Guyana Times -- Friday, July 24, 2020

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THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 4356

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020

More serious consequences if APNU/ AFC insists on hanging on to power – Jagdeo warns See story on page 3

...says ... says PPP will fiercely resist if coalition refuses to leave office

Declaration delay threatens stability and democracy – South American democratic bloc Page 14

Lies, misrepresentation

by Williams and Cummings did not budge OAS diplomats – Phillips Page 12

Lowenfield finally served, to face 3 fraud charges today Page 2

Sales rep shot dead during alleged robbery

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Guyana and Suriname: P15 A tale of two neighbours

16 foreigners quarantined after entering P15 Guyana illegally …1 new COVID-19 case recorded

Pensioner P14 among 4 homeless after Mon Repos house goes up in flames

Father of 1 allegedly P16 drowns while swimming across creek

Page 15

P7 4 busted with ganja in separate Police operations

2 NEWS

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Lowenfield finally served, to face 3 fraud charges today

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GECOM CEO Keith Lowenfield

uyana Elections C o m m i s s i o n (GECOM) Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield is expected to make a court appearance today at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer to three private criminal charges filed against him for conspiring to commit fraud and for breach of public trust.

After dodging court marshals for weeks, Lowenfield was finally served on Thursday “after careful planning and strategy”.

This is according to Josh Kanhai and Desmond Morian, the private citizens who filed the charges against him. “Mr Lowenfield has been evading the summons, but fortunately, after careful planning and strategy, he was served at GECOM Secretariat’s Office,” the duo said in a statement to

the media.

Kanhai, a member of The New Movement (TNM) party, filed a charge claiming that Lowenfield between March 5 and June 23, 2020 conspired with person(s) unknown to commit the common law offence of fraud when he submitted his Election Report dated June 23 which included figures that altered the results of the elections.

Meanwhile, Morian is contending that Lowenfield, while performing his duties as CEO of GECOM, ascertained the results of the March 2 elections “knowing the said results to be false”, the said wilful misconduct amounting to a breach of the public’s trust in the office of the CEO. When those two charges came up for hearing before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on

July 3, Lowenfield was a no-show. Attorney Glenn Hanoman, who is representing Kanhai and Morian, had told reporters that the CEO had been dodging service of the two private criminal charges.

The Court, as a result, issued a summons for Lowenfield to appear in court on July 24.

Following that court session, Morian filed another private criminal charge, contending that Lowenfield conspired with person or persons unknown to use Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo’s fraudulent figures to prepare a report that was submitted to GECOM Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, back in March.

According to a national recount of the ballots, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won the March 2, polls with 233,336 votes cast in its favour. A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) secured 217,920 votes while the smaller parties secured as follows – A New and United Guyana – 2313; Change Guyana -- 1953; Liberty and Justice Party – 2657; People’s Republic Party – 889; The Citizens’ Initiative – 680; The New Movement – 244; and the United Republican Party –

Dr Josh Kanhai

360.

But Lowenfield, on numerous occasions, presented final election reports with concocted figures re-

flecting a false victory for the APNU/AFC. This is despite the GECOM Chair instructing him to prepare and present his report using the certified figures from the national recount – a process that was birthed out of an agreement by caretaker President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo – which was scrutinised by a Caricom High-Level Team.

The latest fraudulent report was submitted by Lowenfield on July 11 and included inflated numbers generated by embattled Returning Officer Mingo.

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) – Guyana’s

Desmond Morian

apex court – has endorsed the recount and stated that those figures should be the basis on which the election results are declared.

2 arrested for robbing woman of motorcycle

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wo men are now in custody for allegedly robbing a female domestic worker of her motorcycle on Wednesday at Aranaputa Public Road, North Rupununi, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).

Based on information received, the incident occurred around 17:45h as the woman was heading home from work. After the incident, the woman raised an alarm, and the suspects were ap-

The gun used during the robbery

prehended by public-spirited citizens and subsequently handed over to the Police.

The stolen motorcycle was recovered, along with

a firearm suspected to have been used in the commission of the crime. The men are expected to make their court appearance shortly.

NEWS

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FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Friday, July 24 – 05:00h-06:30h and Saturday, July 25 – 08:00h-09:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

More serious consequences if APNU/AFC insists on hanging on to power – Jagdeo warns

…says PPP will fiercely resist if coalition refuses to leave office

Friday, July 24 – 06:35h- 08:05h and Saturday, July 25 – 07:20h-08:50h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

Parika and Supenaam departure times - 05:00h, 11:00h and 16:00h daily

WEATHER TODAY Sunny conditions are expected followed by light rain showers from the mid-afternoon into the evening, followed by clear skies. Temperatures should range between 21 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: North North-Easterly to Westerly between 1.34 metres and 3.12 metres.

High Tide: 07:05h and 19:34h reaching maximum heights of 2.72 metres and 2.61 metres.

Low Tide: 13:06h reaching a minimum height of 0.52 metre.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

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pposition Leader and People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo has warned of more serious consequences coming Guyana’s way from the international community if the caretaker A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) insists on hanging on to power and refuses to demit office.

On Wednesday, the caretaker coalition declared that it would not be accepting any declaration based on the figures from the national recount.

This, according to Jagdeo in a subsequent statement, is not only clear defiance of the decisions by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM); the Chief Justice (ag), Roxane George and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as well as mounting calls by the international community but also the previous commitments by President David Granger to accept whatever declaration is made by GECOM. The Head of State had said back in May, during the recount exercise, and again in June after the recount, that he would “accept” and “abide” by GECOM’s declaration. But last, he said that he would “abide by any declaration that the Chairman [of GECOM]

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223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

makes in keeping with the laws of Guyana”.

The seven-member GECOM has decided to use the certified figures emanating from the 33-day recount process to declare the March 2 elections results.

However, this was challenged by coalition supporter Misenga Jones, but the High Court dismissed the application and ruled that the recount results must be used to make a final declaration – in keeping with the CCJ’s July 8th ruling. But the High Court decision is now being appealed by the APNU/AFC agent.

Nevertheless, Jagdeo noted in the missive on Thursday that this position of the coalition was not surprising given the history of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) – the largest party in the APNU faction – not accepting any electoral loss since 1992.

“What we have to do now is to work to ensure that we have a declaration that is reflective of the will of the people and only one that is derived from the figures generated by the national recount can produce such an outcome…,” he said in the missive.

Moreover, the Opposition Leader further posited that the Grangerled regime was living in a fool’s world if they believe the APNU/AFC could continue to hang on to power.

“If the international community was prepared to condemn and levy sanctions against people who are trying to undermine democracy, even before the

declaration, just imagine the consequences the riggers will face if they refuse to leave office after the declaration – essentially staging a coup d’état. Needless to say, such a move will be met by fierce resistance by the PPP and other forces fighting for democracy,” the General Secretary contended.

To this end, Jagdeo urged Guyanese not to be too concerned about whether the coalition would accept the declaration or not, assuring that this “bridge will be crossed” when the time comes.

He reminded of the remarks made by Organisation of American States (OAS) Secretary General Luis Almagro on Tuesday at the special Permanent Council meeting, where he put the choice to Guyana of “Democracy or Abyss?”.

This, Jagdeo said, will determine the consequences for Granger and the APNU/ AFC. Already, the United States has imposed visa restrictions against several Government and electoral officials, and their immediate family members, who were found to be undermining Guyana’s democracy.

“The Granger Government must respect the results of democratic elections and step aside,” US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, asserted.

He had noted in a subsequent statement that the visa sanctions sent a clear message of the consequences of subverting democracy and the rule of law, which

Caretaker President David Granger

pose a danger to not just the US but also hemispheric partners.

During an engagement with the media the following day, US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch was asked what danger the Secretary of State was referring to.

She explained that the US has partnered with Guyana for years in several critical areas, including security, governance and prosperity. These, she noted, are in danger if Guyana moves away from being a democratic nation.

“So, we look further to working with Guyana in the future [as] a secure, stable, prosperous country, as well as region. So, there are implicit dangers in all of those areas that we would like to avoid and we believe that we can do that best by working together as we have in the past…,” the US envoy had stated.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom had also announced last week that it has already started the process of putting “consequences in place” against individuals in Guyana, while Canada is likely to follow suit as well.

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guyanatimesgy.com

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020

Views This is solidarity, not intervention Editor: Tusika Martin News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544, 223-7230, 223-7231, 225-7761 Marketing: 231-8064 Accounts: 225-6707 Mailing address: Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com

Condemning attacks

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he A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change officials and supporters have been robustly unleashing attacks on anyone and everyone who comments on the humiliating political situation in Guyana and/or calls for credible elections result from the Recount figures. This political situation was created wholly by the APNU/AFC, who are still in self-denial over their defeat almost five months after the elections.

In the latest barrage of vile attacks, they have now robustly attempted to undermine and frustrate the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh. The unwarranted attacks against the Chair have been manifested in various forms, including on social media.

One APNU/AFC party agent, Ryan Williams from Linden in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice), was caught by Police with a fake social media account which he used to spurt threats to the life of the Chair. In addition to threats, APNU/AFC supporters were publicly engaged in a mock funeral with a doll which they labelled as the GECOM Chair.

The Police must be commended for their quick action in finding Williams and slapping cybercrime charges against him.

However, there are many others that the Police should pursue, who are endangering the life of the Chair.

These escalating attacks must be dealt with expeditiously by the Police. So despicable and appalling are the attacks that United States Ambassador Sarah Ann-Lynch, who herself has faced the wrath of the APNU/AFC officials, have condemned the dangerous statements made against the Chairwoman. The basis for the attacks is even more despicable, as it arose simply because Justice Singh is following the law to move towards the official declaration of the General and Regional Elections.

Unbelievably, these very APNU/AFC officials and supporters have not uttered a single criticism of, or condemned, the fraudulent actions of Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield.

As a matter of act, Lowenfield, who has changed the figures in his election report three times already, has come in for praise by the APNU/AFC for his fragment act of fraud. He will today face private criminal charges at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

But what does this say about the character of the APNU/ AFC officials? Their acceptance of Lowenfield’s fraudulent figures to give them a win is tantamount to the criminal offence of receiving stolen property, as is outlined in our Criminal Offences Act Chapter 8:01. But do they care? The answer is no.

From the posture of the APNU/AFC since the conclusion of the elections in March, it is clear that they will use every avenue available to them to hold to power.

This is the status quo since the passage of the No Confidence Motion in December 2018. As it is, APNU/AFC have squandered a good opportunity to be taken seriously as the Opposition party. The blame for downfall of the party lies squarely at the feet of its leaders – starting with de factor President David Granger. As this newspaper has said before, since March 2, the leadership of the APNU/AFC have fooled and manoeuvred their supporters into believing that they were in some way shortchanged, despite the international, regional and local observers pointing to the fact that the elections were free and fair.

All of the observers have publicly stated that the elections were free, fair, and credible up until the tabulation of the Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) results. The post-election events have been a national embarrassment, and have made this country a laughing stock in the eyes of the wider Caribbean and international community.

We have repeatedly said that these actions clearly show that after more than 50 years of Independence, some of our leaders have not matured politically, and are not willing to do the right thing in the national interest. The venomous attack on everyone who is standing up for Guyana’s democracy by a caretaker Government that is clutching at straws has dangerous implications for Guyana’s diplomatic relations.

We call on all right-thinking Guyanese to condemned the disgraceful attacks on the GECOM Chair as she seeks to uphold our democracy by using the National Election Recount figures to make the final declaration of the elections.

Dear Editor, Since the PNC-led APNU/AFC lost the NoConfidence Motion vote in the National Assembly, Guyana has been going through very difficult times.

This struggle has many dimensions, all of which have consequences for the country as a whole, and for each individual Guyanese.

It is a struggle to defend democracy, to defend the rights of the Guyanese people to elect a government of their choice through free and fair elections. It is a struggle to hold public officers accountable, particularly those in the Executive.

It is a struggle to demand transparency in dealing with the people’s business.

Indeed, it is the question of good governance.

It is in times like these that we see the mask falling away from everyone, and their true visage being revealed. It is crises like these that bring out the best in some and the worst in others.

The APNU/AFC leadership, together with a few of their sympathizers in the media, have unleashed vicious and vile attacks on the international community.

This was in response to the imposition of mild sanctions against those involved in attempts to rig the count of the March 2, 2020 elections, along with their intellectual authors in the APNU+AFC.

One of the charges made is that CARICOM, the US, UK, Canada and EU, among others, are interfering in our internal affairs by calling for the regime to step aside and to allow the real victors of the elections to be sworn in.

That is not interference! Interference is when outside forces take a stand against the people of a country to assist undemocratic forces. This is clearly not the case here.

The stand taken by all the forces internally and externally, to have these elections declared on the basis of the recount, places those governments and organisations firmly on the side of the people of Guyana; the workers, the farmers, the democratically minded intellectuals, the private sector. Everyone!

They have taken a stand to protect our region, to prevent a virus from infecting the democratic traditions of the Caribbean. This is vital to strengthen the democratic credentials of our region.

It will bring greater recognition to the region, and would lead to enhanced economic progress and more influence internationally.

For the US, UK, Canada, EU, Brazil, it will improve their standing too. After all, they are on the side of the people, and for the welfare of this country. They deserve the highest praise for

standing up with the broad masses of our country.

On the other hand, many who had some reputation have revealed themselves as anti-nationals. The likes of Hinds, Jeffrey, Lewis, Alexander, Nagamootoo, Ramjattan, Harmon, and most of all Granger, fall into this category. The fig leaves have fallen off, and they stand exposed.

Their defence of the regime and support for stealing the 2020 elections will lead us to a dead end. What is their motivation? Some say it is the love of power; power for power’s sake.

It is power to enrich themselves, to run the country as if it were their fiefdom. It is power to corrupt themselves and the minds of many others, especially the young and impressionable.

Some of those not directly in the corridors of power are motivated by their own racism. Their racism has led them into the embrace of the corrupt cabal that is the leadership of the PNC/ APNU/AFC. It exposes the character of others. Let’s take Nagamootoo as an example. In the past, he wrote eloquently about the PNC dictators.

Nothing has changed in the PNC. It has not reformed itself. It never apologised to the people of this nation for bringing our country to its knees during the 1964 to 1992

dictatorship period. Yet, Nagamootoo has become one of the main defenders of this gross attempt to steal, to rig. He is defending corruption and supporting the subversion of our rights and freedoms.

This demonstrates a high level of duplicity.

Morality has been kicked into the overflowing gutter, and integrity has been flushed down the toilet. In hindsight, Nagamootoo was obviously not sincere when he was opposed to the PNC, since now he seems to be motivated by the largess gained from the corrupt acts of the PNC. It would not be remiss to say that the top echelon of the PNC is similarly motivated. Now disguised in self-righteous sanctimony, they level incredible and asinine attacks on the international community, who are most certainly on the side of the people.

So it is very clear that the call to respect our Constitution, to respect the will of the people as expressed in the March 2, 2020 elections, cannot be described as ‘interfering’.

No, this is solidarity, for which all democratically minded and peace-loving Guyanese must be thankful.

Sincerely, Donald Ramotar Former President

The de facto Government believes OAS is of no consequence Dear Editor, If it weren’t for the tragic situation facing our country, one would have howled with laughter at the comical yet duplicitous performances of the two Guyana de facto Ministers before the OAS Permanent Council on July 21, 2020.

The de facto Government clearly had decided that the stage for this disgraceful exposure of a compendium of lies, misrepresentation, and fork-tongued diatribe would be most appropriate at the OAS. A specially convened meeting of the OAS Permanent Council at the request of the Secretary General to discuss a specific situation in a member state is not a common occurrence.

It is not one that is treated lightly and frivolously by the OAS Secretary General or by any of the 35 member states of the Permanent Council.

