Kaieteur News

K

AIETEUR

Six years later…

Tuesday Edition

EPA now crafting policy to govern use of dispersants during oil spill As economic pains of COVID-19 increase…

NEWS

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September 21, 2021 - Vol. 14 No. 36

Online: www.kaieteurnews.com Online Price $80 readership yesterday, 82,939

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

Nigeria now begging oil companies to cut expenses to meet citizens' needs p. 3

These youngsters have joined the protest for change to the Exxon contract.

Worrisome - Dr. Vincent p.

8

developments at Adams

EPA - as political interference undermines key agency

Cop accused Pensioner before of brutalising placed the court 'wife' walks free for fraud p.

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p.

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- after victim tells court - Allegedly pretended to to discontinue matter sell land that is not her own

Man dies in crash after leaving Heritage Month celebration p.

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Exxon to relocate supplies

from T&T to Guyana by next year

p.

2

…as oil major starts new exploration drilling in Stabroek Block The foreigners and their families are living like kings with our God-given wealth @11:00hrs on Kaieteur Radio 99.1/99.5FM

Kaieteur News

PAGE 02

Tuesday September 21, 2021

Exxon to relocate supplies from T&T to Guyana by next year

The Noble Tom Madden that has begun drilling ExxonMobil Guyana's Cataback-1 Well

…starts new exploration drilling in Stabroek Block

U

S Oil major ExxonMobil—t he Operator of the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana under the auspices of Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL)—has announced the commencement of another exploration well at the Cataback-1 site—even as the company has committed to relocating its supplies base from neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) to Guyana by next year.

The announcement with regards to the spudding of

the latest well by E x x o n M o b i l Guyana/EEPGL as part of its five-year, 25-well campaign in the Stabroek Block, was announced by the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD).

MARAD, in its announcement cautioning mariners to stay clear of the company's drilling and support vessels, indicated that the Well site is located some 104.8 nautical miles or 194.2 kilometres from the Guyana coast and covers an area of 0.29 square miles or

one square kilometre.

The well is being drilled using the Noble Tom Madden and will be supported by 24 of the supply vessels currently in ExxonMobil's fleet.

Meanwhile, as it relates to the relocation of its supply chain base to Guyana, ExxonMobil Country President, Alistair Routledge, gave the commitment over the weekend when it was announced that the oil major had highly technical fabrication work for the oil and gas industry undertaken for the first time in the country.

To this end, Routeledge remarked, “Now that we have that line of sight to more development, we can continue this investment journey and move more and more of that work, the facilities, the capabilities, to Guyana. Sometime in 2022, virtually all of that supply chain, all of that work, will have been moved to Guyana from Trinidad, and that'll be a major milestone for Guyana, for local content, for the people of Guyana.”

This publication reported over the weekend that Guyana Oil and Gas Support Services Inc – a joint venture between the Guyanese c o m p a n y, N a t i o n a l Hardware and the Tr i n i d a d i a n c o m p a n y, Concepts and Services – in a Facebook release announced

that two fabricated subsea jumpers were lifted onto a support vessel, the Bourbon Sapphire, which will transport them to the Liza field development offshore.

The company revealed that, “Once offshore, they will be laid on the seabed as vital components of the subsea network.”

The subsea jumpers are used as connectors to transport production fluid between subsea components in oil and gas production systems.

ExxonMobil in response said, the fact that the fabrication of these jumpers was done in Guyana is a huge milestone for the country, and an indication of the growth of capacity that Guyanese will continue to experience with the growth of the oil and gas industry.

The three-year-old joint venture is the first startup in Guyana to have American Welding Society (AWS) certified welders.

ExxonMobil said that it and its prime contractor, Saipem, have been working to support the development of capabilities in-country.

It said it is making significant investment in facilities and infrastructure,

and on-the-job training in safety and upskilling for Guyanese in several fields, including welding.

Meanwhile, as it relates to the new well—Cataback1—this is included in the ambitious 52-well drilling campaign over the course of five years scheduled by the oil major.

According to the schedule of exploration activities for the company for the Stabroek Block, the company is currently engaged in an aggressive 25well exploration campaign that started back in June of this year. That drilling campaign is expected to last until the end of 2025.

This is in addition to a separate 12-well campaign that had started back in December 2020 in the Stabroek Block and ended earlier this year.

Furthermore, the company is currently engaged in a threewell campaign in the Canje Block that is expected to conclude this month.

Additionally, EEPGL is currently awaiting permission for another 12 well campaign in the Canje Block.

That five-year campaign (continued on page 12)

Kaieteur News

Tuesday September 21, 2021

As economic pains of COVID-19 increase…

PAGE 03

Nigeria now begging oil companies to cut expenses to meet citizens' needs N

By Kiana Wilburg

igeria, the largest oil producer in Africa, is now at the feet of oil companies begging for their mercy. It is appealing for the companies' cooperation in scaling back operational costs. This the government believes would be helpful in increasing its share of the profits which would be used to purchase crucial medical and food supplies for its 200 million citizens who are crumbling under the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Exposing the extent of the economic despair that has gripped Nigeria is the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI).

Founded in 2013, NRGI has been recognised by industry experts as one of the leading independent nonprofit organisations

which has been dedicated to improving countries' governance over their natural resources.

Headquartered in New York, it has also been at the forefront of promoting sustainable and inclusive development in countries such as Nigeria.

In its latest assessment of the state of affairs in the oilproducing State, NRGI found that like other nations, Nigeria was, and still is not prepared to deal with the economic effects of the pandemic. Though it was expected that given its enviable reserve of natural resources, it would have

been in a much better position than most; corruption, chronic mismanagement, and poorly administered deals have played major roles in leaving it in a most disadvantageous position today said NRGI. The Institute was keen to note in particular, that the pandemic has exposed just how vulnerable the oilproducing State is. As a result of tough lockdown requirements that took effect last year, and some of which still remain in some corners of the world, there has been a significant decline in oil demand.

At a central bank

Six years later…

EPA now crafting policy to govern use of dispersants during oil spill

M

ore than six years after the discovery of oil, recently appointed Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Kemraj Parsram revealed in an interview with Kaieteur News that it is only now a policy to govern the use of dispersants during oil spills is being developed.

The regulator was keen to note that the use of dispersants—which are often times, toxic chemicals used to breakdown oily surface slick into small droplet— has to be an absolute last resort during the cleanup of an unmitigated oil spill.

Parsram said, “So dispersants is at the forefront of our (legal) review currently, and we are discussing it with the operators, and what we want to be clear about, is developing a policy on only when we will allow the use of dispersants.

In the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), they (oil companies) provide

EPA Head, Kemraj Parsram

what you call a net environmental benefit analysis, and there are various tiers for particular spills and what approaches and methods and technology would be used.”

Parsram added, “As is known the world over, only when all other approaches or methods can't deal with the situation, then only will dispersants be used. We are

trying to have that understanding, and ensure all other means must be exhausted before using that and of course, looking at the environmental impacts it may have.”

Apart from the policy for dispersants, the EPA is also conducting a review of its legislative framework and at the end of this process; amendments if needed would be made.

“From my experience, the Act is broad and allencompassing and can therefore be applied to any situation and any sector. It is a very good Act in terms of what it intends to do for environmental management and on the mandate of the EPA. What may be required, is promulgation of specific regulations such as those for compliance and enforcement and clarity on certain matters. But our review internally, and help from elsewhere, will help us to determine the way forward on this where necessary,” the EPA Head stated.

meeting in March, Nigerian authorities noted that low prices followed from the declining demand and this led to the country being left with 50 cargoes of oil and 12 of liquefied natural gas that could not find buyers.

Since this incident which resulted in a significant revenue shortfall, Nigeria has been pushing to curtail costs and production as much as possible hence it approached upstream partners this year to reduce their costs, said NRGI. A presentation on this matter had shown that at an oil price of US$50 per barrel, US$22 would go towards operational expenses and US$12 for capital expenditure. This leaves only US$16 as profit to be split, hence the government sees this area as a matter of priority and vowed to bring operational costs to US$10 per barrel by the end of this year.

After producing oil for more than five decades, the authorities have finally said the costs have been too high for too long. (See links: https://www.energyvoice.co m/oilandgas/africa/epafrica/298246/nigeria-cutopex-upstream/ and https://www.energyvoice.co m/oilandgas/africa/245102/ nigeria-talks-tough-onproduction-costs/) The transparency body also said that the government is aggressively rolling back operations at its underperforming refineries as well as examining ways and means of lowering its import bill.

As it looks to cut corners, Nigeria has already approached several financial institutions for urgent help.

NRGI noted that the government is seeking US$11 billion in fresh loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), domestic banks, the World

Bank and others. If successful, these would grow the debt stock by close to another 50 percent, though some lenders have delayed signing, saying they need to see more reforms on transparency and accountability so that they can be guaranteed the money would not fall victim to corruption.

NRGI also noted that Nigeria is in such a state of desperation that in August 2020, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (continued on page 13)

PAGE 4

Kaieteur News

Tuesday September 21, 2021

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

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

EDITORIAL

Things do not come out until they do

P

eople are good at putting up honourable fronts, and the more educated, powerful, and well-placed they are, the better they are at putting up these hypocritical, two-faced fronts. They fool a lot of people for a long time, until they get caught, or they trip themselves up leading to their hard fall.

This was what happened in South Carolina with a prominent attorney, a rich, well-connected mover and shaker, whose hidden past is catching up with him, to the disbelief of those close, the astonishment of those who could not imagine such in the wealthy, well-polished practitioner of the timeless arts of double life and deception.

The New York Times of September 15th shared the troubling story: “Alex Murdaugh to surrender for the staging of his own killing.” If it was Hollywood, it would qualify as a thriller, given that this Murdaugh “is at the centre of multiple investigations” including “charges that he staged his own assassination, even as he continued to deny any involvement in the killing of his family.” In addition to those felonies, the disgraced attorney “faces charges including conspiracy to commit insurance fraud” and “asking a client to shoot him so that his other son could collect on a $10 million insurance policy.” The list continues with a bizarre addition, namely, “the 2018 death of a housekeeper at Mr. Murdaugh’s home.” The housekeeper’s mysterious death comes to light, because Mr. Murdaugh failed to honour an agreement reached for a half million settlement.

Further, the coroner is saying that the “natural” causes reason on the housekeeper ’s death certificate is “inconsistent: with what was labelled as a “trip and fall” accident. Finally, leaders at his family-owned law firm had to terminate him, because of millions in missing funds, as were all detailed in the New York Times article referenced.

It is the shabby tale of a rich, politically connected man, who said what the law was, how it applied to him, ensured that it never did to him (or his own), and made men and the law dance to his bidding. It was a piece of cake, with many wink and nod deals done among friends. Murdaugh and his family have long controlled the system and network of other powerful people in that part of South Carolina, who look out for their own. Now the bottom has fallen out, and his fall from the heights could not have been more abrupt, more revealing.

In language familiar to Guyanese, ‘moon duz run til day ketch am.’ We also have smart alecks cum political powerhouses, who have run rings around a compromised system answerable to them only. A few Guyanese men stand head and shoulders above the rest of the crooked pack, when the litany of their skullduggeries are considered. To be sure, the other locals in mostly political, but also legal, commercial, and various sectors, are not saints, but a pack of snakes that prey upon the Guyanese people, and like spitting cobras spurt venom in the eyes of those perceived as challengers or enemies.

They will stand no objectors, take good care of any who dare to interfere their deceptive narratives, their corrupt actions.

Guyanese know them well, they are noted for employing all kinds of camouflaging tricks, hiding behind smooth wellprepared words, bending the law to suit their whims, and skilled at showing a bright brass face. Like Murdaugh before his devastating fall, a few are hailed as heroes currently.

They usually deceive this way, until the secret bottom of their lives fall from below them, and the real men behind the mask are exposed for the world to marvel at the spectacle. It is usually not a pretty sight, horror stories long concealed from sight, but slowly coming to light.

We have had them here for the last 60 years, but some of the arrogant ones of today trump all those who went before. Those were terrible, but the oil confirms today’s hustlers make them look like amateurs. And we have them here at the heights. It’s a matter of time, but like the once powerful and untouchable South Carolinian, Alex Murdaugh, the truth doesn’t come out, until it comes out. Then the floodgates collapse.

Agriculture Ministry debunks KN Articles on Collusion and Retendering DEAR EDITOR, The Ministry of Agriculture’s National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) wishes to respond to misleading and damaging recent missives in the Kaieteur News titled “Collusion with Agriculture Ministry bids leads to unfair competition…repeated retendering gives edge to preferred bidders, proves costly for others” dated September 18th, 2021 and “Gov’t retenders four times for item supplied by one company” dated September 19th, 2021.

