Guyana Times -- Thursday, March 31, 2022

P13

“People would laugh at me and talk about my size” – weight loss surgery recipient

…as GPHC conducts 1st laparoscopic bariatric surgery Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 4965

THE BEACON OF TRUTH THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022

Guyana to host CPL finals for the next 3 years …as Cricket Carnival launched Page 24

…to feature food festival, regional & international concerts, cruise

PRICE

$100 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Govt keeping close watch on oil companies' local content compliance P2 Bartica miner killed by P10 falling tree

CANU, Police unearth over $12.5M in P5 cocaine, ganja during raids

The Biggest Party in Sport: President Dr Irfaan Ali and Hero CPL’s CEO, Pete Russell stand next to the CPL trophy. In the panel of photos above are scenes at the launching of the CPL 2022 and Cricket Carnival (Jemima Holmes photos)

Speaker writes Granger on Opposition’s vacancies in National Assembly

P Drunken brawl 10 ends in stabbing

4 injured as P12 car plunges into city trench

Page 12

Major shake-up Top Cop appointment in Police Force as PNC responsible for Hicken officially takes no Opposition Leader, to be consulted over as Top Cop PSC ...leadership vacuum had to be averted Page 3

Page 7

Child playing with lighter sets Berbice house on fire Page 14

…neighbour rescues elderly man, children from burning building

Justice Cecil Kennard left “indelible print” on Guyanese, P9 Caribbean jurisprudence – AG …as Full Court pays tribute to late Chancellor

2 NEWS

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Govt keeping close watch on oil companies’ local content compliance W

hen the Local Content Act was passed last year, Section 12 had required companies in the extractive industry to submit local content reports every six months to ensure they were complying with the Act. The Government, it turns out, is keeping a close eye on these reports.

In an interview with Guyana Times, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat made it clear that these reports and all other metrics used to measure local content compliance are being monitored by the

Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat

Local Content Secretariat, which now occupies the former offices of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB).

“We have the Secretariat established. It’s at Cowan Street, where the old GRDB building used to be. So, it is housed there, an annex to the Ministry, headed by Martin Pertab, the Local Content Director.

“What we have done over the last couple months since the legislation was passed and assented to, is we would have reached out to almost all the licensed contractors and we’re even trying to go beyond that in terms of preparing their master and annual plans,” Minister Bharrat explained.

According to Section 12 of the Act, “a contractor, sub-contractor or licensee shall provide a local content report to the Secretariat, within 30 days after the end of each half-calendar year, outlining its compliance with the approved minimum local content levels.”

According to Bharrat, these local content plans would contain details of opportunities for Guyanese to benefit from. Another observation made by the Minister is that many local companies were already involved in supplying goods and services to the oil and gas companies. According to him, they have been reaching out

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

Martin Pertab is now heading the Local Content Secretariat

to these companies to ensure they are in compliance.

“On the other side of the registration, many companies and individuals have started to visit the office to do the physical registration.

Because that is an option too. What we are doing now, and it’s in the final testing phase, is the online portal to register. So, even if you’re in Berbice, you don’t have to travel to Georgetown to register. Or any other part of Guyana.

“So, that portal will be up soon. It is in the final testing phases. There’s a bit of tweaking to be done. We’ll put that live very soon so people could register, either for employment or for the provision of goods and services. So, that’s where we are right now in terms of the implementation of the local content legislation,” Minister Bharrat said.

According to Bharrat, about 50 persons have registered for the provision of goods and services, as well as employment. He noted that the Centre for Local Business Development (CLBD) has been working with the Secretariat to increase this number.

As of last year, it had been reported that the CLBD had more than 2700 local businesses registered in its database. The CLDB was set up in 2017 by ExxonMobil, in collaboration with DAI Global, LLC, to assist small and medium-sized local businesses to build their capacity and their ability to

compete to offer services in the oil and gas sector and other industries.

When it was set up, the Centre was expected to focus on developing local vendors that serve key sectors of the oil and gas industry, including areas such as safety equipment, marine operations, offshore supply and civil construction. It was also supposed to provide mentoring, coaching, and access to financial support.

While Bharrat stressed that persons registered with the CLBD were not precluded from plying their trade in the oil and gas sector, it is also encouraged that those persons register with the Secretariat as well.

Section Six of the Local Content Act requires the Secretariat to develop and maintain Local Content Registers, which will contain the particulars of “(a) Guyanese nationals for employment and (b) Guyanese nationals and Guyanese companies from which goods and services may be procured”.

Guyanese nationals, it is noted, may apply for and be issued with a certificate of registration from the Secretariat, which can be renewed annually.

Meanwhile, Section 8 states that “a Guyanese national or Guyanese company who is not registered on the Local Content Register shall not be measured for the purpose of compliance with the minimum local content levels as set out in the first schedule”.

NEWS

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THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS OPENINGS BRIDGE

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

Thursday, March 31 – 02:30h-04:00h and Friday, April 1 – 03:00h-04:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Thursday, March 31 – 16:05h-17:35h and Friday, April 1 – 16:45h-18:15h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY Sunny conditions are expected throughout the day, with clear skies at night. Temperatures should range between 20 degrees Celsius and 31 degrees Celsius.

Winds: Northerly to East North-Easterly between 1.78 metres and 4.91 metres.

High Tide: 16:24h reaching a maximum height of 2.71 metres.

Low Tide: 09:58h and 22:15h reaching minimum heights of 0.53 metre and 0.52 metre.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022

LOTTERY NUMBERS B

01 19 20

25 26 28

FREE TICKET

02 Bonus Ball

TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2022

DAILY MILLIONS

16 25 26

03 06 LUCKY 3

7

0

5

6

Afternoon Draw

8

8

Evening Draw

DRAW DE LINE

05 10 11 12 15 16 21 SUPER

PAY DAY

PAY DAY

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022

02 06 13 16 17 13

08 14 15 17 21

3

0 Afternoon Draw

FP Afternoon Draw

5

2 Evening Draw

3X Evening Draw

DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS IN PUBLICATION. PLEASE CALL THE HOTLINE FOR CONFIRMATION - TEL: 225-8902

COMMODITIES Indicators

US$

Change %

Crude Oil

$108.7/barrel

Rough Rice

$286.11/ton

-0.21

London Sugar

$537.20/ton

-0.02

Live Spot Gold

-4.23

USD Per Ounce

Bid/Ask

$1927.30

$1928.30

Low/High Change

$1917.90 -5.60

$1939.40 -0.29%

Major shake-up in Police Force as Hicken officially takes over as Top Cop

N

ewly appointed acting Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken, on Wednesday officially took over the helm of the Guyana Police Force with major changes in the senior management of the country’s premier law enforcement agency.

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Dr Irfaan Ali, on Monday announced Hicken’s appointment as acting Police Commissioner after his predecessor, Nigel Hoppie, who was also acting as Top Cop, proceeded on pre-retirement leave on Sunday last.

Hicken officially commenced duties in the new post on Wednesday, and according to a statement from the Police Force’s Corporate Communications Unit, several changes were immediately made in the command structure of the Force.

Prior to his appointment to the helm of the Force, Hicken was performing the duties of Deputy Commissioner ‘Operations’.

Senior Superintendent Ravindradat Budhram, who headed the Special Branch, will now take over the post that was left vacant by the new Top Cop. Commander of Police Regional Division 3 (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara), Senior Superintendent Errol Watts, will now Head the Special Branch; while his replacement at the divisional level in Region Three would be Senior Superintendent Mahendra Siewnarine.

Commander Woman Superintendent Denise Griffith has been relocated from Regional Division 2 (Pomeroon-Supenaam) and will now head Regional Division 4 ’B’ (East Bank Demerara), which was left

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn meeting with newlyappointed acting Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken

vacant by the departure of Senior Supt Siewnarine.

A d d i t i o n a l l y , S u p e r i n t e n d e n t Shivpersaud Bacchus, who served as the Force’s Training Officer at Eve Leary, will take over as Commander of Regional Division #2. His replacement at the Training Centre will temporarily be Superintendent Kiethon King, who previously performed duties as Second in-Command Regional Division #4 ’B’.

Meanwhile, one of Hicken’s first tasks upon assuming office on Wednesday was meeting with Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn. During the engagement at the Ministry’s Secretariat on Brickdam, Georgetown, the two officials discussed a “new strategic plan” for the Police Force.

Hicken has served in senior capacities within the Police Force throughout his career, which spans more than two decades. Prior to his appointment as Deputy Commissioner with responsibility for Operations in

August 2020, He was seconded to the Department of Citizenship in 2019 under the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government.

Known for his dynamic style of management, Hicken was also quite popular during his reign as Commander of Divisions A (Georgetown/East Bank and East Coast Demerara) and B (Berbice) before they were converted into regional divisions. He was well known for his outreaches into communities and interactions with members of the public.

However, his appointment has not gone down well within some quarters, with the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) – the leading party in the APNU/AFC Opposition - issuing a statement on Monday, calling it illegal and unconstitutional.

PNC, in their statement, reminded that Article 211 (1) of the Constitution requires meaningful consultation with the Opposition Leader and Chairperson

of the Police Service Commission (PSC).

However, Guyana has been without an Opposition Leader since January of 2022, when former Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon resigned the role.

Harmon further resigned from Parliament itself earlier this month.

PNCR Leader Aubrey Norton has been named as his replacement, but he is yet to even step foot in Parliament despite vacancies left by Harmon and Coalition Member of Parliament Nicolette Henry, who resigned to make way for Norton in the National Assembly.

On Wednesday, Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, told Guyana Times that Speaker Manzoor Nadir has dispatched a letter to Representative of the APNU/AFC List of Candidates, former President and former PNCR Leader David Granger, for him to activate the process to select two new MPs. Granger would have to write the Chief Elections Officer of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Vishnu Persaud, indicating to him the two new names that are to be extracted from the Coalition’s list to be appointed to the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, the PNC’s threats to challenge Hicken’s appointment have been dismissed by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall SC, who argued that the President is completely justified in going ahead with the appointment of an acting Top Cop in the absence of those he has to consult with, since the Guyana Police Force cannot be left headless. (G8)

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guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 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

Early pregnancies and reintegration

E

arlier this week, this newspaper reported that 38 adolescent mothers completed the reintegration programme though the Education Ministry.

These young mothers now have a chance and opportunity to be gainfully employed and take care of their children. This opportunity, like the reintegration into the formal school system, gives adolescent mothers a prospect to a good education, thus providing them with the foundation to have a better life.

Sometime ago, after reports surfaced in the media that teenage girls, aged 13 and 15, from the Lower Pomeroon area, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), had become pregnant and had subsequently given birth to twins, there was much uproar about the lack of will at the level of policy-makers, and the lack of guidance at the social level, to help prevent teenage pregnancy.

Also, this publication had reported some time ago of a 14-yearold girl, also from the Pomeroon River, who was hospitalised after she had tried to abort her unborn baby and had injured herself.

This is a typical example of what happens when one becomes pregnant at a very young age, and possibly gets into a state of depression due to that pregnancy.

The fact that our students, who ought to be at school educating and preparing themselves to face life’s challenges, are engaging in such unwholesome and life changing activities is very worrying. Our adolescents would certainly have to face the consequences of these poor choices later down the road. The resulting problems could be many; for example: severe health complications for both the mother and child, and serious social and economic problems.

The World Health Organization (WHO), in one of its reports, had stated that adolescents aged 10-19 years account for 11 per cent of all births worldwide, and for 23% of the overall burden of disease due to pregnancy and childbirth.

The Organization has reported that 14 percent of all unsafe abortions in low- and middle-income countries are among women aged 15–19 years. About 2.5 million adolescents have unsafe abortions every year, and adolescents are more seriously affected by complications than are older women.

Many health problems are particularly associated with negative outcomes of pregnancy during adolescence. These include anaemia, malaria, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, postpartum haemorrhage, and mental disorders such as depression.

Likewise, the social problems, both on families and the community, are many. Many girls who become pregnant have to leave school. This has long-term implications for them as individuals, their families, and communities. For example, when an adolescent girl becomes pregnant, her entire life is affected, as her focus can no longer be her academic studies; she would now have to dedicate all her energies and resources to child rearing and caring. In most cases, the male partner is also similarly affected.

That said, we believe that in many of these cases, especially in girls under 15, such pregnancies are not the result of a deliberate choice, but rather an absence of choices, and of circumstances beyond a girl’s control. Early pregnancies reflect powerlessness, poverty and pressures - from partners, peers, families and communities. Hence, there is need for approaches that build girls’ human capital; help them make decisions about their lives, including matters of sexual and reproductive health; and offer them real opportunities, so that motherhood is not seen as their only destiny.

Girls need to have access to both sexual and reproductive health services, and to the right kind of information, so that they can make informed choices about their own lives. In many communities, especially in the hinterland areas, these services are lacking.

In May 2011, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution urging member states to accelerate actions to improve the health of young people. It included these specific measures: reviewing and revising policies to protect young people from early childbearing; providing access to contraception and reproductive health-care services; and promoting access to accurate information on sexual and reproductive health.

It is very commendable that the Education Ministry continues to help teen moms through the Reintegration of Adolescent Mothers programme. This affords teen mothers the opportunity to be productively employed, and for those who choose to reenter the formal school system, they can do so successfully.

Dr Irfaan Ali received a visit from local entrepreneur and budding lawyer Joshua Edward at the Office of the President on Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown. Edward, who recently obtained a law degree from the University of Guyana, started his small business with his mother, selling pizza on campus to pay his tuition (Office of the President photo)

Tell adolescents the truth – Dr Gabrielle Jamela Hosein M

yths and falsehoods spread by adults put adolescents at risk. This is especially true in the area of adolescent sexuality.

For example, Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is often misrepresented as encouraging sexual experimentation and downplaying the risks associated with that behaviour. This is totally untrue, and is a falsehood used to rally a misinformed movement against nationwide equal access to age-appropriate health information for adolescents.

In fact, both CSE and the much broader Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) curriculum provide trusted adults and information to help young people make choices that keep them, their peer and family relationships, and their environments healthy and safe.

No one wants adolescents to be sexually active before they are ready to manage responsibilities in relation to self, sex and relationships. Everyone understands the threat that teenage pregnancy poses to girls’ education, livelihood, economic survival, and ability to live free of violence.

CSE and HFLE programmes also aim to help minors identify and protect themselves from violence, abuse and bullying, and understand the importance of consent, or the right to de-

cide what happens to your body, and a responsibility to value its safety, health and care.

There are thousands of children currently living in violent families, and hundreds who experience sexual abuse each year. This is a group least likely to go to adults to ask questions about sex without fear, shame or danger.

Children underreport their own experience of abuse, such is their silence.

Many families don’t talk to children about their bodies, feelings, desires or sex, because they are embarrassed, don’t know how, or feel it is enough to tell them to study their books.

Where do adolescents then go for information?

The internet, where hardcore pornography is only a click away, and where there are many wrong answers to their questions. Or they go to their peers, who are the least experienced and informed. Rousing resistance to HFLE in schools only makes the most vulnerable of these children more silenced and ill-informed, and less likely to be empowered to make decisions in their best interest.

There are significant numbers who report unwanted sexual encounters and forced sexual initiation, meaning that the conversations we need to be having with them are not only about abstinence, because sex doesn’t always

happen in conditions or in ways that they choose.

