Kaieteur News

US$45 tax on K NEWS Exxon's flaring - VP Jagdeo an improvement boasts AIETEUR

Monday Edition September 27, 2021 - Vol. 14 No. 36

Online: www.kaieteurnews.com

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EPA green lights Exxon’s mad rush for oil in Kaieteur Block - another 12 well campaign planned with no need for Environmental Impact Assessment Highly-decorated Consultant vying to conduct critical extractive Industry projects for Guyana Minister Bharrat calls out Taxi driver helpless power struggle between GYEITI after car stolen with COVID-19 booklet Secretariat and first MSG

Eradicating mercury use in mining a 'challenge' due to easy access to toxic chemical- GGMC Environmental Officer Man charged One fully vaccinated person among 8 who six times for raping underage girl died of COVID-19

The protest continues for Inefficient mining practices pose challenge change to the Exxon contract. to GGMC's land reclamation campaign

Exxon continues to pollute -2.9 billion standard Guyana's air with cubic feet of gas toxic chemicals flared for 2021 Exxon in 10th Gear to Clean Out Our Oil.

@ 11am on Kaieteur Radio 99.1/99.5FM

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Kaieteur News

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

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

EDITORIAL

Things do not come out until they do People are good at putting up honourable fronts, and the more educated, powerful, and well-placed they are, the better they are at putting up these hypocritical, two-faced fronts. They fool a lot of people for a long time, until they get caught, or they trip themselves up leading to their hard fall.

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

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

The housekeeper’s mysterious death comes to light, because Mr. Murdaugh failed to honour an agreement reached for a half million settlement. Further, the coroner is saying that the “natural” causes reason on the housekeeper’s death certificate is “inconsistent: with what was labelled as a “trip and fall” accident. Finally, leaders at his family-owned law firm had to terminate him, because of millions in missing funds, as were all detailed in the New York Times article referenced.

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

In language familiar to Guyanese, ‘moon duz run til day ketch am.’ We also have smart alecks cum political powerhouses, who have run rings around a compromised system answerable to them only. A few Guyanese men stand head and shoulders above the rest of the crooked pack, when the litany of their skullduggeries are considered. To be sure, the other locals in mostly political, but also legal, commercial, and various sectors, are not saints, but a pack of snakes that prey upon the Guyanese people, and like spitting cobras spurt venom in the eyes of those perceived as challengers or enemies. They will stand no objectors, take good care of any who dare to interfere their deceptive narratives, their corrupt actions.

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

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

We have had them here for the last 60 years, but some of the arrogant ones of today trump all those who went before.

Those were terrible, but the oil confirms today’s hustlers make them look like amateurs. And we have them here at the heights. It’s a matter of time, but like the once powerful and untouchable South Carolinian, Alex Murdaugh, the truth doesn’t come out, until it comes out. Then the floodgates collapse.

Monday September 27, 2021

A word of caution to advocates parroting leadership virtues DEAR EDITOR, Guyana is undergoing another long déjà vu moment.

Indeed, it has been the exact same story in other parts of the world.

The same defending and protecting of leaders, with grand words all the rage, until truths came, revelations embarrassed.

I encourage Guyanese to return to L.F.S Burnham. It is all there, what he said, and how his deeds proved or disproved him. If the record of his words and postures alone stands, then Guyana was all ice-cream and candy.

Better yet, revisit the words of State-owned media, loyalists, worshippers, and others, and he couldn’t, didn’t, do any wrong. He was incapable of doing so, if their protective actions were to be believed. Pockets of citizens dissented, but were quickly drowned out by numbers and volume. Sometimes, it was by sheer force of weight, too.

The dissidents persisted, because they believed that they spoke to truth and conscience; they were nationalists first, leadership loyalists second, and racial fundamentalists, somewhere down the line. Most times, none of the latter two. In time, their denounced narratives gained footholds, grew firmer and durable. The rest is history, which has been repeated the world over, ever so often. It is where even mighty collaborating First World powers see light, adjust programmes, yield some; this was what followed, especially when a sufficiency and consistency of exposure and pressure were applied.

My thrust is simple: from Forbes Burnham to Ferdinand Marcos to Reza Pavli to Manuel Noriega to Anastasio Somoza to Ariel Sharon, leaders misled and there was always a sturdy stock of zealous men and women, who

swore to their authenticity, their responsibility and integrity, their commitment to duty. According to the advocates - open loyalists and closet tribalists - in those societies, their leaders were idealistic and altruistic. The archives are there. Yet, long stretches evidence devastating corruptions and leadership criminalities.

This is what took place in Iran, in Guyana before. Now look at Iran. I would have thought that after Burnham and the Shah, to name a couple from the long list of American missteps that America would learn.

Similarly, after their pungent experiences right here from 1999-2015, I expected little gobs of wisdom registering, emphasising one lesson: refrain with everything from partnering with corrupt local leaders; leaders detrimental to the interests of their own peoples; Americans also. It

returns to bite savagely (Iran refers). America can take care of itself; my concern is Guyana. For I again observe today, those who see and sense no evil, speak to none, where Guyana’s leadership trickeries (just like Burnham’s and the pre-2015 leaders) are concerned. Today, I condemn no one as blind, sycophantic, or partisan. I say this, though: be careful with accepting Hollywood and Bollywood fantasies, where leaders’ actions are deemed pure. Principled, they are not.

Be prudent in willingly surrendering the record of history, experiences, wisdoms to accept wholesale and regurgitate wholesale whatever leaders serve up publicly, juicily. Be sensitive not to transform into oneman departments of public information, state-owned media, leadership deceits.

Sincerely, GHK Lall

The Hope Canal - partial conversion as a reservoir for water use by East Coast Demerara residents DEAR EDITOR, In an Article titled, “ GWI exploring Hope Canal for East Coast Demerara (ECD) water reservoir” appeared in the News Media on September 26.

It was reported therein that the Ministry of Housing and Water (MH&W) through the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) is conducting tests to determine the viability of using the Hope Canal as a reservoir to provide water for domestic use or irrigation or both for residents on the ECD. The Hope Canal was built to relieve flood water from the

East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) into the Atlantic Ocean. With some modification, it could be used as a reservoir and a conduit for water from the EDWC to meet the need of residents on the ECD providing that its original objective is not compromised.

The EDWC provides water for Georgetown and its suburbs after it is treated as well as irrigation needs for crops along the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara.

There were periods when the EDWC could not meet these

needs due to droughts and serious rationing of water occurred.

Therefore, the MH&W has to determine whether the EDWC could meet the proposed additional demand of water throughout the year for ECD residents.

The water to be extracted from the Hope Canal for use by the ECD residents will require a conveyance and distribution system with a treatment plant. Further, if it is determined that sufficient water is not available in the EDWC throughout the year to meet

all the current and proposed needs, then additional sources of water will have to be found. These could probably come from artesian wells and/or pumping from the Mahaica and Demerara Rivers to supplement stored rainfall in the EDWC. This is likely to be a comprehensive and costly project but a worthwhile one which could be funded from the windfall oil and gas revenues the country if fortunate to receive.

Yours truly, Charles Sohan

Guyana has not seen this amount of interest before at the level of the United Nations DEAR EDITOR, Today I write to you to express my gratitude to His Excellency, Dr. Irfaan Ali, President of Guyana, for his representation of the interests of developing countries during his address to the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. I also want to commend all the other individuals who participated in the engagements at the United Nations’ Headquarters in New York as they have all made Guyana proud.

The President and his delegation were involved in a multitude of bilateral engagements which undoubtedly will bear tremendous benefits for Guyana.

These engagements would allow Guyana to improve significantly and for that reason, I call on every Guyanese to commend His

Excellency and the others for a job well done. In addition, it is clear that the President and his delegation which included the internationally respected Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, has restored Guyana’s international profile which was severely damaged by the APNU+AFC’s incompetent, corrupt management of the country as well as their transparent attempt to rig the March 2, 2020 elections; an act that received international condemnation.

Guyana has not seen this amount of interest before at the level of the United Nations and as such, efforts should be made in every regard to lend support to our leaders as they continue to work in our interest. We are positioned for much success and to become a global powerhouse. President Ali’s

speech alone at the UN shows that we are a strong nation with our priorities in check. I think it is time for us

to work along with our government so that Guyana can be all that we want it to be.

Erin Northe

Infantile attacks against the President should be condemned DEAR EDITOR, The APNU+AFC is embarrassed that the President, His Excellency Dr. Irfaan Ali, advocated for reparative justice for the descendants of slaves on an international platform such as the United Nation. As such, they have resorted to infantile attacks against the President.

This is typical behaviour on their behalf and comes as no surprise to any of us rightthinking Guyanese.

Nevertheless, their actions

should be condemned as they are distasteful.

The PPP/C Government’s advocacy on the issue of reparative justice puts the entire coalition to shame and runs contrary to the racist narrative that they have been peddling. As a result, they are now clutching at straws and desperately trying to paint the Government in a bad light.

But, even as they attempt to do so, everyone can see their desperation and how it (Continued on page 5)

Monday September 27, 2021

GUYANESE MALE INSECURITIES CONTRIBUTE TO ABUSIVE, DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOURS DEAR EDITOR I recently completed an assignment under the Spotlight Initiative to end violence against women and girls. It was while completing this assignment that I realised that many Guyanese men are insecure. What many of these Guyanese men would not tell you is that they are insecure, and their self-esteem is low.