The fact that such a meeting was convened at the request of the Secretary General, Mr. Luis Almagro, to consider the state of the electoral process in Guyana (CP/INF.8700/20) on July 21, 2020 was a momentous occasion. The electoral situation, after 141 days with no end in sight, was one the OAS Secretary General could not be found wanting in allowing a member state to continue to flagrantly derail the elections and the will of the Guyanese people in open violation of the

Inter-American Democratic Charter. Guyana had failed the litmus test of democracy: peaceful transition after free, fair, transparent elections, and therefore must face the hemispheric body. The fact that was has transpired in Guyana since December 21, 2018, and more particularly since March 2, 2020, has never happened in this hemisphere nor anywhere else in the world was not lost on the member states.

After 141 days since the elections of March 2, 2020, the OAS, like the CARICOM, Commonwealth, and European Union, made its position known once again, but this time at its highest forum: that it would not accept the efforts of the Granger-led APNU+AFC Coalition and key GECOM officials to hijack the elections in Guyana and keep an illegitimate Government in office.

Of special and notable significance was that the members of the OAS Permanent Council spoke with one voice at the meeting, and this in itself is historic and not one to be treated lightly.

The 22 member states who spoke were unanimous in calling for the recount results to be used in the declaration of the elections of March 2, 2020; that this situation had gone on for far too long, and there must be a swift end to this impasse with the transition to the legit-

imate Government that was elected by the people on March 2, 2020; that “the world knows who won the election”, and that there should be no further recourse to the courts to impede the declaration of the results and thwart the will of the Guyanese people.

The Secretary General’s words, that: “This is a historic turning point for Guyana. Without a doubt, this will define its future… action against Guyana could be taken if the situation does not change”, is a warning shot of great import to the hemisphere.

No OAS Secretary General speaks carelessly; he heads an organization that brings together all 35 independent states of the Americas and constitutes the main political, juridical, and social governmental forum in this hemisphere. In addition, it has granted permanent observer status to 69 states, as well as to the European Union (EU). This meeting will impact Guyana’s future, no doubt about that.

Not surprising, and sadly, the only two “oddballs ” in the virtual room were the de facto Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Karen Cummings and de facto Attorney General Basil Williams, who, as usual, were oblivious to the historic nature and purport of the meeting; they belittled the gravity of when one’s country is the special subject of discussion before this pow-

erful hemispheric organization. Instead, they thought they were going to gaff and spin their wicked, false narratives as they have done repeatedly to their supporters on the cheap rag-tag Benschop TV programme and in inane and inciting facebook posts.

What they in fact did was “thumb their noses” at this prestigious body. The line taken by Cummings and Williams was reflected in Cummings’s letter to the OAS on July 19th, 2020, from which she read, replete with baseless allegations. These two faithfully spun the false narrative of the Granger-led APNUAFC Coalition, with downright lies, distortions, and misrepresentations.

They went so far as to repudiate the rulings of the Chief Justice made on July 20th and the Caribbean Court of Justice’s rulings of July 8th, 2020, and to throw out the Caricom Scrutinizing Report of the recount with one distortion after another. There was no indication that they actually cared about what was transpiring, or were concerned for our country and its people. It was all bravado in an occasion that warranted the utmost seriousness. No one could escape the conclusion that this was a mere annoyance that the Granger-led APNU/AFC Coalition had to endure at the OAS. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

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FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020

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You can send your letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com

Stop misusing the Judiciary Dear Editor, The world is vociferously and incessantly pleading for the Guyanese nation, which is being held hostage and undergoing severe torture by the APNU/AFC Coalition. This was once again ventilated by the Organization of American States (OAS) at its meeting specially held to address the current electoral situation in which the APNU/AFC is bent on rigging the 2020 Elections.

At that meeting, 21 countries, including all 14 CARICOM countries, called for the declaration of the Recount results to be announced, so that there is a peaceful transition of government. The message is clear, that should the Coalition fail to comply, Guyana risks becoming a pariah state, there will be serious consequences for subverting democracy, and there is imminent danger of being expelled from the OAS as well as other reputable international organizations.

The message from the world leaders who echoed the Inter American Democratic Charter are clearly conclusive that another dictatorship will not be tolerated; but, despite this, Granger once again is bent on his nefarious and wicked journey to thwart the will of the Guyanese people by appealing a most comprehensive and legally correct decision handed down by Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George.

In that clear and concise judgment, the Chief Justice made it clear that the CCJ had already pronounced on the same issues; namely: that it is mandatory that GECOM, and more specifically the CEO, use the recount results to compile his report; and that Section 22 and Section 18 of the Election Laws (Amendment) Act No 15 of 2000 and Order 60 are not unconstitutional.

The Coalition, through its surrogate Misenga Jones, applied to the High Court for 28 orders which sought to discredit and discard the recount results and use the fraudulent results of Region 4 Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo as the basis for the CEO to make his report, and hence the declaration.

Such a declaration would see the Coalition as the ‘winner’.

The Chief Justice, in the matter of whether the High Court has jurisdiction to entertain the application, ruled thus, “This court does have jurisdiction, albeit limited to where GECOM has acted or is about to act in excess of its constitutional and/or statutory powers”.

She supported this with Justice

Bernard’s rulings in the Norton case, where she ‘clearly emphasised that the court can exercise supervisory jurisdiction in election cases outside a challenge to the validity of the elections by way of election petition’.

But thereafter she struck down the applicant’s orders sought one after the next. On the question of whether Section 22 is constitutional, the Chief Justice ruled that the CA having pronounced that a challenge to the constitutionality of section 22 would be for an election petition, the principles of res judicata apply. So, having been raised and, importantly, dealt with by the Court, it cannot be canvassed again.

We have seen that despite this, the Coalition has appealed to the Court of Appeal. Now the Court of Appeal is being asked to upturn its own ruling.

The Chief Justice was adamant that she is bound to follow this decision, since she can ‘discern no distinguishing feature’ that would allow her to depart from that judgment. In relation to Order 60, the CJ ruled thus, “I have concluded that a holistic review of the CCJ judgment in ALI supports the contention for the Chairperson and the added respondents that this issue is indeed res judicata. Thus, the interpretation of the CCJ decision by the appellant, the CEO and the AG is hopelessly flawed.

“The CCJ judgment lends to the ineluctable conclusion that the recount votes are ex facie valid, hence the view expressed that any irregularities would have to be addressed via an election petition”.

She further clarified that the CCJ “re-emphasised that Order 60 did not, and could not, create a new election regime”. Again, the Coalition will be asking the Court of Appeal to upturn a decision of the CCJ, the apex court of the land.

Furthermore, on the question of whether the declarations of the Returning Officers for the Ten Electoral Districts made pursuant to Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act should be set aside, she ruled thus, “The declarations of the returning officers…have been overtaken by events whereby GECOM, in its wisdom, considered that there were difficulties that had to be addressed in order to produce what is termed Order 60 as a credible recount…and was meant to address them”.

She further added that the Court of Appeal in the Moore matter had ruled that it is “within GECOM’s functions to resolve

those controversies as part of its responsibilities to deliver results of the elections.” This was also echoed in the rulings of the CCJ. Therefore, the recount cannot be considered to be invalidated, and the CEO cannot act as a ‘lone ranger’ since he is “subject to the direction and control of the Commission”.

On the other hand, she was clear that “the ten declarations cannot be resurrected at this point in time”. The CCJ has already determined that, “unless overturned by a Court in an Election petition, the only data that could be used for the declaration of the results of the elections would have to be the recount results or data”.

The learned Chief Justice agreed that the reliefs sought ‘mirrors’ those in the Moore matter and the Ali case, and therefore the doctrine of res judicata applies, since these “issues have been litigated previously and determined by Courts that take precedence over this High Court”.

There is therefore concluded that there is not an iota of doubt in any reasonable person’s mind that the frivolous appeal by Granger and his cabal will never succeed at the Court of Appeal, since the Chief Justice’s ruling is clear, unambiguous, and correct in law.

Unfortunately, Granger’s recent statement that he will not accept the recount results is indicative that he will not accept the Court’s decisions as well, as he has been doing with the CCJ’s rulings. When will Granger understand and accept that he is now running out of options?

The CCJ will not rule in the Coalition’s favour and against its own judgment.

The con game is at an end.

Karen Cummings and Basil Williams lied at the OAS meeting, and only made matters worse, as Granger will continue his ignominious journey to defy the Courts’ rulings, the Constitution, the CARICOMcertified recount, and ultimately GECOM’s declarations.

Granger’s inglorious journey will come to an end one way or another. At this point, the Chairperson of GECOM must go ahead and put an end to the ridiculously long extended electoral process by using the recount results; there is no other way.

Let Granger and his cabal continue their defiance to their detriment, but the will of the electorate must be respected.

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

Dishonesty, indecency of David Granger, APNU/AFC have no bounds Dear Editor, David Granger and his APNU/AFC sycophants wear indecency and dishonesty as a badge of honour. But many persons still had hopes that David Granger would at least have a limit to his indecency and dishonesty. The truth really hurts because, for those who gave him the benefit of the doubt, Granger has proven beyond any doubt that his indecency and dishonesty have no bounds. On almost a daily basis, Granger and the APNU/AFC’s dishonesty and indecency are being exposed.

On July 21st, Karen Cummings, Guyana’s squatter Minister of Foreign Affairs, was sent

by Granger to represent him and APNU/AFC at a special meeting called by the OAS to discuss the electoral rigging that the OAS observers reported.

Every member country of the OAS denounced the ongoing attempts to thief the elections in Guyana.

Every country insisted Granger and APNU/AFC must immediately desist from using the judiciary as part of its theft of the elections.

Cummings promised the OAS that Granger would accept the declaration GECOM makes, whenever GECOM does make the declaration.

She told the OAS that Granger asked her to let them know he would accept GECOM’s declaration. Granger had, on multiple occasions, himself promised to accept GECOM’s declaration.

Both the CCJ and the CJ of Guyana have indicated that GECOM is bound to use the Recount results as the basis for its declaration.

But, egregiously, Granger and APNU/AFC immediately exposed further their dishonesty and indecency. They added further proof they are holding Guyana hostage, as the OAS members themselves have concluded. On the same day, Cummings and the squatter Attorney General Basil Williams were begging the OAS to be pa-

The de facto Government...

In the face of the profound and detailed report of the former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bruce Golding, to the Permanent Council, the joint statement of the Caricom representatives at the OAS, the serious presentations and stern warnings by the Ambassadors to the OAS from Antigua, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and the USA, the arrogant retort of Williams, that “all of this is premature(ie, OAS)…, APNU/AFC Coalition had won the elections and have the majority of votes…there could be no peaceful transi-

tion, as there had been no declaration”, made a mockery of the OAS and the Charter it stands for.

That the Granger-led de facto Government believes that the OAS is of no consequence is the same contempt that it holds for the Caricom, Commonwealth, and European Union. All have been targeted and accused of interference, and told to stay out of Guyana’s business. As we say in Guyana, “If you ears hard, you will feel”, the problem is all of our people, innocent of this travesty, will feel.

In fact, so dangerous is

this situation that at the very same time as the Secretary General Almargo was saying that, “The current situation serves no purpose in Guyana.

We call to stop using the judiciary branch to avoid bringing a solution to the country. It is time to make decisions and protect democracy and the will of the people expressed in the elections”, the rigging Mafioso had proceeded to file an appeal to all of the Chief Justice’s rulings of the day before. This, too, is an affront, and yet another indication to Guyanese and to the world that this gang of brigands will not concede defeat, and will

not accept the results.

I, like so many Guyanese, was ashamed and shocked as this travesty was displayed on the international stage; embarrassed to see our nation’s international reputation in tatters.

Former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Golding, made it clear that the people of Guyana are not to be blamed for the current electoral crisis in Guyana. In fact, he commended the people of Guyana for their patience over the past four months. I console myself with Golding’s closing remarks, that: “The people of Guyana do not deserve

tient, that Granger is only waiting for GECOM to declare the results, which he would accept, APNU/AFC frivolously and vexingly appealed the Chief Justice’s rulings which were made on July 20. This now prevents GECOM from making the declaration which Granger supposedly is waiting on.

This action further proves the OAS was not overstating the case against Granger and APNU/AFC when it concluded they were using the judiciary as a pawn in their delaying and thieving tactics. The Guyana Appeal Court is now scheduled to have a hearing on Saturday, July 25. By the time the COA makes its ruling, it will be almost five months since the elections were held.

Even more egregiously, just one day after Cummings and Williams appeared in front of the OAS and promised that Granger and APNU/AFC would accept GECOM”s declaration, insisting they have never and will never interfere with GECOM’s independence, APNU/ AFC issued a statement that they will not accept GECOM’s declaration if it used the Recount results.

They claimed that only one of Lowenfield’s multiple fraudulent reports, two based on Mingo’s fraud, another based on Lowenfield’s arbitrary discard of more than 115,000 votes, and another on Lowenfield’s fraudulent discard of 175,000 votes, will be accepted.

This is asking GECOM to commit a crime. This is not just interference, it is intimidation and coercion of an independent statutory body to commit fraud, electoral fraud, electoral theft.

In issuing their despicable statement, they have unequivocally threatened GECOM, the country, and the global stakeholders, including CARICOM, the Commonwealth, the OAS, the ABCE countries, the UN, essentially the whole world, that either GECOM makes a

FROM PAGE 4

this”, but also brace myself for the future, as he said, “It will take years for Guyana to recover from what has transpired.”

The only ones responsible for this is Granger and his gang of brigands, who have brought our nation so low and who are continuing aggressively to undermine the very democratic foundations of our nation with their desperate and despotic grasping of the reins of government.

But this, too, will end; that l know.

Faithfully, Gail Teixeira

fraudulent declaration for Granger to be illegally sworn in as President, or Guyana will be embroiled in violence.

They can huff and puff, they can spin all they want, this is what indecency and dishonesty look like.

Having been blocked in their open, plain-sight attempt to thief the elections, they then tried to use the judiciary to help them thief the elections. While the use of the judiciary has helped them to delay the elections, the judiciary has not fully cooperated for them to thief the elections. Having been brutally slapped by Guyana’s High Court and the CCJ, they are trying one more time with the COA, knowing they can only succeed in further delaying the swearing in of President Irfaan Ali, the actual winner of the elections.

They realize that they cannot use the judiciary for any further delaying.

Now they have decided to come out in the open and formally issue their threat - give them what they want or they will resort to what they do best: violent protests; “slow fyah, mo fyah”. At the same time, they have given another option: if GECOM cannot declare them the winner, then maybe the political parties can agree for shared governance, with Granger as President. The PPP won, free and fair. The PPP won by more than 15,000 votes.

APNU/AFC lost by almost 25,000 votes.

GECOM must not be intimidated. GECOM is obligated to declare the winner.

On the evening of March 2, GECOM knew who the winner was. They had in their possession several copies of the 2,339 Statements of Poll prepared by GECOM’s handpicked presiding officers.

Having been forced into a recount, GECOM chose its staff to do the recount, Granger chose the only international observer allowed, deeming CARICOM as the most “legitimate interlocutor”, and Lowenfield supervised the recount.

Justice Claudette Singh was present throughout.

At the end of the recount, GECOM knew that the recount affirmed what they knew from the original SOPs, that the PPP won by over 15,000 votes.

The ballots cast on March 2 were counted twice, and both times showed the exact results - the PPP won.

Dr. Irfaan Ali is President. It has been almost five months.

GECOM has not been able to make a declaration because of the shenanigans of Granger’s APNU/AFC and a rigging cabal in GECOM, consisting of APNU/AFC commissioners and Lowenfield, and some in his secretariat.

The time has come for this travesty to end. The time has come for those who gave David Granger the benefit of the doubt to now understand that Guyana is being held hostage by an indecent, dishonest man.

Sincerely, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

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FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020

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Foundation

Guyana Times is pleased to publish CXC English and Mathematics questions with specimen answers.

