Guyana Times -- Thursday, September 24, 2020

Agriculture P15 sector can drive economy after COVID-19 – Mustapha Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 4418

THE BEACON OF TRUTH THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

COVID-19 reversing gains on health, poverty and education – Ali tells UN Assembly See story on page 3

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

P11 Speaker upbraids MPs over conduct, dress code

…says multilateral approach needed to stem pandemic

Over $250M from SLED programme unaccounted for – Minister See story on page 10

President pledges support to persons affected during WCB unrest

P8 Robbery suspect escapes from Lusignan Prison

See story on page 2

Linden nurses protest for risk allowances P10 …action premature, $150M only available after Budget passes – Minister

P14 2 more COVID-19 deaths, 98 new cases recorded

Baker nabbed with illegal P14 firearm President Irfaan Ali stands with family members of murdered Haresh Singh during a funeral service for the teen on Wednesday in Berbice

T&HD left with over $956.8M debt by APNU/ AFC – Edghill Page 9

P15 Security supervisor nabbed after shoplifting at Giftland Mall

COVID-19 pandemic

Former Govt blasted for unpreparedness of education sector

Page 7

2 NEWS

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

President pledges support to persons affected during WCB unrest

P

resident Dr Irfaan Ali on Wednesday attended the funeral service of 17-year-old Haresh Singh, who was brutally murdered amidst protests at West Coast Berbice (WCB).

At the funeral service, the Head of State underscored the importance of a united nation as he once again committed to leaving no stone unturned in seeking justice for the grieving family.

Speaking with reporters at Cheddi Jagan Street in New Amsterdam, Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne), where the private viewing was held, the Head of State noted that he had made many statements prior on the issue of justice for vic-

President Dr Irfaan Ali standing alongside Haresh Singh’s family during the funeral service for the teen on Wednesday

tims of the WCB violent protest.

“I believe that the Guyana Police Force, with the support that we have requested from the regional institutions and from the British Government, would allow us to bring all these criminals who perpetrated these acts to justice.

“However, I think a lot of our focus now in memory of these three young men has to be on healing, bringing our country together, and unifying our efforts to ensure that all Guyanese in the future do not have to repeat these horrific incidents,” President Ali said.

Singh was a relative of one of the men initially taken into custody for the murders of 16-year-old Isaiah and 19-year-old Joel Henry.

Singh’s badly-chopped body was on September 9 found in the backdam at Number Three Village – a short distance from his home. From all indications, he was murdered in the same fashion as the Henry boys.

Against this backdrop, President Ali said his Government would work assiduously to ensure unity among the different ethnic groups in Guyana. This, he assured, would be done through policies and pro-

grammes.

“We have to do these things in addition to ensuring justice is served for these three young men. Today, Haresh. Importantly also, we have to reflect on these incidents and ensure that we put mechanisms in place and strengthen our resolve in ensuring that this does not occur again.”

Persons affected

Apart from visiting the Henry and Singh families and attending their funerals, President Ali said he has also been speaking with others who were injured or affected during the violent protest on the West Coast of Berbice.

Those protests erupted following the discovery of the badly mutilated bodies of the Henry boys.

“Some of them cannot fend for themselves because of those injuries. At some point, also, we have to have the healing process there.

I want all of these persons who were affected in various ways. Personally, I have called many of them myself, but we have to connect with them as a Government.”

President Irfaan Ali has assured that his administration would not leave any stone unturned to bring justice to those who were affect-

Dead: Haresh Singh

ed by recent violence on the West Coast of Berbice.

He asked for all to remember the families in their prayers, and to recommit ourselves individually and collectively to make a better Guyana where unity prevails.

Singh’s body was found in the backdam at Number Three Village, West Coast Berbice amid violent protests in the area.

Persons were protesting for justice for 16-year-old Isaiah Henry and 19-yearold Joel Henry, whose badly mutilated bodies were discovered in the same area.

Singh had left his home at Number Three Village to run an errand. It was while returning home that he was murdered. Singh was riding a motorcycle at the time of the attack.

NEWS

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS OPENINGS BRIDGE

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Thursday, September 24 – 10:30h-12:00h and Friday, September 25 – 12:00h-13:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Thursday, September 24 – 09:35h-11:05h and Friday, September 25 – 11:20h-12:50h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY Sunny intervals are expected during the day, with clear to partly cloudy skies in the evening.

Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Celsius.

Winds: North-Easterly to South-Westerly between 1.34 metres and 4.02 metres.

High Tide: 09:48h and 22:08h reaching maximum heights of 2.16 metres and 2.20 metres.

Low Tide: 15:36h reaching a minimum height of 1.13 metres.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020

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DAILY MILLIONS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020

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Afternoon Draw

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Evening Draw

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COMMODITIES Indicators

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Rough Rice

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$371.20/ton

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…says multilateral approach needed to stem pandemic

P

resident Irfaan Ali has emphasised the need for a multilateral approach to stem the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that has devastated countries around the world.

The Head of State made this plea in his inaugural address to the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.

During his virtual presentation, President Ali pointed out that the UN must acknowledge the challenges facing developing countries especially, and their implications for the progress and prosperity of their citizens, given the current state of the world as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its multidimensional impacts.

“The pandemic has launched an attack on the health and wellbeing of our people, while the economy has become a causality of this assault. This pandemic is reversing our gains on health, poverty and education. More than ever, the resolve of the United Nations is being tested, and it is evident that no single country can overcome the debilitating effects alone.

This reality must inform the trajectory of the United Nations, so that it can support the efforts of developing countries to rebuild and to become more resilient,” he posited.

The Guyanese Head of State noted that a strong multilateral system is required for collective action to stem this pandemic. As such, he acknowledged the support of UN agencies in aiding Guyana’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.

“We trust and support the efforts of the UN system to ensure fair, transparent and timely global access to preventive tools, equipment and materials for testing. In this regard, we recognise the important role of the World Health Organisation in coordinating the response of the UN system and in global public health preparedness and response. We look forward to increased international cooperation to contain, mitigate, and defeat the pandemic,” he stated.

Climate change

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020

12

COVID-19 reversing gains on health, poverty and education – Ali tells UN Assembly

+0.01%

Additionally, President Ali underscored that the pandemic is competing with, and compounded by, another global scourge – Climate Change.

According to the Head of State, every year there is a new record-breaking year for extreme weather conditions and climate events. He noted that as a low-lying coastal State, Guyana is acutely aware of the high toll these extreme weather conditions can have here.

However, he lamented that climate resilience is equally costly.

“Developing countries are thus set between a rock and a hard place. The only way to ease this burden is through concerted and balanced climate action, especially via mitigation, climate financing, technical cooperation, and capacity building. We also urge

President Irfaan Ali

all States to set ambitious targets in their Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, and to work earnestly towards them,” he implored.

The Head of State noted that Guyana is doing its part, and this reflected in its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) as part of its national development agenda.

This strategy, he added, will ensure that the country fulfill its Nationally Determined Contributions and be placed along a path of sustainable and climate-resilient development.

Multilateralism – the pathway to our achievements

President Ali further outlined that the future lies in reaffirming a collective commitment to multilateralism.

“The future we want and the United Nations that we need are in our hands. It is ours to fashion. History must not find us victims of inaction or succumbing to failure.

Multilateralism is the pathway to achieving our ends.

We must collectively work to preserve this instrument and to strengthen the United

Nations as we build a better world for our generation and those to follow,” he contended.

According to the Guyanese Head of State, multilateralism is the key to unlocking solutions to humanity’s problems. He noted that the ongoing public health and climate crises have demonstrated that it is in the common interest of humanity that the ideals of multilateralism be fully embraced.

He highlighted that Guyana’s commitment to multilateralism is testimony to its assumption of the Chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China back in January this year.

“Our statement to the world is that a state’s capacity for leadership is not constrained by its size…Every nation, no matter how large or small, has but a single vote within this Assembly.

The General Assembly remains an invaluable forum where small states can make their voices heard and unite for their mutual benefit.

“Developing states in particular owe a great debt to this organisation,” he asserted.

Further, President Ali posited that developing countries account for more than half of the world’s states and population, and thus,

the United Nations makeup, inclusive of the Security Council, must reflect this reality. In fact, he stressed that the Security Council in particular should be reformed to increase the number of developing countries that are permanent members.

“Developing countries continue to face constraints associated with limited access to development financing. Improved access to such financing is vital for the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The United Nations must continue to champion the need for great access to development financing for developing states,” he insisted.

The President went on to underscore that the UN has a special duty to ensure that members’ obligations under international agreements are fulfilled, and that setbacks in meeting commitments are reversed.

“Guyana applauds the ongoing work on reform of the United Nations Development System (UNDS). We believe, however, that there should be greater focus on reforms that are tailored to allow the UN to respond adequately to existing and emerging gaps in development, and to find solutions to existing threats,” President Ali asserted. (G8)

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guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

Views 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

A mature Opposition needed

N

othing can justify the APNU/AFC voting against the allocation of funds that are geared towards ensuring that Amerindians enjoy a better quality of life. In the words of the Minister of Amerindian Affairs, “It’s a travesty and an embarrassment” that a party that claims it cares for the concerns of all Guyanese would take such an action.

While it did not come as a surprise, the APNU/AFC Members of Parliament, during the consideration of the current and capital estimates for the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, on Tuesday voted against $845 million intended to bring relief to the Amerindian residents and villagers. Among areas for which the sum caters are: equipment to support agriculture; youth development; reinstatement of the Community Support Officers project; Presidential Grant Initiative; transport, which includes procuring of ATVs and pickup trucks for Amerindian villages.

From the onset, the APNU/AFC Members should have known beforehand that no right-thinking MP, who is serious about seeing Guyana move forward, would join with them to vote down funds aimed at various development initiatives; and hence they would not get the required number of votes to win if a division is called.

It is well known that the APNU/AFC does not have a good track record in the hinterland communities, and the results of the March 2 polls have supported this contention. Therefore, voting against finances for key development initiatives only worsens the situation, and will certainly cause the Coalition to lose more political ground.

The consideration of the estimates provided yet another opportunity for the APNU/AFC to redeem itself and for its members to prove that they are serious about what they committed to doing in their promises to Amerindians and Guyanese as a whole.

It could be recalled that the then APNU and AFC Opposition had done the same thing prior to 2015 when they enjoyed the majority in the Parliament. Tuesday’s events brought back these bad memories when they used their majority to block funding for several development projects that were proposed by the PPP/C Government at the time.

In 2014, for example, AFC and APNU cut about $9.3B from the National Budget. The cuts targeted many sectors, and certainly had a huge negative impact on ordinary Guyanese.

At the time, projects such as the Specialty Hospital; upgrading of regional and district hospitals, including Port Kaituma, Kwakwani, Linden and Bartica; Eye Surgery Operating Room at Linden; the procurement of ambulances, ATVs and boats; surgical equipment and instruments; Amerindian Development Fund; Cheddi Jagan International Airport; Civil Aviation; hinterland airstrips, were all affected.

While the cuts represented a major barrier in the PPP/C’s efforts to move ahead with its development plans, it is the people who suffered in the end. To date, there is still no Specialty Hospital, electricity costs remain high due to the Amaila Falls project not getting the necessary political support to get off the ground, and the list goes on.

No one could have comprehended the rationale for voting against the Specialty Hospital. Such a facility would have ensured that all Guyanese obtain health services that they can otherwise access only overseas.

Similarly, the Amerindian Development Fund has, in the past, seen Amerindians receiving benefits through a number of areas, including equipment, rehabilitation of community huts, benabs, acquisition of solar power, computer systems, and the construction of dorms and hostels.

In voting against funds for Amerindian development on Tuesday, the APNU/AFC members once again abdicated their responsibility to act in the interest of citizens, more particularly the people who voted for them. Voting against funds, particularly programmes that are geared to offer support to sections of the population that have been crying out for much-needed resources, is not only morally wrong, but it selfish and insensitive.

The current Government has laid out a detailed plan for the development of Guyana’s Indigenous Peoples for the next five years. It is quite clear that the Government has a full grasp of the challenges facing hinterland communities, and has made the necessary budgetary allocations accordingly.

There is no doubt that much more needs to be done, both in terms of policy design and implementation, and resource allocation, to ensure that economic vibrancy is returned to Indigenous communities and that the rights of Indigenous peoples are fully protected.

It would be good if the APNU/AFC were to prove that they have matured politically by joining with the Government in tackling these issues.

A boy in the Santiago family is homeschooled in San Miguel Amoltepec Viejo, Guerrero state, Mexico, amid the COVID-19 pandemic (AFP photo)

Outrageous: APNU/AFC continues to betray Amerindians, again and again Dear Editor, The present Amerindian leaders sitting as MPs and in other influential positions who support APNU+AFC have an obligation to the Amerindian people. They must reject the latest insult from APNU+AFC. They must demand an unconditional apology from the leaders of APNU+AFC for voting against the Amerindian Capital Budget of $845M. Not for the first time, and I suspect not for the last time, APNU+AFC (the PNC in disguise) betrayed the Amerindians. On Monday, September 22, even as Guyana continues observing and celebrating Amerindian Heritage Month, 29 APNU+AFC MPs mindlessly voted against $845M capital budget for the Amerindian people. Two MPs from that party, Khemraj Ramjattan and David Patterson, knew that voting against the budget for the Amerindian people was spiteful, but they did not have the guts to go against that party. Instead, Ramjattan and Patterson shamelessly and spinelessly abstained from voting. It was another display of recklessness, another display of sheer hypocrisy, another display of vindictiveness.