The recklessness of the Kaieteur News is compounded by the placement of the photographs of the Honourable Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha, and the Chairman of the NDIA, Lionel Wordsworth as part of the article clearly intending to convey to its readers that these two persons are in some way connected with the tendering process about which the articles relate.

Kaieteur News must know that by virtue of the Procurement Act 2003, public procurement of goods and ser-

vices up to a certain limit is done exclusively by the NPTAB, a body that is independent, separate and apart from both the Ministry of Agriculture and the NDIA. The NPTAB has its own employees and the BIDS received through the tendering process are assessed by evaluators drawn from across the public sector by the NPTAB. Indeed, no evaluators are drawn from the sector whose BID is being evaluated. In summary, therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture nor the NDIA plays any role whatsoever in the tendering of contracts.

If the Kaieteur News had taken the time to do its research rather than rush to publication, the newspaper would have realised that the Hon. Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha and the Chairman of the NDIA, Mr. Lionel Wordsworth have nothing to do with the tendering and acceptance of bids, retendering or rejection of bids.

The tendering of bids, acceptance of bids and subsequent award of bids are done

through the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) once it is above a prescribed limit. All these projects named in the articles are above that prescribed limit and therefore fall under the ambit and control of the NPTAB and not the Ministry or the NDIA. As it relates to retendering and rejection of bids, the newspaper should have taken a closer look at the Procurement Act 2003. Section 40 of the Procurement Act 2003 states that “(1) Subject to approval by the National Board, if so specified in the solicitation documents, the appropriate board may reject all tenders at any time prior to the acceptance of a tender. The appropriate board shall upon request, communicate to any supplier or contractor that submitted a tender the grounds for its rejection of all tenders, but is not required to justify those grounds.

(2) The appropriate board shall incur no liability, solely by virtue of its invoking subsection (1), towards suppliers or contractors that have sub-

mitted tenders.

(3) Notice of the rejection of all tenders shall be given promptly to all suppliers or contractors that submitted tenders.

Therefore, based on the above, the Ministry of Agriculture nor the NDIA cannot request retendering or rejection of bids. It is only the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) that can do so. The NDIA only provides the engineers estimate which is published along with the tenders for bids. Therefore, it cannot be said that the NDIA (the budget agency) has been turning down competitive bids as is being claimed in the September 19th, 2021 article.

Further, if an aggrieved bidder wishes to know the ground for the rejection of the bid, they can contact the NPTAB for such information.

As it relates to the steel sheet piles project, only NPTAB would be able to provide the answers for the rejection.

Given the above, the Ministry of Agriculture and the NDIA is calling on the (Continued on page 5)

Countries like Guyana, with economies that are on the upswing, now face a twin-hurdle DEAR EDITOR, As I see it, we are on the cusp of another ‘New Age.’ In the past, mankind experienced several Ages of Change; from the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages to the Golden, Enlightenment, Space, Information and Digital Ages, among others.

Cast in the context of the development of human society, mankind has lived through the primitive, slave, feudal and capitalist socioeconomic formations and in some countries like China, Cuba, Vietnam and North Korea, the socialist society.

Whatever the New Age that beckons, it is fraught with uncertainties and known unknowns.

What we know for certain is that the digital age has opened up unimaginable prospects and has influenced almost every sphere of human endeavour.

The commercialisation of outer space, the application of artificial intelligence to health care, data security and finance, the introduction of drones for agricultural, military and other purposes as well as the rapid production and utilisation of electric motor vehicles are just a few examples of the signs of the changing times in which we live.

Only recently, a letter writer in the 14th September

edition of SN under the Head, ‘The Ministry of Home Affairs should certify users of these electric bikes ‘ drew attention to the presence of thousands of electric bikes on our roadways.

On top of this, there are approximately 30 to 40 electric, zero emission motor vehicles on our roadways.

These are small but significant indicators that changes of immense proportions are creeping up on us.

While alarm bells toll unceasingly, signifying that the coming changes would impact dramatically our day to day lives, in our midst, are those who find the alarm bells annoying and have opted to be tone deaf.

To them, respect for basic human rights, overcoming poverty, securing a job, education and earning more than one dollar per day are the things that matter.

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed changes upon our lifestyle that could prove irreversible. We have been called upon to rethink things and be creative. To challenge ourselves and assume new individual and collective responsibilities.

The other worrisome change factor is climatic. It has long been established that with its accompanying and predictable impact, climate change poses an exis-

tential threat to humanity.

On both fronts, conspiracy theories abound. The lists chronicling such theories are endless. In the case of COVID-19, as the virus mutates and produces more and more variants the conspiracy theorists will be under selfimposed pressure to work even harder.

The ‘My Body, My Choice’ campaign mounted by the ‘antivaxists,’ rests on a platform of individual and personal liberty. The nonconformists refuse to see the bigger picture that captures Martin Carter’s warning: ‘All are involved, All are consumed.’

And President Kennedy’s famous words; “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” is relevant today as it was in 1961 when, in his inaugural address he stressed the importance of civic action and public service for the common good.

Ironical as it might seem, those who oppose being vaccinated are products of liberal thinking and behaviour. They are products of a socio-economic system that encourages the pursuit of self-interest or the atomised individual who negates any sense of societal obligation and civic duty.

By exercising a greater

sense of patience, tolerance and persuasion, it is hoped that those who still harbour doubts about being vaccinated will overcome their reservations and reflect on the words of the hymn; ‘Oh the bitter shame and sorrow’ and move from ‘None of self, and all of thee’.

In this regard, the philosophical question of individual rights versus collective rights; which takes precedence and the role of the State has returned to haunt us once more.

Placed in the context of present-day reality, Martin Carter’s words bring into sharp focus where the real threat lies and what is necessary under any circumstance to resolve the ‘Them and US’ mentality the pandemic has brought upon us.

To vaccinate or not vaccinate, has ballooned into a social issue that has resulted in polarisation and social segregation in the same way the controversies concerning abortion, the death penalty and the legalisation of marijuana did.From an economic standpoint there appears to be a dialectical interconnection and interaction between the impact of the pandemic with that of climate change.

In the midst of all the back and forth there is an even bigger challenge that (Continued on page 6)

Tuesday September 21, 2021

India’s handling of COVID-19 & vaccine diplomacy helped Guyana manage infection DEAR EDITOR, Last April and May, Prime Minister Modi was severely criticised by a Guyanese newspaper and a few critics, to the point of the criticisms coming across as a personal attack on the leader, for his handling of COVID in India.

Prior to that and since June, the PM was/has been praised for his handling of COVID with the lowest global infection and mortality rate per hundred thousand people.

Because of India’s generosity in donating anti-COVID materials, Guyana and so many other countries were able to limit COVID infections and deaths. Yet India was criticised for its local COVID policy and the sudden increase of COVID. Guyanese and other critics failed to understand India’s federalist system of governance or what those of us who study India’s politics call “cooperative federalism”.

When the PM assumed control of the battle on COVID last year, he was attacked for what critics described as usurping the power of the state governments or Chief Ministers who was the elected executive of the states.

The PM felt humbled by the critics.

Modi backed off. Fighting COVID was placed on the shoulders of state governments. Some handled it well; others did not.

Each state was given control over its COVID policy and vaccination drive and to procure its own vaccines. Funds were given to the states to combat COVID. The states proved to be inept in fighting COVID and in acquiring vaccines as the dreadful disease took an unfathomable and devastating toll across India. Millions of cases of infections were recorded daily. COVID swarmed the states; thousands died from COVID daily. No doubt, India was unprepared for the second wave that hit in April and May. After India’s low rate last year and thru March of this year, the country was lax and the government felt it had ‘conquered’ COVID with its lockdown.

The country let its guard down. During that period, In-

dia supplied the world with oxygen ventilators, PPEs, masks, etc., and later vaccines. India didn’t expect a second wave and did not prepare for it. So when the second wave came, India experienced shortages in equipment and vaccines. Modi was blamed for taking care of the needs of the world in vaccine diplomacy.

And while happy to receive India’s vaccine, PPEs, etc, to combat COVID, some of the very recipients in Guyana blamed and attacked Modi for the rise of COVID in India and for shortage of equipment in his own country.

Instead of blaming the Chief Minister of the states for the record infections and deaths, the PM was blamed for neglecting his people and for focusing on international vaccine diplomacy.

Yet a month earlier, the very critics were praising the PM for helping poor countries, including Guyana, to combat COVID, something the wealthy countries had failed to do.

Modi wanted the world to be vaccinated and protected from COVID and committed to helping them. So he supplied the world with vaccines, including wealthy countries.

Some 70 countries benefited from India’s vaccine generosity. Modi was also very generous in doling out antiCOVID equipment handouts to many countries. Guyana and other Caricom members were beneficiaries receiving millions of vaccines.

That assistance helped

PAGE 5

Kaieteur News

Guyana and other Caricom countries to control COVID and limit infections and fatalities.

After the PM was blamed for the rise in COVID casualties in May, the PM re-assumed control over COVID policy, securing vaccines, ventilators, PPEs, etc. and the infections drastically fell.

Even when it was its peak in April and May, India was among the countries with lowest infection and mortality rate from COVID in April and May, lower than Guyana and the US. Today, India has the lowest infection rate globally among major economies.

In addition, while most countries, including Guyana, experienced a third wave of infection, it appears that the third wave has skipped India where it has been very mild. Today, India is praised for its handling of COVID by the leaders of all the major countries.

This COVID is the biggest problem the world is facing in 100 years.

It is the biggest pandemic, and hence efforts made in India to tackle the corona are commendable.

As the Indian PM stated some time ago, handing COVID has been most difficult for humanity. He did his best managing problem of state power versus national control.

Misunderstanding of India’s governance structure led to monstrous condemnations of the PM. People didn’t understand Indian’s system of governance – a federalist structure with each state having control over education,

health, etc. It is similar to the US where each state has control over its COVID policy.

When the PM intervened nationally, COVID was under control.

Had he maintained control of COVID during the 2nd wave, perhaps infections would have been curtailed and deaths reduced. And had he not sent us vaccines, perhaps our COVID infection and mortality rate would be much higher than what it is currently.

Recently, India administered more than 25 million vaccines, unprecedented in the globe, a record for the issuance of any vaccines globally one day.

In preceding days, India administered record breaking vaccinations of 10, 14, 17, 21 million vaccines daily. So far, some 800 million vaccines were administered as compared with just over 300 million by the US and 400,000 in Guyana.

There is unprecedented handling of COVID-19. That India has been able to control the third wave of COVID-19 and limit its spread is unprecedented.

The Indian PM should be praised for his handling of COVID. Unlike what critics claimed in April and May, Modi has done a remarkable job since then to reduce COVID infections not only in India but in other countries as well, including Guyana, that were/are recipients of India’s anti-COVID assistance.

Yours truly, Dr. Vishnu Bisram

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE VP DEAR EDITOR, Reference is made to the article titled, “Refusal to remove unfair terms in oil deals could be destabilising to countries - Chatham House” (KN September 20).

I see this, through the eyes of Guyana’s Vice President (VP), and sense opportunity for improvement with this oil.

If he is serious about promises, he must get dirty, which he knows how.

Every Guyanese recognises the deal is severely disadvantaging to this country, be they PPP/C, PNC, VP, or me.

Never liked it, but understood its underpinnings.

I said it before and say again: if I am Guyana’s leader, meaning the VP, I would seize any opening (including Chatham House’s) to

squeeze Exxon. The onerous oil deal can potentially destabilise Guyana. The CIA or America or Russia or Venezuela does not have to destabilise Guyana, the oil deal could, though. If I am the VP that is what I would latch on to, and wield like a battle-axe.

I spell out, so all can understand, with one audience in mind: the almighty VP. He has shown repeatedly that when he desires to get his way, he does not allow niceties (broadly interpreted) to interfere; a proven strength.

His approach to Exxon should be laid out in this manner. The people are unhappy, they are agitated.

Menacing. That is not good, since the last thing the oil powers (and country backers) (Continued on page 6)

Agriculture Ministry...

From page 4 editors of the newspaper to recall and withdraw its articles which are libelous since it contains defamatory statements levelled against the Hon. Minister of Agriculture and Chairman of the NDIA, Mr. Lionel Wordsworth.

The Kaieteur Newspaper should also note that the Head of the NDIA is not the Chairman, who is involved with policy, but the Chief Executive Officer, who is responsible for day to day operations of the entity.