Many of them are not even aware of this. I have observed that the insecurities influencing Guyanese men to practice abusive behaviour, e.g. domestic violence or intimate partner violence, are usually one or a combination of the following: (1) insecurity about money (their work and earnings), (2) insecurity about their physical appearance compared to other men’s, especially, (3) insecurity about how their friends and others will view them if they cannot “control their woman” i.e. the need to seek or get the approval of others, (4) insecurity if their partner finds another man attractive, (5) insecurity related to fear that their partner will opt out of the relationship for someone else and (5) self-doubt related to concerns about whether or not their partner is sexually fulfilled by them.

In addition to religious beliefs and sociocultural norms influencing the

misperception among some men that they are superior to and must control their partners, the abovementioned insecurities tend to be overlooked factors influencing men to resort to power and control tactics. Sadly, many Guyanese women put up with these insecurities in an effort to please their partners, oftentimes to their own detriment.

Even though many women suffer psychological, physical and economic abuse in silence, causing them to give up their own life dreams, goals and ambitions to please their partners, we often hear relatives and neighbours lamenting a history of abuse when such abuse results in death or long-term injury to a woman. This silence or the failure to report and followup with the police by relatives and neighbours actually encourages more abuse. In today’s Guyana, there are several opportunities to make anonymous reports including the 914 hotline. Silence is not an option!

Guyanese men engaged in abusive behaviours as a result of their insecurities also tend to display cowardice.

For example, abusive men most often do not want the police or other people to know they abuse their partners. And if the abuse results

Infantile attacks... from page 4 reflects back unto them. It is also another clear example of how they failed the very people who voted for them in the 2015 General and Regional Elections. In fact, whilst in government, they neglected the ordinary Guyanese particularly those who supported them in favour of their corrupt business cronies.

The PPP/C is currently serving in the interest of all Guyanese and their actions reflect that even on the world stage. From my vantage point, it can be said that the Government is showing the coalition up, hence their resort to these sorts of attacks against the President. We can expect more of this sort of

behaviour from the APNU+AFC and their shills as their conjured racist narrative fails to produce the sort of results they are hoping for.

What they fail to realise is the harder they try to attack the President with these inconsequential things, the more they are setting themselves up for more failure.

As Guyanese, we are smart enough to recognise how disruptive .and obstructionist the APNU+AFC cabal is at the moment, especially after hearing the President’s speech and seeing all the post-UN engagements with the President and his delegation.

Respectfully, Alvin Hamilton

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in death or critical injuries, these same men would usually: (1) resort to hiding from the long arm of the law after they have abused their partner, (2) commit suicide, (3) threaten more violence, if their partner reports the matter and (4) engage in a combination of 1 to 3. If you are such a “man”, then you should be prepared to spend a very long time, even the rest of your life in prison, among other men. Why run and hide from the consequences of your actions, surely this isn’t “manly”, is it? There are millions of other women in the world, yet a man will take his own life and risk time in prison, amongst other men, simply to “prove” he is not a “pacoo”.

This is cowardice and insecurity! I would rather people call me a “pacoo” and be a free man with another woman, than to be in a prison cell with other men for years upon years. And guess what, if and when you are released, you will be still called a “pacoo”, but now you will be a “pacoo” criminal. Get some sense men, it is not worth it.

I intend to research this issue further, in order to write a book on the insecurities of Guyanese men. It is such a shame that so many children, families and communities are traumatised for generations, simply because some Guyanese men are insecure about themselves. It does not have to be this way, if you feel insecure and you need support, there are many options for help available to you besides taking it out on the person(s) you profess to love and care for. Fix yourself first before thinking you can fix and control your partner.

Kind regards, Rawle A. Small

Exposés of illegal logging and corruption bring official retaliations against A. Mazaharally & Sons Ltd. Operations DEAR EDITOR, It is unfortunate that two persons senselessly lost their lives in the recent road accident on the Buck Hall road when the lumber laden truck they were travelling in skidded off the side of the road and toppled into a ravine.

Editor, the main reason I decided to focus attention on this particular accident is simple: when things go terribly wrong, everything and everyone involved leading up to that situation is at stake of being exposed; and the beneficiaries in such a scenario will do extraordinary things to cover up everything – this is exactly one such case; but I will not be fazed towards exposing the truth, despite threats and backlashes.

It is determined that during the time of the recent accident, which occurred under the cover of darkness, the lumber which the toppled truck was transporting, originated from within A. Mazaharally and Sons Ltd. (AMSL) Buck Hall Logging Concession.

The persons behind that operation were recently caught in stealing forest inventory from within AMSL’s Concession; and in a bid to get their way, they

repeatedly invaded the Concession at odd hours of the night to harvest and transport out lumber.

This time, luck was clearly not on their side.

The mastermind of that illegal operation was even bold enough to send me a death threat, expecting that such threat would silence me, but it only emboldened me to expose the existing web of operation, which consists of members of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC).

As our Guyanese saying goes: “moon ah run ‘till day catch em.”

However, I must disappointingly point out that, despite all of my public awareness drive through several articles in the media about the impact illegal logging has been having on the forestry sector, and my company to a larger extent, while even establishing that many involved players, several of whom are high ranking GFC Officers and Government officials, our government simply turned a blind eye to the issue.

Unsurprisingly, some of

these officials recently retaliated against my company in a clear abuse of their fiduciary powers.

They sought vengeance against my exposés and set out to decimate AMSL’s operations, while jeopardising the livelihood of hundreds by illegally blocking the transfer of the Buck Hall Land Lease from Barama Company Ltd. to AMSL, without any reason whatsoever.

I respectfully call upon His Excellency President Dr. Irfaan Ally to thoroughly investigate the trail of corruption rooted at the GFC, which extends all the way to the Ministry of Natural Resources; and to hold those responsible accountable for their marginalising treatment of AMSL, one of the large Operators with substantial investment in the forestry sector. Certainly, had the GFC acted against illegal activities in the Buck Hall area, lives would have been saved.

Yours faithfully, Capt. A. Mazahar Ally Managing Director A. Mazaharally & Sons Ltd.

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An artist plea for help in a time of serious illness DEAR EDITOR, This may well be my last letter to the Editors of both Kaieteur News and Stabroek News, given my state of health.

I was due to do a surgery on my right eye on Saturday 25th, September at Woodlands Hospital.

Unfortunately, on the 23rd I suddenly fell ill, I was rushed to the Woodlands Hospital on Friday evening where I was admitted with a stroke. Dr. Etwaru, who was the physician, told me that it would require hospitalisation for at least four days and therapy.

Given the cost, which was already $145,000 and kept growing, I told the good doctor that I would have to self-discharge, which left me without any prescription

medications, etc. He said that if I was unable to afford the treatment that a referral could be made to the Georgetown Hospital.

My mother died because of negligence at the GPHC, and I wasn’t going to go that way.

The GPHC was in a bad state, even before the outbreak of COVID-19.

I am an artist with some valuable works in both categories that can help assist with my medical bills, is there any Guyanese who would be willing to help me in my time of need? Contact me at Tel. # 223-4636 Yours faithfully, Desmond Alli (General Secretary GUA) Editor’s Note: We regret to learn of Mr. Alli’s illness, and wish him the best

Monday September 27, 2021

A PANDEMIC OF ROBBERIES DEAR EDITOR, There is another pandemic, and it is bourgeoning on our shoreline, I am speaking of the pandemic of robberies.

Well, frankly speaking, it is not a new phenomenon by any stretch of the imagination, whenever you are talking about Region 4 or when Georgetown comes into focus. “Thiefing,” as we commonly call it, has long been a perennial problem in this geographical portion of our country, therefore, it comes as nothing new to us. A daily occurrence of this disgraceful exercise is what we are faced with whenever you visit the urban locale.

While some of us are appalled by the actions of this disreputable bunch, others are enamored and encouraged by them, they see this group of despicable persons as a reservoir on which they can tap into whenever they hit the road in violent protests, at least so it seems.

Then, you will hear of these groups of individuals roaming around to choke, shoot, kill and rob at will, driving fear and instability in the hearts of the populace. Now, there is a recent camera - CCTV camera footage - circulating, which shows an innocent man being robbed at knifepoint by one of these lost “city boys.”

The incident takes place right before the very eyes of many bystanders, who just sat there and did nothing. It tells me that this “urban mafia” is very much organised in the city. Interesting!

As it stands, this matter is robbery with the use of a deadly weapon and in the eyes of the police this matter could be easily solved, once the usual crime fighting strategies are put in place.

However, my concern is with the uproar that would be created, if there was a passing police patrol coming upon the scene of this robbery and

apprehended the perpetrator; worst yet, if he was shot and injured by the police. Then in the ensuing circumstances the entire complexity of the matter changes. You are sure to hear comments like: “why did that gentleman walk there, why walk with valuables in that part of the city?

Or why walk around with an expensive cell phone, isn’t he aware that those quarters are not for people to walk?

Statements that all speaks to the fact that it is the victim’s fault that he was violently assaulted and robbed.