The Amerindian people, in response to five years of utter neglect, solidly voted against APNU+AFC, and solidly voted for the PPP. Demonstrating how spiteful they could be, but also demonstrating how stupid they can be, APNU+AFC voted against the Amerindian budget.

They voted against a $68M Amerindian youth empowerment programme, $285M grants to Amerindian communities, $42M economic projects, $7M Women’s

Group project, a $6M sewing machine project, a $121M tractor and agricultural equipment project, a $26M ICT/Internet hub project, a $4.4M chainsaw project, a $5M village infrastructure project, a $6M generator, a $13M eco-tourism project, a $7M musical instrument project, a $6M project for radio sets, a $15M solar panel project, a $25M farm road project, a $9M irrigation and rainwater harvesting project, an $18M sports project, a $45M bridge/stelling project, $12M for a village office, $60M for minibuses, pickups and ATVs, $10M for boats and engines, a conference center for $10M. Dawn Hastings, an Amerindian and a senior PNC MP who served as a senior minister in the just outgoing administration, led the assault against her people. It was sad and disappointing, but it was also a travesty and an unforgivable attack against a gentle people. This was injustice at its abyss.

How could any political party which wants to be the Government of the people again vote against the interest of the very people they would one day need to vote for that party? But this is not the first time APNU+AFC has betrayed the Amerindian people. One of their first acts in Government in 2015 was to terminate the contract for 2,000 young Amerindian CSOs, robbing the Amerindian community of more than $100M of revenues flowing directly into their village economies. APNU+AFC virtually terminated the Amerindian Land Titling programme in 2015 and diverted more than $US10M ($G2B) away from the titling project.

It was not the first time either that APNU+AFC voted in Parliament against Amerindian budgets. In 2012, APNU+AFC voted against the LCDS provisions for Amerindians, voting against the Amerindian Development Funds, electricity in homes, land titling, laptops for families, agricultural equipment, and upgrading of airstrips in Amerindian communities. In 2012, they actually succeeded in blocking the budget for Amerindians because they had a one-seat majority.

They also did the same thing in 2014. This time, in 2020, they could not block the budget because their 29 votes in Parliament were not enough to stop the Government with 33 votes, plus one vote from the LJP’s Lennox Shuman.

Were these things the only things for which APNU+AFC must apologise to Amerindians for, these would already be too much. But this is just a short list of the many times APNU+AFC/PNC have insulted and been vindictive to Amerindians. It seems that APNU+AFC always use Amerindian Heritage Month to hurl more insults on Amerindians. Last year, during the 2019 Amerindian Heritage Month opening ceremony, Sydney Alicock accused Amerindians of being unreasonable for demanding land titling. He admonished his sisters and brothers for demanding land titling when they were not able to use what they already had.

It was disgraceful then, and it is disgraceful now.

But Amerindians have not forgotten that, in October 2017, the same Allicock admonished them during the opening of the National Toshaos’ Conference for not

supporting David Granger’s Land Commission, which essentially terminated the Amerindian Land Titling exercise and sought to recognize the Ancestral Land Movement being promoted

by ACDA and others.

Allicock, George Norton, Dawn Hasting, GarridoLowe and others since 2015 supported the establishment of NDCs in Amerindian communities, encroaching onto Amerindian Land Rights, ignoring the FPIC (Free, Prior Informed Consent) protocol established in the Amerindian Act 2006.

When Keith Scott angrily denounced Amerindians as “greedy”, these same Amerindian leaders supported Scott, and Granger and his charlatans never uttered a word of condemnation.

The list is long, APNU+AFC/PNC has a lifelong propensity towards betraying the Amerindian people. Yet they are barefaced enough to soon enter these same Amerindian communities and beg them for their votes. Next year will be Local Government Elections.

APNU+AFC, with Allicock, Vincent Henry, GarridoLowe, George Norton, Dawn Hastings-Williams and others will beg Amerindians to vote for them. They will do so again in the 2025 elections. Not a word will be said in apology.

The present Amerindian leaders in APNU+AFC have an obligation to reject this latest insult of the Amerindian people, but that will not happen. The Amerindian people will listen quietly, their dignity and integrity fully intact, as they reject APNU+AFC outright.

Sincerely, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

5

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

A continuation of retrogression Senseless action by Dear Editor, It came as no surprise that the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) could have voted down the Hinterland Indigenous Development Plan.

Shocking I would say, but certainly not surprising, because this is consistent with their behaviour both in and out of Government.

Their stance against our Amerindian brothers and sisters shows a total lack of respect for our First Peoples, so we are not in the least taken aback by this latest approach.

If we were to take a peek back in history, we will get the clear picture of

APNU’s contempt for our Indigenous Peoples. For starters, let us talk about scholarships and other Government-funded developmental projects. The results show there was no one of Amerindian ancestry in the medical profession prior to 1992. That means that no Amerindian was eligible for a Government scholarship, which tells you that APNU/PNC did not see our First Peoples as material for higher learning. Quite a backward and retrograde thinking on their part.

At the close of the PPP/ C’s tenure in office in 2011, thankfully, there were 100 trained Amerindian doc-

tors. It shows the difference of Government, who cares and value the contribution of all the races of this great country, and not just a partisan few.

But if you think that was bad, just take a look at the last five years and you will hear the asinine comment of PNC Minister Keith Scott, unabashedly making the remark that “the Amerindians are too greedy,” and this was in response to them asking for some more money to be placed into their hinterland communities.

Amerindians were met with the bluntest response ever. I cannot find appropri-

ate words to describe them other than to say that they are reprobates and wicked souls of the worst order.

The firing of over 2,000 Amerindian CDC workers who were earning a salary at minimum wage level, all of this was done under the APNU/AFC Government, all in an ongoing campaign of spite. So, you will see why I said that the latest vote against Amerindian development comes as no surprise to us, these moves are consistent with the Opposition’s retrogressive posture.

Respectfully, Neil Adams

Unreasonableness of M&CC Dear Editor, We are dismayed to note the persistence of the paid parking lot run by the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown, next door to Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on East Street.

This is a travesty, as all paid parking proposals that were brought under the last regime were effectively opposed by Guyanese, and

were discarded as a result.

This one has escaped attention from those that had opposed the others. It is particularly heinous at this time of COVID-19, when our healthcare professionals are putting their lives and their families’ lives at risk to help and treat those infected with COVID-19, and they have to pay a huge amount to park at their workplace.

This arrangement that the Mayor and City Council has should be rescinded with immediate effect.

This parking lot was constructed at the initiative of Mr. Bharat Jagdeo as free parking for all those needing to park in and around GPHC. The Mayor and City Council appropriated this lot without having invested anything. The barriers should immediately be re-

moved, as they are an offence to public sensibilities and a reminder of the misguided paid parking scheme.

If this parking lot is opened up, it will also ease the traffic situation on East Street between Lamaha and Middle Streets, Georgetown.

Sincerely, Sarah Williams

Linden nurses, reject lead-up from “visionless leaders” to protest Dear Editor, Nurses at Linden staged protest actions on Wednesday morning over unpaid risk allowance and late salary. Over 50 nurses took to the streets at “the five corner” in Linden, expressing their displeasure with the way they are being treated. Many of them chanted for the money to be paid over.

They met on the protest line with Region #10 aspiring Regional Chairman Mr Darron Adams. The Ministry of Health and the CHO of Region #10 must be very concerned about the action of these nurses and officials, as the Ministry has indicated that steps are being made to douse the problem. An official at the Region 10 Administration, which overlooks accounts and payments for the hospital, said the issue really has to do with “a simple administrative matter”, and the nurses do know, and many of them understand, that because of that administrative glitch, they will be paid shortly.

Editor, it is sad to say that we still have certain leaders in Region #10 who are politicising this situation. Our PPP/C Government is only 47 days old, and has already created a budget that demonstrates its commitment to

every Guyanese, including our nurses and every other frontline worker. A whopping $150M has been set aside for frontline workers in the 2020 National Budget, with sweeping incentives for our nurses and doctors fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Linden nurses: don’t take lead-up from the “visionless leaders”. It is your PPP/C Government, as soon as they went into office, that set aside some $4.5B to aid at the household level those affected by the COVID-19 scourge.

All nurses are a part of that household level. Let us give the PPP/C Administration an opportunity to do good for all our frontline workers in Region #10, and for every citizen that is affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Let me appeal to all our leaders in Region #10 that it is important for organisations to understand how to support the psychological wellbeing of staff who are exposed to traumatic working conditions, especially where employees have little or no training in how to prepare or cope with the emotional impact of the current difficult working environment.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, local authorities will need their staff to continue to function and carry out their very important

roles, and manage the increasing need for their services and information whilst dealing with their own personal situations and emotions.

Frontline and key workers, especially our nurses and those in social care roles, may be worried about their vulnerability to higher risk of infection, and be worried about spreading the virus to their families; or they may be experiencing additional stress because of having to offer more support to bereaved and grieving resident and, yes, will worry about monetary incentives.

We must remember that good organisational leaderships and a supportive work culture can have a positive impact on the psychological wellbeing of these staff members before, during, and after the COVID-19 crisis.

During this period of in-

creased pressure and anxiety, it is essential that employers and hospital administrators send a clear message that the wellbeing of staff, workers and nurses and other frontline personnel matter.

As the COVID-19 pandemic remains with us today, our Government is aggressively and scientifically addressing it at a national level by refocusing financial and other resources to improve testing capacity and to acquire much needed pharmaceutical and health care supplies, in order to bring relief to all our people like never before.

High on our Government’s agenda is the enhancement of measures and stakeholder involvement with a view to keeping our citizens safe.

Sincerely, David Adams

the parliamentary Opposition Dear Editor, Please grant me some space within your newspaper to offer my views on the headline of the Guyana Times Wednesday edition, dated 23rd September 2020 and titled “APNU MPs vote against monies for developing indigenous communities”.

Editor, such an article is very surprising, vexatious, and frustrating to know that our parliamentary Opposition have no intentions for the development of the Indigenous peoples of Guyana. The Amerindian people are lacking tremendously in terms of infrastructure, education, health, and the list goes on; and I feel that the entire country owes the First Peoples for their meaningful contribution towards the development of this beautiful country Guyana.

The Indigenous Peoples in today’s society are marginalised. They are being robbed of their hard-earned wages by their employers, and many times they are unable to acquire decent employment, due to many barriers such as the different languages that they speak, and the location where they are living.

Editor, I find this very frustrating, since our parliamentary Opposition, when they were on the campaign line, entered many Indigenous villages and

promise many good things that the Indigenous Peoples would be benefiting from, and thus persuade thousands of Indigenous peoples to vote for them. And today, even though they are not in Government, it is expected that they would represent the welfare of the Guyanese people, including the many Indigenous peoples that marked their X next to the Coalition’s symbol.

Editor, is this the thanks that they are giving to the thousands of Indigenous supporters, who wholeheartedly voted for them? The 825 million that was budgeted for the Amerindian People will be a great help towards our welfare, since we will have many urgent projects to embark upon, and it will provide employment, academic learning, and raise the economic and financial status of many Indigenous communities in Guyana.

A big “hats off!” for the new People’s Progressive Party Government, that from this emergency budget alone they showcase that they intend to keep their promises; and not only that, but ensure that the Guyanese people have a better life even though we are in difficult times during this Global COVID-19 pandemic.

Yours respectfully, Robin Joseph Councillor, Waramuri Village Council

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

Page

Foundation

SUMMER OF LEARNING

◄

Æsop’s Fables

Module Test Change to mixed numbers:

Divide:

1)50/14

17) 2/3 ÷ 9

2) 21/10

18) 3/4 ÷ 75

3) 43/7

19) 40 ÷ 10/20

4) 235/20

20) 72 ÷ 8/1

Change to improper fractions: 5) 4 7/21 6) 7 8/9 7) 10 16/24 8) 20 1/2

Add or subtract and reduce result to simplest form:

Create a ratio and reduce to simplest form: 21) 9 persons were invited to Mary’s birthday party.

How much of the cake will each person receive if the cake is divided equally among the guests and birthday girl?

22) In the church’s parking lot, there are 6 black cars and 10 silver-grey cars. Express this as a ratio.

Determine if the following proportions are equal (write yes or no):

9) 7/1 + 1/7

23) 7/42 = 1/7

10) 81/9 - 19/18

24) 8/9 = 160/180

11) 1/2 + 5/6

25) 1/2 = 9/18

12) 1/(3 ) - 2/6

26) 1/3 = 2/6

Multiply: 13) 6/1 x 6 14) 1/4 x 25 15) 100 x 5/20 16) 36 x 7/35

FOR CHILDREN

Wednesday’s answers: 1) 25 workers 2) 160 kilometres 3) 3 hours 4) 400 kilograms 5) 175 minutes – 2 hours. 55 minutes 6) 100 days

T

he frogs were tired of governing themselves.

They had so much freedom that it had spoiled them, and they did nothing but sit around croaking in a bored manner and wishing for a government that could entertain them with the pomp and display of royalty, and rule them in a way to make them know they were being ruled.

No milk and water government for them, they declared. So they sent a petition to Jupiter asking for a king.

Jupiter saw what simple and foolish creatures they were, but to keep them quiet and make them think they had a king he threw down a huge log, which fell into the water with a great splash. The frogs hid themselves among the reeds and grasses, thinking the new king to be some fearful giant. But they soon discovered how tame and peaceable King Log was. In a short time the younger frogs were using him for a diving platform, while the older frogs made him a meeting place, where they complained loudly to Jupiter about the government.

