Guyana Times -- Thursday, June 9, 2022

Guyana’s Independence anniversary celebrated P14 in Florida

Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 5034

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022

Guyana to push food security agenda, new trade systems at IX Summit of the Americas ...as delegation arrives in Los Angeles, – Pres Ali meets US & regional leaders Page 3

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Prime Minister urges citizens to brace for P13 tropical wave 23-year-old woman busted trying to ship cocaine in P2 Havan Kund

Kitty man wanted for setting P14 couple on fire

President Dr Irfaan Ali with US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on Wednesday at the gala opening ceremony of the ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California, US

Guyana's economy on course to double in size in 2022-2023 – World Bank report

...says booming oil and gas industry fuelling growth

See story on page 7

Suriname backpedals Venezuela attempts to delay on agreement to license ICJ judgment, but forced to Guyanese fisherfolk Page 9 Page

Gunmen invade birthday party, P14 cart off $11M in cash & other items

Guyana-Venezuela border controversy

join judicial process

11

Electronic payments via MMG now accepted at SOL fuel stations countrywide Page 18

Berbice phone card vendor’s murder

2 masterminds get death P10 sentence, accomplices handed life sentences Region 6 P18 pensioner dies from COVID

2 NEWS

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

23-year-old woman busted trying to ship cocaine in Havan Kund

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anks of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) on Tuesday arrested a young woman, who attempted to ship cocaine hidden inside several religious items.

The suspect has been identified as 23-year-old Lisa Ramnarine of Hague, West Coast Demerara (WCD).

According to CANU, the discovery was made on Tuesday at the DHL headquarters in Fifth Street,

Alberttown, Georgetown.

Reports are that CANU officers, acting on information received, went to the DHL headquarters, where they intercepted a parcel containing a Hindu havan kunt, as well as other religious items.

“The officers examined the items and discovered a hidden compartment within the kunt, which was suspected to contain narcotics.

Further examinations determined that a substance

suspected to be cocaine was concealed within the religious item,” the anti-narcotics agency said.

It was reported that the sender’s information was retrieved from the package and led CANU ranks to Ramnarine. The young woman was arrested and escorted to CANU headquarters, where the item was dismantled in her presence, and the suspected narcotic thus revealed. The substance tested positive for cocaine and weighed 540 grams.

CANU said the cocaine had a street value of US$2500-US$2700, but would be worth more had it reached its intended destination.

Investigations are ongoing and the suspect is expected to face charges soon.

In February 2021, CANU ranks had unearthed 294 grams of cocaine concealed in a box at the DHL Alberttown location.

Acting on information received, the ranks conducted a search at the shipping business during which they

discovered a multi-coloured floral box. Upon checking the box, the cocaine was found in a false wall at the bottom. One person was arrested in relation to that discovery.

One week prior, a Christianburg, Linden couple was arrested for attempting to ship cocaine concealed in fudge via DHL. Shaka Nunes, a 36-yearold labourer, had pleaded guilty to a narcotics trafficking charge and received a four-year sentence along with a fine of $1.7 million.

The charge against his wife was subsequently withdrawn.

It was reported that on

February 15, 2021, Nunes had given his wife a box filled with several snacks and asked her to ship it to the United States of America (USA). The DHL Georgetown branch summoned CANU about the suspicious package that arrived from its Linden branch.

This resulted in an inspection and the field test conducted on the contents of the box revealed that the fudge contained 3.692 kilograms of cocaine.

As a result, CANU ranks visited the mailing address in Linden where they met Nunes’ wife, who told them that her husband had given her the package to post.

NEWS

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THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS OPENINGS BRIDGE

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Thursday, June 9 – No closure and Friday, June 10 – 04:00h-05:30h and 10:00h – 11:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Thursday, June 9 – 11:30h-13:00h and Friday, June 10 – 12:45h-14:15h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

Parika and Supenaam departure times – 05:00h, 10:00h-12:00h, 16:00h, 18:30h daily

WEATHER TODAY

There will be thundery showers and light rain showers during the day and night. Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius.

Winds: Northerly to North-Westerly between 2.23 metres and 4.47 metres.

High Tide: 12:19h reaching a maximum height of 2.32 metres.

Low Tide: 18:16h reaching a minimum height of 0.86 metre.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2022

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COMMODITIES Indicators

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Crude Oil

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Rough Rice

$304.29/ton

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Guyana to push food security agenda, new trade systems at IX Summit of Americas – Pres Ali …as delegation arrives in Los Angeles, meets US & regional leaders

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uyana, whose delegation at the ninth Summit of the Americas is being led by President Dr Irfaan Ali, has a number of issues on its agenda to be discussed, including food security and a new, revamped trade system – all which Guyana will be pushing for.

In an interview with local news agency News Room, President Ali explained that Guyana would be advocating for changes in a number of areas, including a new trade policy that will bridge the gap between various developing countries. According to him, a fair framework that also encompasses the distribution of vaccines during pandemics must be built.

“The developing world has more than a billion people without access to food, water; you have rising food insecurity, you have all of these issues that we have to deal with like the Americas, if we are to address the issue of sustainability and resilience.

“We can’t speak of resilience in the Americas if we can’t find a fair framework as to how we address pandemics, and you don’t have countries within the Americas who find themselves hustling for vaccines when we are a part of a system that’s supposed to be supporting each other,” the President said.

Other important issues on Guyana’s agenda include transnational crime, inequalities, and democracy.

The President assured that they would be speaking on all of these issues.

“These are all important areas that this conference will be addressing. And Guyana is playing no small role in all of these areas,” the President explained.

The Summit is being held from June 6 to June 10 under the theme, “Building a Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Future”, in Los Angeles, California.

President Ali arrived in LA a few nights ago, accompanied by First Lady Arya Ali, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd, Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud and Ambassador George Talbot.

On Wednesday, when the opening ceremony was held, President Ali met and had a photo op with US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. He also met with other Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders and took part in celebrations of the 50th birthday of the Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit.

It is expected that the Summit will address a range of issues including a green future and clean energy, democratic governance, COVID-19 recovery and pandemic resilience, and transforming the Western

President Dr Irfaan Ali and First Lady Arya Ali arrived in Los Angeles, California for the ninth Summit of the Americas. Also in photo are Guyana’s Ambassador to the US, former President Samuel Hinds and Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd (blue suit). The Summit is being held this week under the theme, “Building a Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Future”

Hemisphere’s digital infrastructure.

Guyana has so far emerged as a leader in regional food security, chairing the Caricom Special Ministerial Task Force on food production and food security, hosting the recently-concluded AgriInvestment Forum and Expo and articulating the “25 per cent by 2025” strategy, which had its genesis in the Guyana Government’s aggressive campaign to dismantle regional barriers to agricultural trade.

President Ali has said that in the next four years, via more diversified crops,

Guyana would aim to reduce Caricom’s food import bill by 25 per cent. To this end, the President had made a comprehensive presentation to regional Heads on food security strategies during Caricom’s 33rd InterSessional Meeting in March.

Months after assuming office, President Ali had charged the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry to assess and address the hurdles related to exporting food and agricultural products to markets within the Region. As such, concerns about barriers to trade in some Caricom markets were

raised with the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) earlier this year.

The Ministry subsequently formed a National Working Group on Barriers to Trade against Exports from Guyana. According to the assessment on market access by the Working Group, most of the challenges found were related to technical measures including sanitary and phytosanitary measures. It also found several technical and administrative regulations that were all hampering the export of Guyanese products.

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guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022

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

Parenting T

he month of June plays host to two celebrations of parenting – the Global Day of Parents on June 1 and Father’s Day on the third Sunday. For good or ill, parents and those who parent play a tremendous role in children’s lives. Parents are a child’s first teachers and hold within their hands the power to determine much of the trajectory of their lives.

According to the Handbook of Parenting and Child Development Across the Lifespan, “The quality of parenting children receive during childhood and adolescence plays a major role in influencing their developmental competence and ultimately their life course trajectories. The parent-child relationship has a pervasive impact on children, and affects many different areas of development including language and communication, executive function and self-regulation, sibling and peer relationships, academic attainment, and mental and physical health.”

Parenting now, as in the past, is demanding, sometimes difficult work with many challenges, and now that family life has undergone many changes in the modern world, many parents are juggling new challenges, with limited success.

Fractured families result in a fractured society. Since society as a whole comprises family units, the more fractures these suffer, the more frayed the societal fabric becomes. The greatest threat to modern society is engendered by the rise in single parenthood. Single parenthood precipitates many ills in families and societies, and is most often caused by delinquent fathers who shirk their responsibilities to their families. Worldwide, single mothers are forced to assume the roles of both parents.

Lack of a male role model and an authority figure in their lives – which only a caring, responsible father can provide – has been irrefutably proven by statistics to often cause children to fall prey to societal predators, even criminals. Young girls in their bid to seek out an equivalent father figure often fall victims to paedophiles, with related problems such as dropping out of school, teenage pregnancies, and abusive relationships, etcetera, with a recurrent nightmarish continuum of selfdestructive behaviour. Similarly, boys who grow up in fatherless homes are often lured into anti-social, even criminal, behaviours.

“There’s a growing realisation that the increase in fatherlessness constitutes a clear and present danger, not only to the children, but to the long-term health and success of our society,” said David Blankenhorn, President of the Institute for American Values, a New York-based organisation concerned with family issues.

Men have been engaged in a massive migration away from their children for centuries. Statistics worldwide indicate that divorce rates are nearly tripling, and out-ofwedlock birth rates more than quadrupling since 1960.

Demographers say the typical male spends a smaller portion of his adult life living with his children than ever before.

For families to succeed, men, and women, must be given all assistance possible to fulfil their parental roles.

Given that the parent-child relationship and the cultural and community context combine to influence the quality of parenting children receive, support to strengthen these two factors will improve outcomes for children.

As the Handbook of Parenting and Child Development Across the Lifespan notes, “Parenting support that is delivered at a whole-of-community level and is attuned to the broader ecological context of modern parenting is needed to promote competent parenting and to reduce the adverse effects of poor parenting on children.

Policy-based investments in evidence-based parenting programmes have great potential to enhance life course outcomes for both children and parents that can have major economic benefits to the entire community.”

President Dr Irfaan Ali presented a gift to Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit on his birth anniversary on Wednesday. Ali and Skeritt along with other Caricom leaders are in Los Angeles, California for the IX Summit of the Americas

The PPP/C has saved sugar from the guillotine

Dear Editor, It is with great disappointment and utter consternation that I read a letter captioned “Losing sugar workers’ support again could be permanent”. I wish to strongly point out to this letter-writer, and put it very bluntly, that if ever sugar workers withdraw their support from the PPP, GuySuCo would suffer a sudden death, and this time around, the suffering would be unbearable and would escalate to the point of no return.

In life, we need to be cognisant of the fact that whenever something bad has passed us, it is always close, by and can return with venomous rage.

When I was a child, I could recall vividly a saying from my grandfather (God rest his soul), that some people are like yard fowls; they eat and wipe their beaks and forget that they had eaten, and when you throw some paddy again, they will eat hungrily as though they had never eaten at all. Some people are like that.

Since this Government took office in August 2020, this country has taken off on a development trajectory as never seen before, and the Government has done a lot to ease the burden of the people: wage and salary increases to all workers; reduced taxation, and in some cases no taxation; increasing the income tax threshold; removal of VAT on essential items; reducing excise tax on fuel, to lower the cost of living; reduced licence fees; COVID cash grant (some received twice) to every Guyanese; cash grants to disabled children; flood relief to all affected, even those who plant kitchen gardens; education cash grants (Because We Care); school uniform allowances; cash grants to severed sugar workers; electricity and water subsidies to pensioners; grants for small businesses; reduced cost of borrowing; cash grants to all fisherfolk; and creating part-time jobs for the unemployed. The list goes on, and will go on.

Should we not be thankful for all these, and more? The Coalition did the exact opposite of this, and yet some

who are vociferous now were silent then.

President Irfaan Ali, in January this year, was pellucid and affirmative that his Government’s budget is about removing burdens from Guyanese citizens and ‘creating opportunities, reducing burdens, enhancing welfare, giving back more to the population, enhancing livelihoods, improving living conditions, and improving the quality of life of the Guyanese people. This is being realised day after day, even though the Government has had to deal with the deadly and costly COVID-19, soaring global prices due to related supply chain issues, and a series of devastating countrywide floods.

He committed his Government to ‘more investment in people, more allocation to the vulnerable, [and a] better quality of life for the Guyanese people. This commitment is kept alive as Guyanese continue to be buffered from the fallout from the crippling issues mentioned.

Guyanese must not, for one moment, feel that rising food and gas prices are experienced only in Guyana. It is a worldwide phenomenon. Just call your relative in the USA and find out what is happening there.

We must show our gratitude to this Government, instead of decrying its efforts. What the Coalition had done to the Guyana Sugar Corporation deserves special mention. Let me just outline the mass devastation that the Coalition wreaked on this entity alone, and one which sugar workers must never forget. Imagine one morning 7,000 sugar workers woke up and had to deal with not only being jobless, but with no economic alternative and the stark reality of their families going hungry, children unable to go to school, loans became unpayable, and for some suicide was the only option. That is for dismissed workers. Then, after three years, when the PPP/C Government made the decision to reopen four closed estates, it was found that tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure, factories, machinery, equipment and cane

cultivation were lost. These estates were in grinding mode when they were maliciously closed.

Mr. Jordan had promised that those closed estates would be kept operational for selling. However, it was found that Wales and Enmore were unsalvageable, and Skeldon and Rose Hall were targeted for reopening, with Rose Hall Estate being the first to be reopened by 2023. Not only this, but the operational estates - Uitvlugt, Albion and Blairmont - were starved for vital capital investments, and the $30 billion-dollar bond secured by the Coalition was never used to ‘revitalise’ the sugar industry, as Mr Jordan had claimed. It is still to be accounted for.

It was just an excuse to make the fat cats fatter.

To make matters worse, the sugar workers were not given a dollar in increase by the Coalition. This means that from 2014 to 2020, no wage increase was given. However, in the late 2020 and 2021, the sugar workers received 5% and 7% wage increase from this Government, this is in addition to the COVID-19 cash grant. This is what a caring Government does.

It became crystal clear that the intention of the Coalition was to close the remaining estates, and had it managed to rig the 2020 Elections, then that closure would have been imminent.

Therefore, despite GuySuCo being unable to achieve its target primarily due to the disastrous floods, sugar workers have benefited from wage increases under this Government, and will continue to do so. But above all, everyone should be thankful that severed workers are once again being employed, and those in employment have their jobs secured. There will be no closure under this Government, and sugar workers’ lives can only keep improving.

