remember that it takes two to start an argument.

You play an equal part in any disagreement.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) There's a great deal of power to your words today, Pisces, so be careful how you use them. You may end up manipulating another's choices if you aren't careful with your conduct.

Anthony Joshua v Kubrat Pulev ...

From page 27 that come December 13 they are in their rightful place in the UK,” said Joshua. ”The O2 is the original lion’s den, I have a lot of history with the arena, but without the fans something huge is missing. “I am really hoping that, safety permitting, we might be able to bring some boxing fans in, but we will have to see. ”I respect every opponent and I respect Pulev. I wish him well during his preparation.”

Pulev said that “for the small country of Bulgaria to stand up for the heavyweight titles is a great accomplishment”.

He added: “This fight is for my late father and all Bulgarians around the world. I’m coming to London to seize the heavyweight championship of the world.”

Giro d’Italia: Italy’s Diego...

From page 31 secs 2. Joao Almeida (Por/ Deceuninck-Quick-Step) Same time 3. Patrick Konrad (Aut/Bora-Hansgrohe) 4. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) 5. Mikkel Frolich Honore (Den/DeceuninckQuickstep).

General classification after stage 13 - 1. Joao Almeida (Por/Deceuninck-Quick-Step) 53hrs 43mins 58secs 2. Wilco Kelderman (Ned/Sunweb) +40secs 3. Pello Bilbao (Spa/ Bahrain-McLaren) +49secs 4.

Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita/ NTT Pro Cycling Team) +1min 03secs 5. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/ Trek-Segafredo) +1min 07sec.

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Saturday October 17, 2020

Kaieteur News

Spanish women thriving in the men’s game Every time a Qingdao Huanghai player gets injured, Erica Hernandez races on to the pitch to help him. The Spaniard, along with her husband Jordi Escura, heads up medical services at the club and is the only female member of staff working in the Chinese Super League.

Meanwhile, at Valencia CF, Nuria Sanchez is another exception. The woman known as ‘Mulan’ is the only female injury-specialist physio in Spanish men’s football and works full-time taking care of the club’s most promising young talent following a successful football career of her own.

The two are united in their passion for sport and health, and a desire to continue learning. In conversation with FIFA.com, they share their respective experiences and thoughts on the integration of women in men’s professional football and what can be done to make it more common.After a stint working in Thai football, Erica and her husband Jordi moved to China in 2016 to head up medical services at their current club. They’ve been working as a team (or a ‘pack’ as Erica jokingly refers to it) for several years now: “The things that he does best are the ones hardest for me and vice versa, so in the end we each do what

Erica Hernandez: from culture shock to learning new therapies

we do best and complement each other perfectly.”

Erica says that China PR never loses its capacity to surprise: “They have very different ways of thinking. One of the things that blew my mind at first was their idea that spending more hours working on a player wasn’t good, as they believed the body had to do the work itself!”

The key, she says, is to be patient and allow time for things to fall into place. That and keep an open mind.

“They have therapies that work and are neither better nor worse than ours,” she said.

“I’m always open to learning new things. If you have to use suction cups, do acupuncture or apply herbs, then you do it.”

The clash of cultures has been at every level, from the language to that generated by superstitions. “Our coach was told it wasn’t normal for a woman to travel with the team or sit on the bench during games because it brought bad luck,” Erica explained.

“So I asked, ‘How can you say it brings bad luck if there’s never been a woman there?’”

Anecdotes aside, Erica is thrilled with the experience, and so are her players: “My relationship with them is ideal.

If you’re professional, have good training and know how to handle things in a dressing room, then you have no problems.”So what barriers need to come down for us to see more Ericas in men’s football? “The barriers are a mix-

© Jorge Ramírez | Valencia CF

ture of convenience – the fact that something has always been done a certain way – and ignorance,” she said.

“I’m convinced that, because they’ve had a positive experience with me, the clubs I’ve worked with will give other women opportunities as well.”Convinced she could not make a living from playing football, ‘Mulan’ made sure to pursue her studies during her playing days: “ On a typical day, I’d get up, go to college in the morning, grab lunch, drive to my coaching course (which finished at 19:00), then train from 20:00 to 22:00.”

Understandably, she laughs when some of her players complain about having to attend classes in the afternoon:

“I say to them, ‘Lads, I didn’t have time to see my friends or have a relationship, let alone to go partying’.”

The sacrifices were all worth it for the 30-year-old, however. After spending time in the Villarreal youth academy, she now enjoys helping her young charges at the Mestalla to recover from injury. Some of the players have almost become like family to her. “With long-term injuries, such as knee ones, which can last six to eight months, they end up spending more time with me than their girlfriends,” she said, laughing.

After the initial surprise of seeing a woman on their staff, she says she now has the complete confidence of her players: “If they see that you

work well, that you take it seriously, that what you tell them works and has them flying again on the pitch... then you know you have them.”