To teach the frogs a lesson the ruler of the gods now sent a crane to be king of Frogland. The crane proved to be a very different sort of king from old King Log. He gobbled up the poor frogs right and left and they soon saw what fools they had been. In mournful croaks they begged Jupiter to take away the cruel tyrant before they should all be destroyed.

“How now!” cried Jupiter “Are you not yet content? You have what you asked for and so you have only yourselves to blame for your misfortunes.”

WORD SEARCH

NEWS

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

COVID-19 pandemic

Former Govt blasted for unpreparedness of education sector

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ducation Minister Priya Manickchand has hauled her predecessor, Nicolette Henry, and the former A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government over the coals in contending that they wasted valuable time holding on to power, instead of preparing the education system for the realities of COVID-19.

During Wednesday’s consideration of Estimates and Expenditure for Budget 2020 in the National Assembly, Henry quizzed her successor on what the current Government is doing in the COVID-19 environment to train teachers to teach students using virtual learning.

Manickchand informed the house that the mass innovation and Information Communication Technology (ICT) programme that the new People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government introduced after it came to power has so far registered approximately 5034 teachers, with 1700 actively on the

Education Minister Priya Manickchand

platform.

She observed that when the PPP got into power, teachers were critically undertrained in the field of using ICT to teach. This is despite the fact that Guyana had recorded its first COVID-19 case since April 2020.

But when Henry raised the

fact that Guyana is behind its Caribbean counterparts in training teachers in ICT, Manickchand reminded the former Minister that the blame for Guyana’s disadvantaged position can be laid squarely at the feet of the former APNU/ AFC Government.

“Other Caribbean countries have finished training people, and she (Henry) was disappointed that Guyana had not finished -- the same honourable lady who was in the seat to make sure training happened less than six weeks ago, but did nothing about it! And you have the gall to stand here now and tell us what people should have gotten? I would have liked to come into the Ministry and find a nicelylaid-out plan that I could just execute. Unfortunately, that was not there… we know in this country that the reason nothing happened in that five months when other Caribbean countries were scrambling to serve and train their people. The question of why our people weren’t trained has to be laid

Former Education Minister Nicolette Henry

at the feet of the former Minister!”

Minister Manickchand noted that even though Government is hampered by challenges it inherited, including connectivity, availability of devices, teachers’ ability, Government will continue to push on and find solutions to ensure that students are still taught, de-

spite the COVID pandemic.

“So, for the honourable member to stand in this house and bemoan the fact that the rest of the Caribbean has been trained and we haven’t, we would like to know why? Why is it that teachers and parents and students did not receive service in the last five months?” Manickchand asked.

“What we know is that we will not be neglecting our people like that. And as soon as we came into office, we announced what measures we would take, and we have been working feverishly to get them done,” Manickchand said.

General and Regional Elections were held since March 2, 2020, but it took five months before a winner could be declared on August 2, 2020. After controversy erupted when Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo twice subverted the process and declared fraudulent numbers, a recount was done that showed that the PPP/C won the elections by 15,416 votes.

TURN TO PAGE 9

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Robbery suspect escapes from Lusignan Prison

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olice are on the hunt for a 23-year-old man, who escaped from the Lusignan Prison on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels, in a brief report, noted that Leroy Graham, who was on remand for armed robbery, escaped from the facility at approximately 01:30h.

Graham, whose last known address is Middle Walk, Buxton, ECD, was sent to the prison on August 20, 2020.

Meanwhile, the Joint Services are asking anyone who may have information on Graham’s whereabouts

Escapee: Leroy Graham

to contact the Lusignan Operations Room on telephone number (592) 220-

4173 or the nearest Police Station.

The Lusignan Prison continues to remain a highrisk area, given its overcrowding and the recent shooting and killing of two prisoners following unrest at the facility. Five inmates were injured during the unrest.

Those killed were 51-year-old Earl Graham, who was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment for malicious wounding, assault’ and resisting arrest; and 21-year-old Winston Herbert, who was in custody for rape.

The situation escalated after two prisoners initially tested positive for the dead-

ly coronavirus. A total of 140 prisoners from the facility later tested positive for the virus.

Post-mortems conducted on the bodies of the deceased inmates found that both men died as a result of shock and haemorrhage due to gunshot wounds to the chest.

When contacted for an update on the prison escape, the Director of Prisons told Guyana Times that the fugitive was still at large and officers were still combing likely areas to find him.

Meanwhile, officials have assured that measures have been ramped up to keep the facility safe and secured. (G9)

Schooling…

I

…and running-on-the-spot t’s not just our elections’ results that were delayed.

That other disaster that hit Guyana – the COVID-19 - only slightly less traumatic than the PNC rig, also pushed back all our NGSA and, of course, their results.

Now, one of the signs that we’re still a Third World backwater is the national frenzy we go into over the NGSA results.

Can you imagine that, sixty-four years after independence – citizens can still go ga-ga over the 100 or so 11 to 12-year-olds who’ll enter five or six high schools in Georgetown?? It really brings home how profound was the PNC’s destruction of our educational system between 1964 and 1992. Considering we started from being on par with any other colony in the British Empire – including Singapore. Because, you see, dear reader, an educational system isn’t just about the physical state of the school buildings and the teaching staff; it’s as much about the expectations of those who enter it.

When Burnham was finished with Guyana, having completely devastated the 80% of the economy that it boasted about controlling, the thirst for learning and knowledge honed over more than a hundred years after slavery and indenture had been wiped out. Why go to school to get credentials when the only way you could get a decent job was by having a PNC party card??

After a decade, it was why go to school when there were no jobs outside of cutting cane or selling sweeties by the street corners??

Anyhow, in what’s known as a “systemic” problem, the urge to excel remains dampened and emaciated – even after the PPP heroically built back the infrastructure and trained thousands of teachers since 1992. Now, after 5 years of PNC (mis)rule, following the elections and COVID challenges, the exams were taken - over the objections of the Teachers Union - and the results are now out. And the ensuing frenzy – albeit dampened a tad this year because everyone had to be behind masks and observe social distancing – was unleashed.

The results are also slightly better than in previous years, but remains nothing to really shout about when almost half of our Grade 6 students couldn’t get 50% of the Maths questions right. In this new world that is coming with oil starting to flow, we’ll have to become numerate AND literate if all the good jobs aren’t to be snatched by foreigners.

But your Eyewitness wants to remind the Minister of Education of a promise she’d made at her first crack at her job back in the day: to stop the mad rush for the top 100 spaces.

That all high schools were to be brought up to the level of the “elite” GT schools!! …for sugar Your Eyewitness is happy that the administration’s plunging full steam ahead on reviving the sugar industry - as it had promised. But he’s more than a mite sceptical about the deadlines being met. And it’s not just about getting back those abandoned sugar factories and fields into shape – and that will be an Aegean task demanding several Hercules! – there’s the matter of the “grinding” factories.

They’re really not in much better condition than their abandoned brothers. And, once again, we return to the cause of it all: the PNC! From 1975 - when the industry made a humungous windfall from record high world prices - the PNC instituted a levy on sugar exports that wiped out any profits that could be shared with the workers – and just as importantly - used to rehabilitate the factories.

If the sugar revival plan is to have any chance of success, there will have to be the necessary capital injection into the factories. And the fields.

Let no one have any illusions about this. …in Berbice We shouldn’t be surprised about the drop in enrolments at UG Tain Campus. When you shut down two factories and fire more than 4000 workers, food on the table takes priority over school fees.

The Government should provide scholarships to those needy students.

Readers are invited to send their comments by email to eye@guyanatimesgy.com

NEWS

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

T&HD left with over $956.8M debt by APNU/AFC – Edghill

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s the consideration of the budget estimates continues in the National Assembly, it was disclosed on Wednesday that the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) is in liability of more than $956.8 million.

This was disclosed by Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, who was at the time fielding questions on his ministry, which has oversight of the T&HD. Edghill revealed that the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) inherited a Department that is some $956,804,781 in the red, owing several agencies and unions millions of dollars.

The Department owes the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) some $469.9 million; the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) $331.2 million, and the unions some $9.4 billion; that is, $2.3 million to the Guyana Public Service Credit Union and $7.1 million to the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Cooperative Credit Union.

Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) the former Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson had asked whether any money was budgeted to clear the Department’s debt. However, Minister Edghill said the appropriated sums in the 2020 Emergency Budget are only for fuel supplied to the T&HD so as to prevent any hike in fares. He added that alloca-

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill

tions to bring the T&HD out of the red would be made in the 2021 budget.

But in response to a subsequent query from Patterson regarding a plan to make the Department profitable, Edghill recognised there is need to make the Department not just profitable, but also modernised.

“The Transport and Harbours Department provides a useful service, and one of the things we wanted to ensure we do is to have modernised ferries, which would mean reduced travel time, better fuel consumption, and more comfort for passengers and goods,” the Public Works Minister pointed out.

To this end, he reminded that, since 2014, the then President, Donald Ramotar, had secured a Line of Credit (LOC) from the Indian Government to the tune of US$18 million to build a new

ocean-going ferry to service the Region One (BarimaWaini) route.

“Five years later, as I stand here, the ferry is still on a desk in a document with controversy and with no resolution. Within 10 days of assuming office, his Excellency the President (Irfaan Ali), the Vice President (Bharrat Jagdeo), yours truly and my colleague Minister (Deodat Indar) engaged the Indian Government about this troubled project, and I’m happy to let this National Assembly know today that that US&18 million that was lying there for five years is now being utilised to bring a modern ferry to Guyana. We have resolved the issues,” Minister Edghill declared in the National Assembly.

Moreover, the Public Works Minister pointed out that his ministry is working to ensure that the current fleet of vessels, though aged, remains in operation.

In the same breath, however, he noted that Government is currently conducting a review by comparing the maintenance cost, especially as it relates to acquiring spares for those dated vessels, and the cost of purchasing more new vessels to determine which is more profitable.

Moreover, Edghill went on to outline that the PPP/C administration is also pro-private sector, and is looking at ways to enhance the services provided by pri-

vate water/river taxi operators. To this end, he disclosed that the scheduled upgrades and modernisation of several stellings across the country would vastly boost the operations of the water taxis, as well as provide more comfort and safety for the travelling public.

Among the stellings that are earmarked for upgrade this year are: the Bartica Stelling in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) to the tune of $7 million; the Parika Stelling in Region Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara) at a cost of $18 million; the Supenaam Stelling in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) at a cost of $24 million, and the

Opposition MP David Patterson

Kumaka Stelling in Region One (Barima-Waini) to the tune of $15 million.

According to the Public

Works Minister regarding these and other interventions: “I can give… the assurance that having to deal with liabilities and the non-performance of the last five years in getting things along, we have already engaged the management of Transport and Harbours Department, and we’re looking at all possibilities of making this sector modern, cost- efficient and affordable.

“We don’t want to have to impose hardships on people, but things must be sustainable in a modern world in which that we are delivering. So, we will find that balance…and we’ll be able to do what is best for Guyana,” Minister Edghill asserted.

Former Govt blasted for...

FROM PAGE 7

With former President David Granger refusing to concede defeat, the regional community led by former Caribbean Community (Caricom) Chair Mia Mottley and current Chairman Dr. Ralph Gonsalves had campaigned for the will of the people to prevail in Guyana.

The country’s relations with the international community also deteriorated to the point where United States (US) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in July 2020 announced the slapping of visa restrictions on members of the then Government and other pub-

lic officials who were deemed to be undermining democracy.

Another testament to the depths at which Guyana had sunk on the international stage was the fact that, in July, Guyana was brought before the Organization of American States (OAS) Permanent Council. This was a first for Guyana, since the council is one which usually hears punitive resolutions against rogue member states.

The OAS was expected to meet again on the political situation in Guyana, if it was not resolved when

the Court of Appeal ruled in Jones v GECOM et al, one of the many cases filed

by APNU/AFC supporters to delay Granger’s exit from power.

This meeting could have possibly led to a resolution that could have had unpleasant consequences for Guyana, including suspension from the OAS. However, the court ruled in a manner that paved the way for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to finally bring the five-month ordeal to a close and allow President Dr. Irfaan Ali to be declared the winner. (G3)

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Over $250M from SLED programme unaccounted for – Minister

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ocal Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharamlall has revealed that over $250 million from the Sustainable Livelihood and Entrepreneurial Development (SLED) fund cannot be accounted for.

He made this revelation on the floor of the National Assembly during Wednesday’s consideration of Estimates and Expenditure of the 2020 Budget. At the time, Dharamlall was being questioned by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament Ganesh Mahipaul about $105 million being allocated for the programme.

“SLED is a project under this Ministry because we want to reach out to communities to rebuild lives. I must indicate to you that when we conduct the audit of SLED in its previous life, many on the Opposition side are going to face prosecution,” the Minister said.

“Under the previous SLED, over $250 million last year, there is no record. As a matter of fact, our investigations have so far revealed that the paperwork for the $250 million last year, a lot of it was deposited at Haags Bosch,” Dharamlall added.

He noted that some of the disbursements from the SLED programme were tracked to a shop built by a

Local Government Minister Nigel Dharamlall

councillor on Government reserves. He also referred to the case of Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones.