CXC QUESTIONS

MATHS

ENGLISH

B

The Tempest

By William Shakespeare Act 1 Scene 2 Cont’d

ARIEL: Yes, Caliban, her son.

PROSPERO: Dull thing, I say so. He, that Caliban Whom now I keep in service. Thou best know’st What torment I did find thee in. Thy groans Of ever angry bears. It was a torment Did make wolves howl and penetrate the breasts To lay upon the damned, which Sycorax Could not again undo. It was mine art, When I arrived and heard thee, that made gape The pine and let thee out.

ARIEL: I thank thee, master.

PROSPERO: If thou more murmur’st, I will rend an oak And peg thee in his knotty entrails till Thou hast howled away twelve winters.

ARIEL: Pardon, master.

I will be correspondent to command And do my spiriting gently.

PROSPERO: Do so, and after two days I will discharge thee.

ARIEL: That’s my noble master!

What shall I do? Say, what? What shall I do?

PROSPERO: Go make thyself like a nymph o’ th’ sea. Be subject To no sight but thine and mine, invisible To every eyeball else. Go take this shape And hither come in ’t. Go hence with diligence.

Exit ARIEL (to MIRANDA) Awake, dear heart, awake! Thou hast slept well.

Awake!

MIRANDA: (waking) The strangeness of your story put Heaviness in me.

PROSPERO: Shake it off. Come on.

We’ll visit Caliban, my slave who never Yields us kind answer.

MIRANDA: ‘Tis a villain, sir, I do not love to look on.

PROSPERO: But as ’tis, We cannot miss him. He does make our fire, Fetch in our wood, and serves in offices That profit us.—What, ho! Slave! Caliban!

Thou earth, thou! Speak.

CALIBAN: (within) There’s wood enough within.

PROSPERO: Come forth, I say! There’s other business for thee.

Come, thou tortoise! When?

Enter ARIEL, like a water nymph Fine apparition! My quaint Ariel, Hark in thine ear. (whispers to ARIEL) What a fine sight! My dear clever Ariel, listen carefully. (he whispers to ARIEL) ARIEL: My lord it shall be done.

Exit ARIEL PROSPERO: (to CALIBAN) Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself Upon thy wicked dam, come forth!

Enter CALIBAN CALIBAN: As wicked dew as e’er my mother brushed With raven’s feather from unwholesome fen Drop on you both! A southwest blow on ye And blister you all o’er!

NEWS

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FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Opposition Commissioners condemn scurrilous attacks against GECOM Chair

T

he three Oppositionn o m i n a t e d Commissioners of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) have condemned the continuous vile attacks against its Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, particularly those emanating from within the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition.

In a joint statement on Thursday, Commissioners Sase Gunraj, Bibi Shadick and Robeson Benn, “…unreservedly condemn these scurrilous attacks on the Chairman and call upon those engaged in such conduct, including senior members of the APNU+AFC, a contestant in these elections, to cease and desist from so doing”.

The three Opposition Commissioners believe these vile attacks directed at the GECOM Chair stemmed from her firm stance in rejecting the fraudulent reports presented by Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield and insisting that only the recount figures be presented to the Commission to enable a declaration of final elections results.

“While Commissioners

PPP/C Commissioners

may not always agree with the Chairman, she has always discharged her duties with professionalism, fairness, and impartiality, and in keeping with the tenets of the Constitution and other legal provisions,” they said in the missive.

According to the GECOM Commissioners, it seems to have become the norm for individuals and organisations that take actions or make statements which appear to be averse to the “rigging agenda” to be subjected to various kinds of attacks.

As the post-elections events unfolded, there have been increased attacks -mostly via social media – against the GECOM Chair.

Back in April, Justice Singh had reported a death threat on her life to the Guyana Police Force. She subsequently told reporters, “They have a bounty on my head from Friday [April 17, 2020] night.”

More recently, however, the attacks have escalated and the Police last week arrested an APNU/AFC activist from Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) who had threatened to kill the GECOM Chair in a Facebook post last week.

The post, which was

made under a fake profile, was traced back to the person who made it.

The perpetrator, Ryan Williams, 27, of Silver City, Wismar, Linden, was charged under the Cybercrime Act and placed on $500,000 bail during his court appearance on Monday.

Meanwhile, even more disturbing is a video on social media showing persons conducting a makeshift funeral with a doll which they claim represents the GECOM Chair.

These attacks had prompted United States Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch, to also condemn the acts. During an engagement with the media last week, Lynch said: “I am shocked and appalled at the dangerous statements and actions that I have seen directed at the Chairwoman.”

As such, the US Ambassador called for these acts and attacks against Justice Singh to be condemned.

“Chairwoman Singh is a person of the utmost integrity and a distinguished jurist who has given decades of her life in service to her country. I hope that all Guyanese will speak out on her behalf and allow her to continue her

work and bring this electoral process to closure,” the US diplomat stated.

The GECOM Chair was forced to discard several reports submitted by the CEO after he continuously failed to adhere to her directive to use the figures from the recount exercise to compile his report.

In his last report, Lowenfield used the fraudulent figures of embattled Region Four Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo, who was found to have heavily inflated votes in favour of the APNU/AFC. Justice Singh then set aside the declarations from

GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh

all the 10 ROs and gave the CEO a final chance to submit a correct report using the recount figures. However, before he could have done so, legal proceedings were filed by APNU/AFC supporter Misenga Jones, who was seeking to block GECOM from making a declaration based on the national recount results.

The certified results of the 33-day exercise show the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) with a landslide victory, having secured 233,336 votes while the APNU/AFC obtained 217,920 votes – a difference of some 15,416 votes.

4 busted with ganja in separate Police operations

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our persons were on Wednesday arrested after they were busted with a quantity of ganja in their possession following separate Police operations.

According to information received, around 14:00h on the day in question, Police, acting on information, intercepted a motor car at 31 Miles, Ituni Road, Region Seven (Cuyuni-

The cannabis that was concealed in the car doors

The 139 grams of suspected cannabis found in Kumaka

Mazaruni) and conducted a search.

The search reportedly unearthed 61 parcels of suspected cannabis amounting to 9071 grams (9.07 kilograms). The ganja was concealed in the panels of the motor car’s doors

and also in a spare wheel. Two males were taken into Police custody.

Meanwhile, around 21:00h on the same day, Police, acting on information received, went to a shop at Kumaka Water Front, Mabaruma, Region One (Barima-Waini), and conducted a search, which uncovered 139 grams of the illegal plant.

The male owner of the business and a female vendor were arrested and were assisting with investigations.

8 NEWS

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Trinidadian man arrested 3 years after murdering Guyanese A

Trinidadian national of Chaguanas was arrested in connection with the murder of Guyanese national Meshach

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

Yoel Mentore.

According to a Loop TT News report, Mentore, 29, was killed on February 18, 2017 in Chaguanas.

The suspect was held over the past weekend, and investigators were expected to approach the Director of Public Prosecutions, Roger Gaspard, SC, for instructions on how to proceed against the suspect.

Mentore, also called “Joel”, formerly of Lot 216 Stephen Street, B Field, Sophia, Greater Georgetown, and of Henderson Street, Chaguanas, Trinidad, was reportedly killed during a dispute with his lover.

One day after the incident, Police stated that at approximately 11:15h on the day in question, his roommate found him in the liv-

Murdered: Meshach Yoel Mentore, aka “Joel”

ing room of their apartment, unresponsive and bleeding from multiple stab wounds to his neck and chest.

The roommate said he last saw Mentore alive around 04:00h on the said day when he was going to the bathroom. Mentore, a restaurant host, was pro-

nounced dead at the crime scene.

Valarie Mentore, mother of the dead man, had told Guyana Times that she received the news about her son’s death a few hours after the discovery of his body.

“All the person told me was that Joel was stabbed to death … they did not say what might have triggered the murder, but the Police have arrested the roommate,” the mother stated.

The woman further stated that her son left Guyana several years ago, but he would often visit. “I don’t know much about his lifestyle in Trinidad, but all he told me was that he has a roommate … I don’t know if he was seeing anyone or anything,” she added.

The woman stated that the news of his death was definitely a shock and it was one she would have to live with for the rest of her life.

PNC’s looney bin…

V

…occupant Alexander incent Alexander released a sixteen-page printed opus (he twice insisted he was an “author”!!) on why the elections should be annulled and new elections called!! That’s right…after getting into the Guinness Book of Records for the longest wait for elections IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, Guyanese must now cancel the count, the recount, and the court judgements, and start all over again!! Now, to be fair, Alexander has been pursuing this bee in his bonnet (or inside his beard!) for months… but SIXTEEN PAGES?? Jeez!

Unfortunately, it’s another case of a mountain labouring mightily and producing a mouse. In this case, to quote PNC lawyer Boston, a “stillborn” mouse!! All Alexander did was to regurgitate the identical arguments the various PNC plaintiffs made to the Courts – and which were all addressed by the CCJ, our apex court.

So, in effect, he was just spitting (or pi55ing) in the wind. And we know what ensues when then happens, don’t we?? Nasty!! It’s clear that - as demonstrated by the rest of his comrades in the PNC - they’ve refused to have someone other than Basil Williams explain the meaning of the terms “res judicata” and “stare decisis”!!

The first problem your Eyewitness had with the novella (and believe me, it IS a work of fiction!!) was Alexander’s strained efforts to sound “lawyerly”. He clearly isn’t au fait with the modern drift of the legal fraternity to plain, unadorned language. In his opening “note” (yes, he has one in addition to a “preface”!!), in which he accused GECOM of being engaged in a “frolic”, he ends with: “The readers are therefore invited to ENJOIN the author (the second time in one paragraph he describes himself as such!!) in an objective determination of the fate of Election 2020.”

Why couldn’t he just say folks should “join” him on his own “detour and frolic”??!! He wanted to sound lawyerly, forgetting that, at law, the word enjoin means to “prohibit someone from performing (a particular action) by issuing an injunction”!!

Rather than going over the matters that are res judicata, your Eyewitness will touch on another, which Alexander himself could’ve helped resolve.

This is his claim that the voters list was “bloated”. But in his preface, he’d boasted about being the “longest serving member of GECOM”. Well, what was he doing all those years while drawing a fat salary as a Commissioner?? Why didn’t he push that the list be cleaned up by insisting that the information provided by the Chief Registration Officer from birth and death records be used on the NRR? But by now Guyanese should know a misdirection when they see one. Alexander’s just blowing smoke up Guyanese arses!! …occupant Ogunseye Now, don’t start with telling your Eyewitness that Ogunseye is “WPA”!! Those days are looong gone…and all of the remaining Worst Possible Alternative (as Fat Boy once called them, before assassinating Walter Rodney) are now blooded PNC. Anyhow, Ogunseye, who’d appointed himself “Defender of the PNC Realm” since he got a full-time job at the Office of the Presidency, just issued what he announced were the views of “Africans” and “Indians” on the elections crisis.

It’s important to note that the fella didn’t refer to the views of African-Guyanese or Indian-Guyanese, but full blooded “Africans and Indians” – shows where he’s coming from!! Anyhow, since he admitted that he can only speak authoritatively about “African” views, let’s just look at just one of these.

“The PPP/C on Election Day organised massive rigging, and got fraudulent votes in the ballot boxes, and the PPP/C numbers are fraudulent. Mingo’s Region 4 tabulations were an attempt to undo PPP/C rigging.”

The question, of course, is how did Mingo know the PPP had rigged, so he had to make “corrections”? …view Ogunseye also offered this gem: “Indians only want to make money; they don’t join the army to defend the country.”

So Indian-Guyanese were not excluded by the British and Burnham?? And what happened to Major Sattaur and the SSU? Readers are invited to send their comments by email to eye@guyanatimesgy.com

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FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

10 NEWS

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

APNU/AFC plans public meetings for Region 3 this weekend – in clear violation of COVID-19 guidelines

Former Minister David Patterson

T

he A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) seems to be grasping on to every last straw to stay in power following its defeat at the March 02, 2020 polls. The latest move is one that would see members of the coalition fanning out across the country this Sunday to meet with supporters.

Based on the schedule, seen by Guyana Times,

the public meetings are expected to commence at 9:30h across Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara).

In Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) AFC executive and caretaker Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson is expected to speak at Parika, East Bank Essequibo from 09:30h, and Philadelphia New Primary School in Vergenoegen from 13:00 on Sunday.

However, when contacted, the former minister refused to confirm whether he would be speaking at the scheduled outreaches.

Meanwhile, PNC General Secretary Amna Ally and Executive Members Joseph Harmon, Christopher Jones and Ronald Bulkan are also scheduled to speak at these meetings.

The outreaches as scheduled in villages such as Crane, Den Amstel, De Kindren and Uitvlugt on the West Coast of Demerara; and on the West Bank of Demerara in Phoenix Park, Goed Intent, Bagotville and

APNU General Secretary Amna Ally

Parfaite Harmonie.

However, when contacted, General Secretary of the APNU, Amna Ally, also took the stance of not confirming or denying the outreach.

“That is the Coalition’s business. We have a programme and we will execute that programme. I am not confirming nor denying what you would have heard. Whatever it is, it is the Coalition’s business,”

Ally said during a telephone conversation.

Additionally, efforts to contact Harmon and Bulkan proved futile. Nevertheless, these public meetings are clearly in violation of the COVID-19 guidelines issued by the National Task Force. The guideline specifically stated that there should be no public gathering of more than ten persons in one space.

Attempts to contacts the COVID-19 National Task Force were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, based on the results from the National Recount, the APNU/AFC Coalition was defeated by

the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) at the March 2 General and Regional Elections, but has been refusing to accept defeat. Instead, the coalition, through its agents, has been delaying the declaration of the elections results via several court challenges.

According to a national recount of the ballots, the PPP/C won the March 2, polls with 233,336 votes cast in its favour. APNU/ AFC secured 217,920 votes, while the smaller parties A New and United Guyana – 2313; Change Guyana –1953; Liberty and Justice

Party – 2657; People’s Republic Party – 889; The Citizen’s Initiative – 680; The New Movement – 244; and the United Republican Party – 360.

Instead, the coalition has been adamant that the declaration by the 10 Returning Officers – inclusive of the fraudulent declarations by Returning Officer for District Four (Clairmont Mingo) – must be used as a basis for the declaration of the results.

Mingo had inflated the APNU/AFC numbers by over 19,000 while deducting over 3000 votes from the PPP/C.

raised, and the businessman and other persons went over to the scene where they saw him lying face-up; he was clad in a pair of long blue pants and a jersey.

Police ranks from the Beterverwagting Police

Station were subsequently summoned to the scene.

Upon preliminary investigations, the Police found no marks of violence. The body was taken to the Lyken Funeral Home to await a post-mortem.

Body of elderly man found under market stall

P

olice on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) have intensified their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a man whose body was found under a stall at the Mon Repos Market, ECD. The dead man has been identified as Víctor Persaud, suspected to be in his 50s. The discovery was made around 06:45h on Wednesday.

A businessman, Roopnarine Mohamed, who owns and operates the “Big K Taxi Service” at the said market, related that a female would usually “check up” on the now dead man, and she found him in a motionless state. An alarm was

11 APNU/AFC using sovereignty as a convenient fig leaf for democratic malpractice – Global Americas author H NEWS

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

aving lost the March 2, 2020 polls, the embattled A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) is now pushing the notion of ‘sovereignty’ as an excuse to stave off growing international intolerance over its failure to concede defeat and allow for a smooth transition of government to the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

Since the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, the David Granger-led APNU/AFC has been very confrontational with the international community, which has been calling for credible elections results to be declared in Guyana.

The coalition has wasted no time in accusing foreign powers of “interfering” in the domestic affairs of Guyana and in effect had told them to “stay out”.

Wazim Mowla, a Guyanese-American author at Global Americas, in an opinion piece titled “Patience running thin in Guyana”, has underlined the fact that while the incumbent APNU/ AFC Government would want to resurrect the notion of sovereignty, it could not do so conveniently.