Finally, like it or not, in our region, between ten and 30 per cent of adolescents are sexually active by 15 years old. Rural, indigenous and poor girls are most vulnerable, both to predation by older men and to unplanned consequences of sex.

What’s our approach?

Abandon them for not obeying abstinence rules by refusing to explain the value of contraception? All that does is condemn them to risky sex; a sign of our own irresponsibility.

This is why, around the region, teenagers consistently ask for access to sexual and reproductive health information in schools, and for services that enable them to prevent unwanted sex, sexually transmitted infections and pregnancies, and sexual violence.

We can debate what approach is best.

I agree with telling adolescents to wait until they are more mature, or have finished school, or can negotiate contraception, or can earn their own income, before having sex. Definitely, abstinence is best, though it’s not actually the reality for those who are not going to stop being sexually active, so we can’t be so obstinately narrow-minded about the range of information which teens need.

What I find it hard to deal with, however, is mis-

representation of schoolbased health and family life, or comprehensive sexuality curricula. For example, there is not decades of evidence that teaching about contraception leads to earlier sexual activity.

And, last week, one opinion piece said: “The CSE approach ignores a needed priority on risk avoidance and, instead, primarily focuses on merely reducing the physical risks of teen sex, without adequately addressing the many other possible consequences of this activity.”

Manners stop me from describing this as a deliberate lie.

Parents, teachers and faith-based folks should know this does not reflect our own HFLE curriculum, which sensitively addresses many consequences and emphasises life skills, self-esteem, personal responsibility, healthy approaches to one’s body (including eating and exercise), and choices that provide the best life chances (including taking parenthood seriously enough to consciously defer pregnancy until adulthood).

In our region, lack of access to sexual and reproductive health and rights curricula and services causes its own harmful results.

To protect the health and development of Caribbean children, we need more responsible and truthful adults. (T&T Newsday)

guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022

5

News

CANU, Police unearth over $12.5M in cocaine, ganja during raids

The suspects who were arrested for the cocaine and pills

The ganja that was found in the house in Haslington

P

olice ranks on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD), and ranks of the Customs AntiNarcotics Unit (CANU), have unearthed a quantity of marijuana and cocaine at separate houses on Monday and Tuesday.

The first incident occurred on Monday when cops unearthed a quantity of marijuana during a search at a house in Haslington, ECD while the

occupants were away.

Guyana Times understands that the cops had received reports that a man had threatened his 24-yearold sister-in-law, and ranks of the Anti-Crime Patrol in the Division went to the suspect’s residence at Haslington North ECD at about 23:00hrs on Monday.

On arrival, the ranks began to smell a strong scent of cannabis. A search was conducted, and on the ve-

randah, in a blue metal barrel, six transparent Ziplock bags containing a number of leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be cannabis were found.

The find was taken to the Cove and John Police Station, where it was weighed and amounted to 1,280 grams.

Checks are being made for the suspect, who is also the person against whom the threatening behaviour report was lodged.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, CANU officers acting on information conducted an operation at Lot 295 Shantiniketan Street,

The cocaine and pills that were found in the house at Prashad Nagar

Prashad Nagar Georgetown, where they discovered ten parcels of cocaine and a quantity of multi-coloured pills suspected to be ecstasy.

Lena Narine, aka ‘Aunty Lena’, 62; James Herbert,

aka Uncle James, 60; Kay Jennifer Butcher, 71; Jamal Narine, aka ‘Tunks’, 27; and Gregory Faria, 47, a Surinamese national, were arrested and escorted to CANU Headquarters.

The cocaine weighed

11.4kgs, which has a street value of approximately $12.5M, while the ecstasy weighed 266 grams, which has a street value of approximately $400,000.

Investigations are ongoing.

(G9)

Aubrey Norton's Sophia Declaration Dear Editor, Mr Aubrey Norton utilised his inaugural address to the General Council of the PNCR at Sophia, Georgetown by declaring, among other things, the creation of a new image for the PNCR, mainly through the embrace of democracy.

He cited the recent PNCR internal elections, which he boasted were free and fair, but he could not say the same for the PPPC internal elections.

If this is the PNCR's new approach to politics, they should be applauded for choosing to walk on the democratic path. But what lesson(s) could one draw from the PNCR’s history?

The claim that the PNCR's last internal elections were free and fair is no guarantee that their participation, along with other political parties, in competitive elections at the regional and national levels would necessarily follow the same track.

Having extolled democracy, Mr Norton later debased it when he called for the removal of the independent GECOM Chair, Justice Claudette Singh, on an allegation of bias.

The PNCR are trapped by their own history. It also reveals how they have flouted electoral and constitutional laws, such as making the unilateral ap-

pointment of the GECOM Chair (10/19/2017) and failing to step down from power consequent to the successful passage of the No Confidence Motion (12/21/2018).

Norton’s presentation was also aimed “to restore the party to the glorious days of Forbes Burnham…”

He lamented the condition of the PNCR party under David Granger's leadership: “I have inherited a party that has four categories of workers: guards, drivers, clerks and handymen.” (published in the media 3/11/2022) The urgent need for image-building is also suggested by former PNCR Leader Mr David Granger, who had earlier called for the establishment of a new political culture. He stated: “Some persons [PNCR operatives]…were elected to office not to satisfy their private hunger for wealth or their personal passion for power, but to serve the people whom they represented. The Party has a sad record of revolt.” (as stated in the media of 12/18/2021) Notwithstanding this perspective, a more plausible motive for creating a new image of the PNCR lies in the post-2020 election saga, when PNCRaligned GECOM executive staff attempted to stage an electoral heist; a pro-

cess that was thus elegantly described by the Head of the OAS observer mission, former Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding: “I have never seen a more transparent effort to alter the results of an election.”

(3/14/2020). It should be noted that the OAS observer team withdrew with disgust after Clairmont Mingo made a second contested declaration of results for Region 4. The EU team also withdrew, citing COVID-19 as their pretext. In addition, all the western diplomatic missions, the international observer teams (Commonwealth, European Union, Carter Center) were appalled at the PNCR’s post-election shenanigans, and were also bewildered when the PNCR had failed to produce their SoPs. Not receiving support for their claim of electoral irregularities from any country during the 5 months' election fiasco and after, PNCR’s operatives became belligerent and began a campaign to vilify the GECOM Chair; diplomats; Caribbean Leaders, including Mia Mottley of Barbados and Dr Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines. This action led to the isolation of the PNCR. Norton, therefore, had no choice but to engage in damage control and to pres-

ent a new image of his party, as well as to reach out to diplomats and regional leaders.

In trying to create a new image, however, Mr Norton believes that his first building block is to blast the PPPC Government with allegations of corruption, race discrimination, rigging, incompetence, all of which are not verifiable empirically. A sound PNCR image cannot be built upon this negative posture; instead, it must be built upon the party’s clear vision, which unfortunately was not well articulated and defined, and which had many components that are already being implemented by the PPPC. Further undermining his image-building drive was his astonishing claim that the 2020 elections were rigged by the PPPC. But he failed to say how an election machinery that was conducted by a PNCRaligned GECOM executive body could have allowed the opposition PPPC to rig the election? How were the PPPC operatives able to avoid the “eagle” eyes of the PNCR’s polling staff and the numerous observer teams’ scrutiny?

The political landscape has become extremely competitive. No one ethnic group is dominant. All political parties know that

the grip of race, which has historically played a huge role on determining voting preference, is gradually fading, and is being replaced with issues defined by logic, reason, and evidence. In the circumstances, political parties that ar-

ticulate a clear vision and generate better policy and programme choices would correspondingly increase their chance of electoral success.

Sincerely, Dr Tara Singh

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THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022

Page

Foundation ◄ Question 1

by

DIY science soda experiment

I

n this fun and easy science experiment, we’re going to teach you how to make a fizzy soda using science.

Materials:

Baking soda Pitcher Water Lemon juice Sugar Yellow food colouring Measuring spoons Spoon

Instructions:

Wednesday’s answers 1ai) The area of rectangle BCDE = 20m x 12m (LxB) = 240m2 1aii) The area of triangle ABC = 6m x 5m (1/2 base x height) = 30m2 1aii1) The area of the school compound ACDE = area of BCDE + ABC = 270m2 1b) Sammy’s total marks = 90 + 61+ 83 + 75 = 309 1bi) In order to average 81, Sammy would have had to score 81 x 4 = 324 He scored 309, so he needed 324 – 309 more marks = 15 more marks

Fill the pitcher about half full with water.

Add a drop or two of yellow food colouring.

Add three teaspoons of baking soda to the pitcher of water.

Next, add two tablespoons of sugar to the water and stir the mixture until dissolved.

Now, add two tablespoons of lemon juice and watch your soda come to life.

Feel free to taste your soda, but it may be a little yucky!

How it works:

Your science soda bubbles because you created an endothermic reaction that released carbon dioxide.

The baking soda (a base) and the lemon juice (an acid) when combined were the items that caused the chemical reaction and released the carbon dioxide.

Make this a science project:

Try different temperatures of water. Try adding different amounts of water. Try adding different amounts of baking soda or lemon juice. (sciencefun.org)

Wilson Harris

I The mountains slowly emerge out of mist and cloud.

This is the epitome of quiet’s event when the sun warm and filled with distant barking of dogs rises inevitably into the mind rises into the world and exists beyond abstraction beyond any attempt to ignore its objective presence, so that we feel eternally alive.

But beneath the trees of the forest the shadow is darker than the dim hue of the mountains which too are shadowed in parenthesis and dreamlike so that it is not strange they are wiped away like cobweb against the sky when the mist is not parted like now to show their bare presence, their living hue of blue distance.

II Time – the killing and death of Time the killing and death of the mountains the killing and death of the sun at high noon is the grave unflowering God succumbed to the triviality of murder.

Not yet is Time broken.

And the mountains are only obscured for a while.

The sun draws a veil of heat like storm.

(Kyl-Over-Al)

“If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate” — Thomas J. Watson

WORD SEARCH

NEWS

Top Cop appointment

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THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

PNC responsible for no Opposition Leader, PSC to be consulted ...leadership vacuum had to be averted

Newly-appointed acting Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken

O

Attorney General Anil Nandlall

n the heels of criticism from the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall has defended the appointment of Clifton Hicken as the acting Commissioner of Police by President Dr Irfaan Ali, arguing that with no Leader of the Opposition in place nor a Police Service Commission, there was no one for the Head of State to consult with before making this critical decision.

President Ali, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, on Monday announced the appointment of Hicken as acting Police Commissioner after Nigel Hoppie, who was also acting as Top Cop, proceeded on pre-retirement leave on Sunday, March 27.

However, objections have been raised by the PNCR – the leading party in the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Coalition Opposition, calling the appointment illegal and unconstitutional.

According to the

Constitution, “the Commissioner of Police and every Deputy Commissioner of Police shall be appointed by the President acting after meaningful consultation with the Leader of the Opposition and the Chairperson of the Police Service Commission, after the Chairperson has consulted with the other members of the Commission”.

AG Nandlall has pointed out that with these two posts currently vacant, there was no one for the President to consult with.

“It’s no fault of the Government or the President that there is no Leader of the Opposition. It’s no fault of the Government or the President that there is no Police Service Commission because the appointment of Police Service Commission comes through a process which, again, involves consultations with the Leader of the Opposition, and there is no Leader of the Opposition,” he stated during the recent edition of his weekly programme “Issues In the News”.

The Attorney General noted that the President was completely justified going

ahead with the appointment of a Top Cop in the absence of those he has to consult with since the Guyana Police Force cannot be left headless.

“The Police Commissioner is the person who has overall management and superintendence over the Guyana Police Force. He is responsible for the day-to-day management and superintendence of Guyana Police Force. Therefore, you cannot have a Police Force without a person performing those functions. In that scenario, a President cannot abdicate his responsibility and can’t allow the Police Force that is responsible for the national and domestic security of the country to be without an administrative head,” the AG stressed.

Against this backdrop, Nandlall contended that provisions in the law, specifically the doctrine of necessity, could be activated to allow for procedures to be undertaken in instances where there is an impossibility to comply with legal requirements.

Since those with whom the President was supposed to consult were not available for consultation, his actions of go-

ing ahead with making the appointment would be justified under the doctrine.

“The President is completely justified in proceeding to put someone to perform the functions of the Commissioner of Police. National security and public safety and the need for there to be an administrative head of the [Guyana Police Force] GPF would trump the need for procedural regularity and the doctrine of necessity would justify a departure from what is required by the Constitution in this case, because there is an impossibility in securing constitutional compliance…”

“It cannot be the law that the process would grind to a halt or the country must go without a Commissioner

of Police if a recalcitrant Opposition cannot get its house in order and appoint a Leader of the Opposition,” Nandlall argued.

Moreover, Nandlall also dismissed threats by the PNC to challenge Hicken’s appointment since he was not next in line for the post. But the AG outlined that the President was only required to consult with the Opposition Leader and the PSC, but the choice is his – exclusively – to make.

“The choice of who is to be the Commissioner of Police is one that lies exclusively with the President. In the exercise of that choice, he is to comply with a process… to consult with the Leader of the Opposition, not agree but consult, and to consult with the Chairperson of the Police Service Commission. That has nothing to do with choice.

The choice remains that of the President,” he insisted.

According to the Attorney General, no one can substitute the President’s choice – not even a Judge. He explained that while there could be political consequences based upon the Head of State’s choice, there was no legal consequence.

In fact, he further reminded that even then President David Granger had similarly exercised his power to choose when he appointed Leslie James, who was at the time not the most senior officer in the Force, as Police

PNCR Leader Aubrey Norton

Commissioner.

“But President Granger was entitled to do so, since there is no rule or provision that requires the most senior officer to be chosen as Top Cop,” Nandlall stated.

AG Nandlall further pointed out that while the PNC has objected to Hicken’s appointment, its coalition partner – the AFC via its Leader Khemraj Ramjattan, who is a former Public Security Minister, seems to have accepted the appointment. He told an online news outlet – Big Smith News Watch – that the Force needed a leader and Hicken would “serve properly”.

Hicken’s appointment as acting Top Cop took effect on Wednesday, March 30. (G8)

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THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

IN THE COURTS

Beautician charged over Gotta keep... derogatory FB posts B A well-known beautician who has been accused of posting derogatory remarks about a local singer has found herself being arraigned in Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan’s Georgetown court on Wednesday.

Onika Pompey, 32, has pleaded not guilty to a charge which states that between October 29 and November 8, 2021, she posted, via Facebook, derogatory statements about singer Kwasi Edmondson, who is a former Soca Monarch.

Pompey was ordered to post $200,000 bail, and was instructed to report to the Brickdam Police Station’s Gender-based Unit on the

Charged: Onika Pompey

first and last Friday of every month until the completion of her trial.

Her matter continues on

April 27.

Back in July 2020, Pompey had received an $800,000 settlement from Lolita Callendar, the makeup artist who was found guilty of causing her grievous bodily harm.

Callendar, popularly known as “Lola Doll”, was found guilty of an offence committed on April 6, 2018 at Leopold Street, Georgetown.

It was reported that the two women, who were once friends, were involved in a misunderstanding which resulted in a scuffle, during which Callendar bit Pompey several times, and pulled out her hair. Pompey had demanded the sum to fix

Singer Kwasi Edmondson

her “edges” and offset other damages caused by the fight between them. (G1)

…the state (Police!) going efore the long-pants louts from the slums stormed the Bastille and lopped off Louis XIV’s head, he’d actually egged them on by announcing - of course in French! - “I am the state” (L'etat c'est moi'). Meaning that all the power of the state was represented in his person.