It is this type of reckless journalism that has landed KN in so many lawsuits that the publishers stated in an article recently that they may have

to get mortgage financing to pay the number of judgment debts awarded against them in court.

Ministry of Agriculture Editor’s Note: Kaieteur News is not in the business of deliberately trying to tarnish the reputation of anyone, least of all government officials.

Moreover if the information obtained is flawed, we forthwith issue an unequivocal apology, firstly to Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, Chairman of the NDIA, Lionel Wordsworth, and anyone else who would have been affected by our reportage.

PAGE 6

Tuesday September 21, 2021

Kaieteur News

We need to shut down hypocritical political elites that have manipulated us with their deceitful games DEAR EDITOR, People worldwide are feeling conflicted, stuck somewhere between their fear of COVID-19 and the vaccines, especially the gene-based vaccines. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of fake news and propaganda circulating. In such circumstances, 90 percent of the dissenting ideas may be classified as nonsense and largely unfounded, however, mixed in with these ideas is the 10 percent of information that can and should be taken seriously. Highly qualified and world-renowned immunologists, virologists and other medical scientists and practitioners have raised serious and sensible issues and questions about the way COVID19 is being treated, or not being treated, and about the possible and unknown longterm effects of the vaccines.

Adding to people’s mistrust and hesitancy, is the obvious and unprecedented way in which the US State Department is openly working in partnership with social media giants, in an effort to censor all forms of dissent, especially with regard to COVID19 and the vaccines.

In addition to causing devastation on all fronts, the COVID pandemic has exposed the fault lines and deeply flawed nature of the dominant global political and economic system and the ideology that underpins it. It has

become evident that large numbers of people worldwide no longer trust their governments, and certainly have no trust in the large, profit-driven pharmaceutical corporations, referred to as Big Pharma.

COVID-19 is yet another sign of the impending collapse of an Empire and the Western way of life. It is a manifestation of everything that is wrong with Western civilisation (if you can even call it a civilisation) and the world it has created. It is a world of despair and destruction, characterised by a military industrial complex with its focus on endless wars, driven to develop ever more grotesque weapons of mass destruction, including biological weapons, while millions live in abject poverty; an irrational capitalist system which commodifies everything, even healthcare, a scientific and medical model, which is reductionist and linear rather than holistic, and which stifles innovation, hindering our ability to fortify our own extraordinary natural immune system and our ability to heal; and of course, the doctrine of white supremacy which has torn the world asunder. The humiliating defeat of the US Empire and its allies in Afghanistan is another sign of the Western world’s decline. There can be no doubt that the sun is finally settling on the US Empire. What we are witnessing

is its final descent into the hell of its own making.

In Guyana and throughout the region we are now seeing with our own eyes the extreme climate change predicted as a result of the illogical and absurd Western concept of endless growth and the orgy of consumption it continues to promote. And yet, with these catastrophic events on our doorstep, most Guyanese remain stuck in a meaningless, tribal-based, garrison politics, where everything boils down to a cuss-out between the PPP and APNU+AFC. It is a souldestroying politics that is preventing Guyana from confronting the life and death challenges we face. Climate scientists are claiming that even if all carbon emissions were to stop today, the melting of the Arctic ice and the Greenland ice sheets by 2060 cannot be stopped, and when they do melt there will be a seven meter (23ft) rise in sea levels. This means that all coastal cities, towns and villages will need to be evacuated.

Any truly patriotic political party/organisation in Guyana, having the welfare of the people and the survival of our country at heart, knows that we must find a way to move beyond the garrison politics that prevent us from being able to meaningfully address the life and death issues facing us. Given the global reality we face, there can

Countries like Guyana, with economies...

From page 4 countries like Guyana must face; how to rapidly and evenhandedly utilise its natural resources for the benefit of all Guyanese at a time when medical science on the one hand and scientific innovation on the other have raised the bar posing a serious threat to accelerated national development.A time frame of year 2050 has been established by which time Guyana as a major producer of oil and gas should be ready to enter the decarbonised world. As the argument goes, come 2050, whatever is left of our oil and gas it must remain in the ground.

Within the meaning of the established timeframe, Guyana has 29 years to realise whatever transformative economic and social goals it has set itself before the cap is put on any further exploitation of its fossil fuel potential.

It has become a race against time.

Compounding the situation is the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic.

The preoccupation by many governments is how to

avoid future lockdowns and to keep their economies buoyant and open; to intensify the vaccination process, reduce significantly the number of unvaccinated while keeping fatalities and infections rates down.

The development agenda is now a national priority. But inherent in that agenda are numerous developmental challenges.

Bauxite and sugar had their day.We have no control over the price for gold. The productive and extractive industries did bring some degree of economic and social development but owing to strangulating external factors their future expansion and development were throttled.

As a consequence, the country’s dependence on export-led growth based on primary products made little headway.

Already the industrialised nations in the G7 have reached a level of development that represent 46 percent of Gross Domestic Product globally based on nominal values and comprise more than 60 percent of global net wealth for a

total of $317 trillion.

On the pandemic front, some countries are already talking about administering ‘Booster Shots’ to fight off the virus at a time when, in terms of percentage of population, only 1.1 percent of people living in poor countries have not received a single shot of any vaccine.Meanwhile, 84 percent of doses administered globally have all gone to people in high and upper middle income countries.

Herein lies the uneven nature of development at the global level.While industrialised nations got a head start spanning decades, countries like Guyana which have just discovered oil, with economies that are on the upswing now face the twin hurdle of reaching a climate change target while tempering the ravages of the pandemic.

Guyana has the next 29 years to make that long awaited gigantic leap into the future with Guyanese at the center of their country’s development.Can we do it?

Yes we can!

Yours faithfully, Clement J. Rohee

be no denying that the PPP and APNU+AFC’s continued commitment to neo-liberal capitalism and the plundering of our national patrimony at the hands of ExxonMobil and other foreign corporatepredators is nothing less than national suicide. We have to start to build a new way of life within the old one, so that when the old crumbles we are ready. In order to prepare for what is to come, including the more deadly variants and viruses, we need to establish a new, life-affirming political and economic arrangement, with different priorities. All Guyanese must be able to access excellent and life-giving nutrition, decent housing and universal quality healthcare for starters.

Unfortunately, like all things in Guyana, COVID-19 and the vaccine debate has become a political football.

Even as we face a pandemic that is killing people of all political affiliations and ethnicities, our politics is preventing us from acting as one people and in the best interests of all people. This tit-fortat, cuss-out politics can only lead us further down the path of destruction.

OVP rejects the idea of mandatory vaccinations.

However, of this we are sure, had APNU+AFC been the government they would have been doing exactly like the PPP. I know that most senior leaders of APNU+AFC have been vaccinated. And yet under the guise of a so-called People’s Movement, members of APNU+AFC are urging a nationwide shutdown “to bring an end to PPP dictatorship and mandatory vaccinations”. The hypocrisy of these middle-class people who did nothing for the dispossessed masses when they were in government, is perhaps more frightening than the pandemic.

Guyanese need to wake up.

We need to listen to the science. We need to disregard

advice from those who have so clearly demonstrated that they do not have our best interests at heart. We need to stop being manipulated so that we can move forward to a new day, where we are no longer prepared to be used as pawns in a game that is not of our making and that has nothing to do with our welfare.

What we need is to open a national dialogue on COVID19, the vaccines, the science, the many effective measures that could have been put in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Guyana, possible early intervention and treatments that have proved effective elsewhere, and the need for a more holistic approach to this pandemic and other variants and viruses coming our way. We must embrace our own alternative natural remedies, medicines and immune boosting formulas and make these things freely and readily available.

We need to usher in a politics that is meaningful and transformational, that serves, rather than divides our people. These are serious times and there is worse to c o m e .

Why is the Opposition calling for a shutdown of the country? Is it so that they can introduce a different political and economic arrangement that will provide a better life for all Guyanese? We know that is not the case, because we saw that when they were the government nothing changed. It was business as usual and life definitely did not improve for the masses of dispossessed and marginalised sections of our society. As always, they are using us, willing to mislead us, cause chaos, increase our hardship, and even risk our lives, to further their insatiable lust for power, which they use only to enrich themselves, families and friends. It is a disgrace. One of the biggest obstacles to the advancement and liberation of African-

Guyanese is this black middle-class amongst us, referred to by Malcolm X as “house-negroes”, who pretend to serve our interests while selling us out every time.

The call for people to gather in large groups when COVID is rampant is irresponsible. They are urging the people to shut down the country, to what end? They are advising us to stock up on food. This is fine for the APNU+AFC elites, whose homes are already stocked to the hilt. It demonstrates just how out of touch they are with the majority of our people, who struggle to eat and feed their families on a daily basis. The majority of Guyanese people depend on their daily hustle to survive so it is difficult to see how we would survive a shutdown.

Of course, they don’t give a damn about how or whether we survive – they proved that to us when they were in office. They have no credibility – they are morally and politically bankrupt – they are misleaders. In these devastating times, when so many are facing additional hardship, the best thing for these APNU+AFC mandarins, who grew fat during their time in office, would be to help us to stock our homes, distributing much needed food items to poverty stricken Guyanese communities, up and down the country. That’s if they cared about us – but they don’t. Just like when they were the government, they are giving us nothing but further demands and demagoguery. Rather than shutting down the country at this time, we need to shut down these hypocritical political elites that have manipulated us with their deceitful games and arrested our development for so long. It is time for a new national vision.

Gerald A. Perreira Organization for the Victory of the People (OVP)

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE VP Froma page 5 wish for is what is called ‘political instability’ in a heaving social environment.

The VP’s position must be: I have difficulty holding them in check, and I am trying, but I am not optimistic that I can hold them.

By the way, when ‘people’ are spoken of, it is not just PNC people, but also my own people.

He has to deliver that with the same straight face, which he has practiced well before Guyanese and the Western world.

So, I encourage this, when so much is at stake, so he can

get to look very good in doing so, while getting something better for Guyana.

What is Exxon going to do? Take us to court? Call in the gunboats? Dare I say it sanctions? Exxon plays dirty, Guyana must, too.

Editor let’s be frank.

The VP is a proven and outstanding Machiavellian operator.

He can do this, because he is familiar with the dark and dirty.

Meaning, that if he has to rile up some of his own people, get in the face of Exxon, he knows how. He can arrange that without much

sweat. I suggest Guardians of Democracy, for a start.

Why, even I would join in such native anxieties. In sum, I think that if the VP wishes to deliver proof of what destabilising looks like, he can arrange for a bunch of rowdy picketers in front of Freedom House. The only negative is that his private sector allies-mostly corruptwould object. Still, I think he can do it, namely, wring Exxon’s hands. The other problem is that he is handicapped, doesn’t want to do so. Skeletons.

Sincerely, GHK Lall

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BL TLUNT.. UNT...B BL Tuesday September 21, 2021

Kaieteur News

It remains mind-boggling to us at this newspaper that the Police Force, based on its stats, insists that there has been a reduction in crime. If the Force remains resolute in pushing its 'facts', then our conclusion is simple – many of the crimes executed on a daily basis are not reported to the Force.

Is it that the people do not trust those within the Force?

We at this publication believe that the Force should waste no time in getting to the bottom of this situation, after all, without the people, crime fighting will most likely become a tall, if not impossible, task.

PAGE 07

Kaieteur News

PAGE 08

Tuesday September 21, 2021

Worrisome developments at EPA - as political interference undermines key agency - Dr. Adams

P

o l i t i c a l interference and the deliberate dismantling of the Environmental Protection Agency is currently decimating the ability of the entity to execute its mandate, a development “that should be worrisome to every single member of the Guyanese community.”

At least this is according to Former Executive Director of the Agency, Dr.

Vincent Adams, who during an Alliance for Change (AFC) press engagement this past week, spoke to the recent manifestations of the retrogression of the pillars on which the agency stands.

Dr. Adams prefaced his position by firstly arguing “you cannot have a country without strong institutions and there is no institution in the country that should be stronger than EPA.” This, he said, is

especially crucial given the state of affairs in Guyana, where development is going to be really accelerated here in the next few years “Your health, safety and wellbeing and environment is the most important thing,” according to Dr. Adams, a sentiment he said was shared by the Former ExxonMobil Guyana President, Rod Henson, who “used to say EPA is a most important agency.”

To this end, Dr. Adams noted that of recent, there have been some worrisome developments and that “what is happening all of these institutional pillars are being destroyed and torn down.”

He elucidated by pointing the fact that several key staffers at the Agency are now either being forced to leave, being demoted or their contracts are being negated altogether.

