Kaieteur News

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AIETEUR NEWS

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

$25M Prado for Trevor Benn... Friday Edition

Lands & Surveys used own staffers to value vehicle

September 25, 2020 -Vol. 22 No.37

Online: www.kaieteurnews.com Price $80

Online readership yesterday, 149,078

Oil companies robbed

Republic of Congo US$64M

in 2 years by inflating costs $250M unaccounted from SLED programme

Guyana beefs up presence at Alleged Ponzi Venezuelan border after army, schemers police ranks come under fire out on bail Windsor Estate developer returns 30-acre Ogle lands to NICIL

West Demerara nurses PPP/C sole-sourced birth certificate, join protest for risk we only continued allowance, other issues - Winston Felix

We need to stop cheating ourselves Everybody is profiting from Guyana’s oil. God bless Guyana, where anyone touching our oil prospers.

The downturn in the global economy is forcing oil companies to cut costs and downsize their operations. Profits in many cases are expected to decline over the next few years.

Not so with Hess which has a 30% share in the Stabroek Block. The company is projecting a 10% growth in income on the basis of its undertakings in Guyana.

It is bragging about the bounty it will receive because of the high quality and low cost oil from Guyana. While companies like Hess are increasing their income and shareholders’ value, Guyanese are being given crumbs for the exploitation of their resources.

It is for this reason that we repeat, for the umpteenth time, our demand for a better deal for our oil. The exploitation of our wealth cannot leave us hungry and hurting while the foreign companies are enriching themselves at our expense.

We cheat ourselves when we refuse to rebuke our political leaders for remaining slothful when it comes to renegotiating flawed agreements, or when we do not demand that they seek a fairer deal for the exploitation of our resources.

We must begin to demand more from our leaders. We must insist on a more equitable deal for our oil resources so that, just like Hess, we too can prosper.

Small team cannot adequately review Payara FDP in a few months - Associate Professor Dr.Blackman

Who really owns the Kaieteur and Canje oil blocks, do the leaders of this land care to tell the nation?

Kaieteur News

PAGE 02

Friday September 25, 2020

Oil companies robbed

Republic of Congo US$64M

in 2 years by inflating costs

By Kemol King ormer Petroleum Advisor to the Government of Guyana, Dr. Jan Mangal, once told Kaieteur News that the oil industry is a highly corrupt industry at every level because of the billions of dollars involved.

Oil companies tend to do whatever is necessary to maximize the profits to their shareholders, even if it means abusing the ignorance or lack of capacity of their host government.

The Republic of Congo was rudely reminded of this, a decade and a half ago, when it contracted independent firms to audit the costs handed to the government by oil companies, ENI and Total for a total of nine permits.

The firms produced 13 audit reports for 2004 and 2005, which showed that the companies had overstated their costs by US$127M. The Kenya-based charitable organization, Oxfam wrote about this matter in a 2018 report titled: ‘Examining the Crude Details’.

Oxfam said that from combining the 13 reports, it was found that US$15 of every US$100 in declared recoverable costs the auditors worked to verify, were ineligible for recovery, or were excessive.

In production sharing contracts, which utilise the cost recovery scheme, the more oil companies recover,

F

the less the state receives from the profit. This is why the Congolese government saw the audits as necessary.

In this case, had the funds claimed by Total and ENI been correctly stated, the US$127M it recovered would have formed part of the profits. Oxfam said that under a 50/50 profit split between state and contractor(s), the Congolese government lost out on US$63.5M. It further explained that nine of the 13 reports pertained to 2004, accounting for US$55.3M of the losses to the state.

With such significant value leakage, Oxfam noted that cost audits are a key tool to limiting these occurrences. It said that the lack of capacity of developing country government tend to place them at a disadvantage during contract negotiations, and that cost audits are a mechanism governments can use to mitigate the risks of revenue leakages.

In the case of Guyana, ExxonMobil intends, along with its Stabroek Block partners, to recover billions of US dollars in costs from the development of several oilfields. Its capacity to audit is virtually nowhere. Yet, the country is rapidly approving projects.

The only costs Guyana has started auditing are the US$460M pre-contract costs claimed by Exxon, and noted in the 2016 Stabroek Block

- Report A vessel owned by Total, offshore Republic of Congo

agreement for operations during the period 1999-2015.

That audit has been in motion for nine months now by the firm, HIS Markit, with no timeline announced for its completion.

Attorney-at-Law and Accountant, Christopher Ram, had said in 2018 that Exxon’s claim of US$460M is overstated by at least US$92M. His calculation found that all figures supplied by the companies, even when one allows for all expenses and expenditures, amount to a far cry from the US$460,237,918 that Exxon and its partners, Hess and CNOOC Nexen, are claiming. He had said that it is overstated by “at least” US$92M, because not all expenditure is recoverable as pre-contract costs.

Alleged Ponzi schemers get bail Alleged Ponzi scheme operators, Yuri GarciaDominguez and his wife Ateeka Ishmael, were yesterday released on bail.

The duo appeared in the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Malissa Mittleholzer.

They had appeared in the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court weeks ago and refused bail on a number of charges.

H o w e v e r, K a i e t e u r News was told they were granted bail on Monday, September 21, at Sparendaam Court to the tune of almost $4M. They posted the bail at Vigilance Court yesterday.Attorneya t - l a w D e x t e r To d d confirmed that his clients were granted bail.GarciaDominguez, a Cuban national who became

On Bail: Yuri Garcia-Dominguez (r) and his wife Ateeka Ishmael Guyanese in June, and his wife, Ateeka Ishmael, are charged for obtaining billions of dollars under false pretense out of the pockets of 17,000-plus Guyanese.

Garcia-Dominguez along with his wife appeared before six different magistrates within two weeks. The couple is currently (Continued on page 20)

Apart from the precontract costs, development costs for Liza Phases One & Two alone are estimated to total US$9.5B. Rystad Energy recently said that 14 of the following

discoveries could be developed by Exxon with total project sanctioning of US$50B. Since it made that announcement, ExxonMobil has made two more discoveries, adding the

potential for even more rapid development.

Poised to approve the third development, the Payara project, Government is yet to commit to auditing development costs.

$250M unaccounted for under SLED programme -probe to be launched According to the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, some $250M from the Sustainable Livelihood and Entrepreneurial Development (SLED) programme remains unaccounted for.

These are other details were shared by the Minister during budgetary considerations to the Committee of Supply on Wednesday. “Under the previous SLED, over $250M for last year, we can find is no records. As a matter of fact, our investigations have so far revealed that the paperwork for the $250M last year, a lot of it was deposited at Haags Bosch,” the Minister said to the Committee.

Dharamlall went on to indicate to the body that an investigation will be launched to probe all of the spending conducted by the programme under the APNU+AFC, as he added that “many on the opposition’s side are going to face prosecution.”

He even reminded the Committee that executives of the former government benefited from the initiative,

Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall including the former Director of Sports and current Opposition Chief Whip, Christopher Jones.

Jones was arrested in late August by police officers under a simple larceny accusations for a quantity of barber chairs, among other items, reportedly belonging to the State. He was later released on $100,000 bail.

The search was conducted out in relation to an audit carried out at the former Ministry of Social Protection, which showed that they had approved the payout of almost $5 million under the Region Four administration for the procurement of equipment for a barbershop under the SLED programme.

-Minister Dharamlall

A review of a grant received by Jones revealed that the full amount was spent by December 31, 2019.

However, over $1M in items were in fact not delivered and the project was not executed. The remaining items were stored at Jones’ home.Then Minister Anma Ally had said that the previous administration had expended almost $250M to increase employment opportunities at the community level through the project. What remains unclear at this point is what criteria were required for grants to be issued via the project and under what arrangement Jones qualified as a recipient.

Displeased with the government, Jones had filed a lawsuit against the State for unlawfully searching his home and seizing barber chairs, air-conditioning units and other equipment.

Upon becoming aware of Jones’ lawsuit, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall had asked the High Court to dismiss the case, as he labeled it as “frivolous” and “vexatious”. The SLED programme was set up in 2015 after the coalition took office.

Friday September 25, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 03

Lands & Surveys used own staffers to value vehicle $25M Prado for Trevor Benn...

Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission (GL&SC), Trevor Benn, has come out defending his purchase of a 2016 Toyota Landcruiser Prado for $2.5M from his work place three days before the March 2 elections.

According to the Commissioner yesterday, competent persons at the Commission calculated the depreciation costs which brought the price down from an estimated purchase value of $25M to $2.5M. In the public statement, the Commissioner insisted that the GL&SC paid $11M for the 2015 Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) which was registered in late 2016.

The statement came after the story broke in Kaieteur News in the Thursday’s edition.

He did not include the value of such vehicle if taxes and duties were to be calculated which could see final costs over $25M. Threatening a lawsuit and calling for a retraction, the Commissioner claimed that for years, staffers of the

Commission were not entitled to duty free.

He said he did not take his two duty free concessions on vehicles that he was entitled to.Rather, the Commission’s Board of Directors, under him, drafted and unanimously adopted a vehicle policy.

“The Board was of the view that similar to other categories of public officials, the GLSC staff should have access to duty free vehicles or an alternative system that will allow them to receive the same benefits.”

The disclosures that Benn paid a mere $2.5M on a SUV bought new and only four years old, set social media ablaze yesterday with persons asking where they could get such a deal.

Benn signed the Agreement of Sale and Purchase on February 28, 2020, the same day, which the Board approved the decision to sell him and three days before the elections.

Benn was recently sent b y t h e O ff i c e o f t h e President, under which jurisdiction he falls, on 42

days of annual leave. He was ordered to hand over reports of his work and outstanding matters.

Below is Commissioner Benn’s full statement: Permit me to respond to the Kaieteur News frontpage article dated 24, September 2020.

In doing so I wish to r e i t e r a t e t h e undermentioned: Since my return to the public service in 2016, I have made myself available to the media, always a phone call away. Kaieteur has made very good use of my accessibility over the years.

It is surprising, indeed disappointing therefore, that Kaieteur News would publish such a defamatory article without contacting me first.

Need I say that the practice of public officials purchasing vehicles from their place of work is age old.

Most recently, the retiring head of another semiautonomous agency benefited from a similar arrangement. Did Kaieteur News publish this

Commissioner Trevor Benn information? The answer is a clear no, and we know why.

Regarding the issue at hand, a 2015 model vehicle was purchased by the Commission at a value of just over eleven million dollars $11,000,000.

The vehicle policy of the Commission allows for a vehicle to be assigned to each manager of the Commission.

Each manager is given an option of purchasing the vehicle after three (3) years at the depreciated value.

As Commissioner I became eligible for this benefit and started the formal

process to purchase the vehicle in 2019 and not a few days before March 2020 Elections as stated in the Kaieteur News article.

The depreciated value of the vehicle was calculated by the competent authorities at the Commission. This value is used across the Commission and is detailed in the Transportation Policy that was unanimously approved by the Board of Directors.

It should be noted that under the Department of Lands and Surveys, senior staff were entitled to duty free vehicles. When the Department became a Commission in 2001, the staff were transferred to the new body with all benefits.

Accordingly, staff under the new arrangement at the Commission approached the then government and requested that the terms of their employment be honoured with respect to the duty-free vehicles for staff.

However, the issue remained unresolved for over fifteen years.

When I became

Commissioner/CEO of the Commission, this matter was brought to my attention. I took the decision then that if my staff cannot access their entitlement, then I would not utilize the duty-free concession that was part of my contract. This resulted in me not utilizing two such concessions.

The Board of Directors at the time having been brought up to date on the situation drafted and unanimously adopted a vehicle policy. The Board was of the view that similar to other categories of public officials, the GLSC staff should have access to duty free vehicles or an alternative system that will allow them to receive the same benefits.

The vehicle policy put in place by the Board adopted some aspects of other government agencies policy.

Currently, all managers of the Commission benefit from this policy.

I am calling for an immediate retraction of this story, failing which, I will have to seek legal recourse in this matter.

Windsor Estate developer returns 30-acre Ogle lands to NICIL The developer of the iconic Windsor Estate gated community on the East Bank of Demerara has rescinded the sale of a 30acre plot of land at Ogle, East Coast Demerara.

The land to Navigant B u i l d e r s w a s controversially sold, without the transaction being complete, by the State’s National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) earlier this year.

Several plots of such lands were sold to developers with questions raised over the timings as the March 2 elections were nearing.

Yesterday, Navigant Builders, through its statement issued by NICIL, explained that as the public is aware, immediately after the elections, it announced that it was postponing plans to continue its Ogle Development Project. It cancelled all payments to NICIL. “In June 2020, unbeknownst to Navigant, NICIL vested the property to us which was subject to our agreement of sale; though we had indicated in writing to NICIL that we

cannot move ahead with the said project until such time as the elections crisis was resolved.”

According to Navigant Builders yesterday, in light of the cloud of uncertainty that surrounds the transfer of title, it “hereby announce that we would like to rescind the Vesting Order and revert such title back to NICIL, thus to enable the Government of Guyana to reclaim all lands and reissue such properties in a more transparent manner.”

The developer, whose principals include US-based developer, Danny Sawh, said that it intends to embark on a signature urban mixeduse development on the East Coast of Demerara, featuring luxury residential properties and Class A office space in the near future and looks forward to working with NICIL and the Government of Guyana in this endeavour.

The highly questionable transactions involved the transfer of the lands, which are located near a major planned highway that would link the East Coast to the East Bank transportation network.

It would become one of the most coveted piece of property in the country.

In addition to Navigant Builders, the other companies which conducted transactions were Supergraphics (5.058 acres); GUYOIL (1.500 acres); the Residences at Earl’s Court Incorporated (10.281 acres); Navigant Builders Incorporated (30.000 acres); Premier Sales and Services Incorporated (5.015 acres); Trinuyana Investments Incorporated (19.678 acres), Caribbean Marketing Enterprise Incorporated (21.096 acres), American Marine Services Incorporated (20.000 acres) and Cardiology Incorporated (8.000 acres).

A number of the developers above had indicated plans to build hotels, with sod-turning days before the March 2 elections.The government, under President Irfaan Ali, has said it will investigate transactions involving State properties that took place after the December 21, 2018 no-confidence vote, which effectively toppled the Coalition Government.