After that, even though folks defined democracy as “rule of the people” through their representatives, they conceded that the state is absolutely necessary to ensure life didn’t revert to its “short, nasty and brutish” condition if the organs don’t function.

And this brings us to President Ali’s appointment of Assistant Commissioner Clifton Hicken to act as the Commissioner of Police - COP. The PNC - in the form of its new leader Aubrey Norton, who was selected to play “big and bad” against the PPP Government - is insisting that the action is unconstitutional. But he’s going to the courts, rather than into the streets!! Ooooh, THAT’s macho!! He would’ve been better advised to take Granger to court, so he could enter Parliament!!

So, let’s look at the Constitution that Norton’s idiosyncratically interpreting - like Granger!! This simply states that the President can appoint a new COP after he merely “consults” - NOT for their approval - with the Leader of the Opposition and the Police Service Commission. So, what happens if neither of these bodies are in existence for the President to consult? The Police, after all, are one of the most critical institutions of the state in satisfying its foundational role of protecting the people. Should he twiddle his thumbs while the Opposition - which has prevented those two institutions from being constituted? sorts out its contradictions??

The State must remain immanent!! There’s even a constitutional doctrine to support President Ali’s decision - the doctrine of “necessity”. A President’s gotta do what a President’s gotta do to protect the State, so as to protect the people. Simple as that!! But Norton’s resort to the courts reminds us that there are innumerable precedents for Pres Ali’s action. Just in recent history with the Disciplined Forces, didn’t Burnham pip a dozen senior officers to appoint Granger as head of the Army to deal with Rodney’s infiltration?? And didn’t Hoyte pip him with Joe Singh in 1990??

But, more pertinently, didn’t Granger play musical chairs with Hicken himself when he bypassed Ramnarine as Chief COP after Seelall Persaud was squeezed out? What was that “Assassination COI” but a mechanism to purge the Police top brass for his man James?? Wasn’t the man the PNC now wants promoted - Paul Williams - pushed ahead of his superior Hicken?? So, isn’t it mealy-mouthed and disingenuous to now argue about Police “hierarchy”??

Your Eyewitness now expects Hicken to prove his critics wrong and clean up the GPF!! …quiet on Granger??

Your Eyewitness wants to know why Norton’s so quiet on the Granger front. Does the latter - like that sly COP of yore, Laurie Lewis (who had a file on everyone) have something on him? Look at it this way. Norton had drawn the PNC base like a magnet with iron filings at the leadership elections! He’d whupped Granger’s place holder Harmon so bad he forced the man to do a Duran and quit while crying “no mas, no mas!!”

All that stands between him and the role of the Leader of the Opposition is Granger. This is the platform that might finally earn him the respect that’s eluded him ever since Hoyte dubbed him a “creature”! But he’s been handling the Sanctimonious Gangster with kid gloves!! This is sadly making him to lose even more respect!! He’s gotta take a leaf from Hoyte, who recreated the entire PNC in his image after 1985.

Granger’s ain’t going quietly into the night! Gotta cut it off!! …eyes on the prize Your Eyewitness believes independence will have to be fashioned by us in the here and now. We finally have the funds to liberate us from handouts.

We may stoop to conquer, but conquer we must!

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

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THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Justice Cecil Kennard left “indelible print” on Guyanese, Caribbean jurisprudence – AG …as Full Court pays tribute to late Chancellor

A special sitting of the Full Court was convened on Wednesday to pay tribute to the late Justice Cecil Kennard Late former Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Cecil Kennard

Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC

J

udges of the Supreme Court of Judicature convened a special sitting of the Full Court on Wednesday in remembrance of their late colleague, former Chancellor of the Judiciary Justice Cecil Kennard, O.R., C.C.H., who died on March 12 at age 86.

Apart from judicial officers, Justice Kennard’s widow, son, and members of the Bar attended the special sitting, which was held at the Court of Appeal in Kingston.

Opening the tributes was Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, who spoke of Justice Kennard’s elaborate and comprehensive judgements, which to this very day, he noted, are being used as precedents in the region.

Without a doubt, he said,

Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George, SC

Justice Kennard has left an “indelible print” on the fabric of Guyana and the Caribbean’s jurisprudence, while adding that his passing is a great loss to Guyana, es-

Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag), Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards

pecially to the legal fraternity, which he helped to shape.

Nandlall said Justice Kennard was a man of “humility, simplicity, and compassion”, adding that these qualities enabled him to connect with the ordinary man.

“His writing was not of the style of prose, picturesque expression, or linguistic flair and flamboyance. It was one of crystalline clarity, simplicity, and fluent coherence that rendered his legal reasoning easily discernible,” said the Attorney General as he reflected on Justice Kennard’s many scholarly judgements.

Eminent and distinguished

The late retired Judge was remembered by Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George, SC, as an eminent and dis-

tinguished son of the soil, and a legal luminary who had a long and illustrious judicial career spanning over 25 prolific years.

She fondly shared that Justice Kennard, who served with distinction, had always put service to his country above himself, and had dedicated his life to the jurisprudence of Guyana. “He carved his niche, and made an indelible mark on this earth.

Throughout his career, and in all that he engaged in professionally, especially in horseracing and cricket, [he] conducted himself with decorum and integrity.”

The Chief Justice recalled that Kennard was appointed a puisne Judge in November 1977, and was further elevated to the Court of Appeal in June 1985. Justice Kennard was appointed Chief Justice in January 1995, and Chancellor of the Judiciary

in 1996. He held the latter position until his retirement in 2002, after which he was appointed Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority in 2017.

“Chancellor Kennard revolutionised the approach of the authority, making it more people-centred by the many outreaches he conducted in rural and interior communities. As a prosecutor, it was my privilege to appear before him in the High Court and the Court of Appeal,” said the Chief Justice.

Justice George added that Justice Kennard’s name has been etched in the annals of the country’s legal history through the many landmark cases he presided over, which have led to the development of jurisprudence, especially in criminal law.

According to her, his industry in the Full Court should serve as an inspira-

tion to all who preside at the High Court. As Justice of appeal, she recalled, he published numerous decisions, many of which are reported in the West Indian Law Reports.

While his interest was in criminal law, Justice George said, the late former Chancellor had dealt with rather interesting points of law in the civil jurisdiction.

In regard to criminal law, she said, his reported decisions exemplified the range of legal issues he addressed, including the right to retain counsel for a trial, admissibility of confession statements, identification, res gestae as an exception to the hearsay rule, assessment of opinion evidence, extradition, and the thorny issue of joint enterprise and the liability of secondary parties.

TURN TO PAGE 10

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THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Drunken brawl ends Bartica miner killed by falling tree in stabbing

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T

38-year-old miner lost his life on Tuesday afternoon after a branch from a tree fell and struck him to his

head.

Dead is Damyon Gibson of Lot 17 Caribese Hill, Bartica, Essequibo River.

The incident occurred at about 12:00h, at Two Point Backdam, Cuyuni River, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

Gibson, according to Police, was the owner of a four-inch land dredging operation at Two Point Backdam. At the time when the accident occurred, he was standing with a friend talking at the work ground when suddenly a branch from a nearby tree fell and struck him to his head, causing him to sustain injuries.

His workers rushed to his assistance, and took him to the Aurora Mining Company, Cuyuni River, where he was pronounced dead by a doctor on duty.

His body was later transported to the

Dead: Damyon Gibson

Bartica Regional Hospital, where Police observed injuries to his head and right hand.

The body is presently at the Bartica Hospital mortuary awaiting a post mortem examination. (G9)

wo men are currently hospitalised following an altercation that occurred at Waramadong Village, Upper Mazaruni (Region Seven, CuyuniMazaruni).

Reports are that Young Williams, a 27-year-old farmer, and 61-year-old Lykie Kramer, a cook, who are both known to each other, were imbibing when a heated argument ensued and Williams struck Kramer to his face.

In retaliation Kramer stabbed Williams with a knife to his chest and abdomen, causing his intestines to protrude.

As a result, the injured Williams turned around, picked up a piece of wood, and dealt Kramer several lashes to his head and body, causing his arm to be fractured.

Both individuals were rushed to the Kamarang Public Hospital, where they are being treated. Their respective condition is listed as stable.

Investigations are continuing.

Just a few days ago,

an 18-year-old lad and his 21-year-old sister were detained over the alleged wounding they committed on their 26-year-old brother, Kemo Archer, a carpenter.

This incident occurred at the La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD) home of the trio.

Reports are that Archer went home from work in an intoxicated state, and a heated argument ensued between him and his sister. During the row, he reportedly hit his sister to the head with a plate, and she stabbed him to his left hand with a broken piece of the said plate, while another brother dealt him several cuffs about his body, be-

fore using a pair of scissors to stab him to his shoulder.

According to Police, the fight further escalated when the 18-year-old brother armed himself with a Rambo knife and dealt Archer three stabs – one to his left forearm and the others to his abdomen.

The Police were summoned, and the suspects were arrested and escorted to the West Demerara Regional Hospital for medical attention.

The injured Archer was also taken to receive medical care.

The brother and sister suspects were later escorted to the La Parfaite Harmonie Police Station, where they were placed in custody. (G9)

Justice Cecil Kennard left...

She particularly highlighted Justice Kennard’s decision in Dorset and Somerset vs the State — a decision which she noted epitomised Justice Kennard as the Judge who always espoused the importance of fairness.

“This decision was Dorset and Somerset vs the State, where a witness gave evidence in court which was inconsistent with their written statement to the Police.

No doubt, drawing on his experience as a prosecutor and the duty embedded to persons holding this office, he held that ‘the prosecutor ought to have brought the existence of the inconsistent written statement to the attention of the court and to the defence, so that the witness’s credibility could have been tested’.”

The Chief Justice remarked that there is much to emulate from Justice Kennard’s manner of engagement with his colleagues, counsel, and litigants. She described him as a “master teacher of the law”, who was always willing to share his knowledge and expertise. In closing, she said that he has left an indelible mark on the legal landscape of Guyana, the Caribbean, and the Commonwealth with his sharp intellect and warm and affable personality.

Legendary son of the soil

Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag) Justice

Yonette CummingsEdwards, also spoke. She described Justice Kennard as a “legendary son of the soil”. She said she believes that his love for criminal law started during his tenure as Crown Counsel at the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

“So extensive was his practice in that field that he moved up the ranks quickly to various positions, such as Senior Crown Counsel, Senior State Counsel, Assistant DPP, Deputy DPP,” she said as she reflected on his remarkable record of service.

According to the head of the Judiciary, Justice Kennard served as DPP in Antigua and Barbuda, where he successfully prosecuted a number of high-profile cases.

As a State Counsel at the DPP Chambers, Justice Cummings-Edwards reminisced, many times she appeared before Justice Kennard in the Supreme Court.

“I recall seeing his anxiety in ensuring that justice is done in all the cases. The aphorism that justice must not only be done but must manifestly appear to be done was infused in all court proceedings and decisions in which he attended.”

She expressed that it was a joy and learning experience to appear before Justice Kennard, whom she noted had an intolerance for

FROM PAGE 9

mediocrity.

“His rulings, directions, and decisions were without frills. They were clear, they were concise, and they were to the point…,” Justice Cummings-Edwards said, adding that he played an integral part in her ascension to the Bench.

Moreover, the Chancellor added that Justice Kennard is credited with having the Court of Appeal sit in the county of Berbice as an itinerant court to hear and determine appeals from both civil and criminal cases.

She also said he is credited with having sittings of the Magistrate’s Court in Kwakwani, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), which alleviated the hardship of residents having to travel many miles by land and sea to the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court, which was the district court for Kwakwani.

In extending condolences to Justice Kennard’s family and friends, she told them that their loved one is in a better place, discussing the law, and that his rich legacy would always remain in their hearts, the courts of Guyana, and the wider Caribbean.

Also delivering remarks at the ceremonial sitting were the Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar AliHack, SC; Senior Counsel Edward Luckhoo, and Senior Counsel K.A. JumanYassin. (G1)

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THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Govt investing heavily in innovative agricultural solutions – Mustapha

…tells FAO of new rice varieties improving yield, quality

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha

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uyana, which was represented by Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha at the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO’s) Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), is well on its way to developing innovative ways to increase food production.

Minister Mustapha made these remarks on Day 3 of the 37th session of the FAO Regional Conference for the LAC in Quito, Ecuador, the opening session of which he chaired. During his presentation, the Minister highlighted the need for countries to be innovative in their approach to agriculture.

“Our country, the Government of Guyana, has been encouraging and investing in innovations with a focus on productivity, improvements, driven by the research and development strengthening, climate resilience, advancing the use of technology, and intensifying improved land and water managing practices,” he said.

“Productivity improvements are driven by research in the following areas: High-yielding rice varieties. A new, high yielding rice variety, GRDB-16, with

the potential of 9 tonnes per hectare, was released. This variety has benefits such as higher yield, only 110 days to maturity, and it can germinate in water up to nine inches,” he said.

Mustapha explained that with this variety in play, the national average for rice cultivation has moved from 39 bags per acre to approximately 60 bags per acre.

Mustapha also spoke of bio-fortified rice, which he said has also improved the quality of rice and its nutritional content.

On the 2nd day of the conference, Minister Mustapha made an impassioned plea to the FAO for more financing for research, and for the increased involvement of the organization in food security matters. According to him, there should be a financial mechanism that makes resources readily and equally available for smart, small, adaptive, and unformed research.

“We would like to see a financial mechanism that makes resources readily available and equally available for small, adaptive, and unformed research targeting small farming communities and indigenous people.

And today, when the world

Cop sues young lawyer for $150M over alleged racist comments

A

young attorney-at-law has been slapped with a multi-million-dollar lawsuit by a Policewoman who has accused him of hurling racist remarks at her while she was performing duties at the home of his father.

Besides seeking $150 million in damages for libel, the Policewoman is asking the Demerara High Court to declare that the young lawyer slandered her name and character by referring to her by certain derogatory terms

on March 20, 2022.

In a Statement of Claim filed on Monday, the cop claimed that she was performing duties at the home of the lawyer’s father when the attorney approached her and chased her off of the property, forcing her to abandon her post and duties.

The Policewoman claims that the young lawyer spoke to her in an aggressive and loud manner while hurling several racist remarks at her.

has been faced with serious problems of climate change, we’ve seen the devastation in some countries,” Minister Mustapha said.

“The entire economy was wiped out because of climate change. I think we’ve come to a point where we have to make a decision on what is necessary for us to move forward,” Mustapha further explained.

These remarks came in support of comments made by St Vincent & the Grenadines’ Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural

Transformation, Industry & Labour, Saboto Caesar, who also maintained that more time, money, and efforts must be allocated towards developing a climate change strategy for the small island developing states (SIDS) in the region, particularly on the importance of the blue and green economies.

Minister Caesar noted, too, that some of the fundamental principles and precepts of the Samoa Pathway should be reintegrated, and he called on the FAO to promote more nature-based

solutions when addressing the issue of food and agriculture.

Minister Caesar further stated that climate change continues to be a serious problem for SIDS in the Caribbean, and called on the FAO to take a stand on the issue.