Dr. Adams cited as example, a lawyer that he employed was forced to leave the agency.

According to the Former Director, it was the very lawyer that had taken ExxonMobil Guyana to court over an infraction and questioned if this instance had anything to do with his removal.

He in fact posited, “…these questions have to be asked, as to why you would not want to have somebody like that on our side of the fence.”

Qualifying his argument further, Dr. Adams pointed to the recent over turning of a decision by the EPA with regards the need for the undertaking of an Environmental Impact Assessment study to be done for the construction of the New Demerara River Bridge.

According to Dr. Adams, even the Ministry that will assume ownership of the bridge had appreciated the need for an EIA to be had, and this was signalled in November last, only to be overturned recently by the EPA. A few weeks ago, Dr. Adams said “the EPA (is now) saying you don't have

Former EPA Director, Dr. Vincent Adams to do an EIA, that is crazy, that is absurd.”

He was adamant, “an EIA is a most important document for such a project” since it's “a totally different bridge.”

In fact, he quipped that it was “kinda funny to hear the Minister say, piling is no big deal we do that all the time.”

To this end, Dr. Adams recalled that when the EPA was constructing its headquarters, its original plan involved the driving of piles for its foundation but this had to be halted and the building redesigned as a result of the impact that the piles caused on the surrounding communities.

“I would like for the minister to go live right close by to where these piles are being driven,” Dr. Adams suggested Citing another example of what he called “manifestations of the retrogression” is the fact that the reformation of the critical and decades old Environmental Protection

Act. To this end, Dr Adams recalled that during his 22 months at the helm of the agency, “we hired a lawyer to revise the Act.” According to Dr. Adams however, he has since been informed “I understand it has been put on the back burner.”

He used the occasion to remind that the Act which was promulgated at a time when Guyana did not have any considerations for oil and gas, reflected in the fact, that the legislation in place does “not have a single word about oil and gas.”

According to Dr. Adams, while he has “heard government talking about better oversight; to say it is one thing but do it is another…how can you say you beefing up oversight and you're destroying morale and cutting back on training.”

He said too, that under his auspices at the EPA, they had been working with the World Bank to train a team to establish a 24/7 presence monitoring production offshore, and not have to depend on the information provided by ExxonMobil.

This too has since been stalled.

Additionally, he noted that in the past, the EPA could have readily told the public that among its challenges was the fact it lacked the equipment to go o u t a n d d o t h e measurements.

According to Dr. Adams, this excuse can no longer fly, since while at the EPA the agency did set about procuring the required equipment.

“Guess what they (the (continued on page 11)

Ministry records 8 more COVID-19 fatalities

Y

esterday, the Ministry of H e a l t h announced that eight more persons, who tested positive for the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, have died. As a result of this, the country's COVID-19 death toll has moved to 733.

According to the Ministry's release, the latest fatalities are that of six unvaccinated persons, one partially vaccinated and another whose vaccination status is unknown.

The fatalities are that of

four women – a 50-year-old from Region Five (MahaicaBerbice), a 56-year-old and a 74-year-old from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and a 50-year-old from Region Two (PomeroonSupernaam) – and four men – a 56-year-old and a 58year-old from Region Three and a 70-year-old and a 62year-old from Region Four.

It was reported that all eight persons died over a three-day period (September 18 to 20) while receiving treatment at a medical facility.

As it relates to their daily COVID-19 dashboard, the Health Ministry within the last assessed 24-hour, recorded 130 new infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 29,683.

Currently, there are 30 patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit, 160 persons in institutional isolation, 3,505 in home isolation and one in institutional quarantine. To date, a total of 25,255 people who had tested positive for the virus have recovered.

Tuesday September 21, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 09

Christmas parties will have to be cancelled I

n less than six weeks, the number of active C O V I D - 1 9 coronavirus cases has increased five times. It has moved from just over 702 on the 2nd August to more than 3,600 as at yesterday.

I n a n y c o u n t r y, epidemiologists would have pressed the red alert button.

But in Guyana, our officials do not seem to believe that drastic action is needed.

It appears that the geniuses in our Ministry of Health are counting on vaccination. But vaccination has been taking place for months now and the situation has not gotten any better; in fact September 2021 has become the deadliest and most infectious month since the pandemic began.

This is not to say that vaccination has not been working. The body bags would have been piling up on the streets had it not been for the vaccines. Vaccination has been proven to work and is working in Guyana but no one should expect it to be perfect. Vaccination rates however, remain much too low and the extended wait for the Sputnik second doses is exposing the partially vaccinated to the risk of infection since a person only develops full immunity a few weeks after receiving the second dose.

Vaccination therefore cannot be the only approach to ending the pandemic locally. The present spike would suggest that the highly contagious Delta

Dem

boys seh...

S

anta Claus decide dat he nat coming to Guyana dis year.

He seh COVID spreading too fast in de country and h e t o o p u t t i n g restrictions. He only going to dem countries where more dan half of de population fully vaccinated.

He seh he not coming to Guyana till people get dem vaccines. But he promise to still deliver toys to all dem children.

“So what difference it mek?” one child ask, “we still getting de toys.”

Santa replied,

variant is spreading rapidly across the country. And the more persons it infects, the more deaths will occur because the number of fully vaccinated and even partially vaccinated persons is still too low.

The government therefore has to move away from this one-track approach. It should begin to do a number of things if it hopes to stop Guyana from becoming like India was a few months ago.

When infections and deaths began to increase in India, the government there was forced to take action to lockdown large parts of the country and to restrict social contact. A great many lives were lost but the situation in India improved, not because of vaccinations but because of the measures adopted such as lockdowns.

But now that India is relaxing some of its restrictions, the numbers have begun to increase again.

Had India not tightened up when it did, its death toll – already the third highest in the world behind the United States and Brazil – would have been far higher. Most predictions were that India would have seen close to a million deaths but this did not happen because of the lockdowns earlier this year.

China has proven the benefits of a lockdown. And under the APNU+AF deaths were kept low because of the closure of non-essential businesses for months and because of the curfew which was imposed.

The fact of the matter is that lockdowns lead to great suffering particularly for the poor. But a total lockdown is not necessary in Guyana. A multi-prong approach should be taken.

First, there should be a special campaign to ensure that those persons above the age of 55 are vaccinated.

This will allow for protection of the most vulnerable and reduce deaths even if infections rise.

Second, an extended curfew should be introduced. The original 6am to 6pm curfew should be reintroduced since the country is now in a semi health emergency.

Third, non-essential businesses and government Ministries, except for essential services, should be asked to work four days per week. In this way a balance can be struck between reducing social contacts and keeping the economy going.

The majority of those who are dying should not be dying. They are dying because they got infected and the majority of them are not vaccinated. But do not blame all of them for not being fully vaccinated – there is a shortage worldwide of Sputnik V second doses and this has to do with the long time it takes to produce the inputs to make the vaccines – estimated at four times longer than what it takes for the first dose.

So if because of the problems with vaccines and vaccine hesitancy people are

Santa deh pun strike “Christmas gifts will be delivered in Guyana on January 8 this year instead of December 25. I have to quarantine for 14 days.”

Some children nah kay bout Christmas. Dem nah kay bout Santa Claus as long as dem get dem presents.

Dem boys does wonder how many children dese days believe in Santa Claus.

In dem boys days a person use to have four stages in life.

Stage 1 was believing in Santa Claus. Stage 2 was when yuh stop believing in Santa Claus. Stage 3 was

becoming Santa Claus to all yuh children and grandchildren. And Stage 4 is when you start fuh look like Santa Claus.

Some parents does mek dem children lose faith in Santa Claus. One time a child ask he father, “Daddy why does Santa come only once a year?”

De father replied, “Because for de rest of de time he in jail fuh breaking and entering.”

Talk half and pray fuh F a t h e r C h r i s t m a s l e ff something under de tree fuh yuh!

not yet fully vaccinated, other measures have to be put in place. And given the spiralling numbers as present, which appear to be getting worse, it is time to introduce other measures including those mentioned above.

There is still time to save

Christmas this year. If tighter regulations can be imposed in Regions Three and Four, and if the vaccination rate can be upped, the country may be able to reopen more fully for December. But unless there are major restrictions imposed for October and November,

there will no Christmas parties allowed this year.

(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

Tuesday September 21, 2021

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

Hamilton Green, Aubrey Norton, Roysdale Forde and human nature O

ne of the most painful ironies of civilization, is that the ordinary folks want to be ruled by educated leaders.

It doesn't matter how grounded you are with the community, the ordinary folks, want to have a prime minister or president who is educated. People will vote for a brilliant scientist over a

superbly wealthy politician.

As a spin-off, people tend to be more uncertain of street politicians than the educated elite. What happens is how the mind sees life. The mind has been conditioned to see humans as better people who d r e s s f l a s h i l y, s p e a k persuasively and are highly educated.

The street folks admire

you when they see you battling away in the trenches, fighting with the police, being hauled away in the police van and shouting out at them with radical exclamations from the window of the police station. But that has a natural negative side to it because there is a certain natural element of dishonesty in Homo sapiens.

They want you to fight in the streets for them but they want the guy with the threepiece suit and the university qualification to be in the presidential office. What the mind does is that it compartmentalises humans.

It typecasts people. In life there must be the street fighter and there must be the educated president. The fearless street politician then is dealt a cruel hand. He fights for you in the trenches but you want the savvy intellectual to be your president.

Both Moses Nagamootoo and Robert Corbin internalised this lesson of life deeply in their psyche. After t h e P P P w o n p o w e r, Nagamootoo felt he was the logical successor to Cheddi Jagan but he, Nagamootoo, didn't have impressive qualifications and this could've cost him dearly in a fight against a top class city lawyer, Ralph Ramkarran, or a top class medical doctor, Roger Luncheon.

Nagamootoo then left the Cabinet and spent five years at university training to be a lawyer.

Nagamootoo knew that in the past, of the two persons closest to Jagan – Boysie Ramkarran and Ranji Chandisingh - the educated one would be seen as the natural successor. And indeed Chandisingh was seen as such because he was Harvard educated.

Corbin knew that with the expulsion of Hamilton Green from the PNC, he was the next high profile leader in the PNC

after Desmond Hoyte and that someone will have to succeed Hoyte.

But Corbin had no Frederick Kissoon qualifications. So he are not seen as people who spent five years, like Nagamootoo training to picket and demonstrate but become a lawyer. In a street fighters. Norton has dogged fight to succeed not learnt from the mistake Hoyte, Corbin the lawyer of Green.

Last week he was on the won the battle.

A casualty of this kind of roadways and he was human nature was Hamilton arrested. This reinforces the Green. The triumvirate in the image that has accompanied PNC was Forbes Burnham, his politics the past 25 years.

Not all those delegates at Dr. Ptolemy Reid and Green.

But Green infamously stood the congress will be people out for two reasons. He was from the trenches. And those not an educated man and he very delegates may be spent about 20 years as a attracted to Forde, the bigstreet fighter known for wild shot, high priced lawyer, c o n f r o n t a t i o n s w i t h known for his legal defence of the PNC since the nodetractors of his party.

There was no way c o n f i d e n c e m o t i o n o f Burnham and Reid would D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 8 . ever have thought about Interestingly, as acting making Green the president. Leader of the Opposition, When Burnham died Reid Forde was not part of never for a second thought Norton's demonstration last about it. Hoyte the lawyer week at Cuffy Square.

I have known Forde a was made president with Corbin too casting his vote long time now. In those years, we were more than just “hi for Hoyte.

If Volda Lawrence does and hello friends.” For a long not contest the PNC leader time these columns were position, the contest is typed on the computer he between Aubrey Norton and gave me. Whenever I hear Roysdale Forde. The thing his name or see his face in the about Norton's politics is that newspaper, I remember a though he has a Masters from potent political statement he England and was a foreign made to me a Saturday service officer, his relentless morning at the Banks DIH street politics the past 25 outlet at Quamina and Main years has overshadowed that Streets. I guess he has changed. I haven't. other part of his life.

(The views expressed in People see Aubrey, the way they saw Green a this article are those of the generation ago – the street author and do not necessarily confrontationist. Now mind reflect the opinions of this you, both Green and Norton newspaper.)

Pensioner placed before the court for fraud

- Allegedly pretended to sell land that is not hers

S

ixty-six-year-old Loren Graham was yesterday released on bail when she appeared before a City Magistrate for allegedly pretending that she was in a position to sell a parcel of land.