Police break up funeral for breaching COVID-19 guidelines Police on the Corentyne had cause to break up a funeral on Wednesday for breaching the COVID-19 orders Gazetted by the Ministry of Health.

The pandemic has killed 71, and infected more than 2,500 persons.

A police official insisted that there is a limit to the number of persons in attendance for such events.

However, on Wednesday, there were dozens of persons streaming into the Babu Jaan Crematorium, with quite a few without masks.Police ranks were on the scene videoing the event. There was no social distancing exercised. However, some persons who were in attendance have dubbed the actions of the police as “illegal arresting” and chided the ranks for their alleged unprofessional behaviour.

It was disclosed that after persons entered the crematorium and the funeral had concluded, as they made their way out, the ranks arrived and began arresting persons.

They were told that they breached the COVID-19 guidelines and as such were arrested and taken to the Whim Police Station.

One of the persons who the police threatened to arrest stated that the treatment meted out by the police was unfair and was harassment.

They referenced the funeral of the murdered teen on the West Coast Berbice where hundreds of persons were in attendance but no one was arrested.

Meanwhile, a senior police source revealed that the persons who were arrested has since been told of their offence, given a warning and have since been released.

PAGE 4

Kaieteur News

Friday September 25, 2020

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

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

EDITORIAL

Tearing Apart and Selling Oil Pipelines May Guyana be Spared May this never be the fate of Guyana! May our leaders and citizens all look, listen, and learn from what is happening in Venezuela! We call upon fellow Guyanese to pay attention to an article in Bloomberg dated September 11, which was titled, “Venezuela is tearing apart oil pipelines to sell as scrap metal.”

This is how bad things have gone with our oil rich neighbour, now reeling from US sanctions that bite with expanding strength and consequences.

The desperate Nicolas Maduro regime is forced to “cannibalize the country’s crumbling energy infrastructure to pay contractors with scrap metal.”

Sanctions have hit hard, and once helpful and cooperative partners have retreated from the risks of angering the mighty United States, through assisting Venezuela and, in so doing, violate tough US-implemented sanctions. Because of this, Venezuela, a founding member of OPEC, is now humbled and its prospects “hinges on a single oil play”, according to Bloomberg.

Unlike the oil fields in the sprawling Orinoco Basin, where the crude is tarlike thick, the output from the Monagas fields is light, which allows it to be more easily refined in the country’s aging and dilapidated supporting oil infrastructure.

The “scrap metal and parts from idled oil facilities” help “to pay for major repairs at pumping stations and compression plants in Monagas.”

This is what once-proud, once rich, and once powerful Venezuela is reduced to in the sum of its woes from its oil gifts, now transformed into the worst of curses, a yoke on the necks of the peoples of that besieged society.

We hope that Guyanese watch and get some wisdom, whether leaders or citizens. Oil wisdom takes a long time to come to men made haughty by its discoveries and the related cascades of riches that flow lavishly. But it does come to the corrupt and the unheeding.

For there is Venezuela that cannot obtain “$800 million in financing from suppliers payable with crude and fuel”, which could give it some temporary relief. No partner seeks to incur the wrath of the US, so they pass on sound business opportunities presented by Venezuela. It is just not worth the risk.

The present in Venezuela sets the stage for a future that looks more blighted and still grimmer. Among the prospects are “worsening shortages…and growing social unrest” among many other concerns. At one time, the world was at the feet of Venezuela, nowadays nobody dares to reach out and shake its hand, other than for the Russians, Chinese, and Iranians. And those are not enough to help it manage its many tough challenges and circumstances.

Guyanese leaders do well to look at Nigeria and Angola and, right next door, at Venezuela and vow to themselves that they will not go down the roads traveled by those countries. Not with the harrowing prices that must be paid for the misjudgments made and the mismanagements that must be lived within humiliation and regret.

Guyanese citizens, be they unmoving loyal supporter or critical political competitor or diligent independent observer, must also be energized to hold leaders accountable, if only for their own prospects and those of future generations.

Citizens must insist on the right choices being made.

They must be alert to skullduggery (like the controversial and criminally appearing disposition of the Canje and Kaieteur oil blocks) and scream bloody murder in objection.

There must be all out rejection of those political practices that hurt and help to get to those dismally unwanted places, which is where Venezuela and hapless Venezuelan citizens are trapped currently.

For Venezuela was, at one time, a country that raked in “almost US$100 billion from oil and now only gets $1 billion.”

Inconvenient truths bring the collateral damage of existential menace DEAR EDITOR, The words coming down to me from the concerned are blunt: be careful. Subtle, too: be aware. And watch your back. I ask myself why, since I heard so much from good Guyanese about democracy, political leaders reborn, and clean governance. I am not fooled, for there has always been that transparency of pervasive hypocrisy that they embody.

Clearly some men in government prefer to let certain things be the way they are. I pinpoint the spoor of secrecy on this country’s oil that benefits them. On this, there is no distinction between government and opposition leaders. They all fervently desire a blanket prohibition on information.

But they should know that there is never full inhibition of ideas. This is where I stand if being a tiny speck of agency that leads to a foregone destiny, then such is out of my hands. I must persevere, live with myself.

As I place this before the public, I do not think that certain newspapers, editors, attorneys, accountants, doctors, writers, should be able to live with themselves, considering the monstrosity with which we live, and which they had a hand in its creation.

They all postured to me that

this time would be different.

Then why am I being warned?

Democratic government, it is touted.

Well, it cannot be when the new PPP government wants certain narratives expunged. Since I am being warned, then it has not changed in its intrinsic charms, having authored the dispatch of many before.

Extinguishing one more does not bring discomfort, since such would be a mere footnote of Guyanese realities. It is of objectives realized, through voices stilled.

It is of the inconvenient truths that trigger collateral damage, whatever form such may take.

As I say this, I must wonder what my fellow Americans have to say, how the human rights advocates (Carter Center and all) stand.

Both local contributors and foreign presences should be inestimably proud of their democratic product, their governance poster child, and the government machinery erected. They have done their dirty work. I have my own work to fulfill; whatever is the will of divine providence that it will be. To that I submit. I shall fear no evil. That is my belief, what has brought me this far. Now I continue the course chosen. Let the chips fall.

Some chips fell in the

hysterias during the elections season over PNC corruption.

Now there are ecstasies over democracy triumphant, with returning PPP leaders trumpeting transparency and accountability in governance.

Underneath those attractive glosses, there is thorough opportunity and powerful incentive to resume the concealment of the most massive instance of corruption in this hemisphere.

It involves millions of acres of oil patches and billions of barrels of crude. In terms of magnitude and rich return, there is no comparison. But of this thievery of Guyana’s patrimony, local political leaders and foreign business partners want no voice raised, no question asked, no word written, no truth revealed.

They desire absolutely nothing to be known about the pieces of oil territory stolen and parceled out among willing partners. It is my belief that PNC luminaries are part of the action. They cannot now know, for there is too much at stake for them not to care, or to be pleased with being on the outside.

Because of this, it is damn any messenger, who dares to table thoughts that menace their plots and the related prosperities that flow to them.

Such probing, challenging,

and articulating is foolhardy in the extreme, definitely endangering. For truth means identification of Guyanese political deceivers (leaders) and their partners in plunder, whether American or Canadian or Israeli. The oil manipulations that started in the pre-2015 era now assumes renewal with a government machinery in place to cover-up with the full knowledge and backing of the United States.

Those manipulations must remain silent, and if people must be thwarted, even silenced, then so be it. Look and listen to leaders: they talk a mile a minute about everything else, but on oily things, there is nothing said, and nothing and none who object viewed favourably.

Additionally, because they are seen through past the propaganda and via their ploys, the many hypocrisies are obvious.

About governance.

About leadership practices and values. About the deceptions and divisions fostered for more failing. They are called out and embarrassed by the pains in eye and ear, and elsewhere. That, too, is necessary, if only to speak to the many savaging truths undermining but are not told.

They matter to me. And there is where I stand immovably.

Sincerely, GHK Lall

Some Members of Parliament are trying to shift blame DEAR EDITOR, The 2020 Budget debate and the considerations of the budget allocations for the various Ministries really are a compendium of public malfeasance in office by Ministers of the previous APNU+AFC Government.

From start to finish, these 2020 budgetary proceedings in Parliament have been revealing. On Wednesday, September 23, during the consideration of the budget for the Ministry of Education, Ms. Nicolette Henry, was the latest former Minister who exposed further her conduct in public office.

Nicolette Henry, the former Minister of Education, may think she is full of chutzpah, but the truth is she

is really very brazen. She stood in Parliament and lamented that virtually all the teachers in the Caribbean have been trained in delivering the school curriculum using new tools in this era of COVID-19, except for the Guyanese teachers. In her lament, she tried placing the blame on the new Minister of Education, the Honourable Priya Manickchand.

But Minister Manickchand quickly reminded Ms. Henry and her APNU+AFC colleagues and the people of Guyana why our teachers are only now receiving such training. For five vital months, instead of focusing on the training of teachers to deliver education with new tools and new

It is a 99% drop in revenues from its oil assets, which once stood as the country’s major export, source of employment, and basis of its economy. Now it is scrambling to make ends meet, while its frightened and hungry people scramble across borders to survive.

Guyanese had their own taste of such circumstances from decades ago. Now that we have oil, the ferocious resolve of every citizen must be final: not again! Not with so much involved. And not with the memories of leaders who misled and failed miserably.

methods, Ms. Henry was busy with her colleagues trying to thief the elections.

She did not care about our children or our teachers in that critical period as COVID-19 forced the closure of schools.

Now, in just one month after the new government finally assumed their rightful place, teachers are being trained.

Ms. Henry conveniently pretended she had nothing to do with the failure to have Guyana’s teachers trained in new methods to deliver education.

She should have stood in Parliament this week, first, apologizing to the people of Guyana, and, second, commending the new Minister and the new Government for starting this training so quickly.

It is already very late in the year, but it is better late than never. Nothing will change the hard, cold facts Ms. Henry and APNU+AFC recklessly allowed five months to elapse without ever starting the training, even as our Caribbean counterparts started and completed their training. It was not just brazen for Henry to stand there pointing her

fingers, it was insulting the intelligence of the Guyanese people. But then again, it was the same Henry who once stood with her colleagues and tried persuading the children and people of Guyana and the world that 33 is not more than 32.

During these same deliberations, Henry wanted information about a learning package for the 27,000 nursery children. These learning package which constitute workbooks and other learning materials are as a result of a foreign-funded project that started during the COVID-19 closure of schools when Nicolette Henry was Minister. She desperately tried to hide the fact she did not know what that programme was about, what were the contents of the package.

Minister Manickchand again rebuked her and exposed her total lack of knowledge of a programme that started when Henry was Minister. But why should anyone expect that Ms. Henry would know? After all, she was totally consumed with what was more important to her at the time - thieving an Continued on page 6

Friday September 25, 2020

PAGE 5

Kaieteur News

Guyana Prison Service - Let the citizens know who’s running the Show DEAR EDITOR, So much has gone wrong - For Far Too Long The way in which societies treat individuals who have been deprived of their liberty is a litmus test of commitment to human rights.

A wide range of international treaties and standards exist to guide prison services across the world. John Whitaker Straw British M.P Prisons play an essential role in society. They are crucial to human and public security.

After seeing the headlines about the Lusignan Prison riot, and on the point of allowing the words “Not Again” to hastily depart my lips and seek refuge or dispersal in the surrounding atmosphere, I was once again painfully reminded of the plethora of problems that have plagued the Guyana prison system on the whole.

The Guyana Prison Service possesses three major prisons – at Georgetown, Mazaruni and New Amsterdam. There is also a

remand centre at Timehri and, recently, Lusignan was designated as a juvenile holding centre.

As noted in its submission to the Disciplined Forces Commission (2004) the main responsibility of the Guyana Prison Service is “to ensure the safe custody of the offenders who have violated the law of the land and are placed in physical confinement (prisons) in order to protect the society”. Given the history of prison recommendations emanating from inquiries and findings of divers commissions, it is plain to see that the Guyana government as a whole has eschewed its responsibilities to both the incarcerated and the free. Additionally, as a corrective facility, the Guyana Prison Service, is also tasked with the dual responsibility of protecting society by creating secure incarceration arrangements while simultaneously engaging in activities and initiatives to facilitate the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders into the society.

As the background history is being told the truth, it will gradually become clear why the prisoners behave as if they don’t care. Note that as regards blame my digits are being reserved for exercises of a more beneficial nature.

In July 2001, the then Minister of Home Affairs, now deceased Hon. Ronald Gajraj was presented a Prison Reform Report by a British team which comprised of “ Alastair Papps, Arthur de Frisching and Brian Fellowes from the International Consultancy Group of the British Government Cabinet Office Centre for Management and Policy Studies. The report was the culmination of consultations and investigations conducted over an 18-month period. Among the main findings were that the criminal justice failed to provide adequate alternatives to incarceration; conditions for both staff and prisoners were awful; prisoners’ basic human rights were frequently infringed; serious overcrowding of the Georgetown Prison with minimal scope constructive work to help prisoners to resettle in society.

Some worrying developments DEAR EDITOR, On Tuesday, September 22, 2020, I wrote a letter, in which I made two salient points. First, I referred to the apparent blockade of my letters by Guyana Times, in particular. Second, I referred to the fabrication of a quotation by Guyana Times’ Eyewitness column in its attempt to malign, and negatively portray, me to their readership, who they do not afford the opportunity to hear, from me.

This is gross misuse of the fourth estate, which is a national asset and should be at the disposal of all, once they are sharing pertinent information, accurately, or contributing to the society‘s stock of knowledge.

I write again to highlight that quite the opposite has become the norm. Even the national newspapers, whose material means are owned by the people of Guyana, seems to me abusing the fourth estate and denying me the means of freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by the Constitution.

Worse than that, is that the said estate is being utilized by Guyana Times to respond to my letters, which they do not publish, and even worse is their persistent fabrications in those responses.