Even more shocking would be the derogatory remarks made of the police, which might run like this: why is the police picking on the boys and not going after the political criminals in power?

And if he is shot, why didn’t the police handcuff him and take him down to the police station, why are they shooting at Black youths, seems like Black lives don’t matter to the police? All of this com-

ing from persons who were not there and are devoid of the complexity of the matter under consideration.

This is how this situation would have metamorphosed into a racial and political affair. It is amazing how some matters can easily be transformed into mass political protest, while others of equal magnitude are quickly downplayed. This tells us quite clearly how certain political operatives go about their cheap subversive campaign to destabilise a country. That political crew is certainly using gutter politics “by any means necessary” to gain political mileage.

I am calling on all involved to keep politics and race out of crime fighting, it will do us no good, nor would it help in any way to bring crime under control in our country. We are all in this thing together; let us come together for the good of country.

Respectfully submitted, Neil Adams

Anecdotes, Aberrations and Averages DEAR EDITOR, Context matters. Take this simple statement: Nearly 10 percent of the world’s people live in extreme poverty.

This is true. And standing alone, without context, this statement would lead many to think the world has a huge poverty problem. They’d be right. But they’d also be missing a big part of the story: Just 25 years ago nearly 30 percent of people lived in extreme poverty.

So the world’s extreme poverty problem is actually getting much better.

The prospects for the future would be very different if instead of steadily improving extreme poverty was stagnating at nearly 10 percent.

Or, worse, if extreme poverty was steadily increasing. But there’s no way of knowing which of these distinct scenarios is true from the statement alone. You need context.

Terrorism is another good example of how context matters. The events of September 11, 2001 highlighted the great dangers of terrorism.

But how does terrorism compare to other threats? While

terrorists have killed about 3,000 Americans since 2000, over 20,000 Americans die by homicide or murder annually.

And more than 38,000 die from traffic accidents each year.

Is terrorism, in context, as threatening as some think?

Did it make sense for the federal government to create the mammoth Department of Homeland Security after 9-11 while underfunding pandemic preparedness the last two decades? Hardly.

There are subtler examples, too. Many politicians

love to brag about the stock market setting “records.”

“The Dow Jones reached a new record on my watch” is a common boast from incumbents. But looking at the stock market in context shows— surprise, surprise—these statements are highly misleading. The stock market is a cumulative tally—it never resets to zero. It also always goes up over time because, on average, publicly traded companies get bigger as they mature. A new market high is a very different record from, say, baseball’s single-season homerun record, which requires extraordinary performance. In stark contrast, the stock market can break records even while increasing at below-average rates.

People embrace facts out of context all the time. (And not just politicians.) They disregard trend lines. They ignore the net impact of something and focus on discrete effects. They gloss over comparables and instead focus on isolated samples.

They confuse outliers and aberrations with the mean or the median. And many have trouble with scale, hardly distinguishing 100 million units of something from a billion units.

Anecdotal thinking is particularly widespread. People often tell stories that support their worldview without considering the big picture. Global warming deniers, for example, describe dramatic blizzards to show that the world is not warming. But to know whether there’s global warming you need to know, well, whether the globe is warming—not how much snow

there was in Green Bay last December 18. And the data clearly establish that Earth, on the whole, is getting hotter.

In many cases, like global warming, context is not just important—it is a necessary precondition to understanding something at all.

In his new book Rationality Harvard professor Steven Pinker explores why humanity “appears to be losing its mind.” How can the same species “that developed vaccines for COVID-19 in less than a year,” Pinker wonders, “pro-

duce so much fake news, medical quackery, and conspiracy theorizing?”

We do indeed have a rationality problem. And one of the core reasons why is that people draw the wrong conclusions about what they see.

Again and again. Taking the time to put things in context would help. A lot.

William Cooper (The author has written for The Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News and Huffington Post, among others.)

Is oil replacing agriculture?

DEAR EDITOR, Our oil is being looted, while Agriculture does not seem that important. Only a few politicians are benefiting from the oil bonanza and a few contractors seemed favoured at the Public Works and Agriculture Ministries.

Guyana will be worse off in 15-20 years. Is this the vision of the President and Vice President?

Is the tendering process at the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) used to dismantle existing established contractors, who refused to comply with unethical demands and business practices? Was tendering also used to embellish the businesses of favoured contractors, as suggested in several letters and media editorials? How come several contractors suddenly emerged doing emergency work at NDIA and getting

contracts without any tendering process? How come contractors without track records are able to get emergency works without any bidding process? Will these contracts be reviewed?

Why the mad rush to make advance payments to (unqualified) contractors?

Will substandard work be accepted?

Is it true that the North Road drainage work and Cottage pump station projects are being reserved for a certain contractor? How long will glaring conflict of interest be allowed to continue?

What actions will the President and Vice President take to clean up the MoA and Public Works? Who will make their heights in oil, while agriculture is completely smashed?

Yours truly, Budhram Singh

Monday September 27, 2021

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The charge of racism is the last resort of electoral rascals There was this guy who I know from playing dominoes.

He would always lose. And every time he lost, he would rant and rail about how the other players were cheating: how they were peeping at the cards in his hand; how they were “rapping when they have cards to play” and all manner of other excuses.

Then one day he won.

The guy actually won.

However, he was so accustomed to losing and alleging that he was cheated that even when he won, he said that he was cheated.

He reminds me a lot of the PNC. It was so accustomed to having to rig elections that when it lost the elections in 1992 – in which it could not rig – its supporters claimed that the Carter Center came and rigged the elections.

Well, the Carter Center did not observe the 1997 elections and again the PNC said that the elections were rigged and it also destroyed this country with its campaign of violence and instability.

It lost in 2001 and concocted a tale about election tampering and this led to the germination of what Kwayana called the Taliban in Buxton.

It lost again in 2006 but licked its wounds and stayed quiet, one of the few times in which it did not try to claim that it was cheated.

In 2011, the PPP/C failed to gain a majority in the National Assembly. Instead of seeing this as a moral victory,

some supporters took to the streets to claim that the elections had been rigged.

They undertook a march which found its way along Lamaha Street.

As they approached the hospital, an amazing scene took place. An Indian man, came out and laid prostrate in front of the march while shouting, “He gat to go! He gat to go!” obviously referring to the PPP/C candidate, Donald Ramotar.

This entire spectacle was captured on camera and aired on the television newscasts.

What was amusing was that in his excitement to join the bandwagon, this fellow did not realise that he had run out onto the road in his vest and underpants.

It was a most comical scene that this half-dressed individual was lending his support to fabricated charges of electoral malpractices.

History is repeating itself today but in another comical exhibition. For five months, the APNU+AFC tried to benefit from rigged results.

But when the rigging was exposed it kept quiet and resorted to the defence that its Statements of Polls would establish that it won the elections and then just as the Recount was about to commence, it concocted the tall tale that dead people and migrants voted, in direct contradiction to its original claim to victory. Then it attempted to discredit the Recount by go-

ing on what the CARICOM Team said was a “fishing expedition” to try to annul the elections on the grounds of irregularities.

After the dust settled, the APNU+AFC was an utterly discredited Coalition. After shaming its supporters and being embarrassed in front of the world, it now has to come up with a new strategy to redeem itself in the eyes of its supporters and to regain political credibility.

It lacks the intellectual mettle to use reasoned arguments to counter the PPP/C. Its record in government leaves it in a moral quandary to criticise the PPP/C because it failed to do so many things that were expected of it, including inquiries into the extra-judicial killings it said took place under the PPP/C, its failure to secure a single conviction against a PPP/C leader for corruption, its failure to reform the Police Force, its failure to create the thousands of jobs it promised; its dishonouring of its pledge to implement a system of shared governance; and it also did not investigate, as promised, the contracts for the Skeldon Sugar Factory, the Enmore Packaging Plant and the international airport expansion project.

So faced with a lack of credibility it has had to seek recourse in the resort to charges of racism. It used an incident in West Coast Berbice, as its sidekicks are

Dem Boys Seh…

How to negotiate a bid!

De guvament always building something and it does always gat to go out to tender. But in de old days, dem dint had public tendering. Yuh had to go in person and mek yuh bids to dem Ministry officials.

Dem boys remember de case of de Ministry wah bin want build a shed. Dem call in three cantractors fuh interview dem.

De Ministry official ask de fuss builder how much fuh build de shed. ”Three million dollars,” de first cantractor say.

”Break dat down fuh meh,” de Ministry official shout. ”I will,” de builder say. “One million for me, one million fuh materials, and one million fuh labour.”De official nod and say, “Wait outside.” He call in de second cantractor.

“How much to build de shed?” de official ask.

“Six million dollars,” say de second cantractor. ”Break dat down fuh meh,” say de official. ”I will,” say de second builder. “Two million for me, two million for materials, and two million for labour.”

De official nod and say “Wait outside.” He left and call in de third cantractor. ”How much to build de shed?” ask de official. ”Nine million dollars,” say de third builder. ”Break dat down fuh meh,” de official say. ”I will,” say de third cantractor. He lean back in he chair and give de official wan easy smile. ”Three million for you, three million for me, and we’ll give the job to the first cantractor.

Talk half and nah ask bout re-tendering!

now doing to the incident in Dartmouth, to stir racial antagonisms.