On August 21, 2020, ranks from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown, swooped down on Jones’s home to carry out a search after an audit at the then Social Protection Ministry revealed that the Ministry approved $4.8 million under the Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) administration for the procurement of equipment for a barbershop under the SLED programme.

The monies were all spent by December 2019; however, $1 million in items were not delivered and the project was not executed. Police Headquarters had said that items fitting

the description of the State assets were recovered from Jones’s residence. Jones was arrested and placed on $100,000 bail, pending investigations.

He subsequently filed a lawsuit against the State for what he termed as “wrongful arrest” and the trespass on and unlawful search of his home which led to the seizure of his 18 barber chairs and two air conditioning units.

“SLED had no system when we got into Government, so a system will be put in place. It is apparent that in the last administration of SLED, there was no criteria in terms of its implementation.”

“And that is why you find

high officials of the last regime benefiting to the tune of millions of dollars. That is why you find that over $250 million cannot be accounted for. And that is why you will find that those who misspent the resources of the taxpayers, are going to be held accountable,” Dharamlall informed the House.

The SLED programme, which was implemented through the former Social Protection Ministry, is a programme which was supposed to give grants to cooperatives and friendly societies to equip them to engage in sustainable, entrepreneurial ventures.

Specifically, it was supposed to be used to uplift disadvantaged youths. (G3)

Linden nurses protest for risk allowances …action premature, $150M only available after Budget passes – Minister

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony

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ome 30 nurses attached to the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) in Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice) staged a protest over the late payment of salaries and the absence of their risk allowance.

The health-care work-

need for them to do so.

“One of the first things that we did as a government was to ensure our nurses were able, as with other frontline health workers were able, to get [Personal Protective Equipment] PPE’s and so forth, so that in this pandemic they can remain protected...we recognise that extra effort that health workers are putting in and in this budget we have allocated $150 million for risk allowance,” the Minister said.

He noted that once the Budget was passed, the money would be available to nurses and other categories of frontline workers. The Health Minister advised nurses that if they have any such grievances in the future that they should consult with the Regional Health Authority as well as the Health Ministry.

“We want to resolve issues

Some of the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) staff protesting on Wednesday

ers downed tools and stood in front of the hospital compound, where they displayed placards expressing their concerns.

However, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony said that the action was premature as there was $150 million for risk allowances in the Budget, which has not yet been passed.

He added that it was unfortunate that the nurses have taken to the streets to protest since there was no

and I don’t think that these issues ought to be resolved on the streets. It can easily be resolved by sitting down and let us understand what challenges they have if any and let us see how we can resolve them,” the Minister said as he implored the nurses to take advantage of the Ministry’s open-door policy.

Following the protest, the staff met with Regional Health Officer, Dr Gregory Harris and the management of the hospital. (G13)

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Speaker upbraids MPs over conduct, dress code

Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir

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peaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, on Wednesday upbraided Members of the National Assembly over their conduct in the House.

At the beginning of the sitting on Wednesday morning, the Speaker reminded members of some long-established parliamentary protocols regarding practices in the House.

“When the person in this Chair – the Speaker – speaks, whoever is speaking at the time gives way. The Speaker recognises people when to speak. We had at least two instances where the Chair and a member

have had exchanges, causing the Speaker to stand,” he noted.

Additionally, the House Speaker also raised the issue of dress code. He pointed out to members that the Handbook for Parliamentarians addresses this issue, outlining the format and mild colours to be worn.

Speaker Nadir went on to address the display across the floor in the National Assembly as well.

Parliamentary sittings are currently being held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC)

at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, to allow for adequate social distancing among members.

“Our Convention Centre is acoustically designed to amplify our voices, so those of us with loud voices, we may have to tone down the volume of it, because it would appear as if you’re shouting; and if four or five of us shout, it will send a bad example to the nation with respect to how we conduct our business,” he stressed.

The Speaker noted that he has had great cooperation from the Chief Whips on both sides of the House thus far, and looks forward to this continued cooperation from everyone.

Meanwhile, less than two hours after the Speaker’s reprimand, Opposition Member of Parliament the former Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson was asked to apologise to his successor, Public Works Minister Juan Eghill, after calling him a liar.

The incident occurred while Minister Eghill was responding to questions on the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion in the Committee of Supply, which was considering the estimates for the Public Works Ministry at the time.

Whilst on the floor, Edghill was heckled by

Patterson, who called him a “liar”.

The Public Works Minister then demanded an apology from his predecessor.

“Mr Chairman, I require an apology from this member, who’s referring to me as

called upon to apologise.

The Speaker indicated that this was the third time he had observed Patterson using the word “liar” in the House.

“I think you ought to offer not only the Honourable Member (Edghill), but the

the Speaker had also reprimanded Parliamentarians for conducting themselves outside the rules of the House. That was during the debates on the 2020 Emergency Budget, when members were hurling words such as “Shut up!”

a liar, because I will speak of him in the most degrading manner if he does not withdraw it. Mr Speaker, I demand an apology from the Honourable David Patterson for referring to me as a liar, because I will expose him here today, sir,” Edghill posited.

Patterson was then

entire House an apology,” Nadir stated. However, the Opposition MP would only withdraw his remark after repeatedly being asked by the Speaker to apologise.

After refusing to apologise, Speaker Nadir indicated that the House would have to deal with the matter.

Only last week Thursday,

and “shut your mouth!”

At the time, Nadir had urged that members act in a mature manner when heckling across the room.

“While we do exercise fairness and patience and impartiality, we have to be guided by the rules that exist,” the Speaker had stated.

(G8)

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

2 more COVID-19 deaths, 98 new cases recorded

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he Health Ministry on Wednesday announced that two more persons have died from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

This now brings the total number of COVID-19 deaths in Guyana to 71.

According to a statement from the Ministry, two other persons who tested positive for the novel coronavirus have died.

The latest fatalities are a 70-year-old female from Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) and a 66-year-old

woman from Region One (Barima-Waini).

Only Tuesday night, the Ministry reported Guyana’s youngest fatality.

The 25-year-old man was the country’s 69th COVID-19 death.

Officials of the Ministry

have contacted all relatives and persons to facilitate contact tracing and rapid assistance for everyone who may have been exposed to the now-dead persons.

G u y a n a has recorded six COVID-19 deaths thus far this week. The week began with the death toll at 65.

New cases Meanwhile, the updated COVID-19 dashboard for Wednesday shows that Guyana has recorded a whopping 98 new cases.

This now brings the country's total number of coronavirus cases to 2535 – 1321 males and 1214 females.

Of the total number of cases, however, only 1002 are active. These include 14 persons in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Georgetown Public Hospital and the remaining 988 in isolation, that is, 160 in institutional isolation and 828 in home isolation.

Meanwhile, there are 67 persons in institutional quarantine.

Additionally, some 1464 persons have recovered from the life-threatening disease locally.

To date, Guyana has tested a total of 12,637 persons for the novel coronavirus.

A breakdown of the 98 new cases recorded on Wednesday shows that 57 were detected in BarimaWaini; three in Region Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara), nine cases in Demerara-Mahaica and 29 cases in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni).

The other regional figures remain the same, with 28 in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam); 14 in Region Five (MahaicaBerbice); 34 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); 277 cases in Region Seven

(Cuyuni-Mazaruni); 340 in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and 96 cases in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice).

Since taking office, the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government has embarked on a massive testing drive to ensure that all positive cases, especially asymptomatic cases, are detected.

The Health Ministry continues to urge all Guyanese to observe the protocols of the COVID-19 Emergency Measures (No 9) which are in effect until September 30, 2020. This order emphasises, among other things, the need for correct and consistent use of face masks when leaving home; the importance of maintaining six feet of physical distance from others, and the need for good hand-hygiene to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Persons displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19, or in need of any additional information are asked to contact the COVID-19 Hotline on 231-1166, 226-7480 or 624-

6674 immediately or visit www.health.gov.gy According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there have been 31,425,029 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 967,164 deaths, reported globally.

Meanwhile, the Region of the Americas has reported over 15.7 million coronavirus cases with more than 533,600 deaths.

WHO said on Wednesday that the Region continued to carry the highest burden of COVID-19 globally, accounting for over 38 per cent of all new cases reported in the past seven days, although the Region has reported a 22 per cent decrease in new deaths.

This marked decrease in the number of deaths in the Region, according to WHO, has been driven mainly by a decrease in Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador and Bolivia in the past seven days, while the United States of America and Brazil continue to report the highest number of deaths, each reporting more than 5000 new deaths in the past week. (G8)

Baker nabbed with illegal firearm

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24-year-old baker of D’Urban Street, Lodge, Georgetown is now in Police custody after he was found with an unlicensed .38 revolver that contained two matching rounds.

Police reports revealed that on Wednesday about 05:00h, a party of Policemen received information of an alleged robbery under arms at Smyth Street, Georgetown and proceeded

to the area to investigate.

According to Police, while in the vicinity of Hadfield and Leopold Streets, Georgetown, lawmen observed a male standing along the western side of Leopold Street.

Upon noticing the Police vehicle approaching, the young man immediately dropped a black object and made several steps towards the southern side of the

street.

He was subsequently stopped and a search was conducted in the area where he was first standing and a black .38 revolver containing two matching rounds were found. He was arrested and escorted to Brickdam Police Station where the firearm and ammunition were lodged. He remains in custody pending charges.

(G9)

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Neesa Gopaul murder Agriculture sector can drive economy after COVID-19 – Mustapha Arguments in appeal

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fter the coronavirus pandemic ends, the agriculture sector will still be there to drive the economy, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said during his address on Wednesday in a webinar held by the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

In acknowledging the theme for the discussion focused on opportunities for strengthening the value chain and expanding agriculture in a post COVID-19 environment, Minister Mustapha declared that the “agriculture sector has what it takes to drive the economy post-COVID-19”.

He said that while the unprecedented impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been felt not only in public health systems but in the economy, it has amplified Guyana’s awareness of the importance of food security. Noting that Guyana is a food-secure country, he said that it met the global hunger targets in 1996 of the World Food Summit, and in 2000 of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

According to the Minister, Guyana produces 59 per cent of the food it consumed which means that its food-import dependence is 41 per cent. However, he added that it was Government’s intention to reduce this import dependence by creating an enabling environment for an efficient and competitive local manufacturing sector.

He further disclosed that the agriculture sector, both public and private, is struggling to deal with the im-

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha

pact of the pandemic. While he said there was no major problem of availability of food, supply-chain interruptions and loss of income are being experienced.

He told the webinar that Guyana recently participated in a regional assessment on the impacts of COVID-19 on food security and the agriculture sector. The survey was conducted during July and August 2020 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Caricom.

It found a decline in farmers’ income on average of 20-50 per cent; farmers reported difficulty accessing agricultural inputs – seeds and planting materials, and fertiliser and pesticides; prices of seeds/fertiliser are higher than usual and seed varieties/ planting material and fertilisers and pesticides regularly used are not available.

It further found that input suppliers and food traders recorded lower sales owing to business restrictions and client’s restrictions and higher operating costs of agri-businesses; and food

traders recorded a decline in customers, with the level of sales consequently decreasing, while experiencing difficulties transporting produce in the last three months.

Looking ahead, agri-businesses expect difficulties in market supplies and sales.

In light of this, Minister Mustapha posited, “We must focus on ways to expand, shift agriculture from primary producer to value-added, to reduce the 41 per cent dependence on imports, which include processed products, dairy products, grains such as corn and soybean, etc. This expansion will aid in the reduction of our domestic food import bill of $45 billion.”

“There is also the opportunity for Guyana to tap into the estimated US$8-10 billion 2020 Caricom market food import bill. The webinar is timely as it paves a path forward for us to co-exist with COVID-19, which will be with us for foreseeable future, and at the same time, cash in on the opportunities to expand agriculture.”

The webinar was also designed to bring together leaders in Government, multilateral organisations and the Private Sector to share perspectives and experiences with a view to identifying actions to addressing key challenges which could set the stage for collaborative efforts.

In ending his remarks, the Agriculture Minister thanked the GMSA for setting up the webinar and said it came at a time when the country was in the process of finalising the Budget and the launch of Agriculture Month.

Security supervisor nabbed after shoplifting at Giftland Mall

Giftland Mall at Turkeyen, Georgetown

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security supervisor is now in Police custody after he shoplifted at the Giftland Mall, Turkeyen, Georgetown.

The incident occurred about 11:43h on Tuesday.

Reports are the suspect, who is employed with a private

security firm, went into a store at the Mall and shoplifted a pair of brand-name slippers valued at $21,000, and attempted to leave the store.

However, quick action by the Mall’s security led to his apprehension. Police from the Turkeyen Police Station

were summoned and the shoplifter was handed over.

Guyana Times was told that store security officers told Police that the man took the merchandise while browsing in the store, but did not pay for it. He is expected to appear in court on Friday. (G9)

set for October 1

Murdered: Neesa Gopaul

Convicted killer Barry Small

Convicted killer Bibi Gopaul

ive years after Bibi Shareema Gopaul and her former lover, Barry Small were sentenced to a combined total of 202 years in prison for the murder of her 16-year-old daughter Neesa Gopaul, an appeal in the matter will come up for hearing on Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 09:00h at the Court of Appeal.

Following a trial at the High Court in Demerara, in March 2015, the mother and Small were found guilty of the murder of the teenager on October 2, 2010. While Gopaul was sentenced to

106 years in prison, Small was handed a 96-year jail sentence by Judge Navindra Singh.