In my letter of the September 22, 2020, I denied that I authored the following quotation: “The murderers

saw themselves as superior to the persons slaughtered.

Historically, this was the fate of Africans. The individual also felt they should be protected by the State (controlled by the PPP), so justice cannot be gotten for the Henrys.”

Whether that quotation represents the truth or not, it cannot be attributed to me and represents nothing less that gutter journalism. Like the mischievous author of the Eyewitness column, I refer the public to the SAGE programme (Race, Power and Peaceful Co-existence) on Facebook to make the judgment call for themselves.

In a similar manner, Eyewitness attributed to me the confession that ‘I had been inducted in Moscow into the intricacies of Marxism as a youth … but now has taken an instinctive African position’. While that was not a quotation, the presence of an ellipsis in the sentence implicitly makes it a quotation

or signifies the misuse of the ellipsis. Not even an exemplar of good Grammar can be taken away from reading the column. The fifth estate, in the person of Eyewitness is destroying the Nation morally and destroying and failing it academically.

This destruction/ haemorrhaging has got be arrested. I must however commend Mr. Ravi Dev for attesting to one of my rebuttals of Eyewitness’ misrepresentation in relation to my historic contention that ‘Guyana is a plural society that needs attention’.

I will be posting on my Facebook page my ‘Bisram letter’, which seeks to put our country’s history into perspective and to expose the agenda of Guyana Times, which ducks my letters but misuses them as a spring board to malign and disparage those who they do not favour.

Yours truly, Vincent Alexander

On February 23, 2002, five inmates: Dale Moore, Troy Dick, Shawn Brown, Andrew Douglas and Mark Fraser, escaped from the Georgetown prison, killing a prison officer and seriously wounding another in the process. The escapees then unleashed a reign of terror in Guyana. The 30-page Report of Board of Inquiry into Escape of Five Prisoners was presented to Honourable Gajraj in June by former Chancellor of the Judiciary Cecil Kennard who was Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry. Among its other recommendations, the Commission specifically stated that “The escape in our view could have been avoided if high-profile prisoners [had been] transferred to the Mazaruni

Prison.”

In May 2004, Chairman Justice Ian Chang handed over to Hari Ramkaran, Speaker of the National Assembly, The Report of the Disciplined Services Commission, which began work on July 1, 2003 to inquire into the Guyana Police Force, Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Prison Service and the Guyana Fire Service in order to identify their shortcomings and to recommend remedies to respond to the public safety crisis.

The Report made 28 recommendations for improvements mainly to the Georgetown, Mazaruni and New Amsterdam prisons.

These included increasing the staff to deal with the growing number of inmates, implementing the

recommendations of the Criminal Law Review Committee Report and improving the capacity of the Mazaruni Prison in order to reduce overcrowding – especially by high-risk prisoners – at the Georgetown Prison. Be it known that the decision to appoint a Disciplined Services Commission, DSC, was one of the first agreements between the Jagdeo Administration and the PNC/R under the leadership of the Leader of the PNC/R and Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Robert Corbin.

To its own credit, the Prison Service itself produced a significant 10-year (20012011) Strategic Development Plan based on a series of consultancy reports, retreats, workshops and visits. Such Continued on page 6

I have seen this circus before DEAR EDITOR, I am not sure why the governments de jure believe that the Guyanese people are interested in malfeasance committed by public officials. Matter of fact this newspaper still has on its front page issues of malfeasance by officials of the current government officials that now is publicizing its own list of the previous government officials. I have seen this circus before. For this reason, I concluded Guyanese people don’t care about opportunistic endeavours of officials. For instance, there are no daily countrywide protests seeking justice for the same.

The issue lies with the degree of how Guyanese interpret the illegality of giving

yourself a raise be it from tax evasion or misappropriation of state or local funds and assets. I am interested in a list of names of officials that have been incarcerated for embezzlement over the last quarter century.

Moreover, over the same period, the number of politicians skyrocketed who are listed amongst the wealthiest people in the country.

Lastly, until there are widespread protest about corruption, government should make public every year the assets of all state and local governments officials, members of parliaments and their donors. This should create fodder for many of discourses among the citizenry.

Keith Bernard

Many contractors in Guyana do excellent work DEAR EDITOR, AFC MP, David Patterson, has some nerve telling the present PPP/C administration to mandate 50% local content targets for the oil and gas sector, while for five years the APNU+AFC coalition did nothing to improve the local content after giving our oil to ExxonMobil on a silver platter.

The strategy of the US$18 million signing bonus use by Exxon had its desired effect on the former APNU+AFC administration. The US$18 million signing bonus (which was secretly hidden away) was the bait used to entrap Guyana into signing the

lopsided oil contract without first reading it. Unfortunately, former Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, signed away our oil, while leaving US$55billion on the table.

Another problem facing Guyana is contracts with Chinese Companies. The Chinese are known for doing inferior work while on the surface it looks great. I once paid a lot of money for a suitcase made in China that looked really solid.

To my horror, after packing my suitcase, on the day when I was about to leave for the airport, the handle broke off, nevertheless

as it was already late, I decided to use it as is. When I finally reach my destination, the suitcase was so damaged that I placed it in the garbage as it was no good, not even to store anything.

We should not be using foreign companies for projects when there are many contractors in Guyana that do excellent work.

Yours truly, Gloria Holder

PAGE 6

Kaieteur News

Friday September 25, 2020

FROM HANDSHAKE TO BEAR HUG TO STRANGLEHOLD DEAR EDITOR, I am delighted that American Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Ms. Sarah Ann Lynch, has graced the media with her distinguished presence and mellifluous words. While I recognize them for what they are, and welcome them, I caution Her Excellency, not to underestimate the understanding of Guyanese and the nature of their relationship with America.

For starters, the relationship is certainly renewed, expanded, and expanding. I welcome because, though rapaciously bottom line driven, American business interests are

definitely preferred to the Russians and Chinese, whose practices leave much in the red. Or worse, in the dark. As rough and exploitative as they are, if I must settle for one of the three leviathans, then it is America, hands down. I say it is the lesser of three fearsome evils. Even though its commercial people who usually find clever ways to elude provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and conduct business with locals improperly, I am more comfortable with them across the table. Also, their practices, books, and norms are more open and

scrutinized; they do make a go of complying with some rules and regulations, and do not make up laws suiting themselves as they go along.

Regarding the other two, the Iron Curtain is still very much an impregnable reality.

But as I sifted through Ambassador Lynch’s words, there are some things, which I go to great pains to let her know that they are fully within the comprehension of Guyanese, who pay attention to her. Yes, Ms. Lynch has attained that rare elevation, where she is subject, a la Alan Greenspan of old, to what I would term Lynch Watch. It

is where her every word and posture are probed and analyzed like the entrails of exotic animals to determine what truths they hold, be such prophesies or allusions of what comes down.

I read where she said that the stopover of Mr. Pompeo should not be construed as “just a one-time visit” because the cards hold “many engagements…by highranking U.S. government officials as well as private sector businesses.” They will all beat a path to this hospitable Arcadian Grove called Guyana. I did not foresee how it could be

Guyana Prison Service - Let the citizens...

From page 5 resourcefulness was followed by the Carter Center of the USA, which in another report presented to the Ministry in February 2002, called for the establishment of a Criminal Law Review Committee to examine existing laws, practices, and procedures for the criminal justice system including imprisonment.

In 2009 the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices last year confirmed that, “Prison and jail conditions were poor and deteriorating, particularly in police holding cells. Capacity and resource constraints were a problem.

Yet another study was delegated in 2009 by the Ministry of Home Affairs, headed by Lloyd Nickram, Management Specialist within the Public Service Ministry. The 68-page report released in November 2009 on the Guyana Prison Service identified a number of problems within the system including long-standing concerns such as chronic overcrowding. Basically, the

study just repeated what was already known and had not been implemented.

In 2001, the Ministry of Home Affairs established a Board of Inquiry comprising of Major General (retired) Norman Mc Lean MSSformer Chief of Staff – Chairman; Mr. Cecil Kilkenny DSS – former Director of Prisons and Mr. Sheik Asween – Prison Trade Instructor, to investigate the breach that led to the escape of four dangerous prisoners, special watch inmates from the New Amsterdam Prison.

In September 2016, a comprehensive nationwide prison survey is expected to begin in Guyana in September with the aim of designing rehabilitation and social reintegration services for prison inmates. The survey was funded by the InterAmerican Development Bank to the value of US$2.3 million through the Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP), with the aim being to capture information on the experiences of inmates’ lives prior to incarceration, during imprisonment, and those who are repeat offenders. The

appraisal part of the third component of the CSSP’s five-year programme, reaffirmed the findings of previous studies.

In October 2017, the United Nations’ Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent advised Guyana that the Lusignan Prison should be closed down without delay.

According to the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour in its 2018 Country Report on Human Rights Practices for Guyana, “Prison and jail conditions, particularly in police holding cells, were reportedly harsh and potentially life threatening due to overcrowding, physical abuse, and inadequate sanitary conditions.

After a riot and fire at the Camp Street Prison on Thursday, March 3, 2016, by prisoners protesting living conditions, 17 prisoners died.

The current Minister of Public Works Hon. Juan Edghill has stated that in keeping with effective prison reform, and in the security plans for the country, $2B have been earmarked for

construction, rehabilitation and upgrading of prisons and covered in Budget 2020.

According to the Minister, this area has been neglected by the previous administration.

So many Commissions, so many recommendations, so little consideration, so few implementations!

For far too long, effective leadership has been a “No Go” and the inmates have clearly been running the show. Contrary to held belief, effective administration of a prison system calls for the possession and retention of high degrees of certain professional skills which are woefully lacking in the present prison system.

No necessity exists for blame gaming, as it is clear that the real fragility lies in the lacuna or interregnum between the pursuance of commission of inquiries and the implementation of the attendant recommendations.

Now that the government does not lack the money, then there should be no turning back. Let the prisons be as secure as can be, thereby guaranteeing the public safety.

Yvonne Sam

otherwise, and I thank Ambassador Lynch for her transparent delivery of upfront information, so that there are neither raised eyebrows nor suspicions, given the veritable American Invasion coming. I hasten to add invasion of Guyana, and nowhere else (in the short term). But with that said, the covert people (U.S government officials) will have to be most careful.

What the good Ambassador did not have to say was that now that Mr. Pompeo has laid the cornerstone of how this relationship must be, how it is going to go forward, with the troops (there I go again) of commercial and official people are saddled with sweating the details and delivering the goods. In other words, the immovable line unilaterally declared, not negotiated, by Mr. Pompeo represented the firmest of sticky two-handed grasps, which will now draw Guyana and its leaders into a tighter bear hug to the point of suffocation. I hope that the locals do not lose their heads in the process, since their oxygen supply is now rationed.

On the ground, I envision some visits providing cover for a few specially handpicked men to put ears

and boots to ground and get a better lay of the land. I suggest closer to the border to scout out potentially attractive mineral prospects.

That is as good a cover story as any, given the real objectives. If this spirals to the scale that I anticipate, I may have to dust off my gloves and pinstripes and get back into the game for a little capitalist action. Remember: I know how Americans think and operate. Been there and done that, which is something I cannot say for the natives, all the way to the head.

As I consider all this, a few things gain the solidity of firm traction. Guyana is on the way to becoming the de facto 51st state. And in 3-5 years, if things continue at this rate, locals will be a minority in this country. Our destiny is not our own to chart anymore. For all the wrongs that former head-of-state David Granger presided over this year, elections bartering was not one.

He paid a harsh political price, compliments of the Americans.

Now the Ali-Jagdeo tag team, fully committed to a Faustian bargain, harvest their suspect fruits, which render both political prisoners in their respective presidential palaces.

Sincerely, GHK Lall

A BAD IDEA DEAR EDITOR, In response to Ryan Khan’s proposal of a Government funded dormitory at QC, I think it is a bad idea.

Firstly, there will have to be two dorms one for boys and one for girls with a lot of distance between them. Secondly, who will provide meals for the students? Thirdly, there will have to be a dining hall with a kitchen to cook their meals.

Fourthly, who will monitor their behaviour as they grow older especially when it becomes dark? I am talking about soon to be teenagers. There will have to be a female dean for the girls’ dormitory and a male dean for the boys’ dormitory.

President’s College is some distance from the main road and already has the facility to accommodate older students who can monitor the young ones. Having attended a SDA College/School, I am familiar with such things.

Yours truly, Gloria Holder

Some Members of...

From page 4 election. The children of Guyana were of no concern to Henry at the time. But it is a blessing that the people of Guyana ensured that Ms. Henry finds herself in the Opposition benches because in those opposition benches. She has experienced a eureka moment - she suddenly recognizes how important it is that teachers become trained in new methods of teaching and that it is important to know what are contained in the learning package for nursery schoolchildren. If only she knew that more than six months ago!

Ms. Henry is just the latest APNU+AFC MP demonstrating that brazen is something they wear as a badge of honour. Not to be outdone on the same day was Annette Ferguson who wagged her fingers and claimed APNU+AFC never terminated the “Because We Care” $10,000 cash grant for schoolchildren.

We know that the cash grant was introduced by the PPP. We know that the cash grant was paid out for every schoolchild in 2014. We also know sadly that APNU+AFC ended the programme immediately in 2015. Not a single child got the $10,000 cash grant in 2015 or in 2016 or in 2017 or in 2018 or in 2019. So I challenge Ferguson, if APNU+AFC did not terminate the cash grant programme, to tell the nation of a single child in the last five years that got the cash grant. Make no mistake these APNU+AFC members are disgustingly brazen.

Dr. Leslie Ramsammy

Friday September 25, 2020

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

PAGE 08

Friday September 25, 2020

School girl dies months after tragic - driver wants family to accident settle matter for $350,000 A student of the Diamond Secondary School, East Bank Demerara, died on Monday last, after a sevenmonth long-battle for survival from severe injuries she had sustained in a tragic accident along the Supply Public Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

The student, Akazea Austin, was struck down by a speeding car, on February 13, while attempting to cross the road, minutes after stepping out of a minibus.

According to media reports, the driver of the minibus had signaled the other drivers to stop for Austin to cross but the car driven by a Linden taxi driver failed to do so.