“Today, climate change is causing serious problems within our countries in the small island developing states, especially in the Caribbean. We are so vulnerable to climate change that when we are now im-

proving our agriculture capacity, it seems that we are taking risks, because of climate change,” he said.

“And we cannot allow one and two countries to dictate the pace or the way forward for us. We are living in these times, we are living in these vulnerable places, we know what we are experiencing, and we are now appealing that the FAO must take strong measures to take a stand on these issues.

Because our future depends on it,” Minister Caesar had said. (G3)

12 NEWS

THURSDAY, MARCH 31,, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Speaker writes Granger on Opposition’s vacancies in National Assembly

Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir

F

ollowing the resignation of two APNU/ AFC Members of Parliament, Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, has written to Head of the Coalition party’s List of Candidates, David Granger, to commence the process of filling the vacancies, which would see the appointment of a new Leader of the Opposition.

Former Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon has officially resigned as an APNU/ AFC Member of Parliament since March 15, while the Coalition’s Nicolette Henry’s resignation takes effect from today, March 31, 2022.

According to Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, the House Speaker is in the process of writing Granger to start the process of appointing the two new MPs. “[Tuesday] I vetted the letter…and the Speaker should’ve signed it… I believe it was signed and dispatched to Mr Granger…

Granger would have to write to the Chief Elections Officer, giving him the two names to be extracted from the list,” the clerk explained.

When asked, Isaacs indicated that there is no timeline within which this needs to be done.

Meanwhile, Chief Elections Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Election Commission (GECOM), Vishnu Persaud, when contacted on Wednesday, indicated that he is yet to receive any correspondence from Granger requesting him to extract two new names from the Opposition’s List.

The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), which is the leading party in the APNU/AFC Coalition, has already insisted that its Leader Aubrey Norton would be appointed as the new Opposition Leader.

Therefore, it is likely that Norton would be appointed to one of the two Opposition vacancies in the National Assembly.

There has been no Opposition Leader in the National Assembly since Harmon resigned from the post on January 26 this year, following mounting pressure from the new PNC Executive.

Though he stepped down as Leader of the Opposition, Harmon had indicated that he would remain a Member of Parliament.

But, earlier this month, he also announced his “intention to resign” from the National Assembly, and formally did so about two weeks later.

Harmon had contested for leadership of the PNC, but lost to Norton, who won by a landslide victory.

Meanwhile, Henry,

Representative of APNU/AFC List of Candidates, David Granger

who served as Education Minister under the David Granger administration, announced her resignation as a Parliamentarian last month, to make way for Norton to join the National Assembly and be appointed Opposition Leader.

While the Dr Irfaan Aliled Government has already indicated its willingness to meet and work with the new Opposition Leader, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall has expressed that it might be a while before the new Opposition Leader is appointed.

“We may be very far away from getting a Leader of the Opposition. Because the Leader of the Opposition, as you may know, is elected by the Opposition in the National Assembly. It is when the Opposition sits, they elect a Leader from among themselves; but you don’t have, right now, the full complement of the Opposition,” Nandlall stated.

The APNU/AFC Coalition accounts for 31 of the 32-seat Parliamentary Opposition, while the Joinder List, comprising of A New and United Guyana (ANUG), the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), and The New Movement (TNM), occupies the remaining seat.

The governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) holds a one-seat majority in the 65-seat House, having won 33 seats.

When the Opposition Leader post became vacant earlier this year, the Joinder List Representative in the National Assembly, LJP Leader Lennox Shuman, had indicated that he would not be participating in the process to elect someone to the position of Leader of the Opposition.

At a press conference earlier this month, PNC

PNC Leader Aubrey Norton

Chairman Shurwayne Holder disclosed that, “The party had made a decision that the party leader will become the Leader of the Opposition…

We had consultations with APNU and AFC. As far as I am concerned, that’s a done deal.”

In addition to Opposition Leader, Norton also has a mandate from the PNC Executive to take up the position of Representative of the List of Candidates for APNU/ AFC – a position which is currently held by Granger, with AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan as the deputy.

Neither Harmon nor Granger was elected to the Central Executive Committee of the party – the highest decision-making body of the PNC. At that press conference earlier this month, it was revealed that Granger has been asked to extract his name from the list for entry into Parliament. (G8)

4 injured as car plunges into city trench

The accident that occurred at Avenue of the Republic

F

our people are currently nursing injuries following an early morning accident that saw a car plunge into the trench along the Avenue of the Republic in Georgetown.

Following that incident, which occurred at about 06:30h on Wednesday, Guyana Fire Service (GFS) officers rushed to the scene to free the persons involved in the accident, who were trapped in the car.

According to the GFS, ranks of the Central Fire Station and Emergency Medical Services responded at the scene, and assisted in removing the four persons who had been trapped in the motor vehicle that was overboard.

The injured persons were extricated and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital for treatment.

At time of the accident, the vehicle, PSS 624, was being driven by a 25-yearold male resident of Dazzle Housing Scheme, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn, who was on

One of the persons who were injured in the accident

the scene, has said he was pleased with the diligent efforts made by firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and the Police in extricating and transporting the injured persons to the hospital.

The Fire Service, in a statement, has appealed to citizens to be cautious on the roadways. “Speeding continues to be one of the leading causes of accidents, some of which claimed the lives of both young and old.

Citizens are therefore urged to buckle up, slow down, and adhere to the traffic laws in

place to ensure safety on the roadways,” the Fire Service has said.

Only a few days ago, Traffic Chief Superintendent Ramesh Ashram called for drivers to be more cautious on the roadways. He said it is not only the duty of the Police to enforce road safety, but it is also the responsibility of the public to be safe on the roadways.

For the year so far, there have been 20 fatal accidents with 16 deaths, compared to last year, which had 24 fatal accidents with 25 deaths.

(G9)

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“People would laugh at me and talk about my size” – weight loss surgery recipient

…as GPHC conducts 1st laparoscopic bariatric surgery

Dr Hemraj Ramcharran and the medical team, including Dr Anu Dev (second from right) and Dr Tariq Jagnarine (third from left) among others that performed the surgery

A

s the Government of Guyana continues to aim toward building a modern, worldclass healthcare system, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) continues to advance medical care by conducting its first-ever laparoscopic bariatric surgery.

On Tuesday, during a press briefing, it was announced that the record-setting surgery was conducted six weeks ago by Dr. Hemraj Ramcharran, an advanced laparoscopic surgeon, and his team, on 32-year-old Teekah Singh,

a mechanic from Industry, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

The patient had been struggling with obesity since childhood, which caused several other health complications. He had initially visited the hospital for another condition when he was placed on a strict diet. After there were little to no results from the diet, he was told of the possibility of weight loss surgery, and he agreed.

Singh, who started the journey with 402 lbs, now weighs 362 lbs, having lost a total of 40lbs within six

weeks. The expected outcome for the patient is that he would weigh only half of his pre-surgery weight in six months, and only onethird of his pre-surgery weight in one year.

Laparoscopic bariatric surgery is a form of weight-loss surgery offered to persons who are obese and cannot lose weight by non-surgical means. Obese persons are those persons with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher.

This form of surgery is performed using a small camera or laparoscope.

There is no long cut (no

Teikah Singh along with doctors and officials of the GPHC

long incision) that is made to enter the stomach.

Laparoscopic bariatric surgery is a minimally invasive surgical technique that involves removing or limiting a section of the stomach and rearranging it.

Persons who have had laparoscopic bariatric surgery eat a lower amount of food, which helps weight loss. The surgery restricts the ability to eat large amounts of food.

In addition, Dr Ramcharran told the media that the surgery has paved the way for the opening of a

surgical clinic at the GPHC very soon.

“This is not the end, this is going to lead to many other things. We are now going to make this a routine, as we are starting a surgical weight loss clinic at GPHC so that persons in Guyana wouldn’t have to travel overseas to get this surgery”, he said.

When asked about the cost of the surgery, Dr Ramcharran said it is very expensive in other countries, but, for now, GPHC is offering it for free.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Guyana Times,

Singh said the journey has been both challenging and rewarding, but he is grateful for the experience. He said that for years he was bullied verbally for being obese, and now he is more confident with the way he looks.

“People would laugh at me and talk about my size, but it had nothing to do with me eating and all that. This surgery is very good, and I have no side effects or complications. I no longer have to be walking on the road for people to call me names”, the man said.

TURN TO PAGE 14

“Women can leave stage of dependence to a stage of independence” – Persaud …as 450 persons graduate from WIIN programme in Region 2

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our hundred and fifty persons in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam), who participated in short courses under the Women’s Innovation and Investment Network (WIIN) programme by the Human Services and Social Security Ministry, were presented with their certificates on Wednesday.

Region Two scored the highest percentage in the country, as residents who registered responded resoundingly with 93 per cent, while the pass rate upon completing the training is 96 per cent. Trainees received certificates in patient care, child care, administrative assistant, introduction to Microsoft Office suite, and essentials of graphic design.

Human Services and Social Security Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud, during her feature address, expressed a desire to see continued progress in Essequibo, and would be doing everything possible to have women and girls empowered and financially independent not only in the region but across the country.

“WIIN is not an acronym

Human Services and Social Security Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud Minister with some of the graduates of the WIIN programme

that was chosen lightly.

WIIN was chosen, because it represents everything that I wanted for women to see for themselves... The ability to cross the finish line and the ability at the end of that journey to say I am perseverant, committed and I am accomplished,” the Minister explained.

She added that when the

programme was conceptualised, the main aim was for participants to leave the programme feeling empowered and with a creditable certificate that held value around the world.

Dr Persaud said that the Human Services and Social Security Ministry was investing in women because she believed that women

could move from the stage of dependence to a stage of independence by becoming more confident in themselves.

Meanwhile, she also took the opportunity to congratulate the now empowered and successful women and girls for their effort and time in participating in the technical vocational training pro-

gramme.

WIIN is being rolled out through the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute (GWLI) and Senior Training Officer Sanjay Pooran ,who noted that the courses in Essequibo had an extremely positive impact on those who attended the classes.

Even though the courses lasted for just five days, the participants were well equipped to practice what they have learnt by the end.

“WIIN is no mistake... Every aspect even down to the content of the course outline for the courses were viewed intensively by Minister [Persaud] to ensure quality and content,” Pooran told the girls and women.

Although WIIN targets women and girls, the team in Region Two did not restrict males from joining the programmes. Men and boys who graduated from the WIIN programme were full of excitement and enthusiasm when their names were called to receive their certificates.

During an interview with one of the awardees, Ashley Singh, she noted that she learnt about the courses through social media and

decided to enrol since she was not employed.

“I enrolled because I’m not working and tired applying and getting turned down... However, I saw the courses on Facebook and applied, and thank God I got through. With this certificate I got, I am sure it will assist me in the future,” Singh said.

WIIN can be accessed both online and in-person across the country and seeks to provide women and girls with economic benefits, along with an enabling environment to help them boost their self-confidence and individuality.

WIIN will also include the provision of functional, business, social, and legislative literacy, and will cover areas in anger management, emotional intelligence, coping mechanisms, as well as information on support systems from the Ministry.

Attending the graduation were Regional Chairperson Vilma De Silva; Regional Vice Chairman Humace Oodit, Prime Ministerial Representative Arnold Adams, GWLI Senior Training Officer Sanjay Pooran and Parasram Singh. (G14)

14 NEWS

THURSDAY, MARCH 31,, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Child playing with lighter sets Berbice house on fire

…neighbour rescues elderly man, children from burning building

Kenrick Reid, the man who rescued the pensioner and the four children from the burning building

Heeralall Bishunlall, his son Sumrire Bishunlall, daughter-in-law Sumrire Rumitar, and his four grandchildren

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65-year-old man who is unable to walk after suffering from a stroke and his four young grandchildren were on Wednesday morning rescued by a neighbour who noticed that their home was on fire.

At time of the midmorning fire at Blairmont, Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice), the children’s parents were not at home. 22-year-old Sumrire Rumitar had gone to the clinic, while her husband, 28-year-old cane harvester Seeraj Bishunlall,

was at work. Immediate neighbours were also not at home.

The 65-year-old man was calling for help after he had got to the door and could not make it any further. There was also a three-month-old baby in the burning building, along with three other children, the eldest of whom was five years old.

Kenrick Reid said he saw smoke emanating from the two-bedroom house, and went to render assistance.

Initially, when he saw the smoke, he did not think

it might be something he needed to pay attention to, and he went to the back of his yard. When he returned, the smoke was more intense.

“I run across and reach him just by the door, because he got a stroke and he can’t walk, and I hustle to get him out, and while looking for water, I could find no water to out the fire. The fire was only in one room at that time. I was trying, but I could not do better, so I bring him out and put him to sit on the road, and bring out the children,” Reid revealed.

According to Rumitar, she had gone to the health centre for a vaccine, and after receiving a message that her house was on fire, she ran out of the Health Centre and got a car to take her home. By the time she ar-

The home on fire

rived, the building was totally destroyed.

Upon inquiries, she was told by her father-in-law that her five-year-old had informed his grandfather that there was a fire in one of the bedrooms, and the pensioner had tried to raise an alarm.

Meanwhile, her husband Seeraj Bishunlall told this publication that he had completed his chores for the day, and was sitting in the lorry waiting to be transported home when one of his colleagues told him there was a fire at his home.

“An me nah believe, and when me come then me see that the house bun down,” he explained in his own way.

Meanwhile, in a release, the Guyana Fire Service

said it responded with a fire tender from the Onverwagt Fire Station (GFS), and was assisted by the Blairmont Estate fire jeep.

According to the GFS, the supposed cause of the fire is a child playing with a lighter, which ignited a mattress and spread through the entire building.

According to the release, citizens are being urged to take the necessary precautions to avoid these tragedies.

“Make use of fire prevention and firefighting devices such as smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.

If these items cannot be afforded or sourced, ensure there is a bucket of sand or adequate water within reach in the event of a fire.

Keep fire starters out of the reach of children, and educate them on the dangers of playing with them. Pay keen attention to children, and be aware of your surroundings,” the release said in part.

The release reminded that persons should call the GFS as soon as a fire occurs, noting that this would increase the possibility of extinguishing and containing the fire in a timely manner, as well as prevent the loss of life and/or property.

Meanwhile, Bishunlall has said he does not know where his family would be sleeping tonight. Persons who wish to assist the family can contact them on telephone number (592) 6607968. (G4)

“People would laugh...”

So far, Singh is currently only drinking liquid, and will be eased onto solid foods soon. He said even with the small intake, he hardly feels hungry, and is awaiting further results. He is encouraging persons who are obese and are interested in losing weight to take the leap, because, according to him, it would be worth it.

Meanwhile, the hospital has noted that Singh’s continued loss is dependent on him following medical advice and adhering to certain behavioural changes.

While this is the first lap-

aroscopic bariatric surgery done in Guyana, open bariatric surgery has been done previously. This same team was responsible late last year for another “first”. Late in 2021, the same surgical team completed the first-ever laparoscopic adrenalectomy surgery.

Three patients benefited. One was a patient with a condition called pheochromocytoma, leading to uncontrolled blood pressure. The second patient was one with gallbladder cancer, needing special surgery known as cholecystectomy and hepa-

FROM PAGE 13

tectomy. The third patient had a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).