Moreover, her experience as a player means she knows precisely what is going through their heads. “I’ve had countless injuries, so you treat players the way you’d like to be treated.”

Nuria would like to see more women in positions like hers and believes the responsibility to make that happen is a twin one: “The first thing is for clubs, like Valencia did with me, to make their professional appointments independent of the candidate’s gender. And secondly, when you get your chance, you give absolutely everything.”

Third FIFA Compliance Summit concludes

In line with FIFA’s ongoing commitment to promoting compliance and good governance in football, the 3rd FIFA Compliance Summit concluded today following the opening session and a series of online follow-up working sessions, that took place with the participation of over 150 member associations, from each of the six confederations, from 12 to 16 October.

Bringing together governance and compliance experts and practitioners, the 3rd FIFA Compliance Summit saw keynote speeches on best practice and emerging trends in compliance and good governance from former US Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, Director of the Ethics Office of the United Nations Elia Yi Armstrong, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura and Chairman of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee Tomaz Vesel.

The Summit saw over 380 individual participants take part in practical working sessions on the first-ever FIFA Compliance Handbook, which aims to provide member associations and the confederations with practical guidance

© Ben Moreau/FIFA

and scalable building blocks that can be used to develop a tailored compliance programme within their organisation.

Speaking during the opening session at the start of the week, FIFA President Gianni Infantino underlined FIFA’s continued commitment to compliance and good gover-

nance while highlighting the significant progress that FIFA has made in the area since 2016.During her speech at the opening session of the summit, former U.S. Attorney General, Loretta E. Lynch, highlighted FIFA’s renewed commitment to transparency, ethical behaviour and its desire to improve the compliance en-

vironment throughout the football community, with the important objective of safeguarding the sport.

She also emphasized FIFA’s commitment to developing a strong culture of compliance in order to minimise internal and external risks. Speaking about the event, FIFA Secretary General, Fatma Samoura,

said: “The 3rd FIFA Compliance Summit provided an important opportunity to engage with our member associations and the confederations to highlight the necessity of integrating compliance into decision-making processes. ”The sustainable and sound development of foot-

ball requires robust compliance mechanisms and this week FIFA unveiled a Compliance Handbook to its 211 member associations, to provide guidance on acting ethically and with integrity. We look forward to working with them to fulfil our shared objective of safeguarding football.”

Saturday October 17, 2020

Anthony Joshua v Kubrat Pulev British heavyweight world champion to defend titles on 12 December BBCsport - World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will defend his IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO titles against Kubrat Pulev on 12 December at The O2 in London. Joshua, 31, last fought in December 2019 when he reclaimed his titles from Andy Ruiz Jr with a unanimous points victory in Saudi Arabia.

Pulev was due to face Joshua in June but it was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is not clear if it will be without fans because of Covid-19 restrictions.

Pulev has been waiting for a chance to face Joshua for almost three years after a shoulder injury forced him out of their planned world title bout in October 2017.

The 39-year-old Bulgarian announced on Monday that the fight had been agreed.

“December 12 is the date and once again the heavyweight belts go up in the air and it is my sole focus to make sure (Continued on page 25)

Golf Australia and the PGA of Australia cancelled all of their top events on Friday because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More turmoil as IWF appoints third leader in three days

Dr Michael Irani

Anthony Joshua (left) has won 23 of his 24 professional fights, while Kubrat Pulev has a record of 28 victories and one loss

Australia Open cancelled for first time since WW2

Sydney (Reuters) - The Australia Open will be absent from the sporting calendar for the first time since World War Two this season after Golf Australia and the PGA of Australia cancelled all of their top events on Friday (yesterday) because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 105th edition of the country’s oldest and most prestigious tournament, scheduled to take place at Melbourne’s Kingston Heath Golf Club, had already been postponed from its usual slot in November.

With Melbourne still in lockdown and access to Australia still extremely difficult for foreigners, however, the governing bodies decided to

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cancel both men and women’s Opens as well as the Australian PGA Championship. ”It’s unprecedented and a real blow for Australian golf and its fans,” PGA of Australia chief executive Gavin Kirkman said in a news release. “We have collectively spent months in exhaustive consultation with all relevant authorities and our sanctioning partners to try to find a way to stage all three events safely.”But even with multiple contingency plans, it has reached a point where decisions have to be made and this, regrettably, is the one we’ve had to take.”

The Australian PGA Championship, which was first played in 1905 and is co-sanc-

tioned by the European Tour, had already been moved from December to February at Brisbane’s Royal Queensland.

The governing bodies said they considered a raft of measures to get the tournaments up and running, including bringing players into a biosecure bubble and restricting crowds, but the options proved “unviable”. ”The events rely on significant support from players and tours around the world, so given current quarantine restrictions, we believe the field strength of all three events would be severely compromised,” said Golf Australia’s new chief executive James Sutherland.