As a result of the injuries sustained from the accident, Austin suffered severe brain and lung damage. This resulted in her having a memory loss and a tracheostomy-a surgically created hole in her neck (wind pipe/trachea) to provide an alternative airway

for breathing.

Doctors had told Austin’s mom, Loraina Waddle that her daughter’s brain was swollen. They also explained to the woman that a nerve between the skull and the brain was severely damaged. There were also huge blood clots in her lungs which did not allow Austin to breathe properly. Her hip was also shifted out of place and rendered her unable to move or walk.

Austin was left hospitalized at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for one month before she was discharged.

Waddle told Kaieteur News that despite her daughter being home, she remained bedridden for another four months before she made attempts to walk.

“She could not move, walk or even speak properly, I would be forced to read her lips to know if she needed anything or understand what she was saying,” said

Waddle.

Nevertheless, she said that her daughter was determined to live and showed great signs of improvement during the end of August and this continued into September.

Waddle said, “She even started moving around with the help of a ‘walker’ that was donated to her”.

However, Waddle told Kaieteur News that Austin would cry and sometimes fall severely ill because of the damage to her lungs.

“We would take her to visit the doctors regularly but the damage in her lungs remained a problem, sometimes she would cry out for pain and even coughed up blood,” said Austin’s mom.

On Monday, September 23, while Waddle was on her way home from her work, she received a call from her elder daughter that she was forced to rush Austin to the hospital.

Waddle hurried home, picked up some cash, caught

a taxi and made her way to GPHC but before she arrived, sometime after 16:00hrs that afternoon, Austin passed away.

Kaieteur News was told that after Austin took ill and complained of not being able to breathe, her siblings rushed her to the Diamond Diagnostic Center but the health personnel there told them that the doctor was not in.

Moreover, the siblings said, they were advised by the said personnel to take her to the GPHC because there were more patients in front of them.It was while receiving treatment at GPHC that Austin died.

Meanwhile, the taxi driver, who is now responsible for Austin’s death is currently out on a $100,000 bail and wants the family to settle the matter for $350,000.

Waddle explained had that the taxi driver, identified as Glen McBean, had assisted her with $95,000 for a Computerized Tomography (CT) Scan.

Just before his first court appearance, she said, the taxi driver along with his lawyer approached her to sign an

Dead: Akazea Austin agreement to settle the matter for a particular sum.

Despite Waddle being short of cash and unable to afford a lawyer at the time, she refused to sign the agreement and told the man that she had spent triple times that amount on her daughter’s medical bills.

Waddle said she told him that she does not want money but justice for her daughter’s condition.

During the first court hearing, the magistrate had requested that Waddle present all of Austin’s medicals for the second court date, which was scheduled for September 14.

Waddle said it was also requested that a statement be taken from Austin by the police who investigated the

m a t t e r. Wa d d l e h a d explained that her daughter had suffered a memory loss and it was not possible for her to give an accurate statement, however, the magistrate said that it was necessary. The magistrate explained, said Waddle, that it does not matter if the statement is fully detailed or accurate and will instruct that the rank to take the statement.

Sometime later, the woman said she visited Madewini Police Station and asked the said officer to accompany to her house to take the statement but the rank replied that he had not yet been given the court order to take the statement.

On a subsequent visit to (Continued on page 16)

Friday September 25, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 09

Excuses do not solve problems The government must cease playing games with the people. The government must stop making excuses and find the solutions to the more than two-fold increases in coronavirus deaths over the past six weeks.

Yesterday, an additional 44 cases were added. These cases originated in the country’s two most populous regions. Region Three and Region Four with four and 40 cases respectively. None of the other regions recorded any cases; perhaps no tests were done in these regions.

Since the new government took office, far more information is being provided on the coronavirus dashboard. There is now a regional breakdown of cases.

But the more information the government gives, the more it also withholds.

It makes very little sense telling us about the number of cases in each region without telling us about the number of new cases per Region.

Fortunately, a social media site named Guyana Coronavirus Awareness calculates the number of new cases per each Region.

Yesterday, the only new cases recorded were in two regions but that, as explained, could be because it was only in these regions in which tests took place yesterday.

A more important statistics, however, is the number of active cases per region. As of yesterday, the total number of active cases nationally stood at 1,099. If a regional breakdown of these active cases was provided, it would allow for a better regional response. But the main reason why the government may be opposed to a regional breakdown of active cases is because of what it will reveal about Region Four which is

believed now to have almost 800 of the almost 1100 active cases or more than seven out of every 10 cases. There is now cause for a lockdown of Region Four or at least the reimposition of previous social restrictions.

Another important statistics is the positivity rate which can be calculated from the daily data provided.

Yesterday, the positivity rate was 40.5 percent while the overall positivity rate is 20.5 percent. Ideally, the country should be aiming at a positivity rate of five percent.

Of further interest yesterday was the fact that there were only 116 cases.

Imagine what the total number of positive cases may have been like if more than 300 tests were conducted.

The issue of testing has not yet been resolved. We are still being told about a 48 hours waiting period for results. The country should be aiming for 1,000 tests per day with same day results.

Unless, there is mass testing, there will be no decline in the infection and death rate.

Within six weeks, the total number of deaths have increased from 21 to 70.

While there have been more testing, and more testing usually leads to more cases, it should not necessarily lead to such a massive increase in the death rate. This signals that something is radically wrong and it is this issue which the government must address.

The Minister of Health is quoted in one section of the media as saying that the spike in local cases reflects global trends. The reason for the global rise in cases, including in the United States and now in Europe, is the reopening of the economy. The rise in cases in Guyana did not begin after the 2nd August. It began just before that date when the

then government began the six-phase reopening of the economy.

Towards the end of July, there was a precipitous increase in cases. In the last week of July alone, there was an almost 20 percent increase in positive cases, which considering the low number of cases, (413) and low testing, was a signal that the reopening of the economy was leading to a spike in cases.

That spike continued over the following six weeks. But what is not explainable by global trends is the increase in local deaths. Globally, there has not been that level of increased deaths as is happening in Guyana in so short a period.

It may be a case of treatment. The Ministry of Health, weeks ago received 29 ventilators. Yet, we are not sure how many and since when any of these ventilators were dispatched to the Barima-Waini area which has had 22 of the total of 70 deaths.

We are told also that the anti-viral drug, remdesivir, which has been shown internationally to reduce the time for recovery, is being used locally. But what about the other cheaper drugs such as dexamethasone and hydrocortisone which have also been granted emergency use authorization for severe cases in some countries. Are these being used? And what about the pioneering use of plasma from recovered patients which had such a favourable outcome in a small sample of local cases.

Has this been abandoned?

There have been no public appeals for persons who recovered from the virus to donate their plasma to help severely-affected patients.

The government is

Dem boys seh...

Accept and Bless!

De CXC examinations results come out on Tuesday.

Many of dem picknee from dem small school accept dem results.

Some ah dem cry, some of dem blame dem teachers; while others seh dat dem feel de examiners mark too hard.

Dem accept and dem bless wah dem get because dem feel that is better to pass with a low grade than not to pass at all.

Most of dem know that even with seven and eight subjects to dem name, dem nah gan gat it easy fuh find office wuk. But dem accept and bless even if dem gat to

go and become sales boy or sales girl.

De trouble start when dem from dem big school in the city refuse to accept dat dem can get low grade. Dem start fuh row and dem even get Aunty Priya pon dem side and fuh call de CXC fuh ask fuh review.

Dem boys seh one headmistress even announce, to applause from she students, dat if de school gat to file injunction to stop de declaration of de exam results, dem gan do so.

Dem boys nah know yuh could go to CCJ fuh injunction fuh stop exam

results from declaring. In any event, de results done declare.

CCJ is an appellate court which means that it hears appeals from decisions of other courts. It also hears actions against violations of the Caricom Treaty. Dem boys never hear yet about de CCJ having powers to injunct the CXC. All dem wah protesting gan eventually gah fuh accept and bless. CXC nah gan regrade nuttin’ so long as dem find dat de marking was consistent across the board.

Talk half and wait fuh Aunty Priya fuh back down.

making the same excuses which the previous government made. It is saying that the people have to take greater precautions. That is like telling people during a crime wave that they have a responsibility to keep their doors closed.

Sure, people have to keep their doors closed. But government also has to enforce the laws. When it comes to the coronavirus, this

is not happening. Not even the regulations governing the wearing of masks in public is being enforced.

The virus is widespread i n R e g i o n F o u r. T h e government needs to undertake mass testing in this Region and to enforce social restrictions so as to reduce the incidence of infections and deaths. But it is reluctant to do so because the business community will cry foul and

it is the business class which controls the government.

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

Kaieteur News

PAGE 10

Friday September 25, 2020

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

Lincoln Lewis: I will never retain friendship that is devoid of humanity

I

am a senior citizen chalking up more than 50 years of fighting for rights over wrongs and 32 years of being a media operative engaged in public commentary/analysis of exposing wrongs that must be righted. Anyone who followed my activism will definitely not miss out on one of the friends I had – Lincoln Lewis.

Around 2017, I saw my friendship with Lewis heading for tsunamic waters.

I was sitting on the back porch of my friend’s house in the compound where I live when I called Lewis to complain that the TUC’s

representative, on the UG Council, Ivor English, was acting against the interests of UG unions and their members in preference to the administration.

It was clear to me from his attitude that night on the phone that my friendship with Lewis was heading for dissolution. That was in 2017. In, April 2019, while the industrial dispute at UG was deteriorating with the TUC taking the side of UG Vice Chancellor, Ivelaw Griffith, Lewis wrote a venomous, xenophobic condemnation of foreigners coming to live and work in G u y an a. F r o m B r itis h

Guiana right through to April 2019, no one ever wrote anything like that.

This was the kind of things you see coming from the mouths of white, European fascists against non-white people coming to settle in Europe. This was the end of my friendship with Lewis. I was trained in philosophy and there was no way I could betray the feelings and empathy inside my heart, soul and mind for disadvantaged people around the world but mostly disadvantaged Guyanese whom the other countries of the world rescued and have been rescuing.

I replied to that column with an emotional title.

Please see my piece of Tuesday, April 9, 2019: “Is Lincoln Lewis the Black version of White fascism?”

By this time, Lewis had crossed over the bridge of betrayal so far that in June of 2019, the two UG unions wrote a letter in the newspapers with the caption: “Unless there is a change in GTUC’s stance on university matters, UG unions will withdraw from it”.

The industrial situation at UG had descended to terrible levels with open contempt by employer for employee.

T h e T U C ’ s representative on the UG Council was on the side of the employer in shameless ways. I had no intention of pursuing telephonic discussions with Lewis and English as I did in 2017. I used my columns and the letter pages of the newspapers to expose English and Lewis.

Come 2020, the worst rigged elections were taking place in Guyana, and Lewis showed the nature of his character. The Kaieteur News informed him that the contents of his columns in support of election rigging

was against the essential guiding lights of the newspaper and that brought an end to his columns.

On Monday, someone forwarded a video to me with Lewis involved in a dispute with others over a piece of land in Kingelly in Region 5, western Berbice. On seeing that video, I had to pen this column. Here is a man who sits as the General-Secretary of the TUC and was filmed bullying a woman half his size. He is filmed kicking down the woman’s post that she used to demarcate her plot. He knocked down her post and told her: “Do what you want”. It was an unadulterated act of intimidation. I will forward the video to readers. My email address is fredkissoon@yahoo.com.

Lewis has publicly said that at Kingelly, 125 acres of land belonged to him because his great, great grandfather, Cudjoe McPherson, owned the land.

In the video, the lady tells him, she owns that part of the land her fence is on. He requested to see her paper of ownership. She said she has it and she would like to see his.

Ye s t e r d a y, I m a d e

Frederick Kissoon reference to David Hinds’ attitude to the rule of law with reference to a statement he uttered during the election impasse. He asserted that if the CCJ ruled against APNU+AFC, it would be a coup against the Granger presidency. Here is a political activist not prepared to abide by the rule of law.

If Lewis’ great, great grandfather willed him 125 acres of land, the rule of law demands he produce a legal paper of ownership. If he does that the rule of law will recognize his right to his property. If he cannot produce that legal document, then, the rule of law should bring an end to Lewis’ bullyism. The rule of law should protect that woman he was filmed bullying. The rule of law did just that. He was charged by the police for assault.

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

Friday September 25, 2020

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

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Friday September 25, 2020

West Demerara nurses join in protests for risk allowance, adequate PPEs

N

urses at the West Demerara R e g i o n a l Hospital have joined in protest action for risk allowance, adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and for their pay to be remitted on time.

The nurses stood with placards in the vicinity of the West Demerara Regional Hospital yesterday, some 12 hours after health workers at the Mackenzie Hospital in Linden hosted a similar protest exercise over the same issues.

“We are working straight 12-hour shifts but we are not getting any extra money. We work in a hospital so we are exposed to all kinds of dangers especially during COVID-19 pandemic but with no risk allowance,” a male nurse explained.

As it relates to their salaries and the availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), the nurses said that their last pay package was released 31 days ago.

“We have not been paid

for this month as yet, there is no risk allowance and there is barely enough PPEs for us to protect ourselves- we are given three masks to wear and reuse them in the week which is dangerous especially with the virus spreading,” a female nurse stated.

She noted too that as a frontline health worker, without risks benefits and adequate PPEs, she feels absolutely undervalued.

“It’s as though we don’t matter, I haven’t heard about any provision for us to get any allowance and I know some nurses at the Georgetown Hospital who are getting their allowances.

We feel it is unfair to other frontline health workers who are risking their lives to care for the nation’s sick,” she added.

Meanwhile, Dawn G a r d n e r, S e c o n d Vi c e President of Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) who was also present at the picketing exercise yesterday, told Kaieteur News that the union is support of calls for risk allowances to be paid to

not just nurses but health care workers across the board.

“The maids and orderly all risk their lives every day to ensure that the hospitals and other health care facilities are run smoothly why should they not benefit from the risk package?”she asserted.

Additionally, Gardener said that the new administration is yet to engage the union on the issue risk allowance and pay increase for nurses and other public servants.