In conclusion, whenever a negative letter like the one mentioned is penned, let the writer pause and reflect on the facts written here.

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022

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

Can the Government put some of the part-time workers to do background checks on recipients of cash grants?

Dear Editor, I do not know how many times this phrase has not pulsated your eardrums, "The Government doesn’t help poor people, they are all for themselves". It keeps reverberating over and over again. Now, the reason for this never-ending complaint stems from the fact that cash grants are being given out, and whenever money is being given out, lots of things begin to happen.

Three scenarios come into play: (a) Everyone suddenly becomes poor, the economic circumstances suddenly take a tragic turn for the worse, everyone comes under the low income, poverty bracket. (b) Money is "giving away", so grab as much of it as you can. The dishonesty is evident, as persons went on a rampage in double-dipping and triple-dipping.

And (c) Is Government "ting," so you don't have to worry with any paying back of that money. So, once again, grab as much as you can.

Then there is the perennial racial epithet that the

Government has to put up with, "The PPP/C doesn’t like Black people." All of these and more have inundated the landscape once the Government is involved in the giving out of monetary grants. So, with the rolling out of the Flood Relief Grant, there was bound to be controversy, as the above three scenarios took shape. The usual ugly reviews from some sections of the population were high on the airwaves.

I pause here to mention that this dishonesty cuts across party and racial lines; it goes for persons from both sides of the political and racial spectrum. It is not something that is linked to a single political party, but can be traced to all and sundry. Once the money is in circulation, these things surface.

Let me give you an experience I had while waiting in a line to get to the teller at a Republic Bank in Berbice. One woman said to another, "Deh giving out flood relief, and I get money." The response was, “But how come you get money when you ain't get damag-

es, nothing flood you out?” The response was, “Well, try find damage, nuh." The response, "Girl me ain't able tek jail."

Now, there are countless other stories that run a similar line like this one, where persons who never had damages benefited while defrauding the system in an immense way.

Let's not fool ourselves, these are real situations involving real people.

To buttress my point, the PNC should give of their experience with GAIBANK. That bank was set up to help farmers get loans in pursuit of their farming business, but the resultant abuse of its service saw its early collapse. Persons who never owned nor leased land, far less was ever engaged in farming, cashed in on the lenient lending privileges of the bank. The repayment of loans was sparse and few, if any, and this led to the bank's closure.

The present Government would have learned its lesson from the above bad experiences and would have vowed never to repeat it again. For this expressed reason, other cash

handouts were directed to the various sectors of the economy, and to selected targeted groups. Why reduce VAT while prices keep going higher and higher in the supermarkets and hardware stores, as the greedy merchants take advantage of the reduction to boost their profit margin? In the end, it is the poor man who gets the worst of it.

Government is now in the business of subsidies; that is, buying the fertiliser and distributing it to the farmers, or giving grants to our fisherfolks.

It means that if you are not a farmer or a fisherman, then you cannot benefit, end of discussion! This is a well-thoughtout venture that would bring aid to the farmers who really need it, and development to the agricultural sector as a whole.

Just by way of kind advice, can the Government please place some of those part-time workers to do strict background checks on the recipients of these handouts?

Respectfully, Neil Adams

Ridiculing Indian names is no laughing matter Dear Editor, In neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago, there is a brouhaha over ethnic name-calling. It is the most-talked-about personality conflict, not only in T&T, but in its diaspora as well, and in other Caribbean territories, including among Guyanese. The ruling PNM Minister Camille RobinsonRegis poked fun at the middle name of Kamla Susheila Persad Bissessar, the former PM, and now Opposition Leader.

Poking fun at Indian names is offensive to all Indians; it embodies racism. In sociology it is called racial micro-aggression, the hurling of negative slights toward people of another group.

All must decry such acts of racist behaviour.

Indians have lived with racism in the Caribbean and North America over name and faith. Blacks experienced racism over their race. During slavery, their names and faiths were changed. The White slave owners were wrong to change the names of Africans. Some fittingly have gone back to their original names and faiths that their ancestors brought with them from Africa hundreds of years ago.

There is no doubt that Minister Robinson was/is responsible for initiating this uncalled-for verbal spat. The public feels it was deliberate. What was a Minister, who is also Leader of the House, thinking about when she ridiculed Kamla’s authentic traditional Hindu name? Was it deliberate in order to stir up the ethnic base at a time when supporters are losing confidence in Government? Why haven’t her party and the media condemned her and urged her to apologise? In another country, she would have been forced to

resign from office.

I had spoken with many individuals: Indians, Africans, Mixed, Trinis, Tobagonians, Guyanese, on the KamlaCamille spat. Almost unanimously, they condemned Camille. Kamla, fittingly, did not take it lying down. She ‘giveth’ as she ‘taketh’. She responded, though inappropriately. “You have the name of your slave master”.

Few blamed Kamla for her response to Camille for poking fun at Kamla’s name.

The public viewed Camille’s mis-pronouncement of Kamla’s middle or ‘call name’ as a derogation of not only Kamla’s but Indian people’s name in general. If she could not pronounce that simple name, then she should not have said it. And if she can’t pronounce such a simple Indian name, what does that say about her representation of Indians in her constituency, or in Government, or in her Ministry?

Hindu names are assigned from the scriptures after parental or family consultation with a pandit, although not all Hindus follow the practice.

So, Hindus would have a legal name and ‘a call or rassi name’.

One must not poke fun at peoples’ names. Indian names and their faiths (Hinduism and Islam) were historically laughed at ever since they arrived in Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica, Grenada, and elsewhere. This caused many to change their names as well as their Hindu (and Islamic) faith.

That was in a bygone era, and urban Indians, now familiar with their great ancestral civilisation, have expressed regret at laughing at rural Indians over their Hindu or Islamic names, their cuisine and their faiths.

The dominant White

Christianised culture shaped peoples’ behaviour, and directed them towards self-hate. It is unfortunate that a Caribbean Minister of Government would mock at people on account of their names. It is regrettable that the Minister should still hold a colonial mindset sixty years after independence, to ridicule Indians. We must eschew such behaviour.

It is no laughing matter to ridicule Indian names, or the names of those Blacks who have African names. I am proud of my ancestral name, and so should everyone else. Blacks have accepted the names assigned to them by the slave owners of their ancestors, Indians and others must not condemn them for it. Indian names, like African (from Africa) and Asian names, are heritage-linked. African names are beautiful — such

as Kwame, Oheene, Kwayana, Mbutu, Ogunseye, Apata, Obama, etc. They should return to their ancestral heritage.

Almost everyone I spoke with – from both sides of the political divide in T&T -- condemn the Minister. I am most disappointed by Camille’s behaviour; she is among the most liked within her party, and is seen as a potential successor to Dr. Rowley, should he not seek a third term as PM. That she would debase her public standing and roll in the gutter shocks many, including me.

While Kamla is historically accurate to say that Camille has a slave name, it is inappropriate to say someone has retained the name of a slave master.

Yours truly, Vishnu Bisram (PhD)

Norton on judicial appointments Dear Editor, On its Facebook page, and on an Office of the Leader of the Opposition letterhead, the APNU/AFC proudly displayed a letter under the hand of Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde, who wrote on behalf of Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton to the Honourable Gail Teixeira to indicate that Mr. Norton wished that she be advised that he “is in agreement that Justice Yonette CummingsEdwards and Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire be appointed Chancellor and Chief Justice respectively”.

Senior Counsel Forde correctly referred to the appropriate Article of the Constitution which governs such appointments, but Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde has done a terrible disservice to the dignity to which he was only recently elevated. Many members of the junior bar would have recognised his blunder and would have refused to lend their names to such a precipitate bungle.

Assuming Senior Counsel Forde had received instructions from Norton to write the letter referred to, he should have asked Aubrey Norton whether the President had proposed or advised him that he wished to appoint these two judges to the positions mentioned. And it was for Senior Counsel Forde to tell Norton that it is only after such Presidential advice that he is at liberty to express his agreement, or otherwise, with the President’s proposal.

Unless I am in the dark, I am not aware that the President had proposed these judges for appointment to the offices of Chancellor and Chief Justice.

Forde wrote in his letter that “the Leader of the Opposition is in agreement that these Judges be appointed”. Referring to Forde’s letter, Norton, at a press conference, noted: “In this regard, the Leader of the Opposition has fulfilled his constitutional responsibility, since all that was needed is an

agreement, and I have agreed”.

Norton himself said, “As I understand it, an agreement is arrived at between two persons who reach a common position on, for example, a dispute or an objective of one sort or another.”

One dictionary meaning given to the word ‘agreement’ is “a negotiated and typically legally binding arrangement between parties as to a course of action”.

Another is “harmony or accordance in opinion”.

In the absence of a Presidential intimation to Norton on the issue of judicial appointments, the question is: Who is Norton in agreement with? Certainly, Norton cannot be in agreement with himself, for that is not the Constitutional prescription. For Norton to say that by his precipitate expression of agreement on these judicial appointments he has fulfilled his constitutional responsibility, this is an enormous blunder on his part. It is such uninformed, ill-advised misinterpretations of the Constitution that cause Norton to make more of the office he holds in a now well-recognised, arrogant, threatening, bombastic way.

Aubrey Norton is precipitate.

If, by his erroneous remarks and by the letter he has presumably asked Roysdale Forde to write on his behalf, he wishes to force the hand of the President on judicial appointments, my considered view is that if he was good at psychoanalysis (and Norton obviously is not), he would recognise that President Ali is not one to yield to subterfuge.

Aubrey Norton has clearly misunderstood a very clearly expressed Article 127(1) of the Constitution and the sequence of procedures therein outlined. His anxiety to indicate his agreement on judicial appointments is undoubtedly troubling to the people of Guyana, and as GHK Lall would say, “It disturbs, and is not at all encouraging.”

Sincerely, Selwyn Persaud

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022

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THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022

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Foundation

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

Switch up your setting

Find several places to study and change up your space if you find that it is no longer a working space for you.

Know when and where you study best. It may be that your focus at 10:00pm is not as sharp as at 10:00am. Perhaps you are more productive at the dinner table with background noise, or in the library. Perhaps when you study on your bed, you fall asleep.

Have a variety of places that are good study environments for you. That way wherever you are, you can find your perfect study spot. After a while, you might find that your spot is too comfortable and no longer is a good place to study, so it’s time to hop to a new spot!

WORD SEARCH

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THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Guyana's economy on course to double in size in 2022-2023 – World Bank report ...says booming oil and gas industry fuelling growth

T

he World Bank is projecting that despite being surrounded by sombre economic growth figures in the Caribbean and around the world, Guyana’s economy will actually double in size in 2022-2023.

The World Bank announced growth prospects for Guyana, other Caribbean countries and the world in its updated Global Economic Prospects report.

In Guyana’s case, the World Bank expects that the economy will double in size from 2022 to 2023.

This, according to the World Bank, is due to the rapid development of the offshore oil and gas industry. In a further breakdown, the World Bank noted that Guyana’s economy would grow by 47.9 per cent this year and 34.3 per cent in 2023 – the highest growth rate in the Latin America and Caribbean region.

Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is an inflation-adjusted measure

The World Bank

that reflects the value of all goods and services produced by an economy in a given year. In simpler terms, the real GDP measures a country’s total economic output, adjusted for price changes.

“In addition, Guyana’s economy is forecast to double in size in 2022-23, on account of the rapid development of the offshore oil and gas industry. In Jamaica, increasing alumina production will boost exports,

though dependence on imported oil will weigh on the current account,” the report stated.

This is a reduction of 1.8 per cent on the 2022 figures and a 9.3 per cent increase on 2023. Elsewhere, a robust growth of 6.9 per cent is projected for the Caribbean this year, dropping modestly to 6.5 per cent in 2023.

“For the Caribbean, robust growth of 6.9 per cent

is forecast for 2022, slowing slightly to 6.5 per cent in 2023. The continued but incomplete recovery of tourism towards pre-pandemic levels is an important driver of growth, supporting exports, employment, and investment,” the World Bank added.

Overall growth in Latin America and Caribbean is expected to slow to 2.5 per cent in 2022. Globally, economic growth is expected to be approximately 2.9 per cent – a reduction of the original 4.1 per cent forecast in January.

Guyana, through oil giant ExxonMobil, began producing oil back in 2019.

Since then, Guyana’s economic growth has taken off.

Exxon has also said it anticipates at least six projects offshore Guyana will be online by 2027.

The oil company had said that its Liza Phase 2 project, where drilling started this year, will have the capacity to produce 220,000 barrels

of oil per day. Exxon had also revealed that the Liza Phase 2 development was funded at the cost of some US$6 billion, including a lease capitalisation cost of approximately $1.6 billion, for the Liza Unity Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel.

For the Phase 2 development, six drill centres were planned, along with approximately 30 wells – 15 production, nine water injection and six gas injection wells.

The US$9 billion Payara development, the third development, will meanwhile target an estimated resource base of about 600 million oil-equivalent barrels and was at one point considered to be the largest single planned investment in the history of Guyana.

The Yellowtail development, which will be ExxonMobil’s fourth development in Guyana’s waters, will turn out to be the single largest development so far

in terms of barrels per day (bpd) of oil, with a mammoth 250,000 bpd targeted.

These new projects continue to contribute to the advancement of the Guyanese economy. More than 2600 Guyanese are now supporting project activities on and offshore, which reflects an increase of more than 20 per cent since the end of 2019. ExxonMobil and its key contractors have spent over US$300 million with more than 800 local companies since 2015.

The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres).

ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds 45 per cent interest in the Stabroek Block.

Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd holds 30 per cent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds 25 per cent interest.

8 NEWS “Sammy” gets 17 years over rum shop killing A THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) man who was found guilty of manslaughter was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Tuesday by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the Berbice High Court.

Following a jury trial last month, Samuel Stewart, called “Sammy”, 41, who was initially indicted for the capital offence of murder, was found guilty of the lesser count of manslaughter.

The jurors found that he unlawfully killed Patrick Wilson, called “Boy”, 25, of Limlair Village, Corentyne on June 16, 2019. Attorneyat-Law Charlyn Artiga represented Stewart.

Jailed: Samuel Stewart

It was previously reported that Stewart walked into a rum shop where the now dead man, his brother, and a cousin were imbibing.

Soon after an argument ensued between Stewart and Wilson’s cousin which led to a physical altercation between them.