Following announcement of the successful surgery, Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony extend congratulations to the entire team and promised that, while every effort is being made to ensure high-quality basic service is provided to every citizen, he is also mindful that certain high-level, tertiary healthcare interventions become available for the citizens of Guyana.

Only recently, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, announced that Guyana’s health sector would see a $73B injection for 2022.

This is a part of the Government’s drive to build a modern, worldclass healthcare system in Guyana.

The intention, according to the Minister, is not only to ensure the country’s health system meets the needs of Guyanese, but also to transform health into an export service through medical tourism. (G9)

NEWS

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THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Businessman Nazar "Shell" Mohamed gives back to alma mater

Nazar "Shell" Mohamed and teachers of the Johanna Cecelia Secondary School

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roprietor of Mohamed’s Enterprise, Nazar "Shell" Mohamed, continues his humanitarian work, this time he has refurbished the information technology lab at his former secondary school, Johanna Cecelia on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

The facility, which was refurbished at a tune of $4 million, was officially handed over to the headteacher in the presence of regional education officials and students. This facility now boasts eight 17-inch desktop computers, two laptops, printers, and the overall refurbishing of the room.

The businessman, who is no stranger to the community, has been extremely happy to assist the children of the school, who ultimately would be the beneficiaries.

In fact, during his speech, he said the combined efforts of community leaders, parents, teachers and past students made the school what it is today.

“Children come and go, but this school is a lasting presence. In my own case, I feel as though I am here forever. Starting as a young boy almost 50 years ago, I can recall my friends and I roaming these halls, sitting in these class rooms, receiving punishment and learning discipline as well as important life lessons that are engraved in my mind eternally. I remember well the excitement, thrill, anxiety and fear. I remember a time of strict discipline, when children sat with their arms folded, listening to the gems of wisdom pouring forth.

Often, large families dressed in hand-me-downs, barefoot, spoke only when they were addressed. Not that long ago, I’ve lived through tomfoolery and vibrancy, and most importantly, fulfilling my academic goals”, the businessman reflected.

He stated that teachers must be commended for instilling the necessary knowledge, strengthening their beliefs, and laying the foun-

dation.

“The strongest leaders can take responsibility for supporting and developing more schools, and allowing schools to focus on what truly matters - teaching, learning, and a curriculum that is based on success.

We have seen, throughout the pandemic, how schools have struggled to proceed with the education of children. The style of teaching we once experienced is long gone, and I worry for the future generation”, Mohamed added.

He recalled that students of his time were serious about the future. “We made sure to work through blood, sweat and tears, while having fun and making fond memories. We switched the tassels on our caps and became alumni, bound together by that special experience that is Johanna Cecelia, and a part of this school's living memory.”

Further, he stated, offering a helping hand does not mean that it should be re-

lights and solar panels. He raised an alarm and contacted Vigilance Police Station, causing the suspect to flee.

A search was conducted in the area and the suspect was arrested with two solar panels in his possession.

He was taken to the Vigilance Police Station where he was detained and the panels were lodged.

Investigations are in progress.

Only a few days ago, a man was arrested and charged with stealing from the Trinity Methodist Church at Leopold Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown.

The man, Jameer Shaw, was charged with stealing

a TV, amplifiers, and other items.

Based on information received between March 22 and March 23, 2022, at Leopold Street, the man broke into the Methodist Church and stole several items, which were the property of the church.

They included a 50inch television, valued at $120,000; a DVR, valued at $42,000; a Gemini amplifier valued at $45,000; an LG amplifier valued at $40,000; a hard drive worth $24,000, and two wall fans worth $30,000.

He was subsequently arrested and charged.

Man nabbed after stealing security lights

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olice in Regional Division 4C, East Coast Demerara (ECD), have a man in custody after he was caught removing security lights.

It was reported that the simple larceny was committed between 18:00h on Monday and 06:30h on Tuesday at Fanta Foods located at Coldingen, ECD. The 28-year-old suspect, who hails from Strathspey, ECD, allegedly stole eight pairs of security lights and eight pairs of solar panels (value unknown).

Police said the proprietor of Fanta Foods went to his business place where he saw the suspect removing the

The computer laboratory which received a donation of eight 17-inch desktop computers, two laptops and printers

paid financially, but rather by working hard. In this light, he charged those students present to concentrate on their studies.

“Always do your homework, maintain and care for these new computers and necessary equipment, and most importantly, respect your teachers. We expect you to attend school and work hard towards your future.

While doing so, you must remember that, after your departure, there will be a new batch of pupils who expect functioning equipment and tools to proceed with their education just as you did.”

He quoted Mahatma Gandhi’s “The difference between what we do and what

we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems.”

The businessman thanked the Government of Guyana, the Education Ministry, Regional officials, and headteacher of the Johana Cecelia Secondary for giving him the opportunity to make the donation. In addition, he thanked Rafeek Riaz Khan of RIAZ COMPUTERS for installing the systems.

Mohamed was born on March 27, 1953 in Johanna Cecelia, Essequibo Coast.

He completed his primary and secondary education there, after which he studied privately and was successful at the Cambridge ‘O’ Level

and ‘A’ Level examinations.

He started his career as a sawmill worker, and then joined the Public Service, where he worked for ten years.

Mohamed then rose to the level of Personnel Officer before resigning and venturing into Private Sector employment. There he spent two years. Since that time, he spent forty years as a Private Entrepreneur.

Today, the philanthropist is now the managing director of five companies.

He has assisted many to become lawyers, doctors and many other professionals in Guyana and further afield.

The father of three also has six grandchildren.

16 NEWS Scores of women-led businesses turn out at "We Lift" Essequibo THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

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ore than 50 women-led businesses were given the opportunity to promote themselves on Wednesday at the first-ever “We Lift Essequibo" expo organised by the Human Services and Social Security Ministry, in collaboration with the Regional Gender Affairs Committee of Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

The event was held at the Anna Regina Town Council, where the women-led small businesses were able to showcase their products and build relationships with each other and customers, during the event which was held in observance of Women's History Month under the theme “Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow”.

Businesses on display ranged from food and wellness outlets to those focusing on make-up, face painting, craft, beauty products, and fashion designing, as well as pet shops and clinics.

Human Services and Social Security Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud, in her feature address, called for all to be a part of the fight for gender equality to accelerate the pace and am-

Glynis Drakes, owner of “Tasty Things by Glynis”

plify the voices working for change.

"The programme featured significant contributions from girls and young women who have held their own in male-dominated spheres. By taking this initiative to Essequibo, I hope that the same enthusiasm and momentum can be generated when it comes to accelerating opportunities for women’s empowerment, growth, and the start of business, and promotion of gender equality and equity,” the Minister said.

She stated that “We Lift" should be supported by all

Essequibians who should attend to show their support for the work and efforts of women in the Region. She also noted that the Human Services Ministry would continue to provide platforms to highlight the offerings of Guyanese women under the tagline “#made

by Guyanese women for the world”.

"I feel it is imperative to give wider exposure to women and their businesses as it will aid in raising their visibility and increase their opportunities in diverse ways. Essequibo is our regional foray and we will continue to do this in the regions in the future,” she added.

Speaking with Guyana Times at her booth, Priya Nauth, the owner of Shivanie Garment Construction, said that while there remained a lot of challenges to women being part of the Private Sector, events such as “We Lift” provide them with more opportunities to be valued.

Glynis Drakes, the owner of "Tasty Things by Glynis", a catering service for every occasion, which retails pastry items, could not stop gushing after she was one of the exhibitors to sell all of her products.

Thanks to the expo, she has now widened her customer base.

Priya Nauth, owner of Shivanie Garment Construction

“It takes time to prepare these pastries which include cheese rolls, cupcakes, cookies, cheese pie, and many more on the table – was very tiring. I do not regret the time and effort it take, because the expo was a great accomplishment for me, and I am 100 per cent sure that now people who do not know me and bought from me will now support my business. I

am happy for this expo as it widens my customers," she said.

In attendance were Regional Chairperson Vilma De Silva, Regional Gender Affairs Committee Chairperson Verina Rasheed, Regional Commander Denise Griffith and Regional Executive Officer Susan Saywak. (G14)

Guyana to embark on sustainable hatching egg industry

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ith Guyana importing approximately 52 million eggs each year at a cost of some $350 million, President Dr Irfaan Ali said the country would soon launch its own hatching egg industry, to support the local poultry sector.

Speaking at the launch of the Black Belly Sheep Project in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) on Sunday, Dr Ali said: “That is a low-hanging fruit, that is a market we can capture”.

“We are now looking at a project that will enable us to produce our hatching eggs all here in Guyana locally.”

Government will work with communities like St

Cuthbert’s Mission to be part of the massive project.

This, he said, will ensure there is sustainable production of hatching eggs locally and eventually for the export market.

“These are the initiatives that are transformative in nature. These are

the initiatives that will propel the economy; these are the initiatives that will bring direct benefits to the farmer and enhance our diversification programme; these are some of the initiatives that will ensure our economy is built on many pillars,” President

Ali stated.

He said Government has started working with the large poultry producers in a consortium to produce their own corn and soya for the production of feed to support the poultry industry. This is part of Government’s plan for Guyana to become self-sufficient, in the face of rising food prices and supply shortages.

Since taking office, Government has placed heavy emphasis on developing the agricultural sector by funding a number of initiatives. Budget 2022 has allotted $28.7 billion to ensure the rapid growth and development of Guyana’s agricultural sector.

NEWS

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THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Boy, 7, drowns Tunisia’s President dissolves in family’s Parliament, extending power grab backyard pool T unisia’s President Kais Saied has announced on State TV that he was dissolving the country’s Parliament, eight months after suspending it in a July power grab.

“Today, at this historic moment, I announce the dissolution of the Assembly of Representatives of the people, to preserve the State and its institutions,” he said on Wednesday.

He made the announcement at a meeting of the National Security Council, hours after parliamentari-

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saiah Josiah was out of his mother’s sight for 10 minutes.

In those precious moments, however, the sevenyear-old boy drowned in a pool behind his grandparents’ home in Tableland, Trinidad.

Asaiah’s mother Ayanna Josiah, 41, of Rienzi Housing Development, Couva, was visiting her parents’ home at Church Road, Warrell Road, Roberts Village, when the tragedy occurred on Monday.

Asaiah was the nephew of NAMDEVCO Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rayber Bowen.

Moruga/Tableland Member of Parliament (MP) Michelle Benjamin, who spoke with one of the child’s relatives following the incident, told Guardian Media that the bad roads allegedly delayed the ambulance responding to the incident and now they would never know if his life could have been saved.

According to a Police report, Asaiah, a Standard One student, went to the back of the house to play around 13:30h. When his mother checked on him 10 minutes later, however, she discovered him at the bottom of the family’s swimming pool. She

Asaiah Josiah

raised an alarm and he was pulled out of the pool, but efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.

Some time later, the EHS ambulance arrived and the medical technicians performed CPR. On the way to the Princes Town Health Facility, however, the child was unresponsive in the ambulance. When the medical technicians got to the health facility, police said doctors there worked feverishly on him but he was pronounced dead around 16:30h.

Asaiah was the first of Josiah’s three children.

(Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

ans held a plenary session online and voted through a bill against his “exceptional measures”.

Following the online session, Tunisia’s Justice Minister, Leila Jeffal, asked the Attorney General to open a judicial investigation against members of a suspended Parliament on charges of “conspiring against state security”, local media said.

Saied denounced Parliament’s move as a “coup attempt” and said those responsible had “be-

trayed” the nation.

Tunisian parliamentarians voted on Wednesday to repeal presidential decrees suspending their chamber and giving Saied near-total power, openly defying him in an online session, although he dismissed their meeting as illegal.

The former law professor, elected in 2019 amid public anger against the political class, on July 25 last year sacked the Government, froze the assembly and seized wide-ranging powers.

He later gave himself powers to rule and legislate by decree and seized control over the Judiciary in what rivals saw as further blows to democracy in the birthplace of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.

Saied’s moves were initially welcomed by many Tunisians sick of the often-deadlocked political system that emerged from the revolution that overthrew long-time leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Antiguan man sentenced to 18 years for raping 11-year-old daughter

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n Antiguan High Court Judge has sentenced a father to 18 years in jail after he admitted to raping his 11-year-old daughter.

The court heard that the child was raped at least three times by the 40-yearold man between 2018 and 2019.

“I don’t know what got into you…you are clearly a person in need of some form of psychiatric treatment and I hope you will get it and you will come to terms with yourself and ask for forgiveness,” Justice Stanley John said while imposing the sentence on Tuesday.

The court was told that in February 2018, the com-

plainant and her brother were removed from the custody of their mother and placed with the defendant by welfare officials owing to allegations that they were being beaten by their mother.

The child went to live with her father who was in a relationship and one day while his partner was not home, he entered the child’s room and proceeded to have sex with her.

He then threatened to beat her if she told anyone, so she kept silent. In August 2019, the accused raped his daughter again in the same manner, repeating the threats.

The court heard that the incestuous activity con-

tinued that same night when the victim and her step-mother were sleeping in the same bed and the accused climbed in between them.

The next morning, the woman asked the child if her father had sex with her and she confessed, and when confronted, he told the girlfriend that he did so because she was not having a sexual relationship with him.

While the stepmother did not report the matter to the Police, she moved out of the home and the matter came to public attention during a quarrel between the two ex-lovers.

A person who had witnessed the quarrel informed

the child’s mother of the situation and she reported the matter to the Police.

The father, whose name is not being disclosed to protect the child, admitted to three counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, a plea which afforded him the customary one-third reduction in the 30-year sentence that Justice John started with.

The convicted man was given 18 years for each count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. The sentences will run concurrently.

“I hope that this type of situation never comes before the court of Antigua and Barbuda again,” the Judge said. (Excerpt from CMC)

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guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022

Regional

Brazil Police say Bolsonaro Peru should not release jailed ex-President Fujimori, committed no crime in says Inter-American Court interference probe

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ederal Police in Brazil looking into whether President Jair Bolsonaro interfered in Police work have cleared him of committing any crime, according to a document sent to the country’s Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The document also exempted from criminal liability former Justice Minister Sergio Moro, who accused the President of meddling in the Federal Police by replacing its Director General in April 2020 to protect his sons from investigations.

At the time, one of Bolsonaro’s sons was facing an investigation in Rio de Janeiro by State Prosecutors for suspicious

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro

financial transactions. The son, Flavio Bolsonaro, has denied wrongdoing, but has not yet been cleared of the charges.

The probe was opened by the Supreme Court two years ago at the request of Brazil’s top public Prosecutor Augusto Aras.

Aras wanted to know if either Bolsonaro – by trying to influence the work of the Federal Police – and Moro – by making the accusation – had committed crimes.

The document said it was the President’s prerogative to appoint and dismiss the Head of the federal Police.

It is now up to Aras to decide whether to shelve the investigation. A spokesperson for his office said it had not received word of the Police findings and thus could not comment. (Excerpt from Reuters)

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he Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) on Wednesday ruled that Peru should not release jailed former President Alberto Fujimori until further notice, according to a decision shared with Reuters by a human rights activist.

The decision says the IACHR “requests the Peruvian State...abstain” from freeing Fujimori until the court can further review the issue.

Peru’s top Constitutional Court ruled earlier this month that Fujimori, 83, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence for human rights violations, should have a controversial 2017

presidential pardon reinstated.

Fujimori was expected to leave prison this week, although Reuters has reported that human rights activists had petitioned the IACHR in an attempt to overturn the local court decision.