“I personally believe that it is disrespectful to the essential workforce and other public service workers because if the government promises an increase then we hold them liable to their work, she said.

Nurses attached to the Linden Hospital Complex in Region 10 staged a similar protest on Wednesday; calling on the Regional Health authorities to look into issues regarding risk allowance, security breaches, salaries, and PPEs. Meanwhile, in response to the protests, Health

A number of the nurses with their placards in the vicinity of the West Demerara Regional Hospital yesterday.

Minister Dr. Frank Anthony noted $150 million has been included in Budget 2020 for frontline health workers in the fight against the COVID19 pandemic.

“We recognise that extra efforts that health workers are putting in and, in this budget, we have allocated $150 million for risk allowance.

U n f o r t u n a t e l y, t h e budget is not passed as yet. It is scheduled to be passed on Friday. As soon as we get that money, we will be able to give nurses and other

[categories] of frontline workers that risk allowance that we promised,” he said.

“One of the first things we did as a Government was to ensure that our nurses … as with other frontline health workers… to get PPEs [personal protective equipment] so that in this pandemic, they can remain protected,” Dr. Anthony said.

The Minister added that there was no need to protest for provisions that were already in the pipeline.

Instead, he appealed to them to use the opportunity

to engage their respective Regional Health Authorities, after which they could consult the Ministry of Health.“We are here. We want to resolve issues and I don’t think that these issues ought to be resolved on the streets. It can easily be resolved by sitting down and letting us understand what challenges they have, if any. I hope that in [the] future, if nurses have any grievances, they would employ the ‘open-door policy’ that we have at the Ministry of Health,” the Minister said.

Friday September 25, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 13

Guyana beefs up presence at Venezuelan border after army, police ranks come under fire Patrolling ranks from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF), on Wednesday came under fire in the Cuyuni River, Region Seven, reportedly by a notorious Venezuelan gang.

According to the GDF, the ranks were conducting a routine joint patrol in the Cuyuni River when shots came from the Venezuelan shore allegedly by the notorious ‘Syndicato’ gang members. The gang has been terrorizing persons on both sides of the border, including miners, demanding payments for safe passage.

However, the ranks returned fire. None of the ranks was injured in the process.

While the GDF are looking into measures for a resolution, Guyana and Venezuela are currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), over a large part of the Essequibo region that the neighbouring country is claiming.

Due to the increase in attacks in the Cuyuni River, allegedly by the ‘Syndicato’

Cuyuni River, Eteringbang Border with San Martin Venezuela

gang members, there has been an increase in army and police presence.

Since Guyana’s border with Venezuela is more than 1,000 kilometers long, patrols are being conducted on a routine basis.

Kaieteur News had reported that ranks from both GDF and the GPF have increased their presence in the Cuyuni River, Region Seven, following reports of Guyanese officials coming under fire from the notorious Venezuelan ‘Syndicato’ gangs.According to Commander of Region

Seven, Dion Moore, this decision was made after employees of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) were shot at twice earlier this month.

The Commander said that the first shooting incident occurred on September 3, 2020, while the employees were travelling from Eteringbang to carry out their duties at various mining districts in the area.

Reports indicate that the GGMC employees had to seek cover after the gang, which was based on

Venezuela’s shore, opened fire on them at a location called Baboon. The following day, as the group of GGMC workers was heading back to Eteringbang, they came under fire again.

Commander Moore said after these shootings, a decision was made to have increased patrols in specific areas and police escorts for boats carrying government workers.

However, it seems as if the ‘Syndicato’ gang members are not bothered by the officers’ presence. Moore said that on Saturday, five

workers from the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) reportedly heard gunshots in the said area while being escorted by police.

Nevertheless, the Commander said that these gangs would attack but when Guyana’s lawmen retaliate, they would go into hiding for a while and then resurface again when there is security presence in the river.

Over the last four years, there have been numerous reports in the media about the “Syndicato gang”, terrorizing and robbing Guyanese miners and

businessmen in the Cuyuni area.

It was also reported of instances where these gang members, stationed at various locations along the Cuyuni River on Venezuela’s shore, would frequently shoot at Guyanese owned boats passing by.

In 2018, a police corporal was almost killed, after he was shot in a boat heading to Macapa. Kaieteur News had reported that the officer was among several civilians travelling when the gang started shooting at them at a location called Botanamu.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 14

Friday September 25, 2020

Ministry of Education questions CXC over -Queen’s College and The Bishops’ discrepancies in results High School unify to protest The Ministry of Education has expressed dissatisfaction with the grades some students received in certain subject areas at the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). They have since posed questions regarding the matter to the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) demanding a regrading of the examinations.

The Ministry yesterday stated that Priya Manickchand, Minister of Education has reached out to the Registrar of CXC raising concerns over the poor grading system and discrepancies highlighted by many teachers, parents, and students all across Guyana.

Ministries of Education in countries like Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and St. Lucia have also made a call for an urgent probe into the results.

“Students in Guyana and across the region,” the Ministry said in their release, “are currently traumatized and disenchanted, something we cannot accept. This

A group of The Bishops’ High School students Ministry of Education will leave no stone unturned and will pursue solutions with CXC until there is an acceptable resolution to the matter. We are still receiving more complaints and gathering information. The Minister of Education is going to aggressively pursue this matter with CXC in the best interest of the nation’s children.”

They stated that the complaints lodged included

two main issues: discrepancies in the teacher’s projected grades and the final grades CXC allocated to students, describing it as significant; students would have secured the maximum score for School-Based Assessments (SBAs) and would have answered questions from the multiplechoice papers (questions that would have been administered in previous years) yet many of them

received low grades even though they answered those questions correctly and had a perfect SBA score. Schools expressed that they would have submitted their student’s SBAs way before the deadline, yet some students received ungraded results. CXC would have also sent out confirmation emails, clearly stating that they have received these SBAs. Another issue highlighted was that students

who would have excelled in their year one CAPE scored low grades in year two.

The Ministry also lamented that there were “unacceptable” grades for the Integrated Mathematics and Pure Mathematics at many schools. Additionally, they highlighted those topperforming schools that would usually see high pass rates for these examinations recorded students receiving significantly lower grades

than the school’s standard.

Yesterday, students of Queen’s College and The Bishops’ High School joined in solidarity to demand answers for the conflicting results received. A press conference was held in the Queen’s College Compound, where members of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), Alumni, and students voiced their deep disappointment and called (Continued on page 15)

1,700 teachers start online training, over 5000 registered Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand during the third day of the presentation of Budget 2020 Estimates.

T

he Ministry of Education says over 5,000 public and private school teachers have registered and 1,700 are currently engaged in its training to deliver online learning.

The Ministry launched the training in response to calls from teachers across the country for assistance to deliver online education.

“I am happy to report that from then to now, we had 5,034 teachers registered, as of three days ago ... and 1700 actively on the platform,” Minister

Priya Manickchand said during Wednesday’s Budget Estimates.

The Minister castigated the previous administration for failing to implement the programme and minimise learning losses during the early stages of the COVID19 pandemic. She said that while most countries in the Caribbean would have completed training their teachers, Guyana is playing catch-up.

“The reason nothing happened in [those] five months when other Caribbean countries were

scrambling to serve their people, has to lay on the feet of the former Minister,” Minister Manickchand said.

The 100-hour programme is facilitated by the Ministry in partnership with the Organization of American States (OAS) and the ProFuturo Foundation. It will provide teachers with the necessary knowledge and ICT skills to teach in virtual classrooms across various platforms.The programme started on August 15 countrywide with special access measures for hinterland teachers. (DPI)

Kaieteur News

Friday September 25, 2020

PAGE 15

PNCR thanks Agricola-McDoom Bandits beat mechanic in West Dem home invasion residents for support at elections

F

ormer President and Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) led a team from Congress Place to the AgricolaMcDoom community to speak to residents about some concerns they have raised, and to thank them for their support in the recently concluded General and Regional Elections.

He was accompanied by PNCR General Secretary, Amna Ally, PNC group Chairman, Elizabeth Niles and a few other members.

In a press statement, the PNCR said that residents of the East Bank Demerara (EBD) community complained about “dirty smelling water” in their pipes, while on the party’s thank-you trip.

The party committed to representing these and other concerns to government Ministers.

Granger reportedly laid

Former President David Granger out his party’s plan for parliament, as well as community enhancement plans within the context of t h e ‘ D e c a d e o f Development’, which he had

announced at the beginning of the year while in office.

Granger also reportedly sought to explain why the declaration of the election results was declared, and the necessity for the elections petition submitted by A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC).

Much of the delay of the final declaration of the election results is owed to the efforts of the PNCR-led APNU+AFC coalition, which had embarked on a public campaign of misinformation against the credibility of the elections, sustained court action to prevent the declaration, and even advocacy for fraudulent results to form the basis of a final declaration.

President Irfaan Ali has committed to having a commission of inquiry conducted into the events of the five-month long election saga.

Ministry of Education questions CXC .. from page 14 for better to be done.

Internal Examinations Coordinator and teacher at Queen’s College, Samantha Liverpool stated that the school pays over $15 million to CXC annually.

Liverpool maintained that since monies are being paid to CXC, it is only fair that they get good service.

“When I look at a student who would have gained over 95 percent in an SBA

( S c h o o l - B a s e d Assessment), looking at a paper where over 90 percent of the questions came back, please don’t tell me a Queen’s College student failed that exam.

Our students at the College are accustomed to very challenging examinations and they all can attest to that. They believe that our exam here is two times harder than the exam they receive externally

and we have proven that for many years,” Liverpool said.

The principal of the school, Ms. Jackie Benn stated that they will be taking all necessary legal action if CXC does not bend.

She noted that the school will petition through the Ministry of Education and if they are not satisfied, they may very well withdraw from CXC and use other examination boards.

The evening for a mechanic, 37, and his family turned into a nightmare, on Wednesday, after three armed bandits invade his home, tied up his family and beat him up before escaping with cash and gold jewellery valued over a million dollars.

According to police reports, the robbery took place at around 20:00hrs at the mechanic’s home located at Recht-DoorZee, La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD).

Investigators were told that the man was standing on his veranda when the three men –one armed with a handgun, one with a knife and the other with a cutlass, scaled his fence.

The bandit armed with the gun ran up to the mechanic and placed the weapon to his head ordering him into his house.

The others followed behind and entered

the mechanic’s home where they proceeded to tie up his wife and children in the living room. While doing so, they demanded cash and valuables.

The bandits then took the mechanic into the bedroom where they forced him to hand over, $300,000 in cash. He was then beaten by the men to hand over jewellery as well before they tied him up and ransacked the house.The men located the gold jewellery, and stole the family’s cell phones and a laptop along with other items before they got away, leaving the family tied up.

Not long after, the mechanic managed to free himself and raise an alarm. Neighbours assisted the man with freeing his family before he was taken to the West Demerara Regional Hospital.There he was treated for head injuries and sent away.

PAGE 16

Kaieteur News

Friday September 25, 2020

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Guyana yesterday recorded two new COVID-19 deaths, taking the total death toll to 73.

With a new average of two deaths recorded per day Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll may soon surpass 100.

The deceased are two elderly persons, a 64-year-old male from Potaro-Siparuni (Region 8) who died while receiving care at a medical facility and a 94-year-old female from Barima-Waini (Region 1) who was pronounced dead on arrival at a medical facility.

Upon taking a swab test from the dead woman, it was found that she tested positive for COVID-19.

The Ministry of Health yesterday announced that 44 new COVID-19 cases have been recorded, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 2,597. According to the Ministry’s daily dashboard update, there have been 1,483 cases recoveries.

The Ministry’s newly revised dashboard does not feature the number of persons in institutional isolation, institutional quarantine, approved home isolation, and the number of persons in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

However, they did state that a full version of the dashboard will be posted on Saturdays.

The dashboard’s regional distribution of confirmed cases shows Region One has 405 cases; Region Two -28 cases; Region Three -192

GR TAXI. CALL: 24 HRS 219-5000 227-2100 225-7878 227- 1982

cases; Region Four-1,128 cases; Region Five-15 cases; Region Six -34 cases; Region Seven -277 cases; Region Eight-65 cases; Region Nine340 cases and Region 10- 96

cases.

The total number of persons tested countrywide to date is 12,753 and of this number 10,156 have tested negative.

Rape convict found with marijuana in prison

The suspected marijuana found in the rape convict’s possession.

An inmate currently serving a 12-year sentence for rape, was on Wednesday last found with 190 grams of marijuana in his possession at the Lusignan Prison.

According to police, the rape convict was seen acting in a suspicious manner by prison officers on duty at the time. He was approached and a search was conducted on him by the officers.

A concealed transparent plastic bag with the suspected ganja was found stashed on him.

School girl dies months...

From page 8 the police station, the rank promised to visit the woman’s home but never showed up.

The taxi driver made his second court appearance and Austin’s statement was still not presented to the court.

In preparation for the next court hearing, which is to be held on October 14, Waddle managed to get Austin to write down a few words based on what she remembered minutes before the accident.

However, she was advised by her lawyer to take Austin to the police station and have the rank take the statement.

Unfortunately, Austin passed away before Waddle was able to do this. Waddle is now afraid that without her daughter’s statement, she will have a weak case against the taxi driver.

Friday September 25, 2020

Kaieteur News

PAGE 17

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Kaieteur News

Friday September 25, 2020

Friday September 25, 2020

PAGE 19

Kaieteur News

PPP/C sole-sourced birth certificate, we only continued - Felix Former Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix, has revealed even more details regarding the birth certificate transaction between the former APNU+AFC administration and their party executive, Lawrence ‘Larry’ London.

Felix, who was at the time defending his party’s decision to retain their own executive for a job, stated that London’s company, Universal Procurement Services Incorporated, would have printed over 500,000 birth certificates for the government from 2016 to 2020—raking in millions of profits.

The former minister even went on to state that it was the current PPP/C government which had begun the sole sourcing of birth certificates—in fact, carrying it on for15 years.

It is with this that Felix stated that when APNU+AFC assumed office in 2015, they had only taken a decision to continue that practice.

Felix’s statement followed after the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira, during her budget presentation to the Committee of Supply, had stated that the coalition had awarded $30M to a barely “discernible” Floridaregistered company.