Race is now the clarion call but that too will be exposed as the resort of

electoral rascals seeking credibility and attempting to use emotions rather than reason to oppose the PPP/C. (The views expressed in this article are those of the

author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

Monday September 27, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 11

Monday September 27, 2021

Kaieteur News

PAGE 13

PAGE 16 WANTED

TRUCK DRIVERS TO WORK WITHIN THE INTERIOR. MUST KNOW TO OPERATE BEDFORD TM TRUCKS. CONTACT 2235273,223-5274.

Security officers Male & Female 18+ Lamaha St,between Waterloo & Parade. Call:2234172.

Versailles 61x123=7503sq ft, 18m not negotiable.No agents please. Tel: 600 6617.

Poultry/Livestock Farmers.Live in accommodations (single person). Canal No.1 West Bank Demerara.

Call:609-2995.

Carmichael st, Queenstown, La Penitence, Kuru Kuru Soesdyke. Contact: Ray's Realty 627-9685.

Drivers license(with Motor Lorry).Tel:227-5286-9,6214992.email:survival. humanresources@gmail.com.

LAND FOR SALE SERVICES Visa Application: U.S.A, Canada & UK; Graphics design, advertisements, Wedding arch rentals. Tel: 626-7040 Goodluck Electrical/Solar: Residential and commercial wiring,generator installation,AC installing etc.Tel:660-5796/673-8606.

Appliance repairs/service for Refrigerator,Washing Machine, Stove, Treadmill, Dryer, Pressure pump, Oven, Deep Fryer.Call:694-9733.

Appliance/equipment repairs and service to Bakery, Restaurant,Hospital equipment, Remote gate, Backwash & filtration system. Call:6949733.

Sawman,Pitman,Jetman,Cooks to work in the interior.Contact :223-5273/223-5274

FOR RENT One secured two bedroom apartment in B.Field Sophia.

Contact Maureen 650-8827 & Colin 621-5781.

Business: Wellington St, South Road Georgetown, Paradise East Coast. Contact Ray's Realty 627-9685.

House plan drawing and estimate. Call K.Lakeram, Building Contractor 2160671,692-8464/Whatsapp 622-0267.

Seamstres,Tailor wanted.

Tell:691-1918 whatsapp.

Foreign use outboard Motors Yamaha 40HP, 50HP, 25HP,200HP.Selling cheap, 668-2541.

One bedroom apartment with bath & living room.

Cummings Lodge E.C.D. Call:222-0401 or 673-2467 whatsapp 516-805-2048.

Wanted land to buy in Parfaite Harmonie or anywhere on the West Coast.

Tel:673-7087.

Truck Drivers,tutor for 10 yrs old.Contact:223-5273/74.

Fitter/Machinist,Welder Fabricator, Mechanic, Apprentice. Apply in person at: Technical Services, Industrial Site Eccles.

Cook to work in interior.

Call:698-4064.

PROPERTY FOR SALE Robb,Charlotte,Norton Street,Kitty, Sheriff,Ogle, Betterhope,Enterprise & Diamond.Contact: Ray's Realty 627-9685.

One experienced counter clerk between ages 30-40 at Sheriff St location.Call:6234242 or 666-3146.

Labourers to work on cash crop farm,Salary $4,500$6000 per day. Tel:695-6139/ 638-7420.

2 truck drivers to work in interior,must have knowledge about Foden trucks. $200,000 montly. Call:6422359.

One female accounts clerk,knowledge in POS system would be an asset.For more info.Contact:227-3580.

NB:Proof of vaccination card or a negative PCR test will be required before entering premises.

TO LET

Diesel Mechanic to work in the interior. Call:223-5273/ 223-5274.

Excavator operators to work in the interior. Contact:2235273/223-5274.

1 cook to work in interior.

Puppyslow Landen Mazaroni. Tel:662-7718/6770869.

One night watchman Lilliendal area from 5PM5AM between 30-60 age.

Call:623-4242 or 666-3146.

WANTED

FOR SALE

Monday September 27, 2021

Kaieteur News

More robust system needed to identify depression – Health Minister As suicide continues to be a serious problem in Guyana, Minister of Public Health (MOPH), Dr. Frank Anthony, recently stated that a more robust system is needed to help identify depression, which he believes will help reduce the country’s suicide rate.

During an interview with Globespan, the Minister made the statement to which he added that there are several things that needs to be done to help prevent suicide.

Dr. Anthony stated, “As part of mental health, we do have a challenge with suicide.

Guyana has one of the highest rates of suicide in the world, and over the past 20 years we have been working to reduce those numbers but it is still a big problem...”

According to the Minister, depression is the leading cause of suicide in the country. Depression is a common and serious medical illness which negatively affects how someone feels the way they think and how they act.

According to the Minister, depression often goes undiagnosed at the primary health care level and as such, depression should be the primary focus for suicide prevention to tackle the issue in a more systemic way.

“We need to build a more robust system, where, if people come to our health care facilities, that we are able to detect depression which is one of the pre curses for people committing suicide,” the Minister stated.

The doctor further noted, that mental health has got to be an integral component of what the Government delivers

at the primary health care level. He noted that to help achieve this, doctors, nurses and other health care personnel at the primary level will have to be trained to be able to address issues of mental health. “And not only depression but all of the other forms of mental health,” Dr. Anthony stated. Mental health deals with a human being emotional, psychological, and social well-being. There is mental illness also called mental health disorders, which involves different types of mental health conditions – disorders that affect someone’s mood, thinking and behaviour. Some examples of mental illness are; depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviours.

The Minister disclosed that a Mental Health Unit was set up in his Ministry which is made up of psychologists and psychiatrists while adding that they will soon roll out a comprehensive national programme.Moreover, Dr. Anthony added, that next month his Ministry will be launching a number of programmes in collaboration with Columbia University, a center for the World Health Organisation (WHO) for mental health.

The Minister further noted that the University will be set up here, and that a

number of programmes will be implemented with the use of the University’s expertise.

He said too, that the Health Ministry and the University will be conducting studies on the Corentyne, and other parts of Guyana.

Additionally, the Minister also stated that one visible epidemic in Guyana is substance abuse, which he explained ranges from alcohol abuse to hard drugs.

“I think in many of the communities across the country you would find persons who have become drug addicts…we need to come up with a better system of how we can identify these persons and work with them to rehabilitate them,” Minister Anthony said.In conclusion, the Minister praised the Salvation Army and Phoenix recovery, for the programmes they are currently offering to help with the substance abuse epidemic. Minister Anthony further stated that substance abuse can be seen under the rubric of mental health and as such, the Ministry will be making more efforts to help with this issue too.

The following are tollfree crisis hotlines that are available to members of the public who may be feeling suicidal or may have mental health issues; the telephone numbers (592) 223-0001, 223-0009, 623-4444 or 6007896.

Man charged six times for raping underage girl

VACANCY

Cook/Baker,Pitmen & Welder/ Serviceman for interior location.Applicants must be experienced. Call: 231-2250.

One clerk for Eccles office , grade 1 or 2 in Maths & English knowledge of Quickbooks. Call: 642-9823 oremail:techserigy @yahoo.com.

Merchandiser, F a c t o r y Worker,Porters.Call:2277714/640-0673 or email info@vgiworld.com.

Vacancy for: 1.Skilled Mason 2.Skilled Carpenter.

Contact:602-9467,6575800,666-2857.

Hotel Attendant & Receptionist. Call:231-0951/6400673oremail: info@ vgiworld .com.

Vacancy exist for maintenance workers and labourers. Contact:621-

VACANCY

Driver & Porter to travel in and out of the interior. Applicants must be experienced. Call:231-2250.

Cook to work at Palm Spring Hotel,Bartica.Call:455-2111/ 611-6306.

Vacancy for 1 professional and experience hairdresser located on East Bank Demerara Grove Market Street.Call:652-5800.

Experienced Canter Driver/ Expeditor $25,000 weekly.

Call:675-0587/223-1229.

Maid to cook and clean for East Bank.Call:615-9132.

Female counter clerk, Secondary education. Call:2260772.

Driver must be able to assist in workshop at Eccles, age 25-45, Car/ Van licence. Call 642-9823.

Farm workers in Timehri E.B.D,living accommodation provided.Tel:661-1585/ 617-2032.

Persons to assemble bicycle.

Apply at Alabama Trading,65 Robb St Bourda.

Trained grade 1 & 2 teachers needed. Payment will commence with experience and will be in 6 digit, 623Carpenters & Painters.Apply at Alabama Trading,65 Robb St Bourda.

Sales girls to work at Dian's Deli food outlet.Call:6217862.

Charged, Steel Sancho.

A 32-year-old gold miner who was arrested earlier in the month for allegedly raping an underage girl, was on Friday slapped with six counts of rape after appearing in Matthew’s Ridge Magistrate’s Court.

Making his first court appearance was Steel Sancho of Gangadeen Street, Matthew’s Ride, who was arraigned before Magistrate Delon Bess to answer to the charges. The defendant was not required to plead to the indictable charges, which alleges that he raped a child under the age of 16.

According to the police, Sancho was arrested on September 9, last, following the rape allegation.