According to reports, Wilson armed himself with a piece of stick which he used to assault Stewart, who, in turn, stabbed him with a knife he retrieved from the waistband of his pants. As the men were leaving the rum shop, Wilson collapsed on the road; he was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A Dead: Patrick Wilson

Man slapped with wounding, threatening behaviour charges A man was on Wednesday slapped with three charges – unlawful wounding, assault, and threatening behaviour.

Esaun Lawrence appeared before Senior Magistrate Faith Mc Gusty at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court, where he pleaded not guilty to the

charges.

All of the offences were contrary to the Summary Jurisdiction (Offence) Act, Chapter 8:02 and were allegedly committed on

Cranky...

Sharon Codrington.

In the end, Lawrence was released on bail totalling $45, 000. His matters will be called again on September 13, 2022.

…or crass?

t first your Eyewitness didn’t believe the report, that Opposition Leader Norton hadn’t wanted to shake Pres Ali’s hand. He’d seen the first still pic and commented that Norton’s hand hadn’t actually grasped Ali’s. It looked more like he was handing Ali a hand of bananas!! Then he saw the video clip with Ali having to nudge Norton - who then turned and stretched out his hand, with a comment from the Pres. that Norton didn’t want to shake hands!! Really? Could Norton be THAT petty?

Well, we now know that he’s not only that petty, but actually that crass!! Who refuses to shake hands even with your foes?? The practice goes back to 3000 years BC, for goodness’ sake!! Didn’t Churchill shake Stalin’s hand at Yalta even though he’d already determined that communist Russia was now gonna be the enemy of the west with Hitler gone?? Right here in Guyana, didn’t the founder of the PNC not only shake hands but actually hugged Jagan, his mortal enemy, at the first flag-raising ceremony in ‘66?? Does Norton think Jagan had forgotten how Burnham and the British had conspired to oust him?

Does he think Burnham had forgotten his dig at Jagan to arrange Independence Day on the anniversary of Jagan’s greatest humiliation? Which caused Janet to resign?

And what did Norton say when asked afterwards about his gauche behaviour? He insisted he was “bullied” into the handshake!! And that he wasn’t gonna shake Pres Ali’s hand, because the Government was “discriminating” against PNC supporters, and the latter was going to use it “for propaganda purposes!!

Imagine that!! What this announcement does is confirm what your Eyewitness didn’t want to believe. That the Opposition Leader’s job might just be above Norton’s pay grade. As he’d been saying all along, he knows Norton’s under fire from the extremist wing of the PNC to “sock” it to the PPP. But even if this were a viable strategy - or tactic - is this the best way to do that?? By making Norton appear so small-minded to the world??

Let’s look at the attempted snub from the “time and place” angle that’s used to judge social actions. They were both guests of the British High Commissioner - at a function to mark the British Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Now, for over a century, while the Brits had ruled us as “slaves and indentureds”, they did so on the excuse that we needed to be “tutored” into civilised behaviour. We were just uncivilised natives, and it was their “burden” to try civilising us!!

Now, isn’t Norton’s rebuff of a simple handshake with the President of the country cause to make them snicker, “We told you so!!” Tsk…tsk…tsk!!

…and petulant Your Eyewitness’s grandpa had read him the story of the “Princess and the Pea”. The princess had been raised in such refined circumstances that when she retired on a bed with TWENTY mattresses covered with 20 elder-down comforters, she just couldn’t fall asleep because A SINGLE PEA had been placed under the bottom mattress!! It was a test for her sensitivity as a princess, and she passed with flying colours!!

The story has since become a trope for the sensitivity of prima donnas and pouty wannabes!! And from Norton’s hand-slaking faux pas, it’s clear that he doesn’t have the tough skin required for a successful politician!! Especially in our dear land, where the “tantalizing” can get pretty rough!! He could learn a thing or two from his “Founder Leader” on how to deal with uncomfortable situations with WIT!!

Responding to a toast from President Lyndon B. Johnson, Burnham quipped, “he has misspelled Lyndon.

The proper spelling is mine, L-i-n-d-e-n”!!

Johnson had to grin!! …spiteful Who believes Putin will back down on his commitment to gain strategic depth for Russia in Ukraine?? All he has to do is wait for winter to remind Europeans what’s the meaning of “cold” without Russian gas!!

The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Guyana Times’ editorial policy and stance

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

NEWS

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THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Suriname backpedals on agreement to license Guyanese fisherfolk

Some of the fishermen

The fishing vessels at No 66 Fisherman’s Co-op

By Andrew Carmichael

V

ice President Bharrat Jagdeo has expressed concern over the length of time it is taking Suriname to live up to its agreement to license Guyanese fisherfolk to operate in its waters.

Jagdeo commented on the situation during a recent outreach to Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

Most of the fishers as they travel to the Atlantic Ocean along the Corentyne River are considered to be in Surinamese waters, hence the need for a licence from the Dutch-speaking country to operate there.

Currently, the licences are issued to Surinamese businessmen at US$100 per year and rented to the Guyanese fisherfolk at US$3000 annually.

Following a high-level meeting in Guyana in August 2021 between President Dr Irfaan Ali and Surinamese Head of State, President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, the two leaders had issued a joint statement indicating that the age-old issue of licences for Guyanese fisherfolk to operate in Suriname’s territorial waters would be addressed.

Nothing has happened since then. Jagdeo says the Surinamese Government

has not been acting as a good neighbour as it relates to these promises.

“Suriname has changed its position several times before when they promise to give us the licences in writing. Then the same man who put it in writing denied that he did that. We have the evidence of it and we published it,” the Vice President told the fisherfolk during the outreach.

Following the signing of the agreement between the two Heads of State in August last year, Jagdeo met with fisherfolk on the Corentyne on April 10.

At that meeting, the Vice President said the

Government would continue to do all it can to ensure that fishermen on the Corentyne are licensed to operate on the Corentyne River despite resistance from some Surinamese.

“The only thing that we can commit to is keeping the pressure up,” Jagdeo told the fisherfolk in April, adding that the issue was a priority for the Guyana Government.

According to the Vice President, Guyana’s Government is aware of the reason for the Santokhi-led Administration not acting on

its promises.

“Sometimes, they go back and forth, because the right people are making a lot of money off of these licences over there, so, they don’t want to give them [to Guyanese]. Therefore, they are fighting. Even when there is goodwill at the level of the Government, there is a problem at other levels. We will keep watching and we will keep pressing,” Jagdeo declared at the most recent outreach to the region.

These fishermen operate from the Corentyne coast and

have to use the Corentyne River to get access to the Atlantic Ocean where they get most of their catch. The Corentyne River is considered Surinamese territory.

About 150 boats operate from the Number 66 Fisherman’s Co-op Society thus providing direct employment for about 800 fishermen. Additionally, some 200 persons are employed providing services to the fishermen including transportation, fish vending, and repairs to machinery and equipment.

10 NEWS

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Berbice phone card vendor’s murder

2 masterminds get death sentence, accomplices handed life sentences

Murdered: Danian Jagdeo

M

ark Dhuman and Abdul Andre Azimullah, the two masterminds in the February 2017 murder of phone card vendor Danian Jagdeo, have both been sentenced to death.

Their co-accused, Zahir Abdul and Shannon Batson, have each been sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of being paroled after 35 years. And Satesh Budhram, the youngest of the set, has been sentenced to 17 years in prison.

The custodial sentences have been imposed by Justice Sandil Kissoon in the Berbice High Court on Wednesday. The quin-

Murder convict Shannon Batson

Murder convict Satesh Boodram

tet has been found guilty of the crime of murder committed on Danian Jagdeo on February 8, 2017 at Adventure, Corentyne, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) during the course/ furtherance of a robbery. Their guilty verdict was rendered by a mixed 12-member jury on May 13.

The killers were represented by Attorneys-atLaw Siand Dhurjon, Moti Singh, Ravindra Mohabir, Sasha Roberts and Surihya Sabsook, while Senior State Counsel Abigail Gibbs had appeared on behalf of the prosecution.

During his sentencing

remarks, Justice Kissoon described Jagdeo’s murder as a “heinous and unthinkable” crime that must be condemned by society in the strongest possible way.

Despite being found guilty as charged by a jury of their peers, Justice Kissoon highlighted, the convicts have not shown a “shred” of remorse, regret, or sympathy for their horrid actions, which have destroyed not only the victim’s family, but also society.

The late Danian Jagdeo’s wife, Mary Jagdeo, a teacher, told the court that her husband’s premature death has taken a psychological,

Murder convict Zaheer Abdulla

Murder convict Mark Dhuman

physical, financial, and emotional toll on her life and that of her children.

“As a single mother, a status I earned abruptly, I had to embrace the fact that he was shot and left to die like an animal. I had to subsequently find out that I was pregnant while making funeral plans, and I had to process that this unborn child would inevitably share no sacred moment with his dad,” the grieving widow shared through her victim impact statement.

Noting that no other family should endure her situation, the woman implored Justice Kissoon to impose a harsh sentence on the con-

victs, to ensure that they suffer as her husband did.

On February 8, 2017, Danian Jagdeo was followed from Corriverton to the village of Adventure, after making several stops at places to conduct business. At Adventure, Jagdeo stopped at Country Chef Creole Snackette, and was in conversation with the business owner when a man pretending to be a customer walked into the establishment.

Jagdeo enquired whether the business owner knew the strange-looking man entering the premises.

However, before the owner could respond properly, the

Murder convict Abdul Andre Azimullah

man whipped out a gun and aimed it at Jagdeo.

Upon seeing this, the business owner ducked under the counter while several shots were fired. When the businessman resurfaced, the bandits were running out of the shop with Jagdeo’s bag, while the injured man lay in a pool of blood. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

By daylight the next day, the five men were in Police custody. The motorbike with a false number plate, which had been used to commit the robbery, was found a village away from the murder scene.

NEWS

Guyana-Venezuela border controversy

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THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Venezuela attempts to delay ICJ judgment, but forced to join judicial process

H

aving refused to join the proceedings since 2018, Venezuela is finally participating in the border controversy case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), after it filed an objection that has delayed the substantial hearing.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry said it received a letter from the

Registrar of the ICJ, advising that the Government of Venezuela has submitted a Preliminary Objection to the admissibility of the case before the Court regarding the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 (Guyana v.

Venezuela).

Guyana approached the World Court in 2018, seeking a final and binding judgment to reinforce that the 1899 Arbitral Award remains valid and binding on all parties, as well as legal

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Netherlands

affirmation that Guyana’s Essequibo region, which contains much of the country’s natural resources, belongs to Guyana, and not Venezuela.

The Spanish-Speaking nation had initially refused to participate in the proceedings, and had even challenged the court’s jurisdiction to hear the matter.

But in December 2020, the ICJ established that it has jurisdiction to hear the substantive case – something

which Venezuela did not accept.

However, the Foreign Ministry said Venezuela is now being forced to participate in the proceedings. It noted, “…by its action, the Venezuelan Government now joins the judicial process, which Guyana had always urged it to do - a step that Guyana welcomes, confident of the validity of its position on the merits of the case.”

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NEWS

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THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Prime Minister urges citizens to brace for tropical wave

Prime Minister Mark Phillips on the ground in Region Nine

A section of Region 10 under water

P

rime Minister, Brigadier (Retired) Mark Phillips is calling on Guyanese, especially those on the coastland and in Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) and Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), to prepare for an impending tropical wave, which is expected to sweep across the Atlantic over the next five days.

The Prime Minister, who heads the National Task Force on flood monitoring, was adamant during a virtual meeting on Tuesday evening with other members of the body that systems needed to be put in place to ensure that people and their

properties were protected.

“I want everyone here to know that we must do all that we can to ensure that citizens are prepared for these next few days. They must be aware of all the advisories and interventions taken by the Government,” he said.

The senior Government official also recognised the obstacles and shortcomings of the hazard response, but assured the Task Force that the Government of Guyana was working assiduously to overcome those issues.

This direction came on the heels of a series of updates provided by relevant agencies about the past five

days and the upcoming five days.

The Hydrometeorological Office indicated that the tropical wave is forecast to hit the coastland, and Regions Seven and 10.

The weather service added that high winds, mudslides, and soil saturation are likely. The Agriculture Ministry, through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), has been feverishly clearing canals and drains, maintaining and operating drainage pumps and sluices, and rerouting resources to those affected areas as required.

It was noted that in the past, flooding would have

been more significant in the vulnerable areas, but proactive work by the pertinent agencies, guided by the Task Force, has minimised that effect.

Meanwhile, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) reported that floodwaters have receded in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and as such, all shelters were now closed.

ollowing reports that a 13-year-old student of a secondary school in Linden, Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice) was being bullied by classmates and a teacher, education officials have intervened, and the matter has been resolved.

This is according to Murtland Halley, Public Relations Officer attached to the Ministry of Education, who told this publication, “The child is comfortable in school, being taught.”

It has been reported that the child was bullied by classmates, and that the class teacher had condoned those actions. The child’s grandmother, Anita Elliot, had related that the child came home from school on May 31 crying, claiming that his classmates had bullied him.

“He does stammer a lot, sometimes you (don’t) understand what he does talk, and he is fat. So, he

said the children interfering with him in the class, say they gon put he up on Facebook…and whole heap of thing they tormenting he.

And he said the teacher did nothing,” the child’s grandmother stated.

Elliot, a retired social studies teacher, said that after that incident occurred, the boy’s mother visited the school with the intention of meeting with the teacher.

However, the teacher was absent, so this led to the mother messaging the said teacher.

“The class teacher’s word was that he must be tough. He got to be strong and stand up like a man, and stop crying for everything…she doesn’t see any issue there, and she don’t see the class did him anything,” Elliot related.

The grandmother claimed that the following day, the teacher “went to the class and tell the class how [the child] complain on them and…the whole

class start make mockery of him”. As a result of this, her grandson responded “aggressively”.

“It is alleged that he pointed his hand in her (teacher’s) face in a rage, and she walked out the class and run to the Head Teacher’s office and said that she frightened for she life,” the grandmother contended.

The child’s mother was then summoned, and that led to a further confrontation between her and the teachers. The family then decided to get welfare officers involved.

Elliot said that after seeing the Regional Education Officer, the child later returned to the school the same day, only to find that his name was removed from the “class group” by his teacher.

“The list, or group, is called the ‘class group’, which involves both parents and students from the class.

TURN TO PAGE 15

and mitigate flood impacts.

The CDC encourages all residents to exercise caution during this rainy season and to report any impact to the National Emergency Monitoring System (NEMS) on 600-7500 or 226-1114 at any time. Persons are also urged to take heed of all warnings and advisories issued by the pertinent agencies.