This is done for the

President and Secretary of Universal Procurement Services Incorporated, Larry London

Former Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix

procurement of 20,000 birth certificates between the periods of 2019-2020.

Later investigations would show that not only did London sign off on the contracts, but that he headed the inactive company, Universal Procurement Services Incorporated.

Notably, the Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, had requested the Auditor General to conduct an “immediate” probe into the scandal, in which he requested that reasons be provided regarding why the services of the conventional publisher of these documents were not sought, among other concerns.

In response to this, Felix wrote that two local printers

had shown their interest in producing the birth certificates, but disqualified themselves since they could not provide quality print paper and reliable security features.

He further noted that at that time, forged birth certificates were rampant and foreign embassies in Georgetown had raised their concerns about the quality of the country’s birth certificates, necessitating the need to upgrade the document.

“This apparent weakness in our civil registry needed to be addressed,” Felix wrote, “and the Department of Citizenship reached out to several persons to provide guidance on correcting our

Former Guyanese cricketer donates 10,000 facemasks to MoE

PS Alfred King (left) collecting the facemasks from Don Singh.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) yesterday received 10,000 facemasks from businessman and former cricketer, Timur Mohamed.

Making the donation on behalf of Mohamed was social activist, Don Singh.

The MoE’s Permanent Secretary, Alfred King, received the donation on behalf of the Education Ministry.

In brief remarks, Singh said that the businessman wanted to “give back” to his

country at such a critical time.

In proffering remarks, King noted the importance of the donation as Guyana and the world continue to confront the Coronavirus pandemic. King said that the donation will assist the Ministry of Education as it prepares for the inevitable reopening of schools.

Further, the PS said the masks will assist with ensuring the safety of learners, teachers and other stakeholders.

shortcomings. This included Canadian Bank Note but that company was principally in the passport business. It was not until 2018 while on a visit to the company that they showed an inclination to enter birth certificate production.”

According to the former minister, these actions “paved the way for the entry of Mr. Lawrence London, who presented to the Department samples of high quality paper and several security features to protect the document.”

It is concerning, however, how the Citizenship Department’s 2018 visit to the Canadian Bank Note “paved the way” for London to print the birth certificates, seeing that he had already been providing the documents two years prior to their visit.

Nonetheless, Felix went on to state that after several engagements with London, the department agreed to restrict the security features to six as he claimed that additional features would increase the cost of

production.

“Our first order was received in 2016. I am confident that each of our orders received the requisite approval from the National Procurement and Tender Board (NPTAB),” he added.

Felix sought to point that there is a mistaken belief held by persons that the birth rate should dictate or serve as a guide to order birth certificates each year. He indicated that there are several considerations that militate against taking such a position.

These include registration of births where parents leave the health facilities with a birth certificate; registration of births where parents leave the health institution without a birth certificate but subsequently collects the document; requests through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from our Embassies/ High Commissions; requests from Foreign Embassies/High Commissions in Guyana; reopening of schools places a heavy demand on the GRO

for birth certificates; the election cycles – both Local Government and General and Regional Elections placed an even greater demand by citizens for birth certificates; as well as government outreaches to communities throughout the country.

It should be noted that in August of this year, Kaieteur News had reported that London, once listed as coowner of the controversial Homestretch Development Incorporated, the company behind the Durban Project, was given a mystery job by the previous Granger administration.

Operating under the designation listed as ‘Director of Public Parks’, London was in receipt of a net salary of $500,000 monthly, along with additio n a l p e r k s b e i n g footed by the State, including home security services, a personal driver and car, as well as duty free allowances and a 22 ½ % gratuity twice yearly, despite the fact that London would rarely reside in Guyana.

Lusignan Prison escapee found hiding in Buxton shack Freedom was short lived for Leroy Graham, 23, who escaped from the Lusignan Prison on Wednesday last.

He was located yesterday by policemen hiding in a shack alone at Buxton, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

According to police reports, ‘C’ Division ranks captured Graham at around 19:15hrs.

The ranks said that they received tip off that the fugitive’s location during a routine patrol in the area.

They swooped down on the location immediately and apprehended the man. They took him to the Vigilance Police Station and later

handed him over to the Lusignan Prison Authorities.

Graham who is currently on the remand for armed robbery, broke out of a burnt section of the facility on Wednesday last and scaled a fence making good his escape.

It was reported that Graham was placed in the burnt section for his own safety.

Director of Prisons, Gladwyn Samuels, had said that Graham was previously assaulted by fellow inmates in one of the holding bays.

A decision was then taken to have the man moved to the section just under the

Captured Fugitive: Leroy Graham Administrative Office to protect him from further attacks.

PAGE 20

Kaieteur News

Friday September 25, 2020

Six-month-old among 529 children sexually abused - CCPA Director Director of the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) within the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, Ann Green, announced that a six-monthold baby girl is among 529 reported cases of child sexual abuse for this year.

“During this period of the pandemic, we received a report of a six-month-old chubby baby girl who had to be admitted to the hospital with signs of sexual penetration,” she said.

Green made this disclosure during a feature address at a virtual rally held on Wednesday in observance of Child Protection Week.

The 529 cases were reported between January to August, 2020.

According to the CCPA Director, three hinterland regions are registering high rates.

Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) has the highest rate of abuse with 4.6 per 1,000 children, Region One with 3.8 percent while Region 7 with 2.7 percent.

Additionally, Green noted that more than 800 cases of child sexual abuse are still at the investigation level. As such, she called for more persons to become advocates of children’s rights and to support efforts to ensure their safe childhoods.

She also called for the establishment of a special victims’ quick response unit in police stations, staffed with specially trained police officers, social services officers including child protection officers, and public health officers to facilitate speedy investigations and bring child sex abusers to swift justice.

Meanwhile, Minister of Human Services and Social S e c u r i t y, D r. Vi n d h y a Persaud called for families and communities should network to provide safe havens for children to ensure that they enjoy a childhood that is free from abuse.

Director of CCPA, Ann Green “Child abuse is a hidden crime; often committed behind closed doors with victims deprived of the ability to tell of the abuse.

Children are abused sexually, emotionally and physically.

Regrettably, as the world is grappling with COVID19, children continue to endure indescribable emotional and physical torment.

COVID-19 has also severely affected the avenues of reporting open to our children, and many of them are exposed to repeated abuse during this period, “she said The Minister noted, too, that with the closure of schools due to the COVID19 pandemic, child sexual abuse has become the most prevalent threat, which children face.

“The Ministry has, therefore, upped its efforts to ensure that parents are aware of the danger, and are knowledgeable about ways of protecting their children.

The Ministry understands the importance of a nurturing family in the development of children.

Families need to be educated and supported in their role,’’ Dr. Persaud said.

During the rally, the Minister also reiterated urgent calls for adults to listen and believe children who report any form of sexual abuse.

Director of the Juvenile Justice within the Ministry of Home Affairs, Orin Boston,

in his remarks, said the public needs to become more mindful about protecting children.“Many children and families can become vulnerable.

There is need for informal support n e t w o r k s … We n e e d teachers, churches and elders to be on board in the protection of children,” Boston said.

If there is suspicion of abuse, this should be quickly reported he said, adding that there are rapid investigations of child sexual abuse, with measures in place put children in a safe and secure environment.

Boston also advised parents to frequently remind their children about the importance of social distancing and that they should remain indoors during the curfew hours.

Stakeholders including the Ethnic Relations Commission, the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, other religious organisations, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also participated in the virtual rally.

Child Protection Week 2020 is being observed under the theme “Breaking the Silence on Child Sexual Abuse.”

At the interim, the Ministry has called for the public to report cases of child sexual abuse to the Childcare and Protection Agency on telephone number: 2270979.

Alleged Ponzi schemers get bail From page 20 facing over 70 fraud charges.

An action was recently filed in the High Court by the accused attorneys asking for the charges be reviewed.

The court action was served on the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, Police Commissioner (ag) Nigel Hoppie and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack.

The government has established a task force to help recover the monies but all efforts have led to a dead end.

Over 17,000 persons are said to have lost in excess of US$20M. The accused allegedly told persons that they have the means to trade on the international market in foreign currency.

Persons were being offered rates as much as 60 percent in returns, it has been reported.

Child Protection Week 2020 is being observed under the theme “Breaking the Silence on Child Sexual Abuse.”

Friday September 25, 2020

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Friday September 25, 2020

Transport & Harbour Dept. grappled Small team cannot adequately by $956M debt - Minister Edghill review Payara FDP in a few months budget presentation earlier Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill on Wednesday revealed to the National Assembly’s Committee of Supply that the Transports and Harbours Department (T&HD) is deep in a debt of $956M—accumulated by the APNU+AFC during their fiveyear term in government.

According to Edghill, when the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/ C) government assumed office in August, it discovered that the department owed to several State agencies including $496M to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA); $2.5M to the Guyana Public Service Credit Union; and $331M to the National Insurance Scheme, and a few other credit unions.

No monies from the 2020 emergency budget have been allocated to bailout T&HD from of its debt, Edghill said in response to a question posed by the former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson.

The current Minister noted, however, that monies will be budgeted to relieve the department out of its financial stress in the budget that is to

Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill come next year.

On the question of sustaining profitability under T&HD, the Public Works Minister indicated that the government would have to procure modernized ferries which would reduce travel time, consume standardized and lesser fuel, while still providing comfort and safety for the passengers. He was keen to point out too that he has intentions of keeping the aged ferries in operations.

Notably, during his 2020

this month, Edghill spoke to the “inability” of the previous regime to unlock bilateral processes to allow for the award of the construction of an ocean-going ferry, which would benefit from an Indian Government grant of US$8 million, and a low-cost interest loan of US$10 million.

“Five years later, as I stand here,” Edghill said, “the ferry is still on a desk in a document with controversy and with no resolution.

Within 10 days of assuming office, his Excellency the President, the Vice President, yours truly and my colleague Minister [Deodat Indar], engaged the Indian Government about this troubled project, and I’m happy to let this National Assembly know today that that US$18M that was lying there for five years is now being utilised to bring a modern ferry to Guyana. We have resolved the issues.”

Edghill reminded that the stellings at the country’s main ports, namely the Parika, Supenaam, Bartica and Kumaka are set for upgrades this year, carrying a price tag of $64M in totality.

DDL defends the use of seven proxies at COVID19 affected AGM Drinks and rum giant, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), has announced that its 68th Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Friday, October 9, 2020 from 16:00hrs using a hybrid format. The statement would came days after chartered accountant, Christopher Ram, expressed worry over the appropriateness of seven representatives being physically present at a AGM. However, DDL explained that the situation is necessary for safety reasons. “This year, the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has gripped the world, impacting every facet of our human society and interactions. The Guyana government, in accordance with global public health guidelines, has instituted strict and necessary protocols restricting public gatherings in an effort to curtail the spread of COVID-19. DDL has over 8,000 shareholders, and expects several thousands to attend each AGM.” DDL said that in order to enable all shareholders to fully participate in the meeting, it has settled on a hybrid format, which was given the approval by the High Court on September 4, 2020. Under the hybrid format, participation at the AGM will take two forms – physically and virtually.

“Only seven individuals, who represent personally or by proxy, no less than 40% of the shareholding in the Company will physically attend this meeting. The order granted by the Court specifically preserves the right of each shareholder to vote as well as participate in the meeting through the appointment of any one of these seven individuals.”

These individuals are Chandra Gajraj, The Trust Company (Guyana) Ltd.; Maurice John, Hand in Hand Trust Corp. Inc.; Phillip Fernandes, JP Santos & Co. Ltd.; Khemraj Goberdhan, Diamond Fire & General Insurance Inc.; Rajnarine Singh, Sannap Manufacturing Co. Ltd; Ede Tyrell and Colin Thompson, who, upon appointment, will act as proxy, with instructions as to voting on the motions to be proposed at the AGM. DDL said

it believes that the seven individuals selected represent a fair balance of large, medium and small corporate shareholders, as well as individual shareholders.

“Each shareholder has been issued a form containing information on how to instruct their proxy to vote on their behalf at the meeting; shareholders will therefore have all the rights of voting as if they attended the meeting personally.”

DDL encouraged such shareholders to make full use of the right to appoint any of the seven individuals as proxy and to send their comments, suggestions and/or questions in the proxy forms to be raised by their proxy, directly to the Company for consideration at the meeting.

“Additionally, each shareholder can attend the meeting virtually, using an online platform provided

by DDL and shared in the Official Notice. The Official Notice of the Meeting has been mailed to all shareholders containing their log-in credentials and codes. Shareholders can participate from anywhere regardless of their location, making the meeting far more accessible and their contributions practicable.”

Further, shareholders who need to make enquiries in relation to the AGM Notice may contact the Company Secretary’s Office on telephone numbers: 592-265-2089 or 592-2656000 or via e-mail: csec@demrum.com.

DDL’s 68th AGM was initially scheduled for physical attendance by all shareholders on April 3, 2020 at the Company’s Plantation Diamond Office, but had to be postponed just two weeks prior to that date as a result of the onset of COVID-19 in Guyana.

“While the Company regrets not being in a position to engage many of its shareholders in the traditional manner at the meeting, all shareholders are encouraged to make full use of the opportunity to participate in the meeting via proxy; as well as to stay safe and continue to conform to the guidelines provided by the authorities to avoid the spread of COVID-19.”

DDL is the maker of the award-winning El Dorado rums and has the franchise on Pepsi with other holdings involving shipping and distribution.

- Associate Professor, Dr. Blackman When it comes to the petroleum industry, several stakeholders have stated that they will be looking to see if the Irfaan Ali government will demonstrate that it is capable of ensuring that a sound regulatory framework is in place.

In fact, Dr. Terrence Richard Blackman, a member of the Guyanese Diaspora and an Associate Professor of Mathematics at the Medgar Evers College, USA, noted in one of his recently published commentaries that the matter of robust regulation raises its head when one considers the approval the government is expected to provide for ExxonMobil’s Payara Field Development Plan (FDP).

Dr. Blackman recalled that the Department of Energy has, for more than seven months, been engaged in a review of the FDP alongside UK firm, Bayphase Oil and Gas Consultants.