London (Reuters) - The troubled International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has appointed its third interim president in as many days, with Britain’s Dr Michael Irani taking over from Thailand’s Intarat Yodbangtoey.

Yodbangtoey had replaced American Ursula Papandrea in the role after an emergency meeting of the executive board on Tuesday. The IWF, whose future as an Olympic sport is at risk, said Irani, chair of the medical committee and former chair of the anti-doping commission, was appointed interim president on Thursday. ”I do not intend to stand as a candidate for the IWF President position in the future, so I will be able to focus fully on the reforms leading up to a clear and transparent IWF Congress,” said Irani, 71, in a statement.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Wednesday it was ‘very worried’ by the replacement of Papandrea, the way the decision had been taken and the chosen replacement.

USA Weightlifting and Britain’s BWL governing body issued strong statements after Yodbangtoey’s appointment, accusing the

IWF board of blocking reform. The Americans called for an extraordinary congress to be convened by the end of November while the BWL said the executive board should stand down immediately.

The www.insidethegames.biz website reported that Antonio Urso, president of the European Weightlifting Federation (EWF), had resigned from the board in protest after Irani’s appointment. ”I no longer share the political line of this Board, which seems to me crazy and destructive of the future of world weightlifting,” it quoted him as saying. The sport, rocked by revelations of doping cover-ups and decades of corruption, was warned by the IOC in June that it risks being cut from the Paris 2024 Olympics and subsequent Games.

The IWF board elected Papandrea in January after 81-year-old president Tamas Ajan, a Hungarian, stepped aside during a corruption probe. Ajan, who eventually resigned in April, had been at the IWF since 1976, serving 24 years as general secretary and 20 as president.

Richard McLaren, the Canadian law professor whose findings in July 2016 led to Russia being banned from all international athletic competitions, including the Rio Olympics, told reporters in June that the IWF was rife with corruption.

This included vote buying, doping coverups and $10.4 million in cash that cannot be accounted for. Ajan denied any wrongdoing.

Maj Gen Intarat Yodbangtoey

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Saturday October 17, 2020

Wallace ready to quit RHTY&SC and V-Net Basil FIFA fight if appeal Butcher Communications assist goes against him Fund young cricketers in Linden

”

He lived most of his life in the township of Linden, he was totally committed to the development of the game there and as such, it is only right that we remember Linden as we pay tribute to the legacy of the late great Basil Fitzherbert B u t c h e r . ” The words of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC), Assistant Secretary/CEO Simon Naidu as the club and V-Net Communications handed over cricket gear and two bicycles to Mr. Bradley Frederick, who is associated with the promotion of cricket in the Region Ten area.

The cricket gear would be distributed to ten youth players while two less fortunate players would receive the bicycles to assist them to get to school.

The donated items in-

cluded helmets, batting gloves, wicket-keeping gloves and wicket-keeping pads.

Club Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster stated that under the first ever Basil Butcher Trust Fund, over one hundred youth players benefitted from donations of cricket gear, bicycles and educational materials.

The main aims of the Trust Fund, he disclosed are to encourage youths to Say Yes to Education and Sports, to assist young players to fulfill their dreams of playing cricket at the highest level and to promote the legacy of Basil Butcher.

Foster urged Mr. Frederick’s to make sure that the most suitable players receives the donated items based on their talent, income status, discipline and personal attitude.

Special thanks was expressed to Chief Executive Officer of V-Net Communications Sarfraz Sheriffudeen.

Foster stated that V-Net Communications has been a great partner of the club and has assisted them over the years by co-sponsoring its Christmas Village, Cricket Development Programme, annual Awards Ceremony and annual Youth Review Magazine, among others.

The V-Net Chief Executive Officer stated that as an Honorary Member of the RHTY&SC, he was happy to assist in any way possible and pledged that he would continue to do so in the future.

Basil Butcher, a Berbice Cricket Board Hall of Fame Cricketer played 44 Test matches for the West Indies until his retirement in 1969.

He scored over the 3000 runs

at an average of 43.11 with seven Test centuries and 16 half-centuries.

The RHTY&SC with support from the Berbice Cricket Board under the Trust Fund has shared out millions of dollars’ worth of items across Berbice. These include 3000 food hampers, bicycles, school bags, clocks, medical items, educational materials, cleaning detergents, face masks among others.

The presentation was the final one for the 2020 leg of the Fund which was held as part of Butcher’s 87th birthday celebrations by the ten cricket teams of the club; Poonai Pharmacy Under-12 and Under-13, Farfan and Mendes Under-15, Bakewell Under-17and Second Division, Pepsi Under-19 and Intermediate, Metro Female, Namilco Thunder Flour Under-21 and First Division.

Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep were the 2019 singles champions.

Wimbledon 2021... All England Club ‘planning for three scenarios’ BBCsport - Staging Wimbledon next year is the “number one priority” for the All England Club and holding the tournament without fans is a consideration.