Graham appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates' C o u r t s before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly. She denied the charge which alleges that between September 1, 2021 and September 17, 2021, at Georgetown, she conspired with others and falsely

pretended to Leon Joseph, a real estate agent, that she was in a position to sell a parcel of land at Lot 924 Eccles, East Bank Demerara, while knowing same to be false.

P o l i c e p r o s e c u t o r, Annalisa Brummell, objected to bail being granted to the pensioner on the ground, that she allegedly gave a statement admitting to the crime. However, Senior Magistrate Daly granted bail in the sum of $300,000 and the matter was adjourned to October 18, 2021.

Loren Graham at court yesterday

Tuesday September 21, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 11

Kaieteur News

PAGE 12

Tuesday September 21, 2021

One remanded for allegedly killing Kaneville man L

Dead, Nelson Thomas

eroy Griffith was last Friday remanded to prison for allegedly killing 36-year-old Nelson Thomas called 'Nelo', who was robbed and killed the day before he had planned on going to sign for his only child.

The matter was called in the Diamond/Grove Magistrate's Court before Magistrate Sunil Scarce.

This publication understands that Griffith is the first murder suspect who was charged and remanded to prison for the offence.

He was not required to plead to the indictable charge which alleges that on September 9, 2021, at Kaneville, East Bank Demerara, he murdered Thomas during the course or furtherance of a robbery.

Griffith is expected to make his next court appearance on October 26, 2021.

According to reports, Thomas had travelled from the interior to sign for his newborn son, but that opportunity was taken away from him after bandits pounced on him and robbed him of his gold chain and his cell phone. The father of one was fatally stabbed during the attack.

It was reported by the police that the miner was killed sometime around 21:30hrs on Thursday, September 9, 2021. He was reportedly killed after he left his Fourth Field, Kaneville home where he resided with his wife, his newborn son and his mother. The man had left his home to visit his

uncle who lives at Second Street, Kaneville.

Moreover, during an interview with Kaieteur News Thomas' relatives had related that the deceased's wife had given birth to her baby boy several days before Thomas returned home. As such, they stated that Thomas, who spends most of his time in Cuyuni, Region Seven, travelled out so that he could sign for his son.

“He left home to go by his uncle, who had promised him something, he only came out this week and today [September 10, 2021] he had planned to go sign for his one and only child,” Thomas' aunt had said. She further stated that after he left home, his wife had called him to inquire when he

would return. It was at this point Thomas reportedly told his wife that he was 15 minutes away, and that he will be home soon.

They noted that minutes later they got the news that Thomas was found dead with a knife wound to his chest.

When they went to the scene, they saw Thomas lying on his back in a pool of blood with his eyes and mouth open. The miner's body was then escorted to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Griffith was later arrested and was subsequently charged for the capital offence. The investigation into the matter continues as the police are still to apprehend two other murder suspects.

Cop accused of brutalising 'wife' walks free - after victim tells court to discontinue matter S

ereste Brittlebank, the cop who had made headlines in the media for brutalising his common-law-wife until she fell unconscious, walked free yesterday after the victim reportedly told the court to discontinue the matter.

Brittlebank had gone into hiding after he had severely beaten the woman for hours on Thursday, July 1, last at her home located at Mahaica on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD), but had turned himself into police seven days later after the media exposed his brutal act.

He was remanded to prison for the offence on Monday, July 12, 2021, by Magistrate Fabayo Azore at the Vigilance Magistrate Court.

During his second court appearance later that month, Monday July 26, the cop was released on $50,000 bail and

Set free, Sereste Brittlebank

A photo taken of the victim following the assault was ordered to return to court yesterday.

Brittlebank did show-up at court but he was set free after the woman he had beaten offered no evidence against him and asked the court to discontinue the matter.

Speaking with Kaieteur News, the woman said, “That's all on me, I made him walk free. I went to court today (yesterday) and I tell the court that I don't want to go on with the matter no more. I can't deal with it anymore. It was a lot on me. I

just want to go on with my normal life.”

Fighting for justice on behalf of the woman was the United Bridge Builders Mission (UBBM) but their efforts have gone vain following her decision.

Brittlebank was accused of beating the woman causing her to fall unconscious at least three times. She had revealed that he had commenced his assault at one of his friend's birthday party around 23:30hrs on July 1, following an argument they

had. She had reportedly accused him of being unfaithful to her.

The beating had continued for the next three and half hours and had ended around 01:30hrs the following day.

Brittlebank had reportedly fled before police came and had gone into hiding.

His victim had later reached out to the media for help after she alleged that he was threatening to kill her if she continued to talk about the assault.

Exxon to relocate supplies from...

From page 2 is also expected to be concluded in February 2025.

It would mean that between December 2020 and December 2025, the company would have spud or plans to spud some 52 wells.

This is in addition to the

drilling of the development wells in the Liza I & II fields.

EEPGL currently has six drill ships operating offshore the Stena Carron, the Stena DrillMAX, the Noble Bob Douglas, the Noble Tom Madden, the Noble Don Taylor and the

Noble Sam Croft.

The cost for and oversight of the exploration wells by oil companies have been a bone of public contention for years given the fact, that the expenditure is recovered from cost oil in any of the producing fields in the contract area.

Tuesday September 21, 2021

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

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Tuesday September 21, 2021

GAWU/GuySuCo reach agreement on Albion cane cutters' impasse

F

ollowing a meeting on Sunday between the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and officials of the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc, (GuySuCo), an agreement into the Albion cane cutters impasse.

The meeting, according to a GAWU release, saw the attendance of the shop stewards and workers of the cane cutting gangs of the

Albion Estate, along with head office and estate officials.

During the meeting, the union pointed out that the situation at Albion Estate was unusual. It noted too, that the extended inundation of the estate during the recent rainy period severely stressed the canes and reduced their weights.

Cane cutters, according to the union, are piece-rated workers and are paid based

on the tonnes of canes harvested. That weight is known when cane punts are weighted at the factory.

G AW U ' s P r e s i d e n t , Seepaul Narine, who led the Union's delegation, drew to GuySuCo's attention the earnings of workers. He pointed out that though the workers were completing their daily tasks, their earnings were well below what is usual.

The Union articulated

An agreement has been reached into the Albion Sugar Workers' impasse

At PAHO's 59th Directing Council...

Health Ministers of the Americas analysing Region's response to COVID-19

M

inisters of Health and other highlevel authorities of the countries and territories of the Americas are currently participating in the 59th Directing Council of the Pan American Health O rg a n i z a t i o n ( PA H O ) , which will span the period September 20-24, to debate and analyse the response to COVID-19 and other main health challenges facing the region. This will be the second consecutive year that the Directing Council will be held virtually, according to a PAHO release.

The presidents of Chile and Costa Rica, Sebastián Piñera and Carlos Alvarado Quesada, were scheduled to speak at the opening ceremony of the Directing Council yesterday, along with the Director General of t h e Wo r l d H e a l t h Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and the Director of PAHO, Carissa F. Etienne.

The ceremony will also be attended by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro; the President of the Inter-American

Director of PAHO, Dr. Carissa F. Etienne Development Bank (IDB), Mauricio Claver-Carone, the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Social Services, Xavier Becerra, and the Minister of Health and Social Protection of Colombia and outgoing President of the PAHO Directing Council, Fernando Ruiz Gómez All sessions can be followed live on the PAHO website, or via the organization's YouTube channel and Twitter account.

Yesterday, the PAHO Director presented her annual report July 2020 – July 2021, which highlights the organisation's support to countries during their response to the pandemic,

Man dies in crash after leaving...

From page 11 the Mabaruma Hospital for treatment. Unfortunately, Wells, who was unconscious, died about 20:25hrs the same night while receiving treatment, while King and Chu were admitted suffering from a fractured rib and open fracture to the right ankle, respectively.

Forbes informed this

publication that her nephew received lacerations about his body while one of his feet was severely crushed.

Forbes, who noted Wells was a well known person in the village, said that he was a hardworking and jovial person.

Police have since arrested the driver who is assisting with the investigation.

while maintaining and strengthening their other health achievements. An update on COVID-19 in the region will also be provided tomorrow afternoon.

Discussions will also focus on resolutions, policies and roadmaps that aim to increase the production capacity of essential medicines and health technologies in the region, revitalise immunisation as a public good, digitally transform the health sector, establish resilient health systems, and ensure postpandemic recovery, among others.

A series of side events to the Directing Council will take place during the week.

From 1-2pm (Washington D.C. time) today, there will be an event on technology transfer for the production of mRNA vaccines, where PAHO will announce the beneficiaries and regional projects that have been selected to develop these vaccines, as well as the consortium of countries and manufacturers that will work on this technology.

The PAHO Director and the Director of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena will come together tomorrow, from 1-2pm (Washington D.C. time), to discuss a comprehensive response to addressed the prolonged crisis due to the pandemic and the link between health and the economy.

The PAHO Award for Health Services Management and Leadership 2021 will also be presented during the week.

that a worker's task is assigned by the Management with the expectation that certain tonnes of canes would be harvested from the assigned area. GAWU contended that the fact workers' earnings were below their normal level though they were completing their assigned tasks was because of light canes.

The Union shared that the workers were responsibly completing their tasks but for their best efforts, their earnings were curtailed. GAWU reminded GuySuCo's team that in the

past, the Corporation had compensated workers whenever their tasks were completed but their cane weights were not attained.

From that point of view, the Union urged GuySuCo to revert to known and established practices.

GuySuCo, through its CEO, Sasenarine Singh, acknowledged that the situation at Albion was unusual. He acknowledged the workers concerns as he noted that it required the cooperation of all stakeholders to ensure that production is maximised, and the estate is able to

recover from the serious setback arising from the floods.

The GuySuCo CEO indicated that the Corporation wanted to work together with the workers and the union, noting their critical role in reversing the fortunes of the Corporation.

Having heard from GAWU, GuySuCo officials proposed that for this crop only at Albion, recognising the unique situation, the workers would be compensated for difference between their usual productivity per punt and the (continued on page 16)

Senior Finance Minister encourages BPOs to expand to other Regions - during visit to Teleperformance

Senior Finance Minister, Dr. AShni Singh, interacts with representatives of Teleperformance.

A

s Government continues to strive towards ensuring the economy is diversified by creating an enabling environment to attract investment in a number of sectors, Senior

Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, visited and toured the Teleperformance Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) facility on Camp Street where he met with its Chief Executive Officer, Luis Barreto. There, the

Minister, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and other officials of the company discussed the company's plans for expansion as well as ways in which Government can lend its (continued on page 17)

Tuesday September 21, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 15

PAGE 16

Kaieteur News

GAWU/GuySuCo reach agreement on Albion cane cutters' impasse

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From page 14 actual canes cut and loaded or cut and stacked.

To receive the compensation, the workers would have to complete their tasks assigned.

The agreement also places a limitation on the task assigned to workers in keeping with long-standing practices.

GAWU's Narine shared too, that the union was heartened that the Corporation listened carefully and considered the concerns of the workers and the union, and that an agreement could be reached.

He said this augurs well for worker/management relations and is hopeful for further improvement in the GAWU/ GuySuCo relations. Singh, the Corporation's CEO, also expressed appreciation to the workers and the union. He shared that it was heartening that the union and the Corporation could sit down and discuss matters in a mature manner.

He indicated too, that the Corporation looks forward to working with the union and strengthening the relations between the parties.

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Tuesday September 21, 2021

U.N. CHIEF, UK PM INCREASE PRESSURE ON LEADERS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE FUNDS UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged leaders of the world’s major economies including the United States to deliver on their commitments toward a $100 billion per year climate fund with less than six weeks to go before a U.N. climate summit.Johnson and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres hosted a roundtable of world leaders yesterday to

address major gaps on emissions targets and climate finance.“Too many major economies – some represented here today, some absent - are lagging too far behind,” Johnson said. “I’ll stress that again - for this to be a success we need developed countries to find that $100 billion.”The closed-door meeting during the annual high-level week of the U.N. General Assembly includes

leaders and representatives from a few dozen countries representing industrialized nations, emerging economies and vulnerable developing countries.

Those involved in the roundtable included the United States, China, India, EU nations as well as Costa Rica, the Maldives and a mix of developing and middle income countries and industrialized nations.

Tuesday September 21, 2021

PAGE 17

Kaieteur News

Three years of ERC annual reports - Speaker concerned over tardiness of finally handed over submission by ERC, other commissions Members of the now expired Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), have finally submitted the annual reports for the years, 2018, 2019 and 2020, along with recommendations and concerns that will be used to guide the work of the next Commission.