Shortly after the verdict, the two killers had expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict, claiming that they were not given a fair trial. They had accused the Judge of taking a political side and admitting prejudicial evidence for the jury’s consideration.

The decomposed and headless remains of the younger Gopaul, a former student of Queen’s College, was found stuffed in a suit-

case in a creek along the Linden-Soesdyke Highway.

Also discovered were a passport and a bank card that bore her name.

The suitcase was wrapped with rope and attached to dumbbells in an apparent effort to keep the young woman’s body submerged. The former QC student was found weeks after she was reported missing from her Leonora, West Coast Demerara (WCD) home.

Her cause of death was given as multiple blunt force trauma to the head.

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16 NEWS

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Kilcoy residents up in arms after Education Act will be manslaughter accused granted bail passed soon - Manickchand …says Guyana’s education system in urgent need of reform

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ecognising that times have changed and left Guyana’s education system behind, Education Minister Priya Manickchand has made it clear that Government would ensure it passes the Education Act into law and push through education reforms.

Manickchand made this comment on Wednesday, during the examination of the 2020 budget estimates in the National Assembly. In response to an observation made by opposition Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira, Manickchand acknowledged the need to reform the education sector.

“We have an Education Act that is over 100 years old. We had laid a new bill in Parliament in 2015, but it was never passed. We will be passing that shortly. But what we have been taught throughout the years has not evolved to the realities of our world and the realities of Guyana,” she said.

“And that’s not to blame anyone. We have taught our teachers to teach using chalk and talk, so we cannot blame the teachers for not evolving from that…we have to change the way we teach. That includes making children thinkers, and the way we teach has to accommodate students being thinkers, rather than regurgitators.”

According to the Minister, education reform must be deep and aimed at eliminating parts of the curriculum that have no practical benefit for students after they leave school. Manickchand noted that education must emphasise parts of the curriculum that would enable children to be competitive

Family members of John Alexander Yhap protesting on Wednesday

Education Minister Priya Manickchand

in the global age, and teach them life skills.

“How do we do that? The curriculum reform on the way right now, just to say we’re making the work more practical is not enough. We have to say, we are removing some excessive things in the curriculum to make sure we have space to make our primary education more about making our children literate and numerate, so they can use those skills and apply (them) later on.

“That’s not to say we’re removing social studies and science, but we’re not going into the depths of the eyeball. We don’t need, in 2020, to learn only the number of Caricom countries and the reason Caricom came about, but the capitals and the export and the prime minister.

We can google that in this age. It’s a different time.”

Back in 2014, Manickchand, as Education Minister in the previous People’s Progressive Party (PPP) dispensation, had laid the Education Bill in the

National Assembly. The bill was intended to repeal the Education Act which was in place in Guyana since 1876 and was last amended in 1976.

When the former APNU/ AFC Government took office, it set up a Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the education sector, holding hearings across the country with parents, guardians, teachers, religious leaders, unions, and the private sector on their perception of the state of the education system, as well as recommendations for its enhancement.

Among the commission’s findings was that there is a greater need for welfare officers who are equipped with guidance and counselling skills, and recommended that there be one such officer in each school.

Following the COI, the then Government had announced it would set up a Department of Education System Innovation and Reform (DESIR) programme. (G3)

Dead: John Alexander Yhap

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amily members and friends of John Alexander Yhap, who was stabbed to death on September 15, took to the streets for a second day on Wednesday, demanding justice and venting their frustration that the man charged for unlawfully killing Yhap had been granted bail.

Shouting, “We want justice!” and standing at the spot where the fisherman had fallen after being stabbed, a

handful of persons, including neighbours and family members of Yhap and his widow, marched on to the Corentyne Highway and gathered in front of the Albion Magistrate’s Court.

The actions of the protestors disrupted traffic, forcing law enforcement officers from Albion Police Station to respond.

Twenty-two-year-old Yhap was fatally stabbed by a fellow villager on September 14 outside of a betting shop.

On Monday, 22-year-old Arjune Mohabir of Kilcoy Squatting Area, Corentyne was placed on bail in the sum of $250,000 on a manslaughter charge on which he was arraigned in a New Amsterdam Court.

The dead man’s widow, Mineisha Chandralall, complained that when the matter was called at the Albion Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, the court was informed that the Police had not completed the case file.

“People get a small joint and then don’t get bail, and he kill, juck my husband sev-

Charged: Arjune Mohabir

en times, and he get bail. This is not fair. I want justice,” she said. She said Yhap had been the breadwinner of the family, and had died without being able to provide a house for them.

Meanwhile, the dead man’s mother, Indra Seepersaud, broke down in tears as she reflected on her son’s life.

According to her, Yhap and Mohabir had been friends from a tender age.

Diaspora, remigration matters reintegrated into Foreign Ministry

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he Government of Guyana has enhanced its plans of engaging and involving the diaspora to support its national development priorities.

In this regard, the Government has reintegrated diaspora and remigration matters into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

A new Diaspora and Remigration Unit has been established, and will allow for an enhanced, sustained, and coordinated engagement with all Guyanese abroad.

Further, the Unit will work towards fostering greater collaboration with the diaspora in the areas of trade and investment, philanthropy, tourism, youth engagement, attraction of skill and remigra-

Foreign Affairs Minister Hugh Todd

tion, as well as streamlining the contributions and resources of the diaspora to effectively aid Guyana’s development agenda.

Recently, President Dr Irfaan Ali reiterated the Government’s commitment

towards leveraging the skills and investment potential of the diaspora.

The Government and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) continue to collaborate on the finalisation of an Enhanced Diaspora Engagement Strategy & Plan of Action.

Once concluded and approved, this Strategy and Plan of Action will align national development plans and strengthen Guyana’s pursuit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Within this broader framework, there will also be a special emphasis on remigration.

The Government is focused on better harnessing the expertise, talent, and investment potential within the global Guyanese community.

NEWS

17

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Mismanagement under Coalition stalled major road projects – Edghill …as $34.4B budget approved for Public Works Ministry

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he $34.4 billion allocation to the Public Works Ministry was approved on Wednesday but not without scrutiny from both Government and Opposition members.

During the consideration of the budget estimates, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill pointed out that the APNU/AFC administration “badly mismanaged” several transformational projects, including those for major road networks, thus causing them to be stalled for, in most cases, its entire term in office.

Edghill was at the time responding to queries on several infrastructural projects when he noted that initiatives like the East Coast Road Expansion Project started under the previous People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) administration and now that the party has returned to office five years later, it is yet to be fully completed. Despite this fact, however, the Coalition had gone ahead and commissioned the road before leaving office.

Another such incomplete project, the Public Works Minister highlight-

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill

ed is the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)funded US$66 million Sheriff Street/Mandela Road upgrade, which too started under the last PPP/C government and is still incomplete. At the time, the Committee of Supply was considering a $553 million allocation to the project.

“When we took office, there was no work that was being done on this road, and it was not only because of COVID; that was only one of the reasons. Other reason was because of noncompliance with environmental

standards, the IDB had to shut disbursements down on this project. It was badly mismanaged,” he contended.

According to the minister, the PPP/C Government has since engaged stakeholders and works have recommenced.

“You can see work is back [on] there… You can see the two bridges being completed; there are two subcontractors engaged in doing those bridges and my understanding is that before the end of this year, you will see paving of the road…

Because of the deteriorating state of the road, we remedial works had to actually be done before you can even go to asphalting… So, the contractor is back on the job,” he disclosed.

Previously, the contractor – Chinese company, Sinohydro Corporation Limited – had claimed that its experts who had travelled home for the Christmas holiday have been stuck there due to the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions that ensued. However, Edghill posited that the contractor has been assured that special chartered flights will be approved by

Labour, Police, OSH officers engaged in advanced training to spot TIP

Participants at the opening session of the advanced training course to recognise instances of human trafficking. The course is being held at the Police Officers Training Centre, Eve Leary (DPI photo)

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he Human Services and Social Security Ministry, in collaboration with the Labour Ministry, has embarked on three days of advanced training of law enforcement, labour, and occupational safety and health (OSH) officers on combating Trafficking in Persons (TIP).

The course is being held at the Police Officers’ Training Centre at Eve Leary, the Department of Public Information has reported.

Coordinator of the Counter-Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) Unit, Tanisha Williams- Corbin, has said the initiative is in keeping with Guyana’s collaboration with the United States’ (US) State Department on reducing the

incidence of this crime.

“Over the next three days, participants will be exposed to various aspects of the uniqueness of TIP in Guyana. The advance training course serves as a follow-up (to) the basic-level course held in January 2019.

All participants…here today have successfully completed the previous course,” she is quoted by DPI as saying.

The course is designed to boost the capacity of frontline officers, particularly labour officers, to identify trafficking. It will also provide practical experience in identifying and screening victims of human trafficking, Williams-Corbin added.

Chief Labour Officer Charles Ogle has said collaboration between Ministries and Government agencies is

necessary to curb this crime.

“Inspectors must be equipped with the technical skills to ensure they can identify where the traffickers are located, so that those persons involved can be prosecuted,” Ogle said.

He pointed out that human trafficking is not just a violation of the rights of victims; it is a crime against humanity, and must be eliminated at all costs.

Since 2017, Guyana and The Bahamas have ranked Tier 1 in the US State Department’s TIP Report.

This does not mean that the countries have no incidents of human trafficking, but that they fully meet the minimum standards to eliminate TIP, in keeping with the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

Works resumed on the Sheriff Street/Mandela Road project

the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) for those personnel to return so as to complete the project.

Another transformation initiative the Public Works Minister said that saw no progress under the APNU/ AFC is the East Bank/East Coast Bypass Road project that is being funded by the Indian-government with a US$50 million Line of Credit that was secured by former PPP/C President Donald Ramotar.

In response to queries from his predecessor, former Public Infrastructure Minister and Opposition Member of Parliament, David Patterson, regarding a $51 million allocation to the road link and the revised scope of the project, Minister Edghill explained that the monies being sought is for studies on an alternative route from Ogle on the East Coast of Demerara to Eccles, instead of Diamond, on the East Bank of Demerara.

“This is a reworked project… When we came into government, we met a situation where a road that was originally for US$50 million

turned out to be US$208 million. So we sat with the Indian government and discussed this because nothing was moving on it and we have established Phase One of a four-lane road that will begin at Ogle and come out all the way to Haags Bosch at Eccles in this first phase and it will be able to be funded by this US$50 million that was sitting there for five years,” the Minister explained.

It was previously disclosed that the initial design done under the APNU/ AFC, which was from Ogle to Diamond and included at least five connectors to communities along the East Bank corridor and in Georgetown, drove the project cost up.

However, the Public Works Minister assured that an extension from Eccles to Diamond to allow for an alternative road to that scheme as well as the connectors to the various communities will be done in other phases of the project.

Those will also include a further extension to Timehri, where the country’s main

port of entry – the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) – is located.

“Even if it is not funded from the Indian loan, GOG (Government of Guyana) will ensure that those connector roads are established; that is the commitment we have. We won’t build a bypass road and don’t put in the connectors because the people in those communities will not be able to benefit from it. Our intent is to produce more lanes for the movement of people… We believe in facilitating development as against obstructing it and one of the ways by facilitating development is by consulting people, engaging people and making them aware of what is happening…So we will be dealing with those issues in a very transparent manner for the benefit of all Guyanese,” Edghill stated.

Nevertheless, after nearly three hours of scrutiny on the monies for the Public Works Ministry, the National Assembly approved the $34.4 billion budgetary allocation on Wednesday. (G8)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

Regional

Trinidad: CoP launches Trump imposes new bans on investigation into return Cuban rum, cigars, hotels of TT$22M in cash P

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r i n i d a d ’ s Commissioner of Police (CoP), Gary Griffith has launched an investigation into the return of US$22 million in cash.

The money was seized on Tuesday by officers of the Special Operations Response Team (SORT) who executed a search warrant at a house where it was alleged that persons were operating a pyramid scheme.

Griffith stated that the money was handed back to the operator of the scheme without his knowledge. He found it very suspicious that the money was returned without the input of the Financial Intelligence Bureau.

According to a press release from the TTPS: “The money was kept at a police station….

Commissioner Griffith said preliminary investigations show that the money was handed back to the operator of the scheme Wednesday morning without his knowledge and his Deputy Commissioners’.

“Investigators complet-

Officers of the Special Operations Response Team in La Horquetta on Wednesday

ed the count of the money at 12:30 am on Wednesday. He said the investigation would determine if any criminal or disciplinary action is to be taken against any Police Officers.

“Commissioner Griffith said the money was handed back without a proper investigation to determine whether any of it was counterfeit. He said no proper investigation was done as to the source of these funds, or whether the person or persons involved had committed any criminal acts.

“As part of this investi-

gation, the CoP said external forensic personnel will be brought in to determine if any of the money was counterfeit. CoP Griffith said he is aware that there is a concern that a number of persons invested their hardearned money, hoping to cash in on this alleged pyramid scheme.

“He gave the assurance that once these persons can prove that their money was legitimate, the TTPS will ensure that their money is returned to them in the shortest possible time.” (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

Venezuela’s Maduro calls on UN members to rally against US sanctions

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enezuelan President Nicolás Maduro told the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday all “countries that defend peace” should rally against US sanctions clamped on the South American country and its allies like Cuba, Nicaragua, and Syria.

The Trump Administration has ramped up sanctions against Venezuela in the past two years as part of an effort to oust Maduro, who it accuses of corruption, human rights violations, and rigging his 2018 re-election.