The Grand Slam was cancelled this year for the first time since World War Two because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The All England Club said it is already planning three scenarios for 2021: playing with full capacity, reduced capacity or behind closed doors.

The championships will be held from 28 June to 11 July next year.

The All England Club’s pandemic insurance policy shielded it from losses of up to a quarter of a billion pounds after this

year’s tournament was cancelled - but the cover will not be available next year.

The US Open took place behind closed doors in New York last month, with up to 1,000 fans allowed in to watch the French Open in Paris recently.

“Our overriding priority will continue to be the health and safety of all of our stakeholders, in particular our guests, our staff and our competitors,” said the All England Club. ”We are working closely with the relevant government and public health authorities, alongside the rest of the sports industry, to understand the varying challenges and opportunities presented by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.”

William Wallace

Port of Spain, Trinidad, CMC – Beleaguered Trinidad and Tobago FA president, William Wallace, says if FIFA wins next week’s court appeal he will not pursue any further legal challenges against football’s powerful world governing body.

High Court Judge Carol Gobin earlier this week ruled in Wallace’s favour regarding FIFA’s appointment of a normalisation committee to replace Wallace and his administration. But the Court of Appeal is now set to hear a challenge from FIFA next Monday over the Gobin’s jurisdiction to hear the matter and Wallace said if the judgement did not come down in his favour, he would end his long-running battle with the Zurich-based organisation. ”If we lose this matter, that’s it for me. There is no more appealing,” Wallace said in an interview on WESN Content Capital TV. ”I [would] say ‘thank you very much’ and I walk away.

There is nothing like that (appealing to the Privy Council).

I have no intention of going beyond our court.” Justice Gobin ruled against FIFA noting that the normalisation committee installed last March and headed by Trinidadian businessman Robert Hadad, “was unwarranted and indefensible”.

In a huge victory for Wallace and his team, Gobin also ruled that FIFA’s actions had been “made in bad faith and for an improper and illegal motive.”

Despite the victory for United TTFA, Trinidad and Tobago remain under international suspension by FIFA due to Wallace’s decision to pursue action against the world governing body in the local courts.

Wallace has challenged that decision before the Court of Arbitration of Sport, and hopes the matter can be heard soon, in the best interests of Trinidad and Tobago football. “There is still the matter we have before the Court of Arbitration, that matter there I hope can be heard.

I hope we can hear that mat-

FIFA President Gianni Infantino ter, I think we have a good chance,” he stressed.

Trinidad and Tobago were last month included in CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifying slated for next year, despite the imposition of the FIFA ban. However, continental governing body CONCACAF said unless the FIFA ban was lifted by December 18, T&T would be replaced in the competition by Antigua and Barbuda.

Wallace said he was cognisant of the important timelines involved in the matter. “I hope that we can get it (CAS hearing) as early as possible because we’ve got to be always thinking about the 18th of December which is extremely important to us, so everything that happens now we must bear that in mind,” Wallace pointed out.

In a show of power, FIFA last September slapped an immediate ban on Trinidad and Tobago for what it termed a “grave violations of the FIFA Statutes”. A FIFA statement said the move had been triggered by the “former leadership of the TTFA lodging a claim before a local court in Trinidad and Tobago in order to contest the decision of the FIFA Council to appoint a normalisation committee for the TTFA.” ”This suspension will only be lifted when the TTFA fully complies with its obligations as a member of FIFA, including recognising the legitimacy of the appointed normalisation committee and bringing its own statutes into line with the FIFA Statutes.

Saturday October 17, 2020

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Hetmyer, Paul and Bravo re Back Windies name Test and T20I squads for tour of New Zealand CWI - Cricket West Indies (CWI) today announced the two squads for the proposed tour of New Zealand which will feature three T20 Internationals and two Test matches from November 27 to December 15.

Details of the tour were ratified by CWI’s Board of Directors during a teleconference on Thursday (yesterday).

The Board agreed to the tour in principle, subject to final details on medical and logistical protocols of CWI, New Zealand Cricket and Government of New Zealand. In the Test squad there is a return for lefthanded batsmen Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer, as well as allrounder Keemo Paul. Bravo’s highest Test score of 218 came at the University Oval in Dunedin in 2013.

A group of reserves will also travel to help prepare the Test Squad during the quarantine period and training camp as well as cover for injuries. Andre Fletcher, the experienced wicketkeeper-batsman has been named in the T20I squad for the first time since 2018. There is a maiden call-up in this format for Kyle Mayers, the all-rounder, who performed well in last month’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

All-rounder Andre Russell and top order batsmen Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis have opted not to participate in the tour. CWI fully respects their decision to choose to do so and states that this will not impact consideration for future selection.

The CWI Selection Panel indicated this upcoming series will form

part of the overall planning towards defending the ICC World T20 title.