Kaieteur News learnt that the man and the girl were in an alleged relationship. Recently, his wife reportedly caught him having sex with the underage girl and reported him to the police. The girl was questioned and she admitted to investigators that she and the defendant had sex on six different occasions.

Sancho was on Friday placed on $200,000 bail for each count of rape and is expected to reappear in court on October 12.

Monday September 27, 2021

PAGE 17

Kaieteur News

Highly-decorated consultant Minister Bharrat calls out power vying to conduct critical extractive struggle between GYEITI industry projects for Guyana Secretariat and first MSG A few weeks ago, Kaieteur News reported that a lone consultant submitted a bid to secure two critical projects under the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GYEITI).

These two projects included the consultant preparing a systematic feasibility study with the second project requiring an expert to prepare a beneficial ownership register.

Preliminary research by Kaieteur News shows that the lone consultant, Samuel Bekoe, is an economist and governance expert with years of experience and knowledge in preparing beneficial ownership registers.

In fact, Bekoe designs and manages policies, projects and systems to strengthen governance, anti-corruption, and enhance accountability in the extractive industry in African states.

Presently, he is a freelance consultant with the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative in Accra, Ghana where duties include undertaking review 0f annual financial statements of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

This is the state agency responsible for the exploration, licencing, and distribution of petroleum-related activities in Ghana.

His portfolio also includes providing technical support to develop GNPC Disclosure Policy; technical advice and support to the development of the beneficial ownership regulations at the Registrar General; and support for Ghana’s EITI to develop its mainstream feasibility study and report.

In Liberia and Zambia, this expert also gave technical as-

Beneficial ownership Expert and Economist, Samuel Bekoe sistance to the beneficial ownership implementation, which was aimed at identifying gaps for the full implementation of requirements and disclosures.

These included websites, databases, annual reports, portals and others.

Under the United Kingdom Aid (UKAid), Bekoe had also provided technical assistance to Ghana’s Registrars General Department on the implementation of the beneficial ownership register. His specific support duties included the development of legislation and regulations, beneficial ownership forms, development of beneficial ownership standard operating procedures, training manuals, capacity building for staff, public sensitization workshops and implementation guidance.

For three years in Ghana, Bekoe performed duties as a Technical Lead Consultant on Accountability Workstream with the Department For International Devel-

opment (DFID) on Ghana’s oil and gas for inclusive growth.

He was responsible for managing the design and implementation of projects to strengthen governance, accountability and prevent corruption in Ghana’s oil and gas sector.

Further to this, he has worked with Civil Society Organizations and government agencies through the provision of technical capacity and advisory services, and coalition-based advocacy to achieve policy and regulatory reforms in Ghana’s extractive industry.

Bekoe has also successfully managed over one million in grants to civil society and state accountability actors to sustain public demands for transparency in Ghana. Furthermore, he provided technical advice to Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency in sensitivity mapping and strategic environmental processes, as well as input to the environmental policy for oil and gas in Ghana under the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.

Bekoe has held other major portfolios at agencies like the Economist Intelligence Unit; Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas in Ghana; Accountability, Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Programme; Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa; Natural Resources Governance Institute.

Notably, this consultant has also worked with the Guyana Government in the past, as Bekoe served as the Project Manager for this country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy.

COVID-19 charges against Sleepin’s boss, staff dismissed The charges against the owner of Sleepin International Hotel, Restaurant and Bar, Clifton Bacchus, 50, of Lots 288-289 Church Street, Georgetown, and one of his employees were on Friday dismissed in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

In May 2021, Bacchus and his employee, Shontelle Marshall, 33, of Alberttown, a cashier, along with two of his customers, were charged for breaching the COVID-19 regulations.

On their first court appearance before Principal Magistrate, Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus, attorney-at-law, Latchmie Rahamat, who represented Bacchus told the court that under the law, which her client was charged, his business is listed as an essential business.

The lawyer had explained that hotels, interior lodges and guesthouses can operate on a 24-hour basis therefore; making the charge against her client unlawful while, Marshall’s lawyer had told the court that his (Continued on page 18)

Charged, Clifton Bacchus.

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat addresses National Coordinator for GYEITI Secretariat, Dr. Rudy Jadoopat Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat revealed that when he assumed office, he noticed that there was a misunderstanding of the role of and relationship between the Secretariat and the first multi stakeholder group (MSG) of the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GYEITI).

He made the comments during a recent ceremony which was held to commemorate the launch of the second GYEITI MSG at the Ministry’s Main Street annex. The MSG is tasked with implementing the EITI transparency standards.

“The multi-stakeholder group is the decision-making body for the GYEITI… and the GYEITI Secretariat is the executing agency or body or arm, and I want to make that clear…” Bharrat said.

“When I took over as Minister of Natural Resources, I sensed that there was some kind of confusion previously. There was some kind of misunderstanding as to how the role should be.

That is based on my personal assessment. This would have

created some kind of animosity in the past between the Secretariat and the MSG.” He said that the National Coordinator of the GYEITI Secretariat, Dr. Rudy Jadoopat and others, are supposed to execute the decisions of the MSG and not the other way around. Bharrat also asked that there be a better relationship between the MSG and the Secretariat.

“And I think the Secretariat, Mr. Jadoopat and staff, you would have to lead from the front on this here, because most, or all of the members of the MSG, they are basically volunteering their time, their service; they’re professionals. But you’re here on a full time basis, so we’ll expect that you lead from the front in building a good working relationship.”

Bharrat said fractured relationships are often caused by a failure to communicate, whether there is a lack of communication, too much, or the wrong communication.

“And I want to say too, that every single member of the MSG and the Secretariat is important to this process,”

Bharrat added. “There is no one that is less important than the other one, whether you’re from civil society, industry or government. We are all in this together as a team.”

The Minister thanked the new members of the MSG for their patriotism and commitment to moving Guyana forward on matters of transparency and accountability.

“That is something that all of us must be interested in, to ensure that our extractive industries are managed in an accountable, efficient, transparent manner.”

He noted that the new MSG includes members of the old one, and that he is thankful for them, because they will bring some institutional knowledge and experience which they gleaned over the life of the first MSG. The new MSG is responsible for seeing that Guyana’s third EITI report is completed and submitted before the year is out.

The Ministry of Natural Resources is currently seeking the services of an independent administrator for the preparation of this report.

Alleged phone snatcher begs to call his mom An alleged phone snatcher on Friday, begged for a phone call to his mom after he was caught by citizens and handed over to police on Haley and Hadfield Streets Georgetown.

The suspect who appeared to be a teen, was accused of snatching a man’s phone on Regent Street. Kaieteur News understands that a police patrol car was notified and eventually caught up with him.

In a cell phone recorded video of the arrest, a man was seen holding him by his pants waist and dragging him towards an officer who was standing beside a car.

Persons could be heard saying, “He snatch the man phone just now, where is the d phone?”

He was handed over to the cop and while the officer held on to him, the suspect was heard saying, “Me aint snatch nobody phone”.

He then requested a call to inform his mother that he is being detained by police”.

The citizens who assisted the police in capturing him asked, “What is your mother number, you gon shame you mother now

Screengrab from the video of the alleged phone snatcher being handed over to police boy”.

As he continued to talk with the officer, other persons were heard taunting him, “You want play bad man and now calling you mother.

That is not hardball”

PAGE 18

Monday September 27, 2021

Kaieteur News

Extensive drainage to commence in Mara Village this week - Agri. Minister Residents of Mara Village which is located on the East Bank of Berbice will soon benefit from a series of extensive drainage works. This was disclosed by Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha on Saturday during a meeting at the Schempoed Primary School.

The minister was at the time spearheading the government’s ongoing flood relief distribution exercise.

While addressing those present, Minister Mustapha announced that in the coming week, the ministry through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) will commence a series of extensive drainage

works in the area.

“When I met with you the first time at Plegt Anker, I told you that the ministry will do some extensive drainage works in the community because this area is a farming community. Since then, I’ve asked our technical officers to put things in place, and from this week, the machine will be coming into the area to commence those works. The machine will work to tie the conservancy dam, and then it will continue with the other works that were promised. You can rest assured that a lot of work will be done in this community,” Minister Mustapha explained.

Minister Mustapha told farmers that since taking office, the government has expended close to $40 million to execute drainage works in the East Bank Berbice area. He also told them that the ministry is working to have new lands open for farmers come 2022, and will also be putting the necessary infrastructure in place to ensure farmers have access to these lands.

“Those works included the rehabilitation of critical structures because, what we are seeing; although our country is advancing with the production of oil and gas, more people are returning to agriculture and we are seeing

One fully vaccinated person among 8 who died of COVID-19 The Ministry of Health yesterday reported that eight more persons who tested positive for the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, have died. As a result of this, the country’s COVID-19 death toll has moved to 762.

The Health Ministry announced that the latest fatalities are that of seven unvaccinated persons and a fully vaccinated person, who all died over a two-day period (September 24 to 25).

The latest deaths are that of four men: a 56-year-old from Region Two (PomeroonSupernaam), a 42-year-old from Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and a 53-year-old and a 57year-old from Region 10 (Upper Demerara-

Berbice) and that of four women, a 74-yearold from Region 10 and a 73-year-old, a 60year-old and a 78-year-old from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica).