“Two Colours” on trial for cosmetologist’s murder

Linden school bullying

Education officials intervene to resolve issue F

The swift actions of the Government have been lauded, for guaranteeing that residents countrywide have received support in the form of cleaning and food hampers, water purification tablets, and collapsible water containers.

The Commission also indicated that regardless of the weather predictions, it is prepared to assess, respond,

Murder accused Lennox Wayne, aka “Two Colours”

T

estimony began on Wednesday in the trial of Lennox Wayne, called “Two Colours”, who is charged with murdering 19-year-old Cosmetologist Ashmini Harriram of Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, whom he allegedly shot at close range back in July 2014.

Arraigned before Demerara High Court Justice Jo-Ann Barlow on Tuesday, Wayne pleaded not guilty to a charge detailing that he murdered Harriram. He is being represented by lawyers Ronald Daniels, Kiswana Jefford, and Edriana Stephens. State Counsel Latifah Elliott is appearing for the prosecution.

A jury of seven women and five men has so far heard opening remarks from

the prosecutor, and testimonies from several witnesses, including Hariram’s sister, her neighbour, and several Policemen.

According to reports, the teenager Ashmini Harriram, also called “Monisha Hariram,” was shot and killed just after disembarking a minibus in her community of Lusignan, ECD on July 10, 2014.

It was reported that a tall, brown-skinned man emerged from a burgundy-coloured motor car and relieved Harriram of some cash before shooting her at close range to the right side of her head. The gunman then re-entered the motor car, and it sped off.

Media reports are that Wayne gave Police a caution statement detailing his

Killed: Ashmini Harriram, called "Monisha Harriram"

role in the woman’s execution. On September 8, 2014, Wayne was charged with the teenager’s murder; he has been on remand ever since.

14 NEWS

THURSDAY, JUNE 9,, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Guyana’s Independence anniversary celebrated in Florida

Attorney General Anil Nandlall and other officials at the event

T

he Orlando Diaspora in collaboration with the International Center for Democracy recently hosted an event at Legends Resto & Lounge in observance of Guyana’s 56th Independence Anniversary.

Legal Affairs Minister and Attorney General Anil Nandlall was the keynote speaker while Zulfiqar Ally, Deputy Ambassador at the Guyana Embassy

in Washington DC; Fazal Yussuff, Advisor on Investment and Diaspora Affairs, Guyana Consulate, New York, and Ramzan Ali, Honorary Consul General in Miami were in attendance.

Nandlall, in his feature address, went back in time to remind the Diaspora of the 28 years of rigged elections that Guyana endured under the dictatorial regime of the People’s National

A section of the audience

Congress (PNC) shortly after Guyana became an independent nation.

It was during that time during the PNC ruled that Guyanese fled from their homeland to seek a better life for their families.

It was not until 1992 when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), under the leadership of the late President Dr Cheddi Jagan, won free and fair elections

that democracy was restored in Guyana.

Nandlall commended the Diaspora for their successes and the better life they enjoyed abroad, but took the opportunity to encourage them to visit Guyana.

The AG again reiterated the failed attempt by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) in 2020 to rig the elections and their

failed attempt to deprive Guyanese of their democratic rights to have a government and President of their choice.

The Independence celebration in Orlando was the first of its kind – the organisers and the owners of Legends Resto & Lounge are committed to making it an annual event.

Meanwhile, there were over 1500 persons in atten-

dance from throughout the US and Canada. They were entertained by Terry Gajraj, Devindra Pooran, Timeka Marshall, Mahendra Ramkellawan, Adrianna Thackurdeen, and Anant Hansraj.

The event also gave those in attendance the opportunity to meet friends and other families from Guyana and reflect on the great memories.

Kitty man wanted for Gunmen invade birthday setting couple on fire party, cart off $11M in cash & other items

Wanted: Christian Joseph, aka “Son-Son”

Sheldon Harry and his Venezuelan girlfriend Gracey

O

ne day after Guyana Times reported on the incident, Police have issued a wanted bulletin for the suspect in the incident in which Sheldon Harry, 22, and his 30-yearold girlfriend Gracey (only name given) were set on fire and were severely burnt on Sunday last during a row at Puruni Landing, Mazaruni River (Region 7: Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

In a report issued on Wednesday, the Police have said that Christian Joseph, also known as “Son-Son”, is the alleged suspect who set the couple on fire. Joseph’s last known address has been given as Kitty, Georgetown.

In the wanted bulletin, Police said Joseph is wanted for questioning in relation to “attempted murder” committed on Sheldon

Harry.

Harry’s sister, Sheneel Richards, has explained that her brother was at his camp at Puruni Landing when an argument erupted between Joseph and a woman, and in the height of the argument, Joseph threatened to harm the woman.

She said that in a bid to escape the man’s threat, the woman left her mining camp and went over to her brother’s camp, where she stayed the entire day.

While she was there, the suspect went over to Harry’s camp and continued to threaten the woman. Harry reportedly attempted to calm Joseph down, but Joseph instead left the camp and returned with a cutlass, with which he advanced towards the woman.

Harry’s sister explained

that her brother’s girlfriend Gracey, who is also a friend of the other woman, intervened, but this angered the suspect, and he pushed Gracey out of the way. Richards said that upon seeing this, her brother became angry and an argument ensued between him and the suspect.

The man then left her brother’s camp, but returned with some gasoline and a cloth with a fire, with which he lit Harry on fire. Harry’s girlfriend, who was holding his hand at the time, was also set ablaze.

Harry and his girlfriend managed to make it to a pharmacy at the landing, from whence they were later transported to the hospital in the community, and then medevacked to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where they are both in a critical state.

Up to press time on Wednesday, the suspect had not yet been arrested.

Investigations are ongoing.

The items that were stolen from the businessmen

S

everal businessmen who were attending a birthday party at a house in Fourth Street, La Bonne Intention (LBI), East Coast Demerara on Wednesday were robbed of millions in cash and other items by gunmen who reportedly invaded the property, held the men at gunpoint, and confiscated their valuables.

The Police have said that Michael Kunjbehari, 36, of Fourth Street, Turkeyen, Georgetown, was robbed of two laptops and $1.2 million in cash. Robin Satrohan, 32, of Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown, was robbed of $500,000 cash and a Samsung Galaxy S10 phone. Ryan Jahurali, 30, of Great Diamond, East Bank Demerara, was robbed of a Samsung Note20 Ultra and $200,000 cash. Everton Singh-Lammy, 36, of Kitty, Georgetown, was robbed of a gold ring, a Samsung Note20 Ultra, and $170,000

cash. John Ali of Prashad Nagar, Georgetown was relieved of a black strap bag, one diamond ring, one white gold chain, one Samsung22 Ultra cell phone, and $1.5 million in cash. Mario Joseph, 31, of Well Road, Ogle ECD, was robbed of $50,000 cash. Ramsammy (only name), a 27-yearold Canadian citizen, was robbed of a gold chain, one gold ring, a red wallet containing a Canadian driver’s licence, an ID Card, his bank card, and $63,000 in cash.

And Anthony Joseph, 32, of Fourth Street, Alexander Village, Georgetown, was robbed of an iPhone13.

Based on reports received, the victims, along with five other friends, were at the party when four identifiable men armed with guns entered the house through a back door that was not locked, committed the robbery, and made good their escape in a waiting motor car.

The matter was reported to the Police, and a party of Police ranks visited the scene. Upon tracking his phone, one of the victims led Police to an abandoned house in Plum Park, Sophia, Greater Georgetown, where a red Digicel bag that contained two laptops belonging to Kunjbehari, one Samsung S10 cell phone belonging to Satrohan, a Samsung Note20 Ultra phone belonging to Lammy, and an iPhone 13 belonging to Joseph, along with an ID card, was found.

Meanwhile, acting on information received, ranks from the Vigilance Police Station went to a house in North Melanie, ECD and apprehended three men, who were taken to the BV Police Station, where they were questioned in connection with the robbery after being positively identified by the victims.

Investigations are ongoing.

NEWS

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THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Childhood vaccination coverage ‘fallen significantly’ during COVID – Caricom

T

he Caribbean Immunization Technical Advisory Group (CITAG) has alerted regional Health Ministers and Chief Medical Officers that routine childhood vaccination coverage in Caribbean countries has fallen significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In some countries, as many as three out of 10 infants are not fully vaccinated, putting them at risk of contracting measles, polio and other diseases that have been eliminated in the Americas but continue to circulate in other areas of the world.

“It is essential that countries conduct routine vaccination campaigns targeted at children under 5 years of age, to ensure that they are fully vaccinated. Countries are urged to involve their pediatricians and private

doctors in this campaign, and, where necessary, to employ retired nurses and other health providers to support the health team,” CITAG has advised.

At the same time, CITAG said, it is important to maintain vaccine-preventable disease vigilance, given the increased risk of visitors to the Caribbean re-introducing polio, measles, rubella, or other childhood communicable diseases that are active in their countries.

“We need to improve our surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis and rash and fever surveillance. The CITAG wishes to commend countries for their tremendous work and dedicated response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the face of many challenges.

Our health staff and frontline workers have worked ex-

tremely hard, with great commitment and sacrifice.”

Despite unrelenting efforts, many Caribbean countries have not yet achieved the WHO goal of vaccinating 70 per cent of the adult population with COVID-19 vaccine. Over 50 per cent of the most vulnerable population -- persons over the age

of 50 years, and adults with comorbidities -- remain unvaccinated.

As such, CITAG has relayed, “The priority for COVID-19 vaccination is to achieve high vaccine coverage among the elderly and persons with comorbidities. We can do this if we improve access by simplify-

ing the vaccination process and increasing opportunities for vaccination, including involving more doctors in the Private Sector.

Respectful face-to-face education by trusted persons such as nurses, doctors, and informed grassroots leaders and pastors is needed to address misinformation and misconceptions, and convince many persons to accept vaccination.”

CITAG is recommending that countries first improve routine childhood vaccination coverage and adult COVID-19 vaccination of the elderly and persons with comorbid conditions, before embarking on COVID-19 vaccination of children five to 11 years of age.

Most young children do not get seriously ill from COVID-19, CITAG has noted, and thereby advis-

es that instead of routine COVID-19 vaccination of children under 12 years, countries should target the small number of children with severe immune disorders by having their pediatrician vaccinate them.

It added that every effort should be made to keep schools open, so that children can attend face-to-face classes. Basic precautions should be maintained, such as wearing of masks, hand hygiene, physical distancing, and good ventilation.

“The Caribbean has a significant legacy of strong national immunisation programs resulting in high immunisation coverage of routine childhood vaccines.

Governments must continue to prioritise financial and human resources to support all aspects of the EPI Programme,” CITAG has penned.

Guyana committed to following international standards to ensure food safety

G

uyana joined the rest of the world in celebrating World Food Safety Day under the theme ‘Safer food, better health’ and has committed to following the international best practices to promote better food safety.

This was highlighted

by Director of Planning at the Ministry of Agriculture, Natasha Berrjit Deonarine, who was speaking on behalf of Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha at an event to mark the occasion on Tuesday.

She noted that as Guyana is leading Caricom in reducing its food bill with the “25 by 2025” initiative, of which food safety is critical, the country has no option but to join other developed countries in promoting regional and international standards for food safety.

“Standards and regulations are becoming much more important to keep us safe…we must be prepared to accelerate our efforts to join these globally accepted measures to strengthen our food safety system. Our national policies are aligned with the Caricom vision ‘25 by 2025’,” she explained.

“Guyana’s the lead for agriculture in Caricom. Has been on fast track to replacing imported food and being a major regional exporter of food. We have no other option but to rapidly improve our food control system to fully meet the regional and international standards,” Deonarine explained.

She also highlighted that food safety is of high importance in terms of promoting better health.

“Guyana is a food produc-

Dr Gillian Smith, Representative of the FAO

er, contributing to our national food security. Guyana is also an exporter of food; so, to focus on our domestic consumption, or whether it’s our international trade, food safety and quality is of paramount importance,” she said.

“It is (our) profound intent to foster a comprehensive agri-food system, a system that is characterised by food that is safe, wholesome and nutritious for everyone to be healthy. As we join with the world today, I remind that the observance embodies the global call to food safety awareness, and inspires action to help prevent, detect, and manage food-borne risks,” she stated.

In order to promote better food practices, Deonarine stated, the Ministry is committed to enhancing the food control system in Guyana.

These efforts include increasing public awareness and education on food safety through television, radio, and social media platforms; developing food safety training plans to the technical capacity in food safety standards; working to minimise

food hazards by developing food handlers; and working to a national farm-traceability system.

This, she stated “will be an important tool used to safeguard freshness; protect the quality, and ensure integrity in the origin of the food; and this is because safe food must start from the source.”

Deonarine also related that a number of initiatives to ensure food safety have been implemented through international partners such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), among others.

Meanwhile, speaking at the event, Dr Gillian Smith, a representative of the FAO, lamented that food-borne risks such as producing contaminated food and misusing antibiotics, among other things, can lead to illness and, in some cases, even death.

“Globally, food contaminated by bacteria, viruses, parasites and chemicals cause I in 10 people to become ill each year, reducing

Natasha Berrjit Deonarine, Director of Planning at the Ministry of Agriculture

productivity, increasing absence from school, resulting in preventable suffering, and even death,” she explained.

“Misuse of antibiotics (not only) in human health, but also in animal husbandry, which ends up in the environment, over time has helped to create resistant microbes that result in more than 700,000 deaths each year, again preventable,” Dr. Gillian Smith added.

As such the FAO is encouraging producers’ uptake of better food practices, especially at the level of production.

Education officials intervene...

This is where everything that goes on in the class is posted into, which includes his assignments, projects, group work and homework.

So it is a very important group, especially (seeing) that end-of-year exam is approaching; he needs to be up to date with his school work and course work,” Elliot explained. To date, she said, the teen’s name is yet to be returned to this list.

On Monday, officials from the Department of Education in Region Ten visited the school, and the matter was discussed and resolved. The child and his parents were involved in the discussions.

“I was up there in Linden, and I just spoke to REDO [Regional Education Officer]. The child is in school, doing work as per normal,” the Education Ministry’s PRO has said.

The grandmother has confirmed that the matter has been resolved and the child is back in the classroom as per normal. However, she

expressed concern that his name is yet to be returned to the class group.

“My concern is that the teacher must put him back in the class group, so he can get his assignment. He already apologised to the class teacher, still she is not adding him back to the group,” Elliot told this publication today.