The panel outlined that they will continue to monitor closely the progress of spin bowler Sunil Narine and all other players in the lead-up to the global event.

Roger Harper, CWI’s Lead Selector said: “The return of Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul will bolster the team, I expect that Darren will solidify the top-order, hopefully making it more productive, while Shimron gives the squad more options in the middle-order and it is another opportunity for him to show how good a player he is.

Keemo provides another wicket taking seam option.

“The Test team has an opportunity to put into practice the learnings from the tour of England earlier this year. The team has good allround depth and I expect them be very competitive. New Zealand is a very good team especially in New Zealand, so we need to be on the top of our game.”

Harper also spoke on the omission of Shai Hope from the Test squad and teenage fast bowler Jayden Seales among the reserves.

“Shai is a player who I think has a tremendous future in Test cricket but at the moment he needs to reorganize his Test match game and get his batting in the longest version, back to its best.

“Jayden is a very talented young fast bowler, who is being given some exposure to the West Indies team environment on tour in an effort to fast track his development. He will

Darren Bravo celebrates a hundred, Sri Lanka Cricket XI v West Indians ©Sri Lanka Cricket have a tremendous opportunity to learn and grow as a player as he trains and practices with the West Indies Test players under the guidance of Phil Simmons, the Head Coach, and his coaching staff.

Speaking on the T20 squad, Harper said: “Lendl Simmons and Andre Russell are two very experienced T20 players who performed very well on the last tour of Sri Lanka and their absence will surely be noted. However, Andre Fletcher has another opportunity to show us what he can do and what he brings to the table.”

Harper added: “The T20I Team is now getting back into the groove after a nine-month absence from international competition. Fortunately, a number of players have been involved in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and before that the CPL, so they have had some competitive cricket leading up to this tour. The structure of the tour with the COVID-19 quarantine period, does not give the team any real opportunity for match practice as a team but there are a number of experienced players in the team so, hopefully, they can adapt quickly.

“In the build-up to the ICC T20 World Cup, every T20I series is an important opportunity to fine tune the team, to get our personnel, our compositions and combinations right. For our players to become more attuned to their roles and the team to have a greater understanding of what works best in each situation.

So, this is a very important series for us from that perspective and also in an effort to improve our rankings.”

Proposed Match Schedule: November 27: 1st T20I at Eden Park, Auckland, November 29: 2nd T20I at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, November 30: 3rd T20I at Bay Oval,

Rorger Harper Mount Maunganui, December 3-7: 1st Test at Seddon Park, Hamilton, December 11-15: 2nd Test at Basin Reserve, Wellington.

Full Squads, Test Squad: Jason Holder (captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shimron Hetmyer, Chemar Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Keemo Paul, Kemar Roach.

Test Reserves: Nkrumah Bonner, Joshua DaSilva, Preston McSween, Shayne Moseley, Raymon Reifer, Jayden Seales.

T20 International Squad: Kieron Pollard (captain), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Fletcher, Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Rovman Powell, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr., Kesrick Williams.

USA Cricket targets ICC Full Membership by 2030 ESPNcricinfo - USA Cricket has released a foundational plan document presenting an outline for its target of becoming an ICC Full Member by 2030.

As part of the document, USA Cricket has reaffirmed its intention to launch a domestic T20 professional league by 2022 - one which has been pushed back by the Covid-19 pandemic - and to submit joint bids with Cricket West Indies to host a major ICC tournament such as a T20 World Cup within the 2023-31 ICC commercial rights cycle.

In order to achieve some of these objectives, USA Cricket has stated it intends to have at least two more ICC ODI accredited venues by 2021.

Currently, the only such venue in the USA is Broward County Stadium located in Lauderhill, Florida, which has hosted 10 T20Is since 2010 and hosted USA’s first ODI on home soil in September 2019.

USA Cricket has stated it will put specific emphasis on T20 cricket domestically over the next decade, spearheaded

by the planned T20 league it has branded Major League Cricket. Compared to the pathway taken by Ireland and Afghanistan to achieve Full Membership, which utilized success in the four-day Intercontinental Cup competition and establishing a domestic first-class structure, USA’s plan would need the ICC to go ahead with proposals to decouple Test status with Full Member status.

Growing girl’s and women’s participation figures across the country is also a focus area laid out in the document.

At present, there are roughly between 150 and 200 female players spread across the entire country compared to men’s players which are between 10,000 and 20,000 hardball cricket players if not more according to various registration data figures.

However, the document lacks specific measurable growth or performance targets within the plan’s framework. A previous document issued in 2015 by the ICC’s Project USA transition team stated specific goals for USA over the next

five years which included qualifying for the 2019 Men’s Cricket World Cup, the 2020 Men’s and Women’s T20 World Cup and the 2020 U19 World Cup. USA fell short of achieving all four targets, though they did secure ODI status in April 2019.