Mowla, whose article was published on July 22, was at the time referencing the scathing attack launched

Wazim Mowla, author at Global Americas

by the APNU/AFC against Caricom leaders, more so the St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves.

Dr Gonsalves had said that Caricom would not stand idly by and allow for the national recount results to be set aside, and that they must be the basis on which the elections results are declared. However, his statement, even though it echoed those of current and former Caribbean leaders, was labelled as “foreign interference” by the APNU/AFC. According to Mowla, while the coalition demands respect for Guyana’s sovereignty, the Government

Fire destroys home of Sophia security officer

The house in flames on Wednesday

A

security officer, her husband and children are now homeless after a fire of unknown origin completely destroyed their 13th Field, Section A, Sophia, Greater Georgetown home on Wednesday.

According to information received, the owner of the house, Iyana Thompson, returned home from work around 10:00h on the day in question and went to a shop nearby to purchase groceries.

After collecting the items,

she saw her two children ran out of the house screaming for “fire! Fire!” Without hesitation, the Fire Service was summoned. The family was unable to salvage any household items from the burning building.

By the time, the fire tenders arrived at the scene, the building was completely gutted.

Anyone desirous of assisting the family can contact them on phone number 608-2346.

is party to several international, regional, and bilateral agreements, “many built around ideas of democracy and intended to hold Guyanese leaders responsible if democratic principles are not respected”.

However, Mowla noted, “Sovereignty now is a convenient fig leaf for democratic malpractice.”

Guyana’s Ambassador to the US, Dr Riyad Insanally, was summoned to a meeting with Assistant Secretary of State, Michael Kozak in March to discuss the political crisis in Guyana and the APNU/AFC’s refusal to accept defeat.

However, mere days after the Ambassador was summoned, in a typical act of defiance, the Government, through the caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Karen Cummings, issued a statement ‘reminding’ the international community that Guyana is a ‘sovereign

State’.

Guyana is a member of the Commonwealth, the United Nations, the Organisation of American States and Caricom, and through its obligations under various international treaties executed with these organisations, it enjoined to practise and embrace democratic processes, including free and fair elections.

Former Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge had lashed out against those using Guyana’s sovereignty for political convenience, warning that Guyana needed the international community.

In referring to the Guyana-Venezuela border issue, Greenidge had noted one could not, on one hand, call on the international community to have Venezuela respect the rule of law internationally, but, at the same time, say that one have domestic legislation and the internation-

Caretaker President David Granger

al community has no right to ask questions of one’s actions.

Greenidge had argued that it was in Guyana’s interest that “people” do not do things then argue that the country is a sovereign State,

adding that one must be very careful not to invoke issues that suit a specific topic, because they may have implications for the country.

Former Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding, during his presentation at the OAS Permanent Council meeting on Guyana, Tuesday, said that even if the electoral crisis ended immediately, it would take institutional change and more than a generation to rebuild Guyana’s image within the international community.

Meanwhile, Mowla contended that the actions and defiant utterances by members and supporters of the coalition have tested the patience of Western powers and regional institutions.

The author warned that in order to stave off further actions from foreign powers, the immediate solution is for the David Granger Government to concede defeat.

12 NEWS

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Lies, misrepresentation by Williams and Cummings did not budge OAS diplomats – Phillips

T

he lies and misrepresentation peddled by de facto Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Karen Cummings and Attorney General Basil Williams did not have any impact whatsoever during the meeting convened on Tuesday by the Organisation of American States (OAS) Permanent Council to discuss the political situation in Guyana.

According to Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Prime Ministerial Candidate, Brigadier Mark Phillips, Williams and Cummings “wasted their time” and “embarrassed the entire country” in trying to convince the OAS high-level body that David Granger’s APNU/AFC Coalition is abiding by democratic norms.

Phillips, during a virtual interview programme captioned ‘Government in Transition’, posited that OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro and all the other diplomats were well informed about the political impasse in Guyana, which is largely due to the APNU/AFC Coalition refus-

OAS, those diplomats are well informed as to the situation in Guyana; and that is what saved the day”.

PPP/C Prime Ministerial Candidate Mark Phillips

ing to accept that it has lost the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

“They were unable in their lies and misrepresentation to budge the opinions formed by those diplomats,” Phillips expressed. He added: “Notwithstanding the attempts to misrepresent the issues by Cummings and Williams, when you listen to the presentations by the ambassadors and the Secretary General of the

According to Phillips, it was embarrassing to listen to Cummings and Williams deliberately trying to mislead the diplomats.

He noted that Cummings and Williams should have been speaking on behalf of the State, as against taking a party (APNU/AFC) position on the issues.

“What Williams and Cummings did there, they wasted their time and they made Guyana look bad,” the PM Candidate highlighted.

Phillips noted that it was very fortunate that he and fellow PPP/C Executive Member Anil Nandlall, were allowed to speak at the meeting, in order to correct the misrepresentations by Cummings and Williams.

The APNU/AFC de facto minsters have come under severe fire recently for causing Guyana further embarrassment and humiliation on the world stage by peddling untruths about the current political climate in

Attorney General Basil Williams

the country.

Williams blatantly told the OAS that, “the CCJ [Caribbean Court of Justice] never made a ruling that the results of the Recount must be used by GECOM to determine the results of the elections”.

However, such an assertion is clearly inaccurate, since in its written judgement in the Eslyn David case, the CCJ said: “Unless and until an election court

decides otherwise, the votes already counted by the Recount process as valid votes are incapable of being declared invalid by any person or authority.”

Similarly, Cummings told the OAS that the APNU/ AFC Coalition has not interfered in the electoral process; but it is the APNU/AFC, through its supporters, that has been approaching the courts, time after time, to block the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from making a declaration based on the Recount results.

According to Phillips, all the speakers during the meeting of the Permanent Council sent a clear message to the stakeholders in Guyana; that is: the certified recount results must be used to declare a winner of the elections, and a declaration must be made with haste.

Phillips, a former Army Head, said the APNU/AFC wants to hang on to power at all cost, “but this is not the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s; this is the 21st century.”

He suggested that the “older folks” in the PNC/

Former Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Karen Cummings

APNU should step aside and allow the youths to take over, since “young professionals are more in-tune with the 21st century values, which includes democracy”.

Based on the results of the National Recount, the PPP/C has won the elections by securing 233,336 votes, but the APNU/AFC is refusing to concede defeat in spite of mounting international pressure.

Amid COVID-19, political impasse…

ExxonMobil Guyana appoints new President

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ew President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge, has assumed his post according to a statement from the United States-based oil giant.

Routledge replaces Rod Henson as head of Exxon Guyana after serving in a similar role in Qatar over the past six years. Henson was recently named Vice President for ExxonMobil in Houston, Texas.

“I look forward to joining this amazing team of professionals, learning more about Guyana, and getting to know the Guyanese people, who are an integral part of our operations. So much has been accomplished since the first oil discovery offshore in 2015, and we

look forward to many great achievements to come as ExxonMobil is committed to a long term partnership here,” Routledge was quoted as saying.

As President of ExxonMobil Qatar, Routledge is responsible for leading all ExxonMobilaffiliated activities in Qatar, as well as related international joint ventures with Qatar Petroleum in the United Kingdom, Italy and USA. He received his BEng degree in Mechanical Engineering from HeriotWatt University in Edinburgh, and an MBA degree from Strathclyde Graduate Business School in Glasgow.

The new ExxonMobil Guyana President began

New ExxonMobil Guyana President Alistair Routledge

his career with Mobil in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1990, and has since undertaken a

range of individual, supervisory and managerial assignments for Mobil and, eventually, ExxonMobil. He has served in various capacities in engineering, operations, planning and commercial functions, while working in the United Kingdom, the United States, Venezuela, Italy and Qatar.

During Henson’s tenure, he had presided over a number of important operational milestones, including the production of Guyana’s first oil in December 2019.

According to Exxon, more than 4200 people now support its operations in Guyana, 2200 of whom are Guyanese.

Under Henson, Exxon made five discoveries in Guyana last year. These

discoveries have pushed the total estimated recoverable barrels of oil equivalent to over six billion. In addition, Exxon was moving ahead with its Liza Phase Two project, which will contain approximately 30 wells, after receiving the requisite approvals from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

It made one discovery for 2020, the Uaru discovery, which was announced in January. Uaru is ExxonMobil’s 16th oil discovery in the Stabroek Block. The Uaru-1 well was drilled in a new reservoir, encountering approximately 94 feet (29 metres) of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir, and was drilled in 6342 feet (1933 metres) of water.

Guyana lifted its first million barrels of profit oil in February, with oil tanker Cap Philippe transporting it from the Liza Destiny Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel and received its first payment the following month.

The past few months have been a trying time for Exxon and the oil industry in general; however, only recently, ExxonMobil had announced that it would seek to scale down its operations in the wake of the global uncertainty in financial markets caused by COVID-19.

In a statement, ExxonMobil Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Darren Woods had noted that Exxon was evaluating ways to cut back on its investment costs. With a presence in numerous countries, including Guyana, this could have serious implications for oil exploration and production, as well as the oil revenues for such countries.

“Based on this unprecedented environment, we are evaluating all appropriate steps to significantly reduce capital and operating expenses in the near term.

We will outline plans when they are finalised,” Woods was quoted as saying in the statement.

“We remain focused on being a safe, low-cost operator, and creating long-term value for shareholders,” Woods also said, adding that ExxonMobil has faced numerous market downturns throughout its long history, and therefore had experience operating in a sustained low-price environment.

Routledge will be joined by his wife Nikki, while their two children are studying in the US. He is passionate about education and is an avid sports fan who is looking forward to being an active member of the Guyanese community, the company has stated.

Routledge now assumes his post in trying times, as the world battles the global COVID-19 pandemic and Guyana seeks to bring an end to its seemingly never-ending elections process.

NEWS

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FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Sugar workers vent frustration over non-payment of salaries – GAWU …say it's ‘old wine in new bottle’

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GAWU General Secretary Seepaul Narine

n light of the revelation that Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) does not have the finances to meet the obligation of sugar workers monthly salaries for July, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) stated that this situation would affect hundreds of persons.

The sugar company has been awaiting a disbursement of $750 million from the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) to make these payments.

However, GAWU General Secretary Seepaul

Narine, during a telephone interview, told Guyana Times on Thursday that GuySuCo has failed to inform the union that workers were not paid, or that they were unable to meet the deadline.

He further noted that they were having difficulties in contacting an official from GuySuCo. The official contended that while $250 million was transferred to GuySuCo earlier this month, they have been waiting on the other chunk which would place them in a position to pay sugar workers.

“They didn’t inform us

by letter, which they normally do. We learnt of this situation in the media, and we’re trying to get in touch with them, but we can’t find anybody. This is a situation that since last month, they’ve been saying that they don’t have money. The Government transferred 200 million and they were supposed to get another 750 million,” Narine insisted.

In fact, promises were made by caretaker President David Granger more than one year ago to have this money transferred, but there is still a conflict between NICIL and GuySuCo. It is a situation which Narine referred to as ‘old wine in new bottle’.

The GAWU General Secretary added, “The fact that GuySuCo is saying that they don’t have money to pay salaries is saying that the money was not transferred. It appears as if it’s old wine in new bottle.

These people have no vision in GuySuCo.” The Union official further stated that on the economic side of the situation,

Man charged for burning CID, GDF buildings is son of cop charged for taxi driver’s death

…allegedly set fire to get rid of evidence against mother

Charged: Keyon Davis

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wenty-four-yearold Keyon Davis, who was charged on Wednesday for setting fire to at least two public buildings in Essequibo, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), is the son of Special Lance Corporal Vanessa Milo, who was arraigned for the death of Lallbachan Bachan, a taxi driver who died while he had been detained in the lock-ups at the Suddie Police Station.

Well-placed sources told

Guyana Times that Davis committed the act in an effort to get rid of the evidence which would have been used against his mother in court.

A senior Police official has said, “Burning down the court wouldn’t make sense.

It has another court. In fact, the file is not even being kept there.”

Further, this publication understands that Davis has two robbery, break-and- enter, and larceny and other charges pending.

Davis, of Lot 60 Hibernia, Essequibo Coast, on Wednesday appeared before Magistrate Esther Sam at the Suddie Magistrate’s Court. It is alleged that the excavator operator set fire to the Guyana Defence Force Second Infantry Battalion Building at Maria’s Lodge, Essequibo Coast and the CID Building at Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast.

Both incidents occurred on July 14.

He was placed on $200,000 bail for each of the charges. As a condition for his

Lallbachan Bachan

bail, he is required to report to the Suddie Police Station twice per week. The case will continue on August 5.

It was reported that the CID building, located in the compound of the Anna Region Police Station, and the unoccupied building at the Army Base Second Infantry Battalion at Maria’s Lodge were set on fire sometime between 03:00h and 05:15h on the day in question.

sugar workers depend on their wages to provide for their families, and due to the meagre five per cent increase in five years, it is even more important.

“It’s frustrating because work opportunity had been reduced and it is currently out of crop. People depend on their wages from payday to payday because they haven’t had any increases for five years, and this year they had the five percent.

They still have the retroactive outstanding as well.

The point is, people were not able to earn and save over the period, and it’s already difficult; now it’s going to be devastating.”

Just last month, thousands of employees across the sugar belt were told by their union representatives

that the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) is without funds to make good on payment of wages and salaries for June.

GAWU, in a public statement on Thursday, warned that the situation was compounded by the fact that the corporation ceased production and that sales from sugar and molasses came to an end. However, the $250 million bailout did suffice to keep operations going.

GAWU had reiterated that with a short time remaining before the second crop commences, the industry requires about $1 billion to meet wages and salaries’ expenditures, while additional monies are required to meet other operational expenses.

GuySuCo’s Board

Chairman John Dow had relayed the company’s woes to caretaker President David Granger via a letter in May. He indicated that the Corporation had received only just about $9.7 billion of the promised $30 billion that was secured for the industry by the Governmentrun NICIL-Special Purpose Unit (SPU).

The letter also outlined that GuySuCo did not have the necessary cash to meet basic expenditure such as salaries, maintenance, and bare essentials. It further revealed that it was also $2.1 billion in debt without any sign of funding.

Compounding the situation, according to Dow, was the backlog of some $21 billion owed to GuySuCo’s creditors.

14 NEWS

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Declaration delay threatens stability and democracy – South American democratic bloc

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he recently established Forum for the Progress and Integration of South America (PROSUR) has called for Guyana to swiftly declare the results of the March 2 elections using the certified figures from the National Recount, warning that further delays will threaten the stability and democracy of Guyana.

The regional bloc consists of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru as well as Guyana. PROSUR was founded in March 2019 to replace the defunct Union of South American Nation (UNASUR). Guyana was among eight South American countries that signed the Santiago Declaration to become an original member of PROSUR. In a recent statement, the continental governments expressed their concern about the delay in the conclusion of Guyana’s General and Regional Elections, which were held four months ago.

The PROSUR Members

Members of Progress and Integration of South America (PROSUR)

said such a situation, “… threatens the stability of [the] country and threatens democratic principles.”

The missive went on to highlight that one of the essential guidelines of PROSUR is the observance of the democracy, the rule of law, the respective constitutional orders and promotion, protection, respect and guarantee of fundamental freedoms.

To this end, the PROSUR members call on the

Guyanese political forces to respect the popular will and declare the final results as soon as possible, based on the vote recount observed and certified by the special Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Mission, supported by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union (EU).

The regional body also expressed its appreciation of the efforts by the OAS in monitoring the situation in

Pensioner among 4 homeless after

Guyana.

Only on Tuesday, the OAS Permanent Council held a special meeting to discuss the ongoing political and electoral impasse in Guyana, during which presentations were made by several Member States unanimously calling for the protracted electoral process in Guyana to be brought to an end.