Meanwhile, the Ministry in its daily COVID-19 dashboard reported that within the last 24 hour period, they recorded 241 new infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 31,148.

Presently there are 31 patients who are admitted into the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 166 persons in institutional isolation, 3,919 in home isolation and nine in institutional isolation. To date, a total of 26,270 persons who tested for the virus have recovered.

more investments being made in the sector. This is because of the resources that the government has been investing in the sector over the last year.

With the renewed interest, we are seeing in agriculture, the resources are becoming more stretched because we have to develop more infrastructure, and open more lands so that farmers can extend their cultivation. We also have to work with farmers to find more markets for their produce while encouraging value-added,” Minister Mustapha explained.

As it relates to the government’s ongoing flood relief cash grant, Minister Mustapha told farmers that they would be benefitting from the cash relief during the day’s exercise, because many of the farmers from the area reported that they were not captured in the initial registration and verification exercise.

“When we had the last flood-relief distribution exercise, farmers from this area said that their names were not on the list. I made a commitment that those who suffered

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha while addressing the gathering

would receive assistance.

The Regional Chairman and our extension officers were able to get that list and do the verification. A team from the Ministry is here to extend that assistance to you,” Minister Mustapha said.

Farmers who received their grants thanked the government for extending the initiative to the area, and said they would use the monies to return to the land as soon as possible.

While addressing concerns over the dilapidated state in which the main access road is currently in, Minister Muatpha told residents that works to upgrade the condi-

tion of the road are expected to commence soon. These works, he said, will be done through the Ministry of Public Works.

“I’m glad that I was able to come here so that I could get a first-hand look at the condition of the road. I want to let you know that works to improve the condition of the road through the Ministry of Public Works, and I’m hoping that those works can commence shortly.

Almost $60 million will be expended to carry out upgrades to that stretch of road.

Tenders for those works are already open,” the Minister explained.

Taxi driver helpless after car stolen with COVID-19 vaccine book

The taxi driver’s stolen car

Unable to transact business, and go about plying his trade as per normal, is a helpless taxi driver, whose car was stolen on Thursday, along with Covid-19 vaccine booklet.

The taxi driver identified as Abdool Azad, a resident of Providence on the East Bank Demerara (EBD), had secured and parked his 2003 model silver grey Toyota Fielder wagon in front of his home on Wednesday evening.

However, when he awoke the following day (Thursday)

his car bearing the licence plate PSS9172 was missing.

After making some enquiries, Azad learned that someone had driven off with his car around 05:30 hrs. that morning.

It is believed that the car thief or thieves had hotwired his vehicle and stolen it. Not only is he now without a car to earn a daily wage, but had also lost his COVID-19 vaccine booklet and important documents that were stored in the vehicle.

Some of the important

COVID-19 charges against Sleepin’s...

From page 17 client is a cashier who usually works late and stays at the hotel.

During Friday hearing of the matter, Principal Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus dismissed the matter against Bacchus and Marshall. Following the Magistrate’s decision, Bacchus in a comment stated, “Today I feel vindi-

cated as the charges against my staff and I were dismissed by the Magistrate.”

The charge had alleged that on March 12, 2021, at the Sleepin Hotel, Bacchus and his employee breached the curfew imposed between the hours of 22:30 hrs. and 04:00 hrs. They had both denied the charge and maintained their innocence.

documents he lost are his bank cards, ID card and driver’s licence. These documents, related Azad, are recoverable but it is impossible to do so without his COVID19 vaccine booklet.

Without the proof that he is vaccinated, Azad is currently unable to enter the bank to withdraw cash from his account or recover his bank card. As a result, the taxi driver has been left helpless without cash.

Azad said that he had made contact with the Ministry of Health to find out if it is possible for the authorities to give him another Covid-19 vaccine booklet, but was told that he must wait two weeks for a verification to be done.

Without his car to earn money and without his vaccine booklet to transact business, Azad is quickly running out of options to sustain himself financially as he awaits the purported two-week-verification process by the Ministry of Health.

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Kaieteur News

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Monday September 27, 2021

GBBC President Abdool remains positive...

From page 27 stated confidently.

Dharry indicated that he will take a break for a few days and hopefully he can get back into the ring shortly.

“I will take a break for a few days and hopefully my team and I can work to get me back in the ring soonest, and we can do something here in Guyana on Boxing Day if everything goes well,” he noted.

Dharry most recent bout was against Reyes of the Dominican Republic which he won via knockout in the first round. This contest took place in Puerto Plata in July last and speaking on behalf of the sponsors, Jack Bharrat of Ameri Group of Properties which is based in New York said they is happy

to lend support.

“I was privilege to be part of the sponsorship for his last fight in the Dominican Republic. A team of us, overseas based Guyanese, decided to embark on this trip as a home coming for the fighter, so as to expose Elton to the larger Guyanese community hence the cocktail reception in his honour. We will also be touring Berbice, Essequibo, Mahaica and Leguan. Elton is Guyanese, he is a national treasure and is for all Guyanese to share,” he related. Bharrat said they will continue to support the fighter. “His records speak for itself. He has a great track record and he is one of the few Guyanese who is professionally recognize in the sport at the moment. We want to

make sure that we give him the support. In any sport it takes funding to be outstanding, proper training, and from our business this is our way of giving back to our community. It’s an honour,” he said, He expressed gratitude to all sponsors and feels Dharry has a long way to go.

The sponsors also include NYSC, 212 Devices, King Leo Productions, Sanjay Jewellery, Shareef Medical Centre, SA Seafoods and Fresh Harvest, AGT Energy Group Inc., WR Plumbing Inc., Safewatch INC. and Kaieteur Lefferts Empire Land Services Corp.

Dharry has a professional record of 24 wins, 14 knockouts, six losses and one draw.

Monday September 27, 2021 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Love and romance should be going well for you now, Aries. Something has sparked the detective in you and you're anxious to probe, inquire, and seek the truth in every situation.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Your mind is like a fine sieve that filters even the smallest details from the whole, Libra.

Nothing escapes your attention today. You're right on top of the situation whether people realize it or not.

TAURUS(Apr.20–May20) The indecisiveness that you feel regarding certain issues may be amplified today, Taurus. You may go to extremes from one side of the spectrum to the other.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) You may feel like you're sitting on a pincushion when it comes to issues regarding love and romance, Scorpio.

Don't be surprised if there's conflict in this part of your life.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Your thinking should be clear today, Gemini, and your sharp focus adept at revealing the truth of any situation. Your mind may be intertwined quite delicately with your heart.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) Don't leave anyone behind as you gallivant through your world today, Cancer.

You're so wrapped up in your adventures that you're unaware of other people who could use more attention.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Love and romance are key aspects of the day, Leo. You should find that things relating to these aspects of your life are going well.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) You might need to take a step back today and turn your attention inward instead of outward. When it comes to love and romance, don't rush things. Patience is needed now more than ever. Your thoughts might be vague and disjointed.

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Kaieteur News

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) There could be some verbal sparring as you tackle the challenges this new day brings, Sagittarius. Love is on your side. You'll find that as long as you stay true to your inner strength, you'll come through with shining colors regardless of the events that transpire.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Love and romance are key aspects of the day, Capricorn. You should find that things relating to these aspects of your life are going well.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Your mind is especially keen today, Aquarius. You'll find that it communes well with your anxious heart.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20)Bask in each new day, Pisces. Do your best to spread your sunshine, but don't be surprised if someone challenges the way you think. There are stubborn forces out there working to steer

you in the direction that they'd like you to go.

‘I would not have picked Gayle’ From page 25 certificate programme at GTI, he was placed at St Mary’s high school in the technical department to teach building technology to levels 9 and 10 students.

“The difference between now and then is that technology has evolved and has changed the way of learning because of the pandemic. The interest in Education has depreciated a lot since the Pandemic.

School cricket has always been a sore problem for development. I believe physical education should be compulsory from the primary to tertiary level,” said George.

“I was practicing at DCC and someone asked me if I would be interested in playing cricket in Canada… that was in 2008. I went and played in the EDCL league for Calypso sports club.

The standard of cricket in Canada is very competitive I played with Vitoria Park CC in 2010 in the premier division and we won the playoffs and went up to elite and I returned to represent them the next season,” informed George.

“To improve the standard of local cricket, the grounds and the pitches needs to be better and we need Administrators with an equality mindset who gives everyone a fair chance once they are doing well in whatever they are doing,” George continued.

George believes that that Guyanese pair of Sherfane Rutherford and Romario Shepherd should have been in the T20 World Cup squad, while he said he not have selected Chris Gayle as a playing member.

“The current West Indies team is missing two players who have demonstrated exemplary performance Sherfane Rutherford and Romario Shepherd in their most recent T20 matches in the just concluded CPL. Both of these players already have International experience and demonstrated excellent skill sets and performed very well.

The selectors should have given them the opportunity to be in the World Cup Squad even if in reserve list ahead of Daren Bravo and

Sheldon Cottrell. I am very disappointed in the selection panel,” George lamented.

“On the issue of taking Gayle to the World Cup at this period of his career is a hard decision. His vast experience could be a good thing for the team but to answer your question, on his present and recent form I would say no, I would not have picked him for the World Cup. Let me explain why I feel so. He made a century in the last World Cup (2016) but that was his last century and he failed in the remaining matches.