Though the new foundational plan document targets qualification for the 2022 U19 World Cup, there is no similar performance goal laid out for the men’s or women’s national teams. Instead, the document states that “we will develop a clear and balanced long-term international playing calendar for our national teams that includes more content, played more frequently against competitive opposition.”

According to the ICC’s current criteria requirements for obtaining Full Membership, several of the measurable objectives that must be met include: qualifying for at least three 50-over or T20 World Cups in an eight-year span, registering at least one win over a Full Member in a World Cup or World Cup

Qualifying event plus four wins over Full Members in bilateral matches, qualifying for at least one Women’s World Cup and two U-19 World Cups.

The only one of these that USA has achieved at any point in history is qualifying for the U-19 World Cup, which was last done in 2010.

USA Cricket most recently announced plans to resume a national domestic championship, dependent on passing individual state health protocol during Covid-19, for the first time since 2015.

This would be the first step of the domestic competition infrastructure framework requirements to satisfy Full Membership criteria.

USA is currently ranked second in the ICC Cricket World Cup League Two competition that has been stalled by the pandemic. USA has won six of its 12 ODIs in the tournament, putting them second behind table leaders Oman and three points ahead of Scotland.

They failed to advance

USA Cricket has stated it will put specific emphasis on T20 cricket domestically over the next decade.

Peter Della Penna past regional qualifying in 2019 for the next edition of the Men’s T20 World Cup. The women’s team finished winless in group play at the women’s T20 World Cup

Qualifier held in Scotland in August 2019 and the U-19 team finished as runner-up to Canada in the most recent U-19 World Cup regional qualifier in July 2019.

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Saturday October 17, 2020

Kaieteur News

International Swimming League:

Your guide to season two in the ‘Budapest bubble’ BBCsport - More than 300 of the world’s best swimmers return to competitive racing in the pool this week, for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic decimated the sporting calendar and led to the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Among the galaxy of swimming superstars slated to participate are the legend known as Alia Atkinson from Jamaica and the Prince from Trinidad and Tobago Dylan Carter.

Atkinson will be representing the London Roar in her most successful format the short course metre pool. Atkinson, who holds the world records in the 50 metre breaststroke and 100 metre breaststroke will be utilized in these races to gain maximum points for her team.

The Prince returns to LA Current and his versatility allow him to be deployed in a variety of races in the match ups to ensure Current victories.

The reigning Bronze medallist in the 50 metre butterfly from the 2018 World Short Course Swim Championships will be guided by his year round coach David Marsh.

The General Manager for the team is US Olympic back-

stroke great Lenny Krayzelburg. Carter’s teammates include the reigning Olympic and World Short Course Champion in the 100 metre backstroke American Ryan Murphy.

The International Swimming League (ISL) dazzled during its 2019 debut, dragging the sport into the 21st century albeit nearly two decades late - with a series of head-to-head showdowns in Europe and the United States culminating in a spectacular Grand Final in Las Vegas.

Organisers envisaged a “bigger and bolder” ISL in 2020 but as coronavirus spread, plans were scaled back and season two will take place entirely in a ‘Budapest bubble’ between 16 October and 22 November.Olympic champion Adam Peaty is one of 36 Britons involved, while Caeleb Dressel, Sarah Sjostrom, Chad le Clos and Katinka Hosszu are among the other global stars signed up by billionaire ISL owner Konstantin Grigorishin.

Grigorishin insists the ISL has taken “every possible precaution” to make the event as safe as possible, but that was not enough to reas-

sure Swimming Australia, with all but one of their athletes withdrawing from the event.

How does the ISL work? Unlike traditional events, in which swimmers compete for their nation or themselves, the ISL features 10 franchises, who are each allowed squads of up to 32 - 16 men and 16 women.

They score points for their team through results during a total of 32 individual and five relay events across a two-day match featuring four teams, with extra points available in the ‘skins’ race-off events.

In those ‘skins’, eight swimmers go head-to-head in 50m races which take place every three minutes. Half of the field is eliminated after each of the stages - leading to what is usually a dramatic conclusion to each match.Each of the teams will compete four times during the event’s 10 qualifying matches, which begin on 16 October and run to 10 November. The top eight at the end of the initial stage will qualify for the semi-finals, and the top two from each of those fixtures will contest a four-strong Grand Final.

How are the swimmers being kept safe? All competi-

Dylan Carter Alia Atkinson in Budapest .Photo courtesy of the London Roar. tors were tested for Covid-19 in their home country before departure and were required to produce a negative result before travelling and again upon arrival.

Dutch former Olympic champion Femke Heemskerk fell foul of that rule - she tested positive before her flight and will now not travel to Budapest for a least a couple of weeks, and only after a negative result.

For those who arrived as planned, following two days in isolation and further negative Covid tests, swimmers formed ‘bubbles’ with their team-mates and began training in facilities specifically assigned to their franchise.