In his remarks, OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro said there should be an acceptance of the results to facilitate a peaceful

transition of Government.

He made it pellucid that democracy must be upheld in Guyana, and urged that the Judiciary stop being the refuge of those who want to do nothing more than delay the declaration of results of the General and Regional Elections.

“The current situation serves no purpose in Guyana. We call to stop using the Judiciary branch to avoid bringing a solution to the country. It’s time to make decisions and protect democracy and the will of the people expressed in the

elections,” Almagro said.

The caretaker APNU/ AFC, through its supporter Misegna Jones, had moved to the court to block the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from making a declaration of the elections results using the figures emanating from the National Recount.

The 33-day recount exercise had shown that the main opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) with a landslide victory, having secured 233,336 votes, while the APNU/AFC obtained 217,920 votes – a difference of some 15,416 votes.

However, the High Court on Monday dismissed the application and ruled that GECOM must make a declaration based on the recount results – upholding a similar judgement delivered

by Guyana’s apex court, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), earlier this month.

Nevertheless, the decision handed down by Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George has since been challenged by the APNU/AFC agent, and is set for hearing on Saturday in the Court of Appeal.

Mon Repos house goes up in flames Current electoral impasse provides opportunities for constitutional reforms – IRO, GCC

...urge respect for final decisions of court

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Deopaul Omorow

A

fire suspected to be electrical in origin has completely razed a two-storey wooden building at Lot 294 Fourth Street, Mon Repos Pasture, East Coast Demerara (ECD) on Wednesday, thus rendering four persons homeless.

Based on reports received, the fire started around 22:30h in a bedroom in the lower flat of the house

Deopaul Omorow, his daughter Kaloutie Samaroo and his son Jairam Deopaul

As such, they are contemplating their next move.

The homeowner, 68-year-old Deopaul Omorow told media operatives that his son alerted him to the smoke emanating from the bedroom.

“I went upstairs sleeping, and my last son went downstairs in a room, and he called for me: ‘Daddy, watch the smoke.’ By the time I come down, there was a fire, and it went off,” Omorow ex-

The aftermath of the fire (photos by N Logan)

and quickly engulfed the structure.

The occupants of the house lost all their personal belongings and household items.

plained.

Upon seeing the fire, the occupants attempted to put out the blaze by forming a bucket brigade, but that proved useless. Owing to the intense heat, those who

were putting out the blaze had to retreat.

Another occupant, Kaloutie Samaroo, stated that the fire started from a malfunctioning electrical outlet.

“We put on a light at the side, but my father was warning me because the point is spark fire, but I don’t know if it is because of the plenty of rain make it get more worse. It feels so bad that people have to walk through in the dark, so I put it on, and I told them (Deopaul) we must watch it, and when people to pass, we must take it off,” she noted.

Speaking from the scene, she added, “But before people could pass off and take off the light, the fire started.”

By the time the fire tenders arrived at the scene, the building was completely razed. However, the firefighters managed to contain the fire, preventing it from spreading to nearby houses.

An investigation has been launched into the cause of the fire. Persons desirous of helping the family can contact them on +592 220-6922.

he Inter-Religious Organisation of Guyana (IRO) and the Guyana Council of Churches (GCC) have noted that the current electoral impasse provides policy makers with the “golden opportunity” to begin constitutional reforms and other improvements to government structures.

The organisations, in a statement, said that they were hopeful that politicians would seize the moment and put systems in place to ensure betterment for Guyanese.

“We are of the view that if this situation is not properly and correctly rectified, it will continue to be a ‘cancer in the bones’ of our beloved nation gnawing away at our national life and progress as a nation. As a consequence, we suggest that it may be timely to explore constitutional and other reform initiatives that promote and accelerate unity, inclusivity, objectivity, tolerance, and development,” the bodies noted.

They also condemned the character defamation and the actions of racial segregation that have been ongoing and made an appeal for peace, reconciliation, trust, and stability within Guyana.

The IRO and GCC said they have been paying attention to the deteriorating political climate in the aftermath of the March 2,

2020 General and Regional Elections. The bodies are cognisant of the view held by the two major parties that they have won the elections.

Additionally, they noted that they were aware of the negative international attention that Guyana has attracted, and has been subjected to during this process.

“As Guyanese, it is imperative that regardless of our political persuasions, that Guyana’s interests be paramount in all regards.

Further, as religious leaders, we firmly stand on the side of morality and good governance,” the statement read.

The religious bodies expressed that all parties should respect the rule of law and urged the political parties to adhere to the decisions of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and the respective courts. It reminded that every Guyanese has the

freedom to associate with and/or belong to a political party and as such, this right should be respected by everyone.

“In the pursuit of resolution of this political impasse, the principles of international norms, Guyana's international commitments, international solidarity with those commitments and of democracy be respected; and the Constitution of Guyana is the supreme authority of Guyana and, therefore, should be respected in all regards. Further, the decisions made by the relevant courts on the final interpretation of any constitutional queries must be respected as well,” the religious bodies expressed.

The organisations also called for the swift conclusion of the electoral process, so that focus can be placed on both the immediate threat of COVID-19 and the development needs of Guyana.

NEWS

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FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

16 foreigners quarantined after Sales rep shot dead entering Guyana illegally during alleged robbery …1 new COVID-19 case recorded A

Site of the fatal shooting

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23-year-old man was on Thursday shot dead in Middle Road, La Penitence, Georgetown moments after conducting transactions for his company.

The dead man has been identified as Navindra Samaroo of Lot 59 West La Penitence, Georgetown.

The shooting reportedly occurred at about 13:00h.

Samaroo, who was a marketing representative, had visited the bank and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to conduct the company’s business, and had then gone home to collect lunch.

However, on his way back to work, he was gunned down.

When Guyana Times arrived at the scene, detectives were still gathering information as residents were left in disbelief.

Samaroo’s father explained that he was at work when he received a telephone call from a relative instructing him to visit the hospital, but by the time he arrived there, his son had already succumbed.

Visibly shaken upon learning of his son’s death, the man reiterated his con-

Dead: Navindra Samaroo

fidence in the Guyana Police Force to conduct a thorough investigation that would bring the perpetrators to justice.

“We live in West La Penitence but he does normally drive through here to go to work. All what I was made to understand is that he came for lunch and left to go to work, and he got shot,” the aggrieved father shared.

Meanwhile, his employer, who was also at the scene, described the young man as willing. He had been work-

ing at G & J Phonecard Investment for the past three years. The owner, Rampertap Etwaroo, related that he received a call from Samaroo’s mother, informing him of the incident. He noted that based on the call, she was definitely in a state of shock.

“His mother was crying and she said something like, ‘Navin got shot’. I right away contacted the general manager and say if you hear…He said, ‘I just talk to Navin two minutes back’. I just let the staff take me to his home,” Etwaroo expressed.

The man said the victim did not have a significant amount of money on him at the time of the incident, and it is unclear whether he had been traced from a previous location.

“He went to the bank first to take some letters, and then went to GRA. He come and went home for his food.

I don’t know if he was traced or whatever it is, but he had no money on him. He didn’t collect money for the company today.”

Meanwhile, Police are continuing their investigation.

total of 16 foreign nationals were arrested after entering Guyana illegally, and they have since been placed in mandatory quarantine at the specialised COVID-19 facility at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

Guyana Times was informed that the persons are Cuban and Irish nationals.

They were tested for the novel coronavirus, and one returned positive. That person has been placed in isolation at the revamped Ocean View facility at Liliendaal, ECD while the others have been quarantined.

It is likely that these persons, a majority of whom came from neighbouring Suriname, entered Guyana through its porous borders.

After completing their time in quarantine, these persons are likely to face prosecution.

Meanwhile, officials were since Wednesday afternoon tasked with hunting down a man from Katuru, Central Rupununi District, who disappeared after testing positive for the virus.

The man was informed by health authorities that he would be picked up and taken to a COVID-19 facility, but before this could be done, he escaped, and has already travelled to the South Pakaraimas.

Officials have been made aware of his location, and are in pursuit of him. They were also tasked with tracing the persons with whom he had had contact, who would also be examined for symptoms.

156 active cases

However, on Thursday, one new case of COVID-19 was detected, which raised the figures to 351 recorded cases.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Karen GordonBoyle informed during the daily update that the total number of tests done is 5,263, and the number of persons tested is 3,975.

The latest statistics show that the deaths remain at 19. However, the number of active cases in institutional isolation is 156, while 33 persons are in institutional quarantine and two patients are in the COVID-ICU. To date, 176 persons have recovered.

With persons and workplaces accepting the new norm of coexisting with the deadly disease, she said, employees should use private transportation whenever possible. Whenever circumstances permit, employers should facilitate transportation of their employees to and from work to reduce the probability of exposure when using public transportation.

In the workplace setting, only persons wearing masks should be allowed to enter buildings.

“All entrances to pub-

lic and private workplaces should have screening and hygiene blocks. Screening will entail taking temperatures with the laser thermometer; hygiene blocks should comprise sinks with running water and liquid soap, or hand sanitizing stations.

“Workplaces must decide on their policies regarding persons with elevated temperatures,” she said.

The DCMO also noted that employers should erect plexiglass or other transparent barriers between staff area and the public, and there should be clear demarcations showing six feet distancing either on floors or walls to guide the public.

Physical meetings also should be reduced to the barest minimum, and technology such as Zoom can be placed to enable communication.

Global statistics, according to the World Health Organization, are 14,765,256 cases, with 612,054 deaths; and regionally, 7,811,127 cases, with 313,809 deaths.

Guyana and Suriname: A tale of two neighbours

By Sir Ronald Sanders

R

ecent electoral events in Guyana and Suriname, which border each other on the north-eastern coast of the South American continent, display a remarkably different approach to democracy that could be the determining factor in catapulting Suriname’s development and prosperity well ahead of Guyana’s.

The two countries have many similarities and some differences.

One of the principal differences is that Suriname endured coup d’états by the military, whereas Guyana has not, although the latter is notorious for disputed elections with losing parties accusing the governing party of rigging the elections. There is a twist in the latest elections, held in Guyana on March 2, 2020. After all parties and observers declared the elections to be free and fair, the governing party, APNU-AFC, claimed that the opposition party, the PPP/C had somehow fixed the elections.

The coup d’états in Surname were both led by Desiré Delano “Dési” Bouterse, who became the

Former Presidents David Granger and Desi Bouterse

de facto leader of the country from 1980 to 1987, and then again from December 1990 to May 1991.

Bouterse, eventually won two terms in office by way of the ballot box from 2010 to 2015 and 2015 until May 25, 2020, when his National Democratic Party lost elections.

As elections in these two neighbouring states were approach-

ing at the beginning of 2020, if any public polling were taken on which government would have refused to leave office, even if it had clearly lost, it would have undoubtedly reflected Bouterse’s.

After all, a man who had twice seized power at the point of a gun was a superior candidate for discarding the will of the electorate, democratically exhibited in elec-

tions.

Not so. In the end, the Suriname elections result was declared on June 4, and Bouterse conceded to the opposition parties, led by Chandrikapersad ‘Chan’ Santokh of the United Reform Party. Bouterse himself placed the presidential sash of office on Santokh at a ceremony on July 16.

In the meantime, the declaration of the result of the Guyana elections has been prolonged for over four months. A constant cycle of appeals to the Courts by supporters of the APNU-AFC now halt a result being declared. Even after the highest Appellate Court, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), pronounced on the matter, appeals have been made to lower courts to overturn the CCJ’s judgement – an act unprecedented in the history of global judicial systems.

A striking similarity about Guyana and Suriname is that they have both become beneficiaries of major finds of oil and gas that promise to place them amongst the richest countries in the Western Hemisphere. The revenues from oil and gas sales

would transform them from backwater nations to countries, whose economic power would make them significant influencers in the Caribbean and the hemisphere.

But, there is a corollary to that observation. It is that Suriname and Guyana each has to be an acceptable state in the world community, with governments that demonstrably adhere to democracy and the rule of law. The days of rogue governments operating with impunity in the international community are over.

There are several mechanisms by which Suriname and Guyana are tested. These include the CARICOM Charter of Civil Rights, the Inter-American Democratic Charter in the Western Hemisphere and the UNadopted International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Suriname has now demonstrated its readiness to honour its commitments under these binding agreements, giving its own people, the international community and investors in its oil and gas industry the confidence that, in moving forward, democracy and the rule of law will be respected.

TURN TO PAGE 16

16 NEWS TRAC mulls community-based Father of 1 allegedly drowns while swimming tourism in recovery plans …to be assisted by 200 ICT hubs across creek FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

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he body of a 23-year-old man was on Thursday morning pulled from a creek at Kaburi, Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni).

Dead is Roger Albert of Brighton Village, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). The young man went missing on Wednesday after he attempted to swim across the creek to gain access to a shop.

Based on information received, Albert travelled to the region to oversee his father’s mining operations at Kaburi for a few days as his dad, Ralston Albert, had to travel to Georgetown to conduct business. He was due to return on Thursday.

However, on the day in question, family members received information that Albert had disappeared in the Kaburi Creek.

Speaking with Guyana Times, Albert’s sister, Rochelle, related that initial reports stated that he and two friends were swimming across the creek to go to the shop.

“They said when they reached across and looked back, they did not see him. It is hard to believe; he has a child who is only one-yearold,” the grieving sister said.

Family members were also told that Albert and his two friends were in a boat and it capsized thus throwing them into the dark water.

Rochelle said they were stunned by the news, as her brother was a good swimmer.

“He saved my father from drowning two times. My father doesn’t know to swim, but my brother knows to swim… If three of us are swimming over the same river, we must have a conversation or look back to see if everybody is alright. I can’t see that when the

Dead: Roger Albert

two of them reached across, then they turn to look for him. They said they swim across back, but they didn’t find him, so we don’t know what happen.”

His father had reportedly warned the young man about going into the creek, since the water was deep especially during the rainy season.

Upon the recovery of the body, there were reportedly no marks of violence to suggest foul play was involved.

Albert’s death has tremendously impacted his family, particularly since his mother died in the month of July, four years ago.

The elder Albert has been operating the business at Kaburi for the past five years. It was not the first time Albert was left to overlook the operations.

An investigation has been launched into the incident.

C

An ICT hub in Guyana

ommunity-based tourism will be the next step undertaken in Guyana as part of the recovery action plan, specifically introduced by the Tourism Recovery Action Committee (TRAC).

The Committee hosted its third stakeholder engagement for the implementation of this initiative through collaboration with the Public Telecommunications and Public Health Ministries. TRAC, while created to specifically resuscitate the tourism industry, is backed by the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) and the Tourism Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG).

The pilot communities that the GTA is currently working with are Chenapau, Karasabai, Moraikobai, Warapoka, Lake Capoey, St Cuthbert’s Mission and Wakapao.

The aim is to guide the development of community tourism enterprises based on the methodology that has been successfully implemented in Rewa and Surama.

Sharing input from the Public Telecommunications Ministry, Phillip Walcott noted that the

initiative would be developed through the establishment of 200 Information Communications Technologies (ICT) hubs in selected communities to increase connectivity.

The project seeks to establish 52 of these facilities in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo); 37 in Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice); 33 in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and the remainder in other administrative regions.

These will be installed by private service providers and Digicel will cater for 72 of the 200 locations.

They are also mulling easy technological mediums to checkin at these locations or assist with any other issues; and digital marketing to promote businesses. A platform is being developed where persons can indicate their needs, how many persons are travelling, or any special request.

“The challenge is for us to use technology to develop tourism in Guyana,” Walcott suggested.

The National Data Management Authority will have to receive a formal application from the GTA

to provide connectivity in areas where these activities are being developed. An assessment was also requested to determine the technological needs of the industry to ensure that all suppliers are exposed to the latest devices.