The Associate Professor reminded that the Ali government had decided to review the work already undertaken by Bayphase.

This was being done by a small team led by former Premier of Alberta, Canada, Alison Redford. The PPP government had also said that Redford was hired thanks to a grant from the Canadian High Commission.

Her team consisted of the former Deputy Minister of Energy in Newfoundland, Canada; senior international reservoir engineers; and Mr. Jay Park, Q.C, Managing Partner of Park Energy Law based in Canada and the United Kingdom.

The review of Bayphase’s

work has been completed and the finishing touches are being added to the draft license.

To the objective observer, the Associate Professor said this review and subsequent “re-review do not describe an optimal state of regulatory affairs.”

Dr. Blackman said it is clear that a small team cannot adequately “re-review the field development plan for an undertaking such as Payara over a few months…”

Looking at this matter from ExxonMobil’s perspective, Dr. Blackman noted that the development planning of a deep-water oilfield directly influences production costs and benefits. He said that this, coupled with the uncertainties of the crude oil price and the reservoir and the special production requirements, makes it always, technically difficult, to optimize development planning of deep-water oilfields. The Associate Professor said it is therefore prudent for Guyanese stakeholders to carefully consider the intersection of the Guyanese people’s interests and that of ExxonMobil.

He said, too, that it is vital for ExxonMobil to be mindful that its actions regarding the delays caused by the regulatory agencies, not be perceived as scare tactics, which are cynically used by multi-national companies doing business in undeveloped countries.

In this regard, Dr. Blackman was referring to comments that were made by ExxonMobil’s Country Manager here, Alister

Dr. Terrence Blackman, Associate Professor Routledge, to the effect that the oil giant will take its investments elsewhere if it does not get its way with the Payara licence.

With such an approach, Dr. Blackman said the perception that ExxonMobil’s actions are solely motivated by its enrichment will easily find root in the resonant Guyanese narrative of foreigners holding the country hostage, doing as they please, and destroying the environment while taking all the wealth of the country.

To this end, he strongly contended that ExxonMobil must continue to embrace regulatory and environmental standards in Guyana that go beyond international norms and practices and it must clearly distinguish between criticism of the Guyanese regulatory bureaucracy and the legitimate national aspirations of the Guyanese people. Looking ahead, the Associate Professor articulated that the people and Government of Guyana must require ExxonMobil to live up to its environmental standards.

Olato Sam back at Ministry of Education as Specialist The Ministry of Education yesterday announced that Olato Sam will be joining the Ministry again to serve as an Education Specialist in the Office of the Minister.

Sam previously served as the Chief Education Officer (CEO) of the Ministry from 2011 up until 2016 when his contract was denied renewal by the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU+AFC) government. According to the Ministry’s release, Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand said that she was delighted to have him back.

The Ministry said he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table.

“Guyana will be richer for his addition to the education team and I am very happy to have him back within the Ministry,” the Minister said.

Education Specialist of the Ministry of Education, Olato Sam Before serving as the CEO of the Ministry, Sam was a technical advisor from 2007 up to 2010. He also served as the Chairman of the Guyana School of Agriculture, Chairman of the

Board of Governors at the Cyril Potter College Education, and Commissioner of the Teaching Service Commission. He was a member of the CARICOM Taskforce on Teacher Education and Training, the CARICOM taskforce on the Establishment of Teaching Councils, and the Caribbean Examination Council’s Final Award Committee.

He is presently a lecturer for the Masters in Education and Bachelors in Education programmes at the University of Guyana, where he also authored a publication titled “Knowledge, Attitudes and Experiences of Undergraduate University Teachers towards HIV-AIDS in Schools” in the University’s Journal of Education and Humanities.

Just recently, Marcel Hutson returned as the current CEO of the Ministry.

Friday September 25, 2020

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French Open allowed Dean Jones, ODI batting pioneer, dies aged 59 only 1,000 people a day, ESPNcricinfo - Dean Australia’s 1987 World Cupso than at his beloved MCG. Jones, who pioneered an winning team. He carved a Somewhere along the way his Prime Minister says energetic style of ODI career in coaching and cricket Test match returns began to

Paris (Reuters) - The French Open will be able to welcome only 1,000 people a day, including players, staff and organisers, down from the 5,000 spectators it had hoped for, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday (yesterday).

“We will apply at Roland Garros the same rules as elsewhere. We will go from 5,000 to 1,000,” he said, clarifying that those figures included players, staff and organisers.

With the coronavirus on the rise again in France, Health Minister Olivier Veran on Wednesday said that a maximum of 1,000 people would be allowed at major sports events starting on Monday, but it was unclear

French Prime Minister Jean Castex whether the Grand Slam tournament, which runs from Sept. 27-Oct. 11, would be included.

batting, and the hero of Australia’s tied Test against India in Chennai, died on Thursday after a heart attack in Mumbai. He was 59.

Jones, who was in India as a commentator for the IPL, is understood to have suffered a heart attack around noon IST. It is understood that Jones, who was part of the commentary panel for Wednesday’s match, had breakfast this morning and attended a pre-match briefing with his colleagues. He is believed to have returned to his room and taken ill there.

Remembered for his double-century in the famous tied Test between India and Australia in Chennai, Jones played 52 Tests and 164 ODIs. He was also part of

Friday September 25, 2020 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) It’s way too easy for you to spin out of control today and maybe even lose your temper if things get really bad! Try not to get too excited about the news of the day because no one has all the facts yet.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) You’re deeply idealistic, though you’re usually practical enough to follow up in ways that make sense.

Today, your energy pushes you to take new action that should see positive results.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Try not to worry too much about what’s really going on. There’s at least one person hiding their real intentions, and they aren’t going to let them slip until tomorrow or later.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) Work issues are still driving you crazy, though they could feel pretty minor. It’s one of those days when work or a job search just isn’t as important, so try to focus on other needs.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Get all the details before you make a move today.

Otherwise, things are sure to fall apart once new data starts to trickle in. It doesn’t take much to understand the situation.

VIRGO(Aug.23–Sept.22) You might find it easier to pick things apart than build them up, but resist the urge unless it seems absolutely necessary. Your energy is better spent on creative pursuits today.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) You feel a bit out of sorts today, not quite sick, not quite depressed, but certainly not at your best. The good news is that this is a brief phase.

Things should be great in a day or two.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Conflict isn't such a bad thing on days like today.

It can end up strengthening both sides, and that's good for the group as a whole. You may find that your arguments grow sharper as the day progresses.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Your frugality saves the day, even if this is the first day of your new austerity kick! You may have a few extra bucks reserved for an emergency, or you may make a good impression on an employer.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) You should see an improvement in your situation today, so much so that you might wonder how things got to be so good!

Don't worry about it. Your energy is keeping the good times rolling.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) This isn't a good day to struggle against rules and restriction. Even if they seem unfair, you'll just end up getting in deeper if you push too hard. Wait a few days and see what happens.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Your colleagues need some new direction. Can you reach out to them in a way they can appreciate? It's a good time for you to ensure that they all know what to expect.

commentary after his retirement from all forms of cricket in 1997-98.

A precocious talent for Victoria, gruffly mentored by his father and Carlton Cricket Club legend Barney, Jones was introduced to the Australian side in the aftermath of Greg Chappell and Dennis Lillee’s retirements at the tail end of the 1983-84 summer, and made a meritorious 48 opposite Allan Border on debut against the fiery West Indies in Trinidad.

The selectors were careful with him thereafter, not wanting him to suffer too much at the hands of the same West Indian juggernaut, and it was not until the 1986 tour of India that he gained a solid opportunity to grasp.

Informed by Border that he would be thrust into the No. 3 spot in Chennai, Jones responded with the innings of his life - 210 in enervating heat that brought him to the brink of total physical collapse, setting Australia up for a memorable tie.

Dean Jones suffered a cardiac arrest in Mumbai ©Getty Images He was more or less a fixture in the Test team from then until 1992, an integral part of its evolution from frequent humiliation to the cusp of global domination, peeling off another double century against Viv Richards’ tourists in Adelaide in 1989, then coshing twin tons against Pakistan at the same venue a year later.

At the same time, Jones was a pioneer in limited-overs cricket, as both a batting technician and an entertainer for vast crowds, never more

lose consistency, leading the selectors to make a still contentious call to leave him out of the team for the first Test against the West Indies at the Gabba in November 1992, a place he was never to regain.

Jones continued to be a vital part of the ODI set-up for another two years, but his enthusiasm for the task waned in direct correlation to the realisation that under no circumstances, not even as a reserve on the 1994 tour of South Africa, would he return to Test cricket.

Jones retired, unhappily, from international cricket at the end of the tour, but in his typical jack-in-the-box style had rescinded the call by the time his memoir, My Call, was on shelves the following summer.

He continued to dominate domestic ranks for Victoria, pummeling his highest score of 324 against South Australia at the MCG in a day/night Sheffield Shield match, and was in the initial squad for the 1996 World Cup before missing the cut-back to the final group that would lose to Sri Lanka in the final.

On their return, Mark Taylor’s side faced a World XI to celebrate 150 years of the Victoria Cricket Association, and Jones was on hand to compile one of his best knocks, a defiant century on a day far more suited to bowlers than batsmen.

Before finishing up, Jones also played for Derbyshire, with one of his final acts being to miss a slips catch in an 1997 Ashes tour match that may well have caused Taylor to quit the captaincy amid his extended run of outs.

He was head coach of Pakistan Super League franchise Islamabad United from 2015 to 2019. He also served as interim head coach of the Afghanistan national team briefly in 2017.

Nadal faces tough path to...

From page 25 10 in the WTA rankings will start the tournament. The tournament was rescheduled from May 24-June 7 to Sept.

27-Oct. 11 amid the COVID19 pandemic.

“This year’s French Open will already go down in history because of the circumstances,” French federation president Bernard Giudicelli said. “The key words of Roland Garros 2020 are resilience and responsibility.” It will be the first year with a retractable roof at the French Open.

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Friday September 25, 2020

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Covid-19, policy changes leave women cricketers in a flap in Pakistan ESPNcricinfo - The abolishing of departments from the domestic circuit, not to forget the Covid-19 pandemic, has hit women’s cricketers harder than their male counterparts in Pakistan, leading to the number of active women cricketers coming down alarmingly in the past few months - only 45 are left now.

Until 2017, there were over 200 women cricketers playing in the domestic circuit for regional teams. They were signed up by departments, which allowed them to earn a livelihood from playing the game.

Now, of the 45 remaining, nine are centrally contracted with the PCB, and another nine are in the emerging players’ category, for which they receive a monthly retainer of PKR 50,000 (USD 300 approx.).

Around 400 male cricketers lost their jobs after the PCB revamped the domestic structure by removing departments from it.

The new structure has six regional teams, with 192 cricketers given annual contracts.

Replacing the old structure with the new one was a decision driven by the current Prime Minister Imran Khan, also the patron-in-chief of the PCB. He has long been an advocate for a domestic structure with only regional sides, wanting Pakistan to adopt a structure similar to Australia’s.

So far, much of the focus of the new structure has been on the impact on male cricketers. But the impact on

In the last two years, the number of women playing in the domestic circuit has come down from over 200 to just 45 ICC via Getty women cricketers has been more profound. As many as 17 have lost their jobs with State Bank and more than 12 out of 18 could lose their Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) contracts. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has lost its playing rights, and Omar Associates and Saga Sports shut down their teams a few years ago over management issues.

The women’s game in Pakistan remains by and large in the developmental phase, although over the last few years more and more girls from colleges and universities had started to play as a professional option.

Subsequently, the pool grew with regions and corporates stepping in to

invest in women cricket. After 2013, there were five departments offering women playing contracts and jobs.

By 2017, the PCB had three tournaments for women: one with 12 regional teams though the number was as high as 16 just a few years prior - playing a preliminary tournament to qualify for a five-team national one-day tournament, and another with four departmental teams playing a one-day tournament. All taken, over 200 cricketers were fielded every season.

Presently, there are only two tournaments and only three teams - PCB Blasters, PCB Challengers, PCB Dynamites - and that allows only around 45 cricketers to

play; this, even as the PCB has upped the value of the central contracts in the last two years.

ZTBL is the only department that has not terminated their contracts with women players, but that arrangement is unlikely to continue for long. The signs are that only a handful of the top players, who have fulltime jobs, will retain their positions. But only if they don’t give up their jobs.

“We are not really sure about our future,” a woman cricketer who played for HEC told ESPNcricinfo. “Cricket has been our passion and our ambition was to play for the country, but it is all confused now. The system has always been inconsistent and every new head comes with their own plan and never lets one structure run properly. We leave our studies to play cricket but we can’t have a future. They want us to grow

but they don’t create the environment and infrastructure for women cricketers.

“Unlike the men, we do not have long careers or enough freedom, but so many girls want to play cricket.

They don’t know how to make their way. There is no set pathway.

There are challenges, and parents need to be convinced: they need to be told that they need to encourage girls to play cricket, and departments offering jobs was a big breakthrough.

Even if a girl isn’t able to have an international career, they can play for the departments and earn a decent amount of money to show their parents that they are doing fine. But now there is nothing left. The girls don’t even get an annual contract from the PCB at domestic level.”

In the last two months, to fight the economic

challenges brought about by Covid-19, the PCB has provided a three-month financial support package for 25 unemployed national women cricketers. In this scheme, the players who meet the eligibility criteria and are without a contract for the 2020-21 season as well as a means of earning money, receive a monthly stipend of PKR 25,000 (USD 150 approx.). That will end next month.

While all this has been going on, the PCB has continued to look for ways to bring the focus on quality over quantity.

“The pipeline is redefined as our focus is on our five basic zones in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Multan, where we have the academies in place.

These are the points where we will be growing our pool of players,” Urooj Mumtaz, chief selector for women and a PCB cricket committee member, said. “They are already operating with coaches, working in evening shifts, and we are slowly growing. We have started picking girls from age groups, and admitting them in academies at every centre.

“The pathway is changing and women’s cricket is growing, but currently underdeveloped. But it has started to get its due importance.