They will be tested at least once every five days during the competition and are not allowed to mix with swimmers from other teams in order to

minimise the risk of a significant outbreak were there to be a positive test.

To protect those involved in the ISL, as well as the public in Budapest, all swimmers and coaches are based on Margaret Island, which is in the middle of the Danube river running through the city and only accessible by bridge or boat. There will also be no spectators in the Duna Arena as an added precaution.

Who are the favourites?

With big-hitters such as Sjostrom, Le Clos, Florent Manaudou, Ben Proud and five-time world champion Emily Seebohm, Energy Standard will begin as favourites to retain their crown.

With their full Australian contingent, London Roar would have been strong contenders, but they and the Cali Condors have been heavily impacted

by withdrawals.

The Americans have retained Dressel and Lily King, though, and the team who were third in season one will - like London Roar - be expected to again be among the top finishers.

Team Iron struggled at times in the first season, but the retention of double Olympic freestyle champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo from the Netherlands and the recruitment of Spanish multi-eventer Mireia Belmonte could help propel them into the knockout rounds in 2020.

But the introduction of several new rules - including swimmers losing points if they do not achieve set times - and the addition of the Toronto Titans and Tokyo Frog Kings teams - means it is likely to be a highly unpredictable season.

De Kock, Chahar lead Mumbai show of strength ESPNcricinfo - After the Mumbai Indians’ attack fired in unison to keep Kolkata Knight Riders to 148 for 5, they sauntered to the target with eight wickets and 19 balls to spare in Abu Dhabi to seal their fifth successive victory. The result set up a two-way tie at the top of the IPL leaderboard with the Delhi Capitals.

Trent Boult found swing with the new ball, legspinner Rahul Chahar took down both Shubman Gill and Dinesh Karthik off successive balls, and Jasprit Bumrah aced his matchup against Andre Russell, reducing the Knight Riders to 61 for 5.

However, Pat Cummins counter-punched his way to his first T20 half-century and even outscored the Knight Riders’ new captain Eoin Morgan in an unbroken 87-run partnership off 56 balls.

The late charge gave the Knight Riders something to bowl at, but the target looked a whole lot smaller once Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock rattled off 51 in the powerplay.

KKR dig themselves into a hole - In contrast, the Knight Riders scrounged 33 for 2 in their powerplay. Suryakumar Yadav at backward point pulled off an excellent diving catch to remove Rahul Tripathi for 7 off 9 balls.

A fit-again Nathan Coulter-Nile, who had replaced fellow Australian James Pattinson, then had Nitish Rana gloving a lifter behind for 5 off 6 balls.

Gill gulped down ten dots out of the 23 deliveries he faced and holed out for 21, trying to clear long-on. In the same over, Karthik

Pat Cummins looks to pull ©BCCI

Rahul Chahar ©BCCI dragged a sweep back onto his stumps for 4 off 8 balls.

When Bumrah bounced out Russell for 12, the Knight Riders were five down in the 11th over.

Cummins pulls them out - Morgan, too, started slowly, and was on 23 off 25 balls at the start of the final over of the innings.

Cummins then crunched Coulter-Nile for four to raise a 35-ball fifty. He sized up Coulter-

Nile’s on-pace and slower length balls, carting him for 20 off seven balls.

Cummins’ knock could have been cut short at 36 had de Kock not dropped a skier off Bumrah near the short third-man region.

Cummins regularly jumped across off to target the shorter leg-side boundaries whenever Coulter-Nile and Boult missed their lengths.

Morgan, too, helped himself to two sixes off Coulter-Nile in the last over to haul the Knight Riders closer to 150.

The Rohit-de Kock show - Offspinner Chris Green, who was picked in place of Tom Banton, took the new ball and found swing with his arm balls, but his first delivery was too short and wide, with Sharma nonchalantly putting it away for four.

It was a portent of what was to follow in the chase.

Sharma then went after seamer Prasidh Krishna, taking him for back-to-back fours in the third over. Morgan then matched up Green with de Kock, and the spinner drew a top edge, but Varun Chakravarthy missed a tough catch running back from short fine leg.

De Kock was reprieved on 20.

He zoomed to a 25-ball fifty - his third in his last four innings - to punish the Knight Riders. Sharma was dismissed for 35 and Suryakumar for 10, but Hardik Pandya (21*) helped apply the finishing touches with three fours and a six.

Mumbai Indians 149 for 2 (De Kock 78*, Rohit 35, Varun 1-23) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 148 for 5 (Cummins 53*, Morgan 39*, Chahar 2-18) by eight wickets.

PAGE 31

Kaieteur News

Saturday October 17, 2020

Women’s cricket lines up for 2022 Commonwealth Games debut on opening day ESPNcricinfo - The eight-team women’s T20 competition, a new entrant in the 2022 edition of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, will be held over eight days at Edgbaston, starting July 29, the opening day of the multi-sport event.