When presented with this bit of information,

FROM PAGE 13

Halley said officials would look into the situation, but assured that there should be no need to worry.

“There is no need to worry, since all assignments and class-related work (are) discussed in the classroom.

This is what was explained to me by the Regional Education Officer. There is nothing being done to make the child fail,” he has assured.

16 NEWS

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Investors eye exporting Guyana’s fresh water to other countries – Min Bharrat are interested in refining and distributing water that is extracted from crude offshore Guyana.

“Only yesterday (Tuesday), I had a meeting with a few investors who came from Colombia, and in Colombia they do mostly onshore oil exploration and production, so they came up with a plan for Guyana to

Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat at the GMCS event

M

inister of Natural R e s o u r c e s , Vickram Bharrat, on Wednesday stated that, only recently, an investor indicated his interest in exporting Guyana’s fresh water - given the country’s large capacity - to countries that are in need of the commodity.

The Minister made this revelation while attending an event hosted by the Guyana Marine Conservation Society (GMCS). He stated that, in some countries, the freshwater capacity is significantly reduced, thus forcing those countries to import water.

“If you look at other countries, the freshwater supply significantly (has reduced), there’re countries that are importing fresh water into the country. only recently, there was an investor here looking to do that, look-

ing to export fresh water to countries that don’t have,” he said.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, although 70% of the planet is covered in water, fresh water — which is used to drink, bathe, and irrigate farm fields — is incredibly rare. The WWF said only 3 per cent of the world’s water is freshwater, and twothirds of that is tucked away in frozen glaciers, or is otherwise unavailable for use. As a result, some 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to water, and a total of 2.7 billion find water scarce for at least one month of the year.

Meanwhile, UNICEF has predicted that half of the world’s population could be living in areas facing water scarcity by as early as 2025.

While not expanding on these discussions, the Minister posited that other investors from Colombia

treat the water that is being extracted during oil exploration and to distribute throughout the communities,” he disclosed.

“For those of you who are unfamiliar (with) how the process goes, when there is the extraction of the crude from the ground, it’s three components: it’s the water, the gas, and then the crude,

or oil… So (what) they are proposing is that we use the water that is coming out, to treat or refine it, and then distribute it,” the Minister explained.

However, Bharrat related that Guyana has no need for such an initiative, due to the country’s abundance of fresh water. “Then is when I realised how blessed we

are. Again, there is no need for us to do that; Guyana is the ‘land of many waters’, we have an abundance of fresh water. So, I told them, ‘Whatever you’re planning to do might apply for a country that is not like Guyana, where we have an abundance of fresh water, things that we take for granted on a daily basis’.”

Gunmen open fire on Police who intercept motorcar P olice in Division Three on Tuesday evening came under fire along the La Grange Public Road, West Bank Demerara (WBD) after they intercepted a motorcar suspected to have been involved in a robbery.

Based on reports received, a robbery was com-

mitted on a 41-year-old resident of John Street Campbelville, Georgetown at around 23:30h on Tuesday at La Grange Public Road, West Bank Demerara (WBD).

Guyana Times understands that Police ranks who were on patrol at the time received a report of

the robbery, and went to the area, where they intercepted a grey fielder wagon.

Upon approaching the vehicle, one of the occupants discharged a round at the Police vehicle, prompting the ranks to return fire. The ranks subsequently captured one of the

suspects, while the other two managed to escape on foot.

The captured suspect, who resides at La Parfaite Harmonie, WBD, has been taken into custody. The vehicle has also been impounded at the Wales Police Station as investigations continue.

Venezuela attempts to delay...

The Ministry further recognised that the Rules of Procedure of the ICJ allow for such an objection to be lodged and considered by the Court, and that as a consequence, the proceedings on the merits of the case are suspended until the Court rules on the Preliminary Objections.

It was noted that the Guyana Government would submit its observations

with dispatch as soon as the Court advises of the time by which it expects to receive them.

Nonetheless, the Foreign Ministry pointed out that, at all times, Guyana has steadfastly adhered to the rule of international law and the rules and procedures of the ICJ with regard to this matter, and would continue to so do.

“Observing that Venezuela had previously not recognised the jurisdiction of the Court to consider the case, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation also notes that, by submitting an objection at this advanced stage of the proceedings before the ICJ, the Venezuelan Government is patently engaging in an effort to delay the Court’s final judgment on the merits of the case,” the Ministry stated in the missive.

Only last month, President Dr Irfaan Ali reiterated his Government’s commitment to pursuing the legal path in settling the border controversy between the two South American neighbours.

“Independence imposes [upon] us the duty to safeguard Guyana’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty. On these issues, Guyanese must broker no division. We must continue to stand united in defending our motherland from external fronts.

“We will continue to marshal the best diplomatic efforts necessary to ensure respect for all our territorial space. We do not intend to deviate from the judicial path, which has been taken to address the controversy

with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Our path to peace is paved with good intentions,” President Ali stated during his Independence Day Address in Region Two. Back in March of this year, Guyana had submitted its written arguments for its memorial to the ICJ, which was a requirement by the court following its December 18, 2020 decision that it had the jurisdiction to hear the case against Venezuela.

“Guyana now looks to the Court’s judicial process and its settlement of the matter under the rule of law. This year sees the 56th anniversary of the 1966 Geneva Agreement. Guyana considers that the true commemoration of that Agreement is in contributing in good faith to the fulfilment of its true meaning and intent by participating fully in the current juridical process deriving from it. Hence the submission [March 8, 2022] to the International Court of Justice of Guyana’s Memorial on the Merits as required by the Court,” the Ministry had explained.

Guyana moved to the World Court after exhausting all means of negotiation with Venezuela and the failed Good Offices process between the two South American neighbours.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, in January 2018, decided that the case should be settled by the ICJ, after exercising the powers vested in him to decide how the controversy should be settled by the 1966 Geneva Agreement between Guyana, Venezuela, and the United Kingdom.

The ICJ is the principal

FROM PAGE 11

judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945, and began its activities in April 1946. The Court is composed of 15 Judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).

The Spanish-speaking nation is laying claim to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass, the Essequibo, and a portion of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in which almost 11 billion barrels of oil have been discovered over the past seven years.

President Ali has been using his platform at international forums to inform the world about Venezuela’s continued disregard for international normS in pushing its illegal claim to Guyana’s territory.

Simultaneously, Guyana has recommitted to maintaining bilateral relations with Venezuela. In fact, over the past week, Venezuela’s Ambassador to Guyana, Carlos Amador Perez Silva, has been meeting with various Cabinet Ministers, including Prime Minister Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips.

On Tuesday, PM Phillips and the Venezuelan diplomat discussed ways of enhancing bilateral relations between the neighbouring countries.

The Prime Minister indicated that Guyana is ready to improve relations within the construct of respect for Guyana’s sovereignty.

NEWS

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THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

VP Jagdeo moves to Court of Appeal to overturn libel judgement

Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo

V

ice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, in his latest bid to overturn a default $20 libel judgement granted against him, has moved to the Court of Appeal of Guyana, where he is arguing that the twoJudge bench in the Full Court erred in law and in fact in failing to recall its divided judgement.

Last month, the Demerara Full Court returned a split decision in Dr Jagdeo’s appeal to overturn the default judgement handed down by High Court Justice Sandra Kurtzious in March 2021, in the libel case brought against him by former APNUAFC Government Minister Annette Ferguson. The Full Court was split, with Chief Justice Roxane George, SC, ruling that the default judgement should not be vacated, while Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry ruled that it should be vacated. In light of the divided opinion, Justice Kurtzious’s decision remains in effect.

In a Notice of Motion seeking special leave to appeal the Full Court’s decision, Dr Jagdeo’s lawyers: Devindra Kissoon, Natasha Vieira and Abhimanyu Dev, contend that the Full Court erred in law by failing to recall its divided judgement and reassign the matter to a bench of the Full Court consisting of an odd number of Judges, in light of the dissenting nature of the judgement, resulting in the automatic reversion to the High Court decision.

They argue that the legal effect of the divided Full Court judgement upholding the High Court decision is erroneous, since the Chief Justice erred and misdirected herself in law and in fact by finding that their client had no real prospect of de-

fending the claim.

According to Jagdeo’s legal team, Justice Kurtzious erred in law and in fact by entering a default judgement against him without considering all the grounds in his draft defence, including, but not limited to, the defence of justification by placing undue emphasis on Ferguson’s pleadings instead, without giving similar regard to

Jagdeo’s draft defence.

They again submitted that the trial Judge erred in law by attempting to assess the evidence and conducting a mini-trial, as opposed to merely finding that Dr Jagdeo has a real prospect of success in defending the claim, overlooking and failing to assess the facts averred in his pleadings, which would be proved at the trial.

Contending that Justice Kurtzious erred in law, the lawyers argue that her finding that their client’s explanation for his failure to file the defence was not good

and substantial, applying a higher standard of requiring a good explanation than the lower application standard of a reasonable explanation, which is mandated by the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) 2016.

In asking the appellate court to grant them special leave to appeal the Full Court’s decision, Jagdeo’s Attorneys have said that Ferguson will not be prejudiced in any manner whatsoever, since she would be allowed to prove her claim on its substantive merits, with any costs incurred in relation to the default judgement proceedings being simply curable by way of a costs order.

The lawyers submitted that there are serious issues to be tried concerning the erroneous application of the principles with respect to setting aside a default judgment order by, inter alia, failing to give adequate weight to the real projects of success of their client’s appeal, and all of the circumstances within the context of the overriding objective.

of the filing of Ferguson’s Statement of Claim, which was done sometime in January 2020. The 28-day period is prescribed under Art 12:01 (2) (d) of CPR. In delivering her reasons for the default judgement, Justice Kurtzious also ruled that the Vice President did indeed defame the former Government Minister with his utterances.

During the Full Court hearing, Dr. Jagdeo’s lawyer had urged the panel to overturn the default judgement, arguing that Ferguson did not meet the requirements for the granting of such a judgement.

Moreover, he had contended that his client has a real prospect of defending the lawsuit, since the statements he had made were not defamatory.

This is the second time the Vice President has been unsuccessful in his attempt to overturn the default judgement. In fact, Kissoon had asked Justice Kurtzious to overturn her own judgement, but his application had been dismissed

Besides the motion filed with the appeal court, Jagdeo has instructed his lawyers to concurrently file with the Full Court an application for an extension of time to file a new appeal against the High Court’s decision to the Full Court, requesting that the appeal be heard by three judges. If his application to the Full Court is successful, Jagdeo has said, he would withdraw the motion before the Court of Appeal.

The default judgement was awarded against Dr. Jagdeo after he failed to file a defence within 28 days

after the Judge had found that Dr. Jagdeo’s excuse for the non-filing of the defence was unreasonable, and that the statements he had made about Ferguson were certainly slanderous.

In explaining the reason for the non-filing of the defence, Kissoon had submitted that his client’s then lawyer, Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, had been preoccupied with the 2020 National Elections, and the constraints brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic had led to him inadvertently failing to file the defence,

Former APNU/AFC Government Minister Annette Ferguson

though it was drafted.

Before the Full Court, Ferguson’s lawyer Lyndon Amsterdam had argued that inadvertence by counsel as a reason for non-compliance with the CPR cannot be countenanced as a reason for non-compliance. If that were to be allowed, he said, all lawyers would advance such a reason as a ploy to get an extension.

According to the lawyer, the elections were concluded on August 2, 2020, and right up to the time Dr. Jagdeo was served with the judgement order in April 2021 – more than half of a year later – there was no application filed by his lawyer for relief from sanctions, nor was there any request for an extension of time to file his defence.

While Dr. Jagdeo contended that the pandemic had caused some level of constraint in the judiciary, Ferguson’s lawyer noted that the pandemic is still affecting the world, and he went on to point out that it did not affect Dr. Jagdeo from filing, within a few days of the judgment order to pay, an application to have the judgement set aside.

In the claim, Ferguson complained that Dr. Jagdeo made statements in which he questioned her acquisition of a house lot and the construction of her home at Eccles, on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD). Ferguson had submitted that the unjust statements have tarnished her reputation.

Justice Kurtzious, in her ruling, had said that although the reasons proffered by the Vice President to justify his not filing a defence were numerous, “they left the court unconvinced as to their accuracy and reasonableness.”

She had noted that the time for filing a defence be-

gan to run from January 2020, and one year later, in January 2021, no steps had been taken to cure the default; and, more so, no evidence was provided to prove same.

Kissoon’s submission that the defence of justification, fair comment, qualified privilege, and the provisions of the Defamation Act were applicable in this case was rejected by the Judge.

Having examined the statements made by the Vice President about Ferguson, Justice Kurtzious held that they were very serious allegations, as they suggested that she was corrupt and involved in misappropriation.

To this end, the Judge held that as a result of Jagdeo’s statements, Ferguson stood to be prejudiced by suffering financial loss and injury to her character.

Apart from the default judgement, Dr. Jagdeo was also ordered to pay $75,000 in court costs to the former Minister.

Following her ruling, Justice Kurtzious had fixed another hearing to assess damages, having instructed the parties to file submissions on the issue. However, two days after the judgement was granted, the Vice President moved to the Full Court seeking to have the judgement set aside, along with another order dismissing Ferguson’s Statement of Claim for delay.

Ferguson was initially seeking more than $50M in damages from Dr. Jagdeo for statements he had made on December 18 and 19, 2019. She had also filed a separate claim seeking more than $10M in damages from Guyana Times newspaper, which she said had published the libellous statements the Vice President had made about her.

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guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022

News

Police arrest robbery suspect who Electronic payments via MMG now accepted at SOL fuel stations countrywide allegedly opened fire on them – residents refute Police story

Regional Commander of the Division, Simon McBean, speaking with residents of the community Minister Deodat Indar, SOL’s General Manager Earl Carribon, and representatives from GTT at the launch on Wednesday

A

s the country advances in the technological world, SOL fuel stations across the country have invested in the infrastructure that is necessary to facilitate cashless transactions.

Persons fuelling up their vehicles can now make payments electronically through the GTT’s MMG app.

SOL Guyana Inc has partnered with the telephone company to utilise its service, so that customers can have the option of making electronic payments.

During the launching ceremony on Wednesday, Minister withing the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar, said this initiative brings in not only a sense of convenience, but would optimise business operations.

He said now that Guyana is developing at a fast pace, it is imperative that companies incorporate cashless systems.

“Guyana’s development will bring different people from all over the world into our country, and they are accustomed to a different level of service. And if they come

here and those services are delivered, including the one we are launching here today, they are accustomed to that where they came from.