The reports were handed over to Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, yesterday during a simple ceremony at the New Thriving Restaurant. The report will be made public after it is laid in the National Assembly when it reconvenes on October 10, 2021.

Former ERC Chairman, Reverend John Smith, who presented the documents to the Speaker, told the gathering that the ERC has been working despite the negative public perception over the years that the commission has not been doing its work.

“We know sometimes people didn’t believe that we did work, this is the evidence.

Some in the print media had a lot to say but I am happy they are here so that they can view the handing over and the

work that was done,” he said.

In response, the Speaker thanked the former Chairman for the work done in putting together the reports and recommendations. “I commend you for the work done and I will be happy to read the recommendations,” the Speaker said.

He noted, nonetheless, that he is quite disappointed with the late submission of reports, by not just the ERC, but other commissions.

“I am very disappointed.

Had I been a sitting elected member of the National Assembly and I don’t see a report for the year prior, I would have been objecting to the budget for the next year because here we have reports for a very important commission for three years coming all at once,” Nadir said.

He stressed that the ERC is a “very serious commission” and said that while it may not solve the problems of the people immediately, through persistent work and dialogue change will be affected.

The Speaker noted “one

of the things that have been lacking the ERC is a proactive approach that needs to change… If you are falling behind with this ad hoc approach, then hire a consultant to ensure we meet our deadlines.”

The ERC is a Constitutional, non-political body that was established to promote ethnic harmony and security in Guyana.

The three-year-term of the Board of Commissioners, which was installed in 2018, came to an end in April 23, 2021.

At that time, the Commission issued a statement in which it noted, that despite the successes over the past three years, the ERC had also encountered a few stumbling blocks along the way, the most prominent being the deadly COVID-19 pandemic which severely interrupted its public awareness field work in 2020.

The ERC reminded too that following a hiatus of seven years, the re-constituted Board was sworn in, in February, 2018 with Reverend

Persons without FDA-approved jabs can now access approved COVID-19 vaccine – US CDC In its most recent recommendations, the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that “people who received all or some of the recommended doses of a COVID-19 vaccine not listed for emergency use

by WHO (World Health Organisation) and not authorised by FDA (US. Food and Drugs Administration) may be offered a complete FDA authorised COVID-19 vaccine series.”

The recommendation also states that persons should wait at least 28 days after being administered the last dose of the non-authorised vaccine before being administered the FDA-authorised vaccine.

It should be noted that the only vaccine given both emergency used authorisation and FDA approval is the Pfizer-Biotech COVID-19 vaccine.

While the AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Sinovac, Johnson and Johnson and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were approved for emergency use by the WHO.But following the CDC’s announcement, Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, insisted that he was not aware of the latest recommendations released by

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony.

the CDC. Commenting on this during an interview yesterday, the Minster said “from a medical perspective it doesn’t make much sense,” since a person who has been administered both doses of a vaccine is considered fully immunised. “If having received two doses of a vaccine …we are going to give that person now two additional doses of vaccine, well that doesn’t make sense. So from a medical perspective, at this point, I would say it doesn’t make much sense,” the Minister stressed.In the Government’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, which is one of the vaccines being

used to immunise the adult population, is currently the only vaccine being use here that has not received approval by the WHO for emergency use nor has it been approved by the FDA. Nevertheless, Minister Anthony is assuring the public that the Sputnik V vaccine is safe against the disease.

“What I can say is that the vaccine, Sputnik V, is safe because we have seen the results published in the ‘Lancet’ which is one of the most prestige journals in medicine and in the publication it talks about the efficacy about the vaccine and we have had subsequent publication after that,” he added.

Former ERC Chairman John Smith (left) presents the report to Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir.

John Smith, the elected Chairman and Major-General (ret’d), Norman Mclean, as Deputy Chairman.

Other Commissioners who took the oath of office were: Barrington Braithwaite, Ruth Howard, Hajji Dr.

Roshan Khan, Pandit Deodat Persaud, Ashton Simon, Rajkumarie Singh, Neaz Subhan and Norris Witter.

Senior Finance Minister encourages BPOs...

From page 14 support to allow for this.

The Minister was accompanied by CEO of the Guyana Office for Investment, Dr. Peter Ramsaroop.

The facility currently employs approximately 950 persons, 50 percent of whom work from within the facility and the remainder from their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the tour, the Senior Finance Minister lauded the efforts of the business' founder who saw the potential for investment in Guyana and commenced operations in 2017. The business, even now in the current challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, has continued to enable the employment of hundreds of Guyanese, including young persons and single-parents.

Minister Singh encouraged the business to strive to continue to assist in the development of the country through job-creation, noting that Government would also support any measure taken by the business to expand to other Regions of the country.

The Minister alluded to the number of persons who travel from elsewhere in the country to work in Georgetown, and suggested that businesses expanding to other areas are always welcome by communities as employees and other job-seekers usually prefer employment in close proximity to their homes.

“Teleperformance is one of the largest BPOs worldwide with a phenomenal global footprint operating in literally every single continent of the world with an almost universal coverage, so

Teleperformance is exactly the kind of company that when we initiated our work in introducing BPO operations and attracting BPO investors into Guyana, Teleperformance is exactly the type of company that we wanted to attract.

Thus, we are extremely pleased to see that the company has come to Guyana, has established operations and has grown in the manner that it has,” Dr. Singh said.

Dr. Singh reiterated that the BPO sector has the potential to create jobs, generate income, spur economic activity and improve lives generally, and it is why the People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/ C) Government has been (since its previous term in office) promoting Guyana as a destination for BPO business which proved to be a success.

He also alluded to the current Irfaan-Ali-led Government's strong support for any effort by businesses which align with its vision of diversification of the economy which will also contribute to ensuring the country maintains a stable macro-economic environment, since it would be unwise for it to solely depend on its main sectors.

Meanwhile, during the Minister's visit, the CEO gave a video presentation which portrayed Guyana as a unique and premier destination for BPO businesses, something which the Finance Minister said he was impressed with as it highlighted Guyana in a manner that Government would have wanted the country to be marketed in terms of its competitive advantages – as a premier, English-Speaking country with highly-educated

citizens ready for the world of work such as in the BPO industry.

“We see this sector creating thousands of jobs in Guyana, and not a lot of people know what is happening in the BPO sector and as part of the series of these meetings I have been having, one of my objectives was to raise public awareness of what's happening in the sector,” the Senior Finance Minister emphasised.

“In the pre-2015 period, we had already recognised the vast potential for BPO service, and we had invested a lot of policy effort into the sector,” Minister Singh said, explaining that, Teleperformance is the ideal example of what can be achieved by persons willing to invest in Guyana.

The Minister had echoed similar sentiments during his visits and tours of other BPO facilities recently.

He had referenced the fact that many businesses internationally are recognising Guyana as a prime destination for BPO services, especially with its English-speaking population, its educated workforce and its close proximity to the United States of America and Canada.

Teleperformance, located at Camp and Robb Streets in the capital city, commenced its Guyana operations in October, 2017.The company on a global scale serves more than 170 markets and has a presence in 80 countries, providing services in technical support, customer acquisition, sales and consulting.

Teleperformance Guyana plans to increase its employment number to 1,200 by yearend. (Ministry of Finance)

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday September 21, 2021

Tuesday September 21, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 19

Man dies in crash after leaving N95 masks better option to protect against spread of delta variant Heritage Month celebration

M

The canter truck Wells and others were travelling in on Sunday night.

Dead, Mark Wells

W

h a t w a s supposed to be a journey home from a Heritage Month celebration, ended tragically for 26-year-old Mark Wells of Kumaka, Region One after he was killed in a vehicular accident on Sunday night.

The accident, which claimed the life of the young carpenter and left two other persons hospitalized, occurred sometime around 18:00hrs that day on the Yarakita Access Road, Region One. According to reports, Wells was at the time travelling with 17-year-old Leroy Chu, Edwin King, 35, John Peters, 27, and two

other persons (yet to be identified) in a canter truck when it developed some mechanical problems which caused the accident to occur.

Before tragedy struck, the group of friends was at the Amerindian Heritage Month celebration earlier in the day at White Creek Village before they departed for home. But instead of heading home, the group headed to another village called Yarakita, where they got involved in the accident.

Speaking with this publication yesterday, the dead man's aunt, Norma Forbes, said that her nephew had left his Kumaka home with his friends for the outing.

“They left to go to White Creek for the Heritage (Month celebration), so I don't know what transpired there and they end up going to Yarakita… I don't know if it was while going or while coming back they meet with an accident,” the woman related. She added also, that the area where the accident occurred is dangerous and far away from where her nephew resided.

The grieving woman said she is still unclear what led them to going to the Yarakita area. Based on information released from the police, the canter truck was travelling west on the Yarakita road at a

Worrisome developments...

From page 8 public) being told now,” questioned Dr. Adams who dismissed it as “insane for any member or the staff to say we don't have equipment (but) that is what they're being told.”

He noted too that, decisions taken by the EPA are repeatedly being overturned by politicians and that “what you hear from staff is, we gone right

back” to its previous state as a “toothless tiger” that nobody respected, and that the agency was being used by persons merely as a stepping stone to another career, while others are simply holding on until something better comes along and others just “just showing up to get a pay cheque”—a situation that has reverted the agency to a dysfunctional state.

fast rate and when, according to Peters the driver, they started to descend a hill the steering arm, which would usually malfunction from time to time, became loose which caused him to lose control of the vehicle.

His vehicle, he said, ended up colliding with a bump on the road which caused it to spin several times before it toppled. At the time of the accident the two unidentified persons were in the cab of the truck while, Wells, Chu and King were in the tray.

Following the collision, the three persons in the tray were flung from their seats and onto the roadway where they received injuries about their bodies, while the others managed to escape unhurt.

Public spirited persons and medical personnel helped to rush the injured to (continued on page 14)

asks help to prevent the spread of infection both with the original COVID-19 virus and the highly contagious Delta Variant.

However, the delta variant is undoubtedly challenging the mask mandate as it continues to spread rapidly throughout the population.

According to some experts, given its high viral load, the delta variant has proven that it is able to penetrate even certain types of masks.

Speaking on Kaieteur Radio recently, Emergency Medicine Specialist attached to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Dr. Zulfikar Bux, explained that while cloth masks were helpful in the past against the original coronavirus variants, health experts now have differing opinions.

Dr. Bux said that the experts are recommending stronger alternatives such as N95 masks as a much better option due to the delta variant's high transmission rate — especially for those who are not vaccinated.

According to Dr. Bux, an N95 mask “is a respiratory protective device designed to achieve a very close facial fit and very efficient filtration of airborne particles.”

N95 masks better option to protect against spread of SAR-COV-2 delta variant He noted that while N95 masks were once difficult to find, since they were in high-demand at the start of the pandemic, they are now currently available.

A d d i t i o n a l l y, i t i s recommended that KN95 masks are a cheaper alternative to N95 masks, as long as they meet requirements similar to those set by N95 respirators.

Dr. Bux, who is also a Kaieteur News columnist, recently described the delta version of the coronavirus as a “beast”.

According to the

Emergency Medicine Specialist, it “runs through populations like a wildfire leaving trails of the dead in its tracks.”

“We have seen what this efficient beast did in countries like India, and the US Hospitals become overwhelmed, and death rates increase further because some infected patients did not have effective access to appropriate medical care.

If we are not careful and we let our guards down, the beast can repeat such devastations in Guyana,” Dr. Bux had warned.

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Kaieteur News

Tuesday September 21, 2021

Kaieteur News

Tuesday September 21, 2021

PAGE 21

G/Town Central undertakes education and empowerment project at children's home This kitchen garden was resuscitated by Georgetown Central.

Georgetown Central's donation of book racks, dry erase boards and personal care supplies

I

n collaboration with corporate partners, the Rotary and Rotaract Clubs of

Georgetown Central, on September 11 and 18, 2021, executed a two-phase project to educate and empower

girls at the Hauraruni Children's Home, SoesdykeLinden Highway.

The project, which

Georgetown Central hosted an Education and Empowerment Session for girls at the home. coincides with Rotary Basic Education and Literacy Month, will positively impact 22 girls under 18 years of age who reside at the Home, according to a release issued by Lloyd David, the Public Image Chair of Rotary Club of Georgetown Central.

The girls, according to the release, benefited from guidance and empowerment sessions facilitated to widen

In wake of heightening public passions…

UG offers FREE human relations course

T

he University of Guyana's Centre of Excellence for Teaching and Learning (CoETaL) Office of the Vice-Chancellor, is once again offering its 'Human Relations Course' (HRC) FREE of charge to the general public from 3rd September – 31st October 2021.