To me, he is the greatest T20 batsman in the World and has scored more T20 centuries than anyone else but there comes a time when your mind says Yes but your body say No Way! It’s been over 20 matches now that he has not scored even a fifty, and at 42, even if he gets one good score I don’t think he is capable now to score with any consistency.

In addition to that, he is not fit enough to run quick singles for any length of time and this will put extra pressure on the other batsman to try hit big shots to score his runs,” George opined.

George however feels that the batting is very strong on paper and if they don’t do anything reckless and be very consistent West Indies stands a chance of winning their third T20 tittle.

Ethiopia’s Guye Adola...

From page 26 stages before fading, but he knocked more than two minutes off his previous best marathon time, when he finished eighth in Berlin two years ago.

The lead pack, spearheaded

by Bekele, set off at a lightning speed, 25 seconds under Kipchoge’s world record pace after 15kms.

Bekele dropped back from the lead pack, but still stayed on course to run a new world record through the halfway stage.

The warm temperature of 20 degrees Celsius and the brutal tempo took their toll as the pace setters dropped off and the lead runners were 22 seconds behind world record pace at the 25km stage, just over halfway.

With seven kilometres to go, Adola, 30, opened a three seconds gap ahead of Bekele, 39, who was also passed by Yegon.

The Kenyan briefly hit the front, but Adola attacked and retook the lead as they came within sight of the iconic Brandenburg Gate, just before the finish line.

Kaieteur News

PAGE 26

Monday September 27, 2021

Hamilton wins 100th F1 race to take lead over Verstappen SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Lewis Hamilton became the first Formula One driver to win 100 races with victory in the Russian Grand Prix yesterday to retake the championship lead from Max Verstappen.

Hamilton dropped to seventh place when he was boxed in at the irst corner but fought back and passed Lando Norris for the win when the McLaren driver stayed out on slick tires in late rain and slid off the track.

“It’s taken a long time to get to 100 and at times, I wasn’t sure it would come,” Hamilton said. It was Hamilton’s fifth win of the season and his first since the British Grand Prix in July.

“It’s a magical moment,” Hamilton said. “I could only have dreamed of still being here and having this opportunity to win these races and get to drive with such phenomenal talents this late in my career.”

Hamilton turned Verstappen’s five-point championship lead into a two-point lead of his own after the Dutch driver

finished second after a dramatic drive from last on the grid. Carlos Sainz led the race early on and finished third for Ferrari.

After his tough start, Hamilton started moving up with a tough overtake around the outside of Fernando Alonso, a duel with echoes of their season as teammates when Hamilton was a rookie in 20 7.Verstappen started 0 last after a penalty for an engine change in his Red Bull but sliced through the field and had Hamilton in sight by the halfway stage.

H a m i l t o n ’s M e r c e d e s worked better on the hard tires in the second half of the race and Verstappen’s charge seemed to have stalled when he was overtaken by the Alpine of Alonso and stuck in seventh.

But then the rain came and Verstappen switched to intermediate tires early, allowing him to claim an unexpected podium finish and limit the damage to his hopes of a first title.

“We didn’t lose so many points today, so that’s really, really good,” Verstappen told his team over the radio.

Lewis Hamilton won the 100th Formula One race of his career on a dramatic day in Sochi. (Reuters)

One key question for the rest of the season is whether Hamilton too will need to use an extra engine and take a penalty.It doesn’t take much rain to make a difference in Sochi, where the flat track means water is slow to drain away.Norris trailed in seventh after his failed gamble to stay on dry tires despite warnings from his team about how slippery the track was becoming. If not for the rain, Hamilton said,

Hamilton commiserated with his compatriot Lando Norris afterNorris fell away near the end. (Reuters)

“it would have been tough to get past Lando. He had great pace.” Norris had been aiming to give McLaren back-to-back wins after Daniel Ricciardo took victory at the last race in Italy when Hamilton and Verstappen collided.

Hamilton has now won the Russian Grand Prix on five of eight occasions, and his victory yesterday continues a clean sweep of victories in Russia for

Mercedes cars.

Ricciardo narrowly missed the podium for McLaren in fourth and H a m i l t o n ’s t e a m m a t e Valtteri Bottas was fifth after an eventful race for the Finn.

Mercedes’ decision to swap the engine in Bottas’ car and take a penalty prompted speculation the team was deploying Bottas to hold up Verstappen, something the team denied. Regardless, it didn’t take long for

Verstappen to swoop past Bottas.Alonso was sixth for Alpine, ahead of Norris and A l f a R o m e o ’s K i m i Raikkonen. The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was ninth and George Russell took the last point for Williams in 10th. Russell qualified third and held up the cars behind — including Hamilton, his teammate next year at Mercedes — for much of the early part of the race.

Patel’s IPL hat trick lifts Bangalore to big win over Mumbai DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Fast bowler Harshal Patel enjoyed a hat trick in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s thumping 54-run victory over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League yesterday.

Patel finished with figures of 417. He is the third Bangalore bowler to take a hat trick in the history of the IPL. Chennai Super Kings earlier pulled off a thrilling last-ball win over Kolkata Knight Riders which lifted the three-time champions back to the top of the points table.

Patel took the wickets of Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard and Rahul Chahar with three perfect slower deliveries before routing Mumbai for 111 in 18.1 overs by clean bowling Adam Milne.

Captain Rohit Sharma (43 runs off 28 balls) and Quinton de Kock (24 off 23) had provided a solid start of 57, but Mumbai lost nine wickets for only 32 runs as no other batter could reach double figures.

Earlier, after being put into bat, Bangalore owed its total of 165-6 to Glenn Maxwell’s brisk 56 off 37 that featured six fours and three sixes while captain Virat Kohli (51 off 42) also scored his second successive half century. Paceman Jasprit Bumrah stood out with 3-36

that featured the wickets of Maxwell and A.B. de Villiers (11) off successive deliveries in the penultimate over.

Bangalore with 12 points from 10 games is at No. 3 behind tabletopper Chennai and Delhi Capitals, which both have 16 points.

Kolkata, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai are on eight points, but defending champion Mumbai is at No. 7 spot on an inferior net run-rate.At Abu Dhabi, Chennai won by two wickets as it successfully chased down Kolkata’s 171-6 to reach 1728 in exactly 20 overs at Abu Dhabi.

Ravindra Jadeja (22 off 8 balls) had all but sealed the chase for Chennai when he smashed fast bowler Prasidh Krishna for two sixes and two boundaries in the penultimate over.

But West Indies offspinner Sunil Narine (3-41) had Sam Curran caught in the deep off the first ball in the last over and then trapped Jadeja leg before wicket off the fifth delivery when only one run was needed for victory.

Deepak Chahar ensured Chennai won off the final ball as he swept Narine to midwicket as Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team went top with 16 points from 10 games.

Harshal Patel bamboozled KIeron Pollard with a slower ball, RoyalChallengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians, Dubai, IPL 2021, September 26, 2021© BCCI

Earlier, Kolkata’s lower order did well to boost the total after its captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and chose to bat. Rahul Tripathi top scored with 45 off 33 but it was Nitish Rana (37 not out off 27) and Dinesh Karthik (26 off 11) which propelled Kolkata’s total in the last

three overs.Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood was expensive for his figures of 2-40 off four overs but Shardul Thakur (2-20) and Jadeja (1-21) bowled well in the middle overs.

Sunrisers Hyderabad is the only team out of contention for the

playoffs with one win from its nine games.

Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 165 for 6 (Maxwell 56, Kohli 51, Bumrah 3-36) beat Mumbai Indians 111 (Rohit 43, Harshal 4-17, Chahal 3-11) by 54 runs.

Kaieteur News

Monday September 27, 2021

PAGE 27

‘I would not have picked Gayle’ Kevin George feels Rutherford & Shepherd were unlucky

By Sean Devers Despite not playing FirsClass Cricket or in major franchise Leagues, former Guyana U-19 off-spinner Kevin George has still been able to earn playing professionally in Canada and semi-Pro in Trinidad.

However, the emergence of the Global Covid-19 Virus pandemic has brought activities around the World to a screeching halt and cricket tournaments were not spared.

On Saturday the GCB announced that the Covid Task Force has suspended all cricket until further notice due to escalation in Covid cases and deaths in Guyana.

The 38-year-old George is hoping to return to Canada next year to continue his work for the Melbourne sports club in the elite division in the Labats league.

“I hope to play in Canada for another six or seven years…I have lost two years to covid-19 and I need to make some money. My last game was a first Division game for DCC against UG in 2019,” said George, the father of two sons; Kadeem and Kevin George Jnr. The DCC all-rounder, who represented his Country in the 2001 Regional U-19 series which was held in Guyana while playing at the second Division level, give his views on West Indies T20 world Cup squad, what is needed to improve the standard of local cricket and cricket in Schools.

Like Trinidad and West Indies leg-spinner Samuel Badree, George, who first played in Canada in 2008, spent 14 years in the Education sector as Teacher and got his first contract in 2016 to play for Glenora

Sports Club in the North zone Premiership League in Trinidad.

In November 2009 George hit his maiden first

division century (109) for DCC in the Demerara zone of the GCB National first division cricket competition.

George was born on June

Kevin George in the Canadian leagues.