Maduro has overseen a six-year economic collapse in the once-prosperous Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) nation, which the Opposition and most economists attribute to Venezuela’s interventionist economic policies.

Venezuela’s ruling socialist party blames the sanctions for the country’s woes.

“We must demand the cessation of all unilateral coercive measures, of all the alleged sanctions, and that they allow our people to exercise their own rights,” Maduro said in his remarks.

Cuba and Nicaragua are

now two of Maduro’s only remaining allies in Latin America, after left-leaning leaders lost power in countries like Brazil and Ecuador.

US President Donald Trump has rolled back a detente with Havana, Washington’s old Cold War foe, that was pursued by his predecessor Barack Obama.

His Administration has also sanctioned Nicaraguan individuals and companies in response to what it calls corruption and repression under President Daniel Ortega.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

resident Donald Trump on Wednesday banned US citizens from bringing home rum or cigars from Cuba and from staying at Cuban Government-owned hotels, as he sought to lock in the Cuban-American vote in the swing state of Florida ahead of November’s presidential election.

Since Trump took office in January 2017, he has been rolling back a detente with America’s old Cold War foe pursued by his Democratic predecessor, President Barack Obama.

Trump’s aides believe his toughened stance has gone down well in the large Cuban-American community in south Florida, an im-

portant voting bloc in a state where he and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden are locked in a tight race.

“Today, as part of our continuing fight against communist oppression, I am announcing that the Treasury Department will prohibit US travellers from staying at properties owned by the Cuban Government,” Trump said at a White House event.

“We’re also further restricting the importation of alcohol and Cuban tobacco,” the Republican President said at the ceremony honouring Bay of Pigs veterans.

Trump’s decision overturns Obama’s policy of allowing American travellers to bring back as much of

Cuba’s legendary rum and cigars that they could carry in their baggage for personal use.

A Treasury factsheet said US citizens would be allowed to buy rum and cigars while visiting the Communist-run island, but would no longer be permitted to bring those products home.

“The current US authorities insist on the application of a sanctions policy against Cuba that has not achieved the proposed objectives in 60 years,” said a Cuban Embassy official in Washington. “It is a wrong policy that is widely rejected by American society and even among Cuban Americans.” (Excerpt from Reuters)

Grenada to hold consultations on decriminalising marijuana

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he Grenada Government on Tuesday said it would stage public consultations as part of the efforts to determine the changes needed to the national laws and international treaties regarding the decriminalisation of marijuana.

“We are going to proceed in a way that takes everybody along with us,” said the incoming Minister of Agriculture, Peter David.

David, who assumes his

new post on October1, told reporters that the Dr Keith Mitchell Government must consult with the various stakeholders and he headed a three-member Cabinet committee in accordance with the 2018 Regional Marijuana Commission report.

“So the government has already established a committee, they are looking at the models in the Region, the models outside of the Region where the issue of cannabis has been dealt with” said

David.

Pointing out that both regional and international jurisdictions have adopted different formats and procedures for proceeding with either the decriminalisation or legislation on cannabis, David said that persons must be aware that the 2018 survey findings revealed that 30 per cent of Grenadians are for full legislation while 31 per cent favoured partial decriminalisation. (Excerpt from CMC)

Bahamas, US make major drug bust

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olice seized more than US$3 million in marijuana on Monday during a joint operation involving the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, US Coast Guard and other US law enforcement agencies.

“We noticed that over the last few months because of the lockdown, things have slowed a bit and as the

country opened back up so [did] our borders. The drug runners who were on their break went back to work, but we are there.

“As it relates to the violence in the community, we know that a lot of the street violence is related to these drug turfs and if we can control the flow of drugs then hopefully we’ll be able to see a reduction in the

number of street violence,” Police Commissioner Paul Rolle told reporters.

The authorities said that the seizure came after drug runners were engaged in a high-seas chase that ended off the coast of Exuma, leaving one officer in hospital with injuries after the suspects “rammed” into the Police’s boat with their vessel. (Excerpt from CMC)

ICE whistleblower: Mexico investigating Caribbean leaders agree US immigrant “sterilisations”

to UN declaration

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aribbean Community (Caricom) leaders have joined their global counterparts in adopting a declaration honouring the multilateral framework put in place by the United Nations founders in 1945.

The leaders also pledged to better live out the promise to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.

Titled “Declaration on the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations”, the text lays out 12 commitments to reanimate global resolve: leave no one behind, protect the planet, promote peace, abide by international law, place women

and girls at the centre, build trust, improve digital cooperation, upgrade the United Nations, ensure sustainable financing, boost partnerships, work with youth, and, finally, be prepared.

The leaders Monday said in the declaration that the world is plagued by growing poverty, hunger, terrorism, climate change – and now, the epic onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

They said that people are forced to make dangerous journeys in search of safety and in the declaration that least developed countries, such as some in the Caribbean, are falling behind “and we still have not

achieved complete decolonisation”.

“Our challenges are interconnected and can only be addressed through reinvigorated multilateralism,” they emphasised.

Acknowledging that COVID-19 caught them offguard, the world leaders agreed it has served as a wake-up call for improving preparedness.

“What we agree today, will affect the sustainability of our planet as well as the welfare of generations for decades,” they said in the declaration, committing to uphold the declaration in the spirit of ‘We the Peoples’”. (Excerpt from CMC)

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exico is investigating claims that six Mexican women were sterilised while in a US migrant detention centre, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday.

A whistleblower last week alleged that hysterectomies were being performed on immigrants in the US without their proper consent.

US immigration officials said they were taking the allegations seriously.

Mexico called such operations “unacceptable”.

“We are already in contact with six (Mexican women) who could potentially have been subjected to this type of procedure,” Ebrard

told a press conference on Tuesday.

“If confirmed, it’s a major issue and measures must be taken,” he continued.

On Monday, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said his Government could take legal action against the US if the allegations were confirmed, Mexican newspaper El Universal reports.

More than 150 members of the US Congress, including top Democrat Nancy Pelosi, have called for an investigation into the detention centre.

But the detention centre and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have disputed the allega-

tions. Last week ICE told the BBC that “anonymous, unproven allegations, made without any fact-checkable specifics, should be treated with the appropriate scepticism they deserve”.

Women detained by ICE were allegedly forced to undergo the procedures at the private Irwin County Detention Centre in Georgia.

The whistleblower, a nurse identified as Dawn Wooten who worked at the centre, expressed concerns about the high number of hysterectomies – an operation involving the removal of all or part of the uterus – performed on Spanish-speaking women there. (Excerpt from BBC News)

guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

19

Around the World

OILNEWS OIL NEWS Oil prices rise after EIA reports crude inventory draw

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rude oil prices reversed their decline Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an oil inventory draw of 1.6 million barrels for the week to September 18. This compares with a draw of 4.4 million barrels for the previous week.

The report came a day after the American Petroleum Institute propped prices up temporarily by estimating a sizeable decline in gasoline stocks, coupled with a modest build in crude oil stocks.

Analysts, on the other hand, had expected the EIA this week to report an inventory draw of 2.325 million barrels.

In gasoline, the EIA estimated an inventory draw of 4 million barrels for the week to September 18, compared with a decline of 400,000 barrels for the previous week. This also helped prices up.

Gasoline production averaged 9.3 million bpd last week, up on a week earlier, when gasoline output averaged just 8.8 million barrels per day (bpd).

In distillate fuels, which are giving refiners a headache as demand for them remains a lot more subdued than demand for gasoline, the EIA reported a draw in stocks of 3.4 million barrels.

This compares to a build of 3.5 million barrels estimated for the previous week amid still severely limited air travel.

Distillate fuel production last week averaged 4.5 million bpd, compared with 4.4 million bpd a week earlier.

Oil prices were still down at the time of writing, with Brent crude trading at US$41.69 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate trading at US$39.70 a barrel. The decline is hardly a surprise: it came amid deepening worry about the future state of oil demand as economic reports from different parts of the world suggested that any recovery would be slow. It also came soon after the news broke that Libya was reopening some of its oil export terminals and boosting production.

OilX reported that plans were to raise production to 260,000 bpd, from currently below 100,000 bpd. In a precarious price environment, this production boost was bound to pressure prices despite the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies’ stated success with production cuts. (Oilprice.com)

Pompeo warns US politicians to be alert to Chinese “influence and espionage”

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S Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo on Wednesday warned US politicians at the state and local level to be vigilant around Chinese diplomats who he said could be trying to woo them as part of Beijing’s propaganda and espionage campaign.

Speaking in the Wisconsin state capitol, Pompeo said the State Department was reviewing the activities of the US-China Friendship Association and the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification over suspicions they are trying to influence US schools, business groups, and local politicians.

The two groups are linked to China’s United Front Work Department, an organ of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, he said.

“Know that when you are approached by a Chinese diplomat, it is likely not in the spirit of cooperation or friendship,” Pompeo said, warning of the Chinese

Communist Party’s “influence and espionage campaigns” even at the municipal level.

“The federal government can’t police every bit of this predatory and coercive behaviour. We need your help...Protecting American interests requires vigilance, vigilance that starts with you – and all state legislators, regardless of party,” he said.

The latest swipe at Beijing comes in the runup to the November election, in which US President Donald Trump has made a tough approach to China an important foreign policy platform. Wisconsin is a key battleground state in the polls.

Pompeo’s speech triggered an outcry from Democratic lawmakers who accused him of using taxpayer money to solidify political support for Trump and, potentially, for himself as he is widely seen as harbouring presidential ambitions for 2024. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Saudi King Salman assails Iran in United Nations debut

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audi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz took aim at Iran during his debut on Wednesday at the annual United Nations meeting of world leaders, calling for a united front to contain Riyadh’s rival and stop it from getting weapons of mass destruction.

He said Iran exploited a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers “to intensify its expansionist activities, create its terrorist networks, and use terrorism”, adding that this had produced nothing but “chaos, extremism, and sectarianism”.

“A comprehensive solution and a firm international position are required,” the Saudi king, 84, told the 193-member General Assembly in a video statement that was pre-recorded due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The United States, a strong ally of Saudi Arabia,

French President Emmanuel Macron told the world body on Tuesday that Washington’s sanctions campaign against Iran had failed.

All the remaining parties to the nuclear deal, including longtime US allies, and 13 of the 15 UN Security Council members say the US claim on UN sanctions is void.

Diplomats say few countries are likely to reimpose the

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz attends a virtual Cabinet meeting in Neom, Saudi Arabia, August 18, 2020

quit the Iran nuclear pact in 2018, with President Donald Trump calling it the “worst deal ever”. Washington has since imposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran and asserts that all countries also should reinstate UN sanctions to try to push the Islamic Republic to negotiate a new deal.

Canada's COVID-19 testing system overwhelmed after slow move to new tests

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anada’s recent spike in COVID-19 cases has created day-long lines at testing centres and prolonged waits for results, highlighting gaps in a system that leans heavily on traditional laboratory tests in a nation that has been slow to adopt newer, faster diagnostic technologies.

While other countries have approved new ways to test for COVID-19 in recent months, like rapid point-of-care tests, much of Canada stuck with the basics: deep nasal swabs collected by healthcare workers and sent off to labs.

New rapid point-of-care tests or home collection kits used in the United States could help clear the backlog, but are not yet available in Canada.

The US Food and Drug Administration authorised its first home collection kit on April 21. Health Canada discouraged applications for

similar kits until late August, citing concerns about misuse, before changing course.

The long lines and waits for results could accelerate the spread of the virus by discouraging testing and making contact tracing more difficult.

“I’m really concerned that people who have to leave the house to perform essential services are in a bind,” said Jennifer Hulme, an emergency physician in Toronto.

Canada’s new cases have surged past 1000 per day, after dropping below 300 in late June, numbers that still pale compared with surging outbreaks in the United States.

“There’s got to be more testing stations. There have to be more people employed, emergency measures taken. This is ridiculous,” said high school teacher Mary Capin, 47, outside Toronto’s Women’s College Hospital on Friday.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

measures.

“Our experience with the Iranian regime has taught us that partial solutions and appeasement did not stop its threats to international peace and security,” King Salman said.

Iran’s UN mission spokesman Alireza Miryousefi rejected what he called “the baseless allegations”.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg death: Mourners gather at US Supreme Court

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is lying in repose at the Supreme Court for two days

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ourners have been honouring the judge and liberal icon, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she lies in repose at the US Supreme Court in Washington.

Ginsburg, an advocate for gender equality and civil rights, died on Friday, aged 87, from cancer.

Chief Justice John Roberts delivered remarks on Wednesday as her casket rested just outside the courtroom where she served for nearly three decades.

President Donald Trump will pay his respects at the top court today.

Since her death, makeshift memorials have been set up outside the Supreme Court.

Flowers, photographs, candles, and signs have lined the steps.

The second woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice, Ginsburg will on Friday be-

come the first woman to lie in state at the US Capitol. She will be buried next week at Arlington National Cemetery.

Speaking before Ginsburg's flag-draped casket in the Supreme Court's Great Hall earlier, Chief Justice Roberts said her life was "one of the many versions of the American dream".

"Ruth wanted to be an opera virtuoso, but became a rock star instead," he said during the private ceremony, noting her battles against gender discrimination throughout her career.