In a release the University noted that it has taken note of recent heightened public tensions and again underlines the importance of this course in building and strengthening better relations amongst individuals and groups.

The University also notes that while freedom of speech and freedom of association are fundamental rights protected by our constitution and our strong democratic national values, the nature of public debate can become passionate in unfortunate ways.

When this happens, ad hominem (personal) attacks upon persons with whom we disagree, must be studiously

their perspectives on life's opportunities so they can develop a mindset which will allow them to positively contribute to society.

A quantity of furniture (desks and benches) was constructed and donated to the Home to increase comfort and encourage learning by the children.

Book racks, dry erase boards, markers, erasers, and other stationery materials were also provided along with hampers containing personal care supplies for the girls.

Meanwhile, as a food source, Rotarians and Rotaractors resuscitated the Home's kitchen garden by

installing a permanent shed and replanting a variety of vegetable seedlings.

Additionally, decorative and fruit trees were planted in brightly painted tyres to enhance the landscape.

The children and guardians of the Hauraruni Children's Home collectively expressed their gratitude to Rotarians and Rotaractors of Georgetown Central for extending their arms of kindness and support to them. Going forward, both Clubs will collaboratively and separately continue to serve communities across Guyana where the opportunities and resources are available.

Nigeria now begging oil companies to cut expenses to meet citizens' needs

avoided and repudiated. This is because fundamental healthy discourse can be devalued and derailed in the process.

The University is therefore amongst other interventions offering this free course in Human Relations, which, amongst six others, contains modules on emotional intelligence, gender relations, and ethnic diversity as one of our

sincere contributions in fostering mutual respect, constructive open dialogue, decorum, and fair play in the best interest of our beloved people and country. It is open to any member of the public.

Each module contains a pre-test followed by a video, which lasts for 1-2 hours and a post-test. Persons are expected to check the notification box after they

have completed each activity to ensure that they can progress to the next activity.

There is no pass and fail grade, but students are expected to complete all modules to receive the certificate.

Registration for this course will be open from Friday, 24 September 2021.

Please register using the following URL: https://uog.edu.gy/courses/u gh1101-human-relations.

From page 3 (NNPC)--the oil corporation through which the federal government of Nigeria regulates and participates in the country's petroleum industry--had signed a $US1.5 billion oil-backed loan with trading giant Vitol and other lenders. It was considered a troubling development, as Nigeria had until then avoided the risky, opaque world of taking loans from traders and backing same with their oil reserves.

2021 GOVERNANCE INDEX In its 2021 Resource Governance Index Report, NRGI was keen to note that Nigeria's governance of its critical oil and gas sector has

been concerning, with cases of corruption, fiscal mismanagement, and environmental degradation all reported in the six decades since production began.

Even prior to the coronavirus pandemic and the 2020 oil price shock, the sector was stuck in a cycle of high uncertainty, boom-andbust spending and diminishing returns, the transparency body stated.

It concluded, “Production has mostly stagnated, foreign direct investment has declined, and oil revenues have come up short of what has been budgeted. Overall, Nigeria's oil and gas governance is weak and falling short in key measures of transparency and accountability.”

PAGE 22

Kaieteur News

Tuesday September 21, 2021

Tuesday September 21, 2021

Dottin and Grimmond excel as...

From page 27 their consolation win. Dottin closed the 49th over off by assisting in the run-out of du Preez as she sought to secure the match-winning run.

A 5-0 sweep for South Africa had looked likely from the moment they had restricted West Indies to a mere 192.

Rookie opener Rashada Williams contributed 78 of those runs. It even started to seem like a foregone conclusion with Lizelle Lee (61) and Tazmin Brits (48) putting on 111 runs for the first wicket.

But then came the collapse: six wickets tumbling for just 32 runs.

Du Preez’s innings kept the game in balance and pushed it to the last over.

Dottin pushed it further

than that and given her performance in normal time, West Indies were always going to put their trust in her in extra time. More so considering she was stand-in captain for the day.

Dottin restricted Lee and Dane van Niekerk to just six runs in the Super Over, then came back out to bat again, but was run out first ball. With West Indies needing eight to win off five balls, Chedean Nation and Hayley Matthews kept their nerve and claimed the victory.

West Indies 192 for 5 (Williams 78, Matthews 48, de Klerk 3-33) tied with South Africa 192 for 7 (Lee 61, Brits 48, Grimmon 4-33) West Indies won the one-over eliminator.

Smart Cities and Sport Summit to be held in Copenhagen in November Insidethegames - This year’s Smart Cities and Sport Summit is to be held in the Danish capital Copenhagen from November 22 to 24.

The annual two-day summit usually features around 300 representatives from approximately 100 cities and 20

International Sports Federations and corporate partners.

Denmark became one of the first European countries to lift virtually all domestic rest rictions earlier this month as the Government removed the “socially critical” disease status of COVID19, with more than 80 per cent of its population aged over 12

Tuesday September 21, 2021 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Juicy but perhaps unkind gossip might reach you today.

You may doubt the motives of a close friend. Examine any tips you receive and ascertain the true facts before you accept it as truth.

TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) Money matters may seem vague today, Taurus. Uncertainty about how to manage your affairs might plague you throughout the day. Planning for the immediate future could also be difficult.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Troubles in the family may have you toying with the idea of moving or at least making some changes in your household. Someone close to you hasn't been honest with you, Gemini, and

that also has you feeling a bit down.

CANCER(June21–July22) Your intuition and imagination are operating at a very high level today, and you may be inspired to write. However, you aren't likely to have enough ideas or information to actually put pen to paper.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) There may be doubt about the outcome of a project that means a lot to you. It may involve financial problems or lack the support from others that you require in order to complete it.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Your mind might be on power struggles that have caused quarrels among your friends, placing you in an uncomfortable position. Conflicting loyalties might come up when others draw

you into the fray, Virgo. Stay out of it!

PAGE 23

Kaieteur News

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Daydreams and fantasies about faraway lands and exotic places might have you thinking about dropping everything and taking off for a while.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21)Sudden demands on your resources by others may have you feeling used.

You may be asked for a loan.

Your doubts about the person's ability to repay might conflict with your sympathy for his

or her situation.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Melancholy that doesn't seem to have any basis in reality may plague you today, causing friends, family, and your partner to worry. On days like this, Sagittarius, it's best not to give in to gloom, but rather to throw yourself into work and projects you

love.

CAPRI(Dec.22–Jan.19) Today, Capricorn, you may feel out of sorts. You probably aren't ill, but you may be tired. You could also suffer from vague aches and pains that are most likely related to stress.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Strange, exciting, and vivid dreams may inspire your creativity today. You might want to try a new art form or study the works of innovators.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Concerns about your home or mother may mean you have to deal with some rather unpleasant or untrustworthy people. Lack of knowledge could have you in a quandary about how to address the situation.

fully vaccinated.

Copenhagen is aiming to be the world’s first carbon-neutral capital city by 2025, and is an urban cycling hotbed, with 1.44 million kilometres cycled per weekday in 2019.

The summit will feature a

number of sessions, including on the city’s sport policy, urban development, health improvement and social integration.

It will aim to promote strategies that enable the building of cities through sport, fea-

turing discussions on projects in various cities and offering an opportunity for collaboration and the sharing of ideas.

The keynote session is scheduled for just after midday on November 24, followed by a networking lunch.

This will be the eighth edition of the Smart Cities and Sport Summit, with last year’s held exclusively online due to the pandemic.

The Smart Cities and Sport initiative launched in 2014 from the group of former and future Olympic host cities, and is now open to all cities seeking to use sport as a platform for growth and development.

Local Chess ladies perform well...

From page 27 International Master, Mr. Atanu Lahiri.

Other players who took part in the tournament were Shazeeda Rahim, Naila Rahaman, Shelby Williams and Areanna Singh.

In an invited comment, Calendar, who is a journalist at MTV News Update, stated that, “ (I) believe I was able to perform well at this tournament since the Guyana Chess Federation has helped me stay very active competitively this year but I can definitely see where I have more room for improvement moving forward.”

Hemraj feels bowlers had an ‘one-off’...

From page 25 wicket-takers list with 13 scalps.

Hemraj, who says his bowling is coming along pretty good and helping in his overall cricket, has been playing for the past few years in the USA where he says the cricket has really been developing at a fast pace.

The East Coast, Demerara player informed that he was selected for the Everest Premier League in Nepal. “I see that as a really good opportunity and hopefully I will get some success in the sub-continent,” concluded Hemraj, who stressed that he is always available to play for Guyana in the First-Class and 50-overs formats.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 24

Tuesday September 21, 2021

Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell rout Royal Challengers Bangalore for 92 to set up big win ESPNcricinfo - Both teams had played seven games before the IPL was put on hold in May, with contrasting fortunes: Royal Challengers Bangalore had five wins and Kolkata Knight Riders had five losses.

On Monday night in Abu Dhabi, though, it looked like the two teams had swapped their fates, with Knight Riders’ bowlers putting in a clinical performance to bowl Royal Challengers out for just 92, their third-lowest while batting first in the IPL. The big three of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers fell for 5, 10 and 0 respectively.

Once Royal Challengers were reduced to 63 for 5, mystery spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine kept the middle and lower order guessing with their guile and turn.

Knight Riders will be hoping their dominant nine-wicket win will turn their tournament around, pushing them up to fifth on the points table from second-to-last.

Their top order chased the paltry target down rather easily, with Shubman Gill and debutant Venkatesh Iyer put on an opening stand of 82 in just 9.1 overs.

How Royal Challengers came a cropper – If the

Royal Challengers batters looked scratchy and rusty, the Knight Riders bowlers were right on the money.

They bowled in the corridor, surprised the batters with pace and bounce on a spongy pitch, beat them with mystery spin, and barely offered any room for the big shots.

Kohli struck the first four of the match with a spectacular punch through the covers but he was dismissed next ball by an inducker from Prasidh Krishna which beat his flick.

Kohli used the review, but the umpire had got it right and his team’s only batting review was gone in the second over.

Devdutt Padikkal struck three fours but KS Bharat, debuting for Royal Challengers, struggled for fluency with lack of timing and placement. Once Padikkal edged Lockie Ferguson behind and Bharat pulled to deep square leg, all hopes rested on the duo of de Villiers and Maxwell to salvage the innings.

But Andre Russell extinguished those hopes by slipping in a leg-stump yorker to bowl de Villiers for a golden duck, after he had mostly been sending down short balls. The runs dried up further and Maxwell’s

Andre Russell is pumped after sending back AB de Villiers © BCCI

frustration was evident as he crawled to 10 off 16 without a s i n g l e b o u n d a r y.

Varun’s near hat-trick finishes off Royal Challengers - Sachin Baby took six balls to get off the mark, and Prasidh and Ferguson kept getting good bounce coupled with their precision before Varun returned for the 12th over. He took the pace off and flicked his fingers over three successive deliveries that turned in to beat Maxwell, debutant Wanindu Hasaranga and Kyle Jamieson for a near hattrick. Maxwell missed his

hoick and was bowled, Hasaranga was trapped lbw for a duck, and Jamieson was trapped in front as well but given not out.

Varun pleaded Eoin Morgan to take the review but the captain knew there was an edge.

There was not much to save Royal Challengers from 63 for 6 as Varun also got Baby in his next over and ran Jamieson out at the nonstriker’s end by deflecting the ball to the stumps.

He finished with stunning figures of 3 for 13 including 15 dot balls.

Russell took the last wicket

and finished with 3 for 9 from three overs. All five Knight Riders bowlers sent down at least 10 dot balls each to strangle the opposition.

Gill, Iyer make short work of the chase - Iyer, the 26-year-old left-hand batter who plays for Madhya Pradesh, showed immediately why he was given his maiden IPL cap on

Monday. Using his over-sixfeet-tall frame, he drove and punched Mohammed Siraj on the off side for successive fours in the first over but his best shot came at the end of the fifth over when Gill had already taken Jamieson for two fours.

I y e r c h a rg e d d o w n against the tall bowler to loft a glorious six over long-on to make it 16 off the over. Gill was equally fluent with his pulls and drives at the other end, nearly scoring his first half-century of IPL 2021.

He also skipped down against Jamieson early on, and welcomed Yuzvendra Chahal in the last over of the powerplay with two slog sweeps against the turn for two more fours.

Once they had 56 on the board in the powerplay, Knight Riders only needed another 24 balls to finish things off. Gill holed out to long-off in the 10th - and final - over before Iyer unleashed three fours in four balls off Chahal - a reverse sweep, a loft down the ground and a pull to midwicket - to seal victory.