The initial pardon was overturned in 2018 as a result of the IACHR’s involvement.

Peru is a member of the IACHR and has in the past obeyed its rulings, which have the power to override any local order. Peru’s current Government has yet to comment on the decision.

Gloria Cano, head of the legal department at hu-

man rights group Aprodeh, said the effects of the ruling should be immediate.

Aprodeh was one of the organisations that challenged the reinstatement of Fujimori’s pardon with the IACHR and Cano shared the decision with Reuters.

“The IACHR Court’s provisional measure was foreseeable,” said Fujimori’s lawyer Cesar Nakazaki on Twitter.

Fujimori is a deeply polarising figure in Peru, hailed by some for restoring economic stability and defeating the brutal Shining Path Maoist guerrilla group.

But he was also condemned for his violent methods.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Woman scratches and wins Cubans split over more liberal family code as referendum nears J$5M from J$500 ticket

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woman became an instant millionaire after purchasing a J$500 Supreme Scratchaz ticket.

She won the largest cash prize of J$5 million.

Beaming after claiming her winnings, the winner said: “I am always buying Supreme Ventures games so when the Scratchaz came out, I started buying those tickets. I hoped to win some money but didn’t expect to win $5 million. I am overjoyed!”

With Supreme Scratchaz, customers have a selection of five different instant win scratch games ranging from J$100 – J$500 per card and will have the chance to win up to J$5 million instantly.

The game is available at all Supreme Ventures retailers islandwide.

Wednesday’s Supreme Scratchaz winner shows off her winning ticket (Photo contributed)

Speaking during the handover, CEO of Prime Sports Jamaica, a member of the Supreme Ventures group, Xesus Johnston said: “With Supreme Scratchaz, our customers have the chance to win nuff, win often and win right away. There are

many more millions to be won and we look forward to celebrating with even more Jamaicans who will see their lives change in an instant with just one Supreme Scratchaz ticket.”

(Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Holness to meet with US Vice President, reports say

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amaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness is expected to hold talks with United States Vice President, Kamala Harris during a four-day “working” visit, according to US news media reports.

A brief Government statement issued in Kingston said that Holness, who left the Caribbean island on Tuesday, “is expected to meet with high-level officials within the US Government”.

It said he would also “have discussions with the Diaspora”, before his return on April 3.

But media reports in the US said that Holness was expected to meet with

Jamaica’s Prime Andrew Holness

Minister

Harris, the daughter of a Jamaican parent.

The Miami Herald newspaper reported that Harris would “host

Jamaica’s Prime Minister at the White House on Wednesday as part of an effort to improve the United States’ relationship with Caribbean nations”.

It said that Holness is the second Caribbean leader to visit Harris in Washington, adding that “the bilateral meeting coincides with the 60th anniversary year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Jamaica and the United States”.

Holness will be the first Jamaican leader to visit the White House since a 1995 working visit by former Jamaican Prime Minister PJ Patterson.

(CMC)

uba’s communist Government is seeking to rally support for a new family code that would open the door to gay marriage and boost women’s rights, but experts and a recent survey suggest an upcoming referendum vote may not provide a rubber stamp.

Tepid support for the reforms, which clash with the island’s entrenched “machista” culture, threatens to hand State-backed supporters a defeat amid a Government push to encourage open and frank debate.

The proposed 100-page code, under scrutiny in townhall style meetings throughout Cuba, groups together a swathe of new regulations on family conduct. It overhauls several 1975 laws from the era of former Cuban President Fidel Castro.

Castro in 2010 acknowledged the persecution of gays on the island, who were rounded up shortly after his 1959 revolution and placed in forced labour camps. Castro took personal responsibility and called

Activist Yusinea Peraza (right) campaigns on the street in Havana, Cuba, March 23, 2022

it a “great injustice”.

The new code would legalise same sex marriage and civil unions, allow such couples to adopt children, double down on women’s rights, and promote equal sharing of domestic responsibilities. It also adds such novelties as prenuptial agreements and assisted pregnancy.

Parents would have “responsibility” instead of “custody” of children, and be required to be “respectful of the dignity and physical and mental integrity of children and adolescents”.

The code repeatedly states parents and courts should grant maturing offspring more say over their lives.

But the outcome of the referendum vote, slated for sometime this fall, is far from certain.

The Cuban Roman Catholic Church has lashed out against gay marriage, saying the proposal is riddled with “gender ideology” that threatens parental authority and would lead to “indoctrination of children in schools without parental consent”.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

COVID-era order blocking migrants at US-Mexico border to end – sources

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S health officials are planning to end a sweeping, pandemic-related expulsion policy that has effectively closed down the US asylum system at the border with Mexico

by May 23, a US official familiar with the matter told Reuters, adding that the decision had not yet been finalised.

A draft notice by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that the so-called Title 42 order blocking asylum seekers was no longer needed to protect US citizens from

COVID-19 and that the May 23 date would give border authorities time to prepare for its end, the official said.

A second US official told Reuters the CDC was set to lift the order as early as Thursday with a delayed effective date of a month or longer. Both officials requested anonymity to discuss internal planning.

Leading Democrats, medical experts and the United Nations have urged the United States to end Title 42, but Republicans argue it will encourage more migrants to enter illegally

at a time when border crossings are already breaking records.

The order was put in place in March 2020 during the administration of former Republican President Donald Trump to curb the spread of coronavirus in crowded border facilities.

Since then, more than a million migrants apprehended at the border have been rapidly expelled to Mexico or other countries, often within hours of being caught and without a chance to ask for refuge in the United States.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022

19

Around the World

OILNEWS OIL NEWS Oil up 3% on tight supply, prospects of new Russia sanctions

O

il prices gained about three per cent on Wednesday as another US crude stock drawdown indicated tight supplies and investors worried about new Western sanctions against Moscow with Russian forces continuing to bomb the outskirts of Ukraine's capital.

On Tuesday, Russia promised to scale down operations around Kyiv in what the West dismissed as a ploy to regroup by invaders suffering heavy losses.

"After being fooled once, many traders that sold contracts in response to the peace talks are unlikely to make the same mistake the next time a Russia-Ukraine meeting is followed by optimistic comments," said Jim Ritterbusch, President of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Illinois.

Brent futures rose US$3.22, or 2.9 per cent, to settle at US$113.45 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose US$3.58, or 3.4 per cent, to settle at US$107.82.

US crude stockpiles fell by a bigger-than-expected 3.4 million barrels last week, cutting inventories in the world's top consumer to 410 million barrels, their lowest since September 2018, Government data showed.

"U.S. crude inventories have shown another draw despite production ticking higher and yet one more solid SPR (Strategic Petroleum Reserve) release into commercial inventories," said Matt Smith, lead oil analyst at Kpler, noting the crude draw was driven by rising refining activity.

After seven weeks of holding steady, US crude output inched up 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) last week to 11.7 million bpd, while crude stocks in SPR fell to their lowest since May 2002, and Gulf Coast refinery utilisation rose to its highest since January 2020.

Price gains were limited by surprise builds in US gasoline and distillate stocks last week and lower demand for both products, traders said. (Reuters)

Russia bombs Ukraine cities, despite pledge to pull back from Kyiv

R

ussian forces bombarded the outskirts of Kyiv and a besieged city in northern Ukraine on Wednesday after promising to reduce attacks there in what the West dismissed as a ploy by Moscow to stem its heavy losses and regroup for other offensives.

Nearly five weeks into an invasion in which Russia has failed to capture any major city, the top United Nations human rights official said Moscow had bombed 50 hospitals as well as homes and schools across Ukraine in what may amount to war crimes.

Ukrainian officials called Russia out for having said on Tuesday it would curtail operations near the capital Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv "to increase mutual trust" for peace talks.

"It's not true," Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a video address to European Union regional officials.

"The whole night we listened to sirens, to rocket attacks and we listened to huge explosions east of Kyiv and north of Kyiv. There are immense battles there, people died, still die."

Intensified bombardment could be heard in Kyiv on

An armoured convoy of pro-Russian troops in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict on a road leading to the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, March 28, 2022

Wednesday morning from suburbs where Ukrainian forces have regained territory in recent days. Windows rattled from the relentless artillery on its outskirts.

Southeast of Irpin, a Kyiv suburb which has seen intense fighting for weeks, frequent shelling and ordnance exploding on the ground and in the air could be heard. Ukrainians evacuating spoke of heavy shelling north of Irpin and shells landing in Irpin itself.

Ukraine and Western leaders had cautioned that Moscow's apparent peace gesture at Tuesday's talks

Hong Kong: Top UK Judges S Korea says N Korea staged resign from highest court “largest ICBM” fakery to recover from failed test

Stocks rally fizzles, bond markets ponder risks for US economy

T

he US and European equities rally wavered on Wednesday as investors reviewed economic and geopolitical risks, while oil prices jumped more than US$2 on the prospect of more Russian sanctions.

The breather in stocks followed three to four straight days of gains that more than erased losses sustained when Russia invaded Ukraine five weeks ago, and came as bond investors wondered whether the US Federal Reserve's policy tightening could harm the world's biggest economy over the longer term.

A key part of the US yield curve briefly inverted on Tuesday in what is widely viewed as a harbinger of a recession, although it has since reverted.

"We see further equity upside medium term given a robust growth picture, low bar for first-quarter earnings, and narrowing

credit spreads," analysts at JP Morgan's Global Markets Strategy said.

"We see too much negativity around the Fed since the start of Fed tightening cycles proved positive for equities historically, and policy is easing in Japan and China."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.19 per cent, the S&P 500 fell 0.63 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite shed 1.2 per cent.

Europe's broad Euro STOXX 600 lost 0.4 per cent, while the MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 50 countries, eased 0.32 per cent.

The widely-tracked yield curve showing the difference between two- and 10year US Treasury yields bounced back to 4 basis points on Wednesday. It had briefly inverted to minus 0.03 of a basis point on Tuesday for the first time since September 2019.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

in Istanbul was a cover for reorganising forces that had failed to take Kyiv.

Russia said on Wednesday its forces had achieved their objectives near Kyiv and Chernihiv and were regrouping to focus on the "liberation" of the breakaway eastern Donbas region. r The Pentagon said that Russia had started to reposition under a fifth of its forces arrayed around Kyiv, but warned Moscow was expected to refit and resupply them for redeployment.

Western sanctions imposed on Russia as punishment for its invasion have

largely isolated its economy from world trade, but Moscow is still the biggest supplier of oil and gas to Europe. Russia's new demand for payment in roubles, rejected by the West, has raised fears of energy shortages and heightened recessionary risks in Europe.

Germany, Russia's biggest gas customer, declared an "early warning" on Wednesday of a possible emergency if Russia were to cut off supplies. Economy Minister Robert Habeck urged people to reduce consumption, saying "every kilowatt-hour counts".

Russian sources told Reuters it might keep the energy contract currency as is, with final payment in roubles.

Floating a potential compromise, Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that payments could be made in euros and sent to Gazprombank, which would convert the money to roubles, a German Government spokesperson said.

Gazprombank is one of the main channels for payments for Russian oil and gas. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal has ruled on many of the territory's highest-profile cases

T

he United Kingdom has announced that two of its Supreme Court Judges would no longer be sitting on Hong Kong's top court.

The Judges said the threat to civil liberties had made their role on Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal untenable.

Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam has responded with "regret and disappointment" to the resignations.

But the UK Government supports the decision, and says the situation in the territory has now reached "a tipping point".

In 2020, China introduced a national security law that curtailed freedom of speech and made it easier to punish protesters in Hong Kong.

UK Supreme Court

President Lord Robert Reed said he and Lord Patrick Hodge were resigning from the court over the threat to civil freedoms posed by the new law.

"The Judges of the Supreme Court cannot continue to sit in Hong Kong without appearing to endorse an administration which has departed from values of political freedom, and freedom of expression," Lord Reed said.

The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal hears many of the territory's highest profile cases, often ruling on key questions over civil and political liberties.

Senior British Judges have sat on the court since 1997 as part of an agreement when Hong Kong was handed over to China by the UK. (Excerpt from BBC News)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks next to what State media reports is the "Hwasong-17" intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on its launch vehicle in this undated photo released on March 25, 2022 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)

S

outh Korea's military has said North Korea's largest missile test yet used an older, smaller intercontinental ballistic missile, and not the massive new Hwasong-17 ICBM, in part to try to head off negative domestic reaction to a failed launch.

South Korean and US officials have concluded that the March 24 launch appears to have been a Hwasong-15 ICBM, a Defence Ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Washington has not yet publicly weighed in, with

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby telling reporters on Tuesday that the test was still being analysed.

North Korea first testfired the Hwasong-15 in November 2017, before imposing a moratorium on ICBM testing that ended with last week's launch.

Open-source analysts noted discrepancies in video and photos released by North Korean State media after that launch, saying shadows, weather, and other factors suggested it was from an earlier test, possibly a failed launch on March 16. (Excerpt from Reuters)

20

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022

guyanatimesgy.com

DAILY HOROSCOPES

ARCHIE

Intelligence and persuasiveness will be your tickets to success. Express your thoughts and use your experience to get others to see things your way. Personal gain is apparent.

(March 21-April 19) Put your energy where it counts.

How much you accomplish will determine what happens next. Bold action will ward off criticism and complaints.

Play to win, but be scrupulous at all times.

DILBERT (April 20-May 20)

Keep your life simple, your plans doable and your expenditures reasonable.

The decisions you make and the information you share will determine how much help you'll receive.

(May 21-June 20) Work alone, or at least avoid conversations about sensitive issues. Getting into a nasty debate won't solve a problem or help you take care of your responsibilities. Pay attention to your duties.

PEANUTS (June 21-July 22)

Pay attention to what others say, and you'll learn a lot about life and what you can do to excel. A partnership nurtured lovingly will enhance your life and encourage future advantages. Romance is favored.

(July 23-Aug. 22) Look for the good in everything and everyone. A positive attitude will help you bring about worthwhile change.

You have more options than you realize.

Discuss your likes and dislikes.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Don't act quickly. Own the stage and set priorities that suit your needs.

Speak from the heart and align yourself with people who share your sentiments. Don't commit to something in haste.

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Step back if you aren't ready to decide. Stay put until you reach a better understanding of potential consequences. Don't be fooled by someone who doesn't share your vision.

SUDOKU (Oct. 24-Nov. 22)

Rely on sources you can trust.

Someone's experience can offer a wealth of information to help you decide what you need to do. Put your emotions aside for the time being.

(Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Do something that excites you. Let your creativity flow, and you'll discover a way to mix what you do well with something that exhilarates you. Avoid people who like to play devil's advocate.

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Stop and think before making a move.

Don't follow in someone's footsteps when doing your own thing is the route to happiness and satisfaction. Think your plan through.

(Jan. 20-Feb. 19) You'll have plenty of ideas, but before you convince others to participate in something, make sure you can provide the results you promise. Abide by rules and regulations.

(Feb. 20-March 20)

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022

21

IPL 2022…

Patel and Karthik help Royal Challengers survive a scare

H

aving lost their opening game of the season despite scoring 205, Royal Challengers Bangalore were in danger of losing again, this time despite bowling their opponents out for 128.

But they pulled through, fighting their way past Kolkata Knight Riders' bowlers on a DY Patil Stadium pitch with variable bounce, as Dinesh Karthik, held back tactically in the batting order, struck the winning blows off his old team-mate Andre Russell, who bowled the final over with a wounded right shoulder.