The daughter of Jewish immigrants, Ginsburg struggled against sexism for decades. She graduated top of her class at Columbia Law School, but received no job offers. She later remarked: "I struck out on three grounds: I was Jewish, a woman and a mother." (Excerpt from BBC News)

Louisville protests continue after officers cleared in Breonna Taylor death

T

hree white Police Officers who fired into the apartment of Breonna Taylor, a black medical worker, will face no criminal charges for her death. The protests wore on past nightfall and were mostly calm until gunshots rang out in the midst of a skirmish between protesters and armed Police.

More than six months after Louisville Metro Police fatally shot Taylor, in a case that became a centrepiece of the US racial justice protests, a grand jury indicted one of three officers who fired weapons, but

not for her death.

Former officer Brett Hankison, 44, has been indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree for shooting into neighbours’ apartments, the grand jury said on Wednesday in its report presented to Jefferson Circuit Judge Annie O’Connell.

Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly and Officer Myles Cosgrove, who also fired their weapons, will not face charges.

Following the grand jury presentation, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel

Cameron said there was nothing he “could offer to take away the grief and heartache this family is experiencing”.

“What I can offer today are the facts,” he said, adding that it was his job to determine whether criminal actions led to Taylor’s death.

“Justice is not often easy and does not fit the mould of public opinion. And it does not conform to shifting standards,” Cameron said. “I know that not everyone will be satisfied with the charges we’ve reported today.”

A warrant has been is-

sued for Hankison’s arrest. A judge set a US$15,000 cash bond at the attorney general’s request. The highly anticipated decision, which had put Louisville’s downtown on virtual lockdown in preparation for protests, falls short of the murder and other charges that protesters and some public figures, including Vice Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris demanded. Oprah Winfrey’s magazine put up billboards calling for all the officers involved to be arrested and charged.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

20

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

ARCHIE

ARIES (March 21April 19)

A change to the way you do things will help you cut corners. Getting into an argument will work against you. Take pride in what you do and avoid criticism.

TAURUS Altering how you work will make it easier for you (April 20May 20) to bring about the changes you want to make. Don't take on something that will cost you physically, emotionally or financially.

DILBERT

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

CANCER (June 21July 22)

PEANUTS

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Avoid getting into a spat with someone who doesn't share your opinions. Be imaginative and show interest in what others do, but don't leave yourself open for criticism. Practice moderation.

A personal change will encourage you to take on more responsibility. Before you make unrealistic promises, consider the time and cost involved. Romance and home improvements are favored.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Mix things up. Using social media, you will discover groups that share your concerns and interests.

Think before you speak; an impulsive response will lead to trouble.

LIBRA

Refuse to let what others do slow you down.

Offer suggestions, but don't take on responsibilities that don't belong to you. Choose peace and love over discord.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

(Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SCORPIO

SUDOKU

Personal satisfaction will lift your spirits and give you the confidence you need to pursue your personal and professional goals.

Romance is in the stars.

(Oct. 24Nov. 22)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

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

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Listen to complaints, make adjustments and do your best to keep the peace.

Put a personal vendetta behind you. Hanging on to the past will make you bitter and hold you back.

Balance and structure will help you counter indulgent behavior. Concentrate on learning, fitness and self-improvement. Strive to be and do your best. Love is in the stars.

The change will be refreshing and lend itself to creative flow and the ability to overcome any discord you face. Peace and unity will result if you honor promises.

Refuse to get caught up in someone's plans. Concentrate on what's important to you, and you will overcome the pressure and demands you face. Personal improvements and romance are favored.

A change regarding how others perceive you will depend on what you are willing to do and how well you manage situations that require insight and mediation.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

21

Para-athlete Vlyssess Edwards pushing for international participation and inclusion

Para-athlete Vlyssess Edwards

By Jemima Holmes

“A

t first, being in this position, it made me weak, until I was able to overcome all the barriers of being a victim of your own self-esteem. Until I actually broke that barrier and started growing from it, that’s when I actually started participating in road races, from 2015.”

Once in a while, we come across an individual who is so

purpose-driven that we cannot fathom how a person who has faced so much adversity can have such a positive outlook on life. Such persons are truly the wonders of the world.

Vlyssess Edwards is one that can fall right into that category, and based on his aforementioned words, it is easy to imagine the level of confidence Vlyssess exudes.

Vlyssess Edwards is one of Guyana’s few para-athletes, and is of Indigenous descent. While some may look at the combination and think, ‘How does he do it?’ Vlyssess makes it look easy-peazy; and, in fact, credits sport as his motivation.

“This has made my life a great one, and the impact that it made, it’s more than just a scenery for me. It’s more like motivation to other persons who’re in a wheelchair or (experiencing) different forms of paralysis. And in this case, in my position, it has shown me a better, logical way of being fit, focused, and a lot of things in that direction,” Vlyssess shared.

While sharing that he capitalised off wheel-chair racing to get into other sports, Edwards, during an exclusive interview with Guyana Times, described that life-changing moment that plunged him into sport.

“That life-changing moment happened in 2015, when I was made to understand that there is a disability sport at the National Park. I made contact with some friends, example Winston Spencer, he told me about it, and I participated in it. That’s where I had my first road race.

“The whole idea of being in this position, at first it’s not easy; and, trust me, it’s not an easy thing and it’s difficult for persons like me to carry out a daily task. But from there you get your motivation, from other persons or other things you see that would help you grow from it.

“I grew from my pain, my mistakes and my turmoil, so I could look back and motivate others to do better,” Edwards commented, noting that he is keen on pushing others in a condition similar to his in order that they might succeed.

Apart from racing, Edwards has developed an interest in archery. Because some sports in Guyana aren’t easily accessible to para-athletes, Vlyssess was taken by surprise to find out that he could find his way into, and participate in, archery.

He explained that his first glimpse of Archery came from a Facebook post by avid archer Nicholas Hing.

Vlyssess Edwards on the go

“I saw his first shoot, which was an image, and I got motivated to start that. So, I eventually went down the road of finding out about archery, and I eventually came along to Archery Guyana and (found out that a) person like me could participate, which was surprising,” Vlyssess said.

“I started participating in archery, I started training, I’ve been able to have some coaching,” he continued.

Edwards also took it upon himself to bring in to the sport interested persons from the West Coast of Demerara.

The one thing that has negatively impacted every athlete this year, irrespective of disability, is the coronavirus pandemic.

Edwards, commenting on the effects of the global pandemic, stated: “Like many athletes, COVID-19 has at first affected majority of our training. I train for numerous hours. Being fit, it creates a more dynamic version of yourself and the sport; because, (in) both road races and archery, you need some amount of fitness to participate and go along with those things.”

He went on to say, “In my position, it’s usually outdoors that keeps me going, so I had to utilise what I had at home and train with that.”

Probed about his future plans for sport, Edwards disclosed that it is his aim to get more para-athletes into the fraternity.

“I would like to have more persons in wheelchairs to come out. In other countries, they have para-athletes, and I’m hoping that one day I’ll be able to be part of a Paralympics,” And Edwards is looking to talk to the biggest boss about his vision, “I’m hoping to have a one-on-one discussion with the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr, about these disability sports.”

While Vlyssess has planned to retire from local racing, he will be sure to jump at the opportunity to participate in international racing.

“In terms of my career in road racing, if there is an opportunity to participate, I will. However, I’m trying to push this road racing for wheelchair persons to a higher level,” he said.

Nairo Quintana denies wrongdoing over alleged doping at Tour de France

Nairo Quintana during the penultimate stage of this year’s Tour de France. He finished 17th overall.

N

airo Quintana has denied any wrongdoing and said no illegal substances were found during a search of his hotel room by authorities during the Tour de France.

The Colombian, a former winner of the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, issued a statement late on Tuesday night after the public prosecutor’s office in Marseille opened a preliminary investigation into suspected doping practices.

On Monday, Quintana’s Arkea-Samsic team confirmed their hotel rooms had been searched by police following stage 17 of

the Tour in Méribel. In his own statement Quintana said he had voluntarily been questioned, had not been accused of wrongdoing by the authorities and that the substances seized were “perfectly legal” vitamin supplements.

“The French gendarmerie carried out an operation in the hotel where my team was staying on Wednesday 16 September, in Méribel, after the Tour de France stage ended,” Quintana said. “That day the authorities entered my room and seized vitamin supplements that were perfectly legal, although perhaps unfamiliar to the French authorities.

“This is the main reason why it takes time for everything that happened to be fully clarified. To avoid any doubt, I would like to confirm that no doping substances were ever found.”

A statement from Arkea-Samsic released on Monday said the investigation was not focused “directly” on the team and involved “a very limited number of riders, as well as their close entourage, not employed by the team”.

In his statement, Quintana said he did not work with any assistants or staff who were not team members. “I would also like to clear up a misunderstanding: neither during the recent Tour, nor during any other previous race, I have never consulted assistants or staff who were not part of the team. I do not have, and have never had, anything to hide.”

The 30-year-old added that he had answered questions from

the public prosecutor’s office “with a clear conscience”. “It must be stressed that I have not been the subject of any accusation by the authorities. I will be ready to answer any questions from the prosecutor, as I did on Monday and [Tuesday].”

Quintana, who has finished on the podium in three previous Tours, suffered a crash on stage 13 of this year’s race and then cracked on the Grand Colombier two days later, fading to finish 17th. It was his lowest finish in a Grand Tour since the 2012 Vuelta.

“I, Nairo Quintana, have been a clean cyclist throughout my sporting life and I have an impeccable biological passport,” he said. “I want to make it clear to the public, to my fans and to the followers of cycling that never in all my career – junior, under-23 and professional – have I used illegal substances that improve my sporting performance and that betray the principles of sport.”

According to reports in France, two individuals have been taken into custody in relation to the investigation. On Monday, the UCI said it had been in contact with authorities. “The UCI welcomes and supports the action of all parties involved and will take the appropriate measures once it has taken note of the information obtained by the French legal authorities,” read a statement.

Arkea-Samsic said if wrongdoing was discovered the team would “immediately dissociate itself from such acts and take without delay the necessary measures”. (The Guardian)

22

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

Rohit Sharma's heroics take st Mumbai Indians to 1 win in UAE R

ohit Sharma led from the front as Mumbai Indians (MI) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 49 runs and secured their first win of the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

After KKR won the toss and elected to field in their first game of the season, Shivam Mavi struck early, to dismiss Quinton de Kock in the second over.

But MI skipper Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav counterattacked and cashed in on every scoring opportunity.

While Suryakumar hit 4 fours in the 3rd over of the innings, Rohit went after Pat Cummins in the fifth over, hitting him for two sixes.

Rohit and Suryakumar completed the fifty-run partnership and team’s fifty in the final over of the powerplay.

Rohit then hit a four and a six, taking on Andre Russell in his first over.

Suryakumar then welcomed Kuldeep Yadav into the attack, with a six in his first over as MI moved past 80-run mark at the close of 8 overs.

MI were in a touching distance to complete a hundred, but before that they lost Suryakumar for 47 after the right-hander was run-out while completing two runs. Rohit then brought up his 37th IPL

fifty in the IPL before MI moved past hundred in the 12th over.

In the 14th over – Kuldeep’s last of the night – Rohit hit two mighty sixes to complete his 200 sixes in the IPL. Rohit and Saurabh Tiwary, meanwhile, put up a 49-run stand, with the left-hander scoring 21 in 13 balls before getting out off Sunil Narine’s bowling.

MI brought up their 150 in the 17th over before Hardik Pandya opened his shoulders, hitting Cummins for two fours and a six.

Rohit, then got out in the 18th over after scoring 80 off 54 balls, hitting 3 fours and 6 sixes, as Mavi picked up his second wicket of the match. KKR got a lucky breakthrough in the 19th over as Hardik got out hitwicket off Russell’s bowling. MI scored 13 runs in the final over to take their run-tally to 195/5.

Needing 196 runs to win, KKR lost their first wicket in the third over of the chase as Trent Boult dismissed Shubman Gill. While KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik hit a couple of crisp fours, MI got their second wicket as de Kock held onto a fine flying catch off James Pattinson’s bowling to get Narine out in the fifth over.

Nitish Rana replaced Narine in the middle and hardly wasted any time to make his intentions clear, hitting his third ball for a six over long-off as KKR ended

the powerplay at 33/2.

KKR then scored 13 off the eighth over as Karthik and Rana hit a four each to push their side past fifty. KKR lost their third wicket in the 11th over as Rahul Chahar trapped Karthik before the wickets for 30.

In the next over, Hardik displayed a piece of fielding brilliance. After Rana went aerial off Pollard’s bowling, Hardik, manning the sweeper cover area, ran towards his left held on to a fine catch, kept his composure and balance to not touch the rope and gave MI their fourth wicket.

Morgan was then joined by Russell as KKR, who reached the three-figure mark in the 15th over, were in need to go big to win the game.

But Bumrah dismissed both the batsmen in the 16th over.

First, he disturbed the timber to end Russell’s stay in the middle, and then, had Morgan caught behind the wickets for 16. Boult then picked up his second wicket as Nikhil Naik got out for 1.

Cummins, then, put up some show with the bat, scoring 33 off 12 balls, hitting Bumrah for three sixes in the 18th over. But he was dismissed in the penultimate over by James Pattinson. Chahar, on the final ball of the match, had Mavi stumped as MI sealed a win. (IPLT20)

Wolves sign defender Nelson Semedo from Barcelona in deal that could be worth £37M

W

olves have signed Portuguese rightback Nelson Semedo from Barcelona in a deal that could be worth £37M. Manager Nuno Espirito Santo had been seeking a replacement for Matt Doherty, who moved to Premier League rivals Tottenham last month.