If they come and this basic stuff we don’t have, it will be like a shock to them…,” he said.

The Minister also expressed hope that other organisations would join the bandwagon and offer this option to customers.

“The river transportation also needs this kind of system too. The booking system as well with Transport, to move people into Region One… we need that, where we can book online to get back, or even pay online to get back”.

Meanwhile, General Manager of SOL Guyana Inc, Earl Carribon, has said the company decided to offer the cashless option in light of the pandemic. He said cashless payments would reduce physical contact with SOL’s staff and customers, guaranteeing the safety of everyone’s health.

“We at SOL Guyana Inc are indeed happy and proud

to be the first to accept MMG payments, and to join with the MMG payments in this effort…we share an interest in optimising customer convenience and safety”, he said.

Only a month ago, the Demerara Harbour Bridge launched its new automated toll system. This was also done in collaboration with GTT through its MMG. With the new system, motorists can now make toll payments via MMG. There are simple steps involved: set up an account with DHBC and load money to the account from MMG. The Harbour Bridge toll would be paid automatically when a person drives through the toll station.

It was explained that the magnetic RFID tag would be placed on the vehicle, and when that vehicle approaches the toll station on the eastern end of the bridge, the system’s sensors would identify the commuter’s vehicle using the tag, and the toll would be deducted automatically.

With the system, tags would be created based on the vehicle type.

W

hile on patrol duty in Sophia, Greater Georgetown, Police ranks attached to the Turkeyen Police Station on Tuesday came under fire from a man driving an XR motorcycle.

At the time, the ranks were on mobile patrol duty in ‘E’ Field, Sophia when they noticed the suspect, who was wanted for robbery. The cops have said that as they attempted to intercept the motorcycle, the rider pulled out a dark-coloured object (suspected to be a firearm) from the waist of his pants and discharged two rounds at the patrol vehicle.

As a result, the driver lost control of the Police vehicle, and it crashed into a culvert.

While no one was seriously injured, the left side front portion of the Police vehicle has been damaged.

The ranks said they exited the vehicle and pursued the suspect who, while in a bid to escape, hit a dog and fell off the motorcycle.

The ranks approached the suspect, but by then a large and hostile crowd had gathered around the man, and they assisted him to escape.

During the process, the Police

discharged rounds in the air and the crowd eventually dispersed.

The suspect was however later apprehended at his home, and is presently in Police custody at the Brickdam Police Station.

“The Guyana Police Force is once again appealing to members of the public to refrain from such actions, which may lead to unnecessary and unwanted confrontations between the public and Police ranks. The GPF is urging the public to co-operate with members of the Force in the execution of their duties, and to maintain law and order,” the Police have said in a statement.

“This posture can only improve the relationship between the community and the Police, to create a safer community for all,” it added.

On Wednesday, Regional Commander Simon McBean visited the area where the shooting occurred, and residents who allegedly saw what unfolded told the Commander that the suspect had no weapon.

One man told the Commander that he was riding his bicycle at the time of

the incident when he saw the alleged suspect driving his motorcycle. He noted that, soon after, he heard a loud explosion, and said that when he looked around, he saw the Police vehicle coming at a speed, and it hit both him and the man down.

“They run out the van, all of them with a gun in them hand, and they think was me was the person… they nearly shoot me… I didn’t see the man with no weapon”.

Another resident said, “I was building my stand when I see the man [the suspect] coming on the bike. They fly behind the man, and the man put up he hand while riding and show them that he will surrender to them. By the time the man reach here, them pick he up off he bike, pitch he away overboard.

“By the time we come to rescue he, they was pointing guns at us and telling we that we shouldn’t touch the man… we tell them the man got to come out the water, because he gonna dead in the water.

We ended up taking him out the water”, he said.

The Commander has assured the residents that the matter would be investigated, and if the officers are found in the wrong, they would be dealt with.

“I can say we will have a detailed investigation of this particular incident. From our perspective, this is not what we are looking for. We are trying to forge a relationship with communities, and we can’t try to do that and have incidents like this…everything that was said, I will take statements from everyone, and it will be incorporated into our investigation”, the Commander has said.

Reg 6 pensioner dies from COVID-19; 138 new cases

A

71-year-old male from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), who had tested position for the novel coronavirus, has died.

According to the Health Ministry on Wednesday, at the time of his demise, the pensioner, who died on May 27, had been fully vaccinated, including with his first booster dose.

This latest fatality now brings Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,239.

Meanwhile, the Ministry reported that 138 more persons have contracted the virus, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 65,560, of which 30,144 are males and 35,416 are females.

Active cases in the country are now 1,016, which include one patient in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 27 persons in institutional isolation, and 988 persons in home isolation. Another 11 persons are also in institutional quarantine, while 29 persons are hospitalised across the coun-

GUYANA COVID-19 DASHBOARD JUNE 8, 2022 UPDATE

NUMBER OF NEW CASES NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL ISOLATION

138 27

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN HOME ISOLATION

988

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN COVID-19 ICU

1

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN INSTITUTIONAL QUARANTINE

11

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (FEMALES)

35,416

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES BY GENDER (MALES)

30,144

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES IN GUYANA SINCE 2020

65,560

NUMBER OF RECOVERED CASES

63,305

TOTAL 1st DOSE VACCINATED

441,071

FULLY IMMUNISED

340,572

TOTAL NUMBER OF DEATHS

1239

try.

To date, some 63,305 persons have recovered from the life-threatening virus.

During Wednesday’s update on the COVID-19 situation in the country, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony disclosed that Guyana has recorded some 82 imported COVID-19 cases so far since the borders were reopened in October 2020.

“Obviously, with the way the disease manifests itself, there can be persons who are positive but if they have been vaccinated or the test did not pick it up, then we wouldn’t have the information. But there are cases like that, where somebody might have tested negative but, when they came in, subsequently they display the symptoms of COVID-19,” he noted.

According to the Health Minister, once detected, those persons are advised to isolate themselves and take all necessary precautions against spreading the virus.

Nevertheless, he noted that the entry requirements for Guyana are still in place, including vaccination and negative PCR or antigen tests taken within 72 hours of arrival here.

Meanwhile, Dr Anthony reiterated pleas for persons to take steps to protect themselves and others, especially given that the current COVID-19 variants are very contagious and infectious.

“These are the most infectious variants we have right now; so, if you are not protected with a mask, you are going to get infected,” he stated.

Additionally, the Health Minister is urging persons to get vaccinated, and for those who are due, to get their booster shots.

“I want to continue to encourage persons to come out and get their booster doses,” he pleaded.

Currently, booster shots administered have increased to 66,264 doses. For adults 18 years and older, some 442,682,

or 86.3 per cent of them, received their first shot, while 342,332, or 66.7 per cent, got their second doses.

As it relates to the adolescents from 11 to 17, first doses were administered to 34,750, or 47.6 per cent of them, of which 25,476, or 34.9 per cent, returned for their second shot.

This Saturday, June 11, the Ministry would start administering COVID-19 vaccines to children in the 5-to10 age group. A drive-thru exercise would be held at the National Cultural Centre tarmac in Georgetown.

“We want to encourage the parents to bring their children, or the guardians to come and bring their children. You will have to make sure you give consent before we can do the vaccination. These vaccines are specially formulated for children,” Dr Anthony noted.

On Monday, Guyana received a donation of 52,800 doses of the Pfizer vaccines for children from the Government of Spain.

guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022

19

Around the World

OILNEWS OIL NEWS Oil jumps to 13-week high on rising US gasoline demand

O

il prices rose to a 13-week high on Wednesday as US demand for gasoline has kept rising despite record pump prices, on expectations China’s oil demand will rise and on supply concerns in several countries.

Brent futures rose US$2.77, or 2.3 per cent, to US$123.34 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose US$2.70, or 2.3 per cent, to US$122.11.

US commercial crude oil inventories rose unexpectedly last week, while crude in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by a record amount as refiners’ inputs rose to their highest since January 2020, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said. US gasoline stocks fell by a surprise 0.8 million barrels as demand for the fuel rose despite sky-high pump prices. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected gasoline stocks to rise 1.1 million barrels.

“The gasoline draw is a highlight of the report with a tight market place across the US,” said Tony Headrick, energy market analyst at CHS Hedging, noting demand remained strong even with pump prices above US$5 per gallon in many parts of the country.

Auto club AAA said national average retail regular unleaded gasoline prices hit a record US$4.955 per gallon on Wednesday.

“Oil prices are higher, supported by expectation of China easing the COVID restrictions, translating in higher demand and imports this summer,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.

China’s major A-share indexes and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finished trade at two-month closing highs on hopes for a demand recovery on easing of lockdowns to fight the spread of COVID-19.

New game-publishing licences lifted tech firms in Hong Kong. China is the world’s biggest oil importer.

On the supply side, traders noted several countries could face problems boosting output.

In Norway, a number of oil workers plan to strike from June 12 over pay, putting some crude output at risk of shutdown.

Efforts by Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries-plus (OPEC+) oil producers to boost output are “not encouraging”, United Arab Emirates’ Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said, noting the group was currently 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) short of its target.

Further pressuring the supply outlook, Iran removed two surveillance cameras of the International Atomic Energy Agency from one of its nuclear facilities, State television reported. That move will probably raise tensions with the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the United States, and other countries negotiating with Iran over its nuclear programme, hoping for a deal analysts have said could lift sanctions and add one million bpd of crude to world supply.

The IAEA, meanwhile, warned that Europe, which has sanctioned Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, could face energy shortages next winter. (Reuters)

Russia pushes Ukrainian forces to outskirts of key eastern city

U

krainian forces pulled back to the outskirts of the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk on Wednesday in the face of a fierce Russian assault, the regional governor said, another big swing in momentum in one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

Russia has concentrated its troops and firepower on the small industrial city in recent weeks to secure the surrounding province on behalf of separatist proxies.

Ukraine has vowed to fight there for as long as possible, saying the battle could help shape the war's course.

After announcing a surprise counter-attack last week, the Governor of the surrounding Luhansk region said on Wednesday that most of the city was again in Russian hands. "...Our (forces) now

Local residents are seen through a windshield of a damaged van following a military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at a residential area in Kharkiv, Ukraine, June 8, 2022 (Reuters/Ivan Alvarado)

again control only the outskirts of the city. But the fighting is still going on," Serhiy Gaidai told the RBCUkraine media outlet.

Ukrainian forces still controlled all of the smaller

twin city Lysychansk on the west bank of the Siverskyi Donets River, but Russian forces were destroying residential buildings there, Gaidai said in an online post.

Russia's troops have 10 times more equipment than Ukrainian troops in some parts of Sievierodonetsk, Ukraine's Defence Ministry said. Ukraine wants its Western allies to accelerate delivery of arms, warning that Russia could break through its lines in the east.

"We are defending our positions and inflicting significant losses on the enemy.

This is a very fierce battle, very difficult, perhaps one of the hardest of this war," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an evening address. "(In) many respects, the fate of the Donbas is being decided there," Zelenskiy added.

Reuters could not independently verify the situation on the ground in Sieverodonetsk.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Algeria suspends cooperation with Spain over Western Sahara

A

lgeria is “immediately” suspending a twodecades-old friendship treaty with Spain after Madrid reversed decades of neutrality in the Western Sahara dispute.

It was the latest blow to increasingly fragile relations between Algiers and Madrid, which depends on

Algeria for its natural gas supply.

“Algeria has decided to immediately suspend the treaty of friendship, good neighbourliness and cooperation” signed with Madrid in 2002, the president’s office said in a statement on Wednesday.

Spain’s Government said it regretted Algeria’s deci-

Berlin: Teacher dead and pupils hurt as car hits crowd

sion and reaffirmed its commitment to the friendship treaty.

“The Spanish Government regards Algeria as a friendly neighbour country and restates its complete readiness to keep and develop the special cooperation relationship between our two countries, to the benefit of the people of both,” a Spanish foreign ministry statement said.

The Algerian statement said Spain was abusing its role as an “administrating power” in Western Sahara until the United Nations sorts out the decades-old sit-

uation over the status of the vast, mineral-rich territory.

It is, therefore, “contributing directly to the degradation of the situation in the Western Sahara and the region”, the president’s office said.

Wednesday’s move reflects Spain’s complex challenge of balancing relations with archrivals Morocco and Algeria, which in August last year broke off diplomatic ties with Rabat over “hostile acts”.

Morocco controls 80 per cent of the Western Sahara.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Iran expanding nuclear work, switching off cameras amid IAEA censure

Young survivor of Texas school massacre tells US Congress of day's horror

ran has begun further expanding its underground uranium enrichment and said on Wednesday it would switch off two of the United Nations nuclear watchdog's cameras, as the watchdog's 35-nation board overwhelmingly passed a resolution criticising Tehran.

Only Russia and China opposed the resolution submitted by the United States, Germany, France, and Britain saying the Board of Governors "expresses profound concern" that uranium traces found at three undeclared sites remain unexplained owing to insufficient cooperation by Iran. It also calls on Tehran to engage with the watchdog "without delay". Iran bristles at such resolutions and had warned beforehand of retaliation, raising the prospect of further damage to already stalled talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

n 11-year-old survivor of last month's mass shooting at a Texas elementary school told US lawmakers on Wednesday how she desperately acted to save her own life after the gunman shot a friend next to her, saying, "I got the blood and put it all over me."

Miah Cerrillo, 11, and the parents of multiple young Americans killed and wounded in a spate of recent mass shootings testified on Wednesday before a congressional panel as a bipartisan group of senators worked to see if there was any compromise on gun safety that Democrats and Republicans could agree to.

"He told my teacher 'good night' and shot her in the head," Cerrillo said in a pretaped interview played for the House of Representatives Oversight and Reform Committee.

I

Just hours before the closed-door vote at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, Iran announced a move that diplomats said was most likely either a shot across the bow before more drastic action or a limited early retaliation.

"So far, the IAEA has not only been ungrateful for Iran's extensive cooperation, but has also considered it as a duty. From today, relevant authorities have ordered that surveillance cameras of the Online Enrichment Monitor (OLEM) be shut down," Iranian State TV said, referring to cameras trained on a machine that measures enrichment levels in real time.

The IAEA has, however, not had access to the data collected by such cameras or the OLEM for more than a year.

The agency hopes it will gain access to that data, which remains with Iran, at a later date. (Excerpt from Reuters)

A

The car crashed into a store

A

teacher was killed and 14 schoolchildren were injured after a car hit a crowd on a busy street in the German capital, Berlin.