Public Health Ministry Representative Abbigail Liverpool shared its response to the COVID-19 situation holistically, but no specific tourism-driven measures were highlighted. She referred to COVID-19 digital tracking which analyses the symptoms of patients.

Guyana stands to lose $100 billion this year as a result of lost export earnings and tourism owing to COVID-19, and the tourism association had reached out to Central Government for low-cost financial support and supplemental financing options, in addition to other relief.

The GTA gave the stark projections in April while reporting that by the end of that month, the sector had already lost an estimated 46 per cent of its total revenue over a six-month period in contrast to the revenue earned for the same period in 2019.

Guyana and Suriname...

Suriname has every prospect now of establishing itself as a leader-nation in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) utilising its new oil and gas wealth to help finance regional integration in crucial areas such as air and sea transportation; food security; providing concessional financing for development projects through the Caribbean Development Bank, and acting as a strong interlocutor for CARICOM in international affairs.

Guyana, on the other hand, once a strong leader and an important voice in regional and global affairs, risks being ostracised in the regional, hemispheric, and international communities.

No number of braggadocious political claims about Guyana’s ‘sovereignty’, and why it doesn’t need the United States, CARICOM, the Organization of American States, the European Union or any other country or international institution, changes the re-

ality that Guyana does need a constructive and respected relationship with all of them.

For sure, there is a great deal of reform that is urgently required within Guyana to establish truly independent and sustainable institutions which reflect racial inclusion and balance in their composition, especially in their decision-making boards. Racial and religious understanding and appreciation must become integral to the education curriculum. Fear that the proceeds of revenues from oil and gas will be sequestered into the pockets of a few, or for the benefit of one racial group over another, has to be addressed by the adoption of laws governing transparency and wealth distribution and by severe penalties for their violation.

The electoral system also requires root and branch transformation, including by ensuring that no politician serves on the Elections Commission or appoints anyone to it – that task should

FROM PAGE 15

be passed to representative bodies of civil society and enshrined in law.

But, more than anything else, those who seek political office should understand that they are elected to serve the nation, and not to become the nation’s overlords.

And, when the majority of the electorate vote to relieve them of office, they should leave, recognising that political office is not their right to hold; it is the people’s right to give and to take away.

Bouterse of Suriname showed, in the end, that he understood well that Suriname’s interest in the 21st Century would have been gravely blighted had he chosen to remain despite the will of the people.

In this tale of two countries, adherence to democracy and the rule of law has set the Surinamese people on the path to progress, while the Guyanese people are being hobbled from striding forward on that rewarding road.

17

guyanatimesgy.com

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020

You can send your letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com

Democracy vs the people Dear Editor, The institutions and freedoms of a democratic society are being abused and set against the nation in an attempted resurrection of the Forbes Burnham doctrine of Manifest Destiny.

This perverted notion, which decrees the PNC supreme, with all democratic institutions being mere subservient arms of the party, was on full display at the OAS special session of the Permanent Council on the Guyana situation.

This game plan that binds the Granger cabal has been pursued with ploys ranging from the party name change to attempts at splitting opposition solidarity, to electoral fraud.

Intransigence and deception

In a direct challenge to the international community, reflecting the thinly disguised intent to hang on to power, Foreign Minister Cummings let it be known that the laws of Guyana and apparently the courts of Guyana “alone” would be allowed to determine the outcome of the March 2nd elections.

In a statement with only a slight pretense at ambiguity and all indications of the belief that the Government is simply an arm of the party,

Cummings asserted: “The Elections Commission is expected to declare the election results based on the Constitution of Guyana, the rulings of ‘the Court’, and the advice of the Chief Elections Officer, which must be consistent with the laws of Guyana.”

Clearly, “courts” and “laws of Guyana” in the above statement refer only to judgements acceptable to the party. Just one day before this statement, the Chief Justice ruled that while the CEO may be expected to act independently, he cannot be a “lone ranger”.

The Chief Election Officer is subject to the direction and control of the Commission. Appallingly, with complete disregard and disrespect for the Chief Justice, the Foreign Minister effectively told the AOS and the world that the Chief Justice’s ruling was irrelevant to the party and the administration.

Holding the nation hostage

In the judgement handed down by the Chief Justice, she also admonished that there must be finality to judicial decisions.

Myriad persons cannot be permitted to engage the court with multiple applications regarding the same issue which has been decided, and shield behind

the claim that they were not a party to the previous proceedings. To so permit would be to waste precious judicial time and resources. In short order, this cannot be allowed.

Since the March 2nd election, the courts have been tied up with APNU/ AFC/Lowenfield, Ulita Moore, Eslyn David and Misenga Jones litigating the same issues over and over again. There have also been continuous claims of fraud by the coalition, when the only established acts of electoral fraud have been by Lowenfield and Mingo.

However, truth or facts seem to be no impediment to Attorney General Williams.

He claimed before the AOS special session on Guyana that there was massive fraud in the elections. It has to be repeated that it is well known that that party’s claim is based on three main assertions: 1. Deceased persons voting 2. Migrants who were out of the country voting 3. Missing documents The first two have been disproven. Missing documents in itself is not a ground, as the process is designed to ensure that ballots are valid. Furthermore, the CARICOM team, Granger’s “most legitimate

interlocutor” (before they ceased to be), reported that the recount figures are a credible basis for a declaration.

But more to the point, the documents are missing due to the malfeasance of Mingo and Lowenfield.

Mingo instructed subordinate officers under his direction in a number of PPP/C strongholds not to include counterfoils, logbooks etcetera in the sealed ballot boxes. This was counter to the mandated practice.

Anil Nandlall challenged Mingo on this, and Mingo gave his assurance that he would correct the deviation. Those documents were sent to Mingo in separate packages. They are now missing. This was premeditated.

Williams is crying foul on the basis of his party’s own malfeasance. This is nonsensical. It is also a common sense matter. In addition, it speaks to the depths to which this administration and its leaders have sunken.

To restore any legitimacy to itself, the PNC must cleanse itself of the baggage currently at its helm, and allow new and principled leadership to chart fresh directions for the party.

Sincerely, Concerned citizen

Life is unbearable because of APNU/AFC Dear Editor, The declaration of the March 2020 Presidential Election in Guyana has been on hold for months, because lawyers acting on behalf of Mr David Arthur Granger have unleashed a series of unethical court cases to keep him in power on fictitious votes cooked up by his confederates in GECOM. The world knows this!

Also, a widely transparent vote recount confirmed and further validated that Mr Granger has lost power in a free, fair, credible and transparent election. The recount even further re-exposed and confirmed the open fraud within GECOM. Further, Mr Granger is ready and willing to be sworn in for a second term on fraud. What a disgrace!

Such a major human rights issue has appropriately attracted international sanctions that are aiming to modify and align the behaviours of the fraudsters with standard norms to protect democracy.

And even in the face of sanctions, Mr Granger’s lawyers continue to embrace and defend fraud.

Importantly, this situation exposes how ruthless lawyers in Guyana deliberately push fraudulent cases through the

courts and destroy innocent lives. Predatory lawyers like those serving Mr Granger plant immoral ideas into the heads of their clients in sparking fraudulent court cases for a quick buck, without delivering anything to them.

And their clients eventually become their victims.

This is the primary reason why the Guyanese legal system is backlogged with high volumes of cases which are mostly fraudulent in nature.

Most lawyers practising in Guyana are graduates of the Hugh Wooding Law School. This makes me wonder whether this school ever teaches ethics as part of its curriculum. In the USA, lawyers refuse bad cases, because they are trained to do so, and because they can also be barred from practice. To this end, I wonder why the Guyana Bar Association (GBA) turns a blind eye to this problem.

If the GBA is not corrupt, then it needs to break its silence on this matter.

Of course, there are decent and honest lawyers in Guyana, but the vast majority are predators.

Further, Guyanese with the mindset like Mr Granger and his lawyers are the people who shamelessly push fraud and create conflicts in this coun-

try. Life is unbearable because of these people.

Their behaviours are highly abnormal. Importantly, I must point out that behavioural characteristics displayed by Mr Granger and his lawyers during his term in office, and even more so during the COVID-19 pandemic, are highly reminiscent of a disorder categorised by the DSM-V as anti-social personality disorder (psychopaths and sociopaths). People with this disorder show patterns of behaviour in which they repeatedly lie and repeatedly manipulate others.

Also, they repeatedly violate the rights of others without any remorse, because they are devoid of a conscience. Further, they repeatedly show no respect for the rule of law.

When all of this is taken into account, it is unsurprising that a high percentage of prison inmates are diagnosed with this disorder. Moreover, the underlying basis for this disorder rests on two factors: biology (genes, brain abnormalities, neurotransmitters, etc.,) and environment (poverty, child abuse and neglect etc.,). This disorder will obviously flourish under conditions of poverty, and my observations have led me to hypothesise that

there is a high prevalence of this disorder in Guyana.

Moreover, every issue raised in this letter converges onto the topic of morality. And the Child Care and Protection Agency (CPA) within the Ministry of Social Protection is tasked with the responsibility of shaping moral development and in guiding moral roles in the family unit and society. The functions of this Ministry are critically important.

However, this agency is silent on every immoral and behavioural issue in Guyana. Why? Because it is also corrupt, like GECOM, through a lack of diversity. And, in spite of the pervasive anti-social behavioural problems observed daily in Guyana, virtually nothing is being done to address them.

To this end, immediate interventions are needed to guide and synchronise behaviours with the norms of society, in allowing Guyana to develop for the betterment of all. However, I have zero confidence in the ability of our leaders to recognise the direct link between the high displays of abnormal behaviour and poverty in Guyana.

Sincerely, Annie Baliram (PhD)

Applaud youths in struggle against fraud

Dear Editor, I applaud the participation of the youths in the struggle against fraud. One positive development from the ongoing election and humanitarian crisis is the emergence of a new, unfolding democratic movement, in which young people, for the first time in decades, have been speaking out publicly against electoral fraud.

This is a rare occurrence for Guyana, and has not happened since the 1980s, young people from around the world spoke out against electoral abuses and dictatorships.

As a reader of the global press and a worldwide traveller and reporter, I had never seen so many opinions expressed in the media against a government anywhere in the world, as people stand up to a dictator or against electoral fraud. A handful of us, I then being merely a teenager, were a lone force during the period 1960s to 1992, speaking out against fraud. But now Guyanese, the youths in particular, don’t want a derailment of the democratic process that once characterised their homeland.

Guyanese spoke out and demonstrated against the 1968 rigging at a time when it was permitted because the forces required for violent repression were not institutionalised as yet.

By the time of the 1973 rigging, the mechanism was fully in place to clamp down on all kinds of dissent, including protests against electoral fraud and banning of basic goods. People were afraid of engaging in any dissent against the dictator. Even young people were fearful of speaking out against National Service because of treats to hold back their diplomas.

By 1978, people became immune to electoral fraud; there was no need to oppose it. They expected the elections to be rigged, and knew the outcome even before the vote. The dictatorship’s supporters didn’t even bother to turn up at polling stations because they knew their party would vote for them. Winning was never an issue for the dictator, as the same strategies were employed by age old dictators.

Burnham famously said who voted didn’t matter as much as those who counted the vote. The latter was most important, as we learn from the Mingo fraud, when he declared Granger as winner although the actual ballots showed Irfaan Ali had won.

Burnham perfected the art of rigging at a time when he also had the tacit support of Washington and London, because rigging kept out the hardcore Jaganite communists who would have won democratic elections and create headaches for the West.

During the period of the dictatorship, people spoke in hushed tones, and were conscious with whom they discussed politics. No one dared criticize the dictator openly, for fear of being branded an enemy of the state. There were spies everywhere; reporting on a neighbour or colleague earned one gratitude from the all-powerful leader or the ruling party for a prized job or promotion, or some kind of a lucrative handout. People were fearful of expressing their sentiments against the regime, not only because of the threat of losing privileges, but body limbs and lives also; as we found out what hap-

pened to Rodney, Ohene Koama, Edward Dublin and Father Darke, among others. Even with the restoration of democracy in 1992 and the replacement of the dictatorship with a democratic government, people were still fearful of criticising powerful persons.

But the all-pervading fear of a powerful ruler seems to have changed since March 3.

People have come out of the closet against electoral fraud. And they were willing to come out on the streets to defend their votes.

They demanded that the ballots be accurately counted, even with the Police using violence against them, as happened on March 6, when Police opened fire against protesters who spontaneously came out on the road.

Genuine supporters of democracy have since come together to voice their opinion against the fraud perpetrated by Mingo and Lowenfield on behalf of the coalition. People recognise the significance and importance of the vote.

All over the world, people want democracy and are standing up for it. They are no longer afraid of bullets. “People power, no dictator” has gained momentum as countries move towards democratic governance. Unlike during the dictatorship, when support against fraud was nowhere to be found among regional or international organisations, this time Guyanese have the support of the international community.

The call for the Granger regime to step down has been intense, not only from the people, but also from foreign leaders and international (regional) organisations. The will of the people in this case seems set to succeed, as the entire world is against the regime, and sanctions have kicked in.

As many Guyanese have opined, President Granger should do the last honourable act of his administration: ‘step aside’. His coalition regime is holding back the country’s development, and preventing it from moving on.

This once-prosperous nation, whose economy collapsed in the 1970s because of electoral fraud and bad governance, is heading towards a repeat of imminent economic ruin. The economy has shrunk to nearly half its size since the no confidence vote of December 2018.

The country has the potential to rise again because of incoming oil revenues and the resourcefulness and productive capacity of its people. But it can only be resuscitated if people are free and if it is a democracy. Otherwise, the country would return to the past, when frustrated young people, desperate for work, scavenged garbage heaps to earn a living, or peddled goods as street vendors, or left the country altogether.

Almost the entire country is arrayed against the regime.

Even its supporters have turned against it for misleading them about the fraud. The people, the young in particular, are determined that never again should their nation be held to ransom by an unelected regime, as happened between 1965 and 1992.

And that is why so many are writing in social media and elsewhere against the fraud.

Yours truly, Vishnu Bisram

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guyanatimesgy.com

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020

Regional

Brazil sees record daily cases

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razil has registered a record number of new coronavirus cases – more than 67,000 over the course of the past day.

The Health Ministry also reported almost 1300 deaths for that period.

With more than 2.2 million confirmed infections, Brazil has the second-worst outbreak after the United States.

The virus is now affecting smaller towns and remote areas with fewer medical facilities in Brazil's huge interior, and Indigenous groups are among those increasingly affected.

One prominent leader – Aritana Yawalapiti of the Upper Xingu people – fell ill at the weekend and under-

went a 24-hour journey to hospital.

Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, has again test-

ed positive for coronavirus, more than two weeks after he first revealed he had Covid-19 on 7 July.

Meanwhile, President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday confirmed he was still positive for the virus.

Bolsonaro has in the past dismissed the risks of the virus and boasted that it would have little effect on him if he got it due to his "athletic past".

An official statement said that despite testing positive for a third time, the President was "still in good condition". (BBC News)

sional votes with cross-party support despite staunch Government opposition.

The bill required a threefifths majority, 93 votes, and 116 deputies voted in favour, with 28 against and five abstentions. A number of the 71-strong governing coalition bloc --- including the President of one of its parties - voted in favour.

The chamber erupted in cheers and clapping amid

chants of "no more AFP" – a reference to the long-running campaign to tear up Chile's much-mimicked defined contribution Pension Funds Administrators (AFP) system that was introduced during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

Cristobal Bellolio, a political scientist, said the bill represented Chile's "Brexit moment", a symbolic blow

dealt to the establishment, against the advice of experts, by an angry populace emboldened by social protests last year against inequality and state policies including the AFP system.

President Sebastian Pinera has 30 days to decide whether to veto the bill, sign it into law or refer it to the Constitutional Court. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

the case to an end as she ruled that State Prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence to make out a prima facie case against the men.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) will now have to file indictments against the men before the case is put on the High Court cause list of cas-

es awaiting trial.