This has been an IPL of quick pitches with early movement, and fast bowlers have never had it better in the powerplay. It's still early days, of course, but neither their collective average (24.00) nor their economy rate (6.75) in this phase has been bettered in any previous IPL season.

KKR vs RCB ended up being heavily influenced by powerplay wickets, with the two sets of fast bowlers bagging three each in that phase. The difference between the teams, in the end, came down to what came afterwards.

Sent in, and mindful of the significant advantage that dew has given chasing teams this season, KKR's batters kept going hard.

The strategy could have come off on another day, but it backfired on this d a y , because they were bowled out for 128 with seven balls unused.

A tempered approach might have brought them 150, and that might have been a winning total.

Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee reduced RCB to 17 for 3 in their chase, but the smallness of the target allowed RCB to take their time. It allowed S h e r f a n e Rutherford to play the secondslowest IPL innings o f

stroked the first two balls he faced for sublimely timed boundaries, but Umesh had his revenge in his next over, getting one to nip away from Kohli, who fiddled and nicked behind.

In between, Southee squared up Faf du Plessis, and had him caught off the leading edge.

With Willey - promoted to No. 4 - and Rutherford taking their time early on, the powerplay ended with RCB on 36 for 3.

Harshal Patel bowled 2-11, which included two maidens

40 or more balls without fear of putting his team too far behind the asking rate, and it allowed him to add 48 with David Willey at less than a run a ball.

That partnership ensured RCB's early slump didn't turn into a collapse, and that KKR's spinners didn't make the kind of dent that Wanindu Hasaranga had made earlier in the day, while bagging 4 for 20.

Moreover, each time the asking rate got close to uncomfortable, an RCB batter stepped up to play a cameo.

Shahbaz Ahmed hit 27 off 20, then Harshal Patel and Karthik found routes to the boundary when the equation got to 15 off 10.

with another short ball, and KKR ended the powerplay on 44 for 3.

Intent, intent, intent KKR's response to those early wickets was to promote Sunil Narine as a postpowerplay pinch-hitter. And the hitting wasn't to come only from his end. Shreyas Iyer took on Hasaranga in the first over with the field spread out, and picked out long-on. This didn't temper Narine's approach he flat-batted Akash for a four down the ground, and topedged him for a six over the keeper's head, before being dismissed by Hasaranga while miscuing another attempted big hit.

Hasaranga then bowled Short ball does the Sheldon Jackson with the first ball using a brilliant, dipping early damage RCB went into this match googly, but even at six down, with four fast bowlers, and KKR weren't relenting. Sam it turned out they had read Billings picked out long-on in the surface well. Akash Deep Harshal's first over, leaving made two early Russell as the only recognised incisions batter left.

Russell hit Shahbaz for a with his pair of sixes in the 13th over, before Harshal removed him in the 14th, frustrating him with a series of short balls, denying bouncers him anything in his hitting arc, to the and finding his edge with one l e f t - that bounced a little more than expected.

Southee holed out in the next over, to leave KKR in danger of being bowled out within the middle overs, but Umesh Yadav and Varun Sherfane Rutherford scored Chakravarthy ensured the a patient 28 off 40 deliveries innings stretched into the 19th, putting on 27 off 26 hander, angling balls, the fourth-highest 10th across them wicket stand in the IPL. and not always reaching them at Umesh and Southee go a predictable pace into Test-match mode or height. That was it With extra bounce and a for Venkatesh Iyer and bit of seam movement in the Nitish Rana. corridor, Umesh found Anuj Mohammed Siraj had Rawat's edge with the second Ajinkya Rahane caught on ball of the RCB innings. the square-leg boundary Virat Kohli came in and

Chakravarthy, but not before hitting another six, stepping out to meet the ball on the full and launching it over the on-side.

Harshal and Karthik finish it off S h a h b a z ' s Dinesh Karthik and Harshal Patel dismissal and Karthik's celebrated the winning moment entry brought Narine straight back into the work in the field contributed attack, and RCB played out his to both dismissals: the agile final over carefully, taking just Jackson, diving to his right to four singles from it. With 24 grab an inside-edge inches needed off 18, they seemed off the ground, helped send Narine tightens the screws in control, but KKR made an back Rutherford; and Russell, Chakravarthy endured a attacking bowling change, turning around and running rare bad day, dragging the bringing Southee on in the back from mid-off, took a ball too short on occasion, 18th. It may have been forced, superbly judged catch when and offering a little too much with Russell's troublesome Hasaranga miscued a hit over width, but Narine was his shoulder not letting him bowl the infield.

KKR messed up a far simpler bit of fielding in the next over, however, as Umesh threw to the wrong end with both Karthik and Harshal stranded at the same end.

Harshal made them pay with two fours in the second half of that 19th over, bowled by Venkatesh: a scoop over short fine leg, and a flat-batted club to bisect long-on and deep midwicket.

It left them with seven to get off the last over, and Russell, still clutching his shoulder gingerly, volunteered to bowl it. The first one was a fairly well-directed short Wanindu Hassaranga bagged 4-20 ball, but Karthik saw it early usual parsimonious self. With out his quota, but it meant and pulled it far beyond the neither batter taking a chance that one of the last two overs - square leg boundary. A drive against him, he got through his if Russell could bowl the other between the bowler and midfirst 2.5 overs while conceding - would have to be sent down on off the next ball ended the just eight runs. And the by the sixth bowler. game, bringing much relief pressure eventually led Willey Southee turned the match to an anxious RCB dugout. to attempt a forcing shot, only once more, picking up two (ESPNcricinfo) to pop a catch to midwicket. wickets in the 18th. Superb At that point, RCB were four down and needing 67 from 54 balls.

SCOREBOARD

Tactical cat-and-mouse With the wicket falling at the end of the 11th over, Shahbaz walked in at No. 6, pushing Karthik - who prefers pace on the bat in the slog overs to spinners in the middle - further down the order. KKR countered by pulling Narine out of the attack, potentially reserving his last over for Karthik's entry.

Russell replaced Narine, and Shahbaz hit two crucial blows off him in the 13th over: a cleared-front-leg hit over midwicket, and a short ball pulled over backward square leg, both clearing the boundary.

Umesh and Southee came back to give away just eight off the next two overs, leaving RCB needing 36 off 30.

Shahbaz was out stumped in the next over, off

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS INNINGS (20 OVERS MAXIMUM) Ajinkya Rahane c Shahbaz Ahmed b Mohammed Siraj 9 Venkatesh Iyer c & b Akash Deep 10 Shreyas Iyer (c) c du Plessis b de Silva 13 Nitish Rana c Willey b Akash Deep 10 Sunil Narine c Akash Deep b de Silva 12 Sam Billings c Kohli b Patel 14 Sheldon Jackson † b de Silva 0 Andre Russell c †Karthik b Patel 25 Tim Southee c du Plessis b de Silva 1 Umesh Yadav b Akash Deep 18 Varun Chakravarthy not out 10 Extras(b 2, lb 2, nb 1, w 1) 6 TOTAL(18.5 Ov, RR: 6.79) 128 Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Venkatesh Iyer, 3.1 ov), 2-32 (Ajinkya Rahane, 4.6 ov), 3-44 (Nitish Rana, 5.5 ov), 4-46 (Shreyas Iyer, 6.4 ov), 5-67 (Sunil Narine, 8.5 ov), 6-67 (Sheldon Jackson, 8.6 ov), 7-83 (Sam Billings, 11.4 ov), 8-99 (Andre Russell, 13.5 ov), 9-101 (Tim Southee, 14.3 ov), 10-128 (Umesh Yadav, 18.5 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W David Willey 2-0-7-0 Mohammed Siraj 4-0-25-1 Akash Deep 3.5-0-45-3 W Hasaranga de Silva 4-0-20-4 Harshal Patel 4-2-11-2 Shahbaz Ahmed 1-0-16-0

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE INNINGS (TARGET: 129 RUNS FROM 20 OVERS) Faf du Plessis (c) c Rahane b Southee 5 Anuj Rawat c †Jackson b Yadav 0 Virat Kohli c †Jackson b Yadav 12 David Willey c Rana b Narine 18 Sherfane Rutherford c † Jackson b Southee 28 Shahbaz Ahmed st †Jackson b Varun 27 Dinesh Karthik † not out 14 Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva c Russell b Southee 4 Harshal Patel not out 10 Extras(b 4, lb 1, nb 1, w 8) 14 TOTAL(19.2 Ov, RR: 6.82) 132/7 Yet to bat: Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Anuj Rawat, 0.3 ov), 2-17 (Faf du Plessis, 1.6 ov), 3-17 (Virat Kohli, 2.1 ov), 4-62 (David Willey, 10.6 ov), 5-101 (Shahbaz Ahmed, 15.6 ov), 6-107 (Sherfane Rutherford, 17.2 ov), 7-111 (Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva, 17.5 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Umesh Yadav 4-0-16-2 Tim Southee 4-0-20-3 Andre Russell 2.2-0-36-0 Sunil Narine 4-0-12-1 Varun Chakravarthy 4-0-33-1 Venkatesh Iyer 1-0-10-0

22

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Women’s World Cup 2022…

Healy, Haynes power Australia to 7th final Australia's opening pair put on 216 runs - the highest partnership of the tournament so far - passing the 196 by Haynes and Meg Lanning for the second wicket against England, to post an imposing total of 305 for 3 from 45 overs, after rain over Wellington's Basin Reserve had delayed the start by an hour and 45 minutes.

Deandra Dottin and Hayley Matthews began the chase as aggressively as their hefty target required, but they both fell for 34. By the time captain Stafanie Taylor dug in for a steadying but rather circumspect innings, it was too late.

Australia will play the winner of Thursday's second semi-final between defending champions England and South Africa in the title decider.

Despite a sedate start by Healy, West Indies' bowlers struggled to find their lines and lengths, after winning the toss. A rash of fielding mistakes spread from tough chance to squandered gifts as Healy overtook Haynes, to whom she'd played a supporting role initially.

Healy's first fifty runs came off 63 balls, while her second came from just 28, and she finished with 17 fours and a six.

After the powerplay, reduced to nine overs because of the rain delay, Australia were 37 without loss, although Healy hadn't found the boundary; while Haynes looked in fine touch, punishing anything short or overpitched, as she picked off four fours en route to 26 from 34 balls.

With four spinners at her disposal, Taylor turned to Matthews in the ninth over, and she got her offbreaks turning sharply at the outset, using a patch of green grass outside the right-hander's off stump to find

Stephanie Taylor played a captain’s knock of 48 in a losing cause

A

ustralia secured their place in the World Cup final after a powerful century from Alyssa Healy, and her dominant opening stand with Rachael Haynes set West Indies a target that proved well out of their reach.

The 157-run drubbing reflected each side's path to the semi-finals, Australia unbeaten after starting the tournament as overwhelming favourites for the title, and West Indies scraping into the top four on India's lastb a l l heartbreak at t h e hands of South Africa in their final groupstage match.

Rachael Haynes chipped in with 85

some grip.

Encouraged, Taylor brought on Anisa Mohammed - a

SCOREBOARD AUSTRALIA WOMEN INNINGS (45 OVERS MAXIMUM) Rachael Haynes c Dottin b Henry 85 Alyssa Healy †c sub (SC Selman) b Connell 129 Ashleigh Gardner c † Campbelle b Henry 12 Meg Lanning (c) not out 26 Beth Mooney not out 43 Extras (nb 2, w 8) 10 TOTAL (45 Ov, RR: 6.77) 305/3 Did not bat: Tahlia McGrath, Annabel Sutherland, Darcie Brown, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Megan Schutt Fall of wickets: 1-216 (Alyssa Healy, 32.4 ov), 2-231 (Rachael Haynes, 35.1 ov), 3-236 (Ashleigh Gardner, 35.6 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Shamilia Connell 8-0-45-1 Chinelle Henry 9-0-51-2 Hayley Matthews 9-0-45-0 Anisa Mohammed 2-0-20-0 Karishma Ramharack 9-0-65-0 Deandra Dottin 3-0-31-0 Stafanie Taylor 5-0-48-0 WEST INDIES WOMEN INNINGS (TARGET: 306 RUNS FROM 45 OVERS) Deandra Dottin c Sutherland b McGrath 34 Rashada Williams c Mooney b Schutt 0 Hayley Matthews c

King b Jonassen 34 Stafanie Taylor (c) c Jonassen b King 48 Shemaine Campbelle † c Jonassen b Sutherland 8 Chedean Nation run out (†Healy) 7 Kycia Knight b Jonassen 0 Karishma Ramharack lbw b Gardner 7 Shamilia Connell not out 1 Chinelle Henry absent hurt Anisa Mohammed absent hurt Extras (lb 1, w 8) 9 TOTAL (37 Ov, RR: 4.00) 148 Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Rashada Williams, 3.5 ov), 2-44 (Deandra Dottin, 9.3 ov), 3-91 (Hayley Matthews, 22.4 ov), 4-117 (Shemaine Campbelle, 28.3 ov), 5-126 (Chedean Nation, 29.4 ov), 6-126 (Kycia Knight, 29.6 ov), 7-146 (Karishma Ramharack, 35.2 ov), 8-148 (Stafanie Taylor, 36.6 ov) BOWLING O-M-R-W Darcie Brown 6-0-37-0 Megan Schutt 4-0-8-1 Annabel Sutherland 6-0-26-1 Tahlia McGrath 4-0-17-1 Alana King 6-0-19-1 Ashleigh Gardner 6-0-26-1 Jess Jonassen 5-0-14-2

Australia celebrated booking their spot in the Women’s World Cup final

replacement for Afy Fletcher, who was out after testing positive for COVID-19 - a short time later, and her third legitimate delivery - a full toss - yielded Healy's first four as she cleared mid-on.

With Healy finding her groove, having survived on 5 when Chinelle Henry spilled a difficult return catch, she struck three fours off six balls from Mohammed and Henry, and Karishma Ramharack promptly replaced Mohammed in the attack, as West Indies searched for a way to break the union.

Even a return to pace with Dottin failed, and both batters brought up their fifties in the same Ramharack over, the 22nd of the innings, before Dottin conceded 18 off her third over, in which a gorgeous Haynes pull to the deep midwicket boundary

was bookended by fours driven wide of cover and threaded through fine leg by Healy.

Haynes miscued a sweep off Ramharack, but was put down by Shamilia Connell at midwicket, and by the time Healy heaved Ramharack over mid-off, a patch of bright sunshine had broken through.

But the pall of missed opportunity hung heavy over West Indies when, four balls later, Matthews put down a sitter at mid-on that would have seen Haynes dismissed for 61.

It got even worse for West Indies as Mohammed, chasing hard to stop another Healy boundary, pulled up with what looked like a serious hamstring injury, and had to be driven from the field.

Healy then smacked a

Ramharack full toss from about a foot above head height down the ground for a 73m six over longon, and struck the next ball for four back down the ground to move to 98. She brought Alyssa Healy led the up her maiden World charge with 129 Cup century - and fourth At the end of in ODIs - with a single through cover, with a visceral the powerplay, "Yeeeeessss!" as she struck the West Indies were on track at 39 for 1, but Tahlia ball.