As per the official daily schedule published by Birmingham 2022 on Friday, the Games, where cricket will make a reappearance for the first time since 1998, will feature a total of 19 sports contested over 11 days, between July 29 and August 8 .

The last of the medal events in the women’s cricket tournament, one of the three

new sports along with beach volleyball and para table tennis to be added to the programme, will be held on August 7.Cricket, in the form o f a 5 0 - o v e r m e n ’s competition, was last played at the Games during the 1998 edition in Kuala Lumpur.

Sixteen teams contested, with South Africa, featuring the likes of Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis, beating a strong Australia side, boasting of the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and the Waugh brothers, in the final to clinch gold.

The matches, however, were only accorded List A, and not international, status.

In June, the organisers

had announced announced that the Games would start a day later than originally scheduled, with the Opening Ceremony now due to take place on July 28.

Aside from the Commonwealth Games, the w o m e n ’s i n t e r n a t i o n a l cricket calendar for 2022 will feature an ODI World Cup in New Zealand, a T20 World Cup in South Africa, and the Ashes in Australia. Given the inaugural women’s U n d e r- 1 9 Wo r l d C u p , scheduled for January next year in Bangladesh, is also likely to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it remains to be seen if the ICC slot it in an already

Giro d’Italia: Italy’s Diego Ulissi claims second win in sprint finish Diego Ulissi, who also triumphed on stage two, now has eight stage wins at the Giro in his career

BBCsport - Italy’s Diego Ulissi claimed his second victory at the 2020 Giro d’Italia in a sprint finish on stage 13. Ulissi, 31, edged out Portugal’s Joao Almeida, who extended his overall race lead after collecting six bonus seconds on the line.

Austria’s Patrick Konrad was third, with Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart finishing fourth on the 192km route from Cervia to Monselice. Saturday’s (today) 14th stage is a 34.1km time trial from Conegliano to Valdobbiadene.

Almeida, 22, who is racing in his first Grand Tour, now leads the race by 40 seconds from Sunweb’s Dutch rider Wilco Kelderman, with Spain’s Pello Bilbao a further nine seconds adrift. ”I am a bit disappointed with my second place, I wanted a stage win. I was really close but not close enough,” Almeida said. ”The goal was the stage win, the seconds is just a bonus. After the descent, the group was quite small. I saw three guys [team-mates] with me and I know I can be fast in small groups, so we tried. The team really deserve to have won but Ulissi was fastest.”

A largely sedate day of racing sparked into life in the final 40km, as a seven-man breakaway was reeled in and two categorised climbs in quick succession splintered the

peloton. Arnaud Demare, who has won four stages in this year’s race, was initially dropped on the Roccolo climb and although he fought his way back, was decisively dropped on the final climb, the Calaone.

Triple world champion Peter Sagan missed an opportunity to leapfrog the Frenchman in the points classification after falling back on the Calaone. And with Deceuninck-Quick-Step’s James Knox and Fausto Masnada helping to maintain a high speed towards the line, Almeida finished half a wheel behind Ulissi in the sprint finish.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Michael Matthews says he has twice tested negative for coronavirus since withdrawing from the race before the start of stage 10. The Sunweb rider was among a number of riders and support staff to test positive on the first rest day. ”I got a test the next morning which came back negative. Then on the Wednesday I got another test that came back negative. I am super-happy with that,” Matthews said. “It’s sad to be out of the race but I am really happy I am fit and healthy and that I don’t have Covid-19.”

Stage 13 result - 1. Diego Ulissi (Ita/UAE Team Emirates) 4hrs 22mins 18 (Continued on page 25)

A banner for Birmingham’s bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games Getty Images

crammed 2022 calendar.In a media release published in August last year, the ICC described the addition of the women’s T20 competition as a “truly historic moment for

women’s cricket and the global cricket community.” ”Fast and exciting, the T20 format is the perfect fit for the Commonwealth Games and offers another chance to showcase women’s cricket

on the global stage as part of our ambitious plans to accelerate the growth of the game, whilst inspiring the next generation of cricketers,” said chief executive Manu Sawhney.

Basil Butcher Fund Ms. Whitney Brocks hands over bicycles to Mr. Bradley Frederick’s on behalf of V-Net Communications.

Ms. Whitney Brocks hands over cricket gear on behalf of RHTYSC cricket teams.

RHTY&SC and V-Net Communications assist young cricketers in Linden

Women’s cricket lines up for 2022 Commonwealth t r o p S Games debut on opening day

Hetmyer, Paul and Bravo are Back Windies name Test and T20I squads for tour of New Zealand

Kieron Pollard and Shimron Hetmyer celebrate Virat Kohli’s dismissal, India v West Indies, 2nd ODI ©BCCI

Debutant Keemo Paul dons his newly minted Test cap, July 13, 2018 ©CWI Media/Randy Brooks

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