Kevin George & his sons.

5, 1983 to Andrea Jarvis and M a l c o m e G e o rg e a n d attended Queenstown Community High School, Kuru Kuru Training

Complex, GTI and the University of Guyana IDCE. He became interested in cricket by watching West Indies playing on Television

- says Ex Guyana youth player while a friend motivated him to join DCC at age 12.

After completing his technical education (Continued on page 25)

PAGE 28

Kaieteur News

GFF conducts U20 men’s trials in Florida ahead of CONCACAF qualifiers, sponsored by SQ Apparel

Guyana U20 Men’s National Team Head Coach Wayne Dover and his team on Friday commenced a three-day talent identification camp in Florida, as the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) accelerates its efforts to integrate upcoming youth players from the diaspora into its national programme.

The camp, officially sponsored by sports apparel company SQ Apparel, follows extensive trials for U20 eligible players across Guyana ahead of November qualifiers in the Dominican Republic for the Concacaf

Monday September 27, 2021

Ethiopia’s Guye Adola wins Berlin Marathon, Bekele third

AFP - Ethiopia’s Guye Adola won the men’s Berlin Marathon yesterday with Technical staff look on attentively as prospective Guyana U20 compatriot Kenenisa players going through drills during the scouting sessions in the US. Bekele, a two-time former winner in Germany’s capital, finishing third as his bid to break the world record fell short.

Adola won in an official time of two hours, five minutes, 45 seconds — well short of Eliud Kipchoge’s world record 2:01:39 set in the German capital three years ago — with Kenya’s Bethwel Yegon 29 seconds behind in second.

Bekele, the 2016 and 2019 winner in Berlin, had been attempting to break his personal best when he came within two agonising seconds of Kipchoge’s time U20 Championship. Guyana first of its kind for the men’s staff ’s accommodation, two years ago, but ended up has been drawn in Group D U-20 team, and it will tentage and other materials settling for third as he definitely give us a wider f o r t h e c a m p , a n d finished one minute, two with Nicaragua, the Cayman Islands, and the reach for talent,” Dover photographic coverage. “ We a r e e x t r e m e l y Ethiopia’s Guye US Virgin Islands. The added.

Adola wins Dover was joined by GFF grateful to SQ Apparel for winner of each qualification the men’s Berlin group will progress to the Youth Development Officer supporting this important Marathon title R o u n d o f 1 6 f i n a l s Bryan Joseph and GFF initiative,” said GFF on Sunday President Wayne Forde. tournament.“The purpose of Goalkeeping (AFP/Tobias Coach Eon Deviera, as “This crucial support means the talent ID camp is to SCHWARZ) identify players in the North p a r t o f a h i g h - l e v e l the GFF is able to properly delegation focused on examine the potential of America diaspora with Guyana heritage,” said examining the potential of upcoming talent in the North Coach Dover. “We hope to players taking part in the American diaspora. We are excited to welcome new come away with identified trials.

As official sponsor of the players into the national talent to strengthen the National U20 Men’s Team c a m p , S Q A p p a r e l ’ s programme as we build leading up to the qualifiers in contributions include the towards a successful run in provision of logistical t h e C o n c a c a f U 2 0 November.”

“The ID scouting is the resources for the coaching Championship.”

seconds behind Adola.

“The race started off really fast, the leading pack couldn’t maintain that pace, so I took my chance to hit the front,” said Adola after his victory.

The race over 42.195 kilometres (26.2 miles) through the streets of Berlin was the first of the world’s major six marathons to take place with elite athletes and a mass field of runners — estimated at around 25,000 — since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Adola, 30, celebrated the first major marathon win of his career having finished second to Kipchoge in Berlin four years ago on his debut over the marathon distance.

It was an impressive display from Yegon, who had briefly led in the later (Continued on page 25)

Curtains fall on National Youth & Junior The National Youth & Junior Championships concluded this weekend at the National Track & Field Center (NTFC) Leonora where many of the winners and stand out performers will be proud of their exhibits but also will have one eye on the South American under-23 Championships next month.

Among the winners yesterday was Keliza Smith that completed the 100m & 200m sprint double to go along with a second place in the women’s under-20 long jump.

Analisa Redmond of Super Upcoming Runners won the women’s under-20 long jump with a distance of 5.40m.

Karese Lloyd also made light work of her opponents in the girls under-18 winning both the 100m and 200m races with times of 11.97s and 25.21s respectively.

Aaliyah Headley of Running Braves Athletics Club that won the under-20 3000m.

More details in tomorrow’s edition of Kaieteur Sport.

Kaieteur News

Monday September 27, 2021

PAGE 29

GBBC President Abdool remains positive despite cancellation of ‘Superhero’ card

By Zaheer Mohamed President of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) Peter Abdool remained positive that they will be able to host a card later this year despite the cancellation of the “Superhero” fight card which was set for the National Stadium.

The card was scheduled to be held on Saturday night last and was expected to feature USA based Guyanese sensation Elton Dharry. However, due to a rise in the coronavirus cases, the card was cancelled.

Abdool noted that while safety is important and they are hoping to have that sort of environment in order to host a card. “Because it’s a contact sport, you are talking about eight weeks training prior to a fight and to create that sort of environment in a gym means everybody has to be vaccinated, and it has to be a closed environment.

Attendance is another issue, but we are hoping that we can stage a fight around December, hopefully a Boxing day card. And if we can do that Gary St. Clair is planning a fight and everybody wants to see Elton in action. That’s the only chance we have, it will come down to a decision from the Minister of Health in combination with the Minister of Sport,” he added.

Abdool is positive Dharry can win a world title but said he has to get the opportunity.

“He can win a world title, it’s not a matter of his confidence, with boxing the difficulty is that you have to be able to get the fight. You can be a fantastic fighter and you can actually spend your entire career waiting for a fight, so what happens is, as you fight you get ranked and the closer you are to the top the better you have a shot at the title,” he explained.

Dharry fought against Australian Andrew Moloney for the WBA superflyweight title in 2019, but sustained an injury during the bout which caused a halt to the proceedings, and Abdool is hoping for a rematch.

“Elton did well against Moloney who was a good opponent, Elton actually beat the guy, he did such a fantastic job that he is now a hot number. People are looking at him and he can put

Boxer Elton Dharry (2nd from right) with from left Peter Ramsaroop, GBBC President Peter Abdool and Jack Bharrat.

on a good show which is what every promoter wants.

So the chances are that he will get a shot at a world title, so we are hoping that it happens.”

Abdool said that the super flyweight division is one of the strongest divisions in the world which has a number of fantastic fighters at the top. “For Elton to get a shot at the WBC or WBA titles may be somewhat difficult, he may get a better shot at the IBF title. But the most important thing is that he is now certified, so we have limited time to find a pathway for him. He has the ability but the question is, can we land that all important fight and can we land it in Guyana which is what we want. We are hoping for a rematch with the Australian,” he posited.

Guyana has been one of the top ranked boxing nations in this part of the world, producing a number of world champions and Abdool is also hoping that they can make a restart to the sport locally in the near future.

He stated that Sports Minister Charles Ramson has been very supportive.

“Once the covid comes off, we have to look at building our ranks bank. We had a period of three years in which we were fighting every month which was like 300 fights over a short period of time. We want to get back to that stage, and of course the good thing about it is that there are lots of businesses in Guyana, so we may be able to get a better level of funding. We can also get into the school system,” he

related.

Abdool indicated that Guyana is very much connected with the WBC and pointed out that he is on the board of governors so they can find a way to a world title bout.

Dharry arrived in Guyana on Wednesday and was hosted at a gala reception on Thursday night at the Everest Cricket Club by a number of overseas based Guyanese. The event was attended by members of parliament, boxing officials and sponsors.

The fighter is expected to meet with boxing officials and wants to do some charitable works.

Despite being disappointed that the fight was cancelled, Dharry said he understands the situation not just here in Guyana, but around the world. “I just have to stay focus and be prepared,” he noted.

Dharry said he will continue to work hard and at the same time take the necessary precaution. “My training could have been better, but I am not going to complain. The fighters are all fully vaccinated so we get to work with each other,” he stated.

The 35-year-old Dharry said he confident of winning a world title.

“I have been the only Guyanese top ranked fighter for the past seven years and I have six belts so far. I am not the guy who runs away from the fights, I have been chasing the fights. I am there, It’s just for the other fighters to fight me, I want to fight them, I called their

names, I email their management teams, but it’s up them to fight me, I want to fight anyone of them who has a belt or is ranked in the top 10 in the world,” he (Continued on page 25)

Elton Dharry next to his newly erected photo compliments of the sponsors at the Everest Cricket Club.

GFF conducts U20 men’s trials in Florida ahead of CONCACAF qualifiers, sponsored by SQ Apparel

Keliza Smith was one of the standout athletes of the meet.

Prospective Guyana U20 players going through drills during the scouting sessions in the US.

Harshal Patel is over the moon after completing a hat-trick © BCCI

Curtains fall on National Youth & Junior t r o Sp

Hamilton wins 100th F1 race to take lead over Verstappen

Patel’s IPL hat trick lifts Bangalore to big win over Mumbai

The Mercedes driver secured a century of wins at the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. (Getty Images)

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