Nandu and Thorne return home after invaluable exposure with WI U19s in England Guyanese Under-19 players, Matthew Nandu and Isai Thorne returned home on Sunday last after participating in the justconcluded West Indies tour of England. The two players proudly touched down on home soil after impressive performances.

Although West Indies won only two of six matches in the Youth ODI series, both players made noteworthy contributions to the Caribbean side’s challenging efforts. Nandu finished on a high by registering consecutive half centuries in two of the five matches he played. In his penultimate match, Nandu stroked 51, then in the final match followed up with a superb knock of 80 and bowling returns of 2 for 35 as West Indies won their second match of the series to restore some regional pride.

Yo u n g f a s t b o w l i n g sensation Isai Thorne was also impressive. At the

tender age of 16, he demonstrated the ability, skill and mental tenacity to become an outstanding West Indies fast bowler.

E v i d e n t l y, T h o r n e received the full confidence of his Captain and Coach by twice being given the opportunity to bowl the total allotment of overs for a bowler. In two of the four matches he played, Thorne grabbed three wickets to finish the series with 8 wickets and leave a buzz of high expectations.

The members of the GCB expect that the unwavering commitment of Nandu and Thorne coupled with their ability and skill will make them forces to be reckoned with in the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2022 and beyond.

The GCB will continue to provide the necessary support to these two and other players to ensure their competitive readiness for the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2022.

Tuesday September 21, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 25

Hemraj feels bowlers had an ‘one-off’ day in CPL Semis Selected for Everest Premier League in Nepal L

By Sean Devers

eft-handed opening batsman and useful leftarm spinner Chanderpaul Hemraj scored the only century by a Guyana Amazon Warriors batsman in the recently concluded ninth edition of the Hero CPL T20 cricket tournament in St Kitts.

The dashing strokeplayer fashioned an enterprising unbeaten 105 against the Barbados Royals to join Faf du Plessis and Evin Lewis as the only batsmen in this year’s CPL to register a three-figure score.

Although Hemraj ended with 254 runs, second only to Skipper Nicolas Pooran’s 263 for the Warriors, he failed to convert five starts in fifties including when he looked well set on 39. ”I thought I should have been more consistent and that is something I have to work on” said the former West Indies U-19 batsman who played the first of his six ODIs for the West Indies against India in 2018.

Hemraj made his CPL debut in 2018 for the then St Lucia

Stars and made 37 in his only innings before he played the first of his 31 games for the Warriors in 2019.

In his debut season for his home Franchise he made 299 runs with two fifties but just managed a top score of 27 in 2000 before getting his only T20 ton this year. ”The century against Barbados was pleasing because of the amount of work I did before coming into this tournament” explained Hemraj, who has a hundred and 10 fifties in 31 First-Class games since making his debut against Trinidad & Tobago as a teenager in 2012.

Hemraj, who turned 28 on the 3rd of this month, said that all the teams had quality players which made the tournament very competitive. St Kitts Patriots, who beat St Lucia Kings in the final, defeated the Warriors twice in the preliminary round and again in the semi-final. ”Every team except Barbados, could have qualified for the semis at the start of the final round. So yes I think this year was one of the most competitive

CPL’s. I am disappointed that we could not make it past the semis,” continued Hemraj, who has two centuries and three halfcenturies from 40 Regional 50-over matches.

In the semi-final, Hemraj and Brandon King, who both made 27, give the Warriors a solid start of 33 in 3.3 overs while Shimron Hetmyer hit a belligerent unbeaten 45 as the Warriors posted 179-9.

However, Chris Gayle (42) and Lewis (77) added 76 in 7.2 overs before Dwayne Bravo (34) ensured that patriots galloped to 181-3 with 13 balls to spare. Offspinner Kevin Sinclair, who dismissed Gayle, had 1-31 with an economy rate of 7.75.

Sinclair, who was not given many opportunities in the CPL despite being a member of the West Indies T20 team, was the only bowler with an economy rate of less than 10. Hemraj, who disclosed that living in the ‘bubble’ was really mentally draining for him, explained why he thought Guyana did not reach a sixth final (they have never won a title) in nine-year history of the CPL.

”I thought we had a good score but it’s just that the bowlers had an offday…they were really good throughout the tournament

except in the semi-final” Hemraj said.

Only TKR’s pacer Ravi Rampaul (19) had more wickets than Warriors fast

bowlers, Romario Shepherd and Odean Smith (18 each) while leg-spinner Imran Tahir was sixth on the (Continued on page 23)

Kaieteur News

PAGE 26

Tuesday September 21, 2021

India to host New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka and South Africa in next nine months ESPNcricinfo - India are set to host New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka and South Africa over the next nine months as part of the 2021-22 home season, for a total of four Tests, three ODIs and 14 T20Is spread from November 2021 to June 2022.

Stretching a jam-packed home season to June is a rare occurrence considering it is month of extreme heat and the onset of monsoon in different parts of India. But it is a direct consequence of the IPL becoming a 10-team tournament from the 2022 edition as two new franchises will be announced in October by the BCCI. The home series announced were all part of the Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the 201823 cycle, but the final schedule has come with one change: Sri Lanka will now play two Tests instead of three, as originally planned, and three T20Is in February-March 2022.

The Tests will start on February 25 (Bengaluru) and

March 5 (Mohali), and the three T20Is on March 13 (Mohali), March 15 (Dharamsala) and March 18 (Lucknow). The tours of New Zealand and West Indies remain as scheduled.

Only three days after the T20 World Cup final on November 14 in Dubai, New Zealand will play the first T20I in Jaipur, followed by two more on November 19 (Ranchi) and 21 (Kolkata), and then the two Tests starting November 25 (Kanpur) and December 3 (Mumbai).

West Indies are slotted to play three ODIs on February 6 (Ahmedabad), February 9 (Jaipur) and February 12 (Kolkata) and as many T20Is, on February 15 (Cuttack), February 1 8 ( Vi s a k h a p a t n a m ) a n d F e b r u a r y 2 0 (Thiruvananthapuram).

Only five days after that series ends, Sri Lanka will play the first Test in Bengaluru. South Africa will play five T20Is in June 2022, covering for the ODIs that were abandoned last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

That three-match series had to be postponed after the first ODI in Dharamsala, which had been abandoned because of rain.

The BCCI has now decided to replay that tour as a T20I series on June 9 (Chennai), June 12 (Bengaluru), June 14 (Nagpur), June 17 (Rajkot), and June 19 (Delhi).

Between the Sri Lanka and South Africa series, the BCCI will also slot in the IPL, this time with 10 teams, which could further extend the duration of the tournament. Also, soon after New Zealand leave India in December, India are scheduled to tour South Africa for three Tests, three ODIs and four T20Is; that tour will go on from December 17 to January 26, without taking travel and quarantine dates into account.

The 14 T20Is and another T20 World Cup in Australia next year mean India’s next T20I captain after Virat Kohli will have his hands full. India will also play another three T20Is, along with as many ODIs, in England next summer.

Tuesday September 21, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 27

Dottin and Grimmond excel as West Indies claim Super Over victory ESPNcricinfo - Deandra Dottin has always been a headliner and she provided further proof of it on Sunday in an epic match against South Africa.

The very first centurymaker in women’s T20Is also instigated the very first tie in women’s ODIs that was settled by a Super Over.

And guess what, she bowled it and won it for West Indies.

Dottin’s gift for accuracy and her ability to thrive under pressure came to the fore as she took the ball in the 49th over of a pulsating game in Antigua. South Africa needed six runs to win. Mignon du Preez (46) was well set. But when the former Proteas captain was given an opportunity to seal the game, she couldn’t make the most of it It happened in the second ball of the over. Dottin erred, offering one that was short and wide. du Preez laced it behind point and although it

Local Chess ladies perform well Jessica Callendar at BCF all female tourney

Deandra Dottin, ICC

had plenty of power, it yielded only a single thanks to West Indies’ other bowling hero, Sheneta Grimmond.

The 23-year-old offspinner, playing only her

sixth ODI, took a career best 4 for 33 to completely turn the match, and when everything was at stake, her athleticism in the field helped West Indies secure (Continued on page 23)

Guyana’s female Chess players performed admirably at the Margaret Prince Memorial Rapid Online Female Tournament which was held online and hosted by the Women’s SubCommittee of the Barbados Chess Federation.

Competitors contested seven rounds last Saturday and Sunday with 58 females from around the Caribbean including 13 Guyanese.

Jessica Callender ended with an impressive 4.5 points.

Pooja Lam, Sherlyta Campayne and Nellisha Johnson all ended on 4 points each while Maliha Rajkumar and Naomi Barkoye gained 3

points each.

Callender, the reigning University of Guyana Female Champion who placed 15th in the tournament, won her games against non-Guyanese c o u n t e r p a r t s Vi c t o r i a Powell, Rashida Corbin, Kayla Martin and Guyanese Nellisha Johnson who lost on time. Thirteen-year-old up and coming player, Pooja Lam, a student of the Saraswati Vidya Niketan School, placed a notable 17th place with wins against Meghalaya HaughtonPathaw, Alesha Lovell, Celine Mohamed and fellow Guyanese and Queen’s

College student, Naomi B a r k o y e .

Sherlyta Campayne and Nellisha Johnson, who both participated recently in the Fide Online Olympiad, continued to showcase their talent and promise as some of the top female players in Guyana.

Junior players such as Maliha Rajkumar, Naomi Barkoye, Adia Alphonso, Anaya Lall and Aniyah Couchman and Pooja Lam are all currently being trained under the Chess-InSchools programme sanctioned by the FIDE Development Fund by (Continued on page 23)

2021 USA Cycling Masters Track National C/ships

Guyana & WS United Track specialist James Joseph signs off with Team Sprint gold

U

SA based Guyanese and We S t a n d United Cycle Club (WSUCC) member, James Joseph signed out competition at the 2021 USA Cycling Masters Track National Championships with his first Team Sprint gold medal on Sunday night at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center, Breinigsville, PA. Having to make a last minute change to the team as one of the original riders was injured; Joseph teamed up with Dave Morgan and Edwin Slaughter (Team Last Minute 2) to capture the gold medal in the 55+ Men Team Sprint Final 1000m (3 Laps) contest in 1 : 1 3 . 2 8 4 .

This gold added to Joseph’ individual gold in the 60-64 age group Men Sprint Final and silver in the Men 500m Ti m e Tr i a l F i n a l o n

September 16 last.

The silver medal went to ‘Jamie Nakae Fan Club’ Darrell Farlow, Ed Kissee and David Prechtl in a time of 1:13.678 with the bronze medal taken by ‘A Dash of Salt’ – Michael King, Curtis Southern and David Osborne in 1:15.763.

Joseph commented on his performance: “As I prepared for the gold medal ride at the evening session on the last day of the 2021 USA Cycling Masters Track National Championships, Ed Slaughter, Dave Morgan and myself, I was a bit concerned that I had to go into my overdrive in the competition because Dave Morgan was a last-minute substitute because our original team member had a bad accident during the course of the competition so we had to substitute with D a v e M o r g a n .

With Morgan not being the

quickest, the middle guy as well as myself had to really dig in and deep to get our times up which allowed us to take the top podium position. That was a very, very sweet victory for us, one of the guys shed tears because that was his first national title.

As matter of fact, that was the first national title for both of the other competitors who rode with me in the Team Sprint.”

The experienced James Joseph is the reigning International Cycling Union (UCI), 200m Flying Start World Record holder with a time of 11.42 seconds which was set at the 2017 World Masters Championships in California, USA. Joseph finished 9th overall in Match Sprints at the 1980 Summer Olympics and also competed in Match Sprints at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

55+ Men Team Sprint 1000m gold medalists, Guyanese James Joseph (center) along with teammates, Dave Morgan and Edwin Slaughter.

YBG and California 2 Guyana Basketball Foundation executives helping to shape a positive future for Guyana’s youths.

Chanderpaul Hemraj celebrates his maiden CPL century.

Hemraj feels bowlers had an ‘one-off’ day in CPL Semis Selected for Everest Premier League in Nepal

2021 USA Cycling Masters Track National C/ships

Nandu and Thorne return home after invaluable exposure with WI U19s in England

Isai Thorne

Matthew Nandu

t r o Sp Golden! James Joseph (center) with teammates Dave Morgan and Edwin Slaughter celebrating on the podium.

Guyana & WS United Track specialist James Joseph signs off with Team Sprint gold Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd., 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown. Tel: 225-8458, 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/226-8210.