The group was on a school trip to Berlin from the state of Hesse. A second teacher was seriously hurt.

Police say the driver, a 29-year-old man, was arrested at the scene.

Berlin Interior Affairs Minister Iris Spranger said evidence suggested the driver was a "mentally ill person running amok".

The incident occurred shortly before 10:30h (08:30 GMT) in the heart of western Berlin, on one of its busiest shopping streets.

The woman who died has been identified as a school-

teacher who was on a trip with a class of teenagers from the central state of Hesse. Berlin police say she died on the spot.

"There are seriously injured people among the more than a dozen injured," Police spokesperson Thilo Cablitz said.

Bad Arolsen Mayor Marko Lambion said a bus was on its way to pick up the children from Berlin.

"We're doing everything we can to bring them home," he said at the press conference.

The driver has dual German and Armenian citizenship and lives in Berlin.

Earlier reports that he had left a note in his car were denied by officials. (Excerpt from BBC News)

"And then he shot some of my classmates and the white board," she said, adding: "He shot my friend that was next to me ... and I thought he was going to come back to the room. I got the blood and put it all on me."

The young girl said she fears such violence could happen again at school.

Cerrillo spoke about two weeks after the shooting by an 18-year-old at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 of her classmates and two teachers.

A spate of mass shootings across the United States in recent weeks has killed dozens and sparked the latest round of bipartisan talks in the US Senate.

Her testimony came as the United States has suffered more than 200 mass murders just this year. (Excerpt from Reuters)

20

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022

guyanatimesgy.com

DAILY HOROSCOPES

ARCHIE

Take a leap forward, trust and believe in yourself, and take care of loose ends. How you react and what you offer to do will determine how much help you get. Don't give someone else control.

(March 21-April 19) Expect to face opposition if you don't play by the rules or tend to details yourself. Do what's expected before you move on to pleasurable pursuits. Physical changes will require thought.

DILBERT (April 20-May 20)

(May 21-June 20)

PEANUTS (June 21-July 22)

Enjoy what others have to offer, but face reality and what's feasible before entering an endeavor that involves shared expenses. Keep your money and your ideas to yourself. Discipline will be necessary.

Get involved in something that helps keep your life in perspective. By discussing a joint venture or shared expenses with someone close, you'll come up with a moneymaking plan. Romance is favored.

Set your sights on something you find interesting. Be open to learning and to participating in events that offer knowledge, financial gain, and physical and emotional stability.

(July 23-Aug. 22)

CALVIN AND HOBBES

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

You'll learn plenty if you watch and listen. Participate in motivational events and offer to use your experience and skills to deal with economic situations. Speak up about your intentions.

Interact and learn. Question anything you don't understand and take things seriously. Promising too much or overspending will lead to financial stress. Enroll in a seminar or course.

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23)

SUDOKU (Oct. 24-Nov. 22)

Alter your course as you proceed.

Put your heart and soul into whatever you do, but don't let anyone take advantage of you. Deal with expenses creatively. Try to keep things under budget.

Don't trust others to keep secrets.

Keep personal data to yourself. Spend time fixing up your home to suit your personality and emotional and physical needs. Get things done on time.

(Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Work alongside anyone who has something to offer. Make learning and using what you find out an adventure, and you will awaken others to see and enjoy something extraordinary.

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Don't bicker with friends, relatives or peers. You'll gain ground if you keep the peace and are willing to compromise to get things done. Don't depend on others; do the work yourself.

(Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Pay attention to meaningful relationships. Let the past remind you how to handle the people you love. A positive change will transpire if you are open and honest.

(Feb. 20-March 20)

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022

21

CWI Women's T20 Blaze tournament…

Guyana aiming to bounce back against Trinidad and Tobago

T

he Guyanese Women will be aiming to bounce back against their Trinidad and Tobago counterparts today (Thursday June 9) at Providence in the second round of Cricket West Indies Women's T20 Blaze.

The two teams will play the first of three matches at the National Stadium at Providence, EBD from 10:00h local time, and the Guyanese would be hoping that their collective batting clicks after they failed to chase down 87 runs against Barbados in their opening match.

Trinidad and Tobago themselves have suffered a 79-run defeat against Jamaica in the third match on the first day of the tournament, after a batting collapse which saw them being bowled out for 55.

With the batting prowess of both Guyana and Trinidad

The Women's action will continue today at Providence, and admission is free

under the microscope, the team that bats better may emerge victorious.

West Indies all-rounder Chinelle Henry had helped Jamaica secure a 79-run victory over Trinidad and Tobago. Tall and capable, Henry smashed the first halfcentury of the tournament – 52 off 38 balls, with seven boundaries - as Jamaica made the day’s highest score: 133-6 off 20 overs.

Natasha McLean got the

“I’m not 100 percent, but I'm a fighter,” says Thompson-Herah – determined to win battle with niggling injuries

D

ouble Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah has admitted that she is yet to find her best form, after being hampered by some earlyseason injury setbacks.

The Jamaican sprinter is set to face her most formidable challenge to date this term at Thursday’s Diamond League Meet in Rome. ThompsonHerah will face a quality field that includes 400m Olympic champion Shaunae MillerUibo, 200m World champion Dina Asher-Smith, and compatriot Shericka Jackson over 200m.

In nine races so far this season, over both the 100 and the 200m, Thompson-Herah is yet to taste defeat. She will be first to admit, however, that it has been far from smooth sailing.

“I’m not 100 percent, but I think I am a true fighter. I opened my season at Mt. SAC and I got a rotator (cuff) injury, so I was in and out of practice. You need your arms to run, and every time I race, I have discomfort in it, but I have to race, I have to see where I am at,” ThompsonHerah said at the premeet press conference on Wednesday.

“I think having (to compete) with an Achilles and shoulder injury you are a true fighter. I know most athletes have something that they're going through, they just don’t talk about it. I hate to talk about my injuries,” she added.

With Jamaica’s national trials just a few weeks away, the athlete insists she is using the races to fine-tune her performance. (Sportsmax)

Jamaicans off to a flying start with 30 off 27 balls, which included five boundaries.

She and Rashada Williams posted an opening stand of 29, before Williams fell for 10. Skipper Stafanie Taylor added 14, which included

two boundaries.

Caniesha Isaac was the best bowler for Trinidad and Tobago with figures of 2-21 from four overs. NeishaAnn Waisome, a veteran right-handed medium pacer, bulldozed the Trinidad and Tobago batting line-up.

Known as “Gabi”, Waisome tore through the middleorder to finish with careerbest figures of 5-8 from four overs. Only Kirbyina Alexander managed to reach double figures, being the last T&T wicket to fall, for 15.

Trinidad and Tobago were all out for 55 in 13.3 overs.

Henry completed a good match with figures of 3-120-2.

Guyana will be aiming to bounce back after that defeat against Barbados

The excitement will continue on Thursday with the second round of matches at the Guyana National Stadium.

Match Schedule Trinidad & Tobago vs

Guyana at 10am (9am Jamaica Time) Leeward Islands vs Barbados at 2:30pm (1:30pm Jamaica Time) Jamaica vs Windward Islands at 7pm (6pm Jamaica Time)

South African boxer dies after ending bout punching 'invisible opponent'

S

outh African lightweight Simiso Buthelezi has died after suffering bleeding on the brain following a boxing bout at the weekend in Durban.

The 24-year-old faced compatriot Siphesihle Mntungwa for the WBF All Africa lightweight title on Sunday, but the 10-round contest was stopped by the referee after Buthelezi appeared to shadow box an invisible opponent.

Footage of the fight showed Mntungwa falling through the ropes, and then, after the fight was restarted, Buthelezi advancing towards an empty corner where he started to swing punches.

Mntungwa was declared the winner, and Buthelezi subsequently collapsed and

Footage of the fight showed Simiso Buthelezi (left) throwing punches towards an empty corner

was rushed to hospital.

He was placed in an induced coma after it was discovered he had bleeding on the brain.

Boxing South Africa (BSA) confirmed Buthelezi had

died on Tuesday evening in a statement jointly issued with the boxer's family.

They hailed Buthelezi as "a great boxer who was exemplary both outside and inside the ring", and BSA also

said it would undertake an independent medical review of the incident.

"At the hospital, Mr Buthelezi was given the best care possible, but he however succumbed to the injury," the statement said.

"Boxing South Africa will conduct an independent medical review of the injury, and will then make public the results of that medical review.

"The Buthelezi family and BSA acknowledge warm words of condolences of the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture."

Trainer Bheki Mngomezulu said Buthelezi had been in perfect health in the lead-up to the bout. (BBC Sport)

Blatter and Platini fraud trial delayed by one day, because of illness

T

he start of the trial of Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini has been delayed by a day, after Blatter said he was too ill to testify.

Once the most powerful men in world football, the pair were due to go on trial on Wednesday on an accusation of fraud. Blatter has, however, told a court hearing in Switzerland that he is unable to testify because of chest pains.

"The pain will come back, and I am having difficulty breathing," said the 86-yearold in a whisper.

Judges at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona allowed Blatter, former president of world football's

Sepp Blatter arrived at court holding the hand of his daughter Corinne

governing body FIFA, to make his testimony on Thursday.

Swiss prosecutors claim a 2011 payment of 2m Swiss

francs (£1.6m) made by Blatter to Platini, ex-president of European football's governing body UEFA, was unlawful.

Both men deny wrongdoing, and say the transfer was belated payment to former France captain Platini, 66, for his advisory work for FIFA between 1998 and 2002.

The pair were banned from football in 2015, and indicted in November last year.

Earlier on Wednesday, lawyers for Blatter and Platini failed to move the trial to a local court, or dismiss FIFA's civil claim against them to recoup the 2m Swiss francs.

The trial is due to conclude on 22 June, with a verdict expected on 8 July. If found guilty, the defendants could be jailed for up to five years, or be fined. (BBC Sport)

22

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

WI vs Pakistan: ODI series…

Babar Azam’s ton, Shah’s cameo ensure Pakistan win a thriller the damage those boundaries had inflicted. Even Hasan Ali, who endured another rough day, pulled things back with a brilliant final over.

Even so, at the very end, a couple of sixes from Shepherd and Hosein guaranteed the visitors a score in excess of a run-a-ball. It's a chase that, of late, Pakistan have found particularly comfortable to

Babar Azam smashed his 17th International century

I

t was all going to plan, until it suddenly wasn't.

The usual hundred from Babar Azam - his fourth in five innings - set Pakistan up for what looked like a fairly straightforward chase of 306, before a middle-order stutter let West Indies back in. In the end, it was left to a gem of a cameo from Khushdil Shah, who smashed four sixes en route to an unbeaten 23-ball 41, to see Pakistan home by five wickets and four balls to spare.

It meant the efforts of Shai Hope, whose 12th ODI hundred was classy enough to merit winning the game in its own right, ended up in vain, as the visitors fell just short in an attritional ODI. The target didn't hold much fear for Pakistan, at least while some combination of the ever-reliable top three was still out in the middle. When Jayden Seales forced Fakhar Zaman to flat-bat one to short point, it brought Imam and Babar together - two men who combined famously to chase down 349 against Australia.

The West Indies fast bowlers, though, kept things tight on a Multan surface that looked like it wasn't allowing the ball to come on so easily in the evening, and for a while, it was all Pakistan could do to ensure they didn't lose a cluster of wickets while waiting for batting to get easier.

While Babar took his time en route to his first 50 runs, Imam was brisker.

After fortuitously surviving a marginal lbw call early on, he took charge of keeping the asking rate in check, finding regular boundaries and routinely turning the strike over. It took 56 balls for him to get to his half-century, by which time the asking rate was creeping to seven.

Eventually though, the wicket-taking threat that West Indies posed began to fade, and Babar was beginning to whir into action. By the time Akeal Hosein struck to remove Imam, Babar was in full flow, inexorably motoring along to his 17th ODI hundred.

Mohammad Rizwan, whose lack of form in this format has come under scrutiny - if only for the sharp contrast it presents compared to his T20 record - kept him company.

Pakistan were building towards something of a cruise of a finish, with 72 required in nine overs with eight wickets still in hand, but Alzarri Joseph, perhaps the pick of the West Indies bowlers, drew Babar

Khushdil Shah finished off the chase for Pakistan with a quick-fire 41

into mistiming a bouncer, and with 69 to win and a fragile middle order to come, West Indies sniffed an opportunity.

The runs dried up, and Romario Shepherd got rid of Rizwan soon after, and suddenly an asking rate that looked comfortable was pushing 12 in the final four overs.

It was time for the Khushdil show. Shepherd was put away for three successive sixes - the bottom hand power in each of them particularly impressive as Pakistan inched closer once more. West Indies struck with the wicket of Shadab Khan and took it to the final over, but by then the damage Khushdil had inflicted was too much to recover from. Mohammad Nawaz sealed the win with a six over long-on, and Pakistan had survived a scare.

A classy 127 from Hope, which took him past 4,000 runs in ODIs, had powered West Indies to 305. The backbone of the innings was a 154-run partnership between Hope and Shamarh Brooks, two men who effortlessly made the transition from cool Amstelveen to sizzling Multan.

It set for the visitors a glorious platform, but Pakistan struck back after Brooks fell for 70 in the 31st over, thanks to a superb diving catch from Shadab. Pakistan secured regular wickets from thereon, while also keeping the runrate in check, but a strong finish from Rovman Powell and Shepherd catapulted West Indies past 300.

Winning the toss, Nicholas Pooran opted to put runs on the board on a surface that appeared conducive to batting. Despite a stuttering start that saw them lose Kyle Mayers early - Shaheen Afridi invariably striking in his first spell - Hope and Brooks grew increasingly comfortable out in the middle after the Powerplay. Once the field spread out, the dot balls - of which there were 40 in the first 10 overs - vanished.

The Hope-Brooks partnership was as artistic as it was effective. There was some sumptuous strokeplay against both spin and pace bowling, Brooks regularly presenting the full face of the blade in the process of caressing some lovely straight drives, while Hope's dismantling of Hasan Ali and Nawaz meant regular runs were an ever-present feature of the middle overs.

But when, once too often, Brooks looked to

Shai Hope brought up his 12th ODI century with a classy 127

power Nawaz against the turn through midwicket, his fortune ran out. A top edge flew up in the general vicinity of short third man, and if the man in question hadn't been Shadab, the stand might have continued on its jolly way. As it was, the allrounder put in a dive, left arm outstretched, plucking the ball out of the air and breathing new life into a bowling effort that was beginning to wilt.