"It isn't often that we have the opportunity to sign a world-class player from a world-class club," said Wolves executive chairman Jeff Shi. Semedo, 26, has played 124 times for Barca and won 13 Portugal caps.

Barcelona said the deal is an initial 30m euros

Semedo has been capped 13 times by Portugal

(£27.61m) plus 10m euros "in variables".

Semedo, who has signed a contract until 2023, is the third permanent signing by Wolves during this transfer window, following the arriv-

al of Fabio Silva from Porto and Ki-Jana Hoever from Liverpool.

If Wolves pay the full £37M then Semedo would become the club's record signing, eclipsing the £35.6m they paid for Silva.

When asked why he chose to join Wolves, the defender told the club website: "Last year they did a very good season and it's a very important team in England, in also Europe. I hope this year we can do very good things.

"Coach Nuno is a very good coach. He did very good things here in Wolves, and in other teams too. For sure I'm going to learn a lot from him." (BBC Sport)

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Rohit Sharma led with a blistering 80

SCOREBOARD MUMBAI INDIANS INNINGS (20 OVERS MAXIMUM) Q de Kock † c Naik b Shivam Mavi 1 RG Sharma (c) c Cummins b Shivam Mavi 80 SA Yadav run out (Narine/Morgan) 47 SS Tiwary c Cummins b Narine 21 HH Pandya hit wicket b Russell 18 KA Pollard not out 13 KH Pandya not out 1 Extras (lb 2, nb 1, w 11) 14 TOTAL (20 Ov, RR: 9.75) 195/5 Did not bat: JL Pattinson, RD Chahar, TA Boult, JJ Bumrah Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Quinton de Kock, 1.2 ov), 2-98 (Suryakumar Yadav, 10.5 ov), 3-147 (Saurabh Tiwary, 15.1 ov), 4-177 (Rohit Sharma, 17.5 ov), 5-180 (Hardik Pandya, 18.3 ov) BOWLING S Sandeep Warrier Shivam Mavi PJ Cummins SP Narine AD Russell Kuldeep Yadav

3-0-34-0 4-1-32-2 3-0-49-0 4-0-22-1 2-0-17-1 4-0-39-0

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS INNINGS (TARGET: 196 RUNS FROM 20 OVERS) Shubman Gill c Pollard b Boult 7 SP Narine c †de Kock b Pattinson 9 KD Karthik (c) † lbw b Chahar 30 N Rana c HH Pandya b Pollard 24 EJG Morgan c †de Kock b Bumrah 16 AD Russell b Bumrah NS Naik c HH Pandya b Boult 1 PJ Cummins c HH Pandya b Pattinson 33 Shivam Mavi st †de Kock b Chahar 9 Kuldeep Yadav not out 1 Extras (lb 2, w 3) 5 TOTAL (20 Ov, RR: 7.3) 146/9 Did not bat: S Sandeep Warrier

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

NOW!

Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Shubman Gill, 2.4 ov), 2-25 (Sunil Narine, 4.5 ov), 3-71 (Dinesh Karthik, 10.1 ov), 4-77 (Nitish Rana, 11.4 ov), 5-100 (Andre Russell, 15.1 ov), 6-101 (Eoin Morgan, 15.4 ov), 7-103 (Nikhil Naik, 16.3 ov), 8-141 (Pat Cummins, 18.2 ov), 9-146 (Shivam Mavi, 19.6 ov) BOWLING TA Boult JL Pattinson JJ Bumrah RD Chahar KA Pollard KH Pandya

4-1-30-2 4-0-25-2 4-0-32-2 4-0-26-2 3-0-21-1 1-0-10-0

Abu Jayed tests positive for COVID-19

A

bu Jayed has become the latest Bangladesh cricketer to test positive for COVID-19, the update coming at the end of the latest round of tests conducted by the BCB on Monday.

The news about Abu Jayed testing positive came on the day Saif Hassan tested negative - in his third test - after two positives in the last two weeks.

Fast bowler Jayed was in the 27-man camp ahead of the upcoming tour to Sri Lanka which, however, remains a little uncertain because of a disagreement be-

Abu Jayed will now be treated in isolation

tween the two concerned boards on the quarantine protocols in Sri Lanka.

"Pace bowler Abu Jayed Chowdhury Rahi has reported positive for COVID-19.

He will receive treatment in isolation for COVID as per guidelines and will undergo further tests in due course," BCB sports physician Dr Debashis Chowdhury said in a statement. The other 26 players tested all returned negative results, according to the BCB. Hassan is also likely to return to training soon, after having quarantined at home

since September 7.

The senior Bangladesh cricketers are currently in a training camp in Mirpur, in Dhaka, while putting up at a city hotel, where they will stay while training until September 26.

There are more than 30,000 COVID-19 cases in Bangladesh at the time of writing this, with over 5000 deaths; on Tuesday, the health authorities announced that 37 people had died, 1666 were infected, and there were 2163 recovered cases in the country in the last 24 hours. (ESPNcricinfo)

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

23

Sarah Glenn shines with bat and ball as England win by 47 runs for 2-0 lead By the time Glenn struck Dottin high on the back leg, kneeling down as she shaped to sweep, West Indies had moved to 72 for 2. Offspinner Villiers had Lee-Ann Kirby stumped by some swift glovework from Jones, before Glenn deceived Taylor for a stumping that had the visiting captain striding off the pitch while the TV umpire was still taking a look.

From there, it seemed there was simply no one to stand up amid a stream of wickets which left West Indies well short for the second game in a row.

Seventh over and out

V

England celebrating

aluable runs and crucial wickets to youngster Sarah Glenn handed England a second 47-run victory in as many contests with West Indies and a 2-0 lead in their fivematch T20I series.

Having lost the toss and been sent in, England's recognised batters struggled to post a significant score among them, leaving it to Glenn - supported by the experienced Katherine Brunt - to push their side beyond the 150 mark with a 46-run partnership when a significantly lower total looked likely.

Leg-spinner Glenn then made the breakthrough that removed a dangerous Deandra Dottin, lbw for 38 off 40 after posting 69 in a losing cause in the first of five matches, and effectively ended West Indies' hopes when she had captain Stafanie Taylor stumped on 28, wicketkeeper Amy Jones's second piece of brilliance for the evening.

All of England's youthful spinners prospered, with two wickets each being taken by Glenn, Sophie Ecclestone and Mady Villiers.

Nat Sciver had survived

Campbelle, diving to her left behind the stumps.

Sciver's luck ran out with just eight runs to her name when Taylor pinned her back with the first two balls of her second over, and then tossed one up, beating the outside edge as Sciver charged and the ball skidded on, Campbelle whipping off the bails with Sciver well out of her crease.

Knight, who was yet to score, was put down after slashing Taylor to Afy Fletcher at short third man.

Knight was then involved in a mix-up with Danni Wyatt, who nudged Taylor to the off side and wanted an ambitious single, only to be

win in the first match, was out for 21 lofting Selman to Chinelle Henry at mid-on in the fourth over. Taylor finished with 2 for 12 from her four overs, after she also had Fran Wilson stumped by Campbelle for 4.

Better ending for England batting

England were teetering at 96 for 6 when they lost Jones for 25 and Knight for 17. With no one in the top or middle order having posted an innings of real note, it fell to Brunt and Glenn to fulfill the team brief identified after the first match of finishing better.

They did so with distinc-

tion, with Glenn taking the lead in a 46-run partnership with Brunt from just 30 balls. Just-turned-21 and playing her 12th T20I, Glenn notched up 26 runs of 19 balls, including four boundaries, before she was run out

by Henry on the last ball of the innings.

Brunt struck 18 off 14 before she was bowled by an excellent yorker from Selman, bringing in Ecclestone, who added nine off four balls.

Having lost five wickets and added just 31 runs in the last five overs of the first match, this time England added 51 runs for the loss of two wickets in that time.

(ESPNcricinfo)

SCOREBOARD Opportunity goes abegging for Windies

W e s t Indies had their chances in this match, but a rash of dropped catches, a failure to finish off the England tail, having done the hard yards, and then the inability of anyone to step up when likely stars Dottin and Taylor fell, left them wanting.

At the end of the Powerplay, the tourists were in touching distance at 36 or 1, having lost Hayley Matthews - who looked to be suffering from back pain - for just 3 when Brunt got a leading edge to fly to Heather Knight. That compared with England's 44 for 1, and with Dottin and Taylor at the crease, they can always entertain hope.

Stafanie Taylor was economical

Deandra Dottin top-scored again for the West Indies

two chances in the previous over, looking to heave a Shakera Selman cutter to the leg side but chipping back to the bowler, who got her fingertips to it but shelled the return catch as she went to ground; and then put down by Shemaine

sent back by her captain as Campbelle gathered Dottin's sharp throw from backward point and removed the bails.

Wyatt was run out for 14 and England were 43 for 3, having added just 11 runs since Tammy Beaumont, the star of England's 47-run

ENGLAND INNINGS TT Beaumont c Henry b Selman 21 DN Wyatt run out (Dottin) 14 NR Sciver st †Campbelle b Taylor 8 HC Knight (c) c Cooper b Fletcher 17 AE Jones†c Kirby b Matthews 25 FC Wilson st †Campbelle b Taylor 4 KH Brunt b Selman 18 S Glenn run out (Henry) 26 S Ecclestone not out 9 Extras (b 4, nb 1, w 4) 9

WEST INDIES WOMEN INNINGS (TARGET: 152 RUNS FROM 20 OVERS) HK Matthews c Knight b Brunt 3 DJS Dottin lbw b Glenn 38 SR Taylor (c)st †Jones b Glenn 28 LAGL Kirby st †Jones b Villiers 1 SA Campbelle † c Wilson b Shrubsole 5 CA Henry lbw b Villiers 7 B Cooper b Ecclestone 0 AA Alleyne lbw b Ecclestone 5 SC Selman not out 6 ASS Fletcher not out 4 Extras (lb 5, w 2) 7

TOTAL (20 Ov, RR: 7.55) Did not bat: MK Villiers, A Shrubsole

TOTAL (20 Ov, RR: 5.2) Did not bat: SS Connell

151/8

104/8

Fall of wickets: 1-34 (Tammy Beaumont, 3.5 ov), 2-44 (Natalie Sciver, 6.1 ov), 3-45 (Danni Wyatt, 6.5 ov), 4-85 (Amy Jones, 11.5 ov), 5-94 (Heather Knight, 13.2 ov), 6-96 (Fran Wilson, 14.1 ov), 7-142 (Katherine Brunt, 19.2 ov), 8-151 (Sarah Glenn, 19.6 ov)

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Hayley Matthews, 2.4 ov), 2-72 (Deandra Dottin, 11.6 ov), 3-75 (Lee-Ann Kirby, 12.6 ov), 4-79 (Stafanie Taylor, 13.6 ov), 5-86 (Shemaine Campbelle, 15.4 ov), 6-89 (Chinelle Henry, 16.4 ov), 7-91 (Britney Cooper, 17.2 ov), 8-96 (Aaliyah Alleyne, 17.6 ov)

BOWLING SS Connell HK Matthews SC Selman SR Taylor ASS Fletcher CA Henry

BOWLING KH Brunt A Shrubsole NR Sciver S Ecclestone S Glenn

MK Villiers

3-0-37-0 2-0-22-1 4-0-32-2 4-0-12-2 4-0-25-1 3-0-19-0

3-0-8-1 4-0-22-1 2-0-16-0 4-0-19-2 4-0-24-2 3-0-10-2

Mitchell Marsh out of IPL 2020

Sunrisers Hyderabad name Jason Holder as replacement

M

Jason Holder

itchell Marsh has become the first player to be ruled out of IPL 2020 because of injury, and West Indies allrounder Jason Holder has been named as his replacement at the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Marsh hurt his right ankle during the Sunrisers' first match of the tournament, on September 21 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. This is the second time in the last five years that Marsh has had to abort the tournament because of injury. In 2017, a shoulder problem cost him the entire IPL season for the Rising Pune Supergiants.

Marsh was picked by the Sunrisers for his base price of INR 2 crore ($281,000 approx.) last December, and on fresh pitches, in conditions favouring fast bowlers in the first phase of this IPL in the UAE, Marsh was expected to be a first-choice player for the Sunrisers with his all-round skills.

This will be Holder's second stint with the Sunrisers (after 2014-15) and fourth overall in the IPL. Holder has previously featured for the Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Despite being one of the top allrounders in Test cricket, Holder has failed to impose himself in limited-overs cricket over the years, and while he remains the Test captain for West Indies, he lost the white-ball captaincy to Kieron Pollard last year.

In the December 2019 IPL auction, Holder had put his base price at INR 75 lakh ($100,000 approx.), but went unsold more than once. More recently, Holder led the Barbados Tridents in the CPL 2020, where they finished fifth in the sixteam table. Holder scored 192 runs at a strike rate of 140.14, and also picked up ten wickets at an economy rate of 6.63, while also bowling the most maidens in the competition (four).

According to the COVID-19 protocols put in place by the IPL, Holder would need to undergo the mandatory six-day quarantine and clear the testing process before he can join the Sunrisers' squad. (ESPNCricinfo)

Mitchell Marsh's IPL 2020 ended after just one aborted outing

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

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

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Sarah Glenn shines with bat and ball as England win by 47 runs for 2-0 lead Pg 22

Rohit Sharma's heroics take Mumbai Indians to st 1 win in UAE

Para-athlete Vlyssess Edwards pushing for international participation and inclusion

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