During successive hearings on Wednesday and Tuesday, Cedeno heard the testimony of acting Prisons Commissioner Dennis Pulchan, who was called as a defence witness by Garth Wiseman, an accused man who was on remand for an unrelated murder when Seetahal was killed.

Wiseman had identified another defence witness, but his attorneys eventually chose to not pursue that witness’s testimony. Devaughn Cummings had also identified two witnesses, but subsequently changed his mind.

As a formality in the hearing, Cedeno granted alleged gang leader Rajaee Ali TT$300,000 bail on the gang charge. However, Ali cannot access the bail as he and his co-accused will remain on remand until the end of the eventual trial of the case be-

With more than 2.2 million confirmed infections, Brazil has the second-worst outbreak after the United States

Chile Congress approves pension drawdown in blow to establishment

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hilean legislators punched the air and waved the national flag in Congress on Thursday after giving final approval to a Governmentcontested bill to allow citizens to withdraw 10 per cent of their pension savings to help ease the economic pain wrought by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The bill has sped through several congres-

Trinidad: 11 to stand trial for Dana’s murder

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he group of men accused of murdering former Independent Senator Dana Seetahal, SC, have been officially committed to stand trial for the crime.

S e n i o r Magistrate Indrani Cedeno brought the protracted Preliminary Inquiry (PI) in

Dana Seetahal

fore a Judge and jury in the High Court.

Seetahal was shot dead behind the wheel of her SUV while driving along Hamilton Holder Street in Woodbrook on May 4, 2014.

On July 25, 2015, Ali, his brothers Ishmael and Hamid Ali, Devaughn Cummings, Ricardo Stewart, Earl Richards, Stephan Cummings, Kevin Parkinson, Leston Gonzales, Roget Boucher, and Gareth Wiseman were charged with the crime. (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

150 Jamaicans in Trinidad and Tobago to return home soon, says Johnson Smith

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oreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith says some 150 Jamaicans in Trinidad and Tobago would be returning to the island soon.

The Minister said that the Jamaicans would be returning home despite the fact that the borders of the twin-island republic remained closed on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said the Government has approved a 150-seat Caribbean Airlines (CAL) flight to bring the Jamaicans home.

In a statement Thursday, Johnson Smith said: “We express our appreciation to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, and in particular the Minister of National Security with whom I was able to discuss the matter, and who has approved the repositioning of a CAL plane from Port of Spain to Kingston.”

“We started discussions with CAL as soon as it was brought to our attention that there was a large number of

B

Tropical Storm Gonzalo.

The Minister said there were 50 main water courses and the last one was being cleaned. He said the drainage programme would facilitate a better water run-off system and the flood prone areas would not be affected as much as before.

A hurricane watch remains in effect, although Gonzalo is weakening due to

Jamaicans in the twin-island republic who had not been aware of the June repatriation flight or had not been able to travel because of obligations at that time, but for whom return home has since become urgent. It became important; however, to also raise the issue with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, and together a solution has been found,” she said.

She explained that 124 Jamaicans and their dependents have approached the Jamaican High Commission in Port of Spain indicating the urgency of their need to return. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Venezuela’s Opposition to probe possible resale of oil by Cuba

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enezuelan Opposition Leader Juan Guaidó’s US envoy pledged on Thursday to investigate the possibility that Cuba is reselling oil and fuel the South American country ships to its political ally under favourable terms.

Carlos Vecchio, whom Guaidó named his ambassador to Washington after being recognised as Venezuela’s rightful president by dozens of countries, said President Nicolás Maduro’s Government was “getting nothing back” from its shipments to Cuba.

Guaidó, the Speaker of the Opposition-held National Assembly, argues Maduro’s 2018 re-election was a sham.

Venezuela, whose oil exports have been crippled by US sanctions meant to pressure Maduro to resign, sent 14.1 million barrels of oil

Barbadian Govt satisfied with efforts to prepare for hurricane arbadian Home Affairs, Information and Public Affairs Minister Wilfred Abrahams said Government was satisfied with the level of preparedness, especially as it relates to flooding.

Abrahams was speaking at Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Two Mile Hill, St Michael, Thursday afternoon, during an update on

Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith

dry atmospheric conditions.

However, Barbadians are being advised not to rule out anything.

Acting Director of the Barbados Meteorological Services Sabu Best, who joined Abrahams at the press conference, said there was a possibility that the system could progress into a hurricane by Saturday afternoon.

(Excerpt from Nation News)

to Cuba between January and June, according to Refinitiv Eikon data and internal documents from State oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, known as PDVSA. “Cuba doesn’t need that amount of oil,” Vecchio told reporters. “Probably part of that will be resold.”

Washington has sanctioned vessels that transport Venezuelan oil to Cuba, arguing in exchange Havana sends security and intelligence assistance to help prop up Maduro, who has overseen a six-year economic collapse.

Neither PDVSA nor Venezuela’s Oil Ministry responded to requests for comment. Maduro calls Guaidó a US puppet and blames sanctions for the country’s woes. Late former President Hugo Chávez, Maduro’s mentor, said the shipments were payment for Cuban doctors who provided health services in Venezuela.

The Cuban Government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Vecchio said the oil sent to Cuba should instead be given to an international organization like the United Nations or Red Cross in exchange for humanitarian goods, but said an Iraqstyle oil-for-food programme – which some Venezuelan politicians have called for – would likely not work with Maduro in power. (Excerpt from Reuters)

guyanatimesgy.com

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020

19

Around the World US coronavirus cases pass 4 million T

he United States on Thursday passed a total of more than four million coronavirus infections since the first US case was confirmed in January, according to a Reuters tally, reflecting a nationwide escalation of the pandemic.

The United States took 98 days to reach its first one million cases of the coronavirus, but just 16 days to increase from three million to four million, the tally showed. The total suggests that at least one in 82 Americans have been infected at some point in the pandemic.

The average number of new cases is now rising by more than 2600 per hour nationwide, the highest rate in the world.

As the epicentre of the US outbreak has spread from New York to the South and

West, federal, state and local officials have clashed over how to ease lockdowns imposed on Americans and businesses.

Requirements that residents wear masks in public have become the subject of

a fierce political divide, as many conservatives argue that such orders violate the US Constitution.

US President Donald Trump, a Republican who has rejected a nationwide mask rule and been reluc-

tant to wear one himself, this week reversed course and encouraged Americans to do so.

“We have to do our mitigation steps: wear a mask, avoid the crowds. We won’t see hospitalisations and deaths go down for a couple of weeks because (they are) lagging indicators, but we are turning that tide,” US Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir told the Fox News Network in an interview.

Giroir also pushed for faster test results and Quest Diagnostics Inc, one of the nation’s biggest medical testing companies, said on Thursday it expected to cut week-long turnaround times for COVID-19 tests by more than half to get to “acceptable” levels by September. (Excerpt from Reuters)

on Russian space equipment.

The US has previously raised concerns about new Russian satellite activity.

But it is the first time the UK has made accusations about Russian test-firing in space. They come just days after an inquiry said the UK Government "badly underestimated" the threat posed by Russia.

In a statement on Thursday, US Assistant Secretary of State for

International Security and Non-proliferation, Christopher Ford, accused Moscow of hypocrisy after it said it wanted arms control to be extended to space.

"Moscow aims to restrict the capabilities of the United States while clearly having no intention of halting its own counter-space programme," he said.

The Head of the UK's space directorate, Air Vice Marshal Harvey Smyth, said

he was also concerned about the latest Russian satellite test, which he said had the "characteristics of a weapon".

"Actions like this threaten the peaceful use of space and risk causing debris that could pose a threat to satellites and the space systems on which the world depends," he said.

He urged Russia to be "responsible" and to "avoid any further such testing".

(Excerpt from BBC News)

Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) arrive with a correctional patient at North Shore Medical Centre where the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients are treated, in Miami, Florida, US, July 14, 2020

UK and US say Russia fired satellite weapon in space

T

he United States and the United Kingdom have accused Russia of testing a weapon-like projectile in space that could be used to target satellites in orbit.

The US State Department described the recent use of "what would appear to be actual in-orbit anti-satellite weaponry" as concerning.

Russia's Defence Ministry earlier said it was using new technology to perform checks

OILNEWS OIL NEWS Oil settles lower as worries remain over rising US inventories and coronavirus cases

O

il futures settled lower Thursday, extending a decline seen the previous session after data showed an unexpected rise in US crude inventories, as alarming growth in the number of US cases of coronavirus point to the potential for further business shutdowns, dulling the prospects for energy demand.

“Virtually all demand categories” showed a week-onweek decline in the report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Wednesday, said Robbie Fraser, senior commodity analyst at Schneider Electric.

“That fall will tie into broader concerns around a rise in COVID cases in the US and the potential economic headwinds that could bring moving forward,” Fraser said in a daily note.

West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery fell 83 cents, or two per cent, to settle at US$41.07 a barrel, while September Brent crude lost 98 cents, or 2.2 per cent, at US$43.31 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Crude prices finished slightly lower Wednesday, pulling back a day after settling at their highest since March, pressured by an unexpected weekly climb in US crude stockpiles. The EIA reported Wednesday that US crude inventories rose by 4.9 million barrels for the week ended July 17. That compared with an average forecast by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts for a decline of 1.9 million barrels. (Excerpt from Market Watch)

China warns it “must” retaliate after closure of Houston consulate

Congresswoman denounces “sexist slur” by male colleague

U

S Congresswoman Alexandria OcasioCortez has given a speech rejecting a colleague's apology after he allegedly using a sexist slur in an argument.

The New York City Democrat took to the House floor to accuse Republican Ted Yoho of accosting her on the steps of the US Capitol on Monday.

Ocasio-Cortez, who is often a target of conservatives, said the words showed a "pattern" of bad behaviour by men.

US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez outside the Capitol in March, where the exchange took place

Yoho denies saying the slur and has called for civility.

"This issue is not about one incident. It is cultural," she told lawmakers, calling it a culture "of accepting a violence and violent language against women, an entire structure of power that supports that".

She added that she was prepared to let the incident go until Yoho "made excuses" by citing his wife and daughters in a speech on Wednesday.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

WHO chief denounces “unacceptable” comments questioning his independence

T

he head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday that reported comments by US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo questioning his independence were untrue and would not distract the organisation from its work in fighting the coronavirus.

Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has come under criticism, es-

pecially from US President Donald Trump and Pompeo, who have accused him of being pro-China.

“And the comments are untrue and unacceptable and without any foundation, for that matter,” Tedros said in response to a question at a Geneva briefing about remarks by Pompeo reported in London on Tuesday.

“Our sole focus – and the

focus of the entire organisation – is on saving lives. “...And WHO will not be distracted by these comments. We don’t want the international community also to be distracted.”

A WHO advance team has been in China for nearly two weeks, organising a WHO-led international mission to investigate the origins of the virus. Scientists believe it emerged in a food

market in the central city of Wuhan late last year.

Tedros said the WHO was seeing intense transmission of the coronavirus in relatively few countries.

“Two-thirds of all cases are from 10 countries.

Almost half of all cases reported so far are from just three countries,” he said, referring to the United States, Brazil, and India.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

The China Consulate General in Houston, Texas, US, July 22, 2020

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hina said the United States’ move to close its Houston consulate this week had “severely harmed” relations and warned it “must” retaliate, without detailing what it would do.

Washington on Tuesday gave China 72 hours to close the Consulate, which it said was “to protect American intellectual property and Americans’ private information”, a dramatic escalation of tension between the world’s two biggest economies.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin described the US allegations as “malicious slander” and said the “unreasonable” move had “severely harmed” relations.

“China must make a necessary response and safeguard its legitimate rights,” he said, declining to specify any measures.

The South China Morning Post reported that China may close the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, while a source told Reuters on Wednesday that China was considering shutting the consulate in Wuhan, where the United States withdrew staff at the start of the coronavirus outbreak.

Hu Xijin, editor of China’s Global Times tabloid, posted on Twitter: “Based on what I know, China will announce countermeasure on Friday Beijing time. One US consulate in China will be asked to close.”

Meanwhile, a flight bound for Shanghai carrying US diplomats has left the United States as Washington pressed ahead with its plan to restaff its mission in China a day after the American order to close the Chinese consulate.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

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FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

ARCHIE

ARIES

Stay focused on what you want and what you are doing. Avoid conversations that will get your dander up or mislead you. Take action, do what you say you will do and make a difference.

TAURUS

A passionate approach to something you believe in will capture attention and bring about change. Don't be afraid to be different or speak up for those who can't speak for themselves. Share your beliefs and experience.

(March 21April 19)

(April 20May 20)

DILBERT

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

Emotions will surface.

Look at situations realistically. Gather the facts and choose to use common sense and intelligence, not divisiveness and chaos. Promote love and peace.

CANCER (June 21July 22)

Spend time with people who bring out the best in you.

Discussions will lead to alternative ways to solve problems concerning your position, reputation or status.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Push yourself to the limit. How you project what you have to offer will determine how much recognition you get. Make unusual plans to celebrate with a loved one.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Emotions will be close to the surface. Channel your energy into making positive changes that will bring you closer to the people who always have your back.

LIBRA

Don't get involved in other people's affairs.

Concentrate on personal improvements that will build confidence and prompt you to do what's best for you.

Romance is on the rise.

PEANUTS

CALVIN AND HOBBES

(Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

SUDOKU

Get involved in activities that will help you grow mentally, emotionally and spiritually. You don't have to spend money to gain acceptance; you just have to do what's right.

Question information SAGITTARIUS that sounds suspicious.

(Nov. 23Consider the consequencDec. 21) es of misbehavior. Take the high road and focus on peace, love and paying it forward. Romance is favored.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Fine-tune your plans and put a reasonable schedule in place. Make changes at home or to relationships that will improve your life.

Safely tuck away your money, possessions and passwords. Don't get involved in someone else's getrich-quick scheme. Focus on home, family and lowering your overhead.

Search for an innovative solution. Use intuitive intelligence when making decisions, and you will bring about positive changes that benefit those less fortunate.

Distance yourself from manipulative people. Deception is apparent.

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020

21

Shamarh Brooks: The boy who was born to bat "T

he stone that the builders refused will become the head cornerstone." It's a biblical line that Philo Wallace, the former West Indies opener, would use routinely in all of his conversations with Shamarh Brooks a few years ago.

It was back in the days when the elegant Bajan right-hander had been knocking on the West Indian selectors' doors regularly, recording consistent scores without ever receiving a positive response.

By that time, he had already spent over a decade playing first-class cricket for Barbados; had captained his region along; and had even led the West Indies ‘A’ team over a period of three years. And with him approaching 30 years old, as Wallace recalls, Brooks had even reached a point at which he had contemplated giving up the game.

"It was more frustration. There are many obstacles you need to jump over in the Caribbean to play cricket for the West Indies. If you've captained the Under-19, the High-Performance, the ‘A’ Team, and your performances continue to improve but you see fellows coming around you get into the Test team while you're still captain of the A side, you start to say, 'Am I good enough?'," Wallace, who's been a mentor and trusted confidant to Brooks from the time he was a teenager, tells Cricbuzz.

"Shamarh started to feel he wasn't good enough, ‘and these people aren't going to pick me’. Then age starts to come up on you.

If you've reached 28 in the Caribbean and you're not playing Test cricket, you start to think, ‘My time is now, but why isn't it coming?" he adds.

It was Wallace and Brooks's five uncles, the Sandifords of Holders Hill, who convinced the talented batsman that his time would eventually come. They also motivated him to "stick with doing all the right things as a batsman", which basically meant scoring a lot of runs; which he duly did.

And you can sense the understandable pride in Wallace's voice when he talks about seeing his prophecy showing signs of coming true. For, across the last three Tests that the West Indies have played, and especially the couple in England over the last two weeks, Brooks has been the "cornerstone" of the batting line-up with an average of 42.25.