Pooran could offer little more than a cameo - though consecutive cow corner sixes off Nawaz did keep the runs ticking over. Brandon King's struggles to get going perhaps recalibrated West Indies expectations of a truly huge score, though by now Hope had got his hundred with a crunching cover drive, and appeared to be truly cutting loose. But once he fell in the 44th over, Pakistan's death bowlers struck back. Sure, there were a few fours and sixes sprinkled in, but too often for the visitors' liking, Pakistan managed to sneak in tight overs, undoing some of

deal with at home. But for Khushdil, this one might not have been. It was perhaps fitting, then, that at the postmatch presentations, Babar refused the Player-of-theMatch award, handing it instead to the man who had ensured his 17th ODI hundred would come in a matchwinning cause. (ESPNCricinfo)

Mohammad Nawaz Shadab Khan

10-0-61-1 10-0-37-1

PAKISTAN INNINGS (Target: 306 runs from 50 overs) Fakhar Zaman c Brooks b Seales 11 Imam-ul-Haq c Seales b Hosein 65 Babar Azam (c) c Mayers b Joseph 103 Mohammad Rizwan † c Pooran b Shepherd 59 Khushdil Shah not out 41 Shadab Khan c Pooran b Joseph 6 Mohammad Nawaz not out 8 Extras (w 13) 13 TOTAL 49.2 Ov (RR: 6.20) 306/5 Did not bat: Mohammad Haris, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Fakhar Zaman, 6.2 ov), 2-129 (Imamul-Haq, 24.5 ov), 3-237 (Babar Azam, 41.3 ov), 4-256 (Mohammad Rizwan, 44.4 ov), 5-284 (Shadab Khan, 47.3 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Jayden Seales 9.2-1-53-1 Romario Shepherd 9-0-70-1 Alzarri Joseph 10-0-55-2 Kyle Mayers 6-0-39-0 Akeal Hosein 10-0-50-1 Hayden Walsh 5-0-39-0

GuyanaNRA Smallbore Section/ Secure Innovations/IPSC Level 1 Match…

Harold Hopkinson, Satya Dayaram, and Jude Gordon emerge as top shots

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ACCOMMODATIONS Aracari Hotel, West Bank Demerara (Versailles – between Harbor Bridge and Vreed-en-Hoop) – AirConditioned Comfort. Amenities include TV, Restaurant, Bar, Swimming Pool, Jacuzzi, Gym. Free Parking, Free WiFi. Spend 7 nights and get 1 Free. Rates from $65 US. Breakfast included. Long term rates available. Phone: 264-2946-9. www. aracariresort.com

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

SCOREBOARD WEST INDIES INNINGS (50 overs maximum) Shai Hope † b Haris Rauf 127 Kyle Mayers c & b Shaheen Shah Afridi 3 Shamarh Brooks c Shadab Khan b Mohammad Nawaz 70 Nicholas Pooran (c) c Khushdil Shah b Haris Rauf 21 Brandon King c & b Shadab Khan 4 Rovman Powell c Mohammad Haris b Shaheen Shah Afridi 32 Romario Shepherd c Mohammad Nawaz b Haris Rauf 25 Akeal Hosein c Hasan Ali b Haris Rauf 8 Alzarri Joseph not out 1 Hayden Walsh not out 2 Extras (b 5, lb 2, w 5) 12 TOTAL 50 Ov (RR: 6.10) 305/8 Did not bat: Jayden Seales Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Kyle Mayers, 2.5 ov), 2-163 (Shamarh Brooks, 30.6 ov), 3-198 (Nicholas Pooran, 35.6 ov), 4-216 (Brandon King, 39.3 ov), 5-243 (Shai Hope, 43.4 ov), 6-284 (Rovman Powell, 46.6 ov), 7-302 (Romario Shepherd, 49.2 ov), 8-302 (Akeal Hosein, 49.4 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Shaheen Shah Afridi 10-1-55-2 Hasan Ali 10-0-68-0 Haris Rauf 10-0-77-4

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The respective category winners displaying their silverware in the presence of other competitors

hen the Smallbore Section of the Guyana National Rifle Association (GuyanaNRA) held an International Practical Shooting Federation (IPSC) Level 1 Match on Sunday last at the Timehri Rifle Ranges, emerging as the best shots on the day were Harold ‘Top Gun’ Hopkinson, Satya Dayaram, and Jude Gordon.

The event was sponsored

by Secure Innovations and Concepts, located at 246 Samaan Drive, Meadow Brook Gardens, Georgetown.

Hopkinson outshot a very experienced field in the Open Division, accumulating 313.4879 points for a 100% match average, to beat into

second place Smallbore Captain Gordon Richards, who ended with 270.0 points.

The third place went to Dallas Thomas with 238.4712 points. Occupying the fourth place was Roberto Tewari, followed by Carlos Mendonca and Murtland Smith in that order.

Ruling the roost in the Production Class was Satya Dayaram, who mirrored the 100% returns of the Open winner in her category, which attracted the most competitors of the day. Dayaram tallied 322.5801 points, well ahead of the second-placed David Dharry (298.6836), and Joseph Chin was third on 203.2876 points.

Fourth, fifth and sixth places were occupied by Kelsey Andrews, Surujbali Persaud and Vyvian Crandon. A total of 24 persons contested this category.

The top shooter in the Standard Class, which saw eleven persons competing, was another 100% achiever.

Jude Gordon’s 338.5062 points saw him claiming the winner’s trophy ahead of the experienced Ryan McKinnon, who managed a 93% return with his 317.5772 points.

In third spot was Azaad Hassan with 276.9051 points, followed by Rajiv Latchana, Lavendra Luckiram and Romesh Latchana in that order.

223-7230-1

(Ext 55)

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Motie earns first call up as CWI names Test Squad for Bangladesh

23

…Tagenarine Chanderpaul named as reserve

Tagenarine Chanderpaul has been named in the Test reserves and the President’s XI team

G

uyanese left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie has been selected for the West Indies squad to face Bangladesh in Test matches later this month.

Apart from Motie, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, son of the legendary Shivnarine Chanderpaul, has been named as one of two reserve players for the Test team.

Moreover, Tagenarine Chanderpaul and with Tevin Imlach will play for the CWI President’s XI team in a warm up game against Bangladesh.

The CWI President’s XI squad has been named for the warm-up match against Bangladesh.

The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Men’s Selection Panel on Wednesday named three uncapped players in a 12-man squad for the first Test match against Bangladesh, to be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua from Thursday, June 16, to Monday, June 20.

The uncapped players are wicket-keeper/batsman Devon Thomas, left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie, and fast bowler Anderson Phillip. Devon Thomas has played 21 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and four T20 Internationals (T20Is). Gudakesh

Motie has so far played one T20I and was a reserve for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates last year.

Anderson Phillip was in the squad throughout the recent Apex Test Series victory against England, but has not made his debut to date.

He has featured in three ODIs, including last week’s 3-0 series win against the Netherlands, and is in the ODI squad for the ongoing ODI Series in Pakistan.

The Test squad also includes left-handed allrounder Raymon Reifer, who has one match on his record.

Experienced fast bowler Kemar Roach is to undergo a fitness assessment as he recovers from an injury sustained in the English County Championship with Surrey. If he is passed fit, he will be included as the 13th player in the Test squad.

Allrounder Jason Holder is unavailable for selection as CWI has granted his request for a period of rest and recovery. He will therefore miss Bangladesh’s allformat tour of the West Indies.

Batter Tagenarine Chanderpaul and fast bowler Shermon Lewis have been selected as reserves.

The Selection Panel also

Gudakesh Motie has earned his maiden call-up for the West Indies Test squad

named the CWI President’s XI to face the visitors in a three-day warm-up match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua from Friday, June 10 to Sunday, June 12. The team will be captained by allrounder Yannic Cariah.

Lead Selector, the Most Honorable Dr Desmond Haynes, has said: “Devon Thomas has been knocking on the door for quite some time. He has done extremely well in our franchise cricket system, and we view this as a good opportunity to give him a go.

“You would notice that Raymon Reifer is also in the squad.

He is another person that has done impressively well in the four-day competition and against England (earlier this year). So, again, we are giving opportunities to guys who are performing.

“We think Gudakesh Motie is one of those guys who is also bowling well, and we think it will be a good opportunity for him to be involved.”

Haynes added: “We are looking to pick up World Test Championship points against Bangladesh, which will be very important. It would be good for us to use our home advantage to win both Test matches and collect those points.”

On the CWI President’s XI, Haynes noted: “Yannic Cariah has captained Trinidad & Tobago at youth level, and he was also the captain of the West Indies Emerging Players team which won the CG United Super50 Cup in 2019.

We are looking at future leaders.

We need to start identifying these persons as early as possible. While we will need some assistance from the territories as well, we want to make sure there are leaders we can identify and begin grooming for the future of West Indies cricket.”

Fans can purchase tickets for the two-match series via the new WINDIES TICKETS service presented by Mastercard, at www.tickets.windiestickets. com. Tickets start from US$6/ EC$15 for mounds/grounds entry, with general admission seating available for just US$15/EC$40. In addition to being able to choose and pay for your seats in advance, the service allows fans to save their purchased tickets to their device for ticket scanning at the venue, avoiding the need for queues and travel to the box offices.

Fans registered for the WI Insider fanmail and on the WINDIES TICKETS service will receive promotional discounts when they

Tevin Imlach has gotten the nod for the President’s XI team

buy tickets online for this series, as well as forthcoming T20I and ODI games in the Caribbean.

TEST SQUAD Kraigg Brathwaite (Captain) Jermaine Blackwood (Vice Captain) Nkrumah Bonner John Campbell Joshua Da Silva Alzarri Joseph Kyle Mayers Gudakesh Motie Anderson Phillip Raymon Reifer Jayden Seales Devon Thomas Reserves Tagernarine Chanderpaul Shermon Lewis CWI President’s XI Yannic Cariah (Captain) Colin Archibald Alick Athanaze Tagenarine Chanderpaul Bryan Charles Roston Chase Tevin Imlach Jeremiah Louis Preston McSween Marquino Mindley Jeremy Solozano Jomel Warrican

MATCH SCHEDULE Bangladesh tour of West Indies June 10-12: Bangladesh vs CWI President’s XI – Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua. Local start time 10am/9am Jamaica time June 16-20: 1st Test – Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua. Local start time 10am/9am Jamaica June 24-28: 2nd Test – Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia.

Local start time 10am/9am Jamaica July 2: 1st T20I – Windsor Park, Dominica. Local start time 1:30pm/12:30pm Jamaica July 3: 2nd T20I – Windsor Park, Dominica. Local start time 1:30pm/12:30pm Jamaica July 7: 3rd T20I – Guyana Stadium, Guyana. Local start time 1:30pm/12:30pm Jamaica July 10: 1st CG United ODI – Guyana Stadium, Guyana.

Local start time 9:30am/8:30am Jamaica.

July 13: 2nd CG United ODI – Guyana Stadium, Guyana.

Local start time 9:30am/8:30am Jamaica.

July 16: 3rd CG United ODI – Guyana Stadium, Guyana.

Local start time 9:30am/8:30am Jamaica.

CONCACAF Nations League…

– Golden Jags were the better team, says Bermudan Coach

G

uyana’s senior men’s national football team the Golden Jaguars are making a case for themselves in the ongoing CONCACAF Nations League, with two wins in two games and sitting atop their Group.

The Golden Jaguars’ 2-1 victory over Bermuda on Tuesday afternoon has been met with mixed reactions from the leaders of both teams.

Bermudan Head Coach Kyle Lightbourne has been quick to admit that Guyana had a better 90 minutes, but this admission did not come without the Coach compensating for his team’s loss.

“We didn’t start the game

tonight, Guyana were the better team. The first half, they deservedly went in front.

We could have been a couple down; we just was off our game today,” Lightbourne told media operatives following the game at the Leonora Track and Field Center.

He added, “I wouldn’t say travel had anything to do with it, cause everybody had to travel.

We just didn’t come out of the

blocks with the right intensity, which we said to the guys that they had to.”

The Bermudan Coach went on to express his disappointment in giving up 3 points to Guyana, when they were able to hold

Haiti to a draw.

“We got a good point against Haiti. Maybe that game took a little bit out of a couple of our players. We had a few COVID issues at that last minute, so we had to rejig the team leaving Bermuda, where guys couldn’t travel,” he explained.

“Haiti is the powerhouse of this group; we got a point from them. Disappointed that we didn’t get nothing from this game, and I think it’s basically down to the start of the match and, you know, a little lapse, where they scored right before halftime and we’re saying, ‘Let’s close it out at half time’.”

Golden Jaguars Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz has been quite pleased with his team’s performance, although there were some shortcomings.

Shabazz told sports journalists, “Well, I’m happy for the result, but certainly not a game that we totally dominated.

It was a hard- fought win, it was by no means an easy win, you know. In many parts of the game, it was actually a dog fight. So, we’re very, very happy to get the three points from this match.

Bermuda’s Coach, Kyle Lightbourne

“This is a team that is showing tremendous resilience. The areas where we lack quality, I think we certainly have heart, and we saw today where the legs gone but the heart still carried the team,” he declared.

When quizzed about what he thinks the team needs to work on, the Head Coach mentioned their defence, while also praising Leo Lovell’s efforts on the backline.

“We need to do a little better on defending at set plays, but when I look at the overall game, we’re certainly getting new twin towers in Quincy Adams and

Omari Glasgow

Jaylen. I can’t fault them too much, but we need to improve on dead ball situations in defence,” he said.

Shabazz continued, “I am so happy that they allowed me these warm-up matches, because we were able in these matches against Trinidad to see Leo play at right wing back, and he’s been playing at right wing back ever since.”

In encouraging the Guyanese fans to show up at Leonora on Saturday, Shabazz promised the full force of the Golden Jags outfit. He said, “We have tremendous respect for Haiti, but this is our doorstep, and we’ve

Golden Jags Head Jamaal Shabazz

Coach

got to deal with them on our doorstep. So, we’re going to get rested and recovered and come back. I’m confident that the spirit of the team has that fight to come and match the Haitians at home here.”

Also calling for crowd support was teenage sensation Omari Glasgow, who promised a better showing on Saturday.

“I think the fans at home expect a lot more from me, especially today, but I was a bit nervous, I’m not going to lie. I’m going to go back on the training pitch and work for Haiti on Saturday,” Glasgow shared.

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022

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

CONCACAF Nations League…

Page 23

Page 23

…Tagenarine Chanderpaul named as reserve – Golden Jags were the better team, says Bermudan Coach Page 22

WI vs Pakistan: ODI series…

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