Healy was put down again on McGrath entered the attack in 123 by substitute fielder Shakera the 10th over and struck with her Selman, running in from long-on, third ball, as Dottin holed out to but she made amends a short Annabel Sutherland at long-on.

By the time Jess Jonassen time later, diving forwards at mid-off to hold onto a Healy top- had removed Matthews, caught edge off Connell, and finally give by Alana King - who had earlier West Indies a wicket in the 33rd copped a nasty blow to the neck in trying to stop a ball over.

Australia plumped for flicked soundly by Matthews on big-hitting finisher Ashleigh the bounce to midwicket - the Gardner instead of usual No. 3, required run rate was nudging 10 Meg Lanning, but she failed to per over. And it crept ever higher make an impact, and Haynes as West Indies lost 3 for 8 in 10 fell spooning Henry to Dottin at balls, including Chedean Nation, run out by none other than extra cover for 85.

Beth Mooney produced a Healy, while she was attempting neat cameo of 43 not out off 31 a second run.

Taylor was dropped on balls, including three consecutive 46

by Sutherland off Gardner, fours off Taylor, as she and although Gardner trapped Lanning added 68 runs.

Mooney then took a Ramharack lbw next ball. With screamer during West Indies' the injured Mohammed and chase, diving to her right at an unwell Henry unable to bat, square leg to pluck the ball from Australia progressed when King the air almost after it had passed had Taylor caught by Jonassen her, which left bowler Megan at backward point for 48, sealing Schutt aghast and Rashada a comprehensive victory and a Williams trudging off the field for seventh World Cup final berth.

(ESPNcricinfo) a duck.

Mahdia Movements Family Tour of Region 2…

Mahdia record flawless victories over Lake Mainstay, Capoey

T

he Mahdia Movements Family, by far one of the most successful tape ball teams in Guyana, continued their tour of Region 2 by recording convincing victories in their matches over Lake Mainstay and Capoey in encounters that were best-ofthree T10 matchups.

Bowling for Mahdia, Rajkumar Singh took 2-18, Raydon Austin took 2-12, Suresh Dhanai took 2-11, and Martin Singh took 2-9.

In the next T10 game, Lake Mainstay need to up the ante and level the series, but fell short by 56 runs, handing the Mahdia team a 2-0 victory.

Ershaad Ali and Ricardo Adams both dominated with centuries in the competition, and were among the wickets as well

The first two games were played against Lake Mainstay on Sunday. Batting first, Mahdia posted 173-3 in their allotted 10 overs. Top scorers were Ricardo Adams with 103 and Ershad Ali with 51. In reply, Lake Mainstay posted 76 all out.

Batting first, Mahdia scored 156-1 from their 10 overs. Top scorers were Daniel Seegobin with 89 not out and Suresh Dhanai with 46 not out.

Lake Mainstay put up a fight, but could afford only 101 all out. Mahdia’s chief wickettakers were Martin Singh

Sudesh Dhanai was among the wickets and scored a brilliant 95

with 2-5, Raydon Austin with 2-6, Suresh Dhanai with 2-8, Ricardo Adams with 2-11, and Rajkumar Singh with 1-0.

With two back-to-back wins against Lake Mainstay o Sunday, the Mahdia team were then pitted against Capoey in a best-of-three matchup on Monday. In game one, Mahdia made 198-3 from their 10 overs. Top scorers were Suresh Dhanai with 95, Ryan Adams with 82 not out, and Alex Rodriguez with 12.

Capoey had a very tame reply, and were dismissed for 55. The Mahdia bowlers were Rajkumar Singh with 4-7, Ricardo Adams with 2-5, Suresh Dhanai with 2-11, and Ershad Ali with 2-25.

In the second game, the Mahdia team demolished the Capoey team by 136 runs.

Batting first, Mahdia posted a whopping 225-2 in their 10 overs. The lead scorers were Ershad Ali, with 110 not out, and Ricardo Adams, with 94.

Facing an impossible task, Capoey were removed for 89. Leading the charge in the Mahdia bowling department were: Rajkumar Singh with 2-4, Raydon Austin with 2-8, Martin Singh with 2-14, Ershad Ali with 2-22, and Alex Rodriguez with 2-31.

Next on the agenda for the Mahdia Movements Family is a tape ball encounter to be played this Friday at the Everest Cricket Club.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

23

GRFU exploring measures to attract more athletes to rugby

T

he Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) is intent on attracting more athletes to the sport, and is currently utilising the resources available to draw in both younger and older players.

Among those resources is the National Sport Academy Rugby Nursery, which has provided over 150 interested children and teenagers for the GRFU. However, GRFU President Ryan Dey has another trick up his sleeve for the older persons.

The GRFU is currently

GRFU President Ryan Dey

hosting a 10s league with the hope of enticing players back to the sport. However, the matter of bringing in

new athletes is also of utmost importance.

According to recently re-elected President Ryan Dey, the GRFU has devised an initiative that would allow interested persons to receive the requisite training on Tuesdays, and further competition time on Saturdays.

“The ten’s league is going fine. So far, we have the President’s Team, which is my team, winning the last two tournaments, and hopefully, the Vice-President’s Team can come up and give us some competition,”

Dey said as he highlighted that league games are being hosted every Sunday at 3pm in the National Park.

Regarding those who wish to participate in the sport, Dey explained, “With that, we’re actually aiming to grow Rugby; so, if you’re interested, we have training on Tuesdays and we have games on Saturdays. So, it’s an open invitation to anyone who is willing to learn to play Rugby and want to play Rugby. You can come out, we will get you a coach, and you will be on your way from there.”

Dey figures that the National Sports Academy nursery has already lent a hand to the sport in providing a younger batch of rugby prospects between the ages of 6 and 19 years.

“Wow! It’s a love to see a lot of people interested, a lot of children interested in playing Rugby, I love the turnout today. We were looking for less, but sometimes less means more, and we hope to grow and add on this,” the GRFU President has shared.

Now, with the backing of the Sport Ministry

and the National Sports Commission, Dey is optimistic that he can take the sport to other regions of Guyana.

Dey related, “It’s something that the Union used to be doing in the past by itself.

Now to have the National Sports Commission, by extension the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport on board is very exciting, and we look forward to growing Rugby. We’re going to start with this region, and hopefully we’re going to get to go to other regions.”

(Jemima Holmes)

WI vs England: Apex Test series…

Test match hero Kyle Mayers jumps amazing 33 spots in ICC bowling rankings

K

yle Mayers proved to be the man with the golden arm as we witnessed his heroics with the ball to help West Indies win the third Apex Test against England.

The seamer had the remarkable match figures of 27-17-41-7, including careerbest 5-18 in the second innings as West Indies won by 10 wickets on the fourth morning.

It was the home team’s first Test match win at the Grenada National Stadium, and they became the first team to lift the newly-minted Richards-Botham Trophy. For

Joshua Da Silva

Mayers, it was a moment to remember, and it has seen him make a sensational

leap up the ICC Test match rankings. In the latest dispatch on Wednesday, he

BCB/UCCA/Vitality Inc T20 tournament…

climbed 33 spots to Number 48 – one of the biggest jumps in recent history.

There was also a big move for West Indies batting hero Joshua Da Silva. The wicketkeeper pulled his side around in the first innings with a monumental maiden Test century. He made 100 not out, which occupied 355 minutes and came off 257 balls, with 10 boundaries. He earned the Apex Player of the Match award for the matchwinning effort, which lifted West Indies from 128-7 to 297 all out. He has moved up 21 places to Number 63 on the table. (Windies cricket)

Kyle Mayers

Tenelec Inc U-15 tournament…

#72 Cut and Load defeat Dukestown Solomon delighted with Port Warriors to clinch title Mourant’s U-15 championship win

A

The winning #72 Cut and Load team with representatives of the sponsors and the UCCA

brilliant fast bowling spell from Davendra Juggernauth, who returned figures of 6 for 12 off 4 overs, led #72 Cut and Load to an 11-run win over their opposition, Dukestown Warriors, at the #69 Vikings Cricket Ground over the last weekend.

The match was played before a sizeable crowd which turned out to witness the highly anticipated BCB/UCCA/Vitality Inc Finals between #72 Cut and Load and Dukestown Warriors. #72 Cut and Load, batting first after winning the toss, reached 118 all out from 20 overs, with Davendra Chatterpaul scoring 35, Kadil Agit 25, and extras contributing a mammoth 30 runs. Bowling for Dukestown

Warriors, Errol Byass grabbed 2 for 32 off 4 overs, Wayne Garnett took 2 for 29 off 4 overs, and Boodram Sookdeo took 2 for 15 off 4 overs.

In reply, Dukestown Warriors socred 107 all out in 19 overs, with Clavern Beresford scoring 35, Jamal Byass 19, and N. Richard 11 as the principal scorers. Bowling for #72 Cut and Load, Davendra Juggernauth claimed 6 for 12 off 4 overs, and Sieraj Chatterpaul supported with 2 for 21 off 4 overs. #72 Cut and Load carried home the championship trophy and the winning cheque, while a very disappointed Dukestown Warriors received the runnersup cheque and trophy.

President of the Berbice

Cricket Board, Hilbert Foster, congratulated the champions and wished the runners-up better luck in the future. He also thanked the sponsors, Vitality Inc’s Messrs Surein Sawh and Abbas Hamid, who came on board to make the tournament the great success that it was.

The BCB took the opportunity to hand over cricket gear to a newly formed youth club in the area, while the RHTY&SC donated a total of 28 scorebooks to the Upper Corentyne Cricket Association for distribution to clubs in the area.

Foster also announced that another tournament - Vishu Super Store 40-over round robin - would start shortly.

H

The winning Port Mourant Prem Kennard Team

ead Coach of the Port Mourant Prem Kennard Under-15 team, Leslie Solomon, has been happy to see the strong performance put in by players of his team, after a 37run win against Rose Hall Canje Arborsmarts in the final of the Tenelec Inc U-15 tournament.

Solomon has worked hard with the players, and Port Mourant have now clinched back-to-back titles. In an invited comment, Solomon expressed his happiness with the team’s performance.

“We started initial training since last year, before the competition started, and we played three matches, won all three games. We won against Rose Hall Town, Albion and Upper Corentyne, and on that basis, we advanced to the quarter-finals, where we defeated Edingburgh and Cotton Tree in the semi-final

and we beat Rose Hall Canje in the final; so, I am happy,” he said.

“We also have four players in the Berbice Under-15 training squad, and they performed creditably well, so we have players with potential,” Solomon said.

In the final, played at Albion, Ravin Boodwah claimed the “Man of the Match” award with a fine all-round performance.

Batting first, Port Mourant Prem Kennard posted 93 all out in 31.4 overs. Ravin Boodwah top-scored with 26, while extras contributed a healthy 45 runs.

Bowling for Rose Hall Canje Arborsmarts, Romario Ramdeholl had 3 for 8 off 8.4 overs, while Nicholas Hall had 2 for 25 off 7 overs. Enrique Mickle had 2 for 29 off 7 overs, while Abdulla Azad, Eric Souvenir and Adrian Hetmyer each grabbed a wicket.

Port Mourant Community Centre Cricket Club Head Coach Leslie Solomon

In reply, Rose Hall Canje Arborsmarts fell short by 37 runs when they were bowled out for 56 in 27.1 overs. Romario Ramdeholl and Jaden Edwards each made 10.

Bowling for Port Mourant Prem Kennard, Ravin Boodwah had 4 for 4 off 10 overs, while Shamar Daniels took 3 for 22 off 8 overs and Navin Boodwah took 2 for 13 off 4.1 overs, to do the damage.

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022

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

final, semi-finals

…as Cricket Carnival launched …to feature food festival, regional & international concerts, cruise

Story and photos by

“T

Jemima Holmes

he loudest it will ever be.” That was the promise made by Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali as he made the most anticipated announcement, that Guyana will host the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) final for the first time in the CPL’s 10-year history.

While the Hero CPL final is auspicious enough, the Government of Guyana has planned a string of celebrations titled ‘Carnival Cricket’

Addressing an animated crowd gathered on the Party Stand of the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, and other dignitaries on Wednesday night, President Dr. Irfaan Ali told of the worldclass product that Guyana hopes to build through the ‘Cricket Carnival’ brand.

“We are not building only and working only for a final, we are building a new product for Guyana. A new product that will support the many new hotels, restaurants, entertainment spots that are being built across our country. The many new resorts, cause all will be involved in this process,” President Ali explained.

This all led up to the words that Guyanese have been anxiously awaiting for some months, since his declaration of optimism in December 2021, about hosting the CPL final in the Land of Many Waters.

“That is why not only are we going to have CPL in Guyana, but on the 30th of September, those in our diaspora, mark the date and listen to the next few words,” His

President Dr Irfaan Ali, Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr, Hero CPL CEO Pete Russell and Tourism Minister Oneidge Walrond are the main stakeholders in CPL’s finals being hosted in Guyana for the next three years

three knockout games. Guyana’s two-week hosting period is expected to interconnect with that of the Carnival Cricket festivities.

According to a missive from the Hero CPL, Guyana’s, massive sup-

Russell explained why Guyana was such an easy choice for the marquee game in the Hero CPL calendar.

“We are blessed with amazing fans across the Caribbean, and this is very clear whenever we vis-

The crowd erupts as President Ali announces the CPL finals in Guyana

that would provide diverse and high-quality entertainment for Guyanese enthusiasts and foreigners over the course of two weeks.

Coupled with the excitement that the Hero CPL brings, as Guyanese venture to the National Stadium, Providence, to support the famous Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW), international concerts, Guyana Night, food festivals, cultural shows and competitions would culminate in a grand ‘Best of the Caribbean’ Carnival competition, that invites the best bands from around the region to show off their skills.

Excellency teased.

“On the 30th of September, for the first time in CPL history, the finals will be in Guyana. And not only will the finals be in Guyana, but for the next three years, the finals will be in Guyana,” the President continued as he encouraged the jubilant celebration of those in attendance.

Even more so, Guyana has secured a contract to host the CPL for three years, including that of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Aside from the final, Guyana will be hosting seven group games and

A taste of what to expect at the Cricket Carnival this September

port of the regional franchise tournament has set an expectation of ‘significant excitement’ when the tournament makes its way to local shores.

As such, Hero CPL CEO Pete

it Guyana where the atmosphere at Providence is electric. The idea of having the Hero CPL final in front of this wonderful crowd of passionate and knowledgeable cricket fans is a mouthwatering prospect.

We are very grateful to have such a positive relationship with the Government and cricket authorities in Guyana, and we thank them for helping us come to this hugely exciting agreement,” Russell indicated.

Touting the Sport tourism opportunity that is the Cricket Carnival initiative, Tourism Minister Oneidge Walrond described the event as incomparable to anything seen in the region thus far.

“Guyana stands ready to be the venue for a number of matches and accompanying entertainment events, as we become the hosts of the biggest party in sport in the month of September. The CPL, with a Carnival fusion, will be the first of its kind in the region. It promises to be events the likes of which the Caribbean has never seen before,” Walrond boasted.

What the Minister did not reveal just yet was the plan to formulate a CPL Cricket Carnival Cruise which would take avid fans and revellers alike around to the host nations in the region, with the final destination being Guyana and its invigorating festivities.

The Hero CPL will facilitate both Men’s and Women’s tournaments for its 10th season in 2022, with St. Kitts and Nevis and St, Lucia tentatively earmarked as host countries for other preliminary games.

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