Though he didn't quite manage to convert either of his decent scores into centuries in Manchester, Brooks did turn a few heads with his style of batting and overall composure at the crease. A number of experts in England and elsewhere have used the old cliche of "he certainly looks like he can bat" to describe his knocks.

In Barbados though, Shamarh Brooks has always been known as the "boy who was born to bat". And Wallace, who now is based in England, isn't surprised with the tagline.

It's exactly how he remembers his former junior clubmate when they met for the first time at the historic Spartan Cricket Club in Barbados.

Brooks originally hails from the village of Holders Hill in the region of St James.

Apart from being a popular holiday destination, it also can lay claim to having produced some rather outstanding cricketers, who went on to play for the West Indies.

And that list includes Clairmonte Depeiza,

Franklyn Stephenson, Albert Padmore, and as Wallace puts it, "the famous son of the soil", Desmond Haynes.

The likes of Wallace, Adrian Griffith and Courtney Browne also originally hail from there, and so did the Sandifords: Lionel, Jeffrey, Colin, Robert and Keith, all of whom played cricket too.

When Brooks moved out of Holders Hill and came to Spartan as a teenager, Wallace was club captain. He'd already heard about the talented batsman with a silky touch reminiscent of Carl Hooper and a calmness at the crease well beyond his years.

But it wasn't Brooks's batting that caught his eye first

"We were doing some fielding practice.

I was hitting the ball to the players. As a captain, you get involved with the drills. I smashed a ball, really hit it hard, at him, and he took the catch. I told the now coach Dave Marshall that this guy is a cricketer.

There are certain attributes you can pick up in cricketers that will tell you if they'll make the grade. He had cricket in his blood too, through his uncles," says Wallace.

It wasn't just his batting that a young Brooks was obsessed with though. "At Spartan, even when it got dark, he wanted to do catching.

He was always keen on fielding and batting. He believes the more contributions you make on the field, the better you bat.

If you put all your energy into fielding, batting just becomes an extension of that arms-andhand-eye coordination," he adds.

Wallace also recalls Brooks as having been a useful leg-spinner in his younger days, a trait he picked up from his uncle Jeffrey. But it was the youngster who decided to put it away when he believed it was time to focus more on his batting, despite his mentor Wallace trying his best to convince him that the legspin could be a handy asset in the future.

"He keeps telling me he was right in sticking to just batting, because look where it's pushed him," says Wallace with a chuckle.

It didn't take too long for Brooks's credentials as a batsman to get recognised in the cricket circles of Barbados. Before long, he became "the batsman you had to dismiss early" for any team that came up against Spartan.

While Wallace, forever the aggressive opener, who in 1997 famously took the English attack head on in the company of Clayton Lambert, jokes about having been dismissed by the time his junior partner walked out to bat on most occasions in club cricket, the two did share a few partnerships.

"The key to his batting success is his repetitive good habits. He's always been easy on the eye, with a very solid technique. In his early days, he had some issues getting forward. He would always play half and half, never right forward or right back. But you could see the talent in the way he exe-

cuted his shots and presented himself as a batsman. Particularly his drives. Once you see someone executing a drive through extra cover or mid-off with good frequency, you know there's quality and there's something special," explains Wallace.

Another aspect of Brooks's batting that stood out for his former club captain was his ability to control the innings every time he walked out to bat, regardless of the match situation.

The 31-year-old certainly did show glimpses of that ability in both his knocks at Old Trafford last week. He steadied the ship in the first innings in the company of Kraig Brathwaite with a 137-ball 68, before providing a glimmer of hope for West Indies to save the Test with a 100-run stand with Jermaine Blackwood on Day 5.

In addition to his game awareness and innate calmness at the crease, Brooks also comes across as a slightly atypical West Indian batsman, one who is wristy, and also plays the ball very late despite having a confident front-foot stride. It was these qualities

The two former Spartan teammates still keep in touch regularly over WhatsApp messages. And Wallace does reveal to have been in Brooks's ear, after his lbw dismissal to Sam Curran late on the fifth evening, about the virtues of "watching the ball without bothering about the conditions" to score runs in England. He also believes the next step for the impressive late-comer is to convert the half-centuries into significant three-figure scores. And he is confident that Brooks, forever the eager learner, as Wallace describes him, will make the step up.

He did in Lucknow late last year with his maiden Test century against Afghanistan.

It rounded off a rather sensational 2019 for Brooks, wherein he finally made his Test debut and also got married - to the daughter of former Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson.

While Wallace claims that marriage has only made the already Zen-like Brooks "even calmer", the Bajan was a bundle of nerves when he was handed his Test cap

by Sir Viv Richards in Antigua last year. Though it wasn't because he is a

Shamarh Brooks that had marked him out to be a future star when he stood up to a Sri Lankan bowling attack comprising of Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Rangana Herath in 2008 and scored 68 off 84 balls as a 19-year-old in a practice match.

He also dismissed Kumar Sangakkara with his leg-spin, for the record.

"Brooks is a good timer of the cricket ball. He watches the ball, and to be a wristy player, you have to watch the ball till the last moment of contact. He watches the ball on to his bat. He plays it so late, sometimes he might play too late and get lbw, like in Manchester. What I can see now is he's worked a lot on his balance at the crease.

You can see he's in a good space," says Wallace.

Like with his batting, Wallace doesn't believe Brooks, the person, has changed much from the time he captained him at Spartan.

"When you look at him, he goes unnoticed. There's no loudness to him. His mannerisms are very simple. His actions are very simple on the cricket field. That's the way he always has been," he says, while adding how it made him a perfect candidate to become a leader at every level.

stranger to being in the company of cricketing royalty, considering who he generally plays golf with.

"He spends a lot of time on the golf course. He plays a lot of golf with Desmond Haynes. When you get into that company, you can only get better. He also ends up having regular conversations with the great Sir Garfield Sobers (who managed Holders Hill at one point) because of the golf connection.

Although he's on the golf course, he's always learning about cricket," Wallace reveals.

During the period of time when Brooks briefly began doubting himself as a cricketer, Wallace would often give him the example of Michael Hussey as someone who came into Test cricket slightly late, but ended up leaving on top of his game.

And though it's still very early days, the signs are indeed promising.

As Wallace puts it, "Nobody except Carlos Brathwaite was talking about him when this team landed in England, despite him having scored a Test hundred. Now he's showing that he brings the stability that the West Indies need in the middle-order. They kept refusing him, but now he could become the cornerstone." (cricbuzz)

22

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Stokes can become England's greatest all-rounder — Anderson

B

en Stokes is becoming England's greatest all-rounder, but must be looked after so he can reach his peak, according to James Anderson.

Stokes was influential as England squared the Test series with West Indies, scoring 254 runs with the bat while also taking two crucial wickets on a dramatic final day in Manchester.

It was his dismissal of Jermaine Blackwood just prior to the tea break that opened the door for Joe Root's side to push for victory, setting up a winner-takes-all showdown at the same venue this week.

The updated International Cricket Council (ICC) player rankings have Stokes listed as the leading all-rounder in the

world in the longest format, while seamer Anderson believes the 29-year-old is on course to surpass the achievements of the great Ian Botham.

England's all-time leading wicket-taker admits it is "amazing" to be in the same team as an individual who can make such a massive impact in all three facets of the game.

"It's hard to say how good he is because it's hard to find the words. I saw Joe Root say the other day that we're in the presence of greatness, and he's spot-on," Anderson said of Stokes.

"The fact that he could get into any team as a batsman, without his bowling and fielding, speaks volumes. His bowling is getting better and better each time he goes out there. He could get into a lot of bowling attacks as well. It's just amazing to have that talent in our team, and also to be

able to watch it first-hand.

"After a week (when) he's pretty much done everything – chasing balls off his own bowling, batting most of the two innings that we had, and getting wickets as well -- it can take a toll. We've got to make sure we look after him as well, so we can keep getting the best out of him for as long as possible.

"He's certainly the best all-rounder I've ever played with, and I think he's becoming the best all-rounder that England have ever had.

There's no reason why he cannot go on and be even better, too. With the bat, averaging in the 40s, with the ball, in the 30s; and then taking spectacular catches. It's incredible that we've got him on our team."

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Ben Stokes and James Anderson

Test, Anderson was not involved. The 37-year-old was rested after featuring in the series opener in Southampton, in which West Indies triumphed by four wickets.

Stuart Broad, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes were the three seamers selected at Old Trafford last week, though with Jofra Archer and Mark Wood also available, Anderson acknowledged there is a serious fight to feature in England's best XI, which he expects to take the field in the decider.

"It's healthy competition, but there are going to be some disappointed guys this week.

Three spots up for grabs and there's six or seven guys who could fill those spaces," he said. "It's a good position to be in, because it shows we've got strength in depth.

"But I'm sure now we're in a position where, having rested guys and those that played this week, we can now pick our best three going into this game wanting to win it."

Archer was excluded for the previous match due to breaching bio-secure protocols. However, he has served a period of self-isolation and returned two negative coronavirus tests, clearing him for action. (Sportsmax)

West Indies can create history

—says Coach Roddy Estwick 223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

NOW!

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

A

ssistant coach Roddy Estwick has underscored the importance of the upcoming third and final Test match which starts tomorrow by reminding West Indies that history is within their grasp once they manage to produce a “big performance” to beat England at Old Trafford.

Pointing out that the Test possessed the aura of a final, Estwick also reiterated that controlling the game from early in each innings would be critical if West Indies were to emerge dominant.

“Obviously this is a big, big Test match, not only for the people who are here in England, but for people in the Caribbean and all our supporters all around the world. This is a really big Test match. There will be a lot of people tuned in, and we’ve got to be really up for it, Estwick said.

“The key thing is -- if

you look at the first innings [of the first Test] -we got early wickets when we won in Southampton.

We got off to a decent start in the first innings with the bat. So, for me, those are two key areas. If we can blunt that new ball and stop England from getting early wickets, and also get early wickets ourselves, that could put us in a position to control the game and try and put them under some added pressure,” Estwick detailed.

He continued: “We’re constantly reminding them they have the chance to change something that hasn’t happened in 32 years. We played them over the last two or three years, and we’ve won the odd Test matches. We’ve obviously won in the Caribbean; we want to go one step better here in England. We really want to win that Test match.

“We have to be up for it.

Obviously, England is going to be up for it, because it’s a final – when you look at this game, it is a final for both teams; and whoever puts in a big performance also will win the game,” Estwick explained.

The last time the West Indies had won a Test series was in 1988, before any member of the present team was born. They won the opening Test by four wickets, and lost the second by 113 runs, to leave the three-Test series tied 1-1.

“We’re not concerned in terms of their form, because we think they’re hitting the ball quite w e l l , they’re g e t ting

into positions. What we’re concerned about is that people have gotten starts and not gone on to get big hundreds, and that’s been the difference,” Estwick said.

“If you look at the last game, Stokes and Sibley got big hundreds, and that’s been the big difference in the last

Test match; so, we’re hoping that players, once they get in, can keep going and keep getting big partnerships.

“Partnerships are the key. We’re getting starts, we’re looking good, but we’re not going on; so that’s the concern: that nobody is going on to get big hundreds, but we’re not worried about the form.” (CWI)

Roddy Estwick

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

23

West Indies v England Test preview‌

Locked and loaded, Holder and company in high spirits selected, Holder hinted that Cornwall would be a big contribution to the team, and he would be the best spinner on show if it is a turning pitch. "If he does come in, he is a wicket-taker and he has proven to be a match winner; and not only at the Regional level, but in his last Test match he played, he got 13 wickets. I think he is a quality spinner and, no doubt, he will be the best spinner on show."

Holder also noted that Cornwall is a good slip catcher, a solid contributor with the bat, and brings a wealth of control with his spin bowling.

The first ball of the final Test at Old Trafford will bowl off from 6:00h local time, today: Friday July 24.

By Brandon Corlette

W

est Indies captain Jason Holder believes his team has a good opportunity to create history and win a series in England, something not done since 1988.

On the eve of the decisive third Test match, Holder, who was at his best in being discreet in terms of selection of the team, posited that the players in the dressing room are in high spirits despite being defeated in the second Test.

Holder noted that the West Indies are motivated to keep pushing for greatn e s s de-

Jason Holder

spite t h e quick turnaround between Test matches. The captain has said he would

view the pitch on the morning of the Test and make the necessary selection of the starting XI. The West Indies began the series in grand style, and had their moments in the second Test, but the result was against them. The spirit shown by the group has impressed, but the batsmen have failed to convert those starts, with eight half-centuries being scored.

"All our players have my full backing.

More or less, it is giving them support, and I am 100% behind Shai. We all know what he can do at this level. He is arguably one of the best ODI batsmen in the world, and we know the calibre of player he can be. I have full confidence in Shai to get some runs, and he is not far from converting the starts into something really special," Holder said of Hope.

In terms of the pacemen and the workload, Holder highlighted that these players have been doing this (playing Test cricket) for

a number of years. "These guys have done it before. Yes, the turnaround is short, but these guys have done it before, and I am not too worried," he posited.

In addition to the batting, which requires improvement in the final Test, Holder noted that the fielding must be up to scratch for this big Test.

In terms of calling up a reserve player, Holder seemingly does not see any need to do so. "Just the 15 we have selected, unless someone is injured at the last moment, and then we have to replace them," he said.

Holder posited that the key to win this Test which starts today is a combination of taking 20 wickets and setting up a solid first innings total. "Once we get these two things happening, we get the Test in the direction we want it to go in," Holder explained.

In terms of Rahkeem Cornwall being

Rahkeem Cornwall

Jofra Archer in England squad for final Test against West Indies P

ace bowler Jofra Archer has been included in the England squad for the decisive third Test against the West Indies.

The 25-year-old, who had been dropped from the second Test for breaching the COVID-19 bio-secure protocols, spoke in his newspaper column about struggling for motivation when he returned to practice, and needing to be "100% mentally right" in order to play at Emirates Old Trafford.

James Anderson and Mark Wood are also in a 14-man squad for Friday's match.

With the three-Test series poised at 1-1, West Indies have the opportunity to record a series win in England for the first time since 1988; while England are looking to reclaim the Wisden Trophy and defend a six-year unbeaten home record.

The England squad for this final Test against West Indies are: Joe Root (Yorkshire) captain, James Anderson (Lancashire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Dominic Bess (Somerset), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Rory Burns

(Surrey), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Sam Curran (Surrey), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Dom Sibley (Warwickshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).

Until his breach of the protocols put in place to shield players from the novel coronavirus had come to light the night before the match was due to begin, Jofra Archer had been set to play in the second Test. He admitted visiting his home in Hove on the journey from Southampton, where the first Test was played, to Emirates Old Trafford, the venue for the second and third.

The Sussex bowler was forced to spend five days in isolation, and was later fined and given a written warning. Archer began bowling in the nets at the end of his isolation period, and returned two negative coronavirus tests before rejoining the rest of the England players on Tuesday.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Archer said he had suffered racist abuse on Instagram, and has withdrawn from social media because it is "unnecessary

noise". Now he has been named in the squad for the series decider, Archer will compete with Anderson, Wood, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran for one of three places in the final XI. Broad, Woakes and Curran had constituted the pace attack for the second Test, which England won by 113 runs. Anderson and Wood, who both played in England's first-Test defeat, have been recalled after being rested for the second Test.

In naming all six fast bowlers who have so far played in the series in the squad for the third Test, England have delayed giving any indication about who will make the final XI today.

With pacemen being rotated over the first two matches, England coach Chris Silverwood has said England will play their strongest team for the decider.

The hosts have also opted not to change their spinner, with Dom Bess retained ahead of Jack Leach. (BBC Sport)

Jofra Archer

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020

Sport is no longer our game, it’s our business

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West Indies v England Test preview…

Locked and loaded, Holder and company in high spirits

Pg 23

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