We are increasing the number of tournaments but number of teams (three) will remain intact for now. But we are paying every cricketer in PCB tournament and in fact have doubled the price of match fee at any age group. So there is incentive. We are also adding an Under-19 tournament every year and making it a part of the structure to prepare for the ICC events.”

FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association The Bureau of the FIFA Council today (Thursday) suspended the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) with immediate effect due to grave violations of the FIFA Statutes.

The suspension was prompted by the former leadership of the TTFA lodging a claim before a local court in Trinidad and Tobago in order to contest the decision of the FIFA Council to appoint a Normalisation Committee (NC) for the TTFA. This course of action was in direct breach of article 59 of the FIFA Statutes, which expressly prohibits recourse to ordinary courts unless specifically provided for in the FIFA regulations.

A Normalisation Committee was installed by the FIFA Council after it was established that the former leadership of the TTFA had engaged in various acts of serious mismanagement.

The decision of the former leadership to go to a local court to contest the appointment of the NC jeopardizes not only the future of football in Trinidad and Tobago but also endangers the overall global football governance structure, which relies on the Court ofArbitration for Sport (CAS) as the exclusive forum for resolving disputes of this nature.

The relevant parties were initially given until 16 September to withdraw the case but failed to do so. This deadline was then extended until 23 September, which was not respected either. In the circumstances, the Bureau of the FIFA Council has decided to suspend the TTFA. This suspension will only be lifted when the TTFA fully complies with its obligations as a member of FIFA, including recognising the legitimacy of the appointed Normalisation Committee and bringing its own statutes into line with the FIFA Statutes. (FIFA)

Friday September 25, 2020

Nadal faces tough path to French final, Wawrinka takes on Murray in round one Paris (Reuters) - Rafael Nadal, who is seeking a record-extending 13th French Open title and a recordequalling 20th Grand Slam singles crown, was handed a relatively tough path to this year’s final at Roland Garros when the draw was made on Thursday (yesterday).

The Spaniard will take on Bulgaria’s Egor Gerasimov in the first round and faces a potential last-eight clash with U.S. Open runner-up Alexander Zverev, who has never made it past the quarterfinals at the claycourt Grand Slam.

Nadal then faces a possible semi-final clash against last year’s runner-up and U.S Open winner Dominic Thiem. Top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia will face Swede Mikael Ymer in the first round, where Swiss 16th seed and former champion Stan Wawrinka will take on Briton Andy Murray in the hottest opener.

Djokovic, who was ejected from the U.S. Open after he inadvertently hit a line judge in the throat with a ball after a point, has an easier

Murray and Wawrinka last met in October’s European Open final in Antwerp, with the Scot winning to claim his first singles title since hip surgery. route to the final than Nadal after being drawn in the same half as Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev.

Canadian Milos Raonic, the world number 20, pulled out, organisers said. Serena Williams, hoping to win a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title, will start her campaign against fellow American Kristie Ahn. The sixth seed, who was drawn in the same half as top

seed Simona Halep, faces a potential fourth-round clash with U.S. Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka. World number one and 2019 champion Ashleigh Barty has pulled out of the tournament citing the coronavirus pandemic and a troubled preparation.

With Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic a last-gasp withdrawal, only six of the top Continued on page 23

Formula 1 drivers mostly opposed to idea of reverse-grid races BBCsport - Most Formula 1 drivers are opposed to the idea of holding reverse-grid sprint races in place of qualifying next year. Formula 1 has canvassed fans on the idea, which managing director Ross Brawn has been pushing for some time.

But the majority of drivers asked about the topic at the Russian Grand Prix on Thursday said they disliked it. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen said: “It’s artificial and trying to create a show, which is not what F1 stands for. The cars will end in the same position.”

The Dutchman added: “The fastest car should be in the front. That’s what everyone works for. F1 is about pure performance.”

Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have consistently expressed their opposition to the idea, and at the last race Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff said it was turning the sport into a wrestling-style show.

Mercedes vetoed the idea when Brawn tried to introduce it at some races this year but new rules for 2021 make it more likely to happen. The idea was given fresh momentum by the Italian Grand Prix earlier this month, when a series of incidents led to a mixed-up grid for a restart

and a shock victory for Alpha Tauri driver Pierre Gasly.

F1 has asked fans to vote on trying the proposal out at four races next season. The grid for the sprint race would be based on reverse championship order and the result would set the grid for the Grand Prix.

McLaren’s Lando Norris said: “I don’t think if you swap everyone it will necessarily lead to a better race.” Racing Point’s Sergio Perez added: “I saw Toto Wolff said F1 is not WWE and I agree. The problem F1 has is the difference across teams.

They are working hard to fix

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that for 2022 (with new technical rules).

“I don’t think it is a good idea for the sport. Saturdays are very special in F1 as well as Sundays. You would be taking quite a bit away from the Saturday.”

And Williams driver George Russell said: “I still think the Mercedes would win. It would be interesting in the midfield because the pace of those cars are so close. The cars behind wouldn’t be able to overtake.

“We have to try things. It might exciting, it might a bit of a joke. Maybe we could try it once.”

8-year-old Guyanese Alpha...

From page 27 proud of Alpha noting that his son worked very hard in 2019 and is deserving of the award.

“I am very glad as a parent, I would also like to say that Alpha is very talented and I am confident that he would go a very far way in the sport. I also look forward to seeing more achievements form him.”

Harrison competing at the USATF Youth National Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at the Durham County Memorial Stadium in June 2019, he captured gold in the 200m Dash in a time of 26.69, a new record for the USATF New York Zone. He was good for silver in the 400m Dash, clocking 1:08.37 which was also a record time for his zone.

He also won silver in the 100m Dash, being timed at 1:08.37.

The young Guyanese was named USATF New York Youth Athlete of the Month for June 2019. In the New York Junior Olympic Championships Harrison won the 100m (14.40s) and the 200m in (30.20s) whilst finishing second in the 400m in 1m 15s. (Franklin Wilson)

CWI congratulates Stafanie Taylor on T20 International milestone St John’s, Antigua – Cricket West Indies (CWI) has congratulated Stafanie Taylor on becoming the first West Indies women’s player to score 3,000 runs in T20 Internationals.

The outstanding all-rounder reached the milestone on Wednesday in her 103rd innings during the second T20 International against England at the Incora County Ground in Derby.

She scored 28 and now has 3,020 runs at an average of 36 runs per innings. She is also the leading West Indies woman in OneDay Internationals with 4,724 runs at an average at over 44.

Speaking on behalf of CWI, Jimmy Adams, Director of Cricket lauded Taylor for her brilliance over a career which started back in 2008 against Ireland in Dublin.

He said the 29-year-old has again etched her name in history’s pages and continues to be a role model and leader in West Indies cricket. Adams said: “Congratulations to Stafanie from all at CWI, and indeed the wider Caribbean, on achieving this outstanding milestone in what is truly a remarkable cricket career. She has set the benchmark for women’s cricket and continues to demonstrate why she is rated as one of the greats of the game.

“She continues to be an ambassador for women’s sports and for the game of cricket in the West Indies. Given her youth and undoubted ability we continue to wish her all the success possible in the years ahead.”

Stafanie Taylor ©Getty Images

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Friday September 25, 2020

KL Rahul’s 132 sets up Kings XI Punjab’s crushing defeat of Anna van der Breggen wins women’s time trial Royal Challengers Bangalore Road World Championships

Dutchwoman Anna van der Breggen won the women’s time trial after American favourite Chloe Dygert crashed out at the Road World Championships in Italy. Dygert looked set to defend her title on the 31.7km circuit at Imola but lost control on a corner and hit a barrier.

USA Cycling later tweeted that she was conscious and talking. Van der Breggen won in 40 minutes, 20.14 seconds, with Switzerland’s Marie Reusser 15 seconds adrift in second and Dutch rider Ellen van Dijk in third.

Dygert, a 10-time world champion on track

and road, was 26 seconds ahead on the clock at the intermediate checkpoint. But the 23year-old flipped over a barrier and down a bank, although her team car immediately came to her aid.

Van der Breggen, who secured her third Giro Rosa title on Saturday, came second to Dygert in last year’s world time trial in Yorkshire.

The 30-year-old was also runner-up to compatriot Annemiek van Vleuten as she tried to defend the road race title she won in 2018 her only previous world gold.

Kobe Bryant autograph on last game court piece hits auction block

File Photo: Floral and gift tributes lie outside Staples Center before a Los Angeles Lakers home game as mourners paid respects to Kobe Bryant after a helicopter crash killed the retired basketball star and his daughter Gianna, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 31, 2020.

REUTERS/Patrick T. Fallon Reuters - Basketball legend Kobe Bryant’s autograph, on a hardwood section of the court where he played his last game, is on the auction block online and expected to fetch at least $500,000 next week.

The four-panel floor piece, measuring 4 feet by 8 feet (1.2 by 2.4 meters), is emblazoned with a huge “8,” one of two numbers Bryant wore during a sensational 20year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. It graced one end of the National Basketball Association court for the game on April 13, 2016, balancing a section with his other jersey number “24” at the other end.

“This is really among the most unique and inspiring pieces we’ve ever had,” said Dan Imler, vice president of direct sales and consignments for Heritage

Auctions. “Most fans will remember that as one of, if not the, greatest farewell performance in the history of sports.”

Bryant scored 60 points in the Lakers’ 101-96 victory over the Utah Jazz. “After the final piece of confetti had fallen, one of Kobe’s absolute last acts before he walked off the professional court was to add a large signature to the center of the number 8,” said Imler.

“It’s one of the biggest Kobe autographs we’ve ever seen. It’s about a foot and a half long.”

Bryant died at age 41, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others, in a January helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.

“Certainly the market has escalated and, you know, as you can imagine, you know, all things Kobe were really

kind of crystallized after his, his tragic passing and kind of took on a new depth and a new meaning, a new level of appreciation,” Imler said.

Buyers must place a bid before Oct. 3 to be eligible to raise the stakes on that day.

The seller will donate 10% of the proceeds to the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation, a non-profit that helps underserved communities through youth sports. The name refers to nicknames for Kobe and Gianna Bryant.

The sale, titled Michael Jordan & Basketball Icons, includes 375 items such as jerseys and game-worn sneakers by Jordan. “We have a great pair of Jordan game used Air Jordan 1’s. You know, the iconic red, white and black version,” said Imler.

“Those are at the top of a lot of collectors’ wish list.”

ESPNcricinfo - An expertly paced 132 not out of 69 balls from KL Rahul - the highest score by an Indian in the IPL and fourth highest overall - formed the centerpiece of the Kings XI Punjab’s 206 for 3, as they flattened the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Dubai.

After raising his first fifty off 36 balls, Rahul zipped away to his second off a mere 26 balls. Along the way, he was reprieved twice in the outfield by Virat Kohli in the 17th and 18th overs. After that second drop, Rahul tore into Dale Steyn and Shivam Dube at the death, cracking 42 off nine balls.

Facing a steep target, the Royal Challengers rejigged their batting line-up by bumping rookie Josh Phillipe to No. 3, but they crashed to 4 for 3 and then 57 for 5. After left-arm seamer Sheldon Cottrell bounced out Devdutt Padikkal and Kohli for 1 each, Kings XI’s twin legspinners Ravi Bishnoi and M Ashwin exploited a right-hander heavy Royal Challengers line-up to skittle them for 109 in 17 overs.

Profligate RCB, prolific Kings XI - On a fresh, true pitch, Umesh Yadav allowed Rahul and Mayank Agarwal to ease themselves in by bowling looseners down the leg side. At the other end, Steyn pushed the ball wide of off and gave up back-to-back to fours to Rahul in the second over of the match.

Then, when first-change Navdeep Saini offered a wide full-toss, Agarwal creamed it through extra-cover as the Kings XI surged to 50 for 0 in six overs. Enter Yuzvendra Chahal. Exit Agarwal. The spinner unleashed a quicker wrong ‘un and stormed through the defences of Agarwal to trigger a brief slowdown along with offspinner Washington Sundar.

After managing just 11 off 13 balls against the spinners, Nicholas Pooran attempted to line up seam-bowling allrounder Dube, but instead he holed out for 17 off 18 balls. The return of Yadav and Saini, however, loosened the spinners’ grip. Another freebie on the pads, another overpitched delivery outside off meant Rahul could pick up the pace.

Rahul hits top gear - After a productive powerplay, ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster reckoned that the Kings XI would finish with 180. Such a tall total seemed unlikely when

It was a dream performance from Rahul, showcasing elegance, poise, premeditation. (BCCI/IPL) Dube also tricked Glenn Maxwell with an offcutter, but Rahul, aided by the two drops, ensured his side breached 200.

He went 6,4,6,6,4 against Steyn and 4,6,6 against Dube to cap the innings for Kings XI and snatch the orange cap reserved for the tournament’s leading runscorer - for himself. All up, Kings XI pillaged 74 off their last four overs. Dube had plucked out an injured Mitchell Marsh at the death in the Royal Challengers’ opening win, but, perhaps, it wasn’t a wise option to use him again during this phase, especially against a rampaging Rahul. Saini, who can bowl yorkers at speeds upwards of 140kph and also cut his pace down, ultimately bowled just one over at the death while Sundar sent down only two overs overall for 13 runs.

(Leg)spin to win - If the Royal Challengers were to have a proper crack at 207, they needed a strong start from their top order. However,

it was not to be, with Cottrell striking twice in his first two overs.

The promoted Phillipe shuffled across and missed a straight one from Mohammed Shami before Aaron Finch and AB de Villiers threatened a comeback. Finch kept jumping outside leg to throw Bishnoi off his lines and lengths, but the 20-year-old held his own and knocked him over with a slider.

Rahul then matched up Ashwin with de Villiers and had him carving a catch to sweeper cover for 28 off 18 balls. Finch and de Villiers aside, Sundar (30) was the only other Royal Challengers batsman to pass 15 as their middle and lower order came into sharp focus once again.

Ashwin and Bishnoi came away with three wickets each, applying the finishing touches.

Scores: Kings XI Punjab 206 for 3 (Rahul 132) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 109 (M Ashwin 3-21, Bishnoi 3-32) by 97 runs